“I’ll keep my eyes closed, Lily. Let me,” he murmured but waited for her answer.
With her hand still covering her abdomen, she nodded. Realizing he couldn’t hear a nod, she whispered, “Promise?’
“Yes.” His next touch was the feel of his sensual lips kissing her pussy.
“Oh!”
JT had never done this to her. When she’d asked once during the very earliest stages of their relationship, he’d told her he didn’t like the way a woman tasted. The knowledge that he’d based his judgment on how other women tasted had soured any interest she’d ever had in receiving oral sex from him, and she’d never asked again.
What Clay was giving her now was pure bliss. Each slow, velvety lap of his tongue sent her spiraling higher and higher. He lingered over her like her pussy was his only destination, and she wondered how he disciplined himself to not just plunge in and get it over with the way JT would have. She jolted when Clay pinched her ass cheek hard.
“Ow!” she cried through trembling lips, knowing what that was for even before he said it.
“You’re with me now, Lily. Stay with me and don’t allow him to ruin this. Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she replied as he continued licking, and she settled back into the sexual haze stealing over her. “But you were reading my mind and you were right. This is about us, right now.”
Whatever came tomorrow, she’d still have this time with him.
He caressed the spot he’d pinched in consolation as Lily lost herself in the sensations, allowing him to find his own rhythm. The strokes of his tongue changed. Fast, fast, slow. The tension inside her escalated. He teased and touched until she was throbbing and on the verge of orgasm. She couldn’t believe how fast she’d gotten there, considering JT’s cruel accusations of frigidity.
Blotting JT from her mind, she focused on the increasing tension and tendrils of pleasure that echoed through every nerve ending in her body. While stroking her channel with his fingers, he laved her clit repeatedly.
She cried out as he touched a spot inside her with his fingertips that made her arch and moan with need…pleasure…agony? The pleasure was so intense she felt it everywhere and not just in her pussy. The last straw came when he closed his talented lips around her flesh and sucked at her clit, alternating with devastatingly accurate flicks with his tongue, then sucking again.
White light exploded behind her eyelids, and she howled and panted as her back bowed off the bed. Clay’s hands caressed her hips and her abdomen as he slowly brought her back down to earth, licking and stroking her through every pulse of her orgasm. Her pussy felt on fire, and he teased her gently as her desire began to build again.
She attempted to catch her breath when he lifted up and reached for the drawer in the bedside table, all the while laying a slow, wet kiss on her lips.
“I love the way you taste, Lily. You have nothing to worry about or be ashamed of.”
Easy for you to say. You haven’t seen me in the light of day.
But she licked her lips and realized he was right as she tasted herself. Certainly not ambrosia for the gods but not repulsive by any stretch of the imagination.
It was dark, they were moving forward with this, and there was nothing she could do about the tattoo at the moment, so she chose to slam the door on her worry. He sat up, and she heard the tear of foil. A deep tremble went through her as her pussy quivered with need for him. Soon he’d fill her with his cock and she was driven by the need to please him. She realized too late that she should’ve sucked his cock for him. Next time she’d make it up to him.
“One thing at a time, baby,” he said with a chuckle. How much of that did I say out loud?
Leaning on an elbow, he settled his solid hips between her thighs. His warmth and sheer size nearly overwhelmed her, as did the feel of the solid, heavy ridge lying against the crease between her hip and thigh.
Clay brushed a sweet, gentle kiss against her lips. “We’re going to take this slow and easy, Lily. You’ve been through a lot, very little of it good, and I’m not going to ignore that fact. Stay with me, okay?”
The fact that he wanted to reassure her, when she already knew he’d be unimaginably gentle, brought the mist of tears to her eyes. Her voice caught when she replied, “Yes, Clay.”
He kissed her again as he lifted his hips and used one hand to tease the head of his cock against her drenched opening, making it easier for him to slide in. He thrust his hips against hers, and she panted as his large, blunt cockhead slid though her swollen opening. She sighed with bliss at his tenderness and the erotic sensation of him filling her so tightly.
With each slow thrust, he sank deeper until she had all of him. He rested his head between her breasts and breathed hard as he thrust against her. He pressed a kiss against her left breast. “Wrap your legs around me, baby.” He moved his knees so they were positioned under her buttocks.
When she complied, he wrapped his arms around her hips and lifted her to change the angle of his thrust. Doing so buffeted her clit against his pubic bone and the crisp hairs at the base of his cock with every stroke. She was surprised by how quickly she returned to the precipice of release.
“Oh, Clay! I’m—Please don’t stop!”
“Never, unless you to tell me to, baby. You feel so good!”
He sat up and growled in a way that sounded triumphant and fucked her in that position until her tension coiled so tight she thought she might explode.
She panted loudly, threw back her head, and screamed as her pussy convulsed in orgasmic spasms. Flashes of light burst behind her eyelids again as she held on to his rock-hard thighs.
His grip tightened on her hips, and he lowered his chest to hers as he thrust with powerful, animalistic strokes. His breath rushed against her shoulder, and each exhalation sounded almost pained as his climax approached.
She knew the moment it hit because his whole body clenched into a powerful, tight, muscular knot and he howled in ecstasy. Lily could feel the pulse of his cock with each ejaculation and held on to him tightly because she felt like she might just shake apart.
Never. Never in all her life had sex felt this intimate. Not once. Clay braced his upper body on his elbows so he didn’t crush her beneath him and dragged air into his lungs, trying to catch his breath. His sweat-soaked chest pressed lightly against hers, and she could feel the reverberation of his pounding heart. Cupping her cheek, Clay pressed a kiss to her forehead and drew another ragged breath.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and she could plainly hear the concern in his voice. “That was really intense.”
“I’ll say,” she breathed out. “I’m fine.” Lightning flickered in the windows, but she didn’t concern herself with it as she took in another deep breath. “That was…” Beautiful. Perfect.
Clay lightly laved the perspiration from the dip above her collarbone. “Yeah. I agree.” His voice was so faint she almost didn’t hear him over the rain outside. “Stay in my bed tonight, Lily. Sleep with me.”
Refusing his sexy, husky request was impossible. “If that’s what you want, sure, but I have to get up early in the morning. I’ve got to study some more.”
She wished she could sleep the whole night through with him, but she couldn’t. What if he woke before her and saw her naked? He’d be repulsed by the tattoo and never be able to look at her again.
Either option she chose for dealing with the tattoo was going to be expensive, according to her research. So she’d put off deciding which procedure to have done—laser tattoo removal that might not be one hundred percent effective or to simply have it redone and commit to a possible larger tattoo. It also gave her pause that the new tattoo might only serve as a remembrance of the trouble she’d gone to getting every reminder of JT out of her life.
Maybe she was waiting for the right frame of mind in which to make the decision. If the only reason she did the redo was to give JT a big “fuck you” to his claims of ownership, she wanted to wait. Somehow, she
knew it needed to be strictly for her that she had the tattoo redone.
In the short-term at least, she knew what this meant for them. Clay would get suspicious about why she wouldn’t allow him to see her naked while making love, in the morning upon waking, or at other times like in the shower. She never, ever wanted him to see it or even know about it. The image was just too shameful to her. She needed to back away from this new physical relationship with him. It hurt to think of that, and the burning lump in her throat grew at the thought of hurting him.
Clay withdrew his softening cock. “I’ll be right back.” He disposed of the condom and crawled back into bed. In the dark, Lily smiled as she snuggled up to him, wishing it could be like this every night.
“Lily?”
“Hmm?”
“You know this wasn’t a one-night stand, right?”
Lily stroked his chest as she curled closer, a lump forming in her throat. “I know, Clay. It’s going to take me some time. I need to put my failed marriage behind me. There are…” It hurt to keep the truth from him, but she had no choice. “There are things I need to take care of. Things I need to do, before…”
“I know. Take your time, Lily. Can you sleep?” Thunder rumbled, this time in the distance.
She sniffled and her laugh was a little broken sounding. “After that? Try to stop me.”
The concern in his voice was clear as he lifted his head to look at her. “Lily? You want to talk about it? Did I hurt you?”
Shaking her head, Lily replied, “You didn’t hurt me, Clay. I promise. That was the most beautiful lovemaking I’ve ever experienced.” And I have to pull away from doing it again. The thought made her heart ache. But not until the morning. “I’m confused by how I feel and I’m not sure talking would help right now. You need your sleep.” She knew if she kept talking she would cry again.
As if he sensed her pulling away emotionally, Clay squeezed her tightly and kissed her temple but didn’t try to reestablish greater intimacy by kissing her lips. His understanding made the pain in her chest worse. “I’m right here if you change your mind. You need me to set my alarm?”
“No. I’ll wake up.” Lily rarely slept through the night and was used to getting up before the sun had risen.
Chapter Eleven
Clay stretched as he woke up, instantly aware of the warm, curvy body snuggled next to him. He smiled as he took in the sight the early-morning light revealed. Her beautiful face was relaxed, and it was obvious that despite her usual habit of rising early that she was still deep asleep. That was a testimony to how exhausted she’d been
One arm was flung over her head, the hand curled around her pillow, and the other was out at her side. Even her delicate hands were beautiful in sleep. He resisted the urge to caress her full, rose-tipped breasts, which he’d enjoyed making love to so much the night before. The nipples were still pink tinged from his enjoyment and puckered in the cool morning air.
He couldn’t conceive why, why she didn’t want the lights on when they’d made love. Her body was his perfect ideal. Healthy, curvy, and so lush he wanted to nuzzle and kiss every inch of her skin. His hand itched to run his palm down her silky belly to the swell of her hip.
Carefully, like a naughty little boy reaching his hand into the cookie jar, Clay lifted the sheet away from where it lay just below her belly button. He loved the adorable little dip of her navel and wanted to kiss it, but then his blood ran cold as he took in the stark reality of the reason she’d wanted to hide her nudity from him.
He fisted the sheet silently, gritting his teeth as he got a clear view of just how extraordinarily sadistic and astoundingly cruel her ex-husband had been. He stared until the blood pounded in his ears.
The tattoo was the full width of her mound, started just above her hairline and extended upward about four inches. The black line work image was a grossly engorged woman’s genitalia with cum leaking from it. In bold, heavy lettering surrounding the image were the words “JT’s Fat Li’l Snatch.”
The worst part was that the tattoo was a mirror image. He’d had to look at it for few seconds before he’d deciphered it because of the contracted use of Lily’s name, probably her ex-husband’s idea of a clever play on words. JT had wanted Lily to see it and understand it every single time she looked in the damned mirror.
Knowing he needed to get out of the bed before he disturbed her sleep with his reaction, he carefully tucked the sheet and blanket over her and slipped from the room, grabbing sweats and a T-shirt on the way out.
He wanted to get in his truck, drive to Durst, and beat the life from that evil son of a bitch. Twelve years she’d spent with him. Twelve years…of that.
His perspective on her recovery shifted as he saw her accomplishments in a whole new light. The fact she could smile or interact with anyone, take charge of her future the way she had, make changes in her life…He felt beneath her. She took overcoming the odds to a whole new level.
He started the coffee and then the shower. While standing under the hot spray, he bit his lip until he tasted blood to keep from roaring in fury at what JT had done to her.
The realization dawned on him that she would be utterly devastated if she knew he’d seen the tattoo. She’d been very insistent about the lights being off, and it occurred to him that the tattoo could be the reason she’d backpedaled the night before. The intimacy had been palpable between them, and looking back he could almost pinpoint the moment she’d remembered the mark, retreating and making excuses for what had happened.
As much as it killed him, he wouldn’t make an issue of it if she backed away from him. He’d bide his time. He knew the attraction wasn’t one-sided and that she might have plans to remedy that mark. Mark. That was what JT had goaded him about in the hospital hallway and the reason she’d looked so pale when he’d returned to the room afterward. She’d probably been afraid—terrified of him finding out about it. He thought of all the times he’d called her “Lil” and wondered if it secretly bothered her. It angered him that her ex had probably ruined the nickname that he’d used for her since childhood.
He shut off the water and vowed to bite the bullet until she was ready to move forward with the relationship. After toweling dry, he dressed then padded barefoot to the kitchen and made breakfast. He was reading the local paper, all six pages of it, and was on his second cup of coffee when his Sleeping Beauty finally woke with a loud gasp and whimper.
His heart went out to her, and he wished he could go to her, tell her it was all right and that he’d help however she needed him to. But he couldn’t do that. Her budding self-esteem and confidence were worth more to him than that. He allowed her to keep her pride in place. He listened to the sounds as she searched the covers for her pajamas.
She wandered down the hall and peeked out at him, and the warm smile he gave her came straight from his heart, but he disciplined himself to stay in his chair. Make it easier for her. But he hoped for her to reach out for him. She seemed almost cautious when she came to the table and perched in a chair.
“Someone overslept a bit. I’m glad you were able to make up for the sleep you lost last night. How do you feel?” He posed the question tenderly so she would understand his deeper meaning.
She bit her delectable lower lip, then licked it and replied, “About that…” Clay’s heart ached when her lip trembled a little, but he sucked it up as she continued, “Thank you for being there for me. Um. Clay. I—”
It was nearly too hard to casually reach out and pat her hand. “I understand, Lily. It was a scary moment. It led to greater intimacy between us than you may be ready for. Believe me when I say I’d still be there for you again. We’ll treat it casually, for now.”
Lily swallowed loudly and nodded but didn’t seem relieved by his words. She almost seemed disappointed as she got up from the table and reached for a mug from the cupboard by the coffeemaker.
Two hours later, Clay was sitting at his workbench when Lily came in through the back door. “I
finished my to-do list. Everyone I needed to call has been called.”
“Including the counselor?” Clay asked neutrally.
Lily nodded, causing her thick, dark curls to bob on her shoulders. “I set up an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. She had a cancellation and could fit me in.”
“Good.”
Tabitha pushed open the doors leading out to the showroom and said, “Lily, could I have your help please?”
“Sure, I’ll be right there,” Lily replied as she removed her coat and scarf and put her purse up.
Tabitha’s tone had hinted at her attitude, and Clay glanced at the security monitor as she returned to the showroom. Grace Warner entered the front door and made her way to the row of cases at the rear of the shop, the area they’d designated for local pickups of Internet orders. Tabitha never acknowledged her and kept her back to her the entire time. She must’ve seen Grace approaching the store and had “paged” Lily to handle her.
Clay laid the fine needle-nose pliers he’d been manipulating the silver wire with on the workbench. “Damn it, Tabitha.”
Lily stood beside him and looked at the monitor as he pointed at it and began to rise from his stool. She laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. Her touch was gentle and sure as she said, “Don’t get up. I’ll help Grace. This is the reason you have me, right?”
Clay smiled at Lily as she squeezed his shoulder and strode to the doors, humming “Mr. Know It All.” He’d observed that Lily got on well with all the customers and couldn’t understand why Tabitha treated Grace and a few select others like that.
He watched as Grace’s demeanor changed when she saw Lily. Grinning, he recalled her early assertion that Grace must be crazy for taking on three men. They’d gotten to be good friends over the past few weeks, which seemed to bug Tabitha to no end. Clay could’ve told her that Lily wasn’t just going to fall into goose step with her on all her issues.
The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 4 Page 30