Love Me Carefully

by A. C. Arthur

  Terrell didn’t say a word, simply tossed the box on the nightstand and walked to her. Planting both hands firmly beneath her bottom he lifted. She obediently clasped her legs tightly around his waist and they fell, more like collapsed, onto the waiting mattress, both laughing and kissing.

  Pulling himself up to rest on his elbow he looked down into her eyes, rubbing his thumb over her swollen lips. “We are going to be so good together.”

  He definitely didn’t have to tell her what she already knew. So without further preamble she removed his glasses. Stretching her arms to reach the nightstand, she set them down. “We’re going to be great together.” She smiled as her eyes returned to his.

  His heart skipped a beat. In her own subtle way, she’d told him what he so desperately needed to hear—she loved him. Dropping his head, he took her lips again briefly, teasingly, before unbuttoning her shirt.

  She was still as a stone as he undid the buttons one by one. Then his long fingers splayed across the span of her stomach, their warmth easing her nervousness. When his hand moved to cup one swollen breast, she held her breath. Then he leaned closer, suckling through the material of her bra one hardened nipple. She moaned into the quiet of the room.

  With one hand still attending the breasts he’d dreamed about so frequently, his other hand reached between her back and the mattress to unsnap her bra. Then he removed both the shirt and the bra.

  A few braids had fallen forward with her movements and now hung between and around her breasts. One by one he moved them around her shoulders to lie against the mattress and brushed the back of his hands against the creamy brown swells. Because he couldn’t resist, because the mere sight of darker brown nipples, puckered and hard from his lips, called to him, he cupped each breast hungrily, kneading the mounds through his fingers. Again, he lavished them with his tongue, pushing them both closer together, attempting to suckle each nipple at once, then blowing on them in brief succession.

  Leah clenched at the sheets as her head bobbed from side to side. She’d never felt this before, never. From her neck down she was on fire, her body heating like hot lava waiting for the ultimate eruption.

  With trembling hands he finished undressing her. Finally, blessedly, she was gloriously naked, lying on the bed, her braids haloing around her head. “You are so beautiful.” He looked down at her with clear admiration in his eyes.

  Leah almost sang with joy. Nobody had ever looked at her like that, never said anything like that to her and it surprised her how much she’d needed it to hear it, how much she’d actually longed for someone to want her that way. Holding her arms out, she reached for him.

  Falling into her arms was the easiest thing Terrell had ever done. He felt so comfortable there, so right to be in her arms. The tighter she clung to him, the more positive he was that she was the woman for him.

  When his lips grazed the sensitive skin beneath her ear, she purred with pleasure, arching up off the bed. Her legs wrapped around his as she felt the burning length of his desire covered still by his shorts rubbing roughly against her center.

  Slipping her hands between them she eased her hand down his belly, grasping his arousal. He jerked. Heady with her newfound power she quickly undid the buckle of his belt and unfastened his shorts. With both hands grazing the hardened contours of his bottom, she slid his shorts and boxers beneath his waist. Not wanting to wait another minute to feel him skin against skin, she grabbed the full length of him, stroking him slowly at first, then picking up the pace.

  Struggling for each breath, Terrell closed his eyes in ecstasy and buried his face further into the crook of her neck as her hands glided back and forth, pulling from him those premature drops of completion.

  “I want you,” she whispered.

  With those words, stars burst beneath his lids, his heartbeat accelerated and his mouth went dry. He wouldn’t make her beg, wouldn’t keep her waiting, would no longer deny himself. Reluctantly pulling away from her, he stood and quickly pulled his shirt over his head and let his shorts and underwear fall to the floor.

  “Open for me,” he murmured spreading her thighs further apart. She lay naked beneath him, her secret place unfolding, the musky scent of her arousal sifting up through his nostrils, intoxicating him, enveloping him. He rubbed one finger down her center, watching the rise and fall of her breasts, the sudden intake of her breath. With soft rhythmic motions his finger circled around the stiff bead at her center.

  Leah sucked in a tremendous amount of air and released it moments later on a long, exaggerated sigh. Her hands grasped the sheets as her legs began to tremble beneath his stimulating ministrations. When his fingers slid slowly, deeply inside her, a sound echoed throughout the room. Later she would realize that the sound had come from her. Her catlike moans escalated as her hips met the rhythm of his two fingers planted securely inside her. With his free hand Terrell deftly massaged her right breast, rolling the pebbled nipple between his fingers.

  “Terrell.” His name was torn from her throat.

  “You are so wet, so damned wet,” he whispered as his fingers slid deeper into her moist center.

  Lifting her right hand, she placed it atop his over her breast, guiding him to grip the softened mound harder as she climbed higher, to where she had no idea. Something was going on inside her, something was building and building, something so intense she was almost afraid of what would happen when it finally reached its peak. These were new sensations for her and she couldn’t quite get a handle on what to do or say. Going on instinct, she murmured, “I want to touch you.”

  Removing his hand from her breast, he guided her hand to his swollen sex. She quickly lifted her other hand, slipping both hands around him, admiring him with her touch.

  A low growl rumbled in his chest as he pulled his fingers from inside her and grabbed both breasts in his hands. She continued with quick up-and-down strokes, and he pumped against the continuous movement.

  When his arms grew weak with the steady rising of arousal he bent over her, first kissing her neck, then her ear, then her cheek. Quickly turning her head, she opened her mouth to his, inviting him to take all she had.

  “Oh my God,” he gasped just before her tongue delved back into his mouth.

  Each moment, each second, each touch of his hand pulled her closer to the brink where anticipation bloomed and waited to burst free.

  “Terrell.” Taking a breath, she tried to verbalize the feelings inside her.

  Words were not needed for he had been holding on to his own desire for far too long. He heard the desperation in her voice, felt it in the frantic ministrations of her hands, and thought he’d lose himself right there at that moment.

  But he’d told her he would make it good. He wanted to make it good for her. He wanted to make her love him the way he so desperately loved her. So losing himself now in the palm of her hand would be the act of a horny boy, not of a man soliciting a woman’s heart. With iron will he pulled out of her reach to lie on the bed beside her. His hands were quick as they spanned her waist, pulling her so they both lay on their sides entwined by legs and arms.

  “Leah, I’ve wanted you for so long,” he told her, his fingers twining through her heavy braids.

  “I never thought I could want like this,” she sighed into his mouth, denial of her feelings towards him a distant memory.

  For endless moments they kissed, their tongues sealing the bond between them. Leah thought she’d explode when he finally pulled his mouth away from hers. Blinking, she stared into his eyes. They simmered with passion, glistened with pleasure. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted him to know, but the words didn’t come.

  As if he knew exactly what was going through her mind, the backs of his fingers glided slowly over her cheek, his chest heaving beside hers. “There’s no turning back, Leah.” His voice cracked both with desire and fear. “I need you to know that I want all or nothing.”

  “I know that,” she told him. And she was prepa
red to give it, she wanted to give it.

  “You have to want that, too.” His voice was stronger now as his erection jutted and poked against her stomach. When she didn’t answer, his fear grew while his eyes questioned her again.

  “I don’t know what to say, Terrell. I just know that I want to be with you, now. Is that enough?” She sure as hell hoped it was.

  “As long as you know where I stand.” It wasn’t enough. He had wanted her to tell him that she wanted the same things he did, that she’d give him those things willingly, but she hadn’t and a small part of him said he should walk away—the bigger part elected to stay.

  From the nightstand he grabbed the box, tore it open and returned to her with a small packet in hand. “You want to do the honors?” he asked.

  Leah quickly shook her head. She’d been bold enough when they’d been caught up in the passion, but now that they’d had a moment to regain their senses she was feeling a tad shy.

  Terrell smiled, ripped the wrapping off and covered himself. Pushing her onto the mattress, he covered her, bringing his lips down to take her mouth in a kiss designed to muddle her mind, to make her forget there was anyone else in the world except the person kissing her.

  To Leah, the kiss did all those things and then some. Her arms twined around his neck. The beauty of Negril paled in comparison to this man who was preparing to love her.

  He entered her slowly, painfully slowly, and her heart ached with the connection. He inserted himself deeper and deeper until she could feel his testicles against the swollen lips of her vagina. He stayed there for endless moments deep inside her, surrounded and engulfed by her.

  Terrell held his breath and only the thought of dying on top of her had him expelling it in one great whoosh. After all these weeks he couldn’t believe he was finally here. He was finally inside her and it was beyond anything he’d ever imagined. Her muscles clamped around him, taking him deeper still. When he finally possessed enough energy he pulled out of her gently, raising up on his elbows so he could look into her face.

  Her eyes were closed as if she were regaining herself as well. Brushing light kisses along her cheeks he murmured her name with each long, sensuous stroke he made.

  Leah moaned, her hands gripping his shoulders, her hips matching his rhythm, her mind soaring into the clouds, as the sensations of his manhood moved through the depths of her, inciting new sensations throughout her body.

  “Oh, Terrell,” she murmured into his neck, nipping lightly at his skin.

  Terrell moaned with absolute satisfaction, “Leah.”

  As they moved together to the melody known only to lovers, his soul shook with the intensity of the feelings. He loved her beyond words and wondered if he told her what her reaction would be. Her bucking and twisting beneath him tore his mind from those thoughts. He hardened to an almost painful point and stroked longer, harder, slamming into her with uninhibited ardor. Her legs clenched around him tighter, her bottom lifting off the bed as the convulsions began to overtake her.

  She’d reached it, she realized. She’d reached the top of that mountain and, with Terrell’s persistent but pleasing thrusts, she’d fallen right over and now floated somewhere between heaven and earth. A ragged cry, a gasp of pure pleasure bounced off the walls and filled her ears. She’d screamed, she’d actually screamed. For years, she’d laughed at Nikki when she’d described a man making her climb the walls and yell with pleasure, and now she was sure she’d just done the same thing.

  He’d pleased her, he could tell by the sound of her voice, the strength in her legs still wrapped tightly around him and the tightening convulsions of her walls around his penis. He was elated with the thought that he’d kept his word. A small part of him wondered if she’d faked it, thoughts of Tanya coming to mind. Then as quickly as that glimmer of doubt appeared it was replaced by the sound of her voice.

  “I’ve never been there before,” she whispered against his ear, taking the soft lobe into her mouth, suckling.

  Nothing could ever surpass this feeling he’d just evoked. She seemed so content, so blissfully sated he ached to join her. Lifting above her, he untwined her legs from his waist and placed an ankle on each of his shoulders, plunging deeper inside her. “How about I meet you there?” A passion-filled grin spread across his face as he pumped into her fiercely.

  Though Leah thought it would take hours to recover from her latest ride, Terrell’s demanding strokes started the climb all over again.

  His hands gripped her ankles as he balanced himself on his knees, lifting her up to meet every thrust. “Leah!” Her name was torn from his very soul as her muscles pulled at him, twisting his insides and making him quake.

  “Oh God, Leah!” His thrusts quickened, the friction of his hardness against her silken walls coaxing him, guiding him to oblivion. “Damn. Damn, this is so good.” His lips contorted, his face twisted.

  “Terrell.” She was breathless. This couldn’t be possible, she couldn’t be taking the same trip again—so soon. Her heart raced, her hands clenched at the sheets as she opened her eyes to see him.

  He was on his knees above her, holding her legs tightly at his neck while he plunged into her mercilessly. In that instant he looked strong, confident and definitely male. Her heart ached with a feeling she knew had to be love. For all that he’d seemed to be when she first saw him—nerdy, geeky, nervous and confused—now he controlled her. He owned her and he worked her until she thought she’d crumble into a million pieces.

  “Oh baby, it’s…” The words seemed stuck in his throat. “Leah, baby.” His movements stiffened and he came with what almost seemed like pain. “Oh, oh…Leah.” The muscles in his arms bulged as his hands gripped her ankles and he froze over her.

  Leah felt a dizzying sense of spiraling in the air. Her vagina throbbed and pulsated as her release oozed out slow and hot.

  Terrell collapsed on top of her, afraid that he’d die right there, but knowing that if that were the case, he’d die one happy man!

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Straight to step three,” Leah mumbled, the side of her face cushioned by Terrell’s chest.

  “Hmmm?” His eyes didn’t open, and his hands didn’t move from where they rested on her back.

  She sighed contentedly. “Nothing, I was just thinking aloud.” She snuggled closer.

  But Terrell remembered her silly notion of relationships and the four-step method. “So I guess we’re moving backward, huh?”

  Her head lifted slightly and he knew she was staring at him. He cracked his eyes to see her shocked expression. “I remember your four-step method. I guess we’re moving backwards. Now we’ll start dating.” His tone was casual but his heartbeat accelerated.

  “Since we’ve clearly gone off course I’m not sure where we go next,” she told him honestly.

  “We could start a new method,” he told her in a cheerful voice. “First step—admitting the attraction and acting on it, what we’ve been doing the last couple of days.” His arms extended to make a sweeping motion toward their naked bodies. “Second step—admit we’re madly in love.” He waited a beat for her denial. “Third step—marriage and family. Bam! Happily ever after!” He smiled down at her when she made no effort to stop or correct him.

  After a moment of regarding the small cleft in his chin she hadn’t noticed until now since his goatee practically concealed it, Leah wondered at his logic. “That sounds as foolish as the plan I’d come up with.”

  “Maybe,” he shrugged. “But a man can dream.”

  “Yeah, I guess you can.” Lowering her eyes, she thought about his dream and how much she wanted it to be her own.

  One arm slid from her back and his finger slightly lifted her chin. “It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Leah.” He looked into eyes teetering between her deepest desire and the mistakes of the past.

  “When my father left I thought it was the end of the world. My family was destroyed. And I wanted so much to hate him for leaving, but I knew
that if he’d stayed they would have continued to argue. They would have continued to hate each other and, as much as I wanted my family, I wanted the fighting to stop more.”

  Terrell absently lifted a braid and twined it around his finger as she continued.

  “Then when my mother said she was getting married again, I thought I’d been given another chance. And then she had a baby and I was so excited. Not only did I have a mother and a father, now I had a little brother. Then that was over too. By her third marriage I stopped hoping that I’d ever have a real family. Mama just kept getting married and having babies and getting divorced. And I kept getting older, swearing I’d never go through that kind of heartache or disappointment.”

  “So your four steps were designed to shield you from a broken heart?” He’d already figured that out, but thought it would be good if she admitted it.

  “That and the realization that I was no better than she was when it came to commitments.”

  “But that’s not true. You’ve committed to your business and from what I can tell you’re doing a great job.”

  “That’s a different kind of commitment,” she reasoned. Laying her head back on his chest, she let the rhythm of his steady breathing soothe her. He was listening to her, hearing thoughts she’d never before voiced, seeing a part of her even Nikki had yet to see.

  “It’s still a commitment, and it took a lot of guts. You didn’t fail when you opened the shop, so why are you so convinced you’ll fail when you enter a relationship?”

  “I thought that’s how things worked. I guess I never really took the time to see if I’d be good at a relationship or not.” In the last few days she’d come to realize that she wasn’t her mother and in so many ways she’d already proved that. Instead of using her mother’s mistakes as a crutch all these years she should have used them for strength.

  As enlightening as her thoughts toward relationships were, they paled in comparison to the fact that she’d never before thought of entering a serious relationship, until Terrell. She’d never before allowed herself to truly examine what she wanted and how she could get it, until Terrell.