Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ANTHONY

The blood pounding through my body is thick with need. I want to slowly peel her clothes off, to touch her, to sink into her and make her writhe.

It’s even stronger here, in the only space in the house that was ever mine. A professional decorated it, like the rest of Smith House, but it’s hard for it not to feel special with Rosie on my bed. She takes off her coat and throws it, then spreads her legs wide for me.

I throw my own coat down, then take off my shoes and socks and get down on my knees to take off her shoes and socks. She watches me, and when I finish, she lifts up and cinches down the waistline of her leggings and underwear, giving me a flash of the smooth expanse of her upper thighs and the trimmed patch of gold curls between them.

“I want you,” I say, staring at her as I slowly move the leggings the rest of the way down her thighs and then her calves, feeling a rush of joy when they come free and leave her bottom half bare for me.

“I know.” Her eyes are smiling at me, as if she’s as happy in this moment as I am.

I lean in and kiss her hip, then lift the hem of her sweater and watch as she lifts it over her head, her gorgeous golden and purple hair spilling over it in a waterfall. Her breasts are hugged by a white bra covered in tiny crystals.

She reaches back and undoes the clasp. And I stay her hands so I can be the one who slides the straps down her arms, one at a time. A groan escapes me as her breasts tumble free, round and perfect and pink-tipped. I kiss the side of her breast and then run my tongue over her nipple before capturing it in my mouth, her hand finding my hair as I suck first one and then the other. I could do this for hours, worship nothing but her breasts, but I need to explore all of her first. Pulling back slightly, I lower to my knees beside the bed again, positioning her so I’m in between her legs, one knee on either side of me.

“You’re so beautiful to me,” I say, gliding my hands up her smooth legs to her hips, and back again. The first time I saw you, I thought I’d seen an angel.”

Her lips tilt upward. “You were high.”

I lift one leg and kiss the inside of her calf, trailing my mouth up before peering at her over it. “In vinos veritas . I knew what I was seeing.”

Her breath hitching, she reaches down and grips the collar of my shirt.

“Take it off, Anthony. All of it. I need to see you.”

I plant a kiss on the inside of her knee and lower her leg.

“You want to see me?” I reach over to run my fingers between her legs, needing to feel her there. Needing to know…

The air sucks out of my lungs. She’s so deliciously wet for me. She moans and bucks her hips slightly, but insists, “Your shirt. Your pants.”

I pull my hand away and suck on my fingers as I watch her. “You make me feel hopeful, Rosie. I haven’t felt that way in a long time.”

“You make me feel like magic could be real,” she says, her gaze heated. “Now prove it to me.”

Smiling, I get to my feet and unbutton my shirt, feeling her gaze on me the whole time, which only makes me harder. She’s on her side now, watching me from the bed.

She sucks in a breath when I take off my shirt and then my undershirt. “God, you look even better without them on.”

“Good,” I say, unfastening my belt and unzipping my pants. “I want to look pleasing to you. Because you are indescribably beautiful to me.” I push down both my pants and my boxer briefs, and a big smile crosses her face as she runs her hand over the purple strip in her hair.

“Oh, you like that?” I ask, crossing the two steps to the bed.

“I do ,” she says as she sits up and reaches for me, her hand wrapping around my dick. The pleasure is nearly enough to unman me. It doesn’t help that she’s looking at me like that. “This is the perfect dick.”

“Rosie,” I groan, pulling away.

“I’m happy to know that my investment in the condoms was worthwhile. I hate wasting.”

“Yes, you’re all about fuel economy.”

I lean down to kiss her, sucking on her lower lip, and then kiss my way down her chin, her long neck, her breastbone and her breasts, down the line of her stomach, and then I sink down again and hook her knees over my shoulders, putting my face exactly where I want it—where I’ve fantasized about having it ever since she told me that beards made her think of one thing.

She weaves a hand into my hair, her legs flexing around my shoulders as my mouth finds her center. I suck on her clit, and she lifts her hips for more.

My wife . This gorgeous, wildfire of a woman is going to be my wife, and I want it to mean something. The force of that need is shocking to me—enough so that I’d fall to my knees if I weren’t there already.

“I want to make you feel good, Rosie,” I say. Then I bury my face back between her legs, licking and sucking and learning her—the little movements she makes when I’ve hit something good, the way she grips handfuls of my hair when I’ve hit something great.

Her body starts to tremble, her legs locking around me and pulling me closer as she lifts herself like an offering, and I know she’s already about to come.

I need this. I need to give her something good to thank her for all of the good she’s brought to me.

“ Anthony ,” she cries, her body rising to meet my mouth. “Oh, fuck, that’s really good.” I could listen to her say my name in that voice all day long on repeat. I tease her over the edge, watching as she leans her head back against the mattress, her hair splayed out around her in a golden halo, and I feel like the luckiest man alive. Then she says my name again, this time riding a moan, and I feel her change beneath my mouth, her body clenching again and again and then relaxing.

She tugs me up from between her legs, breathing hard. “If you’re not careful, I’m going to keep you.”

“Thank God,” I say, leaning in to kiss the side of her neck. “Because I’ve decided to stop being careful.” I kiss her neck, her mouth, her breasts. She moans as she reaches down and palms my dick. The sensation of her moving her hand over me is heaven and hell and everything in between.

And then she pushes her way out of the bed and rummages around on the floor until she finds what she wants.

“I need your dick now,” she tells me as she opens one of the foil packets. “I’m very bad at waiting for the things I want.”

And for this moment, at least, I’m one of them. The thought unleashes something inside of me. I take the packet from her and roll the condom on, aware of her watching me. Deeply aware of her, always.

“You’re beautiful,” she says, and I feel a slice of self-consciousness, because she hasn’t seen them yet. Maybe she won’t. They’re not always noticed, but it’s bright outside, the curtains open to the back of the property, and I want to see her. Despite what we’ve agreed to, there’s a chance this won’t happen again, and I won’t waste it.

“You’re so gorgeous it hurts.”

I throw myself backward onto the bed, taking her with me. She squeals and plants her palms on my chest, my cock captured between us. Then she looks into my eyes and moves her hips, bringing down pressure that nearly makes my eyes roll back. I place one hand on her back and roll over so I’m poised over her.

“Do you have control issues in bed?” she asks, her eyes glimmering.

“Maybe.”

She lifts her hands over her head, pressing her wrists together, and smiles at me. “Good, I want you to take control sometimes. I like the thought of you talking to me in that boardroom voice.”

Pulling in a deep, shaky breath, I say, “You need to tell me if it’s painful.”

She grins up at me. “You’re worried your big dick is going to hurt me?”

She’s teasing, but the truth is, I’m afraid of anything hurting her. Especially me.

“It won’t hurt,” I say, to myself as much as her, and wrap a hand around her wrists. “I won’t let it.”

My dick aches brutally. Part of me wants to draw this out, to touch every delicious inch of her with my fingers and my mouth before I take her, but she’s made it damn clear she doesn’t want to wait, and I don’t either. So I position myself, Rosie’s hips rising slightly to meet me, and ease in slightly, ignoring the urge to drive into her hard and fast and make her mine.

Her hips lift as she tries to take in more of me, and I give it to her. “You want all of it, Rosie?”

“God, yes,” she says, “but slowly.”

I ease the rest of the way into paradise, and she wraps her legs around my waist, bringing me even deeper. “You feel so good, Anthony,” she says into my ear. “Your big dick fills me up so perfectly.”

“You’re going to kill me,” I inform her, but at least it’ll be a good death.

Because there’s nothing that feels as good as being inside of this woman, having her body wrapped around me. Groaning, I pull out and then thrust back in, and the way her hips rise for me fills me with an impossible need—as if we could go on fucking like this all day, all month, all year, and it wouldn’t be enough. As if my body needs her as much as the rest of me is starting to.

We’ve known each other for such a short time. A raindrop in a lake, but she already means so much to me. It scares me to think what she might yet become.

“Do you like holding me down and fucking me, Anthony?” she asks, her voice breathy but teasing.

“Yes,” I say, stroking in again as I hold her wrists with one of my hands, watching the way her breasts move as we come together. So impossibly beautiful. My mouth lowers to one of them, kissing, sucking. She bucks against me, and the knowledge that I’m pleasing her fires me up as much as the sensation.

“Harder, Anthony. Harder.”

I feel wild, out of control. I release her hands, because I need both of mine. I bury one of them in her hair, kissing her while I move inside of her, and the other I shove under her ass, bringing her toward me with each thrust, because I need her closer.

She makes a sound into my mouth, and I already feel her starting to squeeze me, my dick on the verge of bursting because it’s never been this good, and then she wraps her arms around my back. I know she’s felt it, because the sound she makes this time is one of surprise, not lust.

She pulls back from my kiss and makes me stop moving. I’m inside her, still hard as hell, because it would be impossible to be anything but hard with her naked and wrapped around me, but my orgasm has edged off.

“Anthony, what is this?” she asks, her eyes on me as she lightly moves her fingers over the raised ridge.

“It’s okay.” I kiss her neck, her cheek, avoiding her eyes. “It’s from a very old injury. You’re not going to hurt me if you touch it.”

I start moving again, slowly. She peers up at me, her eyes holding mine, and kisses me as her hands slowly trace the raised lines on my back. It’s the most powerful moment in my life, and I try to draw it out, moving slowly and enjoying each sigh and movement from her, the way her mouth keeps seeking mine out, her tongue. Her taste. The curves of her body. I want everything. I want to soak her in so that I have her in the dark times of my life, when everything seems covered in ash.

Then she nudges me to shift our position, and I roll over, bringing her with me.

“It’s my turn to take control,” she says, giving me a wicked smile.

She reaches for my hands and pins them over my head with one of hers. I could move them, of course, but why would I want to? She’s moving over me, taking me at her rhythm, her free hand moving across my chest, my cheek, my face as she rises and lowers onto my aching, needy cock. “Angel,” I say to her as she rocks on top of me.

“Devil,” she corrects, leaning down to kiss my neck, then lightly bite me, the sensation coursing through me.

“Mine,” I say, lifting a hand to her back and turning her again, stroking in hard, again and again.

She makes a beautiful, guttural sound, her lips parting, and I kiss her as she pulses around me. The magical sensation of her falling apart around me, squeezing me, brings me over with her. I follow her down the ledge and out of sight, into the place where there’s just pleasure and no thoughts of what dangers might come in its wake.

Until the bed cracks loudly beneath us and immediately starts to sag.