Southern Seducer (North Carolina Highlands 1)

I shake my head. “That Lizzie. She’s the best.”

“Isn’t she?” Bel sighs. “The two of us, we’ve had quite the eventful stay.”

“What can I do to make your last day the best one yet?”

Her eyes search mine, and she holds out her hand. “Come to bed.”

“Bel—”

“Save it. Sex isn’t the answer. I know that. But neither is spending our last day pissed off and arguing, which is inevitably what we’ll end up doing. So take me to bed.”

The golden morning light, still soft, cuts through the spaces between the drapes in the bedroom. My shirt sighs as Bel pulls it over her head.

For a breath, the one she takes, time is suspended. I inhale the planes of her back, the twin parentheses of her shoulder blades, and the soft divot of her spine. Wisps of hair escape the messy knot at the top of her head and trail down her neck.

Annabel looks at me over her shoulder, all lips and eyes, and turns around. I let her undress me, stepping out of my sweats. I leave them on the floor beside my shirt. When we’re done, I’ll put them both on. But Bel will be back in her own clothes on the way back to her own life.

Nothing shared.

Nothing sacred.

I growl, hiding the sound of my grief by kissing her mouth. The breath leaves her lungs in a noisy exhale. The taste of coffee—me—and toothpaste—her—mingles on our lips.

Her hands are on my sides, my belly, my chest. I bite her bottom lip when she thumbs my nipple. She knows this drives me wild. She knows.

When was the last time I let someone know me like this?

I cup her face in mine and kiss her, pouring myself into this place where our bodies and minds meet. This I know. This I can do.

This I can claim, before I let her go.

I’m hungry for her, my cock throbbing, pulse urgent. I pick her up and toss her on the bed, my side, and immediately put my hands on the inside of her thighs, parting them.

I duck my head and lick her pussy, pressing the flat of my tongue from the bottom of her slit to the top.

She gasps, trailing her nails across my scalp, and my toes curl on the carpet.

Condom.

I have to put one on now before I lose my fucking mind and do something stupid.

I grab one from the nightstand.

“Please,” I say, handing Bel the condom with one hand while holding myself with the other.

She sits up. Tearing open the packet, she works at it while she leans in and takes my cock in her mouth.

It’s an out-of-body experience, watching the woman you love suck you off.

The center of my chest feels heavy. Heavier still when she takes me all the way in, and my head meets with the soft tissue at the back of her throat.

It’s like a 45-pound plate, the kind we use at the gym, is being heaped on my heart every time Bel does something she knows I like.

Makes it hard to breathe.

“Honey,” I say, voice like gravel. I take her cheek in my hand, and she meets my eyes with my dick still in her mouth. “So beautiful.”

She pulls back just when it gets to be too much—it’s brutal, keeping myself in check, but I’ll fucking die if I come too soon—and rolls the condom onto my length. She cups my balls and gives them a nice little squeeze, just because she can.

“Lie down,” I say, and she does.

The first bottle of lube I try is empty, so I throw it over my shoulder—Bel laughs, the sound adding another plate to the pile on my breastbone—and use the second bottle to coat the tip of my cock with a nice dollop.

Best sex of my life with lube. Who knew?

Climbing on top of her, I hold my cock in one hand and my weight with the other planted on the bed between her torso and arm.

She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. I close my eyes and kiss her back. I feel her smile fade against my lips as our kiss deepens.

She’s gasping, the hardened points of her nipples brushing against my chest with every inhale. I kiss her, pouring what’s inside my head into her mouth.

Remember me.

Don’t.

I’m sorry.

I’m so fucking in love with you it’s killing me.

It’s only when I feel the burn of tears do I pull away. Holding myself up, I use my free hand to part her legs. Then I circle my lubed-up tip over her clit.

Her eyes go heavy-lidded. Her chin tips back as the crown of her head meets the mattress. She’s rising, raising her knees to bracket my hips.

I glide my cock down her pussy, then back up, dipping inside her just a little—just enough to get her to moan.