Pushing the Limits (26 page)

“At least you’d go out in style,” she offers with a devilish smile on her lips.

“I hope you know how to be quiet. I’m about to make your body scream.” I cover my mouth with hers, pushing her back until her ass hits the wall. I know she has nothing underneath that thin coat of hers by how her hard nipples press against the material, and I’m about to make her pay for it.

I kneel down in between her legs before she can stop me and tear open her coat, exposing every smooth surface of her body. My hands wrap around her thighs, spreading them wider for me. I can smell her arousal instantly, making it nearly impossible to wait any longer.

“What are you doing?” she hisses, struggling to close her legs. “Isn’t your niece sleeping?”

“Exactly.” I look up and grin. “So you better stay quiet.” She rests one hand on the wall and tangles the other in my hair.

I can’t hold back a groan when I get that first taste of her sweet pussy. She’s completely drenched for me. As my tongue slips inside her and runs along her slit, a sultry moan slips past her lips. I nip her inner thigh, and her breath catches.

“Ah, ah, ah. I told you, you’ve got to be quiet,” I remind her.

Her eyes are slightly glazed as she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. I can’t help but be amused at this little game. Aspen’s no shrinking violet in the bedroom, so I imagine this will be quite the challenge for my little vixen. With a devilish smirk on my lips, I plunge my tongue fully inside her. She’s quick to rock her hips against me as she tries to take back the control.

I look up the expanse of her body, and then into her sea-blue eyes as my heart leaps into my chest, admiring just how fucking perfect she looks. I love that she’s watching me pleasure her. My cock pulses at the thought of being inside her tightly squeezed by her slick walls.

I slide a hand up her stomach and wrap my fingers around her bare breast as my tongue continues its delicious assault. I can tell she’s fighting the urge to scream by how hard she’s biting her lip, so I decide to squeeze her breast harder and tease her nipple between two fingers as I flick my tongue faster and deeper inside her.

“That’s not fair,” she pants, her fingers pulling my hair harder. “At least take me to the bedroom where I can fuck your brains out.” Her bluntness nearly makes me choke, but I don’t give into her pleas.

“Nice try, sweetheart,” I say, lifting her leg and placing it over my shoulder, granting better access. She’s taken off guard and ends up off balanced on one of those fuck-me heels I’m very appreciative of and ends up smacking her head against the wall. Her eyes widen in panic and glances down the hallway. I can’t stop tasting her, so after a moment passes and things remain quiet, she tilts those full lips into a sultry grin.

Mm…fuck, yes.

I suck her clit in between my teeth and flick my tongue over the tight bundle of nerves. She releases an agonizing groan, the strangled sound making my cock throb harder against my zipper. I scrape my teeth against her in response, and she moans deep from within her throat, her leg tightening around my neck.

I love how she abandons all her insecurities in these moments. She knows what she wants and chases it down—and right now, she wants my mouth—which I’m happy to oblige.

Skimming my hand lightly up her leg from ankle to thigh, I slip my fingers up to her pussy, teasing her when I shallowly insert a finger.

“Yes.” She releases a soft and eager moan. “
Yesyesyes… more
,” her voice rough and desperate.

I ignore her sweet begging and lightly circle her clit with the tip of my tongue and slowly slip my finger inside with shallow thrusts. She puffs out a breath in frustration and tries to lower her leg off my shoulder, but I quickly grab it. I tightly wrap my free arm around her thigh, dig my nails into her flesh, and hold her open to me. I’m not letting go of her that easily—not until I’ve fully fucked her delicious hot pussy.

After harshly putting her right back where I want her, I decide to put her out of her misery. I suck her clit back into my mouth and push two fingers deep inside her. I rotate my wrist, pushing harder and deeper, her walls tightening around me with each thrust. I glance up her body again, her chest heaving and cheeks flushed with pleasure.

I curl my fingers deep inside her as I lick and suck her faster. I feel her body tensing, her inner walls tightening around my fingers and tongue. God, I want to taste her orgasm. She’s close, I can feel it.

“Let me taste it, Aspen,” I demand and lick up her slit. I tease her clit with my tongue, my fingers working her faster until her head falls back against the wall and her body nearly cripples to the floor. “Let go, baby. C’mon, I know you need it,” I encourage, rotating my wrist faster.

“Fuck…
Ohmigod
,” she pants out in a whisper.

“That’s it. Let me taste it, sweetheart.”

She shakes her head, not allowing herself to let go. She’s biting her lip and clenching her eyes shut. I know she wants to scream.

I release her leg and set her heel back down on the floor as I stand up. My fingers continue working her, thrusting in and out, as my thumb rubs along her clit.

My free hand cups her jaw and rubs a soothing finger against her cheek. “Let it go,” I demand again. I cover my lips over hers and fuck her pussy with my hand until she cries into my mouth. Her body tightens, her pussy hugging me as her juices soak my fingers.

“So fucking good, baby,” I whisper over her lips. “I know you have another.”

She’s quick to shake her head. “I can’t,” she chokes out.

My fingers start working her wet pussy again. I know she’s ready to explode, I can hear it. “Fuck my fingers, Aspen.” I go deeper, feeling her walls tense. “Fuck my fingers hard.”

She wraps a hand around my neck and pulls my lips back over her as she kisses me, lightly biting my lip as she releases another explosive orgasm.

She shivers with goose bumps, her body slouching against the wall, completely sated.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” I kiss her gently with a smile on my lips.

“So those fingers aren’t only meant for painting,” she teases.

“They have many talents.” I place a soft kiss on her lips again, letting her taste her arousal. “I’d love to show you what else they’re capable of doing.”

“I think I can arrange that.” Lifting her into my arms, she quickly wraps her legs around me.

“I want you inside me,” her words low in my ear as I walk us to my bedroom. “Now.”

Tangling my fingers in her hair, I pull her head back so she’s looking straight at me. “Patience, beautiful.” 

Once we’re in the bedroom and I’ve locked the door, I set her down on the bed and push the coat off her shoulders, tossing it aside. She watches with eager eyes as I strip my own clothes off, adding it to the pile on the floor.

I grab a condom from the dresser and roll it over my length. She leans back on the bed as I slowly crawl up her body, laying soft kisses on her smooth skin. When I reach her breasts, I pull her nipple into my mouth and suck as if my life depends on it. I know she likes it rough, and I plan to be just that.

As I massage her breast with my hand, I run my teeth along her nipple, softly biting it as I suck it into my mouth, releasing it and pulling it back in between my lips, harder this time. She groans, digging her nails into the skin of my arms, which only feeds my arousal more.

Those eager hips of hers rock wildly against me as I feel her heat pressed against my cock.

“I need you, Morgan,” her voice quiet, yet demanding. “Now.”

Looking up from her breast, I smirk at her sultry tone. “You really don’t know the definition of patience, do you?” I quip.

Her lips part as I grip her legs and spread them wide for me. I press the tip of my cock against her opening and watch as her eyelids flutter closed, anticipating my jarring thrusts.

I lean over her as I slowly push inside, feeling the tightness of her pussy enveloping me. Her hips arch up as her head buries deeper into the mattress.

She releases a deep, loud moan without warning, and I quickly cover my mouth over hers, taking in all of her sweet sounds.

After rolling her on top of me, bending her over the bed, and fucking her recklessly, I curl around her body, tangling my legs with hers and hold her close. Aspen quickly falls into a deep, sated sleep. I lay there for a few more moments as I run my fingers over her skin and contemplate how we’ll make this work. I’m determined to find a way without either of us having to sacrifice our positions at the college.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

ASPEN

It’s officially spring break and the first time in years that I’ve happily spent an entire morning in bed. It’s only been a week since Morgan and I first got together, but it feels like much longer. We’ve been building a relationship for seven weeks before now, so I feel like I know so much about him already, yet there’s so much I have yet to find out.

Waking up in Morgan’s arms every morning has been complete bliss—almost unreal. He looks at me as if I’m the only woman in the entire world, reminds me how beautiful I am, and how much he loves my paintings. Guilt soars through me as I think about the secret I have yet to confess. He’s told me about his ex-girlfriend and the reason he left five years ago. The betrayal ran deep, and I worry about how he will react when he finds out about the Ariel Rose Collection paintings. He’s talked a little more about his brother and how close they were growing up. He’s given so much of himself, but I still struggle with opening up.

My mother’s called me at least a dozen times in the last couple weeks. I’ve ignored them all, knowing exactly what she wants. I don’t owe my parents anything, and I’m not going home just to amuse her. Being around them is toxic, and it’s the last thing I need in my life right now.

Morgan dropped Natalia off at school early this morning and crawled back into bed with me. It felt so easy, so natural to just snuggle right back into his arms. The warmth of his skin and tenderness of his grip lulls me right back to sleep.

“Time to wake up, sleepyhead.” I feel his hand shaking my shoulder, but I groan and roll over. “Aspen,” he says with an amused laugh. “I made breakfast.”

“Just stick a feeding tube in me and nourish me that way,” I mumble. “Your bed is too comfortable.”

He rolls me back toward him until I’m on top of him. “You need to eat.”

“Stop being so bossy,” I complain. “You can’t be all
professorly
in bed.” I crack a teasing smile.

“Professorly? Lord.” He laughs and leans up, pulling me up with him. He wraps his arms under my body and lifts me up. “I’ll force feed you if I have to.”

“I’d like to see you try.” He flashes me a sly smirk, and I know I’m in trouble.

He carries me into the kitchen and sets me down on the counter. “Here, drink this.”

He hands me a glass with something that looks like the Hulk threw up and nods his head at me to drink it.

“What is it?” I frown.

“It’s a protein smoothie. Try it.”

“It looks disgusting.” I smell it and wrinkle my nose. “Smells disgusting, too.”

He glares at me. “It has peanut butter and blueberries in it.”

“And?” I prompt, knowing there’s something worse.

“Spinach.”

I extend my arm and hand it back to him. “Yup, no thanks. I’ll stick with normal food.”

He grabs it and laughs. “You aren’t even going to try it?”

“Just because you like to eat fruity spinach goo doesn’t mean I can’t eat eggs and a pound of greasy bacon.”

He raises his brows. “You aren’t going to be young forever,” he chides with a wink. “Having healthy eating habits will help you maintain a healthy diet as you grow older.”

“Professor by day, Nutritionist by night!” I pump my fist in the air and laugh.

He shakes his head at me. “You’re on your own then, pretty lady. I haven’t bought bacon in years.”

“But pizza you’re okay with?”

“Only on cheat days.”

I jump off the counter and stand in front of him. “So like…every day?”

He wraps an arm around me and playfully slaps my ass. I yelp in surprise and try to wiggle out of his grip. “Don’t tempt me to put you over my knee, woman.”

I roll my eyes and try to keep from laughing at his antics. “Now if you added bacon to that smoothie, we’d have a deal.”

“Not a chance.”

“You’re no fun.” I glare and he frees me from his arm. I walk to his fridge and start digging around. “You seriously have no food in here.” I push around the pizza boxes and leftover containers. “What do you guys eat?”

“Natalia says I’m a bad cook.”

“Guess we’re stopping at the grocery store sometime today.” I shut the door and start digging through his mostly empty cupboards. “I’ll hop in the shower and we can go.” I turn around to him leaning against the counter, holding a cup of coffee, and smirking like something’s funny. “What? Did that sound really girlfriend-ish? It did. Crap. Can we pretend that never happened? I didn’t—”

“Aspen,” he interrupts in a low, amused voice. “I want you to sound girlfriend-ish.”

“You do?”

He sets his cup down and steps toward me. “Yes. I’ve been thinking about you for weeks. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t want you around literally all the time. I was worried you’d think I was being too clingy or something.”

I crack a smile as warmth fills my heart at how sincere he’s being. “We’re really bad at this, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, too bad this kind of stuff doesn’t come with a manual, huh?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure there are, but none that apply to ‘How to Secretly Date your Professor’ genre.”

“Well, I don’t see why we can’t start one.” He rubs the scruff over his jawline, deep in thought. “Step one: Fall for a student who is beyond brilliant, sexy, and sassy. Step two: Be around her as much as possible without people getting suspicious. Step three: Don’t get caught.”

I burst out in laughter at his lame list and shake my head. “Bestseller right there, baby!”

“Oh, for sure.” His lips tilt up in a confident grin. “Then I could quit my job, and we wouldn’t have to keep it secret any longer.”

I suck in my lower lip and arch a brow. “But then what fun would that be?” I tease. “If everyone’s just going to know about it that defeats the whole purpose.”

He slaps a hand on his chest. “Wait, so you’re only with me for the thrill?” He pretends to sound offended.

“Well, obviously. You thought it was your good looks and charm or something?”

He grabs my hips and starts tickling me. I bend over, laughing, trying to get out of his grip, but he’s too strong. “Stop it!” I laugh.

“Take it back!”

“Never!”

He grabs my legs and throws me over his shoulder. “What are you doing?” I squeal, patting his ass with both hands.

“Grocery shopping will have to wait,” he says matter-of-factly. “Looks like you need to be taught a lesson first.” He slaps my ass with the palm of his hand, and I know exactly what kind of lesson he’s talking about.

I’ve only been to my apartment this week to change clothes and wait for Natalia to go to bed before sneaking back over. As much as it feels weird to have slept over here every night, it also feels natural.

Morgan’s still sleeping, so I try to sneak out before his niece wakes up. I want to bring some of my art supplies over as well. I get antsy if I don’t paint after a day or two.

I tiptoe to the kitchen and pull open the fridge. I grab a bottle of water and yogurt to eat before I leave, but as soon as I shut the door, his niece is standing directly next to it.

“Uh…hi,” I stumble. I look like a hot mess of sex hair with last night’s makeup still on.
Great first impression.
“You must be Natalia.” I extend a hand, but her eyes stay focused on mine. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I know who you are.”

My brows furrow as my arm falls back to my side. “You do?”

“I also know you’ve been sneaking in every night for the past week. I may be eleven years old, but I’m not stupid.”

I swallow, unsure of what to say. “Oh, well, I don’t think Morgan was ready to tell you just yet.”

Her arms are crossed as she shakes her head in the most dramatic way an eleven-year-old can. “He doesn’t get girls at all. Just a heads up.”

I press my lips together tightly, trying to hold in the laughter at how serious she sounds. Her spunkiness is adorable. Based on what Morgan’s told me, we have a lot in common. She’s built up walls to block her feelings and to keep herself at a distance. It’s heartbreaking for someone so young to hold in so much grief, especially the loss of a parent—both parents at that.

“Oh, well, thank you for the tip.” I wink. “Maybe I can make dinner for all of us tonight. What do you think?”

She shrugs. “Sure. As long as you’re a better cook than Uncle Morgan. He’s had to change the smoke alarm batteries twice since I’ve moved in.” I crack a smile at the visual of Morgan burning food in the kitchen so much that the batteries have died.

“What’s your favorite food?” I ask, hoping to soften her up.

“Hm…I don’t know. I’ve been living on cold pizza and Grandma’s leftovers, so…anything.” She finally smiles.

“I know.” I smile in return. “I’ll make famous Chicago-style hot dogs.”

Her brow arches. “Hot dogs?”

“Not just any hot dogs,” I defend. “All-beef hot dog on a poppy seed bun topped with mustard, relish, chopped onion, tomato slices, pickle spear, sport peppers, and celery salt. It’s delicious. It’s the custom Chicago dog.” I feel nostalgic just thinking about home and how, as a family, we’d always get them from the hot dog stands on the corner.

Her eyes widen, and I fear I’ve scared her off. But then she blinks and smiles. “Sure, sounds great.”

That night, I bring over all the ingredients and make her and Morgan a traditional Chicago-style hot dog meal complete with cheese fries. They both love it and devour it all, leaving no leftovers.

It feels like sharing a meal with the three of us has sealed the deal. The acts of an
actual
relationship.

“Please tell me we can keep her?” Natalia looks over at Morgan with wide doe-eyes. I laugh, embarrassed, but filled with a sense of pride.

“As long as you supply the groceries, I’m happy to cook,” I speak up before Morgan can respond. “Except spinach.” Morgan shoots me a knowing glare. “Sorry, honey.” He winks.

MORGAN

Everything in my life feels like it’s coming together for the first time in years. Natalia and Aspen have really hit it off, and I can’t imagine spending each night with anyone else. I lay in bed wide-awake as Aspen sleeps cradled in my arms. She looks absolutely flawless. Her golden hair is wrapped up in a messy bun. She’s in a tank top and shorts, so simple, yet so breathtaking. The confidence just radiates off her whether she realizes it or not. She’s a beautiful person inside and out, and sometimes I wonder why she’d be interested in a guy like me.

Ryan is always on my mind but tonight more than usual. I can hardly remember the days where we weren’t at each other’s throats, but growing up together was always an adventure. He was always into athletics, but I didn’t get into lifting weights until college. We were so opposite, it’s not a surprise we would always butt heads, but as we grew older, we grew closer.

I still feel an ache in my chest at how I left things with him. I know I can’t do anything about it now, but I can devote my life to raising Natalia the best I can. I see him in her so much. His bright eyes. His laugh and smile.

I kiss the top of Aspen’s head and carefully sneak out of bed without waking her up. I walk to my office where his boxes are stored. I start unstacking them, ripping them open. I stop once I reach the picture albums. I sit against the wall as I hold them in my hand, staring at the cover that’s labeled
1980
to 1990
on it.

Slowly, I open it and see his baby pictures right away. He was my parents’ firstborn, which means he has an abundance of baby pictures. By the time I was born, he was five years old. I stare at one of our first pictures together. He’s holding me on our old couch. He held me in his lap as he smiled for the camera.

A soft smile forms on my lips as I continue flipping through. So many pictures of us growing up, playing and wrestling around in the grass. We took a family vacation every year and even some of those are in here. The one time we drove up to the Grand Canyon and I lost my first tooth along the way. When we first went to Disneyland and took pictures with Mickey and Goofy while we wore those ridiculous Mickey ears on our heads.

I flip another few pages and come across the ones of our first days of school. Mom took a picture of us in front of the same tree every year from my kindergarten year up until his senior year of high school. He’d always wrap his arm around me and stand tall, making sure he looked bigger than I did.

I lift my head as I hear the door creak open. Aspen’s silhouette peers through, and I hate that she’s going to see me this way.

“Are you all right?” She drops to her knees and touches my face. “What are you doing in here?”

I look down at the photo album and then back up to her. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“What are these?” she asks, rubbing a finger over the album.

“Family photos. They were Ryan’s.”

“Can I see?” she asks sweetly, and I can tell she’s trying to be sensitive about it.

“Of course.” I pat my hand on the floor and she shifts next to me. She loops her arm through my arm and rests her head on my shoulder as I close the album and start over from the beginning.