36. Rhodes
36
Rhodes
P aige above me, hair tickling my face while she stares at my lips, is the best damn vision I can think of.
Except it isn’t a vision.
It’s real.
My very real hands on her very real hips are a testament to that.
After becoming breathless from our kiss outside, we moved inside the van, where she pushed me back on the bed. I hit my head on the ceiling vent, but it was quickly forgotten when she came down on top of me. The press of her body distracted me completely.
My hands wander over her pliant body as her lips tenderly drop to mine once more. I inhale through my nose, elated this is finally happening—I’m kissing Paige—but also worried it’s a mirage I’ve somehow conjured up. Maybe I’m still walking on the side of the road right now. Maybe it’s not really her hips filling my palms or her breasts rubbing against my chest.
But when I open my eyes, she’s still there. Still looking at me with those big, brown eyes of hers, thinking the same thing I am. I’d bet on it.
“We’re really doing this,” I find myself saying.
She laughs against my mouth and pushes up to straight arms, her hips now creating more pressure on my groin. Instinct tells me to roll my hips, seek out the friction I’m desperate for, but I wait, watching for what she says or does next. I don’t want to push her further than she wants to go.
Everything is so new, fragile still.
But Paige surprises me and sits fully on my lap, lifting the hem of her shirt above her head. Her light blue bralette has a lace edging along the top that is begging for my hands and mouth.
I lick my lips. I’ve seen her in her bra plenty of times. I’ve always forced myself to look away quickly, keeping the friendship between us firmly in place. But here, it’s an invitation—a welcome home banner after a long trip away.
“Can I touch you?” I grind out.
She smirks down at me. “Please.”
She starts to move her hips, rocking them as she uses the roof of the van to brace herself and keep steady.
My hands are everywhere. Climbing her rippling stomach, teasing the underside of this sexy little bra, and feeling the soft ribbing covering her as I run my thumb across her nipples. The soft moan she makes elicits so much, it has me lifting my hips to meet hers and rubbing circles around her peaks.
“I never thought we’d be here,” she says on an exhale. “I don’t know why. It makes so much sense. You and me. We work.”
We do work.
She rides me, my jeans becoming unbearably tight while her shorts ride higher. I brace my hands on her thighs, feeling the soft heat of her skin and wishing I could somehow be closer. All over her, inside her.
Bowing her head, her kiss is erratic and so fucking hot, it corners my brain. My hands skate up her back to find the clasp to her bra, but there isn’t one.
“It lifts over my head,” she says, sitting up and raising her arms again in invitation.
Instead of taking her bra off like this, I flip her to the mattress and push to hover over her. Unfortunately, the wall is closer than I guessed, so I smack my elbow into it, causing the pain to reverberate up my arm.
“I’m okay,” I say quickly to assure her, though my pride is stinging a bit.
“Swear?” she asks, brows diving in concern.
“Swear.”
Her arms stretch higher above her head, resting on the soft mattress beneath her as I drag my fingers up her sides until they’re under the elastic stretching across her ribs again, pushing slowly and lifting to release her perfect breasts.
My mouth gapes, and so does hers, but I might be the only one breathless.
The sight beneath me is better than my imagination or any photo. The pink skin of her nipple against her porcelain, cream-colored skin is so alluring. I’m trying my hardest to hold myself up while I lift the rest of her bra over her head and take her into my hands. I lean down and slowly kiss her, licking down her neck and collarbone to her sensitive nipple with lazy movements. I’m taking my time and frustrating her in the process.
“If you don’t put your full mouth on me in a second, I’m going to do it for you,” she demands.
I smile up at her, smirking as I tease. “I’ve waited a long time for this. I’m not going to rush it.”
“We have a lot of time, though,” she complains. “Right now, I just need you. I need us. I need…” Her breath hitches as I pull her into my mouth, swirling my tongue around her nipple. “That.”
She grips handfuls of my hair, pressing me closer as if I weren’t already there, and squirming underneath my body as I pin her down and keep her from floating away. The moans at the back of her throat are louder now, and I let go of her breast and take her mouth instead.
Her kisses are still urgent, prodding me further along until we’re both panting, biting, and licking one another like we've been doing it for centuries. The pressure in my pants is pushing further into her leg, and her hips are seeking for the firm strain in my pants I'm so damn willing to offer.
“I want you, Paige. So badly. So desperately,” I say when she wraps her ankles around my back, allowing me deeper between her legs.
I close my eyes at how good she feels curled around me like this, but how much better it will feel when I’m inside her. I pump my hips as I kiss her. Harder until I’m so stiff, so in need, that I have to pause.
I roll off her to my side so I don’t end this moment too soon.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
I cup her face, then adjust myself in my jeans. “Nowhere. I just need a sec.”
“Rhodes,” she says, drawing out my name. “You should have said something.”
I study her expression, but her hands are quick, reaching for the button on my jeans and rendering me speechless.
My zipper goes next, easily becoming the loudest noise in this confined space. Her hand dives into the side of my boxers, not even touching me yet—only my hip—but I take a sharp inhale and brace for the moment.
The moment she scatters my thoughts.
The moment I will beg for if I have to.
The moment I make her mine .
She goes back to teasing the elastic band at my waist with her finger before her hand circles around me, pumping slowly like I teased her nipples, lips crashing and sucking. I grab the back of her head and hold her to me. Small gasps leave my mouth when she reaches my tip with her thumb.
Rolling over her, I pin her hands above her head with one hand while I use the other to prop myself up. “You can’t keep doing that.”
She smirks. “Why not, Rhodes?”
“You know why.”
She’s breathing hard through her nose, closing her eyes. “Then do whatever you have to do to help me with this ache.”
I release her hands and then roll over to my side again to kick off my jeans faster than I ever have before. Taking my shirt off when the ceiling encroaches on my head is difficult, but I use my abs to hold me up and yank it off.
My mouth is back on the delicious skin at her neck, kissing hard and nibbling at the base where she tastes so sweet, I can’t think straight. I’m on her breasts next, licking around each nipple before pressing light pecks to her stomach. It ripples as I kiss and lick my way to the button of her shorts. I breathe lightly on her stomach, tickling her enough that she yanks at my shoulders.
“This probably isn’t the right time to tell you this,” she says, concern on her face as I hover above her.
I sober immediately. “What? Is something wrong? Are you okay?”
We’re both panting hard, struggling to take in a full breath of air. “I’m fine. Everything’s…fine. I just don’t have a condom.”
Realization sparks. “Not one?”
She pushes up to her elbows, bites her lower lip, and shakes her head.
My palm is still firmly planted on her stomach while watching the rise and fall of those perfect—
Think, Rhodes !
“Okay. I don’t have one either.” Making love to Paige in the back of her van while flashing Cleo some ass cheek wasn’t exactly on my mind when I was rushing here to make sure she was safe. “And I know you’re not on birth control.”
“Wait a second…. " Her pointer finger finds the middle of my forehead and pushes. “How do you know that?”
I pretend to bite her finger. “Because you and Amber talk about your cycles all the time when I’m around. She’s on birth control because of her intense cramps, but you’re not because you don’t like how it makes you feel crazy.”
She’s stunned. “You remembered all of that?”
My expression softens as I trace patterns on her stomach, connecting freckles like I’ve only done in my mind. “I don’t forget when it comes to you.” I exhale through my nose. “I remember how you like your eggs—scrambled with ketchup. How you can’t go to the movies without the sour gummy candy that you always sneak in because, according to you, the prices at the theater are outrageous . I know you take an ‘everything’ shower each Sunday night and never fold any of your laundry.”
“You…” Her words trail off, and her mouth goes slack. I can see the tears welling in her eyes again, and I instinctively raise a hand to graze her cheek. “Noticed.”
“Of course I did. I’ve been noticing you for a long time.” I catch the lonesome tear that streaks down her face. “And I don’t want to stop. I want to know how you sound when you come undone. Become familiar with every gasp you make, or when you hold your breath when I do this…” I swirl the tip of my tongue around her belly button, eliciting a slight moan at the top of her inhale. “I want to get to know these parts of you, too.”
“I want to figure them out with you.” She cradles my cheek. “But what about a condom?”
I let my hand track down her neck, grazing the soft skin between her breasts, and then lower down her stomach. My eyes are locked on hers as I finger the button on her jeans and slide the zipper down.
“It’s your birthday.” Looking briefly at the underwear she’s wearing, purely out of my own curiosity, I tease the elastic just like she did with mine. “It doesn’t mean we can’t do other things.”
The elastic snaps back, and I push off the bed until my feet are heavy on the floor. She stays propped on her elbows, and I try to stay focused on the jean shorts I’m ready to rip off her when her tits are right there, begging me to change my mind.
I lightly push her shoulders back onto the bed, giving each breast a temporary squeeze before dragging rough hands down her sides to her shorts. I tug them off as she wiggles her hips to help, and just like that, they’re gone. Just like that . I can’t help lowering my mouth to the cursive font on the front of her underwear reading Tuesday . It’s actually Sunday, but it still makes me smile.
My breath is hot against the thin cotton, forcing me to dig my fingers deeper into her hips before shoving her knees up to the ceiling. I lower to my knees, which still makes me tall enough to reach the warmth between her legs. I drag a finger down her center and listen to her sigh. It’s the perfect sound; all I can think about is her and giving her everything she wants.
“Tell me everything. What you like, what you don’t, everything. Okay?”
“Okay,” she all but whispers.
I tug on her panties, baring her to the coolness of the van as I slip them off her feet. I immediately bring my mouth to her. She gasps and shudders at the first touch of my tongue, and I give her a chance to adjust by blowing on the sensitive nerves of her clit.
“That. I’ve never…it’s so good. So erotic.” Goosebumps erupt on her skin, down her legs and calves, so I drag my hands up the sides, cradling the outside of her thighs as I reverently devour this woman with my mouth.
She tangles one hand in my hair, gripping and tugging. Not away, but closer. My nose knocks against her clit then I lick and kiss and toy with her folds. She’s perfect in how she moans, how she rocks against my face as my tongue moves faster, and how her thighs clench the sides of my head to hold me steady.
“All of this. Don’t you dare stop,” she manages to say.
I wouldn’t dare.
My cock is rock solid, and as her noises shift, becoming louder, more strangled, wild even, I reach into my boxers with one hand and stroke myself to the beat of her moans of pleasure. It doesn’t take much to pull her over the edge, and I’m right behind her as my hand moves faster up and down my shaft. I keep my mouth on her as she rides out her orgasm, and then I come apart.
Shattering at her feet, I breathe hard against her skin, turning my head to bite the inside of her thigh. Her hands are still in my hair as we both come down from the high of each other.
Since I’m already in the kitchen—the benefits of a tight space—I reach for the dish towel hanging off one of the cabinet hooks and clean us both up.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I believe she says since her words are muffled and distant.
“I don’t have to do a lot of things.”
She props herself up on her elbows, completely comfortable with how perfectly naked she is. “Like fly to Montana to come find me?”
“Technically,” I start, pulling up my boxers. “I’m in Wyoming now.”
“Semantics.”
I laugh. “How do you think people who live in Wyoming will feel?”
“You’ve barely even seen the state,” she retorts.
“You’re right.” I don’t bother putting my jeans on because if I have any say, we’ll be doing this again as soon as possible. “I’ve been too busy looking at you.”
“And for me.”
“That too.” I smile while crawling into bed to lay next to her, my feet dangling off the edge as I push a few stray hairs out of her face.
“Why doesn’t this feel weird?” she whispers, curling to her side without reaching for the blankets.
Satiated and thoroughly kissed, there’s a lightness to her features now. “I think some would say it’s because we started as friends. They might also say it’s because we already kissed.”
She props her head on her hand. “I don’t care what some say. I want to know what you think.”
“I’d say…” For the past few seconds, I’ve been tracing her cupid’s bow with my gaze, so I let my finger do it now, lingering on the truly delectable freckle above her top lip. “All of those things are true. But I’d also add that we’ve always been each other’s safe place. Being physically vulnerable is just another addition to what’s already true.”
She smiles, and it lifts her entire face. “I like that answer.”
I lean forward and kiss her softly, savoring the feel and taste of her lips. How perfect they are for me .
“Take me home, would ya?” She pulls me in close, taking my kiss and tripling it.
I have zero complaints.