Page 37 of Silver Linings

“That’s my girl,” he praises, and I preen under the attention, my body flushing hot all over.

“There’s a lot of talking coming out of that mouth…” I squirm against his grip, trying to bridge that final gap between us.

He places a chaste kiss to each of my hip bones, forcing me to wriggle against his grasp.

“Hendrix,” I whine. Never in my life have I been so worked up when I’ve barely even been touched.

Something about his brand of torture speaks to me on a level that feels borderline religious.

Somehow, he knows my body and its needs intrinsically, as if he were made for me.

No one could ever compare to him if this is what his foreplay feels like.

He chuckles against my skin, mouth mere inches away from where I need him, and I’ve had enough.

I grab his hair in my fist, pulling him away from me with monumental effort when what I really want is him closer.

His pupils are blown wide, looking up at me from between my legs, a man possessed. The sight has me close to detonating.

“You have five seconds before I take matters into my own hands.”

His eyes darken even further. “As much as I want to watch you touch yourself, let’s table that fantasy for another time. I’m focusing on a different one right now.”

Before I can protest further, he finally bridges the gap, licking a path from my hip bone straight to where I’m open and weeping for release.

Hendrix shows me no mercy as he takes a moment to stare up at me through hooded lashes, holding eye contact as he gives my clit a gentle flick of his tongue that nearly makes me come on the spot.

I throw my head back in euphoria, releasing a guttural cry as he latches on to my wet flesh with his lips, sucking me into his mouth in one swift move that has all the blood in my body rushing south, pulse hammering erratically in my center.

My hand dives back into his hair as my thighs clench on each side of his head, causing him to release a groan of his own as he reaches down with one hand and squeezes the bulge in his pants.

Hendrix eases off my clit in a moment of reprieve before he dives back in like a man possessed, licking a hot stripe up my center before teasing the tip of his tongue over my swollen bud.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I grit out through clenched teeth, sweat beginning to sheen all over my body. He doesn’t relent. He grants no clemency as he devours me like I’m his last supper, worshiping at my altar on his knees.

I never understood when women got so lost in a man, they couldn’t see reason.

But if this was what they were experiencing, I could now say I didn’t blame them.

Hendrix was a drugging combo of caring, smart, sexy, and secretly funny.

And when you take that and factor in that the man has a tongue blessed by the gods?

Yeah, I could see myself getting a little stupid for him.

“Fuck, Silver.” The way he growls my name into my skin makes goosebumps prickle all over my skin. “You taste like sunshine and strawberries.”

I press my hands into my mouth to stifle a whimper, but they’re soon ripped away. When I look down at Hendrix, he’s smiling up at me. “I want to hear your sounds, sweetheart. Hands back in my hair.” He guides them back through his strands. “It’s driving me mad.”

I give the strands a tug, and he sighs into my pussy before he’s back to working me into a frenzy.

Licks melt into bites that melt into sucks, intensifying my pleasure so high, my entire core is tense with the need to relieve the pressure.

I start grinding my hips against his face, no longer caring if I break the shelf I’m perched on if it brings this madness to a head.

“Please,” I beg, not able to form a coherent thought.

“I’ve got you.”

I bring his head back to my center, his beard providing the most delectable scratch of friction against my inner thighs. I’m so close, it almost hurts. The pressure in my lower belly dances with the tingles lighting up my spine, waiting to explode like a firework show.

True to his word, Hendrix knows just what I need as he brings his fingers up, pausing at my opening as he waits for me to consent.

“Yes, fuck. Please.”

He wastes no time working the first finger in as I moan so loudly, it reverberates through the shop floor. He tests what my body is comfortable with as he strokes his finger in and out, bringing his tongue back to my clit in a dizzying rhythm.

“You’re so wet. So tight. Can I give you one more?”

His filthy words send my head into a tailspin as I nod my head so vigorously, I’m surprised I don’t bash it against the shelf behind me.

He pulls out his one finger, slowly going back in with the added second, and I’m moments from cresting over that hill. My breathing is frantic, my moans a soft mewl as I beg without words for him to let me come.

When he presses his tongue to my clit, sucking it into his mouth at the same time he hooks his fingers inside me, hitting the perfect spot, I shatter.

One hand flies out to the shelf next to me, the other staying in his hair as I cry out.

My legs shake against his shoulders as he continues to lick me through the aftershocks of my orgasm.

I’m fairly certain I blacked out for a nano second there, because my vision is spotty as I come down from the height of ecstasy.

Hendrix finally pulls back from me, but not before giving me a soft kiss to the top of my pelvis, so tender after doing such dirty things to me just seconds prior. The juxtaposition of that realization has me warm all over.

Slowly, he unhooks each leg from his shoulders, gently setting me down while making sure I’m steady enough to stand on my own.

He reaches for my tights, discarded off to the side, and helps me step into them, gently guiding them up my legs until they’re settled over my hips.

He follows that with my skirt until I’m fully clothed again.

As he stands to his full and glorious height, Hendrix leans down and gives me a soft kiss, the taste of me still coating his lips.

I see him subtly adjust the bulge in his pants, and I reach out instinctively for his belt, but he steps out of my reach.

“Am I ever getting in your pants?” I quip, trying to soothe this sting of his rejection. He just gave me the most mind-blowing orgasm; the least I can do is return the favor.

“Most definitely.”

“Then what’s the deal? Let me return the favor.” Unless he’s into—I just blurt it out. “Is orgasm denial a kink of yours? Because, no judgement, but I’d like to know now before my pride takes another blow.”

“Definitely not one of my kinks, trust me.” He’s staring down into my eyes while I try to puzzle him out.

“But you do have kinks? Let me guess.” I start listing off the more outlandish fetishes. “Clown fetish? No, I bet it’s not as exciting as that. Spanking? But that doesn’t feel like you. OH! Jello.” His eyes sparkle, amused by my rambling.

“Jello?” His eyebrow tips up.

“It’s a real thing. You can look it up.”

“Do I want to know how you know about it?”

“Probably not. But I do want to know why you won’t let me touch you.” I settle my hands onto my hips.

“For starters, tasting you was as much for my own enjoyment as it was for you, so stop calling it a favor that needs to be repaid. Second, I won’t be like the other men who have overlooked all that you are.

” I start to protest, to defend the men who took the only thing I was willing to give, but he doesn’t let me.

“I understand that’s what you wanted. I’m not saying either party was wrong, but I need you to understand something.

” He brings his knuckle under my chin, tipping it up so I’m forced to hold eye contact.

“You are a force , spectacular in every sense of the word. Wildly brave and kind and far too funny for your own good. You’re smart and spontaneous and open-hearted.

You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and I don’t deserve you.

I want to earn it, I want to earn you —your heart. ”

I swallow hard, holding eye contact but feeling…unworthy of his praise. How could he possibly think he doesn’t deserve me?

“I know this is uncomfortable for you to hear,” he carries on, “but I need you to know who you are to everyone around you. Being near you is the first time I’ve felt alive in two years.

You are important. I’m in this with you.

I want you so bad, it physically hurts, but I want to do right by you before we take that next step. ”

“Oh.” God, this is so much for me to process. It isn’t a bad thing, but it makes me nervous. I feel like I’m going to fuck it up.

He leans forward and kisses my forehead as my eyelids flutter closed.

“Can I take you on a date?”

My eyes pop open. “What?”

“You heard me. Let me take you on a date.”

My eyes flit back and forth over his face, sincerity shining through every pore.

Every time I’m with him, I feel more and more out of my element.

I’ve yet to decide if that’s a good or bad thing.

I know Kena would tell me it’s a good thing to be pushed out of my comfort zone, that it’s where I would flourish. Maybe he’s right.

“I’ll go on a date with you. No need to beg.”

He tips his head back on a laugh. “Oh, I’d wager there’s plenty of begging in my future.”

My cheeks flame at the implication, but I don’t deny anything.

We start to clean up the shop, Hendrix picking up the dinner off the floor and me straightening up the tables and shelves.

We intermittently sneak glances at each other that last a little longer than necessary and always end with one of us asking a question to break the tension.

When everything’s settled, Hendrix holds his hand out to me for the second time tonight, and this time, I don’t hesitate to take it. I see the breath he was holding release. “Let’s get ice cream while I walk you home.”

“Are you going to get a grandpa flavor? How many AARP mailers do you get weekly?”

“Rum raisin sounds good.”

“I’ll corrupt you yet.”

“I don’t doubt it, Sunshine.”