by London Casey
“What about guys? You’re way too beautiful and real to be single.”
“First off, thank you,” Diem said. “That’s sweet of you to say. But when a baby is given to you, you sort of lose what everyone thinks reality is.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning you stop getting invites to go out,” she said. “And the guy you were seeing … who wants that life?”
I felt a swoosh of anger and jealousy surge through me. I didn’t want to ever picture Diem with another man. And I never wanted to think about another man raising my daughter.
“Whoever that guy was, he was an asshole,” I said. “Okay? But you know what? I’m glad he did that to you.”
“Wow, thanks,” she said.
“Hey, look at me, darlin’.” I put my finger to her soft chin. “If he can’t handle that life then to hell with him. I want you to know, I can handle that life. I am. I will.”
Diem smiled. “Cass, you know that you and me … isn’t it wrong?”
“I can’t give you the answer to that. I can only tell you how I feel.”
I was just inches from her again. My tongue burned with the taste of her mouth from the house. I had her on the table. I kissed her in a way that told her exactly what I wanted from her. What I demanded from her. Shit, what I wanted to go give to her.
We had been interrupted once.
“Tell me about your father,” she said, cutting the moment into pieces.
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I need to know you, Cass. The real you. I don’t care about the rock star. The tattoo artist. I care about you.”
“You care about me,” I said.
“No, not like—shit …”
I grinned. “Deep breaths, darlin’. Can I show you something? Then I’ll tell you about my old man.”
“Yeah, okay.”
I walked to my desk and took out a stencil. Moving fast I made a little heart. I turned and nodded to Diem. “Get back on the chair. Lift your shirt a little.”
“What?”
“I want to show you what it’ll look like.”
“What are you doing?”
“It’s just a stencil,” I said. “Like a fake tattoo you’d get in a pack of gum.”
Diem leaned back and lifted her shirt. Just seeing that sliver of smooth, creamy skin was enough to get shit going inside me. I hadn’t thought about another woman or come close to another woman since Diem came barging into my life. The urge wasn’t there. I was solely focused on her. So for a guy like me and what I was used to in life, I felt like I had gone years without sex.
I gently touched Diem’s belly and she shivered. I hooked my fingers to her jeans and pushed. Her panties were a light yellow color. It was like she oozed a flavor of innocence that I craved so badly.
I put the stencil on her skin and peeled the paper away.
“Look,” I said. “So simple. And it would look fucking hot on you.”
“You can’t be serious,” she said. “I’m not getting a tattoo.”
“The offer stands,” I said. “People pay a lot to be in your position.”
“My position,” she whispered.
I sat down in my chair. I still hadn’t released my hold on her jeans. I inched forward and gently pressed my lips to her hip bone. Fuck, she was sweet. She was perfect.
Diem reached for my hair. “Cass …”
“Darlin’,” I said. “I need to taste you or ink you. Pick one right now.”
“I trust you,” Diem said. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do. You showed me my daughter for the first time ever. You changed my life. I want to change yours.”
“Tell me the story, then. About your father.”
“Then what do I get?” I asked with a grin that had been famous for melting panties.
Diem won the battle with her next statement. “You get anything you want.”
Fuck.
Diem was going into places of my life that nobody got to. But if she wanted my story to trust me, then so be it. I could play the game. I trusted her. She was the woman raising my daughter.
“He was the reason I left the first time I was at your place,” I said. I leaned back in my chair. Diem still had her shirt lifted up, driving me crazy with the sight of her bare skin. “Hell, he was the reason I flipped in Little Mikey’s. I never wanted to hurt you, but all I know is hurt. You know, Ma’s a good woman and all, but she really didn’t take care of me the right way. Not that I could blame her. A boy needs a father. The truth is that I don’t remember much. I know he took off on us. He woke up one day and just said he was done. It was a Saturday morning. I was sitting at the coffee table, eating a bowl of cereal. Milk dribbling down my chin because I was so focused on the damn TV. He went out that morning for breakfast. He never did that. Ma sometimes made breakfast but usually I would chow down tons of cereal before starting the day.
“So the old man came home from breakfast. He walked by me and touched my head. I remember that because it was the last time he touched me. He smelled like coffee and bacon. It’s amazing that I could remember those details. But he went into the kitchen and started talking to Ma. A few minutes later, it was a full blown fight. He was done. He didn’t want a family anymore. He didn’t want a wife. He didn’t want a kid. He didn’t want a house. Shit, he didn’t even take his stuff. He literally left that day with the clothes on his back and the keys to his car.”
“Jesus, Cass,” Diem said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “You wanted to hear the story. So here it is. He was gone. Ma fell apart. Rightfully so. She had to work two or three jobs, all the time. I was always getting into some kind of trouble too. She’d come home from work and crash on the couch. She smoked for a long time but quit after a scare with bronchitis. She drank a lot too. That’s been toned down. Hell, that was part of the reason why I wanted to bounce. Between her life and the way my band fell apart, I wanted out of it all.” I shook my head and rubbed my face. “So I have no experience on being a father. Only feeling let down and letting people down. I’ve only had one serious relationship in my life, Diem. And the thing with Scarlett … that was meeting the right person at the right time. But she took off on me. She knew it wasn’t meant to be. But back to my father for a second. He’d sometimes send stuff. I think just appease his guilt. I’d get a birthday card with the wrong age on it. Nothing inside. Sometimes he wouldn’t even sign the card. Probably didn’t want to right the word Dad.”
“Cass, come here,” Diem said. “Right here, please.”
I leaned forward and Diem met me. She put her face right to mine. She grabbed my face. “Cass, you’re doing amazing too. With all of this. I was terrified to come near you. And after that first night—I didn’t know what to expect. You haven’t gone a day without seeing Paisley. You make me feel important and special. You make me feel good.”
“You’re beautiful, darlin’. Inside and out. And you and I …”
There were no more words.
I kissed her. She kissed me back. Her nails scratched at my cheeks.
The kiss broke just after a few blissful seconds.
“Do it,” she whispered to me.
I could taste her breath. I wanted more.
“Do what, darlin’?”
“The heart. The tattoo. Do it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, Cass. Mark me forever.”
I could never say no to a beautiful woman.
Mark me forever.
Those three words were going to burn inside me for the rest of my life.
I looked at her and thought about all I knew.
I tried to picture her in glasses, being some dorky girl.
When I did, it rattled me to my core.
I felt like I knew Diem all my life.
A tiny heart on a woman’s body was nothing fancy. It took me no time to do it. But the entire thing was laced with erotic temptation. Watching her skin shiver. Watching h
er skin prickle with goosebumps. Feeling her jump and wince in pain. I let her touch the back of my shirt and I loved feeling her clutch tight.
I wiped away the leftover ink and put the tattooing gun down. I pushed everything away.
“Look at that,” I said. “Tell me what you think.”
“I can’t believe I just got a tattoo,” she said. “I never …”
“Darlin’, do you like it?”
“I love it,” Diem said.
I imagined her saying I love you to me. That made me almost fall out of my chair.
I took the white towel from her lower belly, placing my hand there as I did so. The fingertips of my ring and pinky fingers casually slipped inside her jeans, feeling the lacy edge of her panties.
I met eyes with Diem and felt something flip inside me. That final switch, telling me I wasn’t going to be able to hold back any longer with her. Without breaking my stare to hers, I dropped the towel to the floor and reached for the button on her jeans. With the flick of my thumb, her jeans were now open. To my complete surprise, Diem lifted her hips. She wanted me to take her jeans off.
“Christ, darlin’,” I gritted my teeth. “There’s no stopping when I start this.”
She shivered and gripped the arms of the chair. She could hold onto that fucking chair as much as she wanted, but in the end, she was going to be mine. Holding onto me. Moaning my name.
That’s when it all started to happen, and fast.
I put my lips to just below her belly button. I kissed her there, then used the tip of my tongue to move up, making a circle around her belly button. With both hands, grabbed the sides of jeans and pulled. I wasn’t going to let this moment pass me by. I couldn’t let that happen.
I wheeled in my chair down to her ankles and tore off her shoes so I could tear off her jeans. Of all the crazy shit I’d done in my life, being in my office, nothing had ever happened. This was a sacred spot for me. I wouldn’t share it like this if my feelings …
I ran my hands up her soft legs. Trailed to the insides of her thighs, opening her legs. That light yellow color of her panties driving me mad. I crept over her panties and did away with them like I did her jeans.
That’s when Diem groaned the first time.
Her cheeks were bright red.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, darlin’,” I said, wanting her to feel at ease. I wanted her to feel confidence. I wanted her to understand what she meant to me.
I brought my right hand up between her legs as my eyes were locked to hers again. My fingertips felt the softness, the wetness, of her folds. I curled my two fingers, opening her just enough, easily discovering the tender nub of her clit.
“Cass,” she purred as her hips bucked up.
“Darlin’,” I growled. “Easy …”
I eased my fingers back down and felt the tightness of her body. I added pressure, opening her, feeling her welcome me with a warm and tight sheath. I pushed my fingers as deep as I could reach, watching the look of pleasure spread across her face. My other hand was on her belly but I reached for her hand. Our fingers interlocked tight.
Cass, what the fuck are you doing?
That question rolled through my head a hundred times.
I looked down at her pussy. The smoothness of her mound. The perfect definition of her delicate petals. The clear nectar which poured from her. Oh, and the sweet smell of her that went after me.
I quickly took my fingers from her body and gripped her inner thigh tight.
I was thirsty for her. I was hungry for her.
I wanted all of her.
As my mouth approached her, her body quivered. The tip of my tongue sliced between her folds, cutting up and curling, pressing against her clit. That was the spot where I could take up writing lyrics again. I’d write a fucking double album in that spot, and Diem would provide the soundtrack to it.
I closed my mouth around her, gently sucking all the perfect wetness of her. She tasted as sweet as she looked. I pulled away with a wet noise and licked my lips. I made her bend her right leg so I could position myself better between her legs. I licked her bottom to top as though she were melting and I had to taste it all. My beard rubbed against her wetness, touched her inner thighs too. I felt her jump when the scruff of my face touched her.
Deal with it, darlin’.
I didn’t fuck around with anything in life, including sex.
I was all in.
Her hand that held mine started to grip tighter. Her hips shook as she groaned over and over. I looked up and saw her arch her chest up, her head thrown back.
“Fuck, yes,” she whispered.
I growled and kept going. My tongue moved faster, harder, feeling each of her labia, teasing at her entrance, and forever finding comfort at her clit. I turned my head and started to suck against her clit. I brought my right hand to her pussy, two fingers plunging inside her. That’s when her ass lifted up off the chair.
“Cass!” she managed to yell.
I broke away long enough to give her one last command. “Darlin’, you’re going to come for me. Right now, I want to feel all of it. I’m thirsty for you.”
I took my hand from hers. I pulled my fingers out of her beautiful body. I slipped both hands to under her ass, feeling her flexing. That little firm ass was meant for holding onto.
I grabbed her, holding her up.
My mouth went back to work between her legs. Her pussy was all mine now. I had shown her how perfect she was and now I wanted to feel her come. I knew I’d have to work for that and Diem was worth every second of effort. Although I knew it wasn’t going to take much. She hadn’t been with the right man. The kind of man who knew how to take a woman’s most delicate of needs and turn them into something wild.
Behind every good girl smile was a vixen devil begging to come out and play.
“Come for me,” I growled, my lips a centimeter from her lips. Between her legs.
My tongue went back to its most important job of the night.
I brought her to the edge of climax with the tip of my tongue. I learned just how she liked it. How her clit liked to be touched. How she liked my hands kneading at that ass of hers. How she liked me making circles around her clit, flicking across the sensitive pearl every now and again. How she liked when I thrust my fingers deep into her and turned them, feeling her forgiving walls as they clenched tight, leaving my cock in my jeans pulsing, wanting to explore her.
“Oh, Cass,” she said in a weak breath.
I used the tip of my tongue to finish writing her our first song.
That’s when the edge fell from under her.
She tried to lower herself as she started to come, but I wasn’t having it. I held her up, held her steady, and felt her release as she was able to finally let go. Her hands gripped the leather chair so tight I thought she was going to rip it open. The room was filled with whimpers and breathless squeals as Diem continued to come.
I brought my tongue down between her folds and stayed right with her. Loving her tender pussy. Feeling shit running through my body and heart that was only going to get me in trouble.
Goddamn … I found a woman who made me think with my heart and not my dick.
Diem
NOW
He was rough. So beautifully rough. But he was gentle. A man after my heart in a way I never thought would happen. On one knee before me, he helped me get dressed. My hands to his shoulders as I stepped into my jeans.
I was a mess.
And I was supposed to stay the night.
My only saving grace would be if I had clothes in a bag in the trunk of my car. Before Paisley, I would go to the gym almost every single day. After Paisley, I went once or twice a week, usually when she was in daycare. So there was a bag in the trunk. I just hoped there were a change of panties because the ones I was wearing were a mess.
Cass slowly rose up from his knee to tower over me.
My night had officially consisted of leaving Paisley with a woman who was
a stranger to me. Going to a tattoo shop after hours. Getting a tattoo. Before having the man who tattooed me take care of me in many ways.
I was still shuddering from deep in my core.
I touched Cass’s chest, feeling the thick and hard muscle under his shirt. My right hand started to move down his body, knowing what I wanted next of him.
My head spun faster than my heart raced.
Cass put a hand to mine and stole it away just as I touched the top of his belt buckle.
“Easy,” he whispered. “This is all for you. You deserve it.”
“Cass, what’s happening here? Isn’t this wrong?”
“Wrong is something you feel, darlin’. So if you feel wrong, then tell me. I sure as shit don’t feel wrong right now.”
“Then you say the right thing there and I get more confused.”
“No need to be confused. This is the situation we’re in. And we still have plenty to talk about.”
“You were busy doing something else with your mouth,” I said with a grin.
“I didn’t see you complaining, darlin’. Now let me put some stuff on that tattoo of yours.”
When Cass touched me, even in a way that had nothing to do with sexual implications, it made my body burn with desire for him.
“I could stay here all night with you,” he said. “But I think we should get back to my place. Make sure Ma has our daughter cared for.”
The way he said our daughter just came off his lips so easily.
But it struck me in a way that I had to look away.
“Hey, darlin’,” Cass said. “I’m sorry I—”
“No,” I said. I broke away from Cass. “It’s okay. I get it. I’m not her though. I’ll never be her. No matter what happens between us.”
I felt Cass grab my arm and he turned me around. “I don’t want you to be anyone else but yourself, Diem. I like you. I want to be near you. I love watching you with Paisley. You don’t know what it means to me.”
Saying the right thing, all the damn time.
I nodded. “I’m tired, Cass. I want to check on Paisley.”
That was the last of our conversation.
Somehow, something romantic and sexy had gotten twisted up in the reality that was our lives.