1982: Maneater (Love in the 80s #3)

by Cambria Hebert

  I paused and glanced up.

  “You really thought I wouldn’t?”

  “Your face just now…” I trailed away, straightening but keeping my arms over me.

  I felt his stare all the way to the balls of my feet. In fact, my toes curled into the carpet as he looked. Slowly, he reached up and grasped both my arms and tugged.

  “Let me look.”

  The blatant request caught me off guard and set my blood to buzzing. I let him pull away my arms and direct them to my sides.

  He made that grimace face again, this time, he growled with it. “You’re so perfect.”

  “You think so?” I asked, thinking of how small my chest was and that most guys preferred more.

  “Do you know how hard it’s been to lay right across the hall from you? To walk by the shower sometimes and hear it running, knowing that you’re in there naked?”

  “I’ve listened for you,” I admitted. “Wondered what you were doing, too.”

  Eric’s fingertips brushed over my shoulder and trailed down my arm. “Can I touch you, Kel?”

  “Please,” I whispered. At that moment I wanted nothing more.

  His fingers left my arm and dragged across my abdomen to circle around my belly button. Lightly he dragged upward, feathering a touch over my ribs. I closed my eyes anticipating him going higher, waiting…

  His entire palm settled over my breast and I sighed. He kneaded gently, lightly caressing the hardened bud in the center. When he was done with one he moved to the other and did the same.

  I gripped his sides and held on as he touched and caressed me.

  When both his hands settled on both my breasts I made a sound.

  Barely a second ticked by and his hands were sliding across my jaw and he was cupping my face and lowering his mouth.

  His kiss was just like before, commanding and smooth. His lips moved with expert care over mine, drawing out a whole host of feelings and raging desire.

  As I swayed toward him, his hands left my face and I was encompassed against his chest. My chin turned up and his mouth slanted over mine with a ferocity I thought only existed in movies.

  Boldly, his tongue stroked along mine and delved deep into my mouth. I tried to kiss him back with equal fervor but the truth was, Eric was slaying me. Like, making it impossible to think, or breathe or concentrate.

  As we kissed, his fingertips floated along the length of my spine and flirted with the waistband of my panties.

  My hands slid up his back, my nails scraping lightly against his flexing muscle and it only turned me on more.

  He was turned on too, I felt the evidence of his desire pressing against my belly. The length of him seemed impressive and every so often it would jerk slightly against me.

  Another low rumble of thunder overhead seemed to wake him up. His mouth tore free of mine and our eyes collided.

  “Are you a virgin, Kelly?” he asked, his voice was so gravelly I barely recognized it.

  “No,” I said. “There was this one guy,”

  He shook his head once in a definitive slashing motion. “I don’t want to hear about it. It will only make me crazy.”

  “It wasn’t—”

  “No.” He shook me gently to get my attention. “Not another word about it.”

  I didn’t want to talk about Brandon anyway. He was the only guy I’d ever actually liked that I went after. Sure, it started as just a game, but then I got to know him a little bit. He made me laugh and the whole mismatched sock thing totally charmed me. For the first time in forever I’d thought I’d found a guy I didn’t want to chew up and spit out. I slept with him. And then he broke it off.

  At the time I’d been hurt. I’d assumed he was just one of those guys who only wanted one thing and once he got it, the girl didn’t matter. I’d been embarrassed to be duped by him. I should have known better. I should have seen right through his game… after all, I played that game all the time.

  At least I never let it get as far as sex.

  So there I’d been. I lost my virginity to a guy who didn’t care. I knew by the look on his face after we’d done it (the second time) and he was casually putting his clothes back on, I’d done the wrong thing. I was still scrambling out of the bed when he dumped me.

  The big jerk couldn’t even have let me get dressed first.

  He planned on telling everyone about this. About how he hit a home run with Kelly Ross and then dashed all the hearts and stars in her eyes. I’d wanted to cry.

  I didn’t.

  I swore if he told anyone he was the one who ended it, I would tell everyone at school his penis was so tiny I wouldn’t sleep with him and that’s why he dumped me.

  He was a jerk. We’d only had sex twice, and both times were nothing like the girls in the locker room said it was like.

  Really, Brandon just taught me the way I played guys was the way to do it. Use them and then lose them as soon as I could. Before they hurt me first.

  Too bad it took the guy I gave my virginity to teach me that lesson. All the other guys I had only kissed and made out with. A couple, I’d let go to third base, but Brandon was the only one who I went all the way with.

  Until now. Until Eric.

  I really wanted to go all the way with him.

  “Are you?” I asked, curious.

  He smiled. “No.”

  I don’t know why but this surprised me, but the surprise was quickly squished by jealousy. I didn’t like the thought of him having sex with anyone else. “Who!” I demanded.

  His smile was wolfish and it totally transformed his face. “Are you jealous?”

  Heat curled low in my belly and between my legs began to throb. His large hands spanned the sides of my waist as he started walking forward, pushing me backward.

  “No,” I said as his teeth latched onto my earlobe. I gasped.

  “No?” he licked across and sucked it between his lips. My back hit his bedroom door and I arched into him.

  “Maybe,” I relented.

  He laughed low in my ear and pulled back.

  Both his hands came up to rest on either side of my head. “No one you know,” he murmured and went for my lips again.

  I turned my head. “Then, where…?”

  He kissed my cheek instead and trailed down to my neck as he spoke. “Summer camp isn’t just for textbook learning and science experiments, you know.”

  I grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his face up. His eyes widened a little, but a smile pulled at his mouth. “I don’t want to hear anymore, either.”

  “She wasn’t near as beautiful as you,” he whispered. “I want you, Kelly.”

  His hips thrust forward and his rigid length rubbed against my middle. Just feeling it… I knew what I’d said to Brandon hadn’t even been a lie. His penis was totally small compared to what I was feeling right now. Must be why my threat to tell worked so well.

  Can’t fight the truth.

  “Do you have protection?” I asked, running my hands across his chest.

  “In my room.” He reached down and turned the handle. Before shoving open the door his arm slipped around my waist so he could support my body.

  We started kissing again as he backed me into the bedroom. I heard the sound of the door closing but I barely registered it. I was falling down a black hole of desire, where the only thing that existed was his body and mine.

  I strained to get closer, even though we were pressed together tightly.

  His hands cupped my ass and kneaded the flesh, making me purr.

  The back of my knees hit the bed and buckled. We fell back onto the mattress with him on top. His weight was delicious, and I rubbed myself against him like a cat.

  He whispered my name when his lips left mine and my head fell to the side when his mouth closed over my breast.

  “Oh,” I moaned, and he sucked a little deeper.

  He played and sucked until I grew impatient and grabbed his hair once more. His throaty chuckle was almost my undoi
ng and I spread my legs and tried to pull him up my body.

  “Hang on,” he said and left me. I heard him rummage through the bag and I reached down to pull my panties off.

  “I got that,” he said, coming back and stripping the cotton down my legs and throwing them away. I sat up and reached for his boxers, helped him pull them down.

  His cock sprung out instantly and I stared. It was long and thick, and he was so hard the skin was taunt. I reached toward it.

  Before grasping him, I looked up and he nodded.

  I stroked and explored him, reveling in the strength and softness of it. I stroked him a few times, enjoying the way his body seemed to hum, until he reached down and pulled my hand away.

  He climbed on the bed between my legs and ripped open the packet.

  I stared at his body while he worked as my stomach quivered with nerves and my body shook with need.

  Before climbing over me I felt his hand brush my thigh. “You’re shaking.”

  “That’s how much I want you,” I said honestly.

  “I’ll stop,” he told me.

  I covered his hand with mine. “Please, don’t.”

  His hand pulled from beneath mine and moved to my center. My eyes went wide when he brushed at the wetness. Brandon had never done that. He never touched me there.

  Eric’s other hand pushed my thigh out wide, so I was more open to him.

  His name formed on my lips and it was like he heard before I spoke.

  “Do you trust me, Kelly?”

  “Yes,” I replied without hesitation.

  I was slick, dripping with desire, and his fingers spread the silky liquid around further, swirling it around the most sensitive spot on me. He plucked gently at my swollen bud until I moaned and writhed against the bed.

  Tension built up inside me so strong I felt like I might explode.

  When he left the spot I exhaled with slight relief only to have his finger penetrate my body. The pad of his finger rubbed against my inner walls and my eyes rolled back in my head. God, this felt good.

  He felt good.

  “Eric,” I panted when that pressure began building up inside me again.

  His hands left me entirely and his body settled over mine. He braced his weight on his elbows and pressed our lips together.

  At the same time, he entered me in one long stroke. I called out but he swallowed the sound and began to move.

  I loved the way he didn’t hesitate; he was sure in his movement. His surety made me enjoy it more because it inspired confidence. And because he really knew how to move.

  His cock totally filled me up and stretched me out. My inner walls vibrated with pleasure and with every thrust, he went just a little bit deeper.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist and his forehead dropped onto my shoulder as he thrust into me again and again.

  And then he hit this spot. A magical spot that caused an explosion inside me. My teeth sank into his shoulder and he continued to ride me hard.

  I came with so much force I ceased to hear and see. When at last my body let reality back in, my legs slid from around him like melting snow and I collapsed into the bed, a boneless, satisfied mess.

  “You still with me, Kel?” he whispered, rising up over me, balanced on his hands.

  I smiled.

  His movements quickened and his breathing turned shallow. I felt his release inside me and I heard it in the air when he moaned.

  When it was over, he rolled to the side and pulled me with him so I was lying half across his chest. I could hear his heart beat right beneath my ear.

  I thought it might be my new favorite sound.

  Well, okay, maybe it was tied with his voice.

  His fingers toyed with the ends of my hair and dragged up and down my spine. I laid there in the afterglow, my body completely relaxed and my mind only in the present.

  For a little while anyway.

  “Sounds like the rain is letting up,” Eric whispered.

  I made a sound of agreement.

  “Kel?” he whispered again.

  “Hmm?”

  “Was that okay for you?”

  Ah, for once, some vulnerability in his voice. It was almost as endearing as his floppy curls.

  I smiled against his chest. I thought about teasing him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  I lifted my chin and propped it up on the back of my hand and looked at him. “It was better than okay.”

  His teeth flashed white in the dark and he rolled so he could kiss me.

  “I gotta go clean up,” he said, pushing off me. “Before they get home.”

  “Kay,” I replied, watching him.

  Before leaving the room, he turned on a small lamp over on the dresser and then lifted it down onto the floor so it wasn’t so bright.

  “Cause I won’t be able to hold your hand in the dark while I’m gone,” he said, bestowing upon me an adorable yet sexy smile.

  When he was gone, my mind started to wonder. I thought about the party and my horrible nickname. I thought about the way everyone teased Eric and called him a geek.

  I thought about Mandy and what a horrible friend I was.

  I was at odds with everyone, including myself.

  Eric let himself back in the room and slid on a pair of boxers. Next, he tossed me a t-shirt, one of his.

  I slipped it on and as he laid back down, he pulled me close.

  I guess right now I wasn’t at odds with Eric.

  But the longer I laid there and thought, the more it became clear. Something was going to have to give.

  I could reclaim my status. Tonight was awful, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t overcome.

  Did I want it back? Was being at the top, being a man-eater really worth the cost?

  I felt the softness of Eric’s lips at my hairline and I smiled. The smile quickly faded away though when sadness overcame me.

  The cost of that life—of popularity—was suddenly very high.

  I couldn’t have both, of that much I was certain.

  I was going to have to choose.

  Popularity or Eric.

  Crunchy – to be jealous.

  Girls like Kelly are dangerous.

  Scratch that.

  I’ve never met anyone like Kelly before.

  I will rephrase.

  Kelly is dangerous.

  Dangerous because she has the ability to walk off with my heart.

  The ability to hurt me.

  I wasn’t in love with Kelly. Right now, I was in serious like and lust. It wasn’t as if we’d just met. Yes, we’d been best friends a whole other lifetime ago.

  But as I’d been discovering, the kids who we were at our core was still the same back then. Did that mean I knew her, at least in some sense?

  In the most important sense?

  It was like we were reconnecting, but doing so in a different way.

  I’d opened up to her in the fort. I told her things I hadn’t even told Ryan. She’d told me how she thought I basically abandoned our friendship. I guess in some ways I had.

  And then she did that day at lunch when I tried to sit with her.

  I never tried after that and neither did she.

  We settled into co-existing in the same school, but in completely different realms.

  I couldn’t even be mad at her anymore about the way she behaved. I understood it now. I might not agree with how she’s handled her friends and popularity, but who was I to judge? We all handled things differently.

  I got the distinct impression she wasn’t happy. She didn’t really like who she pretended to be. I hoped after the night we had and the way we talked, she’d realize she didn’t have to pretend.

  I thought things might be different.

  She slept with me most the night after we’d had sex. The second we heard the front door open and close, she’d rushed into her room and several minutes later I heard her talking to her mom in the hall about changing her mind about staying at Mandy’s.


  I also heard her tell my mom I’d gone to bed hours ago and was likely asleep.

  After the house settled down and all was quiet, I’d gotten up and crept to the door. Slowly, I pulled open my door and peeked out to realize she was doing the same.

  Her smile was brilliant and she raced across the hall and into my room. She was still wearing my t-shirt; it was just covered up by a robe.

  We spent the rest of the night making out and sleeping. Kelly didn’t go back to her room until the sun began to rise.

  I’d had sex with two girls before her. I could honestly say, Kelly was the best I’d ever had.

  I already wanted her again.

  I loved the way her body responded to my hands. The way her legs quivered when I was between them. The sounds she made drove me wild and the surprise in her eyes when I did something that truly pleased her made me feel like I was riding on a cloud.

  I didn’t see her much the next day because she went out with her mother and we went by our house to see how the work was progressing.

  Looked like things were on track and we would be going home very soon.

  Mom was of course mad I’d called Dad for the money. She scolded me, but not very much. Deep down, I knew she was relieved and that was enough for me to take her lecture.

  I’d asked for too much apparently, so with the rest I told her to buy herself something nice. She deserved it.

  We smiled at each other during dinner and I waited for her to come to my room that night.

  She didn’t.

  I went to my door twice, thinking I’d go to her, but something held me back.

  Something close to fear.

  Now that the weekend was over and she’d had time to think… did she regret the night we spent together?

  Was she sorry she slept with me? Did it change nothing at all?

  The next morning at school I found out.

  She ignored me completely.

  It was like a kick right to my balls. I watched her covertly every time I got the chance. Most people treated her like they always had, like she was the most popular girl in school.

  I did see Rebecca giving her some dirty looks, but Kelly seemed to be unconcerned. There was a definite strain between Mandy and Kelly, and Tad stayed far away from them both.

  I wondered if she apologized to Mandy and if things were on the mend between them.