Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
H er bedroom wasn’t much to look at—but, then again, she’d never had much of a chance to try decorating a bedroom as an adult on her own. Scarlett had gone from being a little kid in a pink Barbie-themed room to keeping the pink but ditching Barbie in her teen years, then having to become a grown-up overnight, tending to her ailing mother. After her mom passed, it wasn’t long before she was swept up in what she’d thought was love with Tommy Nogales—and, in her grief, she’d taken his advice to sell her childhood home. She’d been considering it anyway, but he made it sound like the only way she could survive. The taxes were overdue and several bills were delinquent, and it had been a good way to get everything paid off.
But that had moved her into Tommy’s apartment—and the bedroom was his.
Here, in her own place, she hadn’t had much money to really turn it into a room she would have considered a haven, although she’d begun regarding Silver City as that. Between the peaceful walks around town to meeting good people like Al and Kyle and feeling like she was safe here, she’d begun to not hate this apartment so much.
Still…it left a lot to be desired. The room was filled with the furniture that it had come with—a double bed with a metal headboard, a small white nightstand, a four-drawer dresser, and a small closet with a simple drape rather than a door. She’d bought two pillows, two sets of plain off-white sheets, and a gray-and-pink flowery bedspread at Walmart, and that was only out of necessity. She continued using a cardboard box tucked in her closet as a clothes hamper. The room still had the plain gauze curtains it had come with, blue carpet, and white walls. The only decorations she’d bothered with were a painting she’d picked up at Goodwill for cheap—one of a generic mountain scene with trees, a river, and an old watermill, and the print Kyle had bought for her at the art gallery.
Both brought her peace when she simply took a few minutes in the morning or before bed to gaze upon them and breathe.
It almost felt like she was letting Kyle get another glimpse at her soul. “Sorry. It’s not much to look at.”
But Kyle was looking at her . “You don’t need to try to impress me.”
And then he got close. Cupping her cheeks in his hands, his eyes searched hers, but it was a gentle caress of his eyes and not a probing inquiry. Slowly, he lowered his head to hers and she felt a rush of eager anticipation flow through her body. She raised herself on her tiptoes to meet his lips.
Unlike all the other kisses they’d shared, this one was hot and frenzied. Now that they’d both silently agreed to move forward, there was no reason to hold themselves back. Kyle’s warm, demanding kisses had changed from sweet, gentle, and reassuring to nothing short of foreplay. With each rough brush of his lips and every thrust of his tongue, she felt all her nerves catch on fire as every part of her body responded. Her skin was begging to be touched and she found herself aching for him.
His entire body felt firm against her but she was having a hard time concentrating as he brushed her hair back with his strong hands and began kissing her neck. His lips caused a tingling sensation to vibrate through her body, causing her nipples to pucker and her underside to hum in expectation.
She pulled at the hem of his black t-shirt but, as she lifted it, she realized there was no way she could get it over his head. She was too short. But Kyle was already helping, grabbing it to pull it off. It had hardly taken an extra second, their lips separated, but it had given her enough time to open her eyes and take his upper body in. While he was clearly no bodybuilder, he had nothing to be ashamed of. He didn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on him, but what drew her attention were the tattoos. Not a lot, but enough. At the center of his chest was a pair of hands joined in a shake—but not a business handshake. Instead, it was a brotherly meeting of the hands, joined at the thumbs with the fingers wrapped around each wrist. On the right side of his torso was another tattoo, this one a skull, but as Kyle began to lift her t-shirt, she stopped looking.
She herself had no tattoos. Her ex had all but demanded she get one on her butt that said Property of Tommy Nogales , but it was the one argument she’d won. It was tacky and crass, she’d said, and her mother would have rolled over in her grave.
To this day, she knew that, had she stayed with Tommy, she would have eventually lost the battle.
Kyle, however, didn’t seem fazed in the least by her lack of body art. Instead, he seemed to be marveling at her body in between kisses to her neck and shoulders. Finally, though, he lifted her up as if she weighed no more than a bag of cotton balls, wrapping her around his torso, and kissed her hard on the mouth. Having her legs spread against his midsection emphasized the heat in her pussy, and just the slight friction against him caused her to lose her breath.
Yes, she wanted him.
Underneath it all, she still felt some fear. Although Tommy hadn’t been her first, he might as well have been. She’d lost her virginity to a boy at school after a dance, a boy she thought she’d been in love with, but as her mother grew ill, she lost interest—and so had the boy, so at least it had been mutual. The first time she’d had sex with Tommy had felt almost as painful as losing her virginity, but it had gotten easier as time went by.
She’d never loved it, though. At Marin’s suggestion, she’d tried a vibrator a few times, but even that hadn’t done much for her…probably because she didn’t feel any underlying desire for anyone or anything. There hadn’t been anything to make her yearn for release.
Now, though…the thought of Kyle paired with the reality of him made her more desirous than she’d ever felt—and she was eager to experience what he would feel like inside her. Kyle’s breath against her ear sent a shiver down her spine. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
There was no question. “Yes.” In response, Kyle kissed her again and then lay her down gently on the bed. She pushed off her sneakers using her feet while Kyle unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, sliding them down her legs with a little assistance from her. As he did, she couldn’t ignore how wet her panties had become just from what they’d already been doing.
“You are an angel.”
What had made him say that? Her impatient need stopped her from asking as she reached behind her back to undo the clasps on her bra. Kyle’s blue eyes seemed to widen as he unzipped his jeans. As she pulled the bra off and tossed it to the floor, he licked his lips as if he were sitting down at the dinner table.
It made her shiver again.
Her body was humming with desire as she watched him remove his shoes and jeans, leaving him in nothing but his black boxer briefs. His erection was evident, and it made her swallow, slightly nervous. You do want this. Kyle is not Tommy.
Drawing in a slow breath through her nostrils, she focused on her wants while trying to block out the past. She did want this. She wanted Kyle.
He left his underwear on, denying her a glimpse of his dick, but she knew she’d see it soon enough. As he lowered himself to the bed, hovering over her, he gently kissed her lips while the fingers of his left hand toyed with the hem of her panties. Something deep inside her begged, Yes! Please!
But she remained silent, enjoying Kyle’s penetrating kiss.
Wrapping her arms around him, she caressed his back, appreciating the hardness of it, all muscle as he held himself up enough to avoid crushing her. Tommy had only ever liked sex in a few different ways, all rough, so this sensation was something she’d have to get used to.
The slowness. The aching. The desire.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d felt hunger for a man. Tommy had pretty much drained that out of her…but here she was, wanting Kyle.
That feeling in itself was an aphrodisiac.
As his lips trailed down her neck and then her collarbone, she felt the need to breathe more deeply, and there was no denying how her heart was beating a little faster. Until that moment, she would have sworn she hadn’t heard Intent to Murder’s music enough to know any of their songs, but one of the lines Hayley sang rolled through her head: You remind my body of what it needs and that’s why it calls your name. For a brief moment, Scarlett wondered if the vocalist had written those words about Kyle or her new boyfriend.
As the tip of Kyle’s tongue touched her rigid nipple, she had no problem letting that question go. Kyle had already assured her that he and Hayley were no longer together, so Scarlett shouldn’t let it bother her. He’d never lied to her before, so she needed to trust him.
Did she, though? She’d trusted Tommy and that had landed her in Silver City, hiding out.
As Kyle’s warm mouth covered her areola, she came back to the present. His tongue was still flicking, causing her body to move up yet another notch in desire. The need was growing in the depths of her core, making her suddenly feel desperate.
That had to be why her fingers were digging into his back.
Trying to relax them, she slid them down his back, hoping that paying attention to his body would help her stave off the desperation taking hold in the pit of her gut. That hunger, that need to be taken and ravished, it had disappeared—but now it was back, making up for lost time.
When Kyle kissed his way to her other breast and gave it the same attention, she gasped. Forcing herself to keep moving her hands, she slid them underneath the hem of his boxer briefs, appreciating that his ass had the same firm tone his back had. But her fingers were soon gliding up his back again as he lowered himself down the bed, kissing her sternum, then her navel. Her thighs tightened in expectation.
Was she okay with what he was about to do?
Did she even know for sure if that was his intent?
Probably. Regardless, he was going to be up close and personal with her lady parts—and had she not been so tense from anticipation, she would have relaxed a little, knowing that she was as clean as could be, having showered earlier in the afternoon.
When he pulled the panties down her legs, she could feel the moisture on her thighs—and that was yet another sign of what Kyle was doing to her. As her mind tried for a brief moment to wander back to Tommy in comparison yet again, Kyle’s hands on her thighs brought her back to the moment. Then his lips were on the flesh there and her pussy gripped itself in expectation of what was surely coming.
Everything below was throbbing and, for the first time, Scarlett knew she would now understand exactly how and where to use that vibrator—on that pulsating point below that was begging for attention. That was where the hunger was coming from, the need.
Kyle settled between her legs and Scarlett heard him whisper something. All she managed to get out of her mouth was “Hmm?” before his tongue trailed down her slit.
And then he found it…that little cluster of nerves driving the ache.
As he began rolling his tongue around that spot, Scarlett gasped, then let out a long moan before she even realized her mouth was doing something on its own. Then she became aware of her hands in Kyle’s hair and she moved them—but his attention on her clit was so distracting.
No—it wasn’t distracting at all. It had her full fucking attention.
Unable to stop herself, she breathed, “Yes. Right there.”
Kyle again said something, but she couldn’t register the sound, only the vibration against the one part on her body that needed release. As he continued the assault on her clit, she bit her lip, sensing something imminent.
Oh, God. Was she having an orgasm? Was this what it felt like?
No…it was building. Something was happening here and surely orgasm would be the end result. As he continued pleasuring her, making her clit throb all the more as if to the beat of some silent drum, her breathing deepened, and she felt as if she were on the edge of a precipice, merely needing to be pushed over.
And then…it happened. One more stroke of his tongue and she felt a rush of endorphins like she never had before. The moans that escaped her now were louder and uncontrollable, and all that did was make Kyle give her even more attention. Soon, she realized that each wave of pleasure was increased by each roll of his tongue, and her thighs began to quiver in unison.
She had never felt this good before.
But then it became too much. Too good. Too overwhelming. And she said, “Stop; stop.”
He paused on command. Sensing rather than seeing that he looked up, she finally heard what he said. “Is everything okay?”
Catching her breath, she said, almost a whisper, “Yes. Yes. More than okay. Just…really intense.”
“Want me to keep going?”
“No.” Finally, she opened her eyes and took him in. Then she started laughing.
His eyes communicated hurt. “What?”
“No—it’s good. I swear to God, Kyle, I have never felt this good before…but I felt like if you kept going, I would die.” When he smiled, she asked, “Has anyone ever died from an orgasm before?”
The grin on his face widened. “We could find out.”
“Oh, God, no. But…you…”
“I can wait.”
She didn’t want him to. She wanted him inside her— needed him inside her. “No. Um…do you have a condom?”
“Hell, yeah.” He practically jumped off the bed, locating his jeans and wallet. Finally, he removed the shorts and she got to see his rigid cock in all its glory. She hoped she would be able to return the oral favor at some point, but for now it felt best if they joined together completely.
In that moment, she realized that her fear of lovemaking was gone—at least, for now. And she’d gladly take it.
As he rolled the condom onto his dick, he said, “I bought this the day you finally agreed to go on a date.”
She didn’t have time to let that sentiment sink in.
As he lowered himself back on the bed, she said, “Thanks for not giving up on me.”
“Never.” He gave her a slow delicious kiss and then asked, “Are you ready?”
She was breathless. “Yeah.”
Kissing her again softly, with intention, he guided his cock inside her deliberately. He took his time, slowly filling her before finally pulling back and beginning again. If she’d been able to talk, Scarlett would have said that sex had never felt this good before. There was no pain, no roughness, nothing that felt off.
Perfect might not have been the right word, but it was pretty damn close.
As Kyle continued slowly driving himself in and out, Scarlett found her breathing deepening again, her heartbeat picking up its pace. While they kissed, she realized that the friction between them was making her body respond again.
And that sensation she’d had just moments earlier, that one of impending pleasure, was washing over her again. Even as Kyle maintained his relentless rhythm inside her, her body responded, taking her closer to the edge once more. Scarlett found herself taking deeper breaths, recognizing that her brain and body were preparing to shatter to pieces in pleasure once again. She said something, but she wasn’t sure what, as she finally tumbled over that precipice, giving into her body’s temporary loss of control as her brain was flooded with something far better than drugs.
When she was finally able to register what was happening, she realized that Kyle too had reached the summit. Unlike Tommy, Kyle was quiet about it, slowing at first and then stopping, resting his head to catch his breath, their bodies close.
Scarlett could have stayed like that forever.