Twenty-Nine
Ihaven’t looked at the ring until now. Honestly, it could have been a ring pull from a Coke can, and I’d have been happy.
I know Kaiden doesn’t have much - it makes me mad how he’s exploited, every time I think about it - so that he’s saved so hard to buy me this makes it extra special.
Almost as special as the proposal. But when I see it, I have to choke back more tears.
It’s enough to distract me from my single-minded determination to coax Kaiden to finally have sex with me.
It’s beautiful!
“Kaiden!” I breathe, turning my hand so the unusual gem catches the light. “This is… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
A small crease appears between his eyes. “I know it’s not much, but one day…”
I press my index finger over his lips to silence him and shake my head. I know what he’s about to say. “No! You are never replacing this with anything else. It’s absolutely perfect.”
And I mean it. I can see the care and thought he’s put into finding this amazing stone, which reflects the color of my weird pale eyes, and that means more to me than some flashy diamond bought just because it has bragging rights.
“Happy seventeenth birthday, Aspen,” Kaiden whispers, placing gentle, butterfly kisses on my lips. “This time next year, I’m going to leave this place and make you my wife. You are my future, and everything in my past will have been worth it if I get to spend it with you.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” I tell him, deepening our kisses and reaching down to grip his mouthwatering erection.
Eighteen can’t come fast enough. There’s nothing I want more than to have Kaiden all to myself in our own little home.
But for now, I’ll settle for finally getting my guy between the sheets, because, unusually for someone who’s been brought up the way he has, Kaiden has a strict moral code, which I haven’t been able to crack, no matter how hard I’ve worked to provoke him.
The man has the self-control of a saint!
I lie down, and he kneels above me, just staring. It’s not the first time he’s seen me naked, but he acts like it is.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs reverently, and with him, I feel it, even if the mean kids at school who haven’t grown up yet do still call me zombie eyes. They’re so childish when I compare them to Kaiden.
Then, any stray thoughts are banished from my mind when he trails his fingers across my skin. It’s almost an innocent touch. Just a light drift of fingertips over my collarbone and down the valley between my breasts, but still it ignites a raging fire inside me.
“Kaiden,” I breathe his name like a prayer, arching my back to chase his touch.
His hand trembles slightly as it continues its exploration, and I find that vulnerability incredibly sexy. For all his controlled exterior, I can see how much he wants this - wants me. His pupils are blown wide, his breathing ragged.
“I want to take my time with you,” he says, voice rough with desire. “Make this perfect for you.”
“It already is perfect,” I assure him, reaching up to cup his face. “You’re perfect. Everything is perfect!”
He shakes his head slightly, but I can see the flush spreading across his cheekbones at the compliment. Then his mouth is on my skin, hot and urgent despite his words about taking time. He kisses down my sternum, each press of his lips sending sparks of electricity through my nerve endings.
When his tongue circles my nipple, I gasp, my fingers tangling in his dark hair. He takes his time there, lavishing attention on first one breast and then the other until I’m writhing beneath him, desperate for more.
“Please,” I whimper, not even embarrassed by how needy I sound. This is Kaiden. We’ve known each other since we were children. We’ve dated since we were fourteen. We’ve fooled around - as much as he would allow, at least. There’s no room for awkwardness between us.
His hand slides lower, ghosting over my stomach, and I hold my breath in anticipation. When his fingers finally reach where I’m aching for him most, I cry out, and my back bows off the bed.
“You’re so wet for me,” he groans against my skin, and the raw hunger in his voice makes me clench with need. “So fucking tight.”
He explores me carefully at first, like he’s relearning what makes me gasp, what makes my hips buck against his hand, even though he must already know.
When he slides one finger inside me, we both moan. It’s intimate in a way I never imagined - not just the physical sensation, but the way he watches my face, cataloguing every reaction. I know his mouth on me, but this is where he always drew the line.
“More,” I beg, and he obliges, working me slowly until I’m trembling on the edge of something incredible.
“Not yet,” he murmurs, withdrawing his hand despite my whimper of protest. “I’ve waited so long. This time, I want to be inside you when you come.”
He reaches inside his bedside cabinet drawer for a condom, and for the barest moment, I wonder if he’s done this before.
A shard of jealousy rips through me… except no.
We’ve been together for almost three years, and I would have happily given myself to him before now.
And if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that Kaiden would never cheat.
Despite his age, he has far too much integrity for that.
If he seems experienced, it must be because he’s watched porn or something.
“Hey,” he snags my attention and pulls me out of my head. “Do you want to stop? We don’t have to do this. I understand it’s a big step, and I’m happy to wait.”
“Oh hell no! You’ve been dodging this for months. No way you’re not following through this time.”
“Then why the frown?” he asks, stroking the line between my brows with his forefinger.
I turn my head to look at the side drawer. “It’s just… you have condoms,” I whisper.
Kaiden grins, something he doesn’t do nearly often enough.
“Of course I do. I’ve been waiting for this day since forever. Did you think when it finally came, I wouldn’t be prepared?”
His words melt away my insecurity, and I pull him down for a deep, passionate kiss. “I love you,” I murmur against his lips.
“I love you too, Aspen. More than anything in the whole world.”
He tears open the foil packet, and I watch, mesmerized, as he rolls the condom on. My breath catches at the sight of him - thick and hard and all mine. The throbbing, angry appearance of his cock looks almost painful, and the evidence of how much this is affecting him makes my heart swell.
He positions himself between my thighs, and I feel the blunt head of him pressing against my entrance. Our eyes lock, and in his dark gaze I see everything I need to know. Love, desire, nervousness, and something deeper that I can’t quite name.
“Tell me if I hurt you,” he says, voice strained with the effort of holding back.
“You won’t,” I promise, even though I know it might not be entirely true. I’ve heard my friends tell horrifying tales of how painful their first time was. It’s never once deterred me, though. And it won’t now.
Kaiden pushes forward slowly, and I gasp at the stretch. It’s more intense than I expected - not quite pain, but pressure and fullness that borders on overwhelming. I grip his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin.
“Breathe, baby,” he whispers, holding perfectly still. “Just breathe.”
I do, forcing myself to relax around the intrusion. He kisses me softly, murmuring encouragement against my lips, and gradually my body adjusts to accommodate him.
When he finally slides in completely, we both go still. The feeling of being so intimately connected to him steals my breath. This is everything I’ve been dreaming about. Everything I’ve been fantasizing about during lonely nights when all I had were memories of stolen kisses and heated touches.
“Okay?” he asks, his voice tight with restraint. I can feel him trembling with the effort of not moving, and I love him even more for his consideration.
“Better than okay,” I manage, experimentally rolling my hips. The sensation sends sparks shooting through my core. “You can move. Please move.”
He withdraws slightly and pushes back in, setting a slow, careful rhythm that has me gasping. Each thrust sends waves of pleasure radiating through my body. It’s not the pain my friends warned me about - or maybe it is, but the pleasure overwhelms everything else.
“Fuck, Aspen,” he groans, burying his face in my neck. “You feel incredible. Better than anything I’ve ever experienced.”
I wrap my legs around his waist, urging him deeper, and he responds by increasing his pace. The angle shifts, and suddenly he’s hitting a spot inside me that makes me see stars.
“Right there,” I gasp, my fingers digging into the muscles of his back. “Ohmigod, Kaiden, right there!”
He groans against my throat, his teeth grazing my pulse point as he maintains that perfect angle.
The coil of tension in my lower belly winds tighter and tighter with each stroke.
I’ve made myself come before, plenty of times while thinking about him, but this is different.
This is him inside me, his weight pressing me into the mattress, his breath hot against my skin, his heart pounding against mine.
“Touch yourself,” he commands roughly, and the authoritative edge to his voice sends a fresh wave of arousal through me. “It’s too good. I’m not gonna last and I want to feel you come around me.”
I slide my hand between our bodies, finding my clit swollen and sensitive. The moment my fingers make contact, combined with his deep thrusts, I cry out. It’s almost too much sensation, bordering on overwhelming.
“That’s it, baby,” he encourages, his rhythm becoming more erratic. “Let go for me.”
I circle my fingers faster, chasing the building pressure. Kaiden’s thrusts become harder, more desperate, and the combination of his cock hitting that perfect spot inside me and my own fingers working my clit sends me hurtling toward the edge.
“Kaiden, I’m…” The words dissolve into a moan as the orgasm crashes over me. My body clenches around him, waves of pleasure so intense I can’t think, can’t breathe, can only feel. Every nerve ending lights up like fireworks, and I’m distantly aware that I’m crying out his name over and over.
“Fuck, Aspen,” he groans, and then he’s following me over, his hips stuttering as he buries himself deep. I feel him pulsing inside me, his whole body going rigid before he collapses on top of me, careful not to crush me with his full weight.
We lie there tangled together, both of us breathing hard, our hearts racing in sync. I can feel the dampness of sweat where our bodies are pressed together, and I’ve never felt more content in my entire life.
“Are you okay?” he asks after a moment, lifting his head to search my face with concern. “I didn’t hurt you?”
I shake my head, reaching up to brush a strand of dark hair from his forehead. “No. Not at all.”
He kisses me softly, then carefully withdraws, making me wince slightly at the sensitivity. He rolls over to dispose of the condom, and I take the moment to catch my breath, to let the reality of what just happened sink in.
I’m no longer a virgin. I just had sex with Kaiden. My fiancé.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” he murmurs, kissing my forehead after he’s pulled on his jeans so he can slip out to the bathroom a couple of doors down.
The ring catches the light again, and I lift my hand, a giddy smile spreading across my face. Everything is falling into place. One more year, and he’ll be free of this place. Free to start our real life together.
Kaiden returns with a warm washcloth, and my heart melts at the tenderness with which he cleans me up. Even now, after we’ve been as intimate as two people can be, he’s still so careful with me. He’s just adorable. Not that he’d thank me for saying so.
“What are you thinking?” he asks, settling back beside me and pulling me against his chest.
“That I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” I tell him honestly, tracing patterns on his muscled chest. “And that this was the perfect end to a perfect day. The perfect start to our future.”