Page 42 of Fire

“Sure it does. Friends miss each other all the time. Besides, I’m just getting it out of my system.”

“Right. Good point.” I pull down his zipper and wrap my fingers around his velvety shaft. He’s thick and veiny and I brush my thumb across his tip.

“Fuck, Ivy.” He groans, shivering. “You’re driving me crazy here.”

And then his lips meet mine, our bodies coming together like they were made for each other. The rest of his clothes hit the floor and he reaches for a drawer on his nightstand.

“I’m on the pill,” I whisper, and he grins, positioning himself between my thighs, his tip teasing my opening as I dig my heels into his ass.

He’s big, stretching me, filling me, slipping past muscles still reeling from the first orgasm. My head lifts off the pillow as I meet his eyes, silently begging him to…to what? I don’t even know anymore. I grip his arms, his back, barely hanging on because oh my God he feels so good.

“I’ve got you, Ives. I’ve always got you,” Micah whispers, as his hips hit mine. “And fuck, you take me so well.”

I pant into the silence, hovering on the edge of pleasure and pain and then he’s moving, stroking, slipping, sliding. I bite my lip to keep from screaming, my nails raking down his back, urging him deeper. I need more of him. All of him. How did I not know sex could feel this good?

Micah moves with confidence, grasping my hips with big hands, pulling himself deeper and deeper into me and oh fuck yes this is the way it should be. This is good. This is right.

He puts his hands on my lower stomach and presses down. There’s an instant of fear, Julian would barely touch me there, but then holy fuck, what is happening? Pleasure screams through me as he thrusts forward again and again. I’m clenching and bucking and trying not to breathe because there’s no way I wouldn’t scream and moan and cry out because what kind of sorcery is this? I’ve never known pleasure like this before.

Micah growls his appreciation. “That’s it. Come for me, my beautiful girl.”

And then he’s pumping harder, faster, deeper, more until he’s buried to the hilt, quivering with his own release.

He pulls out, collapsing beside me, pulling me close, kissing my hair, my neck, my throat. “I’ve missed you so much,” he whispers. “I always knew we’d end up back here.”

I twine my fingers into his hair the way I used to before everything fell apart.

Micah snuggles even closer. His voice is gentle and his body is warm and slowly, softly, I drift off to sleep.

* * *

I wake in a tangle of bedsheets and limbs. Micah’s on his back and my head’s on his chest, his arms wrapped around me and it’s the safest I’ve felt in a long time.

Only, I belong on a cot upstairs, not in his bed. There’s already too much to explain to Nell without her waking up early and finding me down here. Besides, friends don’t sleep together. They stay in their own rooms and give high fives in the hallway. Or something like that. It’s late. I’ve barely slept. And Micah and I just did something I wasn’t aware was possible. Something that makes me feel more than a little guilty. I broke up with Julian in my heart weeks ago, but I shouldn’t have done this with Micah. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

He deserves better than this.

Carefully, I lift one of his arms, doing my best to slip out of bed without waking him. Groaning, he pulls me close again, still mostly asleep, then lifts his head. “Ives?” His voice is thick and gravelly, his hair tousled, his eyes barely open.

“Go back to sleep, Mi. I’m just heading back to my room.”

“But you just got here.” He runs a hand along my back. “Stay, Ivy. Don’t go.”

“I don’t think…” I clear my throat, suddenly very aware of how big a mistake we just made. “I mean…there’s a lot going on.”

I don’t have a job. I haven’t told Julian the break is permanent. Nell doesn’t know Micah’s her dad. Plus, there’s still so much for the two of us to work through. We’ve only been back in each other’s lives for a few days. Sex is a complication we don’t need.

“Yeah.” Micah clears his throat and sits up. “I get that. The timing probably isn’t good for you, and there’s a lot to figure out. We’re right about the whole one-time thing deal.” He flashes me two thumbs up that feel more like he’s giving me the bird.

“Micah…”

“You go on to bed. I’m…uh…I think I’m gonna go for a swim. I’m up now. My head’s filled with…well, with us and what we just did and what it means. I’m gonna work some of this out in the pool.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, everything in me softening. The last thing I wanted was to make things harder than they already are.

“It’s fine, Ives. I promise.” Micah swings his legs off the bed, elbows on knees, head in his hands. “Go on upstairs. Everything will be better in the morning.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

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