“More,” he murmured against my pulsing flesh. “I’m only getting started, sweetheart.”
He wasn’t exaggerating or stretching the truth. Elliot stayed in that position until I was croaking his name and thrashing my head on his pillow. I’d come three, four, maybe five times. My entire body quivered, and my chest was a sodden mess.
But my mind…it was delirious and mushy. My thoughts had become ephemeral, and I didn’t even attempt to grasp them.
“Give me one more, sweetheart. You need it.” He demanded my pleasure like it was rightfully his. Like I owed it to him. If I’d been capable of solid thought, I wouldn’t have been surprised Elliot was this way in bed. It was just who he was in every avenue.
I had no choice but to give him another orgasm, rasping for him from my ravaged throat.
He climbed over me, staring at my wet top. This time, rivulets had traveled all the way to my belly button. I was a mess, and I did not care.
Elliot didn’t either. With a groan, animalistic and feral, he dove down to my chest and sucked the cotton into his mouth. Another groan, then he tugged my tank down enough for him to lap at my damp flesh.
If I’d been more aware of anything other than how good he was making me feel, I might have paused to worry he’d run with disgust. But there was no room for that in my pleasure-saturated mind. He buried his face between my breasts, his tongue dragging over my milky skin. His breathing was heavy, panting over me. His erection prodded my inner thigh through his sweats, but he made no move to find relief in me. And that was good. I wasn’t ready, and he’d turned me inside out so thoroughly I probably would have agreed to whatever he’d asked.
“So fucking good,” he rasped.
Elliot circled his tongue around my nipples, licking the white beads from each.
“Elliot,” I murmured, getting lost in the fog. “You feel—oh, please don’t stop.”
He gently sucked on my sensitive nipples, one at a time, licking the milk that trickled out. My body was loose and boneless, sinking into the mattress like I’d fall all the way through at any moment. I closed my eyes, unconcerned about what he did or where he went next.
Soon, he was trailing kisses along my stomach and settling between my thighs again. Hooking his arms under my legs, keeping me spread, he grazed me, his silky lips gliding over my swollen flesh. Licking me slowly, kissing me softly, he drizzled his attention on me like a calm afternoon rainfall. I soaked it up, breathing out my pleasure and exhaustion.
Sleep was as close as my orgasm. They were chasing each other to get to me first.
I sighed, giving myself over to whichever happened.
“Let go,” he whispered. “Just let go.”
Those were the last words I heard.
Chapter Twenty-four
Catherine
The first sign something was off was the bright light streaming through the window near the bed. I’d closed the curtains when I’d put Joey to bed, but even if I hadn’t, my girl was up at the crack of dawn when the light was still watercolor fuzzy.
The second sign was the hard lumps on my chest. Why were my breasts so full?
I cracked my eyes open, drowsy yet deeply rested.
This wasn’t my room.
This wasn’t my bed.
Where was my baby?
I shot up, horrified to see it was nine a.m. I should have been up three hours ago.
“Elliot?” I raced from the room, trying not to panic. “Elliot, are you here?”
I heard his voice saying my name in barely a whisper, coming from my bedroom, and with my heart in my throat, I rushed through the door.
“We’re here,” he whispered.
And they were. Elliot was sitting on my bed, my sleeping daughter snuggled on his shoulder, his laptop on his stretched-out legs. I must’ve looked a fright because his mouth was hooked in a crooked grin as he swept his gaze over me.
“What’s going on? Why is it so late?” I was still muddled, trying to come down from the shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
He held his hand out, beckoning me to him. Walking over, I slid my palm into his, and he tugged me to the side of the bed.
“Think I can put her down?” he asked.
Joey’s mouth was hanging open, and her bones seemed to be made of jelly. “Yeah, she’s conked out.”
Elliot got up and carried her to her bassinet. Bending in half, he carefully laid her down, rubbing her tummy to soothe her. She was swaddled in her little sleep sack, so she squirmed around a little but quickly settled.
Once she was good, Elliot took my hand and led me back to his bedroom. Clicking the door shut, he tossed the monitor on his bed, tugged me into his arms, and placed a lingering kiss on my lips.
“You slept so well.” He stroked my hair off my face. “Ten hours straight.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t slept ten hours straight in my entire life.”
“You did last night. You passed out with my head between your legs and didn’t stir, not even when I was tucking you under the covers. Feel good?”
I squeezed my eyes shut in disbelief. “I’m so confused. What about Joey? She was all by herself?”
“No, of course she wasn’t. I knew you weren’t ready for her to be alone all night, so after I tucked you in, I took the monitor and slept in your room. You were still out cold when she woke up at six, so I gave her one of the bottles you left in the refrigerator.”
The back of my eyes burned, and I clutched at his shirt, overcome. I’d never had such thoughtfulness directed at me. I was having trouble accepting he’d done this for no other reason than he wanted me to rest. It was too much. My instinct was to fight it, to pick his motivations apart until I understood them.
“Elliot…what about work? Freddie? I—”
“Shhh. We didn’t have any meetings scheduled this morning, and Freddie’s coming in late. It’s all handled. You got a good night’s sleep, and the sky didn’t fall.”
I opened my eyes and sighed. “I don’t know what to say.”
Taking my chin between his fingers, he opened and closed my mouth like I was talking. “Thank you, Elliot. I’m so well rested I’m going to make out with you for a while.”
Laughing, I jerked my chin out of his grip. “I would never say that last part before I brushed my teeth. The rest, yeah. Thank you, Elliot.” I crashed my forehead into his chest. “You’re so good to me. Too good.”
“I disagree.”
I raised my head, frowning. “What?”
“I disagree that I’m too good to you. I treat you how you deserve to be treated. It’s unfortunate you’re not used to that, but I’ll see to it you come to expect to be met with kindness and generosity and never accept less.” He trailed his hand down my spine and squeezed my bottom. “If I can’t make out with you until you brush your teeth, you should go do that now. Time’s wasting.”
I snorted. “It’s a workday, Elliot. We can’t spend it making out.”