“Well?” I prompted when she said nothing.
“I think you want me there, but you like me here, too.”
Well, if that isn’t the damn truth.
I closed the distance between us and turned her to face me. My hands slid down the sides of her dress as I whispered in her ear, “I want you any way I can have you.”
She cleared her throat as I felt her body reacting to my nearness.
“I’ll be sure to remember that.”
Her words sounded like a promise, and I wondered what I’d gotten myself into.
When we arrived at Ari’s house right before midnight, I walked with her up to her door, all the while restraining myself from pouncing on her. Physical restraint had never been my strong suit.
Images of Ari—her lips on mine as I’d pushed her through her open doorway, her body wet from the rain, her nestled against my chest, her laughing on the boardwalk—all hit me with a fresh wave of desire. I wanted to be near her, with her, in her—and I wanted it f**king bad.
When we reached her door, I kissed her pleadingly. Please let me stay. Please let me show you everything I can do to your body. Please let me give you what we both want right now.
I wasn’t going to walk away without trying.
She whispered something so softly that I hadn’t even heard it in the breeze.
“What?” I asked.
Ari turned her head away from me, a red blush touching her cheeks and the tips of her ears. “Nothing. Sorry. Stupid of me.”
I took her chin in my hand and forced her to face me again. “What did you say, Ari?” My pulse was keeping time in my ears.
Her blush just deepened. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“If I don’t want to what?”
“Come inside…” she said quietly.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. Fuck yes, I want to come inside. That wasn’t the only place I wanted to be coming in right now.
Aribel fumbled with the key before opening the door and leading us into her place. I’d been inside before, but it was a different experience to actually be welcomed. She shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it across the back of the couch. She teetered from one foot to the other, not making eye contact with me from across the room.
“Which room is yours, Princess?”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t answer. I could see what was written on her face—I’m not going to have sex with you.
“I know,” I told her.
She startled as if I’d read her mind. “Grant…”
“Which one?”
She nodded her head behind her. When she didn’t move, I walked across the room and guided her back toward it. I could take control. That was fine with me.
Once we were in her room, my lips found hers, and my mind went on autopilot. I needed her. I needed this.
I pushed her back until her legs met the large bed in the center of the room. It was one of those fancy-ass beds that was too high to sit on comfortably. A million useless throw pillows lay on top, and I reached out and wiped them all from their neat arrangement. Then, I grabbed her by the backs of her legs and set her down effortlessly. Her blue dress bunched around her upper thighs, and I hardened at the sight. My hands slid up under the material, and she shivered against my touch.
“Grant,” she whispered.
I thought she’d meant it as a hesitation, but it had come out as a moan.
“St-stop.”
“Ari, please.” My voice was hoarse. I wanted something, anything at this point.
“I’m not going to—”
“I know. I know.” I held back my irritation. “I’m just going to make you feel good.”
“Grant,” she said with a definite warning in her voice.
Well, I’ll just have to f**king show her then.
I dropped to my knees in front of her and saw her eyes widen as her grip tightened on the bedspread. Good.
My hands pressed gently against her knees, spreading her legs farther apart. She squirmed uncomfortably, but I just ignored her. She’d be squirming for other reasons in a minute. I ran my fingertips ever so lightly from her knee to the sensitive skin hidden beneath her dress. She gasped at my touch. That did the trick. My lips followed. Each inch that I kissed brought a new wave of trembles from her body. The anticipation of what I was going to do was getting her riled up, and f**k was it turning me on, too.
When I reached her dress, I glanced up to get an okay to continue, but her eyes were firmly closed. The look on her face was doing anything but discouraging me. I flipped up her dress and kissed my way down the soft lace of her pale blue underwear. She quivered beneath my touch, and it took considerable effort to slow my racing heart and focus on the matter at hand.
I eased her back on the bed, so she was lying flat. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at me with a mix of desire and terror.
“Trust me,” I told her.
She swallowed and nodded.
I pulled her underwear slowly down her legs. All I wanted to do was rip them off of her as fast as I could and bury my dick inside her, but I went slow. I wanted her to be comfortable.
Who the f**k knows if she is going to let me be this close to her again after tonight? She might come to her senses and realize that I was no prince in disguise; I was just a frog waiting for a kiss from a princess.
With the barrier between us removed, I started at her knee and worked my way back up. She was practically panting by the time my mouth found her lips for the first time. I ran my tongue down the length of her and then swirled experimentally around her clit, savoring every sound of pleasure escaping her. And I wasn’t going to stop there. My tongue flicked against her until she could barely keep her hips still. I worked her into a total frenzy before finally inserting one finger into her and then another. Her body spasmed around my fingers as I worked them in and out of her.
Oh f**k. Her body was so responsive to my touch. I just wanted to feel everything that was going through her. I wanted to sink my dick into her wet pu**y and ride out that wave with her, but I’d let her have hers. My own breathing was turning ragged as I brought her closer and closer to the brink.
I felt her body seize all at once around my fingers. She stiffened slightly. Her hands dug into the bedspread. When her orgasm faded out, she relaxed. No big fanfare. Typical Aribel.
“Why…why did you stop?” she asked breathily after a moment.
“Because I wanted to watch you come.”
She blushed. “Um…I didn’t.”
I leveled her with a you’re-kidding-me kind of look. “Um…yes, you did.”