CHAPTER 32
Bailey
I drop the phone to the table next to me and pull my head back to fix my gaze on the face of the goddess straddling my leg. My fingers wrap delicately back around her throat, and I tilt her head so her eyes meet mine.
Palmer’s chest is heaving, and, God, those gray eyes peeking through her heavy lashes about send me over the edge.
This is what I had meant when I told her no the time she tried to seduce me when she was drunk.
I wanted her willing and with all her faculties about her so that when she came for me, the only thing impairing her judgement was euphoria.
And Christ, her body.
Her perfect fucking body.
When she had started unbuttoning her shirt, I had nearly come undone.
Her tits are fucking perfect, just like the rest of her.
Sure, I saw them the last time we slept together and on video calls, but I was so desperate to feel her writhing under me that spending too much time looking at any one part of her body at length would’ve made me come in my pants.
Last time was calculated, because I had known if I wasn’t, it was going to be purely primal.
I would have fucked her hard and fast, because I had needed her like I needed air to breathe.
Like she was the elixir of life to bring me back from the edge of death.
I hadn’t been able to get her clothes off and my hands (and mouth) on her body quickly enough.
But not this time.
This time, I’m going to be with her. Not just her body and the animalistic needs of my body, but with her. With Palmer. I am going to take my time to memorize and explore every last detail of her body. I want to know every part of this beautiful, perfect being in front of me.
By the time I’m done, I won’t just know her.
I am going to worship her.
She has no idea the restraint it’s been taking me not to bend her over the arm of this chair and fuck her senseless, my team and chain of command hearing be damned. It was physically painful, and shifting in my seat only made it worse, because, holy fuck, that moan.
The only thing stopping me had been that those whimpers and moans were mine.
The pulse fluttering under my fingertips is mine.
Her perfect tits and curves are mine.
Her warm, wet pussy is mine.
She is all mine.
Palmer averts her gaze and raises a hand to cover her mouth. “Is… do I have something on my face?”
I loosen my hold on her neck. “What?’
She folds her arms across her chest, seeming suddenly self-conscious. “You’re staring at me. I thought maybe I have something on my face or in my teeth or something.” She starts to rise. “I’ll go look in the mirror.”
My hands slide down to her hips, holding her in place on my leg.
She looks back at me, hand still covering the lower half of her face, her brows turned up in the middle.
Palmer’s eyes are unsure, searching mine.
I recognize that look. It’s the same one she gets when she talks about her asshole of an ex.
He made her feel this way about herself.
He’s the reason she can’t fathom why someone would be staring at her gorgeous face and body for any reason other than to criticize her in some capacity.
Anger boils inside of me. I want nothing more than to go hunt this motherfucker down and make him regret hurting Palmer again.
But to do that, I would have to take my hands off her body now, and someone will have to come cut them off me before I willingly do that. I can’t kill him (right now at least), but I can do my damndest to make her forget all about him until a more permanent solution is in order.
I slide my hips forward to the edge of chair and shift her body to move my other leg so she is fully straddling me.
Keeping one hand situated on her hip, I bring the other up to her face.
I tuck the wisps coming out from her bun back behind her ear then pull her hand away from her mouth.
Cupping her cheek, I bring her lips to mine and cover them in soft kisses.
“I’m staring because you’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen,” I murmur between kisses.
Palmer scoffs a laugh, trying to break the tension. “Pfft, yeah, okay.”
The sound makes my heart hurt. I sit back and slide both hands along the side of her face, forcing her to gaze into my eyes. “Palmer, look at me. Do I seem like someone who makes jokes about what they want?”
Her eyes shift downward. “I don—”
“Look at me.”
Her eyes fix on mine.
“Do I?”
“No.” Her voice strains.
“Then why the fuck would I start now?”
She shrugs.
“The answer is I wouldn’t.” I grind my swollen cock against her. “Does anything about that feel like I’m joking?”
Palmer shakes her head. Tears well in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you. Not a damn thing in the world has ever been wrong with you. That piece of shit who called himself your boyfriend at one point in time sure tried to make you think so, though.” I swipe the tear that flows down her cheek.
“He’s not here anymore. He never deserved to be.
Honestly, no man will ever be good enough for you, but I’m hopeful I will be good enough to at least be up to the challenge.
And I will spend—” I stop myself before I say what I really want to: the rest of my life.
“As long as you want me to, trying to prove it to you.”
Palmer rolls her eyes and scoffs, trying to feign nonchalance. “Okay, okay. Enough with the mushy stuff.” She runs her fingers under her eyes and fans her face. Bringing her gaze back to mine, she asks, “Anyway, where were we?”
I recognize the deflection tactic (used it myself a time or two), but I let it slide. If she doesn’t want to talk about it right now, I won’t make her. There will be plenty of time for that later.
I slide my hands down her arms and take her right hand in my left.
“I’m serious, Palmer.” Lifting it to my lips, I plant a kiss starting at the tip of her pinky, then move to her ring finger and work my way across each of her other fingers, ending on her wrist. “These beautiful hands that I love holding in mine. That feel so good raking down my back.” I move to her left hand, lingering a moment longer on her ring finger than the others.
“That spend so much of their time helping others, teaching people how to do things that make no sense to me. That take care of people who others write off.”
I smirk against her skin, “Making barely edible baked goods.”
Palmer squeals, then playfully slaps at my shoulder. I catch her wrist in my hand and graze the delicate skin of the inside of her arm with my teeth. She gasps, and I lazily run my tongue along the veins trailing their way up to her elbow.
“I need to you to understand how I see you, how perfect you are.” I plant kisses along her bicep.
Taking my forefinger, I trace the line that runs from her left shoulder across her clavicle to her right.
Palmer’s chest stutters under my touch, and it takes everything in my power not to give in to my baser instincts.
Not tonight, I remind myself. Tonight is about her.
My finger traces up her neck, meeting with my other hand on the back of her head.
Slowly—deliberately—I pull out the pins and hair ties, and Palmer’s hair cascades down her shoulders.
I run my fingers through her hair, gently massaging out the tangles, and put my face against her neck, breathing in the floral scent of her shampoo.
“Fuck.” I groan. “I’ve missed this.”
Palmer stifles a giggle. “Sniffing me?” she asks incredulously.
I chuckle, the sound deep and throaty against her ear. “Smelling you,” I muse, planting a kiss on her neck. Her sudden intake of breath reminds me that my lips against her skin have the exact same effect as her lips on me.
“Hearing your laugh.” I kiss along her jaw.
“Simply being in your presence.” I kiss my way down her neck, follow her sternum, then circle her nipple with my tongue and take it into my mouth and suck.
Palmer lets out a moan, my self-control growing ever more precarious at the sound. After a moment, I lavish my attention on her other breast, torturing her almost as much as myself.
“Honestly, baby. I wish you could see yourself the way I do, because if you did, you would never question any compliment I ever give you again.”
Palmer whispers something unintelligible, her eyes avoiding mine.
I lean forward, closer to her mouth. “What’s that, baby?”
She lifts her eyes to mine and softly says, “Show me.”
“Say no more.” My hands on her hips help raise her to a standing position. Remaining seated, I look up at her as I palm her breasts. “Where would you like me to start?”
Palmer shrugs, her cheeks turning pink.
I stand and lean in to put my lips against her ear. “Use your words, baby. Where would you like me to start?”
Goosebumps ripple over her skin as her body presses against mine. Her voice is shaky as she says, “From the top.”
The smile that widens my lips is one of pure ecstasy. “With pleasure.”