Imperfect

by Ari Reavis

  “Yeah sure. I can come check it out. I hope yours is in better condition than your sister’s.”

  Liam shakes his head. “Much worse. It looked better when I brought it, but that was before people started tearing down walls, and sinks and showers started leaking.”

  “That’s usually the case. All the real ugliness stays hidden until you get inside.”

  “And you?” Liam asks. “Is Mariah gonna find a shitload of ugliness once she digs a little deeper?”

  I glare at my brother across the table. Seriously?

  “I’ve told her all about my ugliness, and she’s still here, so I think we’re good.”

  Liam nods. “And I don’t really need to threaten you right? You know there’s no dark corner I wouldn’t find you in should you hurt my sister. She’s already had one man in her life who hurt her. I’ll never let there be another.”

  “And I would never be that guy,” Damir is quick to respond.

  Liam extends his hand again. “Then you’re alright by me. Keep it that way.”

  Damir shakes his hand with a nod. And with that, Liam stands up, as if he’s wrapped up a business meeting.

  “Call me later, little sister,” he tells me. “I’m sure Damir can get the check.”

  “Asshole,” I murmur.

  He grins at me before he tussles my hair like I’m five again and walks away.

  “I like him.” Damir grins.

  “He likes you too. You would have known otherwise. But enough of that. You have some serious ass to kiss for thinking I was on a date with someone else.”

  He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. “In my defense, you guys look nothing alike.”

  He’s not wrong. My brother’s mother is different from mine, and white; I’m sure it looked very much like I was sitting here, having a date with a white guy.

  “True,” I acknowledge. “But still, I told you I wasn’t seeing anyone else.”

  “I feel it’s always better to ask then assume, so I asked.”

  “And assumed all at once.” I arch a brow.

  “I’m sorry. I really am.”

  “Lucky for you, jealousy looks sexy on you.”

  He grins. “Oh really?”

  “Yeah, that kind of jealousy. Nobody likes the crazy kind though.”

  “Noted.” He laughs. “You ready to get out of here?”

  I nod, and he pays the check when the waitress brings it over. Since my brother was my ride and he ditched me, Damir drives me home.

  “I think you should come inside and make up for your foolishness,” I say when we reach my door.

  “Gladly.” He smirks.

  We go inside, and he pushes me back. I don’t even mind the pain when my back collides with the wall because all I can think of is the feeling of his lips meeting mine. A groan leaves him, and his hands begin trailing over my breasts, down my stomach, going lower and lower until they reach the bottom of my dress. He begins lifting it, his fingers sliding along my skin, making me shiver.

  “Just how much making up am I doing?” he asks.

  “Until I tell you to stop,” I answer.

  “But would you ever really tell me to stop?” He nips at my pulse point.

  “Never.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  I feel him smile against my neck before he drags me off the wall and over to the couch. My breath leaves me in a rush when he pushes me up against the arm of the couch, bending me over it. My panties are quickly pulled down my legs, and the air barely has time to hit my pussy before his mouth is there, licking, sucking, biting.

  If I didn’t have the couch for support, I’m sure I would’ve fallen over by now, my legs are shaking that bad. His hands grip my hips, keeping me right where he wants me as he devours me, licking from my clit to my opening again and again.

  “Please,” I beg. For what, I don’t know.

  He backs me up into his face and sucks my clit into his mouth. I gasp, and my orgasm slams through me. My nails dig into the couch’s fabric as I come apart. I grind back on him, needing more of him, and moan his name while my body floods with pleasure.

  His mouth suddenly leaves me, and I hear foil behind me seconds before he drives into me. I yelp, and my body tries to fly forward, but his hands are right there, gripping my hips hard and keeping me close to him. He doesn’t start slow or decrease his pace after a few strokes. No, he pounds into me like a man crazed with lust. His thrusts are so hard I know I’ll be aching between my thighs later and not a single part of me cares.

  “More,” I plead.

  “Fuck yeah,” he grunts.

  His hand moves from my hip to my shoulder. He holds me so tight to him, barely pulling out before slamming back into me. His balls slap against my clit repeatedly as he thrusts into me, groaning before he somehow speeds up. When he dips down a little and drives into me, I come, spasming around his dick, moaning his name.

  “God, I love when you say my name.”

  “Fuck me, Damir.”

  A noise leaves his throat, and he slides out of me, laying me on the couch. He’s quickly back inside me, pounding into me so fast I’m left breathless and dizzy until he throws his head back and gives one last brutal thrust before stopping. His body twitches as he slides out of me and takes the condom off, walking to the kitchen to throw it out. And I watch that magnificent ass move with each step.

  “What are you grinning about?” he asks when he comes back into the living room.

  “You have one gorgeous ass.”

  “We have that in common then.”

  He puts one arm under my head, the other under my legs and picks me up. As he carries me to my bedroom, he kisses my nose and cheeks, and finally my lips before we enter the room. I don’t let him go when he lays me down, dragging him into the bed with me. He gives me that beautiful laugh as he falls beside me.

  “Is it too early for me to be wanting you to stay with me for much more than a night?” I ask low.

  “Then it would have to be too early for me to want to stay.”

  “I’ve never been in love,” I whisper.

  “Me neither, but I can’t wait to see how it feels.”

  “With me?”

  “With you. Only with you.”

  I smile against his chest and close my eyes.

  Chapter 6

  “This movie theater is definitely an upgrade from the one in my old neighborhood,” Mariah says, looking around as we wait in line to buy our tickets.

  “I do aim to impress.”

  “Did you come here when you were younger?”

  “Yeah, it looked different back then though. It just got remodeled a few years ago when someone new bought it. When I was in high school, this was basically where you came to make out and maybe some other things while the movie played.”

  She arches a brow. “And just how many girls did you bring here?”

  “I was too busy getting into trouble to be bringing girls here.”

  “Mmhmm. Right.”

  We buy our tickets to a romance movie Mariah wants to see. I didn’t even recognize the title, but as soon as she suggested it, I agreed, simply because it would make her happy. That seems to be on my mind a lot these days. Ways to make Mariah happy, what I can say to make her smile and laugh, what I can do to have her moaning my name just the way I love again.

  The whole time we’re sitting in the dark, we hold hands, sneak glances at each other, smile when we catch the other looking. I never dated girls much in high school, too busy being up to no good. And the few girlfriends I did have, I never considered serious relationships. Sitting here now, I wonder if this is how it would have felt, that teen sick love where you’re high just off the idea of seeing the other person. Smiling at just the thought of being able to touch them again. Heart beating faster when you realize just how deep they’ve gotten under your skin.

  Towards the end of the movie, I look over at Mariah to find her crying after the man declares his love for the woman. I keep
peeking over as she alternates between wiping her tears and holding her hand to her chest. When she notices, she sniffles and slaps my arm.

  “Watch the movie,” she whispers.

  “I’d much rather watch you.”

  The movie ends and the lights turn back on as we stand up. My hand goes to her lower back to usher her past me so she can walk down the stairs first, and a shiver runs through her. Those damn shivers. Every time I feel her react to me like that, I want to drop to my knees right there, no matter where we are, just to seek out the wetness I know I’ll find between her thighs.

  “Where to?” she asks when we get into the car.

  “My mom’s favorite restaurant,” I tell her.

  “It’s so cute that you even know that.” She smiles.

  “How the hell could I not?” I chuckle. “My dad made sure we ate there at least once a week growing up.”

  “That’s even cuter. When I get married, I fully expect my husband to know every single little thing about me. My favorite flower, restaurant, movie, all that good stuff.”

  “Well I better start making a list now then,” I murmur before I think about it.

  I don’t even fully realize what I’ve said until I notice how Mariah’s stilled beside me. I’m not going to take it back though. I meant every word. I just wait to see her reaction. When I look over at her at a red light, there’s want in her eyes, and I’m sure the same emotion is staring back at her. I want much more than just sex filled nights from this woman. I want mornings with her, moments that only we’ll understand, inside jokes, memories that’ll last forever.

  “You let me know if you need any help with that list,” she finally says.

  I didn’t even know I was anxious over what she would say, but when I hear her words, my shoulders sag with relief.

  “Will do.”

  When we arrive at the restaurant, we get a table near the front. She’s looking over the menu when suddenly her eyes widen.

  “What?” I chuckle.

  “The desserts,” she utters, distracted. “They have a cookies and cream chocolate pie.”

  “That’s my mom’s favorite thing from here. We would literally come here sometimes after she’d already cooked dinner, just to get dessert. Although I use we loosely, since she would eat most of it.”

  “How did your parents meet?”

  “In college. At a college party actually. They got married a few months later. As my dad puts it, he was not risking my mom falling out of love with him so he snatched her up quick.”

  “I love it.” She laughs.

  “My mom got pregnant basically right after they got married. Although the assholes at her college tried to get her to drop out, she stayed and graduated with a baby on her hip.”

  “Good for her. I never understand people who act like a woman can’t be educated and have a family.”

  “Me either. If a woman making something of herself, having her own dreams, intimidates a man, then he’s not a man.”

  “Boy, you are a real keeper.” She grins.

  “So keep me.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  The truth in her eyes makes me smile as the waiter walks over with our drinks. He’s probably thinking we’re a bunch of weirdos since neither of us breaks eye contact with each other for a few seconds while he stands there. Finally he clears his throat, and we come out of the strange trance we were in, and I look over to him.

  “I’ll have the stewed chicken with mashed potatoes and collard greens.”

  “Gravy?” he asks.

  “A lot.”

  “And you ma’am?”

  “Let’s go with...the blackened salmon with beans and rice.”

  “Okay. I’ll have that out as soon as it’s done,” he says while he takes our menus.

  Our food is out in no time and just like I knew it would be, it’s delicious. And of course, we get Mariah a slice of that pie, and after she devours it in two seconds, we get another slice to go.

  “I can think of some places I’d like to put this cream,” she says low, looking over at me in the car.

  I speed up and make it home in record time. Once we get inside, I reach for Mariah, but she quickly steps back, a mischievous grin on her face. She walks to the kitchen instead, placing the box from the restaurant on the counter before she opens it.

  “I want your dick out.”

  I arch a brow at her command, but do as she says. It’s practically trying to drill its way out of my pants anyway. My pants and boxer briefs are taken off, and I start to walk towards her, but she wags her finger back and forth, shaking her head.

  “No. Stand against the wall,” she instructs me.

  “I like this side of you.” I grin.

  “You’ll learn to love it.”

  I watch her take the cream off the top of the pie, a mixture of whip cream and chocolate, with her fingers. She walks over to me with a wicked gleam in her eyes. Her lips come to mine as her hand wraps around my dick. I jerk at first from the coldness of the cream, but once her hand strokes up and down my dick, and it gets warmer, I relax into her hold.

  She smiles against my lips, and I groan when her thumb sweeps across my tip. Her mouth leaves mine, and she kisses her way down my body, my neck, lifting my shirt to let her lips meet the skin on my chest and stomach before she reaches my dick.

  I look down at her as she licks the first of the cream off the head of my dick. God, her lips look gorgeous covered in white cream, sliding down my dick. She pulls back, letting my dick slip out of her mouth, and her tongue licks all the cream off her lips before she looks up at me.

  “Tastes so much better on you,” she says.

  “Show me.”

  She does. She licks every last bit of cream off of me, then she takes me into her mouth until I hit the back of her throat. My hand goes to her hair, and I hold her head still and begin thrusting into her mouth. Despite how demanding she was just minutes ago, she doesn’t hesitate to let me take control. She looks up at me as I drive into her mouth again and again; her cheeks hollowed and eyes half-lidded with lust.

  When I feel my balls get tight, my other hand goes to her throat. I feel her swallowing against my hand, and her pulse going crazy as I speed up. Her tongue begins sweeping from side to side, and I can’t hold back another second. I come, groaning curses, my body jerking against the wall. She takes every last drop of me, still sucking while I slow down. Right as I start to take my hand away, I feel her swallow again, and I can’t help but smile down at her. Damn, she looks beautiful like this. On her knees, her lips wrapped around my dick, looking up at me like she never wants to stop.

  I slide out of her mouth and pull my pants up before sitting down on the floor across from her. When I open my arms, she immediately crawls into them, and I don’t waste any time kissing her until we both can’t breathe.

  “As soon as I can move my legs, I’m taking you in that room and licking you until you scream,” I promise.

  “Well in that case.” She backs away and stands up. “I’ll go there now and take these clothes off.”

  I watch her walk down the hallway, leaving a trail of clothes before she disappears. When I get up and begin my chase, all I can think is that I could definitely spend the rest of my life following after this woman.

  Chapter 7

  Even watching this man eat is sexy as hell. How, I don’t know. Maybe just knowing the wonders that mouth can work when it’s on my body.

  “You look like you’re thinking very dirty thoughts over there.” He smirks.

  “Way too dirty to talk about at a restaurant.” I grin.

  “Hey. I voted for staying in bed, if you remember.”

  “Well I wanted to see you in the light of day. Excuse me.” I chuckle.

  “So, I’m going to visit my parents next weekend. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me?”

  My hand stills in midair, pancake halfway to my mouth as I look up at him.

  “You okay?” He smiles.
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  “I don’t do well...with parents,” I say.

  “Sounds to me like your shitty ass parents didn’t do well with you. Not the other way around.”

  I shrug. “True, but still. I wouldn’t even know how to act meeting your parents.”

  “Act like yourself. I wouldn’t want you to act like anyone else. I want them to meet you and only you.”

  I speak my insecurity to life. “What if they don’t like me?”

  “What if they do?”

  “When are you leaving?”

  “Friday, after I get off of work and coming back Sunday night.”

  I nod. “Okay. I’ll allow you to drag me along.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Just kidding. I’m excited, but nervous as hell. I’ve never met anyone’s parents, and I don’t exactly have experience just sitting there and making conversation with parents, unless it’s me telling them how their kids are doing.”

  “Well don’t go snitching on me to my mom.” He laughs.

  “I make no promises.”

  “You’ll love their house. My dad had me build my mom’s dream house from the ground up, and I must say, it’s basically my masterpiece.”

  “That’s amazing and incredibly sweet. Why did they move so far away?”

  “It’s where my grandma lived and when she got sick, they moved there so they could help out. Around when she passed, my dad found a good priced plot of land, and they decided to stay. We built the house, and my mom has been trying to persuade me to move there ever since.”

  “You’ll cave eventually.” She chuckles.

  “That all depends on where life takes me,” he says, but the way he looks at me sounds more like it depends on where we go.

  “Then I guess we’ll see.” I grin.

  We’re in the car going towards my house when red and blue lights begin flashing through the back window. Damir’s eyes move to the rearview mirror and harden. He shakes his head while pulling over. His shoulders seem to instantly tighten with tension, drawing up towards his ears. Once he puts the car in park, Damir reaches into the glove compartment and grabs a few papers before getting his license from his wallet. It’s another minute before an officer finally approaches the window.