The List Series

by Rhonda James

  Good golly, was he ever a giver.

  I felt him shift beneath me, knew I needed to get up, but he was so warm. I felt so safe with him. I would have been content to stay in his arms all night, or forever for that matter.

  Oh shit. Where had that come from?

  Don’t get attached, Victoria, I told myself. It’s too soon.

  I could already feel it happening. It was so typical of me to give so much of myself too quickly. I would just need to be careful. Putting some distance between us would afford me the time I needed to clear my stupid head. After all, this was sex, not an invitation to be his girlfriend. He was merely helping me with a project. That’s what I needed to remember. Until then, maybe I could just close my eyes and enjoy the feeling a second or two longer.

  “V?” He gave my ass a gentle squeeze. “Wake up, baby. I need to get this condom off before we have a mess on our hands.”

  “Yeah.” I rubbed at my eyes and sat up.

  He discreetly removed the condom and tied it off before palming it.

  “Um, where do you want me to—?” He looked around for a place to discard it.

  “I have napkins!” I launched myself off him, and he grunted. “Oops, sorry.”

  He chuckled as I crawled over the center console on my way to the passenger seat. I had barely gotten one leg over the console when I felt a hand on my belly and his teeth grazing my left buttock.

  “You have an amazing ass, Victoria.” His other hand came up to palm the other cheek. “When you walked out of the house tonight and I saw your ass peeking out of those shorts…” He flattened his tongue and licked one round globe. “Watching you sing that Chainsmokers song in those short shorts and that cropped top with no bra, I wanted to charge the stage and fuck you in front of the crowd just to let every guy in the room know you belonged to me.”

  My stomach dipped at the sound of his voice and what he’d just professed. Knowing he desired me in that way, even after the attention he’d just lavished on me, gave me a heady feeling. His thumb trailed down the crack of my ass and teased the puckered flesh. I trembled beneath his touch.

  Truth be told, I’d always been curious about anal play, and what he was doing was nothing short of intriguing. To my surprise, the attention didn’t leave me feeling anxious—it turned me on. B-I-G time.

  “The napkins,” I whispered.

  “Can wait another minute,” he replied before lowering his thumb and burying it inside my wetness, coating it with my arousal. He pumped a few times, and my head fell forward as I cursed under my breath.

  He removed his thumb, drawing it back to tease the entrance of my rectum. He applied light pressure, penetrating me with only the tip of his thumb before dipping down to wet it again. He repeated the entire teasing process, while I writhed under his expert touch. Panting like a cheap whore. I felt conflicted. Uncertain if I wanted more or if I should tell him to stop.

  Surely, this was wrong. Right?

  His voice was deep and throaty when he asked, “You like that, don’t you, V?”

  “Yes,” I answered without hesitation. Maybe it wasn’t that wrong. “No one’s ever done this to me before.”

  At that, he growled, his teeth on me again in an instant, giving me gentle bites between licks and kisses. The tip of his tongue rimmed the outer edge of my rectum while two ringed fingers pumped inside me.

  “What the hell are you doing to me?” I whimpered.

  “God. All the things I want to do to this ass,” he grunted between flicks of his tongue. “So. Many. Dirty. Things.”

  “Yes,” I hissed when he applied pressure on the outer rim and buried his thumb to the first knuckle.

  It felt intrusive at first, but he didn’t force it all the way in, so the most I felt would best be described as a minor stretching sensation. His thumb was of average size, so compared to his cock, it would definitely be easier to get used to. Though I wasn’t opposed to trying the other at a later time.

  “Want me to keep going?” he asked huskily, dropping the other hand to circle my clit.

  I couldn’t speak. Not even a nod of my head. I was in the most blissful sex-induced haze I’d ever experienced.

  Who knew anal could take you to sexual Nirvana? I sure as hell hadn’t known. I made a mental note to ask Sophie why she’d been holding out on me.

  Sin had two fingers buried deep inside me while the thumb of his opposite hand had gotten nicely acquainted with my ass. I was already seeing stars, and then he started rubbing my magic bean with those talented fingers of his… O.M.G.

  I came so hard I feared my legs would never stop shaking.

  “What the hell are you doing to me?” I whispered hoarsely.

  “Helping you change your life,” he answered before drawing me to him for a kiss.

  Mission accomplished, my mind whispered.

  Oh yeah. I was definitely in trouble.

  ***

  “You ran off to PC with Dylan Cross, and I’m just now hearing about it?” I held the phone away from my ear, while Sophie continued shrieking. “What happened to BFFs for life or longer? Best friends do not keep secrets, especially not secrets as hot as this!”

  I fell back against the pillows and played with a strand of my hair, mind wandering back to last night.

  “I know. I meant to call sooner. It’s just that things have been a little crazy,” I hedged before adding, “I’m sorry. You’re still my BFF, though.”

  “Fine, we’re still besties,” Sophie harrumphed. “Now, tell me what’s kept you so busy that you couldn’t find time to call? I want all the dirty details!”

  “Stop. It’s not like that. The guys are all really nice. We’re just friends.”

  Guilt immediately flooded through me. Soph and I never kept secrets. She knew everything about me; from the moment I got my first period to my lackluster love life. In turn, I knew everything about her, right down to her adventurous love life and inability to commit.

  A small part of me wanted to preserve the memory of our night by keeping it to myself. Everything had been so perfect. He’d been perfect. I feared talking about it would only cheapen it. But I needed to tell someone. I’d spent the entire day holed up in my room, avoiding him because I was certain I would take one look at him and profess my love. After only one night of sex. Amazing, toe-curling sex. But whatever. Anyway, it wasn’t like I actually loved him. But I did have a very bad track record with men.

  Just saying.

  Sophie harrumphed,“Bor-ing. Four years ago, I told you that you needed to go after that man. He was into you.”

  “Oh my God! He was not. He totally blew me off that night. Remember?”

  “Pul-eeze,” she scoffed. “I seem to recall his eyes were glued to your ass.”

  I crossed my legs and squirmed on the bed as flashes of last night came rushing back at me.

  “Think of all the time you wasted on his asshole brother,” she continued before turning dramatic. “Please tell me he isn’t douchey like Michael”

  I couldn’t help laughing, knowing how badly she despised him. “He has his moments. But no, he is nothing like his brother. Michael was extremely selfish, while Sin is very generous.” Just thinking about how generous he was made me warm all over.

  “Thank God! Soooo, have you done it yet?”

  “Done what?” I panicked, fearing she had somehow seen right through me and read my mind. After all, we’d spent so much time together we were practically twins. Twins can read each other’s minds. Right?

  She sighed dramatically and tsked. “The list, Victoria. Remember, we talked about it after the ‘incident’?” I heard a cupboard open and the sound of ice clinking against a glass. “I bet you haven’t even started it, have you?”

  “For your information, I’ve not only started it, but it’s also finished,” I stated with an emphatic nod of my head even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “I’ve already completed five of the items on the list. So, there!”

  Soph whistled un
der her breath. “Damn, V. I’m impressed. Read me the list. I want to see what some of these items are. For all I know, I could be praising you for something stupid like ‘sunbathe naked.’ I mean, who hasn’t done that shit?”

  I pulled the crumpled list from my bag and sent her a photo, mumbling something about lack of trust and proving her wrong. She responded by laughing and telling me to go fuck myself. Typical Sophie.

  A full minute lapsed during which she didn’t utter a peep. “Hello? Did it come through?”

  “Holy shit, V,” she whispered. “Your list is so…dirty.”

  “Oh my God! Do you think it’s too much? In my defense, I downed a lot of tequila while writing that.”

  “You and your tequila,” she snorted. Another few seconds passed, and all I heard were sniffling sounds.

  “Are you…crying?” I raised the bottle of water I’d been holding to my lips.

  “No, it’s just that I’m so incredibly proud of you. My sweet, demur Victoria has finally come over to the dark side. I thought this moment would never come,” she delivered in her award-winning best actress voice.

  I snorted, and the water I’d been drinking shot out my nose, making me cough and sputter. “Oh my God. You are the worst. The absolute worst!” We both laughed until we could barely breathe.

  “Seriously, doll, I am so happy to see that you’ve embraced your inner Sophie. I also see that you’ve crossed off some pretty big ones here. Car sex? You had sex in a car with a freaking stranger? O.M.G. Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”

  I hemmed and hawed, trying to come up with a way to tell her without giving away too many details, because I knew she’d want details. There were some things a girl needed to keep to herself. For instance, the anal play? Yeah, I needed to hold on to that little nugget a little longer.

  “He wasn’t technically a stranger.”

  She murmured an expletive under her breath. “I swear to God, if you tell me you snuck back to Tallahassee and slept with Michael, I am going to reach through this phone and strangle you.”

  “Ew! I promise you I did not sleep with Michael. Not now or ever again, for that matter,” I stated emphatically.

  “Well, if it’s not him but someone else you know, that only leaves… No. Fucking. Way. Get out! You slept with Dylan, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” I answered sheepishly. I spent the next few minutes beating my hands and feet on the bed while we both screamed hysterically.

  “Holy shit, V. I think my respect levels just shot through the freaking roof. Even I have yet to bag a musician—though we both know that will never happen because you know how I feel about musicians,” she groaned.

  “Yes. I know all about your aversion to musicians,” I said with a dramatic sigh. “But it should be noted they are very good with their hands.”

  I heard an unfamiliar male voice speak softly before she covered the phone, preventing me from listening. Ten seconds later, she was back, but her demeanor had changed.

  “Listen, hon, I’ve gotta run, but don’t go thinking you can get away with holding out on me. I’m going out of town for a few days, but when I get back, I want all the details! Keep working on that list. Kiss-kiss. I love you!”

  “Kiss-kiss. Love you, too,” I managed to get in before the line went dead.

  CHAPTER 19

  SIN

  “Great set!” someone called out, high-fiving me on my way to the bar. “Thanks,” I murmured and kept walking, not bothering to see who they were.

  The crowd had been really into the songs we’d chosen tonight, so no one complained when the show ran past the two hours we typically played for. Blade sure as hell hadn’t been complaining. More music meant more bodies crowding the stage. More bodies equaled thirsty patrons.

  Winner winner, chicken dinner.

  I scanned the room, looking for any sign of V. I knew she was here because I’d caught a glimpse of her while I was covering a Kings of Leon song. It had been five days since our night together, and she’d been acting strange. Staying gone for hours at a time. Keeping to herself. That sort of shit.

  When our night together had ended, I’d thought things were cool. We’d said good night outside her bedroom door then ended up meeting up in the bathroom for another round of kissing. I liked kissing her. The number of things I wanted to do to Victoria was endless, but the kissing was pretty fucking incredible. The little moans she made when I tangled my hand in her hair and gave it a yank—totally worth the set of blue balls I’d gone to bed with that night. But ever since, she’d spoken ten words to me. I knew because I’d counted.

  Shut up. It’s not what you’re thinking. I wasn’t whipped. I was just confused about what I might have done to make her so pissed, because she was clearly pissed off about something. We’d already lost five days. At this rate, we’d never finish the list.

  Maybe she found someone else to help her finish it.

  I swore under my breath at the notion and kept searching, ignoring everyone who tried to catch my attention. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was so pissed. One-nighters happened all the time. Back in the day, I’d been the king of them. But in those cases, I’d been the one choosing not to go back for round two. Never had a girl done that to me. Hell, most of time, I’d been too wasted to give a shit about the kind of girl I took home. All I’d ever needed was a warm pussy and a nice pair of lips. It never went beyond a few orgasms. I’d always used protection; even in my drug-induced state, I’d made sure of that. And I’d never let them sleep over.

  But V wasn’t anything like ‘those’ girls.

  Maybe that’s why she’d been avoiding me all week. Maybe I should have invited her back to my room. Girls like Victoria Prescott probably expected that sort of gesture, though I couldn’t visualize my brother ever being the sort of guy who enjoyed spooning, or anything requiring him to entertain the same woman in his bed night after night for that matter. His whole belief system seemed to go against monogamy, which let me to question why she’d stuck around.

  Am I any different? I wondered.

  I lived my life by the motto that beds were only good for two things: fucking and sleeping. One never led to the other. Once you allowed a woman to sleep over, things became touchy feely and soon they would get too comfortable with you. I didn’t need a woman attached to me. I wasn’t looking for love.

  That’s what made this arrangement with her so appealing. There was an end date. Plus, we’d both be getting what we wanted. I’d spend the next three weeks fucking her out of my system, while she crossed off everything on that crazy list of hers. When it was over, she’d ring in her birthday a changed—and hopefully satisfied—woman, and we’d both go on our merry way.

  No fairy tale here.

  End of story.

  But right now, I needed to find her and figure out why the fuck she’d blown me off, because the way I saw it, we still had two weeks to go on our little agreement.

  And clearly, I hadn’t gotten her out of my system.

  Not by a long shot.

  ***

  After spending close to thirty minutes looking for V, and four unanswered texts, I finally accepted she wasn’t interested. No biggie. Her fucking loss. There were plenty of women looking to go home with me. Hell, I’d been approached by no less than three tonight. I could have said yes to one of them, and maybe I should have. I could have brought her back to the house and fucked her in the shower. Remind her of what she gave up. That would have served her right.

  But alas, that didn’t happen. Hawk saw me and immediately knew something was up. He sat me down then proceeded to get enough alcohol in me to get me talking. I told him everything. His only response was to give her more time.

  That was the problem. We didn’t have a whole lot of time left.

  I stumbled into the house sometime after one in the morning and headed straight for the shower to try and sober up. The hot water felt good on my sore muscles, and I considered rubbing one out but decided against i
t because ejaculating into my own hand wouldn’t feel nearly as good as it had when I’d been inside her.

  Christ. What the hell had gotten into me?

  I dried off, cinching the towel around my waist before heading back to my room to crash for the night. When I flipped the light switch, I found Victoria in my bed, wearing only a white button-down and teal panties, and it appeared sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

  “Hey, stranger,” she greeted seductively. “I’ve missed you this week.”

  “I’ve been right here the whole time.” I turned and went to the dresser to retrieve a clean pair of boxers. Without turning, I let the towel drop to the floor and stepped into my underwear while asking, “What do you want, V?”

  She crawled to the edge of the bed and came to rest on her knees. “You. I only want you.”

  The tips of her fingers traced a slow path down the center of her torso, stopping just below her belly button. I stood by the dresser, transfixed, watching as her bottom lip curled between her teeth and her finger dipped lower then disappeared beneath the band of her panties.

  My cock liked her answer and what she was doing as much as I did, but I was still pissed that she’d blown me off.

  “Then why have you been avoiding me all week?” I was shooting for cynical, but the way it came out made me sound vulnerable and weak. Like a pussy. Even my inner voice chastised me.

  Dude, get a hold of yourself. She’s just another girl you’ve banged. No big deal.

  It would have been easy to accept that line of reasoning, except V wasn’t just another girl and I would never classify what we’d shared as a ‘bang.’ It was more. I just wasn’t sure what more meant—or if I was even interested in finding out.

  Regret washed over her face, and she closed her eyes. “I guess I was scared.”

  I stepped forward, arms aching to go around her and comfort her, but I stopped before getting too close. “Are you saying I scare you, Victoria?”