Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
TALLY
My heart was going crazy, battering against my ribs like it wanted to beat out of my chest. My throat felt tight and my head spun.
I was terrified of losing Alec.
If we started a relationship and it didn’t work out, that could spell the end of our friendship. But things had changed anyway. We’d kissed and shared a bed, and he’d told me he had feelings for me.
There was no going back.
Whatever happened, our relationship would be irrevocably changed. Now, it was just up to me to decide what shape I wanted that change to take.
I scraped my teeth over my lip and wiped my hands on my shorts. “You’re certain there’s enough chemistry between us for something real? Something that could last?”
He nodded. “Not a doubt in my mind.”
“Then prove it.”
With a glance at my croissant, he asked, “Are you going to finish that?”
I sighed. At this point there was no chance in hell. I’d have to come back and get another one when I regained my appetite. “No, I’m done.”
He stood and rounded the table, holding his hand out to me. I placed my hand on his and let him pull me to my feet. Hand-in-hand, we circled the slatted wall. A stranger to our left buried their face in a newspaper but neither of us looked at them as we made our way out of the bakery.
“What are we doing?” I asked as Alec led me down the street toward the resort.
He smirked, and the expression had a flirty edge to it. “I am proving to you that we have plenty of chemistry.”
“How?”
“With a kiss, if you’ll let me. Maybe more, depending on what you’re comfortable with.” He stopped, and turned to face me. “Seriously, Tally, your comfort is the most important thing to me, so if you’re not ready for anything at all right now, then we can just lie side-by-side on the bed and talk.”
I swallowed, imagining how it might feel to release control of the sparks of electricity I’d sensed between us during our “pretend” kiss.
“I’d like a kiss,” I admitted.
“Then we’ll start with that and go from there,” he said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze and continuing along the sidewalk.
At the resort, we skirted around the edge of the lobby, eager to avoid anyone we might know, and went straight to the elevator. We managed to get to our room without running into any acquaintances. Alec’s hands were irritatingly steady as he unlocked our door.
Inside, it suddenly struck me that I was about to kiss my best friend. This time, it wouldn’t come out of nowhere. I would be expecting it. And somehow, that made it all the more terrifying.
A little exhilarating too.
“Are you sure about this?” Alec asked, letting go of my hand and putting a few feet of distance between us.
“Yes.”
Really, what choice did I have? Things were going to change between us regardless of what decision we made now. I’d rather take the chance that we might, maybe, be able to have a wonderful new relationship together than hold back out of fear and lose him completely.
He put his hands on my hips and backed me against the wall. His big, strong body caged me in and the wall prevented me from escaping the sensual gravity of his presence.
Slowly, without hesitation, he lowered his head toward mine. Unable to resist the anticipation, I stretched onto my toes and touched my lips to his.
The kiss was gentle, soft, but then a deep growl rumbled in his throat, and he pinned me more forcefully against the wall. I parted my lips, and he deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue inside and stealing my ability to think rationally.
I closed my eyes and breathed in citrus and a trace of clean, masculine sweat. He cupped my face, tilting my head back to give himself better access to my mouth. I plastered myself against him, whimpering at the delicious friction between our bodies.
My nipples rubbed his hard chest and desire skittered down my spine and pooled in my pelvis. He ground into me. I could feel the hard bulge of his cock where it pressed against my pussy.
Then, all of a sudden, he tore away from me. His mouth hung open, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His eyes stared into mine, his pupils blown out, black bleeding into the brown of his irises.
“I think we have chemistry,” he said. “Don’t you?”
I blinked at him, momentarily uncertain what he was talking about until I recalled our earlier conversation. A giggle burst from me, unbidden. “Maybe just a little.”
He drew in a slow, steady breath, visibly trying to calm himself. Against my will, I found my gaze drawn to the tented front of his shorts.
“So, shall we lie down and talk?” he asked.
For a few seconds, I didn’t think he was serious, but his expression didn’t waver. He was really willing to stop right now if I wasn’t interested in going further.
My heart warmed. I’d always known Alec was a good guy, always wondered how on earth he was single, and now he was proving that I hadn’t been wrong to think that way.
My tongue darted out, tasting a little of his coffee on my lips. “What if I feel like doing something else?”
Impossibly, his eyes darkened further. “Like what?”
“Like…seeing where all of this chemistry goes.”
Even from a kiss, I knew that we could be combustible together. I wanted to experience that, and I wanted it now.
He shifted slightly closer. “What do you want, cocobug? I need you to say it. Do you want my tongue on your sweet little pussy? Do you want my cock deep inside you? Tell me, and I’ll give it to you.”
My pussy throbbed in response to his hot words.
I bit my lower lip and my cheeks heated. I wasn’t ashamed of my sexual appetite, but I wasn’t usually much of a dirty talker either.
“I want you to make me come,” I told him, knowing that my face must be a furious shade of scarlet.
His nostrils flared, and he grabbed me by the hips. “Done. Do you have any limits?”
“No. I trust you.”
He paused, his dark eyes locked on mine. “I won’t let you down.”
He grabbed my waistband and peeled the layer off, baring me except for a pair of pink panties. He knelt and, before I had time to feel self-conscious, he buried his face in the vee of my thighs. Heat blasted through me.
I stared down at his dark hair, stunned. He mouthed me through my panties, stimulating my clit, providing the sexiest sight of my life.
His fingers hooked in the sides of my panties, and he edged them down, bit by bit, revealing more of me until my lower half was nude in front of him.
“God, this is the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen.”
His tongue delved between my thighs, licking down my center, driving me crazy in the best way.
Suddenly, he rose to his feet and swept me into his arms, lifting me clean off the floor.
I gasped and clutched at him. “What are you doing?”
None of my lovers had ever lifted me before. That said, none had been as muscular as Alec either. He deposited me on the bed, lowered himself between my thighs, and got to work erasing my memories of any other men who’d gone down on me.
It was like my pleasure turned him on. Any time he licked or touched me in a way I liked, he seemed to know and doubled down.
My thoughts grew fuzzy, my mind pleasantly hazy. All of my senses were consumed by him. The sight of his gorgeous face each time he raised it to meet my eyes, the smell of sex in the air, the sound of his tongue in my wetness, and the vibrations of his groans against my tender flesh.
He wound me tighter and tighter, then slipped a finger inside and crooked it slightly. His thumb teased my clit in gentle circles and my hips arched off the bed. If he kept this up, I was going to come without him even being inside me, and that wouldn’t do.
I needed him in me. Now.
“Do you have a condom?” I asked breathlessly, praying the answer was yes. I’d packed one, but it pre-dated Thad because he’d always insisted on providing his own, so I wasn’t sure what kind of condition it was in.
“Yeah.” He reared back and scanned my face. “You sure? There’s no rush. I can get you off like this.”
“I want it. But only if you do.”
“I’ve never wanted anything more.” He tugged the hem of my shirt. “Take this off.”
While he scrambled to find a condom in his wallet and rapidly shed his clothes, I sat up and drew my shirt over my head. I unclipped my bra and tossed it aside, watching Alec’s features carefully for any sign that he might not like what he saw.
His jaw tightened and he approached me, the forgotten foil-wrapped condom dangling from between his fingers.
“Your tits are fucking gorgeous.” He dropped the condom on the bed and cupped a hand around each of my breasts, cradling them in his callused palms. His thumbs brushed my nipples and his breath caught. “So soft and pink.”
He dropped to his belly and planted his face between them, inhaling deeply, then he used the tip of his tongue to tease my nipples into stiff peaks.
I threw my head back and clutched the covers.
My nipples had never seemed particularly sensitive before, but apparently, the other guys had just been doing it wrong.
Alec was most definitely doing it right.
He got lost in my body, playing with me like I was his favorite toy until I was panting and desperate for him to fill me.
“Please,” I begged. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”
He blinked, the glassiness clearing from his eyes. “Sorry, cocobug. I’ve got you.”
He slid the condom on and pushed inside me easily. My body wanted him so badly that there was no discomfort, only the exquisite pleasure of having him closer to me than he’d ever been before.
I cried out, and his mouth latched onto my throat and sucked until I swatted at him. “No hickies!”
He grunted. “I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
“They do.” As if anyone could think anything else after the show we’d put on over the last few days.
“They’d better.”
His lips found mine and we kissed as he began to thrust inside me.
“Fuck,” he muttered against my mouth. “You feel so good. So hot and tight. You’re close to coming already, aren’t you?”
“Yes, damn you.” I stood no chance against him when he seemed so consumed by every part of me.
He tilted his hips in just such a way that every one of his movements caused friction against my clit. First, just light brushes, then harder and firmer until my orgasm rolled through me and I shuddered and called out his name.
“That’s it, cocobug. Good girl.”
He plunged into me over and over until his thrusts became jerky. His cock pulsed and he came inside me.
He rolled off me, disposed of the condom, and pulled me into an embrace. His lips caressed my temple.
“What do you think?” he asked quietly. “Am I boyfriend material?”
My stomach lurched.
“You are,” I admitted. “But I’m scared to lose you.”
He rolled onto his side and turned to face me. His hand rested on my hip and he smiled at me like I was every good thing that had ever happened to him.
“I’m scared too, but you’re worth the risk. Tally, you’re worth everything.”
I kissed the curve of his smile. “Then let’s risk it all.”