“It’s only seven o’clock!” She said that as she was returning to bed afterward and happened to see the bedside clock.
“I know.”
“It feels like I slept forever. How is it so early?”
“We went to bed kind of early last night.” Carter was stretched out on his side of the bed, his head on a couple of pillows. His hair was sticking up in all directions, and he had two days’ worth of a beard, which was quite a lot of stubble for him.
He looked sexy as hell. And somehow adorable at the same time.
She’d never had particularly good walls around her heart, and the car accident had managed to topple the ones she’d had. She got into bed and crawled over toward him, unable to resist the urge to touch him.
Carter went very still when she rubbed her hands up and down his chest. His eyes scanned her face urgently. “Ruth?”
“What?” She leaned over and kissed the crook of his neck, just at the neckline of his T-shirt. Then she kissed his stubbly jaw. Then she kissed his lips.
Carter still hadn’t moved. His body felt very tense. “What’s happening here?”
“I’m kissing you.”
“I thought you wanted me to back off.”
“I don’t want you to back off,” she mumbled, pressing little kisses around his mouth. “That’s the last thing in the world I want.”
“Are you sure?” One of his hands had finally moved to cup the back of his head. “Ruth, baby, are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” She tried again to kiss him.
This time he returned the kiss, his lips moving against hers and his tongue darting out to tease the tip of hers. But he was still holding back. After a minute, he pulled her head back slightly so he could see her face. “You’re not sleep-walking or something, are you?”
“No.” She giggled. “I’m awake.”
“And you really want this? It’s not a concussion-fueled mistake or a—”
“It’s not a mistake. Carter. I want this.” Her face twisted slightly. “Do you not want to—”
He groaned and rolled them both over so he was on top of her. “Yes, I want this. I want you. I’ve never wanted anything more.”
It was exactly what she wanted to hear. In exactly the sincere, possessive voice she might have dreamed about. She melted beneath him as he took control of the kiss with a naked hunger that was impossible to deny.
He kissed her until her body was pulsing and her vision was blurred over. Then he kissed his way down her neck.
She was wearing nothing but her little Christmas gown, and it didn’t seem to get in Carter’s way. As he got lower on her body, he pushed the gown up so he could get to her breasts.
By that point, she was gasping and wriggling around, so turned on she couldn’t lie still. Her hands moved all over his back and shoulders, finally getting to the bottom of his shirt so she could slide her hands under it and feel his skin.
After a few minutes, Carter returned to her mouth, and she kissed him with a shameless abandon there was no way to restrain. Her nails were raking down his back. She had one leg wrapped around his thighs as she tried to ride him from below.
“Damn, baby,” he murmured when he finally broke the kiss. “You’re like fire. Look at you burn.”
She whimpered and arched up, her head tossing back and forth on the pillow. “Carter, please. I need... I need...”
“I know you do. I know you do, baby.” He kissed her mouth, gently this time. Then the throbbing pulse in her neck. Then he lifted her gown again so he could press his lips against her shuddering belly. “Can I please...?”
He didn’t finish the question, but he didn’t need to. She knew exactly what he was asking. And she knew that it was exactly what she needed.
“Yes,” she rasped, pushing his head down toward her groin. “Yes, please. Please.”
Carter made a groaning sound and pulled her thighs apart, adjusting her body to give him better access. Then he kissed his way from her belly to the cleft between her legs.
She cried out helplessly when he used his tongue to swipe her open. Then cried out again when he teased her clit with his tongue. He bent her knees up more and spread them apart, holding her open with his fingers so he could work.
Her body was completely exposed to him, shamelessly sprawled out for him to see, to touch. And she couldn’t do anything to make things happen except to beg him to make her come, which she was doing with a lot of loud, babbling pleas.
She couldn’t remember ever feeling so completely helpless.
Or so completely good.
Her body was responding quickly to the ministrations of his lips and tongue. And the first time he closed his lips around her clit and sucked, she came hard, sobbing messily and shaking so much he could barely hold her still.
She would have thought it would be over after that, but it wasn’t. She’d barely come down when he slid two fingers inside her and started to pump them. That felt different. Deeper. Incredibly satisfying. He found her G-spot and pressed into it with rhythmic pushes of his fingers. Then he sucked her clit again.
She came and came again. And maybe again. It got to the point where she couldn’t tell anymore. It was just an extended rush of pleasure that didn’t end when she would have thought it was supposed to. She was flailing all over as she tried to handle the intense sensations. Clutching the bedding and grabbing the headboard and sometimes pulling on his hair so much it had to hurt. And she wasn’t even embarrassed about the sounds she was making. Desperate and primal and helpless.
Eventually it felt so good for so long that she was almost frightened about it. “Enough,” she gasped brokenly. “Carter, it’s enough.”
He lifted his head immediately to check her face. Whatever he saw there must have satisfied him because he smiled. He kissed her clit very gently. Then moved up to kiss her belly. Kept moving to kiss her lips. “How was it?”
She gave a hoarse, choppy laugh. Her whole body still tingled, but all the tension was starting to soften into something resembling bliss. “How do you think it was?”
“It looked pretty good.” He kissed her again. “And sounded pretty good. But that doesn’t mean—”
“I loved it,” she blurted out. “Thank you so much. I loved it.”
He let out a rough exhalation and took her in his arms. His arms were tight. His body was hot. “Thank you for trusting me enough to do that for you.”
It said something about him. That he’d thanked her, even after he’d given her the best sexual experience she’d ever had in her life.
It said something really good about him.
She felt like she might ooze into a puddle of pure satisfaction. But then she started feeling a little guilty about it so she lifted her head. “Do you want me to do you now?”
Carter frowned at her. “No. That was for you. I wasn’t expecting reciprocation.”
“Okay. But I don’t mind doing you. Maybe a little bit later. After I’ve recovered.”
He laughed softly, still hugging her close. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
Ten
THEY STAYED IN BED, lying tangled together and not speaking, for a long time. Almost half an hour. Ruth felt too good to wonder about it or begin her typical mental storm of questions and imagined answers.