“Not usually.” The words slipped out and he grinned, obviously pleased.
He pulled out and despite just having come, she felt empty until he flipped her over. “On your knees,” he whispered in her ear.
Arousal flooded her anew and she complied. He placed his hand on her back and she lowered her head to the pillow as he slid back into her once more.
“Oh God.” He was deeper now, and she couldn’t hold back a moan.
“You feel amazing.”
So did he.
He pulled out and thrust back into her. She closed her eyes and his smooth strokes ignited her nerve endings, stimulating her everywhere. With his body cocooned around hers, taking her, grinding into her over and over, she felt consumed. Owned, even. And as he picked up a faster rhythm, she began the steady climb from being sated once more.
“I’m close, Nic,” he said, his rich voice stroking her body and her heart. His fingers bit into her sides. “Come with me,” he said, his hips slamming hard against hers.
His rough groan of completion set her aflame and she shattered, her body splintering into tiny shards around his. And as she came back together, she was afraid she’d lost a piece of herself to this very contained man.
He collapsed on top of her, eventually rolling off but never breaking contact as he wrapped himself around her. His rapid heartbeat thrummed hard against her back and they lay in silence as she caught her own breath.
“How come?” he asked, breaking the quiet around them.
“How come what?”
“If you’re on the pill, how come you used protection with your ex?” Sam asked.
A valid question, but not an easy one. Not now, although it had seemed so simple at the time she’d made the decision.
“Even though it’s never been said, I don’t think my parents are faithful to one another.” She’d barely admitted this truth to herself over the years. Even when her mother asked her what love had to do with anything, Nicole hadn’t wanted to face what had always been on the edges of her mind.
She swallowed hard. “I was on the pill before Tyler and I started sleeping together, and once we did, he didn’t ask about protection, he just used it, so I didn’t offer the information.”
Because she hadn’t trusted him enough, she realized now. “If my parents weren’t faithful to each other, I didn’t think I should risk it for myself.”
Yet she’d taken that risk with Sam. Nicole was afraid to question what that leap of faith could mean. And from his silence, she took it to mean he had no interest in finding out either.
Nine
Nicole soaked in a hot bath in her new claw-footed tub. After her night with Sam, her body ached in the best possible way. She leaned her head back and let her mind drift to the many aspects of the man she was coming to know. He could be tender and sweet one minute, hard and demanding the next. She hoped he’d stick with her long enough for her to learn more.
Her eyes drifted shut and she thanked her lucky stars she’d met him before her wedding and was grateful she’d found the strength to end her engagement. If not, she wouldn’t have spent last night in her bed. With Sam. She smiled and sank deeper into the bubbled water.
She trailed the loofah over her calves and her knees and up her thighs before picking up the handheld shower massager to clear the soap. The sweet scent of strawberry soap prickled her senses. And as the water teased her clit, arousal swept through her. With thoughts of Sam on her mind, she settled the light spray between her thighs, placing just the right amount of pressure on her sex, creating a delicious friction, before easing one of her fingers between her slick folds.
She moaned at the same time her phone rang, jarring her into awareness. She glanced down and caught sight of Sam’s name, and her stomach flipped in awareness and embarrassment. She dried her hand on a towel and slid the bar across the screen to answer.
“Hey,” she said, hoping her tone didn’t give her away.
“Hi.”
His voice oozed sex and sin, and the heaviness between her thighs increased tenfold. She drew her knees up and squeezed tight.
“What are you up to?” he asked.
She looked
down at the shower massager, a reminder of how close she’d been to bringing herself pleasure she’d rather he give her. “Umm . . . I’m in the tub.”
He expelled a harsh breath. “You shouldn’t have told me that.”