He slid next to her. “What do you want? What can I touch?”
“Everything. My chest is obviously off-limits, and go slow and easy, but you can touch whatever you want.”
His eyes were so warm, and kind, and so, so sexy. “Let me worship you, then.”
He helped her get out of her sweatpants and T-shirt, leaving her in nothing but simple cotton underwear and her tight surgical bra, then held up the bottle of healing vitamin oil that she’d been rubbing on her incisions.
“Can I use this on you?” he asked.
“Yes, absolutely.” She smiled.
He knelt next to her, rubbing some oil on his hands, and began massaging her all over. He started with her fingers and made his way up her arms, stroking and rubbing and pulling on her skin. It was as heavenly as the last time he’d massaged her arms. Marley put some music on through her phone, a light lo-fi beat.
After working on both arms to her shoulders, he asked if he could massage her legs. She nodded. He started with her ankles.
“That feels amazing,” she said. Her mind was all floaty and soft. All those feelings of inadequacy she had had over dinner were long gone. She felt comfortable, desirable, and valued. She was eternally grateful to Nikhil for giving her this now, when she needed it.
“You have amazing skin.”
She chuckled. She was due for a leg wax—it had been weeks since she’d been to the salon. “I spend a small fortune on skin care, so I should.” He kneaded her calf. “Mmm… Why does that feel so good?”
He moved on to her next leg.
He stopped when he got to her thighs. She was still wearing underwear, and he asked with his eyes how far he could go.
“Nothing is off-limits except my chest, Nikhil. Make me feel good.”
He grinned, then leaned down to slowly kiss, lick, and tease the skin of her stomach and sides. She closed her eyes, letting all her senses take in everything—the soft music, the lavender-and-citrus scent of the vitamin oil, and most of all, the feel of Nikhil on her body. His tongue. His hands. Hishair brushing against her skin. She’d been with this man twice before this, but neither time had felt anything like this experience. Hewasworshiping her.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “This feels like a dream. Tell me it’s real, Marley.”
“This is real, Nikhil.” This was so real that it should scare the hell out of her, but she only wanted to sink into the sensations deeper.
He licked and nibbled her side below her rib cage, and she swore it felt as good as if he were on her actual breasts. Her nerves were firing into overdrive and she was squirming, seeking release. Who knew her sides were an erogenous zone?
“Nikhil…” she moaned. “More…”
He took his lips off her, and she shivered with the loss of his warmth. “Give me half a minute to wash the oil off my hands.”
Marley took a mental check on her body while he was out of the room. She still felt no pain, tightness, or discomfort. Actually, this was the most comfortable she’d felt since her surgery.
When he was back, he returned to her side. “Tell me immediately if it’s too much and you need to stop. Okay?”
She nodded, then lifted her body so he could pull down her peach cotton underwear.
Achingly slowly and gently, Nikhil made her feel better than she’d ever felt in her life. Using his hands and his mouth, he teased, licked, sucked, and stroked, bringing her to a slow orgasm unlike any other. It was gentle, but no less intense. Her toes curled, but she never left the dreamy, floaty feeling. She called out his name at the peak, fully aware that Nikhil was the one giving her this.
Her Nikhil. The man who’d somehow become her everything in the last few weeks. Who’d come back into her lifeat the worst time possible and been the best person to get her through it. Nikhil, her friend, her companion. Her love.
She’d fallen in love. And maybe it was a mistake, and maybe she should be putting the brakes on this because she knew she needed him too much, and they had no idea what either of their lives would be like in a few weeks, but right now, at this moment, she was in love.
And it felt so, so good.
He smiled at her like he’d conquered an army as her breathing slowed back to normal. “How was that?”
She smiled in return. “Amazing. Better than amazing. Thank you.”
He leaned down and kissed her briefly on the lips. “No, Mahreen, thankyou.”
