by Vivian Wood
She did, of course. Maybe I just don’t care enough if I keep getting the same result, she thought.
16
King
King stretched his arms overhead and Effie let out a small sigh. “Did I wake you?” he asked.
“No, I’m up,” she said. “What time is it?”
He saw her roll off his chest and onto her back. They’d both been too exhausted last night to dress again. King watched her bare chest rise and fall in the morning light.
Damn, it’s like I can’t get enough of her.
“Time for a shower,” he said.
“Okay, you go first,” she said with a yawn.
“We go together,” he said. “Come on.”
King grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed. Effie smiled and laughed.
“You’re insatiable,” she said.
“Only for you.”
He thought he saw her blush, but couldn’t be certain.
“Come on, remember we talked about this once? The first time we were here in high school—”
“That was just talk,” she said, but she bit her lip and slid out of bed.
King felt himself grow rock hard at the vision of her in the pink light of dawn. She was flawless, every inch of her. The hickies that peppered her neck and breasts didn’t hurt, either.
“It doesn’t have to be just talk anymore.”
King turned on the double rainfall shower heads while Effie reached for the exhaust fan.
“Leave it,” he said.
“But it’ll get too steamy!” she protested.
He raised a brow at her. “Since when do you complain about that?”
King ushered her into the shower as Effie lifted her head to the gentle warm water. From behind, he took a sliver of soap and slid it across her slick skin.
Effie pulled her hair to the side and let King gently massage her shoulders. His hand traveled to the dip of her waist followed by the extreme fan of her hips.
His hand moved to her stomach. As his fingers inched upwards towards her breasts, he felt a spray of goosebumps break out across her skin even in the heat. Effie’s nipples were already hard before he rolled them between his thumb and forefinger.
King felt his cock pressed against her ass and how she pushed slightly back towards him. He leaned down and kissed her neck from behind. Effie’s eyes were closed, and even with the sound of the water falling he heard breath catch.
King trailed his hand downward as Effie stepped her legs farther apart. By the time he reached her clit, her own hand were on her breasts pulling and tweaking.
It didn’t matter that they were both soaking wet from the shower water. Her own wetness surpassed it all. King didn’t have to see anything to tell how swollen her clit was.
“Put your hands on the wall,” he whispered to her.
Effie obliged immediately. He stepped back to admire her from behind.
“Step back farther,” he said. “Bend down lower.” She never hesitated. Effie presented her ass at the perfect height for his hardness. “Spread your ass for me,” he commanded. “Show me.”
Effie reached behind her and spread her cheeks wide. King ran one hand across the firm roundness of her ass and squeezed hard. He toyed briefly at her asshole and grinned as she squirmed but didn’t pull away.
“You’re a goddamned filthy whore, aren’t you?” he asked as he lowered his forefinger to her juicy opening.
Effie pressed into him with a moan. He considered pulling away, teasing her, but how badly she wanted him turned him on too much.
“Answer me,” he said.
“Yes,” she gasped.
Effie backed up more and he allowed his finger to slip halfway into her. King crooked his finger to stroke her G-spot. Effie let out an animalistic sound. She placed her hands against the shower stall and started to fuck his finger as best she could.
“You want more?” he asked. “You want this cock in you?” He removed his finger and positioned his tip against her opening.
“Yes,” she cried out. “Please… please just fuck me.”
King gripped her hips and entered her slowly. He paused deep in her center as Effie ground her hips side to side.
“Is this what you want?” he asked.
“Yeah, give it to me,” she said, insistent.
His fingers dug into her slick skin while he started to fuck her, slow and hard.
“Faster,” she said, eager.
“Not here,” he said and spanked her ass. “You’re not the one in control.”
King could feel her orgasm start to build. Her walls grew tighter and he watched her arms as they started to shake. The view was incredible. He watched himself disappear into her, over and over.
The water wasn’t nearly enough to keep her juices from covering his shaft completely. King released one of her hips to tease and trace the rim of her ass.
Effie immediately began to shake. Before her knees could buckle, he caught her hips and held her tight. The feel of her coming on his cock nearly put him over the edge himself, but he held on.
When he released her, she turned to him, spent.
“You didn’t come,” she said, disappointed.
“Get on your knees.”
Effie gave him a shy smile before lowering into the thin film of warm water. King tucked her wet hair behind her ears as she greedily took his cock in one hand and traced her tongue along his tip.
“Take it all the way in,” he said. “That’s how you like it, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said.
Effie smiled up at him before she brought him to the back of her throat.
God, she was gorgeous—and fucking good at sucking his cock.
He watched her work him like a pro. It was the enthusiasm, how much she loved it, that was so incredible.
King put his hands gently on the back of her head, the temptation to fuck her mouth almost too much to manage. Effie reached up and pressed her hands on his, an invitation.
With that permission, he pressed gingerly against her slick hair. He only fucked her face briefly before he felt one of her hands move to perineum and stroke. Effie looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Fuck, I’m going to come,” he said. Effie tried to take him to the back of her throat, but he shook his head. “I’m going to come on your face.”
She released him and opened her mouth wide, tongue stuck out. King grasped his length as he came across her face and tongue. Effie closed her eyes and licked her lips. She searched for more, every trace of him she could lap up.
King grasped her beneath the arms and pulled her up. He brushed his thumbs across her cheeks to help the shower water rinse the last of the come away before he kissed her sweetly.
“You’re fucking amazing,” he said quietly.
As they toweled off, he sensed a tangible shift in her.
Gone was the girl who’d looked up at him so eagerly from her knees just minutes ago. Effie wrapped herself in one of the terry cloth robes and combed her hair with a big-toothed comb.
The silence had transitioned from comfort to full of nervous energy. King stood beside her in front of the vanity.
“What’s wrong?” he finally asked.
Effie put down the comb but wouldn’t meet his eyes in the mirror. She shrugged. “I just… I don’t want our time here to be over.”
“It’s not over,” he said. “Or… it doesn’t have to be.”
Effie turned to look at him. “What does that mean?”
King rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his gaze. “I just… I’m enjoying you. From the screams you let out in the shower, it seems like you’re enjoying me, too,” he added.
Effie turned pink and shook her head. “That’s not… it’s not reality,” she said. “It’s like a romance book. Or like The Bachelor when they take those people to some tropical paradise on the production company’s dime.”
“I thought you liked romance books,” he said.
“Yeah, for the fant
asy!” she said. “It’s an escape because the world can be crap.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” he countered.
“Yes, it does! We need to be realistic ,and reality says that I have to have a job—which I don’t. I have to have a place to live, which I also don’t. I have to make sure that Yaya and my mom have a place to live—”
“So you need money. I have money. You need your stuff packed up? I’ll get someone to do it.”
Effie sighed. “That’s not what—I wasn’t asking you to bankroll me. I’m not some damsel in distress.”
“You seem pretty distressed to me.”
“And my grandmother?” she asked. “Money until I get a job and getting some movers to get my stuff—I mean, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but that’s not much in the long run. I have long-term, serious family things going on.”
King clenched his jaw. For that, he didn’t have an answer.
“See?” Effie asked. “This is the hard stuff. And this is the same conversation we should have had years ago. But you know that, don’t you?”
“Know what?” he asked.
“All those years ago? When you asked me to go, that’s why I said no. You knew it, you knew I couldn’t leave my family like that and run off to L.A. with you. Nothing’s changed, King!”
“It’s not the same,” he argued. “You and I, we’re not the same.”
“Well, you’ve got it right there,” she said. “We’re more fucked up and damaged than ever. God, I thought for a minute that maybe things had changed. We had, I thought maybe we’d grown up. Maybe those years apart had done us some good. But it didn’t. Damnit, I’m so stupid.”
Effie turned to rush out of the bathroom and King reached for her arm.
“Effie!” he called.
She wrestled out of his grip. “No! You can’t touch me while we argue,” she said sharply. “It’s not… it’s not fair, okay?”
“Oh, no?” he asked.
“No.”
King dropped his hand. “And why’s that?”
“Because… it’s impossible to think straight when you touch me.”
King moved to her side and forced her to back up against the wall. Effie glanced around briefly for an escape route, but there was none.
He was a head taller than her and twice her size. When he reached down to grasp her wrists and put them overhead, she didn’t resist. The movement made her robe fall open to expose her rose-scented skin. She stared up at him and wavered slightly.
“You don’t fight fair,” she said.
“Fuck, no. I will fight as dirty as possible if it means I get another night with you.”
He leaned in close to her and matched her gaze. Finally, when Effie started to close her eyes and raise her lips to him, he pulled her arms down and back away. In one swift movement, he brushed the robe off her shoulder. It fell to the floor as he did, his lips inches from her center.
She tasted like the perfect cocktail of her natural taste—which he’d grown addicted to—and the spring. King heard her start to moan as she raked her fingers through her hair. He flicked his tongue across her clit and grabbed tightly onto her ass. Unable to move, all she could do was writhe against the wall.
The first time she came on his tongue, he slowed down the rhythm but didn’t stop.
“I can’t,” she begged, even as her wetness made its way down her throat. “It’s too sensitive—”
“I’m going slow,” he said. “You’re going to come for me again.”
He could see her shake her head side to side. Tiny whimpers emerged, but gradually he felt the sensitivity subside. Soon, she was calling out his name as she arched her back for the second round.
When King felt her close, he stopped short and rose to his feet.
“Why’d you stop?” she asked, frustrated.
“I thought you wanted me to.”
“That was before—”
“It’s my turn now.”
With ease, he lifted her up onto his shoulder and slapped her ass that was perched by his cheek. King walked her into the bedroom, one arm hooked across her thighs.
When he tossed her on the bed, she moved back and spread her legs to welcome him in.
“What do you want, you dirty girl?” he asked.
“You,” she said simply. “Come here.”
“Show me how you like it,” he said.
“What?” Effie paused for a moment, unsure of the dynamics shift.
“Show me how you get yourself off when you think about me,” he said.
King took his cock in one hand and started to stroke.
“I can’t—” she said, suddenly shy.
“If you don’t, I’m not going to fuck you,” he said.
Slowly, with eyes lowered, Effie brought her hand down and began to circle her clit with her ring finger. He watched her nipples grow harder and she spread her knees far apart as she got into the rhythm of it.
When she closed her eyes and dropped her head back, he said, “Look at me.”
She did, without hesitation, her gaze hungry for him.
Always for him.
17
Effie
When she left the cabin, she didn’t tell King that she was going to Thorne’s.
Effie knew he’d either try to stop her or demand to go with her—neither of which she could handle. It had been easy when she’d walked in on Thorne to think she’d just never go back.
However, the longer she spent at the cabin, the more she thought about what she’d left there. From her passport to her first edition, signed books from her favorite romance writers, she knew there were things that she needed to get back.
There’s no way in hell Thorne’s keeping it all, she thought to herself.
Effie worried that he’d already destroyed everything, but as she poked around on his Instagram it seemed like he’d kept himself busy.
For the past two days, he’d posted photos from the beach with hashtags that placed him in the Florida Keys. Over half of them featured random girls in slips of bikinis, with one photo taken on the sly at that clothing optional rooftop bar.
Effie surprised herself when she felt nothing as she’d scrolled through those photos.
How can someone just move on so fast like that? she wondered about herself, though clearly Thorne felt the same way.
Instead of hurting about Thorne, she felt her heart ache the farther she drove from the cabin.
King had kissed her goodbye, slow and deep, in the foyer after he’d taken her small bag to the car. For that, she’d been grateful. Had he walked her outside, she might not have been able to keep it together. Effie wiped at the tears that gathered at her eyes with the back of her hand, but managed to keep the tears at bay during the drive.
She was on a mission, with Thorne hundreds of miles away.
Take care of your mess first, she told herself.
The driveway to Thorne’s condo was empty. From what she could tell, the lights were out. Adrenaline started to pump through her as Effie’s entire body remembered the shock of the last time she was there.
She breathed out a sigh of relief when her key worked. For all she knew, he’d already changed the locks. However, it seemed that after the blowup at the cabin, he’d been on the first plane south.
It looked like the cleaners had been there recently, the scent of bleach in the air. Effie grabbed fistfuls of plastic bags from the kitchen and started to methodically go through the rooms. Thorne apparently hadn’t done anything at all to her things. Everything was where she’d left it, including her toothbrush perched in the bathroom.
Effie filled six bags. She tied them neatly and put them by the front door before doing a final sweep. As she lifted the comforter of the king-sized bed, she saw a spray of women’s underwear—none of which were hers.
I guess the cleaners weren’t so thorough after all.
She had no idea how long the collection of lacy thongs and boy shorts had been there or how many different wo
men they belonged to. And she didn’t care.
All Effie wanted was to give herself completely to King, but they were stuck. It was the same freaking situation they’d been in for years, only worse now.
Back in high school, there were ways around it. Time could have solved it all. But then she and Thorne had gone and messed everything up.
As Effie scanned the condo for any last items, she tried to solve the puzzle of her and King. But no matter how she looked at it, they were doomed.
Love can only do so much, she thought. Not that he’s even said he loves you.
That was another obstacle she’d faced down. On one hand, she knew it was ridiculous to expect that after only a few days. Then again, they’d known each other forever.
Would it make any difference if he’d said he loved you? She didn’t know.
He hasn’t made any promises, she reminded herself. There are no talks of the future, not in concrete terms.
Effie knew enough to understand how easy it was to make flippant remarks. So-called promises like, “I want to be with you” were simple to say.
Whenever it came down to the real talk with King, the logistics, he froze up. Just like always. That wasn’t enough to gamble her future on, especially when it wasn’t just her future. There was her mom, and there was Yaya. Her family deserved more than that.
Even if I don’t, she thought.
She filled her hands with the bags, locked the door, and put the key in the secret little pot where Thorne kept his spare. As she rounded the corner towards the driveway, Thorne whipped his black Mercedes into the space behind her, blocking her in.
Effie’s heart began to pound so roughly she could hear the blood in her ears. She froze, unable to move, arms laden with bags.
Thorne hopped out of the car and slammed the door shut.
“I thought you were in Flori—”
“You stupid bitch, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he growled. She realized he held the screams in because of the neighbors. However, when she glanced around, she didn’t see evidence of anyone nearby.