I bend to roll down my tights, glancing up through my lashes. His gaze is the same one I captured in that photograph. Pure, raw desire. The corner of his mouth lifts in that half-smile that makes my stomach flip.
My bra clasp clicks open. As the straps slide down, goosebumps rise in their wake, my skin remembering his lips there from our first night. I shiver even though the room is warm.
“You’re so beautiful, Harper,” he whispers.
There’s no deception or games with Ford, and it’s incredibly intoxicating. “You should see you,” I reply with a smile.
“I could stare at you forever.”
“That would get kind of awkward. And a bit frustrating. Mostly sexually.”
He laughs, a deep, husky sound that fills the room. After removing his boxers, he climbs onto the bed. I reach over to turn off the lights.
“Don’t,” he says. “I want to see you. All of you.”
I’ve never had the lights on during intimacy, and my nipples harden under his gaze as I walk toward him. I slowly climb onto the bed and kiss him softly. His hands glide along my back and down toward my hips.
Just as his fingers brush against my panties, I playfully swat his hands away. “No.”
“No?”
“Not yet,” I clarify. “It’s my turn.”
“Your turn?”
I trace a path down his chest with my lips, each kiss leaving goosebumps in its wake. My leg slides over his thigh as I settle against him. When my fingers wrap around him, his breath catches. A small, sharp intake that makes my own breath quicken.
I move my hand in slow, deliberate strokes, watching his reaction. His lips part slightly, a tremble runs through him, but his eyes never waver from mine. Not once does he look down at what I’m doing. His gaze stays fixed on my face, as if memorizing every expression.
I lower my head, taking him between my lips. The moan that escapes him vibrates through the quiet room. His fingers twist in the sheets, knuckles whitening. A flush spreads across his chest, rising to his neck.
“Oh, Harper.”
My lips stretch around him as I take him deeper, his sharp intake of breath sending a thrill through me. I hollow my cheeks, watching his stomach muscles tense, then release my suction just as his breathing quickens.
“Harper,” he gasps, his voice strained.
A bead of sweat traces down his temple as I circle my tongue slowly, deliberately. When my fingers find the sensitive skin below, his hips buck involuntarily. The memory of our awkward collision flashes in my mind. His pained expression, my mortified apology. But now his eyes flutter closed, lips parting in a silent moan.
The pulse beneath my fingertips quickens, his thighs trembling. His hand finds my hair, not pushing, just a gentle pressure that makes me look up. Our eyes lock as he shakes his head, telling me to release him.
“I want you.”
I can’t comprehend how three simple words can sound so intoxicating when he says them. Without hesitation, I slide off the bed to remove my panties. He pulls me back toward him as he shifts to sit against the headboard, and I swing my leg over to straddle him.
As I settle into his lap, a soft moan escapes both of us as I take him in completely. My body welcomes him without resistance, already slick and eager. His pupils dilate until only a thin ring of chocolate brown remains, and my skin flushes hot beneath his gaze.
I never needed to fake anything with Ford—not the quickening of my breath, not the way my thighs tremble against his. When he looks at me like this, with that half-smile playing on his lips, I’m already halfway there before he’s even touched me.
“For the record,” he whispers, his breath warm against my skin as I begin to ride him, “there is nothing mediocre about you in bed.”
I laugh softly, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You make me feel like the only woman in the world, Ford. It’s incredibly confidence-boosting.”
His hands knead my back as I move, and I grind my hips against his pelvic bone, inching closer to the edge. “You are the only woman in the world. For me, Harper. It’s only ever been you.”
“I’m sure your exes love to hear that,” I pant, teasing him.
“I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but they were just filling time until I could have you.”
