Pulled Within (20 page)

His grin dripped with as much seduction as concern. He stood from the bed. “Sleep here. I’ll come back to check on you when the guys go to lunch.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against
mine before he backed away. “I’m glad I made you smile…a real one, this time.”

And then he was gone.

WHEN I FINALLY
woke, I was in the same position as when I’d
fallen asleep. I didn’t know what made my eyes open. I was comfortable; I wasn’t too hot beneath the blankets, and I’d set the alarm on Hart’s
nightstand, but it hadn’t gone off yet. Even though I’d only napped
for a few hours, I felt surprisingly well-rested.

I slowly unfolded from the nest of blankets and pillows I had
built
around me. I was still wearing the towel he’d wrapped me in. I
hadn’t unpacked my clothes from the car, so I went into his closet to
find something to wear. It was a walk-in with shelves and drawers and racks made of wood the same dark color as his furniture. All of them were full.

The tips of my fingers brushed over the sleeves of his shirts and the hems of his pants. It smelled like him in here. His cologne. His body wash. Those scents had haunted me years ago when my fingers had ached to touch him—when I’d stared at the empty space on my bed where he used to lay when he came over.

But there were no more empty spaces when it came to him.

He was here. He wanted me.

I didn’t understand it…but I didn’t feel as if I had to.

I chose one of the button-downs
—
a white one. He had plenty
more just like it. Releasing the towel, I slid my arms into the silky material and buttoned the bottom, leaving the top two open.

I dropped the towel in the hamper and wandered out through
the living room. As I passed the dining room, just before arriving at
the kitchen, I heard a noise and froze.

“It’s me,” Hart said.

There was a wall between us. I held on to its edge with both
hands and peeked around it. He was standing in front of the island with his hand inside a plastic bag. “Did I wake you?”

I shook my head.

“Come here,” he commanded.

I moved my body out from behind the wall, my bare feet
tapping on the wood floor.

“Stop,” he said after only two steps. His exhale was loud. He removed his hand from the bag and placed both palms on the countertop. “Turn around.”

The look on his face told me how serious he was. Was he pissed that I’d dressed in his clothes, or was he getting ready to hurdle the
island?

I rose to my tiptoes and began to twirl.

“Slower.”

I obeyed his order, gradually making my way around until I
faced
him again. His eyes almost felt like fingers and they were all over
me
—
my
legs, my breasts, my face. Maybe out of habit—or maybe because I
wanted to keep my scar hidden from him more than anyone else—I tilted my unmarred cheek toward him.

“Get over here.”

I felt the beat of those three little words shoot straight between
my legs. That was all it took to get my feet moving again.

I reached the island, leaning my back into the countertop as he shifted in front of me. His hands gripped the stone on both sides of
me.
I touched the starched collar of my shirt. “My clothes are in my car.” I felt the heat of his gaze, watching him eventually release his bottom
lip, which he had been stabbing with his teeth.

“When you’re in my house, I only want you wearing my
clothes.”

“Even your boxers?”

“If I tell you to, yes. Nothing of yours…not even panties.” He
bent his head, running his nose across my shoulder and to the opening of the shirt. “I want my scent to be on you—always.”

The soft concern he had showed in the tub had been replaced
with a vibrant urgency.

There were spots on my body that ached for him. He leaned over me, his hardness pressing against me. Even though I could feel how
much he wanted me, Hart wasn’t someone I could rush.

“I don’t want my smell just
here
,” he said, kissing down my chest and stopping at the first closed button. His lips sat directly between
my breasts. “I want it
here
, too.” The tip of his finger touched the
middle
of my thigh. “And
here
.” It moved closer to where my legs met. “And
here
.” Then it continued to slide up until it stopped on my clit.
He only gave me the edge of his finger, and with hardly any pressure. It was enough to stop my breathing. “I want this spot to always smell like
I’ve been here.” My back arched as he licked across my collarbone.
“And I don’t think I can wait any longer to taste it.”

I didn’t think I could, either. Without the counter behind me, my body would have melted into the floor. He owned it now—every
drop of moisture, every thought, every breath that came from my lips.

“Let me have it, Rae.” His lips were pushing the shirt aside
while
he worked his way over to my nipple. “Let my tongue make you
come.”

I moaned into the air, and my eyes closed. I’d already given him control, but his words confirmed how deeply he was able to reach within me and the intensity of everything that swirled together now.
“I’m yours.”

His breath caressed my neck and wrapped around the base of
my chin. “Fuck…I’m going to devour you.” He exhaled, and the
breeze
rushed between my skin and the shirt, hardening my nipples even
more. “What time do you have to leave for work?”

It was hard to bring myself back to the moment, to even know what time it was or where I had to be. His hands never stopped
touching me,
and his lips never stopped kissing my body while I thought about
his question. “Not for a few hours, I think.”

He nibbled on my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth. He
tasted
like breakfast, sweet syrup and vanilla coffee. It was delicious. “I
wish I
could have you all night long.” His hands traveled up my sides,
bringing the button-down with them.

I couldn’t imagine telling him to stop so I could go to work. But I also couldn’t risk losing my job.

“I
—
”

His fingers brushed across my stomach and dipped between my legs again. I gasped.

“If you want me to stop, tell me now.” He had only one finger
on me, running over the length as it circled and spread my wetness. He gave just enough pressure to make me moan.

When his finger suddenly paused, I reached down and placed
my hand on top of his. “Don’t stop.”

“Then tell me what I want to hear.”

A wave quickly spread through me. “Hart,” I groaned. I gripped
his arm, sliding down just enough so that the back of my head rested on the countertop. My legs spread apart a little more. His lips
brushed
over my mouth while the pad of his thumb continued to graze my
clit.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Tell me this is mine and no one else’s.”

“It’s yours.”

His thumb moved up, then slowly down, flicking from one side
to the other like a tongue. I could feel my wetness on his skin
—
not
just damp or slick. I was sopping.

“Now I want to hear you moan my name again.”

My hips swiveled, urging him to push harder, to insert one, two
of his fingers while he circled me at the same time. “
Hart…
”

The heat of his mouth turned to my nipple, sucking it through
the fabric. “Yes. Now do it again.”

My back arched. He knew from so many years ago how sensitive
my breasts were, and how I would respond if he used his teeth, if he tugged the hardened tip into his mouth and bit down. But instead of going further, he moved his hands to my ass and lifted me into the air. My legs circled his waist, and I kissed him as he carried me. My fingers snaked through his hair, my toes linking together as I fed on
his mouth.

I was starving for him.

He sat me on the edge of the dining room table with my legs still
around him. The button-down had ridden up to my mid-thighs and bunched around my stomach. He glanced at the bottom of the shirt and back up at me. “Show it to me.” The silver of his eyes had
darkened to
a deep, piercing gray. It stirred me almost as hard as his fingers
gripped my skin.

My hands were behind me holding my weight. I lifted them and moved to the hem of the shirt. The slow reveal wasn’t only for him.
It was just as much for me.

“Lean back and show me what I want,” he insisted.

The way my body responded to his demands just added to the build. But he wasn’t nearly as patient as I was. He untangled my feet
from behind him and pushed my thighs even farther apart, watching as the shirt rode up.

“Rae…show it to me.”

There was only about an inch to go. I clipped the bottom of it between my fingers and gradually lifted. My eyes stayed on his face,
watching his expression as I exposed myself. He’d seen it before—not just when we’d dated all those years ago, but when he’d found me in the bathtub at Caleb’s and when he’d placed me in his own just several
hours ago. And yet, the look that crossed his face didn’t seem to
show that. It
was as if this was something he’d waited for, something he’d longed
for.

Something he was going to savor, now that he finally had it again.

He dropped to his knees, hooked his arms around my thighs and
brought me to his mouth. “This,” and he licked the entire length of
me,
“is what I’ve wanted for so long.” His tongue flattened as he ran it vertically and pointed when he swept from side to side. His fingers
found a place too, giving me the feeling of fullness that I needed.

My hands moved behind me so I wouldn’t fall. I rested a heel on the top of the nearest chair. It had been years since I’d been able to look down and see the top of Hart’s head at my center. Though there had been changes for both of us, the man he’d grown to be only
made me
want him more. I’d been too young and too immature back then to understand what the future really meant, how satisfying it could be to give your body to someone who knew how to please it. If it wasn’t
for
his absence and the other men I’d dated who only served as stand-
ins,
guys I tried to put back together from whatever pain they were
feeling, I wouldn’t have appreciated the man Hart had become. But I could do that now.

I completely surrendered to it.

I let my head fall back between my shoulders, allowing the
sensation
to build inside my body. The combination of his tongue and fingers
brought me dangerously close to the edge.

“Don’t come yet,” he demanded as his movements slowed. My
body
and moans must have told him I was seconds away. “I’m not even
close to being done with you.”

“Hart,” I breathed, my chest heaving, my hands reaching
forward to grip his hair. I pulled as hard as I could. “Don’t stop.”

“I know how badly you want it.” His chin glistened as he spoke.
“But we’re going at my pace, baby, not yours.”

I released his hair and fell back against the table. My arms
spread,
and my fingers folded around the lip. The pressure of the wood felt
good as it resisted my grasp, but not nearly as good as what his
tongue was doing to me. “Please, Hart, let me come.”

My request changed his speed. He started going even faster.
That was what he wanted: for me to beg.

So I did.

“Right there, Hart, don’t stop…please don’t stop.”

His tongue flicked even quicker; his fingers continued to fill me.
When I got to the point where I was shuddering, he let me quiver
through
it. He didn’t stop, and he didn’t pause; he let my body feel each
ripple, like thunder rolling across me.

When I’d finally stilled and settled, he crawled over my body
and kissed his way up my chest until he reached my lips. “You gave me exactly what I asked for…and you were fucking delicious.”

I swiped my finger over his mouth and around his scruff,
sweeping off some of the wetness. He caught it between his lips and sucked it all off.

He had wanted his scent all over me.

But all I could smell was my scent all over him.

“You have to go back to work,” I said. I didn’t want the moment to turn awkward, so I gave him an out before it did. And I really had to get ready for work, too.

His hands moved around to my back as he lifted me off the table and carried me to one of the couches. “If I had my way, neither of us would be going anywhere.”

“I know.” I leaned up to brush my lips over his. “I’ll wake you up when I get back.”

“You’re coming back after work?”

I nodded.

His brows furrowed. “What does that mean, Rae?”

“It means…I’m moving in. If you still want me to.” His eyes
caught fire. I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. “I can’t say for
how long. I’m still getting used to all this again, but if you’ll have
me, I’d like to stay.”

He laughed, his tongue sweeping across his lip. “You’re not
going anywhere.”

He was probably right. But I wasn’t going to tell him that.