“B-but why aren’t you at work?”
“Why do you think?” I asked as I searched her face.
She frowned in confusion.
“Clara, I took a leave of absence from work so I could be here with you. And now I’m only back a few days a week, and then only when you’re at the school.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “You’re here for me? W-why?”
The puppy wriggled between us and I chuckled. “Right, mate,” I said to the ball of black fluff, stroking his head as he licked my hand. “You jog on for a minute.” I took him from Clara and set him down on the tiles. He dashed off in the direction of the living room. “And don’t you dare piss on that carpet again!” I called after him. Bloody Dad inflicting a dog on me. Although I had to admit that the look on Zach’s face when he came home every day to that beast did make it worth it. That boy had been through enough. He deserved some joy.
I moved back to Clara, caging her in again and resting my forehead on hers.
“I’m here because the woman I love was scared. Because I knew that, even if she didn’t feel the same way about me anymore, she felt safer if I was there. And becauseI simply couldn’t tear myself away from her, not after she was hurt.”
“Th-the woman you love?” she said in a tentative voice, her small hands resting on my chest now but not to push me away. “B-but you’ve barely been touching me.”
“I touch you all the time.”
I did risk a fair bit of physical contact with Clara. Hugs, holding her on the sofa, kissing her temple, stroking her hair back from her face. Of course I wasn’t allowing myself to touch her like I wanted. After what she’d been through, I didn’t think that fucking her on every available surface of my house, which is what my fevered imagination would frequently come up with, was the best plan.
“Not like you did before,” she said in a small voice, and my hand that had moved into her hair at the nape of her neck automatically tightened. Her eyes flared at that, and a shot of pure hot desire flooded through me. “I thought that you didn’t want me anymore… like that, I mean.”
“Jesus Christ.” My voice was rough with desire. “Not want you?”
I didn’t often make an error of judgement, but clearly, not fucking Clara during her recovery was a massive one that I would beveryhappy to rectify. And I certainly wasn’t wasting any more time.
Chapter 41
Get used to that, darling
Rafe
She letout a small squeak as I reached down and lifted her up onto the granite surface, then stood in between her legs, letting her feel how hard I’d been for the entirety of this conversation, how hard I was most of the time around her.
“Does that feel like I don’t want you?” I growled, moving against her now as she let out a small moan.
“Rafe,” she said in a needy voice. “Oh God, I-I…”
“Have you been as frustrated as me?” I asked, still with that growl in my voice. “Being around you and having to hold myself back from touching you like I want has been the worst form of torture.” My mouth moved to hers, but not for the usual light kisses I gave her. No, I took her in a deep, hard, demanding kiss which she returned, her hands gripping onto my shirt and her hips moving against mine in needy, desperate little jerks. “God, I missed you so much, baby.”
“Rafe, please.” Her voice was breathy and had a pleading quality which matched my own desperation.
“Please what, darling?” I murmured as I kissed from the corner of her mouth to her ear, taking the soft lobe in my teeth.
“Ugh, I can’t…” she broke off in a long moan as I rocked against her centre.
“Use your words, Clara,” I teased. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need you inside me,” she choked out. “Please, Rafe. I can’t wait. I feel like I’m burning from the inside out.”
“Good girl,” I muttered. “Let me take the edge off first, though.”
“Rafe, I?—”
She broke off as I pulled her leggings and knickers down until they were on the floor. Her jumper and t-shirt were the next to go until she was just in her bra.
“What are you…Oh!” I gently pushed her back so she was leaning up on her elbows as I pressed her legs open wider and kissed down from her jawline to her breasts, pulling down the cups so that I could close my mouth over her nipples, then continuing down the flat of her stomach. “Rafe, I need you to…ah!” Her hands gripped into my hair as I used my tongue to cover her in one broad lick. “Holy shit,” she breathed when I used the flat of my tongue to focus on her clit whilst my fingers entered her in one smooth motion and she contracted around me.
