CHAPTER 16
“Brynn, we need to talk.”
Brynn heard Axel speaking but she didn’t want to listen to him. Her entire body protested at his suggestion and her nails dug into his shoulders as she shook her head back and forth.
“I think we should—”
“No. No thinking. No talking. I don’t want to think. I don’t want to talk. Not tonight. Tonight can we just…” Brynn tried to think of something sexy to say, but her mind was too busy with all the endorphins and dopamine that were being released to come up with anything. She took a breath and spoke her greatest desire. “Can we just not think? Not talk? Please? Tonight, I just want to feel and tomorrow we can think and ta—”
She was cut off once more by Axel’s lips claiming her. She’d never been a bigger fan of being interrupted as she was right now. The needy grunt that worked its way up her throat gave a voice to the desperation she was experiencing.
Is this what kissing was always like?
It’d been awhile, but if her memory served her, she’d never felt this intense urgency before. If this was what kissing him was like then what would it be like to actually have sex with Axel? Would anything or anyone ever be able to compete with tonight or was this the pinnacle of pleasure that she’d never achieve again?
Stop, she ordered herself.
She’d just told Axel that she wanted a night with no talking and no thinking and that meant no overthinking. There’d be plenty of time to dissect this encounter later. This was a be present, YOLO, live-in-the-moment kinda night. For once, Brynn was going to lose herself in the moment and deal with the consequences later.
Acting purely on instinct, she indulged herself as her hand boldly roamed over the hard planes of Axel’s back. She did her best to memorize every inch of his sculptured frame. Her fingers gripped onto the wide expanse of his shoulders as his tongue explored her mouth. His sensual licks swept back and forth, searching, claiming, and branding her, sending toe-curling, ribbons of ecstasy spiraling through her.
Axel advanced forward, backing her up so she was sandwiched between a rock (the wall) and a hard place (his body).
She found herself writhing against him as his hand traveled over her hip and landed firmly on her outer thigh. His fingers flexed and he lifted her knee and stepped between her legs. The hard ridge of his arousal that had been nuzzled against her belly ground into her core.
He moved his hand once more, this time his fingers spread on her hip, holding her in place as his lower body rocked into her in a rhythm that had her sex pulsing with anticipation. His other hand wrapped around the base of her neck, tilting her head so he could have better access to her mouth. She relaxed, allowing him complete control of her. He was a sensual puppet master and she was his to manipulate.
As her whimpers increased in frequency, she felt the heat of Axel’s touch slip beneath the cotton of her shirt. It trailed up her torso, the material bunching as he traveled north. With only minimal interruption to their kissing, Axel had the garment over her head and falling to the ground in seconds.
Her breasts, now bare, were mashed against his chest. The skin-on-skin friction caused her nipples to grow hard and sensitive as they brushed against him. He hadn’t even touched her yet, at least not with his hands, and her nubs were tight with need begging for his attention.
She arched her back, offering her chest up to him, hoping to urge him to touch her with his hands or his mouth, she wasn’t picky. But he didn’t take the nipple bait. It seemed he was set on a much lazier pace, as he tried to slow the frenetic energy passing between them down. The kiss that was frantic moments before relaxed into a gentle, tender one. As swept up as she’d been in the crazed tornado of sensations, this new seductive pace caused her to float in a dreamy intimacy that she never wanted to wake from.
When his lips moved off hers, she began to protest until she felt his mouth on her neck. Her head naturally fell to the side as he devoured her like a vampire in one of her romance novels. He covered her entire neck and shoulders with open-mouth kisses, licking and sucking her skin as he rolled his hips, pressing his hard shaft against her pulsing core.
Brynn moved with him as tension that she’d only experienced at her own hand or with the help of her handy dandy lipstick vibrator, began to build in her belly.
As happy as she was that a climax was beginning to take shape, she didn’t want to come apart like this. Not without more contact. It amazed her that her body was so responsive to Axel when normally for her to even get wet took quite a bit of foreplay. But, she guessed it made sense, considering the first night they met he’d seen her naked and she’d grabbed his magic stick. From that point on, her body interpreted every interaction they’d had as foreplay.
Without wasting another minute, she reached down and started pushing her shorts down as Axel continued to lavish her neck and shoulders with sensual kisses. Her mission to get naked was impeded by the position Axel had her in. His hand had a tight grip on her hip, keeping her leg hitched up. There was no way to strip out of her clothes.
When she started to shift so he’d release her leg, he gripped her so tight she wondered if there might be marks on her fair skin the next day. The thought of him marking her gave her a secret thrill as his lips covered her nipple and his teeth nipped at her distended bud. The dual sensation caused her body to convulse in extreme pleasure.
Brynn abandoned the waistband of her cutoff sweats and her hands clasped Axel’s head. Her fingers threaded through his hair and gripped tightly. Her shoulders flexed and her chest jutted out, seeking to give him all of her body. His teeth bit down on her nipple as his tongue flicked across the beaded peak. The bristles from his five o’clock shadow were rough against her soft skin and she loved it. She couldn’t get enough of it.
With each lick, each roll of his hips, he was driving her closer and closer to the edge. Her nails raked through Axel’s soft, damp hair and she realized he must’ve just gotten out of the shower before she’d arrived. Thinking of him naked, water dripping down his magnificent body had her even more primed and ready for release. She was so lost in the oblivion that she was spiraling toward that she didn’t notice when he moved away from her breasts and headed south. It wasn’t until she felt his chin brush her stomach, causing her to giggle, that she opened her eyes.
“Sorry, I’m ticklish,” she explained as she looked down and saw that he was kneeling in front of her.
“Good to know.” A wolfish grin spread on his face while his fingers dipped beneath her waistband and panties as he tugged down.
She was now standing on both feet, which made it easy for him to slide the material over her hips and down her legs. After she lifted each foot so he could remove her sweat shorts and underwear, Axel rested back on his heels as his eyes traveled up and down her body in an unhurried fashion. His gaze was filled with appreciation, and although he wasn’t touching her, she could feel his stare.
Brynn’s breaths were shallow as she stood before him, naked as a jaybird. She’d never been particularly self-conscious when it came to her body, but she was in her twenties the last time a man had seen her naked. She was thirty now.
Also, it probably didn’t help that he looked like he was carved out of stone. The men that Brynn had been with had all been regular guys. Not one of them could be a superhero body double. Axel could be a stand-in for Thor himself. And none of them had ever stared at her so intently. She suddenly felt acutely aware of her imperfections.
“I have some stretchmarks,” she pointed out the obvious. She had several faint lines on her hips. “And cellulite,” she added.
His eyes lifted to hers and her heart pounded so hard she was sure that he could hear it.
“It’s the back of my thighs,” she explained, figuring he’d probably see it eventually.
“You’re perfect,” he breathed before leaning forward and kissing first her left, then right hipbone.
He then showered attention across her stomach. She stared down at the top of his head and watched his lips press lightly against her skin as he covered her lower belly with love. When he reached the very top of her mound where a triangle of hair sat, he glanced up at her.
She thought he might make a joke about how the carpet matched the drapes, since every other man that she’d been with had a fascination over her being a natural redhead, but she should’ve known better. Axel wasn’t most men.
“I want to taste you. Spread your legs.” His explicit statement and rough command caused her knees to go weak.
He watched her as she did as directed. His hand traveled up one inner thigh and down the other, several times, skipping her wet center each time. He wasn’t even touching her there and she could feel herself get wetter with every pass.
Finally, when she wasn’t sure she could take anymore, he lifted one of her thighs and rested it on his shoulder as he leaned forward and covered her mound with his mouth. The first brush of his tongue across her clit had her back arching and her body barreling toward release. When he added a finger, her eyes shut as she shuddered with pleasure at the intrusion. He continued slow, suctioning curls of his tongue as he worked his digit inside of her, pulling out before pushing it back in.
“Fuck,” he hissed against her sex. “You’re so tight.”
“It’s been a while,” Brynn admitted.
“How long?” The gravelly rasp in his voice covered her exposed skin in goosebumps for the second time that evening.
“Five years.” It sounded like a long time when she said it aloud, so she nervously added, “And I do a lot of Kegels.” As if that admission was any better.
She’d started doing them after she gave birth and had just never stopped even though she’d been out of service in that department for a while.
When Axel remained still, she opened her eyes and looked down. He was staring up at her with a questioning look.
“It’s exercises for my…you know.” She squeezed her inner walls to demonstrate.
As her body clamped around his finger, his eyes flared with fiery arousal and he once again covered the hood of her sex with his mouth. He continued his efforts and a sweet shock of bliss crested through her.
Her head fell back against the wall and she grabbed onto the doorknob for support. Her hips rolled, pressing her sex into his mouth but Axel’s firm grip on her hips had him setting the tempo. Within seconds, her entire being exploded into a blinding climax.
Stars whirled behind her eyes as tremors quaked from her epicenter out to the top of her head and the tips of her toes. He continued licking her and his finger drove in and out of her as she rode out her orgasm.
When the last surge of release vibrated through her, her knees buckled. But Axel was right there, holding her up. He stood, keeping her tightly in his embrace.
Feeling more relaxed, more centered, and more calm than she had in she couldn’t remember how long, she wrapped her arms around him and smiled up at him.
“Wow. You’re really good at that.”
The corners of his lips tilted up in amusement.
“I’m serious,” she insisted. “I think I’m tipsier from that orgasm than I was from the drinks. Well done, sir. Well. Done.”
* * *
Axel couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. Sex had never been this fun, this real, or this raw with anyone. Maybe it was because the connections he’d had with women had always been based on physical attraction and what he and Brynn shared was deeper. It was intimate.
He’d never had a woman that giggled when his chin rubbed her belly. Or pointed out stretch marks and cellulite. Or talked about doing Kegels. Or complimented him so sincerely after she had an orgasm.
It just felt so right with Brynn. Their bond, the way they related to one another, was so comfortable. So natural.
Or maybe she had this kind of bond with Max, and anyone else she may have been with. Maybe Brynn always shared her insecurities with men she was with and he wasn’t anything special. That unwanted thought hit him like a knee to the nuts.
A sense of urgency to make her his rushed through him and he quickly grabbed a condom from his wallet on the coffee table, stripped out of his sweats, and rolled on protection. He then wrapped his arm around Brynn’s back and lifted her in the air. Her smile went from ear to ear as her legs automatically circled his waist.
He knew her five-year drought hadn’t been for lack of opportunity. There was Liam, first of all. And Kade and Ethan certainly made it sound like almost every guy in town had a crush on Brynn. But she told everyone the same thing: she was too busy to date.
Yet, she’d shown up on his doorstep. Asked him why he hadn’t kissed her. And was now totally naked in his arms. Spread open, both physically and emotionally. And he hadn’t even been honest with her about why he was in Whisper Lake. He didn’t deserve her trust. He didn’t deserve her.
“Axel?” Brynn’s fingers ran along his jawline as concern tinted her voice. “What’s wrong?”
The tenderness in her touch and her voice got him like an arrow through the heart. He needed to tell her who he really was, why he was really there.
“Brynn, I need to—”
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a soul-stealing kiss that lasted just long enough for him to forget who he was or why he was there.
When she broke it, she whispered against his mouth, “Tonight, I just want to feel.”
Her hips rocked against his latex-covered erection as she emphasized the word.
If that’s what she wanted, that’s exactly what he’d give her.
Using the leverage of her back against the wall, he tilted her hips up and lined up the throbbing tip of his rock-hard shaft between the delicate, pink folds of her sex. He inhaled as he guided himself inside of her, slowly. He wanted to freeze the moment in time as he watched her body accept the engorged crown of his shaft. A groan reverberated in his chest as he pushed past the resistance of her tight canal.
Sweat formed on his brow and the back of his neck as Brynn’s nails dug into his shoulders. Between them, her breasts rose and fell as she took in shallow breaths. Her inner muscles resisted before molding to him. He stared down to where they were intimately joined and shifted his weight so that his legs were braced. His fingers tightened around her hip as he eased her down with excruciating care, stilling each time her body resisted his advance.
“Yes. More. Yes.” Her raspy whispers of encouragement and the grinding of her hips urged him to go further.
His hand was still wrapped around his heavy erection as he drove into her so deep that the side of his hand brushed her sex. Instead of removing his hand from between them completely, he continued holding himself and circled his thumb around her swollen clit, careful not to touch the sensitive nub.
Her body responded immediately, arousal coated the roughened pad of his thumb and his dick was enveloped in her warm, contracted inner muscles.
“Oh…yes…” she whimpered as her fingernails scraped his shoulders. “Oh…fuck…yes…yes…”
Hearing Brynn curse was a whole other level of hot. The sound shot straight to his balls that were tingling uncontrollably with barely restrained release.
He couldn’t believe that he was already feeling the telltale signs of an imminent orgasm. He’d never had a problem with longevity before. But the past didn’t matter. Only the present did; and in the present he knew it was only a matter of moments. His only hope was to bring her with him for the ride.
Once he knew that her body was ready, he began thrusting in and out of her. Within a few pumps his climax was speeding toward him like a runaway train. There was nothing he could do to slow it down. His last coherent thought before it overtook him was that he wanted to be kissing Brynn when it made impact.
So that’s exactly what he did. He captured her mouth in a punishing kiss as white-hot pleasure exploded inside of him. Fiery passion spread through him as he sank into the velvety warmth of her sex and her mouth. The release was the hottest, most intimate, soul-claiming, animalistic experience he’d ever had.
When it began to subside, he realized that his legs were unable to stand beneath the weight of what they’d just shared. Not willing to lose their connection, Axel held Brynn tightly against him as he flipped their positions and lowered down to the ground. His back was leaning against the wall and Brynn was on his lap. She snuggled against him, panting heavily against his chest as her entire body went limp.
While he caught his breath he ran his fingers through Brynn’s silky hair. The beat of his heart thudded against his chest as he held her close to him. Having her in his arms like this was the closest thing to a spiritual experience he’d ever had. He felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be and doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. For the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged. Like he was home.
There were so many emotions warring inside of him but an overwhelming sense of needing to protect her exceeded them all. He knew that he needed to tell her who he was and what he was really doing in Whisper Lake, but he didn’t want to break the magic spell that surrounded them. Still, he knew what he needed to do. He took a deep breath as he prepared to say what needed to be said. But before he exhaled, he heard her speak.
“Wow. This was so much better than breakfast in bed,” she whispered as she caught her breath.
“What?” His eyes lowered to the top of her head.
“Earlier, at Lanterns, that’s why I was emotional. Ethan brought Jess breakfast in bed. No one’s ever done that for me and I was sad. But this was so much better that I don’t even care anymore.” She chuckled lightly as she snuggled against his chest.
She sounded so happy, so calm, so relaxed.
Tomorrow. He’d tell her tomorrow.