Chapter Sixteen
He paused what he was doing to stare down at me. There he was, dark haired, chiseled features, and so fucking beautiful, he’d been taking my breath away since I was a teenager. And here he was, wanting me. Desire had never manifested like this before. It was as though with every breath he took, I could feel his need for me radiating from his very cells. Was that dramatic and somewhat ridiculous? Absolutely. A figment of my overactive imagination? Maybe. Did it seem entirely real in this moment? Yes, it did.
I was going to go with that.
What was more was when he looked at me, it really did feel like he saw me. Almost from the second I had slapped him on the street, he had seemed to be able to view into my soul and see what was there, even though I pretended other things. How could I not want him?
Whatever it took, tomorrow or any other time, I would do for this and future moments. I wanted Zeke.
I wanted to kiss him, and so I did. I lifted my mouth to press mine to his this time. He paused just long enough to smirk at me before he kissed me back. That man and his smirk. How could I want to smack him for it and also kiss the shit out of it at the same time? I’d done both so far, and I preferred this one, big time.
He tasted like happiness. What was with my mind in these moments putting feelings into everything where they didn’t belong? He tasted like toothpaste. That was the truth, and yet the other was as well. Zeke tasted like fucking sunshine.
I wanted to know how the rest of him tasted. I pulled my mouth off him to kiss his neck, craving the sweat off his skin the way I’d been dreaming of him. He laughed, a low sound. “We have all night, princess. There is no need to rush this.”
“Yes, there is.” How to explain that I’d been waiting for this for way too long? That I’d held out hope he would always be single so there was even the possibility of this? That part of me had known I’d have to stop fantasizing about him if there was ever an actual Mrs. Scott, even if dreams didn’t work that way. “I think you promised me orgasms.”
If he never knew how stupid I was in sentimentality, that would be for the best.
“I did. That is absolutely true.”
The TV was on and a light next to the bed, plenty of illumination for me to see that his cheeks were flushed. He wasn’t just blasé about this. I might be going through a million thoughts a minute, but he was equally as turned on. Holding himself back just meant he exerted more control than me. The good news, for me anyway, was that control could be broken.
He kissed my neck, then traveled down to my top, which left a lot for him to see since it was a tank top. “Do you always wear really sexy things to sleep in?”
I shook my head. “No, but I’m supposed to be on my honeymoon, remember?”
He made a sound that could have been a growl. “Oh, fuck that. Kit doesn’t get to look at you like this ever again. Not that fucker.”
That was quite a lot of swearing for Zeke. “No?”
“No.” He didn’t so much as pull my tank top from my body as rip it straight over my head and onto the floor. “He didn’t deserve to look at you with his eyes or touch you with his hands. That stupid little asshole.”
I took his hand and placed it on my breast because that was where I wanted it. Funny, I had a hard time saying what I wanted aloud most of the time, but apparently with Zeke, I had no such qualms about demanding it physically.
He squeezed my breast, and I closed my eyes. “I love it when you tell me how to please you. That’s such a turn on. A woman who knows what she wants. But guess what, Layla?” I had to open my eyes to regard him, because he apparently legitimately wanted an answer.
“What?”
“I actually know what you need.”
Delivering that line, he dropped his head to suck on my nipple. I gasped, yes, the bite of pain was just what I needed. The brush of his neatly kept whiskers burned against me, and it was even hotter. I was going to be marked tomorrow, and damn if I didn’t want that, bad.
I was wet. I barely moved my legs, and I knew it. What was more was that I wasn’t wearing panties. These were my pajamas, and I didn’t sleep in them. I was going to soak right through the thin fabric onto his bed. That was okay.
He sucked hard, and I squirmed beneath him. Yes, more. This wasn’t enough. Just the very beginning of what I needed. He let go of that nipple, leaving a soreness behind it only to take the other one in his mouth. The trouble was this left me with very little to do except run my hands in his hair.
I tugged at his shirt. If I was going to be bare to him, he needed to be to me as well. I managed to get him out of his shirt, which meant he had to stop sucking on my nipple. That was okay. I wanted more access to his body. His strong, gorgeous, chiseled body.
Panting, from what, I wasn’t sure, because we hadn’t really gotten to that part yet, and despite the fact that I was a terrible runner and my body was sore, I stared at him. And he stared right back at me.
The two of us. He got up on his knees, so I did the same.
“You’re really so beautiful, Layla. Pale. Your red hair like… I’m not good with words. Just stunning. Tell me, are you a redhead everywhere?”
Heat hit my cheeks, and even though I couldn’t see it, I was sure I blushed furiously. “I’m waxed. You’ll never know.”
“Hmm.” He kissed my neck, pressing my breasts against his chest. “But if you weren’t?”
I shook my head. “What do you think?”
“I think you are.” He tugged at my pajama pants. “Don’t wax everywhere. Leave me a strip to see next time.”
Next time? That was going to take a long time to get to. More than four days for sure. I said nothing, however, because I really didn’t want to have the there-isn’t-going-to-be-a-future-for-us conversation again. I wanted to pretend that was possible, and right then, I decided a little self-delusion would be good for the soul.
He was hard through his pajama pants, and I was suddenly glad that tonight he’d worn a shirt because I had the gift of taking it off him. I pressed myself closer, rocking against his erection, and he closed his eyes, letting out a long moan.
“Usually, I don’t like it when it a woman takes control during sex. But with you? I actually don’t mind it. Take what you want from me as long as you understand that I’m going to give you what you need when I think that you need it.”
I shook my head. “Don’t talk about other women in bed with me. Not even that they exist, or I’ll start talking to you about other men.”
Zeke flared his nostrils. “Fair enough.”
He grabbed me by the nape and pulled me to him, kissing me hard. It was a possessive kiss, although I’d never tell him that. I gave him the same right back. Fuck what he did with other women. For however long this lasted, I didn’t want to hear a thing about them ever.
Pleasure pushed sense from my mind. With hands all over each other, we stripped out of the remainder of our clothing. He laid me back down, coming on top of me to look down as his gaze traveled over my body like he wanted to take me in.
“So pretty.” He ran his finger from my belly button down, stopping right over my waxed pussy. “And bare just like you said it would be.”