Chapter 18
GAbrIEL
Fuck, she’s beautiful. My instinct is to roll her to her back, settle myself between her legs, and bury myself between her thighs, but doing that would be taking this—whatever it is—too far. I meant what I said to her. She’s not ready. Not for sex. Maybe not even for what I have planned.
I’m flying blind here. Something obviously happened to her. I don’t know how far to push her. What is and isn’t okay. I’m letting instinct guide me and praying that if I fuck up, she lets me know and forgives me.
Biting her full bottom lip, she nods her head.
“I need words, Cecilia. Do you want me to make you feel good?”
“Yes.” The word comes out breathy.
My smile widens. “You get uncomfortable, you tell me. Understand?”
Her brows pinch together.
“I mean it,” I tell her and brush my fingers along her cheek. “Trust goes both ways. You need to trust that I’ll make you feel good. And I need to trust that you’re brave enough to tell me to stop if it becomes too much.”
She swallows hard. “Okay.”
“Okay?” She needs to be real fucking clear here. There’s zero room for misunderstandings.
“If I get uncomfortable, I’ll ask you to stop.”
Not good enough. “No.” She stiffens in my arms, but I don’t let it deter me. “If you get uncomfortable, you’ll tell me to stop. No asking, Cecilia. This is your show. Your rules. Got it?”
Another nod. Good.
Without any further fanfare, I lean in and capture her mouth.
She responds to me immediately, her mouth opening beneath mine and granting me entry to slide my tongue into her mouth.
God, she tastes good. Kissing her, I let my hands wander down her body until I’m cupping her ass.
I give in to the impulse to squeeze it between my palms and she moans into my mouth. Fuck.
Releasing her, I trail my hand over her body, getting her familiar with my touch as we make out like teenagers for a full ten minutes.
When she’s boneless in my arms, I take a risk and push my hand beneath the hem of her shirt, shoving it up to expose her full, pert breasts.
She sucks in a harsh breath as soon as the cool air hits her skin, but she doesn’t push me away or tell me to stop.
Her eyes are hooded, filled with a mix of desire and trepidation.
I make it a mission to ensure only the desire remains.
Tugging down the cup of her bra, I release her lips to trail kisses down her neck and collarbone.
Her back arches, pressing her tits into my hands, and I use the movement to roll her onto her back as I tweak her nipples.
They harden beneath my touch and she starts to squirm on the mattress.
I know she wants more, but she’s too shy to ask for it.
Careful not to spook her, I keep my body pressed to her side and lower my mouth to her breast as my hand goes on a downward descent. Grazing my teeth against her nipple, she whimpers and the sound alone gets me impossibly harder.
Popping the button on her jeans, I pause to see if she’ll stop me. She doesn’t. Lowering the zipper, I switch attention to her other breast and slip my hand beneath the fabric of her jeans.
Cecilia’s tiny hands fly up to tangle in my hair right as my fingers brush against the lace of her panties and, not missing a beat, I tug them aside.
She shudders in my arms and I release her nipple with a loud pop before capturing her lips again in a reverent kiss. She’s so fucking sweet. So responsive.
Skimming my fingers along her folds, I take note of how wet she is for me and groan against her lips.
“Do you like that?” I ask, pressing two fingers through the evidence of her desire before circling her clit with her wetness.
Her hips buck forward, chasing my touch.
“Do you want more?” I pull back enough to gauge her response and am greeted with eyes drunk on desire. Satisfaction thrums through me.
My dick throbs behind my zipper, straining to get free, but this right now, it isn’t about me. It’s about her. Her pleasure. Her release.
Flicking my wrist, it only takes a minute before Cecilia is close, body coiled tight and all but begging for release.
Her chest heaves, making her pretty little tits bob with the motion.
I don’t know how long her parents will be gone so I need to speed this along and get her where I need her to be before we’re interrupted.
Putting more pressure on her clit, I rub the little bundle of nerves until she’s just about to sail over the edge and then I hold her there, on the precipice of her release.
“Answer me.” A dick move, but I need to know she’s in this with me.
That this need coursing through me isn’t one sided. That I’m not imagining things.
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Little pants of pleasure escape her lips and her head rolls from side to side, making me chase her mouth for a kiss. Her entire body quivers and I bite her bottom lip, holding her in place before pinching her clit. She whimpers, and fuck does that sound do things to me.
I meet her gaze, watching as her orgasm takes over and her eyes roll into the back of her head. She moans with her release. Perfection. I continue to stroke her as she comes down, until her body spasms and she shoves my hand away.
“Too sensitive,” she says.
“Mmm. For now.”
She smiles. It’s this cautious yet hopeful thing that I can’t help but return. “I—“ She hesitates, and something tells me whatever it is she’s about to say, it’s important, so I wait. “I didn’t think it could feel like that.”
“Amazing?” I quirk a single brow.
She smacks a hand to my chest. “I guess.”
“Orgasms should always be good.”
Cecilia snorts, tugging her shirt and bra back into place. “I know. It’s just that it’s been—“ She cuts herself off.
“Are you ever going to tell me?” I ask, wanting her to open up.
Her eyes mist and I inwardly curse myself for fucking up this moment for her.
“You know whatever it is, you can tell me. I won’t think of you any different.”
A front door downstairs opens and closes and voices drift softly up the stairs. She swipes at the moisture on her face and points out the obvious. “Mom and Dad are home,” she tells me. “You should probably go.” Her words say one thing, but the look on her face says something else.
It begs me to stay.
Fuck. I’m not getting attached to this pint-sized brunette. I’m already attached. I may as well cut off my balls now and give them to her for safekeeping in her purse. Save both of us the trouble of denying what’s going on right now.
“No can do,” I tell her with a shake of my head. I lean back against her pillows and tug her across my chest. She comes willingly, curling into my side and resting a hand over my heart. Can she tell how fast it beats when I’m with her?
“I don’t roll like that.” Lies. I very much roll like that, but evidently, not with her. “You ordered the full meal deal, which comes with post orgasmic cuddling.”
She giggles against me and I freeze, desperate to hear the sound from her again. “You’re ridiculous,” she tells me.
I jab my fingers into her ribs, tickling her side. She shrieks before squirming to get away.
“Did you just call me ridiculous?”
She laughs, this full-bellied sound. “What about it?” There’s a dare in her voice, the playful side of her coming out, but before I can answer her, the door to her bedroom opens and Mrs. Russo pops her head in.
“We’re back,” she says, as though we didn’t already know.
She eyes our position on the bed and Cecilia squirms to put space between us, but that shit is not happening. Tightening my grip on her, I shift just enough to hide the opening of her jeans and nod my head toward her mother. “Thank you for the time.”
Her lips press together, and I can’t help but be a little jealous by the guarded look in her eyes.
She loves her daughter, that much is clear.
Her protectiveness wants to kick me out of her daughter’s room, but when she sees the look on Cecilia’s face, her expression softens.
She wants her daughter’s happiness even more.
“We’ll be downstairs if you two need anything,” she tells us.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“And leave this door open,” she adds as an afterthought before she leaves.
Cecilia giggles again once her mother is gone. “Oh, my god,” she groans.
“What?” I ask, enjoying the pretty blush on her cheeks.
“What do you mean, what? I’m pretty sure my mom knows exactly what we were doing?”
I shrug. “So. We’re both adults. Save the embarrassment for when she walks in on us.”
Cecilia’s eyes bug out of her face. “When?”
I chuckle and capture her lips in a quick kiss. “Yes, Cecilia. When. Because I very much plan on making you come again and again. As many times as you’ll let me.”
She chews her bottom lip.
“Is that going to be a problem?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“Good.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it and looks away. Cupping the side of her face, I turn her gaze back to mine. “What is it?”
She shakes her head, but I’m like a dog with a bone.
“None of that. You don’t have to share everything with me, but… I hate secrets,” I confess. “I’m not saying you have to emo bare your soul to me but just, can we try not to have a mountain of secrets between us?”
“I don’t want to go to your practices. We can hangout,” she rushes to add. “But don’t make me go to your practices.”
I frown, wanting to reject the idea because I realize what she’s really saying.
“He’s on the team?”
She looks away.
“Cecilia—“ I kiss her cheek. Her neck. “Is the person who hurt you on the team?”
Her lack of response isn’t a denial.
“Okay. I won’t ask you to come to my practices.” But already my mind is spinning over the possibilities of who hurt my girl. My girl. Fuck. We made the jump to my girl real fucking quick.
Her body sags against her pillows and I hold her tight, pressing my lips to her temple.
“Thank you.”
I hate that she feels like she has to thank me for something as simple as not forcing her to see her attacker. Is that what prompted the panic attack? Shit. It certainly didn’t help.
“Whatever helps. Whatever makes you happy. We’ll do that, okay? Just don’t shut me out. Don’t push me away.”
“I’ll try.”
It’s enough. For now.