First Love: A Superbundle Boxed Set of Seven New Adult Romances (163 page)

Heavy moist air, tinted with the lightest hint of something flowery and feminine, wafts around us, rising from the steamy water gushing from the tap. The blood rushing through my ears is nearly as loud as the water, and I take a deep inhale, letting the mist attempt to soothe me.

“Are you sure about this?” Arion asks, and that husky rasp I love has found its way into his voice. The sound is rough and raw and weaves through me, leaving me tender and aching, craving him like a beggar craves a fire on a cold night. He is my salvation.

“Yes,” I whisper breathlessly. And I am. Almost.

“First, we need to go over the rules.” His hands lightly cup my shoulders, keeping me at arm’s length.

Wait. What? “Rules?”

“Yes, Angel. The rules. You know I always play by the rules.”

“What are the rules then?” I’m still trying to decide if I want there to be rules, and if I want to let him set them.

“I am not going to have sex with you. Not tonight. Our first time will not be like this.” He smiles down at me as he lets his hands trail sensually down my shoulders.

“Why?” I ask, even though part of me is relieved. I’m not sure I could handle that tonight, although the other part of me desperately wants to find out.

A growl radiates from Arion’s chest. “Because you didn’t have a choice with Nick.”

His name snaps into me like a flyswatter, annoying but effective at centering me back into reality. I cringe involuntarily, and the fog of yearning I’ve been floating in disappears. Now instead of trying to push toward Arion, I’m forcing myself not to pull back.
 

“And everyone deserves a chance to have their first time making that choice be magical, and special, and right. I can give you that, but not tonight.”
 

His words are a promise, one I can’t wait to hold him to. With one, sweet moment, he tugs me back into the realm of desire. I can do this with him. Maybe not right now, but I can. And I will. His eyes drink in my reaction.

I nod, trying not to think too much. “Are there other rules?”

His words are an undeniable command, with no room for dissent. “If you become uncomfortable at any time, you have to tell me. Immediately.”

“Okay.” I lean toward him, wanting to conquer the space between us.

“Promise?” He quirks an eyebrow as he cocks his head to the side.

“Yes,” I vow, impatient. With every word, he’s given me the confidence that being with him will be nothing like I’ve ever experienced before, and I want it. Now.

Arion slides his hand under my dress and peels it slowly upward. At the start of tonight, I thought this dress was beautiful. Now I just want to throw it away so I don’t ever have to look at it again.

I shiver, but not from the cold, as Arion drops the dress in a puddle of fabric at my feet.

“You’re beautiful,” he says as he starts to slide my underwear down my legs. I know he can see all of me, but the breathy tone in his voice tells me just how much he likes what he sees so I don’t feel as nervous as I did a few minutes ago.

When he's stripped the clothes from me, like plucking the petals from a rose; all that's left is my heart. I've never felt more exposed. No one admires the center of a flower, it's the petals that matter. But the way Arion is caressing my skin, I even feel beautiful.

Another shiver rakes its way through me. The way it makes me feel as his hands glide along my thigh are nothing like the way it felt when Slimy Guy gripped them, and all thoughts of tonight begin to recede from my mind.

“If you start to feel afraid, I want you to remember one thing.”
 

I can hear his voice, but I’m sinking in a whirlpool of sensations that make it hard to focus on his words or speak. “What’s that?” My shoulders heave as I let out a long, contented sigh. My hips are gravitating toward him of their own accord, but I have no inclination to halt them.

“You have all of the control. All you have to do is say the word, and I will stop whatever we’re doing. That goes for tonight and every night.”

Emotion floods through me, and tears spill over. Arion is so good to me. I have no idea what I did to deserve him. I tense briefly as he lifts me to help me into the tub.

“Lean back,” he says as he begins to take off his shirt. “I want you to lay there and relax while I strip for you.”
 

With his shirt out of the way, I can stare openly at his washboard abs and the perfect, chiseled shape of his hips. He undoes the snap on his jeans, and I feel heat throbbing between my legs that has nothing to do with the luxuriously warm water.

He slides one finger under his waist band and tugs then stops.
 

I groan in aggravation, disappointed and excited all at once. My eyes are hungry for the rest of him.

A satisfied smile spreads across his face, lighting up his eyes.
 

I’m so eager for him, and I don’t care that he knows it. Not much, anyway. I can’t help gasping as he steps out of his pants, leaving only his briefs to contain the bulge that’s steadily rising. I spare a quick thought of amusement that he sleeps in boxers, but wears briefs, before my attention is captivated once again by him freeing himself of all clothing.

Arion stands before me, gloriously naked and not at all ashamed. Of course, with a body like his, I can’t imagine why he would ever be.

His tub is huge, and there is plenty of room for him to lower himself into the soothing water in front of me.

“I thought you were going to wash my back?” I’m pouting like a chastised child, not because I want his hands on my flushed skin, but because with his back toward me, I can’t see as much of him.
 

“I will, but first you can wash mine.”

The invitation to touch him sends a thrill through me that’s indescribably good. Arion pours silky purple bubble bath beneath the running faucet and the scent of lavender and vanilla wafts around us. My fingers tingle in anticipation as he turns off the water then scoots back. His outer thighs press firmly against my inner thighs, and it’s exquisite torture. He tosses me a bath poof, and I dunk it into the water above his leg then lift it over his neck, letting sudsy water drip over him in iridescent rivulets. His back is smooth and divinely sculpted, just like the rest of him.

Arion tilts his head down, releasing a soft moan that nearly makes me come undone. I want to make him moan like that over and over. Abandoning the poof, I scoop up a handful of suds and spread them over his broad, tanned back. He doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him and toned muscles flex beneath his skin as he leans into my touch. Once I’ve covered him in soapy water, I begin to massage my fingers around his neck and shoulders, as if hoping to wash all of his tension away. Which I am.

I suddenly realize what Arion has done. I’m so focused on relaxing him that I’ve relaxed infinitely more than I would have if he’d just gotten into the tub and began to touch and bathe me. His touch makes me nervous despite how much I want it, but touching him is heaven. With him in front of me, I feel completely safe and in control, and I’m enjoying this more than any bath I’ve ever taken before.

Feeling bolder, my fingers spread around his ribs, and I’m essentially hugging myself to him as I wash his chest, still delighting in the soft sounds of contentment I’m eliciting from him.

“That feels so good, Angel.”

I grin. Score one for me. My fingers linger over his chest, lightly raking through his sparse chest hair. His body is incredibly smooth with hardly any hair, just enough that he feels manly and perfect. Do I have the courage to wash lower? I steady myself with a deep breath and start massaging his thighs.

My fingers inch inward.

“Angel,” his warning is a plea and protest all at once.
 
He shudders as my fingers graze against his length. “Not tonight.”

“You
don’t
want me to touch you?” Insecurity seeps over me.

“Oh, God, baby, I do. I really, really, do. But I’m not confident how much I can control myself if you do that, and tonight is not the right night.”

His words soothe me as I realize he isn’t rejecting me, he’s protecting me. Walls are collapsing inward with the enormity of everything I’m feeling, and I’m afraid I’m about to fall apart. I’m confronted with the very stark realization of how much Arion has come to mean to me again and just how much he could hurt me.

“My turn, I think.” Arion stands up, then turns to face me, and I gasp. He’s so hard and right at my eye level, and if I lean forward a little bit, I could take him between my lips. I’ve never done that to a guy before. Nick’s always disgusted me. If he’d tried to make me do that, I would have bit him.

Before he can talk me out of it, I scoot up and plunge my lips around him. I’m not sure if his gasp is shock or pleasure.

“Fuck, Angel!” Then he moans again, and I know it’s pleasure. “The rules, the rules, the rules,” he repeats so fast the words blur together.

I pull back and look up at him. “You said we weren’t going to have sex tonight. I’m not breaking that rule. You didn’t say anything about me not sucking your dick.”

I take him into my mouth again without giving him a chance to respond. He’s fully hard, but softer than I expected. My lips are able to press in just slightly, and I like it. I can feel his vein pulsing as my tongue glides over it. My lips stroke up and down, up and down, and his chest heaves each time I near the tip.

Arion braces one of his hands against the wall behind the tub, and the fingers of his other hand wind into my hair.

A bolt of terror arcs through me, and I release him. “No.”

His hand disappears immediately, and I can’t look at him, afraid I’ll see disappointment or hurt in his eyes. “I need you to not touch me while I do this,” I beg as I lean forward, drawing him back in with my mouth.

“Okay,” he whispers.
 

I hadn’t expected the fear, since I haven’t done this before. I thought it would be a safe first for us, but the moment I felt him on the back of my head, it was like my barrier against Nick slipped and it was all too easy to imagine Arion not letting me pull my mouth away if I wanted. I know he wouldn’t, logically, but the fear is there.

It takes me a few minutes to find my rhythm again and to push Nick from my mind, focusing only on Arion. The more he moans, the more I lose myself in him, loving how I’m driving him wild.

“Baby—”

I flick my tongue in a circle around him, then dive deep, taking as much of him as I can manage.

“Baby!” he says, sharper this time.

“Mmmhmm?” I hum around him, refusing to let him go.

He twitches, and I spit it into the tub, startled.

Arion laughs. “Sorry, love. I tried to warn you.”

My cheeks flush as I realize I spit him out, and I was probably supposed to swallow that.
 

He bends down in front of me, almost kneeling in the tub. “Hey, look at me.” He puts one finger below my chin, tilting my face to look at him. “That felt incredible, and I don’t care if you swallow or not. Sure, it’s kinky if you do, but it doesn’t lessen anything if you don’t, okay? Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

I nod, but inside I’m vowing next time I’ll try to swallow it. Arion guides me forward, and he slips into the tub behind me. I shiver despite the warmth of the water.

“Do you remember the rules?” he asks.
 

“If I feel uncomfortable, tell you.” My heart is pounding so loud, I’m sure he must be able to hear it. Is he planning to do something he thinks will make me uncomfortable? Anticipation and anxiety war within me. I’m a tightly coiled wire, ready to unravel, and no matter what he does, I think Arion is going to send me over the edge. I just don’t know which edge.

Twenty Nine

Arion

I think enduring Angel sucking on my dick without being able to touch her is like some twisted form of penance for all the girls I’ve fucked and forgotten. I never cared about touching them, I just wanted to hurt a little less, and I knew they could make me feel good, even if it was temporary. I crave touching her, and I can’t. And it serves me right.

But just because I deserve to be tortured, doesn’t mean she does, and I hate that she’s afraid for me to touch her.

Exquisite pressure is building in my groin, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from grabbing her head and pulling away. This was supposed to be about her, not me, but I’m not going to be able to contain myself.

Her teeth scrape every now and then; I get the impression she hasn’t done this before, and I love knowing she saved this for me. That I’ll be her only, because I’m never going to let her go. But I don’t know how she’s going to react if I come in between those perfect lips of hers. And I’m pretty sure if I pull her away she’ll freak, so I try to tell her to stop. “Baby—”

Her tongue is warm and wet as it strokes me, then she brings me even deeper into the sweet cavern of her mouth and I know I’m lost.
 

“Baby!” I cry out.

“Mmmhmm?”

The vibration of her words coaxes away the last thread of my control, and I unravel.

Her face twists in surprise, scrunching up as she spits into the tub, and I can’t help laughing.
 

“Sorry, love. I tried to warn you.” I scan her face, looking for any sign of an impending breakdown.

She blushes and doesn’t meet my eyes.
 

I have to make sure she knows she didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no way I’m going to let this be just one more bad experience for her. “Hey, look at me. That felt incredible, and I don’t care if you swallow or not. Sure, it’s kinky if you do, but it doesn’t lessen anything if you don’t, okay? Whatever you’re comfortable with.” I turn her stubborn face toward me so she’ll see how serious I am.

I nod, and I slip into the tub behind her.

She shivers, and I worry she’s drifting away from me. “Do you remember the rules?”
 

“If I feel uncomfortable, tell you.” Her voice is small, unsure, and I know I’m going to lose this moment with her if I don’t reel her back in fast.

“Let’s play a game.”