Chapter Eleven
It was a good way to wake up. No, Topher mentally corrected herself, it was the best way to wake up, with Jamie between her legs, nuzzling at her inner thighs. His scarred cheek felt alternately smooth and rough against the sensitive skin there, and, on the other side, his beard stubble was consistently rough, scraping in a way Topher knew would leave a red burn there. She really didn’t mind. The abrasion caused a heat deep in her belly, melting her.
Then his tongue touched her, and she was wide awake, her body quivering so hard she almost levitated off the bed. Jamie was good at this—really, really good. Topher wasn’t sure why she was surprised; when James Hawkins did something, he did it well. Then he scraped his teeth oh-so-lightly over her clit, and she stopped thinking anything. All she could do was feel.
“Oh!” Her voice was husky with sleep and passion. At the sound of her exclamation, Jamie redoubled his efforts. “That’s nice.”
She not only heard his chuckle, but she felt it, vibrating against her in the very best way. Then he spoke, and the heated air and his lips both brushed her skin. “Just nice? I need to do better.”
Although Topher wanted to heartily agree with that plan, and also wonder exactly how he was going to make it better without her brain melting into mush, she was incapable of saying anything coherent. With a wordless sound, her hips arched as she pressed into him. However he was going to achieve this miracle, she was all for it.
Oh, and he did do better. He did. Somehow, he used his lips and tongue and teeth and fingers in a way that made her first moan and then pant and then cry out as pleasure she’d only ever experienced with Jamie drove her closer and closer to orgasm. It wasn’t any orgasm, though. It was almost frightening how her muscles drew tight before ecstasy flooded every cell. Her body was out of her control, and panic crept into her brain.
Jamie’s hand wrapped around one thigh, pushing up toward her belly. That grip, strong and demanding, was oddly soothing, grounding her and taking away her nerves. All that remained was pleasure like she’d never felt before, and Topher allowed it to carry her away, trusting Jamie to keep her safe.
Her back arched as she came, her body pressing into his hold. The feel of his hand holding her down amplified every emotion, and pleasure crackled through her body, over her skin and through her muscles, so intense it was almost painful. It was as if he were conducting electricity, sending shocks of ecstasy with his mouth and his tongue...
Dear lord, that tongue.
Twisting and fighting, she orgasmed harder than she’d ever come before, and Jamie shifted so his body covered hers, pressing her into the mattress with his weight. She panted, intermittent aftershocks of pleasure making her muscles twitch, her bones melting under his welcome bulk.
“Was that better than nice?” His voice was a rumbling purr that vibrated through her, waking up nerves that Topher thought were down for the count after that brain-blowing orgasm. When she didn’t immediately respond, Jamie lowered his hips, nudging the sensitized area between her legs with the tip of his erection.
She jolted, but his weight kept her in place, so she couldn’t pull away from the teasing pressure. “Better than nice?” she started to say doubtfully, but then Jamie’s cock was pressing against her clit, and she couldn’t keep up the teasing anymore. “Yes. So much better. Like, a world and a half better.”
His chuckle shook both of them, which was both wonderful and maddening, depending on what part of her body Topher focused on. He shifted, sliding his erection down and then up again. With a pleasurable shiver, she squirmed until her legs were free so she could wrap them around his waist.
Even now that she was completely open to him, ready for him, he didn’t enter her. Instead, he continued his torture—a slow drag across her pussy, followed by a bump of her clit. Her lassitude dissolved as her muscles tightened, the urgency in her body starting up again as her desire rose.
With a huff of impatience, she tried to meet his hips with hers, to force him to enter her, but he stayed annoyingly elusive. She glared at him, but Jamie just looked amused—and aroused.
“Fine,” she said, giving him a wicked smile. “Two can play at that game.” Twisting her body, she tried to flip them over, but his blanketing weight didn’t budge.
“What are you doing?” he asked, laughter clear in his voice. Topher was momentarily distracted by how happy he looked, but then she refocused.
“I want to be on top.” She heaved, trying to roll them both, but she couldn’t even move Jamie an inch. Flopping back onto the mattress, she tried to glare at him, but it was too hard to pretend to be annoyed with happy-Jamie, and she had to hold back giggles. “Please, Daddy?” She gave him her best pleading look.
“Fine.” He rolled them over with such ease that she was jealous at his effortless strength.
Sitting up, she tightened her thighs around his hips and grinned triumphantly. As she looked down at his smirking face, though, her feeling of superiority faded. Even when he was on his back and Topher was perched on top of him, it still felt like he was in charge.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Now...” Topher said in her best seductress voice. “I have my wicked way with you.”
His bark of laughter was not the reaction she was expecting, and she pouted at him. “Go ahead.” He tucked his hands behind his head and raised an eyebrow. That chuckle and self-satisfied pose made her even more determined to reduce him to a boneless heap of want, just like he’d done to her.
Lifting her hips, she shifted up onto his belly and then scooted backward, so that his erect cock was nestled against her ass. Immediately, Jamie looked less complacent, and Topher held back a smile. Leaning forward, she let her nipples barely touch his chest as she reached up to run her fingers over his head.
Despite the short length, his hair was surprisingly soft. She scratched lightly at his scalp, and his eyelid lowered to half-mast. He made a sound deep in his throat, like a purr from a satisfied cat—no, not a cat. A lion. Big and dangerous and mostly wild. Watching him was getting her even more excited, and she lowered her hips, pressing her pussy against his belly. His body jerked in reaction, pushing his cock against her ass cheeks.
Topher’s breath caught as the contact sent a flare of need through her. It would be so easy to raise her hips, to make that small movement that would connect them, but she shoved away the temptation. Her desire to explore him was minutely greater than the need to have him inside her.
Her hands left his hair and found his ears. The right one was rounded and whole, but the left was mostly missing. The little cartilage that remained was misshapen and thick with scar tissue. Tracing both with gentle fingers, she asked, “Does it hurt?”
“No.” Pulling his hands from their faux-casual position behind his head, he grasped her hips. Topher expected him to take control—to lift her and slide his erection inside of her—but he just held on to her. As she continued to explore his ears and then his cheeks and nose and lips, his fingers tightened when she touched certain areas. Cocking her head, she watched his expression closely as she stroked along the line of his jaw, and she was pretty sure he squeezed when something was especially pleasurable.
“Good.” She smiled as she said it, amused by the humungous inadequacy of that word. Getting to sit on Jamie-Bear’s rigid abs as he patiently allowed her to pet him was more than good. In fact, it was pretty much how she imagined heaven to be. “You have a ridiculously strong jawline. Captain America wishes he had your jawline.”
He grimaced. “Right.” His voice was flat. “All superheroes wished they looked like me.”
“You doubt me?” She gave him a stern stare before leaning forward to nip at the jaw under discussion, allowing her teeth to press a little harder than she would have on his unscarred side. His hips bucked under her. Although he quickly got the motion under control, it was too late—she knew it had turned him on. “I spend pretty much every minute I’m not barista-ing or cleaning offices with vain actors. I know what they want, and one of those things is your perfect bone structure.”
With a disbelieving snort, he gave a small shake of his head. “Bone structure, maybe. Just not the rest.”
This time, she bit the tendon on the side of his neck, and he grunted. Quickly, she raised her head to meet his gaze. When she saw the heat in his eye, she gave a satisfied grin, pleased that she’d managed to arouse him. Switching to the other side of his neck, she licked his throat, his morning stubble rough against her tongue. This time, the sound he made was more of a groan. “Don’t be dumb,” she scolded, her lips so close they brushed his skin.
“What?” he asked, his voice rough.
“How’d you get these scars?”
“Truck bomb.” The muscles in his neck tightened as he spoke.
“Afghanistan?”
“Yeah.”
“So these—” she nipped at the scarred side of his jaw again “—are just medals of honor and courage that you wear every day.”
His grunt sounded skeptical.
“You’re perfect, Jamie-Bear.” She sat up so she could see his face. He’d removed his eye patch the previous night, and she traced his brows—one smooth and one interrupted by scars—with the tips of her fingers. Leaning in, she kissed his mouth, hard and fast, before pulling back again. “All parts of you are perfect. How you look and how you act and how you feed me Leigh’s incredible food and how you accept my freakiness and how you wake me up with yet another amazing O. Speaking of which, I think I owe you a few.”
Taking advantage of his momentary stunned stillness, she shuffled backward until she was straddling his legs and his cock, thick and heavy and as hard as iron, stood in front of her. Unable to resist, she wrapped her hand around it. The silky heat in her grip sent a shiver of arousal through her. It was hard to believe that she was touching him, that soon she’d be sucking him, when she’d been stuck with a fake relationship with Danny just a few days before. The thought of putting her mouth on him made her give a little excited wriggle, but Jamie cleared his throat, and she reluctantly shifted her attention from his cock to his face. Jamie propped himself up on his elbows and stared at her, frowning.
“What?” she asked, widening her eyes innocently even as she ran her thumb over the head of his cock. It was slick with pre-come, and she was dying to lick it.
“You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met before,” he said.
“Okay.” Topher waited for a few seconds, but he didn’t seem inclined to expand upon his statement, so she prompted, “Is that good?”
His frown deepened. “I don’t know yet.”
Even though she figured she should pay attention to their conversation, she was distracted by the very pretty erection in her grip. Sliding her fingers down to the base, she gave it a squeeze. With a deep groan, Jamie moved from his elbows to supporting his weight with his hands, and Topher, fascinated, watched his abs swell and roll with the movement.
“You’re like a little tornado,” he said, sounding slightly winded.
“A good tornado?” The words were distracted, since her attention was focused on how glossy the head of his cock had gotten. The rising sun turned the room from dim gray to a rosy pink, and Topher was enjoying her improved view. “Or a life-ending, house-destroying tornado?”
“When would a tornado be good?”
“It killed the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz.” Tearing her attention away from his erection, she frowned at him. “Are you saying that I’m a bad tornado, then?”
“No.” Closing his eyes, he took what looked like an unsteady breath. “I don’t know what I’m saying right now, because you keep breathing on my dick, and it’s driving me crazy.”
“So...good, witch-killing tornado?”
His laugh sounded a little strangled. “If I say yes, will you finally suck me?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes. You’re the very best tornado. Now put your mouth on me before I explode.”
She licked him, keeping her gaze on his face, on his hungry expression. He looked desperate for it, desperate for her, and she absolutely loved that she made him so wild. Refocusing on his erection, she swept her tongue across the slick head again. Her hair slid forward as she leaned over him, the strands pooling on his lower abs and muscled thighs. She noticed his shiver, and Topher smiled, turning her head from side to side so that her hair brushed the skin around his groin.
With a guttural groan, he sat up and grasped her head in both of his hands, tangling his fingers in the strands. He didn’t try to move her or force her down on his cock, but the feel of his hands on her scalp, that possibility of Jamie making her do what he wanted, caused her banked arousal to flare to screaming life.
She considered continuing to tease him. The thought of him making her suck him pushed that kinky-lust button only Jamie seemed to trigger, but Topher was almost as impatient to have him in her mouth as he was to be there. After stroking the tip with another lick, she gave in and closed her lips around the head.
He sucked in an audible breath, his fingers tightening in her hair, pulling lightly on the strands. The tiny aches it caused made her squirm from need, rather than discomfort, the light pricks sending delightful shocks from her scalp through her entire body. Wanting more of his reaction—more of him—she lowered her head, taking him deeper as she sucked. Her tongue rubbed at the underside of his erection as his fingers worked against her scalp, making her moan with pleasure.
Jamie gave a responding groan and tugged her head closer until his cock filled her mouth completely. The head pressed at the entrance to her throat, and she felt a thrill of panic. As she pulled back, he didn’t try to prevent her, and Topher relaxed, the claustrophobic moment passing. Dropping her head again, she kept her lips tight over his cock, slowly taking his length all the way into her mouth again.
“Tophie,” he growled, his fingers tense around her skull. “Swallow me.”
She did as he ordered, ignoring the panicky worry that she couldn’t breathe, working her throat muscles around the head of his erection as she sucked in air through her nose.
“Good girl,” he crooned, and his hands took over the movement. He shifted her head up and down, pushing her back until just the tip of his cock remained between her lips, and then pulling her in, driving his erection into her mouth and into her throat. Once he took over, she relaxed and concentrated on sucking him. It was a relief to give over the control, knowing that he wouldn’t push her past the point that she could take. He’d take care of her.
Jamie moved faster, grunting with each stroke of his cock in her mouth. Driving his erection deep into her mouth, he held her tightly against him, his body jerking slightly as he came, exploding down her throat. Her brain spun as he eased out of her mouth and then fell back onto the mattress. Strangely, Topher felt almost as lightheaded as she had earlier, right after she’d orgasmed. Resting her head on his sweat-slick thigh, she caught her breath and enjoyed the occasional residual tremor that coursed through Jamie’s muscles.
When she started feeling chilly, she moved, lying on top of Jamie with her head on his chest. This way, at least her front was warm.
“Want to go riding this morning?” he asked, his voice a low rumble in his chest that made Topher smile.
“Yes,” she said quickly, propping up her chin on her crossed arms so she could see his face. “At least, I would have, before you turned me into a limp pile of mush. All my muscles have been reduced to cooked noodles. You’ve noodle-fied me.”
He chuckled and then rolled them both off the bed. With a yelp, Topher clutched at him, sure that they’d end up on the hardwood floor. Somehow, though, Jamie managed to keep them both upright. “Too bad you can’t move. It’ll make it hard to get to the kitchen for breakfast, and I heard Leigh mention she was making caramel rolls this morning.”
Topher wrapped her legs around his waist. “Suddenly, I feel so much stronger. I might be able to walk again. It’s a miracle! Leigh should have her own reality show, where she heals people with her cooking. It’s like one of those religious revivals, plus food.”
With a snort, he moved toward the bathroom. “That sounds strangely fascinating.”
“I know, right?” Topher said, tightening her arms around him in a hug. “I’d totally watch that.” Settling her head on his shoulder, she pressed her lips against his neck, enjoying the prickle of his scruff for the last time that morning, since he’d be shaving it off soon. At the thought, she kissed him again.
“Watch it,” he grumbled, although he sounded amused. “If you start that again, you’re going to have to wait for your caramel roll.”
Looking up at him, Topher considered her options. More Jamie-Bear loving or sweet, gooey goodness? It only took her a second to decide. “Okay. I’ll wait for breakfast.”
“Yeah?” His expression softened as he stared at her. “You’re giving up caramel rolls for me?”
“Not really giving them up,” she corrected. “We’re delaying them—and not by too much. I’m thinking a quickie should do it, and then I’ll have my sex and eat my roll, too.”
“A quickie?” he repeated as he shouldered open the bathroom door.
“In the shower?” Even though he was carrying her, Topher found her breath was speeding up from sheer excitement. “We’ll get clean while we get our rocks off. Multitasking. As a business person, you should appreciate the value of multitasking.”
“I do,” he said solemnly as he set her down and turned to start the shower. Although he wasn’t rushing, Jamie was moving pretty fast. Topher grinned, liking that she’d put him in urgent mode. “Especially in this situation.”
Hopping under the spray, she’d barely gotten wet before Jamie was there, condom on, crowding her against the wall. The tile was cold against her back, making her gasp, but it quickly warmed from her skin. The look in Jamie’s eye was getting her hot enough to warm a whole home-improvement store’s worth of tile. He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her like she weighed nothing. When they were face-to-face, he pressed his weight against her, pinning her against the wall.
It was hard to breathe, but Topher wasn’t sure if that was because Jamie was leaning his bulky body against her, or if it was anticipation of the sexy times that were going to happen. Then, his mouth was on hers, and her brain went blank. All that remained in her mind was a glowing, hot, squirming mass of need.
His tongue took over her mouth, his teeth nipping at her lips hard enough to sting in the very best way. She was instantly desperate for more of him, and she twisted her arms around his neck to bring him closer and keep him there. That didn’t stop him from sliding her higher still, until her breasts were even with his mouth. Immediately, he took advantage of her position, taking one of her nipples between his lips.
“Daddy!” Topher cried out, her head rocking back against the tiles. Water poured over them as he sucked, his teeth scoring lightly, sending darts of pleasure directly to her pussy. Wrapping her legs around his torso, she ground her clit against him, desperate to get the friction she needed to come. Jamie pulled his head back, releasing her nipple, and she moaned with disappointment. The aching loss didn’t last long, though, because he turned his attention to her other breast.
He kissed and nipped everywhere except the stiff nipple that was begging for his attention. Topher was pretty close herself to begging by the time he finally quit teasing and closed his lips around the needy tip. She made a wordless, desperate sound as her hips bucked against him. Her clit rubbed against his hair-and-scar-roughened torso, sending a jolt of desire through her.
Her body started to slide down the tile, her nipple pulling free from the light hold his teeth had on it. Topher clutched at him, trying to keep her breasts within licking and kissing and biting range, but Jamie lowered her, his hands around her waist. Her efforts to cling to him were futile, and she finally gave up trying to hold on, dropping the grip of her arms and legs.
Before her feet touched the shower floor, however, he stopped. Shifting his hips closer to her, he bent his knees and drove his cock between her legs. Topher sucked in a breath, her body shocked by going from empty to completely, wonderfully full in less than a second. She was sore and swollen from the previous night’s activities, and he felt gigantic inside her, but the ache was something she was growing to love, that small bit of pain she’d started to crave. Topher didn’t care if it made her freaky or strange that a little hurt turned her on even more. Right now, she wanted it, wanted Jamie and every ache—pleasurable or painful—that he caused.
Her hands, which had been lying lax on his shoulders when she thought he was putting her down, gripped him hard, her fingertips digging into his muscles. He groaned, low in his throat. Topher wasn’t sure if the sound was from how she felt inside, or if it was from the pressure of her clenched fingers.
“Tophie.” Her name was a barely comprehensible sound. His fingers digging into the soft flesh at her waist, Jamie began to move. With his grip on her, his body pressing her against the shower wall, his cock filling her with every thrust, Topher was completely surrounded by him—inside and out. She loved it, loved the security of it, the slight pain, the feeling of being held and protected, so that she was free to let go of everything. She’d never had that before, never trusted anyone as much as she trusted James Hawkins, despite only knowing him for a short time.
He withdrew, his heavy erection dragging against her swollen inner walls, lighting every single nerve ending on fire, pain merging with pleasure, until only the head of his cock was inside her. She held her breath, not letting it out until he drove into her again, filling her so completely that there was no room for oxygen. His pace increased, pounding into her in a rhythm that would’ve been brutal if she hadn’t loved every single stroke.
Tipping his head down, he licked the water droplets off her shoulder before nipping her skin. That bite, as small as it was, sent shockwaves of desire through her and triggered her orgasm. Topher cried out, clutching at him, as pleasure tore through her. As her body squeezed around him, Jamie’s movements—so controlled and even up until that point—became frenzied. He thrust into her, over and over, driving her to even greater pleasure.
With a final hard thrust, he buried himself inside her, pressing his forehead against hers as he came. As much as she wanted to melt into him, to close her eyes and let her muscles go slack, knowing that he would hold her up, Topher kept her eyes open so she could watch Jamie. All the muscles in his face and neck stretched taut, turning the planes and angles of his faces into a piece of art. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he was beautiful when he came. After all, he was beautiful when he slept and talked and ate and rode—why would this be any different?
His body sagged just a little before he pulled out and straightened with a rough laugh.
“What?” she asked, already smiling.
He gathered her tighter against him in a hug. “You noodle-fied my legs.”
“Did you, Mr. James Hawkins, just say ‘noodle-fied’?” she asked in pretend shock.
“I did.” He frowned at her, although his displeasure was about as believable as her mock-horror had been. “I almost called Peyton ‘Pey-Pey’ yesterday. Your Tophie-isms are catching.”
Leaning into him, she tilted her head back so she could see his face. “That’s a good thing. I think there’d be less bitchiness and more harmony and definitely more amazing-food-eating if a little of me rubbed off on a few people around here.”
Lightly tugging her wet hair, he said, “Quit calling me bitchy.”
She laughed. “Then quit being queen of the mean girls.”
Jamie rolled his eye, making Topher goggle at him. First he starts talking like me, and now he’s stealing my gestures? Something is very wrong with Jamie. “Peyton is obviously the queen of the mean girls, Tophie.”
“True.” Laughing again, she gave him a final hug and then playfully pushed at his chest. “Now, put me down so I can wash up. I got my quickie, and now I need caramel rolls.”
“Rolls? Multiple?”
“Of course.”