Chapter Thirty
Alex
After I’ve taken Ripley on the shortest walk he’s ever been on, I sprint back inside. Jules is standing in my kitchen with a glass of water, and her heels are placed on one of the stools underneath the lip of the counter right next to my discarded tie.
“Everything good?” she asks, handing me my own glass.
“I gave him a bone. He should be occupied for a little while.”
We drink our water in silence, the light from the hallway spilling into the room and making Jules’s ensemble shimmer. We really should talk about the way she kissed me and about the fact that she gave the driver my address instead of hers and followed me up.
“So.”
“So,” she mimics, stretching out the word and letting it linger between us.
“I had a good time tonight. Especially the part where you jumped me by the bar.” She chuckles and takes both glasses and places them on the counter. “It was the suspenders, wasn’t it?”
As if the mere mention triggers something inside her, she loops her fingers through the straps and pulls me closer.
“It was absolutely the suspenders.” She runs her hands down my chest and back up again, resting them on my shoulders for the briefest of seconds before slowly pushing my suit jacket down my arms.
“We don’t have to do anything,” I whisper, hating that the want in my voice contradicts what I’m trying to say. “I know you need time. I don’t mind waiting.”
“Alex,” she says breathlessly, leaning in and grazing her lips along my cheek. “I appreciate you being all chivalrous, but don’t you think we’ve done enough waiting?”
“Before we do this,” I try to ignore the way her mouth feels against my jawline, “I want you to know that this isn’t about releasing tension or a friends with benefits kind of thing. I’m all in. And I know that I—”
“I know,” she says, interrupting me and pushing down the straps to my suspenders. “We can talk about this later, but for now, can you please get me out of this dress and put your hands on me?”
Her request shatters any possibility of moving slow.
I find the zipper and pull it down while she unclips her hair. She shimmies out of the tight fabric until it drops to the floor, leaving her standing in nothing but a matching set of red silk underwear.
Up until this moment, I firmly believed she never looks better than when she wears my old Cincinnati Reds T-shirt, but it turns out, I may have been wrong.
“Fucking hell,” I say, unable to focus on anything except the fact that her breasts are practically spilling out of her bra.
Ignoring my state of awe, Jules untucks my shirt and gets to work on the buttons. Even though she’s efficiently quick at unfastening them all, I’m no longer able to keep my hands to myself. Not when she’s standing in front of me looking like that.
I draw her in for another kiss, one that’s neither patient nor soft. But she doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, she unfastens my pants and leads me backward down the hallway into the bedroom.
Normally, I’d lead, set the pace, and do all I could to satisfy her first. But it seems that Jules has other plans. Ones I’m happy to follow.
She pushes me down on the bed and straddles my waist. Her breasts bounce while she gets comfortable, and it sends every single coherent thought flying from my head.
I put my hands on her thighs and push them upward, refamiliarizing myself with her curves and the softness of her skin.
I knead her breasts, and both of us moan.
When I slip my hands underneath her bra, she bends down and kisses me roughly, cupping my jaw and sliding her tongue into my mouth.
God, I’d almost forgotten how good her kisses taste.
I need more of her. As much as I love her lingerie, I need it off. I reach for the clasp, but Jules slinks downward just out of reach.
A sound of protest escapes past my lips and shifts into a moan. Thankfully, she doesn’t stay away long. She leaves a trail of hot kisses down my stomach, only stopping when she reaches the waistband of my pants.
She gives me a disapproving look.
“These have got to go,” she says right before she roughly tugs my pants and underwear down my legs, leaving me in my wide-open shirt and bra.
“Jules.” My voice is breathless, the words I want to say stuck in my throat when she kneels between my legs. “I want…” I try again.
She looks at me, amused and questioning, and takes one of my legs and puts my heel on her shoulder, turning her head to kiss my ankle.
“I need…”
Her kisses move to my calf.
What was it I needed?
As if knowing the answer, Jules settles on her stomach, pushes my legs apart, and bites the inside of my thigh. I close my eyes and sigh.
I feel her hot breath when she nuzzles me, and I lift my hips, looking for contact. I open my eyes, and our gazes meet. She smiles softly and slowly drags her tongue between my thighs in one long swipe.
“Oh fuck.” I fall back on the bed and let out a filthy sounding moan.
It’s been so long since I’ve had sex. It’s been even longer since I’ve had sex with Jules, and I know I’m not going to last long. Not when she’s lapping at me like she’s dying of thirst and I’m her only water supply.
My legs shake from trying to hold out, to make it last.
Then I remember, I don’t have to. I don’t have to attempt to memorize the way her tongue swirls or the content sounds she makes each time her tongue dips inside me.
This isn’t a singular experimental night tucked inside a hotel room.
This is just one moment of many. The start of something that has no end.
So when her lips wrap around my clit, I let it all go.
My release is quick and intense, her name spilling past my lips, breathy and holy.
When she finally pulls away and my hands fall from where they found purchase tangled in her hair, I let out a whine. I already miss the weight of her.
She carefully wipes at her chin and then reaches behind her to unclasp her bra. I watch with half-lidded eyes as she steps out of her underwear. I let my gaze wander and take in every bit of her perfect, naked body.
She crawls up the bed, and I rush to rid myself of my remaining clothes, anxious for her warmth and eager to get a taste of her.
We press together, and I push my hands through her hair, now a tangled mess. The smell of our mingling perfume mixing with our joint arousal sends me into overdrive. I put my hands on her, exploring and yearning to touch every inch of her skin.
One of her hands snakes between us, and she cups my still wet heat. She bites my lower lip, and I pant into her mouth as she slips one finger inside. I want to protest, to tell her it’s my turn to play, but it feels so good having her inside me that I pull her closer and beg for more.
She adds a second finger.
I lift my hips to match her rhythm and rock in time with her movements. We move together as if we’ve done this a hundred times before.
Her thigh presses into the back of her hand, her thrusts filling me deeply. My legs start to shake, and a bead of sweat trickles down my temple. The pressure builds, low in my abdomen, and I wrench my mouth away to catch my breath.
She presses her thumb against my clit, and everything goes from warm to scorching.
“You feel so good,” she whispers hotly into my ear.
I groan.
“Almost as good as you taste,” she adds, then bites my earlobe.
My entire world explodes.
Colors burst behind my eyes, and I cry out, digging my fingers into her shoulders and holding on with the little strength I have left.
She draws out my orgasm until there’s nothing left. Until my legs feel like gelatin, until my body is too heavy to move, and I collapse in a sweaty heap of sated bliss. I lie sprawled and panting, feeling the happiest I think I’ve ever felt.
Jules props herself above me and pushes the damp hair from my face. “You okay?”
“I’m fucking perfect,” I say and close my eyes. But not before I see the satisfied smirk on her swollen lips.
“Good.” She sounds proud. And honestly, she should. I’m pretty sure she just wrecked me for anyone else all over again. Something I’m one hundred percent okay with.
Her breath warms my skin a split second before I feel her mouth press against my collarbone.
She drops a series of wet kisses along my chest and the tops of my breasts.
Her hand presses against my abdomen, and she shifts, lowering herself to my leg.
She rocks once, twice, and by the third time, I muster enough energy to put my hand on her hip to stop her.
As hot as it is feeling her wetness streak across my thigh, it’s been over six years since I’ve gotten to touch her like this. There’s no way I’m going to let her get herself off by humping my leg.
“I really want to taste you, just give me a minute,” I tell her, needing to bask in my post double climax for just a moment more.
“Actually,” Jules says, and I can hear the hesitation in her voice. I open my eyes, worried that maybe I’ve somehow misread what this was. She bites her lip and peers at me through thick lashes. “I was wondering if, maybe, I could sit on your face?”
My jaw hangs open, and I stare, shocked and delighted by her request. A burst of energy courses through me, and I’m instantly wet all over again.
“Yes.” I nod vigorously. “Oh my God, yes, please do that.”
She crawls up my body and grabs my headboard, positioning both her knees on the bed on either side of my head. My hands wrap around her thighs, and I urge her downward.
We both moan when she lowers herself onto my mouth and again when my tongue makes its first swipe. And when she rocks her hips and begs for more, I’m fairly certain I’ve died, and this is heaven.
“It’s official. I can’t find my retainer.”
Jules laughs and holds up the covers so I can crawl back into bed.
Too exhausted to keep going, we both took turns in the bathroom before deciding to try to get some sleep. Now that things have calmed down, Ripley has bravely come into the bedroom and is curled on the foot of the bed.
“How do you consistently lose your retainer?” Jules asks and tucks the covers around us.
“I wish I knew.” I slide in beside her, naked and cold and seeking her warmth.
She cups my face and kisses me. “It’s okay. Even with crooked teeth, I’d still love you.”
“You say that now,” I tease. But the word love hovers between us, making my heart swell. Her leg slips between mine, and we press in so close that our noses are almost touching.
She’s so beautiful. Stunningly so. Even with smudged eyeliner and her lipstick completely kissed away.
“I’ve loved you my whole life,” I whisper. “And I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with you for at least half of it.”
The look she gives me is disbelieving. “Since you were thirteen?”
“There’s a reason I hated everyone you dated.”
She rolls her eyes. “You didn’t hate Tyler.”
“True,” I concede because, no, I never did. He’s probably the only one. “Envious, then.”
She runs her thumb across my chin. “Are you still envious?”
“Of the fact that he just signed a new multi-million dollar contract with the Cardinals? Absolutely.”
“Jackass.” She pinches my cheek and shifts a little closer. Her thigh presses higher, and it makes my breath hitch.
I wrap my arms around her. “He can keep his millions because I got the girl.”
“You really did.” She carefully traces the flowers etched permanently on my arm. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
I think about all the people we both hurt. The people I hurt. The relationships I cut short, the ones I never gave a chance. All of it leading to this very moment. And while I’m not proud of some of my choices, they all led me here.
In a way, I don’t regret them, not anymore. I do, however, wish I had handled things better. Been a little kinder. “We’re here now,” I tell her, taking her hand and kissing the tips of her fingers.
She shifts again, sliding closer and pressing our chests together. “I love you.”
“Yeah?”
“So much, in fact”—she rolls me onto my back—“that I let you defile me in your childhood bed.”
I laugh. “Defile you? Is that what we just did?”
She hums, settling on top of me and pressing her hand between my breasts.
I grab her ass and pull her farther up, eliciting a quiet moan. The sound washes away the creeping exhaustion.
“I’m not complaining.” She drags her fingers down my stomach and rests them on my hipbone. “In fact, I want you to do it again. And again. And again.”
“I’ll make love to you for the rest of my life.” It’s the easiest promise I’ve ever made. One I have no intention of ever breaking.
She sighs, almost as if she’s relieved. “Good, because I don’t want anyone else.”
I lift my head to kiss her just as my hand slips between her legs.
There’s no one I’ve ever wanted more.