Chapter 20
Marina
I’m pinned between a brute wall of muscle and one made of sheetrock when Cash carries me back into the apartment and kicks the door closed. With his mouth attached to mine, I hear the click of a bolt before he pulls back to look me in the eyes. “Goddamn, I missed you.”
“How are,” I start, still needing to catch my breath, “you even here right now? You were just in France.”
“I chartered a plane.”
“You chartered a private plane to come see me?”
His gaze is latched to my mouth while my body is weighted on one of his hands.
Leveraging the wall for support, he brings his other hand to my mouth.
Caressing my cheek, he runs the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip.
The pressure is gentle with a commitment to more.
My breathing deepens just seeing the intention in his eyes, my heart racing like he did on that track today.
“I missed your mouth so fucking much. Your eyes when they stare into mine with the same hunger that has me wanting to fuck you so hard right now.” Glancing down, he sports a wry grin.
“Those tits. I’ve gotten off from the memory of them, but I need the real thing again. I need you, babe.”
“You flew ten hours to have sex with me?” I don’t mean to sound irritated, but I’m so wound around him that I can’t grab anything that makes sense.
“Do you hate me?” The question comes as a challenge, and he doesn’t move a muscle as he waits for my answer.
“God, no.” I run my fingers eagerly through his hair. “That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.” I smash my mouth into his, and our lips part, our tongues greeting as if it’s been years and not days or weeks. Nothing is tentative as we twist, curve, and caress each other’s mouths.
Pulling back once more, he investigates the living room ahead. “Bedroom?”
“Door on the right.” He’s already moving, pushing open the door and charging into the dark room. The light from the living room reaches far enough to find the bed.
As soon as he sets me down on the mattress, he’s tugging his shirt off. He’s a masterpiece made for display, a man made of marble muscle and a perfect specimen to inspire artists and my tongue.
Is it wrong to want to lick him, to smell him, to drag my nails over his hard abs? The instinct to own him as much as he owns me grows wildly in my chest as if he’s planted the seeds himself.
I bounce to my feet, then tug down the hideously unattractive and holey, guacamole-stained sweatpants I’m wearing. When I lift the Beacon University T-shirt, tortilla chip crumbs sprinkle over my feet. Yeah, not embarrassing at all. “Maybe a little warning next time please.”
Judging by the look in his eyes, I’d say stained clothes and crumbs are the last thing this man cares about. “And miss this? Catching you in your natural habitat.” He chuckles. “Never.”
Shame should have me apologizing, but this is me on my days off, which aren’t many. “I haven’t showered today.”
“I can’t wait to taste you then.” Why is that so hot?
My bra clasp is released, but then he stops.
Reaching forward, he cups my breasts, then dips down to lick one nipple until it’s pert and then the other.
A quick blow of cool air breezes over the peaks, hardening them even more.
All I can do is hold his shoulders as my head swims from the deliciousness.
The sides of my undies are dragged slowly over my hips and to my ankles. With tan muscles and broad shoulders exposed, the fly of his jeans is left open. Cash kneels, then dips his nose between my legs with a deep inhale.
It’s naughty and intense, sensuous, and draws me closer to him—physically and emotionally. He’ll take me as I am, appreciating all of me as if every part and side is beautiful to him.
When I look down to watch, his eyes are already set on mine. Dragging two fingers between my need for him and my lower lips, he teases me. “You’re so wet for me, babe.”
Bending, I cup him by the jaw and kiss him. “I’m so everything for you, babe,” I whisper when we part again.
I don’t hide myself while standing naked before him this time. There’s nothing but desire in his eyes when he looks at me. I feel sexy and revered when I’m with him. The need to make him feel just as incredible is strong within me.
Taking his hands, he stands. I hold one and change places with him. “I want your clothes off,” I say, using his words for my benefit. “Will you do that for me?”
Cash grins, toeing his shoes off and pushing his jeans and the rest of his clothing off before lying on the bed on propped elbows to watch me. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
I’m not nervous, though I’m beyond my skill set. The art of seduction isn’t something I’ve been inspired to master until now. I climb on and straddle his legs. “I want to please you.”
Reaching forward, he runs the tips of his fingers under my jaw, landing on my chin. Holding me there, he says, “You already do.”
His words are intoxicating, but the look in his eyes mesmerizes me.
I’ve never felt craved before, but it’s potent in its effect.
I bend over, taking his erection in hand and licking the tip without foreplay.
Cash groans and falls flat on his back. The heat of his touch scorches the shoulders of my skin, feeling heady from the sensation.
Using my hand to cover the base of his erection, I go down, knowing I can’t cover the length of him with only my mouth. His cock is as epic as he is, making it so tempting to mount him and chase my own needs.
But when I hear his moan of hedonistic pleasure that I brought him, that I elicited, I go as deep as I can, then drag my tongue along the base as I come back up.
His fingers weave into the hair on the back of my head, and when he finds a rhythm that matches mine, pleasure builds, and his groans keep coming.
“Keep going,” he says, his voice rough with need. Picking up speed causes him to breathe harder, to squeeze the hair fisted in his hand tighter, and his hips to punctuate his erection into my throat. “Such a good girl.”
I want nothing more than to have him fall apart because of my doing. I bob over his tip, using my tongue to cradle the ridge. I suck and pull and drag my teeth, causing him to lift as if the pleasure is too much.
“Fuck, Marina.” He rips his dick from my mouth and grabs me by the arms, pulling me up his body. “Tell me you’re on birth control. Say it, babe.”
With my hands pressed to his chest, I know the thirst he feels inside needs quenching. My own core throbs as if my heart has sunk lower. I struggle to still, the need too much for me not to rub myself shamelessly against his leg. “Do you need me?” I ask, a reckless game at play between us.
“I need you.” He grabs his erection, stroking. “I need you so much.”
“I’m yours.” I lift enough for him to position himself beneath me.
Sitting up with his chest against mine, he holds my hips above him.
“I’m all yours, Cash—Ah!” I’m released, and my body slides down his massiveness.
There’s no time to acclimate. The burn from stretching around him becomes foreplay as he kisses my lips and swallows my gasp.
He fucks me with reckless abandon, and I lose myself in every thrust that pushes air from my lungs and kiss that revives me each time. Hard. Raw. Carnal. There’s nothing kind about our physical connection, but I can’t stop myself from begging between mercy and more with every push and thrust.
“So good,” I breathe into his ear as I bounce on top of him. The buildup is fast, the coil wound so tight that I won’t be able to stop from unraveling too soon. I dig my nails into his shoulders and wave my surrender flag as my body falls into the abyss. “Ooh . . . Cash . . .”
I’m held so tight that the thread between the two worlds I’m straddling snaps, sending me in both directions, the ache and the satisfaction becoming one. “Ah,” comes in a whispered release before the lights dim.
Three more intense and restless pushes have him falling with me. “Fuck. So good.” And then the peace of darkness comes.
As wrapped up in the moment as we are in each other—arms and legs tangled messes, panting, and racing heartbeats—I can feel his beating strong in his chest, so I lift my head from his shoulder, wanting to see his eyes only to find them on me already.
I run the tips of my finger along the lines of the corners of his eyes and kiss the side of his lips, working my way over until our mouths are together again.
“Hi,” I whisper, closing my eyes and savoring every second of this with him.
I’m exhausted but ready to conquer the universe. It’s a weird dichotomy.
But when I open my eyes, there’s no question about this overwhelming feeling. The realization steals my breath just like he does.
Kisses are trailed along my shoulder and neck until he reaches my lips again. Just shy of kissing them, he says, “I need to leave in twenty minutes.”
“Wait.” That was not the sweet nothing I expected to hear. “What?” I do a double take, fully engaged with my senses again.
Pushing my hair back on one side of my face, he kisses my cheekbone and my temple. “I need to be in New York by nine o’clock.”
Disappointment devastates the night I thought we had ahead of us. “No.” My arms tighten around him, and I hold him as close as I can. “You can’t leave.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers against the shell of my ear. “I have to pick up Cullen by nine.”
I lean back and look into his green eyes again. “You flew completely out of your way just to see me for an hour?”
“Yes,” he replies, grinning unapologetically and glancing down at the connection our bodies still hold. “But there were ulterior motives involved.”
I take a deep breath, not able to embrace being upset. How can I when he made me a priority? “That’s quite the distance to travel for a booty call.”
“Worth every hour and mile. The sex is spectacular.” Kissing my other cheek, he says, “Like the woman herself.” Then he looks me straight in the eyes. “You are amazing.”
Beyond the words and compliments, my heart feels most grateful for him.
We kiss without caring about the time or the world outside.
We kiss deeply, our bodies bonded more than physically.
And then we let silence momentarily come between us, enjoying the here and now.
But then I spot the time across the room. “We still have fifteen minutes.”
I’m flipped onto my back, and he buries himself deep inside me. Despite the time ticking away, we’re slow and calculated. Our eyes stay fixed, and our hearts fastened. It’s not about hard or slow, or days together or apart. It’s just us, consumed in each other.
Cash steals a few minutes in the bathroom before returning to kiss me, where I was left a bag of naked jelly bones on the bed. I use the last of my strength to push through the familiar soreness beginning to return and wrap myself around him again.
Carrying me to the door like a bag of groceries he doesn’t want to drop, he unplucks his lips from mine and says, “I hate this.”
“You just said,” I start to tease, but my heart’s not in it. “I hate this, too.” I drop my head on his shoulder and breathe him in. “I’ll see you next weekend.”
“Next weekend, then.” Cracking the door open, he keeps me hidden behind it as he leans his head against mine.
“I wanted to tell you something.” I don’t interrupt with careless words when I’m feeling so sad.
I just need to hear him and memorize his voice, though I know I’ll be talking to him soon.
“You’re beautiful, not just in looks, though that’s stellar, but the way you make me feel, the way you treated my son and my mom.
I saw you smile at something on the TV at my apartment, and it was as if the sun had risen at night.
” I’m not sure, but I think I hear him gulp, or it’s me trying to choke down the emotion I’m holding in.
We’re both struggling to swallow as he shares his soul with me.
He says, “I can’t stop thinking about you and that chocolate.
” I laugh, but it’s not as free since I’m having to let him go.
“The way you bounced from joy or the sugar. I’m not quite sure, but you’re so fucking adorable and filled with life, the life I’ve been missing from mine.
I feel alive when I’m with you, when I hear your laughter, your voice as you drift to sleep, the vivid detail you go into over the minutest thing.
I love every word out of your mouth, the breath that you breathe, the smile that always reaches your eyes, and the way you flip from rose-colored glasses to anger in the snap of a finger. ”
“My heart feels too big for my chest.”
“Mine too, babe.” He kisses my temple and then leans back, his gaze roaming my face, taking me in until it settles on my eyes. “I don’t want to date anyone else. I only want you. I love you, Marina.”
My lips part, but no words escape, nor breath, or a single sound. My own feelings are so large, too much to restrain in the confines under the current situation. “I love you, too. So much.”
I worry I’m living in a fever dream and afraid to wake up, but every kiss and touch is so real that I’d choose this reality over life if I could feel like this forever.
And then he says, “The press will have a field day when they find out.”
My back stiffens as my feet land on the floor again. “My brothers are going to kill us both.”
He sighs, the bubble sounding like it’s burst. “I’m not sure what to do about that.”
“I’m tired of the world having a say in my relationships and my professional management team advising me on how to behave. I just want to be with you and to always feel like this.”
A lopsided grin creases his mouth. “How’s that?”
“Happy.”