Chapter Nineteen

Izzy

I chuckle, because I know Hal’s teasing me; I’ve never been afraid of storms.

His arms are warm, and his touch is gentle as he brings up a hand to stroke my hair.

I love this man so much. I was watching him while he touched my burned skin, and there was no hint of the revulsion that had been on Eoin’s face. Instead there was just concern and maybe a tad of fascination, the look he always gets when he has a new patient. He has such a big heart, and he’s so loving. I want to tell him how I feel, but I don’t know how to put it into words.

So I decide to try and show him.

I turn, lean an arm on his chest, and rest my chin on the back of my hand. I can see his erection through the duvet. He still wants me, despite me being such a pain in the ass.

“Can I touch you?” I ask him.

His eyebrows rise. I slip my hand under the top of the duvet and move it down an inch to illustrate which direction I want to explore. His dark eyes meet mine, and they spark with something. Excitement? Hope? But he just says, “Sure,” in that lazy, confident way he does that turns me on, because there’s something sexy about a guy who knows his way around the bedroom.

I move my hand down, beneath the duvet. His stomach is taut and flat. I can feel a trail of hair leading south, and I follow it down until it meets the curls in his groin. I slide my fingers into that hair, keeping my eyes on his, and then close my hand around his erection. Ohhh… he’s big. Despite not being an expert, I know enough to understand that. No wonder it hurt when he entered me.

Gently, I stroke up to the tip. Obviously I know guys are sensitive here, but I don’t know how sensitive. I brush my thumb across it. His eyelids lower to half-mast, but he doesn’t move. I explore with my fingers, feeling the head, the veins in the shaft, and then further down. Hal inhales deeply, then exhales as I cup him and discover what a man feels like for the first time.

When I return to his erection, he surprises me by tossing the duvet aside. He takes my hand in his, and I watch as he guides it down between my thighs. He slides my fingers into my folds, and I realize he wants me to collect some of my slippery moisture. I do so, and then let him guide my hand back to his erection. This time, when I close my fingers around it, they slide easily up and down the shaft.

Hal can’t hold back a husky sigh, and he moves down the pillows so he’s lying on the mattress and lifts his arms to rest on his forehead, his eyes closed. He likes me touching him—he wants me to do it again. Thrilled, I gather some more moisture and then return to stroking him, my slick hand sliding up and down, enjoying the way he grows even harder, until his erection is like a steel bar jutting out. Mmm… I want this man inside me, I want to know how it feels. He’s always in control; I want to watch him come, my beautiful Hal, my best friend. I want to drive him to the edge until he loses it.

He seems to have the same idea, because he sighs and moves my hand away, then puts his arms around me and pulls me on top of him so he can kiss me. I open my mouth to his searching tongue and delve mine in, and he groans, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. “You drive me mad, Izzy,” he whispers, sliding his hands up under the T-shirt I’m wearing.

This time I let him touch me, and he cups my breasts, rolls me over, lifts the tee, and fastens his mouth on my left nipple. Lightning flashes and it’s like it strikes me, the shock travelling from my nipple straight down to between my thighs. I clench inside, moaning as he trails his tongue around the tip and teases it with his teeth.

I want him to go fast, I’m more than ready, but this time Hal’s determined to take his time, and he spends ages kissing my breasts, his lips brushing from one to the other, across my scarred skin, but I don’t care, because I know he wants me. I was thinking you’ll be able to feed a baby when we have one, he said. Emotion wells inside me. I’m not going to think about it now, though. I want to concentrate on Hal, and the feelings he’s arousing in me, the sharp desire that’s spiking through me.

His hand pushes at my knees, so I open them, and he slips his fingers down and caresses my clit. “Fuck,” he says, resting his forehead briefly on mine, so I know I must be swollen and ready for him. My orgasm’s not miles away, and I know it would only take a minute or two of his skillful stroking to get me to come.

“Now, sweetheart,” I tell him. “I want you inside me.”

His eyes meet mine, and I’m sure his pupils have engulfed his irises. He rises, takes a new condom, and rolls it on. Then, once again, he moves between my legs, presses the tip of his erection into my folds, and lowers down on top of me.

This time, he looks into my eyes and kisses my lips. “We’re going to take this slow,” he tells me, and gently enters me.

I close my eyes and concentrate on this new sensation of being filled by a man. He takes his time, pushing forward just a fraction, withdrawing until he’s almost out, then pushing forward again, going a little further each time. I realize he’s coating himself with my moisture, making each thrust a little easier, and getting me used to the feeling of having him inside me.

“Christ, you’re tight,” he says.

“Sorry.”

He laughs and kisses me. “It’s heavenly. Ahhh… I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.” His eyelids flutter as he pushes forward.

I feel myself part and open for him, and I try to relax because I know it’ll make it easier.

“Ah yeah,” he confirms, easing himself in. “Not much more, honey.”

There’s more? Jesus. He pushes my knees up, shifting position, lifting onto his hands, and I groan as he goes deeper. I can feel him all the way up. He’s bigger at the root, and ohhh… my… God… it’s an erotic feeling, being stretched like this. The birth canal’s made for a baby’s head so I know I can stretch that far, but jeez, at this moment I feel as if I’m at my limit.

He moves his hips. Ah God, surely that’s it? But again he eases out, pushes forward, and then I feel his hips touch mine, our bodies flush. That whole thick, hard length I just had in my hand is buried inside me.

I look up, into his eyes. It doesn’t get any more intimate than this. I’m so overwhelmed I can’t speak.

“Up to the hilt,” he says, some of his old mischievousness returning. “Fuck, yeah.” To my surprise he pulls right out of me, holding the condom, brushes the tip through my folds, then slides in again, and I realize he likes the sensation of filling me, of disappearing inside me. His eyes blaze with triumph. I’ve watched every nature show under the sun, and I recognize the feral, somewhat aggressive manner of a male mounting his female. Nice, kind, genial Hal is obviously an animal in the bedroom. The thought gives me goose bumps.

And now he’s moving rhythmically inside me, long, slow thrusts, and my body’s stirring, responding to him. I brush my hands up his chest and neck and into his hair, and he bends and kisses me, sliding his tongue into my mouth. I can see now why the lips are considered an erogenous zone, because his deep kisses stir me, push me closer to the edge, and his hand on my breast, tugging the nipple, teases me even closer.

“Ohhh…” I sigh, excited at the thought of coming with him inside me.

His hips move faster, and now he’s plunging into me, filling the air with the slick sound of sex, which might have embarrassed me at any other time, but right now it’s hot as hell, and Hal’s grunt of, “Yeah,” confirms he finds it sexy too. Oh God, I can’t hold on much longer—is it too soon? Did he want me to wait? But I can’t wait, it’s too magical, too new a sensation to deny, and he obviously senses it because he says, “Come for me, Izzy.”

So I do, I let him thrust me to the point where everything tightens, and his mouth is on mine and he’s drinking in my sighs as I pulse and clench around him, and oh that’s so fucking sexy having him hard inside me, and hearing him groan in my ear each time I clamp around him, so I know he can feel it too.

I don’t know whether he tried to hold back or whether he just wasn’t ready, but it’s only when my eyes flutter open that he lifts onto his hands and begins to thrust hard. Enjoying the ripples of pleasure that continue to pass through me, I watch him, caressing his body, feeling his muscles tensing and releasing as he moves, and I think how beautiful he is, how amazing it is to be doing this with him. He’s losing it—his body’s taking over, and it’s so hot; I wrap my legs around his waist and say, “Oh yeah, Hal, I want to watch you come.”

He gives a little shake of his head and his eyes open briefly to look into mine, but then they close again, and his hips thrust, and then it happens; he stiffens, and his lips part, and he drops his head with a heartfelt groan as he gives several deep thrusts. I know he’s coming, he’s feeling that sweet, powerful, inevitable clenching inside, and it makes me want to cry. I’ve given him pleasure, my beautiful Hal.

When he’s done, his eyes open slowly.

“Mine,” I say, somewhat smugly.

He gives a short laugh. “Yours,” he confirms. Carefully, holding the condom, he withdraws with a groan, disposes of the condom, then falls onto the bed beside me. “Come here, you little witch.” He pulls me into his arms, and we lie there in the humid semi-darkness, listening to the rain on the windows, as our pulses slow, and the world returns to spinning at its usual speed.

“You’re staying the night, aren’t you?” he murmurs.

My lips curve up. “If you want me to.”

“I do. Because we’re definitely doing that again, and it’ll be easier if you’re right here when the urge strikes.” He yawns.

I chuckle and lift up to look at him. “So it doesn’t put you off, me having no experience?”

He lifts a hand to caress my face. “I’ve never slept with a virgin before, so it’s a new experience for me, too.”

“I’ll try not to be dull,” I assure him. “I’m a quick learner.”

That earns me an amused look. “I look forward to teaching you.” He likes the idea of that, I can tell. All the way through school and uni we’ve been highly competitive, trying to best each other with marks for our assessments and exams. As we reached the end of our veterinary training, I finally acknowledged to myself that he’s a fraction smarter than I am. He knows it too, although he’s far too decent to say so. But he’s always enjoyed learning something new and explaining it to me. He’ll enjoy showing me the ropes in bed.

“I’m going to make a list,” he says. “Of everything we’re going to do.”

“Do I get to see this list?”

“Maybe. I’ll get you to choose something every day.”

My eyes widen. “You want to have sex every day?”

He yawns again. “At least once.”

“Jesus. I’ll never walk again.”

“Izzy Fitzgerald, I finally have you in my bed, why wouldn’t I want to make the most of you?” He pushes my shoulder, trying to get me to roll away from him. I do so, and he tugs me back against his chest and pulls the duvet around us. “Mmm.” He kisses my shoulder. “Get some sleep. And make the most of it, because I’m going to be waking you later for round two.”

I snuggle down happily, glowing at the thought that I obviously didn’t make too much of a hash of it the first time if he wants to do it again.

We fall asleep to the sound of the rain, and thunder, far off in the distance.