Chapter 21
Two Months Later
TYLER
“Don’t move,” I warn Mel in a gently commanding tone.
“Or what?” she asks with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Or—” I trail a line of kisses down her neck, lingering at the base of it long enough to leave a faint pink mark. “I’ll have to stop.”
Mel shivers with pleasure as I begin kissing my way across her collarbone. I cover one full breast with my hand and gently tweak her nipple with my fingers. Her back arches, and her hips move impatiently. A pretty pink flush colors her cheeks.
Taking her other nipple into my mouth, I swirl my tongue around it before lightly grazing my teeth over her sensitive skin. She gasps, and her eyes flutter shut.
I suckle at her breast for a few moments before releasing her nipple with a little pop. “Do you want me to stop?” I ask. “Or should I keep going?”
Her eyes reopen, dark with desire. A corner of her mouth quirks up. “Well, if you’ve already started…” She places her hand on my chest, and my heart speeds at the warmth of her skin against mine.
With a smile, I take her hand and press it back to the mattress. Carefully circling her slender wrist with my fingers, I hold it still. “Then you have to stay still,” I remind her. “That’s how it works.”
Mel’s gaze drifts below my waist, where the fabric of my shorts is stretched tight over my erection. Just having her eyes on me makes my body ache with need. I can practically feel her tight heat wrapped around me, clutching at me, and pulling me deeper.
My body hungers for the moment when I’m fully inside her, so deep we’re no longer two, but one.
I want it so badly, it’s a physical pain. Pre-cum leaks steadily in anticipation.
But that’s not what this morning is about.
It’s not about my needs. It’s about taking care of Mel. Satisfying her. Showing her how much I appreciate her.
“Unless,” I add, “you’ve changed your mind. If you’re not feeling up to this right now...”
“I am,” she replies quickly. “I feel fine. It’s just hard not touching you, too.”
But she likes letting me take charge sometimes. During those first months of experimentation—testing different positions and locations and toys to enhance the experience—I discovered that Mel really enjoys it when I take a dominant role in the bedroom.
Not all the time. Some mornings, she likes to wake me up by taking me into her mouth, which might be the absolute best way to start the day.
Or she’ll join me in the shower so she can wash my body all over until I can’t stand it anymore, and we end up having sex on that handy bench that’s seen more use than I ever expected.
Sometimes, Mel likes to be on top. And she enjoys waiting naked in the living room for me when I get back from a work trip, so her gorgeous body is the first thing I see when I open the door.
I love all of it, whether it’s me in control or Mel, or we’re taking turns pleasuring each other.
But having her stretched out on the bed beneath me, trying hard not to move but quivering with need, her skin flushed with excitement and her eyes dark and hungry for me? Knowing she trusts me enough to let me take control?
There’s nothing else like it.
“Next time,” I promise. “But this morning, I want it to be about you.” Still working her nipple with one hand, I reach between her legs with my other. At the first stroke of my finger along her slick skin, her thighs fall open. Her hips jerk towards me.
“Tyler,” she moans as I slide one finger inside her. The flush on her cheeks deepens. Small white teeth dig into her lower lip when I curve my finger just so—hitting that ultra-sensitive spot deep within.
I lean down to cover her mouth with mine, stroking my tongue across the small dents her teeth left behind. Then I tease her lips open and dip inside. My tongue moves in rhythm with my finger as I thrust into her, building her pleasure to a fever pitch.
Mel kisses me back, her tongue tangling with mine. She makes a small, sexy humming sound deep in the back of her throat. When I look into her eyes, the bright blue is nearly swallowed with black.
Though she’s not saying it, I can tell what she’s thinking.
I want you.
I need you.
I love you.
And if I were looking through Mel’s eyes, I’m certain mine would say the same.
When she feels ready for me, I add a second finger to the first. First moving slowly, then faster. Harder. I find the sensitive bud at her center and flick it with my thumb, just the way I know she likes.
“Ohhhh,” Mel whispers as I move my mouth to her breast again. I suck hard at her nipple as I curl my fingers deep inside her. Arousal slicks my fingers, and her inner muscles ripple around them. Low, husky moans fall from her lips. Her hips jerk erratically, thrusting towards me.
I thought I might draw this out longer, really take my time with it. But already, she’s close. And one thing I like even better than bringing her to the edge is watching her fly right off of it.
“Tyler.” Mel’s fingers clutch the sheets, her knuckles turning white from the effort. “Oh. That feels…”
“Good?” I ask. “Great?”
“Incredible,” she breathes. “Flabbergastingly incredible.”
“Flabbergastingly? Is that even a word?”
Her lips twitch. “It is. I used it in a crossword puzzle the other day.”
My brows arch. “Ah, I see. Well.” I move back a foot or so on the bed, then lift Mel’s legs over my shoulders. “Flabbergastingly incredible is a lot to live up to. I guess I’d better get to work.”
“You’re already doing flabbergastingly incredible,” Mel says. “The thing you do with your fingers, and—”
Her words end on a gasp as I bring my mouth to her center.
And using my mouth and fingers, I do my best to deliver.
To the sound of Mel’s moans, I lap at her, tasting the heady sweetness of her excitement.
I plunge my fingers in and out, faster and faster. Finding her exposed bud, I pull it into my mouth and flick it with my tongue.
When her legs begin to shake, I palm her ass with my hand to hold her steady.
I can tell she’s about to come when her stomach muscles start quivering.
Then her inner walls lock tight around me.
“Tyler,” she moans, and the husky note to her voice makes me even more desperate for her. I have a fleeting thought of yanking off my shorts and taking her right now; of sinking into Mel’s slick heat until I fill her completely.
Almost as if she read my mind, Mel begs, “I need more. Please.”
I lift my head to look at her. And for a second, all I can do is stare.
“Shit, baby,” I breathe. “You’re so damn beautiful.”
Even though I’ve told her the same thing likely hundreds of times by now, she blushes, anyway. “Ty—”
“You are.” I hold her gaze, making sure she sees the truth in my words. “You’re flabbergastingly beautiful, Mel. And I still can’t quite believe my luck in finding you.”
“Our luck,” she replies with a smile. “Because I found you, too.”
“You’re right,” I agree. “We’re both lucky.” And I couldn’t mean it more.
What are the odds that I’d find love on a washed-out road in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains? During a torrential storm, no less?
What are the odds that I’d feel an instant connection with her, after believing my chance for a happy ending was gone?
And from there, a perfect storm of coincidences that brought us from there to here.
Six months later, with Mel living with me.
With Mel carrying our baby.
And so in love, sometimes I can’t believe it’s real.
Emotion comes up on me hard and fast, making my heart swell and my throat go thick.
I never would have thought it, driving on the road that day—that I’d meet the woman who brought my heart back to life again.
As Mel gazes back at me, her expression softens. “I love you, Tyler. So much.”
My chest squeezes. “I love you, too, baby. With all my heart.”
Her lips curve up. “I have an idea.”
“Oh?” I ask. “What’s that?”
“I want you inside me,” she replies. “Everything you’re doing is amazing. But I just… I want to feel everything. All of you. And I want to feel you come along with me.”
“That wasn’t the plan,” I persist, even though my body wants to agree. “Since you weren’t feeling that well yesterday, we were going to take it easy today.”
Mel smiles at me. “I’m feeling much better. Definitely better enough for this.” She pauses before bargaining, “We could still take it easy. I’ll just lie here and let you do everything. What do you think of that?”
My dick jumps eagerly.
Yes! it shouts silently. Absolutely, yes! That’s a marvelous idea. Why haven’t you said yes already?
Taking her legs from my shoulders, I set them back on the mattress. Then I move between them and notch myself at her opening. “You’re sure? Because I’m more than happy just doing what we were before.”
Her hands release the sheets and come to my ass, pulling me closer to her. “I’m sure.” Desire burns in her gaze. “Absolutely sure.”
“In that case,” I tell her as I nudge my way inside her welcoming heat. “I want to feel all of you, too.”
And I do.
We do.
Like we agreed, it’s a slow build, like the sun coming over the horizon—the sky shifting from a warm, golden glow to a burst of brilliant light.
And like it is every time I make love to Mel—it’s not just sex, but so much more than that—everything is perfect.
No. That’s not quite right. It’s perfectly imperfect.
Mel giggles when my beard tickles her. Our perspiration-dampened bodies make funny sounds as they collide. Just as Mel is close to coming, she has a sneezing fit, which makes her inner walls clamp hard around me, and I only just stave off finishing early.
But we laugh all through it. And being able to laugh during such an intimate act makes it even more special.
Then there’s the moment when Mel finally comes, granting silent permission for me to finish along with her. The moment when we’re joined as completely as two people can be. A moment I wish I could hang onto forever.