Chapter Twenty-One
Without another word, James’ hands cup my face as he kisses me like I’m the answer to all his problems. Sensations form where his fingers meet my skin so very gently, bursting like thousands of tiny fireworks behind my ears. I gasp as I relax into him, straddled across his hips until I can feel him growing beneath me. He groans into my mouth, tasting of wine and sugar.
He rolls his hips upwards as I press into him, forming a rhythm of movement between us. I’ve kissed like this before. Hot and heavy. I’ve let kissing consume me until I was naked and panting. But it’s never been like this before. This time I have so much confidence in my partner it’s driving me a little crazy; biting, nipping, scratching at him and we haven’t even taken a single item of clothing off yet.
His hands travel over my body, gently pushing my cardigan down from my shoulders. The soft material glides down my back as it falls, sending a quiver back up my spine. James teases me with his lips, leaving my mouth and playing with the places he knows make me squirm. I give in, dropping my head back, closing my eyes. His fingers leave my face, gently caressing my shoulders, my collarbone, dipping lower. He groans as he skirts over my breasts, feeling the bud of tension there.
He takes my breasts in his hands and lifts, feeling the weight of them. His breathing hastens as he bucks into me again from below. Meticulously, he hooks his fingers under my vest and bra, tossing them aside. Once he has full access, I feel the thrill of it in my core, like there’s a coil there, twisting.
I drop my head again just in time to glimpse his agonised expression. He catches me watching him and smirks. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, Fliss…”
“Call me Felicity,” I say breathlessly.
He looks at me half-surprised. “Felicity,” he breathes.
And there, yes .
That’s the sound I’m so reactive to. For so long it would make me tense, furious even. But now it’s more. Now it’s his name for me and I want him to use it because he knows me in a way nobody who knows Fliss does.
I lean down to pull his bottom lip between my teeth. I feel him harden further and know I’ve got him right where I want him.
His arms wrap tightly around my back, holding me so close it feels crushing in an exquisite way I can’t even explain. We start to rock again, James in control. He takes hold of me, rolling my hips back and forwards as he raises his knees. We’re so close it’s like we’re one entity. Once he’s finished positioning me, he refocusses his attention on my breasts, teasing my nipples into firm buds. All the time I’m aware of the movement, the kissing, the sensation in my nipples, all colliding together in a perfect pressure between my legs. My breathing hastens. So does James’. He senses my growing tension.
Am I really going to come apart still clothed from the waist down?
It’s like he knew this would happen as I break away from his lips to gasp.
Confident cretin.
But I suppose it’s all starting to make sense as to why he is the way he is now. His infuriating confidence. It’s deserved. In bed, at least.
His fingers come back to my waist as I feel his smiling lips press against my jaw, his stubble divine against my soft skin. He pulls me into him further, pressing harder into my sides in an almost painful way. But that pain too finds its way to my core, raising the heat until I’m making sounds I have no control over.
“That’s it,” he whispers in his devilish tone. “Give it to me, Felicity.”
The undoing whips up my spine so fast I grapple with James’ shoulders, clawing into his skin as he holds me tight. My thighs clench around his hips. I press my chest into him. At first, I throw my head back, but then when he doesn’t stop the movement it all becomes too much. I buckle over him, sighing into his neck.
“You’re perfect,” he says. “You deserve to come undone multiple times, every time. Promise me you’ll never settle for less?”
All I can do is nod, my lips and teeth gently pressing into his shoulder as the energy inside of me subsides into a relaxed stupor. The fire hasn’t been put out, it’s back to an ember and I’m not ready to fully extinguish it.
“I want you,” I whisper against James’ skin. “We should…”
“We only have those bloody condoms. I could run back to the shop…”
“Oh, I don’t care anymore,” I say, sitting up as if I’m about to climb off him. James grabs my wrists, laughing at my eagerness.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I’m sure,” I huff, wriggling to escape. James relents, releasing me as he leans back, one hand behind his head, the other rearranging himself down below.
Once I’ve retrieved a condom, I spin to find him watching me.
James’ eyes sweep down my body. I’m only conscious enough to hold a hand over my stomach and the pesky roll I have there. When he sees me do this, he leans forwards to pull me closer, removing my hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss. “I don’t stand a chance in fighting you on this one,” he says with a smile. “I just want to know you’re absolutely sure. There’s no undoing this. No going back.”
But there’s also every chance this is our last opportunity. I know why I feel like that. I’m not ready to admit it to myself just yet. Not here. Not now. I need time to work it through in my head. My next steps. My new plan.
“I want this,” I tell him, placing my hands on his cheeks this time, so he has to look right back at me. His eyes smoulder like midnight in the dark of the room.
As if this movement has rendered him speechless, he parts his lips and nods. With this I reach down to tug his tie-dye top over his head. Then, before he tries to talk me out of it again, I unbutton his shorts. He raises himself enough so that I can pull them off with his boxers. And there he is.
I’ve gotten James Boatman naked. He’s right here in front of me. Not a stitch of clothing. Despite how serious I was just a moment ago, a flurry of amusement washes over me.
James smirks as he watches my face. “If you laugh right now, Felicity…”
I can’t help it. A whisper of a laugh escapes my lips as I smile across at him.
“It’s not that . I’m not laughing at that ,” I say, nodding downwards. “It’s just this . This whole thing. I’m in a bed with Gloatman and we’re both naked.”
James acts swiftly, placing a finger in the crook of my armpit making me squeal.
“I warned you,” he says, laughing too. “Trust you to get me naked and be the first girl to ever laugh at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you . I’d never. It’s lovely. It’s perfect.”
Before he can tickle me again, I lean forwards, placing my lips on his. This time I take control, pushing his back against the headboard as I take him in my other hand, hot, smooth perfection. His body tenses as I deftly roll the condom on and position him where I want him.
As I slide onto him, he wraps his arms around me again, his tongue exploring my mouth, holding me still, as if he’s adjusting to the sensation. We move in the same way, breathing into each other, feeling our way across each other’s bodies. He keeps me steady, rocking me when I try to pick up the pace. He takes back control, his thumb circling my clit, raising the pressure again until I’m on the verge of climaxing for a second time. I collapse into him as the final waves of pleasure roll through me. I want to make him come too.
Luckily, he senses this, lifting me and spinning our bodies so that my back falls into the bed, the soft mattress absorbing me as James drives into me again, kissing me, my collarbone, my earlobes. He finds a new, harder rhythm.
He whispers my name, endearments, into my ears as his lips press into my neck, my shoulder. I wrap my legs around his waist, bite his bottom lip again. In my mind there’s nothing but him, this moment.
And when he comes, we kiss, slow and heavy until we’re both sleepy, him rolling onto his side, my legs entwined with his. He holds me like nobody has ever held me before. And then a creeping, negative thought forms in my mind, pulse slowed, breathing steady: he’s probably like this with other women too – intimate. But I allow myself to pretend it’s more than that. Just for tonight.
I make a promise to myself that tomorrow I won’t bother him, I won’t push for more, I won’t even bring this whole thing up.
A clean break. A fling. A work trip.