CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Erika
Our lips have been pressed together since we were outside the restaurant, then in Leon’s car, and they continue to stay glued as we crash through the front door of his place, clawing and pawing at each other like wild animals in heat.
Our kiss unbroken, I haphazardly toss Leon’s sports jacket from around my shoulders onto the tiled floor, and with a quick wiggle of one ankle followed by the other, my silver sandals—the ones Leon’s stylist picked for me to match the silk dress she urged me to wear—slip free, echoing throughout his cavernous hallway.
With trembling fingers, I try to unbutton his shirt quickly and fail.
“You’re shaking,” Leon pants between kisses, laying his hands over mine to stop me and the pace we are moving at.
“You make me nervous.” Fooling around like we did earlier was one thing, but what we are about to do next reshapes our friendship forever. “And what if we aren’t compatible?” I voice my concerns that have been running through my head like a hamster on a wheel. “Then what?”
“Erika, baby.” He pulls out of our kiss and stares at me with that smoldering look that has melted my panties more times than I can remember. They’d be nothing but ashes, that is, if I had any on, which I don’t, because their outline would show through the fine silk of my dress. “For years, I’ve imagined doing this with you. And I’m nervous too. Feel.” He dips his chin, motioning to his chest.
I place my hand over his heart and am astonished by how quickly it’s pounding.
He removes my hand from his chest and lifts it to his lips, where he plants a tender kiss on my fingers. “I want you to stop those thoughts immediately. The connection we have is unlike anything I have ever experienced with anyone, and for the last twenty years, all I’ve imagined is what it would be like to be inside you and how good it would feel.”
A wave of ecstasy throbs through me because it’s such a turn-on hearing him say words I’ve only been able to fantasize about. “I’ve imagined that too,” I confess.
“Emotionally, physically, we’re compatible.” He nods as if there is no doubt in his mind.“Don’t ever question it.” There’s so much lust and strength in his words, I believe him.
“Emotionally and physically, I want all of you.” My voice is much stronger now as a flood of confidence replaces the nerves I felt before.
“You have me.”
“And you have all of me too. You’ve always had me, Leon.”
Without hesitation, he lifts me into his arms, securing me firmly against him, urging me to wrap my legs around his waist as he pushes my dress upward. My nipples pucker into tight peaks when his firm chest muscles brush against them. I can’t control the moan that leaves me, feeling so turned on, my aching core throbs when his belt rubs against my pussy.
Entirely desperate, all I want to do is grind against him.
He carries me effortlessly, surprising me when he walks past the stairs leading to his bedroom and instead heads toward the living room.
Stepping into the spacious area, he commands the lights to glow softly before laying me down on the giant rug in front of the fireplace with great care.
“Don’t move,” he instructs, then, quicker than I have ever seen him do, he lights the fire that’s only feet away, setting the mood.
I gasp when he turns off the lights, allowing the room to fill with a warm orange radiance from the small flames. “Romantic,” I say, my excitement at an all-time high.
Returning to me on his hands and knees, he narrows his eyes, his tight jaw twitching, like a ravenous panther on the hunt.
It’s been so long since I’ve been intimate with a man, nerves churn in my stomach as I nibble on my bottom lip.
I shouldn’t be nervous because he loves me. I feel it, feel him everywhere, and the adoration and passion he has for me. It’s so tangible, almost like a living, breathing thing.
He stops at my feet, and I bend my knees, prompting him to flick his attention to my exposed pussy that he’s seeing for the first time.
He licks his lips, then groans deep and long, and I can tell it’s taking everything within him not to rip off my clothes and fuck me into next week to break this tension that’s been building not just for months, but years. Decades even.
“No panties,” Leon mutters.
“I’m not wearing a bra either,” I admit, making him suck in a breath. “It didn’t suit the dress,” I say seductively, moving my fingers to the hem, arching my back to lift it over my head and throw it across the room. I spread my legs wider, exposing myself completely to him.
“You are fucking stunning, Erika.” For a moment, he considers his next move, as if torn inside, then he pulls his focus away from my pussy, settling himself between my legs until we’re nose to nose.
My breath hitches when he glides his finger from my knee, traveling north over my hip, and follows the curve of my waist, then says, “We’re about to incinerate our friend zone club membership.” Those deft fingers of his drift across my stomach to my navel and move down between my legs, but not close enough to where I really want him.
