by S. E. Hall
He pulls me against him, leaning to whisper in my ear. “Close your eyes.” He rests his forehead on mine, his hands sneaking lower down my waist. “Do you see us now, Laney? When I close my eyes, all I see is us, perfect. What do you see, Laney?”
The words are right there, fighting to escape, caught in my throat. I picture it behind my eyelids, me and Dane, every day, no one else. Contentment washes over me first, the acceptance of choosing what I really want. Then the wave of excitement, anticipation…want. I want Dane. I want him in a way I’ve never wanted anyone else, not even Evan.
Like a cloud moves out from in front of the sun, the heat and light finding its way through, with clarity, I too realize—Lil’ Laney will always love Evan and appreciate what we have, but it’s unlike what I have with Dane. The woman I am today wants this man.
I’d known it before I walked in tonight, known it for a while, but it ends tonight. My Christmas present to myself: I’m going to put my feelings first. No more guilt, I’ve hurt no one on purpose; in fact, I’ve kept myself in constant turmoil in an attempt to avoid that very thing, but I can’t fight it any longer.
“I see us,” I whisper back. “I choose us.” Opening my eyes, I stare at him for long seconds. A smile creeps across my face along with my realization.
He sees it, my surrender. His low growl echoes around us and he lifts me, hands gripping my ass. I wrap my legs around his waist and ram my hands into his hair, attacking his mouth with mine. Our tongues collide in harmony, perfectly stroking each other. God, I love his mouth; hungry, seeking, rough, and sinful. There’s no way anyone has ever walked away from a kiss like this. His hands knead my ass while mine pull his hair. I slide my tongue along the roof of his mouth, teasing, before I pull back and nip his bottom lip, sucking on it.
Tucking my head down, I lick a torturously slow, straight line from the hollow of his throat to his chin. Looking into his eyes, now filled with a hunger so deep I tremble, I purr, “Your choice: bedroom or right here.”
MINE
You don’t kiss like that if you’re still on the fence, right? She chooses us, me. That’s what she said. She could already be driving home, but she came here. She made me those thoughtful gifts, the most wonderful I’ve ever received, so she must mean it. I have to be sure; I can’t take the unsure footing anymore. I almost lost Tate, all I knew for sure I had…I have to know Laney is hanging on to me as tight as I am to her.
I thought things were great with us and then Evan walked in behind her. I don’t want to know why he was there that night at the hospital. I don’t want to know where they’d been before all hell broke loose and they got there. I will never ask and I’m hoping she never tells me. Forward—that’s the only direction we’re going now.
Any red-blooded male would pick bedroom and run in there like he’s on fire, but I have to keep myself in check. She only gets one first time, and I only get one chance to make it perfect for her, for us, so I need to slow my roll. Here’s what’s gonna happen—I’m gonna put on the CD she made me, mostly because I’m dying to hear what she put on there and I can’t imagine making love to Laney without music. Then I’m going to walk her into my room, a threshold no female has ever crossed, and make sure she’s mine. When I’m convinced, I’m gonna make love to her all night. Then tomorrow, I’m gonna do it again.
“Are you sure?” My voice comes out huskier than I’d intended, but damn if this girl doesn’t fuck with my head.
She nods, blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders, full lips swollen and wet from me—ME. Her brown eyes are always big, and beautiful, but right now they’re almost green and they’re half-closed, brimming with desire. Laney Jo Walker tiptoed in that dorm room a doe caught in headlights, walls of stone around her…and now she’s wrapped around me, handing herself over.
Setting her down, I entwine our hands, leading her to the backyard. I need to buy some time. “Baby, let’s get in the hot tub, relax. Sound good?” Looking back at her, I suppress a chuckle at the disappointment I see in her eyes. My baby is hungry for this, which fills me with a pride I can’t explain. “You change and get in. I’ll be right back.” With a long, slow kiss, barely able to pull myself away, I move to leave her.
This is one of those neon signs flashing “love.” I’m planning the romantic set-up rather than the excuse to leave afterwards. I’m thinking about where I put the candles instead of the KY.
“Umm…” She pouts, sexy and adorable.
“Go on,” I say with a swat on her ass. “I won’t be gone long, I promise.”
I hurry back into the house, mind and body running on all cylinders, ticking off things in my head faster than I can act them out.
Shoot Tate a text. You and Bennett are not to come out for ANYTHING. I mean it! Laney’s here—ruin this and you’ll be back on crutches.
Pop CD in sound system, program to start in T-minus 10 minutes, play in bedroom/backyard only. Tate doesn’t get to hear our soundtrack.
Bound up stairs and almost fall changing into swim trunks.
Grab candles, light, scatter strategically around room.
Sprint to kitchen. Open wine, spill some, who cares. Walk calmly outside with two glasses.
Breathe.
“See, that didn’t take—” Words cease as I swallow my tongue. If I go blind tomorrow, I’m okay with that. “Um, baby, you forgot your suit,” I tease.
“I couldn’t find one.” She bites her bottom lip and shrugs.
Trying to hide my gulp, I wade through the water slowly, moving to her. I hand her a glass of wine and set mine down behind me, turning back to her when the CD starts to play around us, her sweet voice echoing through the backyard.
“Hi, Dane, Merry Christmas! I know it’s nothing fancy, like say, a trip to Disney World, but I hope you like it. I just thought a collaboration of us was worth having all in one place, so you could play it over and over…kinda like it does in my head. And here’s to hoping I get to make you another one next year. Love, Laney.”
I turn and look at her, the most beautiful blush across her face. “Well, that was kinda embarrassing,” she mutters. “I didn’t think I’d be with you when you heard it. While naked.” She casts her gaze down, wrapping her arms around herself.
Sitting and pulling her beside me, I lift her chin by one finger. “It’s the most amazing gift I’ve ever received, Laney. I love it.”
The thank you kiss starts out gentle, but this naked miracle has other plans, climbing up on my lap and never breaking her lock on my mouth. Her arms slide around my neck, her knees spreading to grip the outside of my hips. I refuse to take her anywhere but in my bed the first time, so I stand, clutching her against me.
We’re dripping wet, but I’ll be damned if I’m stopping for a towel. I take the stairs two at a time, her legs gripped around my waist, and kick my bedroom door shut behind us, Laney sucking my mouth the entire trip. Her fingers muss my hair, pulling, her little moans and mews making me delirious.
“Baby,” I pant into her mouth, “tell me what you want. I need the words.” I walk to the bed and lay her down gently. Standing over her, my eyes raking up and down her unbelievable body, I send up a silent thank you that I’m a man, followed by a prayer to do right by her.
“Love me, Dane.” Her eyes are hazy, her arms opening to me. She’s so fucking gorgeous, unreal even, lying wanting in my bed. Beads of water still visible on her golden body and my chest aches with each breath I manage to take.
“I do love you, Laney. I love you more than anything.” I silence myself now, though all I want to do is profess on and on what she means to me.
She pushes herself up on her elbows, her beautiful, ample breasts thrusting towards me. Her nipples are a deep pink, just like her lips, and mine itch to kiss her there. “You love me? Like love me, love me?” Her eyes water and her mouth twitches, afraid to smile until she’s sure I mean it.
I move on the bed, hovering over her on my forearms but close enough to feel her warm body beneath me
. “I’m not sure what kind of love you mean, baby, but if you mean do I want you to be with me forever, that I can’t bear the thought of being without you as my lover, my best friend, my whole world…one day my wife, and my baby mama,” I wink at her and smile, “then yes, I love you love you.”
Tears roll down her cheeks now, so I shift to lie beside her, wiping them away. “Happy tears, I hope?”
Chuckling, she nods. “Yes, very happy tears. You overwhelm me, but in such a good way.” She rolls on her side, burying her face in my chest. I run my hand down her side, over her hip, down to that little dent between hip and stomach, “Dane’s Dent.” Her breathing staggers against my chest as my hand treks to her delectable ass. I growl as I squeeze it, finest fucking ass ever; tight, round and all mine.
Timidly, she unburies her face and flicks her tongue on my nipple. Animalistic, I roar and roll her underneath me. I pin her hands above her head and roll my hips against her, making her gasp. “No more, Laney, I fucking mean it. No leaving me,” hip thrust, “no hiding shit from me,” hard, slow thrust, “and just me. Mine. For good.” I finish with a grinding circle against her core.
She nods her head. “I promise, Dane.” She raises her shaky hand to my face and strokes my cheek tenderly. “I love you, too.” Pulling my face to her, she kisses me deeply and whispers on my lips, “I’m all yours now. So what are you gonna do with me?”
Finally hearing the words from her, “I love you” and “I’m all yours,” the tension I’ve carried in my body for months vanishes. No more back and forth indecisive “oh what about Evan?” bullshit. She’s mine now, she knows it, and after all this time, I can finally say I do, too. I can take the woman I love now and I get to keep her. Releasing her hands, I skim mine down her body, memorizing the feel of every inch. Her hardened nipples poke into my chest, so I take one in my mouth, teasing the other with my fingers.
“Oh God, Dane,” she groans, arching her back like a wet dream.
“Like that, baby?”
“Mhmmm,” she moans, so responsive. Her little hand sneaks to the drawstring of my suit, but I snatch it away. My pants absolutely cannot come off yet or the show’s gonna be over before the opening credits are done. She’s a virgin, and I’d die before I hurt her, so I have to make sure she’s more than ready.
“Not yet.” I kiss along her throat, trailing my fingertips down until they meet her bare, wet center. She lets out a little whimper at the contact, her thighs quivering against me. I suck in a breath; fuck, she’s so sexy.
I tease along the edges of her until her head is thrashing side to side, gradually slipping a finger inside her. She hisses and pushes down against my hand, so I add another.
“D-Dane,” she sputters.
“What, baby?” I bite a nipple gently. “Tell me.”
“I need.” She groans as I increase speed, adding my thumb against her hot button. “Oh, oh I need that, just like that, Dane.”
I chuckle; learning sweet Laney is going to be nirvana. “Just like that?” I mock, running my other hand through her hair. I feel her tighten around my fingers, spasming from within. “That’s my girl.”
She wails, drawing up her knees, and comes on my hand. It’s the hottest, most erotic thing I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait much longer to be inside her. I kiss, suck, and nibble my way up her belly, paying extra attention to both breasts before taking her mouth feverishly. She runs her hands up and down my back before sliding them under my shorts, digging her fingers into my ass. She pulls my rock-hard groin against her, grinding into me. I refuse to believe all innocents are so good at this; Laney’s a fucking fireball. And she has no clue she’s walking sex. Good.
“Dane!” She bites my chin, forcing my attention to her face. “I need you, right now.”
“Baby,” I say as I drop a kiss her forehead, “you can plan our dates, tell me what to wear, run the radio,” I wink, “you can even name our kids one day…after Disney characters even. But in the bedroom, the hot tub, against the wall or basically anywhere I have you naked and wet…let me lead.”
My fingers find her again, thrusting two in unforgivably. “Can you do that for me, Laney? Can you trust me to take care of you?” I curl my fingers up and stroke inside her, drawing a throaty whine from her. “Hmm?”
“Yes,” she pants.
“Good girl,” I croon, pinching her clit and sending her off like a rocket. She writhes and twists, a vision, my vision. When she comes down, I ease off the bed to the bathroom, returning with a condom that I toss on the bed. Lowering my trunks, my eyes never leave her face.
Standing before her naked, I watch her expression go from skittish, to surprised, and finally settle on warm. She raises her gaze to mine and my heart seizes in my chest at the love and acceptance I see there.
Shifting to her hands and knees, she crawls to the edge of the bed, rising up inches from me. She traces every line of my upper body, smoothing her palms across my abs, switching back to fingertips along the grooves leading down to my groin. Her chestnut eyes peek back up at me as her little tongue slips out over her bottom lip. “You are magnificent. Thank you for waiting for me, for this.” She blows out a long breath. “I love you. I didn’t know what that really meant until I met you. You were made to be my other half and I yours.”
I know this should be a sweet, romantic moment, but hearing her heartfelt words draw out every barbaric chemical in my body. I lift her, shifting her to the middle of the bed, and swiftly settle over her. “Gotta have you baby, gotta get inside.” I kiss her manically, working her up again. “Not gonna lie, love,” I say, firmly kneading her breasts, “it’s probably gonna hurt a little bit, but I’ll be as gentle as I can.”
“I trust you,” she whispers breathily. She watches intently as I roll on the condom, eyes curious and sparkling. Opening her arms to me, I move back over her, wanting to savor every second as much as needing to take care with her. “Ah,” she winces and bows her back off the bed as I enter her.
“Relax for me,” I growl, bracing myself, running my hands through her hair, kissing her face. Holding back for what seems like hours, her body becomes less rigid. “Ready for more?” I whisper, waiting for her eyes to say yes. Every baser instinct screams at me to thrust deep into her but I fight against it, my jaw clenched. She’s so damn tight, so warm, and I will never, ever be the same. I couldn’t have dreamt she’d feel this good or imagined the all-consuming feelings that would instantly enter my head, my heart…my soul. Amazing that I’m able to have profound thoughts at this moment, but even more amazing when I realize my body and mind’s recognition of another person as my whole collide. Not a fuck, not a crush, not lukewarm—cosmic.
She nods jerkily, so I ease further in ever so slowly, kissing along her neck, devoted to the spot behind her ear that drives her mad. Hitting her barrier, I rock back and then break-through in one smooth stroke. She cries out, her chest heaving rapidly, her legs clinching.
“Relax through it, baby.” I nuzzle her neck. “Tell me when you’re okay.” I resolve myself not to move until she tells me, again, no matter how badly I want to.
Blowing out a few breaths, she runs her hands down my back, picking up her head to kiss my chest. I feel her body begin to relax. “I’m ready. Love me, Dane,” she says sweetly.
I rock slowly into her, lost in the sensation. Perfection; hot, mind-blowing perfection. “You feel amazing, Laney.” My words are a huff. I slide my hands under her ass, tilting her up, wanting to get as deep into her heaven as possible.
“Oh, oh,” she murmurs, igniting the animal in me once again. Her little sounds are my undoing and my cock hardens impossibly more with each one.
“Wrap your legs around me, baby,” I command her as I lean down to pull on her pebbled nipple with my teeth. “Just like that, yeah. Oh shit, unbelievable, baby. So. Damn. Good.”
Barely able to comprehend, Laney shocks me, splintering the man in me to pieces, by reaching up and bracing her hands against the headboard. She uses th
e leverage to push back into me, hard.
“Fuck, Laney, I’m not gonna last if you keep doing that.”
“S’okay, let go, Dane,” she goads in the sexiest growl I’ll ever hear.
Just a few more strokes and I explode with a guttural roar. White sparks blink on the edges of my vision, but I dare not close my eyes, taking in every nuance of Laney’s face, eyes, body. My orgasm draws out longer than any I’ve ever had and I keep thrusting slowly into her long after I’m finished, not ready to lose the connection with her quite yet.
Finally completely spent, I collapse astride her, caressing her hair and tucking my face into her neck. She smells of Laney, sweat and…me, best thing I’ve ever smelled in my life. “My bad, baby, I finished without you,” I mumble.
Her body shakes against me with her sweet laugh. “I don’t think I’m expected to, you know, um, during the first time. The pain kinda throws ya off. The warm up was stellar, though.” She offers me a smile and kiss on my nose.
“We’re not stopping next time until you come around me.” I run my tongue along her lips. “At least twice.”
DIZZY
Hot, too hot. What? I groggily come to, overheated, odd for me since I’m always cold. Getting my bearings, the hot flash quickly becomes complete incineration. One very fine man is covering me, the heat of his body suddenly not a burden, kissing his way up my body.
“Looking to try out that morning breath theory of yours, huh?” I giggle, my voice rough with sleep.
Dane lifts his head and flashes me a dazzling smile. His sleepy eyes and messy bed-hair are irresistible and I feel my nipples tighten at the sight. He slides up me, placing kisses along my jaw, forehead and nose before finally greeting my lips softly. “Good morning, baby,” he rumbles sexily.
