Page 37 of One Night Years Ago

“Embarrassed? Why? That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

She brought up her face to look at him, as if trying to gauge whether or not he was serious. A beautiful blush spread on her cheeks. Her head came down again, and they held each other.

This is what happiness feels like.

At that moment Hunter didn’t care that he was going to have blue balls the next day. He just wanted to hold her and breathe in her beautiful, clean scent.

Then her hand started moving lower around his belly. He clenched his stomach muscles, and she moaned softly in response. Her fingers found the button and zipper of his jeans. The pressure on his cock was torture.

“I’m going to come if you keep doing that,” he growled.

“Then help me take these off,” she said lightly. “I want to see all of you.”

After a bit of ungainly tugging and shoving, he was naked. Her eyes went to his cock and then right back up to his face. She didn’t look half as sure as she had a moment earlier.

“You know we don’t have to do anything, right?” he whispered. His cock twitched desperately at the thought it might not find relief, but he pointedly ignored it. Natalie was opening to him in ways he’d never expected, and he was going to take care of her if it was the last thing he did.

Finally, she nodded. “I know. I want to, though. I want to make up for all the time I’ve had stolen from me.”

He understood that. Perhaps it was the one thing he could give her, a night to erase the fear, to get on with her life.

He caressed her lightly all the way down her side and along her bottom. She was soft and smooth all over, except for that perfect patch of curls. At some point she’d lost her underwear. He tried once more to unclasp her bra, but she shook her head.

Instinct told him to taste her. He went onto his knees by the side of the bed and lifted her by the waist, moving her towards him. She was light as a feather compared to him. He brought his mouth to her core, suckling softly, the soft noises she made acting as a kind of map to her pleasure until she came, her hands grasping at his hair.

“You okay, Natalie?”

“Amazing. Now let’s do it … together.”

His cock twitched again. She hadn’t put her hands on him yet, and he was ready to explode.

“Shit. Do you have a—”

He sighed in relief when she opened the drawer of the night table and brought out a condom.

“Helen and Emma’s birthday gift last year,” she whispered. “I almost threw them out.”

“Glad you didn’t,” he whispered. He was sheathed in a moment, half-surprised he still remembered how to do it.

#

Natalie

Her senses were still on overload. That grim, perfect mouth of his had brought her right over the edge. She was wound taut with pleasure, but she wanted more. This time, she wanted it all.

She shivered, nervous but relieved, when he climbed on the bed beside her. His large, strong hands caressed her belly button, the inside corner of her breasts, moved up to her throat. Eventually, his body was along hers, his cock rubbing lightly against her core. He was careful to hold his weight on his elbows so as not to squash her.

And at that very instant, when the pleasure should have had her soaring higher than ever, she suddenly felt the onset of panic.

Caged in. Caged in.

She tried to breathe through her nose, remembering her therapist’s advice. But the sudden snort caught his attention. He looked up at her, and she knew he saw her panic.

“Hey,” he said, his voice very low. With a quick roll of his hips and shoulders he placed himself underneath her. She was now on top of him. “Is this better?”

She nodded. “It’s better. I’m sorry, I don’t know …”

“It’s okay. We don’t have to do anything.”