Page 57 of The Ex Effect
My legs quivered under the touches. But when Frankie lowered herself, stopping at my chest, then my belly, then lower, warm misted breath and kisses traveling with her, I hovered on exploding. Right here and now, and Frankie hadn’t even reached the spot yet. “Please…” I whimpered as Frankie, who was clearly enjoying making me wait, slowed the kisses. I was so close. “Put your mouth on me, please, so close…Yes.Right there…”
My eyes fluttered. I wanted to touch Frankie back, needed to feel Frankie in my hands, in my mouth, but I was powerless as a skilled strong tongue and mouth worked my body. My limbs trembled already, my brain shutting off completely, as the air in the room heated and I melted.
Oh my… What was that?Something new and delicious and it feltso effing good. Frankie combined a palm, and circling thumbs and tongue and the pressure. Oh God, the pressure was perfection. My pulse increased, higher, more, clouding my vision. “Oh, yes, there,so close…ummmmm, please don’t stop…”
And Frankie kept the rhythm the same, rocking and tasting. Gliding and circling. So, so, so close. My fingers gripped the sheets. Almost there. I bit my lip, my legs trembling, quivering, and…“Ahhh!”
I was loud and I didn’t care. My body clenched, tight, as the waves ripped through me, euphoric and releasing. My heart thudded, hard in my chest, and I shivered against Frankie’s body.
As Frankie slowly removed her touch, I lazed my fingers through Frankie’s hair. I didn’t want to move. I was sleepy, yet didn’t want to sleep. My body was warm, listless, my limbs immobile on the bed. Soon, my heartbeat slowed, my tremblesevened. Frankie shifted herself higher and planted soft kisses on my shoulder.
Neither of us spoke. For so long, I didn’t want to even think. I just wanted to be here, lying with Frankie as she stroked my hair, her chest lifting and lowering against mine. Nothing else but this moment mattered.
Recovering at a record rate, I rolled over. I nestled up to Frankie’s neck, the sweet smell of Frankie’s body fired my cells, igniting the tingles I just released. I put my mouth to Frankie’s ear, my mouth watering in anticipation. “My turn.”
TWENTY-SIX
FRANKIE
“A little higher. No, wait, tighter.” Morgan propped her hands on her hips. “No, definitely higher. Wait…definitely tighter.”
I dropped my arms and stared at Morgan as if that would make Morgan’s instructions any clearer. I’d been up and down the ladder a dozen times today, stringing lights across the barn ceiling, and my arms burned. Although that was probably less about stringing the lights, and more about the marathon sex sessions Morgan and I had been engaging in for the last two weeks. I glanced down at Morgan’s pouty lips and grinned. The stamina on that one, though. And I thoughtIwas the athletic one in the relationship.
“Morgan,” I said, waiting for confirmation of life. “Morgan.”
Morgan’s head snapped toward me. “What?”
“The lights are fine. Everything is fine. They look great. This place looks great.” I stepped off the ladder and swooped her into my arms. “Okay?”
Morgan leaned her head against my chest. “But I want it to be perfect.”
“Itisperfect.”
The venue was incredible. Against all odds, we had transformed this barn into a pretty spectacular wedding venue. Of course, provided no one looked in the machine shed or three acres down the property, which turned into a busting-at-the-seams junkyard. Hard to think just a few short months ago it was overflowing with tools, junk, and dirt. And today, it damn near sparkled. The broken window was replaced, the floor sanded and stained, and the electrical and plumbing in full working order. Even the inspector signed off. Now, two days before the wedding, we just needed to add the final touches.
The tables and chairs that were delivered this morning needed to be set up, the centerpieces placed, and the table settings set. Delilah would deliver all the flowers the evening before the wedding. Of course, there was no DJ. My blood boiled thinking about that Tag asshole and how close I had been to letting him meet my right hook. I breathed it out, though, not needing any negative thoughts to send me down a rabbit hole. Besides, Olivia’s cousin stepped up and said she’d manage a loudspeaker and a solid playlist from her phone. Not ideal, but Tommy and Olivia were surprisingly cool about the situation—not that they had a lot of choice.
Not only was the venue perfect…so was Morgan.Dammit. So fucking perfect. I watched Morgan as she moved to the side wall and was doing some sort of wedding-day sorcery by revamping the old window we replaced, with some greenery and white chalk paint. Everything she touched morphed into something beautiful and special, and I was truly astounded. Which made my stomach turn.
After our first night together, we made a pact to not talk about the future. Just not mention it at all and bask in the moment. We were taking everything day by day. It was a huge leap of faith for both of us. Morgan always had a plan, and this meant living without one. Although I’m spontaneous in mydaily life, I’m absolutely not when it comes to relationships. And now, my time was coming to an end, and I still had no idea what the hell I was going to do.
I started unloading the folding chairs from the cart and set them up near the tables, stealing as many glances at Morgan as I could. What would life look like if I stayed here? The town was so much kinder and lovelier than I remembered. With how often I frequented Connie’s Coffee and chatted with her niece Megan in the morning, we were damn near a second family at this point. When I saw Joe from the hardware store at the gas station, we talked for ten minutes about the Vikings’ season. I visited Zoey’s more often than I’d like to admit, because Zoey made the best salted caramel macaroons I had ever tasted. On my last visit, I ended up staying for twenty minutes, discussing the upcoming back-to-school events in the fall.
I even talked to the neighbors—which I definitely didn’t do in New York—who stopped by multiple times, checking in on the progress on Peaches’s house. Last week, after being burnt out beyond capacity from clearing out Peaches’s place, I told the neighbors to come through the garage and take anything they wanted. In fact, I begged them to. Thank God they seemed to be of a similar hoarding nature as Peaches because they took a ton. When they offered me money and I declined, a few days later they showed up with a homemade pecan pie, a beautiful crocheted scarf, and a tater-tot hot dish. Somehow, I’d reattached myself to this town and it had started to feel like home again.
And I’d fallen, 100 percent, head over heels, back in love with Morgan.
But moving back here meant starting back at the beginning. In New York, I’d built a reputation and clientele. I had an apartment I loved and lived in the city of my dreams. NYC had been my home nearly as long as Spring Harbors. Quinn was there.Friends, and memories, and a city that welcomed me with open arms as a scared eighteen-year-old, and I couldn’t just leave it.
Metal chairs fell from the cart, and the sharp piercingclankechoed against the hallow room. “Damn, sorry.”
Morgan looked over her shoulder. “You okay? Need me?”
I will always, always need you. “No, I’m good.” I unfolded the chairs and pushed them under the table.
A long-distance thing might work temporarily until we really figured out what to do. But, ultimately, that was never a way I wanted to live. I deserved more, and so did Morgan. And I had to be realistic, Morgan was never leaving Sam and the kids. Her home, family, community, the niece and nephews she loved as her own children, her business… Morgan was here to stay. So I was at a total loss. The idea of leaving Morgan gutted me. I wanted her folded into me at night, to taste her and kiss her and have her hold on to me during scary movies.
“Hey, do you have that extra box of tulle in your truck?” Morgan called out from behind the bar as she unpacked wine glasses.
