Page 42 of At First Smile

He turns, stands, and drops his phone. The heat of his gaze licks like fire along my skin.

Hands on my hips, I stand – almost like an offering – in front of the desk. Rowan’s oversize cap sits on my head, my long hair loose, a form-fitting black tank top with LA Bobcats #5 in gold lettering stops above my belly button, and a pair of black booty shorts trimmed in gold, hug my round ass.

“ Nice .”

“Just nice?” I pout. “Perhaps, if you get the full effect—” I turn and jut my ass out. “—is this just nice?”

“Pen,” he almost moans.

Looking over my shoulder, I bat my long lashes. “You like?” My hands caress over the raised letters across my backside that I know, thanks to JoJo and her Cricut, read Rowan’s Girl .

A low growl builds in his throat before he crosses the room in what feels like half a second.

His arms wrap around me from behind, tucking me into his chest, his erection pushing against me.

His hands wander up my body, cupping my breasts as his mouth drags down my neck.

I arch into his touch as he tweaks my nipples through the tank top’s thin fabric.

“Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are?” he rasps in my ear. “What you do to me?”

Rubbing my ass against his hard shaft, I let out a breathless laugh. “I have some idea.”

“I don’t think you do, but I’m going to show you,” he murmurs.

His tongue strokes down my neck as he eases the tank top from my shoulders, freeing my aching breasts.

Leaned against his firm chest, need pools low in my belly with his massaging fingers’ work of my taut peaks.

His hands glide over my exposed breasts to my stomach, along my hips, and cup my backside.

“Bend over.” His firm, but gentle order slickens the arousal between my legs.

Pulse thudding, I bend and brace my torso atop the desk. Its smooth surface cool against my heated skin. My head twists to the side.

“You’re so pretty, luv,” he whispers, his hands skim my spine to my ass where he strokes reverently. His fingers trace the words scrawled across my underwear as if committing them to memory.

“Rowan,” I whine as his fingers slide beneath my panties, finding my throbbing clit.

“This sweet little pussy is weeping for me, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I moan, as he taps another finger at my entrance while he continues to stroke me. My backside moves chasing his thrusting fingers.

“Does my needy girl want more?”

“Yes.”

He slides another finger inside me, my body clenching around him. “Do you know what a beautiful sight this is? You coming all over my fingers wearing those.” His right hand squeezes my ass, while he fucks me with his left hand.

“Oh…god,” I whimper, the orgasm rolling through me.

“That’s my good girl.” He bends and whispers in my ear, his low timbre drips with possessive admiration.

“I am yours.” It’s almost a croak. I’ve never wanted to belong to anyone.

To have anyone possess me, but with Rowan, I am utterly his and somehow it both frees and terrifies me like the moments between jumping from the plane before the parachute launches while skydiving.

I don’t know if I’ll crash or glide to safety but somehow the free-fall is worth it.

“I know, luv.” He kisses between my shoulder blades before he raises me up.

Turning me in his arms, he slips his hat off my head, tosses it onto the desk, and brushes wayward strands from my face. In the room’s dim glow, I can’t see his light eyes, but I can feel how they burn for me, how he burns for me.

“And I’m yours. From the moment you smiled at me at Tim Hortons, I was yours.

I was always meant to be. My entire life has been unsettled.

Like I was a broken compass not sure where I was supposed to go.

” He traces the outline of my mouth. “Then, this smile came into my life like the north star guiding me home. Pen, with you I’m home. ”

Breath ragged, I place my hand over his heart. It pulses against my palm. The unspoken “I love you” whispers in each gentle thump.

“Make love to me,” I breathe.

His mouth is on mine in seconds. We’re a tangle of limbs, tearing off the remainder of my clothes as we move to the bed.

Pushing Rowan onto his back, I climb onto the bed and straddle him.

My hair tumbles over us like a curtain shielding the darkened room from our deepening kisses.

Somehow, our kisses are both sweet and a little desperate.

Like we’re trying to both savor and devour this moment.

Easing onto him, that decadent stretch teases as my body accommodates his size.

“You feel so good, luv,” he hisses with pleasure.

“So do you…so good.” Biting my lower lip, I rock in a gentle rhythm.

“Pen.” He grips my hips tight, ceasing my movement. “Condom.”

Sucking in a breath my gaze drops to where we’re joined. For the first time he’s unsheathed inside me. I’ve never had sex without a condom but…

“I’m on birth control. I was tested after Alex.” My hand rests on his. “I trust you.”

In the darkness, I can feel his stare locked on my face. The silence between us is punctuated with assessment. There are risks, even with birth control.

Tightening his hold on me, he moves me against him. Our hips come together in a slow dance. As the pressure builds deep in my core, I rock faster. Hands splayed on his chest, my head tips back, and a pleasurable tension winds tight within me.

“Pen,” he grunts, thrusting up.

“Rowan!”

Slipping his fingers between us, he tips me over the edge. As my climax riots through me, he flips me onto my back. Resting my legs high on his hips, he moves inside me.

My unseeing gaze weaves with his. “I love you.”

Halting his movement, he cups my face between his hands. “I love you, Pen. I love you. I love you.” He emphasizes each sentence with long, languishing kisses.

I tip my hips up encouraging him. He pushes in and then withdraws in focused deep thrusts. That same coil tightens deep in my belly and my fingernails bite into his back.

“God!” I cry.

With a violent quake, Rowan shudders and spills himself into me.

For several moments, our panting breaths are the only sound in the room. In the darkness, I see so much but feel even more.