Page 43 of A Lonely Road
Slow and gentle,I thought distractedly as he grazed the peak with his teeth. Before long, I began to whimper and urge him faster, but he was undeterred.
“Today, my sweet Nora, we are going to practice delayed gratification. Slow,” he said against my skin, “and gentle.”
I gave up trying to change his mind. His patience was truly fathomless, and once he set his mind to a task, there was no swaying him. With his hands and lips and—sweet heaven—his tongue, he explored, teased, tantalized until every inch of my body was burning with need. I’d forgotten all about his insistence on not hurrying until he was at long last poised over me, looking down at me with a tenderness that made my chest ache. Then he kissed me with such exquisite dedication that I remembered in a rush of sensation.
While I'd often felt cared for, worshipped even, in my time with Jake, this soft, slow, sweet kiss made me feelloved.
Even when a tiny sliver of panic invaded my mind over the realization, Jake’s commitment toslow and gentledrew me deep enough to wash away any trace of fear or doubt. His lips didn’t leave mine as he pressed into me with painstaking care, gliding forward so very slowly, until he was fully sheathed within me.
Maybe you’re just looking for a place to call home.
The words echoed again in my head, spurred by the way he made me feel whole just by sinking into me. Without speaking, he showed me all he had to offer, poured every heartfelt emotion into making love to me. With slow, gentle strokes, he filled me again and again, his lips brushing mine in a caress as sweet as nectar.
Instead of a frantic climb toward release, I felt like I was floating upward, lifted by Jake’s careful control and measured strokes. The resulting climax left me quivering beneath him as he slowed even more, just to start the process again.
“Hurricane Nora,” he whispered into my skin. “You are everything.”
When at last the world shattered around us both, he lowered himself against me and together we trembled in the powerful aftermath of what had washed over us. Those last words replaced the echo in my head, wrapping around me like a blanket as my arms clasped him tightly against my heart.
Because he, too, was everything.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nora
ThoughIstayedquietas we loaded our bags back into Jake’s truck, a soft, satisfied smile lingered on my lips as I blew a kiss toward the lake. I wrapped my arms around Jake’s waist before hopping up into the passenger seat, still smiling even as we headed home. He linked his fingers with mine during the short drive, looking rather satisfied himself, and hummed along with the radio.
I caught him gazing over at me and realized I was absurdly, glowingly happy.
When we pulled into the driveway, I glanced over and gave a rueful grin. “It’s probably a good thing that wasn’t how our first time actually went, you know.”
His brows lifted in amusement. “Oh? Why is that?”
“I don’t think I would've survived it.”
“Well, I might have imagined things slow and gentle, but I’m sure as hell not complaining about the way it turned out. I clearly hadn’t calculated our chemistry correctly at that point.”
His dimple peeked at me as he reached out to brush his thumb along my lower lip. After his eyes flitted to the heat rising in my cheeks, he leaned over to kiss me.
I couldn’t help but laugh when he drew away. “Chemistry, is that what we’re calling it?”
“What else would you like to call it?” he asked, his voice low, like he was tempting me to throw out the word he wanted me to use.
“Combustibility?”
Jake grinned. “That works,” he agreed, then gave me one more swift kiss before opening his door. “We do seem to be pretty damn combustible together, Nora Cassidy.”
“Yes,” I replied, the blush rising further into my cheeks. “Yes, we do.”
Jake lifted my small suitcase from the truck bed, then followed me up the stairs to the apartment. I heard him swearing as one wheel got caught on the planks halfway up, but by the time he’d wiggled it free, I stood frozen in front of the door.
It took only a second for him to reach my side, his gaze locked on my face.
“Talk to me, Nora.” His voice came out gruff, strained, as fear rioted within me, but the tone was enough to snap me out of my fog.
“The door is open. You watched me lock it when we left,” I said numbly, staring at the inch of space between the door and its frame.
When my gaze lifted to the door itself, Jake’s followed, focusing on the shattered pane of glass above the deadbolt. My body jolted, my shoulder striking him in the sternum.
