20. Chapter 20
Lennon
I can’t believe I almost walked away from this. Having Lark in my arms, her body covering me in the moment before her kiss turns almost wild with desire feels more right than anything I’ve ever experienced.
She’s mine, and I’m hers. It’s the way it has always been, only we’d been too young or too far apart or too convinced we’d fuck it up to admit it.
And when our lips finally meet again, her golden hair falling in a curtain around my face to shield us from the rest of the world, I silently resolve to not waste a single minute more without her.
Whatever it looks like for us, wherever we are.
We can figure all that out later. Right now, she’s here.
Squeezing me with her glorious thighs, angling her head this way and that, breathy moans escaping between kisses as she rolls her hips on top of me.
I cup her breasts with both hands, feeling her nipples tighten underneath her shirt.
Lark pulls back until she’s sitting upright, her eyes hooded as she toys with the hem.
She shimmies it up just enough for me to catch a glimpse of her belly button, her skin shimmering in the dim light of the room.
I want to touch every inch of her I’ve never been able to before, and I suddenly realize I can.
That the soft part of her lips and the trembling in her hands as they lift her shirt higher is permission.
I skate my hands down the curves of her sides until they meet her skin. It’s even softer than it looks.
The way she’s looking at me now—her blue eyes glinting in the light of the moon and wetting her swollen lips with her tongue—is downright sinful.
She’s no longer my best friend as she straddles me in my guest bedroom.
I’ve said it over and over that she’s my everything, but right now she’s more than everything.
“Lark.” I dig the tips of my fingers into her, marking her. I want all of it. Every piece of her I’ve always wanted but was never able to have. “Show me more. Please.”
She drags her bottom lip through her teeth, and I resolve to drag it through mine as soon as she gives it back to me.
“Okay,” she whispers. Slowly, so slowly, she inches her shirt up over the expanse of her torso until the swell of the undersides of her breasts are just visible.
I’m barely breathing, anchoring myself into her with my tightening grip on her skin.
She finally peels the shirt over her head, and I’m rewarded for my patience with a perfect view of her smooth skin and tight, pink nipples. I drink in the sight of her. She’s better than anything I could have ever imagined.
I press a hand to her back to bring her down to me so I can draw one of those gorgeous nipples into my mouth.
I flick it with my tongue, and she moans, so I do it again.
Her hips roll against mine, and her fingers find their way into my hair.
She grabs on tight and tugs me closer. I wrap my arms around her and flip us so she’s under me, which earns me a squeal and a musical giggle.
“Your turn,” she breathes. “Show me.”
I smirk. “It’s only fair.” Maybe a little overeager, I grab my shirt by the back of the neck and pull it off in one quick motion. I remain on my knees between her legs and let her eyes roam over me, hoping she likes what she sees.
Her elegant fingers climb up over the ridges of my abdomen, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
She trails her fingers along the ink on my stomach—a random design I thought looked cool—up to my chest where the scene from my shoulder continues.
It ends in a sunset just below my collarbone.
Under that, in scrawling script, reads: Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind .
Lark squints to read the text, then gasps, her wide eyes finding mine.
I clutch her hand to my skin, pressing her palm over the words.
When I had the quote from Midsummer tattooed, I convinced myself it was because high school Drama Club had meant so much to me. It had given me a place to belong, something to look forward to. Now it’s clear to me that I had been fooling myself. It was invariably about her.
“You’ve always been everything to me, Songbird. Always.” Maybe I’ve never been able to say out loud that I love her, but I can admit this. I hope she reads my love for her in those words. I pray she can see it in my gaze.
Her eyes shine. I kiss each one in turn, licking her salty tears from my lips. I continue on a trail down her neck and over her torso to the waistband of her shorts. She sucks in a breath as I hook my fingers around it and pull them off, casting them aside.
“Shit, Lark. You’re…” I swallow hard. “God, you’re beautiful.
” Turning my head, I kiss one of her inner thighs, then the other, and her legs widen a fraction.
They shake with tension or need—I can’t tell which—but that won’t do.
I want her relaxed and enjoying herself.
I scoot down on the bed and hold her foot in my hand, leaning in to kiss the inside of her ankle.
I made a promise that day on the beach, and I intend to fulfill it.
“Lennon,” she sighs as I make my way up one, then the other.
I drag my hand up the outside of her stunning legs as my tongue works its way up the inside.
Her legs go slack under my ministrations, and they part easily for me.
I settle in between her thighs, but not before flashing an I told you so smile up at her.
She laughs easily, her gaze lust-drunk as she threads her fingers through my hair again and angles her hips just slightly.
I purse my lips and gently blow on her entrance. Her entire body shivers, and her grip on my hair tightens. I allow my lips to lightly graze the hair between her thighs. “I can’t wait to find out what you taste like,” I say. “Can I?”
“I…” She trails off and shifts her torso. “Yes, but… It’s been a while.”
On her moan, I lick up her center, lapping up her arousal.
She tastes like she feels—warm and light.
Her wetness slides down my chin as I flick her clit with my tongue.
Her hips buck erratically, like she’s not sure what to do with herself.
I press my hand to her lower abdomen, keeping her where I want her as I continue to drink her in.
Her hands slide up to cup her breasts. I glance at her, and she’s angled to watch me as she rolls and pinches her nipples between her fingertips. Desperate to explore inside of her, I press a finger to her entrance. I’m only able to get one knuckle in before I feel her walls squeeze around it.
“Relax,” I implore her. “It’s just me.”
She huffs a breathy laugh. “That’s kind of the problem. I don’t know what you’re thinking. Is this weird?”
I kiss the inside of her thigh again. “Oh,” she sighs as I curl my finger upward, finding that ridge just inside her and stroking it. “Oh,” she says again. “Fuck.”
“I’m thinking that you’re perfect,” I say before dragging my tongue over her clit again. She relaxes fully underneath me. I add another finger, and she cries out. “That this was worth the wait.” I taste her again and hum my approval. “And that you taste like sunshine feels.”
She sucks in a breath. “Lennon, I…”
“Come for me, Lark. I want to taste that, too.” I suck gently on her clit, and her chest starts rising and falling in rapid gasps.
It doesn’t take long before her entire body is shuddering, her walls squeezing against my fingers.
I work for a little longer, drawing pleasure out of her in waves.
When she sinks into the mattress on an exhale, I withdraw my fingers and use my wrist to wipe my mouth.
She raises herself up to grab the back of my neck and pull me down. Her tongue darts out. “Mmm,” she hums. “Sunshine. I could see that.”
Fuck , that’s hot. I growl as I claim her mouth with mine, kissing her until she’s needy and panting and I can barely stand the hardness of my cock straining against my shorts. Lark slips a hand inside them to circle it around me. My forehead drops to the space between her shoulder and neck.
“I know you have condoms around here somewhere,” she teases.
It takes a second for me to register what she’s saying, and as I hop off the bed and run into my room to quickly one.
I pause briefly before turning around and grabbing a few more.
When I rush back into the room to the sound of her laughter, I have the distinct sense of feeling the same way I remember from my first time with a woman. Needy and giddy and ready .
Lark kneels at the edge of the bed in front of where I’m standing. Her gaze drops to my cock, and she licks her lips. “I need you, Lennon. Please.”
I cup her jaw, soaking in her warmth. “You have me, Lark.” I make quick work of the condom and join her on the bed.
She lies beneath me, and I hover over her again as her nails scrape along my back.
Shuddering, I line myself up with her. In one thrust, I slide inside.
She sucks in a breath, and her nails dig even harder into my back as her eyes flutter closed.
I go still. “Are you okay?”
“Ohmygodyes.” She exhales it all in one, frantic word. “More. I need more.”
“Happily,” I say as I draw out and in again, further this time.
Her softness meets my hardness, opening for me, taking me.
After a few slow thrusts her breathing picks up, little moans and pleas escaping her with each movement.
Her hips meet mine, driving me further in.
Her perfect breasts bounce as I work harder, reaching a hand between us to stroke her still-sensitive clit.
She’s even more beautiful in the ambient light of the room than any other time I’ve seen her, her hair mussed and her body writhing.
Even in the dimness, I can tell her cheeks are flushed.
I draw her bottom lip through my teeth, and she clutches desperately at my back.
When she arches into me, I know she’s close, and I’ve never wanted anything more than I want to feel her come on me.
I grit my teeth, trying to hold on just a little longer. “I need you to come again for me,” I whisper into her skin. “I know you can.”
“Mm-hmm,” she grinds out. “I’m so close.”
I increase the pace of the circles I’m making between her legs, and she cries out, the waves of her release clutching me, drawing me in. In two more thrusts, I’m following her.
When we both come to, our breaths slowing and our eyes opening, we find each other. She grins, and I can’t help but answer her smile with one of my own as I pull out of her and flop onto the bed.
“That was…” I trail off, idly scratching my stomach. “Wow.”
“Yeah.” She giggles into her pillow. When she faces me, I kiss her forehead and excuse myself to take care of the condom as quickly as I can.
As I climb underneath the covers again, she’s on her stomach, watching me with her face turned outward and her hands tucked underneath the pillow. I graze my fingers over the soft expanse of her back. “Can I stay here tonight?”
“I’d be sad if you didn’t.” A look of uncertainty crosses over her features as she chews on her bottom lip. “Are we… I mean…”
I remove one of her hands from under her pillow so I can hold it between us. “I’m yours if you want me.”
She watches as our fingers intertwine, the cream of the pillow contrasting our shadowed hands. “I can’t imagine not having you or you not having me.”
“Good.” I kiss her forehead, and she closes her eyes.
It doesn’t take long for her breathing to deepen, but I lie awake for longer, watching her relax into a deep sleep.
It’s been a long time since I’ve allowed myself to want anything with the ferocity that I want to keep Lark here with me.
Things in my life are rarely permanent, and her presence here is no exception.
Richard was probably right all those years ago. She deserves something stable, especially now that she’s worked so hard to get it and can finally enjoy the fruits of her labor.
But Richard was wrong, too. He tried to keep her tied down. I want her to be free to choose, even if I want her choice to be to stay with me. Maybe I could go to Michigan with her, like she suggested. It would mean feeling landlocked and bored, but at least I’d have her.
We’ll figure it out . She had sounded so full of hope, so sure. Maybe she’s right. Maybe we can. We’ve remained long-distance best friends for almost two decades—surely that’s the hard part, right?
She shifts in her sleep, her leg hooking over mine as she snuggles in close to me.
Her contented sigh tickles the hairs on my chest. That’s all it takes to persuade me to worry about this later.
For now, she’s here, and I make a silent promise to myself to soak up every minute before we have to figure out what’s next.