She shoved him onto his back, now the one straddling him, and sank her hands into the paint and smiled. He met that smile with one of his own, agive me what you’ve gotkind, even smugly folding his arms beneath his head.
Elsie started painting those rock-hard abs and felt her way up his entire torso, loving every single inch. He let her explore, take her time, and admire all the hard work he spent honing his body. When she reached his shoulders, those broad I-can-handle-anything shoulders, she found herself needing to take things deeper, so she cupped his jaw and brushed her lips to his.
She wanted this. Wanted him. No, she needed him with an urgency that scared her.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Whoa.” He grabbed her before she could sneak off. “Where are you going?” He studied her gaze and that’s when she saw it, an uncertainty that broke her heart a little. He thought she was leaving—that she’d changed her mind.
“I need to get condoms. They’re in the bedroom.”
A grin spread across his face. “When did you buy condoms, Red?”
“On the way home from Claire’s party.”
“You mean, I’ve spent the last three days in agony for nothing?”
“All you had to do was ask.” With a smack to the lips, she shoved at his chest to get him off, but he didn’t move, except to reach in his back pocket and pull out a roll of condoms. “I bought them the next morning.”
“So we both—”
“Wasted three whole days that could’ve been spent finger painting.”
“Which is why we both have to be open and honest about what we want,” she said, repeating one of her rules.
“I want you. Now.”
“Then lose the pants, babe.”
“I like it when you call me babe.” He stood, dispensed with his clothes, and came back by her side.
“Lay on your back.” She nudged him and he rolled over so that she could straddle him. Which she did, after taking the condoms from his hand. She tore off one and opened it, gently gliding it down his length.
She positioned them and right before she slid down, he said, “Wait,” and framed her face with his hands. Then he did the most romantic thing possible, he took her mouth in a kiss that was reverent and tender and all the things that spoke of something much more than sex. When he filled her, it felt like their worlds had collided into one.
“You feel incredible,” he whispered, then moved ever so slightly.
Incredible didn’t even begin to describe what was happening to her. A zing ricocheted around her chest like a pinball machine, lighting up every sensor it hit. Then there was the lightness in her body, as if some heavy weight had been lifted and she was finally able to breathe without the fear of agonizing pain.
“You okay?” he asked, and she realized she’d rested her forehead to his.
“It’s just been a while,” she confessed.
“Then we take it extra slow,” he said and rolled so that she was tucked beneath him.
Man of his word, he took it soft and smooth and so incredibly good. Then their bodies started to glide. Slick from the paint, they moved like they’d been together forever, completely in sync, as if too tired to continue the fight to resist.
Rhett set a steady rhythm with deep thrusts and even slower withdrawals, nearly backing all the way out before filling her so completely a sense of rightness washed over her. Her heels dug into the floor and her back arched so that she could take all of him. And when that wasn’t enough, she wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed.
“Red,” he whispered into her ear, so she did it again. This time when he whispered her name, he whispered her real name and a warmth started in her chest and radiated out. Her throat began to tighten and her eyes burned; she was on the verge of letting this moment take her under. Something she’d promised herself wouldn’t happen. But it was—happening—and she didn’t know how to fight it.
The pace picked up, the emotions between them intensified and she knew, without a doubt, he was feeling it too. Then she opened her eyes and found him looking back. What she saw there undid her.
“Rhett!” she cried as the orgasm tore through her, a million miles a minute, the power of a comet, it shattered every wall she had put in place. He was right there with her, she realized, because as she squeezed tightly, he gave one last thrust and then he was calling out her name as his body shuddered.
As she was coming down, her breath still lodged in her throat, she felt herself being moved so that she was cradled beside him, his arm wrapped tightly around her. He kissed her temple and whispered soothing things in her ear, something that sounded like, “I can’t believe you’re finally mine.”
And he’s yours, her heart said. At least until he wasn’t.
