At one point during their conversation she asked him straight up if he would have initiated sex that night if she hadn’t. He said he didn’t think he would have, but that he was happy she did. She asked him what had been holding him back and he admitted that in the past he had jumped into bed with women too quickly and it never seemed to work out. He had been down the same road time and time again and he was still single. When he met her he knew he wanted things to be different, so he wanted to take things slow, allow them time to get to know each other, and build a true connection and maybe more. She liked that answer.
She hoped that after last night Gage would come out of his shell and be more assertive with her. Their love making was pleasant, satisfying even, but if she was being completely truthful, she needed more. Gage seemed very subdued in the bedroom. Was he holding back? Was there a naughty boy in there somewhere? Did he have a wild side? She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, so that once he loosened up he could be more commanding and self-assured. They shared an honest connection, no question about it, but was there a potential for something more?
She once heard lyrics to a Tammy Wynette song that seemed appropriate, something like “there’s nothing as hot as a slow burning fire.” She really hoped this would prove true for them, both in the bedroom, and out.
Dressed for the day, she made her way into the kitchen to brew some coffee. She was pleasantly surprised to find the dirty dishes had been washed and the kitchen cleaned. When he offered to tidy up the night before she had insisted she would do them the next day, not wanting to waste a single second cleaning when they could be snuggling on the couch and drinking wine. He must have gotten up really early and tidied up while she slept. She was suddenly overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness and felt her heart swell with joy. She smiled softly to herself, filling the coffee pot with water. Who does that, she wondered fondly? He was such a great guy.
So why did she have such mixed emotions?
Later that morning, taking a break between clients, she checked her email. She was surprised to find a message from Gage.
Good morning, beautiful. I’m just sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to board. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind. Last night was perfect.
Nora took a deep breath and let it out slowly, biting her bottom lip. She wondered if he truly felt that way. The email continued.
I know it has been challenging to see each other because of my fucked up schedule, but the season will be over soon. Things are going to be a lot different for me when that happens, especially if I retire from the NHL. Let’s be honest, this will offer potential for things to evolve for us, maybe even taking our relationship to the next level. From casual dating to maybe something more exclusive? No pressure, Nora. I’m not expecting an answer right now. I’m just throwing it out there to think about. We can talk about it more over the next few weeks. I just wanted to let you know where my head is at. You’re so beautiful, smart, sexy and real. I hope this doesn’t sound trite, but I’m crazy about you. Actually, come to think of it, saying trite might be a little trite. LOL!
Nora smiled, rereading his words one more time. Gage always wore his heart on his sleeve. She appreciated that he never made her guess what was on his mind, or worse, second guess herself. She pressed the reply button and quickly responded, hoping he would get her email before he had to board.
I adore trite (especially when a big, strong hockey player says it). I’m pretty smitten with you too. (Come to think of it, who says smitten?) Thanks for taking care of the dishes this morning. So damn thoughtful. You gave me a lot to ponder and I promise you won’t be far from my thoughts. Let’s talk more next week. Still getting together next Tuesday? We can talk then. Nora xo
She sent the email off with just enough time to grab a tea before her next patient came in.
* * *
As if she wasn’t confused enough, later that night she heard from Leo. He called just as she was crawling into bed.
“Is it too late to call?” he asked, sounding a bit distracted.
Nora tucked the covers around her, trying not to drop her phone. It wasn’t like Leo to call. He seemed to prefer texting.
“No, I’m still awake,” she assured, “just getting into bed. Is everything okay?”
“Hmmm, you’re in bed? What are you wearing?” he teased, suddenly less distracted.
Nora giggled, appreciating the flirtation.
“Nothing but a sheet. It’s just too hot.” she purred, enunciating the last few words. In truth, she was wearing an old Mötley Crüe t-shirt and a pair of white panties.
“Are you laying down?” he asked, his voice low and seductive.
She liked where this was heading.
“Yes,” she whispered, adjusting herself back into her pillows.
“Are you wet?” he growled softly, probably horny as hell.
“Actually, I am,” she said, playing along, his words exciting her too.
“I’m in bed too,” he confessed, “and I’m hard as a rock. I wish you were here.”
“Oh ya, what would you do if I was?” she teased, egging him on, her fingers twirling her necklace.
She put her phone on speaker and set it on the pillow beside her.
“Well, I would slip my fingers into your cunt, just to see how wet you are. I love how warm and soft you feel inside, so creamy,” he said, his voice deep and his words deliberate.
He was on a mission.
“Spread your legs for me, and slip your fingers inside your pussy,” he commanded.
Nora bit her lip and slid her hand over her chest and down her stomach, slipping her palm under the elastic of her panties. She kneaded her soft lips for a moment, carefully spreading them open before dipping her fingers inside. She moaned softly, encouraging him to continue.
“Are they inside?” he asked playfully.
She could hear the excitement in his voice.
“Mmmm-hmmm,” she responded, waiting for more orders.
She liked this game.
“How does it feel?” he asked breathlessly, “describe it to me.”
“So good. Sexy. But it feels so much better when you touch me,” she softly murmured, milking herself with her fingers.
“Pretend it’s me. I’m stroking my cock right now and all I can think about is your mouth on it, sucking me off. You give the best head,” he offered in that deep, smoky tone that turned her on so much.
She felt herself tremble as a current of pleasure fluttered through her body. Her juices soaked her hand as her pussy responded to her touch.
“Now rub your clit, ever so gently, pretending it’s my tongue teasing you,” he continued.
She was already one step ahead of him, but she didn’t tell him that.
“Mmmm,” she moaned softly, fucking herself with her experienced fingers.
She could hear his breathing escalating, and her heart began racing in response. She knew he was pleasuring himself too, and that turned her on even more.
“Tell me what you want me to do. What would make you hot and wet?” he urged, his voice breaking ever so slightly.
Nora’s fingers, wet with her own honey, glided over her clit with the perfect amount of pressure. Could she tell him what she really wanted? Share her fantasies with him? More than anything she wanted to open up to him, but he was so closed off himself. Maybe she needed to be the first one to expose her vulnerable underbelly, and to pave the way for him.
“Tell me, Nora,” he commanded gently, his voice thick with need.
“I want you to restrain me, to tie me up so I can’t move,” she began, hesitating then, her nervousness heightening her desire.
She could hear him take a deep breath.
“Yes...go on.”
“Blindfold me. Tease me with your kisses, your tongue, and your fingers. I won’t know what you’re doing or where you will be touching me next. I will be completely at your mercy,” she whispered, her arousal escalating.
The hot little fantasy fue
led her imagination, as she visualized him doing exactly what she desperately wanted.
“Fuck, yeah. I would love that. I could do anything to you I wanted. You would have to trust me completely. That’s hot,” he agreed, not even trying to mask his enthusiasm.
“What would you do to me,” she asked, spurring him on, “if I was blind, naked and bound?”
“I would nibble on your nipples, suck your clit, maybe blow my hot breath all over your body. Whatever I could to torture you,” he said, painting a very hot, sexy picture for her.
Not only could she see it in her mind, but she could practically feel his phantom touches raising the goosebumps on her flesh.
“Then I would bite your neck and feel you writhe underneath me. I would gently bite, pinch and spank your ass and thighs until you are dripping wet.”
“Oh my God,” she purred, one shaky hand pinching her nipple, while the other rubbed her clit, desperately trying to trigger an orgasm.
Pleasure surged from her core as heat radiated from her center shooting out to every limb, curling her toes. She cried out loudly, releasing the hedonistic pressure building inside her, shuddering with convulsive spasms.
“Fuck, Nora, cum for me baby. That…is...so...fucking...hot,” he panted, his own pleasure obvious.
She could hear the unmistakable grunts and groans of a man stroking himself off. Her intensity just started ebbing off as his started to swell. She wanted to bring him closer to the edge.
“Then, just when I can’t take your torture anymore,” she gasped, trying to catch her breath, “you force open my trembling legs, exposing me for your pleasure. You are so desperate to fuck me you don’t care if I am ready, you just force your cock into my ass. My virgin little hole is like a vice, tight around your thick shaft.”
“Yes, fucking yes,” he blurted, “I’m cumming, fuck!”
He exploded hard, his familiar sex noises echoing through the phone. She giggled, completely turned on by his racy spontaneity. She felt wild and free.
“Wow,” she cooed, picking the phone back up and holding it to her ear, wanting to feel intimately closer to him.
She heard him take a deep breath, sighing heavily.
“Nice fantasy,” he teased warmly, as soon as he recovered.
She could practically hear the smile on his face.
“You liked that did you?” she replied, pulling the covers over herself.
He chuckled softly, “I sure did. I wouldn’t mind making that fantasy a reality.”
“Well, maybe we will. Nothing hotter than trusting one another completely,” she suggested, hoping he would understand that she was alluding to something more, something deeper.
He mumbled unintelligible words, clearing his throat.
“Sorry?” she questioned, hoping he would repeat it.
“Nothing, nothing,” he assured, waving her off. “I actually called to ask you something.”
“Oh, you mean this call wasn’t just about phone sex?” she teased, brushing off his avoidance.
“Nah, that was an added bonus,” he chimed back, “I have next weekend off and was thinking about heading out of town for a few days for some R & R. Do you want to come with me?”
“Relaxation and Romance?” she quipped flirtatiously.
A weekend away with Leo sounded perfect. A change of scenery, a few days without distractions. It could be exactly what they needed to reach a higher level of intimacy. Maybe Leo was thinking the same thing.
He chuckled softly at her remark and said, “Ropes and Ravishing?”
“Hmmm, can’t we have both?” she mused, hoping he had more than just a dirty weekend in mind.
“For sure. My parents live in Ojai. I like to go there to unwind,” he went on to explain.
Nora smiled sweetly to herself. Did he want her to meet his parents? Was this his way of telling her he was ready for their relationship to evolve? This could be a good thing for them. Maybe a great thing!
“I would love to meet your parents, Leo,” she assured, touched by the gesture.
She expected a completely different response, but was instead, met with silence.
“Leo?” she questioned gently, before suddenly realizing her mistake. She might have made a huge assumption, she thought.
Leo cleared his throat uncomfortably before he finally spoke up.
“Actually, my parents are in New Jersey for a few months, visiting my brother and his wife. We would have their place to ourselves,” he offered, almost apologetically.
Nora silently chided herself, then quickly shook off her embarrassment.
“That sounds great,” she offered, maybe a little too enthusiastically, “I’ve never been to Ojai. I’ve heard it’s a cool place. When do you want to head out?”
“Can you take off a little early on Friday? I was hoping to beat the heavy traffic, maybe head out around two or three?” he asked, softening his tone as though he felt he needed to placate her.
She knew he meant well, but she hated that she made things awkward in the first place.
“I can try to move some appointments around. That might work. We can confirm times and details in a few days, okay?” she reassured, hiding the emotion she was feeling.
“Sounds good,” he stammered. “It’s getting late. I’m going to let you get some sleep, while I go clean myself up,” he said, chuckling softly under his breath. “I’m glad you’re coming. l’ll touch base on Wednesday, after work.”
“Thanks for the invite. I’m looking forward to all the R’s,” she offered playfully, hoping to end their conversation on a lighter note. “Goodnight.”
“Naughty night,” he whispered flirtatiously before hanging up the phone.
Nora sat in silence for a few minutes, staring blankly at her phone, trying to get her bearings straight. Once again, Leo left her reeling with uncertainty. He could take her from one end of the emotion spectrum to the other, in a single encounter. She shook her head softly, wondering if he was aware of the effect that he had on her, if he was even invested enough to care. He kept his cards so well hidden. She couldn’t explain why she was so drawn to him, despite it all. If nothing else, the weekend would get her closer to the truth. She knew she needed to pull some answers out of him, even if they were answers she didn’t want to hear. She needed to know if he was capable of opening his heart to her once and for all.
CHAPTER 17
LEO
The traffic was light and they made it to Ojai in time for dinner. He showed Nora around his parent’s house, giving her the quick five cent tour. It was a humble little house with a spectacular view of the Topatopa Mountains. His parents moved to Ojai when Leo was fifteen. Both of his grandparents had died that same year, only a few months apart. It was a hard time for his mother, she had been the one taking care of them in the end. She had been suffering from a deep depression and his father thought that Ojai would be the perfect place for a new beginning, something completely different from Jersey. His mother always wanted to live somewhere where the winters were less harsh, so they chose Ojai, California.
At the time, Leo was a pissed off teenager hell bent on making their lives miserable. He didn’t want to leave Jersey. All his friends were there and he was only in his sophomore year. He was a popular kid, good at music, dancing, and sports. He had it made. Changing schools had been hard on him. He wasn’t used to being invisible.
He spent the first few years in Ojai causing all kinds of shit. He had been in trouble with the law on a few occasions too, nothing that landed him in juvie or anything, but enough to get a shitty reputation. Two events finally got him back on the straight and narrow. He met a girl that he fell madly in love with, and his buddy saved his life. Both were significant enough to make him seriously reevaluate his life choices, and oddly enough, they occurred on the same night.
“The house is amazing,” Nora gushed, admiring the view through the patio doors of the sunroom, “it is so quaint!”
Leo knew she would love it. T
he house was decorated much the same way Nora furnished her own home, very bohemian. His parents were pretty much hippies, having grown up in the seventies, and their taste very much reflected that. When they lived with his grandparents everything was crisp and clean, the way Italian people liked it. Even the furniture had been covered in plastic, to keep it “new” looking. As soon as his parents bought their own home on Ojai, they made sure it fit their unique personalities.
They were like newlyweds again once they hit the west coast, a couple of 40 year old kids. Ironically, his mother seemed to blossom when they left the garden state. She’d had so much responsibility from such a young age that she never got to be a proper teenager. The youngest of five siblings, she was the one expected to stay behind and take care of her parents. Even after she and his dad married, they lived with her parents to help pay the bills. She and his dad worked while Leo’s grandparents took care of the bambinos. It never bothered Leo. He and his brother were spoiled rotten, the apples of their Nona’s eye. For him, life seemed damn near perfect. But his mother was not happy. She and his father married at 22 and by the time she was 25 she already had two kids, Leo and his older brother Gianni.
How his parents stayed together in those early years, Leo would never understand. Especially for his father who was the outsider. It must have felt like a rebirth for both of them when they finally left it all behind them. They tried to visit family every couple of years, back in Hoboken, a town famous for two things—Frank Sinatra, and more recently, Buddy Valastro, The Cake Boss. Leo and his brother used to go to Carlo’s Bake Shop every Saturday morning with their grandfather to purchase their world famous cannolis.
This trip was the first visit his parents had made to Jersey since 2012, when hurricane Sandy had filled Hoboken like a bathtub. Luckily none of their relatives had lost their homes in the storm, but many people did.
Leo wrapped his arms around Nora and pulled her against him, back to chest. He kissed her neck playfully, drawing a giggle from her.
“I thought you would like it here,” he agreed, as he swayed her gently in his arms. “I always like coming here. Can’t beat that view.”
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