He lifted his face to make sure she was okay, but she pushed him back down, demanding, “Don’t stop!”
He devoured her sweetness, sucked her clit, and slid his fingers inside her, stroking that magical spot with laser precision. Her body flexed, her breathing shallowed, and right when she was on the verge of coming, he swapped fingers for mouth, giving her what she needed to soar. She tugged his hair as her hips shot off the mattress, but he stayed with her, taking his fill as her orgasm ravaged her. A stream of alluring noises sailed around him. He basked in those sounds as she shattered against his mouth. He’d never experienced anything as magnificent.
He stayed with her through every shudder and quake, soaking in her heavenly taste and sexy sounds, until she collapsed, sated and beautiful, beneath him. He kissed his way up her body, slowly and sensually, whispering sweetly between touches of his lips. He fixed her skirt, covering her, and gathered her in his arms, chest to chest, skin to skin.
She snuggled against him. “I think I love your mouth.”
“My mouth sure loves your body.” He took her in a series of deep, languid kisses.
“I wish we could stay like this all night.”
He’d never wanted to stay overnight with a woman. But now he wanted that, too, even to just hold her, to know she was safe in his arms. But like everything else since he’d lost his leg, it wasn’t that simple. He went for levity to avoid an awkward conversation. “I’m pretty sure those boots would get uncomfortable.”
She smiled. “I’m serious. I just want to be in your arms. I feel good when I’m with you.”
His knee-jerk reaction was to try to change the subject, to hide the facts of what his life had become. But as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, he didn’t want to hide any parts of himself from Jules when she gave of herself so freely. “Me too, but it’s not that easy for me. I can’t sleep with my prosthesis on, and if I have to get up in the middle of the night, I need crutches.” That was hard to admit. It made him feel like less of a man, but at the same time, it was a relief to share the truth with her.
“Oh,” she whispered. “I didn’t know.”
She said it without judgment or pity, as if he’d told her that he was allergic to chocolate, and he appreciated that. “There’s no way you could have. It’s complicated, Pix. Everything takes extra thought, as you saw with the couch fiasco.” He gazed into her eyes, wishing he could change the past. “I wish you’d been with me before my last mission.”
“Why?”
“So you’d know what I was like before I lost my leg.”
“I know what you were like. You painted me a picture when I was little, and you carried me on your back from the park all the way home when I was in third grade and sprained my ankle. You came to see me in my high school production of Wicked when you were home on leave, and when I had my wisdom teeth out and you were home again, you brought me strawberry lemonade. You’re still the same person you’ve always been. And…you’re still the same guy who flirted with me before you left for your last mission when we all went out on your last night home.”
“I was trying not to flirt because of the whole little-sister thing, but you’ve got this way of getting under my skin.” He pressed his lips to hers. “But, Pix, when I said I wish you’d been with me, I meant sexually, because that has changed, and as I said, I don’t know the mechanics of any of this with my leg.”
She buried her face in his neck and said, “The good thing is, I won’t know if you mess up, because I have nothing to compare it to.”
He leaned back so he could see her face. “What do you mean?”
“Tonight was the first time I’ve ever done what we did, and I’ve never gone all the way.”
It took him a minute to process what she’d said, and a rush of disbelief, overwhelming gratitude at the trust she placed in him, and something much deeper bowled him over. “Baby, why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I didn’t want you to freak out.”
“I wouldn’t have freaked out, but I would have done things differently. I would have made it special, taken off your boots, your skirt. Jesus, Pix, I would have waited.”
“I’ve spent years waiting for a sign, for sparks to fly and fireworks to explode, and they never did until you came home before your last mission. Then everything changed. Suddenly I saw you as a hot, interesting man and not just Bellamy’s older brother, and all those times I was captivated by you at parties or on the beach made sense. And then you flirted with me, and my entire body lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. I didn’t want to wait. I wanted this, tonight, exactly as it unfolded. I’ve waited my whole life to feel what I feel when I’m with you. I didn’t want a preplanned event. I wanted to follow my heart and for you to follow yours.”
He kissed her softly, his gaze drifting to the painting of Sunset Beach on the wall. Was it a sign that he’d given her that painting and their first evening alone together had been on the deck of the Bistro on that very beach? You’ve not only gotten under my skin, but you’ve gotten into my head.
He gazed into her beautiful eyes and said, “With the spell you’ve cast over me, I don’t think I can follow anything but my heart.”
Chapter Sixteen
JULES HUMMED AS she got ready for work Saturday morning. She’d relived her evening with Grant dozens of times, reveling in every heartfelt word, every sinful touch, and the deepening affection between them. She’d never felt closer to anyone. They’d lain tangled up in each other for a long time, sharing secrets and kissing, and she hadn’t even been embarrassed that she’d been half-naked. After a while, they’d remembered the dessert they’d left in the truck and had sat on the couch with the pie between them and two forks, eating half of it and laughing about everything and nothing at all.
It was the best night of her life.
She cherished the intimate memories they were making, and she didn’t want to share them with anyone, which she took as another sign that they were perfect together, because her rugged man was a private person.
Her phone vibrated with a text as she put toothpaste on her toothbrush, and her heart skipped, hoping it was Grant. They’d finally exchanged cell phone numbers and had made plans to have a bonfire at his place tonight after she got off work. She couldn’t wait.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and saw a group text from Leni, Sutton, and a number of others. Disappointed, she set the phone down to brush her teeth. Her phone vibrated repeatedly, so she opened the messages, reading them as she brushed her teeth.
Leni started the thread with Jules! I heard you’re getting your groove on with Grant! Sutton had replied with, I would say I’m shocked, but remember when he flirted with you last summer? I want all the deets! Jules read Leni’s next message, which said, Did he, followed by an eggplant emoji and a cherry emoji.
Great. Her sisters were having a field day about her and Grant.
Another text bubble popped up, and Archer’s name appeared with the message I’m going to kill him!
Jules spit toothpaste all over the sink. She clicked the group indicator to see who was on the text, and she nearly choked when she saw her family members listed.