He’s nodding his head as I talk and then he stands up and covers half of the distance between us. “Keep going,” he says. “Tell me, just find those feelings, those words… and admit it to yourself and then to me. Tell me why you’re here.”

I stare at him. His scent is different now, the sweet scent of soap lingering on his bare chest. I want to touch him so bad. I want to run my fingertips down the hard muscles of his chest. I want his hands to cup my face as he kisses my mouth. I want my legs wrapped around his waist as he pushes himself deep inside me. I want, I want, I want…

“I want you,” I finally admit. “I waited for you to come back, but you didn’t. And I’m so tired of waiting for people. I’m so tired of being everyone’s afterthought. So I had this address in my head. The text came in while we were together, and I memorized it.”

“This place could’ve been anywhere, Harper. It was a big risk.”

“I need a little risk in my life, James. I’m tired of standing still.”

“Then”—he steps forward and the gulf between us evaporates—“take a risk on me. I’m on your side, Harper.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “You’re on no one’s side. You’re only here for your own interests.”

He stares back at me for a few seconds and nods in response. “You’re right. But baby, the only thing I’m interested in right now is you.”

I don’t have anything to say to that. The talk is over. The truth is on the table. I can either play another card or fold out of the game. And I’m a terrible decision-maker, so I opt for both. “I want you. I came here because I want you,” I say as my hands touch the top of his shoulders, resting over the curve of him, like they have always belonged there. They cup the hard muscles, then slide down a little and James pushes me backwards until my knees reach the edge of the bed and I am forced to sit.

His large hands grip under my knees and part my legs as he settles in front of me.

And then his mouth is on my pu**y.

Chapter Ten - Harper

It’s a long, slow—so agonizingly slow—lap of his tongue up my slit. He pauses at the crest of my sex and flicks his tongue back and forth until my hips come right off the bed. My fingers weave through his hair and then they grasp hard, pulling his whole face towards me. He sucks on my clit, just a slight suction at first. But that’s enough. More than enough. I’m grinding now, unable to control my desire. And the orgasm is coming fast, it’s building to a climax that might be monumental in scope, that’s how f**king astonishing it feels to have James’ mouth on me. I wait for him to pull back, to deny me like he did last time.

But he doesn’t. He thrusts his tongue against my clit, alternating with sucking and lapping, until I’m writhing and the only words in my mouth are his name.

“James. James. James.”

My back buckles as the sensations crest and crash, over and over again, and James never stops. He rides the wave of pleasure with me until, after almost a minute, the aftershocks subside enough to allow me to breathe again. “I’m so jealous,” I finally say once I’ve calmed my racing heart. “I’m so jealous of all the other women you’ve given this kind of attention to.”

“Well,” he says as he unbuttons his jeans and kicks them off, “you’re goddamn lucky you were a virgin when I came along, otherwise I’d have a hit list for anyone who ever touched you.” Before I can tell him that’s an inappropriate joke, he sits down and grabs my shoulder. “Flip over. We do it my way now.” Before I know what’s happening, I’m face down on the bed.

I peek over my shoulder to watch him fling his jeans across the room. He shoots me a crooked grin and I start to get worried. He said something about—“Ow!” My train of thought is obliterated in one swoop of his hand as it smacks down on my ass cheek, leaving a sting behind. Before I can put together a coherent objection, he’s straddling my upper thighs and massaging the sting away with his rough hands.

“That was a love tap. Just to warm you up.” He rises up on his knees, then places his hands on my outer thighs and pushes my legs all the way together.

The fingers search for my pu**y again, but this time they slide right past my ass. That feels so f**king good. I moan.

“You like that, Harp?”

Before I can answer his finger drags the wetness leftover from my orgasm up into my perfect pink bud. I brace for the pain I felt back at the beach apartment when he tried this same thing. But this time he’s slow. And gentle. And he goes back several times for more of my slick juices. “Will you—”

“No. Not tonight. I just want you to know how good it can be. I want to take my time, make you want it. Make you beg for it.”

“What if I want it now?” I chew on my lower lip as I try and look over my shoulder at him again, but he leans his chest over my back, trapping me underneath him. He lifts his hips and one hand goes to his cock. He flicks it back and forth, still dragging the wetness from my pu**y to my ass, and every few seconds, he stops to push his thumb against the tight muscle at my entrance… until… it slips right inside.

“Ohhhh,” I moan. And it’s not a bad moan. It’s not a moan of pain or pleasure, but some elusive mixture of both at the same time. I’m throbbing again, and it’s like James can read my mind, because even as I become distracted by the new sensations, he’s twirling my clit with his fingertip. Dragging, dragging so, so slowly, up and down the crease of my opening, all the while he pushes his thumb farther inside me.