24. Lila
Chapter twenty-four
Lila
I’m in a weird headspace when Matt drops me off that night at the door to Jameo’s house. I had a great time at the game and am excited to have some new friends in town, but even Matt commented on the drive home about finding other single guys for me to meet. So I guess it was pretty apparent I’m not a good match for either of his friends. Even though I had a lot of fun, I’m feeling a bit dejected as I walk into the house and take off my sneakers.
I can hear the shower running, and the hot-blooded 24-year-old in me casually suggests but what if you just…joined him? I consider it for a moment, and my brain tries to entice me by replaying some of our greatest hits from Vegas and Phoenix. Surprisingly, even an argument from last Thanksgiving makes the highlight reel. I’d been on a warpath, and he’d risen to the challenge like an alpha fae in some fantasy novel. I chuckle, knowing he would pretend to hate that comparison but would secretly be preening.
As I open the door to our room, my logical brain finally overpowers my horny one, and I pause. My mind is rapidly firing off all the reasons why joining JT in the shower is a bad idea: JT humiliating me in college, JT totally ghosting me when I asked him to get breakfast in Vegas, JT telling me he is too busy—
Suddenly, the shower turns off, and it’s like I’m stuck in a trance as I hear JT grabbing a towel. I try to silently back out of the doorway when I realize he’s going to be headed my way soon, but I’m too late. JT steps from the bathroom naked, using his towel to dry his hair, and I freeze, a deer caught in the headlights.
“Uhhhgg sorry,” falls out of my mouth, all of my neurons currently occupied with trying to mentally catalog every single inch of this man’s wet body. I’m pretty sure I’m drooling as I watch a drop of water slowly make its way past the curve of his shoulder, down between his pecs, and into the divots in his abs. My eyes are just making it to the best part when JT springs to life, using the towel in his hand to cover his junk.
“Shit, Lila. I didn’t know you were home.” He backs into the bathroom and steps behind the door before wrapping the towel around his waist.
“Yup. Just got here,” I say as he opens the door back up to meet my eyes.
He takes me in, a smug smile pulling at the corners of his lips as he leans his muscular shoulder against the doorframe.
“How was your date ?” His emphasis on the word date is wrong, and I cross my arms over my chest as I narrow my eyes at him.
“I had a great time tonight.”
“You know, word on the street is that Matthew is still pining over some lost love.”
Well, crap. How is JT getting access to any of the words on the street?
“Well, he sure doesn’t fuck like he’s thinking about someone else.” Maybe a bit of an aggressive response, but they do say the best defense is a good offense…or something like that.
JT’s eyes darken as he tucks his hands under his biceps, and I decide to see just how far I can push him. “I’m not sure if I got all the glass out of my back, though. Oh well, I’m going to be walking funny for weeks anyway, I can’t imagine the glass will make it any—”
I’m cut off by him stalking toward me, muttering “make it happen” before slamming his lips down on mine. And, holy crap, when that little spark of ours hits the oxygen in my bloodstream, it ignites, lighting an inferno inside me. I can’t breathe. I know all the reasons this can’t work, that it won’t work. But at this moment, I don’t care.
I reach up and tangle my fingers in the damp curls at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer. He mirrors my intensity, one hand trailing down to cup my left ass cheek. He gives it a light squeeze, and I can feel the smile on his lips. He tries to pull back, but I tug the ends of his hair again, pressing myself against his bare chest. I can feel the warmth from his shower radiating from him, and a part of me wants nothing more than to curl up against his wide expanse of muscular chest and bask in his heat. But I can’t let him go. I can’t allow him to end this before I get to feel the ecstasy of our combined fire one more time.
His tongue dances with mine, a reflection of every argument we’ve ever had. I press my hips against his, standing on my tiptoes to better align the bulge under his towel with the part of me so desperately seeking friction. JT lifts me from the floor, and I wrap my legs around his waist, knocking off his towel in the process. I let out a small groan at the sight of his stiff cock rubbing up against the cleft of my jeans. Realizing I have far too many clothes on, I drop my legs back down, maintaining contact with his lips while I quickly undo the button on my jeans. I’m afraid if I let even an inch of space come between us, JT will change his mind. It’s happened before.
I force myself to forget the past, and I lean into him for balance as I use my feet to finish pulling off my jeans. He lets out a low “fuuuck,” the warmth of his breath skimming my lips. JT traces his hand down my side, the light tickle of his fingers in direct contradiction to the desperate violence of our kiss. When his hand reaches my ass, he slaps it, just hard enough to sting. I groan, the pressure in my core mounting at an unsustainable rate. He doesn’t stop there, though. His hand slides between us, his fingers circling my clit a few times before one sinks inside me.
I shudder, letting out a soft cry as he bends his finger forward, stroking the spot on my inner wall in a way that makes my body tighten and go limp at the same time.
His erection is hard, a constant, begging presence against me. I untangle my hand from his hair, moving my body aside so I can access his bulge, wanting to pleasure him like he is me.
He stops my hand, pulling his lips away while continuing to stroke me with his finger. I’m disoriented by the contradiction between the lack of contact and the orgasm that continues to build at his touch.
“Me first,” he says, his voice deep and gruff.
“I know, I’m try—”
“No. I get to get you off first.”
“But—”
He adds a second finger, making me convulse forward into his chest.
“Good girl. Take my fingers, and after you’ve come at least once, then, if you’re really good, I’ll give you my cock. Now, take your shirt off.”
Woah. The dominance in his voice…damn. I’m seconds away from coming on his fingers, but I grab the bottom of my shirt, pulling it and the sports bra I had on off in one go. He leans back, taking in the sight of me before leaning his head down, his back bending to reach my nipple and suck it in his mouth. There’s nothing I can do to stop the wave of desire that flows through my body. My walls flutter. JT looks up at me, his face a savage grin, before he lightly bites my nipple at the same moment he plunges a third finger into me.
I break. My orgasm hits, wave after wave of pleasure pounding into me. When my insides finally still, I find JT there, holding me up and lightly kissing my face, my neck, my lips.
“That was…holy fuck,” JT whispers, his lips against my temple. “You’re perfect.”
And yeah, that does something to me in a way I never, ever wanted it to. I’m not sure if it’s the words themselves or the aftereffects of the powerful orgasm, but a small piece of my heart breaks off, turning coat to declare its alliance to JT.
Instead of acknowledging those feelings, though, I do the predictable, irrational thing. I tempt the Devil in him with words I know will keep this flame alive between us. “I’ve had better.”
“You’ve…” He looks into my face, and the flash of devastation at my words quickly turns into a predatory grin as he realizes I’m teasing.
In one swift movement, he lifts me, smashing his mouth against mine as he carries me to our bed and throws me down on it. I giggle as I bounce, but my laughter quickly dies as I take in the half-undone man standing in front of me. His sandy blonde hair’s usual curls are disheveled from my fingers running through them, and his wide, tanned chest is rising and falling from exertion. His pupils have taken over his irises, the black shoving out the vibrant blue. I can tell he’s assessing me the same way, so I give him a deviant smile before reaching between my legs, using my wetness as a lubricant as I circle that tight bud of nerves. JT raises his eyebrows, and, calling my bluff, takes himself in his fist, matching my pace stroke for stroke.
The chords along the side of his neck tighten as he closes his eyes and tips his head back, and as good as the view is, I want him with me, in me, not standing there with this distance between us. I drop my hand to the mattress, the sound loud enough to draw his attention. When he realizes I’ve stopped, his hand stills, his thumb slowly moving over his tip.
“Prove me wrong,” I taunt. “Prove you’re the best I’ve had.” Great, I’m outright poking the bear now. Blood, please start flowing to my brain again.
JT’s eyes burn with desire as he grabs a condom out of his bag, sliding it on before he stalks the final two steps toward me. Climbing onto the bed, he places a knee on either side of me before scooping up my legs and lowering his head to my ultrasensitive flesh. He nuzzles his nose against the inside of my thighs, taking a deep breath before lowering his mouth to me and feasting on my sensitive clit. My back arches off the bed at the contact, my body warring between trying to run away and to get closer to him. He presses down on my lower abs, adding pressure to the storm already building inside me. He continues to torment me with his gifted tongue as I run my hands through his pretty hair.
It doesn’t take long until I’m on the edge again, my legs clenching around his head in a way that makes me somewhat concerned for his well-being. I tug on his hair sharply and, giving in to my demand, he ends with one long lick up my slit before sitting back, his mouth covered in me.
“I want you,” I say between gasping breaths, and I swear I see shock flash behind his eyes before they shift into a cocky glint.
He doesn’t take the need in my voice as seriously as I feel he should, so I reach forward and grab his hips with both hands, pulling him to me. He falls toward my chest, catching himself on his arms before lowering his lips down to mine. The kiss is slow and tender and everything I want but nothing I need. As he kisses me, I slide my tongue into the warmth of his mouth and grip his cock, lining it up at my entrance. I press my hips into the air, and I let out a deep moan of pleasure as he gives in to my demand.
My body relaxes for him, welcoming the length of him as if it’s welcoming home a long-lost friend. Two thrusts and he’s fully buried inside of me. I lift my hips, unable to stop myself from encouraging him to move.
“Fuck me,” I whisper, and I’m not sure if it’s a curse or a plea, but JT answers it regardless, moving with a steady rhythm.
Time halts in the movements of our bodies, and we live on the edge of the cliff, dancing together, for minutes or hours or—I’m pretty sure not days—until a loud noise from somewhere on the course makes its way to us. We both pause, coming back into our bodies, and JT’s gaze quickly turns feral.
He grabs my waist and flips me onto my stomach, pulling my hips up and back to meet his. Without pausing, he slams back home into me, the change of position bringing me right back to the precipice. JT’s movements become uncoordinated, his hips pumping with abandon, and as I look over my shoulder and see him start to tense, he reaches around, his hand sliding between my legs to find my clit with his two fingers. He circles it once, twice, and as I break and cry out for the second time, he follows me over the edge. JT crashes down onto the bed next to me. He moves closer to me, his fingers slowly tracing small circles on the inside of my hip bone.
My chest still heaving from the second orgasm, I look up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where to go from here. I take a deep breath and try to figure out what I want from this. Where I want it to go. Unfortunately, it’s not just up to me, so I turn onto my side, looking at the five o’clock shadow on JT’s jaw, and ask, “What does this mean? What does it look like when we wake up tomorrow?”
“I can’t promise you forever, Lila. But I can promise you now. We both want this. Shit, we both need this. There has been this building need between us ever since that damn first kiss of ours. Can we just forget about our past and our future and see what happens? Please? A preset end date so neither of us gets hurt. We’re together while we’re both living here and then we go our separate ways, no feelings hurt, when we move out.” He reaches out and runs his finger lightly down the length of my arm. “I can’t keep holding the attraction at bay now that I know what it feels like to sleep with you in my arms in this room—our room. I want to wake up with your ass pressed against my morning wood.”
I let out a giggle, but he continues, “I want to kiss you when you get home from work. I want to fucking talk to you about the book we’re both reading instead of leaving you notes. No, not instead of, because I still want to do that. But I want to stop pretending the version of us who are friends, who get along, aren’t the same people as the ones who bicker constantly. I want to be both.”
He paints a really nice picture. Sure, it’s not a picture of forever, but it’s one too hard to turn down. The logical part of me knows that this isn’t going to end well. I’m not the type of person who can just walk away after dating someone for a month. It’s going to be like sticking my hand in a flame when JT leaves. But it’s already too late for me. I’m already burning.
“I want that too.” I press my lips against his. “A few weeks of taking everything we both want, and then we’re done.”
“And then we’re done,” he agrees.