by Meghan Quinn
Moving her hands through my hair, down my neck, to my back, past the slope of my ass, she grips my cheeks and starts to grind them against her pelvis. I accidentally squeeze too hard on her nipple from the feeling of her pussy pressed against my dick. She squeaks but then kisses me lightly.
“Again,” she asks, so damn innocently I can’t help but listen to her direction. I squeeze her nipple again, this time a little harder. A sharp hiss escapes past her lips as her back arches off the mattress, the look of utter pleasure crossing her features.
Shit, I can’t hold back now.
“I need to be inside you.” I grip my aching cock and place it in front of her entrance. With one smooth stroke, I squeeze myself in. “Fuck, you’re so tight.”
She breathes heavily, her eyes wide now. “You’re . . . so . . . different.”
Chuckling softly, my hips gently moving back and forth, I say, “I hope that’s a damn good thing.”
“So good.” She lifts her hands to the headboard and with a light kiss to my lips, she whispers, “Fuck me, Beck.”
Melting into our touch, I brace myself on the bed and start to slowly move my hips in and out of her, glancing down at our connection, loving how deep she can take me, how her legs are spread so far that with each pulse inside her, I bottom out.
So hot.
So tight.
So damn sexy.
Every little moan that passes Rylee’s lips is like an electric jolt straight to my cock, spurring me on, driving my hips harder and harder. I grind against her pelvis, swiveling with each thrust, trying to hit all the right spots, and from the look of pure ecstasy on her face, I’m doing just that.
“More,” she pants as her hands move to her breasts and pinch her nipples.
There will be none of that. Lowering my head, I nudge her hand out of the way and take one of her pebbled nipples into my mouth where I bite down on the swollen nub. She lifts off the bed, her movement forcefully clenching her around my cock.
Oh fuck.
“Do . . . that again,” I grunt out, my eyes feeling like they’re about to roll back in my head.
Without pause, she clenches around me, once, twice, three times.
And I’m a goner.
A guttural groan escapes me as my hips still and Rylee pulses around me, milking me so fucking hard that my vision goes black. All I hear are her cries of ecstasy as I bite down on her nipple once more, my orgasm taking over.
My balls ache, my dick throbs, my heart pounds uncontrollably in my chest as I try to catch my breath.
Huffing, sweating, and completely sated, I barely lift up and look at Rylee, eyes closed and a beautiful smile on her face.
Wanting to see those endless pools of blue, I press a light kiss over each eyelid. They flutter open and she meets my gaze.
Fucking gorgeous.
So. Fucking. Gorgeous.
Licking her upper lip, she says, “That was . . . incredible.”
Instead of replying, I kiss her, to make sure that this is real, that what we just experienced wasn’t a dream, that I truly have this undeniably amazing woman in my arms. In my bed.
Her hand curls around my neck, her thumb playing with the short strands of my hair. When I pull away, I kiss her nose and take off to the bathroom where I dispose of the condom. When I come back to the bed, Rylee is sitting up, scanning the room, an unsure look on her face.
Well, not for long.
Tackling her, I bring her down to the mattress and spoon the hell out of her, cupping her body against mine.
“Oh, is this happening?” she asks, sounding light and playful.
“What? Spooning you? Yeah, it’s happening. But only until I can gain back some strength, and then, my sexy, Saucy, I’ll be taking it nice and slow, making you come over and over.”
“Awfully confident, aren’t we?”
“Saucy, from the way you react so passionately to my touch, I have no doubt in my mind.”
No response, only a nuzzle from her behind, and a contented sigh.
I’m right there with her.
There’s some rustling next to me, and I barely register the sound in my sex-induced coma. It isn’t until a cool breeze hits me that I realize I’m alone. Peering an eye open, I scan the room to find Rylee on the other side of the sliding glass door, quietly shutting it.
Is she leaving?
I lift my head barely to look at the time. Five in the morning. Shit, her early flight. Dragging my body out of bed, feeling satisfying aches from last night, I throw on a pair of shorts that are hanging out of my suitcase and pad across the floor, stubbing my toe on the desk chair.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I dance around for a second, swearing until my toe stops throbbing. Limping like an idiot, I make my way out onto my balcony just in time to see Rylee close her door. Before she can lock it, I grab the handle and open it up.
“Ah, what are you doing?” she asks, startled.
“Sorry,” I say, my toe still throbbing. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Uh, that’s okay.” She’s barely wearing the dress she wore to the wedding last night and her shoes are clutched to her chest. “You should be sleeping, Beck.”
“Yeah, and you should be next to me.” I take a step forward as she sighs.
“I have to get ready for my flight. I have no more than ten minutes before I have to call an Uber. My guess is Victoria is on her way here to make sure I leave this room on time.”
Sounds just like Victoria.
Awkwardly, I stand there, trying to figure out what to say.
Last night was . . . fuck, I don’t know. It was the kind of night you never forget. It was the kind of night that changes your way of thinking.
Going into this trip, I wanted to have a good time, and if I met a girl, hey, bonus. I had no intention of leaving this island with any girl on my mind. But after last night, after these last few days, I know there is no way in hell I can say goodbye to Rylee right now.
I want more of her.
I feel like we’re beginning something new, not shutting the door on a brief chapter in our lives.
Looking uncomfortable, Rylee fidgets in place. “Uh, good thing we took a shower early this morning, huh?” She pulls on her hair. “I can roll right into plane clothes and take off.”
Ignoring her small talk, I take a step forward and say, “Rylee, we need to talk.”
Before she can let me get anything else in, she shakes her head. “No need to talk, Beck. Let’s shake hands, thank each other for the amazing night, and go our separate ways.”
“What If I’m not ready to go my separate way?”
Sighing heavily, Rylee starts moving around the room, collecting her belongings and shoving them in her bag while she speaks to me. “Beck, don’t be ridiculous. From the beginning, we knew this was only a little fling in Key West. Don’t be that cliché, wanting more after a promised fling. Come on.”
“Cliché? What the hell are you talking about?”
Undoing her dress and letting it fall to the floor, she unabashedly strips in front of me and starts dressing herself in a pair of leggings, sports bra, and long-sleeved T-shirt. I can’t help but stare, soak her in one more time before she leaves. “It happens in all the movies. The promise of a vacation fling and then one of the lovers wants more. Can’t we call it like it is and be done? Why complicate things?”
Getting a little angry, I say, “Maybe because I want more. Maybe because I want to see where this might go.”
She throws her hair in a high bun, her silky black strands binding together. “Don’t be ridiculous, Beck. I live in Maine, and you live in Southern California. We couldn’t live on two more opposite sides of the spectrum.”
“That’s just miles.”
She packs her small backpack with her phone, laptop, and wallet. “Lots of miles.”
“Something we can easily work out.”
She shakes her head and zips all her bags up, putting an end to this conversation, especiall
y with what she says next. “And what about all the space between us, not physically, but mentally? There are parts of you that you haven’t opened up to me about, like why you don’t drink and who this Christine chick is. And there are parts of me you don’t know about, dark parts of my life that frankly I’m not willing to share.”
She stumps me there. There are parts of me I don’t share because I’m too fucking ashamed to share them with anyone new. Yes, I’ve turned a new leaf in life, but I’m still not comfortable with the man I used to be, nor do I want to share that part of my life, the part I’ve shut out of the outside world.
Cal’s the only one I really talk to about it, but that’s only because he won’t let me forget, because the minute you forget is the minute you can find yourself back in the same spot. It’s what he always tells me.
There is a knock on her door. “You better be up and ready to go. You know I like to get to the airport early,” Victoria’s voice sounds from the other side of the door.
Shrugging her shoulders, Rylee gives me a sad smile, puts her backpack on, and starts to roll her suitcase to the door.
“So that’s it?” I ask, unsure of what else to say.
Knock. Knock. “Rylee, let’s go.”
“Yeah, Beck, that’s it.” She opens the door to an impatient Victoria. “Give me one second.”
“We don’t have . . .” Victoria spots me and her face softens. “I’ll, uh, go get an Uber.”
Turning away, her wheelie bag rolling behind her, she disappears down the outside hallway, providing me a few extra minutes with Rylee.
Releasing the handle of her bag, Rylee steps up to me and wraps her arms around my waist, pulling me into a hug. And when she looks up at me, those crystal-blue eyes of hers captivating me, a pang or sorrow hits me in the stomach.
Is this really goodbye?
“Thank you for everything, Beck. Thank you for the fun, the memories”—she smiles sheepishly—“the orgasms.” Stepping back, she grips my hand and says, “Thank you for showing me how to let go and have fun again. You unlocked a part of me I haven’t seen in a while.” She squeezes my hand and puts more distance between us, retreating to her bag. “Bye, Beck.”
Opening the door again, she gives me one last glance before heading out of the room.
Is this really how this is going to end? With a quick hug and a thank you? After the past few days we’ve shared together, this is really it?
Fuck, I don’t want it to be.
“Wait,” I call out, pulling her back by the arm. I clamp my hand around the back of her neck and bring her mouth to mine where I lay sweet kisses across her lips. Her hands wrap around my arms and she matches each movement of my mouth across hers before breaking away.
“I have to go.” She presses her fingers to her mouth. With one final glance in my direction, she says, “Bye, Beck,” and takes off, out of her room and out of my life.
Forever.
Fuck.
Dude, you’ve barely spoken a word all day,” Chris says while peeling back the wrapper to his cheeseburger. “I gave you the first flight because leaving paradise sucks, but now that we’re waiting for our second and you didn’t want a burger from Five Guys, I’m starting to feel a little concerned.”
“Just not hungry,” I say, staring at my phone.
“Not buying it,” Chris says with his mouth full. “Did you leave something at the hotel? A charger? Dude, we can get you a new one, it’s going to be okay, pal.” Chris pats me on the shoulder with his greasy hand.
“I didn’t leave my charger.”
“Oh . . . good then. Want to get some candy bars? I’m feeling NutRageous right now, that and a Take 5. Have you had one of those yet?”
“I’m good, man.” I wave him off and scan through my texts, Rylee’s name popping up with every scroll of back and forth I do.
“Not even a Milky Way?”
“Leave him alone,” Justine says, finally pulling her head out of her iPad. “Can’t you see he’s upset from having to say goodbye to Rylee?” Leaning toward me, she adds, “By the way, she’s a fantastic author.”
Don’t I fucking know it. I read the book I started the other day on the airplane. It isn’t just about sex; it’s about the compelling storyline with broken characters. It’s beautiful how she can express so much with words.
“Oh, this is a Rylee thing. Dude, I thought you guys were just flinging it.”
“We were.” I sit back in the uncomfortable airport chair and pass a hand over my face, trying to scrub thoughts of Rylee out of me, but nothing seems to work. She’s etched in my brain.
“But . . .” Chris pushes me to say more.
“I don’t know, man, what do you want me to say? That I miss her? That I wish there was more to our little fling than a chaste goodbye this morning?”
“Maybe?”
Justine whacks Chris in the arm. “Don’t be a dick. Be a friend.”
“Ouch.” He rubs his arm. “You and I both know I’m not good at this touchy-feely kind of crap. Let me warm up before you start hitting me.”
It’s fun traveling and hanging out with a married couple, have I mentioned that? Especially a couple who’ve been together for a little over ten years.
“No need to talk about it.” I cut him off before he can try to open me up more than I want to be. “I’m good, just trying to get out of vacation mode.”
“See?” Chris motions to me. “He’s floating down from vacation mode.”
Justine rolls her eyes and pushes Chris out of the way. “You are so obtuse. Do us all a favor and go get your candy bars and some chocolate-covered pretzels for me, yogurt-covered for Beck. He’ll want them for the flight.” Justine knows me too damn well.
Taking direction well, and most likely wanting to get away from this conversation as fast as possible, he takes off, one of his burger napkins sticking to the back of his jeans.
“God, he’s a disaster.” Justine chuckles. “I don’t know why I keep him around.”
“Me neither.”
Justine places her hand on my knee and forces me to meet her gaze. “Tell me everything and don’t try to get away with saying there is nothing to tell. I wasn’t born yesterday, Beck. I know when you’re reeling from something, and right now, you’re tailspinning. Talk to me.”
There is something you need to know about Justine. She’s very good at getting what she wants. It’s the way she softly speaks to you but with a no-bullshit attitude. The combination is lethal and when you think your mouth is a steel trap, you find yourself divulging your darkest secrets.
I flip my phone in my hands. “I didn’t expect to like her as much as I do.”
“You guys had an interesting kind of connection. I liked her.”
“I agree.” I tip my head back and look to the ceiling. “And I can’t quite figure out if the connection was from being on vacation and being in the same frame of mind, or if we actually had this cosmic pull to each other.”
“Anyone can be in the same frame of mind, especially when it comes to vacation mode, but there was definitely something between you two. What you had wasn’t magical vacation mode, it was deeper than that.”
“But how was it deeper? We only skimmed the surface when we talked about things. Like she so brutally pointed out when she left, there are things in my life she doesn’t know, some dark things, and vice versa. From what it seems, we were both hiding from each other, while enjoying one another at the same time. How is that deep? Seems more shallow to me. Maybe she’s right, maybe it truly was just a fling.”
Justine shakes her head. “You know connecting on a deeper level isn’t just about talking about your pasts and the dark parts of your lives, because that’s only a little segment of feeling something deeper with another human. Connecting with another soul is about complementing each other’s sense of humor, adventurous side, and of course, sexual chemistry. From observing you two the past few days, you had all three covered.”
I can’t argue wit
h her. I connected with Rylee more than any other woman, even Noely. And maybe that was scary to her if she felt the same thing.
Sighing, I say, “That’s great and all, but it doesn’t matter. She really doesn’t want anything to do with me past Key West.”
“Did she say that?”
I nod. “In a much nicer way, but that was the gist of it. To her, it was a fling, which is fair because that’s all it was supposed to be.”
“But it was much more to you.” From the very first moment I saw her.
I nod again. “Hell, I don’t want it to be. I’m not ready to expose someone else to my world, especially Rylee, but fuck, there is this pain churning in my gut, telling me that letting her walk away was a huge mistake.”
“Eeep.” Justine claps her hands together. “Oh, it’s so romantic, seeing you all tied up in knots.”
I roll my eyes. Not surprised Justine is getting giddy. Ever since I got my life back on track, she’s been rooting for me to meet someone. It was one of the main reasons I tried doing the blind dating thing six months ago. After that didn’t pan out, she kept nagging me to try again, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do so. I’m starting to think I might never be in the right frame of mind.
“I’m not asking for a marriage here,” I continue. “I wanted to talk to her some more, you know? Kind of see where this could take us.”
“That’s fair. What’s holding you back?”
I stare at my phone again. “There’s over three thousand miles separating us.”
“So? You’re not committed to living in LA. Who knows, maybe if this turns serious, you can find a cute little art gallery to paint for. Don’t let the small, insignificant factors stop you from pursuing something that could be incredible.”
I pause to think about her words as Chris comes barreling forward. “I have the goods.” He flops down between Justine and me. “Did we figure everything out?”
“Yup, Beck is going to go after the girl.”
“Hey, I didn’t say that.”
“Oh please,” Justine scoffs. “It’s written all over your face. Stop letting your brain deny it, and let your heart take the lead.” She nods at my phone. “Go ahead, text her. You know you want to.”