32. Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-two
Shira
Roman had been watching me ever since I woke up from my accidental nap in his nursery. Adrian had gone home, most of my cookies had been eaten, and the crib and changing table were all put together.
He’d planted me on a stool at the island in his kitchen while he made us dinner then fed me his delicious cooking. While he cleaned up, he kept an eye on me, even though all I was doing was lapping up the luxurious treatment he was giving me.
“You know, there was a reason I came over today, and it wasn’t just to give you cookies.” I rested my chin on my fists. “Kit emailed me the pictures of two houses our builders just finished rehabbing. We’re going to give them to two families next week. We’ll get to be there when they do their first walk-through. Kit’s done this several times, and she said it never gets old. I’m giddy. I don’t think the day can come soon enough. The kids will be there too, Rome. They’ll get to have their own rooms and their forever home.”
He shut off the water at the sink and picked up a towel to dry his hands while circling to my side of the island. Once he reached me, he dropped the towel and hooked my nape with his palm.
“Your cheeks get pink when you’re excited.” He dragged a finger along my cheek, his mouth curving into a hint of a smile. “Wish I could be there with you to watch. That sounds like it’s going to be an incredible experience all around.”
“You could come if you want to. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem.”
He exhaled, his shoulders rolling forward. “I would love that, but Nate and I are flying out to Chicago on Sunday to meet with Vantage Health. We’ve been in talks with several companies for some time now, but they’re the most serious about merging with GoldMed.”
Disappointment settled over me heavily. “You’re leaving town?”
“I am, but I’m going to try to make my time there as short as possible. Decisions need to be made about GoldMed, and I’d like it to be settled before you have the baby. Obviously, I won’t be traveling for a while after this, so I have to make this trip worth it in every sense.”
We’d avoided the topic of GoldMed for the most part, except for a few mentions here and there. I wasn’t surprised Roman had sought out an interested buyer. He’d put months into turning GoldMed around, but I’d known, from my experience at the head of the company and spending years in the background before that, it might not have been possible. I believed Roman had done what he could and had to move in a different direction while looking out for his investment. So, I wasn’t disappointed about a potential merger, but the ramifications of that were difficult to swallow.
“I hope you’ll find a way to treat GoldMed’s employees fairly,” I said softly.
“That will be part of the discussion,” he assured me. “I am aware most will not want to relocate to Chicago, but I would like to be able to offer that option.”
His forehead fell to mine. “This is the hard part. I don’t like seeing anyone out of a job, let alone the sheer number GoldMed employs. No matter what happens, we will work to give everyone decent severance packages. It’s all going to be folded into the negotiations in Chicago.”
“Good.” I gingerly put my hands on his sides, though I’d rather have wrapped them all the way around him. Even after all the time we’d spent together and what we’d been through, I was still shy and unsure about what he wanted from me. “Take all the time you need in Chicago so you can get that. Beanie and I will be fine. I’m sure Bea can take over your litter duties.”
He lifted his head, the corner of his mouth hitching. “I’ve already recruited Ben and Adrian. You’ll be taken care of while I’m gone, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be in a rush to get back. We only have a few more weeks to enjoy your pregnancy. I’m not going to miss that.”
While I searched for a response to that utterly lovely statement, Roman took the lead, pressing his lips to mine. Then he cleared my mind with the sweep of his tongue between my lips and his palm on my breast. His lips were hot, and his kiss deep and thorough, taking my breath away. This man had the key to working me up in five seconds flat. It was like magic.
I was whimpering by the time he pulled back, staring down at me with flames in his gaze.
“Do you want to play with me, Shira?” he asked.
“Play?” My head tilted in confusion. “What do you mean?”
He touched my hand, still loose at his side. “I mean, when we’re together, I feel you hesitating to put your hands on me, and I would love nothing more than to feel you all over me. I want you to feel comfortable to explore. Do you want to let me help you get there? Do you want to play with me?”
Swallowing hard, I nodded once. “I do.”
He took my hand in his and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go to my bedroom. I’ll show you what I have in mind.”
My pussy was so wet arousal had seeped to my inner thighs.
Roman was naked, lying in the center of his bed, wearing a blindfold. His body was simply astounding. Every part of him was massive, from his thighs to his thick trunk to his heavy cock resting swollen on his belly. The muscles he’d earned from years as a professional athlete were still present but softened now that he spent more time behind a desk. I liked that. I liked every inch of him.
He’d given me my own personal playground and the room to play on it without worrying about having his watchful eyes on me. He’d told me nothing was off limits. All he wanted was for me to really touch him. The problem was I didn’t know where to start.
Kneeling on the mattress next to his feet, I dragged my finger along his shin. The moment I made contact, he jerked and groaned.
His reaction emboldened me. Crawling up his leg, I dipped to kiss different spots and rub my cheek against his dark hair.
Nerves fluttered through me. This was an endeavor I’d never let myself fantasize about. I had no map for how to move forward. All I knew was I wanted to do this. My fingers tingled with the anticipation of getting to know every inch of Roman’s flesh.
I moved, roving over the length of his legs, one then the other. I crawled past his cock, saving it for later, and dragged my nose along the ridge in the center of his abdomen.
“You smell like a meadow.” I inhaled his scent and sighed. “I love how you smell.”
His mouth tipped. “I’ll be sure to stock up on this soap.”
I splayed my palm on his chest, and the rat-tat-tat of his heart made me gasp. Was he nervous too? How could that be?
I moved my hand to kiss him there then up to the crook of his neck. “Even better here.”
“Hmmm.” His hum vibrated my lips, reminding me of room ten. I loved his hum even more than his scent.
I kissed him there again and nuzzled my lips against his pulse while my hands glided over his chest. My nails caught on his beaded nipples, eliciting a sharp inhale from him. I did it again and received the same reaction. That was a good spot for him. Retreating down his body, I used my mouth. I’d never done this before, but I flicked my tongue against his nipple the same way he did mine and watched his hands clench the sheets beneath them.
“Good?”
“Hell yes,” he answered, so effusive, I believed him completely.
I continued my exploration, crawling over and around him. Burying my face in his armpit and licking a line down his flank. Suckling his hip, tugging on the nest of hair around his cock. I rubbed the tops of his thighs then kneeled between them. My belly made it harder to position myself how I wanted, but I worked around it.
I trailed my fingertip along the seam of his sac to the underside.
Then lower.
“Is this okay?” I asked.
He moved his legs a little farther apart. “Anything you want to touch is yours, Shira.”
“I want to touch everything,” I whispered.
“Please do, baby.”
I cupped his balls in my palm, caressing them while teasing him below with my other hand. His abs rippled, and bursts of breath escaped his lips. I wanted more from him, to see him writhe the same way he made me. Shifting on all fours, using his strong legs for balance, I lowered my mouth over him. I lapped at his sac and sucked as much of it as I could into my mouth.
When I moved lower still, licking the sensitive path to his valley and back up again, his fists jerked the sheets, and a feeling of power thrummed in my veins. Making this massive man shake was a feat, and I was doing it. The muscles in his thighs were trembling from his effort to force them to remain still.
To give him a small dose of relief, I reached up and circled my fingers around his length, slowly pumping as I continued my exploration.
“Jesus, Goldie. Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, what are you doing to me?” he gritted out.
It was so good. He tasted fresh and hot on my tongue, his cock like silk in my palm. Impossibly hard, thick and pulsing. I longed for it, wanted it, but it would wait. I couldn’t squander this opportunity, and I wasn’t finished with him. Not yet.
I crawled up him, kissing him along the way until my breasts hung over his cock. The problem was, I couldn’t figure out how to squeeze them around him and balance myself.
“I need your help, Rome. Give me your hands.” He immediately complied, and I placed his huge hands on the sides of my breasts. “There. Perfect. Now push them together.”
Once he did, burying his cock between them, I rocked back and forth, fucking him with my breasts. For a moment, I got lost in watching how beautiful it looked, my soft enveloping his hard. Plush against steel. It was like we belonged, carnal and sexy, a match in opposites.
“God, Shira. You have to do this again when I can see. I know it’s the hottest thing.”
“It is,” I told him, emboldened by his praise. “Your cock is huge, but it’s getting lost between my tits.”
He practically whimpered. “Baby, I like when you give me filthy words with your sweet mouth. You’re killing me.”
I slid my hand over his torso until I reached his nipple, rolling it between my fingers. He groaned, his hips arching into me. I’d never seen him this way. Panting for me, squirming, wanting. I’d been holding back by not giving in to my desire to touch him the way he touched me, and this desperation was the result. Roman had been needing this from me, and I hadn’t given it to him.
To make up for my poor neglect, I gave him more until the movement of his hips became consistent and my pussy was a messy, pulsing thing I could no longer ignore.
“Rome.” I climbed astride him, holding his cock between my pussy lips and sliding back and forth. I was so incredibly slick it took no effort to move over him. “You can touch me too now. Put your hands on me, but keep the blindfold on.”
This time, I wanted to watch him while we fucked, but I didn’t think I was ready to have his eyes on me. Just once, I’d take this chance to let loose without my insecurities stopping me from enjoying every last second.
With a heaving breath, Roman vaulted toward me, knifing upright to surround me with his arms and latch onto my neck with his lips. His desire for me was unbound, and it spurred me on even more, rocking on the thick head of his cock over and over. So good on my clit. Just right. He made my limbs feel like they were unattached, shaking somewhere in the ether.
“Wim,” I panted, pushing down harder, seeking that delicious friction. “Yes, baby, yes.”
“You got it. Keep going,” he urged.
I did. I ground my pussy on him until I exploded, my head falling back to cry to the rafters. I felt him shaking beneath me, arching into me urgently but not taking what I hadn’t given yet. His restraint turned me on further, making me needy for him all over again. After I regained the use of my limbs, I took him inside in a smooth slide.
I pushed on his shoulders. “Lean back. Let me be the one to fuck you.”
He fell against the headboard, handing complete control over to me. “Filthy mouth,” he murmured. “Too sweet, baby. I’m not going to last long. Warning you now.”
The new shape of my body was unwieldy, so it took some patience to find my rhythm, but when I did, I fell into it, riding his cock with sureness.
“You don’t have to last long. Just long enough.”
A burst of energy and confidence rocketed through me. Undoing this man turned me on in a way I hadn’t expected. Making him mew and whimper sent me on a power trip. All I wanted was to elicit that response again and again.
I rode him, putting my mouth on the parts of him I could reach. I let my hands rove over the broad planes of his chest, soaking up the feel of his skin on mine. It was intoxicating to have free roam of such a huge, powerful man without any worry of doing the wrong thing. He was melting beneath me, making it potently clear everything I was doing was just right.
I brought his hands to my breasts, where I knew he’d want them. “You can move if you want to. You can touch me.”
His groan was deep and pained as he leaned forward to take my nipple into his mouth. Opening wide, he wrapped his lips around my breast and suckled as much as he could fit. I loved how he did this, how he was a glutton for my tits, stuffing himself full and still wanting more. Watching him now, blindfolded, lapping and sucking with wild need…liquid heat spilled between my thighs, and my inner walls clasped his length, pulling him deeper.
We went on like that, touching, fucking, tasting, grappling. It became frantic, our hands and mouths greedy for more, until he was rutting into me from below and all I could do was hang on to his shoulders.
At the last moment, as we were tumbling faster and faster toward the edge, I wanted more. Not just this physical explosion but a connection that went beyond. Ripping his blindfold off, I held his startled eyes.
“Shira,” he rasped. “Oh god, Shira.”
“Yes.” It took everything in me not to look away and sever this raw, visceral bond stretching from me to him and back again. “Yes, Rome.”
His brown eyes went soft on me, never leaving mine. Not even when climax struck us like a lightning bolt, electricity passing back and forth between us. Holding my gaze, he cupped the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair, and filled me to the brim with his pleasure. My heart cracked, letting the feelings I’d successfully kept at bay flood in and drown me.
I would not put a name to them. If I did, they would bloom into something bigger than I could keep inside, and that wasn’t a possibility. We were friends, and we did this, and that was good. More than good. Roman wanted to take care of me, and this, what we were doing here, was part of that. I couldn’t lose what we had by turning it into something more in my mind.
I knew my limits, and they didn’t include getting to keep this beautiful man as mine. He was my friend, the father of my baby, but he wasn’t mine.
He pulled me down on his chest, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “That was incredible.”
I let my eyes flutter closed. “Yeah, it was. Thank you for letting me play.”
He chuckled. “I think I should be thanking you, baby. I got the most out of it.”
“Yet I came twice.”
“You did, but I got to have your mouth all over me.” He palmed my ass and gave it a squeeze. “I’m gonna need some more of that now that I’ve had it.”
I trailed my fingertips over the soft definition of his pecs, something I’d been too unsure to do until now. “Soon, I’m going to be too big to crawl all over you. You won’t want me to anyway.”
He slid his palm over my belly and rested it on the fullest part. “If you can’t crawl, I’ll move you. As long as you want to fuck, I’m going to want it too. I’m crazy attracted to you, and your getting bigger with our baby has only deepened that. You give me this body, I will fucking worship it, Shira. Got it?”
I nodded, my eyes clamped tight. “I got it.”
He tipped his head down to put his lips close to my ear. “Don’t forget it. Not even for a second.”
I wouldn’t be able to. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. No one had ever touched me reverently or cared for me the way Roman did. I wouldn’t be able to forget any of that.
That was the problem.