Chapter 10 #2
"That works." He lifted her as if she weighed nothing.
He set her down, and she caught the mattress with the backs of her knees, then fell backward, the sheets cool against her spine.
He followed, big and solid, bracing his forearms to keep most of his weight off her and still somehow pinned her to the bed like he wanted to keep her there.
Crazy as the thought was, she'd gladly stay in this spot for as long as he'd have her.
"Nightstand," she reminded, breathless.
He reached for the drawer.
She heard the quiet rattle of wood. Her pulse hopped in anticipation.
She'd probably never be able to confess to him that she'd fantasized about him when she'd first joined the military. When she'd been working on any project that involved learning and studying systems that Gideon Rhodes had created. He'd been her late night companion.
She shoved his jeans lower, the hard line of him nudging her palm again and wrecking the last of her composure.
He hissed through his teeth and tore the packet.
The soft scent of latex cut through the air, clean and inevitable.
He dragged his jeans the rest of the way off with a clumsy kick that made the mattress bounce.
"Give it to me," she said, holding out her hand.
He handed her the rolled condom into her palm, his knuckles brushing her nipple as he did.
This was better than anything she’d imagined.
She sat up on her elbows and took him in hand. Heavy. Hot. She smoothed the latex down with careful fingers, the texture catching on her skin. His breath hitched. God, she loved that sound. Loved that her actions, her hands, made him do that.
When she finished, she skimmed her fist down once, slowly. "Come here," she said, and lay back fully, opening for him.
He slid his hand under her thigh and hitched it high against his waist. The head of him nudged her slick heat, and every muscle in her body pulled tight. He stroked once, an obscene glide over where she was sensitive and already throbbing, then pushed.
He didn’t slam into her. He sank, inch by deliberate inch, the give-and-take of her body answering in pulses that built until she couldn’t hold still.
"God, yes," she whispered. "More." She was desperate for Gideon. For all of him. For everything he could give.
His hips drove deeper. The bedframe knocked the wall, a dull thud she felt in her teeth.
He filled her in a way that blanked her thoughts.
She clung to his shoulders and rolled to meet him, quickly catching his rhythm, greedy for it.
The slick slide, the rough press of his pelvis against her, the sweet bite of friction exactly where she needed it—every pass stroked her raw and right.
She told herself that if this was the only time she could be with him, it would be enough. He'd already satisfied her in ways no man ever had.
But deep down, she knew this wasn’t just about what he could do to her. Reconciling that was going to be… a struggle.
He braced himself on one forearm and brought his other hand down between them, his thumb finding her with maddening accuracy.
She jerked and swore not caring how it sounded.
He matched the motion of his hips to the drag of his fingers, and she rose up off the mattress, her heel digging into his lower back.
His mouth hunted hers, and she met him halfway, his willing prey—kissing him hard enough to taste the copper edge of her own bitten lip.
She shoved at his chest. "Wait."
He stilled instantly, breath sawing. The throb of him inside her made holding still a joke.
She rolled their bodies. It wasn’t graceful—more scramble than choreography—but he let her move him, let her crawl up and take his wrists and held them to the pillow, as if she could pin a man twice her size. She straddled him, taking him back into her body with a slow push.
"Watch me," she said.
She rode him. Slow at first, her hips grinding against him in the exact place that made her vision spark at the edges.
Sweat slid down the line of her spine. Her hair stuck to her cheek.
The room blurred to the rectangle of his headboard, the smudge of lamplight on the wall, the sheen of his chest under her palms. He felt so good under her, solid and giving, every thrust hitting that spot until her toes curled in the sheets.
Sliding her hand down, she touched herself where their bodies met, brazen and way past shame.
The extra pressure snapped everything inside her tight as wire.
"I’m—oh—Gideon—" The syllables broke around the sharp pull of pleasure.
The orgasm ripped through her, hot and massive and not the least bit polite.
Her body clenched hard around him, dragging a groan from his chest that vibrated under her palms. She rode the wave, hips jerking, breath breaking, every muscle pulling in like she was collapsing into the release.
He throbbed inside her, and the knowledge that she’d done that to him lit up something within her, something fierce and tender all at once.
He cursed again, hands crushing her hips, as she pressed down, giving him what he needed because she needed it just as badly.
He bucked once, twice, and then shuddered hard.
Collapsing forward, she dropped her head to his shoulder and sighed.
He held her for what seemed like a long time. Long enough for their breathing to return to normal. Adjusting their bodies to lay side by side, he pulled the covers over them, keeping his arms wrapped around her.
"Hi," she said into the hollow of his throat.
"Hey." He traced a lazy pattern with his index finger across her arm and shoulder. "I want you to know something."
"What’s that?" She glanced up.
"I didn’t walk away earlier because I didn’t want this. Didn’t want you. I walked away because I respect you. And also because I was scared."
"You were afraid?" She shifted, resting her hand on his chest. "Of what?"
"Of this not being real. Of not being good enough. Or just screwing it all up because this isn’t my strong suit."
She buried her face in his shoulder and burst out laughing.
"I don’t see what’s so funny." He tugged at her hair, angling her face to force her to look at him.
"Let’s just say this was the best I’ve ever had, and I’m not sure it could ever be better."
"Might have been because of who I was with." He smiled wide. "But I wasn’t only talking about sex."
"Yeah, well, we’re gonna need more condoms because those will be gone by lunch tomorrow."
"Then we better get some rest." He kissed her softly. "Because I won’t say no to that."