“If I say it, will you say it too?” I asked, swallowing hard, even though my mouth was dry. I willed him silently not to joke around or say anything that could hurt me.
“Yes, but I need to hear you say it first,” he answered in a voice filled with tension.
“What are you, four? Why can’t we just say it at the same time?” I asked, panicking.
“Because that’s stupid. And when I was four, I said it by licking your Fruit Roll-Up. Why can’t you just say it? Don’t you trust me?”
“Why do you always get to decide who does what? I let you lift, and I wiped!”
“You’re comparing us declaring our love for each other to wiping a baby’s ass?!”
“Ah ha! You said it!” I announced victoriously.
“I did not! I was saying it generally. That’s different than saying it!”
“You said ‘declaring our love’!”
“That’s different than saying ‘I love you’!”
“Ah ha!” I cried again.
“Oh Jesus H. Christ! Who’s the one who’s four? Will you just say it, woman?!”
“Fine! I love you, you asshole!”
“I love you too, you nutty broad!” In two strides he was in front of me and picking me up. He slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried me into the bedroom. It was much more caveman than Rhett Butler.
“Why don’t you just beat me over the head with a club?” I called out.
“Don’t tempt me,” he replied and tossed me down on the bed. “Time to get naked, Lilith. I’m about to plow your love grotto,” he said, peeling off his shirt and tossing it on a chair. As much as I hated to admit it, I was really turned on, but I wasn’t going to make it too easy for him. After all, what fun would that be?
“Look Conan, you want to thrust your angry dagger into my honeyed chalice, that’s fine by me, but this is how it’s going to go down. I’ll tell you what I want you to do and you’ll do it. Then you can tell me and I’ll do it. But it’s equal. You understand me?”
“Fine,” he said kicking off his shoes and pulling off his socks. “Your wish is my command, oh demon queen.” He stood up straight again and gave me a hot look.
“Take off your pants, smartass,” I demanded. He gave me a wicked smile, opened his belt, and undid his trousers, letting them drop to the floor. Then he stepped out of them and kicked them aside. I could see clearly, that he found this little back and forth as arousing as I did. I felt my skin starting to become flushed with desire.
“My turn,” he said in a low, thick voice. “Unbutton your blouse. Slowly. But first, I want to hear you say it again.” Not to get all flowery, but he gave me a smoldering look and his eyes really did look like burning coals. I swear!
“I love you, you schmuck,” I said, getting up and holding his gaze, as I slowly opened my blouse one button at a time. His eyes dropped to my breasts and I saw his breathing quicken. I slid it down over my shoulders and let it drop to the floor and he swallowed hard and licked his lips. I felt that one right between the legs. “Looks like you’ve only got one thing left to take off, cowboy, but I want to hear you say it again too.”
“I love you, you mouthy wench,” he said and slid his briefs off. My eyes dropped to his gloriously attentive naughty bits. That’s a romance novelist’s way saying he had one hell of a hard-on. That was one nice purple-headed warrior. I looked back up to find him smirking at me. “Now, take off the rest of it, but don’t forget to tell me what I want to hear.”
“I love you, you arrogant bastard,” I said and then unhooked my bra and tossed it aside. I kicked off my shoes, pulled off my trouser socks, opened up my pants and let them hit the floor. Then I bit my lower lip seductively and pushed my panties down over my hips with a wiggle. When they joined my pants, I kicked it all to the side. “Tell me again,” I said, breathing hard.
“I love you, you nasty shrew,” he said, his eyes traveling up and down my body. When he met my gaze again, I saw that they were fogged with desire and filled with emotion. “Now, come here, and tell me.”
I walked slowly over to stand in front of him. Even without touching him, I could feel his heat like a furnace. I reached up to brush my fingers along his jaw while staring deeply into his eyes. A lot of women don’t like it when their men aren’t clean shaven, but I loved the burning feeling of his beard abrading my skin.
“I love you, Adam,” I said quietly. Before I could say anything else, he gently placed his fingers on my lips to silence me.
“I love you too, Lily.” Then he kissed me and it was nothing short of transcendent. His tongue swept into my mouth and I surrendered myself to a wave of sensation that made my skin tingle and my nipples harden. He pressed harder, probing deeply, and then pulling back and spreading light feathery kisses around my lips, and mumbling, “I love you” over and over.
My heart was so filled with emotion that my chest ached. When he reached down, picked me up and carried me to bed this time, it was much more romantic. He put me down gently and laid down next to me, leaning over to blanket me with his heat, nuzzling and kissing my neck in the way that he knew drove me wild.
“Adam.” I clutched onto him almost desperately. “Please, don’t leave.” It was my deepest fear, that I would let myself love someone, and they would reject me if I displeased them, that I would always be alone.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lily. I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say that you wanted to be with me.”
His mouth found mine again and we never broke our kiss, even as he positioned himself over me and slowly filled me up inside. Adam had always been the only one who could really do that. Apart from a couple of good friendships, every other relationship had left me empty. He was the only one who broke through my defenses and made me feel. When he was fully seated, he moved to kiss my neck, giving me chills as a moan escaped my throat. We just laid there together, still for a moment, enjoying the feeling of him buried deeply inside me.
Then his hips moved against me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt so many things, the physical pleasure and relief as my inner muscles accepted and hugged him, the overwhelming emotion of finally, after so long, being able to tell him what I was feeling and not be afraid anymore. At last, I was able to really open up and let him in, and I think maybe for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone. Now that I felt able, I couldn’t stop telling him, and I mumbled, “I love you” over and over like he had moments ago. He pulled back to look into my eyes as he adjusted his angle to push into me even deeper.
“You’re so beautiful, Lily,” he replied thickly, “I can’t get enough of you. I would do anything for you.” I felt the tension building, as my muscles gripped him, and the smell of our sweat and sex was like a drug, making me feel drunk on pleasure.
“Tell me again,” I pleaded, gasping and searching his eyes deeply for more reassurance. “Tell me you won’t leave me. I want to be with you. I’ve always wanted …I’ve always wanted to be with you.”
“I won’t leave,” he answered hoarsely. “I’ve loved you since you put glitter in my hair. I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”
He returned my gaze just as intently and then he leaned down and kissed me, without even breaking his rhythm. Our tongues had perfected an intimate mutual exploration, and we knew just how to please each other. It really was like we had been waiting our whole lives for each other, like this was what was meant to be. Bashert, as our grandparents had called it, fate.
My room was filled with heat and the sounds of our sighs, and groans and ragged breathing, as our hands slid along each other’s slick bodies. I was consumed with a sweet ache every time he pulled back, and dizzy with pleasure every time he pushed into me deeply. Finally, as we moved together in a sensual rhythm to the edge, he broke our kiss to look at me again, and I knew what he wanted me to say.
“I love you,” I panted, getting closer, climbing … “So much. Only you.”
“I love you too,
” he answered, breathing heavily and looking like he couldn’t hold on much longer. “Only you, Lily. Always you.”
We began moving even faster, thrusting harder, pleading and moaning, until, moments later, lights burst before my eyes, and I felt my inner muscles contract hard, and keep contracting, in waves of white hot pleasure and intense relief. Feeling me go over the edge, Adam stopped holding back, and went still, his muscles tensing, a tremor passing through his body, as we cried out each other’s names ecstatically. We finally let go, but we held on tight.
Later as we laid together, still holding each other, we talked for hours about all kinds of things. We looked back and tried to see some of our history together through the lens of two people who had wanted to be together, but didn’t know how to do it. It explained a lot. Both of us had denied our feelings, even to ourselves, and it felt good to finally be able to talk about it.
We didn’t just talk about the past, though. We talked about the present, and even the future a bit. I think that from that point on, Adam and I both knew that we were meant to be together, and that we would be, somehow. After all, we kept winding up back together, no matter how hard we had tried to stay apart. That didn’t mean we wouldn’t still get on each other’s nerves. We were still Adam and Lily, not Gabrielle and Braden, even if we were in love too.
“You want to help me with some of my cases next week?” he asked eventually, rubbing my shoulder as he held me, snuggling against him.
“I’d like that.” I pulled myself up a little so I could look at him. “I want to feel like I’m contributing and making myself useful.”
“I know.” He smiled at me. “I figure I had better keep you occupied before you wind up arguing before the Supreme Court when I’m not looking.”
“I could probably question a witness or two,” I offered. “I think I have the confidence to pull it off.”
“You think you do?” He laughed. “From what I’ve seen so far, you’ve got plenty of swagger in the courtroom.” He kissed the top of my head.
“Your confidence is really sexy there,” I confessed. “You were turning me on.”
“Well, if you want to have a rendezvous with me, Braden and Gabrielle can tell us every hook-up spot in the courthouse.”
“You’re kidding.” I laughed.
“Nope. Arguing in court against each other used to get their motors revved. I think Braden may have a map,” he joked.
“Do you talk to your friends about us?” I asked curiously, reaching up to stroke his cheek. He leaned into my touch and nuzzled my hand affectionately.
“What, about our sex life? Only in general. Guys don’t go into detail about their wives and girlfriends. Not like women do anyway.”
“How do you know?”
“I have three sisters, who all have plenty of friends. Talk about overhearing more than you ever wanted to know about your family members. They’ve almost burned a hole in my head a few times.”
“So that’s what happened,” I teased and he tickled me, making me giggle and squirm, and thus giving him a cheap thrill. “What have you told them?” I asked curiously.
“I told them we’re very good together and, that you’re incredibly sexy and you drive me so nuts I feel like I’m seventeen again. What have you told your friends? Adam’s dick is exactly eight and a half inches long, and he can go for forty-nine minutes a pop, with seven minutes of down time …”
“I just said that you’re very talented. You’ve obviously had plenty of practice.”
“Does it bother you a lot that I had such a prolific sex life in the past?” He sounded concerned, and he pulled me against him tighter.
“Not that much. I believe you when you say that it’s different with me because I know it’s different with you.”
“I don’t have any interest in being with anyone else anymore.”
“Me neither. You’re the only one I’ve really wanted since summer.”
“I started losing interest in random hook-ups then too, and after that weekend at the cabin, you were all I thought about. I knew that I had to do something. I just didn’t really know what, but we always seem to wind up together, so I figured it would work out somehow.”
“You know we’re still going to argue, Adam,” I warned him, rubbing my hand over his chest. “We’re just both sarcastic, argumentative people. At twenty-seven, we’re already like that old couple you always see bickering in the synagogue parking lot by their Lincoln Continental.”
“That’s okay, Lily. That old couple are still together, aren’t they? Besides, that’s why God invented make-up sex.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
That week Adam and I learned a lot. During the days, we learned to work together as I became a practicing lawyer. I was kind of amazed at how quickly I took to it. According to Jess at least, Adam and I had a similar courtroom style – cocky. Who knew that was lurking inside me? I saw a look of amusement and pride on his face as I started taking on more and more. Unfortunately, it wasn’t making me very popular on defense side. It wasn’t long before Jess and Mark didn’t love me anymore. In fact, I think Mark wanted to beat me senseless after one preliminary hearing we did together.
I must admit I did give him a hard time. His client had tried to pay a restaurant bill with a stolen credit card – stolen from the waitress serving her. I dropped that little tidbit as a surprise and barely managed to contain my amusement when the waitress testified that the defendant had also handed over the waitresses’ own driver’s license as identification. I glanced up at Mark with a shadow of a smirk. Oh come on! It was funny! Who does that? He glared back at me like he wanted to commit a crime himself. Some people have no appreciation for the ridiculous. After I got all of the charges held for trial, and a couple more added, I returned to the prosecution table where Adam was giving me an entirely different kind of look. I sat down beside him as Braden and Jess got up to do a guilty plea.
“That was great,” he leaned over and whispered in my ear. “You handled it brilliantly and it was very sexy. I wanted to take you back to my office and do all kinds of dirty things to you.”
“That was amusing,” I replied. “I can’t believe anyone would be that thick.”
“Believe it and get used to it. I think I’m really going to enjoy being in court with you every day. You’ve got some pretty hot swagger, counselor.”
To my surprise, I was actually enjoying this job quite a lot myself so far. I seemed to be able to channel a ton of confidence in a courtroom that I didn’t always have elsewhere. Maybe I really had inherited something from my parents after all. Besides, Adam had some pretty hot swagger too and we seemed to work well together.
In the evenings that week, Adam and I also learned to cohabitate. That process went a little less smoothly. For example, we bought groceries and decided to make dinner together in the evenings after work, but his culinary skills were a bit better developed than mine were.
“Why are you staring at a garlic press?” he asked, startling me.
“I was wondering what it did.”
“It presses garlic, hence the name,” he answered dryly.
“Do you see the words ‘garlic press’ written on here, Mr. Smartass? How in the hell was I supposed to know what it was called”
“Who usually feeds you, Ronald McDonald?”
“Very funny. Why would you pack a garlic press when you came here?”
“I didn’t; that’s yours.”
“It is?” I stared at it with amazement and confusion.
“You’re an interesting woman, Adler.”
Sharing space was a little tricky at first, as I found the first night that I wanted to go through my little beauty regimen.
“What are doing in there, retiling?” he called out, banging on the bathroom door.
“Why, you like hanging out in bathrooms? I’ve heard there are guys like that.” I finished smearing a mud mask on my face and wrapped the towel around my hair a little tighter.
“
No, I don’t actually. I use bathrooms for other things, like relieving myself, which is what I’ve needed to do for the past twenty minutes while you’ve taken up residence in there.”
“Well, why didn’t you tell me you had to go before?” I shouted.
“Because I wasn’t aware that this was going to become a test of my willpower,” he shouted back.
“Can you wait another ten minutes?”
“Not without sustaining permanent injury.”
“Fine! Close your eyes.”
“What?!”
“Close your eyes God damn it! You can open them when you get in here.” I heard grumbling outside the door. “Are they closed?”
“Yes! Hurry up already before my bladder bursts!”
I walked over and carefully opened the door. True to his word, Adam stood there with eyes closed and a pained look on his face, fidgeting around. I walked out and gently shoved him inside, closing the door behind him. A couple of minutes later, after he accomplished what he had set out to do, he came barreling out of the bathroom and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. The look on his face went from shock to amusement very quickly.
“What are you doing with your eyes open?!” I demanded.
“You’ve got some mud, right about here,” he teased, pointing to the corner of his mouth.
“You said you would close your eyes!”
“That was going in! I didn’t make any promises coming out.”
“It was understood! Why would I ask you to close them going in if I didn’t want you to close them coming out? What, you think I’m playing hide and seek?”
“No, I think you’re nuts! What are you worried about?”
“I didn’t want you to see me like this. I look horrible.”
“No, you don’t. Well, okay, I’ve seen you look better, but I don’t care. I know that you’re beautiful under all that gook.” He walked over to me, looking like he was trying not to laugh. Putting his arms around me he pulled me to him. “Lily, I love you, even like that.” He leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips.
Legal Briefs (Lawyers in Love) Page 19
