by Sierra Rose
“Aw, I got in a couple hours ago,” he said and she could practically hear him shrug.
“I thought—never mind. I just want to get together. Are you free now?”
“I’m on my way out to see some of the guys from the band. We’re getting rusty with no practice for weeks. Maybe I’ll hit you up later.”
“Later,” she said faintly. “Could I, I don’t know, come to your practice or something? I miss seeing you. I know you’re mad but...”
“I’m not mad.”
“You didn’t call me. I spent all day getting ready to have a romantic evening with you...” She stopped because she heard the nagging in her voice, the resentment.
“I didn’t know you were going to do that. It’s not like I told you to make some kind of preparations, Britt,” he said in an exasperated tone. “If you need me to come by there before I go to practice, I’ll stop in and say hi.”
She shut her eyes. It felt like a slap in the face, like something a teenager said to his mom when he wanted to go out instead of coming to a family gathering. It sickened her that she had become this annoying obligation in the space of a few hours. He’d obviously been stewing on her transgressions during his long flight and was ready to make her suffer for them. She sighed loudly.
“What?” he demanded.
“If you’re going to punish me, just say so,” she managed, angrily fighting back tears. “Last night when we hung up, it seemed like you could forgive me. Today it’s like you will put up with me for five minutes if I make you.”
“If you’re going to make a fuss—”
“I am, dammit! I’m going to make a fuss. Because I think this is worth fighting for. I think you are worth fighting for, even if you’re the person I have to fight,” she said.
“Look, we can try to do dinner with my dad tomorrow night if he’s free.”
“Not if you don’t want to work through this and be with me! I’m sorry. I will do everything I can from hear on out to prove to you that I only want you. But I won’t go sit uncomfortably at dinner with your father while you ignore me and act like you’re being forced to sit beside me.”
“What is this about? Are you shocked that I’m grouchy after a seventeen hour flight?”
“No, I just don’t like you being mad at me.”
“Tough. I’m mad at you. I’ll come see you later. I’m going to go to practice and then take a nap. I’ll call you.”
“I wish I’d been the first person you wanted to see,” she said sadly.
“So do I,” he told her and it stung.
Britt gave herself ten minutes to cry. It took twice that long. She pressed her hands over her mouth to try to stop the sobs but they just kept coming, racking her with sadness and hurt and disappointment in herself most of all. He had snubbed her because he was angry and hurt that she went out with two guys while he was gone. It made sense. It wasn’t disproportionate. It wasn’t excessive. It just hurt and she didn’t like to be hurt, nor to think that he enjoyed punishing her this way. She washed her face and drank a glass of water and reapplied her makeup. She was going to act casual. She wasn’t going to let him see how devastated she was.
Chapter 11
Britt was opening the bottle of wine. She decided she needed a small glass to steady herself because she was still upset. A knock came at her door. She peered through the peephole and saw Jack standing sheepishly in the hall. She opened the door and he caught her in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t.”
Before she could reply, before she could even process the fact that he’d come to her, that he couldn’t stay away, his mouth was claiming hers. The explosive reaction she felt when his tongue slid into her mouth shook her to the core. It was hot and thrilling and it felt right, like they fit together in some primal way that went beyond mere sexual pleasure and into some form of destiny. To her horror, Britt started to cry. All that careful effort to keep her distress concealed and one touch of his lips set her to weeping. She sobbed into his mouth and he pulled back, touching her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry I hurt you and made bad choices and I just—don’t let me think I’ve lost you, Jack!” She fisted her hands in the front of his shirt and clung. He kissed her forehead.
“The thing is,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers, so close to her that she could feel his breath fan across her lips.
“What? What’s the thing?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
“I’ve been dying to do this,” he said, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her to her carefully made bed.
Jack set her down on the bed and climbed up beside her, brushing her long hair back from her face and looking at her, silent, gazing at her face.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, dropping his face onto her shoulder for an instant.
Britt curled around him instinctively, embracing him, holding him close.
“I didn’t know what to do, how to handle the way I needed you so much and you were gone...I was wrong. Don’t let me go.”
“I’m not. I couldn’t,” he breathed as she kissed him again.
Britt’s eyes fluttered shut as his lips trailed down her neck. Her skin came to life, every nerve ending alight with the excitement of his stimulating touch. In his absence she had told herself that making love with Jack could not have been the mind-altering total body experience she remembered. Now she knew it was so much more. The way he touched her, the entire spectrum of his touches ranging from the gentlest whisper of his fingertips trailing up her thigh to the firm, tantalizing pinch of thumb and forefinger on her nipple, was pure ecstasy. Jack was not merely a skilled lover, but a man who saw her, was truly with her and sharing the experience. To watch his face, to see the play of expressions—playfulness, focus, determination, lust and affection—was to see that he garnered as much pleasure from touching her, from kissing her and driving her nearly out of her mind with desire as he did from his own completion. There was a connection, a union to their lovemaking that transcended anything in her experience before Jack.
She peeled off his t-shirt and ran her hands along the smooth skin of his lean muscled back. Her body arched against his bare chest of its own volition, wanting, wanting. She helped him pull her sparkly top over her head, hungry for the feel of her naked skin rubbing warm and ready against his. Jack deftly unclasped her bra and the weight of her breasts tumbled forward into his open hands, his fingers eagerly stroking and rubbing her sensitive flesh. She shrugged out of the straps, free in his arms. She turned toward to him on her side and stroked his face, touching his forehead, his cheekbones, his jaw, brushing aside black hair that fell across his cheek. Britt brushed her fingers across his lips, under his chin, memorizing the geography of his face, both objectively gorgeous and suddenly dear to her.
Softly, tentatively, Britt kissed his full lower lip, then his upper lip, working the tip of her tongue into his mouth. Jack parted his lips, drawing her tongue more deeply and stroking it with his. She shuddered at the depth of the kiss and moved in closer for more. They wrapped their arms around each other, kissing with a fervor and focus more common among teenagers parked on hilltops an hour past curfew. His hands roamed over her chest and stomach, keeping her squirming at the ticklish and alluring ways he touched her. She kneaded his shoulders, his back, feeling every movement, every slight flex of his muscles as he braced himself above her, his mouth on hers. She felt herself just slip away, pulled under by a blurry, giddy passion. She had no thoughts, only sensation and impulse. He had kissed her so long that it stripped away her self-consciousness, her intent, and left only desire.
There was no urgency, no frantic ripping at the remaining garments to urge on the ultimate release. Instead, there was exploration, tender and sensuous. Jack held her shoulder, his thumb tracing circles lightly on her skin as they kissed. Somehow the rubbing of his thumb against her flesh, making tighter and tighter circles turned her on even more. She bit his lip, whispered, “Don�
�t stop,” into his mouth. His lips moved against hers, pressing and nipping, teasing her with his tongue. The kiss went on until she felt she dissolved into it, with no beginning and no ending. It seemed like hours that they lay there, rediscovering each other with a thoroughness, an appreciation of being together.
Slowly, the tempo picked up from an intimate, romantic encounter to something increasingly primal. At first, Britt simply held on to Jack more tightly, unwilling to let him draw back even a few inches from her face. She didn’t care if either of them could breathe, didn’t care if they drowned in this. She knew only that she needed more of it. The soft tug of his teeth catching her lip made her shudder palpably in his hands, rubbing her sensitive nipples against his taut chest. Twisting her hips, rubbing against him, Britt bit his ear lobe with a sound in her throat almost like a growl. He removed his pants and reached for the condoms she’d left out prominently on the nightstand. When he returned to her, hard and ready, she sat up and reached for him, her hands caressing his broad, muscular shoulders. When his hands found the zip of her skirt she shook her head, pushing his hand away. Britt reached for the hem of her conservative business-suit skirt and tugged it up to reveal her nakedness beneath it.
“Oh, Britt,” he ground out, his hands pushing the skirt up to touch her.
She grinned wickedly, parting her thighs to accept his fingers rubbing, parting her folds, stroking up into her wet sex. She spread her legs wider, rocking her hips to push his long fingers in deeper. The rigidness of his hand tight against her made her grind, his other hand gripping her hip hard to keep her still. Her mouth came down over his, his tongue reaching out to lick hers even before their lips met. His thumb circled her nub, flicking and rubbing it until she was pumping against his hand to get the pressure she wanted. Just as the jolts of pleasure mounted, he released her hip, grabbing her breast and squeezing her nipple The shock of it sent her tumbling over the edge into a screaming climax, her teeth sinking into his shoulder as her head fell forward against his neck.
Catching her breath as he withdrew his slick fingers from inside of her, Britt wrapped her hand around his cock and straddled one of his thighs, forcing him to lean back. She rose up and parted her sex with her fingers, guiding just the tip of his cock against her folds. She bit down on her lip because she wished so much that she could feel him, his velvety heat, the dampness at the head of his cock instead of just the latex that covered him. Never in all her adult life had she wanted a man raw and complete inside of her. Now she longed for it. It made her ache to be robbed of that closest sensation of consuming his hot flesh, unsheathed except by her body. Resolute, she pushed his cock into her and took him all at once. He groaned as she closed over him, his hand reaching between her legs as she knelt straddling one thigh. He stroked her above where they joined, but soon he had to stop. The staccato jerks of his thrusts came fast and hard, making it impossible for him to do anything but keep thrusting, getting closer to total oblivion.
Britt climbed off of him. His bewildered expression, his face, his hands almost pleading as he reached for her. She drew him on top of her, pressing her lips against his breathless ones as he joined with her again, her mouth whispering “Please, Jack” against his lips. When she said please, he stiffened, went rigid in her arms and, with a cry, collapsed, his arms going slack as he rolled her onto her side with him. He stroked her face, brushing back her tangled hair, and kissed her very softly. Then he crushed her against his chest, holding her fast.
“That was barely the beginning, Britt. It’s been weeks of missing you. Weeks of not being able to touch you or reach you, of feeling you slipping away.”
“I’m here now,” she said, rubbing her cheek against his chest, catlike and content. Britt levered up on one elbow and took his face in her hand so he would look into her eyes. “This was us, and closer than I’ve ever been to anyone. What we have, what we do together, it makes me ashamed that I had sex with other guys before you. Because it’s so different, so much more personal and it feels so right. Not just good, you know, but right. Like this, right now, is where I’m supposed to be. Like I belong on your shoulder this way.”
“Don’t be ashamed. If we hadn’t both slept with other people, we wouldn’t be this good together. There’s a certain amount of trial and error involved, at least when you’re a guy, learning what to do.”
“We could’ve learned together. We might be even better than we are now if we’d started exploring just you and I, years ago,” she teased.
“Even better and I might have a stroke. When you said please, Britt, I don’t even know why it affects me the way it does but it makes me want to give you everything, like anything you need if I didn’t have it, I’d go tear down the world to get it. So use it wisely, okay?” He said, his voice a little shaky despite the playfulness.
“I will. Only if it’s really important like I want Chinese and you want Mexican food.”
“Something a little more serious than that. Otherwise it could lose its power. There’s always that risk that overusing the please could result in a please-failure.”
“Never. My please has power. It’s like...super please!” She giggled and he kissed her.
“You are so goofy,” he said affectionately.
“I know. But you liked my skirt anyway.”
“The skirt, oh, honey.” He rolled his eyes upward as if invoking heaven. “When you lifted your skirt I swear it was like the gates of paradise. I could’ve heard trumpets, I’m not sure.”
“Trumpets aren’t very sexy.” She shot him a smirk.
“You are. Trust me. The trumpets would obviously be there to herald either royalty or, like, heaven itself.”
“Stay with me tonight, Jack. That shook me today, and just now. I’m not prepared for you, not ready for someone to look at me like that and touch me like that. I feel like I need you right now. You can sleep or have a sandwich or whatever, just come back to bed with me and hold me when you’re done.”
“Why would I get up?” he asked as if it were so obvious that he would stay with her all night.
“Band practice.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s over by now. We took our time and I didn’t want to rush. I’m not done with you, not by a lot.”
“Jack.”
“What?”
“Nothing, I just wanted to say your name. It feels good to say your name. Although I’m not sure how I’ll face your dad at dinner tomorrow. I’m positive that he’ll take one look at me and recognize that I’ve despoiled his son.”
“Despoiled? Hmmm, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually heard anyone say that word before. I’m fairly certain I haven’t ever been despoiled. If you’re going to look guilty you can at least despoil me thoroughly before then.”
“I’d love to. But I think a nap is in order first.”
“Fair enough. Do you care if I have a shower?”
“No, go ahead.” She said sleepily as he kissed her temple and slipped out of bed.
Britt heard the water begin to spray and even as sleep tried to pull her under, the image of Jack completely unclothed and standing under the same ordinary stream of water where she washed her hair each day sent a thrill right through her. She threw off the sheet and slipped into the bathroom, trying to be quiet. The steam from the shower was already fogging up the mirror but she spotted her reflection, flushed, lips swollen, hair bedraggled, happy. She ran a brush through her hair and gave up, sliding the curtain aside and stepping in with him.
Jack turned around, hooking an arm around her hips and pulling her up against him as the water, just a touch too hot, slid down their bodies. Water drops clung to his hair and beaded on his eyelashes, rivulets trailing down his face. She leaned in and licked a drop of water from his cheek. They were kissing, messy, frantic kisses with the sting of hot water cascading over them. Britt leaned back against the wall, her palms braced behind her. Within seconds, Jack’s mouth fastened on to her nipple, laving it with his tongue, sucking and nipping. His finge
rs took her other nipple, rolling it and tugging it as she tipped her head back. Jack kissed her neck, then her breast again, making sharp darts of pleasure bolt between her legs. She needed him again already and when he had said it was only the beginning, she could see almost disbelievingly that Jack was ready for her again. Despite their recent exertion, despite the hot water and the slippery confines of the shower, Jack and Britt had to join again swiftly.
His gaze searched hers, looking for confirmation. Britt took his hand and wrapped it around her thigh, raising her leg to hook around his hips. Between her parted thighs, he took his hand to her, setting his fingers deep inside and stroking, jerking up and forward, making her buck in time with his hand. The heel of his palm pressed against her nub as his long fingers probed inside of her and she gasped in time with each stroke. He replaced his fingers with his cock and she held onto the wall to steady herself against the onslaught of his thrusts as she took him bare and raw under the shower. She screamed a high shrill cry as he entered her, nodding vigorously, saying ‘yes’ again and again...yes, yes, yes, yes. Her leg was around his hips anchoring him to her, his naked cock moving in and out of her so fast, so deep that she was clawing at his shoulders for purchase, the dimness of the shower stall, the clatter of the water against the wall, the sharpness of hot water drilling across her skin as they moved together, grinding, intense, joining in a way they never had before. He said her name over and over as he came, his hands moving to the spot between her legs even as he finished to bring her to completion. When she finished, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him hard. She reached around and turned off the water so they stood in the eerie sudden silence, only the sound of dripping water and their own ragged breathing.
Jack kissed her.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” she mumbled, bewildered and half-drunk from having him so fully.
“I tested clean. Right after we met. I haven’t been with anyone else.”
“What?”