Page 67 of The Opposite Effect

I run the back of my hand down her cheeks, removing her tears before saying, “Besides, you can always hold onto the piece of my heart you’ve already stolen until yours fully thaws.” I aim to keep my tone cheeky, but my words come out with more sentiment than I anticipated.

When the pain in Clara’s eyes eases from my statement, I’m happy for her to take the meaning any way she sees fit.

“I have a piece of your heart?”

When I nod, a true and genuine smile etches onto her mouth.

“I like the sound of that,” she murmurs before resting her cheek on my chest.

A stretch of silence passes between us. It isn’t awkward. It is comforting and necessary, and I could stay like this for hours. I don’t know why, but I’ve had an overwhelming desire to protect Clara since the day I met her. Finding out she has suffered a loss has strengthened my desire to protect her, but it isn’t the only reason I’d happily sit here for hours with her in my arms. In some ways, this type of affection is more intimate than the moment we shared in the shower this morning.

Don’t construe my statement the wrong way. Our time together this morning was out of this fucking world—better than I could have ever predicted—but it’s during the quiet times like this that I get to see other sides of Clara, the ones not governed by her libido.

Her outward appearance gives the illusion that she’s a woman with a frozen heart, but I realize now that isn’t the case. She’s protecting her heart so fiercely because she’s afraid one more knock may shatter it completely, permanently disfiguring it. And although she puts on a brave front, even a woman as headstrong as Clara doesn’t want to live her life unloved, no matter how much she pretends she does.

Enough time rolls by in complete silence that the sky changes from a vibrant blue coloring to midnightblack. My eyes shift away from the stars scattering in the sky to Clara when she lifts her head off my chest.

The crazy beat of her heart pounds the nape of my neck when she curls her arms around my shoulders. “Kiss me, Brax,” she mutters, fluttering my lips with her warm breath. “I’ve missed your lips on mine.”

My lips tug high, loving that she’s becoming so forthright with her desires.

“You wish is my command, Princess.”

Her mouth tastes sweet and spicy. Sweet from the soda she was sharing with Clementine and spicy from the flavor of the potato chips they were consuming. Unlike our previous kisses, this time, I control the pace. I don’t mind handing over the reins on an odd occasion, but I want to prove to Clara what I said was true. Loss, heartache, and betrayal are not something you simply get over. You just have no choice but to move on and live the best life you can. Although I hate the idea of another man holding a portion of Clara’s heart, she isn’t sitting in his lap, nibbling on his lips. She’s here with me. And if I have it my way, that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

After I’m happy I’ve sampled every portion of her mouth, I pull my lips away from Clara. I run my thumb over the curve of her top lip before locking my eyes with hers. My chest swells, beyond smug, her gaze is hazy and brimmed with lust. I tilt my head to the side and stare deeper when sparks of the unidentifiable glint she was wearing this morning resurfaces.

It brightens before she mutters, “Make love to me, Brax.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Keeping her entrancing eyes connected with mine, Clara tugs the hem of her shirt out of her skirt then pulls it over her head. My nostrils flare, relishing the rich scent of the floral smell floating in the air. The generous swell of her breasts falls gently to her chest when she slips her hand around her back and unfastens her bra.

I’m not a man who usually makes love. I fuck—and I fuck hard—but I am going to make love to this woman. Not only to prove what I said was true but also to show her what she means to me.

A husky purr escapes Clara’s parted lips when I cup her breast and take her rosy-pink nipple into my mouth. The muscles in my stomach tense when she slips her hand under my shirt and runs her fingernails over the bumps of my abs. My cock throbs against my zipper, dying to be immersed in her silky softness. It’s had an unquenchable desire to claim her as mine from the moment I laid my eyes on her, but his pleas must wait. Clara asked me to make love to her, and I’m a man who keeps my word.

I release her breast from my mouth with a little pop, the bud ofher nipple hardening when I blow hot air onto it. My plans to take it slow go to shit when she rubs herself along the hardness in my jeans.

“Oh God, Brax, please touch me. I need you to touch me.”

Her soft pleas strengthen when I slip my hand between our bodies. I groan when I feel how wet she is. She’s saturated.

My rough moans are captured by Clara’s mouth when she covers her lips over mine and kisses me. She kisses me with so much heat and passion that before I know it, she’s lying beneath me on the two-seater couch, and I’m grinding up against her.

Slow, Brax. Slow.

Ignoring the protest of my cock, I pull back and rest my backside on the balls of my feet. Clara’s skirt is bunched around her waist, and her chest is thrusting up and down as she stares up at me with wild, crazy eyes. Smiling a grin I’ve never seen, she slides down the zipper on her skirt and glides it down her thighs. It joins her shirt on the concrete floor not even two seconds later. My eyes drink in every inch of her glorious skin as I unbutton my jeans and discard them next to her clothes.

The full moon bounces off her smooth white skin, illuminating her in a silvery glow. If I didn’t already know she was a princess, I would have sworn an angel had fallen from the sky.My angel.I drop to my knees and drag her ass to the edge of the couch. Her giggles trail off to a moan when I spread her open with my thumbs and run my tongue along the seam of her glistening pussy, absorbing the wetness shimmering on her pretty pink lips.

“Oh,” Clara garbles when I wrap my lips around the swollen bud of her clit and suck softly.

Her thighs loosen as I devour her sweet pussy in slow and tantalizing licks and nips. I work her into a frenzy at a leisured pace, making love to her with my tongue instead of my cock. My slow speed is drawing out her race to climax, but I want her to feelevery stroke of my tongue, every nip of my teeth, and every suck I inflict. I don’t ever want her to forget the first time we made love, so if it takes me four hours to get there, it takes me four hours.

“Brax, yes. It feels so good. Oh, so, so good.”

Clara’s throaty moans have me dying to slide my fingers inside her and pump her until she comes screaming my name. The only thing stopping me is her writhing against me. She’s rocking her hips in a similar rhythm as my tongue, proving she wants to go at a slow and controlled pace.

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