Operation Foreplay (35 page)

He took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

“I had a plan.” He kissed my mouth, my face, my neck.

“A plan?” I unbuttoned his shirt as we shuffled toward his room.

“Romantic.” His good hand gripped the back of my neck.

“Do you want to stop?” I kicked off my flip-flops.

“No!” he exclaimed and pulled his head back. “Do you?”

“No! But, I mean, if you had plans—”

“Fuck the plans.” He pulled me back in just as we reached the bedroom door.

The backs of my knees hit the bed and I fell on the bed, Jared landing on top of me.

“Ow!” He pulled his hand in.

“Are you okay?” I froze. He had a splint on his finger.

“Good. I’m good.” He rolled over onto his back. “I broke my finger today playing basketball during my lunch.”

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” I stood.

“I’m good. I’m good. It just kind of sucked explaining to my boss that I need to take the afternoon off to go to the emergency room after I’d been there only a few days.” He reached for me and I held out my hand. He grabbed it and pulled me toward him. I straddled his lap, my face an inch from his.

His hand tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “So, how was your day?”

“My day was good. I ate all the gummy bears.”

“We’ll have to get you more.”

“I love you.” I held my breath.

He stopped moving. My heart stopped beating. A slow smile curved across his face. “I love you, too.”

“You do?” My heart started beating again.

“I do,” he said before his mouth collided with mine.

His arm gripped my waist and he stood and turned around, depositing me on the bed. Kneeling down in front of me, he tugged the waistband of my skirt down and slipped it off. I pulled my tank over my head.

“Gorgeous.” His hand grazed my shoulder before sliding across my cheek. I scooted back on the bed as he leaned into me, crawling along with me until my head was on the pillow.

Our kiss deepened and took me to a place of utter contentment. The urgency disappeared and our movements slowed.

He was propped up on his elbows above me, his hips settled between my thighs, his lips and tongue grazing my neck. My hands burrowed under his shirt, my nails slowly trailing along his back. He pressed into me and rocked forward and I gasped.

When his hand splayed my neck, I could feel the tightening of anticipation in my stomach. He slid the fabric that covered my breasts to the side and flicked my nipples with his tongue. They tightened to erect buds and he pulled each between his teeth. His lips clamped down and pulled back.

Unable to take much more, I rolled us over so I was straddling him. Sitting up, I reached behind me, unhooked my bra, and dropped it to the side of the bed. Leaning down, I traced tiny kisses along his jawline, across his chest, and down to his stomach. I undid his pants and tugged them over his hips. I continued to trail small kisses down his body, his legs, until I slipped his pants off entirely and crawled back up until my lips once again explored the small trail of hair that led south from his belly button.

“Melody,” he breathed as I licked the skin above the waistband of his boxers and blew gently.

“Shh,” I whispered, and slid the tips of my fingers under his waistband and slipped them down, too.

Taking him in my hand, I maintained eye contact for a moment before slipping him between my lips. With one hand on him, I slid him in and out, stroked him up and down, watching him the entire time. I could feel him throb in my mouth, feel him tense when I took as much of him as I could, until he grabbed my head on either side and pulled me off, tugging me back up toward his face.

“Come here.” He kissed me hard and tore my lace panties with his good hand while his other arm wrapped around my waist.

He was pressed against me and all I could think of was what he would feel like inside me. I knew I was wet, I could feel the slick heat between my thighs. I ground my hips against his.

“Fuck, Melody.”

“Condom” was all I could squeak out.

“Table.”

I reached over and grabbed the foil pack. I fumbled with it and dropped it on his face. “Sorry.” I laughed.

“Let me do that.”

I fell to the side and watched with interest as he opened the foil and rolled the latex down his length. He rolled over so his hips were once again settled between my legs.

“You okay?” he asked as he was poised just outside my body.

“More than. You?”

“I have never been more perfect.”

I shifted a bit so his tip was touching me. The ache was nearly unbearable.

And then he slid slowly into me, catching my gasp with his mouth. Slowly rocking back and forth, fingers interlocked. I pulled a leg up and wrapped it around his waist.

At first our movements were slow and deliberate. Our rhythm in perfect sync. But before long, slow and deliberate became hungry, and hungry became ravenous. Every thrust rocked me to my core. Our breath was ragged, our hearts racing. My hips bucked against him, his ground down into me. My hands clutched his back, nails dug into his flesh. His teeth nipped at my neck, his hand cupped my breast, fingers pinching and pulling.

“Melody. Oh my God,” he breathed out.

“Please. Oh please!” I whispered.

I couldn’t get enough. He couldn’t get far enough inside me. I couldn’t open wide enough to pull him in. He grunted my name, I moaned his. Faster and harder we danced.

Heat spread from my toes, shot up my legs, and exploded between my legs as I cried out, wrapping my arms and legs tight around him as an orgasm racked my body. I knew it was coming but wasn’t prepared for the intensity.

“Jared! Don’t stop. Fuck,” I nearly screamed.

He picked up the pace, slamming into me until I stopped shaking.

I tried to catch my breath and he held himself above me, slowing pushing in and sliding out. He dropped his forehead to mine and kept my gaze. Each thrust was slow. I slid my fingers down his back and he gasped.

When I clenched around him again, he smiled. He’d just shattered me and was in the process of rebuilding me with every push of his hips. I could feel myself begin to throb each time he pulled himself out of me, then clench as he slid back in. Unlike the last explosion, this orgasm was a slow simmer. It was almost unbearable. When he grabbed my hands and held them above my head, my stomach knotted.

“Melody.”

I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t breathe.

“Melody. I love you.”

“I love you.” I could feel my climax rise but it wasn’t fast enough. It tormented me, I felt it everywhere and it took over. My toes began to curl and my thighs began to shake.

“I can feel you.” He increased his pace. “I can feel everything.”

I was pinned down by my own release and I opened my mouth to scream but his lips claimed mine as our orgasms vibrated through us. It was the most erotic thing I’d ever experienced.

I’m not sure how long it was before I was able to relax my legs enough to unwrap them from around his waist but when I finally did, they lacked the strength to do anything but flop to the side. He rolled onto his back and we both lay staring at the ceiling for what seemed like forever.

“That was—” he breathed.

“Awesome.” I finished his sentence.

“Totally,” he responded.

I was still coming down from my high, body still trembling.

He reached down and took my hand in his. We fell asleep that way, reenergizing for the next round. We never did end up eating dinner that night and we missed breakfast the next morning. With the way things were shaping up, there’d be time for that later.

Chapter Thirty-One

W
hat took you so long?” Sarah jumped up and pulled me in for a hug as Jared and I walked through the door of the restaurant.

Jared gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and a quick squeeze of my hand before heading over to talk to Drew and Brian.

“Um, do you really want her to give you all the dirty details?” Berk stepped in and pulled me away before whispering, “
I
would like to know all the dirty details.”

“Noted,” I whispered back. “We’ll have brunch tomorrow.” I handed him a small wrapped box. “Since I forgot to bring this to you yesterday.”

“Happy birthday!” Caroline rushed up and gave me hug before handing me a gift bag. “Come on. We need to eat. I am starving!”

Jared pulled out my chair and handed me a beer before sitting next to me.

“Aw,” Caroline cooed. “You two are so cute.”

“Get a grip, Care. He pulled out her chair, he didn’t save her kitten,” Sarah reasoned.

Berk and I snickered while Jared turned a lovely shade of hot pink.

“Shut it,” Sarah sniped while we all laughed.

“Let’s talk about food.” Caroline changed the subject. “What are you all having? I am—”

“Starving.” Sarah and I finished her sentence.

“What are you having?” Jared asked as he perused the menu.

“I don’t know. What looks good?”

“Everything.” He handed me the menu.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger.”

“You always have a cheeseburger.” Brian laughed. “I even have one named for you at the bar. It’s a pain in the ass to make.”

“Sounds about right,” Berk quipped.

“Hey! Watch it!”

Jared leaned in and whispered, “You’re not a pain in the ass.”

“Thank you.” I leaned in and kissed him. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“Do you think,” he continued, “we could fake food poisoning so we could go back to your place?”

I smiled. “Wait it out a bit and I promise, I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You already have.” He squeezed my hand and kissed me again.

*  *  *

Two weeks later I came home from work after a particularly long day to find Jared sitting on my couch with a big smile on his face.

“Hey you.” I leaned down and kissed him.

“How was work?”

“Exhausting. Seriously.” I plopped down on the couch next to him. “I’m as tired as a vibrator that got snuck into a women’s prison.” I kicked off my shoes and turned, dropping my feet onto his lap. I wiggled my toes. Thankfully he took the hint and began massaging them.

His laugh boomed through the room. “Wow. I’ve never heard it described quite that way.” His thumbs screwed into the balls of my feet and I moaned.

“Careful,” he said as he shifted in his seat.

Smiling, I opened my eyes and noticed a packed bag sitting next to him. “What’s going on?” I pointed with my toe.

“What do you mean?” His eyes were closed as he leaned his head back on the couch.

“You packed my bag?”

“Oh yeah.” He smiled. “Get changed. We’re going.”

“And where are we going?”

“Does it matter?”

“Not really.” I stood and stretched.

“Can we get cheeseburgers on the way?”

He swatted my ass. “Go get changed.”

“Want to help?”

“There will be plenty of time for that later.”

“Fine.” I pouted, pulled my shirt over my head, and threw it at him.

“God, you’re such a tease.”

“Who’s teasing?" I called from the hallway as I tossed my panties into the living room.

*  *  *

“Rub me?” I handed Jared the sunscreen and smiled.

“Again?” He wiggled his eyebrows and I am sure he was thinking about our time in bed earlier that morning.

It had been two weeks since my birthday. Two weeks since I told him I loved him. Two weeks since he said it back. Two weeks. I pinched myself daily.

“Get your head out of the gutter and rub me. I don’t want sunburn.”

“But rug burn on your knees is okay?” He laughed as I looked down at my knees and smiled. It had been a fun night.

He finished rubbing lotion on my back and lay down next to me. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I leaned in and kissed him quick. “Do you think your sister is going to have Drew move in with her?”

“I don’t know. It would be nice. He told me I could take his apartment. Otherwise I need to start looking.”

“Living with your sister isn’t cutting it?”

“It’s putting a damper on my sex life.”

“It’s such a full life, too.”

“It is now.” He smiled. “I mean, it’s just hard when I feel like I’m sneaking around.”

“It’s not like she doesn’t know.”

“I know.”

“But I know what you mean. I’ll talk to her if you want.”

“I don’t know if it will do any good. That poor guy has it bad and she acts like it’s no big deal.”

“She doesn’t think it’s no big deal. She’s just used to having things her way.”