"I can do that," I replied, as she softened her head on to the pillow beside me again. I gazed down at her as her eyes drifted shut, her breathing starting to slow and steady as she began to finally get some rest. Like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders all at once, one that she didn’t even know she had been carrying.
Her hair fell into her face as she dozed off, and before I could stop myself, I reached out to brush it back from her cheek. Her skin was silky-soft, even beneath my calloused hands, and I drew my fingers back quickly. Fuck. Even though she had asked me to stay here in bed with her, even though she’d brought me back to this house, over and over again, to be here with her, touching her still felt forbidden. I might be here under the pretense of keeping her safe, but I knew there was more to it than that. More to it than I could admit to.
I shifted down slightly in the bed next to her, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Fuck, this was dangerous. I had gotten myself into this because I wanted to help her, but there was something about the way this felt that brought out something selfish in me, something I should have known better than to indulge. Nobody knew I was here; I hadn’t told the Dogs where I was spending these evenings away from the compound. I guessed some of them had started to think it might have been to do with a girl, but there was no way I was going to be offering them that information.
I slid further down next to her, my eyes growing heavy. It had been a long time since I had slept next to anyone – the few times I’d hooked up with women over the last few years, it had been frantic, fast, barely even making it to bed before they turned around and left again. And that, to be honest, was how I liked it. But with her...
I stared at her, watching as her chest rose and fell, rose and fell, softly, slowly, over and over again. There was something peaceful about seeing her like this, as though the whole world had softened for a moment to make way for her.
She shifted a little closer to me, and I caught the scent of her skin filling my senses for a moment. The feel of it, drifting into my system, made me smile. This closeness...I could get used to it.
And I hoped she would give me a chance.
Chapter Eight – Abbey
When I woke the next morning, still drowsy, I could hear the soft rise and fall of his breath behind me, and it put a smile on my face at once.
He had stayed, actually slept over with me like I had asked him to. And not on the couch but in bed just a few inches from me, dozing the whole night through. I could hardly believe it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood under the warmth of his breath, the pressure of it against my skin.
I shifted back towards him slightly, so we were just a matter of a few inches apart. I didn’t know what I was doing or what exactly I expected to come of this closeness between us. Did I think something was going to happen? Did I want something to happen? I had no idea. My body tingled at his nearness to me, and I could feel the heat burning from his skin to mine. It had been so long since I had shared a bed with anyone that I had almost forgotten how it felt, but this? Yeah, this felt right. Really right.
I felt his hand graze my hip as he let out a low sigh and closer to me, as though on instinct. I closed my eyes and reached down to put my hand over his. I didn’t even know what I was doing right now, where I was planning to take this, but I didn’t want it to end.
Sleeping next to him all night had been intimate in a way I hadn’t been entirely prepared for, the feel of him near enough to light up a raw want deep inside me. It wasn’t just the way he looked, the way he talked, the way he moved, though that was of course a part of it. No, it was knowing that he was willing to go out of his way to protect me, willing to stand by my side and do what he could to look out for me. I hadn’t even given myself that grace since I had fled to Atwood, and having someone here who was so willing to do that was intimate in a way I hadn’t expected.
I moved back against him and realized that he was shirtless – he must have tossed it off at some point in his sleep. I could feel the strength of his chest against my back, his heart beating against me. And I could feel his breath, rising and falling, rising and falling. Was he still asleep? Could he feel how close I was to him right now? Could he tell how much I wanted more?
I pressed myself toward him, my ass grazing against the outside of his pants. I had fallen asleep in a pair of sweats and a tank top, and it felt like far too many clothes right now. I wanted to be naked next to him, but I had no idea if that was where this was going. If he was in this because he really just wanted to look out for me, would trying to turn it into something else scare him off? I had no idea. And yet...and yet all I wanted was to find out.
I held my breath as I waited for some kind of reaction, and sure enough, a few moments later, I got it. He let out a groan and pushed himself against my ass. I could feel his hardness swell beneath his pants, a sure sign that he wanted this as much as I did. I wanted to sneak a glance over my shoulder, but I didn’t want to break this moment. It felt like one wrong move would ruin this, and I didn’t want to let it slip through my fingers. Not yet, not now...
His hand moved to the top of my sweats, fingertips grazing against my lower belly. I sucked in a sharp breath, closing my eyes, feeling that pulse of want flooding through every part of me. His cock was hard now, as he moved himself against my ass, grinding himself into me like he couldn’t get enough. Oh, this was happening now, there was no way to play this off as innocent – the two of us were moving into each other like we couldn’t get enough.
"Fuck," he growled in my ear, his mouth suddenly just an inch or two from my face. I gasped as his hand pushed down the front of my sweats, into my pants, past my bush and towards my clit.
His hands, though calloused, were practiced as he reached into my panties, and I inhaled a sharp breath as he caressed his fingers across my clit. I arched my back to grind back against his ass, letting him know how much I wanted this, how much I needed him. Sleeping all night next to him felt as though it had gotten my body all too close to the edge, to an edge I needed nothing more than to finally tip over – every inch of me was demanding it, needing it, needing him, in any way that I could have him.
He reached for my sweatpants and pushed them down as he continued to massage my clit in small, soft circles, kicking off his pants and letting his cock spring free; I could feel him against the small of my back, and I wanted nothing more than to look into his eyes and take him in as he touched me for the first time. But there was something undeniably hot about having to rely on the way his breath sounded, those low moans he let out as he skimmed his lips along my neck.
"I want to fuck you," he murmured in my ear, his words blunt, simple. The sound of them sent a helpless shudder of want through my system. I moaned, moving back into him, telling him with my body that I wanted this just as much as he did.
And, finally, I felt it, the pressure of his cock against my slit. He slid one hand up into my hair, wrapping his fingers around me and tugging my head back to expose my throat as he pushed into me for the first time. I gripped the covers for dear life, my head spinning as I felt his fullness pushing up, up, up and deep inside me – taking me like I had always been his, like I had always belonged to him.
He took me in long, deep strokes, pulling me back to him, hands tugging on my hair as his lips caressed my neck and his fingers moved with a practiced skill against my clit. Oh, this man knew exactly what he was doing, exactly what it took to get me to rise over the edge – I knew he was dangerous, and I knew I should know better than to let myself get caught up in how good this felt, but, hell, I didn’t give a damn. I just wanted to come. I wanted to reach that release and feel him finish inside of me. I wanted him to fill me up with his seed until there was room for nothing else. I moved back, sliding my hips into him with a needy want that sent shockwaves of pleasure coursing through my whole body. Could he feel it, too? Could he feel how much I wanted him, how much I wanted this? That I would have done anything to stay right here, in this moment with him, for as long as it took?
I could hear from the pace of his ragged breathing that he was getting close, and I was starting to inch nearer to my own release, too. There was something so fucking hot about knowing that he had likely been lying there in bed next to me this whole night, thinking about this moment, thinking about how much he wanted me and how he would have done anything to have me. I reached back, cupping my hand around his head, teeth gritted as I pushed myself against him, taking him deeper and deeper until...
"Oh," I moaned, as I finally felt myself bottom out helplessly around him. My pussy clenched around his cock, contracting against him, like every inch of my body was begging for him to push even deeper into me. Nothing would satisfy me but the feeling of him buried to the hilt within me, and I knew nothing would even come close. After so long playing at just being friends, finally giving in to this feeling, it was everything to me.
He growled against my ear a moment later, and I felt him twitch inside of me before he came himself – flooding me with his essence, holding himself there for a long moment like he was enjoying every inch of this sensation to the very best of his ability. He shifted his hand to my hip, holding me there as he continued to move into me, steadily slowing, grinding himself in deep as shockwaves of pleasure continued to course through my whole system.
He pulled back slowly, and then reached to flip me over to face him. There was a grin on his face as he kissed me for the first time, sinking his mouth into mine with a needy hunger that spoke to how long both of us had been waiting for this.
"Good morning," I giggled as I looped my arms around his shoulders. My body was still throbbing with the intensity of the orgasm he had just given me, and, judging by the glint in his eye right now, he was far from done with me.
"Oh, it is going to be a good morning," he teased me back, sinking his mouth into mine again, and I moaned as I felt another shudder of pleasure course through my system, the need for it more than I could take. I knew it was going to take a while before I could come close to getting enough of him, but hell, I was more than willing to find out how much it would take before I reached my limit.
Chapter Nine – Chuck