“You’re still okay, right?” he asks me.
“Of course.”
“You sore?”
I shrug.
“Yes?”
“A little,” I admit. “But I like it.”
He laughs. “You do? Why is that?”
I move on top and sit up while I straddle him. I grin. “Because it means fantastic things just happened.”
“I’m glad you think they were fantastic.” He looks just as happy as I do. He takes a deep breath. “Look, I know this is a stupid, corny thing to say, but … Blythe, it means a lot to me that I’m the first guy you’ve been with.”
Chris draws his hands over my breasts, touching me so tenderly and exquisitely that I can’t believe how fortunate I am to have my first time be with someone whom I trust so completely with my body. With all that I am. “It means a lot to me that you’re the first guy I’ve been with.”
His hands go down the length of my torso, over the curve of my hips and across the top of my thigh. “Your body …” he starts. “Your body is just rockin’.”
Now he’s embarrassing me. I wasn’t the slightest bit uncomfortable having him do significantly more intimate things than pay me a compliment, but he’s being ridiculous. “Stop it.”
“Seriously. I mean, I’d love your body no matter what, but I have to admit that running has made you even more …” His gaze follows the path of his hands as they travel over me, and I have to look away. “Look at you. These legs, and this waist.” His hands sneak under me. “And this gorgeous ass.”
“Chris …”
“It’s true.” He sits up, puts a hand on the back of my neck and strokes my cheek with his thumb, and then rolls a lock of my hair over his finger. “And these beautiful curls … Face it. You’re gorgeous.”
“You’re a dope.” I squeeze his arm and touch his perfect chest. “And look who’s talking. You’re a block of muscle.” Then he lets me move my fingers over his face while I take in how extraordinary he is. “These stunning green eyes, and this disgustingly perfect masculine jawline.”
“Now you’re being a dope.”
I lean in and rub my nose against his. “And this adorable nose.”
“Now you’ve lost it.” I can tell he doesn’t like his crooked nose, but he kisses me anyway. “Hey, Blythe?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re good, you and me? This doesn’t feel, you know, weird to you, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t. We’re completely good. I know what this is, and what this isn’t, just like you do.”
He nods, and we’re quiet for a minute. “Since we’re going to be in this hotel for a few more days, maybe we could … ”
“Yes. I think we definitely could.” Thank God. I’m not done with him by a landslide. I still have a lot of catching up to do.
“What are we going to tell them?” he asks with a smile.
“Your family?’
“Yup.”
“I have no idea. That we’re going to fuck each other’s brains out for a few days and that they can just deal with it?”
“That may be more descriptive than they’ll need.”
“Or we can tell them nothing and hope they don’t walk in on us.”
“I like the sound of that.” He tickles me under the arms and tosses me onto the bed. “But first, we need food. I was on my way to dinner when … You know.”
“When I assaulted you in the hallway?”
“Yes, exactly.” He grabs my hand and pulls me out of bed. Chris throws on his jeans and grabs the room service menu before he starts to lead me to the couch that overlooks the city.
“Hold on, I’m grabbing a robe.”
“No! No clothes!”
I laugh but go to the bathroom and retrieve the soft white robe that is hanging there for guests. I shut the bifold doors by the tub. I may have just done a lot of things with Chris that I’ve never done with anyone else, but I don’t plan on having him watch me pee be the next one.
By the time I’m out of the bathroom, Chris is sitting on the edge of the oversize chair and ordering food for us. I sit down behind him, clasp my hands together over his stomach, and lean my head against his back. I listen to the rumble of his deep voice as he orders. He looks back, and I nod that the order is fine. I’m starving now. “Yeah, charge it to room 2021,” he says and hangs up. “Dinner’s on me.”
“Chris, you don’t have to do that.”
I bring my right hand to his back as he hangs up, and I pull away to admire again how toned and strong he is. And while he is these things, he is also vulnerable like we all are, proven by the two significant scars on his back. A broken line that starts from just below his left shoulder and ends midway down the right side of his back, a space of probably four inches or so between them.
I don’t really know if this is really one scar or two. I remember how he threw a shirt on by the lake, and suspect now that he was covering his scars the way I often cover my own. I realize that even though Chris and I have been plenty naked with each other, this is the first time I’ve seen or touched his scars, almost as if my hands knew where not to go while we were intimate. The texture is familiar to me because his scars feel like mine. He stiffens slightly as I touch his skin, and I understand this all too well. I tighten my hold around his waist, letting him know this is not a big deal.
He takes a deep breath. “Sorry. I totally forgot. That probably sounds crazy.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You know that.” I pat my left hand against his stomach, reminding him that I really do understand.
I’m still touching his scars. For some reason this is not a question that I want to ask, but I do anyway. “How did you get these?”
He takes my left hand in his and looks out at the view. The buildings are lit up and showing us a deep blue night sky. “Ugh, a skiing accident when I was a kid. The tips of skis are sharper than you think.”
I cringe. “Ow.”
“Ow, indeed.” As he pulls me onto his lap, he nods to the window. “Stellar view, huh?”
I look at him. “It certainly is.”
He smiles. “And this chair is very comfortable.” Chris moves his hand inside my robe, just under my breast.
“It is.”
“And that couch just screams possibilities, doesn’t it.” Now he has my nipple between his fingers.
The surge of desire that moves through me leaves me nearly incapacitated.
“After dinner, though. We need fuel.” Chris parts my robe more and leans in to sweep his tongue over my breast. “Sound good to you?”
I can only nod weakly in response. It may be the middle of the night, but I am wide awake.
CHAPTER NINETEEN Belonging
Waking up with Chris’s mouth between my legs, his tongue working against me hard, and finding that I’m halfway to orgasm is not a bad start to the day. At all. He went down on me last night, and I thought that I might absolutely combust. That first touch of his mouth to my clit was more than I could have imagined, and apparently he likes this as much as I do since he’s doing a damn spectacular job of hitting all the right places with all the right rhythms. Chris can read my body with shocking clarity.
He spreads me apart with his fingers and covers me with his mouth as he sucks on me slowly. I reach down and put my hand on his head and lift myself into him.
He pulls away slightly so that his mouth is barely touching my body, and he starts to kiss me lightly, just barely letting his lips brush against me. I run my hands through my hair as he parts me open again and traces his tongue over my clit. I’m moving against his mouth now as he puts his hands under me, squeezing me softly and letting his fingers wander. He lifts his tongue and moves down, pushing it inside me for a minute before moving even lower. I spread my legs apart more. I’m breathing hard, practically panting, and I can feel my orgasm coming.
I move to put myself in his mouth again. “You ready?” he asks, and takes my moaning as a yes. “Good. Because I can’t wait any longer to taste you while you come.”