Jo wasn’t sure when they’d started shuffling towards the bed, but suddenly the mattress was at the curve of her knees, Jo stumbling backwards onto the plush comforter. Wayne followed, though not before removing his briefs. When Jo went to do the same, however, Wayne stilled herhands.
“Let me,” he said, voice low and raspy. The sound itself was pure sex, setting Jo’s insides onfire.
Wayne didn’t remove her underwear immediately, instead leaning over her to recapture her lips in a deep and searing kiss. With one hand, he massaged her breasts, tips of his fingers pinching at one nipple, then the other. With his other hand, he reached low, between their bodies, to run his fingers over her still-clothedarousal.
Jo’s back arched off the bed at even that simple touch, his fingers stroking until the fabric of her underwear grew damp. Wayne hummed in approval at her response, pulling the fabric aside to toy with her directly, fingers dipping into the wetness there before rubbing in circles around her most sensitivespot.
She cried out, the sound trailing off into a moan as Wayne inched two fingers inside of her, curling them once, twice, before starting a slow and teasing thrust. When Jo became incapable of kissing back, mouth slack against the sensation, Wayne took to sucking bruises into her neck, her shoulder, hercollarbone.
Jo could feel the pleasure building steadily, that white hot desire that could wipe out everything else. She craved it more than she wanted to admit, that blissful numbing of the mind as the body rang with ecstasy. She was thankful for Wayne and his ability to give that to her, even if it was only temporary, a briefreprieve.
When Jo’s toes were curling with her approaching release, Wayne pulled his fingers out and away, leaving Jo gasping andconfused.
“Wayne. . .?” Jo whispered his name, only mildly embarrassed by the obvious whine beneath it. Wayne didn’t respond verbally; instead finally, finally pulling her soaked underwear off and throwing it into thecorner.
Carefully, but in no way without urgency, Wayne pushed in, a thick drag inside her until they were flush together. For a long moment, they stayed that way, breathing each other’s heavy breaths and simplyfeeling. Jo basked in the instant scratch of that itch, in the fullness that throbbed like a pleasant stretch between herlegs.
Then Wayne looped an arm beneath one of Jo’s knees and startedmoving.
Each movement was like the strike of a match, giving off sparks until it would eventually burst into flame. Wayne had one hand on her chest, but the other had moved to tangle in her hair, pulling her head to the side to give him ample room to suck fresh bruises into her neck. She could hear each moan like a rumble in her ears, her heart pounding in time to histhrusts.
She was getting close again, that same building heat from before going molten. She just needed a little more, a little faster, a little deeper, alittle—
“H-Harder,” Jo gasped, clutching onto the back of Wayne’s head, fingers digging into the nape of his neck in a way that must have been painful. He didn’t comment, however, choosing instead to sling both of Jo’s legs over his shoulders and pick up thepace.
The change in angle had her screaming out his name, that rising need from before bordering on a tidal wave now, so very, very close to crashing. In fact, all it took was Wayne dragging a hand down her chest, past her stomach, to the place she needed itmost.
A few quick motions of his hand and Jo was gone, her whole body alight with pleasure. Her eyes snapped shut and her whole body tensed, convulsing almost painfully around him. The orgasm seemed to last a full minute, though surely it must have only been a handful of seconds, the pleasure refusing to dull. It wracked through her in sizzling aftershocks that left her just as breathless, one after another afteranother.
When it finally died down enough for her to get her breath back, it was to find Wayne lying atop her, panting softly against her cheek. She hadn’t even realized he’dfinished.
When Wayne pulled out, rolling over to give her room, Jo followed him, too tired and blissed-out to care that he might not want to cuddle. He was warm and familiar now, and not just because of the sex. Her eyes fell closed and Jo took a deep breath, letting out all the stress and pent-up frustrations that had been building even before the Society. Tonight, she’d enjoy the feeling of fulfillment and not sleeping alone foronce.
After all, she’d secured Yuusuke’s safety. She’d proven her magical worth to the most important person in the Society—herself.
If anything, she’d earned a good night’ssleep.
Chapter 20
Great Depression
“IT LOOKS EVEN more beautiful now.”
The lights of Paris never faded. They glittered in the thin sheen of sweat that covered Wayne’s chest as Jo traced lines between and around hisnipples.
“I know, I’m quite the sight to behold.” Even his usual cockiness sounded tired. Well, that’s what happened when you went three times in twenty-four hours. It seemed Jo wasn’t the only one who had been a bit pentup.
They were no longer breathless. A heavy silence had settled on them like a blanket, one they seemed content to nest under for a shameless amount oftime.
“You’re not bad, I guess.” Jo finally pulled herself into a seatedposition.
“‘Not bad’ doesn’t have ladies screaming my name,” Wayne huffed, still splayed out on the bed. Jo ran her own hand along the sheets. She could feel them, but they didn't rumple between her splayed fingers. They didn’t move to pile at Wayne’s arm when she transferred her touch tohim.
He was the most real thing she could feel when her watch wasn’t activated. His skin, the thin coating of hair on his arms, the curve of his shoulder, the stubble that seemed perpetually shy of a five o’clock-shadow no matter how much timepassed.
“What is it?” He propped himself up as well, the covers not ruffling as hemoved.
“We have all the time in the world, but not enough.” Jo looked to her watch. She had “all the time in the world” as long as she wasn’t actually a part of it. When she was, she had mere hours. “You’re the only thing I can touch, when I’m not using time.” She looked at her watch again; barely more than an hour wasleft.
