Chapter 23 #2
He pulls back to look at me. I run my hand up and into his hair, damp from the rain. “I’m glad I get just you. Because I think you may be my favorite person.”
“I know you’re mine.”
Those words destroy our resolve to keep this new game going.
I tug on his hair, smashing my lips against his.
Our tongues vie for dominance as his hands move to my ass, squeezing tight, causing us both to moan and pant into each other’s mouths.
His grip shifts to the backs of my thighs, lifting until I wrap my legs around his waist, grinding down on him.
“Fuck,” he moans, and I swallow the word. “I need you.”
“Condom?” Please, God, let him have one this time.
He nods, but doesn’t stop kissing me, taking my bottom lip between his teeth.
“Owen,” I whine, still writhing in his arms. But I need more, so desperately I think I’ll explode.
“Wallet. Back pocket,” he says, then steals my lips again as he walks us farther into the barn.
I slide my hands down his body until I find it, letting myself get in one little grope of his ass.
Owen sets me down, having blindly led us to the haystack in the corner.
He grabs a blanket from the low wall a couple of steps away, laying it out over the makeshift bed before kissing me again.
I fumble with his wallet, feeling for the telltale foil square.
When I look at what I’ve pulled out, three condoms rest in my palm.
I look up at Owen with wide eyes. “Pretty optimistic, aren’t we?”
He chuckles, pushing my half-dried, wild curls back from my face. “Went straight to the store to grab a box when we left the closet. I wasn’t risking a repeat of last time.”
I laugh, so loud it drowns out the storm, and Owen’s smile grows, that elusive dimple popping in his cheek. I’m helpless against the urge to kiss it. When I pull back, our eyes meet, and his shine with such devotion that my breath catches. I’m sure he sees the same reflected from me.
He kisses me again, but it’s different this time. Soft. Slow, like he’s memorizing every millimeter of my lips and the way our mouths slide together.
As the kiss escalates, I wrestle with my jeans, but they’ve been suctioned onto my legs by the rain, and I groan in frustration.
I need them gone. Need Owen’s skin on mine.
He chuckles at my pain as he sits me on the blanket, going to his knees to tug them off.
The half smile I get when my legs are free has my heart shooting around my chest, slamming against the walls like it’s trying to reach him.
He plants a couple soft kisses to my calf, and I think he’ll continue up my leg to the place I’m aching for him, but instead he stands, running his hands up the outside of my legs.
When I whine, he grins. “This isn’t a hookup in a closet. No one’s around for miles, the storm’s raging, and I’m going to take my time.”
I huff, pouting as I brace my hands behind me.
He slowly unbuttons my flannel shirt, planting a kiss along my neck for every button he frees.
Each kiss eats away at my resolve until I’m a squirming mess.
He pushes it over my shoulders, revealing my plain white tank top.
Nothing about it is special, but when Owen notices I’m once again not wearing a bra, he releases a groan that has my body clenching in anticipation.
He reaches out one hand, slowly rubbing his thumb over my peaked nipple.
“Owen,” I moan, arching into his too-light touch. “Put your mouth on me.”
He runs his hand along the bottom of my tank, slipping just underneath so his warm hand stretches across my lower stomach, and I gasp.
“I want to see you, Thea. To savor my time with you. Can I do that?” he asks, sliding his hand another inch upward and bunching my shirt.
I’ve never been savored before. My past sexual interactions have been hard and fast. I told myself that was the type of sex I enjoyed, but I’ve never been more turned on than I am right now, with Owen’s teasing fingers forcing me to wait for what we both so desperately want.
I want to say something clever. To be sexy, funny Thea, but there’s no room in my mind for anything but desire, so I nod.
That smile with the almost-dimple stretches across his face, but it’s now laced with a reverence that I feel down to my bones.
He slips his hand higher and higher, but still agonizingly slow, until the tank top is lifted away from me.
I’m left in nothing but my cotton underwear, and Owen pushes my shoulder back to lay me out before him.
He stands over me, rubbing his hand over his mouth. “Fuck, Thea.”
He slowly undresses himself, never taking his eyes off my body. I’d have thought being on display for someone would make me too self-conscious to be aroused, but the admiration in his eyes is intoxicating.
When he’s finally undressed, he braces himself over me, running his lips down the column of my neck. I squirm, trying to hold back my reaction, but each place he touches lights on fire.
My arms tug him down, but Owen chuckles against my skin. “Not yet.”