The panties were tossed to the floor with the bra and pants. I took a moment to appreciate her from head to toe. Shepperd’s long blond hair fanned out behind her head on the pillow. I instantly thought of old religious paintings where the artist depicted a person’s holiness with a glowing yellow circle behind their head. I could picture the stained-glass windows in my childhood church that were all done that way. This girl could easily be an angel or saint. Something so pure and good, and so incredibly beautiful.

  “Spread your legs for me.” My voice sounded more like a growl, and she did what I’d asked. I inhaled the air and prayed I’d catch her scent. Yes, I was one of those men who loved that womanly scent. Nothing came close to matching it, and my cock somehow grew thicker knowing that soon I’d have her deliciousness all over my lips and tongue.

  I ran my hands from her knees up to her pussy and framed the treasure between my thumbs and index fingers, and added a few more strokes in the same manner while I appreciated how silky and smooth she was. Her fair skin glowed in the dim light like a pale moon in an overcast night sky.

  “You’re so damn beautiful, lady. I can’t stop looking at you.” I shook my head, wondering how I got so lucky to have this woman here with me. The thoughts had my heart thumping in an unfamiliar way and a lump building in my throat.

  True emotion, I decided. Not just lust or physical attraction. I genuinely cared about Shepperd, and it fortified my need to show her how good I could make her feel. When I ran my palms up her legs one more time, she let out a frustrated whimper when I reached the junction of her thighs.

  “What is it, baby?” I asked, knowing damn well what the answer would be.

  “You’re driving me crazy with the teasing,” she whispered into the barely lit room.

  “Tell me what you want.”

  “Touch me. Please, just do it already.”

  “I don’t want to rush this,” I confessed.

  She relaxed deeper into the bedding while I exhaled. The more comfortable she was with me touching her, the less likely she would be to freak out. Or at least that seemed like the way it should go. I reminded myself to keep the slow pace regardless.

  Finally, I positioned myself between her spread legs and licked a path toward her pussy. I wanted it more than air. Shepperd widened her legs, and my cock swelled beneath me.

  I ground my hips into the mattress for some relief. At this rate, I’d last two minutes inside her. I’d been anticipating this moment for so long, but the reality was beyond anything I’d imagined.

  Her silky skin smelled like a day at the beach. Coconut and sea breeze filled my nose with an alluring scent as I nuzzled my way to the treasure between her legs. Once there, I took my time exploring her body with my fingers and tongue until she was moaning into the still room. Her feminine musk was deep in my senses, and I kept the pace until she exploded beneath my ministrations.

  “Fuck yes. Come for me, baby,” I coaxed as the first tremors of her orgasm tensed her muscles. I lapped at her folds and drug out the pleasure until she squeezed her slender thighs against my face, urging me to back off.

  “You taste so good, I don’t want to stop.”

  She gasped. “So…sensitive,” she said between quakes of her legs and stomach. “Jesus Christ, Law.”

  My male pride swelled along with my dick. Nothing in the world was better than giving a woman pleasure that way. I’d spent years figuring out the secret little ways most women reached climax, and my attention to detail paid off once again. Though I had to admit—to myself at least—that this particular woman was nothing like any other I’d known.

  A strange thought kept pushing its way to the forefront of my mind. The intensity of the feelings I was experiencing should alarm me. Yet I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. Something about her here with me felt just—right. Perfect, really. So again, I pushed the worry away and stayed in the moment. I wanted to absorb it all. Catalog every detail and tuck them all away for safekeeping. I didn’t want to share any part of her with anyone else, and that ownership vibe should’ve scared me too.

  But instead, I just wanted to claim her completely and make sure she never wanted to leave.

  Ever.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shepperd

  With my arousal coating his lips, Law moved back up my body and planted an open-mouthed kiss on me. He demanded entrance with firm pressure from his lips and then tongue. I moaned when the taste of my own pleasure hit my tastebuds. Why was that so erotic? Especially while he pushed his way closer to settle between my thighs. In this position, I could feel his firm cock against my already throbbing pussy, and it was ecstasy.

  I was so used to unsatisfying encounters with men. This guy was scrambling my brain, and all I could think was more. More lips. More tongue. More cock. More everything. And right goddamn now.

  I clutched his toned shoulders while he kissed me and felt so secure and at peace. With him, with what we were doing—it all felt so right. Confidence oozed from every slide of his tongue, caress of his fingers, groan from deep in his chest, and it lit me up from within—like the brightest sunny day. I felt happy and excited for the first time in so long, tears pricked the backs of my eyes and threatened to ruin it all.

  To hide my emotions, I buried my face in the crook of his neck and sucked in greedy gasps while I wound down from my climax. But with his dick rubbing persistently against my sex, I was finding it difficult to get to that serene place where I normally settled after coming.

  I just wanted more. Trying to put a sliver of space between our faces, I whimpered, “Law…please.”

  “What, baby? Please what?” he asked and actually looked concerned.

  “I need you,” I said and felt slickness flood my pussy. Mentally I was ready. Physically I was ready. If he didn’t fuck me soon, I’d take matters into my own hands and guide his cock to the spot where I needed him.

  When I first started having casual sex, I was always the aggressor. I felt safer being the one directing the action and making the choices. Being in charge assured me nothing would happen that I didn’t want to happen. At my core, I was still a red-blooded woman. I wanted to be satisfied and loved regardless of the fact that some slimeball loser took advantage of me as a child.

  As soon as a shard of a memory about my experience stabbed into my mind, I banished it. That fucker wouldn’t rob me of this chance at happiness. So many other opportunities had been passed over in my life out of fear, thoughts of unworthiness, and anger. He wouldn’t win this time.

  Law pulled back to get a good look at my expression. “Still doing okay?”

  Gulping the resolve down deep, I said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

  I couldn’t be sure if I sold my reassurance based on the way he continued to watch me. I realized I had scared the guy good the first time we fooled around, but I couldn’t do this twenty-questions bit every time I needed to get laid. I would not have pegged Law to be the doting, careful guy he was in bed.

  The sexy, hungry way he used to watch me in the gym always unspooled fantasies of rough, dirty, carnal sex. Typically, reserved and measured guys turned me off. I just wanted to break his resolve and see what he was hiding beneath this shell of restraint.

  Might as well just jump to the point. “Do you have condoms? I probably do if you don’t.”

  He kissed the tip of my nose before teasing, “Getting impatient?”

  “Hell yes, I am. I couldn’t be more desperate right now. Please.” I added that last word to the end because I didn’t miss the naughty glimmer in his eyes the other times I’d said it.

  This time was no different, and it finally spurred him into action. He sat back on his heels for a moment and gave my body a long, wolfish look. To push him more, I snaked my hand down my abdomen and gave my clit a slow circle.

  “Oh, fuck me, Shepperd.” He moaned with his eyes fixed on my busy fingers.

  “That’s what I’ve been begging you for, man. We want the exact same thing.”

  Law scurried off the bed and bent over the nightstand to riffle through the top drawer. He shuffled its contents from side to side before identifying the blue square box. Two condoms were tossed onto the bed beside me, and he was back. I watched him roll on the protection and reposition himself between my legs.

  “You good like this? To start at least?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

  “I’ll take it however you want to give it to me,” I rasped. His cock was going to hurt a bit, but nothing that would be unbearable. I would definitely enjoy the little aches and pains tomorrow that would remind me of how we spent our night.

  “Fuck, you’re so wet,” he commented as he guided his dick through my folds to my entrance.

  I brought my knees closer to my chest and squeezed my thighs against his rib cage while we kissed. He slid in slowly, drawing out the exquisite feeling of that first thrust.

  There was no containing my vocal thrill, and the sounds I made seemed to encourage him to go deeper, and then deeper still. By the time his pelvis was against mine, the moaning and whimpering had turned into nonsensical babble. I repeated the words “Yes, please” and “Oh my God” over and over until his thrusts came at the perfect pace to rob my breath. He had wedged one forearm beneath the slope of my back and lifted my hips to crash with his. Wet, sexy sounds of our bodies joining filled the room in chorus with our voices, and before I knew it, I teetered on the edge of another orgasm.

  “Shit, Law. My God, I’m going to come. Don’t stop, please.”

  “That’s my girl. Shatter for me, baby. Let me feel your cunt flutter all around me,” my gorgeous lover demanded, and I was more than happy to comply.

  I tilted my head back in hopes he’d lean over and kiss me while my pussy spasmed around his cock, but instead, he sucked one of my nipples into his desperate mouth and bit me. The sharp pain kicked off another tremor through my nervous system that somehow turned into a mini orgasm as Law’s dick swelled and then erupted into the condom.

  After a few slower pumps of his hips, he collapsed to the side of me and quickly gathered my body in his arms and pulled me against his hot, slick chest.

  He smelled so damn good, I wanted to inhale the deep, rich scent over and over. His arms remained banded in a snug, secure embrace so tight that I felt his heart thundering against my spine.

  “Thank you,” I murmured with my lips pressed against his bicep. I don’t think I’d ever thanked someone for fucking me, but the words tumbled out before I could barricade them in.

  Law had his face buried in my hair, rubbing his nose and lips along my nape. The motion, coupled with his warm breath, ramped me up all over again.

  “It was my absolute pleasure. Thank you.”

  He added the second part after a beat, and I wondered if he said it because I had.

  I chuckled at my busy brain’s nonsense. “What are you thanking me for? You did all the work, man.”

  “Turn over and face me,” he issued in a demanding but kind tone. I was doing it before I could shoot my mouth off to defend myself. It was a knee-jerk reaction I took whenever I felt cornered. If I could shock someone with a rude remark, it usually threw them off my scent so I didn’t have to deal with messy feelings.

  No words were available, but I held his stare in the dark room.

  Law cupped my cheek in his large palm and finally spoke. “Thank you, beautiful girl, for trusting me with your body. Thank you for staying present with me here in this room, and most of all”—he smirked in a boyish way—“thank you for agreeing to stay here with me. I hope this is the first of many, many, hot, dirty nights in this very bed.”

  So, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but not too far off either. I was definitely caught off guard when he admitted he was glad I moved in. His words helped ease the anxiety mounting over being a charity case.

  I decided to reuse his words and replied, “It’s my absolute pleasure too.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Law

  Later that night, we sat in the living room, sprawled out in front of the television. Shepperd lay in front of me on the sofa, and I had a heavy arm draped over her hip. I couldn’t tell you what we watched because I was lost in thought and distracted by her warm body.

  My dick wouldn’t settle down for more than five minutes, even though we fucked in the shower after the first time in my bed and again when we took up this entwined spot on the sofa. I still wanted more.

  “You’re like a drug, I swear,” I breathed into her hair.

  “Law,” she whimpered, her voice sexy and raspy from all the activity. “I don’t think I can go again. I’m not sure I can even walk at this point.”

  “Sshh, baby, I know. My body is running on its own agenda right now. I don’t think I could either.” It only took a second to reassess that dumb comment, and I laughed aloud. “Okay, that’s not true, but I understand what you’re saying. I’m obsessed, not cruel.”

  “Obsessed? Really?”

  “Oh…one hundred percent.”

  “Does that concern you?” she asked but continued staring at the television screen where two girls took turns gossiping about each other.

  I answered honestly. “No, not really. Feels damn good, actually.” But then I realized maybe the words made her uncomfortable, so I asked, “Does it worry you?” Oxygen was in short supply while I waited for her to reply.

  Her body didn’t tense, though, and she only took a few seconds to reply. “Nah, I’m not worried either. This has been one of the best days I can remember.”

  I wanted to turn her to face me but thought it might be easier for her to talk openly without the scrutiny of my direct stare.

  “Hey, listen, while I’m thinking of it,” I began, and she looked at me over her shoulder. “It’s nothing bad, I just keep forgetting to ask you.”

  “Okaaaay,” she dragged out skeptically. “What’s up?”

  “My niece’s birthday is this weekend, and my brother and his woman are throwing a party for her. I was hoping you’d be my date.” Why the hell did I feel so nervous asking her to go with me? Probably because she’d meet a lot of my family members there and damn straight I’d be introducing her to everyone as my girlfriend.

  “Sure, I guess. What day? Saturday or Sunday?”

  “Pretty sure it’s Saturday. Do you have to work?” I asked, hoping she didn’t have a readymade excuse not to go.

  “Nope. That’s the best thing about an office job. Monday through Friday,” she said and sat up so we could chat. “Have you gotten a gift already?”

  “Shit, no. Well, looks like I’ll need to do that before the party. I swear I’m the worst gift giver on the planet.”

  But the little angel sitting in front of me lit up like a Christmas tree. “You’re in luck! I love picking out presents for other people. Maybe more than receiving gifts myself.”

  “Would you mind going with me to pick something up?”

  “I was hoping you’d ask. I’d be happy to go with you.” She looked at the dainty watch on her wrist and wrinkled her nose. “Probably too late to go now, so we’ll have to go tomorrow. How old is she?”

  I thought for a second and remembered Jacob telling me that his daughter Vela and our niece Stella were in the same class at school. “She’s the same age as my niece, so…nine. In fact, I’m sure Stella will be at the party too, so you’ll get to meet some of my family.”

  “Oh, wait a second,” she said, and her entire demeanor shifted—from excited and enthusiastic to trepidatious in the blink of an eye.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked and took her hands in mine, ready to reassure her.

  “I wonder if my sister will be there. Maybe I shouldn’t go. I don’t want to cause any drama.” She bit into her bottom lip with worry.

  “Darling, why would that cause drama?” I asked innocently. I knew there was some tension between Shepperd and her family members, but I didn’t realize it was intense enough to make her miss out on something she just seemed excited about.

  She stood and began pacing around the room. “I probably used the wrong word. Not drama necessarily. Just awkwardness. Plus, maybe she won’t be there. Her baby is still pretty young. I don’t know if they’re taking her places just yet.”

  “I guess I didn’t realize you didn’t get along,” I said, and she stopped pacing long enough to give me a look I hadn’t seen before. Something along the lines of Be serious, you moron, and I didn’t like it very much.

  “Explain this look you’re giving me.”

  “What look?” she snapped back. Man, this girl’s moods flipped like a switch.

  “This look.” I stepped up to block her pacing, and she looked up the length of my body until she met my eyes.

  “Sorry,” she murmured. And just like that, the defensiveness was gone, and she was small and contrite in the space she took up in front of me.

  “You don’t have to apologize, Shep. Just help me understand. What’s the beef between you and your sister? Sorry, I can’t remember her name even though I’m sure you’ve told me before.”

  “Hannah,” she said with a grimace toward the floor.

  “That’s right. Hannah. She’s the one married to Elijah Banks, right?”

  “She is. And they just had a little baby girl a few weeks ago.” She thought for a moment and then corrected herself. “Shit, it’s been almost two months already.” She cradled her face in her hands and mumbled, “Another reason for everyone to be pissed at me.”

  I tugged her hands down and wrapped them in my own. They were cold in my warm grip, and I waited patiently for her to look at me. “What’s going on?” I asked when she finally lifted her chin. “Even your hands are cold now.” In the back of my mind, I suspected she was working up to an anxiety attack but didn’t want to suggest it out loud.

 

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