Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)(72)

Then we came together again, bare skin sliding sinuously against each other. He settled between my thighs and it felt so right, like two puzzle pieces locking together.

He kissed my breasts and I whimpered, arching my spine, wanting more. His mouth closed around one nipple, and I moaned, my fingers clenching his muscular biceps. He shifted his weight and brought his erection directly against the core of me.

I panted, my fingers moving to clutch the back of his neck, clinging, straining against him, pulling him closer as I rotated my hips, needing him inside me like a body needs oxygen.

“Pepper, are you sure?”

God, yes. Gasping, I shifted my hips and pushed up against him. “I want this. I want you, Reece.”

His blue eyes gleamed fiercely. He lifted off me and fumbled with his discarded jeans. I almost moaned in pain at the loss of him. All of me felt cold, empty.

And then the warmth was back. He was between my parted thighs, tearing the wrapper off a condom with his teeth. I watched as he rolled it on, fascinated at the sight, the act.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and hauled me closer, holding me steady as he began to sink inside me, his eyes locked with mine. It was a surreal moment, staring into the deep of his eyes, feeling his body joining with mine.

I was ready. My body stretched to accommodate him. It wasn’t uncomfortable exactly, but definitely foreign. Still exciting. Gaspy little breaths escaped me.

Just when I thought he was done, that I was filled to capacity, he pushed in deeper.

My eyes flared wide, and I whimpered. Okay, that was a little uncomfortable. He stilled, his biceps tensing, muscles bunching tightly. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. Don’t stop. Do it!”

The arm at my waist pulled me closer, mashing my breasts to his chest as he thrust himself fully inside me, wrenching a sharp gasp from me.

“Wow,” I choked.

“Should I—?”

“Keep going,” I commanded, my nails scoring his back. He rocked his hips against me and I cried out, arching against him.

“Oh, f*ck, Pepper, you feel good.”

An aching pressure built inside me as he moved faster, increasing the delicious friction and tightening the coil low in my belly. It was like before, when he made me come just by using his hand. Only better. Everything more intense.

I writhed against him, desperate to reach that climax. He hooked a hand under my knee and wrapped my leg around his waist. The next thrust shattered me. I never felt anything so amazing. So good. My vision blurred as he hit that spot deeper. He moved against me, working a steady pace. I dragged my nails through his short hair, loving this absolute freedom to touch him, to love him with my hands. His name tripped from my lips.

“Pepper,” he growled in my ear. “Come for me, baby.”

I was almost there. Shudders shook through me. I burrowed my head in the warm nook of his neck, muffling my moans. His hand found me, framing my face. A thumb under my chin, fingers splayed over my cheek, he held me there, watching me, peering into my eyes as he moved inside me. “I want to see you.”

I nodded jerkily. The familiar burning tightness seized me, made me arch up against him. “Ohh.”

“That’s it, Pepper.” He drove harder into me and I cried out, every nerve bursting. I went limp. He hugged me closer, his lips seizing mine. I groaned into his mouth as I felt his own release follow, shuddering through him.

We collapsed together on the bed, his weight on top of me. As heavy as he was, I didn’t want him to ever move. I could stay like this forever.

Forever lasted about two minutes. Reece pressed a kiss to my collarbone that made me shiver and then rose from the bed to dispose of the condom. I found some wipes in my drawer and cleaned myself off, hesitating a moment at the sight of a rusty-colored smudge on my thigh. It startled me, forcing me to confront the reality of what I had just done. With Reece.

I hurriedly wiped the blood away. My face burned as he watched me. I tossed the wipe into the small trash bin, aware of a slight soreness between my legs as I moved. Slipping my panties back on, I lowered myself to the bed, pulled my knees to my chest, and then tugged the covers over me.

“You okay?”

He sat in front of me, his legs going on either side of me so that he could face me and hold me at the same time.

I nodded. “It didn’t hurt.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “It gets better.”

I felt my eyes widen. “Really? ’Cause that was pretty amazing.”

Grinning, he kissed me. “It was all you, baby.”

I doubted that. I could never have as much fun alone as I had with him. I doubted I could have as much fun with anyone. That thought made me frown. Panic fluttered inside me. Reece—this. It wasn’t the plan.

“Hey. No frowns.” He tapped at the edge of my mouth. “Do I even want to know what you’re thinking?”

I swallowed. “How can this work, Reece?”

His smile slipped away. The glow ebbed from his eyes. “Wow. You don’t waste any time. I’m getting the brush-off already? No time for afterglow.” He remained sitting in front of me, his legs stretched on either side of me, but he dropped his arms. No more hug.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.” His voice bit out the single word. “Me, too.”

“I don’t want—” I stopped, struggling with what to say. There was a lot that I didn’t want to happen in this moment. I didn’t want him to hate me. I didn’t want to lose him.