Chapter 18
chapter 18
When they reached his apartment, Naomi stopped a few feet away from the bed, all too aware of how much space the simple queen frame occupied in the tiny studio.
As usual, Dev sensed her hesitation and gave her hand a squeeze. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
He was giving her an out, unaware that the heat from his fingertips was electric, spiraling downward through her body, pooling into liquid heat, and Naomi knew, despite all the reasons they shouldn’t, she wanted him.
Badly.
She lifted her eyes to meet his. “I think a part of me has wanted to do this since I smashed that gulab jamun in your face.”
Dev’s lips twitched as he pulled her closer. “It took almost a whole bottle of shampoo to get the syrup out of my hair.”
Naomi ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck, transfixed by the silky slide of inky black strands over her skin. “I don’t regret it one bit.”
“Why am I not surprised?” His right dimple pulled a hit-and-run before his face straightened. “I’ve gotten tested since my last partner.”
There Dev went again, taking care of her before she even needed to ask, and Naomi’s heart began to skip. “So have I.”
Dev’s hands cradled the sides of her neck, his thumbs stroking back and forth across the base of her jaw in a lazy rhythm. “You’re so different from anyone I’ve ever met. I can’t believe how beautiful you are.”
From the way he was drinking her in and the reverent sweep of his skin on hers, Naomi could do nothing but let go of the insecurities bubbling beneath her surfaces and believe him. The hair on her arms singed, her insides on fire. She felt seen. He was looking at something inside her, and although what exactly she wasn’t sure, every nerve ending edged her closer to him. Before she could stutter a suitable response, Dev pulled her into the curve of his body and found her mouth with his.
His lips were controlled but commanding: every caress of his tongue was a question that demanded an answer, revealing her lips’ secrets and vices. This perfectionist man, who watched her so carefully and solemnly whenever they were together, was determined to learn everything about her that night.
And master every new piece of information he gleaned.
She needed to regain the upper hand, some indication that she was in control, too.
With slow, deliberate steps, Naomi backed her way to the bed, unbuttoning her shirt as Dev followed, his eyes tracking every new inch of skin revealed to him like it was a luxury. When she peeled off her top, revealing a plain black bra, Dev closed his eyes.
“Christ,” he said.
Naomi smiled as Dev leaned her back, deftly unhooking her bra before her back hit the bed. She laughed a little as he pressed his firm body against her and felt him smile against her neck.
“What?” he asked, his voice muffled. He nipped the sensitive skin of her pulse in retaliation.
“I had no idea accountants were so smooth.”
He nipped her again. “Calculators improve dexterity.”
Naomi’s chuckle skittered into a gasp when those skilled fingers found her breast. As Dev kissed a slow trail down the column of her throat, his thumb stroked over her nipple, softly at first and then more firmly when Naomi moaned. When her back arched against the mattress, he lifted his head and raised a mischievous eyebrow before gently tugging the puckered tip between his knuckles.
An impatient current shot straight to her core, and when Dev felt the telltale lift of her hips, he quickly replaced his fingers with his mouth while treating her other breast to the same sweet torture.
He hadn’t been lying about the dexterity.
Naomi shifted her toes against the sheets in a bid to keep the growing need that dampened her panties at bay. She was vaguely aware of Dev’s erection, hard and insistent against her leg, and a voice somewhere in the back of her mind told her to spring into action, to show her appreciation and reciprocate. But Dev’s lips, tongue, and teeth worshipped her breasts so attentively, robbing her focus completely.
For once the people-pleasing voice quieted and her limbs grew heavy. Lethargic. He was going to take care of her.
Naomi swallowed a whimper. “Dev, please.”
He slid back up her body for a scorching kiss as his hand glided over the curve of her belly to unbutton her pants. He slipped his hand into her panties, cupping her where she needed relief so badly. Naomi couldn’t hold back a grateful hiss as her hips rose greedily to meet his palm.
Dev skirted his lips over her cheek to tickle the sensitive skin behind her earlobe with the tip of his tongue. Naomi’s mind whirled with the implications.
“You’re so wet,” he whispered in her ear, using her slickness to soften his touch. “You’re so perfect.”
There was no way in hell Naomi could formulate an appropriate response. She could barely think. Didn’t want to. All she could do was luxuriate in Dev’s skillful fingers as he found her cleft. Like everything else he did, he was meticulous in testing what she liked, the subtle curves and grooves of her most private place. His fingertips memorized the exact pressure that urged her hips to jerk upward, that arched her back on the mattress as she climbed toward release.
“The way you’re moving…fuck, it’s so hot,” Dev said brokenly, his eyes riveted to where his fingers worked her like a dirty secret, hidden from view in her panties.
His words were an aphrodisiac and Naomi swallowed a moan. “I’m…” She trailed off as Dev found her favorite spot, the one that pushed her over the edge every time. “Yes. Right there, Dev.”
Dev responded by placing his thumb on the exact same spot to continue his torturous massage as he slid two fingers inside her. He groaned as Naomi grew wetter, his thumb pausing as he curled his fingers upward questioningly.
Naomi pressed her lips together and silently commanded her body to lie still, to control its greedy desire. She reached her hand out to palm Dev’s erection, but he shook his head, that familiar impatience clouding his eyes.
“This is for you,” he said. His eyes drifted to where his fingers were buried inside her. “Tell me what feels good.”
But Naomi couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Instead, she tried to shimmy her lower body a little, coaxing Dev’s thumb to do what she needed. Whether he understood her or not, he applied more pressure and Naomi could have wept with relief.
“Fuck, that’s sexy,” he murmured as Naomi’s hips rebelled, bucking with embarrassing eagerness to meet his rhythm. Naomi couldn’t have stopped them if she wanted to; she was mindless to everything but the rush of heat swirling through her, beckoning her forward.
“What else?” he asked.
Naomi closed her eyes. With painstaking focus, he was coaching her body’s responses, patiently searching through the hidden pockets for her pleasure, as if her satisfaction was all he cared about. She didn’t feel rushed or like she would need to return any kind of favor. And yet a small voice inside her head cautioned her to hold a part of herself aloft.
She wasn’t ready for him to know everything.
“What else?” Dev repeated. When she still didn’t respond, he leaned forward and nuzzled her mouth with a light, coaxing lick.
On a slow exhale, Naomi opened her eyes to meet Dev’s serious, dilated gaze. Here, at least, she desperately wanted to let go. To lay herself bare to him, free of all the hard, complicated things between them.
She took another deep breath. “Fuck me with your fingers and make me come.”
And, of course, he did exactly as she asked, watching her carefully, so carefully, as her body flushed in response. The lush sound of his fingers pumping inside her, slick with milk and honey, was the only sound in the stillness of the apartment, broken only by Naomi’s cry as she welcomed the waves of liquid fire cresting over her, all the way to her toes.
As the currents of pleasure slowed and softened like the last note of the sweetest love song, Naomi turned onto her side toward him, aware of his fingers still inside her. She blinked contentedly at him, basking in the expression of awe on his face.
She felt powerful.
“I felt you come on my fingers,” he murmured, almost to himself, as he withdrew his fingers.
Naomi blushed.
“Do you—” Dev hesitated. “We don’t need to…”
Naomi responded by detangling herself from him before pulling her pants and underwear off and tossing them off the foot of the bed. Dev’s eyes darkened with fresh desire as he unceremoniously rid himself of his clothes, seemingly unaware of Naomi’s hungry gaze roving over his body. She had known he was trim and solid, but his sleekly sculpted body astounded her.
After several beats, Dev glanced down at himself uneasily. “What?”
“Who knew all this was hiding underneath your nerdy accountant veneer?”
There was humor and light in his answering glare. “It’s part of my charm.”
Naomi wrapped her hand around his length, smiling wickedly when he closed his eyes with a sharp gasp. “Won me over.”
“G-good.” Dev’s voice was faint as Naomi began stroking, unable to tear her eyes away from his vulnerability. It was so rare but so beautiful. And he didn’t even know it.
“I want you inside me, Dev. Now.”
His eyes flew open, glittering in the darkness of the apartment and questioning.
“I have an IUD,” she said.
Dev leaned down and kissed her roughly; it was the first break in control he’d shown that night. And yet, even then, he took his time, using his tongue to explore hers as if he had all the time in the world.
If he always kissed her like this, Naomi would never leave this room, rebrand be damned. And right now, as her lips eagerly moved to match his, it sounded like a great idea. She was mildly disappointed when Dev pulled away to nibble her bottom lip but was immediately pacified by the gentle stroke of his fingers against her core, where she was unashamedly wet and more than ready for him.
Naomi’s entire body tightened in anticipation for that first moment of contact, of her body’s most intimate place stretching in that oh so satisfying way. Dev’s hands found hers as he settled between her thighs and, after clasping her fingers tightly in his, he entered her slowly. They shared a groan.
“Fuck,” he said through gritted teeth. “This is better than I imagined it would be.”
Her sheath clenched at his gruff words, and Naomi couldn’t help herself from saying, “Tell me.” If sex was making this taciturn man talk, she was going to milk him for everything he was worth.
He shot her a searing look; he knew exactly what she was asking for, and yet he surprised her. “I want to draw this out forever…” He paused to withdraw very slowly before sinking into her again. “It’s never felt like this for me,” he added. Another thrust. “Ever.”
Dev groaned again as Naomi experimentally rotated her hips. “Don’t do that. I need a minute,” he said, his voice pained.
“Why?” Naomi asked breathlessly, unable to hold back another wiggle. She felt delightfully full and every movement sent her nerves dancing, reawakening the same fire from earlier.
Dev buried his face in the crook of her neck. “It’s been a while for me.”
Her heart squeezed at the admission. Naomi freed her hands from his to wrap them around his back, loving the feel of strong muscles under her palm.
“Dev?” she said, arching her hips temptingly, which earned her a tortured look. “I like it hard. And fast.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, a smile playing at his lips. Naomi made a mental note to kiss his dimples later. When he opened them again, the look in their dark chocolate depths clenched her heart again, among other things. “Have I told you already how perfect you are?”
Naomi’s chest squeezed and she locked her legs around his back. “Fuck me hard.”
Dev grasped her thighs, spreading her wider and angling her hips so he could sink deeper, and gave in to his carefully leashed passion. He tucked his face into her neck as his hips pounded into hers, the repetitive slap of their bodies accented by Naomi’s moans.
With every demanding thrust, the edge sharpened and her toes curled, achy for a second release. She lifted her hips for purchase, selfishly seeking her own pleasure. But although she could feel herself growing wetter, the peak remained out of reach.
As if he could read her mind, Dev scraped his teeth behind her earlobe, prompting a shiver down Naomi’s spine. “Touch yourself, sweetheart,” he said. “I want to feel you come on me again.”
Naomi didn’t need to be told twice. She slipped her hand between them to where her body welcomed the attention. It didn’t take much—half a dozen circles and she contracted around him in an echo of the orgasm she had experienced before. Dev held back until her insides relaxed, her body liquefying underneath him. Only then did he finally give in with a low growl, his muscles bunching underneath her hands, his hard torso pressing into her softness as he released inside her.
Their heavy, staggered breaths were the only sounds in the room as they lay still, Dev’s body collapsed on hers. The warmth seeping from his skin was a welcome, reassuring blanket. The weight of him lying on top of her was a sharp reminder of what they had done, the lines she had intentionally crossed.
Naomi breathed in Dev’s familiar scent and traced her fingers over his back. Her hand moved slowly but confidently as if it had already explored this expanse of skin, even though every curve and plane was new.
She wanted to know every inch. Memorize it.
Her mother had always warned her against mixing with the South Asian community. She’d been taught to believe they’d look down on her, equate her westernized upbringing to a lack of morals, a betrayal of roots.
That she could never fit with them.
But as her fingers slid over the dips and valleys of muscle, bones, and beauty marks, Naomi wondered if she could be the exception. Because this—their breaths falling in the same easy rhythm, legs intertwined—made sense to her. Something that felt this right couldn’t possibly be wrong. Not when his skin warmed hers and his lips, curled into a smile, pressed faint kisses against the side of her neck.
Dev’s life might be entangled in everything she’d been cautioned against, but he knew her. He knew what mattered; she didn’t need to prove anything to him. And, more than anyone, he would understand why she’d keep certain parts of herself locked away. Of course he’d understand.
He had to.