Lace. Her sinful curves, her delectable ass, those full, mouthwatering breasts, are barely covered in scraps of sexy, black lace.
My brain short-circuits. A rush of heat flares to life in my bloodstream, nearly burning me from the inside out. Harper Henderson is in my bed, my childhood bed where I fucking fantasized about women half as beautiful as her, waiting for me to make a move.
And I need to. Move. But my feet are glued to the floor. My eyes are drinking her in, committing every inch of her body, the radiance of her blue eyes, the teasing smirk on her lips, the goddamn confidence that calls to me like a siren, to memory. I want to imprint it on the backs of my eyelids so every time I blink, I see Harper, like this. I recall that I’m not a complete fuck-up because this woman, with all her independence and intelligence, wants me. Chose me. Trusts me. She accepts me in a way no one ever has before.
“You’re too goddamn sexy,” I tell her, crossing the room.
“Did you have a nice drink with your dad and brother?” she asks sweetly.
“I’m not thinking about that.” I lose my pants and begin to unbutton my shirt.
“I got it.” She sits up straighter and begins to undo the row of buttons.
It’s intimate, watching her hands undress me. Noting the concentration in the line between her eyebrows, the steadiness of her hands.
As she focuses on the buttons, the ends of my fingers graze over her bare thigh, trace the line of her lace panties that hug her hip. “You’re making my fantasy come true.”
She smiles, her hands parting the material of my shirt and pushing it off my shoulders. I shrug out of it and toss it on the floor. Harper’s eyes drop to my boxers once before meeting mine. “Doing it in your parents’ house?” She bites her bottom lip. “That’s more cliché than the science lab.”
I snort.
“But I find it hard to believe you didn’t check that box in high school.”
I shake my head. “I wasn’t nearly as confident in high school.”
Harper chuckles. “I think the society girls always had a soft spot for you.”
“True,” I concede. “But I never took them to my bedroom.”
Harper shifts and leans back against the ridiculous number of decorative pillows at the headboard. This is Mom’s doing. After I moved out, she kept our rooms mostly the same but added some touches—like pillows and artwork—to make them more cohesive with the rest of the house. “Where’d you take them?”
I sigh. “This is what you want to talk about?”
Harper laughs. “I’m curious. Not threatened.”
“Good.” I like that she’s confident. I like that she knows that her worth, her value, far exceeds mine. “Pool house, the game room…” I shrug. “I had one relationship in my life and now, I realize it never meant more than the moment.”
She tilts her head, studying me. “And this?”
“This means more than tonight, you know that.”
She nods, a vulnerability swimming in the depths of her eyes.
“I like you, Harper. I like kissing you. I like spending time with you. I fucking love seeing you here, in my bed, in my parents’ home. I want you so fucking badly, but never at the expense of losing you. I don’t ever want us to not be us.”
“What are we?” she whispers.
My heart gallops, thumps in my eardrums. I feel off-center, desperate to touch her and love on her, but scared as fuck that I won’t be enough. That eventually, I’ll fuck it up. Barneses are good for that.
“Better than anything I’ve ever been before,” I admit.
Harper holds my gaze for a long, drawn-out moment. Then, she reaches for me, and I shift into her. Her legs wrap around my hips, her hands find the tops of my shoulders. I dip into the cradle between her thighs, lower my body onto hers, careful not to let her bear the brunt of my weight, and push her hair back from her face.
“Are you sure about this?” I want her to know that once we cross this line, things will change.
How can they not?
But will they change too much?
I banish the thought, push the insecurity from my head.
“Yes. I want you too, Damien.” Harper’s eyes are wide, filled with longing and desire. “I’ve wanted you for a long time.”
“You have me,” I murmur, my voice cracking with raw emotion. Does she understand the depth of that truth? She has me more than any woman ever has before. She owns the pieces of my personality I keep locked away, slivers of my heart I never share.
Harper tips her chin up and I drop my mouth to hers, kissing her with a sensuality that turns my body both hot and cold. Fire and ice.
Our kiss is deep, filled with meaning I’ve never experienced before. I take her mouth the same way I want to take her: fully, intentionally, thoroughly. As Harper arches into me, the lace of her bra grazes along my skin, the pebbled peaks of her nipples hardening.
“Jesus, you’re gorgeous.” I palm her breast, loving the weight of it in my hand.
Harper moans and I drag my mouth away from hers, trail it down her neck, place open-mouthed kisses along her chest. Ripping down the lace cup of her bra, I draw her breast into my mouth, sucking deep before turning my attention to her sensitive nipple.
One hand drops between her legs and I trace the pattern of the lace before dragging it to one side and testing the wetness of her arousal.
Holy fucking shit. “You’re soaked for me, baby.”
“Want you,” she murmurs, her hips arching up into mine.
I’m rock hard, a steel fucking pipe. I want her to pull off my boxers and position my hard length in between her sweet thighs. But first, I want to worship this woman for giving me more, making me feel more, than I ever have in my life.
Sliding my body down hers, I grab the sides of her panties. “Lift,” I demand.
Immediately, her hips rise. I shimmy the sexy lace down her legs and discard them on the floor. From my vantage point, I see her arousal, glistening, waiting for me to feast. I can’t stop myself from licking my lips and Harper must love the visual because she moans, reaching for me.
“Not yet, Harper.” My palms slide up her inner thighs until I hold her open. I keep my eyes glued to hers as I slowly lower my head. The pure, unfiltered desire in her irises has my cock twitching in my boxers. But I want this to be good for her; I want this to be the fucking best it’s ever been for both of us.
I drag my tongue slowly up her center, chuckling as she bucks against me. Then, I set to work, tasting her, sucking on the bud of her clit, lapping as her sweetness rolls over my tongue.
“Damien,” her voice is raw. Wanting.
I don’t respond, just pick up my pace. Her thighs begin to shake, her fingers rake through my hair, tugging. I know she’s close and the realization that I can make a woman as steady as Harper lose control pushes me into a frenzy. I eat her pussy like it’s prime fucking rib. In fact, it’s better. And she snaps, crying out as her body quakes with an orgasm. I let her ride it out against my face, loving that her hand reaches down to catch mine. Clasping my fingers tightly, she comes back to the moment.
When I pull back, brushing my thumb over my lips and sticking it in my mouth, her eyes nearly fall out of her head. “Damien.”
“You’re too fucking sweet for your own good, Harper.”
“I, wow,” she breathes out, glancing around her room. “I’ve never, that was—”
“For me too.”
Confusion ripples through her eyes. “We haven’t gotten to you yet.”
“No,” I agree. “But watching you, helping you reach a climax was the best thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life.”
Harper chuckles, but her expression is uncertain, a little shy, a little embarrassed.
“I can’t wait to do it again,” I admit.
She smiles now, a full-on beam of radiance. “Really?”
“Really,” I say, knowing that this moment matters. This moment is the verbal commitment beyond the physical act. It’s the next step and I want to take it with Harper.
She motions for me to come closer. “Come here.”
I fall over her, covering her body with mine. Her legs wrap around my waist again but this time, probably because I’m not expecting it, Harper rolls us until she’s straddling the tops of my thighs. Her hot hands dip into the waistband of my boxers. “Lift,” she demands.
I do so gladly.
The second she pulls off my boxers, my dick springs to life, desperate for her touch. But she surprises me again. Instead of reaching for me, she slips down my legs and bends over, drawing me into her mouth.
As her lips wrap around my cock, I see fucking stars. She grips the base of my dick, tugging slowly as her tongue swirls over the tip. It’s sexy as hell and when she flips her hair over her shoulder and meets my gaze, it’s the most erotic moment of my life. I swear I think she fucking winks and then, she sets a pace. She works her hand and mouth in perfect tandem that has me panting, reaching for her long, dark hair, clenching the bed sheets.
“Harper. Baby, slow down,” I wheeze out.
She chuckles, straightening, her hand still working my shaft. Biting her lower lip, she turns her sexy sapphire eyes on mine. “Can I?” she asks, positioning me at her entrance.
“Fuck yes,” I say, sitting up on my elbows so I can watch it happen. I want to remember the moment my cock disappears inside of her forever.
She doesn’t hurry though. Instead, she keeps sliding her hand up and down my length. “Condom?”
“Shit,” I laugh out, closing my eyes. “I can’t believe I almost fucking forgot.”
Harper bites the corner of her mouth. “I’m on the pill, Damien. And I’m clean.”
My eyes pop open. What the hell is she saying? Is she suggesting— “Harper, I, what?”
Nervousness floods her eyes and I backtrack.
“I’m clean too, Harper. But I—this is a big step. This is a lot of big steps.” My eyes zero in on my dick in her hand. “Are you sure?”
She nods slowly.
“I need to hear the words,” I say, needing to know that she’s not going to regret this. If she regrets anything with me, it will shred me from the inside out. “Because I’ve never barebacked with a woman before.”
“Yes,” she whispers. “I trust you, Damien.”
“Harper,” I say, unsure of what to say next. I care about you. I’m falling for you. I don’t know how to manage all the things I feel when you’re near. I’m going to fucking die if you don’t sit on my dick.
She shifts again, her knees pressing into the mattress by my hips. Then, she sinks down on me with a slowness that is so erotic, it should be triple X-rated.
“Fuck.” I close my eyes and drop my head back, so many sensations moving through my body.
I’m so hard, so desperate for her, I can’t think straight. At the same time, I want to make this good for her. I want to draw it out and remember this night for every night that comes after.
Harper begins to move, and I swear again. She rides me like her body was made for mine. I let her set the pace for several minutes before I take control.
Flipping her underneath me, I roll on top. I love the way her eyes widen with surprise.
“You’re too fucking good at this,” I say.
She laughs.
“Hang on, baby.”
Amusement and want flare in her eyes. She grips my shoulders. Then, I move, thrusting into her with a pace that borderlines on frantic. We cling to each other, pouring dirty words and needy thoughts into each other’s ears until she cries out again. She milks my cock as I pound into her, finding my own release.
“Harper, Harper,” I chant her name as I come, falling over her body. I quickly roll onto my side, and pull her into me, holding her as our breathing settles and we both come down from the best natural high.
My cum drips down her thighs as I pull out and the visual of our mess causes my dick to jump, nearly ready for another round. “Jesus,” I mutter, dragging a finger through it, smearing it over Harper’s clit. She moans, still sensitive.
I look at her, find her eyes trained on mine. Licking my lips, I kiss her hard. “That was amazing.”
She takes a deep breath that looks a lot like relief. Was she worried about my reaction?
I brush her hair back from her face. “Harper, I have a confession.”
A flicker of panic flares in her irises and I hate that it’s there at all.
“I know this started as a favor between neighbors.”
Her nostrils flare and she nods.
“But I’ve caught feelings. Real ones. Harp, I’m fucking falling for you.” I slide closer to her, and grip her waist. I need to touch her. I need to hold her as I say words I never thought I’d say before. As I experience feelings I never thought I’d feel before.
I watch as understanding of what I’m saying dawns in her eyes. A small, surprised laugh falls from her lips before she smiles. “Really?”
“Really.”
She kisses me. “Me too, Damien. I am too.”
Her words fill me with a lightness; they make me feel like I’m floating. Being with Harper intimately, so damn beautifully, makes me feel invincible. Capable of being the man she needs me to be.
I pull back and drag the tip of my nose along her cheek. “Let me clean you up.”
She laughs lightly. “What’s that entail?”
A smirk curls my lips. I move off the bed and swing her into my arms, carrying her toward my bathroom. “I’ll show you in the shower.”
Harper laughs again and I wonder if it’s always this easy with the right person.
Maybe I’ve put off relationships for so long because I never knew it could be like this.
That finding your person could make you feel like home.