Twenty

Harlow

“I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed myself tonight. I think your family is great.”

A smile broke out on my face as I walked along the path leading from my driveway to my front door, Blaze holding my hand in his. This truly had been a great night. “Well, if you weren’t already aware, they obviously liked you, too.”

We made it to the door, where I quickly unlocked it, and the two of us stepped inside. Blaze had entered behind me, and when he closed and locked the door, he said, “It was nice to meet the people responsible for raising such an incredible woman.”

I halted in my tracks, spun around, and moved back toward him. Once we were mere inches apart, I threw my arms over his shoulders and pressed my body close to his. Then I gave him a chaste kiss before I returned, “You made my whole night, Blaze.”

He smiled back at me, his arms tightening around my body and keeping me right where I was. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

Since Blaze wasn’t making any effort to move away from the front door, I wondered if perhaps he was planning to head home for the night. I hoped that wasn’t the case, because I could no longer wait to have him.

Recognizing that it might help to offer a bit of incentive for him to stay, I brushed my lips softly back and forth across his lips. His hand dropped to my ass, and his fingers pressed in firmly against the flesh there.

I hummed my delight.

And when I felt Blaze smile against my lips, I took my chance. “I know it’s getting late, and you have to work tomorrow, but I was wondering if you’d like to spend the night here with me tonight.”

“Of course,” he immediately replied.

“Just like that? You don’t even have to think about it?” I questioned him, my tone playful. Even though it seemed I wasn’t simply accepting his answer, the truth was that relief swept through me.

Blaze didn’t hesitate to remind me, “I already told you I’ll always be willing to do that for you.”

I gave him another kiss. “I was desperately hoping you’d agree to stay with me tonight.”

It didn’t take me long to recognize that I wasn’t exactly doing a great job of indicating my plan for the evening with Blaze, because he didn’t seem to be catching on to what I hoped would be in store for us.

Maybe I needed to be more direct.

So, I finally blurted, “I’m ready.”

“For bed?”

I shook my head. When Blaze’s brows drew together and the confusion washed over his expression, I clarified, “I’m ready for us to take that next step.”

Confusion turned to shock and surprise as Blaze’s body went rigid. He studied me a long time, not saying a single word, and clearly trying to discern whether he’d misunderstood what I’d said.

My belly was trembling with anticipation. Until that moment, I hadn’t considered the possibility Blaze wouldn’t want to take me up on what I was offering. The chance of rejection was suddenly staring me down, and what worried me the most was that if Blaze didn’t accept this, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to take the reins and ask for it again.

Finally, after what felt like hours of agonizing waiting, Blaze asked, “Are you serious?”

“I am,” I confirmed. “I would never joke about something like this.”

He nodded slowly and swallowed hard. “Are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure you’re ready?”

I didn’t think it was possible to be any surer than I already was. No matter what happened, I was convinced Blaze was the man I was meant to have it with. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately along with the way I feel about you, and I’m positive this is what I want with you.”

Blaze stared at me in silence for a few more beats before he twisted his neck to look behind him and confirm he’d locked the front door. Then he returned his attention to me and said, “This feels a bit surreal.”

“But does it feel good?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“It blows my mind that you could possibly believe I’d ever think anything I experience with you is anything but spectacular.”

That seemed to do the trick. Blaze was no longer interested in questioning the words coming out of my mouth and had taken them at face value, because the next thing I knew, he lifted me up, my legs instinctively wrapping around his waist, and he was climbing the stairs.

The higher he climbed, the more the anticipation built. My insides were trembling, but I loved it. I loved the way everything that involved Blaze felt exciting. It was what I had always anticipated a relationship being like before I’d gotten into one. Or, even if I hadn’t expected it would be like this, it was certainly what I had hoped for, and I was smart enough to understand just how fortunate I was to get it.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect once we made it to my bedroom—I was hoping Blaze would understand I needed him to take the lead—but what happened certainly wasn’t something I’d been prepared for.

Blaze continued to hold me firmly in his arms, like he never wanted to let me go. He stood beside my bed, his eyes boring into mine. It felt like an attempt to communicate something, but I couldn’t work out what it was.

He did it for so long, I grew concerned. “Boss, what is it?”

“Before we do this, there’s something I need to tell you,” he replied.

My throat closed up at the same time my belly dropped. What could he possibly have to tell me? Had he been keeping secrets?

“What?” I whispered.

“You need to know the truth, baby,” he started. “This is a big deal, a big step for you, and I think that before you take it, you have the right to know how the man you’re doing it with feels about you.”

His voice was so gentle, so sweet. It was hard to believe he could be sharing bad news with me. I relaxed, but only slightly.

And following a brief moment of hesitation, Blaze shared, “What you’ve offered to give to me tonight isn’t something I take lightly. It matters to me, and I’m honored you think I’m a man worthy of such a precious gift. And I just want you to know before we take this step that you’re doing it with someone who loves you.”

Tears filled my eyes. I hadn’t expected there’d be a way for Blaze to make me feel any more confident about my choice to have this with him, but he’d done just that. “Really?” I rasped.

With a slight downward jerk of his chin, he confirmed he hadn’t been joking.

“Then I think you should know I feel the same about you,” I told him.

He smiled at me and said, “I already know that.”

My head tipped to one side, and my eyes roamed over his face. “How do you already know I love you?”

“Because you wouldn’t be taking this step with me if you didn’t.”

I gave those words a moment to sink in, and I realized he was right. There wasn’t a chance I would have been here, completely content in his arms, eager to have this with him, if I hadn’t fallen in love with him.

Refusing to waste another minute, I said, “I’m ready for something spectacular, boss.”

Blaze seemed intent on granting my wish, because he lowered himself to the edge of the bed and captured my mouth with his. For a long time, all he did was kiss me and allow his hands to roam over my body.

Since my legs had been wrapped around his waist, my skirt had been hiked up high on my thighs, and Blaze’s touch on my skin made me feel like I was on fire. The heat and longing moved through me with every soft caress.

Finally, Blaze brought both of his hands to the back of my dress and began sliding the zipper down my back. His fingertips brushed along the skin there, and despite the warmth I felt inside, shivers ran down my arms and legs.

Once he’d gotten the zipper all the way down, Blaze brought his hands to the hem of my dress and worked to lift it over my hips, up my body, and over my head. Then I was there in nothing but a bra and a thong, my shoes having fallen off just inside my front door when Blaze first lifted me into his arms.

Wanting to feel his skin against mine, I bunched Blaze’s shirt in my hands and lifted it up over his head. The second it was gone, he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted himself off the bed enough to flip us over, so I was on my back, and he was hovering over me.

God, I loved his body. His skin was soft and warm, and his muscles were strong. He always managed to move me around without appearing to struggle.

Blaze began kissing me along my jaw and down my throat. He kissed over my collarbone, his mouth eventually dipping down between my breasts.

One of his hands slipped between my back and the mattress, where he expertly unfastened my bra. His other hand came to the center of my chest, curled around the material, and pulled it from my body.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, baby,” he got out before he clamped his mouth over one of my nipples and sucked it in deep.

I didn’t think it’d be possible to feel any more sensations than I already did, but Blaze was intent on proving me wrong. As his tongue, teeth, and lips teased my breast, his hand crawled down my body, slipped beneath the top edge of my underwear, and his fingers went right between my legs.

“Oh,” I moaned, my hips jerking in response to his touch.

Though I could sense the hunger and desperation Blaze had for me, he wasn’t rushing this. He was sweet and gentle. His fingers played between my legs, circling my clit and using my wetness as he did.

One finger dipped inside, followed shortly afterward by the other. And it wasn’t long before Blaze’s mouth was taking a journey down my body. He pulled his fingers from me and replaced them with his tongue and lips. The sensation was too much. My head pressed back firmly into the mattress before I lifted it and gazed down at him.

Blaze’s hands were working at his jeans. I couldn’t pay attention to that, though, because his tongue flicked over my clit and forced me to drop my head back again.

Just like everything else he did, Blaze effortlessly built me up. I was panting, writhing, and on the verge of something big.

But by some miracle, I managed to pull myself from the fog and begged, “Wait. Wait.”

Immediately, Blaze stopped what he was doing and looked up. “What’s wrong?”

“I want it to happen with you,” I told him, hoping what I requested would even be possible.

Understanding what I wanted and always seeking to give it to me, Blaze moved. He’d removed his clothes, so I’d assumed he was ready to go. But he got off the bed, bent down, and picked up his jeans.

Curious as to what he was doing, I watched him. And a moment later, I realized what was happening.

Blaze had pulled out a condom. At least one of us was thinking straight.

It was at the sight of the condom when it hit me just how close I was to having what I wanted for the first time in my life and having it with him.

Blaze didn’t seem to mind that I watched as he rolled the condom on.

Once he had it on, he joined me in the bed again, brought his body over mine with his hips nestled between my parted thighs. I could feel him between my legs, nudging my opening.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes focused on mine.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ll go slow, but if you need me to stop, all you have to do is tell me.”

I hesitated briefly, feeling some uneasiness about the pain I expected would come with this. Then I rasped, “O… Okay.”

Blaze sensed my trepidation and must have understood where it was coming from. “Trust me, Harlow. I will not hurt you. Just relax, okay?”

If there was one thing I knew to be true, it was that I could trust Blaze to take care of me. I believed he’d rather step in front of a moving train than to see harm come my way, so I did as he requested and relaxed.

His eyes still entirely focused on mine, he smiled. “Now breathe.”

I breathed.

“That’s it, baby. Keep breathing,” he encouraged me as he pushed forward.

When Blaze had gotten to what I had assumed was about halfway inside, he stopped, pulled back, and assessed me.

“Wow,” I marveled.

I didn’t know what I expected it would be like, but it certainly hadn’t been this. Sure, I’d used toys before, but I’d never experienced penetration. That was something I’d always wanted to experience for the first time with someone.

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

I shook my head. “Not at all.”

“We’ll keep going slow until you have all of me and can adjust,” he said, offering more words of reassurance.

As I already knew he would, Blaze kept true to his word and went slowly. He thrust forward again, going only a bit farther than he had the first time before pulling back. Again and again.

Though I could sense the tension in his frame—the result of restraining himself enough to keep this from being painful for me—it didn’t take away from my ability to immerse myself in what was happening. And there wasn’t a single thing about what was happening that I didn’t enjoy.

Maybe it was the pace Blaze kept.

Maybe it was that he hadn’t just shoved himself inside of me.

Maybe it was all the work he’d done beforehand to make sure I was ready.

Or perhaps it was all of that mixed with something else.

Regardless, any of the thoughts that had been lingering about the possibility of this being painful had vanished. The first few thrusts certainly offered some discomfort, but nothing about it was painful.

And once I’d realized I didn’t have a thing to worry about, I was able to focus on other, more pleasant, sensations.

Like the way it felt to have Blaze’s adoring stare on me as he slowly thrust into me, or the way it felt to have his warm skin and strong body against mine as he filled me.

When he had finally thrust completely inside, he stayed there, stared at me, and brushed his knuckles along my cheek. There was a question lingering in his gaze, and I had a feeling I knew what it was.

Needing him to let go of that last bit of tension, I told him what he needed to know and reassured him, “I’m not in pain, Blaze. I feel wonderful. This feels better than I imagined it would, and I don’t doubt it’s because of how you’ve been with me. I’m okay.”

His shoulders relaxed, and a smile formed on his face. After a beat of silence, he said, “You feel beautiful.”

I smiled back. “So do you.”

“Are you going to be okay if I move?” he asked.

I didn’t know how it would be possible for the opposite to be the truth, so I answered honestly. “I think so.”

“You’ll tell me if that changes, yeah?”

I nodded. “Yes, but?—”

“But what?”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do for you,” I confessed. “How do I make it feel good for you?”

Something warm and sweet stole over his expression. “Baby, you told me you trusted me before. Is that still the truth?”

“Of course.”

He smiled again and returned, “Then trust me now to lead this, to guide it where it needs to go, and to give both of us what we need from it.”

I loved that he wanted to do that. Truly, I did. In fact, it was a bit of a relief to know he had no problem with and was intent on leading us. But something was nagging at me, and since I wanted to enjoy every second of what was to come, I thought it best to share.

“But I want to do something for you. I’d like to give you something?—”

“You already are, baby. You’re giving me the most precious gift you can give me. I swear it to you. There will be plenty of time for us to explore this and have more fun with it down the road, but for now, for just this first time, let me be the one to give you something you deserve to have. Okay?”

When he put it like that, there wasn’t a chance I could decline. So, I jerked my chin down slightly and whispered, “Okay, boss.”

Blaze held my stare a beat before he dropped his head down the remaining inches necessary, so he could touch his lips to mine and kiss me. He continued to kiss me as he slowly began to move his hips.

I’d already thought Blaze was a fantastic kisser, but nothing compared to kissing him while we were like this. And I loved it. I never imagined it could or would be so consuming.

At some point, he tore his mouth from mine, lifted his torso, and brought his hands to my hips while he continued to thrust his hips forward. I would have thought not being able to kiss him would have impacted the experience in a negative way, but I was wrong.

Blaze’s eyes had been on my face initially, but they soon drifted down my body. His gaze lingered in spots, but it was when he was focused on the connection of our bodies that things were taken to the next level for me.

“You’re so beautiful, Harlow,” he said. “Do you know how good you look taking my cock?”

Wanting to see what he was seeing, I propped myself up on my elbows and allowed my eyes to drift down his gorgeous body until I reached the prize. That’s when I understood what he was saying. It was beautiful. We were beautiful.

My eyes shot to his, and I wasn’t surprised to find him looking down at me adoringly. Without taking his focus away, Blaze’s hands drifted from my hips and moved in opposite directions. One traveled up toward one of my breasts while the other moved down my body and between my legs.

That was the moment I lost all sense of myself.

Blaze was teasing my nipple, applying pressure while circling my clit, and powering his hips into me.

A guttural moan escaped from me, and my head dropped back as my eyes squeezed shut. “Oh, God,” I panted. “It feels so good.”

Blaze didn’t relent. The familiar pull in my belly I’d felt when he’d had his mouth on me was building again, and the way it was happening was unlike anything else I’d ever experienced.

Once it had started, it didn’t stop. It came at me like a freight train, and I had no choice but to hold on and let it hit.

“Boss,” I whimpered.

“That’s it, baby. Come for me.”

I wondered if Blaze meant for that to be an order or if he recognized I was already there. Either way, I guess it didn’t matter, because I couldn’t begin to consider anything else.

All thoughts ceased to exist as one powerful wave after another washed over me. Sparks of pleasure shot through my body, starting between my legs and fanning out from there. I felt it move down my legs, through my chest, and out to my fingertips.

There was no escaping.

Nothing, not one single part of me, was safe from it.

And it was a good thing, because it was the best thing I’d ever felt in my life.

At the very moment I felt the waves subside, my eyes fluttered open. I caught sight of Blaze’s heated stare and held it for mere seconds before he moved. Faster than I could keep up, Blaze had somehow rolled to his back without ever losing the connection to me, and my body was draped over his. One of his arms was wrapped around me so tightly, it was a wonder I could still breathe.

Keeping that firm hold on me, Blaze’s opposite hand drifted down my back toward my ass. He squeezed the flesh there as he kissed my mouth. And within seconds, he tore his mouth from mine, groaning as he began powering his hips up relentlessly.

There was no reprieve. No break.

He went hard. Faster.

And if I hadn’t been so blown away by his ability to be doing what he was doing, I believed I might have been able to feel the buildup of another orgasm.

But I was too focused on Blaze.

On the way his arm was clamped around my body.

On the way his teeth were claiming the skin on the side of my throat.

On the groans of pleasure that spilled out of him.

And on the way his hand never left my ass.

Then it happened.

Even though I’d used my hand to bring Blaze to an orgasm before, I hadn’t anticipated what it would be like to see or feel it like this.

“Fuck, Harlow. Fuck,” he growled against the front of my throat just seconds before his head dropped back and the veins and muscles in his neck bulged.

Watching it move through him, I finally understood.

The heated stare I’d seen on his face after I came suddenly made sense.

Because I felt the same now.

There was something about seeing the man I loved like I was seeing him now, to know it was being with me, sharing our bodies with one another, that had made him feel that way.

I never looked away, too fascinated by it all.

And when it finally left him, and his eyes opened, all I could see was undying affection for me in them. Unsure if he could see the same in mine and needing to be sure, I said, “I love you, Blaze. I love you more than I ever thought was possible.”

Disbelief washed over him as the hand that had been resting on my ass drove into my hair. “Do you know how incredible you are? God, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I would have answered if I could, but Blaze didn’t give me a chance. He urged my head in his direction and kissed me senseless.