by Jess Bryant
Rachel grabbed the material of the skirt and pulled it up. She heard Remy’s sharp intake of breath even though she couldn’t see him as she pulled the dress over her head. She dropped it to the floor and took a deep breath for courage before she looked back up to meet Remy’s gaze.
His eyes were almost black, the pupils pushing the blue out to a thin ring, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, “You weren’t wearing anything under that dress all night?”
Her cheeks flushed with heat and it spread down her neck and over her naked chest, “I-I-I couldn’t… the shoulders were sheer and I didn’t have a strapless b-b-bra so…
Remy took two steps forward and cut her stuttering off with a deeply invasive kiss. She moaned at the possessive kiss and he took advantage, his tongue darting inside to twine with hers. He softened the kiss after only a moment and she thought he was going to pull back so she let out a surprised shriek when he lifted her up instead.
“Legs around my waist.” His voice was rough and she followed the order, wrapping her body around his as one of his big hands went to her bare ass, holding her close, “Hold onto me.”
“Always.” She peppered his jaw with kisses as he carried her towards the bedroom.
The feel of being in his arms, completely naked, while he was still fully dressed, was far more erotic than she’d thought it could be. The cotton of his dress shirt rubbed against her erect nipples. She could feel him through his pants, big and hard, and her body responded in kind, growing wet and achy. It knew the kind of pleasure this man could give her and was ready for more, for everything.
But when he set her gently on the bed and pulled back to look down at her, all of her confidence faltered. He stripped off his shirt and she couldn’t help but gape up at him as he revealed his perfect body. Muscles and ink, that ring of stars tattooed on his side and the other on his shoulder, he was all tan skin with the raised slash of a scar here and there, proof of his hard life imprinted on his hard body. He’d shaved for the wedding so his square jaw was free of its usual dark stubble which only highlighted his soft mouth and high cheekbones even more than usual. He was beautiful, perfect, and she didn’t deserve him.
Remy must have seen her falter because he paused with his pants unbuttoned and reached for her chin, “Rach, baby, you still with me?”
“Yeah, I…” Her voice broke, “I want you. I-I… I’m just scared.”
His hard face softened instantly and the heat in his eyes turned warm and gentle as he knelt in front of her and framed her face, “You don’t have to be scared of me, Rachel. I would never hurt you. Never. You know that, right?”
“Yeah…”
“I know you’re a virgin and I know how big a gift it is that you’re giving me. I know you were saving it, saving yourself, for someone that would love you the way you deserve to be loved. Baby, that’s me. It’s always gonna be me. I may not be innocent, not by a longshot, but I’ve been waiting for you all my life too. If you’re not ready, that’s fine. I’ll keep waiting until you are. I’d wait for you forever.”
Tears clouded her vision and she shook her head, trying to wipe them away, “No. It’s not that. I don’t want to stop.”
“Rach…”
“No.” She reached for him and forced him to meet her gaze this time as she shook her head, “It scares me how much I love you. I’m scared of losing you. I’m scared that if we do this, if we take this last step, you’ll have my body right along with my heart and that if I lose you, I’ll never get either back.”
Remy softly caged her wrists and held her hands to him, “Baby, I love you… but you’re never getting those things back if I have any say in it. They’re mine. You’re mine.”
She bit her lip as his words sank in, “I love you so much.”
“Then let me love you, Rachel. Let me show you how much I love you, show you that there’s nothing that could ever make me stop.”
His words, his sweetness, his love, it completely undid her. She was already naked but now she felt it. Naked and exposed. Every fear on full display. Her fear of being hurt, of being abandoned, of being used and discarded were all right there and all she had to do in order to vanquish them forever, was trust Remy.
The decision was really simple when she thought about it that way, “Make love to me.”
“Always.” Remy kissed her lips softly, “Whenever I touch you, I’m making love to you Rachel. Always.”
“I-I…” Her nerves go the better of her and she sighed, “I don’t know what to do.”
“Your body does. Your heart does. Just feel me.”
Remy kissed her again, soft and sweet. His lips were always so soft, so at odds with all of his hard edges. He kissed her until she was melting against him, until she was wrapping her arms around him and trying to pull him closer. He kissed her until she was the one to nip at him and suck on his bottom lip, all but demanding more.
When he moved, he moved quickly. He had her on her back on the bed, before she even realized he’d budged but all of a sudden there he was. His heavy weight didn’t feel confining holding her down. It felt like the perfect balance she needed so she didn’t float away. It felt safe, warm… perfect.
She tried to wrap her legs around his waist and grind her hips up against him to get the friction her body needed but a big hand on her thigh kept her pinned. She whined and Remy broke their kiss to chuckle. He leaned up enough to look down at her and the tilt to his lips could have verged on smug.
“Damn I love when my shy girl gets demanding.” He tilted his hips down and rubbed his length against her causing her to moan, “Tell me what you want, baby.”
“You. I want you.”
“You already have me.”
“Inside me.” She gasped when he rewarded her for her boldness by sliding a hand down between her legs, “Remy, please…”
“Shh, we’re gonna go slow, love. I don’t want you to feel a second of pain. Not now. Not ever.”
Tears prickled her eyes again but she didn’t have time to get lost in how sweet he was because Remy lowered his head and licked one of her nipples. She arched and cried out so he did it again. And again. And again. He kissed and sucked and licked at her breasts and as he tormented her sensitive flesh, his free hand slid between her legs and slowly began to work her open.
He’d spent the last week learning her body and he was right. He already owned it. It responded to him in ways she hadn’t even known were possible. He touched and she reacted. He pushed and she pushed back. He demanded and she gave because he had never once simply taken from her. Even now, when she knew he was hard and aching, throbbing for his own release, he didn’t rush.
He teased and tortured her. His fingers slid easily through her folds. She was so wet for him, so ready, but he didn’t budge from his mission to drive her crazy. He continued to play with her nipples as he slid two fingers inside her, swiping over her clit and making her arch off the bed.
“Oh, God, Remy.” She cried out as her eyes squeezed shut and her body shuddered, “I’m too close. I’m going to come.”
“No you’re not. Not yet.” His voice was gruff, rough as he released her breasts, “Your orgasms belong to me too. You don’t come until I say you can.”
Her body shuddered at his possessive tone, “I-I… I don’t think it works like that. Oh God, Remy… please.”
“You’re so goddamn tight.” He groaned as he pressed another finger into her.
“Feels… good. Too… good.” She struggled to breathe.
“Gonna feel even better when I get inside you.”
“Yes. Please. Please, Remy. I need you.”
She needed him inside her so badly she couldn’t even retain another thought. She needed Remy to join them, bind them together, once and for all. She needed to feel him inside her and she needed it now.
He pulled back and she whimpered at the empty feeling inside of her when his fingers slipped from her body. A cold chill washed over her and her panic got the bett
er of her. Her nails dug into his biceps and she whimpered, trying to hold him close.
Remy stilled instantly, “Condoms are in the bathroom, love. I gotta go get one.”
“No. Don’t leave me.”
“Rach…”
“No.” She cut him off and met his intense gaze, “I need it to just be you and me. Please, Remy. You know I’m a virgin. I’ve never been with anyone and I’m on birth control.”
“Birth control?” His gaze narrowed, “Why?”
“Because if the worst happened… I-I-I didn’t want a baby to be stuck in the same life I was.”
Remy’s eyes closed, squeezed tight as if her admission was as painful to hear as it was for her to say, “Jesus…”
“The pill… it makes me feel safe. You make me feel safe. I don’t need anything else between us if you don’t. I trust you.”
Remy stared down at her for a long minute where she was almost certain he was going to insist on getting a condom. Then he kissed her, a long, deep, soul-melting kiss that was all the answer she needed. He poured everything into that kiss, all the love he swore he felt for her, and it only made her surer of her decision to trust this man from the very beginning. She kissed him back the same way, loving him with her lips and tongue until their bodies were grinding together, the dance becoming faster and more frantic as they soared closer to the edge.
He took her at her word, that she was ready, that this was what she wanted. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t slow down. He simply aligned their hips and drove into her, as if she’d burned through the last thread of his control. In one hard stroke, he buried himself inside her, sealing her heart and body around him.
“Remy!” She screamed his name and he froze buried deep inside her.
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay baby.” He whispered softly as he planted sweet kisses across her cheek and jaw, “It’s okay. Give it a second and it’ll get better. I promise.”
She bit her lip and moaned as sensation coursed through her. There was a little bit of pain. She couldn’t say there wasn’t. But it was mostly the pressure, the feeling of fullness, the feeling of rightness that made her breath catch in her throat. She forced a deep breath and then another as Remy soothed her.
“Love you baby. Love you so much. Breathe. Just breathe.”
He kissed her softly and she swallowed past the lump in her throat as the pain began to turn into something itchy and needy. It wasn’t enough. She didn’t know why or how but even with him buried inside her body, it wasn’t enough.
“It doesn’t hurt. It’s… oh God, it’s so good.”
Remy’s lips twitched, “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Move. Please. I need more.”
“God, you’re perfect.” He kissed her lips and then dragged her bottom lip between his teeth, “So fucking perfect. Hold onto me, baby. You’re so tight, so wet, I’m not gonna last long.”
She did as he said and wrapped herself around him. There was still a small, stinging pain as he pulled back and thrust forward slowly this time but she wouldn’t tell him that. He would stop. She knew he would because he’d sworn not to hurt her. And he couldn’t stop because she could feel the pain turning to pleasure, building up inside her as her heart swelled and she fell even more in love with this incredible man.
He buried himself inside her and then pulled back, driving deep in slow, even strokes that hit her in all the right places. Her hips automatically circled, twisting and retreating and meeting him as he moved inside her. Her heart thumped in her chest and she realized, again, how right he was. Her body knew exactly what to do, even if she’d never gone this far before. And it knew because it was answering the call of his. This man that she loved so much it scared her. But there was nothing to be scared of anymore, not with Remy.
“I love you.”
“Love you too, baby.” He shifted slightly, lowering his body so he could nip at her lips and when he slammed inside her again she whimpered because he was grinding her clit at the same time, “Come for me, Rachel. I’ve felt you come on my fingers and my tongue. I need to feel you come on my cock while I’m buried deep inside you. Give it to me.”
“Oh, Remy…” Her body shivered as the impending orgasm barreled down her spine.
“That’s it baby. Come for me.”
“Remy!” She screamed his name when it all became too much.
She shuddered as every muscle in her body roiled with pleasure and her eyes shut again. She wished she could have kept them open. She’d wanted to see Remy’s handsome face when he found his own pleasure inside her body. She was already floating on her high when she felt him slam into her again and hold himself deep inside, when she felt the warm rush of his seed spill into her, and knowing that she would always have this piece of Remy made her orgasm even more powerful.
“Rachel.” He whispered her name as his climax waned and he collapsed against her, “Rachel. Oh, baby. Baby, I love you.”
“Love you too.” She managed through panting breaths.
His heavy body on top of hers was the only thing holding her together right now. She would have soared right off the bed otherwise. She kept her arms and legs wrapped around him when he tried to roll off of her even though her limbs felt weightless and weak.
Remy groaned and pushed up on his elbows when she didn’t let him go, “I’m crushing you.”
“You’re holding me together.” She corrected.
“Did I hurt you?” His dark blue gaze turned wary and concerned as it skittered over her, “I swore I wouldn’t hurt you and I…”
“No. No. It was perfect, Remy. You’re perfect. I love you so much. Thank you.”
He snorted, “Are you thanking me for fucking you, Rach? Really?”
She smacked his chest, “Thank you for loving me.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that either, babe. It’s easy. You make it so damn easy to love you. It’s the one thing in my life that’s never been a fight. From the moment I met you I knew I had to have you.”
“You do. You have me.”
“And I’m never letting you go.” He kissed her nose and then rolled them so she was resting against his chest.
Rachel tightened her hold on him and closed her eyes, praying that was true. Because he was right, things between them had come easily. The easy friendship that sparked from the easy attraction that had so easily turned into this relationship. They’d been playing house for a week because it was so easy to fall into each other, to trust each other and be there for each other. She only prayed that when she told him the truth, when she came clean and things got hard, that all of his sweet words would still stand true.
Chapter Thirteen
“Mmm…”
Remy paused his hands where he’d been stroking over her beautiful body but she didn’t wake. She didn’t move. She made a warm, humming noise that made the ache in his chest even more pronounced. When he’d woken up a half hour ago, he’d been content just to stare at her, amazed that she was here with him. He’d remembered every detail of their night together, of what it sounded like when she told him she loved him, what it had felt like to join their bodies, and of course the more he’d thought about that, the more his hands had seemed to develop a mind of their own.
He had to touch her. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. Hell, from the first day he met her he’d found it impossible not to touch her. He’d tried to go slow, tried not to push her, but the truth was, he’d known she was his and she hadn’t left his thoughts, or his sight, much since.
How many times had he gone over to Skylar’s salon in the last month? How many times had he let Skylar trim his hair when it hadn’t needed trimming? Too many really, because she’d started gigging whenever he walked through the door. But since Skylar liked him she’d let him get away with it, let him make his excuses to spend time with Rachel and so he had.
No matter what else he’d had going on, he’d found ways to see Rachel. Sometimes it was getting to work early so he could walk her in. Sometimes
it was convincing Skylar to go to lunch with her boyfriend so he could spend his lunch next door with Rachel. And sometimes he got to walk her home if he managed to cut out of the shop at the same time she was leaving the salon.
But in all of those instances, in all of those days and weeks, this was what he’d known they were moving towards. This. The two of them. Together. Forever. They still had things to talk about, to learn about each other, but this was the start. This was the beginning of the rest of their lives.
They loved each other and this, waking up in bed with her, wrapped around her, was the best morning of his life.
Remy stroked his fingers over the small scar on her shoulder. He’d never noticed it before. Of course, usually when she was topless he was much more focused on her breasts. Now, the sheet was tucked around her but the soft cream of her skin called to him and he couldn’t help but notice the small slash of scar that dotted her otherwise perfect skin. He leaned down, kissing it softly, hating that something had caused her pain.
“Mmm…” Rachel moaned again and shifted, curling against him, “Remy?”
“Mmhmm.” He kissed her shoulder again.
“I was hoping last night wasn’t a dream.”
“Not a dream. I’m here, baby.”
Her eyes fluttered open, soft and sleepy, “Morning.”
“Good morning, you mean.” He smirked when she raised an eyebrow. “With you here, there’s definitely such a thing as a good morning.”
Rachel giggled, “Such a sweet talker.”
“Only with you.” He leaned down to kiss her but she turned her face away.
“Morning breath. Let me go brush my teeth.”
He chuckled this time and tipped her chin back towards him, “Kiss me, Rach.”
She pursed her lips but leaned up and kissed him. A perfunctory brush of her lips over his. Pressure and nothing more. And he laughed when she tried to pull away. He caught her and tugged her back, kissing her soundly, kissing her until she gave up her discomfort and kissed him back.
