His fingers find my entrance, and he pushes two in, causing me to gasp at the sudden full feeling. His mouth and hand work in perfect tandem, causing my back to arch and my hips to thrust forward.
Over and over he pumps into me, torturing me with the perfect licks and flicks of his tongue. Pressure builds at the base of my spine.
“That’s it,” he says, pulling back slightly but not slowing his hand. His fingers curl against my most sensitive spot, and my whole body jolts. “Soak me.”
His mouth returns to my clit, and with one stroke of his tongue, my eyes roll back, and I fall. My legs shudder around him, squeezing together, as he takes me through the waves of my release. And then when I’ve completely come down from it, he moves up to the bed to join me.
Our mouths tangle in another heady kiss. His tongue moves over mine, and I moan into him as I taste myself. Pulling back, a wide grin breaks across his face as we both attempt to catch our breath, and I’m certain he’s just ruined me forever.
It may have only been a few days since we hooked up in New York, but I know I can never go that long without us touching like that again.
I move so that my body lazily drapes over the top of his. My hand draws circles up and down his thick bicep, and our breaths, still slowing, begin to sync into perfect rhythmwith each other.
“How long have you had an anemone tattooed on your leg?” I ask.
“I started working on the sleeve during my first off-season in Texas.”
“Hmmm,” I hum, thinking back to the elaborate ink that I studied earlier.
“What do the other flowers mean?”
“Well, the foxgloves are for Iris because she loves fairies. The daisies are my sister’s favorite, and the tulips are for Elsie.”
“And the anemone?”
“It’s for you.”
“But why?”
“Because I missed you. Because I thought about you every damn day I was in Texas.”
My hand stills.
“But you never called.”
“I should’ve.”
“What would’ve happened if I hadn’t walked into that bar though? If Stella hadn’t intervened and pushed us together here? You would’ve just…what? Married some other woman one day with my favorite flower tattooed on your leg?”
“I thought you hated me back then, remember,” he explains. “There were rules. No nicknames. No strings. No sleepovers. The last night I was in town, you told me you wouldn’t miss me. I think your exact words were that you’d miss only my dick. It’s not like you were blowing up my phone either. We both had our careers. You said that yourself the other day.”
“So why get the tattoo?”
“Because you meant a lot to me, Claire. Because no matter what, you will always be someone I want to remember. Because even if I never saw you again, it wouldn’t change how I felt about you. Fuck, how Ifeelabout you.”
“And how do you feel about me?”
He closes his eyes and inhales deeply.
“Everett, how do you feel about me?” I repeat.
“I’m falling in love with you.”
“You’re falling in love with me?” I sit up, my mouth parting slightly.
“Yes,” he says, sitting up to meet me and taking my hands in his. “I know that’s a lot, but you’re right, I should’ve told you how I wasfeeling all those years ago. I should’ve told you yesterday when we were playing that silly game. I’ve been letting my insecurities get in the way of me being honest with you. So, forgive me for the blunt delivery, but I don’t want to keep it to myself anymore. I want you to know how I feel.”
“Everett…I…” My eyes shift down to his tattoo, and my fingers trace the black center of the anemone.
