Page 37 of The Rival (Looking to Score 2)
“Okay?” I check in, pausing but not withdrawing.
“One second.” She nods, her breath sawing in and out of her unevenly as she adjusts to the intrusion of my body into hers.
I sense that this is more than just sex to Aspen. There’s some reclaiming of herself, some rebuilding of her broken self-confidence. It’s beautiful to watch. I know the feeling. I need a moment to right myself too, because this feels too good to be true.
She relaxes, her fingers pressing into my shoulder. I thrust again, sinking into her heat until there’s no space left between us.
“Fuck,” I grunt out. “You’re tight.”
I bury my face into her neck and breathe in her scent. She smells of lavender and rainwater and the sweet scent of female. And then she starts to move against me, lifting her hips to meet my thrusts.
I’ve bedded a lot of women, but suddenly my mind goes blank of everyone before her. I can’t recall a single one of them, not even if you paid me a million dollars.
All I can think of is Aspen. Aspen with her pouting mouth and flushed cheeks. Aspen with those wide blue eyes trained on mine, and her lush curves, and the scent of her desire. The wet spot she’s currently leaving on the sheets as I fuck her tight, curvy body.
She’s drenching me in her heat, and I can’t take much more. She feels unbearably good, and my self-control is shot.
“I need to come,” I say on a growl.
“Yes. I’m close,” she murmurs.
It’s only a few whispered syllables, but to me, they mean so much. The fact that she’s choosing to be here with me, giving herself to me so completely, makes my heart swell in a way I’m not sure it has before.
I bring one hand between us, and when I touch her slick heat, Aspen curses—pushing out words I’ve never heard leave her mouth before—and her body quakes around mine. Her climax is powerful, stealing the breath from my lungs and squeezing my cock in hot, pulsing waves until I have no choice but to follow her over the edge.
With a low groan, I fill the condom with my release. It’s the most powerful orgasm of my life, and my hips jerk up in a hard thrust as I bury myself inside her for a final time.
Holy shit. What was that?
I move off her, rolling to my side, though I immediately miss the heat of her skin, the weight of my body pressing hers into the soft mattress. My heart rate slows, and I press a kiss to her temple. “That was incredible.”
Aspen merely nods, her eyes heavy and her expression one of total satisfaction. With one last look of appreciation, I exit the bed.
It’s then that I notice the light has changed. It’s no longer afternoon, and the room is painted in orange and pink twilight.
Inside the bathroom, I dispose of the condom and wash my hands, and when I reenter the bedroom, I try to get a read on the situation. Does she want me to grab my clothes and go? Is she done with me now? I mean, it was just a hookup, so I’d get it if she wanted her space to herself now.
But her face is relaxed and open, and she pats the spot on the bed next to her.
With a smile, I climb in once again, covering us with the sheet. She curls into my side, using my chest as her pillow, and I bring one arm around her to hold her close.
While we lie there together, we talk of many things. First, about mundane things like how awful that freezing-cold lake water was, and about the things I’m going to make her for dinner while we’re here. But we dive into weightier things too. She tells me about losing her father when she was twelve to a drunk driver, and I tell her of almost losing my mom to breast cancer ten years ago.
They’re heavy topics, but with Aspen curled up on the bed beside me, my fingertips lazily tracing circles onto the skin of her shoulder, they don’t feel so insurmountable. It feels natural to be sharing the deepest parts of ourselves after something so intimate.
And I realize with a jolt of clarity, that might be the most dangerous thing of all.
12
* * *
ASPEN
“Why does everything taste better after sex?” I ask between doughy bites.
Alex found the waffle maker in one of the cupboards this morning before I even got out of bed. I’ll admit, it was kind of disappointing to wake up and roll over, only to find an empty pillow. Even if the sex is the best sex you’ve ever had, I’m pretty sure if a guy goes MIA the morning after sleeping with you for the first time, that’s not a great sign. But this syrupy breakfast is doing a good job of making up for it, so all is forgiven.
