Tease (Cloverleigh Farms #8)(40)

I eased inside her, inch by inch, my heart a wild thing in my chest, my breath trapped in my lungs. Felicity inhaled slowly, her eyes closing. When I was buried deep, I lowered my lips to her ear. “You feel so fucking good.”

“Hutton,” she whispered, her hands sliding down my back to my ass, drawing me in deep. “This can’t be real.”

I began to move, rocking into her with deep, slow strokes, paying attention to the way she arched her back and tilted her hips and used her hands to pull me closer. I wanted to know exactly what made her moan, what made her dig her nails into my back, what made her body tense up with mounting pleasure until she couldn’t contain it anymore—she had to burst wide open. And I wanted to time it all perfectly, so that we could experience that explosion of ecstasy together.

But it was a tall order.

I was so fucking hard for her, and it felt like I’d been that way for hours—no, days. Months. Years. My ego needed her to think I was the best she’d ever had, but my body was like Fuck you, ego, this is our gig.

Luckily for me, Felicity’s body seemed just as impatient as mine. Not only that, but we moved as if we’d been made for each other, like this wasn’t the first time, like we were returning to a place we already knew. There was nothing clumsy or awkward, no fumbling, no apologies, no doubts. Being with her almost felt like a memory of something that hadn’t happened yet—maybe a memory of a dream.

She was familiar to me, and yet she was a revelation.

Eventually, my ego had to step aside and let my body have its way. Closer. Harder. Faster. Higher. The tension built and the heat rose until sweat slicked our skin and the muscles in my body seized. Until her cries rang out and her hands clutched my ass and her hips met mine in thrust after thrust after thrust. Until the pleasure tore us apart at the seams and we came undone all at once, trembling and throbbing, pushing and pulling, desperate to hang on—to each other, to the moment, to the unbearable bliss of release.

When I opened my eyes, she was looking up at me, stunned and shaken. “That was . . . wow.”

“Yeah. We probably got in a little more practice than we needed.”

“No, I think it was good. Practice makes perfect, right?”

“That was pretty fucking close to perfect.”

Her lips curved into an adorable grin that made my chest ache—but it was a good ache. A protective ache. I didn’t want her to leave my bed. Would she stay the night with me?

“I wasn’t sure if I should come in here.” Her fingers played in my chest hair.

“Seriously?” I shifted onto my side so I wouldn’t smother her, but I took her with me, so we were face to face.

“Yeah. I could not make up my mind about whether you wanted me like this or not.”

“Convinced now?”

She giggled. “Mmhm.”

“Good.” I kissed her forehead.

“I even came in here while you were downstairs turning off the lights to steal a shirt. That was going to be my excuse if you caught me in your bedroom, and then I was going to attempt to seduce you. But you took so long coming back up that I lost my nerve.”

I laughed, propping my head in my hand. “Sorry. I was trying to give you enough time to make the choice on your own about which bedroom to sleep in. I was hoping you’d choose mine, but I didn’t want to pressure you. But please tell me you’ll attempt to seduce me again.”

She smiled. “Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see.”

“This is definitely a side of you I’ve never seen.”

“There’s a reason for that. We’ve always been such good friends. I mean, we still are.” Her tone grew a little frantic. “Right?”

“Of course we are.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “In fact, I’m really glad to hear you say that.”

“Why?”

“I can’t promise anything more.”

“Because you suck at relationships?”

“Hey.” I tugged at her hair, and she burst out laughing.

“Sorry—couldn’t resist,” she said. “But don’t worry, I can’t promise anything more either. To be perfectly honest, I suck at relationships too.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Believe it. I mean, I’ve never dated a Zlatka, so no one has ever told me that to my face, but my sister Millie said something today that hit pretty close to home.”

“What did she say?”

Felicity played with my chest hair again. “She said the reason I’ve never had a successful long-term relationship is because I break up with anyone who says ‘I love you.’”

“Is that true?”

“One hundred percent.”

I’d expected her to deny it, so her honesty made me laugh. “And why is that?”

She didn’t answer right away. “I don’t really know. I’ve just always been that way. I suppose I figure things are going to blow up at some point anyway, so I might as well light the match.”

It didn’t take a psychiatrist to know it probably had something to do with her real mom abandoning her when she was so young, especially having overheard the fight with her dad, but if she wasn’t ready to talk about it, I wasn’t going to make her. Nothing worse than someone trying to be your therapist when you just needed a sympathetic ear—something my sister did not seem to understand.