Page 54 of Claim to Fame

He pulled three more orgasms from her before she ran out of words, each moving closer to pain than pleasure and yet each so bright and clear she would have asked for more if she had the capacity to form any more thoughts.

Ethan cupped her gently between the legs, his lips skating across her over-sensitive skin as he murmured words of praise. “Such a good fucking girl to give this pussy to me,” he said when his mouth at last landed on her own. “Such a beautiful, brave girl, letting me make you come so many times.”

She glowed under his praise, the warmth of it slowly suffusing her limbs with a heavy, sated peace. He stood, supporting her as her knees shook, her legs unable to support her weight as the aftershocks of her last orgasm reverberated through her. When she kissed him, she tasted herself on his lips.

“Your turn.” She reached for him, pressing her hand to the front of his jeans, but pulled it back, startled, when her fingertips met the sticky proof that he’d already found his own release.

Ethan breathed out in an echo of a laugh. “See what you do to me?” he asked, peppering her jaw with kisses, her cheekbones, her eyelids. “You didn’t even need to touch me. Just the taste of you, and the sounds you make—” He bit her lip, tugging on it gently. “Fuck, I’m getting hard again just thinking about it.” As if to prove his point, his cock jerked between them, the hardening outline of it pressing against her belly.

“You… in your pants?” she asked.

He hummed the affirmation.

“But I didn’t do anything,” she protested.

“You let me kiss this perfect pussy.” His hand dropped between her legs again, fingertips ghosting over her swollen flesh, barely touching her yet still sending sparks across her overstimulated nerves. “You let me fuck you with my tongue. You screamed my name when I sucked on your clit. Christ, you’re perfect.”

She wanted to believe him. His praise was warm and soft, cocooning her from the riot of voices in her head trying to pierce the haze of this perfect moment. Instead of giving those voices room, she focused on his touch, the words he gave so freely, the look in his eyes, and realized she felt naked in a way that had nothing to do with skin.

Chapter Fifteen

“Mama! Mama!” Julie squirmed in Jo’s arms, finally succeeding in wiggling enough that Jo set her on her feet. She toddled over to where Ethan and Hannah stood in the doorway of Jamie’s restaurant, Lemon and Thyme.

“Hey, Jujube.” Ethan scooped his granddaughter up and pressed a kiss to her pudgy cheek, sending her into a fit of giggles.

“Mama,” she said with a toothy grin, tugging on his beard.

“Mama?” Hannah’s lips twitched as though she were trying very hard not to laugh.

“Everyone’s mama. It’s her only word.”

“No!” Julie shouted. At Ethan’s startled expression she giggled again, and repeated “No!”

“Not heronlyword after all,” Hannah said.

“Jujube, this is my friend, Hannah,” Ethan said. The little girl’s face scrunched up to match the seriousness of Ethan’s tone. “Hannah, this is my granddaughter, Julie.”

“Hannah!” Kyla waved to her from across the empty restaurant. “I was just telling Jo and Molly about your dress. Come show them the picture.”

Hannah glanced at Ethan, and he smiled, tilting his head towards the gathered women. “Don’t believe anything Jo tells you.”

“And what would she tell me?” Hannah asked.

“She likes to joke about my being a hot grandpa.”

“Oh, well, can’t say I disagree with her there.”

Ethan leaned close and nipped at her ear.

“No!” Julie shouted again.

Ethan and Hannah jumped at the interjection, breaking apart with a laugh before Hannah joined Kyla and the others at the bar. Ethan watched her go, following the sway of her hips in the little sundress she wore. It was too cold for a sundress, but he wasn’t about to tell her that, not when it swished around her thighs and perfectly highlighted her ass and breasts. He’d had to fight the urge to protest when she layered on a cardigan before they left the house, but then he reminded himself he’d get to peel it off her later and his objections died in his throat.

Julie tugged on his beard—hard—and he shook himself from his thoughts. “Let’s go find your daddy,” he said, bouncing her in his arms as he pushed through the double doors into the kitchen where he knew Jamie, Gavin, and Baz would be congregating.

“Hey, Dad.” Tessa left the circle of Jamie’s arms to greet her father. “Is Hannah here?”

“With Kyla and the others.”

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