Chapter 18

Jakob

She shivers at that one simple phrase.

"Then you should have whatever you want," she says, letting go of me, then crossing her arms to peel off her shirt, revealing a pretty pink bra that matches the rosiness of her cheeks. "If I'm to redeem myself as a hostess, that is."

Josephine has nothing to redeem herself for. She is sublime.

The way she blinks up at me with her big, smiling eyes, her pretty teeth gnawing on her bottom lip, she's the sexiest thing I've ever seen. She's all heat and nerves and anticipation.

"There's something I need to tell you, Jakob," she says. "I don't have a lot of experience with any of this."

"I'm not going to give you a performance review, love."

She laughs as I bend low to nuzzle at her breastbone. I admire a dozen or more freckles that stand out against her skin, and each one gets a soft, licking kiss.

Jo presses into me as I reach around her and span my palms over her back. "You feel perfect in my arms, Josephine. I'm going to take such good care of you."

"Jakob," she breathes. Josephine's chest heaves erratically. She has something to say, and she's trying to build up the nerve.

"Open up to me, sweetheart," I say, dragging my lips and tongue over one small nipple that reaches for me through the lace of her bra. "Tell me what you're thinking."

I work open the latch of her bra, and she lets me nudge the straps off her shoulders. The whole thing falls to the floor. My Josephine is topless, her perfect round breasts exposed to me.

Damn. She's even better in the daylight. Does she have any idea how beautiful she is?

I swallow hard, holding back the urge to paw and nibble and suckle, reminding myself she has something to say.

"When…we were kids, I felt safe with you. You made me feel protected. Looked after. I never got that feeling from anyone else. When I moved away, I felt raw. Exposed. So I had to build my armor up. I put my head down and I kept going. But now…"

I thread my fingers through her hair. "But now what?"

"I feel that safety and protection again, now that you're here. Is that silly?"

I stare down at her and frown. "Why would that be silly?"

"We have such different lives."

She feels safe with me? Good. The second I saw her sweet, hopeful face yesterday, I knew I'd found my mission in life. To take care of her, protect her. To be her man for as long as she wants me.

"Don't you get it, sweetheart?"

Her eyes dart between mine, her brow furrowed. "Get what?"

"Our lives aren't different. My life ended when you left. And now that I've found you, I'm alive again."

"Jakob," she squeaks. "I'm so sorry for leaving."

"We were kids. You didn't have a choice, so don't you dare feel guilty about that. Come on, no tears now."

She nods and smiles bravely. "Then you'd better take me to bed."

Before either of us can put a damper on the moment, I lean over and hook my arms around her back and behind her knees, scooping her up in my arms. "Let's go make new memories."

Josephine smiles shyly as I lay her down on the bed and crowd over her, pressing my knee between her legs. "You've already done that. Today has been wonderful and memorable in every way," she says.

I lean down and softly press my lips against hers, letting her deepen the kiss. She reaches for me, pulling me down on top of her, spearing her tongue into my mouth. Her legs wrap around me, clutching me against her.

"Don't worry, you won't crush me. I'm sturdy," she laughs.

My heart beats so hard it might explode.

Despite her insistence that I can't crush her, I roll to my side, taking her with me. We lie face to face, exploring each other.

I cup one of her full breasts and take its rosy nipple into my mouth, teasing it into a tight peak. I roll the other nipple between my fingers, feeling it pucker, begging to be kissed.

Josephine's sweet sighs spur me onward. Switching sides, I take her opposite nipple into my mouth. Softly, I graze my teeth over the hard nub, gauging whether she likes that. Moaning, she wraps one leg around my hip and splays out her fingers against my scalp.

"That. Do that again," she breathes.

I'll do anything she asks, and I'll do it with a smile on my face. I love this woman. I feel her under my skin. She's always been mine. My other half has been missing for so many years and now I'm whole again.

I give both breasts the same treatment until she begins to grind on my throbbing cock, which aches to be free of my jeans.

"I want to touch you, Jakob," she says reaching between us and tugging at the button of my jeans.

Quickly, I help her out, shoving down my zipper and freeing my cock.

She circles her fingers around my length, and it twitches at the sensation. It weeps with precum as Jo lifts it free of my boxer briefs.

"It's so big," she breathes. "It's bigger than I thought."

"Careful," I chuckle. "You're going to give me a big head."

"You're already there, I'd say."

We both laugh, and I'm so damn happy.

"What should I do first?"

"You can do whatever you want with it. It's yours, Josephine."

She takes it in both hands, exploring every ridge. She's much too gentle, and yet I hold back, desperately trying not to thrust and nut all over her.

When she sweeps one delicate finger over the precum at the tip, I let out a strangled groan, determined not to let go.

"Does that bother you?"

"It's…a little too good."

"Should I stop? It's just that I've never touched one before. I've never seen one in person."

Now that we're sharing: "Sweetheart, you're not the only one who is new to all of this."

Jo's hand tenses around me as she meets my gaze. "Are you serious? But…yesterday…you really seemed to know what you were doing."

"I had opportunities. But when l considered anyone else, all I could see was you. I just couldn't go through with it. If I couldn't have you, I didn't want anyone else."

The shock in her face gives way to something like wonder. "Do you believe in soul mates?"

I shake my head. "I don't have many good examples to go on. I only believe in us."

She holds my gaze for a long moment, then rolls off of me. She catches me watching her thumb at the waistband of her leggings. "Don't watch, I'm not very graceful at this."

Quickly, I stand and shuck off the rest of my clothes. Leaning over the bed, I gently swat her hands away and peel her leggings and underwear at once down off her legs and over her feet, tossing them to the floor, leaving us both completely naked to each other.

I settle in between her thighs' embrace, sliding my cock between her folds, wetting it with her essence.

"You feel so good and wet for me, sweetheart."

"You feel good too," she says.

I smile as I reach down between our bodies and find her clit with my thumb. Her breath hitches.

"Oh, Jakob! That's too good…please put it in, I can't take it."

"We have to get you ready to take me."

"I'm so wet already."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"It's okay, I know you wouldn't, not on purpose."

I notch the tip of my cock into her damp heat. She's so tight and wet but still too tense. It won't feel good.

"Baby, I have an idea. Get your toy."

"My butterfly wand?"

I nod, kissing the tip of her nose. "The vibrating will help you relax enough to take me."

She eyes me skeptically. "And what will you do?"

"Sit here and get turned on watching you play with yourself."

Her cheeks flush a deeper red, and she smiles shyly, reaching toward her night table and getting the wand from the drawer.

In a span of a breath, Josephine transforms from adorably awkward beauty into a sex goddess. She moves the small handheld toy over the front of her pussy, giving that area a massage with the low electronic buzzing that I recognize from last night.

Josephine reaches down and spreads her lips. I'm utterly transfixed as she places the fluttering butterfly piece over her swollen clit. Instantly, her back curls off the bed. I fucking love watching her get lost in the moment, her head thrown back, brows knitted together. With an unrestrained shriek, she comes in a matter of seconds, not minutes.

Josephine flops onto her back. Breathlessly, she says, "I'm sorry" as she switches it off and tosses it aside. "I forgot to set it on the lowest setting. I came too fast."

"Sorry? Do you have any idea how completely fucking turned on I am right now? Watching you make yourself come is going to be in the highlight reel of my life. Don't be sorry about that. Besides, I have an idea."

I reach for the toy.

"What did you have in mind?"

The next moment, I'm over her, notching my cock into her tightness, my mouth ravishing hers, and the little toy quietly vibrating against one of her nipples, then the other.

It's working.

Her warm cunt ripples against my cock, her aftershocks intensifying with the added playing and teasing. I spear into her, thinking that this could be the first of many times, but also dreading that it could be the only time. I don't know what life will bring our way. I don't know if who I am will result in us being torn apart for whatever awaits me once people find out.

Everything we're building here could be lost if I go back to the city.

Josephine wants a quiet, anonymous life, with hikes in the woods and picnics by the lake and memories made for us, for children and grandchildren. I want that too.

I'll do everything in my power to make that happen.