Chapter Eighteen
Esther
Sex with Theo was at once overwhelming and comforting, like I’d finally found a place where I could set myself free and still come back together again afterward. Somehow, he managed to be the perfect combination of demanding and endlessly accommodating.
And his stamina—well. No complaints there.
Though he teased me for once again losing count of the orgasms he doled out like candy on Halloween, it was impossible to keep track of the pleasure.
He made me feel not like I’d been living under a rock, but like I was free to explore, and explore we did.
Positions I’d only read about in romance novels were presented for my choosing, and even if we tried more than I’d ever dreamed possible, he paid close attention to my response to each and every one.
When we rolled out of bed to eat a slapdash dinner, he pulled on his jeans but stayed shirtless, which I appreciated immensely. The dark hair on his chest did nothing to hide the muscles underneath, sculpted and bronzed and, as I’d learned, definitely not just for show.
Once I tied the belt of a satin robe around my waist, I ran my hands over his skin for the sheer joy of the contrasting textures, all wiry curls and warm skin. I sighed with pleasure and he laughed softly.
“Come on, you. We need some food if we’re going to keep this up,” he teased, clasping my hands and kissing them in turn.
I smirked up at him. “Right. Food. Let’s go.”
Dinner was only the briefest of interludes, then Theo put his renewed energy to good use until we collapsed into a heap of exhaustion. With his fingers sifting through my hair, I realized I was hovering at the edge of sleep.
“Will you stay?” I mumbled into his bare skin.
“As long as I won’t be punished for breaking your rules.”
I huffed a laugh. “Rules, shmools. Sleepovers are hereby allowed by royal decree.”
“Good,” he said, kissing the top of my head as he pulled the blanket over us. “Now get some sleep.”
I awoke at some point during the night, disoriented by the feeling of his big, warm body beside me. When I shifted, he tugged me into his arms, brushed his lips over my hair, and ran a reassuring hand up and down my back until I drifted off again.
Pale sunlight streamed through the windows, shimmering off the curtains, when I woke up in the morning.
Theo’s arms were still wrapped around me, clutching me to his chest like a favorite teddy bear.
I stretched as much as I could, but I froze when I inadvertently rubbed against his impressive erection.
Theo made a sleepy sound in my ear. “Again, you insatiable woman?”
I lifted my head to look at the greatly depleted supply of condoms, finding only one left on the bedside table.
“Just thought we might as well finish this off with a bang,” I joked, causing him to snort a laugh against my hair.
“You’ll have to restock after that. I’m sure the town will be very excited about your purchase. ”
“Oh, Christ,” he muttered. “I’ll drive into the next town. Wear a disguise. Bribe a teenager outside of the gas station to run in for me.”
Laughing at his horrified tone, I leaned over and grabbed the last packet. We both watched as I reached down to stroke him first, admiring the way that velvet hardness leapt against my hand. While my fingertips grazed the underside of his crown, I leaned over to nip his jaw.
“I’ll make it worth your while,” I promised, then rolled the condom slowly down his cock. I shoved him onto his back and straddled his hips. “Do we have a deal?”
Theo groaned quietly. “God, yes. I’m at your mercy.”
This was new, this powerful woman who’d been hidden somewhere deep inside me, the kind of woman who took charge, who played an equal role in the bedroom.
And it was glorious.
I held his gaze as I sank slowly downward, watching his eyes darken to a rich coffee brown as I drew him deeper.
When he was fully sheathed within me, I paused, tilting my head back at the sheer pleasure of it.
His hands were tight on my hips and, fuck, I’d never criticize those curves again, not as long as I could remember the feel of his clinging fingers holding me right there, tight against him.
“Esther,” he said hoarsely, but that was all.
When I lifted up again on my knees, dragging along his length, he groaned again and dropped his head back onto the pillows.
I ran my palms up his stomach, over his chest, across his shoulders.
The muscles rippled under my hands, his expression stark and intense as I kept every rise and fall to the same slow, infuriating pace.
It was only when I bit my lip to hide a smile that he realized I was doing it on purpose, goading him into action.
“You little minx,” he growled.
Sitting up suddenly, he wrapped his arms around my lower back to keep me from toppling off of him and resumed the same sensual torture he’d been inflicting on my breasts the night before.
I gasped at the heat of his mouth, the pulse of sensation as he tugged at my nipple, the way he pressed upward into me, not faster but harder.
I didn’t notice he had moved one arm until his thumb brushed between us, circling my clit with measured precision.
Within seconds, I shattered, my back bowing over the steely band of his forearm.
For a second, he stilled, letting the waves of release sweep through me as I caught my breath, then he rolled us over and grinned down at me.
I laughed breathlessly, but it morphed into a moan when he drew my knee up past his hip and thrust deep.
“Oh, god. Yes. There.”
The words slipped past my lips, barely coherent, but he heard them and growled against my throat. “You like that, do you?” he asked, nuzzling his nose along my jaw. “You feel so fucking perfect around me.”
Whether it was the new angle, the words, or the husky roughness of his voice in my ear, it didn’t take long before I was barreling toward another orgasm, whimpering and writhing underneath him.
He rose up onto his knees, braced his hands on either side of my shoulders, and watched my face with a concentration that normally would have made me self-conscious.
From Theo, it felt like a caress, like a gift—his eagerness to see my pleasure was as baffling as it was beautiful.
When the climax burst through me with shuddering intensity, he thrust hard one final time and followed me over the edge.
From my haze of pleasure, I watched him reluctantly pull out to throw away the condom, then he was drawing me into his arms, his heart beating wildly under my ear as our skin cooled.
I must have dozed off again, because when I blinked my eyes open, the room seemed brighter than before. Theo’s fingers threaded lightly through my hair, lifting the strands off my back before letting them fall again.
Everything about him was so different from Steve, it was like I’d entered a new reality altogether. Considerate, sweet, dedicated to my pleasure in a way I’d never experienced—I let the beauty of it wash over my body, languid and peaceful.
If not for the dwindling hours between now and the tree lighting this weekend, I would have gladly stayed right there all day long.
As I rolled onto my back, I groaned quietly at the pleasant ache suffusing my limbs. “I don’t think I can move,” I grumbled, causing Theo to laugh and tickle my ribs.
“Unfortunately, I’ll need to run home to feed Queen Toni her breakfast,” he said as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
He glanced back at me over his shoulder and grinned.
“And put together my disguise for condom shopping, I suppose. What do you need to get done today and how can I help?”
I flung one arm across my eyes as I thought through my to-do list. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I’ll probably get more done without you here to distract me,” I said, hoping the truth wouldn’t offend him.
Theo circled the bed and dropped a kiss to the center of my chest. “Then I’ll go stock up and stay out of your way for a while. Can I pick up dinner for you, maybe? I can’t imagine you feel like cooking after baking all day long.”
“That would be heavenly.” I plopped my arm back onto the bed to smile up at him.
“Text me what you want and whatever allergy instructions I need to give them,” he said as he leaned down to kiss me for real.
A rush of affection washed over me as I nodded, caught him in a more lingering kiss goodbye, and watched him dress to return home. He ordered me to stay in bed rather than walking him out, so I lay there, listening to his footsteps and the sound of the door closing behind him.
This is temporary, I told myself, but my body didn’t care about that. Every nerve ending inside me was still dancing, buzzing with pleasure. I could lie here all day, floating through the memory of every incredible moment with Theo.
No, you can’t.
I had preparations to get through and I’d be damned if I lost sight of everything I’d worked for just because a man with magic hands came into my life. I rolled out of bed, trudged to the shower, and reminded myself—again—that this fling had an expiration date.
Unfortunately, while my mind understood it, the rest of my body seemed content to remain in blissful ignorance of that fact.