Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Another Hotel Perk
GHOST
E mily was perfect. Pretty, soft, responsive, aggressive, demanding...all at exactly the moment I needed each thing.
As we moved toward the bed, I reached down and stripped back the covers, and then pressed her backward until her knees buckled at the edge of the mattress. I lifted her, sliding her back and stretching out at her side, caging her in my arms as her dark hair spread over the pillows.
“You’re gorgeous, you know that?” I whispered, looking down at her. Part of me was detached, watching myself from above. It had been so long since I’d been with anyone, since I’d been capable of the emotional attachment necessary to even consider getting close to anyone. I felt lucky and happy, and like maybe there was a chance there were good things coming for me, despite all I’d done.
“You’re gorgeous too,” she said, a wicked smile crossing her lips, which were swollen from being kissed.
“I hope you know I didn’t plan any of this,” I told her, taking a moment to trace a finger over the curve of her shoulder, down the pale skin of her arm.
“I thought it was part of the premiere package at the Kasper Ridge Resort. The optional ‘witness a birth and stay in a cheap motel’ perk.”
I laughed, and then dropped my head down to kiss her again. Emily was beautiful and smart, and being around her made the world feel less oppressive. She made me feel okay. Good, even. Hell, she made me feel more than that.
We kissed for a while longer, and I did my best to hold back, to avoid pushing a woman I respected and admired into anything she didn’t want. But when Emily’s kisses grew more demanding, it was clear we were on the same page.
Everything in my body was coiling, tightening in response to the soft noises she made when I skimmed my hands over her breasts or teased the peaks with my thumb. When she reached for my waistband, popping the button there without lessening the fervor of the kiss, I wondered if a better man would put the brakes on. But I’d done that once already, and she’d stepped back into my arms. I decided to stop questioning it.
She was whimpering and arching into me as I lowered my mouth to take in first one nipple, then the other. And when she whispered, “Oh, god, Archie,” as if she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hang on, I let a hand drift to the waist of her jeans.
“Yes,” she moaned, her hands in my hair.
I unfastened the button, sliding the pants from her hips and following them down, sliding off her body for a moment to deposit them at the end of the bed. And then, with her dark eyes watching me hungrily, I pushed off my shoes and my own pants as she lay there in only a pair of black underwear.
“You’re so beautiful,” I told her without planning to speak. The hotel windows faced an empty street outside, and the world was heavily blanketed in pristine white snow. Despite the darkness of the hour, the window seemed to glow and reflect moonlight in every direction, and our room was lit in the pale blue light—as was her body.
It had been years since I’d even considered taking a woman to bed. Opportunity and circumstance had conspired, and I hadn’t been in the state of mind to try to change either one.
But suddenly, this felt somehow meant to be. She’d arrived at exactly the time the pressure inside me was building to a forcing function, to something that was demanding a change, a different course. I didn’t know what any of it meant, but I knew this felt right.
“Come here,” she whispered, scooting back up the bed and lifting her hair to spread perfectly around her.
I kissed my way back up her body, beginning with one ankle and slowly planting tiny kisses all the way back to her beautiful throat. And as my mouth found hers again, I pressed one hand gently to her soft stomach, sliding it lower and lower as she arched into me.
Her hands were gripping my back, one dipping into the waist of my boxer briefs to cup my ass, which only made me think about having her hands on other parts of me. But that could wait. I wasn’t going to rush.
I dropped my touch lower, cupping her gently, enjoying the heat emanating from her as she gasped lightly into my mouth. I pressed with my palm, letting my fingers tease a bit lower, and Emily whimpered beneath me, stiffening the already almost painful erection I was trying to alleviate somewhat by pressing into her hip.
“More,” she whispered, and I lifted my hand, sliding it inside the soft fabric of her panties, and letting my fingers delve into her wet folds, teasing all the way down to her entrance and back up, lingering at the hard nub of nerves I found at the top.
“Yesss,” she said, her eyes finding mine as I alternated the pressure and motion of my fingers. “Oh, god, yes.” Her encouragement and obvious enjoyment were hotter than anything I could have imagined.
I focused on the task, trying to ignore the throb of my own need and losing myself in the soft cries and moans coming from Emily. When I sensed she needed just a bit more, I slid off the slip of satin she still wore and positioned myself between her legs for better access, driving my own need into the mattress for the moment,
When my mouth took her, my fingers sliding inside her at the same time, she bucked and cried out. And it took only a few seconds of work, my mouth and fingers mirroring the rhythm I set, before she stilled and then cried out, louder now, and then she pulsed around me, her release driving my own desire to an almost unbearable point.
“Shit,” she whispered as I climbed back up her body, wiping my mouth against my shoulder. “Shit.” She grinned at me. “You should feel pretty proud of yourself about now,” she said.
“I do, actually.” I settled at her side, kissing her once more.
“I hope you don’t think we’re done.”
The words stoked the barely faded need inside me, and my erection surged. I rolled, pressing it against her. “I was hoping we weren’t.”
“This will sound forward, but I’ll just say it.” Her eyes dropped shut. “I’m on birth control and I haven’t been with anyone in a while, and my last tests were clear.” She scrunched her face up like she was waiting for me to laugh—or to jump up in offense. And then one eye popped open to look at me.
“I haven’t been with anyone in years. Was clean then, so I’m clean now,” I told her.
“Years?” Emily sounded surprised, but not disappointed.
“Yeah.” I really didn’t want to explain at that moment, because her hand was sliding beneath my waistband. When she wrapped my length in her warm soft hand, I couldn’t contain the groan that left me.
Emily pushed me to my back, throwing a leg over my hips, and then she moved lower, pressing my underwear from my hips. I squirmed to help and kicked them off. She sat up, my erection in her hands between us as she straddled me, looking down with an expression on her face I couldn’t read.
In the next second, I stopped trying because any spare capacity my brain had was focused on not shooting off within three seconds of her beginning to stroke me. She used both hands, and they worked in leisurely pumps, sending every nerve in my body vibrating.
Her hands were strong and soft, and the way she moved over me, tight and hot, then softly caressing the tip, had me desperate to pump up into her fist. The sheer animal urge to fuck was taking over, and I was doing my very best to hold back. I wanted to show her that I had at least a little self-control, and hopefully make it good for her too.
When she leaned down, scooting backward, I read her intent. As much as I wanted her mouth on me, I knew I wouldn’t make it long if she did that. “Oh god, no. I won’t last,” I confessed.
She smiled up at me, gave my dick one long, lingering lick that was like fire to my veins, and then moved back up my body, dragging the slick wet heat of her center over me before notching me at her entrance.
“Fuck, you’re so hot,” I murmured.
My words seemed to spur her on, because she pressed back then, only a millimeter or two, and the very tip of my erection met the fiery softness of her, sending shocks of want through me.
I bucked upward, seeking more, needing to drive myself into her.
But she moved back.
“You’re killing me.” I ground the words out, desperate to slide into her, to feel her around me, gripping me.
“Not my intention,” she said, and I watched her face as she slid onto me again, lower this time, but still maddeningly not enough. Her eyes dropped shut, and her mouth fell open in a little round oh that was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
I pumped up again, and again, she held back.
My hands slid to her hips, pinning her in place and she moved downward once more, this time taking more of me, but still not enough. I fought the urge to pin her in place, to fuck up into her over and over.
God, I was burning with need. I’d never been on edge like this, and even though it was incredible, tantalizing, so fucking hot... I was one hundred percent certain I was going to lose my mind.
“Fuck,” I let out as she moved off again. “Fuck I want you.”
“Yeah?” her word was a breathy tease, and she slid onto me again, slowly—so fucking slowly—but she didn’t stop this time. And as each tiny bit of me was welcomed into the searing heat of her body, I wanted more. She moved down, and I tried to hold back, feeling each tiny bit of my cock enveloped in the sweet hot softness of her until I couldn’t take it.
I gripped her hard and pumped, taking myself the rest of the way, feeling the base of my cock seated against her body.
“Ohhh,” she moaned as I held myself there, letting her acclimate, battling with my self control. “Ohh god,” she said, dropping her head so that her hair spilled across my chest.
I withdrew a tiny bit, needing to move. And then I drove in again, softly, not wanting to hurt her. She moaned, and I repeated it, over and over until her moans formed words.
“Harder,” she begged, and it was everything I needed to hear.
“Yes,” I answered, thrusting up into her until she was arched over me, her chin up, her breasts jutting before her as she cried out.
“Oh god, oh yes!”
And I answered again, unable to hold back. My desire unleashed into her, and I pumped again and again, her body milking the length of me, coaxing every bit of release from my cock, still planted inside her.
Emily lay over me, holding me deep inside as she molded to my chest, one of her hands in my hair. As our breathing regulated, she began to laugh. I couldn’t hear it, so much as feel it rumbling through her.
“Was that funny?” I asked, my pride and satisfaction dimming a bit.
“No,” she said, lifting her head to smile up at me. “It was amazing. I’m just laughing at how far this situation is from what I’d expected when I headed innocently to a writers’ conference at Kasper Ridge.”
If she’d looked sad about it, I would have apologized, but she didn’t, and happiness burned inside me. I tucked her up against me as she slid off and pulled the covers up.
“Wait,” she said, moving to the edge of the bed and then disappearing into the bathroom. She was gone a moment, and then returned with a towel, which she handed to me. And then she was back at my side, warm and soft and perfect.