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Chapter Twenty-One

Adeline

Lars did nothing when I kissed him. No reaction, just his entire being held still. Wrong again, Adeline. Another misjudged moment.

But then the moment exploded in a barrage of fireworks. His mouth claimed mine, all tentativeness gone, replaced with a thrilling urgency, as if worried I might change my mind. Or that he might.

Was I taking advantage? I pulled back.

“Is this what you want?”

“More than anything.”

“Because I feel like you’re at the end of your tether, absolutely no place to go?—”

“But in your pants?”

I tried for a humorous shade of gravity. “I’d hate to force you, Nyquist.”

He put a finger on my throat then drew a line down to the center of my cleavage. “I’m going to kiss you again and maybe grasp your lovely ass. If that’s not something you’re interested in, now would be the time to object.”

I tightened my lips so there could be no doubt.

He grinned, then moved his lips over mine, still smiling. That mouth was perfect, his lips warm and giving. I luxuriated in the feel of being wanted with such purity.

His hand curled around one butt cheek, then the other, and I was pulled in, close, and left in no doubt that Lars Nyquist was interested in me. Carnally.

That made me hungry, hungrier than I’d ever been. I wasn’t completely inexperienced, but neither was I an expert. Lars had years on me, several women in his rearview, proof of his virility sleeping next door.

Too many thoughts, too much doubt … I pulled away.

“I have a crush on you.”

His lips twitched behind his beard. “Right.”

“A big one. Going back years. But that’s all it is. Infatuation. Which is to say I’m not expecting anything more than tonight. I know your life is complicated.”

If I insisted this was just a little crush, or even a big one, I could maybe steer my heart away from a rockier path. Not love. Not anything so stupid.

“Let’s talk about the future later, unless it’s important that I not promise you anything now?”

Said like that, it sounded weird. Can you guarantee that you won’t pursue me for a relationship after one smoking hot night? Sign here please.

“Maybe no more talking,” I murmured, my hands gripping the hem of his sweatshirt.

Ever helpful, he pulled it over his head and dropped it to the floor.

Wow. I’d seen him coming out of the shower—after coming in the shower—so I should have been prepared.

But that felt forbidden, a peek without permission.

Tonight was different. I finally had leave to view this perfect man, all blocked abs and hard pecs with a light dusting of hair that made me itch to explore.

So I did. I ran my hands over his chest, mapping the topography of his body with a leisureliness I did not feel, committing to memory each bump and ridge, those copper penny nipples, that happy trail. If this was my one shot, I needed to make it my best one.

Placing my palm over his bulge, I squeezed through the denim and drew a grunt.

“Is this okay?”

“It’s all okay because it’s you.”

I undid the button of his jeans, pulled the zipper down, and blinked at the sight.

“Commando.”

“I was in a hurry to rescue the princess who didn’t need rescuing.”

I loved that he recognized his mistake, but I also adored that he’d shown up for me. Contradictory, I knew, but such was the lot of a modern woman. We wanted agency and wooing, often in the same moment.

Pulling his jeans down, I watched avidly as his cock sprang forward into my waiting hand, a magnet to my greedy grip. It felt like magic—hard, velvety magic.

“You’ll tell me how you like it.”

He nodded as I stroked, pulling on the skin, watching as the dark plum-colored head leaked at the tip.

“A touch harder, sweet thing. Don’t be afraid to get a little rough.”

His face was a mask of ecstasy, all because of what I was doing. Dull-as-dishwater Adeline Kershaw was turning this man on.

Maybe I could take it further. I pushed his jeans down. “Off.”

With an amused curl of his lips, he pushed off his shoes and jeans.

“Socks, too.”

He sat on the bed and removed his socks, a little slowly like it was part of the seduction.

But then everything he did was. Before he had a chance to stand again, I fell to my knees with my hands on his thick, glorious thighs.

Pushing them apart, I ran my palms up them and wrapped one around his cock.

“You don’t have to,” he gutted out, almost breathless.

“I know.”

And then I did. Because I didn’t have to. Because this was my choice, and I wanted to take charge in a way I hadn’t done before. Seduce the man of my dreams, exert some measure of control over a life that felt like a runaway train. Then I would decide what happened next.

Now wasn’t the time to think about the single blowjob on my resume, from my first year in college, drunk and delirious and desperate to get this rite of passage done.

I’d watched enough porn to have some semblance of how it should go, but Lars was bigger than any guy I’d encountered.

I found it easier to lick along the underside and use my hands to stroke and squeeze.

He pulled back and lifted my chin. “If you keep that up, I’m gonna blow.”

“Isn’t that the idea?”

“I want to come inside you.”

Oh. I wanted that, too. So much. I stood quickly and pulled at the tie for my dress.

“Adeline.”

I kept going, trying to undo the knot.

“Enkelini.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means ‘Angel’. My angel. And I’d like you to slow down.”

My hands shook. “Really?”

“Reveal yourself to me. Slowly.”

My knees buckled, but I did my best to remain upright. My fingers felt stiff and uncooperative. He hooked a finger in the belt and used it to leverage me closer.

“Let me.” Deftly, he loosened the knot. The dress parted, revealing my teal blue bra and … non-matching navy granny panties.

He gave a breathy little groan, which created a hot throb between my legs.

“I-I wasn’t expecting any action tonight. So, not my nicest underwear.”

“Good.”

With both hands on my hips, he inched me closer until his lips touched my belly. Inhaling deep, he moved his mouth over the border of the panties, then applied an open-mouthed kiss to my mound. I shivered at the sensation of warm lips against no-nonsense cotton.

“Lars.”

His lips parted, his mouth pushed against the cleft of my pussy, wetness to match my own growing dampness.

Pulling back, he hooked a finger to the edge of my panties and brought them down.

Slowly, like they were the sexiest lingerie.

Hot puffs of air dusted each newly revealed inch.

I held my breath, waiting for him to touch me, taste me, anything. Everything.

“Please.”

“Please what?” He licked his lips.

I squirmed. “I need you?—”

He grasped my thighs and yanked me closer, using his thumbs to spread my sex. His tongue touched skin. I released a heartfelt moan.

He delved deeper, taking that slick instrument and burying it in my sensitive flesh.

My knees went weak, but he held me upright as he plundered me with his tongue.

Sucking, spearing, ohGodohGod . The tightness in my belly coiled until I could no longer stand it.

Either I would explode or I would collapse, and I had no idea which would come first.

Explosion won the race. I gripped his shoulders, digging in hard enough to bruise as sensation crashed through me, leaving me whimpering with relief.

I felt my dress being slipped off my shoulders and my body being gently lowered to the bed, while I tried to catch my breath. Lars’s hand splayed over my belly, and I didn’t even care it was rounded and soft. That calloused hand made me feel safe.

I opened my eyes to find him staring at me, all intensity.

I tried to find the words. “That was—wow.”

“That was only the beginning.”

Lars

The taste of this woman was the most intoxicating thing to ever cross my tongue. It could have been any combination of things: her sweetness, her strength, the taboo, but basically, it came down to the fact Adeline made me feel like no one ever had. Possessive, strong, a protector.

Now that I’d teased from her the first of what I hoped would be many orgasms, I took a moment to savor the sight of her lying on the bed. Tanned skin gilded by the moonlight filtering through the blinds, those curves I’d dreamed of for weeks, rosy-tipped nipples on teardrop breasts.

“You are gorgeous.”

“The way you look at me … I feel gorgeous.”

I placed my palm on the flare of her hip, using this anchor point to explore.

The round of her ass, the soft skin of her inner thigh, that thatch of dark curls with the musky scent of her arousal.

Moving up, I mapped every inch, silently claiming this territory for my own.

With a thumb over one peaked nipple, I gathered the other breast to my mouth.

Sucked long and hard on the sweetest flesh. So much to cover.

“Open your legs.”

Obediently she did as she was told and my fingers stroked between her thighs, then inside her wet pussy.

She’d tasted so good earlier but now I used my fingers to prime her for my cock, stretching that tightly intimate space while my thumb sought her little clit.

It seemed to bloom under my touch, and she squirmed, agitated to reach that peak again.

Soon, sweet thing. Soon.

Her fingers raked through my hair, her back arched off the bed. Hating to leave off my exploration, I paused, realizing the protection was in the other room.

“Back in a sec.”

Mabel was sleeping peacefully, tired after her nightclub adventures.

I grabbed the baby monitor and a condom from the nightstand, and tried not to think of the discordance of that.

Of the choice I was about to make. Back in the guest room, I paused at the door, taking in the sight of a beautiful, naked woman. Sweet, sexy Adeline.

She leaned up on her elbows, studying me with those movie goddess eyes.

“You’re thinking about the risks?”

I was. Not just the risk of a condom breakage or a surprise pregnancy, but also the threat to the life I was building.

There were multiple borders here, points at which I could have said “enough.” One more gate to smash through remained.

I could stop here and insist to myself that I was still a good guy.

That I hadn’t yet betrayed my friend or taken advantage of the only family I’d ever known.

“It’s a different world on the other side of this.”

She nodded her understanding and let me sit with it for a moment. Then she spoke:

“If it helps, you’re not the only one with something to lose.”

But Theo would forgive her. He’d blame me and then eighty-six me out of his life, which I’d thoroughly deserve.

“Yet all I can think of is what I would win.”

Her lips parted on a quickly drawn breath. Adeline was a prize, and any guy would be lucky to have her. I was the one she wanted, so why the hell should I second-guess this gift?

When I closed the gap, she took the monitor and placed it on the nightstand, then the condom and removed it from the packaging.

“I’m on birth control as well. We’ve got this covered, Lars.”

I took the condom back from her, this exchange serving to reinforce both advice and consent. We were each taking responsibility for this decision.

I rolled the rubber on, then coasted my hand over her ass, anchoring myself, getting a good grip. Nudging along her wet seam, I notched between her lips and gave a shallow thrust.

It was already amazing.

“Lars!”

That final invitation did it for me. With a deep, slow stroke, I filled her, loving how her muscles eased my way then tightened when I hit home.

She arched into me and held me so close I groaned.

That sound set us both off, a prelude to long, consuming thrusts that turned frenzied as the pleasure built, tight, taut, flushing to every extremity of my body, especially the one buried inside her.

My groan became a roar, and milking my cock, she squeezed every last drop of pleasure from me.

No longer was she the nanny, my teammate’s daughter, the innocent who was all wrong for me. With my release and claim, she was the woman who was right in every way.

She was the woman who would be my undoing.