Chapter 24
Lexie coming was the most beautiful thing in the world.
Her body quivered like a plucked guitar string, muscles spasming as she shattered beneath me, crying out in pleasured relief.
Her first real orgasm rocked through her, from head to toe.
The sight is forever etched into my memory as permanently as any of my tattoos.
I’ve never cried bringing a woman to climax before, but watching her in the throes of ecstasy, aware of what it meant to her, was more than just sexual.
It was the proof she needed to realize—what I’ve known all along—she’s not broken.
She never was, and now she knows it too.
Those walls she’d built around herself crumbled, and I was the lucky bastard who got to experience it with her.
Now, lying on my back with the room shrouded in the early morning shadows, I hear her quiet movements from the bathroom.
I should feel tired, but I don’t. Ending our first night together like that had been perfect.
Can’t lie, though; I woke with my body revved, tenting the sheets tangled around my waist.
The bathroom door creaks open, spilling light into the bedroom. Lexie steps out, bringing the scent of lavender with her. She’s wearing a towel tucked around her chest. Her hair falls in damp ribbons over her shoulders. She looks all soft and dewy.
“Hey, Blue.”
“Oh.” She startles. “I thought you were still asleep.”
“I’m up.”
Her eyes dart to my lap, and a smile flirts at her lips. “I can see that. Too bad we have to be at the café in under an hour,” she tosses over her shoulder as she heads to the dresser.
I’m off the bed and behind her before she can even get a leg into a pair of those cute cotton panties. My arms wrap around her waist, and I bury my face in the curve of her neck.
“I’ll make it quick,” I murmur. My hands undo her towel, and it falls with a damp thump at her feet.
“Chaz . . .” she moans when my fingers and thumbs brush her nipples and softly pluck them the way she likes.
I press into her, bending my knees just a little so my hard cock slides between the seam of her ass cheeks.
Her hands move to my wrists, her fingers forming semi-circles around them, not to stop me but to urge me on.
Her hips writhe, and her breath catches, thrilling me with how fast she heats up, and I’ve only just begun.
She twists her head, her mouth finding mine in a wet, lusty kiss.
Lexie may not realize this yet, but she’s a sexual powder keg.
“Let’s try this together, Blue,” I murmur between kisses, aware that she’s had a hard time making herself come. “Would that be okay?”
“Y-yes. What do I do?”
“You could touch your clit while I play with your nipples.”
“Could we touch there together? Like, could you put your fingers inside me?”
“Fuck, yes.” My groan turns even rougher when I release her breast and drag my hand down to her pussy.
She’s already seeping with desire. I slowly push my middle finger into her, and she immediately clenches, sucking me in deeper.
“How’s that?” I ask, still keeping up the nipple play with my other hand.
“So good.” Her head rolls back against my shoulder. “Can . . . can you add another finger?”
“Anything you want, baby. Just tell me, and it’s yours. I want to please you in every way.”
“You do. Ahh . . .”
I join her moans, pressing another finger into her wet juices. I curl the tips like last night, finding the spot that makes her squirm and pant. I commit each sound, each moan, each breath to memory.
“Can you touch your clit, baby? Make yourself come that way.”
“It’s never been very good.”
“We’ll make it good this time.”
“Okay,” she says, trusting me and, more importantly, herself. She takes a deep breath, and I feel her hand move from my wrist and slide between her legs, brushing the back of my hand where I’m still inside her.
My cock is on fire, about to combust. “Do you want to lie down?” I ask.
“No. I love feeling you pressed up against me like this.” Her hand starts moving in a circular motion. I wish I could see it, but feeling it, imagining it, that’s fucking hot.
I stroke her nipple, and she whimpers, grinding her pretty ass against me. “You’re so milky, baby. I can’t stop thinking about the way you tasted, the way you came in my mouth.”
“Oh God, Chaz,” she chokes out, her movements growing more frantic. I follow her rhythm, quickening my thrusts and giving her nipple a sharp pinch that makes her gasp and moan harder.
My Blue likes a little roughness. Taking her cries into my mouth, I keep pace, determined to take and give her everything. Suddenly, she’s clenching and trembling all over.
“That’s it, baby,” I grit through clenched teeth. “You’re so beautiful, Blue, fucking my fingers, squeezing them. So ready to come.”
“I’m . . . I’m . . . oh, Chaz. Ahh!” she cries out, quivering and pulsing around my thrusts, her sounds of release renting the air.
I feel like a part of her, like an extension cord, feeding from the same sensual power source. Groaning out her name, I come too, spilling between her soft ass cheeks.
“Chaz,” she murmurs with wonder. “It wasn’t a fluke. I came again.”
“Yeah, baby, you did,” I reply as my sluggish brain kicks into gear again. “You made me come too. I couldn’t hold back.”
“We did it together.”
“We’re going to do a lot more together.”
“Hm-hm,” she agrees, her voice lazy, her body relaxed and loose like mine.
I reluctantly remove my fingers, and she turns to me as I’m licking them. “How do you taste so fucking good?”
“A woman’s come doesn’t have a taste.”
“Yours does.”
She smiles, her face flushed from her orgasm. “Let me taste you too.” Lexie lowers to a crouch, her tongue darting out to slide over the damp head of my cock.
I nearly asphyxiate on my own groan.
“Mmm.” She licks her lips. “Kinda salty and smells of you. I want to make you come this way . . . with my mouth. Will you show me how?”
Jesus Christ. I bring her to her feet before I lose it again. This woman is going to kill me, and I’ll die a happy man. “If I didn’t have to open the café . . .”
“Delayed gratification,” she says. Her eyes are brighter than I’ve ever seen them, and her smile is pure sunshine. “We’ll be thinking about it all day, dying to rip the clothes off of each other.”
“I don’t know if I’ll make it that long.”
“I have faith in you.” She squeezes my ass, and I steal a kiss before we wash up.
We share the bathroom, brushing our teeth, talking, and laughing. She swipes on mascara and blush while I trim my beard and restore my afro with moisturizing spray. She picks out a black, ribbed Henley for me, claiming it’s one of her favorites. Then, quick and playful, we grab breakfast.
I slide a napkin across the table with a scribbled note and winky face.
She laughs and kisses me. It’s the kind of morning I could imagine having with her every day.
The good, warm feeling carries me through the café’s usual routine. Everything seems lighter. Every shared glance from across the counter, every accidental-on-purpose touch, has me counting the hours until we close.
Whenever I catch her laughing with a customer, it hits me again how much she’s changed since her arrival. The careful, guarded woman I met is now more open—freer. I love watching her confidently come into her own. I love her.
That recurring thought lands like a pebble in a pond, rippling through my chest. The words have hovered on the tip of my tongue for days now, burning hot. But I haven’t said them.
Dice strolls in around ten-thirty, his swagger on full display. After ordering the Awake blend, he suggests that Lexie stop by Docks one night for a drink. “I bet your order is something classic with a twist—like an apple martini.”
“Close,” she says, impressed. “Crantini. How’d you guess?”
“It’s a gift.” He grins, stroking his beard. “Classy with a hint of rebellion.”
She laughs, but it’s a bang-on description.
“And how does this gift of yours work at winning over women?” she teases.
“Like a charm.” He winks.
I’m not bothered by his banter. Dice would flirt with a nun—it’s part of his DNA.
But I still believe there’s a woman out there who’ll show him he’s more than just a player.
For all his jokes and nonchalance about relationships, I can see there’s a void in him—one that was created by his shit-excuse for parents.
It’s the kind of void someone special could help fill.
I know because that’s what Lexie has done for me.
The anger over my father’s death—that rage—will always be there, but she softens it, making the dark thoughts lighter.
“Stop hitting on my woman,” I interject, slapping the towel on the counter where he’s leaning. “She’s not interested.”
Unfazed, Dice smirks. “What do you say, Lex? Dump this clown and run off with me.”
“Hmm. Crantinis or lattes?” She tilts her head, pretending to weigh the options with her hands. “Tough call, but I’m sticking with lattes and dimples.”
“Good choice, baby.” I brush a kiss against her temple, earning me that adorable, flushed smile of hers.
“Guess I’m out of luck.” Dice straightens up, not missing the chance to add, “But if you ever change your mind . . .” He grins. “I’m gonna grab my boy here real quick.”
“No problem. It was nice seeing you again, Dice. I’ll be sure to come by for that crantini. With Chaz, of course.”
He gives her a friendly salute, but his jovial demeanor fades once we’re out of earshot. “Let’s talk in the back.”
“Alright.” I have a sense of where this is headed.
I glance toward the counter. Jamar is filling up the hopper, and Lexie is loading sandwiches into the display case.
Sunlight streams through the windows, catching subtle red undertones in her dark hair.
She looks like she belongs here. I stare a moment longer before I grab a coffee for myself, and Dice follows me into the back office.
He props a shoulder against the wall, but there’s nothing casual about what he says next. “What’s her plan?”
The question isn’t unexpected. I’ve heard it before—from Eva and Val, from Sophia. Hell, I’ve wanted to ask the very same thing more times than I can count. But I haven’t.
“She’ll get to that in her own time.”
“Clock’s ticking bro,” he says, tapping his watch. “Seems you better find out if she’s sticking around or not.”
My grip tightens on the mug. “Even if she goes back to Chicago, we can still see each other. Commute. Whatever.”
“Bro, who are you kidding? Even if she’s down for that, you’re not gonna be happy with that setup.”
“Maybe not. But it’s not just about me. Lexie’s had enough people in her life expecting things from her without giving a damn about what she wants. I’m not going to be another person putting pressure on her.”
Dice shakes his head, pushing off the wall. “I get all that sensitivity stuff, but it seems to me you both need to know where things stand.”
“She knows how much I care about her.”
“I’m sure she does. But that’s not the same as telling her you’re in love with her.
” He claps a hand on my shoulder. “Look, C, I don’t know shit about relationships, but it stands to reason that if Lexie’s making a decision, she should have all the facts.
That’s not pressure, bruh. That’s keeping it real. ”
He squeezes my shoulder before stepping out, his words landing with a truth I can’t ignore.
I’ve been so focused on giving Lexie space—letting her find her own path and exploring physical intimacy without any pressure—that I might have held back too much.
The longer I sit with that thought, the clearer the answer becomes.
Tonight, I’m going to tell Lexie I love her. That I want more than just another week. That the simple ring I slipped on her finger isn’t just a trinket.
Tonight, I’m going to give her my heart in the only way I know how.