Testing Recipes for Disaster (Emberwood #2)

Chapter 13- Lauren

N o one. Repeat: no one had ever made me orgasm that hard with only their fingers.

Holy shit .

I hadn’t been kidding earlier. It would have made things so much easier if he was bad in bed. Because, after tonight, I would know , and knowing might have been worse than wondering. I moved next to him on the couch and bent over his lap, wasting no time in running my tongue up the underside of his cock. The way his body tensed told me he hadn’t expected it, which made it that much better. He recovered quickly and rested one hand gently on the back of my neck, running his fingers up and down, not pushing.

Thank god , I thought.

I’d ghosted guys who thought they were porn stars in the bedroom. But Jer... he was sweet . It should have been awkward, but having him compliment me was kind of hot.

“Your mouth is perfect,” he murmured, encouraging me to take him even deeper. “Too perfect. Come here, baby.”

I popped off him with an audible sound, and he groaned again, crashing his mouth into mine, more frantic than he’d been before, the kiss a flurry of tongue and teeth and exploring and sucking and biting. He attacked my neck again, finding the place that made a little lightning effect domino through my limbs, and he repositioned us so that I was lying flat, him hovering above me. I hooked my heels around his back and pulled him toward me, wanting friction that he was not giving me. He chuckled and didn’t even budge despite the considerable effort I was putting in.

Fucking Viking lumberjack, that’s what he is.

“Is there a problem?” I asked, getting impatient.

“Mmmm, I’m not done with you yet. I have to take full advantage of the portal.”

My heart sped up and fluttered against my ribcage. He kissed his way down my body, and apparently, he was finished teasing me by the time he got there because his tongue pressed firmly around my clit over and over and over, joined by his fingers slipping back inside me until I was pretty sure the fireworks from outside had made their way in. I was lightheaded as my second orgasm crashed into me.

My legs were shaking, and I couldn’t feel my fingers as I came down, having not been prepared for that one to hit as hard as it did. Jer looked at me with a mild expression of concern as he ran his hands over my thighs.

“No, I’m good. It’s a—good. Why can’t I think of other words than good? You’ve stolen all my words.”

This made him laugh in that stupid, low voice again. He was lying earlier. He definitely had a sex voice that was deeper than his normal voice, and it did things to me.

“I’m glad you’re good. Do you want to take a break? Or stop?”

“What? No. Why? Do you want to stop?” I asked, a slight panic creeping into my voice.

I hadn’t known that would be the last orgasm, or I would have savored it more, much like the last bite of muffin or the last cookie.

“Does it feel like I want to stop?” he asked, coming back to hover right above me, placing my hand over his length, now aggressively hard.

“No,” I said, breathing.

“Okay. Tell me, then. Break?”

“Ten deep breaths. Go get a condom from my nightstand drawer and don’t pay attention to anything else you see in there, got it? First door on the right at the top of the stairs.”

He huffed out a laugh at my instructions and made his way stark naked to the staircase. I did not hate the view. That man. I refocused on my breathing and getting my limbs to calm down. My eyes were closed, but I heard him come back into the room and kneel next to the couch. Next was the sound of the condom wrapper, then the sensation of his hands, gentle and warm as he touched me. He smoothed my hair back from my face and peppered kisses from my temple down my jawline, bringing back my goosebumps. I opened my eyes and sat up slightly to meet him in the middle, immediately pulling him back to me to finish what we’d started.

“You’re sure?” he whispered.

I knew he was afraid to break the spell we were under. I was fucking terrified. But if this was the only chance we had, where we were both willing to check our baggage, then I was taking it.

“Very,” I said against his mouth.

He devoured me with his next kiss, his hand reaching between us to guide himself into me. He pressed in slowly, an inch at a time, and it was delicious. His large hand wrapped around the back of my thigh, and he hitched my knee up to my chest, deepening his angle and making me cry out something that may not have been English. He was more vocal than any man I’d ever been with, but not in the way that made me cringe. He told me how amazing I felt, and how he had wanted to touch me for so long, and that I was even better than he imagined. The praise rolled over me, making all of my nerve endings buzz to life.

The last orgasm built slowly, so at least I was prepared this time. He rocked into me, his free hand making circles on my palm as he held it above my head, the other tracing my jaw between kisses.

“I want to see you come apart one more time,” he said roughly in my ear, and I knew he was close, too.

His hand put pressure exactly where I needed it, and the orgasm ripped through me, stealing the breath I still had and rendering me boneless when it left. He followed with a mixture of cursing and praise, and he finally half-collapsed on top of me. I twisted so we could face each other and so that he didn’t crush me underneath him. He rested his forehead on mine, and we existed for a minute in our portal.

He slipped out a minute later and murmured something about getting rid of the condom and getting water. I padded to the bathroom to clean up and maybe tame whatever had happened to my hair during our little adventure. I made my way back out to the living room with a messy bun and a satin robe wrapped around me, preparing for him to already be gone. I wouldn’t have blamed him. We’d agreed that either of us in a relationship was a bad idea, but it was hard to remember the reasons why right now. I hoped that with some space, I would remember them. In the moment, it seemed completely appropriate that he would stay here forever, and we could do that as many times as we wanted.

He wasn’t gone, but he was pulling his shirt over his head, already dressed from the waist down.

“Here,” he said, handing me a glass of water from the coffee table.

I took it and drank, happy for anything to do with my mouth other than make words come out of it.

“I feel like I should offer you food, but this is your house, so I’m not sure what to do with that.” He gave me a sheepish grin and sat on my couch, now pulling on his socks.

“That’s all right. I’m not hungry.”

I didn’t know how to say stay without breaking the rules we’d set.

But we made up the rules! We can change them! my subconscious screamed at me.

But the speed with which Jer had dressed made me think that would not be reciprocated. And he’d already rejected me in my own house once; I wasn’t looking to do it again.

“Laur,” he started.

“It’s fine, Jeremy. We agreed to the Fourth of July portal, whatever. It’s okay. You can go. I’m fine.”

My voice almost broke on the last fine, but I was proud of myself otherwise. He breathed out a deep sigh.

“And if I’m not? Fine, that is,” he asked, his gaze cutting to me sharply.

“I... I don’t. I’m sorry if you feel like this was a mistake,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not sure what to say to that.”

My heart went from zero to sixty in the time it took for him to make that comment. I was fully prepared for the consequences on my end. I knew I’d be wrecked and want more even though I knew I was not a more girl. I hadn’t considered that maybe he’d feel regret or pull back from us even being friends.

His face fell.

“That’s not... I mean, this might have been a colossal mistake, Laur,” he laughed. “But I think we both knew that. I don’t regret it, that’s not what I was trying to say. Maybe we leave this here for now. I feel like talking about it in the state I’m in is a bad idea. Is that okay? We can talk more. Whenever you want. If you want. I think I need to breathe a minute, yeah?”

I found myself nodding without knowing what I was agreeing to. Everything he said made some sort of sense, even if I didn’t know exactly why.

“Yeah, of course. It’s late anyway. You’re good to drive?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I...” he trailed off and let the sentence hang there. “I’ll update the spreadsheet tomorrow with the organized list of stuff. Okay? And we’ll figure out when we can meet next.”

I nodded again. I was becoming an excellent mime. He stepped in close to me, the scent of him overwhelming my space.

“And I have to arrange a time to come over and use your oven. You might never get rid of me, honestly.”

I cracked a genuine smile at that. At least I knew he wasn’t going to disappear completely, not when I had this holy grail appliance.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you then.”

He didn’t move for a beat, but then he tilted my chin up with the pads of his fingers and leaned down to press one soft kiss on my lips before walking to the door without a backward glance. My fingers traced that kiss for too long after I heard his car start and leave, wondering maybe, if I stood very still, he might come back, and we could drop this whole portal pretense. He didn’t, and I eventually went to bed, hoping sleep would come easily after the physical and emotional toll of the night.