Page 55 of Adrift

Rani

I get home later than I had intended. Turns out, seniors at a nursing home can party like it’s nineteen-ninety-nine even better than an almost twenty-year-old. A few of them were still up and chatting in the common area when I slipped out at nine PM.

Unsurprisingly, I notice the lights on in Darian’s study, so after taking off my shoes, I pad over to see him.

I thought an entire day away, doing things with other people, would quell the frenzy inside my head to see him, to be with him. But I was so wrong. I found myself staring at Fred and Lynn even more, wishing things for myself that I know Darian can’t guarantee. I wished for them anyway. Even when we were all decorating cupcakes, I found myself smiling, wondering if Darian liked cake with how nutty he is about nutrition.

I push the study door open since it isn’t closed all the way and find him asleep on his chair. His head is tipped back, his arms resting loosely on the armrests. His broad chest takes up the entire width of the chair, while his neck stretches so temptingly, I want to run my tongue along it.

The hum from the baby monitor echoes through the room as I tiptoe closer, until I’m mere inches from him. I need to get him to his bed so I know I have to wake him, but I take a second to marvel him. He’s so gorgeous, it’s no wonder my sister fell for him in mere hours. I’ve seen the pictures of him from a decade ago, and I can firmly say he looks as good, if not better, than he did then. He’s filled out and takes over the space in almost any room. The lines around his eyes that likely weren’t there ten years ago don’t make him look aged but rather refined.

I gently skate my fingers into his thick wavy hair, watching his eyes twitch and his lashes brush against the tops of his cheeks. His hair is so thick and luxurious under my fingertips, I feel like I’m touching strands of silk. I do it again and he opens his eyes, taking me in.

“Hi,” I whisper, keeping my hand in his hair.

His hand wraps around my wrist before he pulls my hand down to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the center of my palm. “Hi.”

“I thought I’d get you to bed. I didn’t want you getting a crick in your neck.”

He rubs the inside of my wrist with his thumb. “What time is it?” His voice is gruff, sparking goosebumps across my arms.

“Just about nine-thirty.”

His eyes are still on me and his head stays tilted back in the same position as he pulls on my hand, drawing me closer to him.

I rest a hand on his shoulder while my other one wraps around the base of his jaw and neck. I lean in and press my lips to his. It feels natural to do so, as if the barriers to be closer to him have lifted. As if his lips were made just for me to kiss.

It’s hard to believe it was only yesterday that I was so unsure about it all, worried I wouldn’t be able to last inside the ever-changing hot and cold temperatures between us. But now . . ..

Darian’s confession, his honesty, changed everything. His disclosure that I was on his mind, even when I didn’t think he thought about me, made it clear that I wasn’t the only one suffering, fucking tortured, at the sight of him.

His hand travels the length of the back of my thigh under the dress I’d worn to the nursing home today, and it drives me wild. Our lips mesh together and our tongues dance against our moans as his hand continues its slow upward perusal. His eyes fly open in alarm just as he finds my bare ass.

He pulls away from my lips. “You’re not wearing any underwear? What sort of nursing home party did you attend?”

I giggle, leaning further in to press another kiss to his lips before covering his hand–the one still on my bare bottom–with mine and scooting it further up so he finds the top band of my thong.

He groans, running his hand over my ass cheek before pulling me onto him. “Fuck.”

With minor adjustments to our positions–and a mini panic attack that the chair is going to break with our combined weight on it–I straddle his lap. My hands can’t decide where to be–starting on his chest and sliding to his neck, feeling his delicious scruff under my fingertips, before settling inside his hair. I pull it gently as he groans into my mouth.

We’re ravenous, our tongues colliding, exchanging each other’s air. With my dress covering his lap, I grind into his hard erection, shamelessly rubbing my swollen clit against the thin material of my thong and the rougher material of his shorts. His hands guide me over him, creating a rhythmic symphony that starts pulsating in my core. While squeezing my ass in one hand, he skates the other out and slides it over my breast, palming me.

“Jesus, Rani.” He speaks low against my mouth, and I force myself not to scream from the pressure he’s inciting inside of me. “Tell me you want this because I might be getting past the point of stopping. But, baby, I need you to think.”

“Yes,” I hiss into his mouth, undulating over him. I’m seconds from shattering, the friction too much, lighting up my body like it’s in a firework display on the Fourth of July. “I want this.” I cup his face with my hands, my eyes hooded. “You’re the only one I want this with.”

Needing more traction, I rock over him more fervently, groaning as the rough fabric under me scrapes against my most delicate skin. The torture is both excessive and insufficient, eliciting a guttural groan from my throat.

Darian continues to guide me against his erection before his thumb comes around to my front. He slides it into my panties, finding my clit, before pressing it with the perfect amount of pressure. He circles my slick center while letting me rub myself on top of him. I scream, feeling the overwhelming lust build up inside me, ready to pull me completely under.

My forehead rests on his shoulder as he alternates between flicking and rubbing my swollen nub, still pressing into me from underneath, and I keep grinding down on him. “You want to come?”

I mumble incoherently, biting into his shoulder. I’ve never wanted anything more.

I’m a shameless mess of desire and need. My body feels like it’s on fire, and he’s the only one who could douse it out.

His other hand on my ass, pushes me against his thumb on my clit, while his lips land on the side of my neck. He sucks gently, creating a full-body experience so potent that the memory of this will live inside me forever. His tongue glides to my earlobe before he bites it, making me groan in ecstasy.

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