33. Then
THIRTY-THREE
then
Ella came apart in my arms, moaning my name. I held her against my side, pressing my forehead to hers as she ground against my hand. Even though I’d just been inside her an hour before, she was so wet and hot that I thought I might lose my mind if I didn’t get to push into her again.
We’d already fucked on the dining table in the Tiffany Suite’s main living space.
It was quicker than I wanted, but I had no hope of longevity. When she threw herself into my arms, it was all I could do to strip off her dress before I s et her on the lacquered white surface and sink myself into her.
I couldn’t resist her. Not when she looked at me like I hung the moon in the sky. Not while I couldn’t breathe because I wanted her more than I wanted air.
I didn’t even manage to remove her panties or my pants. An oversight I remedied after carrying her to the suite’s huge tub and turning on the tap.
I held her in the bath, skimming my hands over her flawless skin while we relaxed. Neither of us had much to say, but the silence didn’t bother me. With Ellie’s naked back against my bare chest, her soft hair in a sloppy bun that brushed my cheek every time she tipped her head back to smile at me… I’d never been so content.
We wound up in the Tiffany Suite’s wide, white bed. Soft bedside lamps haloed Ella’s profile, turning her into an erotic silhouette I had no prayer of resisting. It wasn’t long before I gathered her into my side and started skimming my hands over her again.
I watched her features shudder and then soften in release. God. She truly was so beautiful it hurt . A painful knot welled in my throat, leaving my voice hoarse while I murmured her name.
“Ella.”
Her sapphire eyes blinked open, full of smoky sensuality. They flickered down to my erection, taking on a determined gleam. She settled between my legs and ran her slender fingers over my hips until my body jerked forward, desperate to slip between her perfect, peach lips.
If she intended to torment me, she did an admirable job. Instead of giving in immediately, she situated herself on her knees, flashing a brief but incredible view of her full breasts, her nipples standing at attention.
I was about to lunge up and haul her on top of me when she bent forward, lifting her ass as she sucked my raging cock into her mouth .
Jesus. Fuck .
The hands I lifted to grab her shoulders landed on her head instead, sifting through her messy blonde bun while she took me into the back of her throat. A growl ripped from my chest. My hips circled, impatient for another orgasm.
But that would mean forgoing the glory of filling her pussy.
“Baby,” I muttered, gently pulling at her roots. “I want to be inside you.”
Ellie hummed, then doubled down, fitting her fist and her mouth around my entire dick. She sucked hard, clamping her lips around my length and pulling all the way up to the throbbing head.
My body bucked from the bed. A ragged sound sloughed up my throat. I wasn’t going to make it through another draw like that.
“Ellie,” I tried again, my fingers straining against her scalp. “Be a good girl and come up here.”
Tender amusement lit her blue eyes while she looked up the length of my torso. An irresistible blend of seductress and supplicant, she taunted every dominant, masculine instinct I had while somehow sending a rush of warmth through me.
Reeling from the overwhelming rush of emotion, I snapped. One need supplanted all else.
“Enough.”
Ellie gasped as I snatched her up and pinned her to my heaving chest, cupping a hand around her face. “You’re too good at that,” I scolded softly. “And I want us to be?—”
One .
I didn’t say it. Couldn’t say it. But it settled somewhere in my center, crushing me while it shoved the breath from my lungs.
Ella watched my face for a long moment, then reached over to hold my cheeks the same way I held hers. “Gray…” she whispered, infusing my name with feeling.
Her blue eyes burned into mine, returning every emotion I couldn’t express. Then , suddenly, they sharpened. “I want to try something.”
Instead of shimmying down to hover over me, she rolled and fell onto her back halfway across the bed. My body tensed at the loss of hers, willing me to grab her again. I quelled the impulse, waiting.
She watched me in the half-light, her gaze intense. The rest of her face became a study in indecision. Her front teeth worried the full curves of her lips. A small pucker marred the sweet spot between her eyebrows. Slowly, she reached one hand out to me. “Come here?”
I moved closer to her side, unsure what she meant until she blew out a shaky breath and gave her head a small shake. “No,” she mumbled, so quiet the word was barely an exhale. “On top of me.”
I froze, unable to believe my luck… unsure if I should take what she was offering.
My impatient cock raged at me, throbbing viciously. I might have been able to ignore it, except that somehow, for this woman, my dick and my heart had formed an unholy alliance. In addition to the ache in my balls, a well of want tore through my center—yearning so fierce it paralyzed me.
Because, damn it , I wanted to get on top of her.
Wanted to feel her soft perfection pressed along the length of my body. Wanted to be able to kiss her while we moved together. To frame her face with my forearms and stroke her hair while she came around me.
I still had no idea why, but I could tell her offer cost her a lot. Fear darkened the indigo of her eyes, blending with her blown-out pupils.
But she trusted me. She wanted to give me a chance to take her somewhere new.
Her actions said more about her faith in me than ten thousand words ever could. Through a thick throat, I could only manage one word. “Ellie? ”
My use of her nickname brought a tiny, tight smile to her lips. She wiggled her fingers, beckoning me. “It’s okay,” she vowed. “I want to.”
My Ellie .
Sweet and brave and beautiful and offering me the one thing I couldn’t refuse.
Her .
So, I slowly rose, planting my knees between her legs and my hands on either side of her shoulders, keeping plenty of space between our chests.
From my new vantage point, I took in the solemn set of her lips, the indecision flashing in her eyes, the way her pulse pounded visibly in her neck. I curved my spine to maintain the distance between us as I bent to brush my mouth over hers, then along the pale, cool skin of her cheek.
“Are you sure you want to do this, baby?” Half out of my mind, ravaged by lust and confusion, I kissed her earlobe and bit down gently. “I’d be happy for you to ride me every day until I die.”
I meant it as a light-hearted attempt to break her tension. But the truth of the words struck me as they tumbled out. A stab of panic sliced at my gut. Ella unknowingly chased the feeling with her fingertips, brushing them over my abs and up to my throbbing chest.
Frustration lurked in the background of my tumult. I wished I knew what had happened to make her so afraid of something that felt so natural.
Did it even matter now, anyway? Whatever created her fear was over. And, obviously, she trusted me not to hurt her.
Our gazes connected. Her hands drifted to my shoulders, pulling lightly to bring me closer. And then, with equal parts simplicity and sincerity, she said the single sweetest thing she could have told me.
“I want it to be you. ”
I could’ve lived a thousand lifetimes and I never would have been worthy of such a gift.
But I sure as hell wasn’t going to deny it.
Drawn by the force of my feelings and her delicate touches, I settled myself over her completely, placing my hands above her shoulders and putting us face-to-face. My straining erection found her center, pushing against her heat.
Ella exhaled in a trembling stream. Her mouth fold into itself.
“I have an idea,” I murmured, slipping one hand between our bodies. “Let’s stay here for a minute.”
Latching my lips onto her throat, I kissed and nipped at the tender chords there as my fingers found her wet, throbbing clit. I rubbed it in slow, soft circles, working her until she started to rock into my hand again.
“So beautiful,” I praised, tracing her features before glancing down to where I was pleasuring her. “I can feel you getting wetter against my cock.”
Ella’s eyes were dark beams of indigo, never leaving my face. I stretched back up to nuzzle my forehead into hers, groaning quietly when her body clenched around the very tip of my dick.
She must have liked that sound because her hands skimmed down my back to my ass and pressed me further into her.
“Keep touching me,” she begged, her voice small.
Molding my mouth against hers, I held myself on my left arm, continuing to stroke my fingers over her. Finally, so gradually it made my balls ache, I sank inside her in one long glide. She clung to my pulsing cock, gripping me.
My vision blurred. A deep, endless moan rolled out of me.
Ella’s hands flitted to my face, drawing my attention back to her pleading expression. “Go slow,” she gasped. “Please.”
I took her at her word, easing myself in and out with measured, tender thrusts, never moving my fingers from the swollen bud at the top of her folds. Ella clung to me, her soft breaths gusting across my cheek while she ran her gaze over my face in continuous loops —almost as though she was worried I’d turn into someone else if she dared to look away.
When I found her sweet spot, her eyelids finally fluttered closed for a brief second.
“Gray,” she sighed, combing her fingers into the hair at the back of my head. I increased my pace slightly and pressed gently on her clit until I got a full-blown moan. “ Graaaay .”
Her body was wound tight. She ticked beneath me, jerking on every plunge, reaching for a release she just couldn’t grasp.
“Look at me,” I rasped, nearly out of breath from staving off my own climax. On instinct, I moved with a little more force and ran my left hand through her hair, capturing her eyes with mine.
“It’s me,” I said, the words rushing out before my mind censored them. “It’s me, Ellie. All you have to do is look at me, and you’ll see everything. You always do. Look at me and see how much I want to take care of you. How much I need you, Ellie.”
I shuddered when she clenched around me. “I need you so much it’s tearing me apart,” I panted, thrusting harder, desperate now. “I need you to come so I can fill you up.”
A wet sheen brightened her sapphire eyes as she looked right into me. A second later, her hips lifted. She held my gaze, grinding herself against me while she whispered my name and tugged my hair.
Another groan tore out of my chest. I sealed my lips over hers, kissing her with every real, raw feeling bursting inside of me. Ella quickened, whimpering into my mouth and pumping against me faster and faster until—thank God —she shattered into a delicious shower of spasms, clutching my cock.
I barely lasted half a breath before following her over, pouring myself inside of her while I murmured her name into the warm crook of her neck.