Chapter 172: The Way It Could’ve Been
** Eli **
It took Eli a long while to fully grasp the situation he found himself in, and when he did, his head reeled.
Out of all the reasons that could make someone tell him to stop at this point, what Harper said was the last one he expected. He could feel how wet she was, how tight the tension had already wound up inside her and practically cried for release. All she needed was a few more touches in the right place ... But she was telling him to stop and leave her hanging on that edge, because of him. Because she didn’t want to race to the final moment without him.
It might sound like a strange sort of logic, but somewhat equally strangely, he understood where she was coming from, and the realization of how she wanted him stirred somewhere deep inside him. It made his blood boil even hotter than it did all night, especially when he drew back to look at her—
Damn, she made such a sinful sight like this. Still half clothed yet utterly disheveled, with a wide open collar covering none of the important bits and a twisted bra dangling uselessly over her shoulders, she looked a hundred times more tempting this way than naked. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes misty. Her lips were still puffy from his earlier hard kisses, and when they parted slightly to her shallow breaths, the image sent a sharp pulse straight through Eli’s lower body, making him want to do wicked things to that sexy mouth.
And he would ... just not right now. Not until she got what she wanted first.
"Your wish is my command," he smirked at the thought of that want, withdrawing his hand. Harper shuddered again as he slid his fingers back out of her, leaving a wet trail on her inner thigh, and he wondered if she might be regretting her own decision for a moment there.
But then she surprised him once more. Without wasting time and letting the loss of contact between them last a second longer, she unzipped his pants, and her hand slipped under with a deftness that he didn’t see coming. Soft fingers closed around him in a tight grip, in almost the same instant that he pulled his own hand away.
The warmness of her touch made him twitch immediately, so uncontrolled that he hissed a sigh.
"I wish I could’ve done this weeks ago," she echoed his earlier words with a firm stroke. "Remember the day we had our first ’lessons’ at my place?"