I stood there in the kitchen, my naked body shivering slightly as I wrapped my arm around myself. The cold tiles under my feet echoed the emotion in the air. My first instinct was to flee. Again. Run away from the ultimatum Marcus had presented me with. Which just proved how fair it was for him to do it. I had to choose. Stop playing games and decide what I wanted.
Looking at Marcus, standing in my kitchen in nothing but jeans and a sour expression, shook me to my core. He was beautiful and terrifying. A force of nature who could destroy the whole world if he put his mind to it. But that’s not what he wanted.
Marcus Moore wanted me. This man who held so much in his tight control was willing to surrender this choice to me. He was nothing like anyone I’ve ever known. Danger and power seeped from every pore of his massive body. And yet there was tenderness, too.
He’d done what I asked of him. Opened up, been honest. So now there really was only one thing to do. The scariest thing. Jump.
“Marcus,” I began, voice wavering.
He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.
Swallowing hard, I struggled to find the right words to express everything happening in my heart and my head. “I…”
“Just say it,” he prodded.
Words failed me. There was no way to tell him everything I needed to say. No way to make him understand. So I jumped.
Literally. Threw myself at him fully, physically and emotionally. Marcus opened his strong arms and caught me, lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him hard. He shifted his grip and kissed me back, slower, deeper. The kiss became more and more passionate as I tried to make him understand through my actions how I felt, express the things I couldn’t say.
He broke the kiss and moved his lips to my neck, drawing a line of searing kisses down to my chest. He took one of my nipples into his mouth, teasing and sucking on it until I was a quivering mess of arousal.
“Marcus,” I whimpered.
He lifted his mouth long enough to speak, replacing it with his hand, rolling my nipple between his fingers. “You want me, baby?”
I nodded.
“Not yet,” he said before lowering his mouth to my other breast. He sucked the nipple into his mouth and held it ever so gently between his teeth, still rolling the other in a slow, steady rhythm.
My mind was reeling, every nerve in my body on edge. I needed him inside me again. “Please…”
Marcus heard my plea, but didn’t stop. Instead, he sped up and applied more pressure. I was so close to coming apart right there when a sound broke the silence. His stomach growled incredibly loud. We both froze for a moment before dissolving into laughter. The mood was ruined, but the silly moment meant more.
He set me back on my feet gently. “Well, that wasn’t exactly how I thought things were going to end.”
“I guess there is something you want more than me,” I teased.
Marcus grinned. “Not more than. In addition to. Please. tell me there’s something edible in here somewhere.”
I couldn’t help but giggle as I grabbed the bag of junk food Elle had left for me. It was a ridiculous assortment of my favorite snacks. I pulled out a neon-orange bag of cheesy puffs. “These were my go-to snack after school. They made me feel like I was eating clouds… cheese-flavored clouds.”
Marcus chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re not serious.”
“Dead serious,” I confirmed, ripping open the bag and popping one into my mouth, savoring the familiar taste. “Delicious.”
“No way I’m eating those. Not one single ingredient found in nature.” He leaned back against the counter. “What else?”
I rummaged around in the bag with orange-stained fingers. “Gummy worms?”
“Never.”
“Don’t be a snob, Marcus. Everyone can’t eat fifty dollar steaks for every meal.”
He laughed. “Hey, I can’t help that I like actual food. Even when I was poor, I wasn’t into that crap. Don’t you have cookies at least?”
“Of course. Double chocolate chunk with icing.”
Marcus groaned playfully. “My blood sugar spiked just listening to you talk about that.” He came over and dug through the bag. “This is insane, Olivia. I can’t eat any of this. I’m old. I need to take care of my health.”
“Your loss,” I said with a shrug, ripping open the pack of cookies and shoving one into my mouth. Mmm, sweet on sweet on sweet.
“You’re going to get crumbs all over you,” he said.
“Shame you’re too old to lick them off of me.”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t start. I’m starving.”
I laughed. “There’s probably some fruit in the fridge, old man.”
Marcus opened the refrigerator and looked around. “Do you and your roommate share food? Anything in here that I can’t take?”
“No, help yourself to whatever. That does remind me, though. Elle’s been gone for a long time. I would’ve thought she’d be back and hovering by now. Maybe her boss needed something.”
“Or,” Marcus speculated, “maybe she came home a while ago. If she heard all that moaning, screaming my name, and begging me to fuck you harder, she probably decided to give us some privacy.”
My cheeks warmed at the memory, a mix of embarrassment and arousal coursing through me. I couldn’t help but laugh, covering my face with my free hand for a moment. “Oh God, I didn’t even think about that. We were pretty…loud, weren’t we?”
“You definitely were,” he agreed, grinning wickedly as he stepped closer to me. “Not that I’m complaining.” His body radiated heat, and I could feel the magnetic pull between us.
“Maybe we should go back to the bedroom,” I suggested, glancing at the sheet pooled on the floor. “Just in case Elle does come back. There’s not enough fabric here for both of us to cover up.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Marcus replied. He gestured to a container of grapes and my bag of junk food. “This isn’t much of a feast, but it will do for now.”
“Actually, now that I think about it,” Marcus mused, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he reached over to touch me, “I live alone. No roommates at my penthouse to interrupt. We could be naked there as much as we want for as long as we want.” His fingers traced the curve of my hips, sending shivers down my spine.
“I thought you needed to eat?”
“I can eat grapes and drive. Then get some real food at my place.”
I frowned. “Okay, I’ll go, on one condition.”
“What?”
“I get to bring the junk food.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “Sure, fine. But please don’t get fake cheese dust on anything in my car.”
“Fine, I’ll wash my hands first.” I moved past him to get to the sink. But as my body grazed his, Marcus grabbed me from behind. “What?”
“Just gotta do one thing first,” he said, stepping closer to me. He leaned down and kissed my neck, then my shoulder, slowly bending my upper body forward, pressing my ass against his crotch.
“What happened to the food emergency?” I asked, my heart beginning to race.
“It passed. I have a new emergency now.”
I licked my lips. “What kind of emergency?”
“A hard cock that needs to be inside you.”
I gasped as he ground against me, the length of him evident, even clothed. “Sex now, food later.”
“That’s my girl,” Marcus said. He unzipped his jeans.
I was so turned on that I couldn’t wait, and reached behind me to give him a hand. His dick was hot and hard. My fingers couldn’t even circle the girth.
Marcus spread my legs, and we guided him to my entrance together. “Yes, baby.” He moaned as he slid into me. I was so slick he barely had to push, as if my body was made for him. His fingers dug into my hips, sliding me back and forth down his length.
I barely had time to register his movements before I came, shaking. Marcus held me steady, his fingers digging into my ass and hips as he moved me the way he wanted. My skin tingled, my mind went blank, and my body was his to command. I couldn’t move. I was his. How could I have ever doubted that this was my place? The entire world was insane, and this was the only thing that made sense. Marcus inside me.
He slowed a bit, his hands smoothing over my body, stroking my trembling skin. “You want to come with me this time?”
“Oh, yes.”
His fingers tangled in my hair to tilt my head up towards him as he delivered another deep push into me, leaving our bodies fused together. My back arched, his hardness filling me. I leaned back against him as he thrust into me again, my body feeling as light as air. He slid one hand around to brush against my face, then cupping my chin and pulling me up towards him. He kissed my ear, his labored breathing increasing the intensity. His free hand slid across my stomach, then down between my spread thighs.
“Jesus fuck, Olivia,” Marcus muttered, his head buried in my hair, lips against my neck. “Your pussy is squeezing me so tight. I could live the rest of my life inside you, baby.” He shoved deeper again and again, playing my whole body like a musical instrument, coaxing a symphony of ecstasy from me.
“Don’t stop,” I begged.
“Never,” he growled. He nipped my neck, exerting just enough pain to make me gasp. He pounded into me, and my body responded, growing hotter and wetter with every thrust. I felt myself being lifted off the ground as his thrusts became more urgent, driving deeper inside me with each movement. The pressure was unbearable. I needed to release it. I needed to explode.
“Marcus!”
“Come,” he commanded, his voice like gravel. “Give me everything.”
I screamed as his words sent me over the edge. His fingers, soaked from my juices, circled slickly over my clit and the room exploded in a burst of color. My body convulsed. Marcus stiffened behind me with one last thrust and then he was right there with me, flooding me with his hot seed. We remained there, locked together, exchanging ragged breaths for a very long time.
Finally, Marcus pulled out of me and lowered us both to the floor. I snagged the sheet with one finger and pulled it over us as we lay there entwined, connected in a way I’d never experienced before.
Only then did I register that he’d come inside be without protection.