do you need to prepare this meal?”
Damn, she was cute.
“Normally, five minutes, tops. But seeing as you’re being a smartass I feel like taking my time. I might need the full hour, eat you real slow like, get you close and back away, leave you hanging, begging for me to finish you off. Yeah, I like that idea—getting you right on the edge then making you wait until your couches are delivered before I make you ride me. Nothing like breaking in a new piece of furniture with an orgasm.”
“Well, then, what are we waiting for?”
“For you to get your ass in gear and grab your phone.”
“I can’t get my phone while you're holding me, Brady.”
“Right, I’ll amend. We’re waiting for you to kiss me first.”
Hadley didn’t hesitate. Her chin tipped up and she offered her lips. I gladly took her up on her offer and took it past a lip touch straight to deep. She gave me more and moaned into my mouth. I took it, memorized the sweet sound, then I gave it back.
Only, what I gave was silent—a promise, a vow, a pledge that I would even out the scales.
For now, I had no choice but to take until I could get myself sorted. And in return I’d give her anything she needed, everything I had, everything I could possibly give was hers.
We’d stay balanced.
I’d make damn sure of it.
23
I had furniture.
And just as I’d hoped, the couches looked great. The deep blue denim color popped against the light-colored wood floor, the cherry end tables gave the room contrast, and once I bought the mustard-yellow lamps I’d had my eye on, the room would be bursting with color.
I’d made the decision not to decorate the walls. Unfortunately, the room wouldn’t be complete but the condo was meant to be fixed up and flipped. I’d already spackled and painted—it was a pain in my ass the first time I’d done it and I would rather live without artwork hanging than to have to go through that rigamarole again.
“Babe?” Brady called from the dining room table.
“Yeah?”
I finished fluffing a throw pillow and looked at him. His hair was a disheveled mess. The sight sent shivers down my arms and made the area between my legs tighten.
I’d done that to him.
It was my hands that had mussed up his hair as I gripped it while he ate me out. True to his word, he’d spent a good amount of time licking, stroking, and driving me to the edge, only to stop, let my climax wane, then start all over again.
When the knock came at the door—not the call that the store had promised, but a knock—Brady’d kissed each inner thigh and strode out of my bedroom, leaving me breathless and on the edge. I knew he wasn’t entirely unaffected by what he’d been doing to me when he rushed the delivery men out the door, slammed it closed, dropped his pants, sat on my new couch, and instructed me to climb on.
It must be said a bossy, turned-on Brady was hot. Therefore, I obeyed gleefully and without delay. But once I was astride him, it was my turn to play. I’d ignored his demands to go faster. I disregarded his commands to ride him harder. Instead, I went slow and built our desire until need took over and my body would no longer allow slow.
Each and every orgasm Brady gave me was the best. Sometimes he held my gaze through the explosion, sometimes he kissed me through it, sometimes he shoved his face in my neck and sucked and nibbled. But there on my couch, while we simultaneously found pleasure with our eyes locked he wasn’t just looking at me. It was profoundly different—not a moment of vulnerability, not a lust-hazed stare—complete and utter trust shone. No shadows of sadness, no grief, no wariness—absolute adoration and promise.
It was beautiful.
It was intense.
It was a look I was determined to see more of.
In other words, it was everything.
“Would you mind if I called the guys and asked them over?” he asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Not sure what guys you’re talking about but you can ask over anyone you’d like,” I returned.
Brady was studying me and I wondered if he was having the same thoughts as me, and those were: I liked him being in my house, I wanted him there, and not just as a visitor. Alternately, I liked being at his house, I wanted to be there, and not just