Marry Me for Money (37 page)

“Can you stir the sauce?” he asked, putting the bowls on the counter.

I moved toward the stove, picked up the wooden spoon, and began to stir the sauce in the pan. The scent of tomatoes and garlic filled the air, and my stomach grumbled in response.

I felt him move closer behind me.

“Continue stirring,” he said, placing his hand on mine stirring with the wooden spoon. “You don’t want the bottom to burn.”

He was so close that I could feel his breath against my neck. I could barely handle the heat, and it wasn’t from the nearness of the stove. I leaned back into him because—well, I wanted to be near him. I bit my lip and rested against him as I felt a hypersensitivity wherever our bodies touched, his chest to my back. Right before I was about to turn around, he released my hand and backed away. “Keep stirring,” he said, his voice deeper.

I closed my eyes to compose myself, to calm my raging pulse and yelped when my pinkie finger touched the edge of the pan. “Ow.” I dropped the wooden spoon, and tomato sauce spilled on the floor.

He grabbed my hand and inspected it. “Let me see.”

I forgot about the pain when he quickly placed my pinkie in his mouth, sucking it lightly. Our eyes locked as I watched him pull at my pinkie with his tongue. The warmth of his tongue on my flesh heated my insides to immeasurable temperatures, and I felt that yearning hunger in the pit of my stomach. That electricity between us was there, thick and palpable. The need and want in his eyes mirrored mine. I leaned into him ever so slightly. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss me. I waited for it.

But he closed his eyes, and at once, he released me. “There. Better.” He dropped my hand and picked up the wooden spoon off the floor. “You have to be more careful. Do you need a Band-Aid?” he asked, not meeting my eyes.

“I’ll get one.” I staggered back before almost running to the bathroom.

I closed the door and leaned against it, using it as support. I took deep breaths to calm my stammering heart in my chest. I didn’t know how to make it more obvious without stripping naked and yelling for him to take me. I wanted him but not only on a physical level. I wanted him to be solely mine, and only he could decide that, so he had to be the one to make the first move.

When I walked back to the kitchen, I caught Kent pinching the bridge of his nose. His eyes were closed as he furrowed his brow in concentration.

I didn’t know how much I could take. Given all the tension rising between us and the feelings rising within me, I wondered if we could go back to our friendship as it had been before. More than that, I wondered if he felt the same and had feelings for me too.

Kent was sitting on the couch in front of the TV when I walked into the condo after work.

“How was your customer call?” he asked, flipping through the channels with the remote in his hand.

“Long and boring.” I dropped my laptop bag on the floor. “I could never be a banker. They wine and dine every day and have so many night functions. When I’m done with work, I’m glad I’m done for the day.”

I walked over and plopped myself next to him on the couch. Closing my eyes, I rolled my neck from side to side to ease the tension from the long day. Working from eight to five in front of a computer and then logging off to attend a customer dinner had just been too much to handle. I was glad I didn’t have to do it on a daily basis.

“Come here,” he said, “I give the best massages. You look stressed.”

He parted his knees and dropped the remote, as I moved to sit in front of him. He began to knead my shoulders with his thumbs, and I eased into his touch.

“Mmm…you’re pretty good at this,” I said with my eyes closed.

“When will you figure out that there’s nothing I’m not good at?” He chuckled.

I opened my eyes to watch the news as Kent continued to work my shoulders.

“Did you do anything today? Did you go to the gym?” I relaxed my shoulders, feeling the tension slowly ooze out of me.

His hands moved to my shoulder blades as he began retelling his day’s events. His fingers were magic, and I began to feel each muscle relax with his touch. Moving his hands to the middle of my back, he used his palms to work the tension out and undo each and every knot. After a while, a slow sigh of relaxation escaped me. The tension of the day’s hard work slowly disappeared as his fingers kneaded my flesh, and I found myself sinking into the couch. Moving further down, his hands massaged my lower back, and eventually, they shifted to my hipbones. I felt the pressure of his fingertips deepen against my skin and the sudden sensation of warmth flooded my body.

His touches moved slowly and intensified as feelings of relaxation transformed into something else. It was something deep and dark—and something a paid masseuse shouldn’t be doing. I didn’t even notice when he’d stopped talking. His hands continued from my hip bones to my thighs, massaging and kneading and touching. I didn’t know what came over me, but I leaned back against him, wanting to be closer. His breathing changed, and I could feel his labored deep breaths coming through his nose and onto my neck. His hands shifted to my inner thighs where he continued to rub slower, deeper, and with heightened pressure.

Leaning my head back, I felt his tongue on my neck. Heat spread throughout my body. I felt tingly from where his tongue met my flesh. The sensation spread from the deepest part of my belly to the tip of my toes. He pulled me against him, gripping me closer, as his hands continued to massage my inner thighs. I felt him erect against my back, and I moved against him, fully turned-on, as my breathing accelerated, giving away my arousal.

It was all too much to take. All at once, he grabbed the side of my neck, turned my face toward him, and slammed his lips down on mine, his tongue invading my mouth. I gave it right back and opened my mouth to let him find passage, welcoming him, meeting him. He tasted of mint as I bit hard on his lower lip, and I was rewarded when a moan slipped from his mouth. His soft touches were gone, and he kissed me hard and rough, his tongue tasting mine.

Framing my face with both of his hands, he attacked my lips and moved my legs to straddle him in one swift movement. He grabbed my bottom and pushed me closer to him. I moved against his hardness and felt my wetness soak my panties. He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me to his bedroom. His lips never left mine as he dropped me onto the bed and rested between my knees. I kissed him back, meeting his tongue, tasting and feeling him. He groped me through my clothes, every part he could get a hold of.

Spreading my knees apart, I felt his hand travel under my skirt, up my thigh, and to my center where he rubbed his hand against my sweet spot. When he moved my panties out of the way and his finger pierced me, I let out a small moan of pleasure.

“Oh, Kent,” I exhaled, moving against him.

He pulled back slightly and as he peered down at me, lust filled his eyes. As if saying his name, released his sexual beast inside, he continued to create this sensual friction inside me with his fingers. His breathing accelerated, and when his mouth moved to my neck I turned to give him better access. He licked and sucked my neck, and there was no doubt I would have a hickey in the morning, but I didn’t care. I ran my hands through his hair and tugged at the ends, hard.

He was flush against me, but it wasn’t close enough. I arched my back toward him, rubbing myself against his chest, as I wanted to be even closer. My silk shirt was now an itchy barrier between us. Reading my mind, he withdrew his hand and loomed over me. I sat up a little as he lifted my shirt over my head and tossed it to the side. I tugged on the bottom hem of his T-shirt, and he complied, lifting the shirt above his head before throwing it on the floor. Slipping my skirt down and off, I was now only in a bra and panties.

Kent pressed himself on top of me, and his lips were on mine again. His hand moved to my back to undo my bra, and in a flash, it was off. As he moved on top of me, I was on fire and soaking wet. I ran my nails roughly over the muscles of his back and down into the back of his pajama pants. I squeezed his backside to press him down onto me as I lifted my hips to grind against him.

“Shit,” he said, breathing harder, giving me a thrill.

His lips moved to my breast, sucking and teasing with his tongue. I was sensitive all over, and at that moment, I wanted to feel him in me. I moved my hands to his hip bones to slip off his pants, but he inched even lower, placing his lips on my belly, his tongue dipping into my navel.

“God, you’re sexy,” he breathed.

I started to get nervous as he trailed his tongue from my belly button down over my hip bone until he came to the elastic of my panties. He distracted me with soft nibbles as he slipped the wet fabric down my legs. When I felt his tongue touch my center, my body convulsed. Automatically, I tried to close my thighs, but his grip tightened. He lifted his head up, and his eyes bore into mine.

His lips returned to my core, and I tried to relax and enjoy the feelings he was sending throughout my body. My breathing intensified, and I realized sounds I’d never made before were escaping my lips. I fisted the bed sheets, not knowing what else to do with my hands, as his tongue flicked against my sensitive nub.

I felt a tightening in my belly and tingling in my legs as my body rocked into him. As he moved his tongue deeper into me, my thighs closed instinctively due to the unfamiliar sensations of my body building toward release.

He lifted his head and pulled me closer, tightening his grip on my thighs. “Baby, let me do this. I want to be the first to give this to you.” His grip would not relent, and his mouth attacked my core, flicking his tongue directly over that perfect spot.

My brain was mush, and I was lost in feeling. The deep sensations in my belly began to rise again, and my legs began to tremble as the buildup started to intensify. Kent gripped my thigh with one hand and placed the other on my lower belly to hold me still. Loud moans escaped my mouth. I wanted more, yet at the same time, I was scared of the unfamiliar feeling building in my body.

“Let go, baby,” he grunted before torturing me with his tongue. “Come on,” he mumbled against me.

At that, I exploded. I let out a loud scream. Everything went into sensory overload, and my body rocked in ecstasy. Tingling intensified all over my body over and over and over again. Kent withdrew himself and pressed his lips to mine while I rode my first orgasm down, moaning in his mouth.

I laid on the bed, utterly spent and exhausted.

After a minute, I opened my eyes. He had flipped me over to lie on his chest, his hands running lightly through my hair. I listened to his heart beating as I felt the rise and fall of his chest against my cheek. I was satiated from the experience, but more than that, I felt so whole in his arms. I felt safe. It felt right to be there.

I thought of all that we’d been through. He had been my rock through all my struggles in a new town. He was my best friend. After everything we’d been through, I was glad that we’d ended up like this—me in his arms.

It was then I realized that it never would have worked with Brian. Although I’d tried to deny it for such a long time, I had always been in love with Kent. I’d been in love once, but this time it felt different. I’d never felt such a physical and emotional attachment with such heightened intensity, such magnitude to another person before.

It slipped out before I could stop it. “I love you,” I whispered into his chest, nestling in even closer.

For a brief moment, my cheek lay flat on his chest as he held his breath.

I realized he was still aroused. As I reached in his pants to give him some release, to finally feel him in me, he grabbed my hand and rested it on his chest.

“I just want to lie like this,” he said.

After a heartbeat, the rhythm of his hand moving slowly up and down my back contributed to my drowsiness, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

The warmth overwhelmed me. I lifted my head to find that Kent had me in a death grip. His arms and legs were wrapped around me as if I was his body pillow—not that I minded at all. Not only did I not mind being in our own little cocoon of heat, but I also basked and reveled in it. If I could stay here forever, just the two of us, I would.