Page 56 of The Ex Effect
Oh, this rush of honesty was a hit of endorphins. Libido officially returned. I shifted closer until our thighs touched. I’d always been the practical one, the analytical one, the pragmatic one. Frankie was the spontaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants dreamer. And now Frankie was questioning everything and I didn’t know what to do with that uncertainty.
Frankie skimmed her fingertips across my bare thigh, her thumbs caressing above the knee. “I mean, there’s a lot on the line. So much has changed… You, me, we’re totally different people, you know?” She swallowed. “And, I, uh, don’t have casual sex. Ever. I’m not trying to overthink this, but I just wanted you to know that this is a really big deal. It’s not just a fling for me, which is why I’m tripping out.”
Not casual. So…serious? Which meant what? But honestly, I didn’t care at this point. All I wanted to do was feel Frankie’s body, touch her skin, not worry about anything until morning. I stood and nestled myself in between Frankie’s legs. I tucked my fingers under Frankie’s chin and lifted it so I could read her thoughts. The warm, deep, bourbon-brown eyes stared back into my soul.
I licked my lips, my hunger growing stronger. “How about, just for tonight, we let go? Let’s not think about the past or the future, or anything except the right now.”
Frankie grasped my arms and kissed the inside of my wrist, her mouth leaving a soft imprint on the skin. “Just for tonight. I can do that.”
I lifted a leg to set my knee on the outside of Frankie’s thigh, then climbed on top. Straddling her, I pulled Frankie into my chest and held her. Strong hands fanned across my back, holding me upright, providing the balance, the support and safety, I desperately needed. Frankie stayed there, her head pressed against me, being held, holding.Breathing.
Fingertips moved, shifting from my back, my ass, down my legs. Frankie slid her hands up my skirt and gripped my hips. The touch on bare skin made me nearly collapse. Frankie ran a trail of kisses up my neck to behind my ear, and I felt like I’d submerged myself in a warm bath.
“Mmmmm.” A muffled sound released from me. Oh, this all felt so good. Familiar and totally different at once. I pushed my mouth against Frankie’s, tasting her lips, moving, swirling. My arms wrapped Frankie, tugging her tight against me. I needed to be closer. Every part of me wanted to be closer.
Frankie moved her hands now, lifting my shirt just a bit, her fingertips whispering against my bare back.More. Take it off.Take everything off.The hands crept higher, past my rib cage, bra strap, up until she clasped the base of my neck. My pulse thudded in my ear.
“Is this all…okay?” Frankie breathed into the crook of my neck.
When Frankie swept her lips across my jaw line and back to my mouth, I could barely manage a whisper. Goosebumps skittered across my skin and I deepened the kiss. “Yes…everything’s perfect…”
Everything was too tight. The shirt, the bra, the skirt constricted at my skin, and I wanted to rip it off. But Frankie’s hands moved slowly underneath my shirt, taking her sweet-ass time like she was worried if she moved any quicker, she’d miss some of my skin. But I needed more, quicker. This shirt had to go. I whipped it off and threw it into the wall.
“Shit. You’re so beautiful.” Frankie buried her face in my cleavage.
Soon, warm breaths moved over my bra.Strip it off, latch on, move against me,something.Please. The wet breaths were so intoxicating, fogging my skin, making me quiver. I pulled on Frankie’s shirt. “Can I take this off?”
“Yes.” Before I could assist, Frankie gripped the shirt behind her neck and ripped it off and…damn. The black racerback sports bra was sexy and fierce, everything Frankie was. I hooked my finger under the strap, ran my tongue up Frankie’s collarbone and into her lower neck. Her skin tasted so good, clean and salty, and I wanted all of Frankie in my mouth. Frankie moaned, filling my ear with delicious sounds.
Frankie leaned into the kisses, then cupped my ass, tight, and lowered us both to lying.Jesus, she was so strong. So fully in control.Confident.I sat up, still straddling a lying-down Frankie. I needed to see more of her. My flattened palm moved down her sternum and over the ridges in her stomach. Okay, seriously, the ab muscles were ridiculous. For a fleetingmoment, a brush of insecurity moved through me for my much curvier frame, but the way Frankie moved her hands, squeezing me, like she was desperate for more, silenced that voice.
Frankie hooked a finger under my bra strap and lowered it just an inch. “Is this okay?—”
“Take it off. Now.” The commanding voice that slipped out almost surprised me, but I ached to feel Frankie’s mouth on me, savoring me,owningme. In one snap, cool air-conditioned air hit me, and I shivered. Frankie held firm and steady with one arm, as her other hand cupped my breast. A thumb grazed my nipple and my breath hitched.
“You’re so beautiful, Morgan. You’re perfect…”
Frankie’s mouth hovered and I swore if Frankie didn’t put her mouth on me, I was going to lose it. The anticipation was making my limbs weak and…Oh. Right there. Frankie swirled her tongue, long, leisurely on my nipple, her soft moans matching mine. But when she pulled me into her mouth, sucking and licking, I couldn’t breathe. If I died right now, this was exactly how I’d want to go out. The mouth alternated firm and steady, hands and fingers pinching and rolling, and a heated deliciousness filled me. The moment was hypnotic, my eyes turning glassy and unfocused.
I need friction.I moved from straddling Frankie’s entire body, to just one jeaned leg, needing more pressure on my center. Rocking and swirling my hips didn’t provide enough relief, and dammit, I needed more.So much more. I should slow down and savor, but I wanted everythingso bad, right now.
“Can I?” My thumbs grazed under Frankie’s bra. When Frankie nodded, I tugged and Frankie peeled, both of us all fumbling hands and arms. “Why are these so freaking tight?”
“Ugh, I got it, wait, no, here,ouch, no I’m good, I’m good, don’t give up now.” Frankie chuckled and finally got the sports bra over her head and chucked it to the floor.
And I stopped all movements. I didn’t want to stare,but I really wanted to stare, to absorb everything about this moment. I remembered this body—the trio of angel kisses resting to the left of Frankie’s heart, the color of the pale skin, the scar on the lower right ribcage from a childhood bike accident.
But I also didn’t remember. Not like this. She wasperfect. “I, you, agh… You’re… God, you’re so freaking hot.” Every part of me wanted to taste Frankie, to fill my mouth with Frankie’s skin, to inhale her scent.
The movements quickened. Fingers unclasping buckles, jeans hitting the floor, skirt and underwear and every article of clothing, gone, until it was just us. Heartbeats pounded so loudly I didn’t know which body they belonged to. I moved to the side, pushed my thigh in between Frankie’s legs. Hungry mouths and breaths and lips moved, tongues grazed and lingered. Frankie’s wet mouth met my breasts again, and I dug my fingers into Frankie’s neck. I wanted more. I wanted all of Frankie.
Hands gripped me and flipped me on my back. “Ohhh.” This was real. For right now, everything was real and hot, and intense, and perfect. Maybe we could be like this forever. Pretend that New York and jobs and stress didn’t exist.
When Frankie’s palm slid down my chest, to my belly, and lowered, she hovered. “Can I touch you?”
The needy huskiness in Frankie’s voice was almost too much. I couldn’t speak. There was not enough air, and anticipation seized my lungs. My heartbeat pounded in my chest, so loud, so hard, and I knew Frankie could hear it. I grabbed Frankie’s hand and guided her to my center. “Please touch me,” I finally moaned.
Frankie dipped a finger inside me and my breath hitched. Circles and swirling and movement, andmy God, how does she know the right spot?Then another finger, and I was blinking away the stars. The way Frankie moved, slow at first, then increasing pressure andshit. I gripped Frankie’s shoulder,needing more…needing less…no, definitely more…and Frankie read me perfectly. History or intuitiveness, it didn’t matter. Frankie knew when and where and how much.
