Chapter 74

She hummed a sweet little noise and turned her head to smile at him. "My mind is blown. Plus, I'm trying to figure out how to return the favor. I'm not very good with"

"I don't need anything but what we're doing." Tonight was about her, even though he suspected he might've gotten way more out of the experience than she had. "I proved you wrong. Orgasms aren't a myth."

Her laugh, husky and deep, nailed him right in the breast bone. "I've been known to be wrong on occasion. Tell anyone and I'll deny it."

He grinned, knowing he was sunk. He'd be concerned if he weren't so damn happy. "No one would believe me anyway." After a moment of doing nothing but sharing air, he realized where her hands were and grinned wider.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Because you're grabbing my ass with one hand like you want a repeat and gently stroking my back with the other as if ready to fall asleep." Always a contradiction, this woman. Before she could knock him out with a verbal one-two, he changed the subject. "What should we do tomorrow for date number three?"

Up went her brows. "Are we keeping tabs?" Yet she rolled her eyes like she did when she was thinking. Or plotting. "Don't know. What do couples do on a date?"

The fact she had to ask broke his heart. It seemed to be an hourly occurrence. "I don't believe there are strict rules on the matter. You haven't been riding in awhile. We could take one of the trails to the creek." They used to do that a lot as kids. He could throw a picnic together or something.

"Okay." She expelled a sigh that shook the heavens. "Nakos?"

"Hmm?" If she kept rubbing his back, he was going to pass out on top of her.

But she didn't say anything and he lifted his head to find out why. She stared at the ceiling, her eyes suspiciously shiny, and her lips pressed firmly in a thin line.

And he understood.

"If you're trying to come up with a way to thank me, don't." Bringing her to climax was only one bar below experiencing it himself. Between the pride inflating his chest and the awe in her eyes, that was enough.

She swallowed and met his gaze. "I thought there was something wrong with me. There's no way you can possibly comprehend what that feels like. So yes, you're getting a thank you."

"Maybe now you'll start believing me and not him."

All she offered was a quiet sigh and an even quieter look that bespoke so much doubt, he was questioning his words. He hated that she was hurting, that someoneor a series of someoneshad hurt her.

Closing the meager distance, he brushed his lips against hers and groaned when she immediately opened for him. Her kiss was drugging. Of all the women he'd been with, and that list wasn't extravagantly long, Amy alone shoved her way to the unforgettable column. He didn't understand how it was possible for her to be a balm and an ignition. One part coaxing, calling out ingrained instincts to nurture and protect, and the other meant to rile him into chaos.

Her hands settled at his waist and slipped under his shirt. Warm fingers trailed over the dips in his abdomen, and his stomach concaved at her touch. Tentative. Exploring. His erection thickened. He should dial things back, but she hadn't shown much initiative before tonight and he didn't want to deter her from going with impulse.

His breathing escalated as she moved higher. Over his nipples. Swirling her thumbs. Tracing his pecs and skimming back down to his gluts. But then she sent him into cardiac arrest by cupping his length through his jeans.

He broke away and groaned. "Anim, I told you"

She added pressure and he choked. "Can I?"

Again, his heart cracked that she'd felt the need to ask, that she was unsure whether giving him pleasure was all right. Even as his pulse jacked an unfettered rhythm and his dick throbbed, doubt loomed that they might be moving too fast, that she might think she had to reciprocate. But if the goal was to not have her question anything while they were intimate, he had to allow her room to play.

"Please," he said, his voice nothing but a rough rasp against her lips. "Do whatever you like."

A second later, he regretted the admission when she unbuttoned his pants, undid his fly, and freed him. The air in his lungs evaporated as her warm fingers gripped his length. One stroke and he was ready to blow. Between her touch, her intoxicating scent, and her supple body beneath his, he was about to lose it. Big time.

"Hihcebe, Ames." Brows pinched, he rested his forehead to hers and thrust. Her grip eased, and he wrapped his hand around hers, demonstrating his preference for pressure. Together, they stroked him from base to tip, wracking a shudder from him, and he guided her thumb around his head, over his slit. He jerked as unimaginable heat shot through his body. "That feels amazing."

Encouraged by his praise, she repeated the motion on her own, and he reached up to grab the couch arm above her head for support. And then she did it again with both hands, splintering rational thought into a mushroom cloud and rendering control a distant memory. His fingers dug into the material of the sofa, the muscles in his shoulders knotting.

Slowlyso damn slowly, sweat broke out on his skinshe kept a measured pace. He thrust into her hands, wanting to drive up the tempo, but the unhurried momentum created its own sweet torture that had anticipation almost more rewarding than the result. How funny he was the one needing to rush and it was her showing patience. She had him so fried he didn't know up from down.

Not that he cared. He would rather stay in this suspended state with her than be anywhere else, with anyone else.

She turned her head, caressing his throat with her lips, and he barked a yelp of pleasure. Caging her face with his forearms, he grabbed the couch with such force, he was shocked the frame didn't crack. While he rolled his hips and every nerve in his body misfired, she did something insanely debilitating with her tongue and the tendon in his neck. Tension shot up his spine.

Quickly, he reached behind him and removed his shirt, bunching it over where her hands worked him into delirium so he wouldn't make a mess of her. For a fractured second, she upped the speed, and he blew.

Mouth wide over hers, he came. Pulse after pulse thrummed through him and he bowed, groaning. Dying. Only to return to Earth in the same position. Except her arms were around him and his vision had spots dotting his peripheral.

After a moment, when he could move, he wiped off and tossed the shirt on the floor. Then he kissed her like a man starved. And he hadn't even known he'd been famished.