Why Stars Chase the Sun (Forget Me Knot Series Book 1)

by C. R. Ellis

  I leaned back just enough to get a better view of her. My eyes couldn’t decide where to linger—the rise and fall of her chest, the garters attached to those damn stockings on her thighs, or the shadow her dress cast between her legs beckoning me in.

  Godfuckingshit.

  “I hope you’re not overly attached to anything you’re currently wearing, because I don’t have the patience to be gentle right now,” I warned, my eyes scanning the length of her once more before landing on her face.

  Her legs hooked around my thighs to pull me closer, and she peered up at me with hungry, hooded eyes. “Took you long enough, Boston,” she rasped with a smile, fingers finding the buttons of my shirt.

  After a few torturous seconds, my shirt joined my jacket on the floor. I gave Jade a split second to run her hands over my bare chest before my mouth was back on hers, kissing her as if my lips existed only for this purpose. My tongue found hers at the same time I gripped the side of her dress and tugged. She groaned into my mouth and pulled my lip in between her teeth, driving me crazy. In one quick motion, I ripped the dress up and over her head, neither of us paying attention to the tearing sound the motion created. My patience evaporated; I’d buy her ten new dresses to replace this one, as long as it wasn’t on her body another second.

  My jaw probably hit somewhere around the fifteenth floor when I finally had a complete view of her lingerie, which was designed to make men worship her. At least that’s what this man intended to do, because I wasn’t sure how not to worship the stunning woman in front of me. Her sexy-as-hell smirk was a clear indication she knew how she affected me, that she liked knowing I was slowly coming apart without even one touch from her.

  I shook my head, inhaling sharply to replenish the supply of oxygen she’d just stolen from my lungs. “Do you know how many times I’ve imagined this moment since Austin? It’s all I could think about after you sent me those fucking pictures today,” I admitted, regaining some of my composure. My hands trailed over the sheer navy tights she wore, only stopping when they reached the garters halfway up her thighs.

  “That was kinda the point.” She smirked, angling her head to the side to brand my neck with her lips. “I was told I should take drastic measures to make sure you knew I was fuckable.”

  Hearing the word ‘fuckable’ in her throaty, raspy voice was enough to ensure I was harder than a rock. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever been this turned on, this desperate for a woman. Her lips moved upward along my neck, causing me to lose my grip on the fabric of the garter. Just when I thought I’d go insane from the feel of her lips against the hollow spot just below my jaw, she lifted her mouth to my ear and trailed her fingers over the front of my pants before palming me through the material. Her touch ignited a fire in my veins hot enough to turn my desperation into an all-consuming need to possess Jade in every sense of the word.

  “Let it be known there is absolutely zero doubt about you being fuckable, Tiny,” I croaked, unable to stop my gaze from making another sweep of her insanely flawless, completely fuckable body.

  I paused to admire some kind of lace I wasn’t even sure would qualify as underwear. I felt her legs tense as my hands slid up, heading directly to the apex of her thighs. She was about to say something when my fingers bypassed the material of her panties and made direct contact with the sensitive, wet skin beneath it. She moaned.

  I slipped a finger into her, almost losing what little control I had left when I was met by more wetness. This time her moan was louder, less controlled, and her nails bit into my back. “Is this what you wanted?” I asked, thrusting another finger into her tightness.

  “Fuck, Emmett. Yes,” she groaned, arching into each thrust and swipe of my fingers.

  Her response was the only motivation I needed to quicken my pace until she was writhing beneath my palm. I dropped my mouth to her chest and scraped my teeth along the swell of her breast, appreciating the shivers wracking through her from all of the stimulation I was inflicting upon her body.

  I could tell she was close.

  My fingers danced along her clit while my free hand gripped her hip to keep her planted where I wanted her. “What else, Jade? What else were you picturing?” Now we were both panting, and I was shocked there wasn’t a dick-sized hole in my pants.

  Our eyes met, and I held her gaze, waiting for a response and slowing my pace enough to drive her wild.

  “You. Naked. Fucking me, then fucking me some more,” she huffed, reaching for my pants and dropping her eyes to my crotch. “Wrapping my lips around your cock.”

  God, I love the things that come from her mouth.

  “Later, Tiny.” I smirked, quickening my pace again to bring her back to the brink of orgasm. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Before she could respond, she was pulsing around my fingers, shaking and moaning a slew of curses, some of them featuring my name. Her chest heaved with uneven breaths, but the fire in her eyes still raged; if anything, I’d added fuel to it.

  She hooked a finger into my pants and pulled me closer. “I don’t think it’s fair you’ve given me more orgasms both times,” she observed, freeing the button and slowly easing the zipper down until she’d had enough and shoved the pants to my ankles like they were on fire.

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Didn’t know we were keeping track. I’m free all night if you’re looking to even the score.”

  “I was thinking I’d start the repayment now,” she offered, licking her lips as she tugged down my boxer briefs.

  “Jade, you don’t have—,” the rest of my protest was swallowed by a groan I couldn’t stop when her hands gripped my shaft with impossibly perfect pressure.

  “Oh, but I do, Boston.” She slid off the desk and dropped to her knees.

  Lips of velvet wrapped around me, and I had to grip the desk to steady myself when she took the rest of me into her mouth. “Jade. I…this is…”

  I felt her lips turn up in a smile, but she kept her movements going. My hands moved to her head, lacing through locks of curled hair and holding her in place. The swirl of her tongue, the painfully gentle scrape of her teeth, the grip of her hands at the back of my legs—it was too much.

  I pulled her up to her feet before she could finish. “Fuck, Jade. I can’t wait any more.”

  She pressed up on her toes, seeking even more height than her heels allowed. I ducked down to her and captured her mouth with a kiss that answered any question she still had about why I stopped her prematurely. I bent my knees and linked my hands against her ass, lifting her up to wrap her legs around my waist.

  She moaned into my mouth and tightened her hold around my neck. I walked our bodies forward until she was pinned against the bookshelves, classics by Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck at her back, and my body at her front, pressed against hers and keeping her in place. I reached behind her and unclasped her bra before ripping it up and off of her body. I needed to have her open and exposed underneath me. I dropped my mouth to her breast, branding her with gentle nips, causing her to buck into me and tug the ends of my hair.

  While my mouth alternated between her breasts, I slipped my hands down to the fabric of her thong, ripping the material apart and shoving it to the side. I immediately felt how desperate she was for me. She pulled one of her arms away from my neck to find my cock. She pumped her hand along my length and arched into me. “Jesus,” I groaned against her neck while my fingers slipped into her.

  She stiffened and moved her hand to my chest. “Wait! We…have dinner reservations.”

  I smirked and kept my fingers pumping. “Fuck the reservations,” I replied gruffly, dropping my eyes. Hers followed mine and widened when she realized I’d shifted her body so my cock was positioned right at her entrance.

  She dug her fingers into my chest and arched against me in an attempt to sink me in further. “No, fuck me.”

  Her words were my undoing. I pushed into her, and we both cried out. I gripped her ass and adjusted her to be at a better angle,
and she grabbed on to the bookshelves behind her head to steady her body while I pumped into her. Books shook off the shelves, crashing at my feet, but we were unaffected. An earthquake probably could’ve shaken the whole building without us noticing.

  “Jade,” I groaned into her hair. “You’re my favorite place to be. So indescribable. So, so fucking tight and so goddamn perfect. Is this what you wanted when you sent me those pictures?” I asked, easing her body back before thrusting into her with a force hard enough to leave her gasping for air.

  She nodded. “Yes. God, yes, Emmett.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I wanted you to fuck me until your name is the only word on my lips.”

  I quickened my pace until she was shaking and moaning unintelligible nonsense beneath me. “Get there, Jade,” I ordered against her ear as I slammed her back down onto me.

  It was like I’d set off a bomb inside her, and screaming my name was the aftermath of the explosion. The sound was enough to send me over the edge with her.

  Jade and I slid down to the floor where we sat in a comfortable silence as I slowly planted kisses along her neck and throat.

  “Damn, Jade. Your mouth should really come with a warning label.”

  “Yeah?” she asked, jerking back like she was shocked to hear that. “I, uh, I haven’t really…” She trailed off, presumably because of where the rest of her sentence was going.

  “Jade. That was easily the hottest experience of my life. The fact that you think your lack of practice is anything but a turn-on is crazy. I like that you haven’t done that since some asshole was stupid enough to let you get away.”

  Her eyes grew round and her smile faded. “How’d you know…?”

  “I put the pieces together from things you and Jas let slip. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

  “We were engaged three years ago, then one day we weren’t. He told me we were too young to commit to a lifetime with each other. It took a while to understand it wasn’t my fault he left. I wasn’t sitting around pining for Andrew, I was just unwilling to put much faith in another man. I tried Jasmine’s ‘no strings attached’ lifestyle, but it wasn’t for me. Sex for the sole purpose of sex doesn’t work for me. I want intimacy to matter. I need more, and ‘more’ wasn’t happening from random dates Jasmine set me up on.” She paused, swallowing and looking up at me with a grimace. “Too much? Bet you weren’t expecting so much when you mentioned my past.”

  I didn’t know which part of her confession to zero in on first. The part about her ex being a total fucking moron or the part where she basically admitted to thinking this, we, were ‘more.’

  I brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face and leaned closer. “Three things. First, you giving me truths about yourself is never too much, Tiny. Ever. I told you I want you to know everything about me, and I want the communication to be a two-way street. I can’t change your past, but I want you to know you can share it with me. Second, Andrew is the dumbest motherfucker ever for a number of reasons, but his stupidity brought you to me, so I almost want to send him a fruit basket or something. Third, you are more for me. I wish I could say I shared your beliefs about needing more through intimacy, but I took the opposite approach after Tracy. I’m not proud of my actions. Until I met you, I wanted to live life as an island, to use sex as a means to an end and nothing more. But that’s never been the case with you.”

  Emotion swirled in the green pools in her eyes before she dropped her head forward to my chest with a sigh. “How can I feel this much for you after such a short time? I can’t even understand some of the things you make me feel, Emmett. I know you think you’re damaged and your family issues somehow make you dark and unworthy of happiness, but I’m going to keep telling you you are worthy of happiness until you believe me.” She gripped my shoulders and shook me gently as her eyes came back to mine, holding the same smile back on her lips.

  “You make me happy, Jade. And I can’t explain it either, but time is irrelevant—I’m glad things between us haven’t taken the traditional route. Baby steps aren’t our style.”

  “True. You know, I still say you’re the greatest adventure I could have. I didn’t know I was missing something in my life until you were there, making me realize you were the adventure I needed. And what an adventure it’s turned out to be,” she finished, shifting in my arms to kiss me.

  “So, uh, feel free to send me photos like those anytime,” I told her as soon as our kiss was over.

  “Oh, yeah? What about when we’re half a country apart? I don’t think you’ll appreciate those photos come next week.”

  The idea of being separated from her by fifteen hundred miles was enough to make me tighten my hold around her. “You’re right. That’d make for a long, torturous plane ride. The payback would be serious.”

  “You wouldn’t,” she gasped. “You’d fly all the way to Austin to see me just because I sent you a scandalous photo?”

  “No, pretty girl, I’d fly to the fucking moon if that’s what it took to get to you,” I replied, turning her body to face mine and bringing our faces inches apart. My fingers found their way to her exposed skin, tracing random patterns along her neck and chest. I was no longer capable of being this close to her without some kind of physical contact.

  She blinked and blinked some more. “Good to know,” she finally croaked with a small smile.

  “I could live for centuries and never find another experience in this world to rival the feeling I get with you. I never want to go without that feeling again.” I smiled, resting my head in the palm of my free hand. Earning her trust wasn’t something I took lightly; I knew she didn’t give herself easily. “I have a surprise for you. You can say no, but I’ve already taken care of all the details. So don’t say no,” I pleaded, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

  “If your surprise involves food or fucking, consider it a yes.”

  I laughed. Jesus, her mouth. I’d never get enough of her sass. Or anything else those lips were capable of doing. “Noted. But this particular request doesn’t have to do with either. Come to Boston with me, Jade. It’s only a few hours’ drive, and Friday is John’s birthday. Emily is having a party for him, and I’d like you to meet them. I already switched your ticket to a flight on Saturday night from Boston.”

  She inhaled sharply and bit her lip. “What about…?”

  I shook my head. “They won’t get close to the party, and I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

  She nodded slowly, then narrowed her eyes and cocked an eyebrow. “Wait a minute. How did you switch my flight?”

  “Can’t give away all my secrets, Tiny.”

  She rolled her eyes and shoved against my chest. “You’re ridiculous!”

  I laughed. “So…yes?”

  “Well, seeing as how I’m leaving from Boston and all, I guess so.”

  Her tone was aiming for annoyed, but I knew she wasn’t. We were a couple of naked, smiling lunatics. She was smiling because I was finally, truly letting her in. I was smiling because I was finally going to get this woman into my own bed, and she was going to meet two of my favorite human beings.

  Chapter 18

  Emmett

  I couldn’t believe we were Boston-bound. A week ago, I would’ve panicked at the thought of having Jade in Boston, but I was through focusing only on the negative shit. Will no longer held power over the way I lived my life. I was done pretending I could handle living without Jade.

  We spent the rest of our time in New York exploring the city by day and each other by night. I’d fulfilled all the fantasies I’d conjured up during our time apart, and even some I hadn’t known were fantasies until they were happening. An act as innocent as the brush of her shoulder against my chest would inevitably lead to shredding our clothes and going at each other like sex was going out of style. I was convinced I’d never get enough of her.

  I glanced over at Jade, appreciating the view of her profile from this angle. Her face rested
in her hand propped against the window, her gaze fixed on the scenery outside the car. It was early fall, but New England already flaunted its unparalleled beauty in the form of deep red, yellow, and green-leafed trees along the roads.

  “There’s nothing like a New England fall,” I commented, drawing her attention temporarily.

  “This is stunning. I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for bringing me.”

  “Of course, Tiny. I can’t wait for you to meet Em. She’s going to love you. I had to force her not to come to New York when she found out about you.”

  Jade lifted an eyebrow in question. “Why?”

  I shifted in my seat, unsure how much I wanted to tell her. “I’ve brushed off her questions about my love life for years. I think she’d all but given up on me ever bringing a girl around. So finding out about you was a bit of a shock. She was thrilled though and insisted on having you at the party.”

  “Great, no pressure,” she groaned, dropping her head against the seat.

  I chuckled. “Relax, Jade, she will adore you.”

  An hour later we walked into my condo and I dropped our bags by the front door, watching Jade take in the space. She ran her hand along the wall of exposed brick, let her eyes sweep upward and over the beams across the ceiling, and dropped several colorful words when she finally came to a stop in the kitchen.

  I leaned against the cool quartz countertop of the kitchen island and planted my hands at my sides. “Like it?”

  She whipped around. “Like? Emmett, this place is incredible,” she replied as her hand grazed the far end of the counter on her way toward me.