The Waiting Game

by Sierra Hill

  She lets out a squeal of delight when I flip her over onto her stomach and slap her ass.

  “Don’t you worry, baby. There’s more where that came from.”

  11

  Ellie

  The past week since Deacon and I hooked up has been nothing short of extraordinary and right out of one of my dreams.

  By day, he’s the consummate professional, treating me as a boss would treat his employee – except for the furtive glances he slips me from across the store at times. Or how every now and again I’ll feel his featherlight touch on my backside as he walks behind me, brushing my ass as he does. Lighting me up like a spark from a match.

  And by night. Well, let’s just say those moments are what I look forward to all day long.

  By the time we close the shop — which by the way, he’s arranged the schedule so we work the same shift — there is so much pent-up sexual desire between us, we can’t keep our hands off each other.

  Like tonight, for example.

  We’d been waiting for the return of the last kayak rental, which was supposed to be returned before dusk. Deacon went down to the beach to help carry the rentals back to the shop for the customer, while I stayed at the counter to get them checked out.

  “How was your day?” I ask, smiling at the customer, a father with his two daughters who look to be around eight or nine years old.

  One of the girls, her pigtails a wet mess, jumps up and down in excited glee.

  “We saw a whale and it was huge! And now daddy said we can get ice cream.”

  I feign astonishment, an inquisitive brow raised and my mouth gaping in shock.

  “You’re kidding? Wow, that’s sounds pretty amazing. You must be having a great day.”

  The father looks down over his two girls and places a hand on top of the smaller one’s head; a sweet, loving gesture that melts my heart.

  He returns his gaze to me and gives me a wink. “Ice cream was used as the tool to get them out in the water in the first place. Someone was a little reticent about going.” He tips his head down at the older daughter.

  Laughing, I shrug my shoulders and swipe his credit card. “You do what you have to do.”

  I finish up the transaction and wave goodbye to the threesome, lost in thought as they walk out of the shop.

  Suddenly, there’s a pair of strong hands at my hips and a warm male body pressing into me from behind. Deacon’s mouth is at my ear, his voice low and deep.

  “You know what I’ve been thinking about all day?”

  A soft gurgle tumbles out of my throat and I lean against him. “Mmm. No, what?”

  His hand slips around my waist and his fingers dig into the waistband of my shorts. I suck in a breathy gasp, leaving him room to burrow down, his fingertips dipping into my panties as his mouth finds that sensitive spot on my neck. I’m flooded with wetness just knowing he’s been thinking of dirty things all day.

  “Instead of telling you, I think I’ll just demonstrate.”

  Deacon twirls me around and begins backing me up into the storage room behind us, his mouth covering mine in a demanding kiss. With a swift kick of his foot, he slams the door shut and his hands burrow under my Powell’s T-shirt to cup my breasts.

  “Raise your arms.”

  His command is impossibly sexy, and I do as he says. With one quick jerk, he tugs the shirt over my head and arms and throws it on the ground. I’m about to drop my hands to my side but he growls.

  “No, keep them there.” He raises one of his hands and binds my wrists together, pinning me against him.

  This.

  I never knew this about Deacon before. His propensity to turn into a sexually dominating man, when I knew him as the boy-next-door. The way he takes control and unleashes himself on me so possessively has my head spinning from his kinky demands. My panties flood with excitement over what’s to come next.

  I wiggle against the bulge that strains against his pants. Deacon’s thick thigh wedges between my legs and I part them on his silent demand.

  I let out a harsh, raspy breath when he grips the edge of my bra and whips it down to expose my breasts, tweaking my nipple hard with his finger and thumb.

  And then his lips cover my nipple and the wet flat of his tongue curls around the tight bud. I’m writhing against him like a girl on a mission. I need him inside me as soon as feasibly possible, but I don’t want to stop all this perfect torment he’s doling out.

  Already forgetting his directive, my hands drop to his head, fingers weaving in his thick, soft mane of hair, guiding him along my breasts. He grumbles a low protest but looks past my indiscretion, leaving my hands to continue their wandering.

  Suddenly he drops to his knees and he makes quick work of my shorts, pulling them down in a swift tug, leaving my panties in place, much to my disgruntled dismay.

  He tips his eyes back up to me as if looking for my consent, his dark pupils made even darker by the heat within them. A raspy grunt departs my parted lips and he dips his nose into my cotton-lined crotch, inhaling deeply and groaning wildly.

  I don’t have time to cry out when he peels back the panel, uncovering my bare pussy and covers my center with his hot, wet mouth.

  “Oh God,” we both moan in sync, my legs already trembling from the onslaught of delicious sensation.

  My hands search wildly for something to grab onto and once again find his head, grasping tightly at the ends.

  “I could stay buried here forever.”

  My cries are echoed across the room, the metal shelf ledge behind me digging into my back, but only intensifying the pleasure of his mouth. My only thought is of the orgasm that’s ready to barrel through me like an ocean wave against the shore.

  Deacon’s tongue licks me into a mindless frenzy, flicking up my slit through my wet folds. Who knew he’d be this eager and talented at getting a woman off? Deacon never showed any inclination that he was a great lover. But now that I know, it’ll make it ever more difficult when I move on and let go.

  But all those thoughts scatter and the world stops spinning on its axis when Deacon’s thumb finds my throbbing clit, strumming it a circular pattern that brings me to the peak of hysteria.

  I tighten my hold on his hair and every cell and muscle in my body tenses in an earth-shattering, mind-blowing climax.

  There’s a moment’s pause as we both catch our breaths and Deacon stands, wiping the moisture from his beard with a smug grin, and then twists me around to face the shelves.

  I hear him unzip and pull out his cock from his pants, peaking under my arm behind me to see him unwrap a condom and roll it on with precision.

  “Hold on, baby. This is going to be hard and fast.”

  And then he positions my legs apart and thrusts inside me as my eyes close and my mind goes blank.

  His warm breath fans across my back as he peppers me with kisses, his hands digging into the flesh of my backside and pummeling me with every thrust and push.

  So deep.

  Impossibly hard.

  Fucking incredible.

  “You’ve turned me into a savage beast, Elle. I can’t stop myself.”

  “Don’t stop,” I urge, because I don’t want him to stop this for anything.

  And Deacon fucks me as hard and fast as he promises.

  And I love it.

  12

  Deacon

  I haven’t been this amped up and ready to blow since I was a teenager. My bottle rocket is about to blast off and shoot me to the moon.

  Ellie’s taste still lingers on my tongue, her salty sweet essence a mixture of lust and honey, that has me craving more.

  I’m taking her so hard that the shelf shakes and rattles as I pump inside her. I should probably taper it back a little, control my uncontrollable desire. But I can’t stop. Not for anything. There is nothing I could do right now to stop from finishing what we’ve started.

  Never in a million years would I have believed I’d be getting down and dirty with Ellie like thi
s. I’ve always had a proclivity toward my baser side, but to be able to unleash that on Elle, who seems to enjoy it just as much as I do, shoots ripples of anticipation through my bloodstream. My balls are already tightening and ready to shoot their load inside her.

  I fold one arm around her middle to hold her in place and keep her from slamming into the metal shelves as I ram into her from behind. The other hand grips her hip, my fingertips making indentations into her soft, pliable flesh.

  We’re both breathing heavily, harsh pants of air as beads of sweat dot my spine. She emboldens me. Makes me crazy with lust as I continue my maddening thrusts in and out of her tight pussy.

  “Give me your mouth,” I say, cupping her chin in my palm and turning her head so that our lips can touch. My tongue darts out and flicks at her bottom lip before I bite it between my teeth.

  “Ahhh…”

  She whimpers and quakes in my arms, as I grab a fistful of hair and bellow out my release.

  “Fuck…so good.”

  I don’t want to let her go, the need to keep myself buried deep inside her so acutely present that I actually experience a piercing sensation in my heart. A premonition of a loss that is to come.

  Wrapping both arms around her stomach, I hold on tight, hugging the shit out of for no other reason that just to feel her body relax into me.

  Her voice is soft but penetrating. “Is it just me or was that really intense?”

  Peppering her cheek and neck with kisses, I agree with a kiss to her shoulder as I reluctantly pull out of my happy place. “Mmm-hmm. Everything with you is intense.”

  Discarding the condom in the trash bin in the corner, our breathing slowly resumes to normal as we work to regroup and redress. I’m trying to process what’s happening between us over the last week, and how it’s changed our decade-long friendship, and what it means for us in the future. The last thing I want to have happen is for Ellie to think this is just a friends-with-benefits summer fling. This is nothing like what I had with Bethany last summer.

  Fully dressed, I watch Ellie pull up her shorts and tuck her shirt tails into the waistband. When she catches me staring, she wrinkles her nose.

  “What? Is something wrong?” She looks down at the front of her body, checking for any wardrobe malfunctions.

  Taking two steps toward her, I cup her jaw and tilt her head, so our eyes meet and I stare intently into her green orbs.

  “Ellie. I love you.”

  My confession is met with silence and wide-eyed disbelief.

  “Deacon…” She begins, but I cut her off.

  “It’s always been you, Elle. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love you. This past month since you’ve been back, being with you like this only reinforces my feelings. You don’t have to say anything in return. I just want you to know that I’ve always loved you.”

  I slam my mouth to hers and kiss the ever-loving-shit out of her. This kiss is meant to prove the truth in my words; the only thing I have to prove my sincerity.

  When I pull back, Ellie’s lips are swollen, her eyes glazed over. I smile smugly at this fact.

  She places a dainty hand over my chest, over the space of my heart.

  “Deacon, I love you too. But I’m confused and don’t know if I love you the way I always have, or if what we have now is something entirely different. I’m just afraid to…”

  She turns away, but I won’t have it, taking her chin between my finger and thumb and drawing her face back to mine so I can look into the beautiful eyes of the girl I love.

  “Don’t ever be afraid of what you feel. If you don’t feel the same way I do, that’s fine. I can be patient and wait. Look how long I’ve waited already?”

  I give her a playful smile, hoping she’ll accept the light-heartedness and won’t back away from what I’ve laid out before her.

  “Deacon, it’s just that my stay here is only temporary. Once I got back on my feet, you know my plan is to go back to Portland to find a new job. Or whatever job is available. We talked about this.”

  She’s right. We did talk about it. But that was weeks ago, and I thought she’d really enjoyed working for me and spending time with me again. We picked up right where we left off, and things just developed from there. Secretly, I’d hoped it was enough.

  That I was enough to keep her here.

  “I know. I’d just hoped you’d changed your mind.”

  She lifts a shoulder and leans in to press a kiss to my cheek.

  Great. If this isn’t the entry back into the friend zone, I don’t know what is.

  “Let’s just play things by ear for now. I have tons of applications out there and we’ll see where things go come August.”

  Damn my big mouth.

  Why did I tell her I loved her when things were going so well? I’ve ruined this thing between us and now I may have ruined our friendship.

  Fuck my damn stupid mouth.

  13

  Ellie

  The light misty rain clouds the sky as I stare out my window from my spot on my twin bed. Today is my day off, and Deacon’s too, but I told him I had things to do and needed to stay home. He wasn’t thrilled about it but gave me space. Now I’m lying here trying to make sense of what’s happening between us.

  Honestly, it scares the living day lights out of me.

  He doesn’t scare me, nor does the fact that he admitted to loving me. That’s not really the issue.

  What’s at stake is our friendship and my freedom to live my life elsewhere, when Deacon is firmly planted here.

  He’s always been my closest male friend and I’ve relied on him for so much. When we were in high school and on the swim team together, he was my biggest supporter aside from my own parents. And all throughout college he was just a phone call or text away. He even helped me buy my first car on my own and moved me in and out of my college dorms and first apartment.

  It’s hard to reconcile the Deacon as my best friend to Deacon as my lover. The love I have for him runs so deep that I can’t even recall a time when I didn’t love him. But do I love him the way he loves me?

  My love for Deacon is like one of those swirly pictures in an adult coloring book. You can’t decipher where the design begins or ends, but when it’s done, the picture in all its brilliant hues has morphed into a colorful work of art. Something so vibrant that you can’t look away from its beauty.

  I was honest with him from the get-go when I accepted his job offer at Powell’s. I continued my job search and sending out resumes to potential employers in Portland, Olympia and even up in Seattle. I’d never planned on staying here long-term. And I certainly won’t remain living in my parents’ home much longer.

  In fact, I’ve been sitting on a potential job offer from another start-up tech company in Seattle for the past few days which I haven’t mentioned to Deacon. It’s had me tied up in knots thinking about moving up there and leaving Deacon when we just began exploring this thing.

  Turning on my belly, I grab my laptop and open up the email from the recruiter.

  It’s not the job I’d really wanted, but it would be enough to get me a fresh start and hopefully a foot in the door. I type out my response but before I hit send, there’s a knock on my door.

  “Honey? Are you decent? Can I come in?”

  I always laugh at my mom’s approach to entering my room. She happened to walk in one time during my junior year in high school to find me making out with Tony Lueger and ever since has been a bit more cautious to give me notice.

  “I’m good,” I reply, turning my head to the side to see her walk in wearing her tattered bathrobe, a coffee cup in hand. “Morning, mom. Thanks.”

  She hands me the steaming mug as I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, taking my first sip of the deliciously hot liquid. This is definitely an upside to living at home in your twenties. Mom still makes the best coffee and breakfasts.

  My mom, still beautiful and lively in her mid-fifties, sits down next to me and pats my ba
re knee.

  “How’s it going, sweetie? Everything okay?”

  I let out a half-hearted sigh. “It’s been really good. I love working with Deacon. He’s been great. But I just got a job offer.”

  My mom scoots to face me, her face lighting up with happiness. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  I feel guilty because I haven’t told my mom about the turn of events with me and Deacon. It’s still so new, I didn’t want her to get her hopes up, which she absolutely would do. She’s loved Deacon for as long as she’s known him and thinks he hung the moon and stars. I don’t exactly disagree with her there.

  “I’m confused, mom.”

  This is so hard to admit, since I don’t even know what’s going on with my feelings. I know I’m at a crossroads and whatever decision I make could be the wrong turn.

  She tips her head to the side and gives me that “I’m here for you” look, her mouth flattening in a motherly smile.

  “What is it, honey?”

  Okay, here goes.

  “Deacon and I…well, we kind of, um, have a thing going on.”

  Vague much?

  My mom’s mouth turns to an inquisitive pout. “A thing?”

  I roll my eyes, and the words tumble out of my mouth in a gush of air. “We slept together. And he said he loved me. And now I’m torn because I think I love him, too, but maybe not in the same way and this job offer is in Seattle. Gah. Why is life’s timing always so difficult?”

  I peek at my mom through my lashes in a side-eye glance to see if she’s shocked. She isn’t. She sits there with a big smile on her face.

  Not helpful.

  “You know what they say…timing is everything.”

  Shaking my head in frustration, I groan. “What the heck is that supposed to mean?”

  She pats my hand sweetly, another motherly gesture to comfort her distraught daughter. “What I mean is look at what lead you back home? In my opinion, everything happens for a reason. The timing between you and Deacon was never right before. Maybe this is the universe’s way of saying that now’s the time for you both. You’ve both grown up so much and your friendship is strong and meaningful. Naturally, love will blossom out of that.”