Page 19 of Slow Kind of Love

Chapter Six

Elise had been kissed by exactly three men in her lifetime. She knew most people would find it hard to believe, but there you have it.

The first, Eddie Brown, had occurred during a spring thaw in March when she was fourteen. She’d been hanging out at the ball diamond near the arena with some girlfriends when a bunch of hockey boys had sauntered over to them. Eddie Brown was handsome, a couple of years older than her, and sported the kind of smile that would make any girl’s heart sing. They’d slow danced at Spring Fling just the week before. She and Eddie wandered over to the muddy playground, sat on the kiddie swings, and talked for so long that by the time she glanced over to the ball diamond, Elise realized it was only the two of them left.

Eddie asked if he could walk her home, and as they headed down the street, Eddie with his hockey bag and stick slung over his shoulder, it started to snow. Everything felt magical and fresh. When they got to her house, there underneath the big old oak tree that bordered her property, Eddie bent down and swiped at a snowflake on her nose. Then he kissed her, and unfortunately, that was when the magic ended. Obviously as inexperienced as Elise, it was sloppy and wet, and when he asked her to be his girlfriend, she told him her daddy wouldn’t allow it.

Truthfully, her daddy never much cared for her or who she kept company with; however, she couldn’t stand the thought of another sloppy wet kiss. Eddie Brown might have been cute, but she’d rather kiss a frog.

Elise didn’t kiss another boy until she caught the eye of Ben Avery. The star center of Crystal Lake’s rep hockey team, he was handsome and popular, the boy all the girls wanted. He set his sights on Elise, and she didn’t stand a chance. Those first few kisses had been a definite improvement over Eddie, but they were young and feverish and things went too fast. By the time she realized she’d made a mistake—Ben Avery was selfish with a dark mean streak—she was pregnant, and soon after, they were married.

But Link Major was something else altogether.

This man could kiss. He put his mouth on her, and she forgot all the reasons she wasn’t good for him. The reasons this couldn’t work. The reasons she’d kept him at bay. With just a soft touch, he set off all kinds of bells and whistles until her head spun and her heart felt like it was falling out of her chest. She felt like she was untouched. Like there was no one before him. Imagine that, at her age.

His hands cupped her butt intimately, and she knew he wanted her. There was no hiding how much. Elise could have pulled out of his arms and put some space between them. But one look at the desire and need on his face was enough to make all those walls crumble.

“Don’t stop.”

And he didn’t. Holy hell, she was glad he didn’t.

They tore at each other’s clothes like they needed each other to breathe. Link tossed his winter coat, while her greedy hands found their way underneath his sweater, which quickly joined the coat on the floor.

“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered, trailing her fingers over his chest and abs, there where an intricate tattoo climbed up the left side.

He kissed her again, and her world shrank to a small pocket of existence full of Link, desire, and need. His hands were everywhere, in her hair, cupping her head, sliding down the front of her jeans. He ripped at them, and she shimmied as best she could, laughing with abandon when he bent and cursed and tugged them down to her knees.

“Spread ’em as far as you can, luv.”

She literally could listen to Link talk all day. His whiskey-soaked voice had fueled many a fantasy these long weeks he’d been away from Crystal Lake.

Constricted by boots and jeans, she only managed a couple inches, but it was enough for him to put his mouth on her and graze at her clitoris through the small bit of fabric that covered her.

She was liquid. On fire.

He yanked at her panties, ripping them easily, and then there was nothing between them. He sank into her with his tongue and mouth, eating and sucking and teasing until the heat curled low in her belly and she began to shake uncontrollably.

“It’s too fast,” she said hoarsely, though her hands were sunk in his hair and she held him tightly while he worked at her, coaxing, kneading, until her hips began to buck and she knew she was right there, riding that edge, about to topple over.

When she came, it was an orgasm that shook her to the core, and she barely recovered when he lifted her onto the counter.

“We’re not done,” he growled, pulling his cock from his jeans as she inched her butt forward. The angle was awkward, but Link managed things just fine, pulling her closer, wedging himself between her thighs. When he sank into her fully, her head fell back and she felt like crying.

“Bloody hell, you feel even better than I remember.”

Slowly, he began to pump, in and out, while he shoved up her sweater and released her breasts from the delicate pink bra. His hot mouth closed over her nipples, Link was, if anything, an equal opportunist, and between the exquisite feel of him deep inside her and the pull as he suckled at her breasts, once again Elise felt that familiar heat burn hot and hard.

“I’m not gonna last long,” he muttered into her neck, his pace quickening. He sought out her mouth once more, and while his tongue dove between her lips, he moved faster and harder, his cock sliding in and out with ease.

Elise kissed him back with the kind of passion she’d only read about, and it was something she’d think about later, because it was something she’d never experienced before. This coupling was another level entirely, and she’d never felt so powerful.

She moved her hips in tandem and ran her nails across his shoulders, grinning into his mouth when he swore like a sailor. His skin was hot, his shoulders tight, and when he pulled back and looked into her eyes, his dark, feral expression touched something inside her. There were no more words. There were only two bodies connected on a level too few ever experienced.

How in hell had she ever thought she could give this up?

When he came she was right there with him, and as he shuddered into her, her body tightened and she bit her bottom lip in an effort not to scream, though the sounds that erupted from her throat would make any porn star proud.

Elise gathered him close and held him while he finished, his body quaking, his legs shaking from the effort to stand. After a few moments, Link gently grabbed her chin and kissed the side of her mouth, nuzzling her neck before letting go.

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