11. HAZEL

11

HAZEL

"Ever, Hazel. I don't ever want to hurt you."

I knew what he was getting at the moment he said he didn't want to hurt me, but when he reiterated it, I was certain he was having regrets. We were two minutes post love making and here he was back in his own head again.

We're still tangled together but he couldn't be further away from me. So, I do what I've always done with Wes and tease him about it. When I brush things aside or lessen the seriousness of the moment, it helps him relax. The last thing I want right now is for him to run or push me aside.

"That was the best birthday gift ever," I respond, and he smirks and rolls his eyes. "Seriously, two gifts in one night. That's never happened before."

He laughs and some of the tension leaves his body. "Give me thirty minutes and maybe you'll get three gifts."

"Ooh, gift me, baby," I say with a laugh, relief washing over me as he laughs, too.

"You're so corny, you're ruining this sweet moment," he teases.

I lean up on my elbow and don't miss the way his eyes drop to my breasts. "Me? See this is where society has it all wrong. Can't a woman love sex without getting all emotional?"

"Sure, but maybe the man likes the emotional stuff," he retorts coolly.

"Ha!" I bark a laugh. "Maybe some do, but I know you, Wes."

Now he rises up on his elbow and looks me in the eye. "What's that mean? You know me ?"

I turn and flop onto my back, throwing my hands above my head again as I watch his eyes glued to my breasts. "You're so emotional that you can't keep your eyes off my heart right now, right?"

He lifts his eyes to mine, and I raise my brows knowingly at the sweet smile on his lips. He cups one breast, his thumb smoothing the underside before pinching my nipple.

"I am. Your heart is big and soft," he squeezes my breast, "and it races alongside mine every time it's touched."

"Only when it's touched by you." At my words, he dips his head to kiss me again before rolling away from me.

"I'll be right back." He stands and heads for the bathroom and I watch his strong body move gracefully in the moonlight. I lay back, pulling the sheet up to my neck and close my eyes thinking that Wes is everything I imagined he would be and more.

The toilet flushes then water runs, and he comes out a minute later with two towels. Before I can ask what he's doing, he lifts the sheet and gently rubs the inside of my thighs with it before giving me another quick kiss. The towel is warm and the act is so ridiculously intimate my eyes burn and I have to blink away a sudden rush of tears.

Because he'd certainly run for the hills if he saw a tear.

He hands me the dry towel and says, "I'm going to grab us some water. If you want to take a shower, feel free. I left more towels on the sink."

As he makes his way to the door, he stops and looks over his shoulder. "That's not a nice way of asking you to leave either. If I come back into this room and find you in my shower, I'm joining you. And if I come back into this room and find you still in my bed? You bet your ass we're going for round two."

I smile, his words a happy surprise that has me relaxing, thinking maybe, we're at a turning point here.

~~

The morning sun blazes through the windows of the open curtains in his bedroom. Last night the moonlight cast a romantic glow and it was perfect. This morning, though, the sunlight is obnoxious. I pull the sheet higher and bury my face in the pillow shifting my body trying to get comfortable.

"Stop moving around," Wes grumbles next to me, and I smile at the gravelly tone of his voice.

"I'm just trying to hide from the sun. I barely even moved."

"Doesn't matter if you batted an eyelash, I felt it. I've got the most incredibly sexy woman in my bed, naked, and I've been lying here for the last forty minutes trying to keep my hands and my hard on to myself."

Those butterflies go wild in my stomach again. "Now why would you do that?"

"I'm trying to be a gentleman," he says tightly.

"I've known you for three years and gentleman is not a word I'd use to describe you."

In an instant, the sheets are tossed back and he's pushed me to my stomach so fast I can't even let out a yelp. He smacks my ass once then leans down and nips at the same spot and I laugh. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry! You're a gentleman!"

"Too little, too late." He straddles my back and I feel his hard cock nestle between my ass cheeks. He leans down and nibbles my earlobe before blowing cool air on it and I shiver. "Tell me the words you'd describe me with."

"Horny. Sexy. Old."

He spanks me twice this time and I shout, halfheartedly struggling against his hold.

"Old? Woman! I'm warning you!" He wedges his knee between my legs, spreading me wide while he grabs my waist and hoists me up onto my knees.

Then his face is there, his tongue licking my clit and I moan, "Oh, Wes."

"Old men can't do this." He eats at me, spearing me with his tongue before sucking my clit and I combust before I even know what's happening, my body quaking violently. He holds me up preventing me from toppling to the floor as he continues to lap at me, lazily.

"How did you get me there so fast?" I ask breathlessly, pulling out of his hold and rolling to my side only to be met by his grinning face.

"It's a gift."

"I see that." I reach for him, running my hand over his chest. "Your body is amazing."

He smiles. "All that HVAC work. Jay and Maverick are such slackers."

"Stop it. I know all three of you work hard," I chastise him halfheartedly.

He leans up on his elbow. "I'm going to jump in the shower and then we can go get coffee before I take you home."

I glance at his hard cock that's jutting from his body and he laughs. "Baby, keep looking at me like that and next time we leave this bed it will be for dinner."

"That's kind of what I assumed we would do. I can't leave you like this!"

He sits up and strokes himself. "I'm going to handle this in the shower. I was rough with you last night and you're sore."

"I'm not."

He leans in and kisses me before standing and heading to the bathroom. He turns in the doorway and flips the light on, winking as he says, "Feel free to watch if that's your thing."

He disappears into the bathroom then the water starts up and I sit and smile to myself.

This is the Wes I knew I'd get if he would just give himself a chance.