He slipped his hands to the backs of her thighs and opened her wide, lashing her with his skilled tongue and digging his fingernails into her flesh. Somehow the pain kept her from flying apart. Kept her glued to the bed and rocking against Lane’s mouth, begging for another orgasm, even when every other logical part of her screamed she should shut this down.
But why?
The dangerous thought whispered through her mind as she let herself open her eyes and watch this man who was pleasuring her. Just seeing his blond head made a warm feeling move through her. When he’d said he wanted to wake up to her face every morning, she’d wanted to shove the comment back, un-hear it, but the images had entered her head anyway. Tempting, sunrise-dappled scenes of Lane lying next to her in bed, all messy-haired and shirtless. Sharing coffee and their plans for the day. Touching. Cuddling.
And what the fuck was that about? She didn’t cuddle.
That wasn’t what her life was meant to be. She’d accepted that she would always live alone. She wanted to continue seeing Lane, but she’d meant in a dating capacity, not in a let’s-fall-in-love-and-move-in-together capacity.
Lane pinched her thigh and she yelped, the sting bringing her back into the moment. He lifted his head. “Don’t think so much, doc. Just feel what you feel.”
“You can’t expect me to—”
But before she could get the words out, he crawled up the bed and kissed her. He tasted like her and smelled like sin and sent her thoughts whizzing out of her head. She groaned into his mouth, his chest bumping against the clamps on her nipples and his cock brushing against her thigh.
Her sex throbbed and her legs opened wider. She didn’t know what to do about the thoughts, about the words, but her body had one mission in mind and it pulled rank. She needed this man inside her. Right now.
She reached between them, taking him in her hand and guiding him to her entrance. Need you, need you, need you. His cock breached her, the feel of him like the answer to a prayer.
But Lane broke away from the kiss with a gasping breath. “Hold up. Condom. Not on yet.”
The words didn’t make sense at first, the erotic fog in her brain thick, but then they snapped into place. The bedside table where the condom was seemed so far away. And he felt so good. She didn’t want the barrier. “I’m on the pill. And tested regularly. You?”
“I was tested a month ago, but I’ve never not…”
“Your call.”
His eyes met hers, something breaking open in his gaze, something vulnerable and real. He grabbed her thigh and sank deep.
The velvet heat of him nearly sent her over the edge again. The orgasm from earlier seemed years in the past. But she breathed through the surge, trying to keep from ending this too quickly.
He tipped his head down, his cheek to hers, his eyes closed. “Thank fuck I already came once tonight because I would’ve just lit you up on the first thrust.”
She laughed, the sound bubbling out of her and unfurling something inside her, lifting some of the weight of the night, making her forget why she was supposed to be worried. “Hold it together, Cannon. If you come before I do, I’m going to kick your ass.”
He lifted his head with a wicked grin. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m going to take good care of you, gorgeous.”
He buried himself fully and ground his pelvis right against her clit, making tension coil low and deep. “Oh, God.”
“Hold that thought,” he said, and quickly pulled the clips from her breasts.
Sharp, fiery pain radiated outward as blood rushed back into her nipples and set them aflame. Her eyes watered and she gasped, but almost as fast as it started, the sensation changed course, linking up with the rocking, grinding pressure against her clit. Pleasure exploded low and fanned outward like a sonic boom, sending her crying out and grappling for Lane.
He held on and pumped hard into her, angling just right, hitting the place she needed most and launching her into an orgasm. She called his name and scraped her nails down his back. He lowered his head and latched onto her tender nipple, pressing his teeth into it and setting off more fireworks. Release arced through her and pushed her higher. She peaked with a loud, desperate cry and felt his muscles ripple beneath her fingers. He plunged deep, his release bathing her with hot, wicked pleasure.
He buried his face in her neck and breathed through his orgasm, whispering sweet things and praise and finally one simple sentence. “I might not even wait for your permission.”
He could love her. Even if she didn’t let him.
The words should terrify her.
Make her run.
But in that moment, she couldn’t find it in herself to be scared. She just wanted to curl into him…and cuddle.
Chapter 22
Lane was quiet on the way back to her mom’s house early the next morning, occasionally mentioning something inconsequential or pointing out interesting things they passed in the city, but nothing beyond that. Elle sensed that he was giving her space.