After wrestling with the sock, they were both laughing so hard they had to stop to catch their breath.
The comic relief had helped to bring him out of the craze. When he looked down at Roni’s naked form, he was ready to enjoy every inch of her with a clear mind.
Roni scooted back on the bed, a sexy little smile still lingering on her face, and laid her head on a pillow. Her golden hair fanned out around her, and the look in her eyes had him crawling up to her.
Where last time was fast and feverish, this time he planned to take his time and savor their time together. What she said about him being only the second guy she’d ever been with, made him want to show her how much pleasure he could bring her.
He took his time on her throat, loving the sounds she made as he licked and sucked the sensitive area below her ear. His mouth traveled down to savor each breast. Her back arched and he knew she was as turned on and ready to burst as he was. He continued his descent, taking a moment to kiss her flat stomach lightly, the quivering of her muscles causing his body to grow harder.
Roni’s legs opened and fell to the side as his tongue traveled lower. He felt her heat and her pulse as he kissed his way to the place he most wanted to be. Her hips thrust up and she moaned loudly as his tongue found her. He nuzzled her slowly, taking his time, using his mouth to make her come. She started to whimper and her body jerked slightly, letting him know she was almost there. He concentrated on the pressure of his tongue and brought his lips together to suck softly. His hands moved under her firm behind and lifted her even closer to him.
Her release almost caused his own. His senses were alive with the taste, smell, and feel of her. He was surrounded.
He grabbed the condom off of the floor and rose above her. He put the protection on deftly and looked into her eyes as he slid inside of her, inch by inch.
He wasn’t in a hurry. He moved slowly in and out, kissing her face gently, before pulling back and locking his hands with hers. He watched her, feeling more connected to Roni than he’d ever felt to anyone. Watching her eyes as he moved within her was the most erotic thing he’d ever felt. He held off his own release until he saw the pleasure building on her face. When he did, he let go of her hands and brought her legs up over his shoulders. He saw her eyes dilate at the deeper sensation and began to thrust harder, running the tip of his cock against her g-spot.
“Yes,” Roni said softly, biting her lips and closing her eyes as she tried to focus on what she was feeling. “Right there.”
He loved that she wasn’t afraid to be vocal. It turned him on that much more, and the look on her face nearly did him in. He kept thrusting until she started to gasp and he felt her tighten around him. Her legs dropped off of his shoulders as he came. He kept his hands on her hips until he was spent.
Her legs relaxed on the bed and he laid himself gently on top of her, careful to keep most of his weight on his arms.
It took a few minutes to catch his breath. When he did, he rolled to the side and curled her in to him. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back slowly.
When they were both breathing normally he asked, “So, you ready to watch that movie now?”
Roni laughed and looked up at him. “Sure.” She kissed him softly, then pulled back. “Rich?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we just keep this simple?” She asked. “I mean, keep it between us for now?”
At this point, Rich thought, she could have asked him to dance around the room in a cat suit and he would have agreed. He chuckled slightly and responded, “Sure.”
Chapter Fourteen
Roni felt a little awkward spending Christmas Eve and Christmas at her brother’s house. She didn’t want to impose on Kent and Nicole’s first holiday together, but she didn’t want to be alone either.
Briana and Colin were spending the holiday with their families, Rich was with his, and Pete had taken Kara home to meet his parents in Vegas. She certainly wasn’t going to go back to Detroit to spend Christmas with her parents, so when Kent had told her to come stay with him, she’d agreed.
“Are you sure I won’t be an imposition?” Roni had asked him.
“Roni,” Kent had replied, holding her face in his hands. “You’re my family. You could never be an imposition. It should never be a question; we will be spending all of our holidays together.”
He’d pulled her into a hug and Roni closed her eyes and let the peace that Kent always offered her, overcome her.
When she’d walked into Kent’s kitchen, where Nicole was making Christmas Eve dinner, she’d wanted to make sure her friend was okay with her being there too. She didn’t want to cause any trouble between the couple.
Hey, Nic,” Roni said, giving the other girl a hug. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Roni,” Nicole responded with a big grin.
“I hope it’s okay that I’m here.”
Nicole had stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips. “Of course it’s okay. Kent is your brother. I know how close you are, I envy you both for that. You will always be welcome here, not matter what the occasion. You’re my family too, Roni. We are the only family we have, and I hope we spend all of our important moments together.”
Roni felt her eyes tear up at Nicole’s words. She pulled her into another big hug, then pulled back and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Do you need any help?”
They made dinner and enjoyed a quiet night together. They’d exchanged gifts between the three of them and Roni had gone to bed to give them some time together.
Now they were in the kitchen again, this time prepping for their Christmas get together with their friends.
Roni was wearing the new emerald green blouse that Nicole had given her for Christmas.
They were putting out appetizers when the first knock sounded on the door. Kent opened it and said, “Merry Christmas,” to Briana and Colin as they walked in. Briana handed him a bottle of wine and Colin asked where to put the presents.
They were all hugging and saying hello when Rich snuck in behind them.
“Merry Christmas,” Rich bellowed, announcing his arrival. “Let’s get this party started!”
He gave Kent a half hug, then asked where he should put the two bottles of champagne he’d brought. When he passed Roni on the way to the fridge, he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “Merry Christmas. I’ve been waiting to see you all day.”
Roni didn’t respond, but she felt the shiver spread from her ear down to her toes. She just smiled and took his coat, along with the others, and put them on Kent’s bed. When she turned to go back out, Rich was standing in the doorway, a dangerous look on his face.
She started to speak, but only managed a squeak before his lips were upon her.
When he pulled back she was breathless, “What was that for?”
“You smelled so good, I wanted a taste,” Rich said with a wicked grin, before turning and walking back out the bedroom door.
Roni gave herself a moment to regain her composure. She pulled out her chapstick and ran it over her lips, before returning to the party.
She went into the kitchen to help Nicole pour the champagne and pass it out. When she had her glass, she took a big sip and breathed in deeply, closing her eyes as she thought, “Rich is harder to resist than I thought he would be.” She bit back a giggle before joining the group in the living room.
They were settled in listening to Briana and Colin talk about their Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas day with hers, when a cheerful knock sounded on the door. Roni wasn’t sure what tune they were trying to play, but it brought a smile to her lips. The smile bloomed fully as Kara came bounding in, dragging Pete behind her.
“We got married!” Kara yelled.
Everyone got to their feet, scrambling to get to Kara and Pete and shouting their congratulations. Pete’s face turned as red as his hair, but the look on his face was pure bliss.
“Oh. My. God.” Briana yelled. She held
Kara’s hands in hers and they jumped up and down. Shouting and laughing.
Rich slapped Pete on the back and congratulated him, while Kent handed him a glass of champagne.
“Tell us everything,” Nicole said over the shouts, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears. Roni smiled as her future sister searched out her brother and held him tight as they listened to Kara’s excited explanation.
“So, we went and spent time with Pete’s family and everyone was super sweet and nice to me,” Kara held Pete’s hand in hers as she spoke. “Pete’s parents are unreal, like something off of TV. Anyway, we were having a great time and we decided to hit up some casinos. When we were driving down Las Vegas Boulevard and I saw all of the chapels it just hit me, so I proposed to Pete.”
Pete’s face was on fire, but he continued to smile and nodded, “She did. I’ve been wanting to ask her, but she was so against even starting a relationship, that I was afraid I’d scare her if I asked.”
Kara reached up to give Pete a kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“So,” Kara continued. “He was shocked for a minute, but then he said yes. We did all of the paperwork and stuff yesterday and got married this morning.”
“What did you wear? Were Pete’s parents there? Why didn’t you call me right away?” Briana shot out the questions one after the other, causing everyone to laugh.
“I’m sorry, Bree,” Kara said, hugging her friend. “I wanted to call you right away, but then we decided it would be more fun to tell everyone in person. Yes, Pete’s entire family came, which I thought was pretty sweet, since we gave them one day’s notice and got married on Christmas morning. And I wore my yellow dress with white lilies in my hair and in my hand. We have pictures, wanna see?”
Everyone went back to the living room and passed around the pictures of Kara and Pete’s impromptu wedding.
Roni looked around at her friends, they were all so happy and in love with each other. She felt a tug in her stomach as she caught Rich’s eye and he winked at her. She gave him a small smile, then focused on the pictures that were being passed her way. Kara and Pete were glowing in them. Roni laughed at Pete’s expression in one, he was looking at Kara like he’d just won a million bucks. It was so sweet.
Nicole announced that dinner was ready. Everyone got up to make their plates and sat around the table. They feasted on ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, cranberries, and sweet rolls.
Roni ate so much that she considered opening the top button of her pants. Rich was finishing up his second plate and Roni just had to say, “How can you keep eating, Rich?”
“I gotta maintain this sexy physique,” Rich answered back with a grin as he pushed his stomach out to make it look like he had a big belly instead of the hard as steel abs he possessed.
Roni rolled her eyes and shot back, “It’ll take more than a good meal to make you sexy.”
“Jeez, would you two just do it already?” Colin asked with a grin.
Roni blushed as Kent yelled, “Hey, watch it Colin.”
Roni avoided looking at Rich, but she felt his eyes on her. She got up and started to clear the table. The girls all helped while the guys went into the living room to catch up on the football game.
“Why do the guys always get out of cleaning up?” Roni asked. She was not a fan of doing the dishes.
“Kent usually helps, but I figured since it’s a holiday and football is a Christmas tradition, I won’t give him a hard time about sitting this one out.” Nicole said.
Once they had everything cleaned and put away, they went out to join the guys and Briana said, “Present time!”
Nicole went to the tree and started bringing presents over, passing them out, she said, “Let’s wait until everyone has their present before we start. Do we want to open them one at a time or all at once?”
“One at a time,” Briana said eagerly. “I want to see everyone open theirs.”
Roni hated everyone watching her as she opened presents. She always worried that she’d get something she didn’t like, then she’d have to try and pretend she did. That was how just about every Christmas had gone while she was growing up. Her parents always got her the most random gifts: a toaster oven, a pack of knee high socks, a candy bar… One year she’d opened a six pack of beer. She was eight. It turned out it was for her dad, but still.
Colin began to open his first. She’d had his name and had asked Briana for some suggestions on what to get him. There limit was twenty dollars, but she’d been able to find a place to engrave his name and team logo on a name plate for his desk.
“This is great, Roni,” Colin said with a smile. “I’ll put it on my desk as soon as I get back.”
He stood up and she met him for a hug. “Merry Christmas.”
They went around the room opening their gifts. Briana got an apron that said Kiss the Cook, Kent got a couple new ties, Kara got the new Florence and The Machine C.D. with temporary tattoos, Pete got a deluxe wine opener set, Rich got a new Dallas Cowboy’s hat, and Nicole got a new bracelet. Kent picked Nicole’s name and admitted he went over the twenty dollar limit.
Roni was the last person to open her gift; she looked down and turned the box in her hand. It was from Rich. She looked up at him, but he didn’t smile or wink at her, he just watched her with a serious expression on his face.
She swallowed, trying to remove the nervous lump from her throat, then carefully opening the present. It was a plain brown box. She struggled to get the tape off, so Kent grabbed some scissors and handed them to her. She felt all eyes on her and wondered if the agony would every end.
She finally got the box opened. She pulled out tissue paper only to find that whatever was inside was wrapped in bubble wrap and taped up.
She took the scissors again and began to cut at the tape. When she got all of the tape cut and unraveled the bubble wrap, her breath caught in her throat and she carefully lifted each piece up. There were three figurines, each in a different stage of dance. She looked at each one reverently, holding it up and turning it, so she could memorize the beauty of each piece.
Roni looked up at Rich, and cradling the figurines to her chest, walked up to him, put her hand behind his head, and drew his lips to hers. She kissed him deeply, allowing her tongue a moment to sweep through his mouth. She pulled back and rested her forehead against his.
“Thank you.”
It took her a moment before the comments from their friends began to register.
“Whoa,” Pete exclaimed.
“I guess they already did,” this came from Colin.
“What the heck?” Kent’s voice said softly.
“Shhh,” Nicole replied.
Roni pulled away and smiled sheepishly at her friends, avoiding her brother’s eyes, then she turned back to Rich.
“So much for simple,” Rich whispered with a smile.
Chapter Fifteen
Since there were only a few days until the opening of the Rec Center and Briana and Colin were returning to Austin the day after that, everyone decided that they wanted to go out dancing.
Well, the girls decided… The guys just went along with it.
Rich slapped some cologne on, made sure there weren’t any holes in his jeans or t-shirt, and figured he was ready. He turned off the lights as he walked through the Rec Center, locking up before turning to get in the car with Kent and Nicole.
As they pulled out and headed towards Roni’s, Kent asked the question Rich had been dreading since Christmas.
“What’s up with you and my sister?”
Rich met his friends’ eyes in the rear view mirror. “We’re just hanging out, nothing too serious, just like Roni wants.”
“What do you want?” Kent asked softly.
“I like her, man. I have since you introduced her to us,” Rich admitted.
“You like a lot of girls,” Kent said, not giving Rich an inch.
“I know,” Rich said. “I’m not going to lie to you an
d say that I haven’t touched another girl since I met your sister, but there’s been no one else since I moved home. And there won’t be, not while I’m with Roni. I really like her.”
“Be careful with her,” Kent replied. “She hasn’t had a lot of good guys in her life. I hope you’ll change that.”
Rich smiled and said, “Thanks, man, I will.”
When Roni got into the car, everyone was silent. She scooted in next to Rich and looked around.
“Were you guys just talking about me?”
“Why would we want to do that?” Rich asked playfully.
Roni leaned forward, hit her brother on the shoulder, and glared at him in the rearview mirror.
“Kent, my sex life is none of your business.”
Kent turned to glower at Rich, who turned to look out the window.
Roni was going to get him killed.
When Kent stopped glaring at the side of his head and pulled out of the parking lot, Rich turned to Roni.
She looked stunning in a black skirt with a charcoal grey sweater. Rich leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Aren’t you going to get hot, dancing in that sweater?”
She grinned at him and responded, “I have a tank top underneath, so if it gets hot, I’ll take the sweater off. And, I can put my hair up.”
His body got hot as he thought of her taking off her sweater. Suddenly, his jacket was stifling, and he had to take it off. Roni chuckled and snuggled in to his side.
“This is going to take some getting used to,” Kent mumbled from the front. Nicole punched him lightly in the arm and said, “Get a grip, Kent.”
“So, is everyone else meeting us there?” Rich asked, trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, Bree, Colin, Kara and Pete are riding together. Bree texted me a while ago, saying they are on their way. They’ll probably beat us by a few minutes,” Nicole said.
Rich sat back and enjoyed the feel of Roni’s hand in his as he and Kent discussed the latest Cowboy’s game. Roni intertwined her fingers in his, her thumb stroking him softly. He shifted uncomfortable in his seat, causing her to giggle, and Kent to look at them suspiciously in the mirror.
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