Chapter 11
Once they’d cleaned themselves up, they retreated to Everett’s bed. Unlike his living room, his bedroom was free of festive cheer, aside from a small Santa figurine beside his alarm clock. Nora smiled at it before looking at Everett.
“I’m not twenty-one anymore,” he said. “I’m not sure I’ll be ready to do it again tonight.”
“That’s okay. You can focus on making me feeling good,” she said saucily.
But if he just wanted to cozy up together, that was fine, too. There was always tomorrow.
“By the way, how old are you?” she asked.
“Thirty-five.”
That was about what she’d assumed. A five-year difference at her age? It was nothing. Perfectly appropriate for a relationship, not that she wanted one of those. This was just a little friendly sex. She’d get it out of her system soon enough.
The last time she’d had sex with a guy, she’d felt gross after it was all over, after she’d realized he was only using her for money. But that wouldn’t happen here. She had no expectations; she knew exactly what she was getting into.
“One sec.” She pulled her phone out of her discarded jeans and sent a quick text to Aimee, just letting her friend know where she planned to spend the night. Then she curled up on her side, facing Everett. “Now I’m all yours.”
He shot her a lopsided grin and ran a hand up her body, his thumb stroking over her breast. Without the urgency of before, but that he was okay.
Clearly, he was still very much enjoying himself.
In return, she ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. There was something beautiful about exploring someone else’s nakedness for the first time.
“I do want to make you feel good,” he murmured.
Those quiet words were enough to send a shiver of anticipation down her spine.
Lazily, he slid his hand lower. Like he was moving through molasses. Like he had all the time in the world.
She did not. She’d gone so long without another person touching her like this, and she hadn’t realized how much she craved it.
“Please,” she said.
The corner of his mouth quirked up again. He ran his thick finger over her entrance, and when she moaned in desperation and squirmed against him, he took pity on her and slid it inside.
“Ohhh.”
This, too, made his lips quirk up. A private smile, just for her.
He kept his finger inside her as he dove under the blankets. A moment later, his tongue…oh my god. How was he doing that? She didn’t understand how it felt so amazing. It should be impossible for anything to feel this good.
“Please,” she said, with more desperation than before.
He looked up at her, which was exactly what she didn’t want, even if she did like seeing his lips coated in her moisture.
Nora shoved his head back down, and she felt his soft laughter against her sensitive flesh before he began pleasuring her again, twisting his finger as he worked her with his tongue. She’d forgotten just how amazing this could feel…or maybe it had never felt quite this amazing before.
She bucked against his face. He sucked on her clit, and…and…
She shattered.
When she came back to herself, he was no longer between her legs but lying next to her. She climbed on top of him and kissed him. The kiss quickly turned from gentle to searing, and his cock stirred beneath her.
“Hm.” She slid down his body and took his growing erection between her lips, gratified when he hardened further almost immediately. She glanced up at his face, the tip still in her mouth; he had his hand on his forehead.
She increased her efforts, enjoying his response, until he grasped her upper arm and hauled her up.
“Do you want me to come in your mouth?” He sounded almost stern—and she wasn’t used to that side of him.
“Not today.”
How many times do you think this is going to happen, Nora?
She pushed that thought aside. “Do you have condoms?”
He nodded, reached into his bedside table, and pulled out…not condoms.
“Shit,” he said, getting out of bed. He threw a bunch of things onto the floor in his haste to find what he was looking for. Painkillers, several sheets of paper, three books of puzzles, two familiar Christmas ornaments… “There.”
She almost whimpered in relief.
“I still need to find the lube,” he said.
“No, you don’t. I’m wet enough.” And she certainly didn’t want to wait any longer.
Fortunately, he wasted no time in rolling on the condom and positioning himself above her.
He slid inside in one smooth motion, and it was glorious.
His thick cock filled her just right, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him and urged him to move.
He braced himself on his elbows as he began thrusting.
“You’re not going to crush me, don’t worry.” She wanted to feel more of him, to be consumed by him.
He allowed her to take more of his weight as he thrust again, deeper than before.
“Yes,” she murmured. “Yes.”
She had a strange premonition that he was going to compliment her.
She wasn’t sure she could take it, even if he just said she felt good, so she raised her mouth to his and kissed him.
Drowned in his lips as she met him thrust for thrust. Lost herself in the physical sensation of being joined with another person, something she hadn’t allowed herself in a long, long time.
His touch felt like such a fundamental part of her.
An infuriating voice in her brain whispered that once or twice wouldn’t be enough, but she pushed that aside by pressing herself harder against him, by stroking her tongue against his. She’d just be in the moment and take everything she could.
He reached between them to finger her clit…and her third orgasm of the evening caught her off guard, somehow even stronger than the other two.
She held him close as he found his release inside her.
When Everett returned from the washroom, he was relieved to see Nora under his sheets. He’d been half afraid that she’d already be pulling on her clothes, ready to escape across the hall.
But no, she was here.
“Do you want to stay the night?” he asked.
He desperately wanted her to, but if she didn’t, he wouldn’t push.
When she nodded, he couldn’t contain his grin.
Nobody had slept over at his place in well over a year, and that seemed like a distant memory now. All he could think about was Nora.
After she took her turn in the washroom, she put on her underwear. “Do you have a shirt I could sleep in?”
“Middle drawer, on the right,” he said.
She grabbed one of his white undershirts and pulled it over her head. The shirt hung just above her knees, and it was erotic to see her in his clothes. She was fucking sexy and it felt so fucking good to be inside her—not that he’d say such things.
He hoped they’d get there eventually, though. He wanted to keep her in his life, and not just as a neighbor he occasionally greeted in the hallway.
She wrapped an arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder, and he was hopeful she felt the same way.
When Nora woke up the next morning, she was disoriented.
It had been ages since she’d slept anywhere but her own bed.
Everett was on his side, facing away from her, and she had the urge to cuddle up against him, but she feared it would wake him, and she didn’t want to do that. It was only seven on a Saturday.
However, she did have to use the washroom, so she climbed out of bed as quietly as she could. Everett didn’t stir.
When she returned to the bedroom, she noticed all the things that were strewn across the floor, including the ornaments he’d received a couple of weeks ago.
She wondered if he’d eventually gotten the right ones—she hadn’t asked.
Naked Santa, with a striped stocking over his dick, leered at her.
She felt compelled to tidy everything up, but…
Wait a second.
She picked up a sheet of paper. The sketch looked curiously like one of the snow sculptures, the one with the hockey-playing bears.
Nora’s first thought was that he’d drawn it from a photograph, but why were there multiple measurements and notes on the page?
Her stomach dropped.
He had to be responsible for the sculptures.