Page 39 of Into Orbit
‘Then I’d touch other places.’ His hand slid down, cupping my breast through my shirt. I arched without thinking, pressing my hardening nipple against his palm. ‘Here, until you were whimpering.’ His thumb ran over my nipple, back and forth, sending bolts of sensation straight between my legs. He leaned down; his breath caressed my ear. ‘Until you werebegging.’ His hand moved down to grasp my hip; a disappointed whine escaped my throat before I could stop it. ‘Because I want to touch you until I know every single thing that you like, and every single thing that you love. I want to touch you until you fall to pieces, Maeve, so thoroughly and so completely that only I can put you back together again.’ He grasped my hip more firmly. ‘And after that – if you wanted it, though I hope you wouldneedit – I’d want to bury myself so deeply inside you that we couldn’t tell where you started and I ended.’
I stared at him, my heart beating wildly. ‘Holy heck, Willow,’ I said. ‘That sounds pretty fucking good to me.’
His jaw clenched; he took his hand away. ‘That isn’t all I’d want from you, Maeve.’
I swallowed. ‘Guess we’re at an impasse, then.’ I shifted on his bench, hot and needy and all kinds of uncomfortable.
For a moment, I let myself imagine what it might be like. To have something more than just one night of sex. To have someone who cared for me, who supported me, someone who I whispered to at night. Someone who made my life better by simply existing.
I inhaled as the realisation hit me. I alreadyhadthat. Elswyth gave me all those things – and more.
Willow was watching me carefully, his expression unreadable. He reached out and trailed a feather-light touch over my cheek. ‘I used to think green was the most beautiful colour,’ he murmured. ‘But I find myself liking pink more by the day.’
We stared at each other; the world stilled around me.
Maybe there were others – two others, in particular – whoalsomade my life better. Maybe the Tirians were right about their wholefamilything.
And maybe I could givethemthe things that they gave me. Maybe I’d maketheirlives better, too.
‘Fuck it,’ I snarled.
‘I think I’ve changed my mind,’ he said at the same time.
We reached for each other as one, his hands cupping my face, mine fisting in his hair as our lips met. It wasn’t anything like the gentle caress he’d described; his kiss was hot, demanding,hard. Our lips fought a fierce battle until mine parted and his tongue pushed between them, dancing until he took control and used it to fuck my mouth until I moaned.
He pulled back, his eyes darkening. ‘Make that sound again,’ he demanded.
I managed to conjure a smug smile. ‘Earn it.’
He smiled back, just as smugly, and a moment later I was flat on my back and his mouth was on my neck, licking and sucking and scraping his teeth over the sensitive skin. I forgot myself and moaned again as his hand found the swell of my breast, his thumb brushing my nipple through my shirt.
‘You’ve done this before,’ I said breathlessly.
‘This?’ he said, circling my aching peak. ‘No. Not this, I haven’t.’ He pinched me and I cried out; his eyes were fixed to my face, taking in my every reaction. He swallowed, his hand moving down to rest on the bare skin of my stomach, beneath where my shirt had bunched over my ribs. ‘I want to see you.’
‘Thank the fucking stars,’ I muttered, and dragged my shirt unceremoniously over my head.
A growl ripped from his throat as he stared at me, naked to the waist. ‘You are temptation personified,’ he grated out. He circled my nipple again, watching it pebble beneath his fingertip.
I arched my back shamelessly, pushing into the touch. ‘If you want to keep kissing, there are a number of fun places I can suggest you try.’
‘Here being one of them?’
‘It’s especially fun with tongue,’ I told him.
He gave a wicked grin, so different to his usual calm that it set my heart pounding. ‘Most things are.’
He took me in his mouth, sucking until I cried out. He worked one breast and then the other, holding me still when I squirmed beneath him, my hips rocking up, desperately seeking friction. His rough tongue flicked my aching flesh, my inner walls fluttering as arousal built. Without warning, he sucked again – hard – and I whined at the delicious shock, my back arching at the sensation, trying to draw him closer.
‘Green gods, Maeve,’ he murmured, his mouth travelling downwards as I continued to squirm beneath him. ‘You could make a stone catch alight.’
My body interpreted that as a compliment; my cheeks flushed as the warm feeling spread through my chest again. I tried to ignore it, pressing my thighs together desperately. He noticed the movement; a moment later, his hand slid down and he cupped me through my jeans, giving me the pressure I was craving. I moved shamelessly against him, chasing my own pleasure until sensation began to flood my core.
‘Fuck, Willow,’ I choked.
‘So beautiful, Maeve,’ he murmured. He took a shuddering breath. ‘Gods, the things I want to do with you.’ He pulled back, pressing the heel of his hand down harder, just where I needed it.
I cried out. His free hand found a breast and his thumb brushed over my nipple, back and forth, back and forth, until the pleasure turned sharp and I cried out again, panting as my climax began to build.
