Falling

by Kris Bryant

  “I’m having a good time tonight.”

  “I am, too. We should talk or watch a movie or go for a jog to get my mind off you on my couch.” I tilted my head so I could see her. She touched my jaw, softly, as if memorizing how I felt.

  “I’m not dressed for jogging, so let’s watch a movie. I’m not ready to go home just yet.”

  It was after midnight and even though I was both exhausted and exhilarated, I turned on Netflix. We watched a comedy that had zero opportunity for romance. Although I was dying to feel her underneath me, it was nice to have her next to me, touching my arm, stroking my skin softly. When was the last time I took my time with a woman? I couldn’t remember, but I knew this was different. Piper was special and I wanted her to know that she was more than a physical need. My heart needed her, too.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Just give me the word, and I’ll get the documents written up.”

  Charles was working with multiple lawyers and insurance agents and was getting close to a settlement with all of them. The airline had a cap on their settlement that came in just below half a million. Millennial Works was close to that, and MobileTech, a smaller company responsible for the hydraulics Millennial had used, also came in with the same offer that Millennial Works did. After all was said and done and Charles’s fees were paid, I would walk away with over a million dollars. We also agreed not to participate in any class action suits and that the details of the settlement would be private.

  “Whatever you think is best. Thanks, Charles.” I hung up and felt strangely hollow. It was such a big part of my life and now it was time to move on. The money would set me up nicely for the future, but it still didn’t feel final. My phone rang again, but this time I was happy for the call.

  “Oh, my God. Are you alive?” I asked.

  “I know, I know. I suck for not checking in sooner.” Marisa sounded guilty and rightfully so. I hadn’t heard from her in a week.

  “I was just about to call Jason.” I honestly was so busy and self-absorbed that I hadn’t missed Marisa as much as I should have. “How’s everything?”

  “Really good. Jason and I are great. I’ve pretty much spent most of my free time with him. I miss you, though. Let’s make some time soon, okay?”

  “How about drinks tonight? You available?”

  “Of course, but don’t you have yoga tonight?”

  “Yoga is done. I finished the beginner class and have zero interest in continuing. I’d much rather drink beer with you and jog off the calories.” I missed seeing Piper twice a week, but we’d been on a total of three really great dates that I wouldn’t trade for all of the yoga classes.

  “How are you and Perfect Piper doing?”

  “Come on, be nice. She’s great and we’re doing well. She’s coming over tomorrow to cook me dinner. Things are progressing nicely.” I tried not to sound smug, but I was happy.

  “Have you sealed the deal?”

  Marisa wasn’t acting out of the ordinary or saying anything either one of us wouldn’t have said in the past, but it bothered me. Piper and I were taking it slow and I had nothing but the utmost respect for her and our situation. I took a deep breath before I answered. “No. We’re taking things slow.” I wasn’t going to tell her how many times over the last two weeks we came close but stopped. For fear of spontaneously combusting, I decided if things escalated tomorrow, I would let them. I was falling for Piper and I was done fighting it.

  “I have such mixed feelings about it. I want you to be happy, but I want her to be in the right place, you know?”

  “I know. Both of us want that, too. We both have been going to therapy and I think we’re at the point where we’re comfortable with us as a couple. Obviously, she has more to work through, but I’m being sensitive. Trust me, I’ve been the one holding back,” I said.

  “Really? Wow.”

  “Hopefully, that means you understand that I respect her and it’s not just about sex.”

  “Stop. I’m just super impressed because it’s been like, what? Two years?” I heard her stifled giggle.

  “No, but not all of us put out on the first date.”

  “Touché, love. Listen, meet me at Ophelia’s and we’ll continue this. I have to go. Six?”

  “Perfect. I’ll see you there.” Leave it to Marisa to put me in a better mood.

  I checked the time. There was a sales meeting on commercial plots and buildings that were up for sale or lease in the next six months. I decided to attend because it was a good idea to close as much as possible over the next few months before winter hit.

  “Let’s get started,” Brittany said. She passed out folders of buildings we could rep or pass on. Mountain View had a good reputation despite all of the in-house negative energy I felt.

  I perused the folder and was surprised at all the real estate outside the city limits we were considering. Travis was trying to expand the business and I thought it was the best idea he had in months. I nodded at Peter when we got to the section he’d asked me to check out months ago. There were six buildings in Piper’s neighborhood, most of them smaller commercial buildings. I still liked the idea of converting the warehouses into condominiums, but condos were a tough market. The return on investment wasn’t immediate and most investors wanted to turn and flip fast. Real estate wasn’t what it used to be, but it was slowly making a comeback.

  “Are there any questions or thoughts?” Brittany asked.

  I didn’t care enough to voice my opinion. Brittany would fight me on a compliment at this point. Our relationship was almost nonexistent. I could handle the cold shoulder, but the minute she started fucking with my commissions, I was out. So far, I was getting paid on everything I brought in. I wasn’t the best, but I was up there, and with my unintentional fame, my numbers were climbing. Nobody had anything to say, so the meeting ended quickly. I was going to have to pay closer attention to Piper’s neighborhood. It wasn’t my territory, but it certainly pinged my radar. Piper liked where she lived and felt safe there. I would check it out the next time I visited her.

  * * *

  It wasn’t as if I never had a woman over to my place before. Piper had been over half a dozen times, but tonight was different. We both knew there was a strong possibility that our relationship would take a giant step soon. I was ready. Piper told me she was looking forward to cooking for me. I knew from previous conversations that cooking wasn’t her thing, but she said she wanted to make something nice for me.

  I slipped on a cranberry cashmere V-neck sweater and black ankle pants and kicked off my shoes. I wanted Piper to feel comfortable. I poured a glass of wine while I fixed my hair and makeup. I was on my second glass when I heard the knock at the door.

  “Hi. Come on in.” I stepped back to make room for Piper and her two grocery bags. I offered to carry them for her, but she shook her head.

  “I’m perfectly balanced. Just follow me into the kitchen. And hi.” She leaned down to kiss my cheek.

  I did exactly what she asked and followed her. She had on slacks, a black long-sleeved shirt, and black boots. She had tried taming her hair by pulling it back, but a few wild pieces escaped and framed her face. Her cheeks were pink from either the cool evening or the heat of us. Either way, she looked beautiful and I couldn’t help but smile at her.

  “What? Is there something on my face?” She carefully touched her cheeks.

  “No, I’m sorry. Wine has kept me entertained until you got here. I’m going to have to slow down because sometimes wine makes me giggle for no reason.”

  “Have you eaten anything today?”

  “I had lunch, but nothing since,” I said.

  She put her hands on her hips, ready to scold me, but I put my arms around her waist and kissed her. She moved her hands from her hips to mine and deepened the kiss. I moaned. The wine had knocked down all of my filters. She ended the kiss first. I pouted.

  “I wanted to be hungry for tonight,” I said.

  “You might stil
l be hungry if this doesn’t go as planned,” she said.

  “I have all the restaurants on speed dial if that’s the case. Chinese, pizza, Thai, the Italian restaurant a mile away, subs, anything you want,” I said.

  “Living in the suburbs has some advantages,” she said.

  “So does living in the city. It’s almost too quiet here, but I do love my house.” I looked around. There wasn’t a single thing that I hadn’t already touched. The kitchen was completely remodeled and updated with the best appliances and the coolest industrial countertops I could find. I’d ripped up most of the carpet and installed heated hardwood floors everywhere except the living room.

  “You have a beautiful house, Shaylie. And a dream kitchen that I’m about to destroy with my feeble attempts at cooking.”

  I gave her a quick tour of where she could find things in the cabinets and sat in one of the high-top chairs at the counter to keep her company. I spun once and she took my glass of wine and replaced it with a water.

  “I need your full attention tonight,” she said.

  “Oh, I believe you have my full attention tonight and every night, if you want it.” Well, that was more blatant than I wanted it to be. My cheeks heated up. I took a long drink of water and avoided eye contact with her. She waited until I settled down before answering.

  “I already knew that,” she said, cockily.

  I rolled my eyes. I hated that she knew how hard I was crushing on her. Thankfully, the feeling was mutual. At least she kissed like it was.

  “Tell me what you’re making.”

  “I’m making chicken and cheese enchiladas. I’ll fix fresh guacamole so we can pig out on chips and dip while we wait for the enchiladas to cook.”

  “Yum. It sounds delicious. I’m really hungry.”

  She slid the bag of chips over to me. “Go ahead and get started.”

  I broke into the bag and shoved a few chips in my mouth. “How about I help you? I’m sure you’ll need help chopping things or grating cheese.”

  “I won’t give you any sharp utensils, but if you grated the cheese, that would help immensely. Thank you.”

  I washed up and found the grater. I grated two blocks of cheese, sneaking a few bites here and there. She busted me but didn’t say anything. It was fun watching her work in my kitchen. Even though she said she wasn’t a great cook, she knew what she was doing. While the pan of enchiladas cooked, she made the best guacamole I’d ever tasted.

  “If your dinner is this good, I’m never letting you leave my house.”

  She shrugged at me and poured herself a glass of wine. She refilled my water glass. I frowned at her choice of beverage for me. “It’s going to be fantastic. Just know that going in.”

  I knew everything was going to be fantastic, but I wisely kept quiet. With chips and guacamole in my system, I wasn’t feeling the fuzziness of the wine anymore.

  She sat next to me and twirled my chair so I was facing her. “Kiss me.” It was more of a command.

  I obliged. I slid my hands from her knees up to her thighs and leaned forward to kiss her. I was completely in her personal space, but she didn’t seem to mind. I felt her spread her legs ever so slightly. My thumbs slipped to her upper thighs, an inch or two from her warm core, and I lightly squeezed. She ran her hands up my arms to my neck and held my face while she deepened the kiss. I moaned again and scooted closer. She spread her legs more to accommodate me. I moved my hands up to her hips for fear that if I continued my journey where they were, I would start something and have to stop. The kitchen wasn’t the best place for sex, at least not the first time. I wanted Piper naked and spread on my bed so I could touch her everywhere. I wanted to build her up slowly and finish her off strong.

  “We’re doing that thing again,” Piper said. She leaned back in her chair.

  “What thing? The kissing thing? I thought that was okay.” I leaned forward and kissed the corners of her mouth before kissing her fully on her lips again.

  She pulled back again. “No, that thing where we start and can’t finish.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we can finish.” I was entirely too confident.

  “Not with food coming out of the oven in ten minutes.” She shut me down.

  “That. Okay. Yeah.” I sat back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest.

  She ran her fingers lightly over my neck. I shivered. She crooked her finger in the vee of my sweater and carefully pulled me toward her. “Oh, we’ll pick this up after dinner. We have all night.”

  I gulped right before her lips captured mine in a searing kiss. I slipped out of my chair and stood between her legs. I slid my hands to her ass and pulled her closer to me. Her fingers slipped under my sweater and stroked my skin softly. She stopped abruptly when she felt my scar. Her face blanched. It went from warm and pink to void of color when she touched it and pulled away.

  “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt. I know it’s not attractive, but it doesn’t hurt when you touch me there.” I twisted in her embrace and pulled up my sweater so she could see the scar. She very carefully traced the jagged line with her finger.

  “You’re beautiful and so is this scar. I’m just sorry you have it,” she said. She looked so sad. I hated that my scar ruined the moment.

  “Don’t be. A friend once told me that scars are sexy and I should wear mine like a badge of honor.”

  I winked at her and she surprised me by leaning down and kissing it. I held my breath the entire time. Her lips on my body was too much. I pulled away.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  I half laughed out of embarrassment and the reaction my body had to her lips. “Um. Yes. That was just a lot for me to take.”

  She wasn’t laughing or even smiling. The look on her face was fierce and determined. “I plan on kissing all of your scars.”

  If the timer hadn’t gone off at that exact moment, I would have dragged her back to my room. The sexual tension between us was palpable. I was so focused on her that I jumped at the noise.

  “Son of a bitch,” I mumbled. I left her embrace to turn off the repetitive ring of the timer and pull the food from the oven.

  “It looks done,” she said. Her breath was a whisper against my ear. I hadn’t heard her sneak up behind me. I shivered again.

  “It needs to cool for a few minutes,” I said. It wasn’t even my dish, but I took charge of it because I needed to stay busy. I felt her press behind me, her body flush with mine. I leaned my head back on her shoulder and tilted my head for a kiss that made me weak with desire and submission. She turned me and I melted against her. I was tired of fighting my attraction and doing what I thought was best for us. I wanted her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I have a better idea than dinner. Come with me instead.” She pulled me down the long hallway. We kissed the entire way until we reached my bedroom.

  I stepped back long enough to ask, “Are you sure?”

  She answered me by unbuttoning her shirt and slipping out of it. I gently nudged her backward into the room, my mouth on hers, my hands on her body. When the back of her knees hit the mattress, I kept kissing her until she lost her balance and we fell on the bed. I straddled her long enough to strip off my sweater and unbutton my pants. She pushed my hands out of the way and slid the zipper down. I closed my eyes as her fingertips brushed the top of my lace panties. When I opened my eyes again, the look she gave me was that of hunger, desire, and want. She wanted me. I pulled her hands away and held them above her head as I leaned forward to continue kissing her. My bare skin against hers made me shudder.

  “Are you cold?” she asked between kisses.

  “Not at all.”

  She smiled at my response and pulled me down so I was stretched out over her. I unbuttoned her pants and sat up long enough to pull them off. I kicked mine off as well. I couldn’t take my eyes off her body. Piper was beautiful. She wore a matching pink lace bra and panty set. I smiled. I
was wearing a similar set that covered more, but in white. Both of us clearly wanted this to happen tonight. The gentle way she touched me made me feel beautiful. As passionate as we had been to get started, we were taking our time now that we had given in. I ran my fingertips across her stomach and up to the swell of her small breasts. Her breath hitched when I leaned forward and traced the top of the lace with my tongue. She leaned up and unlatched her bra but didn’t take it off. I kissed her hard this time and pushed her bra up so it rested at her collarbone. I ran my tongue down her neck, past the lace, to her erect nipple. I cupped her breast and took as much of it into my mouth as I could. She moaned her approval and wound her fingers into my hair, pressing my head down harder. I ran my tongue to her other breast and did the same. I felt her hand slip between us and unclasp my bra with a single flip of her finger. When she touched my breast, I moaned. I’d forgotten how sensitive my breasts were. Her hand was cramped between our bodies, but she managed to rub her thumb back and forth over my nipple until I whimpered. I needed to feel her warm, wet mouth on it. I leaned up and she obliged without any instruction. Her teeth grazed my nipple and sucked hard.

  “Oh, God, Piper,” I said.

  She flipped me, much to my surprise and approval. She leaned over me on her hands and knees, moving only enough to allow me to remove her bra. I reached up and slid her hair tie off. Her long, wavy hair cloaked us and I smiled up at her. Her eyes traveled all over my face and stopped when she saw my scar. She leaned down and placed the gentlest kiss on it. I gripped her arms tighter. She kissed her way down my body, stopping at the jagged scar on my side to give it the same loving, gentle attention. She pulled my panties off but stopped on her way back up my body to kiss the puckered scar by my knee.

  “It’s so ugly,” I whispered.

  “Nothing about you is ugly. Everything about you is beautiful. Your scars just tell the world you’re alive.” She gave it one final, tiny kiss and continued her journey up my body. I held my breath when she reached my core. There was no hesitation. She spread me open and ran her tongue the full length of me, hard and fast. I gasped at the intimacy of it, at the sheer pleasure of it, and willed myself not to come the second I felt her tongue on my clit. She pushed my legs up and held the backs of my thighs while she continued to lavish me with wet, warm attention. I tried hard to last, but I came in under a minute.