Cherished by You

by Steph Nuss

  And that was the last thing I should have been thinking about, given his uninhibited state.

  “Are you going to invite me in?” he asked, his lips curling up into his signature, adorable smirk.

  I could play this two ways. One, I could invite him in and make up the couch for him so he could sleep off the booze, or two, I could invite him in and act out every scenario I’ve ever imagined doing with him and blame it on the alcohol come morning.

  If I was more sober and my libido wasn’t such a demanding bitch, I probably would’ve gone with one, but I didn’t.

  “Maybe,” I replied.

  Sliding my coat off my shoulders, I tossed it over a chair and walked back over to him. I gazed up and found dark, hooded eyes peering back at me.

  Does he want me back?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Lifting my hands, I brushed his hair out of his face and said in a soft voice, “I want to try something.”

  And then I covered his lips with mine, and the kiss that ensued was electrifying, sending every nerve in my body into a perpetual state of want. I hoisted my arms around his shoulders as his hands anxiously grabbed at my waist and hauled me up against him.

  Without breaking the kiss, I walked us back into my apartment, and he kicked the door shut behind him. He led us over to the nearest countertop in the kitchen, and then lifted me up and moved to stand between my legs as he wrapped mine around his lean waist. Dragging his tongue along the seam of my lips, he silently begged me to open, and I willingly complied, eager for more. He stroked inside me and moaned as I slowly tangled around him and sucked.

  “Tessa,” he pleaded in a soft tone.

  I ignored him and attempted to deepen the kiss, but he broke away and leaned his forehead against mine on a groan.

  “Tessa, Tessa, Tessa.” He shook his head, as if he was trying to erase the kiss from his mind. “We shouldn’t do this. We’re both drunk.”

  Cupping his face in my hands, I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and calmly encouraged him not to deny us this moment. “I don’t care. I want you.”

  He ran his hands down my sides, and his eyes traced the movement until they settled on my waist. Gripping my hips tight, he buried his head into my neck and breathed me in. “You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to do this with you. Drunk is not how I pictured it.”

  “So, we’ll sober up,” I promised, tilting my head to the right.

  Laughing, his teeth grazed the flesh of my neck and bit at me. “And how do you propose we do that?”

  “Preferably naked in the bedroom,” I replied.

  His laughter deepened, and the sound of it trembled through my body straight down to my love box. I kicked off my heels and then took his hands in mine. He peered down at me smiling and helped me off the counter. Standing with my back to his front, he moved my long brown hair over my shoulder and kissed the back of my neck. “Lead the way.”

  Once we were in my room, he shucked his jacket and took a seat on the edge of my bed, eyeing my short, pink dress.

  “Come here,” he said, in a serious tone.

  I walked over to him and his legs widened for me to stand in between them. He pulled me close by the backs of my thighs. With my hands resting on his shoulders, he proceeded to run his hands up my legs and under my dress, dragging it away from my body the further he went. When he had it up to my shoulders, I lifted my arms in the air and he gracefully discarded the dress from my body. Standing in only my pink, lace thong, insecurity settled in my stomach as his gaze landed on my bare chest.

  “No bra tonight?” he mused, appreciatively.

  “There was one built in to the dress,” I explained, looking down at my B-cups. “It’s not like I would’ve needed one anyway.”

  Running his hands from my waist to my chest, he palmed my breasts. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

  Blushing slightly, I reached for the bottom of his sweater. “And you’re still fully clothed.”

  He pressed a kiss to my sternum, and then grabbed the back of his sweater and pulled it over his head. A white t-shirt followed his sweater as I worked on unbuckling his belt. Once he was naked from the waist up, he flicked open the button on his jeans, pushed them off over his hips and then kicked them off along with his shoes and socks.

  “Commando tonight?” I asked, eyeing the size and length of him. He was just how I imagined he would be: long and thick. One look at the size of his hands and feet made a woman speculate the size of his cock, and I’d been right.

  “There were boxers built in to the jeans,” he mocked, trying his best to hold back laughter.

  “Oh, you’re a funny man now, huh?” I countered, pushing him back on the bed before jumping him.

  He caught me and settled me on top of him, my legs straddling his thighs, and I leaned down to kiss him. As our kisses deepened and tongues tangoed, our hands ran rampant, touching every inch of each other, until my hand settled around his rigid cock and began stroking him.

  The smile dropped from his face as he tilted his head back and allowed need to take over.

  “Who’s laughing now?” I asked, in a soft, teasing tone.

  His hips rocked up into me, but then he grabbed my wrist roughly mid stroke. “If you keep doing that, I’m not going to last.”

  That caught my attention. The teasing had to stop because I didn’t want this to be over within seconds. I wanted a whole night with him, even if it was just one night; I’d take it.

  “Okay,” I murmured, setting my hand on his chest.

  “But you can,” he remarked, before flipping me onto my back.

  Dazed and slightly confused, I smiled up at him. “What?”

  “You can last all night,” he explained, kneeling between my legs. He kissed my neck and then trailed kisses down my body as he continued, “It’s really not fair that women can have multiple orgasms.”

  Goosebumps broke out across my skin with the feel of his stubble and warm breath brushing up against my skin. “Is that so?”

  “Mhmm,” he said, grabbing the waistband of my panties and tugging. “Are you particularly fond of these?”

  “Of course not, I could always go—”

  The lady in the box interrupted this train of thought to bask in the wonderful feel of my panties being torn off.

  Whoa.

  Pleasure trembled through me so hard and quick, I nearly orgasmed right then and there.

  “Commando?” he questioned with a smirk, tossing the pink material over his shoulder and finishing my sentence for me.

  “Yes,” I sighed, resting my head back against a pillow. All he’d done so far was kiss me, touch me and rip ten-dollar panties off my body, and I was already out of breath.

  Justin positioned my legs over his shoulders, and then continued his onslaught of kisses by pressing his lips to the inside of my thighs and sucking on the tender flesh. He ran his fingers along my clit, playfully tugging and teasing me until I moaned an incoherent whisper about how good it felt, and then he moved southward to my opening and pushed two digits inside, causing my back to bow in a torturous ache for more. He moved with such ease and finesse around my body, it was as if he had me memorized. And maybe he did. If he had thought about this before, like I had, he already knew everything he wanted to do to me. Every touch, every kiss, every move he made was completely thought out with the sole purpose of pleasuring me. Even drunken foreplay with him was better than any sex I’d had thus far in my life.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he muttered, pumping his fingers inside of me.

  “Oh, God,” I cried, closing my eyes. Rocking hard against his hand, I felt my release spiral out of control as he beckoned me closer and closer to the irresistible chaos.

  “Tell me what you need.”

  “More,” I whimpered, running my fingers through his hair and latching on tight.

  “More what?” he asked, his mouth just centimeters from where I wanted it.

  My muscles tightened ar
ound him, so I begged. “Justin!”

  In a flash, he removed his fingers and replaced them with his mouth, kissing me in a whole other way than he had all night. His tongue licked inside me, matching the fury of pleasure his fingers delivered to my clit. The build up was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before as I cried and writhed against him until my orgasm broke from the inside out, like a rubber band stretched too far, sending me into outer space with the snap of its release, where I reveled in the glory of an euphoric lack of gravity.

  When I entered the atmosphere of my bedroom again, I found Justin rolling on a condom, and I felt like crying at the beautiful sight of his strong body hovering over mine, so determined and protective. How this night went from physical to utterly intimate was a mystery to me, but I blinked back the tears and kissed him hard in an attempt to get my emotions in check.

  Threading his fingers through mine, he pressed me into the mattress and brought his mouth to my chest where he continued paying my body the attention it so desperately craved from him. He lapped and teased the swells of my breasts with his tongue, using his teeth to bite and graze and his lips to suck my nipples into hard, swollen tips. Then he blew on them, and sensation flooded my system once again, causing a moan to slip from my lips.

  Wrapping my legs around his hips, I rocked up into him, just enough so that the tip of his cock dipped through my wetness.

  “Tessa,” he warned, looking up at me.

  “I want you with me,” I said innocently, reaching for his cock. I positioned him at my opening, and then caressed his face with my other hand. “Please.”

  With that, he gripped my hips and thrust all the way inside, and then leaned his head against mine before covering my lips with his.

  “You feel too good,” he moaned, pulling out slowly and pushing back in the same torturous manner.

  “Faster,” I said, linking my ankles together behind his back. At my request, he made his movements even slower, and playfully yawned.

  “Like this?” he asked, with his cock almost out of me.

  “Seriously!” I whined, wiggling my hips closer to him.

  He laughed and then without another word, he slammed into me hard and fast, eliciting a deep moan from me as I reveled in the feel of his smooth shaft hitting that lucky spot.

  “Too. Fucking. Good,” he repeated, enunciating each word with a hard thrust.

  “God, I know.” My hips went to work, meeting each one of his strokes that grew rougher than the last, and before I knew it, I was digging my nails into his shoulders and readying myself for another out-of-body experience.

  “Justin,” I begged, as my insides gripped him like a glove.“I’m almost—”

  “I know.” He reached down and started rubbing circles against my swollen clit.

  “That’s it!” I yelped, arching into him as my body started to quake with tremors. My orgasm erupted from me so hard and fast, it felt like my bones were shaking as I rocketed back to the heavenly place he took me before. “Oh, God. Justin!”

  Then my name fell from his lips, and he joined me, pumping into me not once, twice, but three more times before his orgasm overtook him, and he came violently, with his muscles flexed above me, appearing more handsome than I’d ever seen him before.

  He slumped against me and buried his head in my neck; the smell of sex lingered. Our bodies were slick with perspiration, our lungs still supplicating for air, but I’d never felt better in my entire life. I wished I could freeze this moment of peaceful satisfaction, so that we never had to leave it in the past.

  Justin rolled to my side and gazed over at me. His tired eyes looked like the ocean now, beautiful and blue, and right now, they were looking at me with contentment. Justin was so introverted most of the time, but tonight, I’d seen an array of emotions from him. I wondered if it was from the sex with me, or the alcohol.

  He rested a hand on my hip, and smiled. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing,” I lied, shaking my head. If he knew how often I thought about him, he’d probably run from my bedroom.

  “Liar,” he said, pulling me closer to him. “We just had sex. You can tell me anything, and I know you’re thinking about something; no one ever thinks about nothing.”

  “Yeah,” I said softly, resting my head on his shoulder. Emotion knotted in my throat as tears threatened my eyes again. Despite my feelings for him, I knew there couldn’t be more between us. He was my friend, and as introverted as he was, I knew he hated change. Tonight, we could blame the alcohol, and tomorrow, we could pretend none of this ever happened.

  “Tessa?” he asked, turning my face toward him. He noticed the tears and caressed my cheek. “Talk to me.”

  “This felt like more than sex,” I confessed, eyeing him cautiously.

  He sighed, nodding. “I know.”

  “You felt it, too?” I asked in disbelief.

  “No,” he replied solemnly, shaking his head this time. “Because this isn’t—”

  “What do you mean, no? You just said you knew.”

  Cupping my face in his hands, sadness clouded his eyes as he pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, and then whispered, “This isn’t real, Tessa.”

  “What?” I asked angrily, confused by his words. He opened his mouth to speak, but I continued, “This is too real. What I feel for you is real! The sex we just had, the orgasms you gave me, the drinks we had earlier with our friends; it’s all real!”

  “If you’d just wake up, you’d realize that this was all just a—”

  Opening my eyes, I jolted up in bed gasping for air. I could hear the sound of my heart racing in my ears as the quiet darkness of my room greeted me. The sheet was gathered around my waist, and the bed was empty on either side of me. A film of sweat covered my skin.

  Justin wasn’t here.

  It really was just a dream.

  But it felt so real.

  How is that even possible?

  Pushing the covers further down with my feet, I studied myself. My pajama shorts and cami top covered my body, which made me feel a little better knowing I wasn’t completely naked. My hair still sat in a messy bun on top of my head, only slightly looser now. My fair skin was still flushed.

  I lay back down and allowed my breathing to even out and my body to cool off. I couldn’t get past the fact that the dream—specifically the sex—had felt so incredibly real. I could still feel the touch of his hands, the softness of his lips, and the weight of his body against mine. Staring up at the ceiling, I thought about the orgasms and wondered … Did those really happen? Could a woman really come in her sleep? Twice?

  Reaching a hand inside my shorts to investigate, my eyes widened in shock as I found the cotton material of my thong totally soaked from my arousal.

  Well, that’s never happened before!

  The best sex of my life, and it was only a dream!

  Checking the time on my alarm clock, I realized I only had thirty more minutes until I needed to get up for work, so I stayed awake and thought about Justin Jameson.

  Surprise, surprise.

  I cherish each and every one of the following people for helping me share the Love in the City stories with the world. You have all impacted my writing in so many ways, and I’m truly grateful for all the hard work and encouragement you continuously throw my way.

  Beth Suit at BB Books: You’re seriously the best editor, but you’re so much more than an editor to me, and I cannot thank you enough for everything you do. Not only do you take the time to truly understand my characters and their stories, but you also believe in them as much as I do. Your encouragement and friendship means the world to me, and I thank God every day that I get to work with an editor as awesome as you.

  Aprilla the Hun aka April Faulkner: Thank you for always making the copyediting process so stress-free! Copyediting a book isn’t a job to you. It’s an opportunity to experience a story before anyone else and make it the best it can be, and I love that you seize that opportunity with eve
ry story I write. Thank you for always giving me your best, and for shaping my work into tip-top condition!

  Brenda Wright at Formatting Done Wright: Your efficiency in formatting a book to perfection is topnotch! I thank you for being so reliable, and for always turning my stories into beautiful masterpieces.

  Michelle Preast at IndieBookCovers: This cover is my favorite out of all the Love in the City covers. I know the teal was hard to work with, especially since we didn’t want the couple looking like the Hulk, but being the talented graphic designer you are, you took the time to get it just right, and I appreciate that. You’re simply a dream to work with, and I thank you for always making my book cover dreams come true!

  Nuss’ Navy: You’re truly the best fans! Thank you for all the encouragement you always give while I’m writing. Having a place where I can go and talk about my characters with others who enjoy them is so much fun; I hope you enjoy the group as much as I do. Thank you for always being eager for more from my Love in the City gang. I promise we have so much more to share with you! When I write a sexy, cute, or hilarious line, I immediately want to share it with you guys. Thank you for always respecting my work and my mission in Nuss’ Navy to never put down anyone in this industry whether it be the writer, the publisher or your fellow readers. You’re the best group of sailors a girl could ask for, and I thank you for anchoring your hearts to my books.

  Book Bloggers: To all of you who have helped spread the word about my books, thank you, thank you, thank you! I know it’s hard to run a blog, and it still blows my mind that most of you do it for free. You should probably be making thousands by now. But seriously, thank you for generously sharing your love of reading with others. Your posts, your reviews, your awesome teaser graphics do not go unnoticed, and I appreciate all your hard work and everything you do to support the writing industry. I know that type of passion as an avid reader myself, and I thank you for channeling it through your book blogs to share with the world. You’re an imperative part of this industry, whether you’re a big or small blog, all of you make an impact. We writers need you as much as you need our next book; may we never forget that!