Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)(72)

When she’d finished, she drew back and saw him smiling.

“Good for me,” he told her.

“You should feel it from this side.”

She stretched out to open her nightstand drawer and pulled out a box of condoms. They were freshly purchased, which had given her a bit of embarrassment, but she’d been determined to act like a grown-up and take responsibility for protection.

He arched an eyebrow. “I see I don’t have to send you back to my room.”

“No, you don’t.”

She handed him the protection and he slipped it on; then he guided her as she straddled him. She slowly, oh, so slowly, eased herself over his erection, then sank down.

He filled her completely. She moaned softly as newly excited nerves vibrated through her body. His breath caught and he swore softly. She braced herself on her hands, he placed his fingers on her br**sts and then she began to move.

They made love carefully, her body sliding over his, moving up and down. He rode with her, arching his hips and keeping pace. Her eyes locked with his as the speed increased. She was aware of her rising tension, of the way she could feel every inch of him filling her, stretching her, taking her higher and higher.

He stroked her ni**les, then squeezed them gently. She moved faster, sliding up and down on his erection, taking him deeper and deeper, pushing harder, wanting more.

She was getting closer. Her breathing increased until she could only gasp and push and pump, over and over until she had no choice but to find her release.

She cried out as she came. He stiffened beneath her, his hands moving to her hips and holding her in place as he pushed in and groaned. They were still as the waves of pleasure moved through them, and then he pulled her down and kissed her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

JUSTICE CLOSED THE door of the warehouse and turned to Felicia. “Are you sure?” he asked. “There’s still time to add you to the deed.”

Felicia shook her head. “I don’t want to be part of the company. I appreciate the offer, but I need to be done with that part of my life. I want to find work that connects me with the community. I want what you have—a meaningful romantic relationship.”

Justice pocketed the keys and walked toward his car. He was meeting the attorney representing the seller in a few minutes and would hand them over to her. Although the keys were the least of his issues, he thought, looking at Felicia.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your relationship with Patience,” his friend said with a sigh. “You had sex with her recently. Last night or this morning. Within the last twenty-four hours. Given everyone who’s living at the house, last night makes the most sense logistically, although you could be alone in the middle of the day. If you’re both upstairs and Lillie and Ava are...” Her voice trailed off. “You weren’t asking me about logistics, were you?”

“No.”

Felicia was a mystery, he thought. All women had secrets, but her mind was both a marvel and a curse.

“You want to know how I know about the sex thing.”

“I’m curious,” he admitted.

“You’re moving differently,” she said, studying him. “Your expression is more satisfied than usual. You’re not as tense. The changes are subtle. I doubt anyone else would suspect.”

No one else would begin to guess.

“I know,” she said glumly. “I’m a freak.”

“You’re not.” He pulled her close and hugged her, pleased the movements barely caused a twinge in his mostly healed body. “You’re special.”

“I don’t want to be special. I want to be regular. Boring, even.” She rested her forehead on his shoulder. “I see everything. It’s not fun. Plus, and I say this from personal experience, being intelligent is no guarantee of happiness.” She raised her head and looked at him. “I wish you’d fallen in love with me.”

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t. I wish we’d fallen in love with each other. You accept me.”

“You’ll find someone else to accept you. What about Gideon?”

“I’ve been avoiding him.”

“Hiding?”

She stepped back. “No. I have a strategy. It’s based on avoidance.”

“How is that different than hiding?”

“There are some subtleties I can’t explain to your ordinary intellect.”

He burst out laughing.

She was one-of-a-kind, he thought. Her past had resulted in who she was today as much as his past had molded him. That was a truth that couldn’t be avoided.

“Stop avoiding Gideon.”

“Why? It was a single night in Thailand. Just because it was emotionally significant to me doesn’t mean it meant anything to him. Sexual intercourse starts a cascade of hormones in women. We are biologically wired to bond with a man during sex, and having an orgasm increases the effect. Men don’t have the same physiological process. For them a conquest is a reason to feel pride, not a precursor to planning for a long-term relationship.”

He couldn’t help smiling. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Yes. I’ve been obsessing. I don’t like obsessing, but I can’t seem to stop.”

“You’re going to run into him eventually.”