Closer

by Kaia Bennett

  He sat up, banding one arm around her waist while he dipped his head to capture the breast he wasn't palming in his mouth. His fingers strummed over the softness of her creamy skin like it was one of his guitars. He knew how to make music with every inch of her curvy body, notes she didn’t even know existed yet. It traveled lower still, rubbing the cheeks of her firm ass.

  "Taking too long, Nic," he whispered with a grin against her jaw. "Want me to help you come quicker?"

  She whimpered and nodded, pulling herself closer to him by wrapping her arms around his neck. Time for a little sensory overload. His fingers slipped between their bodies from behind her, playing in their shared juices as she rode his cock with more fervor. The hand massaging her breasts dropped to tend to her clit.

  Nicole's body was already starting the fast climb towards release when Gabriel's thick middle finger circled that little rosette just north of her full pussy. He had done this once or twice before, and always with stellar results for her. Slick from being coated in their juices, the tip of his finger slid in as easily as his cock was sliding into to her wet core. He felt her muscles clamp down on the pleasurable intrusion, which in turn made her pussy grasp at his cock.

  "Yes, oh– fuck!"

  "You want more?" he asked, unable to help teasing her by circling and thrusting his finger in shallowly, just barely filling the entrance of her ass.

  "So... close. Please," she whispered. Her hips echoed the sentiment as they picked up speed. His finger pushed back and forth into her now. His pleasure harmonized with hers, his thumb circling her clit rapidly and his cock thrusting deeply within her causing sharp jolts through her body. He could feel his cock and that thick digit moving against each other, rubbing at the same spot within her. He wished he could flip her over and bury himself inside her, fuck and come in every place that could take him. Her sweet face, her smooth curves, that filthy, pretty mouth… every part of her undid him. He couldn’t get enough.

  For a full ten seconds he watched her struggle to breathe, speak, and see through cloudy eyes. All she could do was give into the sharp shudders of her body's climax and pump involuntarily over him. Coming was always just a little more intense when he filled her completely like he was now, and he knew one day he’d have to fight the urge to fuck her tight ass. She kept thrusting her hips over his, both to ride out the aftershocks of her own release, and to have him join her. He did shortly after, hot fluid succumbing to gravity and flowing for a second time down the length of him. The feeling was almost primal, like an invisible brand within her. She was his in these moments. He was hers. And for the length of time it took for him to come undone he wasn’t scared of that feeling. Maybe that’s why he chased it so relentlessly with her. Maybe he was just scared of being scared, scared to face what that fear might mean.

  The only sound for a long moment was his panting and grunts of release against her shoulder, her soft moans mirroring them. The only feeling was her hand stroking over his slick back, over his shoulders, and the rise and fall of their chests as they struggled to breathe. Slowly, he pulled his finger out of her and moved his thumb away from her swollen clit. Then he lay back and took her with him, her face cradled in the crook of his neck while his fingers played in her hair.

  "All better now?" he teased.

  She let out a huff of laughter. "For the moment. But there's still plenty of perfectly good hours in the day we could be using to get it on, and instead you gotta be all decent and visit your family."

  "I can only hope you'll forgive me for that someday."

  "Fucking pilgrims. Thanksgiving blows," she whooshed out, to which Gabriel quickly started laughing. He could feel her quietly laughing against his shoulder, and then felt a light kiss on his neck before she lifted herself up to a sitting position.

  "Okay, enough pouting. I promised I'd let you—"

  "Um... Gabe? You home?"

  They both stilled at the sound of another voice in the apartment, and then as realization sank in, Nicole groaned, and Gabriel exhaled deeply. He closed his eyes for a minute, rubbing a hand over his face in mild exasperation. Nuke and Jonny were home, and there was no telling exactly when that had occurred, but he'd be willing to bet based on the tentative yet stupid question that Nuke not only knew he was home, but also knew what he'd been doing just moments ago.

  It wasn't like he kept Nicole a secret. She'd met the guys numerous times, and they all knew she was off limits because of the strange thing they had going. But he hated having them see what they were up to, especially when it was common knowledge they weren't a real couple. It always made him feel like shit, the guilt and the truth laid bare when their arrangement was exposed to the damning rays of reality.

  "Yeah, I'm home," he called out finally. "I'll be out in a bit!"

  "Hiiii, Nicole!!" came Jonny's voice, followed by a loud thwacking sound and a boisterous, "Ow, Nuke, not my fucking face, man!"

  Nicole covered her embarrassed smile with her hand, casting an apologetic glance at Gabe before she lifted herself off him. But her expression quickly turned into a happy one when he pulled her to him for a deep kiss. He never, ever wanted her to feel ashamed because of him. It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t commit to more than this. It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t let her go. When she pulled away, she gave him one more peck and then shook her head with a laugh as she started gathering up her clothes. Gabriel, figuring he was just going to have to get undressed again for his shower, just pulled on his jeans.

  He caught her staring and smirked to himself. He was never oblivious to his effect on her, not anymore. He must have been blind to not notice before, but now his body was always on high alert when she was near.

  He knew this turned her on, the simple act of him pulling on jeans and nothing else, fully on display for her. She’d said several times on the road that the thought of him going commando after fucking her, seeing him walking around in just tattoos, jeans and her scent was enough to make her touch herself later. It reminded her of when he used to torture her by walking around in a towel when she visited her sister. Guilt warred with arousal when he thought of her watching him all those years, playing with her perfect pussy later to just an image of him. Turned him on so bad he found himself undressing her with his eyes while she sheepishly pulled her clothes back on.

  When she finished dressing, pulled on her shoes and tied her hair up into a neat bun on top of her head, she looked as modest as a well-fucked Nicole could. It didn’t help when he gave her the look he used to unravel her outside the bedroom, the one that said, I know all your secrets. I know how dirty you get behind closed doors.

  “Stop it,” she laughed and swatted him in the stomach as she made her way to the door. Stop giving me that look, her eyes always said. Stop making me melt with just a glance, she’d plead silently. He’d hide behind a smile and a laugh, hoping his eyes didn’t reveal the truth. He couldn’t stop himself. He couldn’t escape his need to make her melt for him, over and over. So he hid behind levity. He held the door closed above her head as she tried to escape and growled into her neck. That and the nip of his teeth made her squeal and giggle. She turned to nip him back on the sweet spot at the edge of his jaw, and then he held the door open for her before following her out.

  "Darling Nikki!" Jonny sang in a high pitched voice that trailed into a deep timbre, hopping down from the kitchen counter when she came into sight. It was a joke, the name of a Prince song Jonny always used because it was one of her nicknames. Unbeknownst to the guys, it also hit close enough to home that Nicole would practically melt from embarrassment in front of him, and Gabriel would have to hide a little smile as he recalled Nicole living up to lyrics in the song.

  In actuality she'd been on Gabriel's bed with his porn on the TV when she was discovered masturbating. The only slight consolation for the somewhat mortifying memory was that Gabriel was the only one who knew about it. He made sure to let her know he still vividly remembered that day. That he vividly remembered every day he�
�d spent with her thereafter was his secret. One of many.

  "Hey Jonny B., what's goin' on? Nicole asked, giving the good-looking, blue-eyed blond a big hug. "How's it feel to be a rock star now?"

  "Kinda the same as before. I'm just looking forward to the groupies and the overdoses, 'cause so far it's all been boring meetings," he replied, his signature megawatt smile bringing out the dimple in his left cheek.

  Gabe loved Jonny Beckett to death. He had a big mouth and over the top personality, but he had a big heart too, which was why Nicole liked him so much and why Gabriel never took him seriously on the countless occasions when he forgot to use tact. He was the youngest one in the group, next to their bass player, Q. Gabriel was the oldest, followed by Nuke, and the rhythm guitarist, Chase Cuccio. All great guys who treated Nic like more than just a pretty face and a hot body.

  "You look great, Nicole," Jonny said with glint of mischief in his eyes, tossing a glance at Gabriel as he walked by to get something to drink in the kitchen. "I mean you're all glowing and whatnot. Like you're really happy or just finished doing some aerobic exer— Ack!"

  Gabriel wasn't so far gone that he couldn't turn around, wrap his arm around Jonny's neck, and choke him into silence. "You talk too much, motherfucker," he said, almost nonchalantly as he dragged his captive easily towards the kitchen.

  "Hey, Nic," Nuke greeted from the couch where he was flipping through the channels on the TV.

  He saw Nuke spare a cursory glance towards the kitchen, where Gabriel continued to make Jonny say "uncle" while simultaneously getting some iced tea from the fridge, before Nicole leaned over and gave Nuke a kiss on the cheek in greeting. Nuke returned a shy smile. He was on the quiet side, but was also surprisingly hilarious. He'd known Gabriel the longest, and with his curly dark hair, brown eyes, and slight year-round tan, he could've been Gabriel's little brother.

  "Looking forward to visiting the family, Nuke?" she asked, grabbing up her coat from the arm of the couch.

  Within his grasp Jonny squirmed. “Shh, I’m trying to listen to the conversation, don’t be rude,” Gabe said.

  “… ugh… sweaty pits…” was Jonny’s muffled reply.

  "Yeah, my new mommy promised to let my dad do the cooking this year, so I'm straight," Nuke answered with a lopsided grin. "Dad should've read the fine print with wife number three, because the woman shouldn't be allowed near anything involving food. Or fire. And no food and fire together, that goes without saying."

  Nicole doubled over laughing, and gave him a poor baby face. "I'll make sure I save you some of my mom and Jackie's cooking for when you come back, then."

  "Sweet! Say 'hi' to her and Ian for me, ‘kay?"

  "Will do," Nicole said. She turned and met Gabriel’s stare as he leaned against the counter with Jonny’s beet red face straining against his bicep. He looked down at Jonny then up at Nicole and took a sip of his iced tea.

  "Nicole," Jonny rasped out, giving up the ghost and relaxing in Gabriel's hold. "Little... help?"

  Nicole put on her jacket and raised an eyebrow as she approached them, to which Gabriel gave her a shrug and released Jonny. He gasped in deep gulps of air and gave Gabe a hard punch to the shoulder before quickly retreating. Nuke laughed, all of them knowing full well Gabriel could kick his ass all day while still sipping on his iced tea.

  "Who says chivalry is dead?" she asked giving him a smile and a chaste kiss on the cheek.

  "See ya later, Nicole," Gabriel said quietly. The promise in his voice of what he would do to her when he saw her again was clear as day.

  "Later, Gabriel," she answered, making a silent promise with her eyes to match his.

  She said “bye” to Jonny and Nuke and then headed out the door. A half hour later, when Gabriel ventured out into the cool autumn air, he was already fantasizing about all the things she was going to do to him when the holiday was over.

  Chapter 5

  Gabriel was in the middle of watching the football game at his parents’ place—a standard holiday pastime that kept all the men in the house busy while the women cooked—when he felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket. He wasn't rooting for either team in particular, and when he saw it was Nicole calling he went outside to get away from the loud curses of his uncles, father and brother-in-law.

  "Hey, sweetheart," he said, feeling a grin spread his lips. "How ya doin'?"

  "Doing good. Taking a break from eating," she said in a chipper voice. "How 'bout you?"

  She was an hour behind now that she was back in Texas, but his family always ate Thanksgiving dinner a bit later in the evening.

  "Fucking hungry, man," he grumbled. "Me and all the men folk have been banished to the living room so we don't pick at the food. But my sister and all my aunts are cooking with Mom so it should be ready soon." He laughed a little when he heard a pair of high pitched squeals, a crashing sound, and then his Uncle Dominic barking loudly at his kids. "Sounds like my little cousins managed to break something else."

  "And that is why I'm not having twins. Ever."

  "I hear ya. All in all, it's a typical Thanksgiving at the Roberts homestead. Too many noisy people in one small-ass house. And I'm sure they'll manage to drag me to church before I leave."

  "Sounds like fun," Nicole teased. He could hear in her voice how broad her smile was. "What did they say when you told them about going into the studio next week? Did they flip or what?"

  Gabriel took a seat on the front steps, scuffing the heel of his sneakers over the concrete. "Mom thought it was ‘very nice, dear’ as she put it. Olivia was really happy, though. Liv always was behind me and my music. Dad was... Dad. He asked if I read the contract thoroughly and what my backup plan was if it doesn't work out, because of what a long shot it is to make real money being in a band. I told him I didn't need a backup plan, this is what I'm doing with my life. Then he said something about arrogant kids today and went back to watching TV."

  He heard Nicole sigh on the other end. "That sucks, Gabriel. I would've thought they'd be crazy excited. I know I am and so are Jackie and Ian. Even my friends are stoked about it."

  "It's no biggie. I know how they are, so I didn't expect much more than that." It was true, but he still couldn't deny the slight sting of his parents not being more excited for him, even if Olivia and the rest of his family more than made up for it. He got it, though. For them it wasn’t a sure thing. They would have been relieved if just once he found something solid, something permanent to hold on to. Be it faith, love, or a solid paycheck, they just wanted to know he wouldn’t be a victim of chance.

  "Well, you could be me I suppose: graduated with a degree in Communications that so far has only gotten me a job at Accents, selling home décor products for a living. My parents are so thrilled about that," she said with a sad sigh.

  "That's just until you get on your feet, though. It's not your career. You got plenty of time to find happy employment, youngin'."

  She barked out a laugh and said, "True, old man. Very true. Anyway, I called because I got big news over here. Huge news!"

  "Oh, yeah?"

  "Yup. Jackie's pregnant!"

  Gabriel's mouth fell open and refused to close. He was having trouble processing.

  His good friends since college were going to have a baby.

  For a full five seconds he couldn't speak. He just blinked and stared out into the front yard.

  "I know right?! That's what I said!" Nic joked in response to his silence. "You know what this means, right? There's gonna be a tiny, evil Jackie clone running around. She'll probably teach it how to make people cry with just a look."

  Gabriel came out of his daze, laughing so hard his eyes started to tear up. That sounded like something Jackie could pull off. "Jesus, Nic. You've gotta be shittin' me!

  "I shit you not, babe," she replied.

  "When did she find out? When did she tell everybody?!"

  "She just blurted it out over dinner! Like, 'I just wanted to let everyone know that I went to the
doctor this week and I found out I'm about eight weeks pregnant.' And then while everybody was just sitting there staring at her, she turns to Aunt Cora and says 'Can you pass the yams, please?'"

  "Oh, nice delivery."

  "Everybody started talking all at once and screaming congratulations. And Ian was just cheesin' from ear to ear. He's so sure it's a boy, it's hilarious. Even dad was excited... but still, he's been giving Ian the occasional evil eye all night, and he asked when he was gonna make an honest woman out of Jackie and marry her. The looks were funny at first, but a couple times it was kinda scary... like when he was cutting his meat. But anyway, I'm gonna be an auntie!" She laughed again and then her voice was muffled as she turned away to talk to someone else. "Oh, that's Jackie. She told me to tell you 'hi'... and she told me to tell you that she got knocked up! Ha!"

  Gabriel laughed and rubbed a hand over his bare arms against the cold wind. "Tell her I said congratulations! Jesus..."

  Well, that was an exciting and scary bit of news. A baby. A little person who wasn't there before was going to be coming into the world soon. It was a strange thing to see his friends growing up. It was the way he'd felt when he saw how big his little cousins where, and how his little sister, who was just two years older than Nicole, was getting ready for his nephew Caleb's third birthday next month. Coming home for the holidays always made him think about things like this. He could see his father and mother getting older, changing into different people than the ones who used to shape his life. That comfortable affectionless distance his mother and father kept from each other was still there, but there was a big difference between visiting it and living with it day in and day out. Even he was different now, changing from a guy who just dreamed of doing something he loved, into one who actually was. And now one of his best friends was going to have a baby. He wondered if he would be around to see it when she gave birth, or if he would be on the road.