Chapter Twenty
Gretchen
I didn't have that much to drink at the luau, and I wasn't drunk, but something about seeing Christian there with my friends, and looking so sexy in the firelight, had gotten me hot over the course of the night. And there was something in me that wanted to be bold, to be more spontaneous, to be more like the person that Mina kept urging me to be. Where was the harm in letting Christian claim me here on the beach? It was a special night.
Or maybe this was just to spite Lino, whom I still couldn't believe had had the balls to come up and talk to me when Christian and I were off on our own. I had toyed with the idea of telling Christian why Lino and I had broken up because I had an idea Christian would think differently about the guy if he knew.
But I didn't want to start something. Whatever I'd had with Lino, it was over now.
I moaned as Christian stroked his fingers up my bare skin, kissing along my jawline and nibbling at my earlobe, making heat flare in my groin. There was something about being out there, beneath the open sky, that had me so incredibly turned on. Something about the way he had managed to charm all my friends by the end of the night. Something about the fact that he seemed to fit so naturally into my life.
I was in definite danger of getting attached to him, in ways that I knew Mina would frown about. But for now, I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on just being there.
Christian nudged my legs further apart and began to slide his hips back and forth, his hard length dragging against my velvety folds, making me arch with desire there against the sand. I caught his hand in mine, tangling our fingers together, giving me something to anchor myself against what I could already tell was going to be one of the biggest orgasms that I'd ever had. It was already building inside of me, already so close to consuming me.
He bent down and captured my lips in a passionate kiss, his lips searing against mine. His tongue, when it entered my mouth, was more heated than the fire at the luau, prompting little mewls from me as he licked along all my sensitive spots, sucking at my lower lips and nibbling gentle sparks of flame there as well.
Then, he moved down, sucking a mark into the side of my neck, one that I knew, distantly, would be visible when I went to work, but I couldn't find it in me to care, in the heat of the moment. Instead, that little bit of pain, there amongst all this pleasure, was enough to push me spiraling toward new heights, and he hadn't even entered me yet.
His mouth slipped lower, his teeth grazing across my pert nipples, tongue lapping at the buds and making me wild with desire.
“Christian,” I whimpered, unable to take it any longer. I wondered if he was doing this on purpose, this teasing. But there was my answer, in the smirk that he turned toward me.
“Patience,” he chided.
I practically sobbed at that. “Please,” I whined.
He didn't reply to that one, continuing instead to move maddeningly slowly down my body, until he reached my navel, kissing me gently there as well. Then, he pulled back and looked down at me for a moment, seemingly satisfied with the way he had managed to make me come totally undone. He reached up and swiped the pad of his thumb against my lower lip, which no doubt was plump both from the way we'd been kissing before and the way I'd been chewing on it, trying to silence my begging cries.
“God, you're gorgeous,” he said quietly.
“Please,” I tried again, my voice sounding wrecked. I could hardly sit still anymore, so desperate for something, anything, more than his kisses and roaming hands.
Fortunately, Christian finally acquiesced to my pleas. He gave his member a couple of lazy tugs, even though I could tell he was already plenty hard to slide into me, to fill me.
Sure enough, his entry was easy, but he was still taking things slow, still teasing me, apparently. He only went about halfway in, and then he began to slide back out, teasing me with just the tip of his member. I pressed my hand against my face, feeling flushed with pleasure. When I opened my eyes, and I didn't even know when I had shut them, Christian was still smirking down at me.
That was it.
I looped my legs around his waist and managed to flip us so that I was on top. I doubted it would have worked if he had known that it was coming since he was both stronger and larger than me. But with the element of surprise on my side, I got him flat on his back, staring up at me in shock.
I wasted no time in sitting down on his cock. I sighed and slumped forward as he finally slipped fully inside me.
“Oh, is that how it is?” Christian growled, but his eyes were twinkling with amusement.
I shifted my hips a little, unable to keep from crying out as his tip dragged at something deep inside of me.
I came hard, falling forward, hands grasping at the sand. In some primordial way, the waves of my pleasure matched with the waves of the ocean crashing somewhere behind us, echoing through my mind as white-hot pleasure coursed through my body.
Christian was surprisingly patient with me, waiting until I was finally able to open my eyes before he moved again. His hands were possessive against my hips, but he was smiling crookedly up at me. “You okay?” he asked quietly, and I could hear the strain in his voice, could hear how hard he still was inside me.
In answer, I rocked my hips a few times, setting a sloppy rhythm, still feeling floaty and not fully with it. Christian brushed back some of my hair, tucking it behind my ear, his fingers lingering there against my cheek. Then, he returned his fingers to my hips, dug his heels into the sand, and thrust up hard to match my uncertain movement.
I gasped and fell forward, and he collected me there against his chest, tucking my face into the crook of his neck but continuing to rock steadily up against me. His presence was all around me, and he filled my body so good.
“Oh fuck,” Christian muttered suddenly, his fingers spasming against my back. He was spilling inside me, and that was enough to push me over into a second climax of my own. I fell boneless against him, even as his hips continued to stutter up against mine, the angle driving his prick into places I hadn't even known existed.
I lay there gasping long into the aftermath of what we'd done, but I was pleased to hear that Christian sounded just as breathless as me. Finally, out of deference to the heat between our sticky bodies more than anything else, I rolled away from him, lying on my back next to him, twining our fingers together and staring up at the stars. Slowly, I began to get my breathing back.
I couldn't help a giddy little giggle that spilled out of me, and Christian smiled over at me. “Feeling good?” he asked teasingly.
I stretched languidly, cat-like in my lethargy. “I feel amazing,” I told him. I shook my head. “I need to have sex outside more often.”
“You've never done this before?” Christian asked curiously.
I laughed a little, shaking my head. “Nah,” I said. I bit my lower lip. “I'm kind of a good girl normally. Mina's the wild and spontaneous one; that's why we work together so well. We balance one another.”
Christian raised an eyebrow at me. “You seem pretty spontaneous to me,” he said, shrugging carefully.
I could feel a blush spreading over me, but I was glad to realize that in the dim lighting from the stars and a slim moon, he wouldn't be able to see this one. Still, I shrugged as well. “Thanks.”
Christian stretched as well, yawning a little. “Wish we could just stay out here for the night, but some early morning runner would probably stumble across us, we at least probably want to put our clothes back on.”
I laughed and pushed myself to a sitting position, leaning over to give him one last kiss. It was mostly chaste and lacked the searing heat of some of our earlier kisses, but it was almost more intimate in some ways.
When I pulled back, I could feel, deep down, that I was already pretty attached to him.
Christian rolled to his feet and offered me a hand up, which I took. I stretched again, more fully, still feeling boneless and fucked-out. I started to brush myself off, groaning a little. “God, I have sand everywhere,” I complained.
Christian snorted. “If you'd just stayed lying there on your dress like you were supposed to,” he said.
I pushed lightly on his shoulder. “Don't even front,” I told him. “You liked having me on top.”
“I like a woman who can take control,” Christian admitted, shrugging and looking away from me, almost as though he were afraid to talk about his sexual preferences. But when I thought about it, that would make sense. Probably things just unfolded however they unfolded during his one-night stands, and there would never be a reason to talk about desires for a repeat performance.
Again, I found myself feeling almost sorry for him. But I shook that off, turning back toward where the luau was finally starting to break up. I glanced at my watch and was surprised to see how late it was. “I have to go to work so early tomorrow too.” I sighed. “This woman requested an 8 o'clock appointment so that she can go hike a volcano afterward or something like that. I don't understand why she's getting the massage before she goes for a hike.”
“Are you kicking me out of your bed again?” Christian asked, but his tone was teasing.
I sighed, falling into his arms for one more moment. “I could do with a good cuddle after that,” I told him softly, reveling in the feeling of his hand coming up to stroke lightly at my hair. “But I also know that we probably should stay separate. Save that for another time.”
“All right,” Christian said, but I could detect a note of disappointment in his voice. He masked it with a smile, though, and looped an arm around my shoulders, leading me back toward the group so we could grab Mark and say our goodbyes.
I realized I could still see Lino there, lingering with the rest of the group, even though he didn't even really seem to be a part of it. I remembered that moment of anger and spite from before and hated myself for it.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Christian said as we walked.
I sighed. “You probably don't want to know.”
“Sure, I do,” Christian said easily, as though he'd support me no matter what it was that I was thinking.
I swallowed hard. “I was thinking about Lino,” I admitted, nodding toward the luau group. “Not in a sexual way or anything like that, just…”
“You guys dated for a while,” Christian murmured, his voice soothing and his fingertips stroking my shoulder. “I'm sure there are still a bunch of feelings tangled up there.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I'm angry at him, honestly. I don't want to talk about why or anything like that, but the fact that he had the gall to come up and talk to us when we were alone, rather than when we were up with the rest of the group earlier in the evening was shit.” I laughed. “I don't even know what I'm upset about, honestly,” I said.
“Emotions are confusing,” Christian said, nodding his head. “I get that.” He sighed and shook his head. “Honestly? He's probably starting to realize what he lost. You look so incredibly beautiful tonight, and seeing you around your friends, so happy, lit up by the firelight.” He laughed and ran a hand back through his hair. “Listen to me,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I sound like some bad poet.”
I was silent for a long moment, thinking over what he'd just said. Thinking about the fact that I felt like I was somehow privileged enough to see the real Christian Wall, the one who the rest of the world never got to see. Because here, in these moments where he seemed uncertain, where he seemed like he was trying to understand himself as much as me. The rest of the world got the cool and confident Christian Wall, the one who was an expert salesman and slept with a different woman every night of the week. And nothing more.
I spun to face him, leaning up on my toes and kissing him, unable to stop myself. “You're pretty amazing, yourself,” I told him shyly. There was more that I wanted to say, but I knew that we were already getting too far into this. I left it at that for now.
But from the way that Christian smiled knowingly down at me when I said those words, I wondered if he could hear all the other words in my voice regardless.