Except the first hot swipe of his tongue had her hands going to his head. With the second she closed her eyes. His mouth was warm and wet, and apparently the guy could still surprise her. He knew what he was doing, coaxing the barely simmering embers of her last climax right back up into a pressing need, something too big to fit within her.
She arched her spine and surrendered. He licked and sucked and filled her with hot fingers, and something inside her threatened to shatter. Curling his hand up, he hit this perfect place inside, and his tongue sped, flicking over her harder and harder, and she couldn’t hold herself against it… couldn’t hold back—
When she broke again, this time, tears trickled from her eyes. But they were good tears. Amazing tears.
He climbed back up her body, worry written all over his face. She pulled him into her and kissed her desire from his lips.
She was still herself. But somehow, in that instant, everything was different.
And she wished—God, she wished—that she could keep it.
Chapter Twenty
It was probably creepy, how long Jo lay there, watching Adam sleep. Pale, early morning light spilled in from the window, falling across his bare, wide shoulders. His hair was a mess, his lips parted, and she was pretty sure the hint of a shadow under his mouth was the beginning of a puddle of drool, but she didn’t care.
She’d slept here, beside him, and the earth hadn’t shaken to pieces. Only her perception of it. And now it was a brand-new day, and she couldn’t go back. She didn’t want to.
Okay, fine, maybe she wanted to go back to sleep, but that wasn’t happening, either. There was too much going through her mind. Adam and work and…
Her dad. One way or another, she would have to deal with that situation today. Passive-aggressively ignoring and/or avoiding him held some appeal, but as she stared at the fall of Adam’s eyelashes across his cheek, she kept coming around to everything he’d said the previous night.
And it made her want to laugh. She’d given up on the whole optimism thing a long, long time ago. She’d given up on her father. But the way Adam had spoken, the way he’d treated her… maybe she’d given up on love a little too soon.
Finally, even she had to admit she’d flown straight past creepy and was rounding the corner of obsessive. She should go. Should sneak out and steal some clothes and head to her house to start her day. Except…
Except Adam had been so eager for her to stay. If he woke to an empty bed, he’d be okay about it, but he wouldn’t be happy.
When had making Adam happy become something that warmed her heart like this?
Nervous, she reached her hand out and stroked her knuckles down his cheek. “Adam?”
He sighed and smiled and nuzzled deeper into his pillow.
She tried again. “Adam?”
This time, his eyes fluttered open, soft and hazy, and the glow in her chest grew and grew.
“Hey there, handsome,” she said.
“You stayed.” He made it sound like it was the best thing in the world.
“Yup.” Leaning in, she brushed a kiss against his brow.
And he might have seemed lazy and half awake, but the guy was strong. His hand snapped out, and he held her in place, dragging her down toward his mouth.
She squirmed. “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”
“Neither have I.”
And then he was kissing her, and yeah, it was a little gross, but it was also sleep-warm and soft, his lips parting slowly and his tongue licking into her mouth. He tugged her body against him, into the cradle of his naked side, and suddenly she kind of got it. Why people liked to spend the night together. Why waking up with the person you were fucking was something to be prized.
His grip slackened, that bleary smile overtaking his mouth again. “Do you have to go?”
Thank God he brought it up. Her will to leave had started to evaporate with the first blush of their kiss, but her antsiness hadn’t. “I probably should.”
“Okay. Thanks for waking me.”
So she’d chosen correctly after all. She would’ve decked a guy if he’d made her get up just to say goodbye. But she wasn’t Adam, and Adam was glad.
She was kind of glad, too.
She pressed another kiss against his lips. “I’ll see you at work?”
“Yup. Eventually.”
With that, she rose and found the T-shirt he’d loaned her the night before. Boxers alone weren’t going to cut it, so she grabbed a pair of his basketball shorts off the chair in the corner and tugged them on. She shoved her bare feet into her boots and laced them enough that they wouldn’t fall off.
Yeah. There wasn’t any question about what she’d been up to last night.
Before she left, she cast one last glance at the bed. Adam’s eyes had half closed, but the soft curve to his mouth told her he was still watching her. He cast a sleepy wave in her direction, and her face nearly cracked with the force of her smile.
It was early enough that she didn’t run into anyone, either in the guys’ house or in hers. She tiptoed past Carol’s unconscious form to the closet, where she grabbed some actual clothes. Normally, she’d be as bad as the rest of them, sleeping in, but not today.
The entire walk to the observatory, she kept her gaze on the horizon. The sky seemed a brighter blue than usual, the greenery more vibrant, and the air smelled like it was teeming with life. Her muscles felt sore in the best possible way. She just felt good. Satisfied.
Right up until she got to the cafeteria, where her feet stopped cold inside her boots.
Shit-fucking camel balls.
As far back as Jo could remember, her father had always been a morning person. Up at the crack of dawn and on his way to the lab. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see him at one of the little tables outside, neatly dressed and reading something on his tablet. She’d known she’d have to deal with him, that she was bound to run into him at some point.
She’d just really, really hoped she’d at least get to have a cup of coffee first.
Her heart throbbed inside her chest. Maybe she still could. If she kept her head down and didn’t talk too much, she could probably buy her breakfast and sneak off without his even noticing her. After all, it wasn’t like he’d ever noticed her before.
And just like that, she was seven years old again, standing at the entrance to his kitchen. Hair in pigtails with her knee socks and her pleated, plaid skirt. Waiting for him to tell her she looked pretty or that he’d liked the pictures her nanny had promised she’d leave out for him to see when he came home. Or anything.
Anything at all.
She took a step back, and then another, cursing at herself. The same rush of anxiety that’d had her running and flailing out with words and fists came over her again. She’d sworn she’d never be that little girl again. She’d never wait for anyone to love her.
She didn’t have to wait for anyone to love her.
Because somebody already did.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.
Adam hadn’t said the words aloud, but the words were unnecessary. All the signs she’d always looked for from her father—the care and patience and attention—Adam showed to her in spades.
Jo wasn’t that desperate, sad, lonely kid anymore. She was a grown woman. A smart one, an accomplished one. She was a scientist and an A student and she was capable of being cared for.
She deserved it.
And she wasn’t hovering in this doorway for a second more.
Sure enough, her dad didn’t look up at all as she made her way toward the service line. She got her coffee and picked out a mediocre muffin and paid for them both, then turned toward the tables.
Did you ever talk about it with him? That’s what Adam had asked her last night, and she had laughed. It’d seemed so impossible, so absurd.