Chapter 33 #2
I circle close, close enough to make her shiver, and she jerks when I finally brush her clit. Just once, lightly.
“I hate yo—” she gasps out, her voice cracking, the rest swallowed by a gasp. She can barely string the words together, hand clawing for my arm.
I don’t budge. I stay exactly where I am. She can protest all she likes. The only thing that moves is my hand, fingers circling closer to that spot again, slower this time, crueler. Until I finally go back over the same spot.
Her body jerks so hard the water ripples out in waves, and water sloshes over the sides. A broken sound tears out of her, half laugh, half plea, head tipping back against my shoulder.
I brush my mouth against her wet hair. “We’re losing water.”
She lets out a gasp that might have been another laugh. “Too late to abandon ship,” she starts, then loses the thread. Her lashes flutter shut, and her lips part. “I’ve… wanted this for years.”
That stops me. “This?”
She nods, breath stuttering. “Bathtub. I just never… did.”
She picked a hell of a moment to tell me. If I weren’t hard already, I’d be now. Nobody else, no other man. Me.
I let my hand move again, on target this time. More water splashes over the edge as she grips the edges of the tub, knuckles turning white.
She’s a breath away.
I feel her whole body tighten.
“No one fucking touches you except me. Say it,” I murmur, fingers teasing, keeping her right there. Just enough to keep her tethered to the edge. “Say the name of the only man you come for.”
Holly’s protest dissolves into my name. “Dexter.”
Her voice barely makes it past half of my name as a final brush of my thumb tips her over the edge. Holly comes apart in my arms, the tension draining out of her, and she goes slack against my chest.
“That’s right,” I rumble. “As long as I’ve got breath in me, it’ll be me. Only me.”
Before the high is even faded, she turns around to straddle my lap, her hands tugging on my hair. “That was completely unfair,” she blurts, eyes blazing.
“It was.”
She’s breathless, wrung out, and beautiful. The fire in her eyes steals the breath right out of my lungs. “You know this stops when I get on that plane,” she says.
I grip her waist and guide her down onto me, groaning as her warmth takes me in. Of course Holly would be planning the exit while her sweet pussy is begging me not to stop. “Say it again. Say it while I’m inside you.”
Her mouth parts. Only a moan comes out.
Her hips answer for her instead.
Instinct kicks in. We follow the pull and don’t fight it, knowing exactly what we’re crossing.
There’s no going back. We’re past the point of stopping this.
She tries to ride me slow. The next moment she doesn’t.
Her movements turn needy, almost desperate.
We rock together, ignoring the flood of bathwater that continues to spill everywhere.
My grip on her hips tightens, guiding her rhythm, letting her set the pace one second and taking it back the next.
She bites her lip, breath hitching every time I thrust deeper.
We slip and slide together, using whatever purchase we can find on each other’s bodies.
The bathwater is gone from soothing to barely there.
My hand cups her face, my lips hovering over hers, brushing and teasing, never really kissing, just staying close. Her hips urge me on.
The next moment she stills, locking me in place.
She comes with a shaky gasp.
I can’t hold off anymore. I take her with hard thrusts, until I’m spilling my hot seed inside of her. I lean forward, arms locked around her back, feeling the last drop pulse out of me while she stays wrapped around me.
Spent, I slump back against the tub’s edge, and lean back with her on my lap.
She laughs quietly against my neck. “Holy hell. We’re doing that again.”
“Yeah?” I’m still breathing heavy.
She lifts her head and kisses me. “It felt like being in the middle of a thunderstorm. In a deep, wild sea…” Goosebumps rise on her arms. She shivers a little, adding with a breathy laugh, “A very cold wild sea.”
“Deep ocean water is always cold.” I glance around. “Also, half of it’s on the floor.”
She grins and gives a noncommittal shrug. “I’ll clean it later.”
“We’ll handle it tomorrow. Let’s get out.”
“But that would require moving.”
“You move, you qualify for dessert.”
That gets her attention. She perks up, takes my hands, and climbs out on wobbly legs. I follow, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her. She doesn’t stop me, just leans into me, skin flushed, lips swollen, eyes still a little dazed.
“You good?” I murmur, hauling her in, kissing her temple.
She nods, tucking her face into my chest. I press the towel to her back and keep her close while her breathing finds its rhythm.
“Can’t feel my legs,” she mumbles, swaying a little.
“Yeah, well,” I say, grinning against her hair, “you started it.”
She snorts. “Oh no, mister. That wasn’t me. That was you.”
I give her ass a playful swat and send her to bed. I stay behind, pulling out the mop to deal with the wreckage we left.
After a few minutes, I hear Holly’s voice from the bedroom. At first, I think she’s calling for me, but when I push open the door, I see her sitting on the edge of the bed naked, her waist still somewhat wrapped in the towel, back to me. She’s on the phone.
“No way, Shelby. You’re serious?”
She listens and gasps.
“That’s amazing! I can’t believe you got him to come down on the price. See! Told you we’d make a good team… You got the lease? Perfect. Pop the PDF in my email, I’ll sign and send it back.”
I don’t stay to hear the rest, I already know what it means. I knew she was leaving. But now? It’s real. Not someday, not in a month—within the next few weeks.
Fuck.
I head back to the bathroom, wipe the splashes off the frames holding my black and white photographs, toss the soaked towels in the dryer, and stand there for a moment, staring at nothing.
Back in the kitchen, I load the dishes, wipe the counters.
It’s automatic, calms my head. By the time I come back, she’s just hanging up.
“That took a while,” she teases.
“You made a mess in there.”
“So did you.” She sets her phone down and leans back on her elbows. “That was Shelby. The lease is ready. If it checks out with her lawyer, we’re signing tomorrow.”
I nod, because what the hell else am I going to do?
She reaches out, tugging me toward the bed. “Now, I think I was promised something.”
One look at her sparkling eyes, and whatever tension I was holding drains out of me. “I don’t know if that was a promise.”
She laughs and pulls me down on top of her. “Hey, you entered into a verbal agreement, Thorne. Now pay up.”