Page 81 of Sweet Thing

I placed my palm on the flare of her hip, using this anchor point to explore. The round of her ass, the soft skin of her inner thigh, that thatch of dark curls with the musky scent of her arousal. Moving up, I mapped every inch, silently claiming this territory for my own. With a thumb over one peaked nipple, I gathered the other breast to my mouth. Sucked long and hard on the sweetest flesh. So much to cover.

“Open your legs.”

Obediently she did as she was told and my fingers stroked between her thighs, then inside her wet pussy. She’d tasted so good earlier but now I used my fingers to prime her for my cock, stretching that tightly intimate space while my thumb sought her little clit. It seemed to bloom under my touch, and she squirmed, agitated to reach that peak again.

Soon, sweet thing. Soon.

Her fingers raked through my hair, her back arched off the bed. Hating to leave off my exploration, I paused, realizing the protection was in the other room.

“Back in a sec.”

Mabel was sleeping peacefully, tired after her nightclub adventures. I grabbed the baby monitor and a condom from the nightstand, and tried not to think of the discordance of that. Of the choice I was about to make. Back in the guest room, I paused at the door, taking in the sight of a beautiful, naked woman. Sweet, sexy Adeline.

She leaned up on her elbows, studying me with those movie goddess eyes.

“You’re thinking about the risks?”

I was. Not just the risk of a condom breakage or a surprise pregnancy, but also the threat to the life I was building. There were multiple borders here, points at which I could have said “enough.” One more gate to smash through remained. I could stop here and insist to myself that I was still a good guy. That I hadn’t yet betrayed my friend or taken advantage of the only family I’d ever known.

“It’s a different world on the other side of this.”

She nodded her understanding and let me sit with it for a moment. Then she spoke:

“If it helps, you’re not the only one with something to lose.”

But Theo would forgive her. He’d blame me and then eighty-six me out of his life, which I’d thoroughly deserve.

“Yet all I can think of is what I would win.”

Her lips parted on a quickly drawn breath. Adeline was a prize, and any guy would be lucky to have her. I was the one she wanted, so why the hell should I second-guess this gift?

When I closed the gap, she took the monitor and placed it on the nightstand, then the condom and removed it from the packaging.

“I’m on birth control as well. We’ve got this covered, Lars.”

I took the condom back from her, this exchange serving to reinforce both advice and consent. We were each taking responsibility for this decision.

I rolled the rubber on, then coasted my hand over her ass, anchoring myself, getting a good grip. Nudging along her wet seam, I notched between her lips and gave a shallow thrust.

It was already amazing.

“Lars!”

That final invitation did it for me. With a deep, slow stroke, I filled her, loving how her muscles eased my way then tightened when I hit home. She arched into me and held me so close I groaned. That sound set us both off, a prelude to long, consuming thrusts that turned frenzied as the pleasure built, tight, taut, flushing to every extremity of my body, especially the one buried inside her. My groan became a roar, and milking my cock, she squeezed every last drop of pleasure from me.

No longer was she the nanny, my teammate’s daughter, the innocent who was all wrong for me. With my release and claim, she was the woman who was right in every way.

She was the woman who would be my undoing.

ChapterTwenty-Two

Lars

Last nightI fell asleep wrapped up in a warm woman who had rocked my world.

This morning, I awoke from the slumber of the sated. As I reconciled myself to my surroundings, I did a mental check-in for regrets.

Adeline still slept beside me. Not a single regret remained in my head.

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