“Desperately,” he admitted.
Between one breath to the next, Hugh’s mouth was covering hers, and oh God, it was everything. At first, they stayed soft, each of them testing and tasting the shape and feel of the other. When Hugh used one hand to cradle the back of her head and neck, the kiss intensified. Once he slanted her head opposite to his angle, nothing soft remained. They were in some sort of mad frenzy—tongues, teeth, groans, and whimpers.
Rowan’s chest was smashed against Hugh’s, his hardened length pressed insistently against her stomach. His other hand palmed her ass, grinding her center against him over and over. Rowan’s hands weren’t idle. She touched him everywhere she could reach, running her fingers over all the hard plains and muscles she’d dreamt about for months and months.
If they kept this up, Rowan knew they’d both be naked in a matter of minutes and use the couch to share far more than a first kiss. She already felt her core tightening at the continued rocking and friction.
Rowan gentled against his lips. “Hugh, we?—”
“Jesus, Row, I’m on fucking fire for you. Keep rocking on me, baby, I want you to come apart.” He took her mouth, breathing his fire down her throat.. further still.
Rowan was whimpering and shaking, her hips jerking. Hugh was expertly guiding her seam up and down his rigid sex. His pants were so thin, Rowan could feel every ridge and vein of him swelling further between her legs.
“If I come, you come,” Rowan demanded.
“Fuck,” Hugh groaned. He instantly had her suspended above his lap with one hand and used the other to free his erection. She’d seen him before, but holy cow, he was huge. He ripped his shirt off next before pulling her back to his mouth.
Rowan broke the kiss to stand with her feet on either side of Hugh’s thighs so she could strip her shorts. The panties were staying on, but they were white silk and would feel so good for both of them. Hugh locked onto her center and watched as she sunk back onto his lap. The moment her heat made contact with his naked flesh, he practically roared in pleasure.
“This isn’t going to take long, baby.” Hugh grabbed her ass, his long, thick fingers locked on, moving her up and down his length.
Rowan leaned back so she could watch their bodies. Watching the two of them, the erotic sensations were intense. It took only moments before she felt her body start to pulse. “I’m close, Hugh.”
“I’m there, Row. Give me your mouth, baby.”
He continued to move their bodies together as he took her mouth. His kiss was sexual. Intimate. Her lips felt swollen, but oh Lord, she wanted to kiss this man for days. Her body reached its peak, and Rowan finally had to break the kiss as she came apart.
“I can feel your orgasm.God, Row, I wish I was inside you.” Hugh increased their slide and grind—he was close. “You want to see me come, baby?”
“God, yes, Hugh. Do it. Now! I can’t take much more,” she moaned.
Hugh picked Rowan off his lap. A yelp of surprise slipped past her lips before he had her back against the couch. He leanedover her body so he could slide against her a few more times while their tongues tangled. He pulled back, and with a hoarse cry, he took himself in hand, pumping a few more strokes before his body seized.
Watching ropes of his cum decorate her skin where her shirt had ridden up had his balls tightening even more. He couldn’t help himself, and before his intentions fully registered, he swiped his thumb over the head of his dick to gather the last of his seed. Rowan’s eyes widened as he brought his thumb closer to her mouth. Her mouth was open and panting as he slipped his thumb between her lips.
When she sucked, Hugh didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so erotic in his life. “Jesus, Rowan. I’m going to be hard for days. Seeing you taste me…Christ.” She smiled as he removed his thumb from her mouth. Hugh pulled his pants up and grabbed his shirt to clean her stomach. She sat up then and looked for her shorts, finding them on the floor, she stood and slipped them on.
“I should go.” He never wanted her to go. “I didn’t mean for things to go so far.” He wanted things to go a lot further and several times a day—but she was looking unsure, and he hated that.
“You’re it for me. Whatever you’re willing to allow me...give me, I’m honored.” He stood before her then, taking her into his arms. She put her arms around his middle and looked up to meet his eyes.
“I do trust you. Maybe not with my heart yet, but my body? Yes.”
15
Rowan led the way back to the foyer. She’d really let things go further than she should have so soon after their first serious talk. Her body disagreed, of course. It felt boneless, well-loved, and ready for more. “I need some time to think. I appreciate that you finally opened up to me. I hope that by speaking about your first marriage, you might find some real healing. But—” she paused.
“But?”
“You’re a runner, Hugh. You’ve been running from true intimacy, I believe, long before we met. If we agree to…us, I want to make sure I’m willing to take the chance of you pushing me away again. River once told me that Patrick had destroyed her with what he’d done. I was furious she would even consider herself destroyed. I told her that Pat had hurt her terribly, but he could never destroy her because she was stronger than that.
“If we were together, really together, and you left or decided you weren’t ready for that level of commitment…if someone told me I was too strong to be destroyed…I wonder if I would believe them because I think if you pushed me away one more time…I think it would destroy me.
“When you left me in that hospital room, my heart, my love, was in my outstretched palm. You walked away from it. I felt pretty destroyed then.” Rowan didn’t realize she’d started to cry until Hugh grabbed a towel from the bar counter and pulled her against his chest, using the towel to blot her tears.
“I destroyed myself that day.” She could feel his body shudder as he held her close, rubbing her back in comfort. “Rowan, while you think things through, will you promise to consider something?” At her nod, he made her a vow. “I promise, with all the love I hold for my father and mother, for my boys, that I will never run from you again. I humbly accept your love and offer you mine. I don’t care how long it takes. Iwillprove myself to you.”
Oh God, Hugh was going to kill her with all this overflow of emotion. He wouldn’t go back on the promise he’d just made. He had too much honor for that. He might regret making the promise, though. She still needed to think.
