Page 42 of Outcast

That evening, I moved my makeshift pillows to his end of the bed, so we slept spooning each other. Henry’s hand rested on my belly, rubbing it in gentle circles. It was the balm I needed to soothe the hurt of the day’s disappointment and heartbreak. I let my eyes flutter closed and focused on the sensations of his large, warm palm and thick fingertips.

No one had ever caressed me to sleep like this. I’d been kissed before and petted, but this mattress and our conversations were the closest I’d ever been with another person except Noelle.

“You’re so much different from how I expected,” he murmured.

“Hmm?”

“Softer. Sweeter.” A finger slipped under the hem of my top and skimmed the bare skin above the waistband of my cargo pants.

I smiled. “Really?”

“Really.” The pads of his fingers made a soft, slow trail up to my bellybutton and rubbed gentle circles that made me squirm with delight. “I imagined someone as stunning as you would be arrogant and aloof, but you weren’t.” His warm breath on the back of my neck quickened, and he pushed his clothed erection into the backs of my thighs.

Arousal surged through my core, and I squeezed my legs together. He was only touching my belly and I could barely keep myself contained.

“You’re so beautiful.” He shifted on the bed, positioning his covered erection between the cleft of my clothed buttocks.

My right thigh slid over my left. Tiny pulses of my core muscles moved in time with the slow, steady movements of his hand on my belly. His hips moved in gentle circles, each stroke of his erection against my buttocks a form of sweet torture. If we were anywhere else, I would turn around, pull off his shirt and run my hands over those hard, thick muscles. But we were in this squalid room, where balaclava-clad kidnappers could walk in at any time.

“God, I want you so much,” he murmured.

I bit down hard on my bottom lip to stop myself from reciprocating. That interrupted kiss had left me aching for more than his touch. Telling him I felt the same would only escalate something I couldn’t bring myself to do until after we’d returned to the academy. After he’d proven that things wouldn’t switch back to his siding with the bullies.

I gasped out. “Don’t—”

“I heard you the first time. Not here. But you didn’t say I couldn’t touch.” His other hand snaked under my arm, along my collarbones, and cupped my shoulder. “See? I’m being the resolute gentleman.”

I huffed out a laugh. His hands might be staying within the realms of decency, but his hips weren’t. And neither was that thick erection. Grinding back with my own hips, I let out a happy sigh. I had no complaints.

“Hobson,” he gasped out.

“We should be on a first name basis by now, don’t you think, Henry?” I said.

“Emilia…” he kissed my earlobe. “I like the sound of my name on your lips.”

The heat pooling between my legs turned into an urgent ache, which wouldn’t be relieved from squeezing my thighs together. I unbuttoned my cargo pants, slipped my hand into my panties and circled my nub. Pleasure streaked through my core, making me bite down hard on my bottom lip to stifle a moan.

“Let me do that for you,” said Henry, his voice strained. His hand slipped into my panties and slid over mine. The weight of his fingers added pressure to my strokes, and I cried out. Henry’s breath quickened. His hips jerked against mine. “Please.”

“Alright.” I pulled my hand back, letting his finger slide over my sensitive bundle of nerves. “But don’t venture any further than this.”

“Yes,” he whispered.

Henry stroked and rubbed, making me buck against his fingers. At that moment, I could have stayed in that room with him forever, making each oncoming day an exploration of our minds and bodies. I’d opened myself to him, and he hadn’t mocked or judged. He had accepted me, just as I had accepted him. His fingers never strayed from my clit, even though my body yearned for more.

He continued those clever caresses, grinding out his own pleasure against my ass until my world splintered into a million pieces and remade itself into one where things might actually work between Henry and me. I threw back my head and gasped out my orgasm in several shuddering breaths. Henry trembled through his climax, holding me so tight, we were nearly one.

As I panted through the aftershocks, sleepy and content and heart full to bursting, I wondered how much closer we would become in the morning.

Chapter 15

The next time I awoke, the sun shone through my eyelids. I cracked them open to find myself lying on a bench on a country road with my head in Henry’s lap. When I lifted my head, it throbbed so hard, I had to slump back down.

Henry ran his fingers through my hair and murmured, “Welcome back.”

“What happened? Did they drug me again?”

“They must have done it while we were sleeping. I woke up sitting next to you and rearranged us to make you more comfortable.” A long, relieved breath heaved out from his lips. “I can’t believe we survived that. And that you’re safe. When they wanted to keep you with them…”