Chapter Eighteen #2
I added a second finger, felt her stretch around me, felt her inner walls flutter and clench.
“Julien—I’m going to—I think I’m—”
“Let go,” I murmured against her neck. “I’ve got you.”
She came with a cry, her body arching off the bed, her muscles clenching around my fingers, her face flushed and beautiful and completely unguarded.
Perfect. She is perfect.
I worked her through it, gentled my touch as she came down, kissed her softly while she caught her breath.
“That was...” She laughed breathlessly. “That was amazing.”
“Good.”
“I didn’t know it could feel like that.”
Something in her tone made me pause.
Didn’t know it could feel like that.
Not “Didn’t know it could feel that good with you.”
Just... didn’t know. I pulled back slightly and looked at her face.
“Athena.”
“Mmmm?”
“You have... done this before, right?”
She blinked up at me, her expression open and guileless.
“Done what?”
“Sex. Have you had sex before?”
“Oh, that...” She smiled unashamed and giggled. “No.”
My world tilted.
“No?”
“No.”
“You’re a virgin?”
“Well, technically yes, but I don’t really like that word because it has all these patriarchal connotations about purity and worth and—”
“Athena.” My voice came out strangled. “We’re married. We had a wedding night in Vegas. I thought… I was certain we…”
Understanding dawned on her face.
“Oh no, we didn’t. We kissed, but that was it. I was telling the truth when I said you passed out pretty quickly after we got back to your room, and I just held you while you slept. Then, in the morning, you were so panicked about the whole marriage thing that I didn’t want to bring it up.”
“We never consummated the marriage?”
“No.”
“We’ve been married for almost two weeks and we never…?”
“Nope.”
I stared at her.
She stared back, completely unbothered by this revelation.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“I tried to! But you kept kissing me and telling me to stop talking.”
“Because I thought—” I ran a hand through my hair. “I thought we’d already done this. I thought Vegas was just a drunken blur, and that you’d—”
“Nope.” She giggled again. “I was saving it.”
“Saving it.”
“For the right moment. For when you were ready. For when you stopped fighting the universe and just... let yourself feel.”
Of course she was.
Of course. Because Athena didn’t do anything halfway. Didn’t rush or force or demand. She just trusted. Trusted the universe. Trusted me. Trusted that everything would happen exactly when it was supposed to.
“I’m your first?” I asked slowly.
“Yes.”
“Your only?”
“So far, yes.” She grinned. “Unless you’re planning to stop now, in which case I’m going to be very disappointed and probably have to have a serious talk with the universe about its timing.”
I kissed her.
Hard.
Possessive.
Mine.
She’s mine.
Her first. Her only.
The thought sent a surge of something primal through me. Something that had nothing to do with precision or control and everything to do with the most basic masculine instinct: claim her.
I pulled back, breathing hard.
“I need to get a condom.”
“I’m on birth control,” she said. “For my cycle regulation. And I’m clean. I got tested a few months ago for a routine physical.”
“I’m clean too. Tested last month.”
“So we don’t need...”
“Are you sure?”
“Julien.” She cupped my face in her hands. “I’m sure. I trust you. I trust this. I trust us.”
Trust.
She kept saying that word. Kept offering it to me like a gift, and I was done refusing it.
I stood up, unbuckled my belt, stripped off my pants and boxer briefs with hands that were almost steady. Athena’s eyes widened as she took in my erection, hard, heavy, and aching for her.
“Oh,” she breathed. “That’s... you’re...”
“Having second thoughts?”
“No.” She smiled. “Just appreciating the view. You’re very... precisely proportioned.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
“Only you would describe a cock as precisely proportioned.”
“It’s a compliment!”
“I’ll take it.”
I climbed back onto the bed, settled between her thighs, and felt the heat of her against my cock.
This is happening.
This is really happening.
“It might hurt,” I breathed. “At first. I’ll go slow, but—”
“I know.” She touched my face. “I trust you.”
There’s that word again.
I positioned myself at her entrance, felt her wetness against the head of my cock, and took a deep breath.
Go Slow.
Be Careful.
Don’t hurt her.
I pushed forward, just the tip, and felt her stretch around me.
She gasped.
I froze.
“Okay?”
“Yes, keep going.”
I pushed deeper, inch by careful inch, felt her body accommodate me, felt the tight heat of her surrounding me.
Fuck.
Oh fuck.
She feels—I couldn’t think. Couldn’t form coherent thoughts. Could only feel the overwhelming sensation of being inside her, of her body accepting mine, of the most intimate connection two people could share.
“Julien.” Her voice was breathless. “Aren’t you supposed to move?”
I pulled back slightly, pushed forward again, and established a slow rhythm.
Tight. So tight.
Perfect.
She wrapped her legs around my waist, changed the angle, and suddenly I was deeper, hitting something inside her that made her cry out.
“There—oh God—right there!”
I adjusted my angle, aimed for that spot with surgical precision, and felt her clench around me.
Yes.
There.
That’s it.
My control was fracturing. The careful, measured approach I’d started with was dissolving into something more primal, more desperate. I thrust harder, faster, chasing the pleasure building at the base of my spine.
Athena met me thrust for thrust, her nails digging into my back, her breath hot against my neck.
“Julien—I’m going to—again!”
“Come for me, baby,” I growled against her ear. “Come on my cock.”
She shattered. Her body clenched around me, her inner walls fluttering and squeezing, her cry of pleasure pushing me over the edge.
I came with a groan, buried deep inside her, and felt my release pulse through me in waves.
Mine.
She is mine.
Forever.
We collapsed together, breathing hard, sweat-slicked and trembling.
I should pull out.
Should clean up. I should do something other than lie here with my softening dick still inside her—I couldn’t move. I could only hold her while my heart rate slowly returned to normal, while my brain tried to process what had just happened.
“That was...” Athena’s voice was dreamy. “The universe was right. It was worth waiting for.”
I laughed against her shoulder.