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Elpida should protest, but she was too sleepy. And a big fat liar, because it wasn’t sleepiness curbing her resistance; it was Epimetheus.
This afternoon, when she woke up in his arms only to freak out about water damage that wasn’t there, she’d been plagued by worries that no longer seemed to matter. Eating with him, their chat, his smiles and gentle touches, and even how he ran his fingers through her hair and pretended to be interested while she oohed and aahed over costume porn and royal shenanigans, soothed her frayed nerves. And when he closed his large palm around her smaller one and said he was taking her to bed, she could think of nothing better.
Their bodies had fit together on the couch, his side made for her to cuddle into, his hand cupping her thigh, and his thumb tracing lazy circles on her skin. They fit together in bed now, too, when she exchanged her sweater for a T-shirt and slid under the covers, and he curled around her in his freshly cleaned sweats, one arm draped over her side. She hadn’t expected him to just want to hold her, and he was certainly hard against her ass, but he made no move. Just held her. And she felt safe. Worse, she felt she belonged here, as if they’d lain like this hundreds of times before, content in each other’s presence.
She didn’t realize when she felt asleep, and woke up with her heart thudding in her chest. Her dream... What was it? Fear. Pain. Death.
It had to be stress. Probably because of the situation she’d put herself into. Who went to bed with a man they barely knew? So many people. Still, this was different. How they’d met was scary, let alone all the weirdness that followed it. Yesterday’s doubt came rushing back in, and brought with it extra points of contention—like that she’d never noticed a police car at the health-care unit. But when she turned into the cage of Epimetheus’ arms and looked at his face, the darkness faded.
She ghosted her fingers along his sculpted cheekbones and square jawline, then down the bridge of his nose, to his wide mouth. In a flash of movement, her fingertip was trapped between white teeth. Startled, she tugged it free and scooted backward, and Epimetheus laughed.
“You scared me.” She tried to bat at his shoulder, but he grabbed her arm and rolled onto his back, pulling her so she straddled him. His erection, cradled at the apex her thighs, was long and thick, and hot even through his sweats and her underwear. The throbbing in her pussy insisted she impale herself on him, but at the same time his girth scared her. She rocked her hips, rubbing her soaked center along his shaft, and Epimetheus groaned.
Guided by desire and instinct, she leaned forward and licked the side of his neck. His shiver made him twitch against her pussy.
When she nibbled on the cord of muscle leading to his shoulder, he fisted his hand in her hair and tugged so he could meet her gaze. “I want to feel your lips wrapped around my cock,” he said.
Elpida had never done that before, but the thought of feeling him in her mouth made her desire spike. Crawling backward, she drew his waistband down his thighs. She kissed her way down his chest, and then drew a path with her tongue across his abs.
Epimetheus tilted his hips, and his cock nudged the underside of one breast. She licked her lips and looked up at him, then scooted back a little further, pressing her breasts on both sides of his shaft and rocking so it glided between them.
When she glanced up, Epimetheus watched her with eyes that swirled liquid gold, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Put your mouth on me,” he said without moving his lips.
She looked at the angry red tip of his erection, oozing clear precum, and didn’t care how the fuck he spoke in her head. She needed to taste him. She swiped her tongue up the small slit at the top, catching the savory drop, then stretched her lips around the wide head of his erection. His cock was smooth and kind of rubbery against her tongue—spongy, maybe—and felt like velvet wrapped around steel, the way it throbbed with contained power. It was also way too big for her to try to take him down her throat. Not that she had any clue how to do that, anyway.
“Good girl. Now suck.” He tangled the fingers of one hand in her hair again. She should feel trapped, with him holding her in place and his cock filling her mouth, but when she sucked and he hissed air through his teeth, she felt more powerful than she’d ever been. Her mouth was rendering this enormous man powerless.
“Your mouth is softer than the clouds above.”
Weird compliment, but she’d take it. She sucked again, and tried not to gag when he hit the back of her throat. Her tongue was pressed to the inside of her bottom teeth. She swiveled it across the thick vein at his underside and let her top teeth graze him.
Epimetheus’ hips bucked off the mattress, sending his cock deeper and choking her. Her eyes watered, and her teeth bit into her lips. She kept her calm and swallowed around him, before coming up for air. With his grip on her hair, he pulled her down to him again, and fisted his shaft to rub it along the seam of her lips. “Open your beautiful mouth again. Erebus, you were created for sucking me.”
Elpida parted her lips, and he dipped between them shallowly, while she flicked her tongue across the tip of his erection. She wrapped her fingers as far as they’d go around the base of his cock, and he closed his hand over hers and guided her to pump him hard and fast.
“You feel divine. Can you feel me?” He was in her head again.
And in her body. Elpida almost bit down on him when something nudged her dripping entrance. Beyond asking how, she raised her hips, welcoming the intrusion, and like this morning, felt his fingers push inside her pussy, though her shorts were still on. More, she wanted to say, but her mouth was full.
Still, he heard her or sensed her need. A third finger wedged inside her, and before long, she was meeting his invisible, impossible thrusts with all her fervor, while slurping at his cock.
He twitched against her palm and squeezed her hand around his shaft. “I’m going to spill, little human, and you’re going to swallow it all. Aren’t you?”
“Yes. God, yes,” she screamed in her head and tightened her lips around him, sucking and twirling her tongue and drowning in his masculine, dark scent that soaked into her skin.
A tongue—no, his tongue—swiped down her slit and flattened against her clitoris, and his fingers inside her grew and curved and hit a perfect spot that had her mewling deep in her throat as her body shook with the force of her release, her head light and her limbs heavy and white stars bursting behind her eyelids.
Thick, salty cum coated her tongue. She swallowed it greedily, wanting more of him in her, then licked his shaft clean.
He let go of her hair to cup her chin and force her to meet his gaze. “You’re fucking incredible.”
She pouted. “But you won’t fuck me.” Where did this come from? She was perfectly sated with what he did do to her. She just wanted more.
His smile was wicked and full of dark promise. “Tomorrow night, I’ll make you mine.”
His phrasing sent a shiver up her spine even before he drew her on top of him—like he tended to do—and his cock settled at the apex of her thighs, hard like he hadn’t just come in her mouth.
Elpida could wait till tomorrow. Heck, she could probably keep her worry and freak-out tendencies at bay till then.
She drifted off, safe in his embrace, and barely grumbled when her phone rang at the crack of dawn. Okay, so it was ten in the morning, but she’d had a long night.
Epimetheus was warm under her—and still hard, for heaven’s sake—and she hated rolling off him to get her cell from the nightstand. Stelios Cell flashed on her screen. Stelios had worked for Daphne till two months ago, and was now happily employed by her greatest competitor, according to the office grapevine.
Elpida accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear. “Hey,” she whispered. “Give me a sec.” Careful not to wake Epimetheus, she padded out of the bedroom and pulled the door shut as far as she could without the latch clicking. Not that he’d wake up easily, judging from how deeply he slept yesterday.
She crossed the living-room floor to the kitchen and made a beeline for the cappuccino maker. Today she’d make Epimetheus the freddo she’d promised. She started the machine and said to the phone, “I’m here. What’s up? Haven’t heard from you since you left.”
“I know. It’s been hectic, but for the first time in years, I don’t mind.”
Elpida laughed softly. “That good, huh?”
Stelios’ chuckle was warm. She’d always liked the guy. He was pretense-free and easy going. His wife was in accounting, and the couple times they’d all had drinks after work, Elpida loved how he fawned over the woman he called his better half. “Better. That’s why I’m calling. Heard you finally had enough of the dragon lady.”
“News travels fast, huh?” Elpida brought down two tall glasses. The crunching from the fridge’s built-in ice maker made her wince, as she half-filled the glasses with ice cubes, but no sound came from her bedroom, to indicate Epimetheus was awakened by the noise.
“It does indeed. And because I know how kickass you are, I already talked to my boss. His personal assistant is retiring next month, and he’s looking for someone to take her place. You have an interview with him in an hour.”
Elpida almost poured the hot coffee on her hand instead of over the ice. “Seriously?”
“On my honor, and it comes with a significant pay bump. I’ll text you the address.”
“Oh my God. I love you! I’ll be there.”
She heard his smile over the line when he said, “Are you hitting on me? Because office romances are not allowed.”
She laughed again and promised to see him in an hour. Her phone blipped with his text seconds after she ended the call. How awesome was this? Since Saturday night, she’d stumbled onto a sex god and may have landed a better job. To think she’d grumbled about being forced to leave her couch on a day off...
She whipped milk into a froth and topped off the glasses, then added straws and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Perfect.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” she called out. She turned from the counter, and almost tripped when she saw Epimetheus sitting on the couch, completely naked. The man was quiet like a mouse and obviously abhorred clothes.
“Did I scare you? I’m sorry.” He didn’t look sorry at all. Peeved, maybe.
“Not scared. Surprised.” Elpida went to him and held out one of the glasses. “Hope you like it sweet.”
“Sometimes. Others, I like it dirty.”
Familiar heat spread from her belly to her limbs. Did they have time for a quickie? He certainly seemed ready. Was he ever not hard? She wanted him between her legs, damn it. Could practically feel him stretching her.
Epimetheus cleared his throat, and she raised her gaze to his face, her cheeks burning. He took his coffee and closed his lips around the straw. His expression was serious as he swallowed the first gulp. “You’re right,” he said. “You make good coffee.”
She wanted to kiss him good morning, but what if he saw that as clingy? And why did she feel the constant need to touch him? She gulped down half her coffee and nodded. “Glad you like it. You enjoy that, while I get dressed. I need to go out for a couple hours. An old colleague called. He’s arranged an interview for me.” Her good mood was impossible to contain. If the job worked out, she’d treat Epimetheus to an expensive dinner tonight. Maybe that Eleas Gi restaurant she’d been meaning to try but never got around to it.
“I won’t be late, and I can bring croissants when I get back. If you get hungry before then, there are sandwichables in the fridge. Or you can go to the bakery. It’s just down the block. There’s money in my nightstand drawer. But you’ll have to get dressed for that.”
He was oddly still during her rambling. Then— “Do you love all of your old colleagues?”
His dark tone prickled the skin at the small of her back. Was her response one to fear or desire?
“Stelios is just a friend.” Not that she should explain herself. Epimetheus had a guest role in her life. Even if his scent, filling her nostrils, made her dizzy with lust. And could lust make her tremble, or did the floor shake?
Nah, it was the caffeine, hitting her nerves. “I need to get ready.”
She felt his gaze lingering on her body as she walked out of the room.