Page 18 of Midnight & Memories

Even when she isn’t next to me, I can’t stop thinking about her and how much I want to make her mine.

His hand stroked his length back and forth, desperate for release. Ridge let out a moan as the motion and thoughts of her thighs wrapped around his waist gave him an escape from the physical boundaries they placed upon each other. A well of pleasure grew within him as fantasies of making her come in his shower, and his cock was now so sensitive, it was a miracle he didn’t yank it right from his ball sack. He continued stroking it in a back-and-forth motion, but no matter how much and fast he was stroking himself, he couldn’t find a release. He let out a sigh as a squeak of the door to the shower opened and broke his thoughts. Ridge gasped as he opened his eyes to meet Poppy’s gaze.

“I hope I didn’t startle you.”

His gaze went down the length of Poppy’s gloriously naked body. Her breasts were perfectly pert mounds and complimented her curvy hourglass figure.

“I heard the shower turn on, and I figured it would be nice to join you.”

She palmed his chest and rubbed his nipples with each of her thumbs.

“After all, I’m kind of the reason for this.”

She took hold of his cock and stroked its length. Ridge almost lost it just from her touch. If she kept this up, he’d shoot his wad before ever being inside her.

“Poppy, oh, Poppy, you d—don’t have to do that.” He said as he sucked in a breath, now trying desperately not to come.

“I want to, Ridge.”

Ridge palmed her cheeks.

“I want you, too, Poppy.”

He drew her lips to his, and in one motion of his hands, he pulled her up around his waist before gently placing her backside on the ledge in the shower. All the while, he had his eyes locked on hers. “There is nothing more in this world that I want than to make love to you, Poppy.” He whispered in her ear before his lips trailed kisses down her neck. His hands cupped her mounds while his thumbs flicked at her rising peaks.

Poppy let out a soft moan in response.

His lips slid down to her cleavage before kissing the top of each breast. He rested them over the peaks, flicking the taut nipples with his tongue.

“I need to know how delicious that pussy of yours is, Poppy.” He said as he slipped a finger inside her slick folds.

His mouth trailed from her contours to her stomach. Heat rushed over him as he was a breath away from her hot sex.

She arched her back in response to his breath, and he surrendered to the sweet, honeyed vanilla scent. His tongue lapped over her clit, savoring every drop of her sweet juices until she was riding on the edge before him.

“Ridge, please.”

“Not yet, my sweet.”

He plunged two fingers inside her, and this beauty fell apart in front of him. An awareness grew within him and shot right to his cock. He had never possessed this desire for any human except for Chelsea.

Ridge screwed his eyes shut and shuttered at his monstrous thoughts of wanting to taste her in a way he never should. Ridge hoped the action, along with the now cooling water, would clean his impure thoughts. He took a deep breath and tried to trail kisses up the length of her body until he was upright. Ridge sucked in another breath before he opened his eyes. And then he extended a hand to pull her close to him in a calming embrace he desperately needed from her.

He had done so well with her in his bed. Not once did the thirst overwhelm him, so he had figured sex with her wouldn’t tempt him, but he was wrong.

Fuck! Why didn’t I feed? My control would have been so much better!

He pulled her into his arms and took in her sweet scent in a long, jaded breath. Her heartbeat touched his ears, and he closed his eyes, as he did so many years ago with her when she was Chelsea. He needed to concentrate on her rhythm. That beat was the only thing that kept him from ever biting her in the past, and he prayed it would do the same for him now. Ridge sucked in a couple of more breaths to steady himself. His breathing and desire settled enough to gaze upon her face again without fear.

“Ridge, I didn’t come in the shower for you to satisfy only me.” She said as she played with his right nipple with the heel of her palm.

He closed his eyes and let out a low growl to stomp out the impeding hunger building again in his belly. He can’t risk hurting Poppy, not now, not ever. Ridge loved her too much to turn her against her will, yet every fiber within him felt she wanted it.

Ridge shook his head to stamp out the longing to turn her around, shove his cock deep within her backside, and give her an immortal kiss to claim her as his own. It would be so easy to take her as his own. She wouldn’t even know what had happened until she woke up as a vampire. However, even now, when he’d already lost her to the frailness of mortality once. He still hated the idea of tainting her beautiful human purity.

“Baby, I know you didn’t, but I’m fine, really.” He said with a half-smile. “Besides, I’m hungry. Why don’t we finish washing up and head to this great hole in the wall for some breakfast?”

Poppy pouted.

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