Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
“There, there. Jesus.” Xavier, on his back, fingers pressing into May’s thick, glorious thighs, wedged his back teeth together and prayed he didn’t come too soon.
It’d been her idea to push him onto his back after he’d tasted her again. He hadn’t been ready to stop. By his count, she’d had three orgasms, but he was greedy and wanted to wring as many as he possibly could from her.
Now, though, it was hard to concentrate on anything apart from her riding him. The way he fit inside of her made him want to write poetry. He was a math guy—the fuck did he know about poetry? She sank back down and took him in again, her breasts swaying mere inches above his mouth…
Jesus.
“Almost,” she breathed. Her eyebrows were pinched over her nose, her eyes closed as if she was concentrating. “Almost, almost.”
Yes. Another orgasm he could claim for his count.
He lifted his knees to anchor her with his legs and pulled her onto him as he raised his hips to meet her. He did it a second time and a third, and then he found his reward.
She arched her neck and shouted his name. His release ricocheted through him, pinning his back to the bed and forcing his eyes closed. He came with her, reveling in the feel of her undulating over him, clamping down onto him—
It was fucking epic.
His mind slowly descended, swirling down, down, down as his body buzzed. Condom this time, he’d remembered. An incredible feat for him, apparently. When it came to May, he could hardly think of anything except pleasing her, being inside of her, making her shout his name.
She was so easy to be around, it was insane.
That their sexual chemistry was this spot-on was an improbability, but here they were.
Their friendship had been an easy one. His only issue over the last three years was not being able to touch her or kiss her.
When they’d crossed that line last weekend, and given the alarming aftermath, he’d had the fleeting thought that he might have blown it.
Then tonight, when she’d been in his bar by his side and sipping mocktails in an outfit that had him thinking of nothing other than what she looked like underneath it, he realized how wrong he’d been. They were navigating friendship and sex like pros.
She slipped off him, taking all thought from his head. He knifed up to meet her, instantly lamenting losing her heat—inevitable. He kissed her in an attempt to put it off as long as possible. She assuaged him by lingering, her lips sliding over his in a rhythm that had him growing hard again.
“You smell good,” she whispered, her voice husky.
“You taste good.” Understatement. She tasted like heaven.
Their smiles faded as they recommitted to kissing. They took their time, slowly tracing each other’s lips with their tongues for a few mind-exploding minutes. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and hummed.
“We’re good at this,” she said. “I worried the first time might have been luck.”
“I consider myself very lucky that there was a first and a second time.” He grinned when she laughed. “But you’re the It factor.”
“I’m not sure about that. Could be both of us.” She idly ruffled his hair.
“That, May Glenfield, is a safe bet.” He bent his head and took one nipple onto his tongue for a sweet kiss. Then he rubbed his beard against it and muttered, “I loved the corset.”
“You’re always so complimentary.” She shuddered, which meant his work wasn’t done tonight. He didn’t mind pulling a double. Another round sounded fucking great.
Hands still in his hair, she twisted the strands when he lazily kissed her other nipple. Whatever she wanted to do to him, he was all for.
“Are you tired?” she asked.
“Hell, no,” he answered. Which wasn’t the full truth. As turned on as he was by her, his body was growing heavier by the moment.
“Really?” She tugged his hair until his head tilted back. When she had his eyes, she said, “I am, and I can’t even blame my drink since there was no drink in it. Which was considerate of you, by the way.”
“Complimentary. Considerate. You’re making me sound like a hotel.”
“Oh, no!” She laughed. “I don’t mean it that way.”
He wove his fingers at her back, keeping his head tilted to take in more of her. The moonlight streaming through the skylight gave her face a dewy glow. It was like he’d been bedded by an ethereal goddess.
“What I meant to say…” She rolled her eyes to the skylight while she thought, then snapped her gaze to him. “I meant to say that you are hard in all the right places. From your biceps to your pecs to your abs to your cock.”
A particular part of his anatomy gave a peppy jerk. He was ready to go again.
This woman.
She gave him the most innocent look he’d ever seen. “I would never say that about a hotel.”
He rolled them so that she was beneath him, gave her a deep kiss she wouldn’t soon forget, and then told her, “I’m coming back in ten seconds. And then we’ll see about that fifth orgasm.”
“Fifth?” she called as he hustled for the door. “You counted?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Now get ready.”
“Seven,” Xavier repeated for the third time. “Damn, I’m good.”
His head was on his pillow but turned to the side to face her, a cocky glint in his eyes.
“Yes, yes. You are a sex god.” She hugged her pillow and rolled toward him. “Is that what you’re waiting to hear?
“I already knew that. But yeah, it’s nice to hear.
” He gave her a fast kiss, his lips grazing her teeth since she was laughing.
He moved the pillow, scooped her close to him, and rested one hand on the swell of her hip.
Her skin warmed everywhere she touched him.
Her attention wandered down their naked bodies, taking in the contrast of curves and edges.
Light and dark. Where they met and where they fit. A beautiful sight…
After a few silent moments of absently running her fingernails through his chest hair, her mind wandered to tonight. Earlier with their friends and then to their unexpected guest.
“Your brother seems nice,” she heard herself say.
“That was an abrupt subject change.”
“I was remembering kissing you in the living room and being interrupted. I have a still frame in my mind of Lynx eating Froot Loops, a drip of milk sliding down his chin. I think we startled him.”
“He broke into my house and stole my comic book collection. And you think he’s nice? I find him annoying.”
“Being annoyed is a sign of familial love.”
He raised an eyebrow in disbelief, which also made him look sexy and cunning. And now she was considering climbing on top of him again. She briefly shut her eyes to gather her senses. Had she ever been this sexually attracted to anyone?
Never. Xavier had outperformed everyone in her past.
“Considering my family dynamics, annoyance is a sign of unconditional familial love.” Something she hadn’t experienced since her mother passed.
He fell quiet, his hand on her hip sliding up and down and leaving goosebumps in its wake. When she didn’t say more, he prompted her with, “You can talk about it. I don’t mind.”
“There’s not much to tell.” She shrugged one shoulder, not wanting to burden him.
The only friend she’d talked to at length about her family was Lisa, but that was because Lisa was as committed to finding the truth as a pig was a truffle.
Since that was a direct quote from her, May was okay with the comparison.
But the longer Xavier watched her, earnestly, openly, the more she wanted to share. He was a great listener—a skill that must have come with being a bartender. And he wasn’t judgmental. He also didn’t overreact, as he’d proved when he came with her to the wedding.
With her next breath, she relented.
“My mom worked at a salon. One day, as she was leaving work, a car blew through a stop sign and hit her on the crosswalk outside of the salon.”
He winced, on cue.
“Dad and I rushed out of our respective workplaces and met at the ICU. By the time I arrived, he was in the waiting room wearing an empty-eyed stare.”
She’d never forget it. He’d looked like a husk that used to hold her father.
“When the doctor told us that she was stable but in a coma, my father broke down. I went to him, crying, but he wouldn’t hug me. He wouldn’t touch me.” Tears pooled in her eyes now. That had been the beginning of the end. She’d never before or since witnessed someone shutting down so completely.
As if sensing the sudden chill that had descended, Xavier pulled the blanket at their feet up and over her body. He tucked her close and then propped his head on his hand and waited.
“She held on for two more days,” May continued, her voice barely above a whisper. “I wasn’t there when she died. I was at work. She died alone. Just like that, she was gone forever.”
Empathy bent his eyebrows and pulled at the corners of his mouth. Sorrow wasn’t a look she’d seen on him before now. It transformed him from sexy bartender to something…more. Something she wasn’t sure she was ready to experience.
“My dad never came back from losing her. I planned the funeral. He barely spoke. Barely ate. He withered, right in front of me. And when I thought he might finally start to come back…” She swallowed. “I went to his house one day, and the movers were there. No warning. He was just…gone.”
She dabbed her eyes, taking comfort in Xavier’s silent stoicism.
“And what about your mom’s side of the family?” he asked after a beat.
She shook her head. “My mom moved to the States for school and ended up staying here. Met my dad, got married, had a baby. Her relationship with her family faded over time. Distance. Different priorities. They weren’t close. I never really knew them.”
“And your dad’s side?”
“His family wasn’t close either. It wasn’t a leap for them to stop calling after she passed. I’ve barely heard from any of them.” She exhaled slowly. “I was closest with my mom growing up. So when she died… I was alone.”
There it was: the truth. She’d shared way more than she’d intended. And now the entire sordid, ugly, scary, tragic, horrific, depressing tale was floating around Xavier’s bedroom like a heavy perfume. The weight of it was impossible to ignore.
“I mean, I have friends,” she added quickly. “Lots of friends. Coworkers too. I’m not always sad and lonely. Just…you know, around the holidays.” She offered a wan smile. “I have Lisa and Lou. Elliott’s been a nice addition. Jewell.”
“Me,” Xavier said, his voice steady.
She met his unwavering gaze.
“Whatever happens, you’ve got me. I’d do anything for you. Okay?”
She nodded, unsure what she was agreeing to. Anything was a big word. And she knew better than most how easily promises could be broken. Maybe he was just trying to comfort her in the moment, which, honestly, was enough.
She sniffed, then tipped her head toward him. “Okay. Your turn.”
“My turn for what?” He raised one russet eyebrow.
“Tell me something awful from your past.” Hoping to salvage the evening from the Pit of Despair, she managed a faint smile. “Fair’s fair.”
He let out a slow breath. “You’ve won the trauma trophy. Hands down. Not sure I can top that.”
“Come on. There has to be something shitty in your past you’d like to divulge.”
“One thing comes to mind. And it involves an ex.” He lay back on the pillow, and she mirrored him. It was as if her story had weighed them both down.
“She cheated on me with my boss-slash-friend. Caught them at work, and I didn’t punch either of them, which I count as a personal win.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“Don’t be. That was why I left Columbus for Evergreen Cove. Look at me now.” He held up an arm to gesture at his room. “I live in a mansion. I own a bar. I am sleeping with the most gorgeous woman in the world.”
She poked his abs. He caught her hand and kept hold of it, running his thumb along her knuckles.
“It hurt,” he admitted, his voice quieter now. “Not because she was the one or anything. But because I let her in. I let her close. And she broke that trust like it meant nothing.”
May gave him the same steady presence he’d offered her earlier. Quiet. Compassionate.
“I used to be like Lynx,” he went on. “Dates, hookups, no attachments. But I was never a liar. Never a cheater. And the fact that she couldn’t be honest with me—wouldn’t give me the chance to walk away with a shred of dignity—that fucked me up the most.”
He hazarded a glance at her, the weight of that memory flickering behind his eyes. “I had a rule too. Like your no-hot-men policy.”
“No lying cheaters?” She smiled.
He smiled back. “Stick to casual. Short term. No strings. I’m always upfront about that.” He diverted his gaze and, with a subtle shake of his head, said, “At least, I was before you.”
Her heart mule-kicked her ribcage.
“You’re a singular experience, May.” His affable charm snapped back into place. “Don’t panic. I bent my rule. I didn’t break it.”
“I am fairly certain my rule is shattered.”
“Yeah.” He cupped her breast. She felt her body going pliant already. “But you aren’t going to be in so deep that you’re obligated to my family. I won’t have future you wrestling with the decision to go to my brother’s wedding.”
“An unlikely scenario.”
“Him getting married?” Xavier scoffed. “Absolutely the least likely possibility.”
The heaviness in the room lifted a little, like they’d both exhaled the past to make room for something lighter.
“Second least likely is you?” she teased.
He didn’t offer a dismissive smile. Instead, he tilted his head and gave her a slow, thoughtful nod.
Not quite a yes.
But it might’ve been a maybe.