Faster

by Deana Birch

  Jake swore a few times before a savage cry accompanied his release. I collapsed onto my stomach, pulling him out with the action. He crashed down on his side next to me and propped his head up with his hand. Jake leaned over and gave me a sweet kiss on the forehead. I closed my eyes, still recovering. There was no way I was ready to admit how much I had enjoyed what just happened. Maybe Jake had mind-blowing sex all the time, and I didn’t want to seem like an amateur.

  “Shower?” he proposed.

  I padded off to the bathroom and started the water. I brushed my teeth, then went back to the bedroom to give Jake the signal he could join me. Detecting his bit of jealousy over my toothbrush, I scrubbed my teeth as I walked to the linen closest, found a new one, and handed it to him. I spat into the sink and put my brush in the cup on the counter. As Jake unwrapped his new brush, I stepped into the shower and let the warm water massage my used body.

  We dried off, and I realized I wanted him in my bed the whole night. I wrangled up my courage.

  “Will you stay?”

  “What will the neighbors say?” he joked.

  “The neighbors will say, ‘Louana got laid.’” I wrapped my fluffy white towel around my chest.

  “I think they might already know.”

  I smacked him on the arm. “Not my fault.”

  Jake raised an eyebrow. “You don’t always scream?”

  He didn’t need any help with his ego, but maybe a confession would get him to stay. “I’ve never screamed like that.”

  I could feel his smile on my back as we walked down the hall. Hoping to tempt him, I dropped the towel next to the bed and climbed under the covers. But he stayed at the doorway of my bedroom with his own towel wrapped around his waist. When he didn’t move, I realized he might leave. Shitty shit shit. This was a one-night stand.

  “You want me to stay?” He ran a hand through his wet hair.

  “Yes. Don’t make me ask you again.” My bed was already lonely.

  “You didn’t say please.” His head tilted to the side and he grinned.

  “You’re dreaming if you think I’ll beg.”

  “If I spend the night, I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off you.” A single droplet of water ran down the center of his defined abs.

  Time for reverse psychology. “In that case, you’d better go, because there is no way I can go again tonight. You may have split me in two.”

  “What time do you get up for work?” His shoulder pressed into the doorway. Was he really going to be this difficult?

  “Seven. Why?”

  “Then you have until six to recover.” He threw his towel on the chair in the corner, jumped in next to me, gave me a peck on the cheek, mumbled something about the comfort of my bed, and was asleep in two minutes.

  I smiled at my victory. Friend fling, my ass. This was a fling fling.

  4

  Tour Guide

  * * *

  JAKE

  Warm lips pestered my neck, but I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes. It had been years since I’d slept so well. Fuck, maybe I’d never slept so well. Louana’s bed, with its crisp, cool sheets and perfectly firm mattress, had yanked me into a heavenly abyss of slumber. And the pillow was unreal.

  “Mmmm. Is it six already?” I mumbled.

  “Not quite. I’m an early riser.” She continued her gentle assault down my chest, and a twitch below my waist told me other parts of my body were waking up. I pushed her hips down to grind against me, and when I thought she would reach down to kiss me on the mouth, she sat up instead. I blinked a few times. Perched on top of me, naked, she rocked back and forth. When her hands moved to her breasts and she teased herself, she had my full attention. Everywhere. Jesus. She was gorgeous.

  She reached over to the drawer, grabbed a condom, and rolled it on me. Her mouth brushed against mine in a wicked taunt before she moved me inside her. I surrendered and let her do the work, studying the fine specimen before my eyes. Holy shit. She did not play fair. She crashed down deep, then pulled up slowly. Again and again. I was going to explode like a teenager at prom if she kept it up. I moved a hand between her legs, and when she moaned and changed her technique, I knew I’d hit the right spot. She twisted her own nipples; her bottom lip quivered; and her inner walls squeezed around my dick. Watching her unravel on top of me only seduced me further along. After she recovered from her own release, she turned to face the other way, riding me reverse with that ridiculously firm ass in full view. I was a goner.

  I got up, showered, and crawled back into bed. When she came into the room, she wore running gear and untangled her earbuds around her neck.

  “I’ll never be able to get back to sleep,” she explained. “I’m gonna have a quick run.”

  And I thought I couldn’t sit still.

  “Do you mind if I stay here? I’m addicted to your bed.”

  She moved from the doorway to me and delivered a quick peck on my lips, then left. When her door locked shut, I closed my eyes, spooned the duvet, and passed out.

  ⸎

  The ring of my phone woke me, and I saw her name on the screen.

  “Hey,” I answered, grumbling.

  “Hi. It’s Louana.”

  “I know. What time is it?” I squinted at the natural light peeking in the window.

  “12:30. Are you still in my bed?”

  “I told you, it sucked me in. I’d say I’m sorry, but I haven’t slept this well in years, so a thank-you seems more appropriate.” I scratched the stubble on my face.

  “Well, do me a favor when you do get up; give Archie a walk or throw some balls in the pool for him. Fern probably has him cooped up watching the World Series of poker, and I didn’t run him this morning.”

  “When are you coming back? This bed is more fun with you.”

  “Around five, but…”

  “Can I wait for you? I want to see you again before I leave tomorrow.” Who was I? And what were these words I spoke of plans to see her again?

  “Well, um, I have a work thing tonight. I’m coming home to change, and my boss is picking me up right after. We have a dinner and party in Santa Monica.”

  Her words did not compute. They sounded like a no.

  “Can you get out of it? It’s our last night.”

  “I could see you after.”

  “Sure.” I tried to mask my disappointment, but I knew I sounded cold.

  “There’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

  On cue, my stomach growled.

  “Thanks.”

  “So… I’ll see you later?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Text me.”

  We hung up and I threw my phone on her bed. I rubbed my temples and pulled at my hair. I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually annoyed I couldn’t see her. She chose a work function over me.

  Simmer down, Riley.

  Right; because I was leaving her the next day and I was too much of a pussy to go all-in on a girl. I’d even gotten her to agree to some stupid arrangement where I’d never have to talk to her again. I was a fucking asshole.

  I stumbled to the bathroom, then decided to raid her kitchen. Might as well milk my last twenty-four hours and enjoy her cooking. I found a key and a note on the table.

  * * *

  Hope you slept well. Please give the key to Fern when you leave, will call you at lunch.

  * * *

  X, Louana.

  * * *

  P.S. Bonus points for walking Archie.

  * * *

  Jesus, even her handwriting was adorable.

  My douche factor was on the rise. She was a nice girl. She fed her landlady, for Christ’s sake. And I was toying with her. I made some coffee and checked my e-mail from my phone. After a quick call with Sam, the bass player in my band, we agreed to meet on Sunset for a drink later. I hunted for a phone charger, found one next to the bed, and got dressed.

  Finding Archie didn’t require knocking on Fern’s door. He ran up to me as soon as I walked
into the courtyard. He was ready to play—his black-and-white tail wagged and he danced with his front paws. I dragged a chair to the side of the pool and he fetched his tennis ball. The ruckus must have caught Fern’s attention; she came out of her apartment with two glasses and what I assumed was a pitcher of sangria.

  Without asking, she poured me a glass and handed it my way, setting the pitcher on a round table behind me.

  “Saluti!”

  We clinked glasses and sipped. Despite being sweet as hell, it was a pretty solid concoction.

  “You’re a day drinker?” I asked, chucking the tennis ball back into the pool. Archie belly flopped in after it, splashing water at Fern’s feet when he landed.

  “It’s how I get my fruit in.” She winked, then pulled up a chair next to me. “So you gonna love her and leave her?”

  I coughed and a little of the wine came back up in my mouth. I swallowed it down and cleared my throat. “So no small talk then?”

  “I’m old. I don’t have time to beat around the bush.” She sipped and stared at me.

  “Not by choice.”

  The old woman squinted one eye closed, then turned her attention to the dripping and panting dog sitting patiently next to us. Fern picked up the ball and the dog’s mouth closed, his attention committed to the round, sopping object in Fern’s hands. She threw it back into the pool and said, “That’s a load of shit.”

  I laughed. “My band is on tour. It would never work.”

  “You’re lazy or afraid. Either way, trust me: Girls like Louana don’t wait around for chickenshit men who drag their feet.”

  True to her word, there was no beating around the bush. She rose and brushed off her pants. Archie was back at her feet. He dropped the ball, but it rolled in my direction.

  “He can go all afternoon. Nothing lazy about him,” Fern said. She took her drink and went back inside her apartment.

  I bounced the ball into the pool in every form imaginable for what seemed like hours. He just kept coming back; the dog had no Off button.

  I did like this girl. And I had thought about her significantly more than anyone else I’d been with recently. Hell, I practically stalked her to meet her. And sang her name in the shower. Sam and his girlfriend, Gina, were making a relationship work while we toured. Maybe I could too. Except I had no idea how to be in a relationship. Fuck.

  I went back to bed for a final nap. When I woke up, I walked Archie around the block. Who knew a dog needed to drip piss on every piece of trash on the streets of Hollywood?

  Then I got the hell out of there. Someone had done a Jedi mind trick on my brain. I was contemplating a relationship with a girl I barely knew while I was enjoying the most success of my career. A career that came with groupies.

  Nope. Not gonna go there.

  ⸎

  With our bellies pressed against the bar, Sam and I sipped cold ones and tried to devise a plan to keep the peace between the other two members of our band, Shane and John. Even though The Spades was their brainchild, they argued about everything. My phone lay next to my beer and I checked it for the third time. Still no messages.

  “I’m not interesting enough for you?” Sam asked.

  “I finally met that girl.” I laid my phone down again.

  “The one who works with Steven? And you’re waiting for her to text you?” Sam’s bald head dropped back and he laughed. “Oh my God. Satan must be selling ice cream.”

  “Ha fucking ha.”

  His hands flew up in surrender. “Don’t get me wrong. This could really work in my favor. Gina would love the idea of someone else turning down blowjobs on the bus.” He nodded to the gaggle of girls who had been hovering to our left for twenty minutes.

  My phone lit up with a message. She was on her way to Hollywood from the Westside. I texted her back to pick me up at the bar. When I shoved the phone in my pocket, I found Sam staring at me.

  “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not starting a relationship while I’m on tour.” I just needed one, or maybe two more tastes of Louana before I left.

  “Have you ever started a relationship?”

  “Fuck off.” I changed the subject back to Shane and John.

  Thirty minutes later, Sam was in the middle of one of his Gina stories when I heard Louana shout my name. I spun around.

  Holy shit. The little, quarter-Italian food princess wore a tight, strapless black dress. If I’d thought she was hot in work clothes, this was hot like sand in the Sahara at noon on a summer’s day. Her long hair was down and messy, and her dark eyes were framed with opaque makeup. Yeah, more than one taste for sure.

  I introduced her to Sam but couldn’t tear my eyes away from her chest. I leaned into her and, for her ears only, asked, “Are you wearing a bra?”

  She pulled back and her tongue met the back of her top teeth. Her head swept a slow no as if she had planned it. Shit. Maybe she had crept into my thoughts while I slept. I loved the no bra look.

  “Panties?” I whispered.

  “Not telling.”

  I turned to Sam. “See you tomorrow, man.”

  I grabbed her hand and we pushed our way through the crowd at the bar. Outside, we found the town car she’d hired and climbed into the back. I took her hand back and my thumb brushed over her soft, small knuckles.

  Louana babbled about her night—some party at an editing house—and she may have even explained her side dishes from dinner. Her nervous chatter was cute, but my mind was on what I was going to do the minute I got her into her apartment.

  When we pulled up in front of her building, she thanked the driver and we got out of the car. Her chattiness was replaced by my silent, excited tension. There was no doubt in my mind what would come next.

  When the door to her apartment clicked shut and she kicked off her heels, I made my move before she could turn around. I hovered behind her but didn’t touch her, my desire acting as muscle to push her into the door. I bent down to her ear and brushed her hair to the side, and when my lips parted, all the little hairs on her neck rose to attention. My first touch was to the zipper on her side, and I slid it down slowly and let the dress fall to a pile on the floor.

  My greedy hands immediately needed more, and one traveled north to find its perfect handful while the other dipped into black lace.

  “I guess I have my answer,” I whispered, not disappointed in the least. Those panties would join the dress on the floor faster than she could say lickety-split. But I needed her mouth. I craved her intensity. And I longed to see her shiver in ecstasy while unraveling before me.

  I spun her around, took a long taste of her neck, and bit behind her hooped earring. I yanked her panties down, checked in with her expression to make sure it wasn’t too much for her, and got on my knees.

  You hear a lot of stories when you’re in a rock band. Girls who are willing to blow strangers in a bathroom stall are pretty forthcoming about the details of their sex lives later on over beers. And, because of those women, I knew not every mouth on the planet could properly go down on a woman. So while those same girls laughed about good and bad experiences, this guy took mental notes. I knew how to tease, seduce, build, and lead to explosion.

  And explode is just what my little Louana did. Right there against her front door.

  “Stay here.” I stood up, marched to her bedroom, grabbed a condom, and scattered my clothes on the floor as I went back to her.

  With the raincoat on the very eager friend from my pants, my mouth crashed into hers and I thrust inside her. Fucking heaven. Literally.

  And as much as I loved banging her against the door, I was ready for her gorgeous rear view. I spun her around and she placed her hands up as if she was being frisked. With the position change, the energy settled, and instead of plunging, I eased back in. I took a moment to caress the tan-lined cheeks looking back at me. The temptation was overwhelming, and my finger dipped to the center. She flinched.

  Seriously? Someone as sexually free as her hadn’t gone do
wn this wonderful road before? I knew just the tour guide.

  “Shhh. Just my pinky. Promise.”

  Her surrender led to my demise not long after, and I retracted slowly so she could stand upright.

  “Jesus Christ. Jake.” It was a compliment, I was sure. I kissed between her shoulder blades and padded off to the bathroom.

  I found her in her walk-in closet in a white cotton nightgown. It was like she had mastered every shade of beautiful, with this calm, quiet tone a sudden and surprising favorite. I stood in front of her, still a little wet from the shower.

  “You are not hard to look at, Jake Riley.”

  I blinked a few times, wondering how I’d gone from thinking about giving her a compliment to already receiving one. She wasn’t like the girls backstage. They fawned all over us, and even though it was real to them, fame had built a barrier. Being worshiped was imbalanced. What Louana had said landed perfectly in playful equality.

  5

  Liar

  * * *

  LOUANA

  “You’ve ruined me for beds. I can’t believe I have to sleep on a bus for ten days after this,” Jake said.

  I crawled on top of him until the tips of our noses barely touched and said, “We’re even then. You’ve ruined me for other things.”

  I had the morning off work and was ready for my double breakfast. Jake would be out of my life by noon, and I was ninety-four ways of willing for a proper send-off.

  Three orgasms (two for me and one for him) and a shower later, we were ready to eat.

  Jake was a gifted storyteller and had me laughing so hard, I almost spat out my eggs into his face. We kept up the easy banter as we walked Archie. I explained to Jake how I had met Fern in the Hollywood Hills. She’d been struggling to walk the dog with her bad knees and the rough terrain. I offered to take the dog for a spin and then walked them both back home, which led to her offering me the apartment. Learning about someone else’s life and sharing my own was like a warm chocolate chip cookie. It was all easy, normal. Agreeing to drop Jake off at his bus was a natural extension of our morning.