Page 35

He turns back to face me and I fully expect to see a look of either frustration or regret on his face.

But there’s not a trace of either emotion.

Instead, his eyes seem to be shining with a mixture of understanding and… burning need.

Before I know what’s happening, he’s kissing me full on the mouth, sliding his hand round to cradle the back of my neck and hold me tightly, as if he’s determined to keep me there until he’s done what he needs to do.

But I’m not going anywhere.

My heart is fluttering hard in my chest and the whole of my skin feels electrified in the most energising, sensational way.

I’m in heaven.

I kiss him back, opening my mouth to give him full access, and I dart my tongue against his, rejoicing in the long-missed taste of him.

He releases his hold on my neck and moves his hands slowly down my body, exploring the dips and curves of my throat, then lower, his fingers roving over the swells of my breasts, immediately making my nipples stand to attention. It’s as if he’s reacquainting himself with them after too long away.

I moan my pleasure into his mouth, hoping he’ll move lower still, needing his touch so desperately, I’m half wild with it.

He leans into me, pushing me back onto the sofa so he can press his body urgently into mine, from hip to chest, and rock against me, causing the most delicious friction between us. Clearly, he’s just as turned on by this as I am.

‘Dee?’ he says in an urgent tone.

‘Yeah,’ I breathe against his mouth.

‘I really want to make love to you.’

My grin is so wide, my cheeks ache. Make love. That’s so adorable. And so hot.

‘I want my first time to be with you,’ he says. ‘It would mean everything to me.’ He strokes his thumb across my cheek. ‘Because I love you too.’

Oh my God, this is really happening. Jem loves me. I finally get to have him. It’s like a dream coming true.

‘I want that too,’ I say in a rush of breath, my voice infused with the joy I’m feeling.

‘Let’s go to my bedroom. I have condoms in there,’ he mutters, looking into my eyes to check I’m really happy to do this right now.

I nod enthusiastically, my heart beating in my throat. Because I am. This feels like exactly the right time.

In fact, I’m so excited about the idea, I can barely wait for him to move off me so I can dash into the bedroom and get right into it.

I hear him laugh behind me as I practically jump off the sofa and head out of the room, only to skid to a halt in the corridor, trying to decide whether the door to the left or the right is his bedroom.

‘Turn right,’ he says, directly behind me.

I grab the handle of the door and push it open, then run to his bed and throw myself onto it. It smells of him, all musky and minty and delicious, and I drag the scent in through my nose and deep into my lungs, feeling like I’ve just come home.

Jem rummages through one of the drawers in his bedside table and retrieves a condom then jumps onto the bed next to me, leaning in to kiss me hard again.

I don’t think we’ve ever removed our clothes so quickly.

And then he’s kneeling between my legs and rolling on the condom, looking down at me with such hunger, I feel the effects of it all the way through my body.

‘Come here,’ I say, motioning for him to lean in and kiss me again.

He complies, crushing my lips with his and sliding his tongue deep into my mouth.

We urgently touch each other’s body all over, relearning what we used to know so well. He’s so familiar and so utterly new and exciting at the same time, it gives me shivers of pleasure.

‘Want me to make you come first?’ he asks in a deep, gravelly sounding voice, like his lust has infused every part of him.

‘No. I just want to feel you inside me. Now. I’m so ready already. I don’t want to wait,’ I say, my tone almost begging.

Honestly, I would absolutely beg for it right now if he asked me to. That would actually be pretty hot.

But he doesn’t. He seems to be right there with me already and I suck in a breath of pure excitement as I feel the head of his cock pressing against the entrance to my pussy.

Slowly and oh so carefully, he pushes into me.

The delicious stretch as I accommodate the substantial girth of him is electrifying. It’s even more satisfying than I imagined and I almost come from the feeling of it, tendrils of lust reaching deep inside me, making my whole body hum.

‘Ohhh, that feels so good. So amazingly good,’ I moan as he pushes deeper.

He stills above me, pressing his forehead to mine.

‘Jesus, Dee. I told myself I wasn’t going to do this.

I thought we should spend some time together as friends first, at least. And see what developed.

’ Lifting his head, he pulls his hips back a little, pulling almost all the way out, then slides into me again.

‘Slowly,’ he says, torturing me as he stops his thrust just short of the deepest place inside me.

I wriggle beneath him, urging him to move again. I want more, dammit!

‘But I just can’t help myself around you,’ he says with a smile in his voice.

‘Good. I’m glad you can’t. Because this is exactly what I wanted to happen,’ I pant.

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah.’ The word comes out as a moan of pleasure as he thrusts inside me again.

‘I’ve thought a lot about what it would be like to finally do this with you,’ he mutters, his breath coming faster now.

‘And?’ I murmur back.

‘It feels fucking fantastic.’ He sucks in a breath as he moves into me again. ‘A bit too good, if I’m honest,’ he says with a strain in his voice now. ‘I’m really close. Perhaps we should stop?’

‘Don’t you dare!’ I wrap my arms around his back, preventing him from drawing away from me.

‘You sure? What about you?’

‘Don’t worry about me. I want you to come. Whenever you’re ready.’

‘I’m so ready.’

‘Do it. I want to feel you come inside me,’ I demand. ‘We’ll do me later.’

This is all I’ve thought about in the last few days, finally feeling him fucking me. Just the thought of it has got me off more times than I’d like to admit. So I can wait for my orgasm.

I see him nod and he starts to thrust again, sliding into me over and over, getting deeper each time as he starts to lose his mind and stop worrying about how I’m feeling, now I’ve given him permission to.

I cling on to him, riding his thrusts, loving the sensation of him hitting so deep, lighting up all my nerve endings and making my entire body rush with the joy of it.

He’s starting to shake now, clearly trying to hold on longer. I’m impressed he’s made it this long, with it being his first time.

The thought of that sends another wave of pleasure rippling through me. It’s almost akin to an orgasm in itself.

But he’s clearly reached his limit of holding back and he begins to let out a low, growly sounding moan from deep within his throat and a few thrusts later, he finally lets go and shudders into his orgasm, pressing his body deep into mine.

It’s the hottest thing ever .

I run my hands over the warm skin of his back as he tries to get his breathing under control again, feeling the sheen of sweat he’s worked up coat my fingertips.

Also so very hot.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask, smiling at the way he’s gone all floppy with relief above me.

‘Hell yes,’ he says, his voice muffled against my hair.

After another few moments of getting his head together, he finally rolls away from me, disposes of the condom, then pulls me against the side of his body, wrapping his arms around me.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

‘Oh yes.’

‘Just give me a second and I’ll be right back with you,’ he says with a grin in his voice.

‘No rush,’ I say, running my fingers over the swell of his bicep. ‘I’ve got all day.’

‘I’m so glad you came over,’ he says, pulling me close to kiss my forehead, before letting me go again.

I tip my head and wrinkle my nose at him. ‘You know, I really thought you were going to tell me you didn’t want to be more than friends after the way you greeted me at the door.’

He rubs his hand over his face, then peeks out at me from between his fingers. ‘I’m sorry about that. I’ve been on edge all morning about seeing you and when you knocked on the door, I kind of freaked out.’

‘So you weren’t working?’

He lets out a huff of amusement and uncovers his face, looking me fully in the eye. ‘No. I was just typing nonsense onto a document while I tried to get my shit together. I needed a moment to… I don’t know what. I had no idea how to act when I saw you.’

‘Me neither.’

‘I guess we were just kidding ourselves. There was no way we weren’t going to end up like this.’

‘Honestly, I really hoped we would. Prayed for it, in fact.’

He smiles and leans in to kiss me.

Reaching up, I run my hands from his collarbones to his hips, a wide smile breaking out across my face.

‘What are you grinning about?’ he asks with a quizzical twist to his mouth.

‘The fact I’ve well and truly de-virginised you now.’

‘Is that even a word?’ he asks sceptically, adding his trademark eyebrow raise.

Oh, how I’ve missed that expression.

‘It is now. I’ve coined it. You heard it here first. Mark this moment and alert the dictionary people.’

He laughs, deep in his throat.

It’s the best sound in the world.

‘Thank you for letting it be me that had that pleasure,’ I say.

‘It was my pleasure.’

I raise my own eyebrow at him. ‘You know, before we met up the other day and you told me you’d not dated since we last saw each other, I was really jealous at the thought of you losing your virginity to someone else.’

‘Jealous? Really?’

‘Yeah. I’ve thought about it a lot, actually.’

‘When you were wanking?’ he asks with a twinkle in his eye.

I grin at him. ‘Got it in one.’

Lifting his hand, he smooths my hair down, sending more shivers of pleasure through me. I feel so looked after. So seen.

‘You know, I didn’t tell you this in the pub for fear of sounding patronising, but I’m blown away by how you’ve managed to get your shit together. How hard you’ve worked for it. It’s seriously impressive. I’m in awe.’

Warmth rushes to my cheeks at his compliment. ‘Yeah, well, I had to prove you wrong. It was a strong driving factor. I wanted to finally impress you.’

‘Well, you did.’

He leans forward and kisses me lightly on the lips. ‘And since we’re spilling our guts, I wanted to tell you that you were right.’

‘About what?’

‘About me needing you. To help me find the fun. That time we spent on the island was the best week of my life. I’ve never laughed so much. And I miss it. I’ve missed you . So much.’

‘I’ve missed you too, Numbers.’

We grin at each other like loons for a moment.

‘So, should we go for that meal soon?’ I ask, starting to explore the toned plains of his body with my fingertips again, hoping he’s going to say he doesn’t feel like doing that any more. I know I don’t. I’d happily stay here in bed with him for the rest of the day and feast on him instead.

He turns to look at me, staring deep into my eyes, as if he’s looking for my true thoughts on the matter. I stare back, willing him to read my mind. Fascinated to know if he can actually intuit how I’m feeling as well as I hope he can.

‘Nah,’ he says. ‘You’re the only thing I want to eat right now.’

I let out a loud, delighted laugh. ‘Thank God for that!’ I say as he rolls on top of me and kisses me hard. I feel his body respond to me immediately and smile against his mouth.

Drawing away from me, he gently brushes a strand of hair away from my face. It’s the most loving, caring gesture ever and my heart gives a swoop of joy as I take in the exultant expression on his face.

He stares into my eyes for what seems like eons, while whole silent conversations pass between us.

‘I’m going to make you so happy,’ he says confidently, his mouth crooking into a smile.

I smile back. ‘You don’t need to. I already am.’

‘Good,’ he says, ‘I want that for you.’ He cups my face with his hands. ‘Because I love you,’ he murmurs, his gaze firmly locked with mine.

Then he kisses me deeply again and proceeds to show me just how much he means it.