Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men 9)

He’d tried to enact a break from sex too. He thought I needed a month at least for all my wounds to heal. But all my bruises had faded, my cuts and abrasions had scabbed closed, and my temperature was back to normal. I was one hundred percent healthy. Physically anyway. Mentally, I was still somewhat of a head case. I hated how clingy I’d become, not that Colton seemed to mind. I swear, the jerk actually ate up how close to him I had to be every time we left the apartment. He’d smile at me with that smug satisfaction of a man who knew he had his woman wrapped completely around his finger.

Really, it was too much.

Just not enough for me to stop relying on him so much just yet.

But today…today was a new day, and I was going to work on being a new, confident, self-sufficient woman. And I knew exactly how I was going to start.

This was how Julianna got her groove back.

Humming in my throat over how good my man smelled, I ran my nose up his throat and bent my knee, making sure my leg slid right over his cock as I did. And just as I planned, I felt him grow hard through his Jockey shorts. He groaned, stirring awake as I nipped his jaw with my teeth.

“Happy birthday, baby doll,” he murmured, still half out of it as his hand smoothed down my back to shape its way over my butt.

Oh, yeah. And today was my twenty-second birthday. Yet another reason I felt determined to make a new start.

“Thank you,” I told him, grinning as I sat up and shoved aside all the sheets tangled around us. “I’m ready for my first present.”

Straddling his hips, I pressed my core to him, grinding his blessedly warm hardness between our underwear.

He hissed appreciatively and arched up under me before realizing what he was doing. A second later, his eyes flared wide and he caught my hip as if to stop me. “Juli, wait. You—”

“No,” I said, touching a finger to his lips. My nails had grown back to a respectable length and I had to admit, I enjoyed seeing their purple-painted tips pressing against his pink mouth. “It’s my birthday, and I get what I want.” Then I leaned down to replace my finger with my lips, so I could say, “Right?” against his mouth.

Groaning again, with temptation this time, he tensed under me, his body straining not to react to me on top of him. Then his gaze met mine, and I could see the moment he folded. “Are you sure? If it’s too soon—”

“It’s not,” I assured him. “In fact…” As I sat back to peel his Jockey shorts down his legs and then remove my own underwear, I went on, “It’s actually a perfect time to try it bare. I’ve been on birth control long enough to forgo condoms if you want.” When his eyelids went droopy with desire, I grinned and traced my finger down the center of his chest until I was wrapping my fingers around the base of his erection. “So, what do you say, big guy?”

“I say…” He paused to blow out a long breath. “Damn, you make one compelling argument, that’s what I say.”

I laughed. “Good.” I sank down onto him slowly, letting him feel every centimeter of me as I enveloped him completely inside me. He made me feel so full and warm and delicious, I took a moment to close my eyes appreciatively and just enjoy the sensation.

When I opened them, he was watching me with awe.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” I told him.

When I began to move, swiveling my hips in a slow, lazy rhythm, Colton sat up, his eyes hungry, so he could kiss me and stroke his hands down my back. Caressing his way back up, he found my head scarf and knocked it off so my new hair weave could come free and spill down my back.

He’d been fascinated with my extensions since I’d gotten them to hide the bald patches, telling me it felt like he was with a whole new woman, and yet, he also eyed my new hair with a measure of worry, as if afraid I hated it, when honestly I kind of loved it. For me, it was a new start. I wasn’t the same person I’d been the morning I’d been stolen. Things in me had changed, and yet…some things would always be the same.

My affection for the man inside me was one thing that had morphed and grown, gaining a power and confidence that had helped me heal in ways I’d never guessed it could.

I moved on him a little faster, relishing the feel of him deep, rubbing against my core with pleasure.

“Fuck, baby doll.” He gripped my hips as his face went red from gritting his teeth and straining. “I think it’s been too long. I’m not going to last long.”

With a grin, I bounced faster and sank my fingers into his hair, gripping the strands hard. “You’ll last as long as I tell you to,” I said with a mischievous twinkle in my eyes, knowing my teasing words would bring out the challenge in him.

His gaze filled with surprise before he laughed and spun me around until I was on my back against the mattress and he was leaning over me. “Is that right?” he asked in a low, taunting voice.

“That’s right,” I dared. “Now give me all you got.”

So he did, heaving inside me, and staring into my eyes as he brought us both to the peak and then crested over the edge, dissolving into euphoria together.

“Dammit,” he muttered, collapsing on top of me, where I stroked his back and hair. “I was going to wait at least another week before whining and begging for this from you.”

“I know,” I said, kissing his hair. “But I was ready now.”

“Yeah.” He pulled up onto his elbows so he could grin down at me. “I could tell.” But then the light in his eyes faded a bit. “Are you sure you’re ready for everything today? If you need more time—”