Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Simon caressed my thighs and teased my nipples. He let me take over for a while, but when his control snapped, there was no return. He held my hips still, fucking me from below in quick, sure strokes.
I came first, shooting cum over my fist and onto his chest. And Simon was right behind me. He roared with the force of his release, then pulled me against him and held on tight. He didn’t let go until we both stopped trembling.
We cleaned up and returned to bed. He lay facing me with his hand on my hip and slipped his knee between my thighs.
“Sometimes I want to thank you, but that sounds awkward.” He pressed his lips to my hand in a gallant gesture that made my heart flip in my chest.
“Hmm. No, it’s sweet.”
“I’m not sweet.” He bit my thumb playfully.
“You are. I missed you,” I admitted. “How was Denver?”
“Fine. We talked every day, baby. Nothing’s changed.” He sighed and made a face I couldn’t quite read. “They basically did tests and took stats. I’m just a cog in the machine. They may or may not want me.”
“Can you see yourself there? Sometimes I do that. I try to picture myself in a new place to determine whether I’ll fit.”
“That sounds like a very unscientific method.”
“I suppose it is,” I agreed, leaning into his touch like a cat.
He smiled, lazily twirling one of my curls around his finger. “Do you have someplace to be?”
“No, I can stay for a while. I think we’ve missed all of your online classes. I can’t think about that without getting palpitations.” I sat up slowly and added, “I should probably check to—”
Simon tugged my elbow and rolled on top of me. “Spend the night. Spend two nights...three. Stay with me.”
“Okay.”
“I missed you too and…I have a lot of peanut butter and pickles.” He waggled his brows, tickling me when I burst into laughter. He did a couple of push-ups for good measure, then fell beside me. “And I know this sounds funny, but I want to know what it’s like to wake up next to you and not rush away. I want to know what it’s like to have you to myself for more than twenty-four hours.”
While we still have the chance.
He didn’t say that last part, but I knew what he meant.
My eyes pricked with tears. I wasn’t ready to give him up. Not yet.
“Okay. I’ll stay.”
8
Simon
One night turned into three…then four. Then a week. And it just wasn’t enough. Topher checked in with his friends so they wouldn’t worry. I think he made up a family excuse. They didn’t question him. School was about to begin and everyone was too busy anyway.
And me? I was greedy.
I wanted Topher’s time…all of it—his morning-mussed curly hair, warm body, sleepy kisses, and that squinty face he made before he put his glasses on. I wanted to make him coffee and breakfast, nodding as he recited the homework and reading we needed to tackle for my classes. I wanted to sit next to him with the computer propped on the coffee table in front of us, listening to lectures and online chat groups while stealing kisses. I wanted him to tell me it wasn’t a good idea to have sex on the sofa, and I wanted to see the look in his eyes the second he changed his mind. Yeah, I wanted his rules, and I wanted us to break them together.
It was too easy to claim my attraction to him was all about sex. Let’s be real, sex is easy and fun. But there was so much more. I loved the little things too. Like watching TV with our feet entwined, random trips to the market, making dinner together, or stargazing on the deck after midnight.
No kidding. There was something incredibly special about staring up at the night sky with the sound of the surf in the background while my lover mapped planets and stars with a reverence that encouraged me to look closer, to be more aware…more in tune. The more we shared, the more I wanted to give. Like I might somehow find the balance in this delicate dance and prove myself worthy.
I wasn’t sure that was possible. I was nothing like him.
Topher was brilliant, quirky, and kind. His kindness intimidated me more than his genius and occasional eccentricities. I grew up with a cape-wearing brainiac brother, for fuck’s sake. And I knew I had a few quirks of my own. But his sweet nature was tempered with unflappable patience.
For example, you’d think a guy who studied matter, energy, and aerospace engineering would find a basic humanities class boring as fuck.
Not Topher.
“The Renaissance Period is so fascinating. You’re so lucky to be learning all this,” he gushed, scribbling notes at a lightning-quick pace as the professor wrapped up our final online class of the day.