Chapter 18
RAQUEL
Breathless, I didn’t let him go, bringing him with me as I shuffled back to get him inside. Half a heartbeat later, he scooped me up, strong hands sliding under my thighs and lifting me like he wasn’t even aware I weighed anything.
He carried me in, striding purposefully forward while his mouth crashed into mine over and over again. I’d known he would be a good kisser. Something about the way he looked, moved, and even spoke just had that quiet, sexy confidence to it that said he knew what he was doing in bed.
I hadn’t known it was possible for a person to be such a good kisser that they could reduce you to a puddle of molten goo with only their lips and their tongue. On the other hand, his hands were involved too—as was the very hard body I was crushed against right now.
Either way, Theo destroyed my capacity for rational thought with no more than his focused, attentive kisses and the promise in his very deliberate strides. I’d never felt like a mere passenger along for the ride with a guy, but I kind of loved the way he was already taking control.
Kissing me senseless. Carrying me like a doll. Just decisiveness all round. It’s really fucking hot.
All I’d had to do was make it clear that I didn’t want him to say goodnight. I’d given him the green light and it looked like that was the only thing he’d been waiting for.
Right now, there was no hesitation. There was only heat and, apparently, the side table near the bed.
If I’d been thinking straight, I’d have warned him that it was there, but he’d never been in here before and I wasn’t thinking straight, so there was no way he could’ve known.
One second, he was moving toward the bed with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile, and the next, he stumbled over the table and pitched forward.
I landed on my back on the mattress with a soft, “Ooof.”
Theo was on top of me fractions of a second later, those green eyes wide and horrified as he caught his weight on his elbow. “What the fuck was that? I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
I stared up at him. The fear and confusion in his gaze contrasted so sharply with the hard length of him that had landed conveniently between my legs that I started laughing. Hysterically. “I’m fine. Don’t worry. It was the side table. Are you okay?”
“My shin might be cracked, but to quote a very wise woman, I think otherwise, my worst injury is a severely bruised ego.” Those eyes searched mine, so serious and full of apologies that I laughed even harder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Just shut up and kiss me.” I dragged his head down to mine and moaned when he complied wholeheartedly with the instruction.
“As you wish, m’lady,” he murmured against my mouth, winding a hand into my hair and anchoring the other firmly on my hip.
I squirmed underneath him, already desperately wanting so much more as he explored every nook and cranny of my mouth with his tongue. “I thought we’d already established I’m not a lady.”
“And yet, the things you’re doing to me right now suggest otherwise,” he replied roughly without skipping a beat. “If I promise not to tell anyone, do you think you could just be a good girl for me tonight?”
A shiver raced through me, but I broke the kiss to look up at him anyway. “Did you really just say that?”
“I did,” he said, completely shameless about it. He held my gaze, the hand that’d been on my hip trailing slowly up my ribs like he knew he was leaving tingles in the wake of his palm. “Why are you looking at me like you think it’s funny?”
“A good girl?” I arched an eyebrow at him, but I couldn’t bite back my smile. “I guess I didn’t know people actually said stuff like that in real life.”
“As opposed to?” he asked, lowering his head to the crook of my neck and pressing his hot mouth against my throat.
I squirmed a little more, struggling to control my breathing with his lips and teeth grazing against my skin. “Isn’t it just a book thing?”
“I didn’t know it was a book thing,” he said, giving me a playful little nip before moving his head further down. “All I know is that if you’ll let me, I want to make you feel damn good. I just can’t do that if you won’t trust me.”
“What does trusting you entail?”
“Listening to me,” he murmured as his lips dragged across the top of my cleavage, his tongue trailing the edges of my low-cut tank top. “Letting me know if you want me to stop but doing what I tell you otherwise.”
I swallowed hard, my mouth drier than the Sahara as lust and uncertainty waged a war within me. “I think I can do that.”
“You think?” He finally lifted his head to look at me again, those green eyes burning with intensity as they met mine. I wasn’t sure what he saw in my eyes, but it was like I could see understanding dawn behind his gaze as he looked at me. “You haven’t been with anyone since the asshole, have you?”
Surprised that he’d put it together so fast, I simply nodded my head. Then I sighed, deciding that I might as well be honest with him. Theo made me feel safe, but if he wasn’t up to this particular task, I’d rather know before instead of after anyway.
“I hadn’t been with anyone before the asshole, either,” I admitted quietly, seeing the shock flash in his eyes as he froze above me.
For a second, I thought that was it. I really thought he was going to scoot back, make up some excuse, and hightail it out of here, but instead, he drew in a deep, shuddering breath, his gaze suddenly tender but cautious.
“Fuck,” he breathed, blinking a few times before he rolled half off me, resting his weight on his elbow, but keeping his eyes on mine as he settled on his side.
“Okay, I won’t lie. I have so many questions, but the only one that’s really relevant right now is, are you sure you want this?
We don’t have to rush anything, Raquel.”
“That’s sweet.” I rolled into him, bringing one of my hands to his cheek and stroking the soft skin beneath his eye. “Really. It’s very sweet, but I’m no virgin, Theo. If I didn’t want you exactly where you are right now, you would’ve been back at the campsite already.”
“Fair enough.” A slow smile spread across his lips, some of the tension visibly easing out of his features. “This does change the rules a little, though. It’s the lady’s choice. Are you going to be a good girl for me, or am I being good for you?”
I laughed, leaning forward to brush another kiss to his lips. “Can I have it both ways?”
“You can have it however you want.”
He wound his fingers into my hair again, drawing me closer for another one of those intoxicating, mind-altering kisses. I relaxed into him, going with it when he slowly peeled my shirt over my head and undid my fly.
Theo undressed me like he was unwrapping a gift he already treasured, kissing my mouth, my chest, and my stomach as he went. Every so often, he’d glance up into my eyes, quietly checking in and waiting until I nodded before he removed the next piece of clothing.
When I was finally naked, he sat up on the mattress and, without a word, lifted his arms. I took the cue, hooking my fingers around the hem of his shirt and pulling it off over his head.
He’d changed into another pair of shorts after the float, but they were swim trunks too, the quick knot he’d tied giving as soon as I tugged on it and the velcro easily coming apart.
It turned out there was a very specific reason why I’d felt his arousal so clearly while we’d been kissing, and it became apparent as soon as I started pushing down his pants. Surprise flared through me, a breathless laugh coming out with it.
“You were going commando?”
He smirked as he looked up from my hands on his waistband, a devilish light in those eyes as they caught on mine. “You don’t wear underwear with swim trunks? Are you insane?”
“Does that mean you’re going to be mostly naked again tomorrow?”
He winked. “I guess you’re going to have to find out.”
I smiled, but before I could tell him I would be looking forward to it, he pushed me down on the mattress and kissed me again, his touches gentle as he slid a hand up my thigh. At this point, I’d wanted him for so long that I was aching for him to touch me, but he paused anyway.
“Remember that you’re in control here, Raquel. You can stop me at any time. No matter what. We don’t have to keep going if you ever stop feeling comfortable, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I kissed him again, winding my fingers into his hair and holding him to me as his fingers finally skated all the way up and started exploring.
Honestly, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
The man definitely knew what he was doing down there, but it was even better because he was also making me feel so cherished.
So wanted. He took it so slowly that I was burning for him to just speed up already, but I was enjoying it too much to rush him.
I’d never felt worshiped until he crawled onto his knees and kissed me, then licked a hot, slow line down the center of my body and buried his head between my legs.
Hunter had always treated foreplay like a perfunctory, tedious activity.
Theo treated it like the main event, taking his time and teasing me into oblivion, but never taking it too far.
With him, it was sort of like time just stood still. Like he didn’t care if it was getting late or if he was tired after the day. I’d heard people refer to being intimate as being in their own little bubble, but I’d never felt that way until right now.
Theo explored every inch of my body with his fingertips and his tongue, watching me closely with every move he made. When I finally couldn’t take it anymore, all it took was a look, and then he nodded.
“Yeah, I’m right there with you,” he said, quickly extracting a condom from his shorts and shrugging when he glanced back at me. “It’s better to be prepared, right?”
“I think I might’ve killed you if you weren’t, because I’m not, so that would’ve been a real problem.”
His mouth curved into another smirk, but I saw the restraint lining his features and the beads of sweat dotting his forehead. Finally, as he tore open the condom wrapper, I let myself glance down, blinking a few times at the size of him.
Obviously, I didn’t have much experience in these matters, but that thing was bigger than I was used to, both longer and thicker. Prettier too, if I was being honest. Maybe this was why Theo exuded that casual, confident energy. He really didn’t have anything to compensate for.
When he caught me staring, he lay back on the bed and reached one hand out to me. I sort of expected a wisecrack or a joke, but instead, he took my hand and tugged me closer. “Look all you want, but I’m ready when you are.”
The slick wetness on his tip and the raging hard-on said he wasn’t lying, but I took another minute to just look at him anyway. Theo’s muscles were taut with tension, his chest rising and falling fast, but he never rushed me.
It was only once I was straddling him, slowly sinking down and moaning as he stretched me out that I felt impatience radiating from him. He didn’t say anything, but his jaw was tight enough to crack his teeth, his grip on my hips almost bruising.
“Do you need me to go faster?” I teased breathlessly.
He shook his head, though. “This is your show, Raquel.”
“No,” I finally said, stroking my fingers through his hair and biting back another moan at the burn of him sinking into me. “I trust you, Theo. I want it to be yours.”
Those eyes widened for just a beat, but then he nodded, his grip on me tightening. He flipped us over, his lids sliding shut as he fell into a hard, steady rhythm. Pleasure streaked through me like a lightning strike, every part of him hitting exactly the right parts of me.
I moaned, or maybe it was more of a scream, but Theo took it as encouragement, keeping the pace until I felt myself tightening around him. Orgasms had often evaded me in the past, but not tonight.
When it finally hit, it was everything I hadn’t known I’d been missing, taking root deep in my soul and exploding out in those blissful waves I’d also thought had only been reserved for the pages of romance novels.
Theo was with me every step of the way, that delicious rhythm never faltering until I sagged into the mattress underneath him. Seconds after that, his thrusts changed, deeper and faster until I felt him swell deep within. He trembled, a low groan escaping him before he whispered my name.
Part of me expected him to leave then. To scramble away as soon as he’d caught his breath, but he surprised me again when he wrapped me up in his arms, still making me feel so cared for even now that he’d gotten what he wanted.
He pressed a breathless kiss to the top of my head and held me as he rolled onto his back. “You weren’t wrong. The AC is nice.”
I let out a giggle, which wasn’t a sound I made often, but I was still panting and basking in the afterglow of the most ridiculous orgasm of my life, so I didn’t question it. “Fine. I’ll allow you to stay. For the AC, of course.”
“Naturally.” He grinned but then rolled over and pressed another kiss to my lips, a slow, sweet one this time. “I wouldn’t dream of reading into it.”
My heart fluttered as he brushed his lips against mine again, and I knew I was in trouble. Big, huge, potentially heart-breaking trouble, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Oh boy. The man really does have some skills, doesn’t he?