Page 42 of Sheltered

Harlow pulled her bottom lip in and bit down on it as she smiled at me, her eyes dancing. “Maybe we should lay back down on the couch then.”

There was never a dull moment with her. As I leaned forward and slid my arms around her waist to take us both back down to the couch, I said, “And you told me you were boring.”

I didn’t give her the chance to respond. I captured her mouth in another kiss, and I allowed my hands to roam.

For a woman without the experience, Harlow made it clear she was intent on using her hands to do a bit of exploring on her own.

It was easily the best night of my life.

TWELVE

Blaze

How could I even keep my eyes open right now?

Considering I was currently behind the wheel of my truck as I drove myself to work, I had no choice but to stay awake, but with everything that had happened last night, it was no surprise I’d struggled to get any rest. Typically, I was the kind of guy who never had a problem sleeping, but I was now finding my thoughts before bed were always on Harlow, which led to less and less hours of sleep.

I wasn’t complaining at all, either.

Because it would have been easy to be thinking about other, less pleasing things, like work or another bad date with someone who didn’t make me feel the way Harlow did.

So, I didn’t mind the lack of sleep when the reason for it was that I was so caught up in thoughts of the best thing that had ever happened to me.

God, it felt crazy to make such a bold statement after knowing her for only a few short weeks, but it was the absolute truth of how I felt about her. Maybe it was a testament to just how incredible she was.

Last night had been the most challenging night for me, because I couldn’t stop thinking about everything we’d done on her couch. While there was still a lot left for us to explore when it came to intimacy, I had no regrets about saying I thoroughly enjoyed what I’d gotten last night.

It was no secret I’d dated several women over the years. I’d even had two long-term relationships ever since I’d became seriously interested in girls when I was a teenager, one of those lasting just over three years. For the most part, those relationships were fine, and I held no ill will toward my former girlfriends.

But they weren’t her.

I couldn’t remember ever kissing someone for as long as I spent kissing Harlow last night. And if I was honest, I was surprised that I found myself believing sex not being on the table was the best thing that could have happened for us. In fact, I was grateful for it.

Because it took all the pressure off for both of us, and it allowed me to have something with Harlow that I hadn’t had with anyone else.

Understanding we had plenty of time to just kiss and touch, I relished in it. For the first time in my life, I really immersed myself in a whole new aspect of intimacy. I took advantage of the opportunity and allowed my hands to explore Harlow’s figure. I was convinced I now knew every curve of her body, and I was confident in what it would take to please her. She didn’t hold back from sharing what things I did to her that she enjoyed, giving me that information in the form of a moan or a whimper.

Neither one of us had lost a single article of clothing on that couch last night, and yet, I still wound up feeling more connected to her than anyone else I’d ever been with before her.

That’s why I couldn’t sleep last night. Not only did I learn just how much fun it could be to take things slow with someone I cared about, but I was excited about what was ahead. If things felt this good with her now, I could only imagine just how great it would be when and if I had the privilege of being able to touch her naked skin.

There was no mistaking just how badly I wanted that at some point with her. I would wait until she was ready, of course, but there was no question I wanted to be the first and only one to give her that experience. After getting that confirmation from her, I had no doubt my desire to be that man for her was the one thing that would continuously pop into my head both throughout my days and in the evenings.

Now that I was five minutes away from work, I was hoping the concentration I needed to be able to focus on my workload would be there today so I could be productive. It’d be far too simple to allow my mind to drift right back to Harlow, if I wasn’t careful.

At that moment, my phone rang. I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that Harlow wasn’t the one calling, but I took the call anyway, since it was coming from the office.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Blaze. It’s Avalon.”

“Are you calling me with bad news again, or did you want me to run and pick up some doughnuts for the office?” I asked, hoping it was the latter.

She let out an uneasy laugh. “I really have only been calling you with bad news lately, haven’t I? I mean, to answer your question, you’ll probably be able to get the doughnuts, if you do what I’m calling to ask you to do.”

“Fuck,” I clipped, already sensing this wasn’t going to be good. “What’s going on?”

“Royce just got a call from Tarryn,” she shared.