He brushes his hand down to my jeans. “Is it okay to touch you?”
I’m not sure what he’s getting at, at first. Then I realize what he’s asking—if my period’s started. “Oh, no, it’s all right, you’re all clear.”
“It’s not that I mind,” he says, undoing the top button of my jeans. “A great sailor always braves the red ocean.”
“Caesar!”
His eyes gleam as he slides down the zipper. “I don’t want to hurt you, that’s all.”
I think about Little Raspberry. I’ve had no bleeding, and sex is technically safe. “If you could just… um… you know…”
“Be gentle?” he asks. “I don’t know any other way.”
For some reason, as he kisses me again, it brings tears to my eyes. Oh no, I can’t cry now, that’ll totally spoil the mood. So I hold the emotion in as he slips his hand beneath the elastic of my underwear, then moves his fingers down.
My jeans are tight, but he manages to maneuver his hand beneath them, and then we both groan as he finds bare skin. Clearly I’m aroused, because he has no problem sliding his fingers into me, and then he finds my clit and gives a long, “Aaahhh…” as he begins to circle the pad of his forefinger over it.
“Ohhh…” I close my eyes and suck my bottom lip as my hips automatically move at the same rhythm. “Mmm. This is embarrassing.”
He continues to stroke me. “Why?”
“I’m… so close… and you’ve just… started…”
He chuckles, his touch gentle but firm. “Why is that embarrassing?”
“I… don’t know… it just makes me look…”
“Sexy?” He kisses me. “Hot?” Another kiss. “Fucking beautiful?”
“Mmm…”
“Let go, Maddie. Then we can start for real.”
Ooh, that sounds exciting. Is he planning more than one? I shudder as he kisses down to my breast and sucks my nipple, and I arch my back a little, continuing to match his rhythm. Oh that feels good, oh it feels amazing, oh fuck…
It doesn’t take long before I come, and I enjoy the smooth pulses that feel like warm waves washing over me. When I’mdone, I open my eyes to discover him watching me, a tender expression on his face.
Then he slides his hand out from under my jeans and licks his fingers.
“Oh my God.” I laugh. “Gross.”
“Not as much as last time,” he states. “The sofa’s breathing a sigh of relief.”
“Jeez.”
He smirks, then cups my face and studies me. His smile fades as he brushes his thumb across my bottom lip. Is he about to say that’s as far as he can go?
We have no excuses this time. We know who each other is. We haven’t had any alcohol. It’s not a one-night stand with a stranger. It’s a tangled crashing together of two complicated lives, and even though I said what happens in the South Island stays in the South Island, I think we both know there are going to be repercussions to this. So is he having second thoughts? My heart hammers.
But he lowers his head and kisses me, for a long, long time. Maybe he’s not having second thoughts. In fact, it doesn’t seem as if he’s ever going to stop.
I sigh and squirm and moan against his lips, but he still kisses me, while his fingers roam over my body, teasing my nipples and finding erogenous zones I didn’t even know I had. Lightning flashes, thunder rolls, and the lights flicker, but all it seems to do is intensify the heat between us. We’re both breathing fast, and I can feel him hard against me… but he continues to kiss me, until my body is stirring again, responding to his skilled touch.
Eventually, he lifts his head. “Maybe we should adjourn to the bedroom,” he advises. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to do anything here without one of us falling off.”
“I’d say it would undoubtedly be me,” I reply from where I’m wedged against the back of the sofa, “but there’s no way I’m going anywhere right now.”
He chuckles and pushes up, rises awkwardly, stretches, then turns and pulls me up, too. Then he bends and lifts me, wrapping my legs around his waist. I laugh, put my arms around his neck, and let him carry me through the bedroom, ducking as we go under the doorway so I don’t hit my head.
