Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

Claudia

My head is spinning because I honestly hadn’t expected him to say he wanted to keep seeing each other after I leave Florida. I’d been okay with it too. Inexperienced, insecure me had zero expectations from a gorgeous, successful guy like Anders. The fact that he’d shown me I wasn’t broken sexually will go a long way toward soothing any upcoming broken heart.

Except he wants to stay in touch.

See more of each other.

Spend the rest of the week together.

I’m not sure how I’m going to manage it, but Hana will understand.

There’s a reason she’s my bestie.

We pick up Chinese food but I’m not even a little bit hungry when we get to Anders’ apartment.

My stomach flutters with nerves and butterflies as we put the food in the kitchen. Anders is pulling out silverware but all I can think about is seeing him naked. I know it’s dangerous territory. I’m not ready to go all the way, so to speak, but I’m desperate for more physical contact with him. I have to touch him.

“—there’s also beer and?—”

He’s still trying to be a polite host, but I interrupt him impatiently.

“We should be naked,” I say abruptly. “I’m too hot and sticky to think about food.”

He freezes, turning ice-blue eyes on me.

They’re inscrutable.

The look on his face tells me I’ve unleashed some sort of beast.

Yet it doesn’t scare me.

If I didn’t trust him, I wouldn’t be here.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I’m beyond caring at this point.

“I need you to touch me,” I continue. “I feel like I can’t breathe. Like you being across the room is too far and?—”

He crosses the room in three long steps and seals his mouth over mine. Our lips fuse with a magnetic motion that leaves me barely able to breathe. Tongues and lips collide almost viciously, and instead of being nervous, it makes me want more.

I truly don’t know what I want, but I’m positive he’s going to show me.

Firm but gentle fingers trail my back, skimming the curve of my ass before sliding beneath my top. Moisture floods my nether regions as his hands caress my skin, warming me from the inside out.

We’re still kissing, bodies close together, and I whimper as he pulls away.

“Off,” he says in a gruff voice, tugging at my top.

I let him pull it over my head but instead of feeling vulnerable, the look in his eyes empowers me. I don’t know much about men, but the one in front of me is drinking me in. I could feel his erection when we were kissing, and now I can see it, long and thick against his shorts.

“The rest,” he growls, taking a step back.

This time I hesitate—I hadn’t planned on doing a strip tease—but that erection is for me, and he wouldn’t have it if he didn’t like what he’s seeing.

“Please.” His voice is softer now, but no less strained with urgency.

He’s seen me in a bathing suit, so stripping down to my bra and panties shouldn’t be a big deal.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I unbutton my shorts and let them slide down my legs. With my eyes glued to his, I step out of them, and everything inside of me turns up a notch.

“Fucking beautiful,” he groans.

“Your…turn.” It’s hard to get those words out, but he doesn’t hesitate, stripping off his shirt and giving me a view of his incredible torso. Broad shoulders. Tapered waist and hips. And fuck me, but the “V” his oblique muscles make is absolute perfection. I’d seen it all at the beach, but it’s even more spectacular now that we’re alone.

“Bra.” His commands turn me on more than they embarrass me, and I comply before I can overthink this.

“ Fuuuck .” His breath escapes in a rush, and he slowly reaches out to run his fingers over my nipples. Like he’s honored to be able to touch them. Like he finds me beautiful.

“I don’t know if I’m brave enough for the rest,” I admit with a shaky laugh.

“I’m so proud of you for how brave you’ve been,” he says, reaching for my hands and tugging me against him. “And I have a very special reward for you.”

I can’t even imagine.

“Come with me.” He pulls me down a hallway and into what I assume is his bedroom.

It’s still light out, though the sun is starting to get lower in the sky, but I barely notice it as we continue into the en suite bathroom. The shower is huge, with a teak bench on one side and two massive shower heads on the other. It’s the biggest shower I’ve ever seen, but I’m struggling to come up with something to say because he’s just stepped out of his shorts, and I realize he’d been commando beneath.

God, it’s big.

Much bigger than Seth’s.

Is it weird that I want to touch it? Hold it? Lick it like an ice cream cone?

Without a word, he turns on the water and slowly reaches for my hand.

“Would it be easier if I take them off for you?” he asks quietly, his eyes glittering with intensity.

“I…think so.”

“Are you afraid?”

“Not afraid. Just a little nervous.”

“I’ll never hurt you. I’m not him .” He emphasizes the last word, and I nod.

“I know.”

“You’re beautiful, Claudia.” He’s close now, almost touching me, the fingers of one hand on my chin. “Don’t think about anything except this passion between us. How desperate you were for me to touch you when we were in the kitchen.” His free hand is at my hip now, and he’s running his thumb back and forth across the skin there.

I almost look down, but his grip on my chin tightens ever so slightly.

“Eyes on me, beautiful girl.”

I feel my panties sliding down one side.

“Look into my eyes. Do you see how much I want you?”

“Y-yes.”

Now the other side.

“Never be afraid of me.”

Somewhere in my subconscious, I know my panties have hit the floor, but I’m too mesmerized by the look in his eyes and the way it feels for him to be gripping my chin to be bothered by it.

Then he pulls me flush against his chest, his thick, hard erection pressed against my stomach.

“Feels nice, doesn’t it?” he asks softly.

“Very.” I shiver slightly, but I don’t think I’m cold.

“Now we’re going to shower.” He gently releases my chin and uses that hand to grab one of mine, pulling me beneath the warm spray.

“Put your arms around me, beautiful girl.” He waits patiently for me to move, and I cautiously wrap my arms around his waist. His strong arms close around me and to my surprise, we don’t move. He just holds me, resting his chin on the top of my head. The water sluices over us, but he’s in no hurry to do anything but hold me.

There’s something surprisingly soothing about standing here like this with him. The side of my face is resting against his chest, the water is the perfect temperature and pressure, and the strength emanating from him suddenly makes me feel strong too.

I can do this.

I can be with a kind, gentle gorgeous man who’s sporting the mother of all erections. For me. He’s hard for me , and I feel a moment of pride.

“Better?” he asks after what seems like an eternity.

“Yes.”

“I’m going to wash you now, okay?”

“Wash me?” I finally lift my head, looking into his eyes.

He arches one golden brow, holding up a thick, soft, blue washcloth. “You know, with soap and stuff? Because we got gross and sticky today?”

I chuckle. “Well, yeah, but you don’t have to wash me.”

“Except I want to. Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

Fuck, yes.

Having his hands on me is rapidly becoming one of my favorite things.

He starts at the top, washing my arms and chest. He trails the cloth, and his fingers, along my stomach before bending his head to slowly flick his tongue back and forth across one nipple.

“Anders…”

“Tell me what you like.”

I suck in a breath as he closes his mouth around my nipple and gently sucks. My fingers automatically move to his hair.

“More,” I whisper.

He bites down a little harder and I arch my chest into his mouth.

“Oh, hell, that’s good.” I truly can’t breathe.

Being this intimate with him is incredibly sensual.

My body is on high alert, discovering new sensations with everything he does.

He moves to the other breast, using his free hand to pluck and pinch the first nipple. He tugs harder and harder, until I cry out, and finally backs off. I’m not sure what’s more frustrating—how rough he was being or the fact that he’s stopped.

But watching him drop to his haunches in front of me is erotic as fuck.

I’m not capable of thought, much less movement, as he lathers the cloth again and then gently begins to work his way down my thighs and calves, using his hands to help wash away the suds. He moves down one side and then up the other, and before I realize what’s happening, the cloth is between my legs.

He’s touching me.

Right. There.

Using the washcloth as a barrier, but his fingers are there too.

And now his mouth.

Sweet Jesus, he’s kissing the top of my mound, his lips a whisper against me.

“Spread your legs, beautiful girl,” he says in that same gruff voice he’d used earlier.

My legs move before I realize what I’m doing.

“Now I’m going to eat your pussy.”