“Look at me,” he instructed, and she did.
She met his gaze as he stepped forward and slid into her, watching as desire darkened his eyes, reveling in how his jaw bunched in restraint as he slowly pushed in. The sheen of sweat on his dark skin glistened in the candlelight, his brow furrowed.
He looked magnificent, and Ivy didn’t take her eyes off him for one second. Not until he was fully lodged inside her, so deeply embedded in her body she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. He was still standing at the foot of the bed, while she lay in front of him, knees up, hands gripping the bedsheets.
She lowered her gaze then, to the place where they were joined. His hips pressed firmly against her thighs, their bodies so tightly joined there was really nothing to see. There was only a sensation so intense she worried she might splinter apart.
Then he started moving, pulling back, and she was mesmerized as he plunged back into her, sending her backward with the force, until she gasped. He stopped immediately, and she shook her head frantically.
“Again!” she begged, fixated on their united bodies.
“Eyes up, sweetheart. I need to see you.”
With effort, she lifted her gaze to him. “Please, Sean. Don’t stop,” she whispered, making sure not to break eye contact again.
Satisfied with whatever he saw in her eyes, he rocked forward, in and out, over and over, using his grip under her knees as leverage, his thighs hitting the base of the bed every time he came flush with her body.
Ivy switched between looking at Sean’s face, his creased brow and intense focus, and between them. She couldn’t help it. The sight of him emerging and disappearing inside her was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen. Going on instinct, she moved her fingers to the nub of flesh right above where they were linked, and rubbed. Sensation burst through her anew.
Was this her actual life? Having better sex than she could’ve ever imagined, with the hottest man in existence. It didn’t feel real. And yet here she was, on the verge of a second orgasm.
“Jesus. You’re so amazing. So beautiful. When I’m with you—” His voice was rough and strained, no more than a rasp in the darkened room.
“What?” she panted, wanting to know what she did to him, if it was anything close to what he did with her.
“When I am with you, Ivy, I feel everything.”
Definitely relatable. Never in a million years could she have guessed it could be like this with him. That he could make her feel this way. That he would know, so instinctively, what she would want and need, even on a night that was very specifically supposed to be about fulfilling his wants and needs.
Even the way he’d situated himself in front of her, and not on top of, meant everything to her. He’d taken a night that was supposed to be solely about his enjoyment and turned it into one of the most gratifying experiences ofherlife.
Emotion swamped her alongside the physical momentum, and she had the flash of realization that there was no way she could keep this casual. Casual was gone, replaced by something much stronger. Friendship wasn’t an accurate enough word to describe what existed between them. Friends didn’t fuck like they could read each other’s minds, like they shared the same soul. In fact, they didn’t fuck at all. They made love.
She would have panicked at that, but Sean had increased his tempo, and her fingers moved to match. And then the world exploded. Sean bared his teeth, his body stiffening, every muscle taut and straining right before he jerked inside her one last time. A grunt ripped from his throat, her name following suit like he was in the middle of a charismatic worship service, and it was enough to set her free again.
But this time, her heart tumbled over the edge along with her body.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Sean blacked out. In the recesses of his fuzzed, blissed-out brain, he realized he was only like this after sex with Ivy. Completely spent, fully satisfied. Being with her filled every void, physical and emotional.
Now she curled up beside him, her palm coming to rest over his heart. Her sigh sounded so content he couldn’t help the surge of pride that burst through him.
Slowly but surely, she was unraveling in the very best way. Unwinding whatever haunted her mind and contorted her heart, replacing it with something new. Which was fitting, because that was exactly what was happening inside of him. Something magical was growing between them, and he nearly laughed at how sentimental that sounded—if it weren’t so true.
Leisurely, he moved to disentangle himself from her, kissed her lightly on the mouth, then went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he came out, he found her getting dressed.
“You going somewhere?” he asked, his chest tightening at the sight of her jerky movements as she pulled her pants up over her legs.
Ivy glanced at him, blowing her bangs away from her eyes. “Oh, yeah, you know, I thought I’d go back to my place, get some paperwork done before bed.”
“It’s late,” he stated matter-of-factly, stepping closer to her and stilling her fingers as she fumbled with her shirt. What the fuck had happened between thirty seconds ago and now? “Ivy—”
Her body was trembling. She was obviously grappling for control. And he could relate. Things between them were so far beyond casual that it was laughable. Control was slipping out of both of their fingers, and running seemed instinctive. Run and protect yourself. But he didn’t want to run. If this was fight or flight, he was fighting.
“Work can wait until the morning. Stay,” he urged, lowering his head so he could meet her gaze. “Stay the night with me.”
“I can’t stay.” She huffed, sounding appalled. “That goes against all the FWB rules. Friends With Benefits,” she clarified, talking to him like he was dense, and maybe he was because the more she talked, the less he followed.
