Page 113 of Beautifully Messy
“Come on, let’s get in the water. You must be freezing.” Without waiting, he reaches down, wraps his massive hands around my goose-pimpled backside, and my legs cinch around his waist. He carries me into the water, his mouth never leaving mine.
A whimper escapes at the assault of hot water combined with the hardness of him pressing against me. James tears his mouth away and floats to the far side of the hot tub. My chest heaves, taking in the hazy, dazed look in his hooded eyes.
“Wanna tell me what happened? Why are you all the way over there, and I’m over here?” The urgent edge to my voice has the corners of his mouth curling up.
“I thought you wanted to read tonight. Did you bring your book out with you?” he asks, his voice rough.
“I see how it is. Here I was thinking you might have something else on your mind.”
“Oh, I have a lot of things going through my mind.” He smirks and spreads his arms on the outside of the tub. “But I’m not going to do any of them to you—not here, not in this hot tub, not in this house.”
“What?” I scoff indignantly.
“I haven’t waited four years to have a quickie. I need a bed and a lot of time.”
“You can’t be very comfortable. Unless that was a hammer in your trunks.” I squeeze my legs together, trying to ease the ache, as I take in this man I’ve loved for so long, telling me he’s still willing to wait. He doesn’t want to rush.
“I am extremely uncomfortable. But I’m used to it. I’ve had years of managing being around you without being able to touch you.”
I lift my hips and sit on the edge of the hot tub, feeling the cool against my very exposed and very aroused skin. I shiver with anticipation, watching his eyes follow the beads of water trailing down my throat, between my breasts, along my stomach.
“I’m very uncomfortable, too.” I bring a single finger to my knee and start to inch it up. “And I won’t sleep well feeling like this.”
James takes the bait and is before me in an instant, sloshing water over the sides. He fits his body between my legs, pushing my knees further apart. “What are you going to do about it?”
“If no one wants to help me, I’ll have to take care of myself.” My finger reaches the apex between my legs and swipes over the fabric.
He surges in and kisses me. I slip my hands around his waist and press my body more fully into his. He delves in with his tongue, and I meet him with mine. Heat races through me as our hips align.
I drag my nose along the edge of his jaw, relishing the bristle of whiskers against my heated skin. I trace every ridge of muscle, following the V that leads tantalizingly down to the waistband of his swim trunks. His skin is warm beneath my fingertips, scattered with freckles like points on a map I intend to visit. I feel him everywhere—every hard plane of muscle, every warm breath against my skin.
It’s a dizzying assault on my senses.
He stays focused, sucking, nipping, and licking until I’m panting. I pull his mouth back to mine and kiss him long and slow, like the slide of his tongue against mine is the only thing that exists. I wrap my legs around him, erasing any remaining distance.
“Sydney...” he groans.
Hearing my name, both prayer and promise, lights every nerve. With nothing but the press of his body, the heat of his tongue, the sound of my name tumbling from his mouth, I shatter.
As the tremors roll through me, I moan, relishing every tremor. James watches, committing each sound and every roll of my hips to memory. I pull him tighter and keep the pace of our hips rolling. His fingers dig into my hips, his breath shortens, and with a deep, guttural noise that is the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard, he stills and pulses against me.
When I’m able to catch my breath, I run my hand through his hair and pull his head back.
“I’m looking forward to doing that without these pesky layers between us.”
“You’re going to be the death of me.” He laughs, loud and free. “Here I am, trying to be noble. Make sure you know I don’t only want you for sex.”
“Dude. If you just wanted me for sex, I think the last four years were overkill.” I smirk and lean in to kiss the corner of his mouth.
He smiles, slow and sexy. His dimple begs to be touched.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” he asks, leaning in to claim my mouth again.
“I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.” The words tumble out. I mean exactly what I say. This promise hangs between us like the first brave green shoot after a long winter.
“We’re wearing pajamas, though. Maybe a snowsuit.” He laughs and swats my ass, then steps out of the hot tub and holds up my robe for me.
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