Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
COLBY
I race to the front door with my heart thundering in my chest as Josie pulls up to a stop.
She slams the door, and marches to me. She’s determined, serious, smiling, the pink in her hair matching the flush in her cheeks.
Her look mirrors my insides and carries the weight of a million unsaid words.
All the hope, the fear, the desire, the trust. She runs up to the porch, throws her arms around me, and crushes her lips against mine.
The kiss steals my breath. I stumble back a few inches with my mouth warm and hungry, and so fucking grateful.
She came back.
When she pulls back, her eyes search mine, and a sheepish grin fills her face. “I only made it to the end of the driveway.”
“I’m so glad,” I say, squeezing her hand. “Let’s go back inside.”
She interlaces her fingers in mine. Inside, we’re quiet.
Through soft smiles, I kick off my shoes, she removes her boots and hangs up her coat.
When she turns around, I cup her face in my hands and look into those beautiful, soulful, inviting brown eyes.
The eyes that not only captured me, but opened something in me.
I pull her into me again, and press my lips onto her sweet, luscious mouth.
When she parts my mouth with her tongue and gently swipes against mine, I swear my knees almost buckle.
My breath increases as quickly as my pulse as I lean her into the wall, and she tugs me against her.
God, her lips are everything. The first night, it was so frantic that kissing took a back seat to everything else, and I didn’t realize how soft her lips were, how plush and delicious.
I push my leg in between hers, my knee gently grazing against her core, covered with the minimal fabric of her pink scrubs.
A soft moan escapes her lips, the exact sound I’ve been chasing while she’s been here, and I want more.
Footsteps patter our way and thunk right next to us.
We break the kiss and both look at Kona lying next to the couch on her doggie bed.
I grin at Josie, then glance at Kona. “Sorry, girl. You’re going to have to stay out here for a while.
” What I want to do, what I’m pretty sure Josie wants to do, Kona cannot see.
Without another word, I grip Josie’s hand and walk her down to the bedroom, closing the door behind us.
The urgency of that first night is gone.
The frenetic nature, the clawing at the skin, the intoxicating heat.
Everything is slow, warm, intentional. I can feel my pulse rise against my ears, my stomach fluttering with anticipation.
Josie’s fingers reach up, and she drags my sweater down my shoulders.
She lifts my chin, kisses behind my ear, down my neck.
Her lips are so soft, gentle, grazing with the slightest of touches, yet it shoots a charged electricity through my body.
I lean into the touch, and when she pulls back, I immediately want more.
“Do we need to talk about anything first?” she says.
“No,” I say. All week we’ve talked. We’ve gotten out everything that needs to be said. Now, I’m ready. I am so, so ready. “This feels different.” Last time was a means to forget. This time, it’s to connect.
“It does,” she says, biting on the corner of her lip. “Thank you for letting me come back.”
“Thank you for being here.”
I move to kiss her again and melt against her full mouth, that cute gap in her teeth, her beautifully soft and firm lips.
Her fingertips grip the bottom of my shirt and she helps me toss it off.
My heart is pounding as her mouth moves to my cleavage, as she plants kisses on the top of my breasts, as one hand slides to cup my ass.
I lift her out of her scrub shirt, up high and over her arms, and let my gaze linger on her black bra, the way the fabric pulls against her, how silky her skin looks. God, she’s so beautiful. Her curves, her fullness, she drips with sexiness without even realizing it. “No sports bra, huh?”
She grins and shakes her head. “Never again.”
Our mouths connect. Kissing, tugging, licking.
Her lips moving against mine. She guides me to the bed, and we lie down, taking our time.
This is happening. This is all happening and it is sweet, and calm, and hot, and real.
Everything is grounded in reality. As we turn to our sides, and she drapes her leg over me, and I tug her into me as close as I can, I take in everything.
The sweet smell of her skin. The fabric of her scrubs rustling against my legs.
Our bra-covered chests brushing against each other.
Goose bumps skitter up my arms and down my neck with every touch. Our mouths lock. My pulse pounds in my chest, and urgency grows in my body. I need to feel more of her, to see her, to taste her.
I turn and slide her beneath me. God, her skin is so smooth, so perfect.
I trail my mouth across her jawline, kiss the column of her neck, her clavicle, the rose tattoo at her shoulder, her cleavage.
I put my mouth over the fabric on the bra and give it a sharp suck, and Josie moans against me and wiggles her hips.
“Everything feels so good,” she murmurs.
When I slide my tongue down her bare belly, her stomach quivers beneath me. “Are you okay with all of this? Tell me if you want to stop,” I say as I trail kisses to her hip.
“Don’t stop,” she says with a wet, heavy breath. “For the love of everything, please don’t stop.”
These are the exact words I was hoping for. Fingertips rake through my hair, tickle my shoulders, dig into me when I reach a very sensitive spot below her navel that I’m desperate to explore even more.
Everything about this moment feels right.
Solid. Perfect. I tug down her pants and take in the sight of her beautiful pale legs, of the way that the lace of her underwear rests against her skin, of the goose bumps that rise on her thighs.
My palms slide up and down her legs and the heat from her powder-soft skin seeps into my hands.
Nothing is rushed. The craving in my mouth, in my fingers, in my body, is so strong, yet so…
settled. We have all the time in the world.
Josie is here with me, really here with me, and this is exactly where I want to be.
She sits up and wraps her legs around me, capturing my mouth again.
We each unclasp our bras and toss them to the side, and the moment mine is off, her eyes drop, heavy lidded and filled with so much lust I feel it in my toes.
She touches me like she wants to memorize everything, like she never wants to let go, then her mouth moves closer, and mmmm…
Her tongue moves across my nipple, and when she pulls me into her mouth, I clasp my hands behind her neck and moan against her ear.
“You’re so beautiful, Colby…” she whispers against my skin as she licks, and sucks, and kisses.
My mind only flutters to Amelia once, a quick blip to allow my brain to acknowledge that this is the first time being touched by a woman since her—the couch escapade barely counts—and it’s okay. It’s time. I’m ready.
Josie’s hands reach the top of my pajama bottoms and she dips her hand inside my pants. “Is it okay if we take these off?” she asks as she brushes her lips against my neck.
“Yes. I’m ready for everything,” I say as I shimmy out of them, and when she hooks her fingers around my underwear and tugs them off, I swear I almost stop breathing. My cells, my skin, everything is alive, dancing, anticipating, and my knees start to quiver.
“Me too,” she says as she trails kisses. Down my breasts. To my stomach. To my thighs… my hips… and oh God… right there.
I press my back into the mattress and moan as her mouth moves around me, delicate yet expertly like she already knows me, what I need, what is making the tingles stronger. Heat rushes to my core and spreads, and when she dips a finger inside me, I nearly whimper.
“Oh, Colby. You’re so perfect, so beautiful.” My heartbeat kicks up, more, higher, then starts thundering in my chest. I don’t want this to end, but this tension, this longing, this deep connect I’m feeling is building the ache in my body at a fast and furious rate.
Her lips and tongue move along with her hands and I’m so close.
“Yes, so good, Josie… Shit… it’s so good…
” I say, my hands reaching for her head, for my pillow, for my sheets.
My body starts to tremble, deep in my core, in my legs, in my stomach, as she keeps the most perfect pressure, the most perfect consistency.
I’m almost embarrassed that I’m coming too quickly, but I’m letting myself go to the sensations, to the feelings of being with Josie, to this deep connection we’re creating with every touch, every moan, every kiss.
The tension is building. My heart thuds, my mouth waters, so close, so very close, my body starts to tremble, and I’m moaning and murmuring so loud, but I can’t stop because everything feels so fucking good.
Her tongue moves, sweet, perfect, delicious, and my core clenches.
“Yes… mmmm… right there.” The orgasm tears through me, long, shuddering, releasing, and I blink away spotted stars.
My heart is thudding so loud in my chest that I think she hears it from where she’s resting at my side.
Once I stop, she shimmies back up, lies on my chest, and wraps her arms around me.
I have an urge to cry, but it’s different than last time. Last time I cried with regret. This time, the tears springing to my eyes are filled with hope.
I twirl her soft pink hair in my fingers for a few moments, absorb the heat of her body against mine, and let myself catch my breath. And once I do, I guide Josie to her back, trail kisses down her body, and show her how much she means to me.