Twenty-one

Blaze

Thinking back on all the moments in my life that were so profound and unforgettable, I couldn’t recall one that had left me feeling like this.

The early morning sunlight was filtering into the room, giving me the perfect opportunity to stare at the woman who’d changed everything.

There had been several opportunities over the last few years, as I watched my coworkers and friends find women and fall in love, when I wondered when it might happen for me.

While I had remained self-assured that it would eventually happen, I hadn’t had a clue it would be like this. The idea I would meet someone who made me feel the way Harlow did, who was able to put a smile on my face with just one thought of her, was unbelievable.

Fortunately, I curbed my disbelief and stayed present in my reality. And the reward had been far better than I could have ever hoped to have in my life.

How it was possible that a woman who had so few experiences in her adult life could make me feel as though I was experiencing them for the first time when I was doing them with her was beyond me.

There were so many things we’d done together that I had thoroughly enjoyed, but as plentiful as they were, nothing compared to last night. I hadn’t even been anticipating it would happen, but as was not uncommon when it came to Harlow, she found a way to surprise me.

And it was the best thing I’d ever experienced in my life. Having her, knowing what she was giving to me, even if she believed I was the one giving her something, was easily the best feeling in the world.

Because she was such a gift, a gift I wasn’t quite sure I deserved.

Look down at her sleeping so peacefully beside me in her bed, I thought back to the conversation we’d had last night after I’d returned from the bathroom and tended to her. Once we were both cleaned up, I climbed back into the bed with her, and Harlow didn’t even wait for me to encourage her. She just scooted close and cuddled next to me.

I was on my back with one arm wrapped around her while the front of her body was pressed into the side of mine. She had her cheek resting on my chest, her arm draped over my abdomen, and her thigh hooked over my leg.

“How do you feel?” I asked her.

She hesitated to respond for a beat, which had me growing concerned. But she eventually answered, “Physically, I feel extremely lazy right now.”

I let out a laugh as the arm curled around her back gave her a squeeze. “That’s a good thing, though. You don’t feel any pain, do you?”

While I knew it was likely to be unavoidable, it pained me to think I could have hurt her. I’d done the best I could initially to go slow, communicate, and give her the time and opportunity to adjust, but there came a point near the end where I struggled to hold back. That part of it was what worried me the most.

“There’s a bit of tenderness there, but I don’t mind it. It’s not uncomfortable or to the point where I need pain meds or anything like that. But I love that you care enough to ask,” she replied.

“Baby, I don’t think we’d be here right now if I wasn’t the kind of man who cared enough to ask if you were okay in any situation, most especially this one,” I explained.

I could feel her smile against my chest before she pressed a kiss to the skin there. “You’re right. God, I’m such a lucky woman.”

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “Harlow, how is it possible for you to believe, particularly after what you just gave me, that you’re the lucky one?”

She lifted her head from my chest, allowed her eyes to roam over my face, and countered, “Is that a serious question?”

My goal hadn’t been to upset her, but it seemed she was a bit more concerned by my question than I would have anticipated. “Well, it was, but I get the feeling you think it shouldn’t have been.”

Harlow licked her lips and studied me in silence. The seconds passed, feeling like everything was suddenly moving in slow motion, and I started to feel unsettled. Just as I was about to attempt to smooth things over, she said, “Living what could only be described as a sheltered life wasn’t exactly part of some crazy plan I had. I hadn’t grown up intending to save myself. It just, sort of, happened. The more time that went by without me even managing to land a date, the more I thought about it. About what it would be like, about how horrible I’d be at it, and about the possibility of it never happening.”

She stopped speaking for a moment, but I realized she wasn’t finished saying what she wanted to say, so I waited patiently for her to continue.

Eventually, she whispered, “Then I met you.”

My throat grew tight the second I recognized just how emotional she’d grown. The mere thought of having met me had that kind of an impact on her, which I couldn’t say I didn’t understand. I felt the same about her.

“You did everything right, boss,” she began again. “You took the time to get to know me. You gave me the time I needed to get to know you. You made me laugh and gave me new experiences. You put in the effort. And when you learned the truth about my lack of experience with relationships and physical intimacy, you didn’t make me feel bad about it. You took it slow, and you didn’t press me for more. You made me feel special, like I was worth all the time and energy you could muster up, and then some. You were patient and loving.”

Harlow paused once more, her fingertips on the arm that had been draped over my abdomen tracing a random pattern across my chest.

“Tonight happened because I was lucky enough to get all that I did from you before now,” she explained. “I’m not sure anyone else would have done everything for me that you did leading up to what just happened. I’m also not convinced someone else would have treated me the way you treated me here tonight. You made this everything it should have been and then some, and I know I’ve got to be one of the luckiest women in the world to have had something so special and sweet for my first time.”

I brought my hand to the side of her head, pinched a lock of her hair between my thumb and forefinger, and tucked it behind her ear. I did that to distract myself from the fact I didn’t quite know what to say.

On the bright side, it seemed I didn’t have to try to figure it out, because Harlow still had more to say. “I won’t sit here and act like it’s impossible for you to feel lucky. I’m sure you have your reasons for feeling that way. But please don’t believe that you’re the only one who feels fortunate. I don’t even know how I lived before I met you.”

I smiled at her and said, “I think it’s safe to say you were mostly just existing.”

She nodded at me. “Yeah, I was. Now I feel so alive, and it’s all thanks to you.”

In any other scenario, it would have been strange to think I could have had that much of an impact on someone else, but because I felt the same now that I had her in my life, I couldn’t dispute it.

Instead, I decided it was important to clarify one small detail with her. It might have been small, but I thought it was important.

“I promise I’m not trying to diminish anything you’ve just said, but there is something I want to correct you on,” I told her.

“Okay. What is it?”

“You weren’t bad at it.”

“What?”

“You said you used to think about what it would be like to have this experience and how horrible you would be at it. I just want you to know that you weren’t bad at it. You did everything right, everything I hoped you would do. And as time goes on and we have more opportunities to explore, you’ll learn about the things you like, as well as the things I like. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned to be the truth when it comes to you and the way you approach any new situation, it’s that you make it a whole lot of fun. I’m confident this is going to be the same,” I promised her.

I watched as even more softness filtered into her expression before she dropped her cheek back to my chest.

Harlow and I wound up spending at least the next hour of our night curled up with one another, simply talking about everything and nothing until we both drifted off.

And now I was staring down at her while she slept and was still in awe of everything she’d done to change my life, doing it effortlessly.

Unable to resist touching her, I lifted my hand to the side of her head and stroked my fingers gently through her hair. She let out a soft moan, forcing me to smile and continue moving my fingers through her hair.

Wanting to hear that whimper again, I began massaging her scalp. The corners of Harlow’s lips tipped up just before she nuzzled herself closer to me.

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. My lips lingered there for a moment, but they ultimately moved toward her ear. That’s where I whispered, “Good morning, baby.”

“Mmm. Good morning, boss,” she murmured sleepily.

“I have a question for you,” I told her.

She inhaled deeply and stretched before her eyes fluttered open and found mine. With a smile on her face, she asked, “What’s your question?”

My hand that had been massaging her scalp drifted down beneath the blanket and sheet, seeking her warm, soft, and naked skin. With my fingertips tracing random patterns delicately over her body, I asked, “Is this how it always is, or was a special exception made last night?”

Confusion washed over her, her brows pulling together. “What exactly are you referring to?”

“Do you remember the Monday after our first date when you called me before I went into work?”

Harlow nodded her head slowly. “Of course.”

“I knew you were still in bed when we were on the phone that day, and I was curious about how you slept. I wondered if you had a favorite T-shirt you wore, if you slept in something sexy, or if you slept in nothing at all,” I confessed.

The confusion was gone and replaced by amusement and a hint of mischievousness. “It’s none of what you considered. At least, not regularly.”

Curious, I pressed, “What does that mean?”

“It means that I switch it up depending on my mood,” she explained. “Some days, I might wear just a T-shirt and a pair of underwear. Other times, I am desperately cold and bundle up in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, though I’ll never wear socks to bed. I’ve tried wearing satin or silk pajamas or even nighties, but with nobody to ever see them, wearing them made me feel silly. I do have some actual pajama sets I like to wear most regularly, and there have been a handful of times when I’ve worn just a pair of panties. But until you came along, I’ve never slept completely naked.”

My brows shot up in surprise. “Really?”

“Can you blame me? I mean, what if someone tried to break into my house when I was sleeping?”

“Fair point. So, do you like sleeping naked?” I questioned her.

Though I wasn’t quite sure how it was possible, Harlow shifted herself closer and pressed a kiss to the center of my chest. “Only if you’re here with me. I feel safe enough to be able to do that, and you’re so warm.”

“Good to know. How are you feeling this morning? Still tender?”

She pursed her lips, considered her response, and said, “Maybe a little sore still.”

“Well, at least you have the day off to recover,” I noted.

“This is true. What time do you have to go to work? Can I make you breakfast before you have to leave?”

I grinned at her. “I didn’t know that what happened last night was going to happen, but now that it did, I’m even more thankful for my forethought and decision to go in and work on Saturday.”

“What?”

“Since we had the plans to have dinner with your family for your dad’s birthday last night, I thought I’d work on Saturday, so I could take the day off from work today and have you all to myself,” I shared.

Excitement crept into her features. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Did you already make a plan for us to do something specific, or can we make it up as we go along?” she asked.

There was something about the way she asked that question which would have had me canceling any plans I’d made if I’d already made them. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, so I answered, “I still have ideas from that list of things you gave me that we could do today, but nothing is set in stone. We can certainly make the decision together.”

Harlow licked her lips, the sight making it impossible for me to not have some unsavory thoughts.

When she said nothing in response, I asked, “What’s going through your mind?”

She hesitated a moment, her eyes roaming over my face in a way I could tell she was trying to communicate something, something that might not have been very far from what I’d just been thinking about. Luckily, I didn’t have to assume or guess, because she finally said, “Well, I was thinking that maybe it would be fun to learn something now.”

I cocked a brow. “Like what?”

“See, the thing is, you’ve done just one more thing to prove to me just how much you care about spending time with me by going into work on Saturday, so we could have this time together today,” she started. “And I think that kind of thing should be rewarded. So, I was wondering if you’d teach me what I need to know to be able to use my mouth on you in one very special spot.”

Just the thought of having her mouth wrapped around my cock was enough to drive me wild. That she was here, asking me to let her learn, made me feel like I might have been living in a fantasy world.

“If that’s really what you want to do, baby, I’ll tell you what you need to know,” I assured her.

She grinned at me, clearly believing she was the lucky one in this situation. God, what had I done to deserve this woman?

Harlow all but scrambled up to sit beside me in the bed, clapped her hands in front of her chest—which forced my eyes to her naked tits briefly—and begged, “Okay. Tell me what to do.”

Not only did I love her eagerness, but I loved her ability to be naked around me without feeling unsure about herself. It was so refreshing to see.

I rolled to my back, tossed the blanket from my body, giving Harlow the same courtesy that she’d given me, and her eyes instantly dropped to my cock.

As she bit down nervously on her lip, I placed my hand on her bare thigh and stroked my thumb along the soft skin there. Once she returned her gaze to my face, I shared, “The first thing you need to know is that with the exception of you using your teeth, there’s nothing about having my cock in your mouth that will be bad. Beyond that, it’s all going to feel good. You can use your hand at the same time, and just like I told you when you learned to use your hand, the same applies here. The firmer the grasp, or in this case, the more suction, the better. If you need to rest your jaw, do it. You can use your hand or pay special attention to the tip with your tongue. Whatever feels natural is going to be more than okay.”

Harlow gave me a nod of understanding and shifted her body completely to face mine, resting on her shins. I could still reach out my right arm to touch her, which I knew would only enhance the experience for the both of us, because there wasn’t a chance that I’d be able to have her doing this, being this close to me, and not be able to touch her.

Instead of diving right in, Harlow bent forward and kissed the skin along my abdomen as one hand went to my thigh and the other on my torso.

Her lips were featherlight on my skin, and her hand that had been resting on my thigh drifted. The softness I felt from her lips was matched by her fingertips.

It was an exercise in restraint like I’d never experienced before now. As much as I wanted what she was doing presently and what she had indicated she intended to do, I also wanted Harlow to be able to have this experience in whatever way she made it happen. And given what I knew about her and the kind of woman she was, I was confident I wouldn’t wind up disappointed by whatever she chose to do.

Whether sensing what I wanted at that moment or merely ready to do it on her own, Harlow’s hand moved away from my thigh and toward my cock. Then she curled her fingers around me, forcing a groan to escape.

Harlow lifted her head away from my abdomen, twisted her head to look in my direction, and shot me a seductive smile that was mixed with a hint of excitement. I got harder just seeing that level of enthusiasm.

And when she licked her lips after returning her attention to my cock in her hand, I knew I was done for.

But I used every ounce of strength I had not to succumb completely and to keep my eyes open. It was a good thing I did, too.

Because Harlow parted her lips over the head and swirled her tongue around the tip several times before taking me deeper into her mouth. She’d gotten about halfway before pulling back until she was at the tip again. And instead of freeing me from her mouth, she took me back in again, going a bit deeper this time.

I watched, mesmerized, as Harlow worked to find a rhythm that worked for her. It didn’t happen immediately, which was to be expected, but once she figured it out, she was unbelievable.

Only then did I allow myself to drop my head back to the pillow while reaching a hand out to touch her.

Harlow seemed to know what I wanted, and she shifted her body in a way that gave me unhindered access to her pussy. As she worked my length with her mouth, I drove two of my fingers inside her.

The grip of her hand tightened around me, and she moaned. The vibration I felt from that moan only enhanced the pleasure she was delivering. We stayed like that a long time, working together to build one another up.

At some point, Harlow freed me from her mouth, but she didn’t quit. She continued to stroke me with her hand and kept her mouth on me, using her tongue to lick and her lips to kiss. And before I knew it, she had me back her mouth.

It was warm and wet.

And Harlow was giving it everything she had.

At the same time, she was moaning constantly and started rocking herself back onto my fingers.

I pressed my thumb to her clit and began circling. That forced her to free me from the confines of her mouth again. “Oh, God,” she moaned. “Blaze.”

“I want you to come for me, Harlow,” I told her.

She looked back at me, the heat and desire swirling in her gorgeous, whiskey-colored eyes. I could have stared at that beautiful face for the rest of my life, but Harlow only gave it to me for a few seconds before she returned her attention to my cock.

I was back in her mouth, and she was effortlessly building me up. She’d taken the advice I’d given her to heart and executed it all perfectly, adding in a few unexpected surprises along the way.

It built and built, and I wanted nothing more than for it to continue.

But I was too turned on, and I could tell Harlow was reaching that point of no return right along with me.

Continuing to plunge my fingers inside her, I gave her a warning. “If you don’t want me to come in your mouth, baby, now’s the time to just use your hand.”

I was momentarily disappointed when Harlow’s mouth released me, and her body stilled. “You didn’t stop when I came in your mouth. I’m not stopping, either.”

My thumb applied more pressure to her clit, and a wave of appreciation washed over me. I was back in Harlow’s mouth, and if it was possible, she’d started working me even harder.

I matched that energy with my fingers, driving them in and hooking them slightly as I drew them back.

Her moans met my groans as our breathing grew shallow. “Fuck, Harlow,” I growled.

In the next instant, my orgasm was tearing through me as Harlow experienced the same, her pussy spasming around my fingers. She continued to suck, perhaps with even more suction than she’d had throughout the entire build up.

It was so intense, one wave after another crashing into me, I wasn’t sure it was ever going to end.

But it eventually did, and the moment Harlow looked back at me and swallowed, something else took over.

I did an ab curl, got out of the bed, and lifted her out of it. Then I carried her to the bathroom, where I turned on the shower and got in with her. For several long seconds, we simply stared at one another, the water beating down on us as we breathed heavily.

Then I curled my hand around the side of her throat, stroked my thumb on the underside of her jaw, and said, “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Harlow.”

Something sparked in her eyes. “So, is it safe to say I did a good job?”

I let out a laugh. “Best of my whole life. Bar none.”

Surprise washed over her. “Really?”

Whether it was Harlow’s skill, enthusiasm, willingness to please, the fact that I was hopelessly in love with her, or a combination of it all, I didn’t know. But what I knew was that nobody else would ever compare to what she meant to me and how good it felt to be with her.

“Yes, baby. Without a doubt. Fuck, I love you so much.”

She grinned at me, lifted onto her toes, and kissed me.

Then we took a shower together—another first for her—before heading downstairs for breakfast to eat and plan the rest of our day with one another.

As long as I was with her, I didn’t care what we did.