Was she supposed to say something? Pay him a compliment? Because the sight of his body as he quickly shucked his pants and boxer briefs left her absolutely speechless. How could a memory as vivid as the one she’d had of him be so pale in comparison to reality? Had his shoulders always been so broad? The muscles curving his arms and torso so defined? His thighs so powerful and his erection so . . .
holy Christ
. The man was built like a freaking Greek god. “You’re—” What? There weren’t even words to describe his magnificence. “Amazing.”
His answering smile turned Harper’s bones to mush. It wasn’t fair to the rest of mankind—or womankind for that matter—that there was only one of him. But even if she could clone him and share, she didn’t think she would. Did that make her selfish? Absolutely. When her gaze lingered between his thighs, Galen grew harder, if that was even possible. A trickle of fear seeped into her bloodstream as Harper realized that once again, this one moment might be all she had with him. And if that was the case, she was going to be sure that it was something neither of them would ever forget. The world would come crashing down on them later, but this moment belonged to her and no one else. And damn it, she was going to make good use of her time. She’d always fantasized about what it would be like to take his hard length into her mouth. Harper reached out a hand to pull him close, but he seemed content to stare, taking in every inch of her as though he too believed these fleeting hours were all they’d be allowed.
A little shy and on the tame side, Harper had always stayed on the beaten path. Especially when it came to sex. It was always pretty cut and dry, him on top, her on top. Whatever. And how sad was it that she’d never felt the urge to test the boundaries of sexual logistics? Not now, though. Galen made her feel safe. She trusted him. And that safety and trust made her brazen.
He didn’t want anything to interrupt his view of her body. Warmth suffused her skin and the thought that she could have that kind of power was truly a heady thing. If he wanted to stare, fine. She’d give him an unhampered view
and
live out her fantasy. Harper took a deep breath. Thinking she was brave and following through were two completely different things. Would he laugh at her? Think she was some sort of freak? Jesus, she hadn’t really considered it, but the blood might rush to her head and she’d pass out.
Okay, calm down, Harp. Don’t overthink it
. Worrying was just wasting time. She’d waited a year to be with him again. She wasn’t waiting another minute.
Harper positioned herself on the bed so that she lay on her back, across the width of the mattress, her head tilting back over the edge. Galen looked down on her and quirked a brow. She allowed a slow smile to spread across her lips and she said, “Come closer.”
Galen took a step toward her and Harper wrapped her hands around the backs of his thighs drawing him to the edge of the bed. She reached out and took the hard, velvet smooth length of his erection in her hand and guided it to her mouth.
As her tongue curled around the swollen head of his shaft, Galen drew in a sharp breath that hissed between his teeth. His thighs shook in her grasp as she closed her lips around him and gently sucked. Galen braced his arms on either side of her on the mattress and leaned over her body, his breath coming in rasping pants as he gave shallow thrusts of his hips. Harper took him deeper into her mouth and Galen’s low moan sent a jolt of excitement through her. “Oh, God, Harper. That feels so good.”
The vulnerable state of her position was an oxymoron to her intentions, but she wanted it that way. She’d given Galen ultimate control: the pace at which he thrust, how deeply he entered her mouth, whether or not he chose to be gentle or forceful. And she knew by his labored breath and the way his body trembled, that he was holding on to his own control by a thread. Harper traced the ridge of his shaft with her tongue as he withdrew to the tip of his glossy head before plunging into her mouth again. She reached back and cupped his ass in her palms, all but smug with the way she’d mastered him. Galen straightened and his hands came off the bed. She wasn’t ready for this to end; she was drunk on the taste of him, the feel of his rigid length sliding between her lips. When he reached out and cupped her breasts before pinching her nipples between his fingers, Harper realized that their battle for power had just begun.
Oh, God, he had her. Trapped on her back, head dangling over the edge of the bed, her mouth wrapped around his hard length, she was at his mercy and he knew it. He began his slow assault on her body, never breaking rhythm as he thrust in and out of her mouth. Harper writhed beneath him as he plucked at her nipples, teasing them into diamond-hard peaks that ached for more of the pleasure spiked with the faintest sting.
When she didn’t think she could take another maddening minute, he relented. But he was far from through with her. “You feel so good, Harper,” he rasped as he bent over her, gripping her hips in his palms. “Spread your legs and let me see you.”
Her knees fell to each side and Galen ran his hands up the insides of her thighs, stopping short of where she wanted most to feel his touch. “Oh,
mon coeur
, you’re so wet.” He circled her clitoris with the pad of one finger and she moaned around his length. It was a heady thing indeed to have rattled him to the point that he was mixing his languages. Such a turn-on. “I’ve wanted to taste you again. Dreamed about it.” Another sweep of his finger and Harper arched into his touch. “I don’t know what I want more, to look at your body while I touch you or to feel you press against my mouth.”
Holy shit, do both! Something! Anything!
He was going to dirty-talk her right into an earth-shattering orgasm without having to lay a finger or his mouth to her. No man had ever said words like this to her before. And oh, God, it sparked something in Harper that set her ablaze with desire. She couldn’t respond even if she wanted to, so she worked her mouth over his shaft, sucking deeply before pressing her tongue to the hood of his erection. Galen moaned and she dug her nails into his ass. She couldn’t get enough.
“Maybe I’ll do both,” he said through pants of breath. Yes. Both. Both sounded good. The blunt tip of his thumb flicked over her sensitive bud before he bent fully over her and followed up with a pass of his tongue. When the heat of his mouth met her sex, Harper thought she’d lose consciousness, it felt so damned good.
If she’d thought cutting ties with Galen would help her get on with her life, Harper knew that after today, she’d never, ever get him out of her system. He was a drug she couldn’t kick, an addiction she was willing to die for. And as he drew her clit into his mouth and sucked gently, Harper reasoned that there were much, much worse ways to die.
Chapter Twenty
Galen was a hypocrite for saying he didn’t care whether or not there was another man in Harper’s life. And a liar for keeping secrets from her. Not to mention a presumptuous asshole for storming in here and ordering her to strip down to nothing without even knowing for sure if she still wanted him or not. And right now, he was pretty okay with all of that. If he’d had any doubts before, they were gone now. Harper’s body tempted him, her scent aroused him, her taste intoxicated him until he lost himself completely to her. He wanted her. End of story. Nothing—not his job, his morals, or his principles—was going to stand in the way of having her any longer.
Her position on the bed was precarious, but holy fuck was it ever amazing. With her head tilted back she could take him deeper into her mouth, and her tongue stroked the underside of his cock in a way that was downright maddening. It took all of the control he could muster, but he was careful not to thrust too hard or go any deeper than she accepted him.
Harper’s adventurous nature turned him on almost as much as the sight of her naked body. The way she positioned herself for him, took his erection in her hand, spread her legs to give him an unhindered view of her glistening sex. He leaned over her and fastened his mouth over her swollen bud, sucking it into his mouth. She moaned and the vibration shot down his shaft straight into his balls, tightening them with an almost painful need for release. No way was he going to go off yet, though. He refused to let it end so quickly. He slowed his pace to a shallow, easy rhythm, the warm, wet suction of Harper’s mouth too good to be true.
She dug her fingers into his ass as Galen teased her opening with the pad of his finger. Her moans turned to whimpers as she continued to lap at him. His thighs trembled under the assault and he widened his stance to brace himself. He wanted her to come like this, with his mouth on her so he could taste her pleasure while he fucked her mouth. He’d make her come again and again until she screamed his name, forgot everyone else but him. Harper arched off the bed as he dipped his finger into her slick heat, and then another, slowly withdrawing before plunging in again, all the while working his tongue over her clit.
He’d waited a year for this. Three hundred and sixty-five days of celibacy, and he would have waited ten times that long for another chance with her. Harper writhed beneath him, her thighs twitching against his cheeks as he flicked his tongue over her sensitive flesh. He wrapped his arms around her torso, angling her hips up to his mouth. She tested the limits of what he could bear with her talented mouth, yet he couldn’t bring himself to pull out. Instead, he buried his face between her legs, lapping at her as though he was starved for her.
Harper’s moans became long and drawn out, her hips rolling in time with each of his thrusts. He circled her pink flesh with his tongue, applying a bit of pressure before latching his mouth over her and sucking deeply. She dug her nails into his skin, the bite spurring him on. A soft, languid lick. A long, drawn-out suck. Again and again until he felt Harper’s body go rigid beneath him. He increased his pace as he thrust his fingers inside of her and she clenched around him, her core contracting as it built up for release.
Her legs opened wide and her body seemed to melt in his arms as she came. He withdrew from her mouth and she cried out, “Oh God, Galen!” His name on her lips drove him mad and he lapped at her unmercifully, until her voice was ragged from her impassioned sobs. Galen could have tasted her sweetness all day and into the night, lounging between her thighs, licking and sucking until she called his name again and again. But his own composure was hanging on by a thread and if he didn’t sink his cock into that delicious heat soon, he’d lose his fucking mind.
As though she were made of glass, Galen scooped Harper into his arms and repositioned her on the bed so that she lay on her stomach. Her panting breaths and low whimpers stoked the flames of his desire until it was an out-of-control burn. He climbed up on the bed and planted kisses from her calf up her thigh and buttocks, across the small of her back to her left shoulder blade and then her right. Each kiss was like a brand, his mark on her, a declaration to her and anyone else who might want her: Harper belonged to
him
. And he’d be damned if another man touched her ever again.
He brushed the curling locks of her hair over her opposite shoulder as he kissed the curve of her neck below her ear. He rolled his hips against her, and when the sensitive head of his swollen cock brushed her ass, he gritted his teeth together on a groan. Her skin was satin caressing him.
“
Je veux te baiser. Fort. Toute la journée et toute la nuit
.” The words spilled from his lips, soft in her ear. Harper’s head came up off the bed, her ear pressed close to his mouth.
“What did you say?” Her voice was smoky and lazy with desire, the rich sound rippling down Galen’s spine as he rose above her, taking her hips in his hands as he kneaded her tender flesh. She fit perfectly in his grasp, as though her body were made for him alone.
“You don’t need to know.” He laughed. “It sounds less crude in French.”
She thrust her tight, round ass in the air, and Galen brushed his cock against her skin once more, loving the way her soft flesh teased him.
“Tell me.”
He’d tell her anything she wanted to hear as long as she kept rubbing her ass against his cock. “If you don’t stop doing that, I’m going to be tempted to throw caution to the wind. I need to be inside of you now, Harper.”
“Top drawer,” she replied, without needing him to elaborate. “Now, tell me what you said.”
Galen tried not to think about why she seemed to be so prepared. He meant what he said. He didn’t give a shit about the boyfriend. Past or present. She rocked her hips against him once more, and he grabbed a condom from the drawer and ripped open the package. “I said I want to fuck you. Hard. All day and all night.”
Harper moaned. “I think I like it just as much in English as I do French.”
How was it possible for a woman to be so incredibly sexy? It wasn’t only the curves of her body or her beautiful face, either. Galen was just as attracted to Harper’s mind, her sharp wit, and her bravery. Maybe more so. She turned her head to the side, her expression curious as she looked up at him.
He bent over her and placed a kiss between her shoulder blades as he rolled the condom down over his erection. Pulling Harper up so that she was on her knees, ass up and arms stretched out on the bed in front of her, Galen slid his cock along the juncture of her thighs. She arched into him and reached her hand beneath them, cupping his sac in her palm. “Galen, I want you inside of me so badly,” she all but purred. “Fuck me. Hard, like you want.”
He entered her in a single stroke.
Galen paused, his body curved over Harper’s as he panted through the intense sensation. She was so tight, so warm and slick and ready for him that he worried he’d come before he had a chance to move inside of her. He pulled out, slowly, and then plunged in again, seating himself as deep as he could go. Harper moaned low, and she tossed her head back. “God, yes.”
Galen gently palmed her throat and drew her body against his. Turning her head to the side, he pressed his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss as he pulled out and thrust again. His tongue wound with hers, sliding in a silky wet tangle, and she moaned into his mouth, only stoking the raging flames of his desire. She was so blatantly wanton that it damned near made him crazy for her. Another deep thrust had her crying out, and with the next she screamed his name.
He would never,
ever
get enough of her. And it was his name she called out. His. Not Carl or Connor or whatever the fuck his name was. Each thrust was a claim Galen made on her body, each delicious cry of pleasure from her lips, an answer to a prayer. He pulled out completely and Harper reached back, clinging to him as though she couldn’t bear for their bodies to be parted. Galen wrapped his arm around her waist and flipped her over on her back. She wrapped her legs around his torso, thrusting upward to meet him, her eyes glittering with passion and locked on his.
He buried himself to the root, seizing Harper’s mouth in a frenzied kiss as he rolled his hips against hers. They moved in tandem, the rhythm of their thrusts an erotic dance as they parted and met, parted and met. Galen pulled back and searched her face, so in awe of the woman in his arms. “I want to watch you come.”
Harper’s tongue darted out and she licked her lips, red and swollen from the assault of his kisses. She ground her hips into his, and he reached beneath her to cup her ass as he rode her, his own breath ragged in his chest with each thrust.
“I’m close,” she moaned as she arched into him. “Harder. Please, Galen.”
He could deny her nothing when she was so willing, so soft in his arms. He thrust deep inside of her, pulling out to the tip before plunging in again. She threw her head back, and Galen grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her eyes to lock on his. “Don’t close your eyes, Harper. Look at me.”
He thrust harder, faster, grinding his body into hers, and her brow furrowed as her full lips parted in a silent
oh
. Just a few more strokes and she’d come for him.
“Oh, God. Galen!”
Harper’s thighs locked around his waist, and her body trembled with the force of her orgasm. His balls tightened almost painfully, and as it had when his mouth greedily lapped at her, her body stilled, her sex clenching around his cock, and his own body went rigid as he came. He locked his eyes on hers, a low moan working its way up his throat as spasm after spasm rocked his body from the top of his head right down to his toes.
Fucking.
Amazing
.
Galen emerged from the bathroom and slid onto the bed tucking her body into his. He traced a careless pattern over her shoulder and down her arm and then back up the line of her throat, to the back of her neck, over her ear and then down again in a never-ending loop. A chill shook Harper’s body. “I haven’t been with anyone else for over a year.” Her voice barely broke a whisper. “My relationship with Chris ended a few months before I met you. Why didn’t you just ask me about him when you saw the texts that morning?”
Harper’s eyes drifted shut and she was lulled by the deep, even sounds of Galen’s breath. Had he fallen asleep?
“I freaked out,” he said after some time. He spoke close to her ear and his warm breath sent a shiver down Harper’s spine. “I hadn’t meant to look. The messages were all so intimate. It was obvious that they were from someone you were in a relationship with. I thought you’d played me. Picked me up for a good time. I don’t like secrets, Harper.”
“Me either,” she replied. “I’m sorry you thought I lied to you.”
He tightened his arms around her until their bodies molded together. “My dad’s secrets destroyed my mom. She cried all the time. Took pills to battle the anxiety, depression, restlessness, you name it. And my dad made every problem in their lives seem like her fault, turned everything around on her until she actually felt guilty over his affairs. Like she’d pushed him to it. After he left, she just—” He took a deep breath. “Quit living. She slept all day, barely left her bedroom. She cut herself off from everyone including me and Michelle. Dad had been gone for about three months when she finally broke. I came home from school and found her on the bathroom floor. The coroner said I couldn’t have saved her. She OD’d sometime in the afternoon and had been dead for at least a half hour before I found her. I tried, though. I did CPR on her until the EMTs showed up. It took me a long time to get over it. I haven’t talked to my dad since the day she died. There’s nothing worse than being betrayed by someone you love. It leaves a bone-deep scar that never fades.”
Harper’s heart broke for him. No wonder he’d walked out on her that morning. They’d made an agreement of total honesty and even though they were strangers, he’d put his trust in her. A trust he’d thought she’d betrayed. She wanted to say more. To offer him comfort. Condolences. Something. But she knew that he wouldn’t accept her pity, so she lay in his arms, silent for a while.
“Chris had been trying to get back together with me for weeks,” Harper murmured sleepily. “He showed up at my apartment after you left and I threw him out. I kept thinking you had a good reason for leaving and that maybe, we’d run into each other somewhere, sometime. But the days just got longer.”
Galen kissed the hollow below her ear. “I left for Paris that morning,” he replied. “I planned to postpone my flight, but when I saw the texts,” he paused. “I had to get out of there.”
Harper marveled at how a simple miscommunication had caused so much trouble. If it hadn’t been for Chris’s ridiculous text and stalkerish behavior, she might not have lost all of those months with Galen. They might be in a different place right now, their lives on a completely different path. “I feel cheated,” she said.
“Of what?”
“Time. Experiences. Life. I can’t stop thinking of all the days we’ve lost.”
“You were with me.” Galen turned her around to face him, and Harper stared into his deep blue eyes, losing herself in their depths. “Every second of every day.”
How was it possible to have such a deep connection with someone you barely knew? They were only a few weeks into this whatevership and most people wouldn’t consider that enough time to develop such strong feelings for another person. Harper reached out and brushed Galen’s dark hair off his forehead. “A nameless face and one night. That’s all I had of you, but I held on to that memory for an entire year. I refused to let you go.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this.” Galen gave a little laugh. “But, I’m glad you’re so stubborn. I’m sorry I pretended not to know you.” He smiled as he pulled her close enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face.
“Yeah.” Harper tilted her head and cocked a brow. “About that. Why the amnesia act?”