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His hot mouth sent my aching nerves into overdrive. I couldn’t handle it. It hurt, it hurt so deliciously that I both wanted it to stop but never wanted it to end. My orgasm shook me hard and I cried out, my hands fisting in his hair as he wrought every last drop of pleasure out of me.
I twitched and convulsed as he lowered me to the table. I heard the rustle of fabric and opened my eyes to see him pulling his shirt over his head and suddenly, replete as I was, I couldn’t contain myself any longer. I pounced, catching a flash of surprise in his eyes before I threw myself at him and knocked him back into the couch. I straddled him and sank my lips onto his. I wanted him with such ferocity it frightened me. I wanted his taste, his touch, every single part of him. I wanted him in my mouth. I broke away from him and moved to kneel at his feet. I pulled at the waistband of his sweatpants, but before I could make any progress he halted me, his hands encircling my wrists.
“Stop, baby.”
I made a frustrated sound–why wouldn’t he let me pleasure him? “Please. I want to.” I tested his grip a little but it was firm.
“No.”
I bit my lip, fighting the urge to push it. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t interrogate him today. I rose and straddled him again. I reached between us but once more he halted me. What? I realised then that in all the time we’d been together, in all the positions he’d had me, he’d never once let me ride him.
Power.This was all about power.
I tried not to sigh at the discovery of another barrier.Patience, Lola.
Without another word, he grabbed my hips and turned us, lowering me down to the couch and sinking inside me with ease. I groaned as he moved, making love to me, coaxing every last vestige of pleasure from my aching folds. It was heaven.
When he came, it was with a guttural growl that I matched with my own. My nails dug into his shoulder, my thighs clamped around his waist as he emptied inside of me. I took it all, feeling once more that twinge of pride at knowing I had made him happy.
He pulled out gently and lay beside me, my legs draping over his hips and his arms wrapped tightly around me. I was exhausted and after only a few moments I could feel my eyelids growing heavy. Before I slept there was something I needed to know, something that had bothered me ever since he’d said it. I looked up to find him once more studying me, deciphering every inch of my face. It didn’t surprise me. It was something I was learning to expect.
“Can I ask you something?”
His stern brow furrowed a little, flickering lights flitted over him as a silentDie Hardcontinued to play behind me. “That depends on what it is. Ask questions of me carefully, Lola, and remember that I don’t guarantee you any answers.”
“Do you only want me because I don’t bore you in bed?”
“That’s part of it, though I was interested in you before I’d gotten you into bed. There are many reasons why I want you. You’re loving and loyal, but feisty too and as insatiable in bed as I am. To put it simply, you pass every test.” His hand played in my hair, pulling the auburn locks and twisting them around his fingers.
“What tests?”
“The tests that I plant around you, just waiting for you to slip up.” He must have read the confusion on my face because he gave me a small smile and explained. “I bought a new car, one of the most expensive in the world, and you didn’t like it. The look on your face when you saw it…Baby, I had to try so hard not to laugh. And when you buried those diamonds in the garden?—”
“Technically that was Ryan,” I interjected.
“Even better. And today, I offered to spoil you with anything you might want no matter how extravagant, and instead you chose to stay here. You chose me. Just me.”
“And ice cream.”
He smiled, he actuallysmiled,and my chest felt like it was about to burst. He released my hair, cupped my face, and tilted my chin up for a light kiss. We were silent for a while before he spoke again.
“You know, when you said you needed to think about leaving with me, it made me angry, but I can’t deny that it made me happy too. So many women would have scrambled without grace or dignity for that same chance. So, no, to answer your question, I don’t just want you because you’re interesting in bed. I just think I would be calmer around you if I could figure out which fucking road you’re on.” There was a hint of humour in his voice. His thumb stroked my cheek, the movement so soothing it soon had my eyelids drooping again.
“You mean out of the roads to pleasure the other women were on? Roads of pain, roads of control, or roads of sweetness?” I was trying hard to stay awake, but with his skin pressed to mine and his arms wrapped around me, it wasn’t easy.
“Yes. I’m determined to figure out which one you’re on.”
“Maybe I need my own road. The Lola Road,” I mumbled and he chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“Go to sleep, O’Connell,” he whispered and I nuzzled into his chest, relishing the safety I felt.
“There’s another road to pleasure, you know, one that doesn’t require control or pain or ownership or sweetness.” I was barely aware of my own words as I began to drift off to sleep.
“Is that so? And what does that road require?”
“Love,” I murmured softly, vaguely aware of his sharp intake of breath, of his body growing impossibly still. “If you’re on the love road then the pleasure will be different every time, because you’ll want that person in all their forms, not just the one that appeals to your daydreams. Pleasure wont be contingent onhowyou fuck, but whom.” I yawned and snuggled into his chest, my breathing growing heavy as sleep came for me. Just as it was about to take hold, Alfie spoke.
“Could you love me?” His voice was so quiet, as if he was telling me a secret, as if he was speaking banished words.