Her heart thudded so hard, she was sure he could hear it. She was in her thirties. It wasn’t a big deal. She understood anatomy, she reminded herself, but her heart continued to thud, and nervous sweat broke out on her palms before they made it to his rooms.
When he paused by the door—holding it open as if in invitation but with an expression on his face that seemed to be worrying about whether or not she was about to throw up on him—she gave herself a couple of seconds to breathe deeply and focus.
Closing her eyes despite his speculation, she breathed in once. She wanted adventures. She breathed out through her nose. He was very attractive, and when he touched her, her body came to vibrant and sparking life. She wanted more of his touch, that was for sure.
Her parents…had lives of their own. One night away wasn’t going to hurt them, and she wasn’t in any danger with Jon. She wasn’t sure why she felt so safe around him, but something about him just didn’t seem harmful.
Breathing out again, she walked past him and into the room. A large bed dominated the space, set between two matching end tables. About twenty pillows decorated the thing, and it looked luxurious and inviting. The whole room was done in neutral colors which appealed to her, but with a leaning toward the posh that she wasn’t accustomed to. She imagined being in that bed with him and her face lit on fire, hot nervousness making her squint her eyes closed and look away. Maybe if she just pretended there wasn’t a bed in the room?
“You’re nervous,” Jon said, closing the door and walking up behind her. “I’m picking up on at least a little bit nervous, am I right?”
She shot him a look, hoping her sheer terror wasn’t visible. “Maybe a bit; however, I do feel as if that’s a normal response, don’t you?”
“Come on,” he said, gesturing toward the bed. “We can just watch some tv or something. No pressure and nothing to worry about, just hanging out.”
She nodded stiffly then climbed onto the bed with all of the enthusiasm of a high schooler on the way to detention. She just wouldn’t look at him, that was all. Maybe if she just kept her eyes closed…
The bed dipped, and her heart went double time. For a couple of seconds, she wondered if it might beat free of her chest entirely.
“You okay?” he asked, and the quiet rumble of his voice surprised her into startled motion.
“I’m fine. Should I strip?” she asked, yanking her shirt over her head. His hand caught her wrist, though, before she could shove the garment entirely aside. Instead of yanking the fabric away, he smoothed it back down her arms. He kept up that motion, long stroking touches from her shoulder to her fingertips, his gaze locked with her own.
“Breathe with me,” he suggested, stroking his thumb across her knuckles. “Nice and easy.”
She obeyed, focusing on his pretty eyes, with their long lashes, instead of the bands wrapped like a vice around her chest, making it hard to breathe. Eventually, her panic eased, and she could breathe again. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I get nervous sometimes.”
“My mom has anxiety,” Jon admitted. “We haven’t talked much about my parents. They live in Maryland, but I liked the mountains, so I moved down here. She gets nervous, too. It passes, though, if you just give it time.”
She blinked fast, surprised at his kindness. Her parents usually seemed a little impatient when she got nervous. “You have a father?”
“Everyone does, but mine doesn’t live here. He’s not dead or anything, he just lives in Texas. Last I heard, he got some fancy job on an oil rig or something and is apparently making tons of money. He and my mother split when I was really young, so for a lot of years, it was just me and my mom.”
Teagan thought of her own parents—her dad might drive her nuts, but she wouldn’t trade either of them for the world. She usually tried to remind herself how lucky she was to have such great parents and a decent family, but somehow the daily grind of life sometimes made her forget to be grateful for them. “He should’ve been there for you,” Teagan said with finality. For her, it seemed pretty cut and dry, very black and white. If you have kids, you stay with your kids.
“He should’ve,” Jon agreed, tugging her to relax into his side. His fingertips continued to graze up and down her arm until she relaxed with a little contented coo into his side. Then, he pulled up her leg, rubbing his other hand from her ass to the back of her knee in long, even caresses. “But he wasn’t. Not everyone is meant to be a parent.”
She couldn’t disagree with that. She knew parents who loved their kids and had a special bond and others who seemed to want nothing more than to get as far away from their own children as possible. “So, it was just you and her growing up?”
“Mostly,” he agreed with a shrug. “You seem much more relaxed,” he added, trailing kisses behind her ear and up her neck. She shivered for him.
“I don’t know if I feel relaxed,” she admitted bumping her hip into his. “I’m starting to feel quite tense, actually.”
“Are you?” he asked before biting down on her earlobe. She gasped at the instant flame of pleasure, her nails digging into his back. “Are you feeling tense?”
“Tense,” she said, breathing heavier as her own lips began to streak across his skin. “Tense isn’t the word I’d use for how I feel, not exactly.”
But it was a tension of a sort—a sexual tension that he wound tighter and tighter with every kiss and caress. A silent sort of desperation took over Teagan, and she found herself frantic for more skin, more kisses, more of all of it. Jon didn’t complain, giving her more as she arched into his arms. When he slipped her shirt over her head, she didn’t remark nor complain as she wanted nothing more than the feel of his skin against her own.
When his hand closed over her breast, she cried out, but it wasn’t in pain. His clever fingertips toyed with her nipple before his lips replaced his hands. The sucking sensation made her cry out, more heat pooling in her center, building toward something she couldn’t quite imagine. He seemed as hungry and eager for more as her, both of them gasping and arching for more. She wasn’t shocked by his naked body—she might not have had sex, but she’d seen pictures of men—but she was curious to see what it felt like under her touch. Her hands grew greedy, sliding across the planes and slopes of him until she begged him for something, although she wasn’t quite sure what she asked for.
“Do you want this?” he asked huskily in her ear. “Teagan, do you want me?”
Then his fingertips were between her legs, and she couldn’t think. Couldn’t reason. Couldn’t do more than cling to him as he made her body sing. When his fingertips withdrew, she clamped her hand down on his wrist. “Yes, I want you,” she managed. “I want this. Make love to me?”
His mouth covered hers on a gasp of need, and he whispered, “yes.” When they joined, she arched up to meet him, all hesitations and nervousness baked off in the sheer heat of their need for one another. She cried out, continuing to spiral toward something that remained just out of reach.
He plunged in and out of her, his body continuing to drive her upward until she sobbed for breath, begging him until his fingertips again grazed between her legs, sending off a firestorm of sensations. The jagged moan from her throat sounded lusty and wanton, and she grinned at the sound coming from her own body. Before she could come down from the sizzling plateau, his fingertips began arching her higher yet again, until he switched their positions, putting her on top of him.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she explained, freezing in the new position.
“Do what feels good,” he suggested, rubbing his hands from her knees to her thighs. “Take me this time, Teagan.”
She began to move, awkwardly at first but then with increasing confidence as the motion shot sparks of pleasure from her center to the very roots of her hair. Her pace began to speed, as she felt like she climbed toward some pinnacle again, ever higher. When his fingertips dug into her ass and he ground himself into her, she shattered again, crying out as the orgasm hit her so hard that tears burst from her eyes.
She lay in his arms, afterward, as he dragged soft kisses from her temple to her jawline. “You’re so damn beautiful,” he whispered, and she smiled at the silly compliment. She likely looked quite far from beautiful in that moment, all sweaty and sated and limp, with her hair in a tangle and small pink marks from where his fingertips dug into her when he came. She wouldn’t trade it for the world, though, as she felt deliciously exhausted in a way she’d never experienced before either. She snuggled deeper into his embrace, loving the weight of his arm across her back as he held her close to him. “You’re falling asleep,” he whispered, and she smiled again. She might be, but with her body all deliciously loose and pleasured, she couldn’t think of a better thing to do.
“Let’s see if I can wake you back up,” he whispered. “I’m still starved for you.”
She laughed, thinking there was no way, but his mouth on her nipple sent another slice of need through her. “We can’t do it again,” she exclaimed, nipping his shoulder.
“Why not?” he asked.
She laughed, but then his fingertips were busy again and her breath raced. Nibbles across her shoulder, up her neck while his fingers stroked her, urging her to join him. He slid between her legs again, and she bucked into him, groaning. “How can I want more?” she whispered into his neck. “I love how you taste.” She dragged kisses across his throat to prove her point.
“I’m so glad I found you,” he whispered, driving himself inside of her. “I need you, Teagan.”
She came right then, his words sending her over the edge of the most raw and overwhelming orgasm of her life. He came with her, crying out as if the sound was dragged from the depths of his soul. He shuddered against her, his body stiff and jerking and she stroked her palms up his arms to soothe him. “Need you,” she whispered, but sleep was overtaking her.
She didn’t say the part aloud that really got her, though she dreamed of it. He said he needed her…no one had ever needed Teagan before.