Page 53 of Distant Shores (Stapled Magnolias #2)

She made a frustrated noise, and I moved my hand to the center of her chest, feeling her heart through my palm.

I hid my smile at the junction of her shoulder and neck before nipping and sucking at the skin there, shivering in pleasure as she grasped my shoulders, which were really the only parts of me she could reach in this position.

She ground against my stomach, and I let her, groaning into her skin when I felt her wetness through the fabric of my T-shirt .

Damn .

Stroking down her neck to her chest, I grunted when I found her nipple pebbled through the thin material of her top. I pressed on it lightly, experimentally, and she arched her back, pushing her tit into my hand.

“ More ,” she begged, her hips still gyrating against my stomach. Grasping her top, I peeled the material down and then pulled both sides away from her, exposing her chest to me.

Oh, God, I hadn’t been ready.

Ireland’s naked tits.

Right there. Moving as she breathed.

My mouth watered as I surged forward and took one into my mouth.

Her loud gasp, rawer and more primal than any I’d pulled from her before, egged me on as I sucked her into my mouth.

Both of her hands cradled the back of my head, keeping me pressed to her as I feasted on her, kissing and sucking as much flesh as I could.

It was only when I started to get dizzy that I released her and heaved in a breath, then dove back in, this time paying extra attention to her nipples.

While sucking on one, I rubbed circles on the other, mindless with the pleasure of feeling her body’s reactions.

Her nails scraped my scalp, and I took that as a cue to switch, pulling my head back and diving for her other side.

I licked a stripe across her pebbled nipple before I sucked it into my mouth hard.

My dick throbbed in time with the movement of my mouth, almost to the point of pain but not quite, like it could burst at any second. Because nothing could truly hurt right now, not when Ireland held me to her like this, allowing me to give her pleasure.

Spots dotted my hazy vision, and I pulled back from her skin with a pop, rubbing my stubble over the sensitive buds, which drew another ragged groan from her.

“I—” I said brokenly, turning my head and repeating the motion on her other side. “I was going to, um… try my luck asking you to sit on my face again. But this is great too.”

Her motions slowed, and she tugged on the ends of my hair. I followed her command, pulling back so I could meet her eyes.

Her features weren’t as clear to me as they would’ve been with my glasses on, but what I could make out had satisfaction burning my insides.

My gaze traveled back to her tits again. Knowing how they felt, how they tasted, was going to be the worst kind of distraction.

“Adair,” she said, tugging my hair again. I smiled sheepishly, and her lips twitched in response as she raked her nails down my scalp, all the way to my neck. “Ask me now.”

Her bare pussy grinding on my stomach and her exposed chest had my brain completely offline, so it took me a second to realize what she meant. But then it clicked, and I grasped her hips with both hands. “Can I make you come on my mouth, Ireland?”

She shuddered. “Yes.”

My arms shook, some nerves coming back as I fell back again, gasping when Ireland’s ass bumped against my erection.

She moaned, too, throwing her head back as she slid herself over me. “ Adair .”

Panic that this was about to get way away from me sharpened my mind, and I remembered the time constraints. My hands flexed against her waist, and I lifted her off my dick and shucked her up my body, all the way to my mouth.

Her gasp was higher pitched than the others, almost a squeak, but she got on board fast, parting her skirt so that she was completely exposed to me.

She looked down at me as I slowly let go of her waist, making sure her knees were braced well on either side of my ears. When she stayed where I needed her, I grasped her ass in both hands and hauled her to my mouth, breathing her in.

Heaven.

Darting my tongue out, I licked as much of her as I could reach, tasting, savoring, exploring.

My ears were ringing as I worked, but she gasped, panted, and moaned with her whole body, letting me feel her reactions even when I couldn’t hear them.

I squeezed and kneaded her ass, encouraging her to move against me, and she did with abandon, grinding on my mouth before circling her hips.

Once we got into a good rhythm, I went searching for her tits, resting my hands on them lightly, feeling them bounce and sway as she took her pleasure from me.

Turning my hands over, I ran my nails over both her nipples, and she jerked, throwing her head back and gasping.

Smiling into her soaked skin, it almost turned into a delirious laugh as I grasped her again in both hands and flattened my tongue against her clit, pressing down hard before nodding, then circling my head.

Ireland’s hands flew to the tops of mine, grasping them hard and guiding me in the pressure she wanted there, which was a lot . Almost rough, and more than I probably would’ve tried without her lead.

Taking that cue, I massaged her tits harder and harder, then drew my hands back and pinched both her nipples at the same time.

Her answering moan ripped from her throat.

So guttural, so pleased, that a bolt of pure pleasure raced down my spine, and I couldn’t stop my body from tipping over the edge.

I wasn’t even remotely embarrassed.

Okay, that was a lie. I was a little embarrassed, but the feeling was soothed when I got hard again almost instantly, only pausing for seconds to register what had happened.

Then I smoothed my thumbs over Ireland’s nipples, watching her face contort in pleasure as I pinched them again and again.

Ireland threw her head back and gasped my name.

Groaning at the sound, I closed my eyes for just a moment, drinking in the sensations as she pressed her pussy onto my mouth over and over, the motion of her hips becoming almost frantic.

I held onto her tits for dear life as I shoved my tongue into her as far as it could go before sliding it back out and repeating the motion.

Over and over, I entered her, savored her, until I needed a breath.

Pulling back, I ran my teeth over her inner thigh, enjoying the clench of her muscles beneath my touch.

She pushed my hair away from my face, my eyes, and I reveled in the sight of her blurred smile becoming an open-mouthed moan when I guided her back to my mouth, licking a long stripe from her thigh to her soaked center.

Her pants became chants of unintelligible words as I focused on her clit, flicking my tongue across it several times before sucking as hard as I could.

Her entire body jerked, and she went completely silent, her body rigid and still just before her gorgeous release soaked my mouth, my face.

My entire existence.

Before I could even process what was happening, Ireland swiveled around, shoved my shorts down, and swallowed me whole .

I yelled as my hips jerked automatically, the sudden wetness of her mouth making me come again after only three pumps of my hips.

That would’ve also been mortifying if I had room for any emotion except for this one, whatever its name was.

Bliss?

Ireland lapped at my skin, and I let out a shaky, delirious laugh. My hands drifted down the arch of her spine to her ass, and I clutched her there again, halfway wondering if I could convince her to scoot back onto my face when she was done.

I’d almost resolved to ask her, but then she planted a long, languid kiss on my hipbone and straightened.

My hands fell to her hips, and I held her there, savoring her warmth against my chest.

She turned her head and looked down at me over her shoulder. “I don’t know… I don’t know what time it is.” Her words were half panted.

“I don’t know what year it is,” I panted back.

She slid off me, and I grabbed at her blindly, tugging her back by her skirt.

“Could you,” I said heavily, taking a break in the middle for a deep breath, “hand me my glasses?”

I kept hold of her skirt as if afraid she’d disappear as she bent to get them and then slid them carefully onto my face.

Her smile was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, tired in a good way, and I tugged at her again, tipping my chin up so she knew what I wanted.

She laughed softly, then leaned over me, her hands on my shoulders as she gave me a light, soft kiss. I pulled her back to me, pressing my chin into her and looking up at her .

“Just two more minutes,” I rasped, keeping my hands on her hips.

She nodded in agreement, her shoulder-length hair wild.

Knowing the value of any number of minutes with this woman, I used the first to study her face, looking for hints of uncertainty or regret.

When I found none, I turned my head and rested my ear over her heart.

Elevated, but slowing.

She’d fixed her top when she stood up, and I stroked the front of it, my thumbs gliding over her still-pebbled nipples. When I reached the V of the neckline, I toyed with it as I looked up at her, tugging it in a silent question.

My breaths grew shallow again as she considered me, and then they stopped altogether when she threaded her fingers with mine and pulled her top down, baring herself to me.

With our height difference, her chest was right at my eyeline, and God if her bare skin wasn’t as breathtaking as I’d imagined when I felt it. When I tasted it.

She released my hands and raked her fingers through my hair, making goosebumps race across my body. Biting back a groan, I grazed one nipple with my pointer finger, and then the other.

I wasn’t sure what it was about Ireland, but I had never felt this comfortable exploring a body before. But then again… I’d never wanted to map one so badly either. To know everything about it and the soul it housed.

“I don’t have words, Ireland,” I said quietly. I greedily traced every bit of her my hands could reach, and my eyes did the same.

Knowing my time was coming to a close, I cupped one of her tits in each of my hands, completely engulfing them. I took the right one into my mouth, sucking lightly at first and then a little harder, shivering at her quiet gasp. Then I moved to the other, doing the same.

With one more kiss over her racing heart, I took a deep breath against her skin and then fixed her shirt. She tugged lightly on the ends of my hair, something I was starting to crave, and I obeyed her command, tipping my chin up and resting it on her chest.

Her gaze was open, pensive, and serious as she traced my lips with her finger, all the way down the center of my chin. “You’re not single.”

My heart soared out of my chest, landing right at her feet.

She tucked my hair behind my ear, reminding me how badly I needed a haircut. But the affectionate look on her face as she did it had me thinking… maybe not.

A few seconds passed as we just looked at each other, our breaths slowly evening out.

“I’m a private person, Adair,” she said quietly. “More now than ever.”

I nodded, my chin brushing against her. “Tell me what you need.”

Her flushed cheeks darkened even further, and she sucked in a slow breath. “I need this to be slow,” she said, toying with my hair again. “Careful.”

I almost laughed because I was ready to declare my devotion to her right here. Right now. To expose how pathetic for her I already was.

But that fear in her eyes was real, so I tackled that idea to the ground.

“Careful,” I agreed. “We can be careful. I will be careful, I promise.”

Her keen, intense eyes watched me, weighing the sincerity of my words .

Then she let out a relieved breath, and her lips tipped up in a soft smile.

Another victory.

She slid her hand down my arm to my hand that rested on her hip, and she grabbed it, taking a step back. “Why don’t you go shower first?” she asked, pulling on my hand and helping me up. “We don’t need to traumatize Delly.”

I laughed, but it was still ragged after everything that’d happened. With soft, easy movements, she pushed my crutch under my arm.

Our eyes met, and I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was.

How natural this was. How different it felt from the first time she’d done it.

“Oh, and here,” she said, handing me the envelope I’d forgotten on the couch.

The uncomfortable situation in my shorts wanted me to get out of here fast, so I took it but didn’t open it.

“Why the smiley faces? On the vase?” she asked, gesturing toward the sunflowers in the kitchen with her head.

I huffed, pushing a hand through my hair. “A dumb nickname I picked up my first week on the job. It’s haunted me for almost ten years.”

She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Smiley,” I admitted. “The older paramedic I was paired with as a young, dumb eighteen-year-old said I was the only kid who smiled at every scene. She thought I might be a psychopath.”

Ireland snorted, but then smiled at me over her shoulder. “I get accused of the same for the opposite reason.”

Like that woman from her dance class and Miss Lenny’s friends .

Her eyes trailed down me in a blatant perusal, and it was enough to distract me from the sudden anger.

Her swollen, glistening lips probably could’ve made me forget almost anything, and my body tightened, coming alive under her watch.

“Another boner would probably go against medical advice, Indigo,” I said solemnly.

I expected her to laugh, but I found her gaze fixed on my shirt. Looking down, I saw the wet mark she’d left. I licked my lips automatically and nearly groaned, realizing I could still taste her.

Her eyes traveled back up to mine, and she tilted her head toward the hallway to our bedrooms.

“Yeah,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “Yeah….”

Finding no other words, I tore myself away from her, remembering that Delly could be back at any moment.

If I looked back, I was afraid I’d end up begging her to come with me.

So, I went straight to our bathroom, stripped out of my wrecked clothes, and dragged my equally wrecked body into the shower, only remembering to wrap my cast at the last minute.

The water pounded me as I sat on the built-in bench, and I prayed it did a good job of masking the audible, prolonged groan that tore from my throat.

Careful.

Careful.

I repeated the mantra over and over, but by the time I was clean and dressed again, I still wasn’t sure that it was a promise I could keep.