Write or Wrong (Common Threads #9)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

*LOVE ME BACK TO LIFE*

ZARA

The thunder that rumbled through the house matched the pounding of her heart. Lightning flashed through the room and the rain on the window played a tune just for them.

Did he pick her up and move her to straddle his lap or did she do that on her own? Her knees met the cool bench and his hands tightened around her waist as her center met the hard length under his thin lounge pants.

Her fingers threaded through his thick hair as their tongues tangled and slid against one another.

He felt so good against her. All hard muscles and warm skin. His hands everywhere, pushing up the hem of her nightie, gliding along her spine, twisting in her hair.

This wasn’t like their first few kisses. This was something else. Primal and urgent and right. Like her body had been made for his hands to explore. Like her mouth was always meant to find that place on his neck that made him groan out curses. His hands clamped down on her hips as she ground against him.

His tongue swirled over her pulse point and she dropped her head back to give him better access. He held her firmly as his mouth worked its way down to her collarbone, then between her breasts. Warmth enveloped a nipple through the thin lace and she moaned, clutching his head to her chest.

He pulled back and their eyes met. Heat and lust ricocheted between them.

There were probably a million reasons to stop.

But she couldn’t think of a single one.

Making a decision, he slid to the end of the bench and put her on her feet. Then he took her by her hand and led her up the stairs to her bedroom.

“Gimme a second,” she said, letting go of his hand and heading into the bathroom.

She closed the door and took a deep breath. She caught her eyes in the mirror and was stunned by her appearance.

Flushed skin, kissed swollen lips, mussed hair…and a shine in her eyes she’d never seen before. She bit her bottom lip as a soft smile spread across her face. Had she ever looked so happy?

Had she ever been this happy?

No.

She could honestly say that she’d never felt a lot of the things she was feeling.

Remembering why she came in there, she opened the vanity and searched for the “emergency kit” Gregor always packed for her wherever she went. She used to think it was silly but at that moment she was incredibly thankful. So thankful that she was going to be giving Gregor a massive raise.

She opened the leather bag—which was really just a dopp kit he’d modified for her filled with condoms, lube, body oil, and other things she would have to check out later. She grabbed the lube and the condoms and went back to Asa.

He was standing in her room, head bent, one hand on the back of his neck, the other on his hip, like he was rethinking this entire situation. His head came up when she stepped closer. His dark eyes traveled over her features, her body, back to her face, taking their time. She hoped he saw what she had seen.

He held out his hands and took the condoms and lube from her. He placed them on the nightstand and then took his glasses off and put them down too.

They met each other in the middle, easily and swiftly resuming their intensity from before. His arms went around her and her hands went to his shoulders and then his hair. His tongue plunged into her mouth, hot and wet. She hopped and he caught her by the backs of her thighs.

He turned, put a knee to the bed and slowly lowered her to the mattress. He dropped his hips and ground against her center. She arched her neck and moaned at the intense pleasure.

She had a feeling she was about to embarrass herself.

She’d only had sex with one person her entire life. And those times had always left her feeling sad and unfulfilled. Logan had said she just wasn’t good at sex. Which was why they’d almost never had it. It had been stiff and uncomfortable. Rationally she knew it wasn’t her fault. But now that she was close to doing it with someone who she felt more for than she had felt for anyone, she was suddenly really fucking anxious.

“I haven’t,” she panted as the backs of his fingers grazed a nipple and his mouth moved along her neck. “I might not be good at this,” she finally got out. Because she wanted to warn him. In case he had certain expectations that she was about ready to not meet.

He lifted his head and gazed down at her with a soft frown. He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip and then slid his fingers into her hair at the temple. “What do you mean?” he asked, voice low and soft.

She shook her head, regretting saying anything at all. Wishing she could rewind the last thirty seconds and just go with it.

He studied her for a beat. He must’ve seen something there because his gaze gentled.

“Zara,” he said, making sure to have her eyes. “What’s happening between us isn’t just sex. You know that right?”

She nodded. She did know that. And it felt amazing to have him say it. But… “I don’t want to disappoint you.” She managed to get the words out and then swallowed hard.

A sly smile spread across his lips and his eyes went liquid. “Impossible.” He dipped his head and slid his tongue into her mouth. He worked her mouth, slow and deep, his tongue dragging over hers, his teeth nipping at her lips and then soothing with soft, teasing kisses.

He kept kissing her until her body was languid and hot with need. Only then did he let his hands roam, sliding her panties off, pushing her nighty up and over her head. His fingers hovered over her belly, his eyes raking over her nakedness with a hunger she’d never experienced.

He palmed one breast while licking and tonguing the other, and then switched. She writhed and panted and mewled beneath him. His hand glided down her belly to her center. He watched her face as he gently dipped a finger into the slick folds.

“You let me in there, babe, and there’s no going back,” he said.

“Is that a warning or a promise,” she managed to ask, barely recognizing her own voice. It was so husky and seductive.

He chuckled and the sound was so deliciously dark she almost came right then.

A finger entered her and she whimpered. Another finger joined the first and the noise she made was positively sinful. She didn’t even know she could sound like that.

He pumped his fingers into her and her hips lifted, searching for more.

He cursed and then his hand was gone. She barely had time to complain before she heard the ripping of a condom wrapper.

Her eyes fluttered open and met his in a flash of lightning.

He’d gotten rid of his pants and was sliding a condom down over his thick, hard length. She stared at the erection pointed directly at her and she couldn’t help it when she said, “yes, please.”

He chuckled again and then lowered himself to settle right at her entrance. His dark eyes met hers, checking in. She lifted her hips, encouraging him, wanting to feel him filling her.

Slowly he sank into her.

She tried to relax, to make room for him. He pressed in and then retreated and then pushed in deeper until he was fully seated inside her.

“Oh my god,” she breathed, arching her neck and gripping his shoulders.

He started a slow rhythm that was both insistent and clever. Two short thrusts, one long, one short, two long, two short. She clung to his shoulders, their mouths grazing with every thrust.

The neatly trimmed hair around his cock brushed against her clit again and again, taking her higher. Her orgasm built low in her belly and it surprised her. It seemed too soon. To easy.

“Fuckkkk,” he hissed. “You feel so good.”

His words went right to her center and she clenched around him. He moaned against her neck.

“Asa,” she whimpered. “Please…” But she didn’t even know what to ask for.

“I got you, baby,” he said in her ear as his hand went between them and began circling her clit. He touched it once, twice, circled it, applied just the right amount of pressure while stroking and?—

Her orgasm hit her like a freight train filled with fireworks. Her body bowed and convulsed as wave after wave coursed through her. Light exploded behind her vision and she cried out in sounds of pure ecstasy.

His hand left her clit and moved to her hip, slid down her thigh and brought her leg up high against his side. His thrusts increased in tempo, drawing out her pleasure. Then he planted deep inside her and groaned his own release. She felt him pulse inside her and she held him tight in both arms.

Hot, slow kisses covered her neck and face as she came back down to earth. Her eyes fluttered open and Asa carefully slid out of her. She moaned again, still sensitive and enjoying it.

He collapsed on the bed beside her and pressed his lips to her neck, his arms going around her middle.

She stared at the light still flashing across the ceiling, trying to catch her breath. Trying to understand what had just happened.

Sex had never been like that. Her body was still tingling in various places. Her mind enjoying casual explosions of enlightenment and afterglow.

His lips grazed hers in a leisurely kiss. “I’ll be back.” He pulled the sheet over her before he climbed off the bed and went into the bathroom.

He was back a moment later and joined her under the covers.

She rolled toward him, tired and satiated. He kissed her shoulder, then her neck, pulling her naked body against his.

“You should go to the bathroom before you fall asleep, tesoro,” he murmured against her skin.

“Yeah,” she agreed sleepily, not opening her eyes. She let herself enjoy the warmth for another minute before rolling away and getting out of bed.

When she finished in the bathroom, she didn’t bother to put her nightie back on. She just walked back into the bedroom, naked. Asa flicked the covers over both of them and pulled her against his body. Their legs and arms tangled and overlapped and she settled her face right between his pecs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so…” She searched for the word.

“Tired?” he guessed.

“Peaceful.”

He hummed and she felt pressure on the top of her head like he’d kissed her.

Sleep was threatening to pull her into blissful oblivion but she’d been wondering something and so she asked.

“What’s that word you sometimes call me?”

“Hm?”

“ Tesoro. I don’t know what it means.”

His hand smoothed up her spine and back down, curving over her ass and stayed there. “It means treasure in Italian.”

“Oh.” Well.

She wasn’t going to overthink it. Not the word he called her or what it meant in her mind. She also wasn’t going to wonder about how easy it had been for him to touch her and find her and make her feel sexy and alive.

She pressed closer to his warmth and he tightened his arms around her. And somewhere between not thinking about it and making it a core memory, she fell asleep.