Seduced by Stratton (The English Brothers Book 4) (26 page)

Pools of dark brown gazed up at him, dazed, glassy, on the very edge of orgasm.

“Once more,” she begged him.

In the end, it wasn’t her words, it was the expression in her eyes—love, devotion, amazement—that was his undoing. With his corded arms shaking on either side of her head, he drew back once more and thrust forward again.

Swelling inside of her, sucked forward by the hot, wet perfection of her muscles massaging his, he felt the exact moment when it was too late to turn back, and the contractions started all over his groin. An intense tightness spread ruthlessly throughout his body, depriving him of any remaining self-control. Clenching his eyes shut, he surrendered to the pressure, which pitched him higher and higher until it released in one fierce, glorious wave that made him throw back his head in glory as stars burst behind his eyes.

“Val!” he growled, as his body convulsed in frenetic waves, pressing his flesh a little farther into her with each wave, each pulse, each divine burst, connecting them intimately in a way that could never be undone. Just before he fell over the edge of reason, he felt her fingernails raze his back, and he desperately hoped she’d joined him for the most intense, satisfying, soul fulfilling orgasm he’d ever experienced.

He collapsed across her chest, panting, sated and sweaty, resting his lips on the throbbing pulse in her throat. She was spent beneath him, unmoving, but for her breath near his ear, which released in short, ragged pants.

“Val,” he finally managed, his voice breathless and emotional, deeply overcome with the sheer magnitude of his love for her. “Are you okay?”

“Stratton,” she answered in a lazy, breathy voice as her fingers trailed delicately up his back before clasping him against her body. “That was worth waiting for.”

As relief surged through him, he gently pulled out of her, drawing her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her beloved body.

“I love you,” he whispered near her ear, and then, because he felt such immense gratitude it seemed miserly not to share it, “Thank you.”

She reached up to cover his hands with hers, and within minutes they were asleep.

***

On Thursday morning, Val woke in Stratton’s bed for the fourth straight morning, exactly as they’d promised Barrett and Emily. She turned over to find him propped on his elbow, his hard, toned chest fully revealed to her, blond hair tousled and messy, glasses off, wearing a happy grin that was completely infectious.

“Look at you,” she said, smiling back at him, propping on her elbow and letting the sheet fall away to reveal the dark-tipped breasts she knew he loved. “You look happy.”

His eyes slid down to her chest and widened, his lips parting on a small gasp as he stared at her. “Why wouldn’t I be happy? I wake up with a brown-eyed goddess in my bed every morning.”

“Hey, my eyes are up here,” she said, chuckling softly.

“And they’re gorgeous.” He looked up, leaning forward to press his lips to the skin at the edge of one eye, then the other. “And your lips are gorgeous,” he said, licking his own before brushing them gently over hers. He’d already brushed his teeth so his breath was minty and fresh, which made her smile. “Your throat is one of my favorite places on the face of the earth,” he said, running his lips over her chin to the pulse in her neck, where he kissed and nibbled tenderly. “Your skin is like velvet,” he said softly, pushing her gently to her back and nuzzling the soft, warm skin between her breasts, where her heart raced for him.

“And these . . .” He sighed, bracketing her breasts with his hands and staring at them in awe and adoration. “These are exquisite.”

Dropping his head, he took one hard nipple between his lips, and Val arched off the bed as he licked and sucked the pebbled bead until her insides flooded wet in readiness and longing.

He switched to the other breast and Valeria’s breathing hitched with the sharp sweetness of his strong lips sucking at the tender skin. She plunged her hands into his messy, silky hair, letting the short strands slide through her fingers as he positioned himself on top of her.

Raising his head from her breasts, he thrust forward slightly so that his erection slid into the wet, slick valley of her clit. He pushed himself back and forth, stroking her swollen flesh until she exhaled in labored pants, unaware until then she’d been holding her breath.

“And this . . .” he said, continuing to tease her, sliding rhythmically back and forth across the swollen bead of her sex. “I love this part of you. I love what it does to you when I touch it with my fingers, my tongue, my lips. I love when you start making the sounds you’re making right now.”

“Stratton,” she moaned, clenching her eyes shut as the heat gathered between her hips, swirling and fluttering as her muscles were driven to the edge of release. After the first time, Val had learned that Stratton’s self-control was epic. He could tease her for an hour before finally letting them both explode with pleasure, pulling every possible tremor and shudder from each other’s bodies. But she wanted relief, and she wanted it now. “Please.”

“Tell me,” he murmured, still rubbing himself against her in slow, wet, gliding strokes.

“I need you,” she sobbed. “Make me come.”

He rose above her, pulling back, hovering motionless until she opened her eyes and met his.

“I love you,” he panted, his eyes serious now as he pushed inside of her with one smooth, deep thrust.

She gasped as his hips surged forward until his pelvic bone pressed flush against hers. “Stay still . . .” she panted. “Please . . . just like this . . . just stay.”

He stared into her eyes, holding himself completely still at her command, and she could feel him, huge and swelling, throbbing against the walls of her sex.

“Ask me for anything,” he groaned, taking her top lip between his but keeping the lower half of his body completely motionless. “Anything. I’ll give you anything. I’ll do anything for you.”

She slid her hands up his arms to cup his face. “All I need is you,” she said softly.

Then she arched her back, pushing him impossibly farther inside until he kissed her womb. Dropping his lips to hers in a frenzy, he kissed her madly, deeply, frantically as his hips thrust back and forth with abandon into her wet heat. Her muscles tensed, sucking him back in with every stroke as she writhed beneath him, half-wild with longing, with need, with love . . . with love . . . with LOVE—

“I love you!” she cried as they climaxed together, a shock of pleasure ripping through her body, her inmost muscles squeezing and relaxing around him in fierce surges. Through a haze of bliss, she heard him cry out her name and felt his hot, wet seed pour into her body. His arms shuddered, and he collapsed, falling heavy onto her.

He panted into her neck, his chest pushing into hers, sweaty and comforting, and she felt the first tear slip out the side of her eye. She sniffled softly, and Stratton braced his hands on either side of her head, leaning up immediately to look at her face.

“Val?” he asked in a breathless voice, searching her eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head, and bit her lip as more tears poured out of her eyes.

“Are you sure? You’re crying. Val, talk to me. Please . . .”

“You didn’t . . . h-hurt me.”

“Are you crying because you said you love me?” he asked, cradling her face in his hands, still lodged deeply inside of her.

“Val, please don’t cry. We can pretend you didn’t say it,” he assured her, leaning down to kiss her softly. “Don’t worry. Don’t cry. It’s okay.”

Pushing his hands onto the mattress, he started to pull out of her, but she scrambled to wrap her legs around his waist to keep him exactly where he was.

“Don’t go,” she sobbed, looking into his worried blue eyes.

He lowered his elbows, settling some of his weight back on her. “But I thought—”

She clenched her eyes shut, trying to stanch the flow of tears. When it didn’t work, she opened them again, feeling the wetness trickle into her hair in a gentle stream.

“I’m crying because it’s the first time I’ve ever said those words to someone. I’m crying because I love you, Stratton. Because you’re the first. My first love.”

“Val . . .” He sighed, his eyes suddenly glistening as he stared back at her. “I barely dared to dream that someone as astonishing as you could fall in love with me.”

His honesty and tenderness shattered her reserve, and her shoulders trembled with sobs as she stared at his beautiful face. As a river of tears poured from her eyes, he flipped them gently to their sides and held her chest tightly against his until all of her tears were gone.

***

Stratton glanced over at Val in the mirror as he wove a navy and green striped tie through the collar of a crisp blue dress shirt. She was sitting up in his bed, her dark, curly hair wild around her bare shoulders, his white sheet pulled up under her arms. Her dark brown eyes were still a little glassy, though she’d stopped crying a little while ago. He’d never seen anything or anyone as beautiful in his entire life.

“Tell me again,” he said, staring at her as he looped the tail of the tie through the hole.

She grinned. “You’re going to get sick of it.”

“Never.”

“Stratton George English, I love you. I am totally in love with you.”

He shook his head, grinning back at her. “I love you too.”

“I know,” she said, giving him a saucy wink.

It had surprised him when she’d wept so forcefully after making love this morning, but once she explained the huge “first” that took place between them he understood her tears and was profoundly humbled that he was the first man to hear those sacred words cross her lips. One day—not today, not next week, not for a little while, but someday—he’d ask to be the last man to whom she ever said those words, and he desperately hoped when that day came, she’d say yes.

“Hey,” she said, “when you’re having fun tonight, remember who you’re coming home to.”

Tonight was Fitz’s bachelor party, and although Alex had protested it was the “lamest” party he’d ever heard of in his entire life, Daisy was completely happy about Stratton’s plan for drinks and dinner at one of Philly’s swankier spots that didn’t include strippers or lap dances.

“That goes for you too,” he said. “I’ve seen the college guys at Mulligan’s. They eye your table like wolves.”

“Silly man,” she said. “They’re all looking at Jessie.”

Stratton shook his head. “No offense to Jess, because I love her like a sister, but”—he darted a meaningful glance at the swell of Val’s breasts hidden under his sheet—“I’m fairly certain I know what they’re looking at, and Jess isn’t it.”

“Then they’re looking at Daisy’s bright blue eyes.”

“Impossible. They’d be distracted by your brown ones first.”

Val grinned. “Then Emily. The total package. Killer bod. Blonde hair. Blue eyes.”

He finished his tie and shrugged into his suit jacket before turning to her and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Truth?”

“Always.”

“I’m a guy, right?”

She grinned, glancing at his hips. “Last I checked.”

“So, listen to me, woman. None of them holds a candle to you. You’re wild and exotic, crazy exciting, so smart you make my heart stop, so sexy you make my breath catch. I know they’re looking at you,” he said, “because when I look at you, you’re so gorgeous, I have to force myself to look away.”

Her heart started racing as her sex flooded with wet heat. He had no idea what his words did to her.

“But it’s okay with me if all of those poor bastards want to look because I’m the one that gets to touch you. I’m the one that gets to hear those noises you make in the back of your throat when I slide into you. I’m the one that knows how your face looks when you come.”

“Stratton,” she murmured, letting the sheet fall away as she scooted to the side of the bed, grabbing his neck and kissing him.

As he pulled back from her, she saw his eyes were dilated to black, and his hard chest heaved against her bare breasts.

“My auspicious beginning,” he whispered with awe, reaching up to loosen his just-tied tie.

Her lips curved up as she arched her body into his. “Great word.”

“Great word,” he agreed, falling to the bed beside her.

***

“Jessie!” cried Val several hours later. She was sitting across from Emily and Daisy at Mulligan’s, facing the door when Jessica arrived. “You’re here!”

“Straight from the airport!” she chirped. “We didn’t even go to Alex’s apartment first. I told him to take me right here!”

The cousins stood at the end of the bench, wrapping Jessica Winslow in a fierce hug before letting Jess grab Val for another.

“I hope you haven’t said
a word
yet!” she said, slipping into the booth beside Val and giving her a stern look. “I need to hear
all
about you and Stratton. Oh, my God! I can’t even believe that
happened
!”

Emily shook her head at Val. “I thought Barrett was going to have a heart attack.”

Jessie’s eyes darted to Emily’s in question.

“When Stratton picked up Val on Sunday night, we found them in this passionate lip-lock at the front door. Barrett just about lost it.”