"Oh yeah?" I asked, sending her a smile. "He must be something pretty special then."
"I think so," she told me, as I took a couple steps closer, stopping when her hand pressed into the center of my chest, stopping me an arm's length away. "I also think he needs a shower. And probably a toothbrush."
That was fair enough.
"Alright. How about I get cleaned up, and you order something to eat? I've been eating slop for weeks."
"I, ah, I remember that well. I ate everything I could get my hands on for weeks after. I will run out and grab some snacks and stuff too for the rest of the night. And get you a change of clothes."
When I got out of the shower, she still wasn't back, which left me walking around in a towel since this wasn't the kind of place to provide robes.
I didn't think much of it until she hustled in, arms loaded down with bags, then froze, lips parted, gaze sliding hungrily down my body.
"Oh," she hissed, slowly dropping down the bags.
"Hand me the clothes," I demanded softly. "No?" I asked when she gave me a tight head shake.
"No," she said, voice airless.
"Prefer me in this?" I asked, teasing.
"Yes," she told me, voice a little husky.
With that, she was moving across the floor toward me, stopping maybe a foot away, her hand raising, pressing into the center of my chest, then slowly, excruciatingly, moving downward, slipping toward the side, pressing gently over my ribs. "Does this hurt?" she asked.
"Not right now," I admitted, not sure how much touching I could stand.
Her hand slid down, sliding over my hip bone, across my stomach, stopping at the tuck of my towel.
Then hooking her fingers in it.
"Chris..."
Her gaze moved upward, finding mine, holding.
"I want to try," she told me, voice barely more than a whisper.
"You're sure?" I asked, praying she would say yes, but prepared for her to say no.
Her fingers pulled, loosening the tuck, making the towel fall to the floor.
"Yes."
Chapter Fifteen
Chris
I was.
That was the craziest part.
I was sure.
I wanted it.
Him.
I wanted him.
I'd known that already, had experienced the fierce attraction I felt when he was near.
I figured that we would work our way toward physical intimacy over the weeks and months ahead.
I never imagined that in one split second, I would make a decision that I wanted to try.
Not just wanted. That was too tame. I needed to try. Everything inside me was begging for a release to the desire coursing through my veins, sparking off my nerve endings. It overwhelmed my senses. It banked down all the old fears, the old traumas. All that was left in that moment was curiosity, anticipation, and a bone-deep surety.
So... yes.
A thousand times yes.
The weeks of uncertainty had only strengthened my confidence that Finch was it for me.
Sure, it was too soon to say something as cheesy as 'happily ever after'--if it was ever appropriate to say something so ridiculous--but I knew that this was something serious, that it was something possibly life-changing.
Part of that future was going to include sex.
And it felt like there was no reason for denying myself this now.
Everything felt right, starting the moment I laid eyes on him once again.
Coming back to the room to find him mostly naked had been the one final assurance that I hadn't realized I'd been seeking.
Finch's hands rose, slowly, tentatively, reaching outward, framing my face as he moved forward, watching my gaze for a moment before sealing his lips over mine.
I wasn't sure I could feel any more need as his body shifted forward, pressed against mine.
My hands moved upward--over his sides, his chest, shoulders, curling around the back of his neck, pressing my breasts to his firm chest, feeling his hard length against my stomach.
I expected to panic at that, to pull away, to flash back to my only experiences with men. Pain and misery. Humiliation.
But there was none of that.
I was here, with him.
No past existed.
Finch's lips pressed deeper, his tongue moving inside to toy with mine, making my belly turn liquid, making my clothes feel oddly hot and itchy.
Finch's lips left mine, tracing down my neck, sending a shiver through my body.
His fingers touched my hips, moved upward to slip just under the hem of my shirt, fingers pressing to bare skin.
Pausing, waiting, then slipping higher, moving over my ribs, then touching the underside of my bra. There was another pause before his hand closed over my breast, squeezing, then slipping up and into the cup, covering my bare skin, thumb brushing over my quickly hardening nipple.
"We can stop here," he told me, sounding pained at the very idea.
If I ever needed reassurance, that was it right there, given to me. A man willing to give me an out, something I had never known before.
I pulled backward slightly, slowly raising my hands over my head, inviting him to remove my shirt from me.
His eyes were soft as he gathered the material, pulling it up, off, tossing it to the side, then reaching behind me to unfasten my bra.
When his body pressed to mine again, the contact sizzled across my nerve endings, moved inward, coursed through every inch of me, then pooled in my core.
My hands roamed over his arms as his lips moved to claim mine again, both hands covering my breasts, thumbs and forefingers rolling my nipples into painfully tightened buds.
A low grumble escaped me when his hands moved away, but died on my lips when his fingers found the button and zipper of my pants, working them free, then carefully grabbing the material, shimmying it down my hips, letting it drop.
I stepped out, anticipation making everything feel slow as I stumbled a bit to kick out of my socks and shoes, then pants, leaving me there in nothing but a pair of very practical tan panties, making me wish I had thought of this possibility when I'd dressed for the day.
Finch's fingers glided down my back, leaving goosebumps in their wake, before sinking into my ass, pulling me forward with him as he backed up into the bed, dropping down, pulling me with him to straddle his hips.
My hips dropped, making his cock press against my barely-there panties, a gasp exploding from between my lips, my gaze meeting his, finding his eyes hooded but gaze intense, watching me, gauging my reaction.
My inner thigh muscles tightened instinctively as my hips shimmied slightly, repositioning, making his cock press me where I needed most. His hiss was drowned out by my whimper, my hands digging into his shoulders as my gaze sought his.
Finding it, his hands gripped my ass tighter, dragging me against him again, driving me up.
My lips sealed to his as my hips worked with his hands, pushing me to an edge I found myself wanting to crash over.
My lips ripped from his, eyes fluttering open as he dragged me against him one last time, making my breath get caught in my lungs as everything inside seemed to splinter apart, sending me crashing down, gasping for air as an almost pained noise escaped me.
Finch's hands left my ass, sifting softly through my hair as I came back down.
"That can be it," he offered, even as his cock seemed to get harder and harder by the second.