Page 39 of Getting Lucky Number Seven

“Come on,” Beck said, catching my hand and tugging me toward his apartment. The cool air against my wet skin took away the edge of the haze I’d experienced when Beck kissed me.

Rational thoughts were poking at me, tapping my shoulder and whispering that this might end up going all kinds of wrong. Sex and friendship didn’t mix. Beck made it clear he didn’t want a relationship, and despite my goal to remain unattached as well, I already liked him way too much. But I’veneverbeen kissed like that, and my body was still humming. I could only imagine what it’d do if we took things further.

You only live once. Be careful who you pretend to be. No regrets. Fools rush in. Every saying I’d ever read flew through my head, one telling me to go for it, the next warning me to slow down. I still wasn’t sure exactly who I wanted to be, or even what style I wanted to commit to. All I knew was that I trusted Beck, and if I didn’t go through with this, I’d always wonder. If anyone knew how to deliver mind-blowing sex, I was sure it was him.

So screw everything else.

As soon as the door to his apartment closed behind us, he pushed me against it and kissed me again. The thin fabric of our swimsuits was barely a barrier at all, and I gasped again as I felt his erection against me—the fact that I could even do that to him gave me a surge of confidence. I reached up and undid my bun. My hair brushed my shoulders as I shook it out.

Beck reached around my back and gripped the bow holding my bikini top in place. “If you want to stop, you better tell me now.”

I ran my hands across his toned chest, down his abs. Too many lines had already been crossed to simply go back to the way things used to be, and between the kissing and the chemistry that’d been building for weeks pulsing between us, all I could think wasmore.“I don’t want to stop.”

He yanked the string, undoing the bow there, then made quick work of the one behind my neck. In one fluid motion, my top slid to the floor. I tried not to think about how many perfect bodies he’d seen. Despite trying to become more confident, and the many low-cut tops I’d worn over the past few weeks, I was acutely aware of every flaw I’d wished away before. My pulse hammered so loud in my ears it was all I could hear.

I leaned in for another kiss, figuring at least then I wouldn’t be quite as exposed. It had the added benefit of feeling his skin against mine. We headed to his bedroom, a tangle of lips and arms and legs. Beck laid me gently on the bed and peeled off my bikini bottoms. He kicked out of his trunks and then all I could do was stare at his ridiculously in-shape naked body.

Wow.

He leaned over me and kissed his way down my neck, over the swell of my breast. I whimpered when his tongue flicked my nipple. How embarrassing. He moved to kiss the other one, a million amazing sensations going through me when he did the same to it. He slid his hand down my side, over my hip, and then his fingers dipped lower.

I clamped my lips together, fighting the urge to moan.

Suddenly Beck stopped the intoxicating circling of his fingers and I froze, wondering what I’d done wrong.Oh no, he’s changed his mind. And now that he’s seen me naked, I’ll never be able to look at him again.

“Lyla?” He lifted himself onto his elbows and his blue, blue eyes bored into me. “You and I are the only people here. The only one who’s going to hear you is me, and I want to. It lets me know what you like. If you don’t like something say so. Or just tap me on the shoulder. Okay?”

Exposed. I was naked on top of being naked in a whole other way. But it was a relief, too. That he knew me so well. That he’d given me permission to let go, something I should know how to do by myself but had never quite figured out. I nodded, and then Beck slid his hand between my thighs again. I let out a breath, dropped my head back on the pillow, and didn’t bother hiding any of the sounds that wanted to escape my mouth.

He slid a finger inside me and then his mouth was over my center, warm and hot and causing pressure to build faster and faster. I gripped the sheets and let everything else go. Thoughts, worries, my inhibitions. I focused on the desire coursing through my veins, on the tingling surges taking over my body. Heat pooled low in my stomach, and every inch of my skin prickled in the most delicious way.

“Yes,” I moaned, lost in the sea of sensations I’d never felt before. Then everything came undone inside me, rocketing me over the edge. “Beck, I…” Oblivion took over, every part of me screaming at once, and then I sank deeper into the sheets, a floating puddle of a girl, unable to catch my breath, while thinking I didn’t need to breathe anyway.

Beck leaned across me, his bare skin warm and solid against mine. He swept my hair off my face. “You okay?”

“Uh, yeah. That was…” I closed my eyes, my breathing still too erratic to form complete sentences.Thatwas what people talked about. Why they’d miss class to have sex. Suddenly it all made sense. I’d never imagined it could be so, so…the words to even describe it escaped me. “Mmmm. I’m more okay than I’ve ever been, like,ever.”

When I opened my eyes, it was to his drool-worthy grin.

I ran my hands down his ridiculously cut abs, smiling when the muscles twitched under my fingertips. I followed the dark trail of hair and then gripped the shaft of his penis. His eyelids fluttered, and then he made a low growl that sent a spark of excitement through my stomach. He reached into his side table and took out a condom. Once he had it on, he cupped my cheek. “Same rules. You talk to me, and no holding back.”

I arched against him. “Less rules. More doing.”

A slow smile curved his lips, and then he kissed me as he entered me. As he thrust deeper, I cried out. When the position wasn’t quite working and I needed to shift, he propped a pillow under me. I wrapped my legs around him and rolled my hips, finding a rhythm with him. Oh yeah. I’d definitely been doing this wrong before, because it’d never felt like this.

Within a few minutes, I was screaming again, the orgasm completely different than my first, but just as amazing.

“Lyla…” The control slipped from Beck’s features. His fingers wrapped around my wrists, digging into my skin as he found his own release. He slowly lowered himself onto me, his weight pressing against me in a way that made me want to wrap my entire body around him and never let go. He kissed the curve of my neck as his breaths gradually returned to normal.

Then he rolled onto his back, arms crossed behind his head, and his eyes drifted closed, giving me the chance to take in every detail about him. From the slight indentation on his chin, to the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, to the planes of his torso, and the way lying back like that made the muscles in his arms stand out.

Beck and me in his bed, completely naked and covered in a sheen of sweat. The entire scene almost seemed like a dream. An amazing dream that I hated to end. But I didn’t know the rules, and he’d made it clear it was just sex.

The last thing I wanted him to think was that I’d get clingy now. I sat up. “So… D-do you still want to watch the movie, or I can just go home and—”

Beck grabbed my arm and tugged me down next to him. “Not so fast. You’ve got to enjoy the afterglow.”

Testing the waters, I reached out and ran my fingers down his chest, then let my hand rest on his stomach. “I don’t know the rules.” I couldn’t believe I’d said it out loud—I never would’ve had the guts with anyone else—but this was too important to ruin, and I did better with well-defined boundaries. Iruledat following rules.

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