Chapter 10

Ella

I couldn’t believe the words as they came out of my mouth, and yet there they were. My eyes went wide, and my heart leaped into my chest, but I didn’t let go of Drayer’s hand.

After so much denying what I wanted, that kiss had been like injecting pure, uncut drugs right into my bloodstream. I was high on the euphoria, and I wanted more.

So much more.

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Drayer was getting in beside me. He shut the door with a thud, and I curled into his side, trying not to overthink what was about to happen.

We kept our hands off each other during the ride, if only for respect for the cabbie who was on the clock and probably didn’t want to have to sanitize his back seat. Even when we exited, we kept to very polite hand holding as I led him up to my studio apartment. But once we were inside, and I directed him to my couch, everything changed.

I made the first move. I could tell that Drayer was waiting for my signal. It seemed after I told him about my ex, he was much more cautious and didn’t want to push me anywhere I didn’t want to go. That alone was making me almost mad with desire. I couldn’t remember the last time someone I was with had been so attuned to what I was feeling, with what I needed.

I crashed our lips together and threw my arms around his shoulders. It felt like heaven to have his mouth against mine, moving against me, exploring, conquering, and my body rushed with excitement.

Why had I been denying myself this so long? The stress of bills and work and school after winter break melted away, leaving me only with the fire burning in my belly.

His arms wound around me, too, practically crushing me to him, and I could feel his taut biceps pressing into my back. He was so strong, so masculine. I loved it. Maybe I was even drunk on it after so long of being man-sober. But I didn’t care. I wanted to drown in everything that was him.

Drayer seemed just as enthralled with me, and it wasn’t long before his arms moved from my waist, so his hands could travel over my body. First, they glided over my clothed thighs and then my sides, until finally one of them cupped a breast.

I gasped and arched into it, breaking away from his kiss to suck in a draft of air. He didn’t seem to mind the pause in lip-contact, however, and his attention turned to peppering kisses along my jaw and neck.

I melted into his actions, feeling my bones turn to jelly. The only things holding me up were my arms around his neck, but that was all I needed.

Except it wasn’t really. The more he kissed me, the more he touched me, the more I needed, well, more. I wanted him to touch every single bit of me until he knew everything about me.

“I want you,” I managed to gasp, tilting my head forward to lock lips once more.

“I can accommodate that,” he answered before returning my kiss with twice as much passion.

If my mouth wasn’t so occupied, I would have giggled salaciously. But as it were, it was quite occupied, and I didn’t plan on being free anytime soon.

Drayer had other plans, though. While we were still pouring our passion into each other, his hands wrapped under my butt, and suddenly we were standing up.

This time, I did laugh giddily and wrapped my legs around his waist. He was so tall! I hadn’t been this high off the floor without a ladder since, well, ever.

“Shall we take this to the bed?” he growled into my mouth, voice so low and sexy that I felt it make me grow that much wetter.

“Yes,” I answered emphatically. “Absolutely yes.”

“Good.”

And then I was moving backward. It was such a strange sensation to be a grown woman being carried somewhere, but it was also kind of thrilling. I could feel my adrenaline spike even more, and by the time he was setting me on the bed, I was practically vibrating with need.

His hands went to my belt first, and he pulled away from our kiss once more. His lips were swollen and slightly wet, which made me wonder exactly what I looked like after his ravaging.

“May I?” he asked with hooded lids.

God, he was so thoughtful, so tender, and yet, so obviously full of desire that I felt like my brain was shorting out.

“Yes,” I answered breathlessly.

His fingers went to work, and within seconds, he was pulling the strap of fabric from me. I would need to remember to give that back to Jo, but for now, my mind was pretty much completely occupied.

After my belt, his fingers found the bottom of my sweater and started wiggling it upward. The excitement was ramping up in true fashion, and I helped him as best I could by raising my arms and arching my back.

Then, it was up over my head, and the cool air of my apartment brought me back to reality a bit. I kept my heat low to save money on my bills, but I was tempted to turn it up for just this occasion.

However, all thoughts about utilities faded when Drayer’s hands finally went to the buttons of his own shirt.

Yes! I didn’t realize I had been waiting for this moment, but I was absolutely breathless as I watched him undo button after button. It was the slowest, most subtle striptease I had ever experienced, and I loved it.

His slightly tanned skin was revealed to me bit by bit, and soon I could see his entire sculpted upper torso. How much time did he spend in the gym to be so ripped? I wasn’t sure, but I certainly was a fan of the build. More than I ever thought I would be.

It seemed we were taking turns because then, he turned his attention to my leggings. Hooking his long digits into the waistband, he pulled them down until finally, I was in only my underclothes.

I expected him to focus on his own pants, but no. He leaned down over me, his hand sliding under my bra to play with one of my pert nipples. Once more, I found myself gasping and arching up into him.

His fingers rolled the bud between them while his teeth went to work on my neck. The counterpoints of pleasure and pain were extraordinary and almost too much to handle.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he rasped into my neck.

Huh, he really knew how to talk to a woman. I didn’t know what to say to that, though, so I just pulled his mouth to mine once more.

I was lost in the bliss for several minutes, and I didn’t mind one bit. But eventually, Drayer seemed to want to move on, and he pulled away, coaxing me up with him so he could unclasp my bra.

He didn’t waste a second after that, and soon my panties were off, too, leaving me completely bare before him. I could feel him lean down again like he was going to settle, but I stopped him with a single hand to his chest.

“Don’t you think you’re a little overdressed?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

His responding smirk was true sin, and he stood to unbuckle his belt and then went about removing the rest of his clothing. He didn’t draw it out like the shirt, and thank goodness for that because I was about to collapse in on myself from anticipation.

I wanted him. I wanted him so badly. Perhaps more than I had ever wanted anyone else in my life. And if I didn’t have him inside me soon, I was going to go absolutely batshit crazy.

But then he was pulling off his boxers, and my breath was stolen away.

He was certainly … equipped.

While it was by no means scary-porn length, he was certainly intimidating and already standing at full attention, as eager for me as I was for him.

Then he was lowering himself onto the bed and over me, kissing up my frame as he went. For a moment, I thought that he would just enter me, and I felt a sliver of nerves, but instead, his fingers ghosted over my entrance with reverent attention.

Oh.

Oh.

That was nice. He teased at me, never applying full pressure, only dancing around, until finally, he found that very specific button of pleasure at the apex of my thighs.

I moaned without restraint, so loud that I was sure that the neighbors could hear, but I didn’t care. I was utterly lost with the sensations running through me, and it should have been illegal to feel so good.

But then, when I thought I was feeling about as great as was possibly human, one of his fingers slid gently into me and curled slightly.

“Oh my god, Drayer!” My breath was coming fast, and cold was so far from my mind as my body blazed with fire.

“Yes,” he practically purred. “Just like that.”

Just like that, indeed! He was slow, almost infuriatingly so, but I was too high on his ministrations to object. Not too much later one finger became two, and I felt my climax rapidly approaching me.

“Drayer, I’m gonna … I’m gonna—”

“I know,” he said, voice as electrifying as ever. “I can feel it.”

I couldn’t say what about that set me off, but it was so goddamn sexy, I was swallowed up by one of the strongest orgasms I’d had in ages. My breath left me, my vision practically left me, and every cell of my body was suspended in pure, undiluted bliss.

I came back to earth as Drayer aligned himself with my entrance. I could tell he was trying to take it slowly to be thoughtful to me, but I wasn’t having any of it. Wrapping my legs around him, I pulled him into me, so he was filling me up almost instantly.

Oomph! He let out a hiss, and I felt my walls stretch to accommodate him, at max capacity with his girth. But it was an addictive sort of pain, and soon I was lifting my hips in an insistent rhythm, trying to goad him to thrust into me with those muscled thighs of his.

He didn’t leave me waiting long, and after a second to catch his breath, he started to move against me. His first thrust drove the air from my lungs, leaving me panting desperately as he withdrew. The second filled me with such a tension in my middle that I thought I might break in two. The third had pleasure rolling through every single cell in my body until all I could do was repeat his name over and over again.

And the whole while, he was looking at me with such affection, such adoration, that it made me feel that much more beautiful and desirable. This Drayer wasn’t like anybody else, and I didn’t think I would ever forget that.

“I’m not going to last much longer,” he breathed, pausing for a split second to wipe the sweat from his brow.

“Me either,” I answered. “I’m almost there.”

I felt him throb within me at that revelation, and his fingers were once again moving. Diving between us, they found that sensitive bud and gently skimmed over it before working it in a tight circle.

That was apparently what I needed because my orgasm crashed over my head and everything went white. Heaven filled me, making my toes curl, my back arch, and my mind take a total vacation.

I had never known bliss so wonderful, and I let it swallow me whole without any fight. When I did finally slowly float back down to earth, I was covered in sweat and panting like I had run a marathon.

“That was amazing,” Drayer breathed, collapsing next to me.

“It was, wasn’t it?” I managed to get out between my greedy gulps of air.

His arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me to his side where I snuggled like I belonged. Which I felt I did. Nuzzling into his chest, I let myself drift off.