Page 36 of Falling for Paris
“Come around my cock,” he growled with difficulty. “Do it now.”
Immediately, like a dam that broke, he felt the rush of her liquid climax. Their joined flesh was the sparkling wick of dynamite. It chased along his spine till detonation was inevitable. He exploded into the squeezing pressure of her orgasm. The pleasure was so intense, he blacked out a little.
When his vision realigned, he leaned forward to kiss her, to comfort her, to love her.To love her?!
He pulled his head back, seeking her face. She had the look of someone whose body was a mush of satisfaction. Such a pretty mouth. Such a loving spirit. Such an amazing woman. Of course he loved her. There was no choice, really. His love was like a tight knot in his heart that unfurled for only one person. She was the one to unravel him.
The woman he loved. The woman leaving in three days.
“What’s wrong?” Her concern moved him to action. He helped her up and gathered her dress. Once she was covered, Rafael lifted her in his arms and dropped her on the sofa a few steps away.
“There are shards everywhere. Don’t move until I clean up.”
“Let me help you.”
“You brought dessert. The least I can do is make sure you don’t get hurt,” he said, before pecking the tip of her nose.
Although his feelings wreaked havoc inside him, his voice was surprisingly light. He moved quickly, sweeping the worst of the broken plate and shattered glass. Then, he ran a wet Swiffer pad over the area to grab any stray shards. The whole time, her chin was leaning on the back of the sofa so she could watch him.
“Rafael?”
“Yes?” he said while discarding the last of the cleaning products.
“Your sleeve is full of chocolate.”
Indeed, his compression sleeve was a mess. He took it off occasionally, like before showering or when he knew he would wear long sleeves. But never in front of anyone.
In a daze, he watched her walk towards him.
“Let me,” she purred. “Let me see all of you. So you know.”
“So I know what?” His voice was ground in glass.
“So you know that no matter what, you’re the most amazing man I know. There isn’t an injury in the world that could erase what you mean to me. Please, Rafael. Let me see. Let me see so I can show you how beautiful you are to me.”
His heart was a fragile ache in his chest. His body vibrated with the force of everything he held back. In some corner of his consciousness, Rafael reasoned that the best way to mute the intensity of his love was to show her his shame. She would see it and she would flinch. His disgusting arm was a sight impossible to forget. The sooner she understood the extent of his damage, the sooner he might recover from her revulsion. Her rejection.
“OK. Remove it,” he said.
He stood still while her delicate fingers found the end of the sleeve and rolled it down his bicep. Lower and lower as angry gashes of uneven skin unfolded. The whole time, he watched her face. He waited for her to wince. He sought any glimmer of disgust. But it never came.
He didn’t realize that the sleeve was completely off until she bent down to kiss his ruined forearm. Small, sweet presses of her perfect lips on his imperfect body.
“How do you do that?” he asked as if in a daze.
“Do what?”
“Be the best thing that’s ever happened to me when…” He compressed his lips into a hard line before the words were ripped out of him. He fought to keep his pained, desperate emotions from falling on her feet like the shattered glass he’d cleaned up.
“Rafael, please finish what you were going to say.” Tori wrapped one arm around his waist while the other gently ran over his hideous skin.
Wry and wretched, he looked at her. “How are you the best thing that’s ever happened to me, when a broken man like me can never be that for you?”
“What?!” She was truly appalled. “You’re not broken, Rafael. You’re human. And even if you were broken or hurt or struggling, a fraction of you is worth more than most men in the world.”
He looked at her unblinkingly, as if she spoke an unknown language. There was so much going on in the slide show of his features. Was that fondness? Hope? Confusion? Yes, definitely confusion.
“I mean it,” Tori insisted, trying to break the tension. “Besides, why shouldn’t I be the best thing that’s ever happened to you?” she piped sassily. “By now you should have noticed how competitive I can be.”
