chapter TWENTY-TWO
Curtis knew what was about to happen. He’d known since the second he stepped into the house that he and Lorrie would soon be naked on the bed. What he hadn’t known was how forward she would be, or how open she would be to the experience.
That intrigued him. Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected Lorrie to embrace this the way that she was. Maybe it was the fact they’d been apart for so long. Made sense. What was the saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Apparently it didn’t only affect the heart.
Whatever had caused his sweet girl to get that naughty gleam in her eyes, he liked it. A lot. Hell, even when he swore, she didn’t seem to mind, and that, for whatever reason, turned him on more.
He liked thinking that behind that innocent façade, there was a naughty girl underneath. He wouldn’t deny the fact that he’d seen his fair share of pornographic magazines as of late, some that depicted women doing things he only dreamed that Lorrie might do. And yeah, he’d imagined that Lorrie would be open to some of those things. However, the girl he’d left behind when he’d gone into the Army could hardly stand him touching her because she didn’t seem to understand what was happening between them. This beautiful woman before him was not the same girl.
It didn’t take long before their clothes were discarded and Lorrie was once again in his arms, her slight body beneath his as he stared down at her.
He wanted to run his tongue over every soft curve until she was pleading for more.
“I’m gonna kiss you, baby,” he said, wanting to warn her. “Everywhere.”
Her eyes widened, and she smiled, a slight nod the only sign of her acquiescence.
Starting with her lips, Curtis kissed her mouth before sliding down her jaw, her neck. He inhaled her sweet, flowery scent, finding himself completely addicted to it. Her skin was so smooth, so soft. Like silk against his tongue. Her faint mewls were driving him wild, making him crazy with need. He worked his way lower, going slowly, making sure he continued to caress her with his hands as he used his mouth to trail kisses over her chest.
Part of him expected her to stop him, even if only so that she could catch her breath. She didn’t. Her hands moved over his shoulders, his neck, his face, her fingers then brushing against his head, his hair too short for her to tug, so she settled for gripping his head, which was erotic in its own right.
When his lips met her breasts, she let out a soft moan, which only encouraged him to continue. Unable to resist, Curtis sucked her nipple into his mouth, watching her face as he did. Her eyes were closed, one hand clenching the sheet, the other tightening on his head as he feasted on her.
“Curtis… Oh, Curtis… Mmm…”
As much as he wanted to spend all night attending to every inch of her as he’d promised, he didn’t have the self-control necessary right now. His dick was like iron, and he needed to feel the warmth of her wrapped around him. Forcing himself to release her, he made his way back up her body, hovering over her as he pressed his mouth to hers. Their tongues mingled, searching, seeking, a feeling of desperation unlike anything he’d felt before consuming him as he aligned his body with hers.
“As much as I want to draw this out for you, I can’t wait. I’ve waited so long already…”
Lorrie pressed her finger to his lips. “Don’t wait.”
He pulled back and stared down at her. “Are you ready, baby?”
Lorrie nodded, her arms wrapped around his neck.
“It might hurt a little,” he warned. “But I’ll go slow.”
Another nod.
As he pushed against her sex, finding the entrance to her body, he held his breath, watching her intently. She hissed as he pushed inside, still moving slowly, only an inch, maybe two.
Holy.
Fuck.
She felt so good. So warm. So slick. It was everything he’d imagined magnified by infinity.
“Kiss me, Curtis,” she whimpered.
Crushing his mouth to hers, he allowed her to use him as a distraction while he pushed past her body’s natural resistance until he was fully inside her.
Heaven Almighty.
Curtis couldn’t draw air into his lungs. The feeling was so exquisite. Being inside her was … better than breathing.
They were both panting, but Curtis never stopped kissing her, pumping his hips forward, then retreating. He maintained a slow pace for as long as he could, but he felt his own release barreling down on him, and he knew she wasn’t even close. As much as he wanted to let go, to give in, to take what he’d only dreamed about, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. What mattered was Lorrie, bringing her the most pleasure he could.
With his mouth still fused to hers, he managed to ease his hand between their bodies until he found the swollen nub at the top of her sex. He worked it with his thumb, desperate to make her climax because he couldn’t hold on much longer. Her hips bucked, her fingernails dug into his shoulders, her teeth clamped down on his lip as she pleaded for more. He couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He’d waited what felt like a lifetime for this.
Shifting his hips, Curtis changed the angle, reaching for her leg and pulling her knee to his side while he continued to move in and out, slow and deep.
Fuck. “Oh, fuck.” He couldn’t keep the words inside. “You feel so good, baby.” He groaned and grunted, the sensations intensifying, sending him higher and higher.
Unable to help it, he increased his pace, his hips thrusting forward, driving as deep as he could.
Lorrie pulled her mouth from his, her back bowing as she cried out his name over and over again. He felt her inner walls gripping him until the pleasure bordered on pain. It was then that he gave himself over to his release.
Lying in bed with Curtis, Lorrie was sore but completely sated, her brain obliterated by how incredible that had been. It wasn’t that she was a prude. In fact, she wasn’t nearly as prudish as people thought her to be. The idea of sex had never shocked her. Not even reference to sex. After all, she did have an older brother who was quite proud of his conquests. Her trepidation had come with not knowing, not understanding. Truth was, back then, when they’d first gotten married, she had been too young.
Maybe she’d never had sex until now, but she knew her body. She understood what caused pleasure, because reading books was enlightening. But she’d also heard some girls talk. According to them, sex wasn’t great, most of the time not even enjoyable. One girl had even said that it didn’t feel good for her at all, but it wasn’t supposed to.
Well, apparently she hadn’t been with the right man, because…
Wow.
Never would she have imagined that sex would be like that. And she wasn’t referring to the initial discomfort. That was so miniscule it’d hardly registered. What had was the way Curtis made her feel. The intensity of it was nearly overwhelming.
And yes, perhaps she’d had high expectations. After all, for the past few years, she hadn’t sat around doing nothing. She’d been reading. Devouring literature as fast as she could. Since she came from a backwoods small town, she knew that she had no choice but to soak up as much information as she could or she would one day end up like her mother, wallowing in her own self-pity while popping out children for a man who didn’t respect her. And that was something she refused to do.
So, she had read books. Lots and lots of books. Some were ones that she’d read secretly in the far corner of the library when she’d known no one would find out. The ones like The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex that made her think. They also made her fear what might be her destiny. Of course, she’d then ventured into romance novels, which were … so much better. Basically, Lorrie hadn’t checked any of those out of the library, because there was no way she wanted anyone to know what she was reading.
But nothing she’d ever experienced was as empowering (at least for her) as what had transpired between her and Curtis tonight. Though they’d been married for nearly five years, it felt as though tonight was their wedding night.
Perhaps it was.
More so than that, Lorrie had never expected to enjoy it so much. So much that she was eager to do it again.
“What’re you thinkin’ about?” Curtis grumbled in her ear, his warmth pressing up against her back, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
Although she was still floating from that experience, Lorrie couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she was thinking about sex, so she said, “What I want to do with my life?”
“That serious, huh?” He chuckled.
“Not really, no. But I have given it some thought since you left.”
“Do tell,” he encouraged, pulling her tighter against him.
“I don’t know just yet, to be honest. But I know that I’m not going to be like my mother.” She rolled over so that she was facing him, settling against him once more.
Curtis kissed her temple. “In what way?”
“I’ve read books,” she explained. “A lot of books. And I see women complain that they don’t want to be housewives.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “But not because that’s what’s expected of me.”
“It’s not,” he said against her ear.
“I know you don’t think that way, but that’s not the way of the world just yet. I’ve learned how to embrace being a woman. And that’s how I want to live my life.”
Curtis nuzzled her neck. “I like that you’re a woman.”
Lorrie giggled, his rumbling voice tickling her skin.
“I love you, Lorrie,” he whispered softly. “I love you more than anything in this world. My only goal is to make you happy. Things didn’t start out quite the way anyone would’ve planned, but I think what happened is going to help us. Sure, I could’ve made better decisions, but—”
“I don’t need an apology,” she interrupted, placing her fingers against his lips. “I need your love, Curtis. That’s all I need.”
She knew it wouldn’t be easy for them. They’d started out young, but so had lots of other people. It still hurt her heart to know that Curtis had deceived her, that he’d purposely become a soldier in order to put distance between them. When she looked at it rationally, she understood. When she looked at it as his wife, it hurt. But most importantly, she knew he’d done it because he loved her.
And with love, she knew they could weather any storm.