by Elias Taylor
“What are we doing?” she whispered.
“I dunno,” Tristen mumbled.
“It feels good,” she said.
In answer, Tristen kissed her again while he pushed her back against the bed and crawled on top of her.
The whole night had felt like it was leading up to this. From the moment he saw her in that dress, Tristen had wanted to run his hands over every inch of her body.
With a soft moan, Kayla opened her legs a little wider so that Tristen lay between them. He ran his hand down the length of her torso, relishing the curve of the side of her breast. Kayla gasped at his touch, and when he reached her thigh, Tristen realized her dress was hiked all the way up.
“I want to take it off,” Kayla murmured.
At those words, Tristen’s erection throbbed.
He raised himself on his forearms and looked down at her, her luminous face surrounded by the dark halo of her tresses.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” Kayla said. “I want...I want to have fun.”
She pushed Tristen’s chest with a gentle hand until she was able to crawl out from beneath him and stand beside the bed.
Tristen sat and stared at her as she turned. He raised a worshiping hand to her waist.
“Can you unzip me?” she asked.
Tristen smiled as he slowly lowered the zipper, exposing the glorious expanse of her back. With a small wiggle, Kayla was standing before him in a black lace bra and matching panties.
Tristen’s rock-hard flesh pressed against his pants, and he hurried to remove them as Kayla unbuttoned his shirt.
In a flash, she was straddling him, and they were back to the enthusiastic kissing, but this time, there was an edge to it. The kissing had gone from a funny joke to something more sensual and passionate.
Her bare skin was even softer than he could have imagined, and Tristen slipped a daring finger underneath the waistband of her panties. Kayla inhaled with anticipation, and Tristen was overcome with the desire to please her. To make her cry out his name.
He hadn’t expected this. Any of it. He had figured Kayla would go through with her side of the bargain, and then they would go their separate ways and never speak again.
Even if it was unexpected, Tristen didn’t regret this turn of events. In fact, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He tangled his hand in her hair and started to kiss her neck. He felt a thrill of pleasure at how she arched her back in response to him.
Tristen slipped his finger down towards her satin flesh and nearly jumped when he felt how wet she was. He slid his finger over her folds and then pressed on her clitoris.
Kayla let out a soft mewl of enjoyment. She was so sensitive, that Tristen knew exactly what she wanted to do.
In one swift movement, he flipped Kayla onto her back. Then he tore off her panties. She lay on the bed gasping and looking up at him.
Kayla’s eyes widened as Tristen fluttered kisses over her flat stomach. When he ran his tongue over her wetness, she moaned, and Tristen smiled to himself.
He wasn’t doing this because he owed her for what she had done that night. He was doing it because he wanted to. He wanted to make her feel so good, she forgot everything else. He wanted her to let go of all her stress and anxiety about work and her future. That’s what he wanted to do for her.
He licked and tugged with urgency. It was no slow and soft build. Both Kayla and Tristen were too tipsy and impatient for that. He slobbered all over her pussy, and Kayla gasped in excitement and pressed herself into his mouth.
Tristen felt when Kayla was taken by the rising waves of her orgasm. He sucked and nipped harder and faster as she tipped her head back and cried out in pleasure.
“Keep going,” she cried. “Tristen, keep going.”
He had no intention of stopping, but the sound of his name on her lips made his erection throb with determination.
She shuddered as Tristen sent her over the edge. Ever since he had first met her, Tristen had never seen Kayla lose control. She had always been composed and completely in command of her bearings. But as she hit her peak, he could see her release all her control as she gasped in abandon. He raised his head and felt her with his fingers as she moaned through the dizzying rapture.
Before her climax had fully dissipated, Tristen plunged into her wet depths. She accepted him easily and wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him in even deeper.
Tristen groaned as he slid in and out and felt the slick walls of her tight pussy. While pressed into her, Tristen tore at her bra and tossed it to the floor so he could seize her plump breasts with his hands.
He found a rhythm he liked, and Kayla accommodated it. Tristen bent to suck on one of her nipples and her moan in response sent him to a deeper level of ecstasy.
Tristen’s release came hard and fast. He felt the rising power of his orgasm, and he cried out as he exploded inside her. His body shuddered as his passion crested, and he let out a final sigh of satisfaction.
He collapsed beside her, his chest gleaming with a soft sheen of sweat.
Sated, Kayla rested her head on his chest.
A warm and fuzzy glow seemed to overtake both of them, and Tristen’s limbs went slack and heavy. He was exhausted; it had been a long night.
“Tristen,” Kayla whispered.
“Yeah,” he said.
“You’re definitely not mediocre at that.
Chapter Eleven: Misstep
When Kayla woke up, her first thought was that she was so warm. Not too hot or sweating or anything. Just warm. It was nice.
Then she jolted in alarm when she didn’t recognize her sheet. Or the harsh amount of sun streaming through the window.
Kayla wrenched herself up. The hotel room. After their night out. She and Tristen...
Kayla fell back in the bed with a groan.
She was naked beneath the sheets, and her hair was a rat’s nest. All the smoothness of the night before had evaporated, and now tangled clumps scratched her cheeks. She probably looked a fright too, since she hadn’t bothered to wash her face before falling asleep.
“Hey, you’re awake.”
Kayla swallowed with trepidation and turned to see Tristen, curled up by her side. That explained the warmth.
She pulled the sheets even tighter around her chest.
“I can’t believe this happened,” she whispered.
She pulled the sheet up until it was covering her face. Above her, she heard Tristen laugh. What was he finding so funny? Was he that used to spontaneous hook-ups?
“Calm down, I thought it was fun,” Tristen said. “We have to check out soon, but you have time for a shower.”
A shower was good. A scalding hot shower was exactly what Kayla needed. She just had to get from the bed to the bathroom without any further embarrassment.
She grabbed the thick comforter and wrapped it around her shoulders as she scooted to the edge of the bed and stood. Wrapped up like an arctic explorer, Kayla waddled to the bathroom.
“You ok?” Tristen asked from the bed.
“Yes,” Kayla said.
Then she ducked into the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind her.
Kayla leaned her shoulders against the door and shut her eyes. How had she ended up here? She couldn’t believe what she had done only hours before. She had kissed Tristen, he had kissed her. And so much more.
It hadn’t been part of the plan. She hadn’t intended for things to go that far. Now everything was going to be awkward and complicated. Sex always complicated things.
The worst part was that Tristen was right: it had been fun. And passionate, and so delicious. Even in the harsh reality of morning, Kayla got a tiny thrill in her stomach as she remembered how he had touched her.
But it had been irresponsible. The extra drinks, going out to the other bar. Kissing him. Taking off her dress. It had all been irresponsible.
This right here was everything Kayla had been trying so hard to avoi
d. She gave herself a cold look in the bathroom mirror. She was disheveled and her eye makeup was smudged, and she was freaking out over a night with a guy. She was completely distracted and obsessive, and it had only been one night. This was why she had dodged dating and relationships for so long. Romance messed her up.
Then again, it had been nice. More than nice. And even as she panicked, she felt a strange sort of joy bubbling within her.
That will never last, she told herself. Her and Tristen would never last, no matter how much she liked spending time with him.
She had to nip this thing in the bud. Kayla jerked the handle to turn the shower on, and she discarded the layers of blankets and stepped into the hot stream of water.
Tristen had asked her for a favor. She had done that. She had played the part of his fake fiancée. They had both gotten carried away, but that was it. This had to be a one-time thing. No matter how much Kayla might crave more of his caresses, she knew where this road led. After six months, give or take, it would blow up or fizzle out, and Kayla would realize that she was behind on work because she had been so preoccupied, and she wouldn’t even have anything to show for it. Tristen could only give her a broken heart, nothing more, nothing less.
Kayla spent the shower coming up with what she was going to say. She wanted to be kind, but firm. She wanted him to understand that she did enjoy herself last night. She wanted him to know how much she appreciated what he had done.
After the shower, Kayla felt like her old self. No more giggling, no more getting distracted. She had scrubbed her hair and face and then wrapped herself up in the hotel robe. She wouldn’t have chosen the fluffy white robe as the garment she wore for a serious talk with Tristen, but she wasn’t about to pull her cocktail dress back on until she absolutely had to.
Kayla stepped out of the bathroom and lost her breath for a moment when Tristen looked up at her from the armchair he was sitting in. He had pulled his dress pants and button-down shirt on, but the shirt had several buttons undone, and it wasn’t tucked in.
He flashed her a saucy smile as if they were in on some big secret together.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said.
Kayla pursed her lips and focused her gaze on his left shoulder. If she looked him full in the face, she would get distracted by his good looks.
“I need to address this situation,” Kayla said.
“Is it a situation?” Tristen asked.
“Yes,” Kayla said.
Her curt tone made Tristen clamp his mouth shut and raise his brows.
“Last night should be a one-time thing,” Kayla said. “I had a great time, but I can’t date you or anything like that.”
She snuck a peek at Tristen’s face, but it was blank. Kayla took a deep breath.
“I’ve got too many things on my plate right now with work and my upcoming accounts,” Kayla said. “I like my life the way it is, and I don’t need or want any distractions.”
Her miniature speech over, Kayla paused. She hadn’t planned to end her declaration on a question mark, but she found the question slipping out.
“Does that make sense to you?” she asked.
Tristen just gave her a small smile. Then he stood up and crossed the room. Kayla froze as he stood above her. She didn’t know if she had the strength to pull away if he tried to kiss her.
Tristen leaned down and gave Kayla a small and chaste kiss, right in the middle of her forehead.
Kayla was certain all her insides had melted into a pile of slush.
“I’ll take you home,” Tristen said. “As soon as you’re ready.”
He sat back down on the bed to put his shoes on, and Kayla took some meek steps back into the bathroom to pull on her dress.
After checking out, Tristen took Kayla to his car and opened the door for her.
They were silent for most of the ride back.
When Kayla finally got back to her apartment, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. The whole thing could become what it was meant to be: just a blip.
She had made a misstep but quickly smoothed over the whole thing. Tristen understood. She had been very clear, and he had the idea.
Kayla told herself that over and over for the rest of the day, but she still felt like she had made a massive mistake, she just couldn’t put her finger on which exact choice had been the wrong one.
The next morning, Kayla got to work bright and early. She settled into her desk and beamed at all the familiar sights.
This was where she belonged.
After a few hours of engrossing herself in detailed spending analyses, Kayla checked her cell phone.
Her eyes widened when she saw she had a text from Tristen. Not trusting herself to read it without making a face, she dashed to the bathroom stall before opening the message.
Thought about you all night. I want to take you out, on a real date. How is this weekend.
Kayla furrowed her brow. So maybe Tristen didn’t have the idea. She ran over the morning in the hotel room. She had made herself clear. What exactly had he missed?
Kayla looked back down at the text, and a small smile stole its way onto her face at the first line. He was thinking about her.
Kayla shook off her girlish impulses. Maybe Tristen needed it in writing. She typed out a response.
I’m sorry Tristen, but I’m really not looking to date right now, as I said yesterday.
Within minutes, he had replied:
I understand why you are hesitant to date, but I think we should give it a try. We could be good together...
Kayla huffed in frustration. Of course he was entitled to his own opinion, but she didn’t have to go on a date with him if she didn’t want to. She stalked back to her desk and shoved her phone into her drawer. If he was going to ignore her words, he was going to have to deal with a silent treatment.
About halfway through that afternoon, Kayla got a call from the front desk. She had a delivery, the secretary was sending it over.
Kayla frowned. She hadn’t ordered anything.
Her jaw dropped when she saw the delivery guy making his way over with a bouquet of pink carnations.
She didn’t even have to look at the card to know they were from Tristen.
Was he out of his mind?
Kayla grimaced as everyone at surrounding desks oohed and awed over the flowers.
“Who is it?” James asked. “Secret admirer.”
“Just a friend,” Kayla muttered.
Everyone chuckled and joked, and Kayla shoved the flowers under her desk. She then sent a furious text to Tristen asking him never to send her anything at her place of work ever again.
Three days and five bouquets later, Kayla was at her breaking point.
Tristen had sent her a text every morning so far that week, telling her that he had such a good time, he was so into her, why not give it a shot?
Cleo thought the whole thing was hilarious. All of Kayla’s co-workers, who were mostly male, thought that Kayla had a guy who was totally whipped.
On Thursday afternoon, when Kayla saw the bouquet of daisies approaching, she knew she had to take a stand.
Kayla grabbed the daisies and stormed to the bathroom. She hurled the flowers in the trash can and dialed Tristen’s number.
“Kayla!” he said. “I’m so glad you called.”
“Tristen, you’ve got to stop,” Kayla said. “Stop with the texts and flowers and everything, I don’t want it.”
“Kayla, I just think we would be crazy not to try and date,” Tristen said. “how often do people have the spark and connection that we had the other night?”
Kayla frowned and paced back and forth in the bathroom. She hated to admit it, but a similar thought had been pestering her all week. Tristen was so amazing. What if she never came across a guy like him again?
“Sending bouquets to my place of work is so irritating,” Kayla said. “It makes me look totally unprofessional.”
“Ok, I’ll stop,” Tristen said. “If you go on
one date with me.”
“Do you blackmail every girl you meet or is it just something about me?” Kayla said.
“You,” Tristen said. “Something about the way you kiss me.”
Kayla was rendered speechless. Her mouth dropped into a soft O, and she remembered, once again, how lovely it had been to kiss him. Kayla was too proud to admit it, but there was something insanely flattering about the way he was pursuing her. She felt herself softening towards him, but she refused to give in too soon.
“You can’t badger me into going out with you,” Kayla said. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
“After last weekend, I had to try,” Tristen said. “Besides, I don’t think you even know what kind of girl you are.”
His voice was so low and sultry that Kayla was feeling a small tug of arousal just listening to him. They definitely shouldn’t have had sex. It had stirred up a bunch of pesky feelings, and that’s why she was so tempted to say yes to a date.
“Come on, Kayla,” Tristen said. “Just one date and the flowers stop.”
“Fine,” Kayla said. “One date.”
“Great!” Tristen said. “How’s Saturday?”
Chapter Twelve: Date
Tristen knew that Kayla was not the type of girl to say something she didn’t mean. So he believed that she didn’t want the distraction of dating him.
However, he also knew that Kayla kept herself wound up too tight. He had seen firsthand how happy she was when she loosened up a bit, and he wanted to give that to her again.
She didn’t want a distraction, but she did want this date. She had given in to his joking blackmail too quickly.
On Saturday at noon, Tristen pulled up to Kayla’s apartment on his bike, with a spare helmet in tow. He knew this was his only shot. He was determined to show Kayla that dating him wouldn’t just be a distraction. It would be something real and beautiful that might bring her some joy.
He wanted to give Kayla that joy. He wanted it with every fiber of his being.
It wasn’t just that the sex had been amazing. It had been the entire evening. They had meshed together, in some way, despite the false circumstances. If he could repeat that feeling tonight, he knew Kayla would be more willing to admit that they might have something worth pursuing.