Chapter 17 #3
The sharp burst of possessiveness that hits me at the sight almost makes me groan.
“Mm. Keep going. They were right, you know.” I slide my hand beneath the waistband of his shorts and lick my lips when I find his cock so hard he’s leaking against the fabric. “But here you are. And ever since you played for me, I’ve been horny all the time because of you, baby.”
A shaky breath catches into a moan as I match his rhythm. Seems that, like me, Rowan likes it when I take control, when I hold him still and make him feel safe enough to let go. In an instant, my hand is slick with precum, and I use it to lube him up.
“You’re always there,” he mutters, his breathing rough as his hand keeps moving over me. “Following me. In my space. Why me?” His grip tightens. “Why not someone from here?”
I brush my mouth against his throat. “You don’t make the rules, mouse.” My fingers curl harder around him. “I do.”
A shaky sound leaves him, somewhere between frustration and want.
“That’s it,” I murmur. “Stop thinking so much.”
I catch his wrist and drag his hand from my cock, wrapping our hands around both of us together.
We both groan when our hands stroke together, my whole body tightening from it.
I’m so close.
My cock’s completely gone for him now, twitching helplessly every time Rowan touches me like he still can’t believe he’s allowed to.
“Leave me alone.” His hand tightens around my throat, his thumb brushing my jaw while his other hand keeps jerking me off in rough, uneven strokes.
“I’ll think of that next time you call me in the middle of the night, completely freaking out.”
His nostrils flare. “Stop playing with me.”
I can tell he means to sound cold, but the words break apart when I rub him harder, his cock jerking against my palm.
“But you like it when I play.” I tilt my head back against the pillows, breath catching when his fingers tighten again around my throat. “You like being pinned down by me and pretending you hate it.”
“I don’t pretend anything.”
“No? Then why do you keep touching me like you’re scared I’ll disappear?”
That does something to him, judging by the way his hips stutter and his breathing turns rougher while he looms over me like he wants to climb inside my skin.
“You are so beautiful like this,” I whisper against his lips, watching his eyes darken at the praise. “So fucking pretty when you’re coming apart for me. You gonna keep pretending you hate this? When you’re tasting like this for me?”
The smell of my soap and cologne still clings faintly to the oversized black fabric wrapped around him, and something about seeing it sliding loose off one pale shoulder while his hair spreads across the dark silk pillows beneath him almost ruins my control entirely.
“I’m gonna make you feel good tonight, little mouse,” I murmur.
Rowan inhales sharply through his nose as I slide one hand behind his head and kiss slowly down his throat, licking and nipping at the sensitive skin beneath his jaw until another shaky breath slips out of him and his fingers tighten instinctively in the sheets beneath us.
I take my time with him after that, dragging my mouth lower across the line of his collarbone while my tongue swirls against his skin, tasting the salt and warmth of him as his body keeps reacting before he can stop it.
Every small sound only makes me slow down further, wanting to feel each shiver and uneven breath beneath my hands.
I mouth gently at one nipple before soothing it with my tongue, and Rowan’s back arches sharply off the mattress with a wrecked sound that goes straight through me. “Fuck… that’s not fair—”
“No? Not fair?” I murmur, brushing a kiss across his shoulder. “I’ll show you something else that’s not fair.”
“C-Ciaran—” His hands bury themselves in my hair now, clutching hard enough to sting while his breathing turns ragged above me as I make my way down.
I fucking love his hand on my dick, but right now I want to make him see how good I can make him feel.
I drag my tongue over the soft skin of his stomach, and Rowan jerks beneath me with a moan. I catch one of his nipples gently between my teeth.
His back arches. “Light, you’re such an asshole—”
“I know. Hear that? Your heart’s going crazy again," I murmur, feeling the frantic rhythm beneath my hand.
“That’s because—because—” he stammers, the rest swallowed back when my hand drags lower over his stomach and his muscles clench beneath my palm before I slip my fingers beneath the waistband of his boxer briefs. He jerks sharply at the first touch. “F-fuck—”
Fuck, indeed.
He’s already leaking against my hand by the time I wrap my fingers around him properly, the slick warmth making my control pull tight in my chest. “You’re already this worked up for me, mouse?” I murmur against his skin. “You like what I’m doing that much?”
Rowan tries to say something, but the moment my tongue brushes over his wet crown, another shaky breath leaves him instead. His hips twitch helplessly off the mattress while the taste of salt, heat, and something uniquely him floods my mouth.
He tastes fucking delicious.
“That’s it, baby,” I murmur, circling my tongue slowly over his sensitive head. “I want to hear every sound you’ve been keeping from me.”
The medical band flashes amber-red against Rowan’s wrist, his breathing breaking apart into uneven sounds as his pulse climbs higher and higher because of me.
The band that spent weeks warning him of panic is measuring want now. And every spike of it belongs to me.
“Ciaran,” he gasps, twisting against the pillows. “If you don’t stop, I—”
“Oh, baby. We only just started.”
Then I drag myself back up his body. I need to see those green eyes before I completely ruin him.
I settle between his spread thighs again while he lies wrecked beneath me, the oversized black shirt riding high over his hips and his golden hair destroyed against the pillows.
Fuck. The sight of him like this nearly ruins me.
I drag one hand over his shoulder and trace my fingers carefully across the old scar near his heart, and Rowan’s entire body tightens beneath me at the contact.
“What happened here?” I murmur, tracing the edge of it carefully.
Rowan turns his face deeper into the pillow. “Nothing.”
I don’t believe that for a second, but now’s not the time to pry. So I let my thumb stroke over the scar one final time before I lower my mouth to the curve of his shoulder instead, kissing across his skin while he trembles beneath me.
“You’re so tense,” I murmur against his skin. “You afraid I’m going to fuck you with my gun?”
He winces, then scoffs at his own reaction.
“Don’t worry, Rowan. I’d never do such a thing. My cock would be terribly insulted if my gun took its place.”
Rowan’s hips lift helplessly off the mattress. “You’re insufferable,” he breathes.
“I know, mouse, but you like it, don’t you?” My hands tighten instinctively against his thighs as I look down at him stretched out beneath me, flushed and trembling in the low amber light, and something about the sight hits deep enough to stir something ugly and possessive inside me.
Rowan shoots me a glare, cheeks burning red. “You’re unbelievably full of yourself.”
“I know. Yet here you are.”
I trail my mouth lower, kissing down the line of his sternum as I murmur, “You really have no idea what you do to me, do you?”
Rowan’s chest stutters beneath my hand, every small reaction only making me linger longer.
“That sounds like a you problem,” he mutters, though the words come out thinner than he clearly intended.
“Really? You still planning to pretend you don’t like this?”
Rowan turns his face harder into the pillow with a frustrated sound, his hips rocking into my palm anyway. “I hate that you keep noticing things.”
The band pulses amber against his wrist as I drag my thumb over him. “Your heart’s losing its mind for me, little mouse.”
“Don’t do that,” he gasps.
I lean down beside his ear again, kissing along the side of his neck while I keep my hand moving over him, and every shaky breath and helpless little movement beneath me only makes me take my time.
I release him at last and crawl over him on all fours instead, caging him beneath me while his breathing breaks apart into rough, uneven sounds and my hips settle close to his mouth.