Miles

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“Don’t stop,” Harlow pants beneath me, thrusting her hips upward to match my relentless pace.

She’s getting close. After our second round, I began to learn her little tells. Hell, I’ve learned more about Harlow Cabell in the last three hours than I ever dreamed I would know about her.

Like how fucking sexy she looks sprawled out on my bed, completely bared to me. Or how unexpectedly wild she is, not afraid to beg and plead for what she wants, or take for that matter.

When I slid inside of her for the first time, and she whispered, “Your cock feels so good inside of me,” I nearly lost it right there on the spot.

This isn’t what I planned. After kissing her, I spent the next two days hating myself for it. I know what fucked up looks like. I’m up close and personal with it daily. The last thing I wanted to do was bring Harlow into my mess of a life, especially after everything she’s been through these past few months.

I thought I could explain to her that us together in any capacity beyond friends is not a good idea, but then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and every ounce of nerve in me disappeared in a flash.

It just goes to show how weak I really am when it comes to this woman. One look and she completely flips me upside down. I don’t understand it. I’ve never met someone who can melt my resolve quite the way she does.

After she kissed me on the sidewalk, I couldn’t get her back to my apartment fast enough. We had half of our clothes already off as we stumbled into my living room. That’s as far as we made it.

After fucking her hard and fast against the front door, I spent the next hour and a half learning her body. I studied her curves, pressed kisses to every inch of her perfect skin, and tasted her in a way I’ve wanted to taste her since that first day she walked into Inked with her brother.

After that, she climbed on top of me and took me so deep into her throat that I think for a moment my heart stopped beating. She worked me to the tipping point before sliding up, mounting me, and taking me inside her. I lasted less than two minutes, and I'm not even a little ashamed to admit it.

“Harder, Miles.” Harlow’s nails dig deeper into my back as her thighs tighten around my hips. “Harder.”

Even though I’m convinced I have to be hurting her, I do as she asks and pound into her with so much force her head nearly slams into the headboard.

“Put your hands up, baby,” I tell her, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth.

Once I’m sure her hands are secure against the headboard, I rear back and slam into her again, her cries of pleasure ringing out into the room around us.

Warmth starts to spread through me and I know I’m getting close. Repeating the action, I pick up speed, not sure how the fuck I’m even still going at this point. Sweat beads at my forehead while little droplets slide down my back. My body feels fucking exhausted in the best possible way. And while my muscles are begging for me to stop, Harlow feels too fucking good around me to even consider it.

“Miles.” Harlow arches her back as her orgasm rips through her. She moans deep in her chest, and it instantly sends me over the edge.

Pleasure burns through my entire body, singeing a path from the top of my head all the way down to the tips of my toes. All of me trembles under the intensity.

Once the fog of my release starts to lift, I slow to a stop, dropping my weight down onto Harlow seconds before burying my face in the side of her neck.

“You are something else, Harlow Cabell.” I press my lips against her raging pulse and lay a kiss to the soft skin there.

“I could say the same for you.” She pants, still trying to catch her breath. “I thought the first two times were good, but that was...” She lets out a loud exhale without finishing her sentence.

“Yeah,” I agree, finally rolling off of her before sitting up to deposit the condom into the small trash can next to the nightstand.

“I guess I should head home soon,” she says moments before I feel her bare chest against my back followed by her lips pressing to the side of my neck. She peppers kisses up to my ear and then settles her chin on my shoulder.

“You’re leaving?” I question, having not really considered that she would.

“I’m sure you’re ready for me to get out of your hair and let you get some sleep.” She starts to move, but I quickly turn, rolling my arm around her waist as I guide her back onto the bed.

“Stay,” I whisper, my face hovering just inches above hers.

“Are you sure?” She looks up at me with those big green eyes, and I feel like all the fucking air leaves my body.

“I’m sure.”

I roll over top of her and latch my arm around her from behind before tugging her into me, cocooning her body with mine.

“I didn’t take you for the sleepover and snuggle kind of guy,” she murmurs as she relaxes back into me.

“I’m not.” I kiss her shoulder.

“Miles.” She pauses.

“Yeah?”

“Can we do this again?” she asks, instantly bringing a smile to my lips.

“You can count on it,” I promise, resisting the urge to grind into her backside. The last thing I need is to get either of us worked up again. I’m not sure either of our bodies could handle another round this soon. “Now go to sleep,” I tell her after a long moment.

“Okay.” She yawns around the word.

It’s clear that she’s just as exhausted as I am. The only real difference is that she’ll probably be able to sleep a while whereas I’ll likely be up in a couple of hours, if I can sleep at all.

“Goodnight, Miles,” she whispers.

“Goodnight, Harlow.” I flatten my hand on her stomach and focus on the rise and fall as she breathes.

——

I open my eyes to feel the warm sun on my face. Stretching my arms above my head, I freeze when I glance at  the bedside table, and my gaze lands on the clock.

Shooting up, I look around the room, confusion the most prominent thing I feel. Certainly, my clock must have lost power through the night. There’s no way it’s eleven thirty.

I snag my cell phone off the charger and tap the screen, confirming that it is, in fact, that late.

How the hell did I sleep nearly nine hours? I can’t remember the last time I slept that long. If I’m being truthful, I don’t think I have since returning home from my second tour in Iraq.

Rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands, it takes my brain a full minute to catch up to last night’s events.

Harlow...

I look around the room, but there’s no sign of her or any of her belongings.

I throw back the covers and quickly climb out of bed, not the least bit concerned with clothing as I exit my bedroom and head down the hallway toward the living room and kitchen.

The apartment is quiet. The blinds are drawn, and there are no lights on. It’s clear that Harlow must have left sometime while I slept.

Still feeling a bit disoriented, I return to bed, sinking deep into the mattress before tugging the blanket up to my waist.

My mind flashes back to last night.

Strawberry blonde hair splayed out on my pillow. Big green eyes staring up at me. Perfect porcelain skin soft beneath my fingertips.

I remember losing myself in her. Wishing I could bury myself inside of her, and never leave. And then I remember holding her. Counting each time her stomach rose and fell as she breathed. The calm that washed over me as I did.

I don’t know at what point I dozed off. The last time I looked at the clock, it was nearly two thirty in the morning. The next thing I know I’m waking up nine hours later, wondering if everything I think I remember from last night was a dream – a much-needed break from the constant nightmares that usually plague my sleep.

But I know that’s not true either. I can still smell Harlow all around me like her smell has imprinted itself all over my bed, and perhaps all over me as well.

“You’re up.” Harlow’s voice startles me out of my thoughts, and I glance toward the doorway where she’s standing holding two cups of coffee and a bag from Broad Street Bakery.

“I thought you left,” I tell her, sitting up as she reaches the bed.

“I was going to, but then I thought maybe you’d be hungry. I bought danishes.” She shakes the bag in her hand.

“Well, I’m glad you came back,” I tell her truthfully, wondering how the hell I didn’t hear her come in the front door. I must be more out of it than I realized.

She smiles, taking a seat on the edge of the bed before pressing a cup of coffee into my hand. “Black, two sugars.”

“You know how I take my coffee?” I question, not able to stop the slow smile that pulls at my lips.

“Delia told me.” She shrugs. “Guess she thought it was useful information for me to know. It  turns out she was right.” She sips from the cup in her hand before extending the small brown bag toward me. “Now, she didn’t tell me what kind of pastry you like, so I got cream cheese, strawberry, and apple.”

“I’m not picky.” I drop the bag on the bed in front of me and open it with my free hand, pulling out the top Danish which appears to be apple.

“I prefer the cream cheese myself,” she tells me, sipping her coffee again.

“Aren’t you going to have one?” I ask, eating half of the pastry in one big bite.

“I had one on the walk back.” She grins. “I was starving.” Her cheeks turn the palest shade of pink when she meets my gaze, and I know she’s thinking about last night.

Hell, right now I’m thinking about last night too, especially every time I look at her mouth.

I shove the remainder of the pastry into my mouth and immediately go in for another, afraid that if I don’t, I’ll have her pinned beneath me in a matter of seconds. Although if last night was any indication, I don’t think she’d object.

But things feel different in the light of day. Last night I let my desire rule my decision and not my brain. Today, I need to proceed cautiously; at least until I figure out what the hell we’re doing here. This is a delicate situation. Not only is Harlow my best friend’s sister, but she also works for me.

“I also swung by the little boutique on the corner and got me a new outfit and some makeup. If it’s okay, I thought I’d shower here and then head to work.” She pauses. “If it’s a problem I can always run home and do it.”

“You can get ready here,” I quickly interject, sensing her unease. It’s clear she’s not quite sure how to act around me, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting some satisfaction knowing she’s squirming a bit, no doubt wondering what happens next. I’ve got a few ideas of what I’d like to happen next, my earlier thoughts of proceeding cautiously exiting almost as quickly as they had entered. “There’s no sense in you going all the way home to turn around and come back,” I tell her, considering my apartment is only a block from Inked.

“Okay.” She lets out a slow breath and tips her coffee to her lips, taking a small sip before resting the cup just above her knee.

“Under one condition.” I wait until her gaze comes to me before continuing, “I get to shower with you.” The color in her cheeks grow deeper.

“I thought after last night you would have had your fill,” she says, a small smile playing on the corner of her mouth.

Grabbing the coffee from her hand, I lean forward and set both cups on the nightstand before swinging my legs over the side of the bed and standing, the blanket falling away as I do.

I don’t try to hide my obvious arousal or how pleased it makes me to see the way she reacts to me standing naked in front of her.

“It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than one night to get my fill of you, Harlow Cabell.” Leaning down, I scoop her into my arms. “We’ll start with the shower, and then we can go from there.”