by Karen Ferry
“I want you, darlin’,” I rasped. “But what I want is something you’ve never given to anyone else.”
“What’s that?”
“You. All of you.” I sighed, the rumble reverberating through my chest and falling fast as I dared to push further into her soft flesh. I could feel her hardened nipples against me, spurring me on. The sweetness of her perfume wafted in the air, teasing my nostrils, and I lost myself in her eyes. “But I can’t have it. Can I? You belong to someone else.”
“Ethan…”
“I’m a fucking bastard for telling you all of this,” I interrupted on a long groan. “Why are you responding to me like this? It’s torture. You’re not mine to keep even though my heart tells me you are.”
“Stop,” she pleaded and grabbed onto my arms.
I felt her legs circle my back, bringing me closer to her and when my dick pushed into her center, I hissed. What the fuck was I doing, tempting us both like this? Her lips were close now, almost brushing mine. Too close.
“Careful. We can’t do this,” I warned and tried to regain some semblance of control. I knew I was failing, but I had to try, damn it.
“I can do what the fuck I want,” she panted. Her pupils were so dilated that I could hardly see the color anymore. It was such a fucking turn-on, knowing she was lusting for me, and my dick swelled, straining against my jeans.
“Stop seducing me with your words and show me how much you want me instead,” she whispered.
Then her hands clamped around my neck, and she pulled until our lips crashed together.
For what felt like an entire lifetime, but was only a couple of seconds, I stopped breathing completely. But when her fingers flexed on my neck and her tongue traced my lips, asking for an invitation, I closed my eyes and gave in. The taste of her desperate tongue was better than I remembered, and unable to keep my hands from roaming, I pulled up her shirt. I traced her soft skin, rounded her hips and trailed further up until I found her nipples. She gasped into my mouth and when I rubbed the peaked buds on my palms, the sweetest purr sounded from low down her throat. My dick thrummed a wild beat, and I pressed closer against her core, longing to feel her. Needing air, I broke the kiss and made a wet trail down her neck.
“Fuck, Pen, your taste…”
I had to have more. I jerked the cups of her bra down, growling deeply when I felt her naked breasts in my hands. But still, I needed more. I kept one hand busy molding the soft globes while my other found its way down her smooth belly until the rough fabric of her shorts made me pause. When she didn’t tell me to stop, I popped open the button. I didn’t think of anything but her. As soon as the obstacle was taken care of, I tore down the zipper, huffing as she spread her legs wider for me. I could feel pre-cum leaking from my dick when my fingers found her clit.
“Ethan, baby,” she mewled and tugged at my hair.
“Shh,” I soothed. “Are you wet for me, darlin’?”
“God, yes.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Yes.”
I sucked her earlobe in between my lips and bit down, wiping the sting away with my tongue. She shuddered in my arms as I kept giving her pleasure by rolling a nipple between my thumb and index finger while my other hand was busy pushing her underwear aside. My breath shuddered when I found her almost bare, only a light strip of hair that trailed down to her lips. Gasping, I eased through the wetness, finding her drenched. Still, I didn’t allow myself to think about where we were. Gently, I dipped my finger inside her, coating it in her wetness before finding her clit again. It was so soft, yet hard…eager for my attention.
“More,” she pleaded, pushing closer to the edge of the dresser.
Afraid she’d fall, I released her breast and wrapped my arm around her. I had to see her eyes, though. I had to know what was going through her mind, and I perused her face. Her eyes screamed yes at me, urging me to keep going. Her lips were wet, red, and swollen, and so fucking inviting that I couldn’t stop myself from having another taste of them. I tilted my head and claimed her mouth again, stealing more kisses from her.
But how could it be considered stealing when she offered them to me freely?
One of her hands released my neck and snaked down between our bodies. Anticipation tore through me when I heard the clinking of my belt buckle, and my breath caught at the sound of the zipper as she pulled it down. When she started to free my dick from my boxers, I began to shake. I never let go of her mouth, only kissed her harder, more deeply. I was a starved man, needing her kisses more than I needed anything else in my life. I rubbed her clit harder when her thumb found my dick and teased the slit, rubbing the drops of cum around it. My hips jerked, needing more than this.
I bit her lower lip and leaned back. “Feel how insane you make me?” I panted and looked down.
She hummed and watched as well. Seeing our hands busy on each other’s most intimate parts was the hottest, most tantalizing sight I’d ever seen. When her hand closed around my dick and she started to stroke me from base to tip, I had to close my eyes and rest my head on her shoulder. But the need to watch burned me, so I forced my eyes open. Our breaths came out rapidly, completely in sync, and it was impossible not to move my hips when she increased the pace.
“You drive me crazy, baby,” she whispered into my ear before kissing my neck. The feeling of her mouth as she set me on fire with her teeth, grazing my neck in small nips and licks made my eyes roll back in my head, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. Desire, lust, love…all three held me completely in a trance, begging for release. She scooted closer to the edge of the dresser, and I changed the angle of my hand down her panties, plunging two fingers inside of her snug pussy while my thumb kept up its relentless friction on her clit. I felt her walls tightening around me as her hand wrapped around my neck, and she clung to me, hiding her face. Her hand on my dick tightened and her strokes were uneven as she became more lost in her own desire.
Hips jerking into her hand, it was impossible for me to stop now even if I’d wanted to. I could only go faster.
“Harder,” I groaned, my voice so low I didn’t recognize it. Tingles shot down my back and I begged silently for her to find her release soon. I wanted her to come before I did. I wanted to see and feel her shatter.
“Ethan…I’m…I’m gonna come, baby,” she whispered and just as she did, her body became taut in my arms and she erupted around my hand and fingers. I captured her lips with mine and swallowed her moans while she kept riding the wave, drawing out her pleasure. I placed my left hand on top of hers on my dick and helped her bring me to my own climax. My knees almost buckled as our lips fused together and I grunted into her mouth as my body became liquid seconds before feeling my cum spill into our joined hands. Her lips became less demanding underneath mine, drinking my moans, but I didn’t want this moment to end. Our mouths brushed, gentled, as my hips kept rocking, drawing out every last drop of my release.
Spent, I stilled my movements and eased my fingers from her core. I could feel small aftershocks ripple through her as I withdrew them, and I felt such regret at losing her warmth that I gave in to one of my darkest pleasures and raised my fingers. Keeping her gaze locked with mine, I licked her essence from my fingers, one by one. She bit her lip, seemingly enraptured by my movements as her eyes followed every digit. I swallowed every drop. She tasted tangy, heavy, and sweet…perfect. Her hand still around my semi hard dick loosened its hold, and I shuddered once more.
“Fuck, Pen,” I sighed and grabbed a towel lying next to her on the dresser. Quickly, I wiped away my cum from her hands and started to tuck my dick back into my jeans.
“Ethan…” Her saying my name on a low purr made me look up, and I literally felt the earth shift when she started licking her fingers, tasting what was left of me. Her eyes were alight with such shameless pleasure, and I didn’t recognize her anymore.
Holy fucking shit, that was hot.
After she was done, she smirked at me
and blew some bangs away from her eyes. “Yeah. That was out of this world. We’ll have to do it again some time.”
Nodding, I gave her a cautious smile, suddenly not knowing where we went from here. Should I ask her out on a date? It felt as if all my plans had been derailed, leaving me doing everything backward.
“Penelope, I…”
Her eyes turned expectant as I searched for the right words to say.
I want you. I adore you. Be mine forever.
But somehow, the words were lodged in my throat, refusing to be set free.
As we both came down from our highs, gazing into each other’s eyes, so came the reality crashing back.
She wasn’t mine.
And I heard knocking on the door behind us.
10
Anticipation
Unwilling to lose her gaze, I kept it locked with mine. Would she panic? Deny what we’d been doing for the past half hour?
“Who is it?” I called out.
On the outside, I was calm, but a war kept raging inside me. The look on her face as she hopped down from the dresser and buttoned her pants wasn’t one of panic; no, she smiled at me, her eyes twinkling as if she was privy to a secret I had yet to have any knowledge about, and it made me uncomfortable as hell.
“Open the door, dude,” Max’s annoyed voice almost made me growl. “Or do you want the whole family to come knocking soon, asking weird questions?”
I crossed my arms when Pen quirked an eyebrow at me.
“Are you going to let him inside?” she asked.
Frowning, I shrugged. “He can wait. We have unfinished business to talk about, Penelope. And don’t even think about asking me to call you Pippa now,” I grumbled. “It’s much too late for that.”
She closed her mouth and mimicked my stance. “I wasn’t going to, but now that you mention it…”
“Don’t,” I warned her in a low voice. My patience was running thin, and before the entire Montgomery family came crashing through the doors, demanding to know what the hell we were doing, I needed answers.
“Guys, come on,” Max whined, though his voice was muffled. “Either of you ever heard of the word, timing? Because you definitely don’t have it.”
“Shut up, Max,” I grumbled at the same time Penelope huffed.
“Fine,” he sighed. There was a thumping sound coming now, as if he was banging his head on the hard wood. “But you better not make any strange noises, y’all, or I’ll go get Mom.”
“Shut. It. Max,” Penelope ground out. She was grinding her teeth so hard, I couldn’t help but grin at her.
When her annoying brother – hell, he was my brother, too – stayed silent this time, I sighed and then took a step toward her. Furrowing my brow, I needed to know if she was taken. If I was too late.
“Is it true? Are you…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Are you engaged?”
Her eyes gentled as she bridged the gap between us.
“No, baby,” she sighed. “I’m not. Hugo is just a good friend.”
I furrowed my brow, trying to ignore the butterflies of hope that were fluttering to life in my heart.
“He’s not mine,” she continued at my silence. “He belongs to Eliza. I met them both when I was in Oxford, and we ended up travelling together.”
My hands itched to touch her, but I still didn’t feel secure enough to actually do it.
She cocked her head and smiled at me. “Aren’t you going to say anything? While I do think you master the “mysterious and brooding” vibe quite well, a girl needs words.”
“Why did you let me think you were engaged?”
“It got your attention, didn’t it?” She shrugged and started to trail her fingers across my chest. My body tingled at her touch that warmed me everywhere at once through my T-shirt. “I wanted to wait and see what you’d do. The way you took charge was…” she blew out a shaky breath, “really good. You kind of distracted me so I confess it slipped my mind to set the record straight.”
Squirming, I glanced down at her. “Yeah, well…glad I got your attention. I had to do something, Pen.”
“So…what happens now?”
“You, me, dinner tomorrow night at seven. My place.”
Grinning, she shook her head. “Where does this cocky Ethan come from?”
“If you let me cook for you tomorrow, I’ll show you just how cocky I can get.”
“Oh, will you now? Then you’re on.”
Smiling, I couldn’t help but lean down and brush my lips across hers again.
“I have a feeling we have a lot more to discover about each other, Penelope,” I murmured and stepped away before I could get carried away again.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she sighed. “Best let poor Max off the hook now and get down to the rest of the family.”
I nodded and swept a hand to my side, silently asking her to go first.
“Such a gentleman,” she murmured as she passed me.
“Darlin’, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Before I unlocked the door, I trailed a finger down her skin, from her shoulder all the way to her wrist. Her pulse jumped, belying her calm demeanor. I smirked at the way she erupted in goose bumps, and a low heat simmered in my blood when she licked her lips.
“Just don’t expect me to be a proper southern gentleman tomorrow night, Penelope.”
Her slow smile was infectious.
“Thank goodness for that.”
Fearing we’d be become lost once more if I didn’t get us out of this room at once, I flicked the lock and opened the door. Not surprisingly, Max was standing on the other side, beanie-clad head hanging low as he leaned his arms on the doorframe above.
“Am I going to have to go all big brother on you two?” he mumbled without meeting my gaze. “I’m way too young to commit murder and go down for it.”
Pen erupted in giggles and pushed him back so he could let us through.
“You’re such a drama queen, Maxie,” she laughed as she passed him.
He frowned at her before his head swung back. I tensed at the hard set to his jaw.
“I don’t want to know what’s going on with you two. Not yet, anyway.” He jerked his chin at me. “But I don’t have to tell you about minding your step, man. Do I?”
I clenched my fist, making a conscious effort to keep my cool.
“No,” I clipped. “You don’t.”
“Good.” The frown cleared from his face. “Now, let’s get some grub. I’m starving.” With that, he gave me a slap on my shoulder and turned away. Penelope raised her eyes, clearly waiting for me, and I came toward her, hands in my pockets. I jiggled my change and stopped when I was right in front of her. Nervous, I licked my lips as I peered down at her through the strands of my hair falling through my eyes.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I started, “but I’d rather not have your parents know about our date yet.”
She tilted her head at me. “Any particular reason?”
“I just want to see where we’re going before making a big deal out of it.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip, the happiness fading from her eyes. I hated being the cause of that, but I had my reasons. “All right. I guess that’s fair.”
I nodded once and blew out the breath I just now realized I’d been holding back. “Thanks.”
Silent, we went downstairs. I could feel myself withdrawing further and further away, but I couldn’t relax. It was a habit I knew I had to break somehow, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet. I was unable to stop the swirl of emotions flittering around inside me, always just out of my reach to grasp.
Time. I just needed time.
Time to explore my sunshine. Time to let whatever we had between us bloom.
I only hoped I could make Pen see things my way.
Dinner was both familiar and new territory for me. I’d visited Frederik many times the past year, mainly because I missed him, but also because he was the closest link to the object of my desires
; and while I hadn’t been spending as much time as I would’ve liked with Henry and Vivian, we remained close, and I spoke to my foster mom on the phone at least once a week. Being a part of the Montgomery family again, and adding Parker and his family, even Max, into the mix was the familiar part.
But the new part was sitting next to Penelope and finding it almost impossible to tear my eyes away from her. My hands itched to touch her every time our arms brushed together even in the most innocent of ways. Once or twice, I glanced at the others, worried if they were aware of the heavy sexual tension that hung in the air, but even Max, who knew something definitely was up, didn’t seem to notice.
I glanced at Pen next to me when I felt her bare foot nudging my ankle underneath the table. I shouldn’t be able to feel the electric zing throughout my entire being at her touch, only I did. I felt my jeans tighten, my dick starting to swell, when her foot drew small circles on top of mine, and I suppressed a moan. Her eyes sparkled knowingly at my poor attempt at concealing the way my body responded to her light touch, but thankfully, she didn’t push and her foot slipped away. I took a deep breath, relieved that my hard-on settled down when she stopped.
“So, Eliza,” Henry turned to her from his seat at the head of the table, “our girl told us in her emails that she met you and Hugo in Oxford?”
“We did,” Eliza smiled at him. “We were visiting my grandparents before heading off on our own adventure. I don’t see them as often as I’d like.”
“Oh?” Vivian joined the conversation. “Do you live far away from them?”
I focused on Eliza, determined to pay attention to the conversation around me instead of the girl next to me.
“You could say that. My parents live in Denmark – Dad is Danish, though my mum was born and bred in the UK.”
Vivian beamed at her. “How wonderful. So you were brought up in Denmark, I take it?”
Eliza nodded and raised her glass toward Hugo next to her who immediately topped off her wine. I had to hand it to him – he was the perfect gentleman. Affectionate as well as attentive toward his fiancée. Seeing how they acted around each other – as if they knew what the other would say or want before they spoke aloud – and made an effort to make each other happy sent a jealous twinge through my gut.
