by Lauren Dane
“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?”
“To be honest with you, Elise, I don’t know. Here’s what I do know. I can’t stop thinking about you. Thinking about those kisses we shared, about the way your pulse at your wrist beat against my lips. The hollow of your throat.” He drew a fingertip over that very sensitive skin and she drew in a shaky breath. “The way you smell. Christ, so feminine. Not flowery, not vanilla, but so female. Drives me crazy.” He leaned in and took a deep breath, his lips hovering just above her shoulder.
“I probably smell like female sweat just now.” She tried to joke, but his nearness put her on edge. Not with fear but with desire, with wanting things she’d never imagined she’d want. Of wanting him to give her exactly what he said he wanted to deliver. Of wanting him to take.
“You smell so fucking good, I want to take a big bite. I want to lick you from the tips of your toes to the tops of your ears.”
His words left her gaping like a goldfish in a bowl. She gave in to the feelings, let go and let her fingers thread through that thick hair of his. It was softer than she’d imagined. The strength of him under her hands, as he bent to her, sent a tremor through her. Oh, she wanted this, wanted the power of his body against hers, sliding skin to skin.
“I want you, Elise, and I think you want me too. No. I know you do. I can see it there in your eyes. I tasted it on your skin.”
She nodded as he stood back, straightening. His hands remained at her waist, the heat of him, the weight a reminder of what they could have.
“We’re friends now, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re busy, I’m busy, but I want you so much it drives me to distraction.” So much he’d found himself at the bank on a nonbanking day. Made himself go to the little restaurant so he could look at the door to her studio. Finally let go of what he should do and let himself go to her.
What a surprise Elise Sorenson was. Not just any ballerina but a principal dancer. The pictures and news clippings he’d seen on her walls as he’d climbed the stairs, the prestige of what she’d been and accomplished, hadn’t really come as that much of a shock. Despite her size, he was quite convinced she was a strong and driven person. But when she danced she was magic.
He was nearly forty; he’d seen a lot in his life, had done a lot. Until he’d met Elise, he’d been quite sure nothing could surprise him anymore. Until she kissed him back on her porch that night after dinner. Until she’d moaned, just a whisper of sound as he’d done it.
Until he’d seen her dance for him just moments before. He’d never paid much attention to ballet. He didn’t hate it or think it was too froufrou; he realized it was incredibly difficult. He’d just never taken much interest. But the strength she emanated, the grace and fluidity, it was achingly beautiful and keenly athletic all at once. And it made his want for her simply unbearable. That one person could move with such utter confidence of grace and timing simply shook him. He didn’t quite know why it touched him so deeply, moved him so, but as he’d watched her, the need had crawled over his skin.
“And?”
“We have chemistry, Elise. We fit. Given the way I nearly came just from kissing you for five minutes, I think we should expand our friendship to friends who have sex.”
She was silent, chewing her bottom lip until he began to think he probably shouldn’t have said a damned thing.
She met his gaze without blinking. Nodding. “I agree.”
Oh. Well, he . . . All right then. He raised his hand to touch her, but she caught it, halting his movement, but keeping her hand on his.
“I have some ground rules.”
He grinned. “I promise to make you come every time.”
She laughed, her blue eyes dancing with a light he hadn’t seen before. It was then he knew for certain they’d be dynamite in bed.
“That should go without saying. My rules are that you can’t sleep over. I’m sorry but I really need stability in Rennie’s life. I won’t be dating for a while yet and I don’t want to have men overnight to confuse her. And if we do this, I’m the only one you sleep with. I realize you’re not offering me your frat pin or anything, but I want to be careful, and frankly, I think I deserve that one nod to fidelity.”
He’d never let on that he found her so fucking cute when she got demanding, or that he hadn’t wanted another woman since he’d felt the touch of her fingers on his cheek that day he’d been hit. He’d been with a lot of women, but he couldn’t seem to recall a time when he’d wanted a woman more than he did Elise. Plus, it certainly wouldn’t be a chore to fuck her and only her as long as they had this little arrangement.
“I agree to both conditions. I respect your putting your kid first and I respect you too.”
“I don’t have another class for two hours. What I do have is a very large couch in my office and a door downstairs that locks.”
And yet more surprises from her. Boldly sexual too. “I’ll be back in a sec.” He dashed downstairs, flipped the sign to closed and locked the door.
She called after him, “Don’t break anything! Those stairs are steep and I’m not going anywhere.”
He stalked to her, burning for her now that he’d been freed to touch. “Neither is my need for you. Come here. I’ve been wanting to kiss you since about thirty seconds after the last time.”
She went to her toes on those glorious satin shoes and took the kiss he offered. Her mouth was sweet, just as he’d remembered, but the need there was a stronger flavor. It met his own, challenged his own, tested the limits on his control.
Her arms around his neck were strong and sure and held him in place against her lithe body as she squirmed to get closer. This artlessness, the sort of innocent need she showed as she clung to him, surprised him as much as her total confidence of movement when she danced. What a package of contradictions and layers she was. How utterly delightful.
“I want to lay you out and reveal you inch by inch,” he gasped, pulling his mouth from hers.
She took his hand and led him down a side hallway and through a door at the end. Her office held a large desk, a big, cushy couch and lots of windows high up on the walls so the room was filled with light but held privacy.
“I want to see you,” he murmured as he slid a strap of her leotard from one shoulder, kissing the spot he’d exposed.
“I’m . . . I’ve been dancing. I’m sweaty . . . Oh god that’s . . .” Her head dropped back as he swirled his tongue across her shoulder and to the spot where it became her neck. Her breast, small, pert, fit perfectly in his hand, her nipple pressing against his palm like he’d pictured a thousand times since he’d met her.
“Stop it. I’m licking you right now and you taste salty-sweet. That’s my favorite flavor combo. Chocolate-covered pretzels, popcorn and M&M’s. Elise Sorenson. I love it and I can’t wait to lick more.”
She exhaled, shaky and with a tense groan behind it. He simply looked at her upper body when he pulled the top of the leotard down around her waist, exposing all that pale, creamy skin, the acres of toned muscle, the shape of each beautiful breast capped with a pale pink nipple.
Unable to resist, he leaned down and licked over one and then the other. He picked her up, placing her cute ass down on her desk. “That’s better. How flexible are you, Elise?”
Giddiness flushed Elise’s system. Her actions this entire morning had been totally unlike her. How wonderful to be a woman she’d never imagined being! In a positive way, for a change. In reply to his question, she swung her leg up, the tip of her shoe near his shoulder.
“Very.”
“You’re going to kill me, but it’ll be worth it.” He groaned and took her ankle in his hand, wrapping strong fingers around it. “These shoes are very sexy, but they need to be off so I can finish getting you naked.” He paused, looking. “Where’s the tie?”
She laughed and moved so her leg was bent, foot in her lap. “A dancer’s bane is the way the ribbons on toe shoes come undone all the
time. If I were performing I’d go as far as to sew the knot in place, but today I just used a clear Band-Aid.” He bent and watched while she quickly peeled the bandage off, untucked the knot and loosened it to take off one and then the other toe shoe. She hoped he was impressed with the rest of her because a dancer’s feet were anything but pretty.
He was there again, standing between her thighs as he pulled her shorts down and off and the leotard followed, until all she had left were her tights. The air of the room was cool, but heat rolled from him, blanketing her as she leaned forward to press her face against his chest.
The muscles in his sides jumped as she slid her hands under the edge of his shirt. He was warm and hard, and suddenly she needed to see him so badly it hurt.
“You’re too tall this way. I can’t reach you.”
He simply picked her up, and she knelt on the top of the desk, peeling his shirt off, exposing his upper body. She studied him for long moments, taking in the hard muscle, the twist and curl of ink, the silver barbell in his left nipple.
“You’re making me nervous,” he said, sounding a bit agitated, so she smiled at him.
“You’re gorgeous. I can’t decide what I want to touch first. But I want to touch it all.” She traced along a spectacular dragon, from the swirl of a tail around his belly button up to the head that took up his entire shoulder.
He closed his eyes a moment as his vision swam. Her hands on him, her eyes greedily taking in the sight of his body, did something to him. Damn it, made him even harder—if that was possible.
“Touch whatever you want.” He shivered when she brushed her fingertips over his nipple and the bar.
“Did I hurt you?” She started to draw back, but he took her wrist and put her hand where it had been.
“Not at all. Your hands on me feel good. I want more.”
That’s when she licked from his belly button to the barbell and he saw stars. Like he’d never had sex before. And then she said, “You taste yummy. Thank God I’m not on a diet.”
“Christ.” He pulled the tights down her legs until she lay back on the desk, spread out there like a sweet treat. So petite and perfect and ready. He saw the glistening lips of her cunt, smelled her on the air. He wanted more.
She wailed when he dropped to his knees. “Wait, no! Your pants off.”
“If I take my pants off, I’ll want to shove my cock into you until we succeed in knocking everything from the surface of this desk. I want to do this first.” He spread her thighs as he pulled her toward his mouth and latched on.
She hissed an appreciative sound, followed by an entreaty. But her taste drowned him and he surrendered to it. So sweet and unique. He took a long lick, swirling his tongue to catch her honey and take it in. Her moan in response was low and throaty, such a contrast to the soft sweetness of her voice.
Her body writhed beneath him, responding head to toe to his touch. The triumph of that, of bringing pleasure to this woman, rang through him. He wanted more of her, wanted her climax and then many more. He wanted to lose himself in her for hours on end. Nothing else mattered then but her, but the two of them.
She cried out, the hands buried in his hair yanking tight as she came on his tongue, a climax so beautiful he felt it low in his gut with each sobbed wave of her release. He fell then. He just wouldn’t know it until later, until it was far too late to turn back.
He stood, toeing his boots off as she sat up. “Let me,” she said, hopping down, her hands going to his belt and then the button and zipper of his jeans. “Your body is so sexy. So beautiful.” She pressed a kiss to his side. “I’ve never wanted a man like you before. You’re overwhelming.”
She pulled his jeans down as he tried to puzzle over what she’d just told him. Should he be offended? Why, when he felt the same? His women had tended to be big and bold, tatted and pierced. They inhabited his world. This woman was not that on any level, and yet, beneath the exterior, he definitely felt a sort of kinship with her.
She nipped at his belly button and caressed his thighs and calves as she helped him from his jeans, boxers and socks.
“This is very, um, impressive,” she said of his cock, and he was the one who blushed for a change.
“Thank you,” he said, laughing.
A laugh that died when she angled toward him and licked across the head. Dear sweet god in heaven, her mouth was right. Hot and wet and eagerly sucking him. His balls crawled up close to his body, and he grabbed the back of the chair behind him to keep from tearing her hair free of that perfect bun and fucking her mouth.
The way she held him, held his cock gently, told him a lot. The caveman who lived in his gut liked that she didn’t seem super experienced. Obviously enough to have had a child, and she knew her way around a blow job. But she didn’t venture away from his sac or gobble him down to the root or anything. A stupid thing to be pleased about, he realized, but there it was.
“You have to stop,” he said around clenched teeth, “or I will come in your mouth, and I want to be inside you when that happens.”
She pulled back and stood up, running her hands all over his torso, and yes, she made him feel desired and attractive in a way that made him want to puff out his chest and strut around. It was then he remembered the condom thing.
“Shit.” He bent and grabbed his pants, pulling out his wallet. “Please let there be a condom in here,” he mumbled, and a startled laugh bubbled from her.
He pulled out a lone condom, checked the expiration date and breathed a sigh of relief. He’d need to make a donation somewhere that afternoon when he left, to thank the universe for that luck.
One-handed, he rolled the condom on before drawing her to the couch where he’d first sat. “You can control everything this way,” he explained and she scrambled onto his lap.
“It’s okay if you say something about the size of your equipment. I know I’m petite. But at the risk of sounding like a line from a bad romance novel, I’m pretty sure you’ll fit.”
He reached between her thighs and slid his fingers up into her gate, stretching her a bit. “You’re still so wet and hot.”
“I want another part of you in there.” She moved his hand and replaced it with the head of his cock as she rose up on those powerful thighs and then fell inch, by slow inch, surrounding him with heat and tightness that stole his breath.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he managed to say, fighting the nearly overwhelming need to slam his cock into her, balls-deep. “Are you all right?”
“I’m more than all right. I’m not in pain—well, a good kind of full. It’s just been a while. But everyone should break their fast with something this good.” She opened eyes that had been half-lidded, and he felt that zing between them. “No one should be as pretty as you are.”
She settled with his cock in her body totally. Elise had to admit she liked the look of strain on his face, liked knowing he was as on the edge as she. She hadn’t felt so good in a very long time. Years.
Leaning backward, she braced her hands on his thighs, just above his knees, and began to slide up and down his cock, slowly at first, as her body got used to him and because it felt too good to rush.
“No one has ever said I was pretty before. Should I be offended?” He wore a grin so cocky it should have been illegal. Instead it just added to his overall sexual appeal.
“You’re stunning. The tattoos, the wary eyes, the messy hair, those broad shoulders—it all works in a way I find quite unexpectedly hot. And yes, pretty, but in a manly way, of course.”
“Pretty can’t hold a candle to what I’m looking at. Watching my cock disappear into you over and over, coming out all shiny with your juices. You’re so long and lithe for someone so petite. All that gorgeous pale skin.” He skimmed his palms up her belly and cupped her breasts. “These are, Christ, they’re lovely.”
She blushed, there was no way to hide it. “They’re very small. Men usually like big breasts.”
“Yes, yes, like that. Oh, th
at’s sweet,” he ground out as she rolled her hips once she’d taken him inside totally. The length of his cock stroked over her clit when she did it that way. “Men like breasts. Period. Full stop. Yours are pert, your nipples stand up so nicely.” To emphasize that, he dragged his thumbs over them, bringing a gasping cry from her. “I also like that you make noise. That’s hot.”
She bit her lip and levered herself forward to change the angle and increase her speed. Above him, she looked down into his face before lowering to kiss him, tasting herself on his lips. A groan came from deep inside when his thumb, one that had been teasing her left nipple just moments before, found her clit, stroking from side to side just as he had with her nipple.
Sensation rose within and she knew he’d make her come again. He swallowed every sound she made as he played over her clit and began to thrust up to meet her body as she slid down. So good, so damned good.
She tore her mouth away as she climaxed and he nipped her bottom lip. The sting washed through her, sharpening the pleasure as her body clamped down around his cock. Two orgasms in one session? Clearly she’d made the right choice when she’d agreed to this friends with benefits situation.
“Yeah, motherfuck, yes.” He thrust up hard and deep and held her there. Within her body, she felt his cock jerk as he came; she watched his face, the tightening of his glorious mouth and then the total relaxation as he exhaled long and slow.
7
“Hey there, Rennie! Where are you off to all dressed up?” Rennie, ever pleased with attention to her clothing choices, turned to face Brody with a wide smile. “Hi, Brody! It’s the first day of school. Do you like my new dress? We got it last weekend.” She twirled to show the full effect and Brody clapped. Elise smiled at him too. How could she not?
“I like it very much. That’s the same color as your eyes. What grade are you starting today?” he asked, knowing full well it was the first grade because he and Elise had discussed it before.
“First. My teacher is a Mister!” Rennie’s eyes widened at the very idea of a male teacher. Sometimes, at moments like this one, Elise just wanted to hold her daughter and soak up all that wonderful and never let go.