Chapter 24 #2
“Do what?” I panic as he gets closer.
He stops halfway across the room, brows raised. “Sit next to you?”
“Oh, yeah,” I breathe, patting the spot beside me like he’s a dog. “Make yourself comfortable.”
The cushion dips under his weight as he settles beside me. When he turns my way, my spine snaps straight.
“Adeline, breathe,” he says softly. “Nothing has to happen tonight.”
I whimper. “I don’t know why I’m being so weird. It’s just—”
Nodding, he pushes my hair behind my ear. “Hey,” he says, his tone soothing. “It’s a lot. I know. But it’s also just us, you and me. Always.”
“Yeah, just you and me,” I repeat, willing my muscles to relax.
He smiles at me, leaning in close. “Can I kiss you again?”
My lungs constrict, making my response hoarse. “Um, yeah?”
An uneasy laugh passes his lips. “Maybe we should try something different.”
“I’ve never tried anything, so whatever it is it will be different for me,” I ramble.
Brows tugged together, he pulls back and searches my face. “Wait…never?”
Head lowered, I shake it.
He rumbles something in French, the sexy sound lighting up my nerve endings.
“What did you just say?”
“I said…” He presses his lips gently against my neck, sending shivers through my body. “This is going to be so much fun.”
“I don’t think that’s what you said,” I murmur.
He chuckles. “Then you should probably learn French, mon trésor.” He nips and sucks at my neck gently.
Electricity arcs through me, pulling a moan from deep inside my chest and making my nipples stand at attention. “This doesn’t feel real,” I whisper.
“Two truths and a lie,” he coaxes, never taking his mouth off my body.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered what it would be like to have you like this.
It might be your first time, but this is the first time it’s ever mattered for me.
And I’m scared that tomorrow, you’ll change your mind. ”
None of them are lies, but the seriousness in his tone keeps me from calling him on it. Shifting so I can look at him, I place my hand against his cheek.
Eye to eye like this, I realize he’s just as nervous as I am. He’s just better at hiding it.
“You were my first crush,” I tell him. “I’ll probably be awkward all night. And there’s nothing you could do to make me not want you.”
He huffs. “Dammit, your first crush was Dominic Hasek, wasn’t it?”
I laugh at the mention of the champion goalie. “So was yours.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, Brooks has him beat in my book.”
A familiar sense of ease seeps in. This is us. JJ and me. Always.
“I can’t believe you really put my name on a jersey and wore it tonight.”
He scowls. “You’ve done it for me plenty of times. Why wouldn’t I want to have my favorite player’s name on my back?”
I roll my eyes, but internally, I’m swooning. “JJ.”
“Yeah?”
“Will you kiss me again?”
His entire face lights up. “I thought you would never ask.”
He eases me into the kiss, coaxing me with soft lips and a curious tongue. My body grows warmer the longer we play, and when his hand drifts to the hem of my shirt, I don’t wait for him to ask if it’s okay, I beg him to touch me.
“Please, JJ, I need this. Need you.”
He slips beneath my bra, and when he cups my breast, he lets out a groan that vibrates through me.
It’s still not enough.
I pull off my shirt and straddle him, grinding against his lap. Lips tingling and blood heating, I beg him to take me to bed. He stands easily, guiding my legs around his waist without breaking the kiss. We drown in one another, forgoing breathing for just another moment of touching.
I can’t get enough. Of him. Of this sensation. I’ve always enjoyed spending time with JJ. Playing hockey, practicing, working out, talking—they’re my favorite things to do. Anything that involves him is on that list. But not a goddamn thing has ever compared to doing this with him.
When he settles me on the bed, placing his hand behind my head and easing me beneath him, I feel like the most cherished person in the entire world.
He whispers something else in French, the sound of the words on his lips making the warmth in my core build.
“This is better than every dream I’ve ever had,” he says. “Adeline, I—” He sucks in a breath. “I love you.”
Instantly, tears spring to my eyes. The words aren’t caused by the heat of the moment. They’re genuine. We may never have done this before, but we’ve built this friendship, this trust, and this love, for years. So I don’t even think before responding. “I love you too. So much.”
“We don’t have to do anything else tonight, but—”
I shake my head. “I want to. I want to know what it feels like. With you. I want more of you than anyone else has ever had.”
Hovering over me, he smiles, then presses another kiss to my lips. “You already have it, mon trésor. You have my heart. And you’re the only one who ever will.”
“Then show me.” The words rasp out of me. “Make love to me, JJ. Make me yours.”
He searches my face again. Like he’s looking for evidence that I’ll change my mind. But I won’t. I want this. I want him. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.
Sitting back, he tugs his shirt over his head with one hand like one of the sexy characters from Aunt Hannah’s books.
That thought makes me giggle.
JJ smirks down at me, his face cast in shadow. “What?”
I roll my lips to temper my laughter, but it’s no use.
He looms closer and presses his finger into my side, where he knows I’m most ticklish.
“JJ.” I squeal.
His laughter is throaty. “Tell me.”
I suck in a breath and push him back. “Fine, I was thinking that the way you took your shirt off was like a move straight out of a romance novel.”
He jolts back. “You read romance books?”
“No,” I say, embarrassed.
“What kind of books, Adeline?” he says, his tone both knowing and teasing. A singsong of sorts.
I suck on my bottom lip and shake my head.
He pokes the spot that makes me squirm again. “Tell me.”
I huff. “Fine. Sexy, slutty, steamy, delicious books.”
His eyes dance. “And do you picture me when you read these books?”
“Oh my god,” I groan, covering my face with both hands.
“You do, don’t you?”
The heat swamping me has more to do with embarrassment than desire now. “I hate you.”
He tugs at my wrist, and when I drop my hands, he kisses me. “No you don’t.” His words are soft against my lips. “Do you touch yourself while you read these books and think of me?”
A gust of air escapes me without my permission.
His pupils blow wide. “Fuck, I need to see that.”
“What?” I squirm beneath him, shyness and need and confusion warring inside me.
He rocks back on his knees and smirks. “Come on, I’ll play if you do?”
“Why don’t we just play with each other?” I whine. The thought of touching myself in front of him sends a wave of mortification through me. By now, my whole body is probably beet red.
But he doesn’t squirm. He doesn’t blush. The man just slips off the bed and shoves his pants off. He pushes his boxers down a second later, and I lose my breath.
“Holy fuck,” I mutter.
He eyes himself, then meets my gaze, a shyness in his expression I didn’t expect. “Is this okay?”
“Um, that—” I point, searching for a term to describe the enormity of the extremity hanging from his body. “It’s supposed to go in here?” I point between my legs.
He leans forward, lips twitching, and presses his thumb to my bottom lip. “Or here, or—”
“If you point to my ass, we’re going to have a problem.”
He chuckles. “We’ve got all the time in the world, Adeline.”
His words send relief through me, and when he kisses me again, the sensation is joined with heat. I’m pretty sure he could get me to agree to anything.
“Can I take off your pants?” he mumbles against my lips.
I nod, a shiver rolling through me.
Without taking his mouth off mine, he pulls them down. I shimmy, helping him until they’re at my ankles.
“Fuck.” He groans as he teases the waistband of my underwear. “This is a big moment,” he murmurs, slipping beneath the fabric. Pulling back, he assesses me. “Are we rushing this? I don’t want to rush this.”
An exasperated groan surges from me. “JJ, I’ve waited years for you to touch me. If you stop, I will literally kill you.”
He chuckles. “Okay, baby. No more stopping.”
It’s that baby that does me in. And when he tugs my panties down and settles his weight over me, I forget everything else.
I forget about all the years I’ve longed for this.
When I was on the sidelines, hoping he’d look my way.
When we were friends sharing a pizza or teammates vying for the same coveted spot.
When we were bed mates who wouldn’t cross the pillowed line.
All of that time slips away and the inevitability of us shifts into place.
He slides his hand between my legs, groaning like what he’s discovering feels just as good for him as it does for me. Pressure builds inside me quickly, its power uncontrollable. My skin feels tight, like a ball of energy has formed inside me and is threatening to explode.
I’m nervous about what will happen when it does, but JJ talks me through it.
His tone is sweet as he mumbles against my mouth. “That’s it, Adeline, come for me. Let me feel you break.”
My toes curl and my muscles tense. Then my eyes fall shut and a wave rushes over me. He kisses me through it. Tells me I’m beautiful. That he’s obsessed. Addicted.
“Can I taste you?” He whimpers against my lips.
My mind can’t make sense of the words for a moment. Maybe it’s the orgasm. Maybe it’s the way his voice goes soft and high when he begs.
Eventually, it clicks, and my breath stutters. “Um, yes.”
He licks my lips, groaning. “I’ve dreamed about this.” He kisses down my neck, then rolls his tongue over one of my nipples.
I arch in surprise, a moan rolling out of me.
“Oh, my girl likes having her nipples played with. Fuck, I love that.” He puts his mouth on me again, rolling his tongue in circles, not touching the tip. When he tweaks the other, a bolt of electricity shoots straight to my core. In seconds, I’m a mess, begging and whining and panting.
He chuckles, moving to my other breast. When the cool air hits me, I feel like I might combust. What is this sensation? How is he doing this with just his tongue?
“How?” I babble. “I—oh my god, your tongue.”
With his teeth gently clamped around my nipple, he grins up at me, his blue eyes devious. He flicks the sensitive bud with his tongue over and over, and I swear I see stars.
“Just wait until you feel it against your clit. I am going to love eating your pussy, baby.”
My pulse spikes. Holy shit. “You’re going to—” I glance down.
He nods, though he lifts up a little, his brows furrowed. “Has no one ever tasted this pussy?” He finds my clit and plays with it lazily.
I squirm, digging my heels into the bed. “JJ—”
“Oh, baby, you are so fucking special.” Working his way down my body, he presses a kiss to my stomach. “I love that you’re giving me this. That I’m your first. Shit, it’s fucking with my head.” He lifts up, his face going serious. “Thank you.”
It’s so sweet. So unlike JJ. Not that he isn’t sweet, but it’s different now. We’re different now.
I sigh, a smile breaking across my lips. “Thank you.”
His expression turns wicked. “I haven’t done anything yet.”
With that, he shifts even lower and returns his focus to the spot between my legs.
I hold my breath, not sure what to expect.
When he presses his mouth to my clit and gives me the most intimate of kisses, pleasure rocks through me.
“Oh my god,” I pant, my eyes rolling back.
“It’s JJ, but I’ll answer to that too.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. I inhale sharply, ready to mock him for his cocky attitude, but he slips his tongue inside me, and I lose my words.
He adds a finger, gently working it in and out of me, then another. “Just stretching you out.” He sucks on my clit again, this time while fucking me with his fingers, and everything I knew about pleasure before this moment is erased. Every sensation I’ve ever experienced is rewritten.
When I come again, I chant his name.
He doesn’t stop licking and humming until I’m begging him to stop. Begging him to fuck me.
He crawls up my body and kisses me, ravenously. “You are my favorite person in the world, Adeline. My best friend. And the absolute best meal I’ve ever had.”
I laugh. He’s always so fucking ridiculous. That hasn’t changed. But at the same time as the amusement registers, warmth rolls through me.
Eyes locked with his, I say, “You are that for me too, JJ. The person I always want with me. The one I look for in every room. Every time something big happens, I want to tell you, but I’m tired of telling you things. I want you there for it all. I want all of it. You and me and this and…”
He kisses the rest of the confession from my lips. “Shh, baby. I know. And it’s you and me from here on out. No more sharing stories. We’re living them.”
I nod, my breath stuttering and tears pricking at my eyes.
He presses one more kiss to my mouth, then sits up and reaches for his jeans. He pulls a condom from his pocket, and his eyes don’t leave mine as he rolls the latex over himself.
I lick my lips, nervous but ready.
When he settles back over me and drags his cock against me, teasing the places he’s already set on fire with his tongue, I shudder.
“We’re going to go slow,” he says. “Okay?”
I nod, my breaths coming quickly.
As he presses into me, those catastrophic blue eyes hold mine.
“I love you,” he says, and it sounds like a promise.
The sentiment holds so much more meaning than three simple words should.
Because what we’re doing is so much more than a physical act.
It’s the beginning of something new. And as I cry out in pain, he holds me and kisses me through it, only releasing my mouth when that pain bleeds into pleasure.
From this moment on, there’s no way we’ll ever be the same.