by Jolie Day
“Strip.” His voice was low, vibrating through Avery as she stood before him, her arms pressed against her sides. She took a deep breath as she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her pants, slowly tugging them over the curves of her hips, her eyes locked on his as lowered them, allowing them to drop and pool around her ankles. Joel’s hungry eyes drank in every inch of her exposed skin and Avery felt a flush spread over her, warming her from the inside, out.
She reached for the waistband of her panties, biting her lip as she slowly peeled them away from her body, the fabric rolling in on itself a bit as she dragged them down her thighs. Her legs opened a little and Joel licked his lips at the sight of the moisture he could see there. Avery shivered under his gaze.
When her panties joined the pool of fabric at her feet, Avery stepped out of them and kneeled down in front of Joel, batting his hands away when he reached down to pull her up to him. “Let me,” she said, her voice low and husky and so completely seductive. Joel swallowed thickly, his pupils dilating in lust as her fingers resumed their actions from before. She pulled down his zipper and reached for the waistband of his pants, tugging down as he lifted himself up slightly, allowing her to drag the fabric all the way down to his feet.
She tugged them off, along with his shoes, and her hands ran gently back up his legs, her fingers stroking the crisscrossed scars that she hadn’t taken the time to notice over the weekend. Hair grew in patches all along his toned, muscular legs; it was soft and tickled the palms of her hands as she caressed the smooth skin underneath, grinning as she felt him shiver under her ministrations. She pressed kisses to his calves, then his knees, then his thighs, moving up to his boxers. When she reached to pull at the band, Joel’s hands stopped her and she looked up to meet his heated gaze.
“You don’t have to,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“I know,” Avery whispered back, her eyes searching his, never losing the connection. “But I want to remember every inch of you,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. She swallowed thickly. “While I still can. So, please, just let me…” He nodded, placing his hands back behind him, keeping himself up as he watched her.
Avery took a deep breath as she divested Joel of his boxers, baring him completely to her hungry eyes as she tugged them off of his feet and tossed them over her shoulder, not caring where they landed. Her eyes were locked on the hardness she found between his legs. He was standing at attention already and her fingers twitched, itching to wrap around him. She paced herself, though; resisted the urge to stroke the length of him in favor of running her hands over his narrow hips, stroking up to run her fingernails gently over his quivering abdominal muscles as Joel sighed and growled, low in his throat. Avery shivered in response, licking her lips as she looked up into his face.
Joel’s eyes had darkened considerably, taking on a hungry look that both terrified and excited Avery as she finally lowered her mouth onto him, taking just the tip between her lips. Joel grunted, his fingers curling around the bed sheets in an attempt to avoid grabbing onto her hair and pulling her mouth down further. Avery hummed around him and the vibrations crawled up his spine, making it harder to keep his hips from pressing up into her.
“Avery,” he grunted and she hummed again, pulling back slightly to lick his head before going back down, taking more of his shaft into her mouth. Her fingers stroked the skin of his inner thighs as she worked him, humming and moaning and adding to his ecstasy. Joel focused on his breathing as he felt the telltale knot begin to form in his lower abdomen. “Avery,” he husked again, one of his hands finally reaching out to bury itself in her hair. “Avery, wait. I’m going to—” He moaned as she sucked harder, the fingers of one of her hands wrapping around his thick length and stroking up and down in time with her lips. He could feel her tongue stroke over the sensitive mushroom top and he couldn’t restrain his hips from moving up slightly, into her mouth.
“Fuck,” Joel grunted as the knot began to tighten. His other hand reached for her hair and he tugged, slightly; not to pull her away, but to encourage her. “Avery,” he warned. “I’m gonna—” She sucked harder, still, understanding perfectly what was about to happen. Her hand tightened on him, the opposite one lowering to cup him, squeezing him, playing with him. “Avery,” he gasped, just seconds before he exploded in her mouth. Avery hollowed out her cheeks, taking him all in, swallowing everything he gave her as her hands continued to stroke him. Joel’s fingers tightened in her hair and he tugged, pulling her up until the length of her body was pressed to his.
Joel laid back on the bed, pressing his lips to hers as he stroked his hands up and down her back. Avery’s legs opened, straddling him again, her wetness rubbing against his softened length. Joel groaned deep in his throat and wrapped his hands around her thighs, pulling her up his body.
Avery giggled as she allowed herself to be dragged, feeling the tickle of Joel’s scruff as he rubbed it against her skin, pressing his lips everywhere he could reach. When her thighs bracketed his head, he pressed his lips against the sensitive skin there, nipping and sucking and opening his mouth against her wet center. Avery let out a shuddering breath as her hands reached for the headboard, her fingers tightening around the edge, nails digging into the wood.
“Oh God,” she breathed, her hips pressing down into his mouth, her body shaking with the effort to hold herself up and not suffocate him. Joel’s strong fingers were wrapped around her thighs, holding her firmly against his face, almost encouraging her to press down into him. So she did, allowing herself to relax a little bit as Joel moaned against her clit, his tongue sweeping through her wetness as she cried out. She could practically feel the way his lips curled up in that infuriatingly charming smirk.
As long as it was pressed against that spot, it wasn’t so bad, she decided.
“Joel!” Avery cried out, her hips pressing more insistently into him as she felt the pressure begin to build up between her legs. She could feel her sex begin to pulse and dampen further as she got closer and closer to the edge, murmuring Joel’s name like the sweetest prayer on her lips. “Oh my god!” she cried out as she fell over the edge, her nails clawing at the headboard and her voice going raw with her screams. “Fuck!” His tongue lapped at her, licking up all the wetness that suddenly flooded his mouth as she rode it, prolonging her orgasm as much as she could, before her body finally let out one last shudder and she swung her leg back over, resting her back against the headboard and tugging Joel’s head into her lap. She gazed down at him, chuckled as he licked the wetness off of his lips.
“You are amazing, do you know that?” she breathed, leaning down to press her lips to his. “So,” kiss, “so,” kiss, “fucking,” kiss, “amazing.” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she sniffled, shaking her head as she pulled back. “I…”
Before she could get the words out, Joel pressed one finger to her lips. “Please,” he sighed. “Please don’t. Just…don’t.” He knew exactly what she was going to say and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to handle it. He knew that if she said what they both knew she was going to say, he would never do what they both knew he was going to have to do. “Just…” he trailed off as he pulled her back down, pressing his lips to hers and tugging at her bare body until she laid fully down next to him.
Avery raised one leg, draping it over his thigh as she welcomed him back between her legs, rolling to her back. They didn’t speak anymore after that.
*****
The sun was starting to creep over the horizon when Avery awoke in his arms. Joel’s chest was moving up and down at an even pace. His heart beat under her ear and her entire body seemed to ache with both pleasure and pain. Their bare bodies were pressed together so firmly that it felt as if they were one and she never wanted to be separated from him again.
It was a strange feeling; one that she’d never had before. She’d never felt like this for any person, man or woman. For a long time, she didn’t even know if she
was capable of this kind of emotion; connections like this were like a myth to her. She’d rolled her eyes at romance novels and movies and made faces at couples who kissed each other like their lives depended on it in the middle of the street, just saying goodbye. But now…
Now she knew how they felt. She understood that need to stay connected to the one you loved as long as possible. She knew that what she felt for Joel was that very same love and that she likely would never feel anything like that again, whether she remembered this feeling or not.
Either way, she knew that she would miss it. She could already feel it slipping away.
Suddenly, Avery couldn’t breathe. She peeled herself away from Joel’s strong arms and scrambled out of bed, tugging the sheets with her and wrapping them around her bare body like a cloak, shrouding herself in their warmth and comfort. She bit her lip as tears flooded her eyes for probably the millionth time that night and her chest tightened. She could feel a panic attack coming on quick and she forced herself to breathe through it, pacing the small, open space of her studio. The curtain of her bedroom was still open so she walked out into the living room, trying to take in as much air as possible as she circled the kitchen island, her chest moving slowly with her breaths.
She didn’t know if she could do this. She didn’t know if she could just let herself…forget. How could she forget everything that had happened in the last two days? How could she forget everything that had been building for the last two months? How could he?
She walked away from the island and turned to look out the living room window, staring down at the city as it just started to wake up. The street below was already busy, cars and delivery trucks and taxis racing up and down, already going about their business.
At the side of the road she could see a man kneeling next to a motorcycle, checking the engine and wiping sweat off of his brow. He wore a tight leather jacket over broad shoulders and she could clearly see a gun holster on his belt. She wondered what his story was as he turned and looked up towards the still-darkened sky, his face half-shrouded in the light grey of dawn. Even from where she was standing, several stories up, she could tell the man was handsome. His hair was a bit long and he had the beginnings on a beard covering his jaw, but his brown eyes were soulful and there was confidence in his gait and he straddled the bike and revved the engine.
Then he was gone, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke in his wake.
“Avery?”
She paused mid-step at the sound of his voice, gruff and sleepy and just above a whisper. Avery turned to see Joel standing in the center of her apartment, shirtless and wearing only his rumpled, torn boxers which may as well not have been there at all. He wasn’t wearing his glasses and his bright blue eyes squinted at her in confusion, his brows furrowed adorably. He looked so…harmless.
Despite the scars on his body, both old and new. Despite the muscles in his arms and torso and his broad shoulders. Despite the hands that could kill her in seconds if he so wished and the intense blue eyes that still made her shiver. Despite everything about him that screamed predator…she had a deep knowledge that Joel Harper would never lay a finger on her. She was safe with him. She had no reason to believe this, but, somehow, she just…knew it.
“Avery?”
At the sound of her name for the second time, she broke from her thoughts and raised her gaze to meet his, the tears that had been gathering in her eyes finally spilling out over her cheeks, though her lips curved up in a grin.
“Are you okay?” Joel asked, taking a step towards her.
Avery nodded, mirroring him, then taking several more steps forward as she reached out for him, raising her hands to cup his jaw in her soft palms as she stopped right in front of him, looking up into his sleep-softened eyes. She searched them for a long moment, swallowing past the lump in her throat as she took a deep breath.
“I don’t want to forget,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
“What?” Joel asked, his eyes widening in shock and confusion. His hands pressed against her hips, stroking her skin through her sheet. “What are you—”
Avery surged forward, swallowing the rest of his sentence. Joel didn’t resist, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her as firmly against his body as she could possibly get. When he pulled away, he was smirking down at her. “What was that for?” he asked. “What…are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Avery assured him, tears still shining in her eyes. “I just…I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to forget tonight. Or last night. Or any of the time we’ve spent together this entire weekend. I don’t want to forget that you’re a wolf and I don’t want to forget that you were ever such a huge part of my life. And I don’t want to forget how much I…”
“Avery,” Joel tried, pressing his finger to her lips. She batted his hand away from her mouth.
“I love you,” she said, firmly. “And I don’t want to forget it.”
“But you said—”
“I know,” Avery sighed, shaking her head. “I know what I said. But I can’t…” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I can’t stand the thought of forgetting you, of working next to you every single day and never knowing…” She took another deep breath. “I just can’t. And I can’t let you do that either. Because even if I forgot, you would remember. And you would know. And you would be in pain. And I can’t…I can’t let you do that. So I don’t want to forget.” She took a deep breath. “Please don’t make me forget.”
Joel regarded her for a long moment, searching her tear-filled eyes for confirmation that this was exactly what she wanted. He found nothing but honesty and love reflected back at him. Her face was completely unguarded.
So he sighed, leaning down to press his lips softly against hers, his hands cupping her cheeks, thumbs rubbing away her tears. Avery wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed him in, one of her hands stroking through his hair.
When he pulled back, Joel took a deep, shuddering breath and he leaned his forehead against Avery’s. “As you wish.”
THE END
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About the Author
Here’s a bit more about me: my name is Jolie Day and I was born and raised in sunny Miami, FL. I live with my boyfriend of seven years and my fur baby Rosie, a golden retriever.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a book in my hands. That’s how I ended up becoming an author. This love of reading turned into a love for writing and, after high school, I enrolled in the University of Miami and majored in Journalism. I’ve worked as an editor for a few small publications, but I‘m currently working full-time as a freelance writer.
My absolute favorite genre to write is Romance, more specifically BBW romance stories, and sometimes even paranormal romance novels – there’s no rule that spirits can’t be sexy! I heart romance and I hope you do as well!
Thank you once more for all of your emails and your support. Happy reading! To visit my Facebook page click here.
Until next time,
Jolie Day
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Thank you so much for reading my novel.
Please do me the honor of reviewing this book in the Amazon store.
Thank you.