"Breathe," he reminded me as he kissed back up my chest toward my neck. "Does it feel good?"
"Yes," I exhaled hard. "Please don't stop."
"I won't," he promised. "Not unless you tell me to."
I shook my head but couldn't formulate words. No, I would never ask him to stop. Not when the pressure was building, every valve in my body poised at a breaking point and threatening to release with mind-shattering euphoria. And Benjamin, as if he knew how close I was, increased the tempo of his fingers over my clit, steady and unwavering in the rhythm that was catapulting me straight to the top of my desire. I screwed my eyes shut, white fogging over the darkness behind my eyelids, and my body tensed, my legs shaking. Benjamin licked my neck. "That's it, Evie. Feel. Breathe. Let go."
His quiet encouragement pitched me over the edge. With a gasping moan, I tensed, and my core tightened just before releasing into raptures of shattering ecstasy. My entire body shuddered, my legs shaking with the intensity of my release, and I felt moisture coating Benjamin's fingers as he gently slowed his pace and massaged my clit through each gratifying, intense pulse. I breathed hard, gusting out each hot breath like I'd run a marathon. Sweat trickled between my breasts and down the valley of my back, and Benjamin brought himself back over me, kissing me softly. My limbs had turned into warm custard, and I kissed him back lazily.
When he pulled away, Benjamin's cool blue eyes had a heated depth to them that I'd never seen before. He looked me over as he slowly removed his fingers from between my legs. "Now, tell me honestly. Are you still not a sex type of woman?"
I forced my fingers to release his shirt, and I left two wrinkled puckers behind when I did. I swallowed, slowly bringing my breathing down to a normal rhythm. "I might be."
His lips curved upward on one side. "I suppose further lessons are in order to be sure."
"Yes," I agreed a little too quickly.
His smile deepened. "Should we clean up and make dinner?"
I ping ponged a look between his brilliantly blue eyes. "What, that's—that's it? You're not going to—I mean I'm not going to leave you?—"
Benjamin stood swiftly, taking me with him. I didn't miss that he kept his right hand held away, the fingers that likely had a lot ofmeon them. He kissed me, gentle but swift. "One lesson at a time, Marshmallow."
I stared at him, trying to understand what on earth he had to gain from bringing me pleasure and receiving none himself. "What… do you want to eat, then?"
"Definitely not shit soup," he grinned. And just like that, he diffused my worries. At least, momentarily.
Benjamin was quickly rewriting everything I thought I knew about intimacy. I'd always assumed it had to be serious. But he made it fun and exciting, something to look forward to. And as I turned away from him, making my way to the bathroom to clean myself up, I realized that the exhilaration was still there. It was tempered by the release and tenderness he'd given me, but the excitement about what the future held was there, too. Lessons, apparently, were just what the doctor ordered.
Chapter Fifteen
FROST
It was easy to forget that a life-threatening event had occurred when that fear had segued into mind-numbing passion. But my body remembered. I sat up from a dead sleep, inhaling sharply and breathing tightly around my drumming heart. The moon cast a dim, blue light through the tall windows of Evie's living room, and the quiet hum of the air conditioner upstairs buzzed through the quiet night. I put a hand to my chest, rubbing it. That feeling was back, the vibrating fear that I'd known all those years ago in a desert far away.
Movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention, and I whipped a look to the right in alarm. But it was only Evie, sitting up from a nest of her comforter and pillows she'd made on the other side of the couch. Her head poked out of it, her hazel eyes wide and dark in the shadows. My shoulders slumped, and I blew out a breath, rubbing my face. "What are you doing?"
"The air conditioner is too cold," she admitted. "I came to sleep down here. It blows on me all night."
I spared a look for the loft area where the A/C was blowing steadily and then fixed my attention back on her. "Why didn't you say something?"
"You like it," she shrugged.
That was painfully kind. "I didn't mean to freeze you out. Here." I opened my own blanket, scooting back on the couch and offering her a spot against my overheated body. "I'm a furnace."
She didn't move, but I swore her eyes grew wider. "Um."
"What?" I glanced at my body. Sure, I was shirtless, but I was wearing boxers, at least. Anywhere else, and I'd have been naked. God, I missed sleeping naked.
"I'm not sure," she said uncertainly. "I mean I figured there were lines."
Lines she didn't want to cross. I fought a smile. "I hate to break your line theory, but I had my fingers in your pussy five hours ago."
She jumped, blinking. "You're very direct."
I sucked on a finger, pulling it out with a loud pop. "Mm. Tastes like boundary crossing."
She shimmied out of her blankets, grumbling something to herself first before saying, "You are outrageous."
