Chapter Thirty-Six
Gretchen
Despite the fact that we'd had sex a number of times already, there was something different about this time. Other than holding hands, we didn't touch until we reached the bedroom, and even there, we just stood there staring at one another for a long moment. Finally, Christian started to unbutton his shirt, clearly broadcasting his intentions.
I took a deep breath and let my dress fall from my shoulders and into a shimmering puddle on the floor. Christian made a low sound, and I looked shyly up at him.
“I somehow managed to forget how truly breathtaking you are,” he said, coming forward to cup my cheek in his palm, tilting my face up toward his. He stroked his thumb over my cheekbone, and I could sense that there was something else that he wanted to say, but he was still holding himself back. For once, though, it didn't bother me, his inability to voice his emotions. It wasn't as though I didn't know what he was thinking anyway.
I climbed on the bed and lay back against the pillows, watching with lusty eyes as Christian stripped down to his boxers. Then, he grimaced. “I should probably have taken a shower before I came over to the shop,” he said. “I've been on airplanes since-”
I interrupted him with a laugh. “I really, really don't care,” I told him.
He looked almost bashful as he approached the bed, a new look for him. But I was starting to realize that this was all new to him. I hadn't been wrong when I'd suspected that I was lucky enough to see a side of Christian that no one else got to see.
He nudged my knees apart and arranged himself in between them, hovering over me. For a long moment, his eyes continued to rake over my face, as though searching for any sign that I might not want this. Finally, I wriggled a little, gasping as his hard member slipped along the cleft between my legs. Sure, there were a couple of layers of fabric between us, but it made heat pool in my stomach regardless.
“I'm glad you came back,” I repeated, my voice almost inaudible.
Christian brushed back some of my hair and then bent to kiss my forehead. “I like you,” he said.
I blinked up at him for a moment, surprised to hear him say the words. I could see his indecision there, could see the way he was waiting for my response. “I like you too,” I said softly.
Christian nodded almost to himself and then slowly began to take me apart.
It started with gentle kisses and little nips at the tender parts of my skin. He raked his fingernails lightly down my sides, making me shiver. He was rocking his hips against me, continuing the steady pressure of his erect member against the needy bundle of nerves between my legs.
My teeth began to chatter, and Christian pulled away, frowning down at me. “Are you cold?” he asked, rubbing his hands over my arms.
I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. “No, just really turned on,” I admitted.
He blinked and then smiled as though I'd revealed some secret of the universe to him. Then, he began to lick and suck his way down the column of my neck to my breasts. For a moment, he hovered there, as though he were again asking for permission, or maybe sending up a little prayer of some sort?
Then, I realized what it was. He was teasing me again.
I groaned, flinging an arm over my eyes. “Christian, come on,” I said. “We've both admitted to needing this. Can you please just not tease me this one time?”
He gave a small laugh and shook his head, leaning his forehead against my collarbone. “I wish this were just teasing,” he told me. “I'm trying not to come before I even get you properly naked.
“Oh,” I said, the sound practically punched out of me.
“Yeah.”
After a moment, he took a shaky breath and let it out slowly. Then, he continued his path down my body, reaching behind me to remove my bra but barely pausing to lavish any attention on them before he was sliding my panties off.
He stared deep into my eyes for a long moment once he'd positioned himself there. “Are you sure about this?” he finally asked, the strain of holding himself back evident in his voice.
“Yes, yes,” I said impatiently. But I smiled at him, flattered that he had asked. I doubted he was this careful with his other women. But it was something that I didn't want to think about right now. Right now, I just wanted to concentrate on the reverent way he was looking at me, on the way he was gently squeezing my hand in his, on the way he was slowly sliding into my entrance, moving carefully and giving me time to adjust to his girth.
When he was fully inside of me, he paused for a long moment. Then, he pulled slowly out and pushed back in, rocking his hips up at the end of the stroke, hitting that spot inside me that made my blood sing. I sighed, melting back against the bed, feeling something settle inside my heart.
Christian bent down, kissing me again, sucking at my lower lip even as he continued to rock his hips rhythmically against mine, never faltering even though I could tell that he was just as close to climax as I was. He trailed his kisses along my jawline and then grazed his teeth across my earlobe, sending sparks shooting through my nerve endings.
With each thrust of his hard length, he seemed to pierce deeper inside of me, until I was sure that I could feel him buried there in my very core, a throbbing and scorching flame of strength and desire. A deeper arousal curled through my stomach, and I crept my fingers down his side, bringing them to rest against his hip, making sure that he continued to push into me, giving me everything that I had ever needed and more.
I blushed a little, watching the way Christian looked down at me, desire mixed with affection there in his face. Again, he reached up to brush back some of my long hair, his fingers leaving heated trails against my skin. He caressed my side again, and then suddenly he froze, biting his lower lip and squeezing his eyes shut, taking a few ragged breaths.
“It's okay,” I said quietly. “You can come if you need to.” There was something incredibly sexy about seeing him come undone like this. But he still seemed to be holding back, and I couldn't help wondering why.
He shook his head. “Want you to come first,” he said stubbornly.
I blinked up at him and then smiled. “Okay,” I said. “So, make me come.”
This time, when Christian plunged into me, it was with none of the careful finesse of before. He moved with wild abandon, rotating his hips as he thrust so that every inch of my pussy was subject to his ministrations. I could feel the drag of his head against the sensitive skin there, but what I was most focused on was the way he twisted his fingers into mine, grasping firmly at my hand.
It suddenly occurred to me that this whole time, no matter that we'd just been fucking, we'd been spelling out our feelings for each other in gestures. In our dates, in our hand-holding, in the way that he brushed back my hair and the way that I cried out his name. There had been nothing subtle about it. No wonder Mina had been able to tell how upset I was when he'd left.
I gasped as he speared me once more with a deep, animalistic power to the movement. Claiming me as his, in a way that the bruising kisses had never really done. “Christian,” I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut.
“That's it, baby,” he murmured against my skin, as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. “That's it. Come for me.”
And I did, unable to hold out any longer. It felt as though I was being wrung from the inside out, as though my whole world narrowed to these points of contact between the two of us. I could feel the way his breath caressed my skin, could feel the sweat beading between the two of us, slicking our skin as it slid back and forth. I could feel the way his dick pulsed and twitched inside of me, even as the walls of my pussy pressed tightly around him, drawing out his orgasm in heady waves. I could feel the way my whole body seemed to relax back, as though he'd hit a switch and totally reset my system. I could feel the way his heart was hammering in his chest, matching the movements that my own heart was making.
Above all, I could feel our hands, twined there where they rested against the sheets, could feel the strength of his grip, as though he was telling me that he would never let me go again.
I smiled and relaxed, truly relaxed, for the first time in weeks.
But reality came crashing back all too soon, and I couldn't help glancing over at him. “You're not going to stay here in Hawaii though, are you?” I asked sadly. As much as I wanted to believe that he would, I knew that this wasn't some cheesy romance novel or movie. This was real life and in real life-
Christian groaned and pulled me close against him, heedless of how overheated we both were. “Trust me,” he said into my hair. “I want nothing more than to move here with you.” He paused. “We'll have to see how things go. Maybe in a year or two, I'll want to revisit that idea of moving to California or somewhere. But for now, I want nothing more than to move here with you.”
“But what about Sunrise Real Estate?” I asked, even though I knew I should just shut up and accept what he was saying at face value. It wasn't that I didn't trust him. I'd been hurt before, and I wanted to protect myself against having that happen again.
“I'll sell all my stocks,” Christian said, though, shrugging. “Should be able to make a decent amount of money off that. And then I thought that maybe I'd invest in a joint pineapple and massage therapy center.” His voice sounded sly there at the end, and I couldn't help laughing.
“You've been talking to Mina, haven't you?” I asked.
He shrugged again. “I wanted to talk to her before I came over to your place,” I admitted. “I wanted to make sure that I wasn't being a massive dick by coming back here to try to make things up to you. I thought that maybe I was just being selfish. I was afraid that you might already have gotten back together with Lino, and if you had, I wasn't going to stand in the way of that. I know that you'll always have complicated feelings for him, and it wouldn't have been right for me to-”
“I want you to stay,” I repeated, the words coming out in a rush. I turned to face him, urgently needing him to understand this. “Christian, I loved Lino when I was with him, or I thought I did. And if we'd had a child and ended up together, I would have been happy, I think. But I never felt half of what I feel for you when I was with him. My feelings for him were…” I trailed off, blushing, and shook my head. “It doesn't matter. But Christian, I-”
Christian swallowed the rest of my words with a kiss, which I gladly returned. Then, he pulled back, staring at me for a long moment. “So, is it okay if I move to Hawaii?” he asked, sounding almost nervous, as though he thought that I might say no.
I smiled gently at him and twisted my fingers in his once more. “I'd be really happy if you did.”