His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 95: Tender Loving Care

Chapter 95: Tender Loving Care

** Harper **

Cuddling in bed with Eli was unlike anything Harper had ever expected. His arms were looped around her in a light embrace, firm enough to press their bodies flush against each other, but also soft enough to feel delicate and intimate as he traced casual patterns along her spine. The touches weren’t exactly sensual anymore, and neither were their kisses. Instead of the usual burning flames, there was now only a lambent spark and shimmering warmth in the way their breaths tickled and the tip of their tongues brushed.

Harper wanted to keep doing this forever. Truth be told, she might love this even more than the daring escapade they had engaged in earlier. She liked the blood-boiling thrill and wild pleasure, of course, but this — lying with him naked, tangled atop a mess of twisted sheets and making out with him in his arms like the rest of the world didn’t exist — melted her heart in an utterly different way. It felt as if they were a real couple doing whatever it was that a couple should do, relaxing into each other’s arms for comfort and love and, above all, just the quiet feeling of being together. In a way, it felt even more intimate than sex.

If only they were a real couple ...

Harper’s mind drifted, her imagination starting to fill in all the blank spaces of what could’ve been. If only they were a real couple, they could’ve stayed like this until they fell asleep, and woke up with their arms still wrapped around each other. They could’ve done the same every night, without having to stick to that silly Saturday evening schedule. Or they could’ve simply kept going for another round ...

The thought made her arms tighten around his shoulders, and her kiss turned deeper out of pure reflex. Well, so much for this cuddling not being sensual.

The effect of her subconscious slip was immediate. Eli’s hand that was skimming her back paused, and the rhythm of his breathing changed. A tiny sigh rumbled in his chest.

"We should probably stop," he broke their kiss and said against her lips. His voice was tinged with a light rasp, the same way it had been all night.

... Stop? Why? Harper opened her eyes and blinked up at him. It wasn’t until then that she started to realize that while they kept entangling themselves in that not-sensual kiss, their lower bodies had pressed closer and closer together in the meantime. As a result ... he had gone hard all the way again, which she would’ve noticed if she weren’t so distracted by imagining all those alternate versions of where the night could go.

Oh.

The sight of it did all sorts of things to her mind, making those memories from earlier flash before her eyes. The sensation of his liquid heat gushing down her throat. The shuddering pulses deep inside her mouth. The tremor of his body beneath her palms, and the sight of him throwing his head back with a guttural groan like he had completely lost control ...

God, she had no words for such an experience out of this world. The things she’d do to get a chance to go at it again, she wouldn’t even dare to admit them.

But he had told her to stop ...

Understanding was slow to settle in, but it did nevertheless, and Harper finally drifted from her daydreams back to reality. After all, this was just one of their typical Saturday night "practice sessions". They were not a real couple, only partners in an arrangement who had finished their schedule for the day. And this was when that day had to draw to an end.

The blissful euphoria humming within her began to fade. Though outward, she didn’t show it. Fake couple as they might be, she didn’t want to break the pretense and ruin the last thread of lingering magic of the moment, so she schooled her expression into a breezy smile as she met Eli’s eyes. "What, are you afraid of more paybacks waiting for you?" she teased. "I’d be excited to hear the ’Chicken’ word anytime to make me stop."

That earned her a raised eyebrow. "Oh little devil, but we’re well past the scene now." Eli chuckled. "If you’ve read the book May gave you, you should know that this is aftercare time. Aka, I get to be pampered because of those handcuffs you put on me."

It was Harper’s turn to raise an eyebrow back. Did people really do aftercare for such vanilla scenes? "Those handcuffs don’t hurt," she argued.

"Hell they do." It shouldn’t be possible for someone like Eli to be able to make such a face that practically cries "I need some lovey dovey TLC", but he did it so perfectly. "I pulled too hard, and there was no lining on the inside. The metal chaffed, it hurts."

"..." Harper wasn’t even sure how to respond to such a legit-sounding complaint. Not when the man in front of her looked so adorable and in need of love, making her heart melt and putting a tender smile on her face. "Should I kiss it?" she offered and brought one of his wrists to her lips.

She did actually look at it, of course. There was no sign of scratches or red chafings at all. But she treated him like fragile glass all the same, planting light kisses from the base of his palm to his pulse point, pausing occasionally to feel the rhythm of his heartbeat against her lips. He let out a sigh of satisfaction and closed his eyes, letting her continue by trailing those soft pecks slowly back and forth.

Harper’s smile widened. Did he realize that as he leaned against the pillow to enjoy her "aftercare", his wrist was bending toward her face, his fingers brushing over her chin and caressing her with a feathery touch? The movement was so casual, so natural, that it felt almost subconscious, as if it was only instinct that made him want to touch her back as she showered him with loving kisses.

The subtle intimacy of the gesture chased away all the disappointment she felt from a minute ago. Well, maybe her daydreams weren’t completely baseless, and there was still magic to this moment after all.