Page 34 of Deposed

I narrowed my eyes. If anyone wanted to throw shade tonight, I would go straight to Edward’s room and wait for him outside. “If you don’t celebrate your birthday, what do you do instead?”

“Most years, we sat in Edward’s room, drinking cognac he either swiped from home or got from Paul.” Blake grimaced. “Sorry.”

I raised a shoulder. “Hearing about him doesn’t affect me at all.”

The conversation continued about previous years’ birthdays, but they didn’t mention Edward’s first year, which was around the time his mother had died. I sat back and listened to the boys chat among themselves and discovered that Edward had lost his virginity to Charlotte in their third year, but the experience had been so disastrous, neither of them had touched each other since. Blake’s first female lover was a girl who had later been expelled in the third year when they backpacked around France together in the summer term.

Blake turned to me, his eyes dancing with mischief. “And you’ll be seventeen when you lose yours.”

Edward smirked into his glass, and I flashed Blake a grin.

Blake narrowed his eyes. “What aren’t you—” Then his eyes widened. “No! Why didn’t you tell us?”

Edward sniffed. “A gentleman never divulges. Besides, we weren’t really in the mood at the time to wax lyrical about our wayward fourth.”

I sipped my creamy Irish coffee. “You’ve been quiet, Henry.”

He leaned forward and gave me a wistful smile. “I always liked the much older girls. No one in my year or the year above ever appealed, until now.”

Edward set down his drink and placed his hand on my thigh. “I’m taking my present up to bed.” He yanked me to my feet. “Hurry up and make amends before I decide I don’t want to share.”

* * *

We spent the rest of the evening in Edward’s double bed, exchanging slow kisses in our underwear. Edward laid me on my back with my hands on either side of my head and our fingers interlaced. We lay chest to chest, my nipples pebbling against his hard pectoral muscles, as he slowly devoured me with deep strokes of his tongue as though claiming my mouth as his territory.

When he drew back and stared into my eyes with such love, it reminded me of the last time we had been together alone, when he had told me he loved me, and I’d left him to discover that I was his betrayer.

At the time, I’d held back my feelings, but now I was free to say, “I love you, too.”

He closed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved into a little smile. “Thank you. That’s the best gift I could ever have received.”

The next morning, I awoke to strong arms wrapping around my middle, muscular legs curled behind mine, and an erection pressed into my ass. A lazy smile spread across my face. Edward. I pushed back against his hardness, making him groan. One of his hands snaked up my front and cupped my bare breast, its thumb and forefingers rolling my nipple. Arousal sparked across my body and through my core in a wave of heat, making me press my legs together and groan. We’d only had sex once, but I missed his touch.

Reaching back, I wrapped my fingers around his erection. “I want it from behind.”

He chuckled low and deep and reached for something on the bedside table. “I thought you’d never ask.”

The hand not teasing my nipple slid under my waist, and his fingers slipped between my folds, gathering up the moisture. Then he rubbed gentle circles around my clit that made my eyes roll to the back of my head.

“I love how you’re so ready for me,” he growled.

“Less talk. More dick.”

“As my lady commands.” He drew back his hips. “One second, while I slip on a condom.”

I huffed out a laugh, just as he lined himself up against my entrance and stretched me open. My muscles clenched around his thickness.

He shuddered and stopped moving. “O-oh, fuck.”

“What?”

“You’re still so tight. I thought Bachmann would have—”

“He was a perfect gentleman and only ever kissed me on the cheek.” I backed into Edward’s erection, causing him to groan. “Now, are you going to give it to me good and hard, or will I take it for myself?”

Edward’s chuckle rumbled across my back, and he thrust into my core, giving me that wonderful stretch I craved. He pumped in and out, building a rhythm that made me want to howl.

“Is this what you want?” he rumbled.