17. Settle Her Down
17
SETTLE HER DOWN
“T hat’s the best night I’ve had in the casino,” he said an hour later. “Just being with someone winning that much.”
Justine was overwhelmed with the attention she got and then didn’t know what to do or how to cash out.
Mitchell and Eli had both come over to congratulate her and Mitchell walked her through the cash out, the taxes removed, and handed her a check since she didn’t want that much cash on her.
“I found it funny that Mitchell asked if I was returning to try my luck tomorrow,” she said.
“I said the house normally wins, but this time you did,” he said. “A lot of people can’t or don’t walk away and want to keep trying their luck for more and end up giving it right back.”
“I can see where it can happen,” she said. “If I didn’t have other things on my mind, I might have wanted to keep playing to see if I could win more, but would have made sure I left in the black and not the red.”
“If you left in the red after that, I might worry I created a monster,” he said, laughing.
“Nah,” she said. They pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex. It was only eight and still early in his eyes. He didn’t want the night to end and hoped she asked him up. “As I said, other things are on my mind.”
He got out with her and she didn’t say anything, so they walked toward the door. “Meeting Emma, right?” he asked.
“That was great too. Thank you again. But not that.”
He hoped it wasn’t something with her family from last night.
When they got to her apartment and she shut the door, he asked, “Care to share or it’s none of my business?”
She removed her purse from around her body and tossed it on the chair. No thought at all to the check of her winnings in there when many would do something with it right away.
“Something more important to me, I guess,” she said, moving closer to him.
Her arms went around his neck, she leaned up and got on her tiptoes and pulled his head down for a kiss.
He put his lips to hers. He was going to start slow like he always did, even though it’d been killing him lately.
She didn’t let him.
Her mouth opened and his did the same.
Her tongue slipped in and he tasted the wine that she’d had while they were waiting for her to be cashed out. He’d had a small glass with her, the fruity notes still lingering between them.
“This is definitely more important,” he said, lifting his head and smirking.
“Take me to bed,” she said.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “It’s not just the excitement of the night getting to you?”
He had to be nuts to try to talk her out of this, but he didn’t want her to have any regrets after.
He wasn’t sure he could handle it in his life right now.
Better to go slow and torture himself, than rush and wish he could take it all back.
“The excitement is getting to me, but I knew this before I won on the slots.”
“And you didn’t want to clue me in?” he asked, running his hand down the side of her face.
She leaned into him like a kitten needing more comfort.
“Maybe I wanted it to be a surprise,” she said.
“It’s a pleasant one,” he said. “Just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”
“I know,” she said, laughing. “It might have been a few years, but I’m pretty sure I can catch up.”
A few years!
Jesus. She said she hadn’t been in a relationship in that long, but he hadn’t realized she hadn’t had sex in that time either.
“I’ll make sure we pace ourselves together,” he said. Even if it killed him.
“How about we just let it happen the way it should?” she asked.
“We can do that too,” he said, threading their fingers together.
She pulled him toward the door to her bedroom. They hadn’t even bothered to turn the lights on in her apartment. Just the one in her kitchen that was left on from hours ago.
When they got to her room, she shut the door and then put her arms around his neck again for a kiss.
He wanted to take this slow but didn’t know how long he’d be able to do it.
All he knew was that it was a good thing he was always prepared and had a condom in his wallet. He’d want to kick himself if he didn’t but also knew that it’d been in there for quite a while.
He cupped her face with his hands, his lips giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek, the corner of her mouth, the other side, then the other cheek.
Her eyes closed and he knew he needed that moment to just settle her down.
When her shoulders relaxed, he trailed his finger down her neck to the button on her shirt.
One by one he undid them. He looked up when he was done and her shirt was hanging open and pulled out of her pants, her pale pink silk bra exposed.
Her clear blue eyes were open and watching him.
He pushed her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ears and she smiled softly at him.
“Are you going slow for you or me?” she asked.
“Maybe both of us,” he said. “Problem with it?”
“No,” she said. “Just want you to be you.”
He nodded his head. “Not sure I can be me without rushing and I won’t do that.”
She shook her head. “Don’t,” she said. “I’m not fragile. Trust me. Maybe I’m tired of people thinking that of me. I don’t want to run. I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to avoid it. I just want to feel. Make me feel, Garrett.”
He couldn’t get a brighter green light than that.
He pushed her shirt off her shoulders, his fingertip moving down the bare skin of her arms, then up her waist, over her ribs, and circling around her puckered nipple through her bra.
Her eyes closed and she let out a soft gasp.
When her arms moved, he thought she was going to reach for him, but instead, she went behind her back and undid her bra and pushed it off her shoulders, nudging it away and having it drop to the floor.
She kicked her shoes off her feet and dropped down a few inches.
Then she reached for him and unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders the same as her.
When she went for the button on his jeans, he picked her up and laid her on the bed.
No way he was ready for that yet.
He leaned over her, but rather than kiss her mouth, he went for her collarbone, then trailed fingertips over her breast, circling her bare nipple, his mouth moving in that direction until it latched on to suck.
Her hips lifted as if he was pulling some string in her body to get her to move more.
When she let out a long moan, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“Better than okay,” she said. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed this.”
He smiled, but her closed eyes prevented her from seeing it.
He went back to what he was doing on one nipple, his finger flicking at the other.
She was all but grinding against him and he was struggling to push back and not get even more worked up.
But when she nudged his head down some, he got the hint that she needed something more.
His hand slid down into her pants, under the soft cotton of her panties, and between her legs.
She let out a groan and pushed against his hand.
He rubbed her a few more times and then pulled his hand out, but she grabbed him before he could move away from her.
He held back the laugh. “I’m only going to undress you,” he said.
“Oh,” she said.
“You didn’t think I’d leave, did you?”
“I wanted to make sure you didn’t,” she said, grinning. There was more than humor and arousal in her eyes. There was something deeper, but he didn’t know what and didn’t want to guess.
He removed her pants quickly, then got between her legs and inserted one finger. Shit, she was pretty tight or tense. He was hoping it was the first.
“Relax,” he said.
“I can’t. It feels way too good.”
“Breathe in and out a few times,” he said.
She did, long deep breaths, and each time he moved his finger in and out more, he felt her tension leave somewhat.
But when he leaned down to kiss her swollen bud, she all but shot off the bed.
It was time to send her over because he didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to play this out.
His tongue was flicking at her, his finger moving in and out and her moans were turning into cries of pleasure.
“Don’t stop,” she said as if she was in some kind of agony. “I’m so close.”
He pulled her bud into his mouth and sucked, and the minute he did, she came, her muscles pulsing around his finger while he held it still and just felt her body come undone.
When her body sagged onto the bed, he moved back and undressed quickly, found his condom, covered himself, and climbed back on the bed to gather her into his arms.
“Still okay?” he asked before he went any further.
“Better than okay,” she said. “I want you to feel that way too.”
He nodded and lowered his mouth to hers, nudged her legs apart, and found her wet opening, sliding in slowly so as to not hurt her.
She wasn’t going to give him a chance though and lifted fast, impaling him in all the way.
He was the one letting out a groan over that move.
Every part of his body was shaking right now. His arms held himself up to not squish her, his hips to not pound into her as he wanted to do.
“Jesus, Justine,” he said. “Slow down.”
She was lifting and retreating her hips.
“No,” she said. “I want to feel this. I’ve been thinking of it for weeks. Are you going to participate?”
She was joking, right?
It’s like she wasn’t giving him much of a choice and he moved with her.
He hugged her close to at least keep the movements small, but they were still fast and his body was building to the point he wasn’t going to stop.
He didn’t want to leave her hanging if she was getting there again, but he wasn’t going to be able to stop either.
He moved harder into her, longer strokes with it. The louder she got, he hoped she was building with him.
“I need a break,” he said.
“No,” she said. “I’m right there. I’m never there a second time.”
That was all he needed to hear and pulled within himself to hold on until she came.
When she screeched out his name, his control vanished into thin air as if the sun cleared up the morning fog allowing his body to empty into hers.
His arms gave out at the same time, but he rolled quickly so she was on his chest.
“Now I really won tonight,” she said, her eyes shut and a smile on her face.