Page 27 of Merlot Marriage

Silent, I surrender to temptation, touching my fingers to her thighs, tracing the shape of them, the backs of my hands brushing the bottom of her towel. I keep my eyes glued to the blue fabric. The curve of her ass is temptingly close, but I’m too afraid of shattering the moment to go any nearer.

“Philip?” Ophie breathes my name as she shifts. Her knees bend and she slides a finger beneath my chin, forcing me to look up at her. “I know what I’m doing.”

I swallow hard but don’t stop touching her thighs, my hands sliding high enough to hover beneath the swell of her ass. “Why?”

“Why do I know what I’m doing?” Confusion shines in her gaze as she tips her head to the side, one eyebrow lifting.

“Why now? Why me?” I gently cup her ass with both hands and groan.

“Because you’re my best friend. My favorite person. And if we don’t do this now, what happens when you leave? I’ll just always wonder what could have been?” She’s so close, her whispered words tickle my lips. “Haven’t you ever wondered?”

“Every day since I met you.” I squeeze her cheeks and tug her forward. Our chests are nearly touching as Ophie’s lips hover just beyond my reach. “You’re sure?”

“You’re starting to give me a complex, Philip.” Straightening, she moves to step backward, but I have a firm grip on her backside and don’t let her. She leans back, fists on her hips, and stares me down. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“We ruin our friendship?” I state the obvious while fighting to keep my eyes on her face and not staring at the round swell of her breasts right below my line of sight.

“Do you really think we can go back to how things were after today? With everyone we know constantly asking us if we’redating? Always fighting to prove that we’re just friends? Don’t you want to just give in? Aren’t you as tired as I am of toeing the line?”

The exhaustion in her voice is clear as she speaks. Her face drops for a second, and I can see clearly how tired she is. Before I can say or do anything about it, she lifts one leg and drapes it over mine, her knee coming to rest on the bed beside my hip.

“If you tell me to leave, I will,” she says, stepping over my other leg and kneeling on the bed, straddling me. My hands slide to her hips as the heat of her pussy settles over my cock. Silently, he begs me to do something. Anything. Just stop torturing him like this.

My hands tighten on her hips, and I take a deep breath, trying to slow my racing heart. “I don’t want you to leave.”

Her hands slide up my arms to drape over my shoulders, one hand twirling the hair at the back of my neck. “Do you want me to stay?”

“Yes.”

Then her lips are back on mine, where they belong. With a groan, I slide my hands up her spine, dislodging her towel. It falls to the floor, leaving her bare in front of me, but I’m too caught up in the hunger in her eyes to look. Instead, I glide my hands over her torso, feeling every inch of her body. Every inch that had been off-limits to me for the past two years is suddenly mine to explore.

The smooth skin of her back.

The dip of her waist.

The swell of her hips that melts into her strong thighs, gripping me between them.

Her soft belly as I slide my hands toward her breasts.

All the while, I’m kissing her—our lips and tongues a frantic tangle. Her teeth nip at my lips as her fingers weave into my hair, pulling at the curls and sending goose bumps down my spine.

My thumbs brush the underside of her tits, and her chest vibrates with a moan. She bites my bottom lip, and it’s my turn to groan as she sucks away the sting.

“Touch me. Like you mean it.” Ophie doesn’t whisper, doesn’t ask. She commands—and I’m only too willing to obey.

I take one of her breasts in my hand and squeeze, massaging it in the palm of my hand as my finger and thumb pinch her rosy nipple. A gasp tears from her throat, her hips rocking against mine. Bending down, I take her other breast in my mouth, flicking the already tight bud with my tongue.

“Yes. More.”

I risk a glance up to see she’s thrown her head back, her arms behind to support it as she rolls her body. It’s magnificent. I go back to what I was doing, sucking and flicking with my tongue, occasionally switching to the other breast. One hand keeps busy with a tit, the other splayed across her back to keep her from falling.

“Hmm, that’s nice. Keep going.” Ophie is vocal with her encouragement in between her humming and heavy breaths. “Oh fuck, that’s good, Philip.”

She abruptly stops making noise, her hips stilling. I release the nipple in my mouth with a smallpopand straighten. A splash of bright pink colors her cheeks, her hands clasped over her mouth.

“What?” I ask, an icy chill running down my spine. “Do you want me to stop? We can stop, it’s o—”

Before I can finish my sentence, she’s switched her hands to cover my mouth, cutting me off. Now that I can see her face, her eyes are full of mischief, and she’s grinning crookedly.

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