“Have you ever been with a woman who had a baby?” My head tilts and his smirk grows wider.
“I haven’t.”
I nod. “See, the body does all these things to prepare a woman for motherhood and they’re not sexy, Reed. Not by a long shot.”
He grabs my hips, hoisting me up onto the counter. “You’re sexy as hell, Vic, and I want to show you exactly how sexy you are to me.” His hands run along my inner thighs, parting them for him.
I lick my lips in anticipation.
His fingers unbutton the top button of my blouse. “We should probably get this dry cleaned.” He undoes another button and the back of his knuckles brush against my skin, making me draw in a ragged breath. More buttons come undone and he leans forward pressing his soft lips to my chest while his hands finish their handy work and he pulls the blouse open for his viewing pleasure.
“Reed,” I sigh, sliding my hand across my stomach—the part of me I’m most insecure about.
The stretch marks Jade left me are now thin and white. Not horribly noticeable but evidence that my body once held a child and that I’m not an unmarred twenty-year-old.
“Please, Victoria, you’re beautiful and I want to cherish you.” His lips cast kisses along the swell of one breast slowly moving to my other. Just as my eyes are closing and my mind empties of all the doubts about me being enough for him, his hands slide me forward and I’m wrapped around him like a koala bear. “I’ll feed you the rest after.”
He carries me down the hall and I can’t help but sprinkle kisses along his defined jawline and suck his earlobe into my mouth. The bulge in his pants teases me as he stops in the middle of the hallway and presses my back to the wall, his lips claiming mine.
Our kiss is ravenous and urgent, our mouths colliding, fighting for dominance. All the worries that consumed my mind the entire week, disappear with his demanding kiss. I’m not thinking about the stretch marks. I’m not thinking about my wider hips or my breasts that aren’t as perky as they were pre-pregnancy. I just want more. More of Reed Warner.
“Never diet again,” he says through noisy kisses. “Especially for me.”
I say nothing, taking his cheeks in my hands and bringing his face to mine so our lips can crash together again.
Stepping back from the wall, he continues down the hall. When he steps us into his bedroom, it’s obvious a bachelor lives here with its dark wood and grey linens. There’s another set of windows that look out over the Chicago skyline.
For the first time in a long time, hope blooms inside me and I wonder if happily ever afters really can come true.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Reed didn’t toss me on the bed as his hungry eyes suggested he might but laid me gently down as he stared at me while stripping off his t-shirt.
His love arrow might as well have blinked in neon, pointing me to what was mine to explore tonight. His muscles weren’t bulging out, but they were defined and flexed with every movement he made.
I sat up on the edge of the bed before he had a chance to cover me with his body. My body yearned to feel us skin to skin. To roll around in his high-thread-count sheets, exploring and teasing one another.
My fingers tremble as I take the button of his jeans in hand. I watch him watch me with smoldering eyes as I free the button. He sucks in a small breath through his already taut smile as I lower the zipper, and a low groan rumbles out of his mouth. I kiss the skin right above the waistband of his boxers as I slide his jeans down to a puddle on the floor.
His turgid erection presses against my chin, making me eager to taste him. I slide my hand up his thigh, over the top of his boxers, taking his length in my palm and pressing against his hardness.
“You’re playing with fire,” he says and when I rest my chin on his stomach, staring up at him with hooded eyes, he takes my face in his hands. “I’m going to explode if you continue.”
At a painfully slow pace, his hands slide down my shoulders, grabbing my own hands and pulling me up to my feet. “I need to see you.”
All those fears rush forward again, and Reed must notice because he takes my spot on the bed, bringing me close, kissing the exact area where Jade left her mark. Circling my belly button with his tongue, his hands graze over my shoulders until my blouse cascades behind us onto the floor. Not stopping, his lips, his hands continue their mission, unclasping my bra.
His eyes are closed and he’s yet to see me while he blindly strips the bra from my body. The delicate lace joins the pile of our clothes on the floor. A thrill rushes through my veins when his thumbs brush across my nipples only to continue on their path of exploration, resting at the top of my jeans. Flicking the button open with ease, he smirks, his confidence shining through.
I run my hands along his scalp, his hair soft and soothing to my frenzied nerves. The sound of the zipper going down echoes through the room and the fact we’re seconds away from each being in our underwear is both exhilarating and frightening.
It reminds me of being strapped into a roller coaster as it leaves the starting gate. This ride is moving and the pit of my stomach is anticipating climbing that first hill.
Hooking his thumbs in the belt loops on either side, he drags the jeans down my legs and I step out of them. His hands mold to my hips, his thumbs sneaking under the sides of my silk panties and he urges me to take step out of my jeans.
He opens his eyes and his appreciative gaze moves over my body, stirring another wave of passion for this man. When his gaze finally meets mine, I see the burning in his eyes is a carnal, hedonistic need. Just like in the hallway, all my fear crumbles and he pulls me forward, his hands sliding to my ass.
He sits on the edge of the bed and I lower my weight, straddling him on the bed, my nipples hardening from rubbing against his bare chest.
His hand brushes the strands of my hair from my forehead. “You’re beautiful and every time you doubt that, remember how rock hard I am in this moment.” He captures my hand in his, guiding it down to the bulge in his boxers. “This is the truth stick.”
I smile and shake my head at his absurd thinking.
“What?”
He rolls me over and hovers above me the humor fading, and he grinds into me. “If you weren’t beautiful and sexy and tempting I wouldn’t be so rock hard.”
“You’re a man. A strong breeze can make you hard.”
“I’m not a thirteen-year-old boy, Victoria.” He circles into my center once again and I suck in a breath. “This is all because of you.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you have a peter meter?” I giggle through a gasp as he rocks into me again and hits me in a particularly sensitive spot.
“Call it whatever you want. Just know that it wants you to the point of desperation.”
I don’t want our sex life to be him having to convince me of my sexual attractiveness. I want to ride him like I own him. I want to say dirty things and not care about being judged.
“Condom?” I ask him.
He leans across the bed and my pussy clenches, missing the feel of him immediately. I move to shimmy my panties off.
“That’s my job.” He grabs my wrist to still my movements.
I hold my hands up in the air. He returns a second later, pulling down his boxers and his dick springs out. I lick my lips in a subconscious reaction.