Rough Around the Edges

by Ranae Rose

  He did, slowly. With one of his arms in a cast and one of hers in a sling, undressing her was an awkward process despite the fact she’d only been wearing jeans to begin with. Still, it wasn’t tedious. Each inch of her painstakingly-revealed flesh made his heart beat faster.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said, standing before her as she sat perched on the edge of the bed, naked. Her jeans and panties lay crumpled on the floor at her feet, reminding him of how sweet it had been to peel them off of her.

  They’d gone to Manny’s funeral on her first day out of the hospital, but for the past four days, they’d hardly left the apartment at all. They’d gone out to pick up a few essential groceries, but that was it. Other than that, they’d been alone together, often touching but never daring to do more than sleep when they were in bed together. There had been the burdens of worry and stress, and Ally’s physical wounds. Now, though…

  Her arm was hurting her much less than it had at first. She’d told him so an hour ago, at breakfast. There was no reason not to come together, and the need to do so was suddenly overwhelming.

  He’d feared for her and fought for her, had watched her bleed and hadn’t known, at the time, if she’d live to see another day. Now that he had her safe and sound, he had to have her. What they were about to do was as necessary as his next breath. “I don’t want to hurt you. So let me know if I’m in danger of it.”

  He’d be careful, but thorough. There was no question of half-assing this – the pleasure would be as real as his love for her. He’d make sure of it. Already, anticipation was buzzing beneath the surface of his skin, heightening his senses.

  He took off his jeans one-handedly – he’d become pretty good at that, and it didn’t take him long. As soon as he was free, Ally wrapped a hand around his cock, her grip firm as she held his gaze.

  “Damn, it’s been forever. That feels so good.” He hadn’t been thinking of sex when he’d been fearing for her life, but the pause in the physically intimate side of their relationship had taken a toll. The feel of her pumping her hand up and down his shaft made every muscle in his body tighten, and only the thought of being inside her kept him from coming then and there. “Ally—”

  He was ready to tell her to stop when she leaned forward, pressing her lips to the head of his dick. The words died on his tongue as he stood frozen, shocked by the hot press of her mouth. It enveloped him completely as she took the tip of his cock inside, guaranteeing his silence with heat and perfect pressure.

  She placed her hand on his hip and gripped him there, the weight of her fingertips against his skin echoing the gentle compression she exerted with her tongue. All other thoughts forgotten, he slipped into a haze where touch dominated and his other senses faded into the background.

  It was easy to imagine thrusting deeper into her mouth, and hard to resist. He did though, squeezing his eyes shut, as if he could somehow shut out the urge. “Ah, God.” Even if it hadn’t been about a week since they’d last been together, what she was doing would’ve felt unbearably good.

  She was moving, creating a rhythm that reminded him of the way she worked her hips when she was on top of him, her pussy tight around his dick. Eyes still closed, he could remember the way she looked when she did that – the way he could see everything when she straddled him, the way her nipples had rubbed against his chest when they’d done it on the couch.

  “You have to stop. I can’t take it anymore.”

  She listened, thank God. Otherwise, their first time since the shooting would’ve ended immediately. And it was way too important for that. He wanted – needed – to finish inside her. But first…

  Chapter 22

  He dropped to his knees and placed a hand on the inside of her knee, pushing gently.

  She responded like he’d hoped she would, spreading her thighs apart – far enough that he could get between them, where he could see the moisture shining on her folds and smell the vaguely-sweet musky scent that brought back memories, immediate and crystal-clear, of all the other times they’d fucked. His mouth watered and his cock throbbed as he stared, his fingertips tingling against the soft skin of her inner thigh.

  She moved forward, to the very edge of the bed, bringing the intoxicating sight and scent closer.

  “Yeah, just like that.” He tightened his grip and leaned forward, exhaling and liking the way she arched in response as his breath hit her skin.

  He pressed his mouth against her body, letting the moisture on her folds merge with the moisture on his tongue as he slid it lower, slipping the tip between the lips of her pussy and teasing, stopping on the brink of penetration.

  Her body tensed beneath his hand and mouth, muscles pulled taut with energy that radiated hot and promising beneath the surface of her skin. The first touch of his tongue against her clit made her gasp, and things escalated quickly from there. He focused on the swollen bud and soon her hips were bucking against his face, making her sweet skin grind against his open mouth.

  Her pleasure crept into him, a bliss transferred by touch, and left his nerves buzzing. Eyes closed, he tasted her and heard the ragged rush of her breath, and that was it – the sound of her breathing was his entire world, for those few moments.

  “Stop,” she eventually gasped. “Stop.”

  He did, reluctantly, and pulled back with her flavor still on his tongue and satisfaction unfurling deep inside him. Her cheeks were flushed a bright pink – the healthiest color to grace her face since the shooting – and her eyes were sparkling.

  He stayed between her spread thighs and rose to a standing position. His cock reached for her, so hard it almost hurt. “Damn, I need to be inside you. How do you want to do this?”

  Tipping her head to one side, she let her gaze wander low, across his body. “How about… I could always be on top. That wouldn’t affect my arm.”

  “Or I could be on top,” he said, “if I supported myself with one arm.” Either way, it was going to be fucking amazing – he could feel that fact in his blood, which had been heating since he’d undressed her and was now near boiling point.

  “I think your cast would make that hard to do. Don’t you think you’d end up putting weight on your arm and straining your wrist?”

  “Maybe. I guess you’re right. Let’s go with what you said.” No way was he going to argue against her straddling and riding him. He climbed onto the bed, the mattress sinking beneath his weight as he reclined.

  “Don’t make me wait, Ally.” He ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs away from his forehead. They were short, but he was so hot that the motion let a little coolness rush against his scalp. “I want you so bad. Seems like it’s been an eternity.”

  She stood, eyes fixed on his and gleaming with something – but what? Before he could ask what was on her mind, she turned and went to the dresser, retrieving a condom from a drawer. “I got the results of my tests yesterday,” she said as she approached the bed again. “The ones I requested during my hospital stay.”

  His heart skipped a beat as he remembered her saying something about wanting to be tested for STIs while at the hospital. “Yeah?” He’d assumed she’d forgotten, what with the significant distraction of her gunshot wounds, and hadn’t wanted to add to her stress by reminding her.

  He should’ve known better.

  “We should be fine to stop using condoms after I finish my medications,” she said. “I tested clean, but the antibiotics I’m taking could interfere with my birth control. But after that we can rely on it. I mean, if you still want to.”

  “Hell yes I still want to.” He reached out and laid a hand on her hip, squeezing. Thinking of sliding inside her with nothing between them made him temporarily lightheaded. Maybe all his blood really had left his brain.

  “Okay.” It was almost a whisper, but her eyes were gleaming and the tip of her tongue showed pink against the rim of her lower lip as she traced it.

  “Come here,” he said. “I can wait until then to stop using condoms,
but I can’t wait any longer for this.”

  She climbed onto the bed and straddled him, settling a knee on either side of his torso, just like he’d imagined. The familiar weight of her on his hips sent a fresh wave of desire through him. So did the sight of her up there, every inch of her exposed in a way no other position quite afforded.

  “I wish we didn’t have to worry about the antibiotics,” she said, shifting her gaze to the foil square she cradled in one hand. “Until now I didn’t realize how hard it would be to put on a condom one-handedly.”

  “We’ve got two good hands between us.”

  He slid his hand down the front of his body and let his fingers curl near the base of his cock.

  Meanwhile, she tore the condom package open – a little awkwardly, but still. When she held the condom aloft, he pinched the tip and let her roll the transparent sleeve down his shaft. For some reason, helping her do it fanned the flames that were eating away at his self-restraint. He was able to keep still as she finished, but only because her touch felt so damn good, even if it was just her fingertips sliding against the sides of his dick.

  As soon as the condom was on, she sank down, letting the lips of her pussy brush against the head of his cock. He gripped his shaft by the base and held it steady, his breath catching in his throat as she lowered herself further, taking him in.

  She was even tighter than he remembered. Her hot flesh yielded to his, stretching, and she gasped. Just hearing that and being inside her made his heart beat faster, and he hadn’t even moved yet. Suddenly dying to rock into her, he caved and flexed his hips.

  Her entire body moved when he fucked her from below – it was a fact he never forgot, but the sight was always amazing. Everything from the way her eyebrows knit together in an expression of intensity to the way her breasts bounced and her hips rolled was perfect, all in sync with the way her pussy was pulsing around him, begging him to slide in deeper.

  He did, but kept his pace slow and steady. “Not hurting you, am I?” Cradled in its sling, her left arm framed her breasts, a sobering reminder of what she’d been through just a week ago.

  She met his gaze and shook her head.

  “Good.” Relief washed through him, but he maintained his rhythm anyway. The past week had been so violent, so unpredictable. It felt good to take it easy, but was still intense – the kind of intensity that could only end in them being closer, not farther apart.

  Not that he hadn’t felt close to her over the past few days – he had, and still did. Making it through a life-threatening situation together always brought people closer; life had taught him that. But life had also deprived him of the people he’d forged those bonds with before.

  Not her. She was still there, on top of him, surrounding him and nearly killing him with the sheer pleasure of still having her, after everything.

  He couldn’t fuck it up now, no matter what. The thought floated in the back of his mind, but wasn’t overwhelming. They already had a plan. It would work. He’d make it work, at any cost, to keep her safe, to have a life with her.

  Her climax hit her with a shudder and a hitching breath, snapping him out of his thoughts of the future. As her channel shrank around his cock, he thrust hard and slipped a hand between her thighs. Her clit was swollen, hot. He drew his thumb across it, then began a circular massage.

  It was like magic – she tensed on top of him, breathed harder and squeezed her eyes shut. He kept his open, not wanting to miss a second of it. Some part of his mind urged him to memorize the moment in detail, to hold onto it and save it for when he’d miss her, for when she was gone.

  But that was stupid. She wasn’t going anywhere. He ignored the urge but noted everything about the moment anyway – not because he was going to lose her, but because it was a memory worth keeping.

  When she opened her eyes, their gazes locked. Hardly a second passed before she squeezed him internally, the walls of her pussy drawing tight around his cock, half a moment of heat and pressure sending him careening over the edge.

  He groaned as his climax crashed down on him, such a rush of fierce pleasure that it felt more like being pulled under a wave and overtaken than anything else. “Fuck.” The friction created by the slide of his dick against her inner walls sent heat rippling through his entire body, permeating every hot muscle.

  She sighed too, still squeezing him, still bearing down on him so that he came deep inside her. When the intensity ebbed he remained buried to the root anyway. She was still straddling him, sitting upright, but they were fitted so snugly together that he could feel her heartbeat, or maybe it was only his own pulse echoing throughout his entire body and ringing in his ears.

  She slid off of him and curled on the mattress at his side. They lay there like that for a long time and didn’t say a word. Nothing needed to be said. The first true moments of peace they’d had in a week hung in the air – something sensed, almost tangible. It weighed down on his chest, but it was a good weight, one that reminded him his heart was still beating along with hers.

  After a while of simply breathing and existing beside her – something he couldn’t bring himself to take for granted – he helped her dress. With an arm in a sling, she’d stopped wearing bras around the apartment. She’d said they were more trouble than they were worth if she wasn’t going out, and he hadn’t put up much of an argument. When she turned to face him, fully dressed, her black t-shirt clung to her curves, showcasing her breasts and nipples, which were still hard.

  He stared as real life crowded his mind again, dispelling the lazy satisfaction sex had left him with. “My parents called when you were in the shower this morning.” She’d looked so gorgeous, so tempting that when he’d walked into the room to tell her, he’d forgotten. “They mailed plane tickets. Sent them via overnight express. They’ll be here tomorrow.”

  Ally held his gaze. “When is our flight?”

  “Four days from now. I told them we’d need a little time to tie up loose ends.”

  Four days wasn’t much, but that would be for the best. Manny’s funeral had already taken place and Maria was staying with a family member in another county, away from Baltimore. After all Ally had been through … there was only so much closure a person could take. After that, lingering in hurtful places was risking more damage. Instinct told him it would be best to move on quickly, so he hadn’t protested when his mother had chosen such a close flight.

  Ally simply nodded.

  “On one of those days, I’d like you to come with me to Quantico.” He knew she’d agree – she was selfless like that – but he couldn’t help but tense up inside anyway, bracing himself against hearing the suggestion repeated back.

  “Quantico?”

  It didn’t sound quite as strange on her lips as it felt on his. “I’m going to take my Marine Corps friend up on his offer before we leave. It might be my last chance to see him for a while.”

  It would be right and – just maybe – it would be good for him. In any case, it would be wrong to leave without saying goodbye to someone he’d been to hell and back with.

  “Are you sure you want me to come?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” He couldn’t help but grin. “At least if you come along, it’ll look like I’ve accomplished something during the past year.”

  She returned the expression, and it was nice to see happiness reflected on her face, even if it was teasing. “Some trophy girlfriend I’ll make with my arm in this sling.”

  He shrugged and lifted his injured arm. “We match.”

  “Yeah, we match like a pair of cracked salt and pepper shakers match.”

  “I’ll take that. It makes me look a little less pathetic.” A lot less, actually. Ally was gorgeous enough to distract anyone from the fact that he had nothing else to brag about.

  Eyes suddenly serious, she leaned against him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Are you sure you want to return to New York?”

  “Absolutely sure. The shooting, Manny and everything really pu
t things into perspective. Keeping you safe is a lot more important than my pride. Besides, I’m going to pay my parents back for the moving expenses. And I’ll accept a job, but I’ll work for my paychecks, too. It’s not like I’ll be living off their charity.”

  It wouldn’t be that bad, really. It would be a hell of a lot better than staying in Baltimore and spending every night and day scared to death that Ally would be hurt again.

  She wrapped her arm more tightly around him. “I spoke to mamá this morning. She wants to stay in Frederick County with my uncle.”

  “Is she sure? Because if she wants to come to New York, I’ll make it happen. She won’t be alone and she won’t have to struggle.”

  “She doesn’t want to move that far away. If she did, she wouldn’t be able to visit my father.” Ally’s voice softened, but she continued to embrace him.

  “Well, it’s her choice. Maybe when your father finishes his sentence, they’ll consider moving to New York together. Seems like they both could use a fresh start.”

  It was too bad that moving to New York meant being close to only his parents, who he didn’t – couldn’t – appreciate in the way she appreciated hers. He was determined to live in peace with his family, but it seemed like a waste that he’d be keeping his mother and father at an arm’s length while Ally missed hers.

  “Maybe.” Ally took a quiet breath and held it, exhaling softly against his chest. “So you’re sure about all of this. Really sure?”

  “I used to have nightmares every night about Afghanistan. Dreams where I was still out in the desert, stuck in a mission that wouldn’t end until the Humvee I was riding in drove into the range of some shitty but bizarrely effective homemade bomb. And I’d know it was coming, but I wouldn’t be able to stop it.

  “Other times I’d dream that I was going back to be a part of the Marine Corps again, to put my uniform back on and return to the desert to do it all over again. Part of me would be terrified and another part of me would be so fucking glad I couldn’t stand it, because maybe if I could go back I could redeem myself, be a part of something again and stop my life from coming to a standstill where all I did was hurt and wait for it all to be over. But you know what I’ve been dreaming about for the past week?”