by Sara Cate
“Alice,” he says, drawing my name out and reaching for me, but I slap his hand away before he can touch me.
“I constantly feel like I’m playing to the rules of someone else’s game, and I’m sick of it.” With that, I stomp into the living room, but before I can get out the door, he snatches me by the arm, turning me until I’m face to face with him.
“Now, you listen here. The only rule I have here, Sugar, is that I don’t take girls to bed who can’t stand on two feet without stumbling. All I want to do is crawl between those beautiful legs of yours—fuck, that’s all I’ve wanted since I watched you climb out of that limo and you looked right at me, locked those beautiful eyes on me, not him. But not like this. Anything else you want from me, I’ll do it. You want me to sleep outside, I will. You want me to hold your beautiful body against me all night, and you don’t have to say another word.”
A chill runs up my spine as he squeezes me closer, and I get lost in those piercing blue eyes. Suddenly I remember that first night, climbing out of that limo, looking for anything to latch onto and feeling so vulnerable and alone, I saw him first. Not Eli. Sam’s beautiful eyes steadied me and so I lost myself in his gaze as I tried to force a connection with a man who I thought was right for me. All the while, Sam looked on, giving me comfort with his nearness, always watching me. I never realized until this moment that the only reason I felt so safe and comfortable was because of him.
“Oh, Sam…” I breathe.
His mouth crashes against mine, and I melt into his hands. His soft lips soothe the unrest in my mind. I stop thinking about Eli and the events of the day. For now, I’m safe in his arms, and it’s not about crawling into bed with him. I just want this. His steady presence to quiet my wild mind.
This time, when he carries me to bed, he doesn’t bother with the clothes. He puts me under the covers and takes his own shirt off befor crawling in next to me. It only takes him about fifteen minutes before he realizes those jeans are uncomfortable as hell to sleep in and shrugs them off, scooting close to me under the covers.
Once he pulls me into his warm embrace, I fall asleep in minutes.
Sam
Holding her sleeping body in my arms has my mind racing. How the fuck did this happen?
I wanted to tell Alice how I felt about her since that first day, but I never actually thought I’d get the chance. It just felt too impossible, but then fate just pushed her right into my arms. Of course, I played a small part in the whole production, it was for the best. Alice is happy and safe now that she’s no longer a part of that circus. And after tonight, neither am I.
First thing tomorrow, I’ll send in my resignation. I’ll take her wherever she wants to go. I have plenty of money put away, living a modest life up until now. I’ll show her a better happily ever after than Eli could even dream about.
Things are happening exactly as they should.
With that thought, I drift off with the sound of the battering rain on the window carrying me off to sleep.
When Alice stirs in the morning, she nuzzles her face into my neck, and I squeeze her closer. We both seem to open our eyes at the same time. The thunder and rain has subsided to just a steady everyday rain and every candle in the room is burned down to nothing. We’re lucky we didn't burn the place down, come to think of it.
As she pulls away, she looks up at me, and I’m afraid for a moment that she’ll remember everything I said last night, regret everything we did together and run for the door. Thankfully, she only squeezes me closer instead.
“Good morning,” she whispers into my neck.
“Morning.”
She keeps her body still, which is a blessing. I don’t need her shifting and feeling this monster morning wood that’s only one small shift away from jabbing her right in the belly.
“I’m sorry I drank so much last night,” she says, squinting against the sun.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Sugar.”
As she sits up, she notices that she’s still naked and pulls the sheet up to cover herself. Leaning back on my pillow, I smile at her. It’s like she thinks I'm still holding a camera and she has to be on her best behavior.
“What now?” she asks, and I honestly don’t know if she means with the storm or with us.
Just then, my phone buzzes on the nightstand, and I lean over to see a string of messages from Deb. Clicking it open I read them to myself because I know she doesn’t need to hear their flippant disregard for her well-being.
Roads are closed. I need you to keep an eye on her until tomorrow.
Please keep her safe. We don’t need a lawsuit.
Hotel management is still on the island and will deliver food to the room.
They also said you can have your own room. We don’t need a sexual harassment lawsuit either.
You’re getting one day of overtime. But the network is denying you per diem since you chose to stay.
I roll my eyes.
We’re fine. Don’t worry about us.
I decide to keep my I quit message on hold since I could really use that overtime if I'm going to be jobless in a day or two. I couldn’t give a shit about the extra per diem cash. The network is so cheap it’s disgusting.
“What is it?” she asks, trying not to peek on my messages.
“Roads are closed. We’re stuck another day. Someone on the island will bring you food though.”
“Oh,” she says, biting her lip hiding what looks like a sly smile on her face. I can practically see the thoughts racing through her head. “About last night…” she says, but before she can utter another word, I interrupt her.
“Meant every word.”
Her perfect little mouth forms an O as she stares at me, and I pray she’s not about to crush my world and turn me down on the spot.
Instead, she climbs out of the bed, still holding the sheets to her body to hide herself. “I think I’ll clean up real quickly.”
“Sounds good,” I answer, feeling my breath leave my chest as she runs to the bathroom, the sheet barely covering her bare ass as she runs.
As soon as the door closes, I dash to my own overnight bag that I keep just in case of emergencies. At the kitchen sink, I make quick work of brushing my teeth, splashing water on my face, and pulling on a pair of clean pants just as she steps out of the bathroom. She’s wearing a floor-length cotton dress. I noticed her wearing it a couple times around the house she shared with the other girls. It hugs her curves and accentuates her body in all the right ways.
“Listen, Sam…” she says as she steps toward me.
This time I don’t interrupt. If she wants to break my heart, I’m ready for it, but the way we left things last night makes me think she’s ready to pick things up where they left off. I know I am.
“Thank you,” she stammers. “For...you know...putting the brakes on last night. I think I drank a little too much.” She bites her lip, looking nervous like she’s got something else on her mind.
I don’t exactly have a response to that. Do I tell her “you're welcome, for not taking advantage of you while you were hammered.” Hardly seems worthy of a thank you in the first place.
Instead of saying anything, I step up to her, meeting her body with mine. Just behind her is the bathroom door, and I take one step more to frame her against the wall. Watching her face for any hesitancy, all I see is excitement lurking behind her eyes.
“You’re not drunk anymore,” I say, ducking my head down toward her.
She immediately closes the distance, taking my lips with hers. She tastes sweet like mint and champagne. Her body sticks to mine like glue as I run my hands along the length of her side, down to her leg, where I draw up her dress, ready to feel those soft legs in my hands again.
Our kiss grows more frantic as I move my lips to her neck, then down to her chest. Moving her dress aside, I let the strap on her shoulder fall away as I find the perky pink bud of her breast with my tongue. Her moan hums against my body.
I
need this woman right now, and I’m fighting with the urge to take my time. Part of me knows I’ve been waiting for this for weeks, while the other knows that she was just in that bed with Eli two nights ago. And I hate that that thought is what’s crossing my mind at the moment.
Right now, I couldn’t care less about the fucking bed. Pulling her dress up to expose her bare legs, I bury my face in her thighs, leaving her heaving against the wall.
Even if she did have him in that bed, right now I’m about to make her forget all about it.
Sinking my tongue and lips straight into her sweet folds, she writhes and pants my name. She digs her fingers into my hair, pulling me closer as my hands keep up the slow drive from her knees up to her hips and around her perfect, supple cheeks.
Her moans turn into desperate gasps for breath as my tongue zeroes in on her clit, and I can’t wait another moment. In a swift movement, I pick her up, latching her legs around my waist and carry her to the bed.
Her lips are ravenous, nipping at my neck and chin. Setting her down, I lift her dress and slide it off of her body to find her wearing nothing underneath. My stomach nearly bottoms out, taking in the beautiful sight before me. Her fingers are quick with the button and zipper of my jeans as she trails kisses along my hip bones.
Thank fuck for that storm.
Sliding her back, I let my pants drop to the floor, my cock springing free as I climb over her, reaching for one of the six red-packaged condoms the producers stock each room with the night of the final date. When I peel open the drawer, my breath stops as I stare at the selection.
My eyes count them again.
Six. They always stock six.
At first, my heart soars, but then I realize…
Did they not fuck on their last night when those doors closed or did they not use protection? Not exactly the conversation I want to be having at this very moment.
“Sam?” she whispers, folding her legs around my waist and wrapping her fingers around my shaft, making my eyes squeeze shut with how fucking good that feels.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, pressing her lips to my chest and making long, slow strokes with her soft hands.
Fuck it. I grab a red foil packet and rip it open. She watches, biting her lip as I slide it on. Looking down at her laying before me with her wild hair fanned out on the bed, and her legs open for me, and somehow I know this girl is it for me. I want to make Alice feel good for the rest of my life, and as I position myself near the delicate opening between her legs, her breathing picks and a nervous expression washes over her face.
“Are you okay, Sugar?”
Pressing herself up to meet my lips, she kisses me as she whispers, “I have to tell you something. This...is my first time.”
The air leaves my lungs as I collapse against her on the bed. Here I thought she was just with Eli last night, but my heart nearly leaps out of my chest with this news. Alice is all mine.
4
Alice
Feeling humiliated, I cover my face with my hands and fight back the tears. Eli laughed at me when I told him, and I don’t think I could handle that kind of reaction again. I tried to give myself to Eli the other night but he wasn’t interested in our first night being under those circumstances. Now I know he just didn’t want to pop my cherry the night before dumping me.
That or he wanted a girl with some experience, in which case, it’s good he picked Katrina.
Sam’s soft lips pepper kisses along the fingers hiding my face. “We don’t have to…” he mutters, and it makes my heart swell. Even I can’t believe how eager I am to give him this first, even more eager than I was with Eli. There’s a level of comfort and safety with Sam. I know he won’t hurt me or take advantage of me, and he’s already made me feel so good.
I want to give him all of my firsts, and if this rain doesn’t let up, I have a feeling he’ll get them before we leave this room.
Peeling my hands away, I look into his eyes. “I want to.”
“With me? You’re sure?”
Kissing his soft lips again, I wrap my ankles behind his back and pull his body closer, feeling his thick erection against my core. “I’m sure, Sam.”
With a groan that vibrates through my body, he eases into me, slowly. I’m ready to buck my hips against him, hoping he won’t always be so gentle when he slams himself in as far as he can go.
Letting out a desperate cry, I shift my body and find I can pull him in even deeper.
“Alice,” he growls as he starts moving, hitting buttons inside of me I didn’t even know I had “Hold onto me, Sugar.”
Doing as he says, I link my arms around his neck. His gentle movement turns into deep thrusts, and I feel a tightening in my belly. I’m desperate for the pleasure, but I also don’t want this to end. Even as he slams into me, his kisses and gentle fingers on my body don’t stop, and I’m drowning in the sensation of Sam on, around, and in my body.
For a moment, we are one, and my heart bursts with love for this man I had misjudged for so long.
Sitting upright, he loops an arm under my leg and continues his thrusts, finding new spots of pleasure that send me flying toward my climax. When his fingers find my clit, I am undone.
Coursing through his orgasm just after me, he falls on top of me again, holding my body impossibly close as he kisses me. I’ve never felt closer to anyone in my life.
“That was amazing,” I whisper against his lips.
“Yes, it was,” he pants, eating up my kisses.
I don’t want him to move, but after a few moments of lying together, waiting for our heartbeats to return to normal, he gets up to discard the condom. When he disappears into the bathroom, I find myself feeling so empty without him. Following him in he smiles at me through our reflections.
How can I feel so intensely for him already? This is nothing like Eli, and now I couldn’t be more grateful for how things ended. All I wanted was a fiance, but I never loved Eli—not like this.
As he gathers me up into his arms again, his piercing blue eyes gazing into mine, I know the feeling is mutual. He made that clear enough last night. “I was just about to shower. Care to join me?” he asks with a wink.
I answer him by leaning over and turning the water on. As we climb under the water together, I feel his eyes on me. I’m sure he has questions, and I prepare myself to answer them.
“Are you feeling okay?” He asks, concern written on his features.
“Yeah, I’m great.”
“I have to admit...I didn’t see that coming.” He rubs the back of his neck as I rinse my hair under the shower.
“I didn’t want anyone to know. They would have made it part of my “character” like it somehow changes something about me. I just...wasn’t ready. Until today…”
His cheeks dimple as he smiles, his hands caressing my hips. When we switch places, he winks at me.
Watching him lather up his hair reminds me of what he did to me last night and again this morning, and I get a wicked idea. As he leans back to rinse his hair, I trail kisses down his body. I feel him tense when I reach his hips.
“Alice…” he mumbles.
But I don’t stop. Running my tongue along the length of his shaft, I pull him into my mouth, and work my lips as low as they can go.
He has to brace himself on the wall, calling my name as I move. I may have been a Virgin before today but I’ve given a fair share of blowjobs, including Eli who never reciprocated now that I think about it, but I’m not sharing that with Sam.
I’m too excited about all of the things he and I can do in our hotel room alone today. Something about it had me feeling lighter than air. Like Sam doesn’t see the perfect girl they tried to make me up as every day. There is no pressure to be right for him. He just seems to like me as me.
And while I bring him to the edge, I can’t stop thinking about what he said last night. I may have been drunk but he definitely said he wanted me walking away with him at the end of this instead of Eli.
Suddenly, he pulls me to my feet and kisses me deep, grinding his body against me like he has the stamina of a teenager, we both hear the indistinguishable sound of the front door opening.
“It must be the hotel staff with the food,” Sam mumbles against my neck.
But we both freeze when we hear someone call my name. And it doesn’t take me long to figure out that the voice belongs to Eli.
“What the fuck?” he says quietly.
My heart hammers in my chest and for a moment, I start to feel like I’ve been caught. Then I remember Eli dumped me. I’m a single woman who is free to sleep with whoever I want. Sam might be in a little trouble for this, but judging by his attitude toward Deb, he doesn’t care much about that.
Quickly, I turn off the water and grab the towel from the rack. Once I’ve dried off, I look back at Sam who has a furrowed brow etched into hsi features like he’s putting walls up in case I decide to jump back into Eli’s arms. Before I open the door and answer the calls calling from the other side, I step back to Sam and melt against his body and kiss his lips. It does little to relax his expression.
“I’m just going to see what he wants and send him away. Even if the roads aer clear...I’m not going anywhere. If you’re not.” Looking up into his blue eyes, I wait for his confirmation and finally, his scowl fades and the corners of his lips lift in a small smile.
“Of course, Sugar. If you stay, I’ll stay.”
Smiling, I step out of the bathroom and face Eli who is standing by the front door next ot Deb who—you guessed it, staring down at her phone.
“Eli, what are you doing here?” I ask.
He looks relieved when he sees me and rushes toward me, getting about halfway across the room before he realizes I’m not about to receive him with a hug. Stopping just in front of me so he can take my free hand in his. I’m still holding up my towel as he says,” Alice, I made a mistake. I don’t know what happened, but I should have picked you and I’m here to beg you for forgiveness.”