The Apartment: The Complete Affair (29 page)

They stood there together like that for almost a minute, simply holding each other and soaking it all in. Lily was busy marveling at how right it felt to be in his arms again, while Ethan couldn’t stop trying to commit every single aspect of her scent to his memory. After nearly three days without her in the apartment all of his reminders of her had just about faded away.

They probably would have been content to stand there like that all night if it hadn’t been for the loud
thump, thump, thump
that echoed up through the floor, followed by a muffled “Again!” as Mrs. Knight scolded the class and started the song over again from the beginning. However, the interruption didn’t force them to move away from each other. Rather, it brought them back to reality just enough to hear the music.

As the violin drifted around them, Lily was surprised to feel her stranger grip her tighter and begin to sway to the beat. When she looked up at him with a puzzled expression, he merely smiled gently and stopped long enough to push her jacket off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor before kicking it away. By the time she had followed its motion across the floor with her eyes, he had taken her right hand in his left and lifted it to their side, his other hand sliding around to grip her hip firmly.

“What are you—?” she gasped as he took two elegant steps toward her, forcing her to move backwards with him.

“Shh.”

“But I have no idea how to—”

“Shh!”

With that, he took her other hand and placed it on his shoulder before grabbing her by the hip again and taking another small step in her direction, guiding her backwards with the pressure of his grip. She watched as he slid sideways after the second step, moving her body with him, and she realized that he was slowly gliding them in a box step, commanding her to follow with only his touch.

Lily shut up and allowed herself to be led, never taking her eyes off his. She was afraid if she tried to look down at her feet she might stumble, so she concentrated on the smoldering jade gaze in front of her. He pulled her with him as he stepped backwards before turning her slowly and repeating the motion all over again. At one point, he shifted and dipped her back deeply. When he lifted her back up she giggled nervously, imagining how foolish they looked doing the waltz in grubby workout sweats and paint-splattered clothes, but when she met his eyes, his heated gaze nearly did her in.

There was nothing foolish about it.

Ethan took his time whirling and twirling her around the room, never losing control of the beauty in his arms. Whenever the music would change in tempo, he would spin her out the full extension of his arm before snapping her back to his chest and dipping her again. He eventually twirled her around so that her back was pressed against his chest. After a few more gliding steps back and forth, he spun her around and pulled her to him one final time, dipping her sharply while his hand slid down her back, caressing the swell of her ass before lifting her thigh up and wrapping it around his hip as the beautiful song finished.

He leaned over and kissed her gently, barely brushing her soft lips with his own before resting his forehead against hers and closing his eyes.

“I missed you,” he whispered, his eyes still shut tight.

“I missed you, too,” Lily replied, surprised at the loud exhale he made, as if he’d been anxiously awaiting her response. He opened his eyes and looked at her intently, slowly lowering her body down beneath him. The soft feeling of the mattress hitting her back finally made her pay attention to her surroundings. The sexy motherfucker had danced her into the bedroom and dangled her over the goddamn bed.

She opened her mouth to tease him about dancing with ulterior motives, but something about the look on his face made her stop. There was such a deep longing in his eyes that she instantly knew this wasn’t the time or place for jokes.

“I was worried you weren’t coming back.” His voice was so soft and quiet that she barely heard him, even though he was only inches away from her face.

“I—” she swallowed thickly, “I was worried that you wouldn’t
want
me back.”

Ethan planted his knee between her thighs and braced his weight on his hands beside her head, doing nothing for almost a full thirty seconds but staring at her face. His eyes lingered on hers before falling to her lips, then back up to her eyes again as if he couldn’t decide which was more captivating. Very slowly, he lifted one hand to the side of her face and caressed her cheek, dragging his long thumb across her bottom lip in the process.

“Silly little girl,” he breathed. “I’ll always want you. I just have to accept that I can’t always have you.”

With that, Ethan could wait no longer. It had been entirely too long since he had tasted her lips properly, and he was going to remedy that immediately. Closing the distance between them, he covered her mouth with his own, deepening the kiss as he settled his weight on her more firmly. His body screamed to life when he felt his goddess respond eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoving her hands into his hair as if she were holding on for dear life.

When the slick tip of his sweet tongue probed at her lips for entrance, Lily feared that she might faint, the intoxicating flavor of him making her dizzy. She accepted him slowly, both savoring the experience and doing her best to stay lucid. The languorous drag of his tongue against hers was its own form of exquisite torture, and they both moaned at the sensation when they began to swirl them together.

Ethan couldn’t resist sliding his hands lower, down her sides and over her hips, touching everything along the way as he kissed her. When he switched direction and pushed them back up, he hooked his thumbs under the hem of her shirt and lifted it, raking his fingertips over her bare flesh as he moved. Lily lifted enough for him to remove the offending article of clothing, but whimpered when he had to pull his mouth away long enough to raise it over her head.

Just as hungry to feel his skin, she barely had enough clarity of mind to return the favor, tugging on his splattered t-shirt until he took the hint, raising up on his knees and yanking it off before tossing it across the room. Lily quickly removed her bra, throwing it in the same direction as his shirt, and lay there looking up at him in all of his bare-chested glory. He watched her for a moment, panting, before smiling and lowering himself back on top of her, nearly jumping at the electric jolt he felt when their flesh made contact.

Ethan began kissing her again, each shift of his lips and tongue more ravenous than the last. He went no farther than kissing for a while, though, happy to simply have her in his arms again with her skin touching his.

Lily didn’t know what to make of it at first. He would normally start speeding up their actions in a rush to move on to better things. Now, he slowed down even more, kissing her so deliberately and deeply that her eyes began to cross.

When he finally moved to touch her, it was so light at first that she barely felt it. He started at her face, dragging his fingers down her soft skin as he kissed her, following the column of her throat until he was cupping her breast. He loved her with his hands, almost tickling her sides as he stroked her flat belly.

When his hands met the top of her pants he slid his fingers underneath the elastic, reaching around her to pull them down around her backside, taking her panties with them. When her pants were bunched up around her ankles he noticed that he hadn’t even removed her shoes yet, so those were thrown haphazardly over his shoulders without looking, quickly followed by her wadded-up sweats. Ethan couldn’t be bothered to take his eyes away from her gloriously nude body to see where they landed.

This time he moved even more slowly, drinking in the sight of her, from her feet upward until he followed his gaze with his hands. He circled each of her ankles with his long fingers, dragging them up her calves before sliding his hands to the front of her thighs, moving even higher. His thumbs barely brushed against the tightly manicured hair at the apex of her thighs before continuing on, circling around her navel.

When he had reached her breasts again he stopped, looking up to meet her eyes before he grabbed them more firmly, making sure that she was watching. He rested his weight on his elbows and settled between her legs, causing Lily to wrap her long limbs around his jean-clad hips. They both watched as he swirled his thumbs around her aching peaks, causing the tissue to tighten and swell, before he released a loud groan and covered one of her breasts with his mouth. Suckling her greedily, Ethan made sure to lavish attention on her other breast with his hand, squeezing and pinching her dusky nipple with his fingers as he continued to work the other with his tongue.

She tasted so good that he knew he could get lost in her flavor, but after a while he made sure to switch over, not wanting the other nipple to feel neglected. He worked her breasts for so long that Lily was becoming unglued beneath him, never having felt anything quite so intense before. He had always enjoyed her chest whenever they’d been together, but nothing like this. It felt like he was worshiping her.

After a few more minutes the constant stimulation began to make Lily squirm. She was delirious with need, her body aching and feeling more hollow with each new stroke of his tongue. She was swollen and wet, her throbbing sex literally weeping to have him inside her. Before long she began rocking her hips against him, eager to find some sort of relief.

Ethan tried to keep himself away from her for as long as possible, wanting to focus his energy on her body first, but feeling her writhing underneath him made him thrust forward involuntarily, grunting loudly around her hardened flesh.

After she ground herself into him a few more times he pulled back, not trusting himself to stay that close without losing control. Sliding his hand in between their bodies, he slipped his fingers between her swollen folds and groaned at the feeling of them slipping through her wetness. Her hips bucked sharply at the contact, and the loud moan that tore from her body startled them both.

“Do you need that, baby?” he whispered as he slid two fingers lower and circled her entrance. “Right
there
?” He pushed them deep inside her to accentuate his question.

She couldn’t answer. She couldn’t think. She could only feel, and it felt fucking amazing.

Lily could barely manage a squeak and a slight nod, but it was more encouragement than he needed. Without removing his fingers, Ethan slid down between her legs and licked her silken petals with one long, broad stroke. Lily groaned incoherently and shoved her hands into his hair, moving herself against his hungry mouth when he began worshiping her there, too. He licked and sucked at her with more vigor than he had either of her nipples, drunk on the taste of her, and when he curled his fingers upwards inside her, she exploded around them, shattering into what felt like a million pieces.

Moving back up her body slowly, Ethan took the time to appreciate every aspect of his beautiful girl’s climax: her flushed features, her dilated pupils, the rise and fall of her breasts as she tried to catch her breath. She was absolutely addictive.

He honestly didn’t know how he had ever lasted so long without her.

He told himself that he was only referring to the last few days, but the longer he looked at her, the less sure he became.

“Where did you go?” she panted, reaching up to hold his face. He snapped out of it, meeting her curious gaze. She stroked his cheek gently before slipping her hand behind his head, pulling him down closer to her lips. “Come back to me.”

“I can honestly say there’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.”

He closed the distance between them and kissed her deeply, thrilling to her touch as she pulled him to her eagerly and moaned into his mouth. It never ceased to amaze him how responsive she was with him, and today was no exception. Her arms wrapped around him, squeezing him tightly before she slid her hands down the muscles in his sculpted back. When she reached his firm backside she cupped it, grimacing at the feel of the denim he was still wearing.

“I need you,” she gasped, breaking the kiss just long enough to make him understand her desperation. “Please,” she begged as she tugged on his jeans. “I feel so empty without you inside me.”

Ethan didn’t need to be asked twice.

Their hands tangled together in the rush to get his fly undone. The sounds of the buttons popping open were the only noise that could be heard in the room over their wet kisses. When he had finally freed himself from his jeans, Ethan kicked them the rest of the way off before settling back between her legs, bracing his body above her with one arm as he guided himself to her entrance.

Lily felt his broad tip sliding along her slick folds, nudging at her opening briefly before probing her gently, stopping once it was just barely inside. She glanced up into her stranger’s eyes again, wondering what had made him stop, and the expression on his face nearly made her weep. He was staring at her closely, as if he was memorizing every detail of her features, and once again the only word that came to her mind was worship.

“Is there anything wrong?” she asked after a few more seconds of silence. “Why aren’t you moving?”

Just as he was about to slide inside her, business as usual, Ethan was struck with the realization that his time with his goddess was undeniably limited. The last three days had been merely a sample. He had no idea how many more chances he would have to be where he was right at that very moment, and he didn’t want to take it for granted any longer.

“I just… realized that I’ve never watched your face when I enter you,” he whispered. “I’ve usually got my eyes closed or my head thrown back because of how amazing you feel. That just doesn’t seem right. I need to know what you look like.”

Lily had no idea what to say to that. She was feeling completely overwhelmed with a thousand different emotions at once, so she surrendered herself to her body and let them take over. Her hips shifted forward, welcoming him deeper, and she cried out in pleasure when he finally made the first thrust. It was shallow, pushing in only halfway, before he pulled back again.