by Marie Force
“Hold on just a second, sweetheart.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Not a thing. But we need protection. I’ll be right back.” I kiss her and hurry into the other bedroom. I’ve tucked an unopened box of condoms into my bag just in case we needed them. I didn’t expect to need them tonight, though. I take one second—and only one second, because she’s waiting for me—to summon the control I’ll need to make this good for her. My biggest fear is sparking her greatest fears. I can’t let that happen, not when she has entrusted me with something so precious.
I pull off my jacket, shirt and pants, leaving the tux in a pile on the floor in my haste to get back to her. In the other bedroom, I find her stretched out on the bed, her head propped up on her hand. She’s lit candles on the bedside table that cast a warm romantic glow over the room. She pats the bed next to her, and I’m lost. Any remaining hesitation melts away in the face of her blatant invitation. I can only hope neither of us will regret this tomorrow.
“Are you sure you’re not drunk?”
“Very sure.”
“And you’ll remember this in the morning?”
Her sexy, husky laugh goes straight to my cock. “I sure hope so.”
She’s fucking amazing, as if all the dreams I’ve ever had have come to life in one perfect woman who seems to love me as much as I love her. I push aside the nagging thoughts about what I’m giving up to be with her. There’s no place for those thoughts in this room. Not now. Not tonight.
I crawl onto the bed and come down next to her. She reaches for me, and our lips find each other in a greedy, hungry kiss that sends my need straight into the red zone. The heat that’s been building between us since the minute we met threatens to boil over as we cling to each other, our tongues battling fiercely.
She tastes like wine and honey and the sweetness so uniquely hers. I could drown in that sweetness, and I’d die happy. I’ve never wanted anything or anyone the way I want her. I want to possess her, own her, make her mine and love her so thoroughly, she’ll never look at another man for the rest of her life.
Behind her back, I release the hooks that hold her bra together and push it out of my way, impatient to have her completely bared to me. The thong comes off next, and I take a moment to appreciate the spectacular sight of Natalie’s naked body, stretched out on the stark-white comforter.
I can’t decide what I want to touch first. Every inch of her appeals to me—from full luscious breasts with berry-red nipples to the hollow of her belly to the jut of hipbones, to long sexy legs and the sweet pussy that lies between them, beckoning me.
Kneeling between her legs, I begin at her feet with the promised massage that draws the sexiest moans from her lips. When both feet have been seen to, I pull her legs up and over mine, opening her to me. I want to tell her to put her hands over her head, to grasp the headboard and not let go, but tonight is not about domination. It’s about love and respect. It’s all about her.
I bend over her to take her nipple into my mouth, tugging and sucking until it stands up tall. Then I give her other breast the same attention.
Natalie writhes under me, her back arching, silently begging me for more. Hooking my arms under her legs, I lift them up and out, giving her my tongue. If I live to be a hundred years old, I’ll never forget the deep, needy sound she makes the first time my tongue connects with her clit.
All I hear is pure female satisfaction and a cry for more. I’m happy to deliver. With her legs now propped upon my shoulders, I open her to my tongue, licking her from front to back before settling in to suck on her clit. She comes immediately, writhing and crying out as I hold her in place, giving her my tongue over and over again until her thighs are quaking and she’s hovering on the verge of another release.
I drive my fingers into her, taking her up and over again. “Ahh, God, Natalie. I want to feel that sweet pussy come all over my cock. I want to feel that so badly.” I know a moment of panic when I wonder if I’ve offended her with my blunt language. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that.”
“I love how you tell me what you want. Will you always do that?”
I swallow hard, trying to rid myself of the guilt that struggles to the surface, reminding me there’s a lot I haven’t told her. “Yes, I promise. I’ll always tell you.” My hands are trembling as I roll on the condom. I want this to be so perfect for her—for both of us. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of nervous anticipation about sex. But nothing has ever mattered as much as this does, as she does.
I’m out for perfection tonight. Nothing less will do. I come down on top of her, resting my hands on either side of her gorgeous face.
“How you doing?” I ask.
“Never better.”
“You’re really sure about this, Nat? We don’t have to—”
She squeezes my lips with her fingers and raises her hips, letting me know exactly what she wants from me. I feel like I should’ve taken more time preparing her, but I can’t wait any longer.
I take myself in hand and slide through the dampness between her legs. It’s all I can do not to come when my cock connects with her hot wetness for the first time. I bite my bottom lip and pray for mercy as I begin to push into her, going slowly and watching her intently for any signs of distress.
But all I see in her is the pleasure. Her eyes widen and her lips part, and I push in deeper, wanting all of her. She’s so tight and hot and wet. I’m in heaven.
“Talk to me, sweetheart. Tell me how it feels.”
“So good,” she says breathlessly. “Don’t stop.”
“I’m never going to stop loving you. Never.” I hold back for as long as I can, giving her time to adjust and taking it as easy as I possibly can without losing my mind. I rock into her, slowly, insistently, still watching her for signs of flashbacks or pain of any kind.
Her hands slide down my back to cup my ass, and I’m lost. Absolutely gone. I break out in a cold sweat and pick up the pace, wanting to feel that tight pussy clamp down around my cock more than I want my next breath. Propping myself up on one arm, I reach between us and press my fingers to her clit, and I’m rewarded with a tight contraction that nearly finishes me off.
“Natalie… Christ, this feels so fucking good. I love you so much. Come for me, sweetheart.” I continue to caress her clit until I feel her lift off, the tight squeeze of her internal muscles more than I can take after living on the razor’s edge of desire for so many days.
She cries out as she comes, her fingers digging into my ass and pulling me deeper into her and taking me with her in an orgasm that seems to come from my bone marrow.
It feels like it lasts forever, the pleasure so intense and so profound, unlike anything else has ever been. I come out of it gasping for air, throbbing with aftershocks and surrounded by her sweet softness. In that moment, I begin to genuinely believe I can live without the other half of my sexuality. If this is all I ever get to have, it’s more than enough. Or so I tell myself…
I’m almost afraid to raise my head, to look at her face, for fear of what I might see. Is she remembering the most painful moments of her life? Does she have regrets? Does she already wish we hadn’t done this? Does she want to go back to when there were rules she was determined to live by? If I see any sign of that, I think I’ll die inside. But I need to know.
Slowly, I lift my head off her chest to find her eyes closed and her lips curled into a small smile. The relief that hammers through me is so significant that I’m left light-headed. She’s happy. She’s satisfied. She’s smiling.
I kiss that sweet smile, and her eyes open to gaze up at me. “Wow,” she whispers.
“My sentiments exactly. How do you feel?”
“I feel very, very good. You?”
I kiss her neck and throat. “Same. Never better. Best night of my life, hands down. And in case you were wondering, this, right here, is the best part of the best night ever.” I kiss her again. “Hands down.”
> Her smile warms and sustains me. It tells me everything will be all right. She’s not going to regret this in the morning. Hell, it’s already almost morning, and no signs of regret.
Her index finger traces the furrow between my brows. “What’re you worried about?”
“That you’ll regret this.”
“Never. It was perfect. In fact, I can’t wait to do it again.”
“Just give me ten minutes to recover, and we’ll do it again. We’ll do it as many times as you want.”
“Mmm.” She yawns. “Ten minutes.” She’s out cold in less than five.
I withdraw from her carefully, my hand around the base of the condom so there will be no accidents. I leave her only long enough to dispose of the condom before I crawl back into bed with her. I’ve arranged for an afternoon flight back to New York, so we can sleep in as I promised her.
Curled up to her warm, naked body, I relive every second of this incredible evening. Winning a Golden Globe was fantastic, but making love to Natalie… That was life changing.
Chapter 22
I wake to bright sunshine streaming in through windows left uncovered the night before. A drumbeat of pain in my temple reminds me of the large amount of champagne I consumed last night. And then I shift to find a more comfortable position and the dull ache between my legs reminds me of what else happened.
I had sex with Flynn Godfrey, and I loved every second of it.
He’s asleep next to me, the hard angles of his face softened in repose. His jaw is sprinkled with whiskers that only add to his over-the-top sexiness. He’s so beautiful, inside and out, and I’m completely addicted to him.
His big warm hand is flat upon my belly until it moves up to cup my breast and tweak my nipple. That’s all it takes to make me want him again, despite the soreness.
“You’re awake,” I whisper.
“Mmm, barely. My head is pounding.”
“Mine, too.”
“Goddamned champagne.” His voice is a low, gruff rumble. “Always tastes so good going down, but the hangovers are killer.”
“It should come with a warning.”
“Hang tight, sweetheart. I’ve got the cure.” He drags himself out of bed, and I watch him move around the room, fascinated by his naked body. I want to memorize every detail so I’ll never forget how he looks this morning. He leaves the room for a few minutes and comes back with a tall glass of orange juice and a bottle of pills.
When he returns, the first thing I notice is the huge erection that now extends past his belly button. I can’t look away. I’m still staring when he sits on the bed next to me, offering me the OJ and some pain meds.
“See something you like?” he asks with a low chuckle.
“Most definitely.”
“Are you sore down there, too?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.” We share the glass of OJ, both of us taking pills for our headaches.
Flynn puts the glass on the bedside table where the candles from last night have burned down to stumps. Propping his hands on either side of my body, he looks down at me, his hair falling over his forehead.
I reach up to smooth it back.
He takes hold of my hand and presses a kiss to my palm. “Last night was incredible.”
“For me, too.”
“No regrets?”
“Not a single regret. I hope you know…” I feel shy all of a sudden, confessing my deepest thoughts to him. “I couldn’t have done that with anyone but you.”
“You’d better not be doing that with anyone but me.”
“Flynn… You know what I mean.”
He gathers me into his embrace as he gets back into bed. “I know what you mean, and I’m truly humbled to have been given such a priceless gift.”
Empowered by my newfound confidence, I slide my hand down his chest to encircle his erection. “I fell asleep before we could do it again.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Are you busy right now?”
His laughter brings a smile to my face. I love making him laugh.
“You’re sore, honey. We should take it easy today.”
“I don’t want to take it easy.”
“You need to trust me on this. Unless you want a positively miserable day tomorrow, we should wait until you feel better before we do it again. And you’ll need to rest up, because I plan to keep you very busy.”
“Is that right?”
“Mmm-hmm.” This is said against my neck as he kisses and licks and nibbles me. “I hate to say that we need to get up and get moving. I need to get you home for school tomorrow.”
That makes me groan. Three days have never gone by so quickly. “Something tells me that winter in New York isn’t going to look quite as magical to me after experiencing winter in southern California.”
“You’re the only one I know who’d call winter in New York ‘magical.’”
“If you knew how hard I worked to get there, you’d think it was magical, too.”
His phone rings, and he goes still.
“What?”
“That’s Addie, and she wouldn’t be calling me today unless she really needed me for something.”
“How can you tell it’s her?”
“She programmed in her own ringtone, so I’d always know when it’s her.”
“That’s awesome. I love her.”
“So do I, but I don’t love her quite as much as usual this morning.” He reaches for the phone. “Yes, ma’am?”
I can’t hear what she’s saying, but I can see his expression tighten and the pulse in his cheek kick in. Something’s wrong.
“Have you spoken to the hotel? What did they say?” He runs his fingers through his hair until it’s standing on end. “Yeah, that’ll work. I’ll call them when we’re ready. Thanks, Addie.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The hotel is surrounded by press, and they all want to know more about you. Liza is being slammed with calls. Fuck!”
“Hey.” I wait for him to look at me. “We knew this would happen, so don’t stress. They’ll lose interest in a day or two when we don’t give them anything.”
“I don’t think they’re going to lose interest that quickly. Addie said they’re ravenous to know more about the gorgeous ‘kiss girl’ who has changed my life so completely. We’re going to have to leave through the loading dock to avoid them.”
“I know you’re upset and worried about me, but please don’t let this ruin what was the best night of my life. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It was…”
“For me, too, sweetheart.” He kisses me before we get up to take showers and get ready to leave.
When we’re set to go, hotel security works efficiently to get us out of the building and into a waiting Cadillac Escalade that Addie arranged.
Flynn doesn’t relax until we’re safely on our way to LAX. He spends much of the ride on the phone with Addie, ensuring the security detail someone named Gabe hired for me is ready to meet us in New York. I’m hoping that will be a temporary thing, until the interest in us dies down.
I take the time to read texts from Leah, who says I looked A-MA-ZING, and Aileen, who loves that I kissed Flynn after Tina and Amy’s comments about him. Very well done, Aileen proclaims. You looked beautiful! (And so did he! Haha!). Both of them ask me to convey their congratulations to Flynn on his big win.
We’re on the plane before Flynn finally ends the call with Addie, satisfied for now, anyway, that everything is in place for our return to New York.
“Sorry about all that,” he says when he stashes the phone in his pocket.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Well, it kind of is. I knew if I brought you last night, it would turn into a bit of a circus. But from what Addie said, it’s an even bigger circus than we expected.”
“I was warned, so no worries. I had the best time. It was well worth any aggravation we have to deal with now.”
He laughs at my choice of words. “Aggravation is one word for it. I hope you’ll understand if I’m a little overprotective where you’re concerned.”
I send a side-eye glance his way. “Are you planning to be my personal bodyguard?”
“You bet your ass I’m going to be guarding your sweet body.”
The low growl that accompanies his words sends a shiver through me.
“You can start now if you’d like.” I wonder who this new Natalie is, but I can’t deny that I like her.
“I’d love to, but I’m not touching you until you have time to recover from last night. I can’t bear the thought of hurting you in any way.”
“You could never hurt me.”
“It would hurt if we had sex today, so we’re waiting, and that’s nonnegotiable.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” I say with a teasing smile.
“In this case, I am.”
As the plane taxis toward the runway for the trip back to New York, I reach for his hand and hold on tight for takeoff.
“Thanks for the best weekend of my life.”
He kisses my hand. “It was for me, too. Thanks for coming.”
We move to the sofa as soon as we can, and after a few heated kisses, we end up sleeping for most of the flight. It’s now safe to say I’m addicted to sleeping in his arms.
It’s snowing in New York, and the approach to Teterboro is bumpy. Flynn holds my hand the whole way, and I breathe a sigh of relief when we touch down. The cold and snow are harsh reminders we’re not in California anymore. I feel an overwhelming sense of letdown at realizing my big adventure has ended and it’s back to reality.
My third-grade classroom is an awfully long way from Gucci Couture.
“This must be what Cinderella felt like when her coach turned into a pumpkin,” I say to Flynn as we drive through sloppy wet snow and ice on our way into the city.
“Are you calling my Bugatti a pumpkin?”
“I would never insult the Bugatti. It was a metaphor for the weather and the end of a rather grand adventure.”
