Page 38 of Elite Player
With her mouth parted and her muscles rigid, I understand she still doesn’t fully believe me, and I’m not used to having to list out a woman’s qualities to get her into bed with me, but I like having to work for it now. To work for Jo’s trust.
I carefully lower myself down to my elbows, keeping most of my weight off her as I tuck myself into the pocket of her thighs. “I like how expressive your eyes are. They give away everything you’re feeling.”
Those dark eyes of hers—that are swiftly becoming my favorite—melt a little, relaxing at the corners, and I stroke the top of her cheekbone, the tip of my thumb just under the swipe of black eyeliner. Her lashes flutter, and I bend to kiss between her brows, before allowing my attention to drift down to her mouth.
My other favorite. “I love your smile. I know you’re self-conscious about it, but I think the gap between your teeth is cute, and I wish you’d stop biting your lip so much.”
She stops chewing on her lip immediately.
“Although…” I trace the shape of her mouth with my index finger. “I like this color. Is it more purple or red? I can’t decide.”
“Berry Queen,” she says, the corner of her lips quirking up. “That’s what it’s called.”
“I like it.”
“I started wearing it to cover up how I bite my lip.”
“Yeah.” I press my fingers softly against her jaw so my thumbs touch the corners of her mouth. “Stop doing that.”
When I soothe her lip with a swipe of my tongue, she makes a quiet sound of acquiescence. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my girl.” Then I journey my hand down, careful not to paw at her like I want to, and circle my fingers around the back of her thigh, bringing it up to my hip. “I also really like your body. I have yet to even fully see it since you insist on wearing baggy shirts, but I like how tall you are, your hips—when you aren’t covering them up with a sweatshirt. Your legs. I imagine…”
When I trail off, she lifts her hips slightly underneath me as if begging me to continue, so I do. I run my hand up and down her denim-covered thigh as I tell her, “I’ve imagined them like this, wrapped around me.”
“I’ve never…” Her exhale is ragged, almost a tremble. “No one’s ever…”
“It’s okay.” I duck my face down to her throat, nuzzling her there. “We’ll go slow. Just this for today.”
She wraps her other leg around me, holding me to her, and with the way her fingers dig into my shoulders, she doesn’t need to verbally reply, but she does anyway. “Kiss me, please.”
I take her mouth, and for the next few minutes, we let our hands explore each other until my shirt is off and her sweatshirt is pushed up to reveal yet another shirt below it, and I chuckle, hanging my head. “You’re killing me with all these layers.”
“Sorry,” she says, as if I really do deserve an apology.
“You don’t need to say sorry. It’s just funny. I’m desperate to get under your clothes, and I wonder how many layers I’ll have to dig through.”
For once, she lets her hair go when I tuck it behind her ears, and maybe that’s as far as I should push it. She’s not hiding her face from me, and that’s enough.
Until she arches her back and repositions my hand to her chest. I dart my gaze back and forth between her eyes, reading her expression, making sure it’s okay that I squeeze, mold my palm to her breast. Even through her T-shirt and the material of her bra, I feel her hardened nipple and skim my thumb over the tip.
It makes me feel like a kid again, experiencing all of this for the first time. Except better.
Being here with Josephine doesn’t erase those old memories, but it does overwrite them. I can never have that time or those experiences back, and I’ll never forget about what happened, yetthe thing that’s felt like a noose around my neck loosens. I can breathe. I can escape it.
Into Josephine. Into what she’s giving me, the trust and pleasure and happiness. It dulls the sharp edge of shame and guilt. Her gentle hands and timid requests are a gift that I wholeheartedly treasure.
And if this is as much as she allows me to have, I will be satisfied.
I am gratified.
Thankfully, she doesn’t stop me when I bend my knees, adjusting our position so I can rock against her, hoping she can find some release. My dick strains behind my Hanes, and the loose material of my shorts makes each glide torture. I push up to my hands, watching her face. “You feel that?”
She licks her parted lips. “Yeah.”
“You ever given yourself an orgasm?”
She nods, her skin a pretty pink.
