Page 100 of Lessons in Heartbreak

“Happy birthday to me,” I said against the warm skin of her inner thigh.

Before she could say anything else, I pressed my hand onto her trembling stomach and locked my gaze with hers as I licked straight up her center, groaning at the taste of her.

She clutched my hair in both hands and moaned so loud that goose bumps sprang up on my arms.

New life goal: find every sound that this woman could possibly make with my mouth between her legs. Fuck the Super Bowl—this was the only thing I wanted to win for the rest of my life on this earth.

Through sweet little rocking motions, Ruby worked herself against my mouth, and I found very quickly that she liked it when I used my fingers along with slow, tongue-heavy kisses. Her moans turned to choppy, rib-shaking, gasping breaths, and her hands were so tight in my hair that I had to pinch my eyes shut, my own hips rocking against the mattress to seek relief.

What made her break, though—mouth wide open on a silent scream, her back arched helplessly—was a simple twist of my wrist and press of my fingers, my tongue soft and slick against her.

I watched her ride it out, her ribs rising and falling on shocked gulps of air. Sitting up on my haunches, I wiped my mouth on the side of her thigh and pushed my pants and boxer briefs off.

She watched me hungrily, still catching her breath as I wedged my hand underneath her body to find her zipper. When it loosened, Ruby helped me wiggle the dress up her body. Every inch of skin that was uncovered sent blood rushing between my legs.

Her breasts were high and firm. No more than a small handful, they were so sweet and pretty, and I let my fingers ghost over the hard tips as she shyly eased the dress over the top of her head. With the dress gone,her hair fell around her shoulders, and even after the muscle-melting relief of her orgasm, the nerves clearly returned in the pinch of her brow and in the way she bit down on her bottom lip.

I was quiet at first, gaze following the path of my hands over her body. The curve of her ribs, the dip in her belly, and the perfect little circle of her belly button. My hands skimmed the skin over her hips, and I let my fingers spread wide as I pushed them back up her midsection, my thumbs brushing gently at the bottom curve of her breasts.

Her scar was a long, thin line, and I let my fingers trace that, too, holding her eyes while I sat between her legs and took in the absolute fucking glory of her naked body.

“You’re perfect,” I whispered, spreading my hand over her chest, my fingers brushing over the curves of each breast. Ruby sucked in a sharp breath, sliding her hands up my arms to tug me down over her.

Our kisses weren’t as rushed and furious as when we’d first come into the room. They were sweet and slow, luxuriating in each brush of her tongue on mine. A hundred years. I could kiss this woman for a hundred years, and it wouldn’t be enough. A million days, a billion hours. Nothing short of forever felt like enough, and I found myself clutching her against me with a trembling sort of possessiveness that rocked me to my core. Her hands coasted over my shoulders as I rolled my hips between hers, allowing my hardness to drive her mindless again as I teased her.

For the first time, there was a slight shadow of nerves over what I was supposed to do next. The urge to make this perfect for her had my breath sawing in and out of my lungs while we kissed endlessly.

And there was that too ...

I didn’t want this to end. I didn’t want to leave. Didn’t want to leaveher, more specifically. It was the type of fear that had me kissing her harder, clutching her more tightly in my arms, like it might imprint this moment somewhere permanent.

Maybe this was what forever felt like. Where the wanting of forever began.

In kisses that could never be deep enough or long enough. In exploring her body and finding it perfect for me. In the unexpected ache coiling tighter and tighter and tighter in my chest.

It wasn’t just sex, and I didn’t think it was for her either. I couldn’t wipe away my past any more than I could erase hers, but I could give her everything she’d ever wanted. Could make her feel sexy and cherished and wanted, because God, she was all those things to me.

Her hand reached down to grip me, exactly the way I’d shown her in the parking lot, and I rolled my forehead against hers, hissing through gritted teeth.

“Later,” I told her, then sucked her bottom lip into my mouth as I pulled her hand off me. I reached over into the nightstand and sat back on my heels while I opened a condom packet with my teeth. She watched with huge eyes as I rolled it on. “This might hurt, baby. Do you want to be on top? That might be easier.”

Immediately, she shook her head, hands curling around my back, tugging me back down on top of her. “No. No, I want you on me.”

My heart was fucking hers, and there was no way I could say it out loud. It was the one thing she’d made me promise, wasn’t it? The only promise I’d broken.

I nodded, kissing her deeply again. Her thigh pressed high against my side, and I dipped my head down, pushing her breast up with my hand, licking a tight circle around the tip. She clutched my head and gasped.

I sucked the other one into my mouth, dragging my teeth over the hardened nipple. And oh, she liked that. Gently, I held her gaze and bit down on the bottom curve of her breast, sucking it into my mouth harder than I might have dared if my feelings were any less. It would leave a mark, and something primitive flared hot in my chest, roaring louder and louder to mark her more. To leave behind proof that I’d been here and that I’d had her, even if it was just once.

Ruby tugged me back up her chest, and I slanted my mouth over hers while she writhed helplessly underneath the weight of my body.I took myself in hand and almost blacked out when I tried to press forward.

So hot. So very, impossibly tight.

I’d die. Right here, in between her legs. And I wanted it on my tombstone how I went out, because I’d never felt anything better than this.

She broke away from the kiss with a gasp. “Griffin,” she moaned, wiggling her hips and trying to work me in farther.

“I know, sweetheart,” I hissed, holding her still with a firm hand on her hip. “Let me do this, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”

---