Free Flesh: A Romance Novel

by Daya Daniels

  His large palm wraps around mine when our hands meet in a shake, but he doesn’t let go. He only holds it, staring down at the embrace while his thumb does maddening circles over the top of my hand. He smiles again. “And your name is?”

  He stands straight, still holding on to my hand, and I finally notice how tall he is. This yummy thing easily clears six feet with possibly one or two inches on top of that. He runs a hand through his hair. With the movement, his T-shirt edges up over his jeans, showing firm abs and a sparse line of hair that makes a trail down the middle of his stomach.

  “Oh.” I giggle. “I’m Mei.”

  “Mei,” he repeats. “That’s pretty.”

  “Mei Nina Sutton.” I give him my full name, copying his formality and praying I don’t end up regretting it.

  There’s a lot someone can do with a full name these days...

  His eyes bounce between mine and the windowsill. “May I sit with you?”

  I adjust my posture and bob my head a few times. “Sure. Yeah. Sure,” I say nervously, making room for him. “I was looking at the rain.”

  “The rain?” he questions with an odd expression.

  “Yeah.” I laugh.

  He drops down and eases into the spot next to me that’s too tight for our two bodies. Our thighs and shoulders touch and when he leans closer to speak, I’m treated to a delicious whiff of the clean scent of his strands and of the body wash that still lingers on his skin.

  “Are you having a great time?” he asks, giving me a funny face.

  I lift a shoulder. “Not really.”

  He narrows his eyes. “I could tell.” He runs a hand over the days’ worth of scruff on his jaw.

  I giggle while he looks at the beer I have in my hand.

  “You’re not a beer girl.” His eyes drift over my face. “You’re a wine girl. Classy.” He looks around. “Not the type that’s meant to be here.”

  His words force me to blush and I’m grateful that it’s dark where we’re sitting except for the little bit of city light that comes into the apartment from behind us.

  “I don’t mind. It’s out of my element, but my friend Edie insisted I come tonight.”

  He nods and takes a swig of his beer.

  My eyes linger on the Japanese script written along his forearm. “Nodo kara te ga deru,” I say.

  He smiles and follows my eyeline to the words.

  “Do you know what that means?” I ask him.

  He laughs. “I do. I speak a bit of Japanese. It means my hand is coming out of my throat.”

  I laugh out loud. “What would possess you to put that there? Did a friend of yours trick you?”

  He laughs. “Actually, he did. Sort of. It was one of those drunken nights and we’d been at it all night over this and that. Anyways, we broke into this conversation about women and love and all that bullshit and he told me I didn’t know anything about women until I meet one who makes me feel like I want her so fucking bad, that my hand would come out of my throat. He told me I’d want her that badly.”

  I drop my eyes to stare at his big boots that must at least be a size eleven or twelve. “Is it true?”

  CARTER

  SWALLOWING BACK MY BEER, I take a minute deciding on my answer while I stare into the most captivating baby-blue eyes I’ve ever seen. The city is freezing this time of year, but when I gaze into Mei’s eyes all I can envision is the warm ocean at sunset and everything serene, peaceful, and calm that goes along with it.

  “It is,” I say firmly.

  I’ve lived in this city my entire life and I know a New Yorker when I see one. Mei’s different. If she’s from New York she isn’t from the city.

  She leans away from me and all I want to do is inch closer. Her smaller body is nearly swallowed up by mine, but something about her posture comes across as self-confident even though her gazes are shy. Every now and again she nibbles on her pouty bottom lip that I’m sure I want to taste.

  “How do you know?” she asks softly.

  “Because I feel it now.” I give her a long look. It’s the truth. Probably the most truth I’ve told myself all year. I do feel it right now. A magnetic pull to a stranger who keeps my interest with her conflicted gazes and edgy mannerisms. A beautiful stranger...who clearly wars with what she thinks and how she feels since they’re rarely in alignment.

  The Cranberries’ song “Linger” sounds throughout the apartment.

  “What do you do for a living?” she asks curiously, fishing for information.

  I huff before responding, hating to speak the words I’m about to say. “I’m a lawyer.”

  “You’re young.”

  I nod. “As are you.” My eyes find her hands.

  Delicate. Small. Dexterous.

  “I’m going to be a doctor.”

  I smile. “You’re smart.”

  She nods again and it doesn’t escape me that she doesn’t thank me for the compliment.

  “Well, that’s impressive,” I say, leaning closer to her, breathing her in. “Where are you from?”

  “Somerville, Massachusetts, mostly. I traveled a lot when I was younger, but I’m mostly from there. I’m an only child.” She laughs. “Do I seem like an only child?”

  I attempt to control my smile, but I’m fascinated by the exotic face in front of me that’s an interesting combination of pretty features. This woman affects me.

  “Honestly, I can’t tell,” I respond.

  I’ve spent the last hour at this party making chitchat with my best friend, Yannick Tremblay, trying to keep my eyes off the stunning woman at the opposite side of the room. The women here are average, not exactly trolls, but not half as hot as this one is—not even close. They flirt. They mingle and they chat, but I don’t feel drawn to them the way I do to this woman. It was as if the second my eyes set on her, I mean really set on her, she threw some sort of invisible lasso in my direction that settled around my heart.

  The pull to her doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t have to.

  We talk for a little while about living in New York City—the people, the places, and the ways that we wind down. It isn’t the typical small talk for the first time you meet someone. She didn’t give me the normal interrogation—my age, my address, and what I do for a living. It’s casual, relaxed, teasing, sexy. After a while she looks at me shyly and I know she’s thinking about what I said when I first sat next to her.

  She looks away from me and fiddles with her fingers.

  “What is it?” I whisper into her ear.

  “You want me?” she asks skeptically, looking up at me with those blue eyes when she realizes I drifted off with my thoughts. “We’ve just met.”

  “So.” I place my bottle down and stand.

  She gazes up at me warily.

  “I won’t bite. I promise you,” I tell her.

  Reaching down, I pull her up to stand and push through the crowds to find a spot in the middle of the room that serves as the dance floor. She only stares at me mesmerized and for a moment, I think I’ve taken over her mind and made it a place where only we exist despite all the people around us. I find a spot and pull her close to me and by Christ does she meld to me like a missing piece to a puzzle. She’s the missing piece of me.

  Jeff Buckley’s “Forget Her” sounds from the speakers. People clear the floor, only leaving a few couples that are pressed together, grinding and twisting to the haunting music.

  Mei lifts her arms and wraps them around my neck. The top of her head comes to my chin. She’s taller than I initially thought, curvier too now that I have a better view of her outfit that’s teasing me with a bit of cleavage. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her close, brushing my nose over her porcelain skin and sniff her midnight tresses that have the lingering scent of jasmine and vanilla on them.

  She presses her face to my chest and we rock. I dip down to her ear and sing the words, holding her tighter, nudging a thigh between hers. Her head jerks up to stare at me as we dance. We move i
n a slow grind along to the music—chest to chest and lips to lips but we don’t kiss. We only stare at each other beneath the smoke-filled darkness. The guitar rift sinks into me and the bassline booms through my chest. People surround us, but I don’t see them.

  All I see is her.

  I push my hands into her hair and her mouth opens. Sweat sheens her top lip and her eyes shut. Her cute little nose wriggles and her nostrils flare when I dip my head down into the crook of her neck. Snaking a line up her spine, my hand settles at the nape of her neck, clutching her there. She tips her head ever so slightly and her pouty lips part. My heart stops.

  And I’ve made up my mind.

  I’d sell my left nut to see what this woman looks like when she comes.

  Pulling her close, I allow her to feel how hard I am. Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t attempt to get away from me. For a split second, I think I see panic written across her features, but I’m wrong.

  It’s lust.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she whispers against my lips, brushing them with her own.

  She yanks me by the hand and we head for the door.

  CARTER

  WE CRASH THROUGH THE door of my place soaking wet and giggling. After we’d jumped into a cab, Mei insisted we stop a few blocks from my place and walk. Clearly, I’m a little drunk since I entertained the crazy idea. Tomorrow, I’ll probably have the fucking flu.

  We spent most of the entire cab ride locked in a vicious kiss.

  She removes her coat and tosses it on the old radiator heater. Her boots follow. Then she strips out of her dress beneath and dances around my furniture-less living room in nothing but a white slip that’s stuck to her skin in places.

  I strip out of my shirt and kick off my boots as she walks around the large space. I pull the pin down on the vinyl record that’s already set in the record player. “These Arms of Mine” sung by Otis Redding bounces off the walls of the empty room.

  Mei settles in front of a window and stares out in the distance at the view of Central Park and of the relentless rainfall outside that pounds on the glass violently.

  I can’t help but admire the size of her ass through her wet dress—such a nice ass. Round, plump, and perky. I want to sink my teeth into it.

  Pushing down my jeans, I leave them on the floor and head in her direction. When I make it to where she stands, I press my raging hard-on into her round ass. She bows with the action, forcing a hiss from me. Wrapping my arms around her, her head falls back against my chest and her blue eyes find my face. We sway to the music.

  “What are you doing living here in such a fancy place? I know you’re a lawyer, but you’re so young. How old are you, Carter Forbes?” she asks playfully.

  “I’m twenty-five.” I shrug. “I got my bachelor’s degree at NYU, did my three years at Harvard Law, and I passed the bar on the first try.”

  “What made you want to become a lawyer?”

  “I like to argue. Actually, scratch that... I love to argue and I like to win. I always win. And I sort of had to.”

  She smirks. “Had to.”

  “Yep, pretty much,” I tell her.

  “Impressive, yet you say it so casually,” she says softly. “And this place.” She waves a hand around.

  Giving her a wry smile, I jerk my eyes away. “It’s in the corporate plan.”

  “Ah, company dibs.”

  “Something like that.”

  “I feel like I’ll be in school for fucking ever.” She laughs and quickly changes subjects. “I don’t have many nights like this, Carter Forbes.”

  She breathes into my hand when it finds her chin. She twists around in my arms and plants a punishing kiss to my lips. Lifting her from the floor, my hands settle on her ass cheeks and slowly I make my way toward the bedroom. When I make it to the bed—which is a double stacked mattress on the floor—she eases out of my hold onto the mattress and positions herself on her knees. Crawling toward her, I nudge her to lie on her back and shred the slip she’s wearing. She squeals with each yank and pull but doesn’t protest. When she’s finally naked her breathing becomes erratic and she shivers all over. I hover over the top of her, staring down at the magnificent sight beneath me.

  “Carter,” she whispers. “I don’t do this.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “But I want to do this, with you.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “There’s something about you.”

  There’s something about you too.

  I rain kisses along the center line of her stomach and smile when I reach her mound, pushing my face into the skin there, grazing my nose over it. I didn’t think a woman could be so sensational. So sexy. But this one is.

  I barely know this woman. I knew bringing her here was risky.

  What if she turns out to be a stalker?

  What if she’s a soon-to-be ex-girlfriend?

  But what if she’s the woman of my dreams...

  Shaking the intrusive thoughts away, I dip down and taste her. She’s delicious. My tongue finds her clit and teases the swollen bud, forcing soft wails from her mouth that I swear are going to make my cock explode before I even get the chance to be inside her. Her thighs part wider and her hands fist the white sheets beneath us. Her back arches and I have a superb view of her perky tits and pink nipples that I want to suckle.

  “It’s okay,” she says.

  My brows furl. What’s okay?

  “I can’t come,” she tells me.

  Huh?

  She exhales and covers her face with her hands. “I can’t come. Never could. You don’t have to try to make me. But thank you.”

  Double huh with a little bit of what the fuck.

  Pushing up to my knees, I edge closer. She shakes her head as if she doesn’t want me to ask. But I’m not sure I want to. I didn’t know who Mei had been with before me, but soon they’d be forgotten just like a bad Steven Seagal movie.

  Shoving my boxer briefs down, my cock bounces out hard and ready. A small breath leaves Mei. Her eyes widen. Gradually, her thighs begin to shut out of instinct. Gently, I place a hand over her knees in a silent plea. No, I’m begging that she’ll let me have some of what she’s got between her sweet thighs.

  I’m cautious to approach the kitten like a lion, since the tiny feline has every right to be afraid. Very afraid.

  I caress her skin and they part, allowing me to slide in between the space. She sits up and slides her fingers into my hair, kissing me fiercely, and everything I thought about taking it slow goes out the window. Gripping my cock between her feverish kisses, I sink deep inside of her, mushing the cry that leaves her lips with my own.

  MEI

  COVERED IN SWEAT AND panting for air, I hold on to his shoulders. My thighs are wrapped around his waist, while his fingers dig painfully into them with each vigorous stroke that he makes deep inside of me.

  We kiss and he pulls away to look at me, clearly admiring me beneath the moonlight that filters in the room. It’s still raining outside. The scene I’m in couldn’t be any more perfect than it is.

  “Carter,” I breathe out when my thighs begin to quiver and low whines leave my lips.

  He growls into my neck and slows, his cock parting me slowly, deliciously. He takes a nipple into his mouth and right then I’m unable to stop the tears from dribbling from my eyes and down into my ears.

  He fucks me harder with all his weight. The sinewy muscles in his chest and arms flex with the vicious movement that’s stealing all the oxygen away from me and scrambling my brain. His gray eyes pierce mine and I fall apart.

  My thighs shake helplessly and soon I’m chanting his name when a mind-shattering orgasm rips through me. My soft wails bounce off the walls of the empty room and before I can recover, he flips me over onto my stomach, pushes back inside of me, and really goes to work. I grip the sheets in my hands, grunting in rhythm with his own savage sounds.

  His big body covers mine, slicking it in sweat. His lips find my shoulder when
he places a kiss there. “Mei,” he moans and it’s the most hypnotizing noise I’ve ever fucking heard.

  He gets louder and my gasps become desperate as he rams into me, perhaps in some attempt to shatter my spine. I swear!

  “Mei,” he groans, dragging his fingers through my hair. His other hand covers mine, our fingers intertwining with each other. “Touch yourself.”

  I slide a hand between my thighs, finding my clit, and instantly I whimper at the sensation of my fingers massaging the swollen bud and the feeling of his nine-inch cock ripping me open. It doesn’t take long and soon I’m coming again.

  He growls into my neck and I scream when his cock jerks deep inside of me and fills me with his cum. I’m dazed and gasping for breaths, my fingers twisted recklessly in his hair. I stare into his eyes with bewilderment. I want to ask a question, but silently I think I already have.

  “See,” he whispers. “It isn’t you. That was nice, wasn’t it?” He smiles.

  I nod in response with my eyelids at half-mast. Suddenly, every sexual experience I’ve ever had goes out the window. It’s redundant. Forgotten about. It no longer counts. This man has become my fucking life.

  He collapses on top of me and finds my lips pressing a kiss there. I only stare at him through my watery vision as he pants into my skin and strokes my hair. His touch melts me and I don’t want it to stop.

  “I’m sorry I told you that before. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  He smiles that charming, boyish smile again. “If you can’t come, Mei, why fuck?”

  “I don’t know,” I whisper. “I wanted to be with you, but I wanted to save us the awkwardness of you trying and me not being able to.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Shit.” I cover my face. “This is embarrassing.”

  “It isn’t. You’ve just been letting the wrong ones in, Mei...literally.”

  I laugh out loud and wrap my hands around his neck, pulling him closer. He dips down and presses a soft kiss to my skin then teases my nipples with his teeth. The light that comes in through the windows in the large empty space paints his chiseled features.