Chapter 25
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
AVA
It’s a few strides from the bathroom to the bedroom, and I cling to him like a limpet for every step. The bed is only partly made from this morning, but he doesn’t blink an eyelid. Just drops me onto the mattress and stares down at me, his throat undulating as he swallows.
“Listen to me,” he says, his voice soft as cotton. “You need to do what I say.”
I lift a brow. “Is this some kind of fetish? Do you like control?”
He shakes his head. “No. It’s life preservation. I haven’t come in nine days. If you touch me the wrong way I’ll explode. I need to be inside of you. I need to feel you come around me. I’ve fantasized about this for a very long fucking time.”
“How long?” I whisper.
“Too long.”
“Since you came to Charleston?”
He shakes his head.
“Since you offered to donate to me?” I ask, desperate to know.
“Before that,” he admits. “A very long time before that. In New York. When we first met.”
My heart does a little stutter. “But you hated me.”
“No I didn’t, Ava. I didn’t hate you. I didn’t understand you. But I wanted you.”
My brows knit. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because you hated me,” he says. “And understandably so. We were making fun of your biggest source of pride. And I regretted it as soon as I saw your face. But I didn’t know how to make it right, and maybe I liked having a reason not to act on my attraction to you.”
“Because you don’t like commitment,” I whisper.
“Because I’m not good at it,” he corrects me. “Because I didn’t want to let you of all people down.”
His admission touches something deep inside of me. “Come here,” I say, holding my hand out to him. He joins me on the bed, lying on his side. I turn to him, reaching out to cup his beautiful, rugged jaw.
“Myles?” I say, and his jaw twitches beneath my palm.
“Yes?”
“You’ve never let me down. And I can’t say that about a lot of people.”
He presses his lips to the tip of my nose. “Let’s keep it that way, by you doing what I ask of you.”
“Of course.” I nod.
“Good,” he breathes, moving his lips to mine.
His kiss is slow but deliberate, sending shots of pleasure to my thighs.
I wrap my arms around his neck, delighting in the freedom of movement here compared to the shower.
Then I kiss his jaw, his throat, his shoulder, down to his chest, pressing my lips to his tight nipple.
“Is this okay?” I ask him.
“Yes…” His breath catches as I softly suck at it. “No!” he says quickly. “Fuck no.” I pull away and he closes his eyes. “Jesus, this is goddamned torture.”
“Maybe we should do this one quickly,” I suggest. “Then take our time with round two.”
“It’s our first time, Ava. I’m not whamming and bamming you.” He tucks his finger beneath my chin and lifts my face until our eyes catch. “I’m going to worship you. And you’re going to scream. Then every time you touch yourself you’re going to remember how it feels when I’m inside you.”
My body clenches at the thought. I know what Myles is like when he’s intent on something. He doesn’t stop until he gets it. And now he wants me.
Who am I kidding? He has me. I’m completely his.
But from a purely intellectual standpoint I’m interested to see what he does with me.
“Tell me what to do,” I whisper.
“Just lie there. Let me take care of you.” He pulls me up until our faces are aligned, then rolls over so that I’m on top of him. There’s not an ounce of fat on this man. How is that fair? I frown and run my hands over his arms just to make sure.
“You’re grimacing,” he says. “Why?”
“Because you’re too perfect.”
“You want me to be more…” he pauses. “Imperfect?”
I shake my head. “No. Don’t change a thing.” I brush the hair from his brow, trying to imprint his face into my mind. “I like you exactly like this.”
A soft rumble comes from his throat, like a contented animal. An almost-purr. His eyes narrow and he pushes himself up to sitting, and my body follows his until I’m straddling his lap.
“Ava…” He kisses me sweetly. Softly. Even though he’s not inside of me every part of me feels full. My throat is constricted, my chest is tight. I yearn for him.
I don’t know if he can see it in my eyes. I don’t know if he knows that this isn’t just about getting pregnant for me anymore. It’s about him. Myles Salinger. A man I’ve fallen head over heels for. But whatever he reads in my gaze, it makes him nod.
And before I can take a breath, he lifts me off him and lays me on the bed. My back is against the comforter, my front exposed to the air, making my nipples tighten and peak as he stares down at me.
He starts at my neck, kissing and licking my throat, sending bolts of pleasure through my veins. His fingers stroke my sides, soothing the need, as he moves his lips down to my breasts, kissing the swell of them.
His hands stroke them, his thumbs brushing my nipples and I let out a gasp. He replaces one thumb with his mouth and sucks the same way I sucked at him, and now I know why he had to make me stop.
This is too good. I’m too sensitive. It won’t take much to send me over the edge. As though he can read my mind, he kisses lower, his mouth warm and soft against my skin, his fingers gently parting my thighs until I’m exposed to him.
“You’re so beautiful it hurts,” he murmurs, staring down at the most sensitive part of me. I’m glistening. I’m aching. I’m needy.
“Show me.”
His lip twitches and he leans in. As soon as his mouth covers me I close my eyes, crying out because he’s everything.
He knows exactly how to play me. How to use his fingers and mouth until I’m crying out his name.
He kisses and licks until my body is a mess of desire and heat, my thighs trembling as he brings me to the edge.
When I tumble he lets out a deep groan, holding me close as I convulse beneath him. I’m still gasping as I reach for him, pulling him up until he’s braced over me, and my fingers close around his hard length, and slide the tip of his cock against me until he knows exactly what I need.
“Is now the right time to have the birth control talk?” I whisper.
He laughs. “Shut up and let me make love to you.”
So I do. I release him because this man knows exactly what he’s doing. I stroke his face, his hair, his neck, trying to show him that I care.
He presses against me and my body opens up to him. I feel myself stretch around his thickness, swallowing hard as he slowly pushes inside.
My hips lift to welcome him, and he lets out a groan, his hands moving down my side to still me as his body presses hard into mine.
“I knew it,” he whispers. “I knew it would be like this. So good. So warm. So tight.” There’s a note to his voice that touches me. It’s like he’s fighting something that I can’t see. I kiss him softly, because I need him to know we’re on the same side.
I can’t tell him I love him, but I can show him.
I slide my hands down his back, feeling the jutting muscles of his behind. I dig my fingers into them and he groans. “Myles?” I whisper.
“Yes?” There are a million emotions in his answer. “What do you need?”
“You. It’s always you.”
He smiles and it’s like a little miracle. His eyes soften as he kisses me again. “Always?”
“Always,” I breathe. “But if you don’t move soon, I think I’m going to die.”
“I wouldn’t want that,” he murmurs. “I have plans for you, Miss Quinn.”
He rests his elbows on either side of me, lifting his body so he can get a better look at my face.
His eyes don’t leave mine as he slowly pulls out and I feel like I’m on a roller coaster, going up, up, up.
Then there’s the pause, the moment before oblivion, and I teeter on the edge, waiting for him to move once more.
When he does it’s glorious. A hard, satisfying thrust that makes me babble something incoherent and wrap my legs around his hips.
I tangle my fingers in his hair, pulling him down so we can kiss again, our tongues and lips worshipping, his hard thickness grinding inside of me, his soft groans swallowed by my mouth as I refuse to break our connection.
He cups my face tenderly, still resting on his elbows, his movements on the edge of control as he slides against me.
Every thrust of his body makes my own contract with pleasure. Every kiss makes me feel tender, exposed. He pulls out, almost to the edge, then moves forward again, dragging himself against me, making my toes curl and my breath shorten as we chase each other to oblivion.
“Are you close?” he whispers against my lips.
“So close.” I’m surprised, and the shock must come through my voice because he smiles as he kisses me. He shifts, resting on his left elbow, moving his right hand between us until his fingers find me.
Right. There. Oh God.
He circles them, matching the rhythm of his hips, and my eyes roll back with pleasure.
I sink my fingers deeper into his ass, my nails scratching him until he grunts, his muscles flexing at my touch, his body going into overdrive.
My insides tighten around him, and he groans again as he breaks our kiss.
He looks down, his eyes darkening as he watches himself move in and out of me, his fingers maddeningly teasing as he brings me to the edge.
“Myles?”
“Yes,” he rasps, and I realize he’s also on the edge.
“Am I annoying you by talking?” I manage to gasp.
His chest lifts as he laughs. “No. I like your voice.” He’s still moving. Still making me see heaven.
“Can we do this again? Don’t let this be a one-time thing?”
“Whenever you want, sweetheart. You just have to say the word.” He twists his hips and it does something to me, creating a delicious friction that boils deep in my belly. Then I feel it. The pause before the rush. The glorious moment when I reach the edge.
And it’s bigger than before, because he’s inside of me. He’s making everything feel like it’s the first time.
When I come, I scream his name. He grits his jaw and lets out a strangled sound, then follows me into oblivion, spilling inside of me until I’m full of him, so hot, so full, so completely sated.
It takes a minute for me to catch my breath. I look up at him and there’s the tenderest expression on his face. It makes me think that maybe, just maybe, he feels this too.
Maybe he’ll fall the same way I have.
“I hope we made a baby,” he whispers, and it makes my chest ache. Because I’d forgotten all about that.
But yes, I hope we did, too. I want him to be my baby’s father. I want to be connected to him forever. And I don’t want tonight to end.