Imagine Me

by Fiona Cole

  “How do you know I love it so much?”

  “All the pictures hanging in your apartment for one. And you live to protect it. Duh. You kind of have to love the city to risk your life for it.”

  He chuckled, like he was surprised I noticed all that. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Of course, I’m right. Now grab your stuff and let’s go.”

  “Fine. But if we run into anyone, I’m going to pretend to not be into you and probably bail. You don’t get to be pissed about that.”

  I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed, but I understood his stance, so I held up my hands in surrender. “I solemnly swear to not be mad, as long as I can meet you back here and you make it up to me with your mouth.”

  He laughed. “One more thing . . .you need to take that damn mustache off.”

  “Fine.” I rolled my eyes and peeled it off before shoving it in my purse. When he turned to me after locking his door, I waggled my eyebrows again. “I’ll save it for later tonight.”

  His laugh followed me down the stairs as we headed to his car.

  First stop of the day was Findlay Market. I’d looked it up online and was instantly excited by all the options and colors.

  However, once we parked and strolled up to the crowds of people with the early spring sun shining down on us, the pictures online couldn’t compare. I grabbed Shane’s hand when we braved the crowds, weaving in and out of the red tables filled with people, not wanting to lose him.

  “Do you want to go inside, or stroll the tents on either side?” he asked, his shoulders tense as he scanned the crowd, looking for anyone who may know us.

  “I don’t know. Whatever you think is best. I’m so overwhelmed in the best way. There’s everything here.”

  “Yeah, Findlay Market is kind of like Seattle’s Pike Place.”

  “I’ve never been there either, but I’ve heard of it.”

  “Let’s start inside and work our way out. It’s still a little chilly this morning.”

  As we made our way from shop to shop, Shane’s shoulders slowly relaxed, and he began to stop looking everywhere, turning his attention all on me. It was intoxicating.

  We’d hold hands when we needed to make it through a crowd, but as the day wore on, he stopped dropping my hand when we got to an opening. I wasn’t even sure he realized he was doing it. I thought about saying something, making a joke, but I didn’t want to do anything to make it stop. Instead, I held tight and enjoyed the feeling while it lasted.

  We walked past food vendors and tasted meats and fruits and whatever samples they had out, each flavor somehow better than the last.

  Shane laughed when we made our way outside to a vendor tent and I oohed and aahed over the cards and mugs.

  “I love the funny cards, the dirtier the better. Even if I don’t have a reason to buy them, I’ll get them anyway to look through later. Oh, and check out this mug.” I pulled it from the rack and held it up to him. I’d love to stay and chat but I’m lying.

  He laughed and pulled it from my hands, taking it to the check out. “We’ll take this one.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I know. I want to. I noticed all your mugs in the kitchen. Pretty interesting for someone who doesn’t drink hot coffee.”

  “It doesn’t have to be coffee to use it. It’s still just a cup. Besides, I love hot chocolate.”

  “Fair enough.” He took his change and reached for my hand as we walked out.

  Next on our list was Shane’s choice. I’d found a small local restaurant, but he’d vetoed it and said I hadn’t lived until I’d had Larosa’s.

  I’d told him I’d never had it and he threw his hand to his chest and gasped like a true Southern belle, claiming we couldn’t do anything else until he shared the glory of Cincinnati pizza.

  I couldn’t deny how right he was. When we walked in, the smell alone was almost orgasmic. His jaw clenched when I’d moaned as the waiter set the pizza in front of us. We got a classic cheese and a meat deluxe.

  I pulled the cheese off the top and began eating it.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Eating, why?”

  “Why are you pulling the cheese off?”

  “Because I like to enjoy each part individually. This pizza is kind of awesome because when I pull off the cheese, all the toppings are underneath. Like little surprises.” He stared at me like I’d grown a unicorn head on my shoulder. I gave him a big smile and popped the cheese in my mouth, moaning at the flavor.

  “You’re weird as hell.”

  “You love it,” I said with a mouth full of bacon, sausage, and pepperoni. “What other food does Cincinnati have? Can we try something else tonight?”

  “Don’t worry, Mini MacCabe. I’ll introduce you to all the foods Cincinnati has to offer. Sometime soon, I’ll have to take you to Skyline Chili.”

  “Ooo, I’ve had that. Jolene and I stumbled upon it one day. It’s delicious. It’s not really chili. More of a crumble of meat in some sauce, but I loved it.”

  We paid our bill and it was already closing in on three in the afternoon. We had one more stop that I’d looked up: Eden Park.

  We strolled hand in hand along the beautiful walking path, the trees just beginning to bloom. He explained the different architecture like the Eden Park Standpipe and the Elsinore Arch. It was all so gorgeous. There was also entirely too much to do before it got dark.

  “We’ll come back and do the conservatory and art museum another day.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  With his word locked in place, I followed him back to the car. “Well, that’s all I had planned for the day.”

  “Let me take you to one more food place. It’s on Fountain Square.”

  “Oh, I’ve never been. Driven past about four thousand times, but I’ve never stopped to walk around.”

  “There’s a really good ice cream place there.”

  I clapped my hands I was so excited. I loved ice cream.

  He parked in the garage and led the way to a place called Grater’s. I walked in, looked at all the handmade ice cream, and my eyes lit up. There were so many flavors, I couldn’t decide.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “All of it.”

  He laughed. “As much as I would love to see you eat it all, I don’t want you to be sick later tonight.” He smirked and I nudged him with my shoulder, laughing at his meaning.

  “Okay. You pick for me.”

  “Hmmm. How about we stay with the theme of Cincinnati and go with the Buckeye Chocolate Chip.”

  “Sounds glorious.”

  And it was. We ate our ice cream and people watched from our table next to the window. When I’d practically licked my paper cup clean, we went to walk around the Square.

  We stood in front of the huge fountain, the lights shining all over it, as water poured from the top, flowing over the many layers. I shivered as we looked up at the top and he pulled me into his arms, holding my back tight to his front. He kept me warm with more than just his arms. He made me feel special, cared for, and safe, and I wanted to stay there forever. I wanted to kiss him.

  I maneuvered around in his arms, to face him and smiled up at him. “Thank you for today.”

  “Thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve toured my own city.”

  He leaned down at the same time I lifted my chin and pressed my lips to his. They were cold from the ice cream and the chill outside since night settled. The kiss was slow, like we were trying to memorize every detail of the other’s lips. When his tongue brushed along the seam of my lips, I opened, letting him taste me. We didn’t rush, just let our hands slide up and down each other’s backs and made out like a couple of teenagers in public.

  When we heard salsa music coming from the other side of the fountain, we pulled back, and I stepped away to see what it was.

  “They’re teaching salsa.” I looked back at him with wide eyes, exciteme
nt pouring off me.

  “Juliana,” he warned.

  “Come on,” I pleaded. “There’s an instructor and everything. We can hide in the back.”

  He held firm until I started swirling my hips and backing away toward the crowd. He begrudgingly followed, and a huge grin split my face at his acceptance.

  We stood in the back and tried to move our hips the way the teacher showed. The instructor would come around and help us find the rhythm and correct our foot placement. Every time I looked over at Shane, he seemed to be doing his own thing, struggling to find the rhythm. I tried not to laugh, but he stiffened every time the teacher tried to help him move his hips. He’d glare at me, and I’d just twirl in a circle, swiveling my hips for him.

  Soon everyone was set free to practice their newly learned moves on their own on the dance floor as the band played songs. The instructors did the dance in the middle so people could follow if they wanted, but I decided to swirl my hips and dance circles around Shane.

  I noticed some people stopping and staring at my excitement and the show I put on for Shane, but it didn’t bother me. All I needed were his blazing eyes scorching over me as I shook my ass at him. All I needed was the feel of his muscles clenching under my hand as I dragged it across his back and chest.

  The song ended and Shane stepped into me, leaning down to my ear. “I’m ready to go.” His words were spoken barely above a whispered growl, the air brushing against the sensitive skin of my neck. I nodded and let him take my hand in his and lead the way.

  We had to cross the street to get back to our garage and when we stood at the corner, waiting for the light, I could still hear the music and decided to dance against him. The people on the crowded corner probably thought I was a drunk. But I didn’t care.

  I lived for the twitch of his lips that formed a small smile as he watched me. I closed my eyes and moved my shoulders to the beat, and when I opened them and looked up at him, his smile was gone. His brows furrowed and he looked at me as though he’d never seen me before. The intensity of how hard he stared hammered at my chest, but I didn’t know what he was thinking when he took me in.

  “What?” I asked quietly, not even sure he heard me.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head before letting another smile stretch across his face. “Nothing.”

  The light turned green and we ran across the street. I laughed, dancing around him until the salsa music faded in the background. Throughout our walk, he continued to stare at me the same way as he had on that corner. His bright eyes blazing hot along my skin. They looked me over as though trying to find something he hadn’t noticed before. My chest felt tight and hot, and I wanted to dance for him forever if it meant he never stopped watching me the way he was. I was forced to stop swaying around him when he snagged my arm and pulled me in for a deep kiss.

  He held me tightly to him like I’d slip away. He didn’t stop to breathe, but breathed through his nose, taking me in, brushing his tongue against mine. I clung to his shirt, feeling the heat, the passion, the desperation behind his kiss.

  A horn honking and a man yelling for us to get a room separated us. I pulled back with a giddy smile and kissed his nose.

  “That’s a good idea. Take me home, Shane.”

  Chapter 17

  We stayed silent in the car while Shane held my hand the whole time, stealing glances in my direction.

  We stayed silent when he parked the car and entered my apartment building.

  We stayed silent in the elevator ride up to my floor.

  We stayed silent as I unlocked my door and his hands roamed my body from breasts to hips, his lips kissing from my shoulder up to my ear.

  The silence greeted us when I opened my apartment. The darkness letting me know Jolene wasn’t home.

  It was the last silence of the night until our moans, grunts, and pleas would become the only thing to echo within the walls.

  I dropped my purse and he kicked the door shut behind us and pulled me into him, my back to his front. His hands started at my stomach and rose up to cup my breasts as his mouth made love to my neck. Tipping my head to the side, I moaned and chills raced down my spine, tingling out to my limbs, my skin rising in goose bumps to reach him.

  I pushed my hips back into his groin and placed my hand over his, moving it down to between my legs. He gripped me hard there and growled one word.

  “Mine.”

  I was. In his arms, in that moment, I was his.

  He flipped me around and hoisted me up, bringing my legs to wrap around his waist. We held each other’s stare as he walked us to my room. His ice blue eyes heating and darkening, his pupils dilating, and the anticipation of what they promised burned through me.

  I expected frantic. I expected to be tossed on the bed and clothes to be torn off. Instead, he gently lay me down, locking his lips on mine and grinding against me as we melded our tongues and our bodies together. Still fully clothed, we let our hands roam and panted against each other, gasping for breath between each kiss.

  “Please, Shane,” I whispered against his lips, needing more. The throb between my legs becoming too much with not enough to satisfy it.

  He leaned back and pushed my hands away when I went to tear off my shirt, stopping me from stripping, so he could do it for me. He revealed each piece of my skin like it was the last present he’d ever get to open and wanted to cherish it forever. He kissed each exposed body part gently, dipping his tongue into my belly button, swirling it around each of my breasts to only leave a soft sucking kiss to the nipples.

  He leaned back and held my stare as he tugged his shirt over his head, his chest and abs rippling from the movement, before falling back on top of me, scalding my skin with his own. We felt like fire and heat, and I was dying to go up in flames with him. My hands roamed his chest, dragging them down, gently circling his nipples with my fingers before moving further to undo his belt.

  He let me get as far as the zipper, and when I was about to reach my hand inside to feel him in the palm of my hand, he backed up, sliding down my body, leaving sucking kisses in his wake. He fell to his knees on the floor and dragged my pants and underwear from my body, kissing down my thighs, knees, and calves before finally slipping them off. Then he made his way back up again, parting my thighs, rubbing his thumbs up and down the lips of my pussy, taunting me with what was to come.

  I lifted my hips, begging him without words to touch me, to lick me, to taste me. He placed sucking kisses along my groin and when I looked down to watch his mouth on me, my eyes locked with his. Holding my stare, he finally parted my lips and dragged his tongue from my opening to my clit. I cried out from the pleasure, my head falling back to the bed.

  He repeated his ministrations, up and down, up and down. He’d spend time at my bundle of nerves and then he would plunge his tongue in and out of me, holding my thighs as far apart as they would go and then pushing them back to expose every inch of me.

  I almost came off the bed when he slipped past my core and dropped lower to my rosette.

  “Shane.” I gasped, shocked and unsure of the feeling. He continued with flicks of his tongue, touching nerve endings I didn’t even know existed. He moved one hand to my cunt and plunged two fingers in to my wetness. Slow, measured thrusts. When he removed them, he replaced them with his tongue, but then moved his fingers to my tight hole and began pushing a finger inside me.

  Unintelligible whimpers escaped from my throat, unsure of the electricity firing through my body. His finger pushed harder, stretching me, and his tongue moved back to my clit, quickly flicking back and forth. It was too much. Too much pleasure and too many sensations consumed me, and I gasped for air, clinging to the sheets as a heat fell over me.

  I cried out as my orgasm crashed over me in waves over and over again, his finger pushing in and out of my ass, his tongue a relentless movement around my core, not letting me come down from my high.

  When I did come back, I had tears streaming down my temples and my ch
est heaved with choked sobs. It was too much, and my body didn’t know how to handle it.

  “Shh. Shh.” Shane soothed me as the bed dipped and he laid over me, wiping the wet tracks from my face. “You did so well. So beautiful. I’ve never seen anything quite so extraordinary as you when you come.”

  His words wrapped around me, soothing the frantic pace of my heart. The way his eyes stared down at me made me feel an acceptance I’d never had before. It made my heart race and my eyes burn for a whole other reason. He looked at me like he adored me, like I was his only purpose in life.

  I heard the crinkle of a condom wrapper before I felt the tip of his cock brushing against my opening. I clenched my core, even the slight brush of his tip against my swollen cunt sent a shock through my body.

  He held my stare, brushing the hair back from my sweaty face, as he pushed in slowly, an inch at a time, not stopping until he was seated as deep as he could go, his balls resting against my ass.

  He held my stare as he pulled out and repeated the process, swirling his hips, grinding into my clit each time he pushed in. His forehead rested against mine, our breaths mixing in the small space between us as he slowly fucked me.

  No.

  This wasn’t fucking. This was beyond different than anything we’d shared before. There was no fast pace, no skin slapping against the other’s, no dirty words stroking the flames higher. I hesitated to call it making love, but it felt like it, because I’d never felt anything so big before. It wrapped around us in our own little world. Him inside me, taking his time, relishing the mix of our heat.

  “I wish I didn’t need a condom,” he whispered into my neck. “I wish I could feel you. Feel my cum deep inside you.”

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. I was sorry, because I almost wanted to be crazy and risk everything to feel it. Even if I wasn’t on birth control. “I’ll get on birth control. I want to feel your cum inside me.”