Rule

by Jay Crownover

Page 20

 

  She put a hand on her chest and had the good grace to look a little bit guilty.

  “Changing your sheets. ”

  “Why?”

  “Uhh…Why?”

  “Yes, Shaw why are you changing my sheets at nearly three o’clock in the morning?”

  She was saved from answering when a Garth Brooks song rang from her pocket. I was starting to see she liked to pick songs for ring tones that fit the person calling. She had a brief conversation with who I assumed was Ayden and left the phone on the night stand next to the bed. She picked up the edge of my comforter and started to smooth it back over the big bed.

  “Ayden got a ride home, I guess your friend in the band remembered her from the Goal Line and offered to take her. ”

  “That’s cool, though Jet isn’t exactly known for being a one girl kinda guy so I hope she isn’t reading anything into it. ”

  “Like I said she can take care of herself and honestly you aren’t really known for that either,” she waved a hand over the bed, “so I’ll be damned if I’m going to sleep let alone do anything else in a bed that has had more visitors than DIA without changing the sheets first. ” Her bottom lip stuck out and she sounded slightly defiant.

  “Shaw,” I moved out of the doorway, making sure to shut it and turn the lock on my way to her. “No one has been in that bed since you. I told you I knew on that Saturday that something was happening between us that was different. ”

  She shivered a little as I got close and I could see raw vulnerability in her eyes. It was scary to know how easily I could hurt this girl and how desperately I didn’t want that to happen.

  “I don’t know how to do this with you, Rule. I drunkenly threw myself at you and was lucky you were willing to catch me, but sober it’s hard to look at that bed and not see every single other girl that was there before me, sometimes more than one at a time. ”

  She tried to make light of it but I could hear the genuine melancholy coloring her tone. I put both my hands on her face and tilted her head back so that we were eye to eye.

  “I can’t change the past, Casper, not any of it. I can’t make any of those girls disappear or the fact you walked in on them on Sunday morning time and time again go away, I can’t bring Remy back or go back in time and not call him for a ride that night. There are probably a million and one regrets I have and if they are going to be between us here or in bed then let’s just stop it now because I’m not going to do combat over my past when my future is finally starting to be something I want to invest in. ”

  She lifted her hands up and grasped my wrists, at first I thought she was going to pull me away but she didn’t. She leaned forward and let her forehead hit the center of my chest. “Rule if this goes bad it’s gonna be so, so bad. ” Her voice was just a husky whisper against my chest.

  “True, but if it’s good it’s going be so very, very good. ” I tunneled my fingers through her hair and she let her hands fall to my shoulders. We weren’t a perfect match, she was a lot shorter than me and I had to admit that I knew logically we made an odd pair physically but there was just something about her, something about the way she curved into me, the way she sighed my name like a prayer, the way she smelled like sunshine and sweetness and everything yummy all wrapped into one bite that made none of that matter and made her the only girl I could ever remember wanting to hold onto for more than a fleeting minute of time.

  She started to pull my shirt over my head and I laughed a little when she got mad when it got stuck on my spiky hair. She made a face at me and tossed it over her shoulder onto the floor. She used a finger to poke the front tip of the spiked up hawk and lifted an eyebrow. “You look hot with a mohawk, Rule but I gotta say this hair is more trouble than it’s worth. ” She trailed her hands over my ribs and stopped to look at the art work imprinted there. On one side was a grim reaper that ran from under my arm pit to the top of my thigh, on the other side was a beautiful angel and in-between them on my back was a massive gothic cross that went from shoulder blade to shoulder blade and ended at my tailbone, scrolling from shoulder to shoulder on an elegant banner was ‘Remy’ in bold script. I had more inked skin than not and where I normally didn’t think anything about it, being naked next to her in all her pale, perfect skinned glory it seemed slightly overwhelming. Her hands moved lower and before I had even kissed her she was messing with my belt buckle.

  “Remy would have loved that piece you know? He always used to tell me he was so glad when you started getting tattooed. He said someone having the same face as him was always too weird, but then you started looking so different , he was glad it was you because there was no way he could tolerate sitting still long enough to get anything done. ”

  It was true. Remy was always moving, always fidgeting and twitching he would have never been able to sit long enough for a session and every time I had come home with a new piece something I wanted to show off, he had been the first to see it. If he had lived long enough to see me finish my apprenticeship he had promised to let me draw up something for him, it was one of those million regrets I had mentioned earlier. She was making short work of my pants and I had the sudden need to slow her down so I picked her up like she was a little doll and tossed her onto the center of my bed. She bounced with an oaf and ended up sprawled on her back spread eagle. I toed off my boots and let my pants fall the rest of the way off, since I typically just went commando when I crawled up over her I was naked and she was still fully dressed. Her eyes got big because I put my hands under her shirt and dropped down to plant a bunch of kisses along her throat.

  “You’re like good whiskey, Shaw. You go to a guy’s head quick and smooth. Last time we blazed through a bunch of the good stuff, why don’t we slow it down a little this time?” I let my fingers brush over the top of her bra and felt her body get tight. She bent her legs up so that I was cradled in between and despite our size difference we fit together just fine. She let her hands roam all across my back and I felt the edge of her nails bite into my skin and the press of her heels into the curve of my ass, it was awesome.

  “I was afraid last time that if we slowed down to think you would stop and I felt like I would die if you stopped. ”

  I had my hands under her bra now and she was making little gasping noises that made me harder than I already was. I got her shirt off over her head and sealed her mouth shut with mine. She didn’t hesitate to kiss me back and I decided then and there that kissing Shaw was probably as close to heaven as I was ever going to get. There was just the right amount of give and take, just the right amount of tongue and teeth, just the right amount of breathless pull that made me see stars and want to tear her pants off and forge ahead like a marauder. She wasn’t kidding about liking the jewelry in my mouth. She rubbed her tongue across the barbell and rubbed her bottom lip across the hoop in a way that had my eyes drifting closed and almost made me forget that I was supposed to be showing her that there was lots of good stuff we had flashed past last time.

  “See I don’t think we spent anytime here. ” I ran my thumb over her nipple and watched as it puckered instantly at my touch. “You are so pretty and pink Shaw and I don’t think you even know the half of it. ” I let my tongue run across the base of her throat and down until I had one peak in my mouth. She tasted as sweet as she smelled and the idea that I was the only one that got to do this to her, that she was mine, just mine made it all even better. She muttered my name and arched up as I worked her over pretty good with my mouth on her breasts. She was undulating under me, pulling me closer to her with greedy hands and rubbing against the part of me that fully agreeing with her that I was moving to slow. I let go of the flesh I was torturing with a soft pop and kissed her breast bone. “See, good stuff. ”

  She sighed, “Totally. ” I propped my weight up on an elbow and traced a path from her throat to her belly button. The taunt skin on her belly quivered a little when I traced a pattern around the small indent. I liked the wa
y my tattooed skin looked against her much clearer canvas; I also got a little kick out of the fact that when I flattened my palm against her belly that my name went from one side to the other claiming what I was quickly starting to consider my very own. I let my thumb hook under the top of her pants and rubbed a pattern that made her wiggle enticingly against me.

  “Rule,” there was a hitch in her voice. “What are you waiting for?”

  “Nothing. ” I kissed her again and took my time about it I wanted her to know that she affected me just as much I seemed to be affecting her. Normally when I was with a girl I was all about instant gratification, there was no build up, no anticipation. I mean I liked to think that I had developed some pretty good moves over the years but I was also a big fan of getting to the finish line in as little time as possible. I wasn’t there to create memories. I was there for a mind numbing orgasm and a minute of peace, but she was different. With her I was different and this thing happen between us was most definitely different.

  I got under her super tight pants and was surprised to find that she hadn’t bothered with anything underneath. I pulled my head up and grinned down at her. “Commando?”

  She shrugged and shifted a little when my fingers brushed over all her soft and warm parts. “What? These pants are practically painted on and no matter how tiny the panties are they show so no underwear was the only option. ”

  “I would never peg you for the type. ” She gasped my name out as made my way in to her damp heat. Her whole body bowed up against mine and I caught her across the back to keep her there and taunt under my ministrations. The friction between what I was doing and her tight pants was making her quake in my arms and I knew it was only a matter of time before she came apart in my hands. “You’re always so proper and put together, who knew underneath was such a naughty girl?” She was slick and fluttery all the things I wanted a girl to be right before she made a sweet noise of surprise and flared her eyes open at me. Her hands clamped down on my neck and she tugged me down for another mind bending kiss right before I felt her melt. I smiled against her mouth and shifted so that I could help her pull her pants off even though she was moving a lot slower than me. Once she was as naked as I was I took a minute to appreciate the view because a naked Shaw was something to appreciate and a naked, luminously satisfied Shaw was something master artists would kill to capture on canvas.

  She leaned over me to dig a condom out of the drawer. I settled on my back and let her crawl over the top of me. I stacked my hands behind my head and just watched as she tore the packet open with her teeth and set about suiting me up. She was gentle about it and I think afraid she might hurt me but it was a good thing she took her time with it because the jewelry down there sometimes made getting protection on tricky. Once everything was set and I was hard enough to pound nails she looked at me a little apprehensively and settled over my lap.

  “I don’t think I know how to do it this way. ”