doing?” she asked, shifting a little under his
touch. “I thought it was over.”
“It was over for me, but I think I enjoyed it more than you
did.”
She sucked in a sharp breath when his head moved down to her
breast. “You don’t have to do—”
One hand slid between her thighs to explore. She was wet
from her earlier arousal and his release, and her flesh was still sensitized
and pulsing. “It’s not about having to,” he said in a low voice. “It’s about wanting to.”
Her body was reacting, was already trying to work into an
instinctive rhythm. She stretched her back and inhaled sharply as his fingers
fondled her intimately.
She felt a swell of deep affection at how serious he was
about pleasing her. She grabbed at his shoulders and held on. He evidently knew
exactly what he was doing. Two fingers were pumping in and out of her tight
channel, while his thumb massaged her with deep precision. He matched that
pattern with his mouth on her breast, and so she felt dual tugs, dual
sensations building inside.
“Daniel,” she groaned, her voice barely recognizable. “Daniel,
it’s so good. Do it just like that.”
Her hips were starting to thrust into his motion, deepening
the sensations, accelerating the rhythm, but she wanted to feel close to him in
a different way.
“Daniel,” she gasped, pumping her hips faster, pulling him up.
“Daniel, want to . . . kiss you.”
She whimpered when he adjusted up and captured her lips with
his mouth.
Then it was his kiss, his touch, his rhythm—all working
together in unison. He began to curl his fingers inside her, and her whole body
shuddered in response. She felt the sensations coalescing, building, mounting,
swelling toward that one moment of release. She was damp with perspiration and
panting under his mouth. Right at the moment before she climaxed, he pulled his
head up out of the kiss.
She knew he was watching as her hips jerked erratically, as
her face contorted in pleasure, as her upper body came flying up in a momentum
she couldn’t control. She cried out hoarsely and clawed at the skin on his bare
shoulders. Her muscles clamped down violently around his fingers, but he
sustained his steady motion until the contractions stopped completely.
“Oh, oh, oh, fuck,” she groaned as her body relaxed in delicious
release.
Her eyes were closed, but it felt like he was smiling.
Then her eyes flew open and she clamped a hand over her
mouth. “Oh, I didn’t mean to say that!”
He burst into uninhibited laughter.
“I never say that,” she said, her face reddening even
more than it had been.
He was still laughing as he pulled her against his chest in
a half-hug. “I know you don’t. But this is one of the few times when the word
is actually appropriate.”
“Well, you don’t have to laugh at me. It just slipped out.
It wasn’t that funny.”
“Yes, it was.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his laughter and at the feel
of his warm body against hers.
“Thank you,” she said at last. “For doing that for me, I
mean.”
“You’re welcome. I enjoyed it. All of it.”
“Good. Me too.”
She felt incredibly pleased with herself, with him, with the
whole situation.
“How do you feel?” he asked, shifting slightly.
“Good. A little sore, but good. What about you?”
“Good.”
For some reason, the smile had left his voice. She didn’t
know why, but she felt something shift in the mood between them.
She wasn’t sure what either of them would have said, but the
silence was interrupted by a familiar scratching sound.
Bear, trying to make a nest on her bed by scratching the
living daylights out of it.
“Bear,” she said. “Enough.”
Bear ignored her, as usual. The dog was fairly obedient, but
scratching up a nest was serious business and always the priority.
“What is she doing over there?” Daniel asked, sitting up in
bed and peering over in the dark room toward the dog.
“She’s trying to get her spot right.
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