Chapter Twelve #2
She nodded, every word she’d ever known trapped in her throat as he slid them down her legs. They were so drenched they left a trail of moisture behind, and once they were gone, it occurred to her that for the first time, she was completely, 100 percent naked in front of Judah Klein.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, reaching out to brush the slick skin he’d just bared. She shuddered as he ghosted his thumb over her, gentle as a whisper, then more firmly. “You are very, very wet.”
“You noticed that, huh?”
“For me,” he said lowly, almost to himself, and he dragged his fingers through her wet heat as if preparing a testing ground. Then the heel of his palm brushed her clit, and she couldn’t hold back a moan.
“I’m gonna take that sound as a good thing,” he said, watching his own hand in wonder.
“Judah. Yes. That was the very good kind of moan. That was a ‘Go back to doing exactly what you were doing and don’t you dare stop’ kind of moan.”
He smiled sheepishly, and it was so fucking cute she had to kiss him.
That had him moving again, grazing her clit and making her full-on shudder.
“Okay, I think I’ve learned something,” he whispered against her lips.
“Show me,” he murmured in her ear as he stroked her. “Show me what makes you feel good.”
The wild thing was, he was already making her feel good; what he lacked in expertise, he made up for in patience, teasing with firm slowness and long fingers that covered a lot of territory.
Still, she covered his hand with hers, showing him exactly how she liked to be touched, how fast and firm—and God, he had no right to be this sexy about his first time or this quick to learn exactly how to please her.
Good boy.
Anticipation had her holding her breath as he finally moved to her entrance and slipped a finger inside, hissing with arousal at the feel of her.
She imagined he was intending to go slowly, but she was so wet and needy that he slid in easily.
Judah swore under his breath as he pressed closer, enough for her to feel against her hip that he was enjoying it just as much as she was.
“How do you feel this good?” he groaned, ever marveling.
“You feel pretty damn good yourself,” she returned, gasping for breath. “But with all due respect to your learning journey, I’m gonna need more right fucking now.”
“Oh?” He slowly pulled his finger back out and licked it clean while she watched, her entire body pulsing with want as he hummed in pleasure. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
And then he bent over her, lust-darkened eyes locked on hers, and swiped his tongue up the center of her like he was devouring an ice cream cone.
She cried out at the unexpected enthusiasm, and before he could take a single second to consider the noise, she managed a “Good moan. Definitely a good moan.”
“Noted.” The hint of a seductive smile looked so good on his wet lips. “Remember, I’m here to learn.”
“You really are an excellent student.” She lay back, spreading her legs farther apart. “Just go easy on me. At least until I tell you not to. And like I said, if you’re not into it, stop—”
“Arielle.” He licked her again, slow and steady this time, his eyes fixed on hers. “I have no plans to stop until you either tell me to or come on my face. Now please shut up and let me eat you out.”
Who the fuck are you, Judah Klein? But she did indeed shut up, and he returned to his task, meticulously lavishing her with slow licks that seemed determined to drive her insane.
“Not that slow,” she huffed, and was repaid with a firm tonguing of her clit that sent her eyes rolling back into her head.
He lapped at her like she was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted, and then his grip on her hips tightened and, oh, his tongue was working inside her, fucking her, turning her into a writhing, panting mess.
It was so good—too good—and she rolled her hips with a desperate need to be filled, which he sated immediately with two fingers inside her.
She’d been in so many beds, in so many decently capable hands, but it’d never felt quite like this.
Watching him work her from the inside with his fingers while he circled her clit with his tongue, she was stunned to realize she was very closely chasing an orgasm. She just needed … something …
She didn’t know whether she or some sort of sex angel whispered “suction” to Judah, but as soon as he applied it to her clit, it was the beginning of the end, her brain exploding into white light as she rode his mouth like a bucking bronco until she was absolutely drained and his sheets were a complete mess.
“Holy fuck,” she whispered, cracking an eye open to see Judah collapse next to her. “Judah. What the fuck?”
His breathless laugh skated over her shoulder. “You know, it feels like maybe we both do enjoy that, actually.”
“Oh my God, shut up.” She rolled onto her elbow. “Seriously, is there anything your mouth can’t do?”
“I’m happy to keep trying everything until we find out for sure.”
How was this the same guy who’d death-glared at her only a few months earlier, and why was it so hard to stop herself from smiling in his presence now?
“It’s ridiculous, you know, that you’re, like, globally famous for this talent you have, and no one even knows that you possess way more important ones. ”
“I’ll have to add that to my résumé,” he said with a rare grin. “Yeah, yeah, I have perfect pitch and play five instruments, but more importantly, did you know I was actually the first person to make Arielle Becker come with my tongue?”
She snorted with laughter, then widened her eyes in realization. “Do you still need—”
“Oh, no. I touched my dick for about half a second while you were coming, and I was gone.”
For some reason, that made them both collapse in laughter—messy and sticky and sweaty. But as their amusement died down and they cleaned themselves up, Judah’s expression grew serious. “I’ve been going back and forth on asking you something, and it might be a bad idea, but I just really have to.”
Arielle’s chest tightened, and she clutched the sheet she’d pulled up over her breasts.
She’d wondered a million times what she’d say if he asked her on an actual date, and in the beginning, it’d been an exercise in working through her brush-off speech.
We’re looking for different things, she’d practiced while standing on line for iced coffee or waiting for an ad in a mobile game to end.
I’m not ready for settling down and babies.
I’m not going to start wearing only skirts or covering my hair, or switch to a more “appropriate” job if your mother or rabbi thinks mine’s “unseemly.” And I don’t want to pretend to be shomer negiah or anything else I’m not for the public.
The thing was, they were still looking for different things.
And she still wasn’t ready for settling down and babies.
And she still wasn’t going to make any of those changes for him.
And yet, if he asked her right now …
“Shoot,” she said before she could think too hard about it, her heart thudding in her rib cage.
“So, like, this whole thing”—he gestured between them, and the thudding turned thunderous—“as we’ve established, I haven’t done, well, any of it before.
And it’s…” Pink rose into his cheeks, and she thought it might be the first time she’d ever seen him blush.
“Does it always feel like this? Like, is this normal, just what it’s like when clothes come off? Or…”
Oh. So, not asking her out then. Okay, well, that was good. Wasn’t it?
“Or am I the best you’ll ever have, ruining you for all the women who’ll come after me?”
Her joke landed flatly between them, and she realized it wasn’t a joke at all; that was, in fact, exactly what he wanted to know. Because they had only two nights left of this, and then … then there’d be different women. Or at least one more woman.
And it wouldn’t be her.
Why did that thought make her so ill?
“I guess, yeah,” he said quietly.
She paused before answering, trying to think of the most careful way to respond.
“I can’t tell you that if you just took one of those hotel lobby dates upstairs, it would feel like this.
This is…” In-fucking-credible. The best it’s ever been with anyone.
Going to absolutely wreck me when it’s over.
“Chemistry,” she managed hoarsely. “But yeah, it could be like this with the right person. I mean, not exactly like this—I’m next level—but you know what I mean. ”
“I do know,” he said with a soft smile before surprising her by leaning in and kissing her. “And you are next level; I know that too.”
God, it was way too easy to get lost in this.
She’d done casual many times; she knew it didn’t include languid kisses and openly marveling at your partner’s beauty.
But Judah was so new at it that she didn’t have the heart or the words to tell him that it’d never been like this for her, that it wasn’t supposed to be—not for what they were doing.
Or at least for what they were supposed to be doing; she wasn’t sure what they were actually doing anymore.
For fuck’s sake, he still tasted like her.
And she couldn’t even be mad at him because she was the one who was supposed to be instructing him on how this goes.
She was supposed to kick him out yesterday, sticky clothes and all, rather than letting him linger in her apartment for another couple of hours, wearing her baggiest shorts and T-shirt while she introduced him to the wonderful world of chili-lime chips and incredibly complicated Lego sets.
“Hey.” He curled around her, his fingers grazing her breast so lightly, back and forth, that she wondered if he even knew he was doing it. “I’m guessing it’s not at its finest right now, but, uh, any chance you want some dinner?”
And then there was that. That dangerous date-night thing he’d done. That date-night thing she’d called him on but also secretly maybe a little bit loved.
She knew she should stand by her conviction about it, that sitting down to eat together sent the entirely wrong message.
But … she’d worked up a massive appetite, and it wasn’t just for him. “Lead the way.”