Hyde lifted a hand and tucked a few of my curls behind my ear. He cupped my cheek with his palm, and used his thumb to brush the curve of my bottom lip. “You’re right. You always took the lead, Remy. I was just too much of a coward and too much of a mess to follow. But not anymore. I know exactly where I’m going, so you can follow me now.”
He lowered his head, and I felt his lips graze my forehead. His thumb pressed harder against my bottom lip until the tip was inside my mouth. I instinctively flicked the end of my tongue against it. His lips landed on the end of each eyebrow, the crest of both my cheeks, the very tip of my nose, and even on the point of my chin. Each press of his lips made it harder for me to breathe, and without much thought, I’d locked my teeth on his thumb and was letting my tongue roll around it in circles. Hyde made a low sound in his throat as he moved his mouth to drag his lips along the curve of my jaw, working his way up to my ear where he nipped at the lobe, and then used his tongue to tickle the sensitive shell. Shivers exploded across my skin, and a fizzy, tingly feeling worked its way through my blood. It was just the barest hint of contact, but damn if it didn’t put me back together better than most men who had tried to give it their all. I was already a woman who was undone. Feeling complete, feeling whole, that was a sensation that made my knees weak and forced my heart to waver.
I dug my fingers harder into the hold I had on his neck and lifted a leg so I could hook it around his lean waist. I dug my heel into the top of his ass and felt the hard muscle flex in response. I tilted my head back as he started to kiss his way down my neck, his teeth pausing to nibble on every spot where my pulse pounded. I pulled him closer with my leg and gasped, releasing the finger that was still caught between my teeth when I felt his palm move from my hip to the outside of my thigh. There already wasn’t much fabric to keep him from getting his hands on all my softest and most vulnerable places, but now that we were practically hip to hip, and my leg was hitched up around him, there was nothing left to hide. I pulled on his head until he obediently lowered his mouth to mine.
Now that we weren’t in public and no curious eyes were watching our every move, the kiss went from zero to sixty in no time at all. The thing about kissing Hyde was it felt like something I’d done forever, even though this was only our second real kiss. There was just something about the way he tasted and the way his mouth moved so effortlessly over mine that felt right all the way down to my bones, and my body reacted to the stimulation almost immediately.
Maybe it was because Hyde had already seen me at my absolute worst. He knew exactly how much of a handful I was, so there was no pretense. There was comfort in knowing he wasn’t going to suddenly expect me to be something else, to behave differently. He was never going to try and use my feelings to manipulate me, so I could let go and feel everything freely. I didn’t have to hold back and keep myself in check out of fear of scaring him off like I’d had to do with pretty much anyone else I’d gotten involved with.
Our tongues tangled together as Hyde’s hand climbed higher. I knew the exact moment his fingers figured out there was nothing between them and the warm, wet center at the apex of my thighs. I felt his entire body shudder, and I could do nothing other than take it when his mouth switched from savoring to devouring mine. His tongue and teeth moved together to strip me of any shred of sanity, and his fingers barely hesitated as they stroked along the inner line of my thigh, crawling closer and closer to their goal.
If I expected him to hesitate or be delicate and shy in the way he touched my most private of places, I was way off.
He touched me the same way he kissed me. As if he’d been waiting his entire life for the chance.
Strong fingers stroked over damp skin and skillfully gilded between silky folds. My back arched involuntarily, my other leg lifted to clutch him and pull him closer, and my body inadvertently bent and bowed to lean more fully into his touch. One of his wide hands rested at the base of my spine, while the other tripped and tickled its way into the soft opening. His mouth continued to eat at mine, making several places on my body tender and wet with want. I was overwhelmed by him, and for once, I had an inkling of how he might’ve felt when I took over part of him when I was younger. It was slightly scary, and all I could do was hold on for the ride.
I pulled my head back to breathe and gasped his name as our eyes locked. I was not expecting this level of urgency, or for him to be as greedy and hungry as I was. I’d wanted to get close to him forever; he only recently realized there was a spark waiting to ignite between the two of us.
I slid my hand around his neck and shifted my hold, so I was cupping his very handsome face between my palms. I was torn between telling him to slow down and demanding that he hurry up. My legs tightened around him, and I lifted up without thought when he moved his free hand to strip the thin cotton shirt off of my body. I was naked in the blink of an eye, perched on the edge of an expensive table like I was the meal served up for dinner.
Hyde’s fingers moved forcibly within my body, and I felt his thumb press on the tiny spot where so much pleasure was gathered. The pressure on my clit made me moan, and my fingers flexed against his face.
“You aren’t wasting any time, are you?” The words sounded strangled as I eked them out with a choppy breath.
Hyde was watching me with bright eyes, and slowly, a smile started to creep across his stern face. “I wasted twenty-some years. I have a lot of time to make up for.” He kissed me again, quick and hard, before leaning back a bit so he could watch the spot where his thick fingers moved in and out of my slick, pink center. “Plus, I need to make sure you see all the benefits you’re getting, so you don’t decide to change your mind.”
I bit back a strangled sound as his thumb started to make slow circles around my clit. My entire body quivered. It took more effort than I wanted to admit to form a coherent thought, and even more to speak. “I’m not going to change my mind.” I brushed his cheeks with my fingers. “For better or worse, I’m in it until we soar or sink.”
His dark eyebrows quirked slightly, and the smile on his face flashed even brighter. “I want to make you soar, and I am totally happy to sink with you.”
“You’ve always been so quiet. Who knew you were so good with words when it came to sex?” I laughed a little, but the sound died on my lips when he lowered his head and took the tip of one of my breasts into his mouth. My nipples were already tight and hard with arousal, and the heat from his mouth was combustible. Fire flowed from that point throughout the rest of my body and made me clutch at his head desperately. He was making me lose my mind with the dual stimulation, and I could feel my insides start to flutter and pulse around his fingers. My mind might be slightly confused over whether I was making the right choice to get involved with Hyde in this way, but my body clearly had no doubts. Every part of me, from the top of my head to the tip of my toes, wanted more of him. More of his hands. More of his mouth. More of the words that now seemed to come so freely.
“It’s always been easy to talk to you, Remy. Doesn’t matter what the situation is. I can find the words for you. No one else.” His tone was gruff, and his words were softly spoken, but I felt like he was screaming them because they were so loud when they echoed in the chamber of my heart.