34. Claire
34
Warmth cocoons me as I wake from the best sleep I’ve ever had.
I go to stretch out my limbs, but two heavy arms are wrapped around my waist and chest. Legs are tucked up behind mine, and a deliciously hard cock is nestled against my arse.
I smile, waking up in the comfort of Leif’s entire body engulfing mine. Even in sleep, he tries to get as close as possible.
My arms rest on top of the forearm pinned against my belly. I move my fingers along the tanned and muscled skin, clutching his hand in mine, bringing it closer so I can press a kiss against his palm.
“Didn’t realise you could be so soft and sweet in the morning, Bombshell,” he says with a delicious grumble, thick with sleep.
“You’ve subdued me with your body heat. I’m near comatose under here,” I say.
He hums and pulls me further into him, causing me to giggle as his breath tickles against my neck, especially when he nuzzles his face into me, letting his scruff graze against me.
“So I should take advantage then.”
“Is it taking advantage if I’m willing?”
“You tell me,” he says and lets his hand travel down along the bare curve of my hips and around my knee before hitching it up and over his hip, opening me to him.
My heart beats strong and sure as his fingers tease back up my inner thigh and softly trace over my pussy. Adoring kisses land over my neck and shoulder as my body melts further into his.
His fingers glide through me, eased by the wetness now pooling there. Soothing moans fill the room as our hips roll together.
He moves his hard cock to rub between my thighs as one hand comes up to stroke at my nipples, his other hand still clutched in mine.
I bring his palm to my lips and bestow my own kisses, pledging my devotion.
The intimacy makes my eyes prickle, and a tremble quakes through my body.
Leif guides my lips to his over my shoulder and kisses me deep as a hand snakes between my legs. Moving his eager cock into my welcoming heat, his thrusts become slow and steady.
With his hand now on my clit, he tenderly commands my pleasure and directs my hips back to meet his.
I feel like a pretzel with our arms and legs bound, unsure of where he ends and I begin. I’m pretty sure I end and begin with him.
The reality of my feelings hit me like a lightning storm, shocking and luminescent. My orgasm builds like a rollercoaster cresting that first ascent, and our moans deepen together.
Leif holds my hips longer every time he sinks to the hilt. When his deep groan rumbles through my ear, I plummet down into my own orgasm, bringing my tears with it.
I’m not sad. It’s the beauty of the fall—of how worthy and treasured I feel—that overwhelms me.
My sniffles come with the whimpers of my emotional and physical release, and when Leif notices, because he always notices me, he kisses the tears away.
I bring my hands around him, holding him to me while he gives me the safety to work through my feelings.
As I come down, I’m left with the warmth of being owned by him.
He holds me tighter and kisses me with promise before slowly slipping out and heading into my bathroom.
I hear the tap turn on while I rub the lingering wetness from my cheeks.
When he comes back into the room, he has a washcloth in his hand. He pulls my legs open and looks down at me for a moment.
His fingers pet my sensitive pussy, and I can feel the combination of our release being painted on his fingers and guided back into me.
“I like seeing my cum drip out of you,” he whispers. “Such a beautiful mess we make together.”
He kisses my knee and then uses the wet cloth to clean me up, flinging it into the bathroom once he’s done.
He lies on his belly next to me, his face just a breath away from mine.
“Are you feeling okay?”
I take a deep breath and nod.
“I feel like this is a bit more emotion than you’re used to in the bedroom.” I nod again with a quick smile.
He picks up my hand, places a kiss on top of it, and then holds it in both his hands.
“It’s okay if you need time to process this. What it is to you.” He smiles and I shift to my side, giving him more of my attention. “But I need you to know that I like you. Really like you, and not just when we’re naked.” He kisses my hand again and the look he gives me makes me think he more than really likes me.
I feel like I’m looking at someone who may love me, and I’m pretty sure he’s seeing the same thing back.
My feelings for him are foreign, but undeniable. I don’t want to live without this man.
I believe in the truth of his actions whenever we’re together. I refuse to believe he’s the kind of man my mother warned me about. The ones that lie, cheat and take.
Leif is a giver. He’s honest, and he builds me up. He challenges me because he knows I can take it. He knows my worth, not undermines it.
We had some confusion at the start with our identities, but that was my own doing by trying to keep my barriers up to protect myself. Besides, the most important thing about that, when he told me his name, it was the one no one else uses, except for family. From the very beginning, he gave so much of his vulnerability, even when I didn’t match it.
“Do you think maybe we could process it together?” I ask. I fiddle with the black beads wrapped around his wrist. “I don’t want to say goodbye,” I whisper.
He pulls his head back to look at me, eyebrows creased. “Why the fuck would you think we’re saying goodbye?”
I shrug my shoulders. I’ve never been in this situation before. I don’t know how to be vulnerable.
With the salon finished, I don’t know how we go from benefits to co-workers to whatever is more than that.
“I’ve told you before, I’m no idiot. I’d never be stupid enough to take a woman like you for granted. And I’m definitely not stupid enough to let a woman like you go.”
“So, have you got plans today?” I bite my bottom lip and smile.
“Only ones that include you.” He places a quick kiss against my lips. “Coffee?”
“Yeah, let me pee then I can make us one.” I roll ungracefully out of bed and pluck my black robe where it hangs off the corner of the wardrobe door.
“All good, baby. I can get them started.” I watch as he pulls on his briefs and jeans, leaving his chest bare for me to appreciate.
“You don’t know how I like my coffee,” I sass, stalking towards him and letting my hands roam over his chest and around his shoulders.
“Two shots,” he says with another quick kiss before he leaves the room, leaving me blinking in confusion.
I hurry to do my business in the bathroom and wash my face before joining him in the kitchen.
My favourite pink mug is sitting under the coffee filter next to a plain white one. When the machine chugs and halts, Leif pulls away the white mug, then pushes my mug fully under the filter and pushes the button again.
“How do you know how I take my coffee?”
He turns to me as I make my way over to him, promptly wrapping an arm around my back and pulling me into his warm body.
My stomach skips as I wind my arms around his waist and cuddle in. I enjoy the orgasms, and the bantering, but these moments? I could get used to these, too.
He kisses the top of my head. “You’ve always got a coffee cup on your bedside table and there’s a dark ring about halfway up the sides. I could guess it was black and more than one shot. Plus, all these little coffee pods in your holder here are really strong, so I took a gamble.”
“Have you been setting up my machine in the mornings before you leave?”
He nods. “I’ve needed no less than four coffees a day after nights with you, Bombshell. I figured you may have been in the same boat as me.”
“I smell coffee.” A pained groan sounds from behind us.
Looking around Leif, I see Lex stumbling in, her bright red hair knotted on top of her head, a white button-up shirt swallowing her small body.
“Good morning, bestie.” She squints through one eye, then halts as she takes me in, eyes bouncing between Leif and me. “I guess you guys need a formal introduction now, huh?” I pull out of Leif’s arms and drag him around the island bench.
“Leif, this is my best friend Lex. Lex, this is, um—” I stumble over the word boyfriend . Do we jump right into that now? How the fuck does this work?
Leif holds an open palm out to Lex. “Lee. I’m the boyfriend.”
A tittering of schoolgirl glee bubbles out of my lips. He called himself my boyfriend.
I bury my flaming cheeks into his bare chest to muffle the sound, but when he puts his hand behind my head and kisses my forehead, it only amplifies them, ending with a mortifying snort.
“My friend looks thrilled right now, but I’ll be more equipped to deal with this after a coffee,” Lex says, escaping around us to the kitchen while I wrap my arms around Leif.
“What time did your friend leave?” I ask her.
“What friend?”
“Caleb Heart,” Leif says. “How did you manage that connection, by the way?”
“We met him at The Wayside,” I say.
“And then you got to talking about the salon and he decided to invest?”
I tilt my head, arching a brow. “Invest? He’s not an investor.”
“Excuse me, are you saying Caleb was here last night?” Lex asks in the background.
“Then why did he pay for the damage at the salon?”
“What? Trevor said the building owners covered all the costs,” I say. “And our building is owned by the Callahans.”
The Callahans own the most luxurious hotel chains in Australia. My mum works at the Heart City one, the same one she met my father at. The only Callahan daughter, however, has been in the media of late for trying to repair the reputation of her two older brothers. One of her endeavours was investing in some of the city’s entertainment districts, like older buildings on Main Street, restaurants along the city foreshore, and a huge extension to the aquarium.
“No. I met Trevor when we were doing the cleanup, and he handed me the business card for Heart Assets. Told me to send the full bill there. Knowing Caleb Heart, I figured it was because he was investing.”
“How do you know Caleb?”
“Excuse me!” Lex yells, forcing Leif and me apart. “Was Caleb here?”
Leif looks down at me before answering my friend. “I was sitting on your porch for maybe an hour after Claire was texting me. Caleb rocked up a few minutes before you guys got home.”
“W-What did he say?” she asks, eyes wide, the bun on her head now resting askew at her frazzled state.
“He carried your drunk arse inside when he saw me struggling with you up the stairs,” I say.
Leif clears his throat, and I’m reminded of her alcohol-fuelled admissions. “Oh. Um, you may have also told us he has a pretty dick.”
The colour drains from my best friend’s face as mortification seeps in.
“I think you may also be wearing his shirt.” She looks down at the oversized shirt covering her before throwing a palm over her mouth. An ‘excuse me’ is muttered before she runs past us, followed by the slamming of what sounds like the bathroom door.
“I’m guessing there’s a story there?” Leif asks.
“Sure is, Lover Boy.”