Redemption

by R. R. Banks

  He rose up over me, his forehead pressing against mine so he could look into my eyes. Our breath lingered, twisting and blending between us, and for a moment everything was so still I could nearly hear our hearts beating. I lifted my mouth to his and we kissed languidly for several long seconds. I became suddenly aware that I could taste my own body on his lips and tongue and felt myself react even more.

  "Touch me," he whispered.

  That was all of the encouragement I needed. I reached down and ran my fingers along his thick, hard length. They found a drop of silky liquid at the tip and I swirled it into the tender head. One of his hands came to mine and led me to grip him tighter, stroking him so I could feel his full length as it continued to grow harder with my touch. I bit my bottom lip, whimpering at the feel of his powerful cock in my hand and the surge of desire to have him inside me. Shane dipped his fingers into his pocket and withdrew a condom. He started to open it, but I reached out and took it from him. I ripped open the package and pulled the condom out. It felt slick against my fingertips like the head of his cock and I rubbed it for a few seconds before settling it onto his erection. Using one hand to hold his shaft steady, I slowly unrolled the condom with my fingertips, applying gentle pressure as I went. When it was fully in place, I stroked my fingertips up his length again.

  Shane lowered his mouth to my ear.

  "Let me inside you."

  I didn't realize that my thighs had closed until then and I opened them so that he could settle between my legs. The hot, swollen head of his erection slid down over my clit and I moaned as a wave of pleasure rolled through me. He paused at my opening and groaned.

  "Can you feel how much I want you?" I whispered breathlessly, drawing my knees up beside his hips.

  The movement opened me further and brought my hips closer to him, causing him to dip inside me. He drew in a sharp breath and I closed my eyes, my mouth opening, but no sound coming out.

  "Open your eyes. Look at me."

  I opened my eyes to meet his slumbering gaze and Shane pushed forward, sinking the rest of the way inside me. He didn’t hesitate, but started to roll his hips, the movement keeping him close to me while still nurturing my walls with intense strokes. Each thrust seemed to press a little deeper and I wrapped my legs around his hips to hold him closer to me. Shane tucked his head into the curve of my neck and shoulder and kissed softly. His skin was warm as if it had absorbed the heat of the sun and I ran my hands along his muscular back as he continued to stroke within me.

  Though his movements were slow and measured, the pleasure that he was creating within me was intense and soon I felt myself building toward a powerful peak. I squeezed my eyes closed and tucked my head forward so my forehead rested on his shoulder. Shane increased his pace only slightly and I heard his breaths becoming ragged. We climbed together, our bodies sharing in the feelings. Shane pressed into me as deeply as he could and held himself there. The pressure within me suddenly crashed and I felt Shane’s cock give a hard pulse inside of me at the same moment that my body started spasming around him. We clung to each other, riding our climaxes until they slowed and eased, and then Shane eased down beside me. He reached beside us to pull the blanket down and draped it over us. I curled up against him, not fighting the sleep that settled over me beneath the warmth of the quilt and the beauty of the stars.

  I didn’t wake up until the next morning when the movement of the truck startled me awake. Shane had tucked the blankets close around me and we were driving slowly back toward the main path. The limo was waiting for me when we got there and Shane led me over to it, offering a gentle kiss before walking away into the predawn purple. I knew that he would be changing his clothes and heading to work the ranch, but all I could think about was going back to sleep, which I did promptly upon settling into the backseat of the limo. I woke up again when we stopped in front of the cottage.

  Noah was walking toward the short hallway that led to the kitchen when I stepped into the cottage. He turned and looked at me, shock registering in his eyes.

  “You’re just getting back?” he asked.

  I nodded sleepily.

  “I think I’m going to go try to get a little more sleep.”

  “I won’t bother you by bringing breakfast,” he said.

  “No,” I said quickly. “It’s OK.”

  Noah shook his head.

  “It’s fine. You need your rest. I’ll just have something waiting for you in the kitchen. You can let Fawn know when you wake up.”

  He disappeared into the hallway and I started to my room, hoping that the strange feeling I had in my chest was just the tiredness.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Snow

  Thursday two weeks later I still hadn’t gotten my box for my next date and was starting to feel anxious. I lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling of my bedroom, watching the gentle swirl of light that emanated from the lamp that I had gotten. It looked like a wash of tiny stars. I let it soothe me to sleep and by the next morning I was filled with resolve. Packing my luggage, I headed to the retreat even without a date box. It was my weekend there and I wasn’t going to be swayed from going.

  I had left for the retreat slightly later than I usually did, which got me there after supper. I wasn’t surprised that Fawn wasn’t there to greet me, but I was when I found a small box sitting on the table in my room. It was pink rather than the usual white of my date boxes and tied with white string. I opened the card on top.

  “Tomorrow.”

  I’ve been reduced to a single word.

  I untied the string and opened the pink box. I couldn’t imagine what type of clothing might be tucked down into the tiny box, and was relieved when I saw that it wasn’t clothing at all. Instead, there was a small chocolate cupcake. I lifted it out of the box and admired the perfect swirls of frosting and tiny pink sprinkles. My heart suddenly felt like it skipped. There was only one person who I could think of who would have left this for me.

  I looked at the clock and settled the cupcake back into the box before leaving my room and scurrying toward the kitchen. Noah was wiping one of the brushed metal tables when I peered inside.

  “Noah?”

  He looked up at me.

  “Snow,” he said, his voice holding a hint of the surprise that I had felt when I found the cupcake. “I thought that I wasn’t going to see you until tomorrow.”

  “So, you did leave that cupcake for me.”

  He nodded and I stepped into the kitchen with him. I hadn’t been all the way inside it and was temporarily silenced in awe of the pristinely clean, sparkling space.

  “I’m sorry that I didn’t have time to get one of the usual boxes to you. I was hoping that you would come here this weekend anyway.”

  “I’m confused,” I said. “You’re my date?”

  “I am now,” he said.

  “What do you mean ‘now’?”

  “I’m kind of a fill-in,” he said. “Your original date had to cancel. Fawn wanted to find a replacement, but she didn’t have time to go through all of her files to find someone she thought would work for you, and she was running out of time. I volunteered.”

  “You did?” I asked, my heart leaping slightly. “Isn’t this incredibly against my contract?”

  Noah shook his head.

  “Fawn said that it was extenuating circumstances. To be fair, though, I don’t think that she knows how much time we’ve spent together.”

  I didn’t want to contemplate that too much and I moved ahead.

  “Does the date you have planned have anything to do with that cupcake?”

  “You already know that I’m a baker. I thought that you might like to see some of that.”

  “You’re much more than a baker,” I said, thinking about all of the delicious foods that he had prepared for me over the weeks. “Maybe,” he said, “but baking is what really matters to me. Tomorrow I’ll teach you some.”

  He walked out of the kitchen behind me and I said goodnight to hi
m at the door to the cottage before rushing to my room, wanting to spend as much time as I could pampering myself before the date.

  Noah came to my room early the next morning and I was waiting for him.

  “You’re up early,” he said. “I thought that I was going to have to wake you up.”

  There was a hint of disappointment in his voice and I briefly regretted that I had gotten up. The thought of waking up to him seemed like a wonderful start to the day. He offered me a cup of coffee and I sipped it happily.

  “What are we making today?” I asked. “Cupcakes?”

  “I thought that we would start with bread since you apparently believe that it springs out of the air fully risen and baked.”

  I made a face at him, but then smiled.

  “I would really like that.”

  We walked out of the room and went into the kitchen. He took one of the aprons from a hook on the wall and draped it over my head, reaching around my waist to tie it in place. I felt my breath catch slightly but I tried not to show it. Noah slipped into a white chef’s jacket and buttoned it. I followed him around the kitchen as he gathered ingredients, trying to make note of them in my head as if I would be able to recreate it later. Finally, we had everything and I stood by his side at the table as Noah guided me through adding the ingredients into a bowl and mixing them. Dough formed beneath the wooden spoon and I felt strangely accomplished when he turned it out onto the counter, sending up a slight puff of flour. He told me to knead the dough and I pressed into it. Noah laughed quietly and stepped behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his hands over mine.

  Noah’s body pressed against mine as he used his hands to help me knead into the dough. We massaged it deeply, turning and folding it. I let my hips push back slightly so that they could nestle harder against him and was rewarded by him pressing slightly closer to me. The muscles in his arms tensed and relaxed as he kneaded the dough and his breaths became deep and suggestively rhythmic. I could feel those breaths on my neck and my lips tingled in desire of his kiss, but he didn’t lean in. Too soon, the kneading was finished and Noah stepped away from me. He scooped the dough off of the counter and put it into a bowl that he had oiled before we started.

  “This has to rise for about an hour now before we bake it.”

  “What are we going to make in the meantime?” I asked.

  “I was planning on making ice cream for dessert tonight. Would you like to help me make that?”

  I nodded.

  “That’s another one of those magical foods that no one makes.”

  “Well, I do,” he said.

  Again, we gathered ingredients and then stood side-by-side by the stove. It had never occurred to me that ice cream was cooked in any way and I watched in awe as Noah stirred sugar into cream and vanilla. He took a tasting spoon out of a metal canister beside the stove and dipped it into the mixture, tasting some of what was on the spoon before offering the rest to me.

  “It could be sweeter,” I said.

  He nodded and reached into a bowl of sugar. The granules sprinkled down from his fingertips like snowflakes and the thought crossed my mind that sugar had never been so sexy. We combined the mixture with lightly warmed eggs in a huge glass bowl and then Noah lifted the bowl to pour the mixture into the ice cream machine attached to the wall. I thought that he was going to guide me into another project, but instead he turned to look at me, his face slightly drawn.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I just need to tell you something.”

  “OK. Go ahead.”

  “I didn’t just volunteer to do this as a favor for Fawn.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No. I’ve been attracted to you since the first moment that I saw you. I was jealous when you spent the night with that other man and when I heard that there was an opening in your experience, I didn’t want to think about another man taking it. I wanted the chance to spend more time with you.”

  I stared into his emerald eyes, my breaths feeling shallow.

  “I wanted to spend more time with you, too.” I gathered my courage and took a step toward him. “You were in the cottage the first day that I was here,” I said.

  Noah nodded.

  “I wasn’t supposed to be,” he admitted. “I had gone in there to look for something, and when you came in, I didn’t want to leave.”

  “But you…” my voice trailed off.

  “I couldn’t help myself,” he said. He was starting to come closer, but he suddenly cleared his throat and stepped back. “We should get back to the dessert. I just wanted to tell you that. I felt like you needed to know.”

  “I’m glad you did,” I said.

  Noah started guiding me through making a burnt caramel sauce for the ice cream, but I was barely listening to him. All I wanted to hear was his words over and over in my mind.

  “Nope. I’m not going to eat it.”

  Noah backed away from me, but I pursued him, holding a bowl of ice cream in one hand and a filled spoon in the other. My face ached from laughing throughout the morning as we baked the loaf of bread that we had made and then cupcakes and cookies while the ice cream solidified in the freezer. We had poured the thick ribbon of rich-smelling caramel into the container with the newly-churned ice cream so that it swirled through the finished scoops. I had dished out a large bowl for us to share, but Noah had turned me down, telling me that while he loved creating the decadent desserts, he rarely ate them.

  Noah took another step back and his leg hit one of the chairs that were clustered in one corner of the kitchen, creating an area where he could sit to take a break without being too far from whatever he was making in the kitchen. Before he could correct himself, he stumbled and sat down hard. I laughed at the surprised look on his face and stepped up close to him to prevent him from standing up. I leaned forward to bring the spoonful of the ice cream to his lips.

  "Don’t you want to try any? Just a little bite?" I asked, my voice falling to a soft, powdery half-whisper as I brought the spoon to nearly touching his lips.

  "Just a little bite," he finally replied and opened his mouth so that I could slip the spoon onto his tongue.

  His eyes closed and he made a moaning sound in his throat at the flavor. The sound went straight between my thighs.

  "Would you like another one?" I asked.

  Noah nodded, opening his eyes. I scooped up another bite, making sure to gather up a large portion of the thick ribbon of burned caramel and held it to his lips. He kept his eyes locked on mine as he pulled the spoon into his mouth and swept the dessert onto his tongue. I had dipped the spoon back into the bowl and was lifting it to his mouth for another bite when I felt his hands touch my thighs. In one swift movement, he grabbed onto my hips and pulled me forward, parting his thighs so that I stood between them. I gasped as the sudden movement at once startled me and caused me to splash some of the ice cream onto my cleavage.

  I looked down and watched the white drops trail across my skin. Though the trail was cold, as it meandered along between my breasts I couldn't help the thoughts conjured by that image. Holding me still in his strong hands, Noah leaned forward and licked the melted ice cream from my skin, lingering for a few seconds as his tongue darted between my breasts to ensure he gathered every drop.

  I whimpered and felt myself arch slightly, pushing my body closer to his. The spoon dropped from my hand and I felt Noah take the bowl out of my other hand. My arms fell to my sides as he dipped the pad of his thumb into the cream and stroked it across one of my collarbones.

  "Another little taste," he said, letting his tongue follow the trail he had created.

  He repeated the process, using his thumb to trace a line of the cream along the side of my neck. His mouth nibbled along the sweet trail and by the time he had gotten to the soft dip behind my ear, I was trembling.

  "Another?" he whispered and I nodded, surrendering myself to him and to
whatever game he was playing.

  I watched him through lowered eyelashes as he slicked the cool ice cream along my lips. A second later, his mouth touched mine. It was the gentlest of kisses and I admired his control as he held his lips just above mine so that they barely brushed against each other as he let his tongue gather the melting treat. He dipped forward and drew my bottom lip into his mouth, giving it a suck as if seeking out every drop of the sweet liquid and tasting me mingled with it.

  "Maybe just a little more?" he whispered again.

  I nodded. My eyes had fallen nearly closed and I wasn't able to see what he was doing, but a moment later I felt Noah's fingers press against my lips so that I opened my mouth. He placed a piece of praline on my tongue and slowly withdrew his fingers. I sucked on them gently as they disappeared and felt Noah's breath against me as he leaned forward to replace his fingers with his tongue against mine. The caramelized saltiness of the praline and the rich silkiness of the ice cream mixed with the taste of Noah’s mouth lit my body on fire and I wrapped my arms around his neck to draw myself deeper into the kiss.

  Noah place the bowl on a nearby table and his hands returned to my hips so he could pull me forward even closer to him. I complied with the pressure of his hands, giving myself over to him as he led me off of my feet and into his lap. My knees settled onto the chair on either side of him and my pelvis touched his. Noah tightened his grip and led me down until I settled into his lap, cradling the erection I could feel building beneath me with the heat of my core. He flattened his hands on my back and drew me closer to him.

  Noah drew his tongue along the opening between my lips and I parted them willingly, coaxing his tongue into my mouth again so that he could explore me deeper. He broke the kiss so that we could catch our breath and a moment later I lifted my mouth toward his, craving the taste of him again. Not showing any signs of urgency, Noah trailed his mouth down the center of my chest until he reached the deep scoop of my neckline. He ran his tongue along it, tracing the curve of the fabric against my body so that he licked the swell of one breast and then the other. When he finished this blissful torment, he ran his fingers from my ankles up my legs to my hips. He let them trace their way back down again, stopping at my feet to carefully remove my shoes and toss them aside.