My cock has never been so hard. Hell, the slightest breeze from the AC has me throbbing in my underwear.
Scarlett lies in front of me, splayed out and bare on my bed. The image of her like this would have been enough to invoke such a carnal desperation inside of me on its own, but after just watching her hit a high so powerful she nearly soaked a towel, I’m barely holding on to my sanity.
“Promises, promises,” she whispers, staring at the near-painful erection stretching the material of my boxers.
I arch a brow and palm my cock, stifling a groan at the promise of relief. “Your sarcasm is going to get you in trouble one day.”
Her lips twitch. I pull the towel out from beneath her and toss it to the side. Dropping my hand, I move my face between her legs, licking her from bottom to top, not able to stop myself. Her taste explodes on my tongue, and I lap at her again and again until her fingers are threaded in my hair, urging me back.
“I need you inside of me, Adam. Now.”
“Needy girl,” I chastise lightly, flicking her clit with my tongue in punishment. “I haven’t had my fill of you yet.”
I swirl my tongue around her opening and slip it inside as she gasps, “Please. Please just fuck me.”
Hearing her beg is enough for me. I pull back and frantically shove my boxers down. I’m reaching into my bedside drawer to grab a condom when she wraps her fingers around my wrist, stopping me.
“I’m good. I haven’t had sex in a long time, and I was tested on the team. I’ve had an IUD for years.”
“I haven’t been with anyone for a long time. And I was tested after the last time I was. Are you sure it’s okay without one? I’m happy to wear one.” Even if the idea of being inside of her with no barrier makes my cock grow impossibly harder.
Scarlett nods and pulls on my wrist, bringing me back to her. I settle between her legs, so close to being inside of her yet still too far, and take her thighs in my hands before using my grip to yank her toward me. We’re so close I can feel the heat of her pussy trying to draw me inside.
Her breasts bounce with the movement, and I bite my tongue to hold back how much I enjoyed that. In a tight grip, I take my cock in my hand and slowly stroke it as she watches with laser focus. Her tongue wets her lips, and I groan, low and long.
“Fuck, baby. I want your mouth around me so bad. You want that too, don’t you? My cock in your mouth? On your tongue?”
Her eyes spark. “I do.”
I watch her push up on her hands before reaching one out toward me and pushing mine away. She drags a single fingernail up the entire length of me, and I shiver, my eyes rolling back.
“You’re bigger than anyone I’ve ever been with,” she admits, almost in awe as she wraps her fingers around my thick cock.
“You can’t say stuff like that to me right now,” I grunt.
I nearly lose it when she starts to line me up with her pussy and presses the tip to her slick flesh. Meeting her lust-blown gaze, I start to slowly push inside, careful not to hurt her as she stretches around me.
She keeps her fingers around me until I bottom out. Only then does she pull her hand back and place it on my shoulder, grounding me.
“You don’t feel real,” I choke out.
Her silk walls flutter around me, squeezing me so tight it only makes holding on to my self-control that much harder.
I want to pound into her so hard she screams my name for the entire fucking world to hear. I want to claim her as mine and keep her here for the rest of her life. She turns me into a barbarian, yet I don’t hate it.
“I’m real. You’re real. This is real,” she whispers.
There’s something in her eyes that steals my breath, something that shifts the world around us until I’m on unsteady ground.
Scarlett reaches for me with her other hand and grips me like I’m the rope keeping her from drifting out to sea. She squeezes her eyes shut when I pull out and thrust back inside of her hard enough for the headboard to smack the wall.
“God, yes,” she sighs, tossing her head back.
I move up her body and rest my hands on either side of her head before falling to my forearms. Our lips brush, and I thrust again, this time hearing the way her breath skips and feeling her heart thump inside her chest.
“You’re mine, Scarlett. When are you going to accept that?”
She answers by kissing me. Her ankles lock behind my back, keeping me buried inside of her. “I already have,” she whispers against my lips.
My entire body shudders. I pull back, forcing her ankles to drop, and slam back inside. She cries out.
“That’s right. You’re. Mine,” I groan.
I pick up tempo and slip a hand between us to play with her clit, needing to set her off for me again. My orgasm is already building, threatening to sweep me under when I shift my hips and start to fill her even deeper, brushing the soft spot I became acquainted with earlier.
“Need you to come with me, baby. Need you to give me everything.”
“I’m trying,” she whimpers.
It’s like everything we’ve said holds a double meaning. I can’t sort through it all right now. Scarlett is everywhere. She’s in everything. I’m drowning in her, and I don’t want to come up for air. I couldn’t if I tried.
“I know. Just give me a bit more. Give this to me right now.”
She brings her hand to my jaw and holds me where I am, with my lips grazing hers and our breaths intertwining. Nodding, she lets herself fall.
My name tears from her throat as she comes, squeezing me tight, her walls pulsing. I follow right after her, reaching that peak with her name on my lips and slashed across my soul.
I pump into her a few more times as I come before stilling, out of breath. I look down at Scarlett, overflowing with feelings I haven’t felt before.
She meets my stare with one that looks similar but more reserved. A knot forms in my stomach at the thought of her pulling back from me again.
I lean down and kiss her once before pushing back to my knees and sliding out of her. Despite my recent mind-blowing orgasm, the sight of my cum seeping from her swollen pussy is enough to make my cock twitch.
I grab the towel from the bed and use it to quickly clean her up, careful with how sensitive she must be.
“I’ll be right back,” I say softly, getting off the bed and bringing the towel with me to the ensuite. I hear a faint humming noise and smile.
Flicking on the bathroom light, I toss the towel in the laundry bin. After washing my hands, I’m about to head back when I catch my reflection in the mirror.
I turn my body and grab the edge of the counter. There’s something different in the way I look, and it doesn’t take me long to realize what it is.
I’ve seen the same expression on the faces of every single one of my friends.
It’s love. A form different than the one I’m used to.
The feelings churning inside of me fit into place. They click.
There’s a stupid grin on my face when I finally leave the bathroom. I reach the bed, and somehow, my smile only grows.
Scarlett is still in the same position she was when I left, only her eyes are closed and her swollen lips are parted on a yawn. She makes a soft mewling noise before opening her eyes.
Noticing my smile, she asks, “Yes?”
“Nothing,” I say, shaking my head. I might have finally accepted the extent of my feelings, but the odds of Scarlett doing the same are most likely pretty slim. “I just like having you in my bed. In my space at all, really.”
She must be exhausted because I don’t get a smart-ass comeback to that. Instead, she lets me pull back the blanket for her and slips beneath it, her head hitting the pillow instantly. I cover her with the blanket and watch as she smiles at me before turning to her side, facing the empty spot.
It only takes me a moment to get to my side before I’m crawling in and turning to face her. Her eyelashes flutter as she looks at me.
“You have a tattoo,” she says on a yawn. The tips of her fingers brush my side over the small script that lives on my skin. “It’s Cooper’s name.”
I hum. “I got it when he was five.”
“There’s a story with you and him.” It’s not a question.
Brushing my knuckle over her jaw, I say, “There is.”
“Tell it to me,” she whispers, eyes half-open.
I swallow and nod. There isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t tell this woman, even if what she wants to know is something not many besides my closest friends know. Not because I hide it, but because it’s not something others need to know. It’s personal, not only to me but also to Beth.
However, it’s something Scarlett needs to know. It’s a piece of me that I don’t mind sharing with her.
“I’ve known Beth since I was in elementary school. She had a similar family life to mine, and I took it upon myself to befriend her. I kept the mean kids away and, as we grew older, would make sure to do things like drive her home from school or listen to her rant about whatever was bugging her.
“Eventually, her friendly feelings toward me turned into something I couldn’t reciprocate, and when that upset her, I decided it was best to separate ourselves. We didn’t have any contact with each other after that, until university came around.”
I pause, and Scarlett nods in understanding. Her eyes are more open now, more awake.
“The first time I saw her again was when Ava spilled coffee all over her in a Starbucks. It was an accident, but Beth was more outspoken then and took it as something it wasn’t. It started a feud between them, and even though I was curious about the new Beth, I kept my distance.”
“Until you didn’t?”
I nod. “Until I didn’t. I was a hormonal college guy who thought with his dick more than his head and ended up sleeping with her. More than once. Then she disappeared. She dropped out of school, and I didn’t hear from her until three years later.”
Scarlett’s fingers tense around my hip. “What?”
“Yeah. It was three years after our last time together that she found me at Sinner’s and told me I had a son. She was having a manic episode, and . . . it was just really scary. She was yelling for me in the middle of the club and going at it with Gracie because she couldn’t find me. That’s when I found out she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly after she had Cooper.
“Her parents didn’t take the pregnancy well, and with a dad who works for the mayor, they all but forbade her from telling anyone about it. Even me. They thought it would make them look like fools that their daughter got pregnant by a guy who didn’t want her. Beth spent her entire pregnancy locked away in her house and the following two years struggling with her new disorder and raising a baby alone.”
Scarlett’s hand has crept up to my waist, and her grip is tight. She blinks away a film of tears in her eyes.
“That must have been a nightmare for her,” she whispers.
“It was. I’m just happy Beth came to me when she did. God, Cooper was in the car that night. I was half out of my mind after the bomb she had dropped on me, but I remember as clear as day following her to her car and looking in the back window. He was asleep in his car seat, his little head leaned to one side. There was a small blue blanket tucked over his lower half, and he had it clenched in his tiny fist. I thought I was going to pass out on the curb.”
“Adam,” Scarlett whispers and uses her thumb to brush the wet skin beneath my eye.
Despite the sudden tears, the ghost of a smile pulls at my lips. “I knew instantly he was mine. Not only was the timing perfect, but he looked just like me. He still does. We got a paternity test just to be safe, but the results weren’t surprising.”
“He’s your mini-me. I noticed as soon as I saw him the first time,” Scarlett says, smiling.
I kiss the palm of her hand and intertwine our fingers. “I know you have more questions, but Beth will probably want to be the one to tell you everything else. Some of it isn’t for me to tell.”
Scarlett nods before leaning toward me, our mouths a hair apart. “You’re a good man and a great dad, Adam White. I’m lucky to know you.”
Her words pierce my chest. I press our lips together and pull her as close to me as she can get. Wrapping her up in my arms, I hold her tight and pray that this won’t be the only time I get to have her this way.
It’s too late to go back now.
