: Chapter 23

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you woke up and everything just felt right? The best amount of cushion possible was molded around you, the perfect covers on top, pillow fitted just so under your head, the temperature of the room excellent, and you’d slept a good, solid deep sleep? Then your alarm ruins it all, and you groan because you want to keep lying there, just like that, without moving a muscle, for the rest of eternity?

Yeah, it was one of those mornings, for sure.

My eyes flickered open. I stared at the wall of my room for a moment, feeling rested and relaxed. A slow smile started and then, boom, the alarm shrieked out this totally unnecessary and increasingly annoying racket, making something grumble in complaint right into my ear before a warm weight draped across my stomach shifted.

I squeaked. Totally didn’t scream, because I’m not a screamer, but there was a definite noise of alarm that escaped. And I gave a little jump, too, plus I might’ve also gasped, “Oh God. I forgot you were here.”

After not sharing a bed with anyone, ever, I was used to waking up alone. So this… This was new. Not at all bad, but definitely new.

The body curled up behind mine shook as he began to chuckle. And suddenly, I couldn’t decide which was worse: the alarm clock that continued to beep, or Ezra laughing at me.

Lunging across the mattress, I slapped the snooze button. Then I flopped onto my back and winced up at the ceiling, feeling a little sore and a lot too-awkward to face him. Because last night, last night had been perfect. What if I looked at him now and everything was just all wrong? I couldn’t handle all-wrong after a perfect night.

“Is that my cue to leave?” he asked, somewhat cautiously.

“What? No!” Worried I’d made him feel unwanted, I rolled to face him. “No, no, no. That’s not at all what I—oh. Oh, wow.”

Bright blue eyes twinkled in the morning sunlight as he rested his cheek on my pillow—need to repeat that one more time…rested his cheek on MY pillow!!—and watched me.

Dark eyebrows crinkled over those blue eyes. “What?” he asked, confusion lining his curious gaze.

“Morning scruff,” I uttered. It was so hot. So beautiful. Want to touch the morning scruff. And then, because my mind was still not working properly, I kept mumbling totally not-cool bits of randomness.

“Lips.” His looked extra plush and kissable surrounded by all that hot morning scruff.

“Golden-muscled man skin,” I said next, my gaze catching on the tops of his bare shoulders. Temptation to touch it all tingled out the ends of my fingers.

With another laugh, Ezra swooped up over me and rolled me onto my back to fit himself on top of me, his smile stretching wide and eyes dancing with amusement. It was so graceful and predatory I caught my breath, gaping up at him. His hips settled naturally between mine with the growing bulge in his boxers aligning perfectly where I wanted it most. He pressed his erection tighter against me, and his glorious golden man skin felt soft and warm and durable as it slid against mine.

A whimper escaped my lips.

His grin was slow and smug. “I’ll take that to mean you don’t mind if I stay a bit longer, then.”

“Oh, God,” I whispered, reaching up slowly to cup his scruffy cheek in my palm. “You can’t be real. Too perfect to be real.”

With his eyes still twinkling with delight, he leaned in and kissed me. And those lips. Dear God. They should come with a warning. Too hot to handle first thing in the morning. Easing closer, he opened his mouth and, bam, I groaned, sliding my body under his without realizing what I was really doing, just needing friction, more friction everywhere. He tasted good. Too good. The turd must’ve gotten up sometime recently and gargled with my mouthwash or something, because no morning breath could ever possibly taste this good.

Oh hell. What if my morning breath was atrocious? What if—

His hands came out to play, skimming up my arms, cupping my face, slipping into my hair and tearing me from any self-conscious thought I’d been trying to entertain. I arched under him forgetting about… Well, whatever I’d been thinking. His tongue disconnected with mine so he could sprinkle kisses from my lips to my jaw, then my throat. Then his touch moved on, catching on the backs of my thighs and sliding up under my night shirt.

“You are so damn soft,” he growled against my throat, the breath in his words, making my skin prickle with unceasing delight. “How are you this soft?”

“Man hands,” was all I could sigh as he used his to slip under the edge of my panties and curve over my ass.

He stopped nibbling on my collarbone so he could grin up into my eyes. “You like them?” he asked, using both his hands to squeeze a cheek each. “This feel real enough to you yet, Yellow? Or maybe I need to do this?”

He slid a finger into me from behind.

“Oh my God.” My entire body arched up, my chest bumping into his.

Ezra caught my hair with one hand and held on, forcing me to keep my neck arched back as he stroked me twice before adding a second finger. I gasped from the added pressure, squirming under him, not sure my body could handle such a blissful assault.

“I love watching your expressions when I touch you,” he purred, his voice heavy with sleep and seduction. “You always look so shocked, like you’ve never experienced pleasure before.”

Biting my lip, I slid my gaze his way. “I haven’t. Not like… Oh! Never like this.”

His smile was smug and victorious. “You definitely do my ego good.” He leaned in until his lips were a breath away from mine before adding, “It makes me want to please you more.”

I nodded dumbly. “O… Okay.”

He kissed me mid-laugh, the sensation vibrating through my mouth and tasting like pure joy. I swallowed it whole and dove my tongue in for more. I swear, this man’s mouth was magic. How he knew what my lips would enjoy the most I had no idea, but I appreciated it. I appreciated it so much.

The two fingers stroking inside me pulled free, making me grumble out a whiny protest. And then his mouth left mine, making me scowl even more.

But he only winked as he sat upright on his knees above me. “Gotta make sure you still taste as good as you feel,” was all he said before he gathered up the hem of my nightshirt and tore it up over my head.

Which left us both stripped down to everything but underwear. My gaze crawled down his golden chest and over sculpted abs to settle on the tent sprouting from his shorts. Licking my lips, I reached out, unable to resist.

But he caught my wrist and grinned wickedly. “You first.”

A small frown puckered my brow. I thought I had been trying to go first and touch what I wanted. Except, he didn’t let me touch anything. Keeping hold of my wrist, he got control of the other and pinned them both to the bed on either side of my face before he leaned over me to pluck one of my nipples into his mouth. From then on, I decided to forgive him for taking it into his own mind who went first.

He sucked and flicked his tongue like a master, and then he gave me a long, slow, wicked lick, making me feel it pretty much everywhere I had nerve endings, and some places I didn’t even know I had nerve endings. My body writhed under him as he worked one breast and then the other, until I wished I had about five more boobs he could keep sucking.

His fingers lost their grip on my wrists so they could wander down the most sensitive inside parts of my arms, up over my shoulders, across my ribs, then dipping into my waist before latching on my hip bones. He gripped as he began to kiss his way south, slowly, methodically, expertly. He peeled my panties away until I was nothing but bare, throbbing, naked woman before him.

When his breath mixed with my pubic hair, my toes curled. I glanced at the top of his thick crop of dark hair, unable to take a proper breath just as he glanced up and met my gaze. Then he wetted his lips with his tongue and leaned forward to flick that same tongue between my legs, all while his too-blue eyes remained locked on mine.

I couldn’t handle it. I bucked up, gripping the sheets under me, and had to transfer my attention to the ceiling. It’d been too much to watch him watching me, while he’d been… While he was…

He lifted his mouth. “I want those eyes back on mine, Kaitlynn. Come on, Yellow, give me those gorgeous eyes.”

My traitorous little peepers fell victim to his command and pulled my gaze back to him.

Grinning as soon as he got his way, Ezra licked me again before pressing the flat of his tongue against my quivering core.

Shuddering, I pushed my hips up, nudging myself against his mouth more firmly, no shame, no poise or sophistication, just the mindless search for more. A gruff sound of pleasure growled its way from his throat before his fingers were back inside me, stroking boldly, demanding a response. My body was helpless but to reply, surging against his decree and answering his wordless directive one ripple of euphoria at a time.

My vision went unfocused. The thrust of his fingers pushed against a sensitive spot. And then his tongue slid over that place… That place that made my mind blank out and my body convulse. The good times flowed out of me, and by the time I blinked the world back into focus, my gaze finding those blue-blue eyes, he was sitting up and reaching for the band of his boxer shorts.

A wet spot had formed at the peak of the tent, and suddenly I wanted to taste him as much as he’d tasted me, so I reached out without thinking, my finger closing over all that bulging material.

Ezra sucked in a surprised breath, glancing quizzically at my face.

“My turn,” I said.

Then I pushed him back onto the mattress and shed his shorts down his legs before I studied his cock nestled in a bed of short, dark hair between his legs. No idea if this made me weird, but I really liked his penis. I’d seen pictures of all different types and fewer than that in person, but this one… I think this one was my favorite. It wasn’t too veiny for my taste, the head wasn’t too small or big for the girth of the trunk, and even the scrotum underneath fit around his balls in a tight, wrinkled pouch that charmed me.

I cupped his balls first, delighting in the way they rolled within my palm. Ezra groaned, shifting restlessly, and I grinned at him before leaning down. I took him in slow and steady, using my power of suction to drive him deeper while he cursed and gritted his teeth until I reached my stopping point. Then I flicked my tongue over him before pulling free, which got him going again with swearing and hands fisting in my hair. I alternated between massaging his nut sack and pressing my thumb against his taint while I bobbed and sucked.

He’d been so good to me the night before, and this morning, he was a dream come true. I wanted to repay him as best I could. Besides, we’d used all the condoms he’d had the night before, so I was extra determined to make this perfect.

When he warned me he was close, I decided to stay on and let him finish in my mouth, the first time I’d ever done that. His dumbfounded shock was all the appreciation I needed.

Panting, he pulled me up to his chest so he could hug me.

“What did I ever do to deserve someone as amazing as you?” he murmured into my hair.

I couldn’t tell you what Ezra really thought about me, but in that moment, I felt loved. I felt cherished and appreciated and loved. I curled into his side, and we held each other, staring at the ceiling together and stroking each other’s warm skin.

“I just had this really awesome vision,” he murmured some time later, pausing to kiss my cheek.

“Shower sex?” I guessed.

He chuckled. “No. Well, yes. That was part of it. But it started out with you announcing you wanted donuts.”

I frowned and set a hand over my stomach, because hey, donuts sounded pretty damn good right about now.

Maybe his vision was prophetic.

“And I was craving coffee like nobody’s business,” he went on. “So you mentioned a shop not too far from here that sold both.”

“There’s one across the street, just down the block, actually.”

He grinned and reached out to stroke my cheek slowly. “So I said, let’s go, and you started to nod your head in agreement.”

Which I was already doing.

“Until, this little frown line right here appeared,” he added, smoothing his finger over the wrinkle between my eyes, just as I started to frown because I really didn’t have time to— “Because you suddenly remembered you needed to get up and ready for work. But I had to get ready too, you see, so I suggested we get ready together, save time, water, you know, all those economically sound reasons.”

My lips spread into a smile. “Ergo, shower sex?”

Ezra’s chuckle was warm and alive with amusement. “Not yet. But close. I talked you into picking up food and coffee at that shop together first, then I coaxed you to ride out to my place with me where I have this huge shower that would fit like ten people in it. Plus, it has this multi-showerhead system that kind of makes you feel like you’re standing in a waterfall.”

I whimpered over the very idea. “Is that true? About your shower?”

He winked. “Oh, it’s true. So, in this vision, we eat, and laugh, and drink our coffee on the way to my place, where we jump into my shower to get clean, before we get a little dirty, and then clean again. And after that, I convince you to ride to work with me because, again, we’re just so economical like that. Once I drive you to the office, we walk in the front doors together, holding hands and smiling like life is perfect.”

When he lifted his eyebrows at me, I sent him a pained expression because…

“Yeah,” he drew out slowly. “That’s not going to happen, though, is it?”

I winced, feeling crappy for ruining his lovely vision. “Not unless you want—”

“Don’t,” he cut in, pressing his finger against my lips. “Please don’t say her name. I understand why we can’t. I’d just like to continue enjoying this moment with you without any thought of her. Okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered.

So, we stayed there like that, pretending we had the rest of our lives to snuggle together like this, openly and honestly with no one to hide it from.

When we parted some minutes later to go our separate ways, I felt a little sad, wishing we hadn’t had to stop, wishing we could’ve kept living in our dream world for just a little while longer.