“You’re into dorks, I guess?” I query back, but the joke falls flat. I can’t possibly make jokes right now, not after the emotional rollercoaster I’ve just been on. Not with Parrish’s dark eyes taking me in like he’s committing my body to memory. “I’m unapologetically dorky, that’s for sure.”
“Unapologetic,” he murmurs, sitting up enough that when I lean down, we can kiss. My hair falls forward, blanketing his chest as I grind my hips against his taut stomach. “Fuck, that feels nice.” He pauses and glances at the nightstand where the pile of condoms is waiting. “It’d feel even better if you weren’t wearing anything at all.”
I roll off to the side, lying beside him on the bed as I kick off my pants and underwear (before he can see that they’re a matching set to the bra). I’m so focused on getting the items off that I don’t notice him watching me until I’m fully naked.
Parrish looks me up and down, lying on his side with his head propped in his hand, his elbow resting against the mattress. Slowly, carefully, he reaches out and runs his palm over my right breast, making my nipple tingle with the contact. He continues down, stroking my belly and then venturing further until he finds the hot, aching spot between my thighs.
He leans down and kisses me again, at the same time petting my clit with his thumb and making my body thrum. I arch up into his touch, encouraging him without words to keep going. If I were thinking clearly, I might remember that Chasm is likely in the house somewhere falling to pieces. Tess is in her office pacing a rut in the floor. Lumen is missing.
But a spell has been cast, one that holds both me and Parrish in its thrall.
He continues to play with me, taking cues from my body, from the breathy sighs that escape my parted lips and fall right into his. We never stop kissing, not as he strokes me into a frenzy, not when he slides first one and then two fingers in. It’s like we’re living off each other’s breath, like our hearts are pumping each other’s blood.
“Faster,” I murmur, and he grunts, beyond words at that point. When I look down and see his inked fingers pushing inside of me, my entire body flushes red. My face blushes; my tits blush. I can’t seem to stop staring as Parrish moves his mouth to my neck, picking up the pace, thrusting harder and faster and deeper. “Wait, wait, wait,” I gasp out when the pleasure gets to be too much. He pauses for a moment as I lift my right hand to the side of his face, digging my fingers into his thick hair. “Let me do you.”
“Let me finish you, Gamer Girl.” Parrish bites the side of my throat, and I groan, slapping a hand over my mouth to cover the sound. We should’ve put music on or something; this is so damn risky. When I close my eyes and listen for sounds from the hallway, I vaguely hear Mr. Brightside playing from the direction of Tess’ office. Perfect.
Parrish trails his hot mouth down to my breasts, flicking his tongue against the bare nipple. It’s like he’s testing me, seeing how much I can take, seeing what I like best. When he realizes that I’m arching into him, he presses his entire mouth to it, sucking on the nipple as I clutch his head to my chest.
His hand continues at the same pace, holding a steady rhythm until that strange, coiled energy inside of me snaps free, sending those electrical currents into my fingers and toes. It paralyzes me, that pleasure, as I dig my fingers into Parrish’s back, leaving crescent shaped marks in his skin.
It hits fast, but fades slowly, leaving me panting beside Parrish as he stares down at me. He’s deadly serious now, and oh so intense. He’s tossed his sloth crown aside in favor of a blazing ring of fire, one that seems to set him alight as he sits up and swings his legs over the edge of the bed.
I prop myself up on my elbows, but that’s about all I’ve got the energy for. My eyes take in the perfect curve of his spine, the muscles in his upper back, the ink on his shoulders as he shoves his sweats and underwear down to the floor. He snags a condom before turning back to me, his body in full view.
This is my first time seeing him naked and I must say … “Impressive.”
Oops.
I said that aloud, didn’t I? Fuck.
“Impressive,” he repeats, his mouth quirking into this adorably cocky smile. “Which part?”
I snort at him.
“The tattoos, obviously,” I choke out, but my eyes slide back down the length of his body to his most impressive part. I’m staring, and I can’t help myself. He doesn’t seem to mind, waiting there for me to take him in before he finally turns and crawls across the bed toward me.
Parrish pauses beside me, looking down at me while I stare up at him.
“When you first walked into this house, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. The most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, and she could never be mine. It killed me.” I swallow hard and try to turn away, but he reaches out with a single finger and takes hold of my chin, gently encouraging me to look back at him. “Then I got to know you, and I knew it wasn’t just the way you looked. It was everything about you. Your everything is beautiful.”
“My everything?” I repeat, because that might just be the most incredible thing anyone’s ever said to me.
Parrish frowns and flicks his eyes away from me for a moment before looking back.
“I don’t have Tess’ gift with words, but I don’t know how else to say that I’m enamored with every part of you: body, heart, and soul.”
Fuck.
Oh fuck.
That feeling of falling comes over me again, but this time, Parrish is there to catch me. He slides his arms around me and presses our bodies together, kissing me like I’m the first and last woman he’ll ever need.
Our bodies begin to move of their own accord, and that’s when we both know it’s time.
Parrish props himself against the pillows and tears the condom package open, taking the sticky ring in his fingers and staring at it for a moment before he slips it on.
“You’re good at that,” I breathe, and he gives me a sharp look.
“Cucumbers, sex ed project at school.” Parrish climbs over me, threading the fingers of his left hand through mine. With the other, he guides himself to the sweet spot between my thighs and locks gazes with me. “Ready?” he asks, but he must be able to see the answer in my face because he’s already smiling.
“Ready.”
With a smooth, easy slide of his hips, Parrish pushes himself into me. For a second there, I can’t breathe. All I can do is look up at him and squeeze our joined hands together, savoring the warmth of his body. He exhales first, like he, too, was holding his breath. I do the same as he releases my hand and I end up with my arms threaded around his neck.
Our mouths clash together as our bodies begin to move again, thrusting and grinding, churning up more of that indescribable pleasure. It washes over me in a warm wave as I lock my legs around Parrish and he makes a deep, satisfied male sound that has me digging my nails into his back again.
We can’t get close enough, it seems. I want to get closer.
“Oh, Parrish,” I breathe against the side of his face, licking along the length of his jaw as he undulates his body against mine, into mine, filling me up and spiriting away all the bad feelings from earlier, replacing them with new and exciting things.