21. Chapter 21
I wake up refreshed and ready to finish this book. Stretching, I roll over and see Oakley isn’t in bed, but I didn’t expect him to be. He’s not the one on a fucked-up schedule right now. Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I see it’s just after noon. Lunch then writing, I think.
Rolling out of bed is more of an ordeal than I wanted it to be. I’m still a little groggy, but I need to get shit done, so lying in bed all day isn’t an option.
I walk to Oakley’s closet, grabbing the first T-shirt I find, and snag a pair of boxers from his dresser. I’d ask first, but I have a feeling he won’t mind me walking around in his clothes all day.
“Thanks for letting me—” I stop in my tracks when I walk out to see Oakley hunched over, head in his hands.
“Hey, you’re up. Hungry?” His head jolts when he hears me and puts on a fa?ade.
Something happened while I crashed.
“Yeah. I could eat. Are you okay?” I ask, knowing he probably won’t tell me. I can tell when he’s going to open up and talk to me about things, and I can tell when he’s closed up tighter than Rina’s lips when we ask her about Arlo.
“I’m good. Just had a phone call from my old partner. Nothing big, though. Just shooting the shit.” He averts his eyes, and I know there’s more to it but I won’t push him. He’ll talk when he wants to; at least, that’s what he’s been doing.
“Can I make lunch today?” I ask to change the subject.
“No.” He smirks. “It’s my job to take care of you, so I’ll be taking care of all your hunger needs today.”
“Just my hunger needs?” I ask with a sly smirk.
“If you finish your book, we can talk about what other things you need, Trouble.” He shakes his head like it’s such a hardship.
I grin at his reaction, knowing if I finish this damn book, I sure as hell will be having him take care of my other needs.
“What do you want for lunch?”
“Umm, would be it totally cliché to say a panini?” I cringe. He has the day off, but damn it, his paninis are the freaking best and it’s the best kind of fuel for a long day of writing.
“Nope. I’ll run downstairs and make you one.”
I shuffle over to him, and stand on my tiptoes in an attempt to kiss his check but only get up to his neck. Shrugging, I press a kiss to his neck instead. “Thank you.”
He smacks my ass before leaning down and kissing me. “Go get set up. I’ll be right back.”
I stand in a daze as he leaves to make me lunch like some kind of house husband. Who knew there were men out there that went through this much effort for a woman.
I shake myself out of my Oakley stupor and walk over to the area where I’ve set up my makeshift desk. I make sure I have some water, all my notes are how I like them, and I review where I left off this morning. By the time I’m done with all of that, my sexy man is back with provisions.
I devour it before diving headfirst into the last third of this book.
I come up for air about five hours later and see the sun setting.
“Holy shit, I’m done,” I say to myself.
“You finished it?” Oakley’s voice draws my attention. He’s sitting on the couch, reading one of my books, and I think I fall in love with him right in this moment.
“Yeah,” I breathe out.
Relief like I’ve never felt takes over my body, and I slump into the chair. Tipping my head back, I exhale as I hear Oakley moving.
When I feel his hands on my jaw, I open my eyes and see pride in his.
“You are fucking phenomenal,” he says softly.
“That was the hardest book I’ve ever written, and I’m so damn proud of it.” I start tearing up because it’s been such an emotional roller coaster and it might just be the best book I’ve ever written.
“I’m so proud of you, and I can’t wait to read it.” The sincerity in his voice damn near breaks me. It’s incredible to have this support from someone who isn’t family.
“Take me to bed, James.” His words, his actions over the past few days come crashing over me, and it feels like I need him right this second or I’ll … just cease to exist.
“Gladly.” Kissing me hard before his hands move to my ass, he picks me up out of the chair as he stands up, our lips still connected. I grip his too-long hair, controlling the kiss while I can because if I know him, and I think I do, I won’t be able to use my hands in a minute.
When he tosses me onto his bed, I bounce a little before he walks to the closet and grabs something. When he turns around, a line of rope is in his hands, causing my legs to clench together. We’ve never used actual rope, always just what we could find on hand, and I’m more excited about this than I thought I’d be.
“You ready for this?” His voice is deep and hoarse.
“Oh, hell yes.” I squirm on the bed.
His wicked grin turns me on more than the prospect of being tied up.
“Hands up, Trouble.”
“Yes, sir,” I snark.
He arches an eyebrow at me, just waiting for me to do as I’m told.
I throw my hands up before he starts stalking over to me, tossing the rope and a couple of condoms on the bed, and I mirror his arched eyebrow.
“You’ve worked hard. I’m going to make sure you are completely boneless by the time I’m done with you. If that takes a couple of rounds, so be it.”
“Jesus, you’re sexy,” I whisper.
His hands grip the bottom of his shirt I’m wearing and slide it up my body. “I like you in my clothes, although, I like you naked better. This will do when I’m not fucking you.”
“Oh, now there’s a dress code?” I giggle.
“There can be. It’ll go both ways, Will, don’t worry.” He winks, and I can only smile at him.
This banter, this playfulness while still being so serious is the absolute best. It shuts my brain off, my only focus on him and what he’s going to do to me next. I love it.
Next, he drags the boxers off of me before pulling my leg up and trailing kisses from ankle to thigh.
Gently putting my leg back on the bed, he moves to pick up the rope, undoing it from the neat bundle he stored it in.
“Are you okay if I use rope? I bought it after we first got together. You’re the first I’m using it with, and it’s bamboo, so it’s super high quality and should have low friction,” he quickly explains.
I love how thoughtful he is about it all. I would have let him tie me up with anything, but it’s nice to know he’s really thought everything through.
“Very much okay with it,” I say quickly. Later, when my entire body isn’t solely focused on getting an orgasm, I’ll ask him about his affinity for tying up hands.
“I’m going to make a sort of handcuff, and if at any time you hate it or it doesn’t feel good, just tell me.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
I hold out my wrists to him, and he immediately gets to work. The intricate knots he creates between my wrists are wildly attractive.
He tests the knots, and the space between my wrists and the rope, and deems them perfect. “How does it feel?”
I can’t stop squirming on the bed because I’m so damn turned on. The whole time he was tying me up, he was pressing kisses to different parts of my body.
“So good,” I moan.
His grin greets me as I look at him, and he takes the long tail from my wrists and ties it to the bedpost, forcing me at an angle on the bed.
“Good.” I feel his fingertips along the outside of my thigh, and I fail to keep in my whimper. “Spread your legs for me. You’ve earned yourself quite the orgasm.”
“Because I finished my book?” I can’t help but ask. He makes me want to be a little bratty just to see what he’ll do.
“Because of that, and because you’ve helped me see there is more to life than pretending to live.”
My body freezes, and my eyes blink open at his words. His soft smile greets me, and my heart pounds in my chest, this time from something dangerously close to love.
When his fingers start creeping toward the inside of my thigh, I adhere to his earlier command and spread my legs. If this man is promising a damn good orgasm, I know he’ll deliver and then some. And after sleeping in his bed the past couple of nights without actually having sex, I’m so damn horny I feel like I’m going to combust.
His teasing starts slow, first just his fingertips right at the juncture of my hip, slowly moving closer to where I really want him. He barely grazes my clit, and I flinch at how sensitive I already am.
“Fuck,” I hiss out.
“Oh, you really are in trouble this time, aren’t you? So needy already.”
“James,” I whimper as he circles my clit harder before dipping down and barely pushing inside of me.
“God, I fucking love it when you say my name,” he growls as he pushes his finger in more.
“What else do you like?” I just want to hear him talk. Everything he’s doing is clearing my head from all the stress that’s built up over the past weeks. It’s like the anxiety disappears with each word he says.
“I like when you’re wet and needy for me. When you’re so fucking turned on that you’re on a hair trigger. I love having you tied up and at my mercy. It calms me, makes me feel invincible.”
My back arches as he adds another finger before pulling them out and circling my clit again. He repeats the pattern over and over again, until my muscles are so taut they start to hurt, never quite pushing me over the edge.
“You are incredibly sexy like this,” he murmurs.
Without warning, he shoves his fingers back in as his thumb circles my clit, and I go off like a bomb. My mouth opens wordlessly, my arms pull on the rope holding me in place, and my legs shake.
Panting as I come down, James eases me down from it, never removing his fingers. “That’s it. We’re just getting started, Will.”
I collapse on my back, feeling absolutely boneless. It feels like the perfect culmination from all the tension I’ve carried over the week. The perfect escape and release. And we’re just getting started.
Rustling draws my attention, and I look up to see him stripping. His tattoos pop against his golden skin, and if I wasn’t tied up I’d be kissing every single one of them.
He shoves my legs apart as he kneels on the bed, and I moan in anticipation.
His hands wrap around the back of my thighs as he pulls me down enough for there to be tension on my arms.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Good, so fucking food. Arms feel fine too,” I add, realizing that’s what he’s really asking.
I feel his hot breath before he sucks my clit into his mouth.
“Holy fuck,” I breathe out.
It shamefully takes him no time at all to make me come again as he licks and fucks me with his tongue. The orgasms just compound on each other. All I want to do is grip his shaggy hair as he takes complete control of my body, but he has a proclivity for tying me up. Maybe one day, I’ll return the favor and take everything I can from him.
“Fuck, you undo me, woman,” he grits out as he stands up and snags the condom, ripping it open and rolling it down his impressively hard cock.
Leaning over me, he cups my jaw, kissing me hard and letting me taste myself. At the same time, he notches himself at my entrance and thrusts with no hesitation. I gasp into his mouth as he sets a punishing pace. Like a man possessed, he doesn’t stop until I’m right at the edge again.
One hand supports his body weight as the other moves to tweak my nipple. He starts off softly and then quickly pinches harder, causing my orgasm to come out of nowhere.
“God damn, you feel good coming around my cock,” he whispers against my neck before he gently bites it.
I don’t think I could talk even if I wanted to. Between the endless orgasms and the quietness of my mind, I’ve got nothing except for feeling right now.
James quickly pulls out of me, and I whimper at the loss, but then he flips my hips over quickly and yanks them up so my ass is in the air.
Shit, that was hot.
He slams back into me, and my back arches in pleasure.
“I can’t hang on much longer, Will. Fuuuccckkk,” he groans as his pace picks up.
I can tell he’s close because the grip on my hips is bound to bruise a little, and I fucking love it. I’ve never in my life been into rougher sex like this, but with James? It’s sexier than I could have ever imagined.
He reaches underneath me and circles my overstimulated clit, triggering another damn orgasm. I feel tears rush to the surface at the sheer relief of it all. He thrusts in hard and stays there, succumbing to his own orgasm, and I wish I could see the look on his face right now.
Before I even have time for my breathing to regulate, he pulls out and flips me back over. Reaching up, he starts to undo the knotted handcuffs, and within a couple of minutes my hands are free. He grabs them both, inspecting them and kissing any red spots.
“Was that okay?” he mumbles against my wrists.
“It was mind-blowing,” I pant out.
“Yeah?” The vulnerability in his voice makes me smile. He cares so much about me, and he doesn’t even attempt to hide it.
“Yeah, James.” I pull my wrists from his hold and circle his shoulders in a hug.
He shifts to the side so he doesn’t put all of his weight on me, but lets me continue to hug him.
My mind and body are blissfully content.
This moment with James is something I didn’t know could be a possibility, and I want nothing more than to keep it forever.