Click

by Anne Conley

  She looked down at herself and saw what he surely must see: a damaged person, only part of a woman, somebody who lacked crucial parts to satisfy a man. Scarred and bruised, she wanted to cover herself. Having a sudden desire to stand and get dressed, to end this horrible torture of waiting for him to say something, she started to move her legs. But she was still caged in by his thighs, where he’d sat atop her taking pictures. He’d made her feel so beautiful when he had the camera in front of his face, but she didn’t dare look at him now to see what he was thinking. She was so scared.

  His hand moved from the side of her face to the back of her neck, curling in her hair and tugging her closer. When his lips met hers, they were soft, unlike any other time they’d kissed. She remembered the other kisses, in detail, since she relived them almost every night.

  This time, his lips were warm, opening her mouth immediately for his tongue to swoop in and conquer her. Her head was held in place with his hands, no chance of escape, and she didn’t want to. It was like he’d been waiting for this kiss, as if this kiss was what he’d needed all along.

  Or maybe that was just her.

  Miriam kissed him back for all she was worth, needily clutching at his t-shirt. She’d missed his taste—minty and coffee—and the warmth of his mouth. She’d missed the sounds he made, low grunts in the back of his throat, and the way his hands felt on her—his massive, tanned hands which contrasted so sharply with her skin.

  Leaning back, she pulled him down on top of her by his shirt before crooking her elbow around his neck and deepening the kiss. One hand propped himself up, while the other roamed her body, exploring the curve of her waist, her hip, and the sensitive skin of her thighs. She arched into his touch, all the while he kissed her.

  He kissed her lips, then her jaw, then her throat, her neck, and her shoulders. Miriam heard the whimpers coming from her mouth like a horny teenager, but was utterly helpless to control them. Instead, she gave herself in to the sensations Jake was evoking in her. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this wanted, and despite her own thoughts about herself, so sexy. He made her feel like she was his air, and she wanted to be that for him.

  “Thank you,” he murmured between hot kisses on her clavicle.

  “For what?” She was breathless, not recognizing her own voice.

  “For wanting me.” He dropped a hot kiss to her chest, where her scars were. “For giving me this.” He made her scars feel beautiful as he made love to them, tracing them with his fingers and his tongue. “For letting me in, and letting me try again.”

  Between kisses across her overheated skin, he kept talking. “You are amazing, Miriam. So fucking beautiful.” He explored her navel while his fingers traced the edges of her panties. “You take my breath away with your strength and your resilience, and I don’t think I can ever measure up.” He sat up on his heels between her legs and slowly pulled off the scraps of lace, revealing her to him. “But I’m certainly going to show some appreciation for your choices.” He flashed her a wicked grin, adjusted his crotch, and lowered his mouth to her sex.

  Miriam lost all coherent thought as Jake acquainted himself with her wet heat, breathing her scent in, grumbling approval, and tasting her softly. Squirming to get the most effect, she couldn’t be still and just let him take over. She gripped his hair, holding him in place while she arched into his kisses and nibbles on her nether region. As if to validate her, Jake wrapped his hands around her thighs, holding her still and attacked her clit with a vengeance, raising a cry from her as his tongue flicked it, sending pulses of sensation rocketing throughout her body.

  She gave in to the sensations, letting them fill her and escape through her mouth in the form of moans and cries. When she couldn’t take any more of the exquisite torture, she started begging.

  “Please, please…” She needed release, she needed to come, and she needed him inside her, filling her.

  She swore she felt him smile against her right before putting two fingers inside and curling them up to press on her G-spot. That’s when she exploded, screaming his name as she climbed the precipice and flew off the edge.

  He continued lapping at her, gently bringing her back down while she quivered and pulsed around him. She was in a fugue-like state, barely aware of him stripping off his shirt to display the torso filled with ridges of muscles. When he pulled off his pants and underwear, his erection sprang free, grabbing her attention.

  She reached out to touch the smooth shaft, but his gritty voice rasped, “Later. You can touch it all you need to, later.”

  Lowering himself over her body, the warmth of his skin seeped into her pores, while he kissed her. Hiking one leg over his hip, she invited him in as he poised his erection at her entrance. Pushing himself in, they groaned into each other’s mouths. He filled her. Rocking back, he broke the kiss and dropped his mouth to her shoulder when she threw her head back.

  He thrust in and out, and Miriam couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. She was in another dimension, clawing at his back in an effort to feel more of him. Pressing her skin against his, she felt the slide of him across her torso, unable to fathom the intimacy of this act.

  Jake peppered her with soft kisses across her shoulder before opening his mouth and laying a wet kiss there. She was climbing higher and higher, unable to stop herself.

  She wrapped her other leg around his hip, attempting to draw him closer, deeper, and he grunted as his thrusts became faster, more frantic. Miriam had never felt anything like this before. She was so close to another orgasm, a hot, fiery bundle low in her belly. When Jake bit into her shoulder, the heat exploded and she cried out again as he grunted and hissed. Her walls pulsed around him, and she could feel him swell and twitch, releasing inside her.

  Collapsing next to her on the bed, Jake pulled her into him and kissed her on the neck. She relished the feel of his strong thighs against her backside for a moment before turning in his arms, tangling her legs with his, and playing with his hair.

  His gaze was hooded—bright blue slits gazing at her—while his chest expanded with huffs from exertion. “I meant what I said.” His hand cupped her face tenderly. “You are an amazing woman. And I’m proud to have you as the mother of my child.” Kissing the tip of her nose, he continued before she could say anything. “And I want a life with you, Miriam. I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.” He folded his arms around her and closed his eyes.

  Miriam reveled in the post-coital bliss as she listened to his breaths even out. She could do this. She would do this.

  She had opened herself up and let him in, and he found her worthy. As she tried to process that thought, Jake jumped out of bed and started rummaging around his dresser drawer for something. She admired his backside as he hunched over, marveling at the fact he seemed to be happy she was here. Why couldn’t she accept herself the way he accepted her?

  It occurred to her that by opening up and being honest with him, she had begun the process. She was grinning to herself at the thought when he turned to her, looking hesitant.

  “What?”

  “Um… I did something, the night you nearly broke my nose.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked back to the bed and sat down, a thick envelope in his hands. “I got real drunk and started ordering shit off the internet, which is stupid, but I sort of like it, so…” He tossed the envelope to her and looked at the floor between his feet, still naked.

  Miriam had to contain her smile. It was nice to be around a man who wasn’t so damn cocky all the time. Someone who questioned his own moves occasionally. Jake wasn’t all alpha possessive and cock-sure every minute of the day, and it was refreshing.

  She slid the contents out of the envelope and read them, her eyes widening.

  “You named a star after me?”

  His eyes when he looked at her were full of uncertainty. “Do you like it?”

  “Oh my God, Jake! That’s amazing!”

  “The stars hold some pretty powerful memori
es for me. Even after I ordered this. For us.” He reached across her and pulled open his bedside drawer. “It came with this. And I would love it if you would wear it.” He pulled out a box, a clear plastic one holding a crystal necklace in the shape of a star. It was hokey, but she loved it.

  “Put it on me.” She turned in the bed, allowing him to drape it around her neck. His fingers trembled against her skin as he worked the fastening, but he did it, then kissed her shoulder.

  “I don’t know much right now. You’ve rocked my world today, with your trust in me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to do right by that trust.” His earnest blue eyes drew her in. “But I know I love you, Miriam. And I want to spend my time with you replacing all the bad things that have happened to you with good things. I want to give you the world. The stars.” He chuckled ruefully. “But I can only afford the one for now.” His smile lit up his face, and Miriam’s insides did a jig.

  “I love you, too, Jake. I don’t know what I was thinking, but these past six weeks have been hell without you in them.”

  “Blame it on the stars…” he muttered as his lips took hers again.

  Jordan Rocco took the stairs two at a time, humping his knapsack up four flights because elevators gave him the heebie jeebies. Not that he would admit it, but he was slightly claustrophobic. He managed to deal with it when he had to, but he still avoided confined spaces when he could.

  He was excited to see what his brother, Evan, had lined up for him with Pierce Securities. It sure as shit beat the hell out of shoveling shit and looking over books at his parents’ Wyoming horse ranch. Why the hell they had decided that would be their dream retirement was beyond him. He told them not to count on his help.

  Rounding the landing to the third floor, he allowed himself to fantasize about this being his dream job—helping the weak and utilizing the skills he’d been trained for in the Marines. Shoveling shit certainly hadn’t done it. He longed for some adventure, excitement, adrenaline. Yeah, he needed some fucking adrenaline in his life, and looking over Dad’s accounts payable for ways to cut fertilizer costs hadn’t done it.

  “Can I touch them? If they’re not real, is that allowed? Everybody said not to talk about them behind your back.” A voice drifted down the hallway to Jordan as he opened the stairwell door and let himself into the hallway where the Pierce Securities office suites were.

  “Sure, but Jake’s going to come take me to lunch in a minute, so don’t let him catch you feeling me up.”

  The elevator dinged—announcing some schmuck had let himself get caged into a deathtrap and was being released on this floor—just as Jordan opened the door with the shield logo of the firm on it.

  And what he found was more than surprising.

  A woman was sitting on the edge of the front office desk, sticking her chest out, while a dude in sunglasses felt her up.

  “Those are nice, Miriam.”

  “Yeah, well, they’re heavy. Hurry up. You’re pulling on them.”

  Jordan was flabbergasted. He snapped his gum in his mouth, and the dude with sunglasses jerked his head to the side as he tweaked a nipple.

  “Nothing? That doesn’t do anything for you?”

  She laughed and tossed her head back just as another guy came out of an office in the back.

  “No, Zack. They’re inserts. No sensation whatsoever.” The redhead was still laughing as she noticed Jordan in the doorway. She only winked at him, though, continuing to allow the guy to feel her tits.

  As if the scene wasn’t weird enough, the new guy—a huge dude—came barreling toward the sunglasses dude touching the secretary’s tits with a growl emanating from his throat. It would intimidate anyone else, but not Jordan. He knew it wasn’t directed at him, but he felt a little sorry for the guy he was shoving against the wall right now.

  “Never a dull moment, huh?” A voice behind Jordan surprised the hell out of him, and he spun around, resisting the urge to pull his piece. A smaller man with bright blue eyes and brown hair was grinning at him like a loon, obviously enjoying the show. Turning to the woman, he asked, “You ready? I thought we might could get lunch at that new Pad Thai place.” Striding over to her, he planted a loud kiss on her lips and Jordan couldn’t stop the eye roll.

  “Sure, Jake. Just let me get my purse.”

  “Can anyone tell me where the fuck to find Evan?” Jordan was over all this. He thought it was an office, a professional type place, where he’d be working, but apparently it was a circus.

  A familiar mop of curly brown hair poked out around another door. “Jordan? Hey!”

  “Oh, goodie… Another badass…” the woman murmured, but she grinned before sticking out her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Miriam, the office manager, but we can catch up later. I have a date.” Her girlish giggle followed her out the door with the man who was fondly clutching her waist.

  Huge guy was lowering the sunglasses dude, and as he slunk down the wall, Jordan edged past him to embrace Evan in a back-slapping hug.

  “Touch her again and I’ll break your fucking arms off and shove them up your nostrils,” the big guy was muttering to the guy wearing sunglasses.

  “Interesting place you work at, bro.”

  “We, Jordan. We work at. Come on, let me introduce you to everyone.” Evan started to lead him around as Jordan’s mind spun.

  Interesting, indeed.

  Anne has written her entire life and has the boxes of angst-filled journals and poetry to prove it. She’s been writing for public consumption for the last four years. Currently she is writing two romance series. In Stories of Serendipity, she explores real people living real lives in small town Texas in a contemporary romance setting. In The Four Winds, she chronicles God’s four closest archangels, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, falling in love and becoming human. She lives in rural East Texas with her husband and children in her own private oasis, where she prides herself in her complete lack of social skills, choosing instead to live with the people inside her head. Check out her blog, www.anneconley.com for updates, book blurbs, and more.

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  Serendipity Series

  Welcome to Serendipity, Texas, a town where real people deal with real problems. Meet characters in their thirties and forties struggling with day-to-day issues and managing to find love in the process. Visit Serendipity, where the days are hot, and the nights are steamy! The first story, Neighborly Complications, is free! www.anneconley.com/p/neighborly.html

  The Four Winds Series

  The Four Winds series are Paranormal Romances dealing with the Archangels. They are the biblical archangels, so there are aspects of Christianity in them. But the conflict in the stories are about the archangels falling in love and turning human, so they are dealing with human emotions and feelings. Due to various reactions of shock and outrage, I feel the need to put the spoiler out there: These books have sex in them, but also Christianity. So if either of those bother you, please don't buy these books. First book in the series is free! www.anneconley.com/p/falling-for-heaven.html

  Pierce Securities

  A group of misfits come together to form Pierce Securities & Investigations; doing the best they can with their collective and individual strengths; becoming unlikely heroes in the process.

  Stand Alone Novels

  Best Laid Plans of Boys and Men

  Fixer Upper

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