Because of You

by Jenika Snow

I took a hearty drink of my beer, the bitter flavor a turn-off at first, but with every sip it became more tolerable. I was nearly finished with my beer before I even realized, warmth spreading through me already. I was a lightweight when it came to drinking and parties, opting for bottled water instead of a tapped keg. But I’d made up my mind to tell Sutton how I felt tonight, knowing that he wouldn’t be around for much longer.

  Twenty minutes later I was on my second beer and starting to really feel the effects of the drink hitting me. I leaned against the wall by the fridge, not bothering to stop staring at Sutton, who still talked with his friends. He glanced at me for about the fifth time in the last ten minutes, and I felt my cheeks heat. I knew my face was red, not just because he’d caught me staring at him—once again—but because anytime I drank alcohol this was the reaction I got.

  Rosy cheeks and glassy eyes.

  I was a cheap date, that was for sure.

  “Catherine!” I heard my name being shouted across the room and turned to see Morgan, my best friend, lifting her hand and waving at me frantically. I rose on my toes in order to see her better over the thick group of people separating us.

  She was flushed, and I saw the reason why. Riker Mitchell, star quarterback for the varsity football team, or he had been before he graduated. She kept glancing over at him, this goofy smile on her face.

  I smiled and shook my head, knowing that she was harboring some pretty strong feelings for him, but that she never said anything, too afraid because she didn’t think she was pretty enough, popular enough, not in the same league as him. She was insane. Morgan was gorgeous, and I was pretty sure the glances Riker gave her, the reason he kept her at the friend level, was because he was just as afraid as she was.

  She gestured for me to come over, and I was about to push through the people and go over to her when I felt a heavy hand land on my arm, stopping me. I looked over my shoulder to see Sutter right there, his focus on me intense … concerned.

  “Where you going?” He was so protective of me. I lifted my hand and pointed to Morgan. He glanced over my shoulder to see where I pointed. He nodded but instead of letting go of my arm, he slid his hand down so he could twine his fingers with mine. God, that had my belly clenching with arousal.

  All it took were these little touches and I was wet and needy for him.

  He weaved us through the crowd to where Morgan was. My heart beat a little bit faster at that, his protective, almost possessive, demeanor making everything inside of me melt.

  He didn’t leave my side once I stood in front of Morgan.

  For another twenty minutes, we stood, me talking with Morgan, and Sutton speaking with Riker. I couldn’t help but keep glancing at Sutton. The way my head barely reached his shoulder, the way he made sure to stay right up next to me, his arm touching mine at all times.

  I felt someone watching me and glanced over at Morgan to see she had her focus trained right on me, this small smirk on her face. I’d never told her the truth about my feelings for Sutton, not because I didn’t trust her, but because I felt wrong telling anyone but him how I felt.

  “I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” I said and started making my way toward the staircase. Sutton might not have heard me over the wave of music, or the fact he was talking to Riker. He’d probably be pissed that I wasn’t taking him as my chaperone, but I wasn’t as fragile as he thought I was.

  I’d been to the house a time or two before during other parties, so I at least knew where the bathroom was. Although I also knew what I’d probably find: someone passed out in there or people fucking.

  I made my way up the stairs and pushed people out of my way. I headed down the long hallway toward where the bathroom was, the door closed, and internally groaning at the fact that someone actually using it for what it was made for was probably not happening at this moment. Before I got to it the door opened and a couple all but fell out, the girl giggling and the guy adjusting his fly and zipper.

  Nasty.

  Once inside, I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were a little red-rimmed and glassy. I was a cheap date, a light drinker, that was for sure. I used the bathroom and washed my hands, the alcohol really coursing through me after I’d started moving. I felt a little more buzzed now, a little looser.

  I glanced at myself once more in the mirror before turning and opening the door. But a very hard, very masculine chest stopped me from moving. I knew who it was before I tipped my head back and stared into Sutton’s face.

  “You should have waited for me,” he said before I could say anything.

  I pushed past him, my independence rising, but a part of me liking that he was so protective of me. A guy weaved into me by accident, and Sutton pushed him out of the way. I looked up at him, wanting to appear fierce, but I felt the smile on my lips. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

  He didn’t look amused.

  The room started to spin, the air so hot. I gripped onto his forearm. “I don’t feel so good.” He had my hand in his a second later and was leading us back down the hallway. We found ourselves in an empty bedroom, the door shut, the noise muted. The air was cooler in here, the crush of bodies not suffocating me.

  Siting on the edge of the bed, I caught my breath.

  “Are you okay?” Sutton sounded so worried.

  “I’m fine. I think I was just getting overheated.”

  “You’re drunk.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Hardly. Buzzed yeah, but I’d pass a sobriety test with flying colors.”

  He came over and sat beside me. “But you’re good now?”

  I nodded. “You know, you don’t have to worry so much about me.” I placed my hand on his jean-clad thigh and felt my heart start racing. He was so close and smelled so good.

  “I can’t help but worry about you, Catherine.”

  The way he said my name had every part of me coming alive. I shifted on the bed, one of my legs bent and resting on the mattress, my focus now fully on Sutton. “I can handle myself,” I teased. I didn’t admit to him that I liked how overprotective he was, how possessive he seemed of me.

  “If I’m near, you don’t need to handle yourself.”

  After that we didn’t speak for long moments, but I felt something change between us, felt the electricity and heat bounce back and forth, this charge taking control. I felt my breathing start to increase, my nipples harden. It was this intense reaction to being so close to Sutton, my desire so strong it was uncontrollable.

  I don’t know how long we stared at each other, but I felt the arousal heighten, knew my pulse was pounding rapidly in my wrists, at the base of my throat. The way he looked at me was full of heat, need. Could I be reading this right? Did he want me the way I wanted him? God, could something happen between us in this moment?

  Sutton lifted his hand and cupped my cheek, his fingers like fire on my flesh. And then he leaned in close, so that I knew what he was going to do.

  Kiss me.

  Chapter Three

  Catherine

  He kissed me hard, feverishly, and it was like an animal had been unleashed inside of him. I found myself in his arms, both of us standing. Maybe he’d wanted to push me away? Maybe he’d wanted to stop this? But as he broke the kiss and looked down at me, I could see by his expression he wouldn’t.

  He pulled me in again and kissed me with even more passion. Sutton had his dick pressed against my belly and ground himself on me, over and over again until I couldn’t stop the moan that came from me.

  “Catherine,” he grunted against my mouth, and I gasped at how good that was, how it was like an auditory orgasm all on its own.

  “I am so fucking hard for you, baby.”

  The way he said it, so crudely, almost brutally, had me clenching my thighs together as more wetness slipped from my pussy.

  God, I was so ready for him, for this.

  The beers I’d had helped with my nerves, made me feel flushed and sexy, as if I didn’t have to worry about anything.<
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  “Tell me you want this,” he said as if he were out of breath.

  The room was dark, the only light coming through the partially drawn blinds, slits of light moving along his big body.

  Being in front of Sutton made me feel so feminine, as if I were nothing but this delicate flower in a raging storm.

  “I want this.” I felt like my cheeks were on fire, and was thankful for the lack of light. The last thing I wanted was for him to see that the booze had gone to my head. Although I was with it enough to know what I was doing, who I was doing this with.

  He swallowed, the sound amplified in the room. He moved his hands to the button and fly of his jeans, started undoing them, and all I could do was stand there and watch. My heart was in my throat, sweat beading between my breasts, and my nerves so strong I felt dizzy from it all.

  “Take your clothes off.” The way he said those four words had my heart racing impossibly faster.

  I didn’t dare disobey. I wanted this, wanted to be in that bed with Sutton on top of me, the party raging below, but both of us in our own little world.

  I started taking my clothes off, my shirt first, then my shoes, my socks, and finally my pants. I stood there in my bra and panties, my nipples so hard they ached. I watched as Sutton finished getting undressed. Despite the fact the shadows concealed the majority of him from my view, I knew what he looked like.

  Masculine.

  Hard lines.

  Defined muscle.

  I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but before a word could leave my lips, he was pressed right to me, his body so hard where mine was soft. He walked us backward, his hand on my hand, the other on my waist. The wall stopped us from going any further, my heart beating even harder than the thump of the music blaring right below us.

  Maybe this was a bad idea, but it didn’t feel wrong. It felt right and perfect and way overdue. I’d blame the alcohol later, or maybe he would. But right now, nothing else mattered than finally giving myself to Sutton.

  He pressed his mouth to mine and I instantly moaned, the flavor of Sutton mixed with the alcohol he’d drunk making me feel even more intoxicated.

  I groaned when he sucked my tongue inside of his mouth. His cock was so hard, so hot and big against my belly. He started gently thrusting against me, as if maybe he didn’t realize what he did. But I didn’t want him to stop. I needed more.

  God, I’d never been this wet, not even when I’d touched myself at night and thought about him.

  There was no stopping this, but I didn’t want it to end. In fact, I wanted it to go even further, as far and as wide as humanly possible.

  He saw me, really saw me for the first time. Sutton wanted me and if this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.

  “Touch me,” he groaned against my mouth, guttural, harsh. “Please.” The way he said that word, long, deep and low, had my nipples tingling and my pussy clenching. I wanted something thick and long, something only Sutton could give me, shoved deep in my body, easing this ache. Moving his mouth from my lips, along my cheek, and finally stopping by my ear, I listened to the harsh panting of his breath. “Touch me, Catherine.”

  I closed my eyes and shivered, but reached between our bodies until the back of my hand brushed against the hot, so very hard length of him.

  “God, having your hand right there, so close yet not touching me is fucking brutal, baby.”

  My eyes were still closed, and as I breathed out roughly all I could feel was Sutton.

  All I could smell was Sutton.

  All I wanted was him.

  He moved his hand down my hip, along my lower back, and stopped when his fingertips brushed along the crease of my ass. I swore he held his breath. I know I did.

  But he didn’t grip the cheek like I’d thought …. hoped. Instead, he moved his hand between our bodies, grabbed my wrist in a gentle, yet unyielding hold, and stroked his thumb over my pulse point.

  “As much as I want your hand on my cock, having you barely there, knowing that it’s your fingers so fucking close, is almost better than getting off.”

  My body was on fire, my pussy so wet I felt my cream sliding down my inner thighs. And then I did wrap my hand around his erection, a gasp leaving me at finally holding him in my hand.

  “God, you’re so big, so hard,” I breathed out, not meaning to say the words out loud.

  He groaned and closed his eyes. “You make me this hard.”

  I wrapped my hand around his cock even harder, started stroking him as he licked and sucked at my neck. I was so turned on that if he just touched me between my legs right now I’d get off.

  “Fuck.” He groaned against my neck. His mouth was back on mine in an instant. He had his hands on my ass, squeezing the mounds, pulling me closer to his hard cock.

  And then in a move so fast I didn’t even have time to prepare for it, Sutton was moving us back toward the bed.

  “I want you. I need you so fucking bad.” He started thrusting against my hand, the back of my knees hitting the mattress. I wanted to be flat on the bed, wanted him over me, covering me. The feel of his pre-cum coated my palm. He was hot, arousing, and almost had me begging for his dick right then.

  “I need you, Sutton.”

  “Mine,” he said softly, as if to himself.

  He continued to thrust against me, and his groaning became more pronounced.

  “God,” I breathed out.

  And then he was reaching between our bodies, pushing my hand away, and taking hold of his dick.

  “Touch me,” he ground out.

  My throat closed and I wrapped my arms around his neck, steadying myself for what was about to come. He looked right in my eyes, and nothing else mattered except this one moment.

  “God, baby. You’re so wet for me.” He had hold of my leg, lifted it up, and wrapped it around his waist. He then rubbed his cock along my cleft, brushing my clit with every upstroke. “I could come right now,” he whispered. And then we were falling to the mattress, Sutton on top of me, his big, muscular body pinning me down.

  We crashed our mouths together in a tangle of lips and teeth. This was really happening. I was really having sex with Sutton.

  I shifted so I had his cockhead angled right at my entrance. I needed this too damn badly and I wasn’t afraid to be bold in getting it.

  “God, you’re so damn big.” And he was.

  He rested his forehead against mine, and we panted against each other’s mouths. And then he pushed inside of me. I gritted my teeth at the instant pain, but knowing I was here with Sutton, that he was the one claiming my virginity, made that pain turn into pleasure.

  I let my head fall back against the mattress and closed my eyes. It felt like I was burning alive. He was buried to the hilt inside of me, his cock so thick and long, so hard. Sutton started moving in and out of me, slow and easy at first, letting me get accustomed to his length.

  “Christ.” He grunted that lone word out. “You feel so fucking good wrapped around me.”

  Seeing all of that hard muscle flexing under his skin had a shiver working through me.

  It felt like he was so deep inside of me. God, it was good.

  He curled his hand around my waist, and I wrapped my legs around his hips.

  Sutton made this low sound in the back of his throat when he slammed into me especially hard.

  In and out.

  The sounds of desire-dampened skin slapping together filled my head.

  Steady. Fluid movements.

  Thrusting in, retreating. Repeating.

  When he pulled almost all the way out, and then slowly pushed back into me, he was a little gentler. He did this repeatedly, staring into my eyes the entire time.

  “There’s so much I want to say, so many things, Catherine.”

  I moaned and arched my back when he hit something deep inside of me.

  “Tell me,” I whispered, begged.

  He closed his eyes, his jaw clenching. When he opened them again I sa
w raw truth reflected back. “You’re mine,” he said in a rush, the words spilling out. But it sounded like he stopped himself, like he wanted to say more.

  He went back to kissing me passionately.

  I felt my climax climbing.

  “Catherine,” he said and rested his forehead against mine. “I want to see you come, need to see you get off because of me.”

  His words, the feeling of him inside of me, all of that and more had me breathing faster.

  He slammed into me once, twice, and on the third time stilled, staring into my eyes, making me take every last hard, big inch of him.

  “I knew you’d feel this good in my arms, clenching around my cock, baby.”

  A gasp left me at how vulgar his words were … at how much I loved hearing them. I didn’t say anything, though, because I didn’t know how to respond.

  He started thrusting in and out of me as if he were losing control. The scent and power that came from him was my undoing. I felt myself falling over the edge once more, and climaxed long and hard, moaning softly as pleasure slammed into me. He kept up the thrusting until I sagged against him, and then he pulled out, leaving me feeling bereft and empty.

  “Sutton—" That was the only thing I got out before he kissed me again.

  His scent made me feel even more drunk. Sutton covered me with his body, the heavy weight of his muscles pressed to every single inch of me, having my pussy clench in need. He broke the kiss and buried his face in the crook of my neck, the sound of him inhaling deeply an auditory orgasm.

  “You smell so good, Catherine. So fucking good.” He ran his tongue up the side of my neck and I arched up against him, moaning at the feel.

  “You taste so fucking good.” He took possession of my mouth again, dragging his tongue along mine, pressing his tongue to mine. I was helpless to try and grasp what was happening, to comprehend what I was doing.

  “God,” I breathed out, lightheaded from the way he made me feel, from the rush of the beer moving through my veins. He continued to kiss me, and then moved his mouth down my neck once more to lick at the pulse that beat frantically right below my ear.