Page 75 of Work It Out
Thank God, never that.
Jake kissed her forehead, her temple. His lips caressed her cheek and the corner of her mouth. Then, finally, he covered her mouth with his own—long, drugging kisses that made her brain fuzzy and her body ache.
“One condition.” Jake’s voice was full of gravel.
She chuckled. “You’re giving me conditions before you’ll take my virginity?”
“Absolutely. But only one. Talk to me. Tell me if something hurts. Tell me if it feels good. Tell me my dick’s too small, but talk to me.” He winced. “Okay, I could do without that last one, but you get the point.” He stuck his pinky out between them.
She hooked the digit with her own, trying not to let him see her smile. It might seem playful, but she knew this much about him. He wanted her promise, one he knew she wouldn’t break. Then she let her eyes track down his body to the organ in question and gulped in a slightly panicked breath. “Yeah, I don’t think ‘too small’ is going to be the problem.”
He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. “You really do say the sweetest things.” His other hand glided down her arm until both were tangled with her own. He brought their joined hands up beside her head and slowly, carefully began to push his way inside her. Rayah squeezed his hand, holding on to her anchor in the storm.
“Talk to me, Rayah.”
She shook her head, unable to find the words. Jake started to pull away again, so she clamped one leg around his waist. “Don’t go. I’m trying…” He pushed forward, gaining another inch that made her sigh. “So good.”
“You’re tight,” Jake said through gritted teeth. “You’re so small, I knew you would be, butahhh…” He shuddered. “Still okay?”
Her smile had to look goofy, but she couldn’t help it. He was so sweet. “I promise, I’ll tell you if it hurts, but between the sports and the vibrator, I don’t have a hymen to tear. Now, please.” She wiggled, trying to draw him deeper.
“Vibrator?” he croaked. “You’re killing me, Rayah. I want to see this vibrator. And any other toys you have.” He slipped in the last inch, his body finally flush with hers. “Later.”
He held himself deep, letting her adjust. He was big, but not painfully so, just enough to give her the fullness she’d craved. His hand tightened around hers and the other slid under her back, holding her closer. When she started to writhe against him, Jake finally began to move. The first slow drag out arched her spine, but the quick thrust back in made her scream.
“Jake.”
That one word, his name on her lips, unlocked him. His mouth found hers but only briefly. The height differential was a bitch, but Rayah could work with it. She arched up and ran her tongue over his nipple, scraping her teeth over the tight flesh. Air hissed through his teeth as he ground his pelvic bone against her clit. With her free hand she touched every part of him she could reach, dragging her fingertips over the pads of his pectorals, down the valley of his abs. Those glorious oblique notches.
With every stroke, he rubbed against her, driving her higher. And then he hit something deep inside that made her gasp. “There. Oh, God, Jake. Right there.”
He hit it again. And again. And again.
Rayah let go even as she gripped his hand for dear life. Jake pounded in one more time and held himself tight against her. She felt him coming, his cock kicking inside her. So intimate. So intense. Jake slumped against her but held some of his weight on his elbows. She yanked hard, pulling him to her. “I may be little, but I’m not weak. I can take your weight.”
Without it she might float away.
Jake chuckled, a thoroughly masculine, utterly satisfied sound, and rolled to his side. He slid from her body but, before she could think to protest, he dragged her up the bed so that her mouth was close enough to kiss. “Cupcake, anyone who’d call you weak clearly never met you.”
She snuggled against his chest, a ridiculous smile on her face.
That was the nicest thing anyone ever said to her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Seven years ago
Gymnastics Today
“Today allegations of sexual abuse rocked the gymnastics world. A former gymnast filed charges against a U.S. Gymnastics Association volunteer staff member. While the identities of both the accused and the alleged victim remain secret, one of our favorite Olympians, Janet Dashnell, spoke out, calling the claims ‘ridiculous’: ‘These allegations are a desperate grab by a bitter young woman, who simply doesn’t have what it takes to compete at this level. When skill couldn’t help her make the team, she switched to blackmail.’”
Jake woke covered in all sorts of sunshine. The drapes on the windows overlooking the mountains were open wide and early morning light spilled in to caress his arms and face. Sunshine of a different sort blanketed his chest. Rayah’s naked body lay plastered all over him, her face tucked against his neck.
A smile crept onto his lips, the gentle sound of them parting the only thing to break the silence. This must be what peace felt like. Terrified to lose that sensation, Jake didn’t move a muscle for the longest time. He simply lay there appreciating the slight weight of her against him, the citrus aroma of her hair tickling his nose, and her warm breaths feathering against his throat.
Awake, Rayah was tungsten strong—a badass in business, a reluctant but fierce leader in the community, and a warrior goddess for the people she cared about. Sometimes it was hard to remember that, at her core, she was as fragile as anyone else. Maybe more so. In her sleep she seemed shockingly small and vulnerable.
Slowly, he stroked her spine as Vicky’s concerns about Rayah’s past and what he’d noticed himself haunted his thoughts. What if all that strength wasn’t simply her nature? What if it was her defense against a world determined to break her?
