Chapter Sixteen
Michelle couldn’t seem to move. Her muscles felt liquefied, and small contractions still lingered inside her.
Utah had turned out to be a master at oral sex. Unlike the couple of other lovers she’d had who ruined the experience by being too rough and not knowing when to ease up. No, Utah definitely had it down to an art.
He abruptly rose up, flipped her around to where her head rested at the top of her bed, and jerked her knees apart.
“You better hold on,” he growled, gripping her hands and leading them to the bars of her wrought iron headboard.
Michelle was stunned and more turned on than she’d ever been in her life.
She barely had time to wrap her fingers around the bars before Utah drove into her depths once again.
Her eyes rolled back in her head.
The feel of him stretching her and filling her with his thickness brought her back to the edge she’d toppled over only moments before.
He surged up onto his knees, gripped the top of the headboard, and spread her thighs wider with his own.
Michelle could only hold on, her hooded gaze locked with his as he rocked his hips, penetrating her with calculated strokes.
A slow heat began in her abdomen, spreading through her lower body with every thrust he made.
He released one of his hands from the headboard and brought it between their joined bodies.
Michelle cried out with the gentle pressure of his fingers stroking along the sides of her swollen bundle of nerves. Her eyes slid shut.
He pressed into her as deep as her body would allow, rolling his hips forward in short, sensual strokes. And his fingers—ah, the sweet pressure of his continuously moving fingers— sent Michelle into the abyss once again.
She held on to that headboard for dear life, riding out the powerful orgasm rolling through her with an ecstasy that ripped a cry from her throat.
Somewhere in the midst of her mind-numbing pleasure, she heard Utah’s shout, felt his warm seed enter her body as he shuddered above her.
Long moments passed before Michelle could form a coherent thought. She let her fingers fall away from their hold on the headboard and opened her eyes.
Utah stared down at her with a shuttered look she couldn’t seem to read.
“That was incredible,” she whispered, attempting to gauge his thoughts.
Still, he didn’t speak.
Insecurity began to settle inside her. Had she done something wrong? “Utah?”
He let go of the bar he held and settled down over her to rest on his elbows. “I’m scared of losing this. Of losing what I feel when I’m with you.”
Michelle’s heart lurched. No matter how much she might wish it to be otherwise, Utah wasn’t alive. He was a spirit, who for reasons she didn’t quite understand, was able to interact with her. But for how long? How long before he found his way and left her forever?
“I know,” she managed to say around the lump in her throat. “But neither of us knows what will happen or what the future holds. We have to make the most of what time we do have together.”
Strange how she’d gone from wishing he’d leave her alone to hoping he didn’t leave anytime soon in such a short time. And looking up at him now, she realized the danger she was in of losing her heart.
Utah lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers. He gently brushed a kiss across her lips and then slowly pulled from her depths.
Michelle held perfectly still as he rolled off her to lie on his back. She lay there for several heartbeats before rising and donning her robe. “I’ll be right back.”
Utah nodded, throwing an arm across his face.
Leaving the bedroom, Michelle made her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
She leaned back against the cool wood for a moment before trailing over to the sink and turning on the water.
After splashing some of the cool liquid onto her face, she switched it off and gazed at her reflection in the mirror.
Her lips were pink and kiss swollen, a testament to Utah’s ministrations. He wasn’t simply some spirit or figment of her imagination. He was real to her, and the evidence of that realness stared back at her in the form of a well-loved face.
Michelle took care of her needs, washed her hands, and returned to the bedroom to find Utah gone.
Her heartbeat kicked up a notch. “Utah?”
He appeared behind her. “I’m here.”
Michelle started, spinning around to face him. “You have got to stop doing that.”
The corner of his mouth lifted, giving him a boyish look. “Or you’ll what?”
“Very funny. What were you doing?”
“Letting Peanut out to do his business,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye.
Strange how Utah remained in a form that she could see and touch, Michelle thought, her gaze wandering down his sexy nude body. Yet no one else could see him. Or could they?
“A penny for your thoughts,” he murmured, the insecurity back in his eyes.
Michelle turned and crawled back in bed. “I was just thinking how bizarre this all is.”
His expression grew guarded. “Do you want me to leave?”
Did she? She shook her head. Though her mind told her to put some distance between them, her heart conveyed a different story. “I should. But I don’t.”
Relief shone in his eyes. He rounded the foot of the bed and climbed in beside her.
Michelle turned on her side to face him. “I believe that you’re here for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is, but I’ll do my best to help you figure it out.”
“Then what?” he whispered, his eyes glittering in the moonlight spilling through the window behind her bed. “I’m not sure I’m ready for the answer. But mostly, I’m not ready to leave you.”
Butterflies erupted inside her at his words. “You can’t say things like that, Utah. You can’t just remain here forever. There will come a day when you’ll have to leave. It may be a year from now, or tomorrow. Then what? What happens to me after you’re gone?”
A pained look passed over his face before it slipped into an emotionless mask. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have come here. This can’t end well for either of us, and—”
“I don’t regret giving myself to you,” Michelle blurted, cutting off his words.
She grabbed hold of his hand to prevent him from rising. “Don’t go. Not yet.”