Karina nodded furiously, unable to speak.
“Tell me,” he ordered.
“I like it…I…I love it...” Karina managed to squeak out weakly.
With that, he plunged his finger inside of her, and she cried out in pleasure, her body contracting against his fingers, and her knees buckling. She had to bring up her free arm quickly and hook it around the back of his neck to keep from falling to the ground.
“Mmmmm....” he murmured, “I think maybe you need a little support.”
She gasped, her throat clenched, unable to speak.
“Can't hear you,” he teased in a whisper, “Does that mean that you're still capable of standing?”
With that, he used his thumb to tweak her sensitive nub a few times, causing waves of pleasure to rush through her that were so intense, and made her so lightheaded, that she lost her grip on his shaft and started to melt toward the floor.
“That's what I thought,” he teased, catching her around the waist with one arm and clearing off his desk in one quick swipe with the other.
He lifted her up gently but firmly, placing her on his desk. She leaned back and rested on her elbows.
“Condom!” she managed to gasp, “In my purse!”
He stopped, a bit taken aback.
“Do you just carry condoms around with you?” he asked breathlessly.
She looked up at him through her long ink black eyelashes and smiled a wicked smile, “I was pretty certain this was going to happen tonight.”
He shook his head and laughed, “Well, I guess you were right about that.”
He fumbled through her purse until he found the package of condoms and put one on.
He stepped up between her legs nudging her thighs farther apart as he did. He ran his hands from her knees up her thighs sending waves of pleasure jolting through her like electricity.
Feeling Ryan’s work roughened hands against the soft, sensitive skin of her inner thighs was unlike anything Karina had ever experienced before, and she loved it. She felt her legs begin to quiver and shake from the erotic sensation of his hands and fingers caressing her. Never had she been so affected by a touch.
Ryan took in the sight before him, Karina spread out on his desk, her body laid open for his taking. “My God, you are beautiful” he breathed as he continued his sensual massage up and down her gorgeous thighs.
“Please Ryan, I need…I need you inside me now” She pleaded.
“Sweetheart, all you had to do was ask.” He said as he took his erection in his hand and guided it up and down her wet seam until she was shaking in anticipation. When Ryan could not resist the sweet temptation that Karina presented before him, he finally gave into what they wanted - needed and slid inside her, filling her completely. He felt her body contracting around him, squeezing him tightly as he pushed slowly in and out of her.
Ryan held Karina’s hips firmly, guiding her body as they found a rhythm that was so perfect, so natural it felt like their bodies were created for this, to be one with each other. Ryan felt the pressure in her body building quickly; he knew they were both close to going over the edge.
He leaned over her, pushing her hair away from her ear and pressed his lips against it, whispering, demanding, “Don’t come. Not yet.”
Just the sound of those firm words, so strong and commanding, were almost enough to bring her to climax right then.
She whimpered, “Oh, Ryan…yes, OK.” she cried, her whole body shivering with the pleasure of giving up control.
“That’s right,” he said, slowing down the pace as he lowered her back down onto the desk cradling her head in his hands as he kissed her forehead, her temples, the tip of her nose, her chin and then brushed his lips across her mouth.
The walls that Karina had spent a lifetime building up inside herself for self-preservation were crumbling down with every caress, every kiss, and every thrust of their bodies coming together. She knew that she should be scared at being so exposed emotionally, but she was so overwhelmed with pleasure that there was no room for fear or doubt.
Her hands were roaming up and down Ryan’s back, relishing the feeling of his muscles twitching beneath her fingers as she explored his body. She felt so safe, so protected with his body over her, around her and inside of her.
She slid her hands down his body and gripped his hips as she pulled him deeper, faster inside of her. Her breathing was growing more rapid, the pleasure building to an intensity Karina had never experienced.
“Ryan, Oh my God, Please Ryan…” Karina heard desperation in her own voice.
Quickly Ryan rose up and pulled Karina’s hands from his backside and placed them above her head. With one hand he held her wrists together captive above her, with the other he reached between their bodies and toyed with her hard nipples while he drove into her again and again, ratcheting up the intensity notch by notch.
When he could feel her nearing release, and he would whisper into her ear, “Don’t do it. Do. Not. Come.”
With a tremendous effort she would bring herself back from the brink of oblivion, but inevitably the intense sensation of Ryan pounding into her again and again, combined with the heady sensation of her arms being firmly held above her head, as well as the magical things his fingers were doing to her nipples, would bring her back to the very edge of bliss within just a few moments.
Finally, when Karina felt that she absolutely could not take even one more minute of this ecstasy lest her very sanity escape her, she heard Ryan whisper to her, “Karina?”
She turned her head slightly toward him and gasped, “Yes?”
She felt one of his hands leave her breast and slide down her belly, his fingers expertly manipulating her clit and he stroked in and out of her, at the same time as she registered his words in her ear, “You can come now.”
Those were the last concrete details she was aware of for several long minutes, as both her mind and her body were lost in the shuddering explosion of orgasm. She didn't know if Ryan was still inside her, or where he was touching her, or if she was screaming, or if he was. All she was aware of was the brilliant white light that engulfed both her sight and her consciousness, and the waves upon waves of shuddering pleasure that it brought.
When she finally returned to herself, she pushed herself up and scooted around Ryan pulling her legs up sitting cross-legged.
Ryan smiled at her. He liked a woman that felt comfortable with her body, and clearly didn't feel any embarrassment when naked.
Karina grinned back at him, “So, yeah. Wow. You have hidden depths.”
Ryan laughed, “I thought maybe you could use a break from being the leader all the time.”
Karina chuckled, “Very perceptive.”
She hopped off the desk and picked her dress up from the floor, slipping it over her head, and began collecting the rest of her belongings from the various places they sat around the room and putting them into her purse.
Ryan was confused, “Where are you going?”
“Home,” she answered simply.
“You don't have to go, Karina. We could go upstairs. I could make us some drinks, or even some food, if you're hungry.”
Karina shook her head, “Nah. I don't stay the night. Sorry. It's something you'll have to get used to. It's just the way I am.”
Unsure, he said, “OK...I guess. Well, can I at least take you home, then?”
She laughed, leaning over and giving him a sweet kiss, “Don't worry about it, hon. I've got my car here.”
And with that, she was gone, in a whirlwind. The last sound he heard was the purr of her engine as her sports car revved off into the night.
Chapter 12
The next evening, Ryan had sent his grandmother home from Sue Ann's cafe early. She had looked tired, and after the night before with Karina, he could use some time alone to think. Because of his upbringing on the ranch, he had always found that doing solitary manual labor was the best way to set your mind to the task of solving a problem.
/> As he was closing the cafe – sweeping the floors, putting the chairs up on the tables, zeroing out the cash register, and locking up – Justin walked in, followed by two other guys that Ryan had not yet met.
“Hey, man,” Ryan greeted him with a friendly wave, “We're closed right now. I mean the grill's shut down. I could make you guys some sandwiches if you want, though.”
Justin walked over to him, “Nah, man, thanks for the offer though,” he indicated the guys behind him, “This is Eric and his brother Jake, a couple of my buddies from high school. We came by to see if you wanted to go grab a beer?”
“Yeah, that'd be great, let me just finish up here,” said Ryan happily, “If you guys want to grab a seat, I'll be about five minutes.”
He realized he was in serious need of some guy time. Between the waitstaff here at the cafe, his grandmother, and now Karina – it seemed like he was surrounded by nothing but women, all day, every day. It would be a welcome change of pace to hang out with a group of guys for the evening.
In fact, maybe the influence of all the estrogen he'd been surrounding himself with was the reason he found himself obsessing about relationships in so much of his spare time lately.
Yep. Definitely a good time to get a break from women.
“So, I didn't even realize that there was a bar here in town,” Ryan said conversationally, as he finished putting the cleaning supplies into the closet.
“It's about a mile outside of town,” Justin said, “It's called JT's Roadhouse. It's nothing fancy, but it's a good place to knock back a couple of beers, play some pool.”
“Sounds great,” Ryan agreed, “Just what the doctor ordered.”
About fifteen minutes later, as they walked through the front door of JT's Roadhouse, Ryan looked around and felt his body automatically relax. He felt at home in a place like this. This bar was exactly like the places he had frequented back home. Sawdust on the floor, country western music on the jukebox, cold beer behind the bar.
It was your basic, no frills drinking joint – the kind of place you might find in a thousand different places across the midwest and south. Spending his evening in a place like this, hanging out with other guys, was exactly the change of pace that Ryan needed to stop going around and around in his head about Karina.
Karina, and everything connected to Karina, was complicated. Guys, were simple. A night drinking with the guys would be the perfect antidote to thoughts of Karina.
Enough about Karina, he told himself. This is going to be a Karina-free zone. The one and only Thoughts-of-Karina free night you've had since you met the girl.
He felt less tense at even the prospect of that.
As soon as they had sat down around the only available table, however, Justin turned to Ryan, looking a little uncomfortable.
“So....uh....” he started, looking more ill at ease with each stammering syllable, “You and Karina, huh?”
Ryan groaned, “Oh, man, I was just thinking how great it was going to be to spend a whole night not having to worry about relationships, or discussing relationships, or analyzing relationships...suddenly I feel like I'm living inside the pages of Cosmo.”
Justin nodded his agreement, still looking miserable, “Dude, I know, seriously – you think I wanted to get into this with you? But you gotta understand, man – my fiance, she sent me on a mission.”
Ryan laughed, “OK, I get it. You're the recon man.”
Justin nodded, “Yeah, sorry about that. But once you have a fiance, the bro code is no longer the highest authority.”
Ryan nodded as the waitress arrived and set their beers on the table in front of them, “Nah, I get it, I get it. I wish I had something more concrete to report, Captain. I'm afraid you might return from recon empty handed. I fear this mission was doomed to failure from the start. The truth is, I don't know what – if anything – is going on between me and Karina.”
Justin clapped Ryan on the shoulder, “Don't look so down, man. If there's one thing I can spot a mile away, it's a man in love and not sure what to do about it. I was in your position not too long ago. Maybe I can help.”
Ryan perked up, “Really?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jake confirmed, “It was pathetic.”
“Definitely,” Eric jumped in, “Really, truly sad.”
Justin laughed, “Thanks for the support, guys. And, see, Ryan? Even a pathetic loser like me was able to remove my head from my ass and get the girl. What’s the situation? I'm sure we can help you out.”
“Too bad you had to fall for Karina, though,” Jake said shaking his head.
Ryan felt himself getting defensive immediately. He wasn't cool with hearing anyone bad mouth Karina, even if it was just “guy talk.”
“Hey, careful, now,” he said, “Karina's amazing.”
“Oh, for sure,” Jake backtracked, “Don't get me wrong. I've known Karina since we were in elementary school. She's fantastic. I just meant, she's not exactly the settling down type.”
“Oh,” Ryan said, mollified, “Yeah, I think you might be right about that. Which is actually part of the problem.”
“Well,” Justin said reasonably, “Maybe she's never been the settling down kind before because she's never met a guy she really wants to settle down with. I mean, I gotta tell you, dude – I've also known Karina since I was in elementary school. And she would probably be pissed as hell if she knew that I was telling you this. But the truth is, I've never seen her act the way she does around you. I think she's seriously falling for you.”
Ryan perked up even further, “Really?”
“Hell, yeah,” replied Justin, “You don't understand. That is one tough girl. I've never seen her act as sweet and lovey and flirty as she does around you.”
Ryan was quiet, absorbing this new information.
Justin shrugged, “I mean, do with that what you will. I'm just saying...she's a really good friend of mine, and you seem like a really good guy. So, if I can help you figure out how to make it work with her, I'm more than happy to do that.”
For the first time since his encounter with Karina had ended so abruptly the night before, Ryan began to feel some small hope that he might be able to find a path through this, a path which ended with he and Karina having some semblance of a normal relationship.
Of course, just because he was starting to feel hopeful now, he didn't want to let his optimism run away with him. He needed a cool head about him to deal with Karina. Not, of course, that he'd been able to achieve that for one instant since the moment he'd laid eyes on her. But maybe now was a good time to start trying. Yes, if he was going to re-formulate his plan of action, then clear-headedness would definitely be an asset.
“Here's the thing,” Ryan said, “There are two main issues, as I see it. First, the whole she’s a superstar thing. I mean...that's weird, right?”
“What do you mean weird?” Justin asked.
“Well, I mean, I've never met anyone even SORT OF famous before. D-list celebrities, reality show participants. Hell, I've never even met anyone who played college ball. I've never in my life shared two words with someone who had any kind of claim to fame. And now I'm going to start a relationship with one of the most famous women in the world? It's a little bizarre,” he concluded.
“Sure,” Justin conceded, “I can see how it could seem that way. But what you have to understand about Karina is that she is not her public image.”
“What do you mean?”
“Here's the thing – all that fame stuff? That's just smoke and mirrors to Karina. It's not what she considers her life to actually be about, or her career to be about. It's not even something she considers a lucky side effect of her career in music. It's more like the price she has to pay to be able to make music. Trust me, when it comes down to it, you will never meet someone who cares less about what other people think than Karina Blackstone.”
Ryan considered this, and nodded, “True. And, honestly, the fame thing – while it's a little surreal – doesn't bot
her me all that much. But that leads me to the second issue, which is...this whole attitude she has about her that's so...I don't know...blasé...about love and relationships. 'I don't do relationships. I only keep it casual.' That may be a dream scenario for 99 percent of guys out there, but I'm not that guy."
“I definitely respect her need for independence, and I'm not trying to tie her down. But, at heart, I'm a traditional guy. I don't do casual when it comes to relationships, and she's made it clear that she ONLY does casual. That just seems like a very large divide to be trying to meet across.”
Jake shook his head, “Man, you're thinking of this all wrong. You're thinking ahead, way down the line. What you need to do is just focus on the moment.”
“Ok, how?” asked Ryan.
“It's true,” Eric chimed in, “If you want Karina to give up her wandering ways and get serious with you, you're not going to be able to do it by pressuring her to choose between her independent lifestyle and settling down with you. What you need to do is just show her, with no pressure, how much more amazing her life would be with you.”
“Yeah,” Jake concluded, “The key is to make her WANT you more than she wants to keep it casual.”
“I agree,” Justin said, “I mean, come on, you can't expect her to give something up without seeing that she's trading it in for something better, right?”
Ryan nodded. That made a lot of sense.
“OK,” he said, “I see your point there.”
“Plus, you have to remember,” Justin said, “It's hard for Karina to trust people. This kind of goes back to the fame thing. It's gotta be pretty rare for her to meet someone that doesn't want something from her, either directly or indirectly, even if it's just to be seen with her. And most of the time, weasels like that don't reveal their true nature right away. So, is it any wonder she wants to keep men at arm's length? If she didn't, it would be too easy for people that don't have her best interests at heart to get close.”
Ryan nodded, “So basically, what you’re saying is I just need to prove that I have her best interests at heart, which I do.”
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