Paper Kisses

by Beth D. Carter

  He cupped her face, and stared deeply into her eyes. “What are you scared about?”

  “Everything.”

  “Tell me what you want, Alannah, and I can help you not be scared anymore.”

  She shook her head and swallowed. Didn’t he get it? Didn’t he understand that was her problem? Just trying to say anything about what she wanted? So she did the only thing she knew to convey what she craved. She grabbed his shirt and yanked him down to her, melding her lips against his. He was stunned for a moment but then he must have quickly caught up with reality because the next instant, his arms were sweeping around her body to pull her in close.

  And holy crap, the boy knew how to kiss. Bryce had just pushed his tongue in her mouth and then waved it back and forth like he was wielding a sword. But Sky teased, starting out lightly touching her tongue with his, retreating, then going back for more. His mouth moved seductively over hers, making her want more. Sweeping in, pulling back, almost as if he was showing how he would fuck her. He explored each hidden corner, sweeping aside any doubt that this was exactly where she needed to be at this moment. She was on fire from his kiss alone. His left hand came up to hold her head immobile while his right hand swept around her rib cage to pull her closer to his chest. Could he feel her hard nipples poking him in his chest? Could he sense how turned on she was? Why hadn’t she done this with him twelve years ago?

  As if she weighed nothing at all, he picked her up and turned, sitting her back on top of the table. But he didn’t break the kiss. In fact, he began kissing his way down her neck, his hand sliding up her rib cage to the underside of her breast. Her t-shirt rode up, exposing her bikini top, and in the blink of an eye, it was up and over her head. Next, Sky quickly untied her top until her breasts spilled into his hands. Yes, yes. That was what she needed, what she craved. His mouth on her nipple, sucking the little berries in and biting them softly as she arched into him. His other hand began to roll her neglected nipple between his fingers, and oh sweet lord, did that make her body shudder with pleasure.

  She arched her back into his touch, into his kiss, into everything he was doing to her. Wanting him, wanting more. Wanting all of it. Everything he had to give. God, she wanted nothing more than to have his steel-hard cock sink into her wet cunt and pump her until they both splintered apart. His fingers trailed down her body and popped open her shorts, pulling the zipper all the way down so his hand could slide in. Her hips bucked as his fingers slid along her seam.

  “Oh, baby, you’re so fucking wet,” he murmured against her lips.

  And then he explored and found her clit, teasing it with small little circles that made her hips jerk upward.

  “Oh my god,” she breathed.

  “Yes, baby, just feel. Just let yourself go.”

  He pulled her pants down until they fell off her legs and he parted her legs with his shoulders. Holy crap. The darkness might hide her from his gaze but she still felt like she was exposing all of herself. He leaned forward and pressed his tongue right against her slit, running up until he gently tugged on her little clit with his teeth. That had her bucking like a wild thing. Where the hell had he learned to bite like that?

  Using two fingers, he moved her bottoms aside and spread her labia before fucking her with his tongue. He stuck it in as far as it would reach, and then thrust it in and out. At the same time, he managed to rub her clit, causing her to go crazy under him.

  “Sky!” she moaned.

  He didn’t let up and soon her body began to shake with her impending orgasm. It had been so long and he was so damn good at this that her body gave up the struggle to not come. She felt her pussy walls clamp down on his tongue as spasms shot up her spine. And she screamed. Wow. She’d never, ever, in her whole sexual life, screamed. But she was screaming his name now like a benediction. There’d been men who went down on her but Sky had a finesse that was truly unique and if she could bottle it up she’d make a mint.

  As she floated down from her orgasmic high, she realized he was watching her in that enigmatic way that was a new Skylar thing. Was he waiting for her to gain her senses, tense up embarrassed, and flee from him? She was getting close to doing just that.

  “Wow,” she murmured. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

  “College.”

  “Oh,” she said. She must have missed that class somehow.

  And now the mortification began to set in. This was Sky. Her friend. And he had a girlfriend. And she was just divorced. And what the hell had she just done with her old best friend…in the park?

  “Oh my god,” she whispered.

  “You’re regretting this, aren’t you?”

  “Of course I’m regretting this. Let me up! Let me up!”

  He stepped back and she quickly redressed herself, ignoring how her slick thighs made her now engorged clit rub pleasantly together. If she were home she’d have turned her vibrator back on and rubbed one more out. Instead, she was hurriedly dressing in front of Sky. And she knew she wasn’t that beautiful to begin with. Would he look at her in disgust? Bryce did.

  “Please take me to CeeCee’s now,” she whispered.

  “Look at me, Alannah,” he said. “Look at me.”

  His voice took on this deep timber, making it impossible to ignore. She looked up at him and although she still couldn’t see his expression all that clearly, she felt ensnared by his presence.

  “Are you ashamed of what just happened?”

  She went to say yes, of course she was. But when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. This had been the most sensual experience of her life, and she couldn’t lie about that.

  So she shook her head no.

  “Good,” he said. “Because what just happened between us was natural and long overdue. And before you leave Dexter, I’m going to have fucked every single inch of you.”

  She swallowed, trying to ignore how her heart just about pounded out of her chest from that warning.

  “So tomorrow night, be prepared to give me the anything you promised for not throwing you in the water.”

  “O-Oh,” she stammered.

  He leaned over until his lips were at her ear and she could feel his body heat wrapping around her like a warm cocoon.

  “And tomorrow, don’t wear panties,” he ordered.

  And then walked over to the table, the one where she’d just had the climax of her life, and picked up the beer bottles. As he headed for his truck, he tossed them in the trash, leaving her to follow on wobbly knees.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning Alannah sat in the kitchen with her knees drawn up and a steaming cup of coffee resting in her hands. She’d tossed and turned all night long and now she was restless and filled with a strange sense of urgency. Half of her wanted to run away and the other half couldn’t wait for the night.

  “Good morning,” CeeCee said brightly as she sailed into the kitchen looking like a million bucks, even though she was wearing a short robe with penguins on it and bunny slippers.

  “Morning,” Alannah mumbled. “Don’t know about the good part.”

  CeeCee eyed her as she poured herself a mug of coffee before sitting opposite her.

  “What happened?”

  “Why do you think something happened?”

  “Because you just answered my question with a question. Spill, Atwood.”

  Alannah sighed. “We…kissed.”

  “And…”

  “And?”

  “And what else.”

  “Oh my god, he went down on me.”

  CeeCee’s mouth dropped open. “Holy fire crackers! On the first date? You hussy!”

  “He’s picking me up tonight. And he told me not to wear panties.”

  CeeCee just sat there like a statue, mouth open. Alannah waved a hand in front of her face.

  “Was he good?” CeeCee finally asked.

  Alannah felt a blush steal over her cheeks.

  “I see,” CeeCee replied. “Isn’t it funny what we learn about
our friends once we get older? I never would’ve pegged Sky for a great carpet muncher, back in high school. He must’ve learned the technique in college.”

  “Cee!” Alannah gave a strangled laugh as she remembered the conversation from last night.

  “What? I’m just keeping it real.”

  Alannah couldn’t help but chuckle over that.

  “So what now?” CeeCee asked.

  “I don’t know,” Alannah said truthfully. “I came back to rediscover that part of me that I lost. I never imagined I’d be having sex with Sky.”

  “Maybe that’s the part you needed to find. The girl who never put out, learning she could have a good time.”

  “It’s not that easy for me, Cee,” Alannah admitted. “It’s hard for me to emote my feelings.”

  “I know.”

  “I mean, that’s part of why I left. Part of why I never let anything develop between me and Sky in the first place. I didn’t want to be trapped, like my mother.”

  “I’m sorry to hear she died.”

  Alannah shrugged. “I moved her out to California, but by then it was too late. The drink had gotten her. My home life was never good, you remember. Sky and I spent so much time together because he needed to vent and I needed to forget. I didn’t know how to open up and be the ‘fun me’ I know that’s inside. When I left here, I…lost myself.”

  “Is that what you’re really looking for? Little girl lost?”

  “Maybe,” Alannah muttered. “In twelve years I would’ve thought I’d be a little more grown up, a little stronger. Instead, I’m back here at square one and everything is gone. My business, my husband, my…sense of self.”

  CeeCee rose and walked around the table to hug her. “Just because we have over a decade of birthdays doesn’t mean we’ve gotten smarter or that love gets easier. If nothing else, everything gets more fucked up.”

  Alannah snorted. “Somehow you always put things in perspective.”

  “It’s a gift. Now let’s go put some clothes on. I gotta run to the grocery store. You’re eating me out of house and home.”

  “Your cupboards were bare when I got here.”

  “Eh, semantics.”

  ****

  CeeCee pulled up to the grocery store and cut the engine on her pickup truck. Here it was not even noon yet and she was sweating like a pig.

  “I forgot how muggy Southern Missouri can get in the summer,” she said, wiping her brow.

  “Doesn’t Los Angeles get hot?”

  “In the Valley, but I live west side, near the beach. I don’t even have an air condition unit. Or didn’t. Actually, I’m not sure where I’m going to live now.”

  “You can always move back to Dexter,” CeeCee told her.

  They weaved through the parked vehicles when Alannah spotted a dog in the back seat of a sealed up car. None of the windows had been cracked to let in any air and the heat was steadily climbing.

  “Cee, come here!” she called out and then tapped the glass to get the dog’s attention.

  “It’s got to be a hundred degrees in that car!” CeeCee exclaimed.

  The poor little dog, which looked like it might be a miniature Poodle, stood in the middle of the backseat, its tongue hanging out of his mouth although it was clear he wasn’t panting anymore. Alannah grabbed the handle but the door was locked.

  “I don’t think that dog can take too much more,” she muttered.

  Just then the dog collapsed and they both saw he was straining to breathe.

  “Cee, do you have something that’ll shatter the window?” Alannah asked, her decision made. She’d gladly break a hundred car windows to save the dog’s life.

  “On it!” Cee cried as she spun and raced back to her truck. About half a minute later, she rushed back with it and handed it to Alannah.

  “Run into the store,” Alannah told her. “See if you can find the owner. Bring back some water.”

  As CeeCee turned and flat out ran to the store, Alannah moved to the opposite driver’s side window, as far away from the dog as possible. Without a second thought, she swung the crowbar and the side window shattered into a gazillion pieces. She dropped the metal bar and rushed to unlock the back door. Carefully, she picked up the little dog, cradling it in her arms. As she backed away from the car, a police vehicle suddenly appeared next to her and Sky jumped out. He looked from her to the dog to the shattered window.

  “Come to my car,” he ordered. “I have the air conditioner running.”

  Alannah rushed to the passenger seat and Sky held open the door as she sat down, angling the vent so it blew on the dog. CeeCee ran up with a bottle of water and uncapped it. Between the both of them, they managed to dribble some water into the dog’s mouth.

  Sky pulled out his phone and hit a number. “Kevin, we have an emergency at Southern Pride grocery. Dog nearly suffocated in a locked car. Okay. See you soon.”

  As he hung up, Alannah caught and held his gaze for a long moment and something bloomed to life, united by their desire to save a pet. Sky gave her a lopsided, encouraging grin. And then the little dog’s tongue began to lap at the dripping water. CeeCee let out a whoop as Alannah felt the tension ease in her shoulders and she smiled up at him.

  “Well, I’m no Kevin, but I think he’s going to make it,” Sky murmured.

  “We did it. We saved his life.”

  Sky ran a finger down her cheek. “You did it. I saw you swing that crowbar. A couple of seconds could have meant the difference between life and death. And when the owner of this car comes and I have to explain everything, I just want you to remember how proud I am that you didn’t hesitate.”

  Alannah’s heart melted. Ah, man, how was she supposed to fight such praise and magnetism? All she wanted to do was lean over and kiss him. Instead, because they had an audience, she looked back down at the dog.

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  He didn’t answer but he didn’t have to. He was right there beside her.

  ****

  That evening CeeCee and Kevin were in the kitchen making dinner, stopping every once in a while to pet the little dog. He’d been taken from the owner, who was mighty pissed at finding out that not only was his car window broken, but also that no one would be compensating him. Sky pointed out he could be arrested for endangering the dog’s life, so the man shut up and drove away. CeeCee had affectionately named the mutt Pooch. Sky and Alannah sat side by side on the porch swing, sipping a beer, and enjoying the night.

  “What a beautiful night,” she murmured, feeling content.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” he warned. “After dinner I’m making good on that ‘anything’ promise.”

  Alannah felt herself blush and was glad they were sitting in the dark. “I haven’t forgotten,” she told him.

  “Are you wearing panties?”

  She squirmed in the seat. “No.”

  “Good,” he replied and she felt happy she was able to please him.

  What the hell? Why would she want to please him? Shouldn’t the man want to please the woman?

  Maybe that was why her marriage didn’t last.

  Alannah cleared her throat. “I never would have pictured you as sheriff twelve years ago.”

  He turned and looked her directly in the eyes. “There are a lot of things about me now that you don’t know about. That no one knows about. But if we’re playing that game, then twelve years ago I never would have pictured you in Los Angeles.”

  “Really? Where did you picture me?”

  “Do you want the truth or do you want a lie?”

  “Always the truth, of course.”

  “With me. Anywhere with me,” he said softly.

  Her breath caught in her throat. Was he sincere?

  “What do you think about that?” he asked.

  “I think…I think your hormones were raging and you don’t remember very clearly. There was never anything between us, Sky.”

  “So we’re going to hide behind the hormone t
heory?”

  “What else would you call it? We were best friends.”

  “We were a boy and girl first.” He shrugged. “Still are, although now we know where this is going to lead, at least tonight.”

  Her lips compressed. She didn’t want him to know how his words affected her. Her nipples pebbled, her clit throbbed…oh, yes…her body remembered last night, and it wanted more.

  “What about Linda?” she asked, trying to remind herself about the practicalities. Because she knew, once she crossed that path with Sky, there’d be no turning back. And that scared the bejesus out of her.

  “Linda is not my girlfriend,” he said. “We have an arrangement. One I terminated this morning.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s not who I want. Tell me, Alannah, what are you really so scared about?”

  “I don’t want to lose our friendship.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t use that excuse. You walked away for twelve years, so, no. Anything else?”

  “I’m not ready,” she said, a bit desperately. “I’ve only been divorced for a short time and I’m not looking for a rebound.”

  “Actually, a rebound is falling into a new relationship, and ours is decades old. Anything else?”

  She rose, intending to leave, but he grabbed her arm and forced her back on the swing.

  “Alannah,” he said in that imperious voice that he used earlier. The one that would have made her panties damp had she been wearing any, and compelled her to do exactly what he told her to do.

  “There was a reason why I didn’t invite you to my wedding,” she whispered sadly. “If you had been around, I wouldn’t have gone through with it. I…I realized long before my wedding day that I didn’t love Bryce. I didn’t want to marry him.”

  “Then why did you go through with it?”

  “Truth or lie?”

  “Always the truth.”

  “The truth was that…I did have fantasies about you. I hated every girl you dated. I hated hearing their names because…because you were mine.”

  “Alannah,” he murmured achingly. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “Because I couldn’t stay here!” she cried. “I refused to end up like her! So I did everything I could to be different. I left. I got married. I had a career. And it still went to shit! I still failed!”