25. Marcus

25

MARCUS

E lla's almond eyes are wild and shining from coming across my tongue. Her lips glow red from her teeth. And finally, that haunted look she came home with is gone.

I want to keep this slow. My intent is to build some intimacy, be present and vulnerable with her. Maybe she'll open up to me. I bracket her with my forearms, my T-shirt pinching my shoulders, but I don't take it off yet.

Lightly dragging the tips of my fingers across her scalp, I let my smile soften. She blinks at me, searching my gaze. What does she see? How I could stare at her like this for hours to learn every golden fleck in her warm brown eyes, to count her eyelashes and mesmerize her freckles, to trace the gentle slopes of her cheekbones and brows, her chin?

How I could be falling for her already—just the start. It's a deep, hooking pinch in my soul that I can't dig out, don't want to dig out. Every bit of her I unearth is fascinating. Her sharp wit. Her strength. Her ease with Lily. Her abundance of love. Ella overflows with it, even when she thinks she's not. Like when she's tired and hangry, but she brings me a bowl of whatever she's made for herself. How she sings to my daughter in the kitchen and makes her a part of everything. When she uses the graze of her fingers as she walks by to give a silent signal that she's there.

I graze my thumb over her temple, rub the shell of her ear. Her fingers tighten in the front of my shirt.

"Hey," I say.

Ella laughs low. "Hey. Take your shirt off." She gives the fabric a tug, knowing I will need to move to let her strip it off me.

I lean down and nuzzle her cheek with mine. "Feeling a little exposed?" I nip her earlobe, and her nails dip into my chest.

"Perhaps," she murmurs against my throat, her teeth testing my flesh.

"Mmm. You didn't seem to mind so much when my face was buried between your thighs."

Her knees lift and tighten around my hips in response. "And you promised me more. When did you plan on giving it to me?"

I grin down at her eagerness, but she's wriggling under my full attention. So, a little distraction is called for. I press my teeth into the slope of her neck, and her back arches for me. Her hands reach around my back, anchoring herself against me. It has my hips rolling into hers. I've never wanted a woman this much. In every way.

When she moans, I cover her mouth with mine, tasting her need as we roll against each other. Another tug of my shirt is my sign. I pull away enough for her bunch it over my head, and I lean up to tear it the rest of the way off.

My hands are unoccupied for only seconds, and hers are yanking open my fly. My shaft twitches the moment her fingers wrap around it. I groan, and she peers up as she strokes me, strong eye contact that makes me pause. She wants me to watch her, to see something akin to what I was trying to show her a moment ago.

Her free hand trails up my stomach muscles, making them flex involuntarily. My breath comes fast at her touch, her hands soft and warm. Her nails are sharp, but all of it has my hips making tiny thrusts into her grip.

Does she want to witness my unraveling? I've been a spectator to hers plenty, but it's not often that it's just us, like this, when she's still clear and able to focus with intent.

Ella runs her thumb under the cleft of my head, and that bundle of nerves spikes my body with heat and the build of pleasure. I jerk in her grip, eliciting humor and arousal in her features. She doesn't fight me as I slip away, pushing my pants off before rejoining her on the bed. Our bare bodies glide together, and her soft heat is plush against my hard muscles. We fit together perfectly.

Dropping my mouth between her breasts, up her chest and throat and under her chin, her giggle trills through me. I tease her with an almost kiss before I let her capture my lips. My body eases up a few inches, cock searching for her wet heat. With a small shift, Ella spreads her knees and lifts, drawing me in perfectly.

I'm not fully seated, but it's enough that we're both out of breath, noses bumping. I rear back to wedge my way deeper, and we moan together.

And now that I've started, pushing and pulling in long, drawn out thrusts, I can't slow down again. We have to places to build to.

That's the thing about fucking Ella. It always escalates, taps a craving, something primal that I simply don't understand fully, that I'm unwilling to give up.

Kissing her again, I show her everything I want from her, that I want to give her. Her response smashes our mouths together. Ella grips the back of my neck. We devour each other.

Hips rocking in sync, every roll hits her cleft and makes her tighten around me. When her hold on me changes, I give us a few precious inches of space. Her eyes are mostly closed. She must feel my gaze because in a flash, her eyes open. We're staring into each other as her climax brews and builds within.

Her breaths are coming hard and short, her bright lips part, and I'm mesmerized, caught in the way her orgasm takes her over completely. This one is nearly silent, precious and swift, but she lets me stay, shows me everything.

Our foreheads tip together as she trembles. From experience, I don't slow, but I do shift angles. Her soft laugh is appreciative and warm.

"Just getting started, right?" I tease, and her laughter makes her clench around me and moan.

"Mmm-mm." The challenge in her lilting tone sets me off. I twist and turn and bend her in every direction possible with just the two of us.

As her energy wanes, I prop her on some pillows, face down, with her hips up in my hands. Her cries are muffled in the mattress, fingers twisting in the sheets. I love having her this way because I can reach her G-spot so easily in this position.

I tap it now, steady, forceful swings that rock her naturally back against me. My hands wander, worshiping every part of her I can reach. And that's most of it.

Once I satisfy my wandering exploration of her skin, I wrap my hands in her curls and lift her gently but firmly from the mattress. My arm circles her waist, palm cupping one large breast, and I press her shoulders back against my chest.

The angle of my cock pumping inside her sharpens, tightens, and we moan in the same breath.

Getting her balanced, I spread her knees a little wider, sinking her on me further. Once I have her there, I knead her breast and fondle her nipple. A sharp, needy noise escapes her. Fuck, I've got her close again.

Taking her is always a marathon, but every second of her pleasure feeds my own.

"You're magical," I murmur in her ear, letting my heavy breathing fan her throat, her shoulder, down her chest. I switch breasts, drawing her other nipple to a tight bud.

Her body grows insistent, grinding down against me until her muscles stiffen. Ella's orgasm nearly pulls me with her, but I can't yet. Something holds me back.

I reach down between her legs and rub her clit roughly. It draws a strangled cry from her pretty red mouth as a new climax piggybacks on her first.

When her body sags, I lay her forward, stroking her hair. Bending over her, I brace my hands on either side of her head and roll my hips hard against her tight, pulsing core. My own end is finally coming.

The noises Ella makes are animalistic, matching my grunts as I crest and drive over that edge.

Stars burst behind my eyes as I cradle Ella under me. My mouth spreads soft kisses across the back of her shoulders. "You are fucking brilliant. Beautiful. A goddess incarnate."

Ella laughs, and I groan with the way she squeezes me. "You only say that because I'm full of your cum."

I laugh with her. "You know that's not true."

"Mmm. I do." Her voice is quiet, not quite sleepy, but like she doesn't quite believe it yet. She wants to, though, so I'm willing to wait for her.

I pull out of her and settle us both on our sides, keeping her close until our heartbeats slow. Ella turns to kiss me with a sleepy smile. Then, a divot appears in her forehead and her brows furrow hard. She sits up slowly, and my hands fall to her lap before I follow her.

"You okay?"

She swallows hard. "I could use a glass of water."

"Got it." I'm out of the bed and filling a glass in my bathroom sink and find her sitting on the edge of the bed, reaching for her phone when I return.

Ella takes the glass with a smile and sips it slowly, savoring each swallow before taking the next. When she hands it back, I set it aside and grab her one of my shirts. She smiles a little when I help pull it down over her arms.

I lean in for a kiss and go to grab my boxers from the other side of the bed.

Ella swipes at her phone, her back going straight as she sways a little and her hand covering her mouth. Shooting off the bed, she darts into the bathroom. The door swings mostly closed behind her.