Red, White & Hers

by Ember Flint

  God, I still can’t believe the way I acted.

  I look down at my feet, encased in my butter yellow lucky pair of ballerina-flats and then I check the time on the screen of my phone and shake my head.

  I’ve been hovering in the hall in front of the large conference room for nearly five minutes now, unable to decide if I should hold my ground and wait here for him to come out of his meeting or simply bolt at the speed of the Road Runner and never look back.

  Shit, I really need to get a grip and be mature about this: I can’t run away and pretend it didn’t happen.

  First of all, I don’t really want to, no matter how anxious I’m feeling right now, I need to talk with Truman, see if what we shared means to him what he means to me: I can’t possibly spend the rest of my days wondering about this. I need to know if this is going somewhere.

  The other reason is that Truman is still a big boss around here and so if there’s a chance —no matter how painful— that he only meant to comfort me and I took things too far, then I need to clear the air, apologize and everything.

  Also, tonight there’s a mandatory picnic and I could not stand to be in his presence for hours with this hanging over our heads.

  Like Ava would say: it’s time to put my big girl panties on.

  I hear the sounds of screeching chairs and lots of voices intermingling and overlapping: the meeting must be breaking up.

  I push myself against the wall, near the double-doors and, taking a huge breath, I just wait for the invisible anvil to drop on me.

  Mr. Cox senior is the first to get out, followed closely by his sons and his nephews.

  When I see Truman in all his gigantic perfectly-tailored hotness, my heart jams into my throat, beating at a mad, irregular tempo.

  I can immediately tell the second he sees me because his whole, muscular body tenses over and he stops walking, his jaw hardening and his lips pressing into a thin line.

  Oh, this so doesn’t bode well!

  As choppy puffs of air leave my chest I try to remember what he told me of mindful breathing and then I nearly laugh at the irony of attempting to use something he taught me in the first place to get myself under control so that I can talk to him.

  I push from the wall and walk up to him.

  I take a large intake of oxygen and let it go back out slowly as I force my voice to obey me. “H-hi, Truman,” I mumble, attempting a smile.

  He doesn’t smile back. Like not at all, and simply glares down at me, giving me a single hard nod.

  I take a step back and I see his cousins are staring at us with astonished expressions on their faces while his brother looks very worried instead.

  I frown. Perhaps there’s another reason for this tension? Maybe something else happened?

  Okay, who are you trying to fool here?!

  I straighten my shoulders and try again, ignoring the burning of my cheeks. “Could you–? Could I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Sure,” he answers, but his voice is emotionless and flat, nothing like the low, comforting, chocolaty baritone of last night.

  He looks like he’s not even breathing right now. That, and pissed: extremely pissed.

  He extends one arm in front of me, in a silent gesture to precede him and I awkwardly walk ahead, looking back at him every few seconds since I have no idea of where we are going.

  “Here’s fine,” he blurts tersely, stopping us in front of a small break room.

  We both step in and he gives me his back.

  “Truman? I… I…”

  “Yes?” he asks, his voice tight and impatient as he brusquely turns to look at me with an intensity I don’t understand, but since he’s still looking as angry as ever, I’m thinking it can’t be good.

  I gulp and look away, feeling completely and utterly stupid. “Never mind… I… I’d better go.”

  I can’t manage to say more, unless I want to explode in a storm of tears in front of a man who clearly doesn’t want me anywhere near him, despite the mixed signals I’ve been getting from him.

  He says my name, his voice suddenly so sorrowful it pierces my soul, but I just rush out of the room and straight down the hall.

  I reach the rows of elevators and come to a halt.

  Fuck me if I’m ever stepping foot in one of those contraptions again!

  I turn towards an exit door that will lead me to the stairs and then I’m gone, taking two steps at a time as tears flood my face.

  A couple of floors down I stop, throw a door open and just step in.

  I have no idea where I am exactly, but I don’t care right now. I need a moment.

  “Ivy? My God, what happened to you, girl?”

  I look sharply up and right into the concerned, bespectacled stare of my friend Ava.

  “I messed up, that’s all,” I tell her in between sobs.

  She frowns. “Is this about Truman?”

  I nod, sniffling.

  “What happened?”

  I try to get myself under control long enough to give her the basics.

  “Oh, hon! But he’s the one who kissed you! Why are you crying?”

  I shake my head, my lips trembling as I force myself to speak. “You don’t understand. God, I feel so horrible, Ava: he only meant to help me get over my panic, you know… shock me into calmness or something… and… and what do I do? I freaking maul the poor guy,” I wail.

  My friend scoffs. “You mauled him? Dude, he’s like a fucking brick wall: he towers over you and has about fifty-five pounds of muscles on you. Are you telling me he couldn’t push you off if he wanted?”

  I sniffle, drying my tears with the back of my hand. “That’s not the point…”

  She rolls her eyes. “And what’s the point then?”

  “It’s clear he doesn’t want to be with me, Ava… I don’t know how to get past this, I love him too much! I don’t know what—”

  I feel long warm fingers grasp my arm in a gentle but firm hold and gasp as I recognize Truman’s manly cologne surrounding me.

  I look up, craning my neck, until I’m staring into the dark unfathomable eyes I love so dearly.

  “Truman?” I ask in a small, shaky voice that I can barely hear over the deafening thumping of my own heart in my ears.

  He says nothing and simply drags me out of there and once more up the stairs.

  “Hot damn!” Ava’s awed voice is the last thing I hear, before Truman is throwing me over his shoulder.

  Chapter 5

  TRUMAN

  I push a set of double-doors open, still holding Ivy securely over my shoulder, one hand splayed over her bountiful round ass. I don’t know on which floor we are exactly, but we’re certainly nowhere near the execs’ level and I’m not trusting fucking elevators that much right now. Shit.

  Technically today we’re not operating at full capacity, so there’s not many people around and that’s good, because we’re getting our good share of stunned looks as it is; plus, her dress is kind of riding up and I don’t want to have to stop to break the nose of some poor bastard for having tried to take a peek at what’s mine.

  Because she is: mine. Now and forever and there’s no going back anymore.

  One thing was to keep away from her to protect her from the shadows of my past and entirely another is to stay away now that I know she also has feelings for me. I could bear anything for her, I would have suffered in silence forever to keep her safe, but I can’t live with the thought she’s also aching for me.

  I see a janitor’s closet further down the hall and I run a little faster.

  I throw the door open and step inside, gently lowering Ivy to the floor.

  I lock the door and she gulps, giving me a totally confused look.

  There are still tears trapped in her large, green eyes and I want to punch myself for putting them there in the first place.

  “Truman?”

  I cup her face, tilting it upward and push my fore
hand down on hers, trying to convince my breath and heart to cooperate so I can tell her what’s going on with me before she really starts to think I’m some kind of psycho.

  I swallow hard, feeling like I have a lump of sand in my throat as my chest rises and falls fast. “I’m so sorry, baby. I love you too, please don’t cry anymore.”

  At my words she cries harder, but I can see she’s also smiling so I feel a little better.

  “What? You do? Really?”

  I nod. “I do, Ivy. I’m sorry I hurt you, I never meant to hurt you, far from it…I meant to keep away so you’ll be safe and only managed to hurt you more because I was utterly blind…”

  She frowns and I can’t blame her: I’m not sure I’m making any sense.

  She lowers her eyes. “I just don’t understand. Why did you push me away like that?”

  I stroke her cheek softly.

  God, she’s so pretty… she’s breaking my heart.

  “I’ve been in love with you since the moment I first saw you. You didn’t see me back then… I was standing in my brother’s office and you were talking with him just outside. I just knew when I saw you that you were it for me…”

  She gasps my name, more tears sliding down her cheeks. “I knew it from the start too, Truman… that I would love you always.”

  I hug her to my chest, kissing her fragrant hair. “I never imagined you were in love with me, never thought I could deserve it…”

  She pushes off of my chest and gives me a pointed look. “Of course you deserve it! Why would you think that you don’t, Truman? You’re a good man and every good person in the world deserves to be loved.”

  I look away. Her innocence fills me with hope and light and I feel more honored to have her heart than I could ever say, but it’s still not true that I deserve this.

  “I’ve done things, Ivy: bad things…”

  She shakes her head firmly. “I can’t believe that. I won’t. I can believe you did necessary things, yes… to make the world a better place, to save lives. Isn’t why you did whatever was that you were doing while you served our country?”

  I feel tears blur my vision. “I still can’t feel good about any of that, Ivy… no matter what.”

  She smiles up at me, her thumbs brushing my tears off my cheeks as I stroke hers away too.

  “That’s because you’re a good man and that’s exactly why you deserve all the love I can give you…”

  I hug her to me. “I love you, baby.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck, pushing back into my chest. “I love you too, so much, Truman… I could never tell you how much, but I hope I can make you see it all someday.”

  I grin down at her. “I do see it… now I do, baby…”

  I seal her lips to mine, immediately hunting down her tongue and she melts into the kiss, moaning softly.

  I crouch over her, wrapping her more securely in my arms, never breaking our kiss, and I lift her, spreading her legs around my waist until her sun-colored dress —that by the way, I’m not gonna rip in two because it’s just too pretty on her, making her look like a summer wet dream personified, but nevertheless she’s no longer allowed to wear in public after today— bunches around her curvy hips as she cradles my suddenly rock-hard cock to her center.

  Damn, she’s so tiny and delicate in my arms, she practically disappears in my hold and at the same time, her body is tender and soft, full of sexy curves and dips that make me think she could take on a big man like me just fine and cushion every thrust I give her, no matter how hard it is.

  I turn and walk her backward to the wall, both hands spread over her peachy, juicy ass to keep her in place, until her back hits the wall and she whimpers in my mouth, making my dick jolt painfully in my slacks.

  One of my hands goes around her body to grip firmly one of her wide hips and I deepen the kiss even more as my other hand slides between us to reach one of her large, full tits.

  I give her a tight squeeze, making her hiss and gasp and, keeping her pinned to the wall with my lower body as she wriggles on my hard cock, I slide the thin straps of both her summer dress and her bra down, pulling the fabric over her midriff, until I have a clear view of her huge, tempting breasts, barely contained in a light yellow, lacy bra and of the creamy skin of the curve of her little belly. I want to sink my teeth into her loveliness and the thought makes me growl low in my throat as I tighten my hold on her, driving my stiff dick even harder against her panty-covered hot little cunt.

  Ivy feels fucking delicious under my fingers and the taste of her lips is sending my brain into overdrive. I need fucking more.

  I need everything, even if I know that not even that much is going to be enough when it comes down to her: I’m always gonna be hungry for her.

  I leave her lips momentarily behind to suck and bite down the sweet, warm slope of her neck and shoulder.

  I reach around her with one hand and don’t stop until my fingers are at the clasp of her bra. She turns her head to the side, giving me more access to her delightful neck as a glowing blush spreads over her chest.

  I unclasp the bra and let it fall at our feet and my eyes narrow on the single, most beautiful pair of breasts ever seen on a woman, my mouth watering at the urge to suckle her supple, delicate-looking rosy nipples.

  “Damn, your tits are a work of art, baby, I’m so going to fuck them later,” I mutter, my voice so roughened I don’t recognize it as the words leave my parched lips. “Would you let me?” I ask, staring right into her eyes.

  She goes wild at my dirty words, climbing higher on my cock, her trembling fingers grasping my arms. “Yes, Truman…”

  I smile up at her, sliding my nose between her large breasts and taking in the sweet, fresh essence of her skin with every breath.

  “Please…” she begs softly and I don’t need to ask her what she wants, because is exactly what I want right now.

  I cover one of her pointy tips with my lips and suck her in, twirling my tongue around her puckered skin and she cries out, her thighs riding higher on my hips and clutching me harder to her center.

  Having her in my arms and in my mouth is so fucking exquisite, I can feel pre-cum already dotting the crown of my dick.

  I kiss back and forth between her full mounds, palming and stroking them in my hands as I suck on her heavenly nipples and she starts to moan and rock against me even harder, torturing my aching cock.

  I don’t think I’ve ever been this hard in my life. I thought I had reached my limit last night, but I’m even more aroused right now.

  I lower one hand between us and undo the zipper of my pants before I injure something and that’s when I take a good look at her little lacy yellow panties and I nearly expire when I see how the fabric is molded tight over her puffy lips and how fucking soaked her desire for me is getting them.

  If I don’t know the taste, the smell, the feel of her cunt in the next sixty seconds I’m fucking going to die.

  I look up at her to make sure she’s still with me as I caress her through her panties and the feel of her hot wetness on my fingers makes my cock swell even bigger and harder.

  I gently slide her down my body until her feet are touching the ground and then my head is pressed between her thick, soft thighs, one leg thrown over my shoulder as I rub my face over her panty-clad pussy, making her moan and gasp.

  For a moment I just breathe her in. I want to commit to memory the fucking mouthwatering, uniquely hers, sweet, musky scent that’s filling my nostrils as my cock jerks and throbs painfully in my boxers with absolutely no more space to grow.

  Shit, I haven’t even tasted her yet and I’m already a fucking addict.

  I pull her sopping panties all the way down her legs and my eyes can finally feast on a sight I’ve been dreaming about for eight months.

  There’s a short, soft-looking strip of copper baby curls over her rounded mound and it leads down to pink, glistening softness almost completely bare and
shining with her desire.

  “Dammit, baby… you’re so fucking pretty down here,” I say, looking up at her and I smirk when I hear her gasp and see her blush has gone scarlet now.

  I gently part her precious lips and tickle her little clit with my thumb, making Ivy mewl in pleasure and I feel her shaky hands coming away from where they were holding my head to slide down my cheeks and to my beard. Her blunt nails grasp it desperately and the sensation makes me so damn hot for her, I can barely breathe now.

  I simply dive into her sticky warm sweetness unable to wait any longer and I slide my tongue and nose between her succulent folds, nearly mad in my want for her.

  I move my tongue in fast, little side-to-side licks over her clit and she moans but then starts to giggle.

  I stop licking her, but don’t move a single inch away from her cunt, so when I ask her why she’s laughing it’s from between her sodden lips.

  She smiles down at me, shrugging. “Your beard tickles a little…”

  “I’ll shave it off tomorrow,” I blurt out, going back to tasting her, but her hands, now splayed on my cheeks, tilt my face away from her hot center and she doesn’t stop until I’m looking up into her passion-filled bright eyes; their color an even deeper shade of green now.

  “Don’t you dare! I love your beard… freaking love it,” she moans and I feel her little needy clit grinding against my chin.

  “Freaking love this, I love you… love you so much, love,” she mumbles incoherently and I chuckle, once more sucking at her lovely pussy.

  I love her so fucking much it hurts in the best possible way now.

  I clutch both her thighs in my hands harder, pushing her more firmly into my mouth as I eat her out, giving her long, lazy licks from clit to slit and she goes to pieces.

  I slurp on her, licking and sucking fast now, never getting enough of the candy nectar sliding in my mouth and wetting my beard and I feel her legs start to tremble around my head as her climax rolls closer, making her body go crazy as she tenses all over and arches against me.