Page 29 of Four Times Taken

My skin heated, and my breath caught. Frozen, I didn't say anything, and he pulled his gaze from mine.

"Anyway, by the time I turned eighteen and got my independence from my parents, I thought you'd have already moved on or hated me by then."

The words I'd been hiding from him bubbled to my lips, his openness inspiring my own. "You could've reached out. Come to see me. Anything. I waited for you," I confessed. "I even fell for an asshole, hoping to replace you. Before meeting you, I'd have probably been an 'uncertified and unqualified nun,' swearing off all men and being fine with it. Then I met you and lost you."

My breath was hot against my upper lip as tears stung my eyes."But you moved on quite fine. With your new friends and girlfriend. Seemed like you learned about relationships and commitment pretty quickly." I paused when I realized I'd exposed myself. He looked at me with a knowing smirk. Damn his amusement.

"How do you know I was in a relationship? Were you checking up on me?" he asked.

I groaned, getting ready to stand.

He took my hand."Don't run away."

Looking down at his hand on mine, his rough palms making sweet indents in mine, I gulped.

"I'm not running away," I protested.

To prove him wrong, I sat, and felt about to drown beneath the blood rushing through my veins.

"Why didn't you reach out, say something to me?" he asked.

Gasping, I pulled my hand from his."Me? Yeah right! Like I'm going to reach out to the guy I kissed who ditched me straight after and be like'Hey, I see you've moved on, and you're in a relationship, but I—'" I stopped myself.

"But you what?" he pressed.

"But nothing," I breathed.

"You should know that I got in that relationship hoping she could replace you. She was all right, but she wasn't you, was she?" He moved closer to me with that stupid smile.

"You're full of shit," I said, licking my lips as he cradled my chin. I'd stopped breathing. He lowered his focus to my mouth, and it shivered. Oh, pull away, Lily, I groaned inwardly, my belly dipping.

"You know I'm not." He moved even closer still, wetting his own lips as if he couldn't help himself. I didn't stop him. He hovered near my mouth, caressing it with the mint of his breath, and my heart went crazy."I've always loved you, Lily." He brushed his mouth against mine, still not crossing that boundary. Waiting for my permission. Damn, he's so good.

And damn, this was a bad idea. He's only saying all this now to see if he can get in my pants. The ego. The audacity. But oof, he's close enough for me to hear his own pulse thumping. Even if he's feeding me lies, it's what I hoped he'd say for a long time. It's dark outside and dim inside under the glow of a table lamp. He's close, and I'm all worked up.

I could deprive myself of what I want out of pride, but that would be such a waste, wouldn't it? Besides, he'll be out of here again before I know it. I'm a woman now, I can handle him leaving.

Before I talked myself out of it, I pressed into him, indulging in the heat of his firm but sumptuous lips. The contact was made even sweeter by the sharpness of his beard, teasing and taunting my skin—the years passed between us, of experience and the serendipity of us being here together, like this. Both grown and taking advantage of a moment that belonged in a dream.

His beard tickled my palms as I gripped his face and climbed onto his lap before I could stop myself. His hard package pulsated against me. Too many clothes were in the way. He pulled his lips away from mine, and I almost lost it. This couldn't be happening again. Throwing myself at him and him rejecting me. He stopped my hands at the edge of my shirt.

"Are you sure?" he panted.

"Why? Don't you want to?" I asked with trembling hands, about to climb off him.

"Of course, I do," he groaned, gripping my waist and holding me in place.

Moaning, I leaned forward."Well then, shut up and kiss me."

As soon as my top was over my head, his lips were on my breasts, kissing me at my request. He was hungry at first. He gobbled it down, teeth, tongue, and suction until I was digging my fingers in the silk of his hair and hanging on for dear life. When I cried his name, despite fighting the need to scream it, he pressed me against his hard cock, and his lips savored my breasts, one by one, as if we're not bound by time. I bought into the fantasy, my pussy wetter than ever.

He laid me on my back before standing. I couldn't meet his eyes as I pulled off my bottoms, needing to be fucked, not fall in love all over again. He undressed and when he leaned over me, it was hard to look away. He glowed under the streetlight streaming into the dusty windows. He wouldn't release my eyes from the captivity of his gaze.

"I've dreamed of this moment for so long," he said, and my heart swelled.

"Less talking, more fucking." I spat in my hand and grabbed his cock, shutting him up and saving myself from reading more into this moment than was necessary. He groaned, and I pulled his head down to mine, controlling the kiss. He let me as he gripped the couch handle behind my head and groaned into my mouth. My belly turned into liquid.

When he could take no more, he pulled my hand away from him and restrained them both at my side as he trailed soft kisses against my neck. Tugging at his restraint, I moaned when my body became overloaded. He pulled his slow kisses over my sore nipples, and I shuddered.

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