Page 56 of Beneath the Blindfold

He chuckled and dropped another kiss on my lips, although this one was tame. Restrained. He lingered for a long moment, giving me a silent promise of more . . . but later.

“Seven years catching up with me,” he joked.

“With us,” I corrected, giving him the brightest smile I had.

NINE

COURTNEY

We ate dinner like a pair of starving wolves, although I don’t think either of us was actually hungry for food. The faster we finished, the faster we could be alone and on to the final term of our deal. Would we go straight to his bedroom when we got to his place?

Nope. Neither of us could wait that long after the car ride to his apartment. It’d been so heavy with sexual tension, I felt like an overly wound spring. One touch and I’d explode.

I’d been to his place a few times before, but we mostly hung out at mine. He was a guy’s guy, and didn’t do much with the apartment. Only, things were way different than the last time I’d been here. I barely got a look before he descended on me.

“You have curtains,” I said with surprise as he pressed me against a wall and buried his face in the side of my neck.

His mouth latched onto the sensitive skin below my ear and sucked, and it sent pleasure coursing through me. I closed my eyes and sank an inch down the wall. Holy shit, that felt good.

I was too low for him. He slid his hands down the backs of my legs, and in one quick jerk, he had me lifted and pinned to the wall, supporting me with his hands on my ass. The short skirt of the dress corded around my waist. This change in position was so much better. It made it easier to kiss him. Easier to squeeze my thighs around his hips and rock against him, grinding our lower bodies together.

There were paintings hung on the wall, replacing the old OSU poster he’d taped up. A golden pattern filled the oversize canvases and gave the room a sunny feeling. They were big, and warm. Just like him.

Julius’s bulk, even from the moment I’d met him, never intimidated me. He didn’t act aggressive unless provoked, and in his dominating presence, all I felt was safe. The feeling intensified as I was held against the wall, cradled in his arms so he could shower kisses along the slope of my neck.

I shivered as his breath rolled down the low-cut neckline of my dress, and I arched my back, thrusting my breasts in his face. He murmured a quiet approval, and just the sound of it was delicious.

I’d spent years mastering balance and core strength for cheerleading. I was no stranger to being lifted by a strong guy. I was comfortable being launched high in the air and tumbling without disorientation. Yet, all that practice didn’t prepare me for this. Three feet off the ground and held steady in Julius’s thick arms made me off-balance and dizzy.

I was going to fall, but only metaphorically.

I cupped my hands on his cheeks and kissed him with total abandon. Like it was the most natural thing. But the world was spinning and I gripped him tighter—

It wasn’t the earth that was suddenly moving, it was him. He pulled us away from the wall and carried me toward his couch. He turned at the last moment, dropping down to sit so I was in his lap, straddling him.

“Is this couch new?” I asked.

He was distracted as his hands slid up my back, searching for the zipper. “Yeah. I got a decorator. She finished last week.”

A decorator? I smiled. He wasn’t a boy anymore, and he had a grown-up apartment to prove it. I craned my neck and took a good look at the place. It was sophisticated and manly, but still . . . friendly. Easy and inviting.

Everything reminded me exactly of him.

“She’s good,” I murmured as he inched my zipper down. “Do you have her card?”

“Nah, Noemi’s a friend. Does the decorating shit as a hobby.” His hands slowed as he tugged at the strap of my dress, easing it over my shoulder. His voice went low. “You really wanna talk about my couch and curtains right now?”

He leaned forward, pressing his damp lips to my newly-exposed skin.

“No,” I said breathlessly. Goosebumps burst from his soft kiss, radiating outward, and my heart skipped faster as his mouth worked lower. He peeled the dress and my bra down, inch by painfully slow inch, kissing my skin until I was shaking with anticipation.

Hell no, I didn’t want to talk about decorating. My mind emptied of any thought except the way his soft lips felt traveling over my breasts, moving determinedly toward my nipples. They’d tightened into aching knots and I was eager for satisfaction.

“Oh,” I sighed as I got my wish.

He sucked and nipped at me. The pull on my sensitive skin sent a rush of heat to my center. I yanked my arms out of the dress and bra straps, letting the fabric fall to my waist. His mouth was erotic, and worked in perfect combination with his hands, gripping me just as firm as I wanted him to.

I squirmed in his lap, both getting relief and yet needing more. The months without a partner had amped up my sex drive until I barely recognized myself. I reached behind and set a hand on his knee for support so I could lean back and arch even more, presenting my body to him like he was a king and I was his to claim.

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