My hand becomes rigid in his.
‘I’m not sure I’m explaining myself properly.’ He runs his hand through his hair with his free hand. ‘This pain embedded itself in me the minute you left, and years later it was still coming back with the same ferocity. Like there was a permanent hole that no matter how many times I patched it up, it still leaked.’ Luc bites his bottom lip and doesn’t take his eyes off me.
I don’t reply, my eyes on our intertwined hands. I turn my head and suck my cheek. He pulls me closer, and I don’t fight him.
‘I need you to trust me, Sienna.’ His voice comes out quieter than a whisper. If his face wasn’t so close to mine, I doubt I would’ve heard him.
My voice is just as quiet, if not quieter, and it breaks in the middle of the single word. ‘Okay.’
Luc snores softly through his nose and breathes out quickly. Who knew snoring could be so cute? I don’t want to disturb him, but I need to get the air conditioning on. I contort my body so that I can reach the bedside table without moving him. I get my finger on the edge of the remote and bring it closer to me, catching it just before it slips off the table and clatters to the floor. I press the big red button and the unit beeps loudly. I cringe while Luc readjusts himself, giving mefreedom to move, his snoring momentarily coming to a halt. My arm tingles like static.
The doors on the A/C open and a coolness starts filtering into the air. I turn it down to sixteen degrees so that it’ll make the air cool quicker. As soon as I start to feel the breeze on my legs, I turn it back to nineteen.
I roll over and Luc’s arm snakes under me. He kisses the back of my neck, the trail of kisses lighting up my entire body. I roll over, his hips against my bum. He runs his hands over my stomach sleepily, tracing down my thighs, back over my stomach, grazing against the outside lace on my bra. His index finger finds my nipple and he draws circles until they harden under his touch.
‘Happy birthday,’ I whisper.
He exhales a smile. ‘What’s the plan?’
‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’
More kisses on my neck. My breathing is laboured, and I groan when Luc moves to my other breast.
‘Actually, I would. But it can wait if you have other things in mind.’
His fingers barely touch the lace on my underwear but the heat from his fingers raises the hairs on my arms, a pit of desire opening inside of me. My breath hitches in my throat. I draw faint lines on his free hand with my nail.
I look at the clock on the wall. Already ten o’clock. Shit. Not nearly as early as I previously thought. ‘We’ve got maybe, what, an hour until Kareem picks us up?’ I calculate.
He kisses me in response, telling me we have time for whatever I want to do. He squints when he looks at me, his glasses still on the bedside table. The effort of squinting forces him to close his eyes again and I push myself back, bum grinding against his groin.
‘The teasing is all well and good,’ he grunts, his hands undoing my bra with one click. ‘But we’re on a time crunch here.’
I start to pull down my bottoms and his fingers trace the alphabet on my inner thigh.
‘Good girl.’
I turn to face him, and I accept a kiss from his mouth before he starts making his way down my body, dropping kisses to mark his trail. I shiver when his teeth graze my nipple. He hovers over the birthmark on my stomach for a few seconds longer, prolonging the moment. ‘Is this okay?’ he asks, inches from my body. He drops another kiss on the stretch marks on my thigh.
I nod, my legs spreading automatically to make space for him. ‘Do we have time?’
‘Of course. We always have time for this, Sienna,’ he whispers against me, his hot breath lingering against my skin, heat that shoots up my spine. Long licks peppered with gentle sucks and my desire unspools in front of me. I’m losing control. I quiver underneath him, the ache for him growing overwhelming. He holds my thighs still and savours me, grabbing handfuls of my hip with his other hand.
‘Luc,’ I moan. Seconds left until control escapes me. I pull him up so that we’re eye level and grab a condom from his washbag on the bedside table. I climb on top of him, and he slides in easily. We both groan in unison. I hold my hand over my own mouth to stem my noise. His hands are all over my body, like he’s trying to find places I’ll never have been touched before.
I grab his wrists in my right hand and hold them against the bed, away from my body. His face lights up and he laughs gently. ‘Didn’t know you had it in you, Sie.’
‘Shut up,’ I grunt but I can’t hide my smile.
He breaks out of my grasp and his hands are back on my body again. And then they’re between my legs, brushing against me in exactly the right place. I stiffen. ‘Don’t move. Give me a minute.’ I take a deep breath. My blood rushes.
‘Are you going to come for me, Sienna Martin?’
I bitedown on my lip and nod. I’m trying to stop myself but he’s throbbing inside me. Luc groans, his thumb outlining the warmth between my thighs. I hold my hand over my mouth, body shaking.
‘That’s it.’ He takes my hand away from my mouth. ‘Let me look at you.’
I close my eyes, breathing out a moan, riding a wave of stars.
