One Call Away

by Emily Goodwin

  I stand and go around the table, offering a hand to Sierra. “I know. I like dogs too. Maybe it’s the way you have to earn a cat’s affection that I like. You just said it: dogs love you no matter what. But cats—“ She holds up a finger, pointing at me. “You have to earn their affection.”

  We step into the thick, summer air, emerging onto the main street that runs through the downtown of Summer Hill. The bookstore is a few blocks away, and while most shops are closed by this hour, people mill about the town.

  “I’m not used to this heat yet.”

  “The humidity is high,” Sierra comments. “It’s been a humid summer. And you never really get used to it.”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  “Want to go swimming?”

  “You have a pool?” I ask, not remembering seeing one in her yard.

  “Not technically, but my parents have one and they’re still out of town.”

  “Then, yes,” I say, not caring that I don’t have swim trunks with me. I have a few pairs, actually, since I frequented the beach while living along the shore in New Jersey. Sierra says nothing about going to her house to get one either.

  “Thanks,” she says as I open the passenger door of my Mustang for her. I hurry around and get in, and head toward her house. We park by her parents’ house and go around back, Sierra enters a passcode and opens a gate to the backyard. Crickets sing out as we dash along a cobblestone path to the pool.

  My previous line of work permitted me inside a handful of upscale, luxury houses like this. I was there for a job, not as a guest, but I still stood in awe of people who lived that way. The Belmont’s historic estate isn’t as over-the-top as some of the new mansions I’ve been in, but they know how to live lavishly. The pool setup is no exception.

  Sierra opens French doors to a pool house, revealing a built-in bar.

  “Want anything?” she asks.

  I close the space between us, standing behind Sierra. I wrap my arms around her, and she presses her ass into my cock. My lips meet the skin on her neck and Sierra melts against me.

  I already feel drunk.

  I’m struggling to stay in control.

  “I want you,” I whisper. Sierra takes in a quick breath. I can feel her pulse rise, bounding through her body. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  “Chase,” she moans, whirling around in my arms. Her eyes fall shut and she rests her head against my chest. “Thank you.”

  “Stop thanking me, Sierra.”

  She doesn’t say anything. She just takes my hand and leads me to the edge of the pool and takes her shoes off.

  “Float with me?” she asks, reaching for a big, pink flamingo floaty. I take off my shoes, pull my phone and wallet from my pocket, and toss them all onto a lounge chair. It takes a bit of creativity, but we both get on the damn thing with minimal splashing. I let my bare feet dangle in the water and lay back. Sierra’s right next to me, head resting on my arm. We look up at the stars above, not talking. Time passes, minutes, then maybe an hour, and we’re still perfectly content and comfortable together.

  “How did you get the scar on your back?” she asks quietly, slipping her hand onto my chest.

  “I was in the right place at the wrong time,” I say after a moment’s consideration. There’s no good way to tell her I broke into someone’s house to take a piece of priceless art.

  “Don’t give it all away,” she teases.

  “It was from a piece of glass,” I go on. “From a broken window.” A window I broke as I snuck into a house that was supposed to be empty. I felt bad for the guy and went easy on him. I left him unconscious on the floor but alive at least, after I allowed him to get one good swing on me. I failed to see the broken glass in his hand, however.

  “Ouch,” she says. “No wonder you knew to check for glass in my ankle.”

  “Yeah, I learned from experience.” Carefully, I turn onto my side and face Sierra. She hooks her arm around me and closes her eyes, tipping her head up so her nose brushes against mine.

  And now we’re kissing. Slow, soft kisses. I cup Sierra’s cheek with my hand and the kisses turn hard. Deep. Desperate. I move my hand down to Sierra’s waist. And then her hip. I gather her skirt in my hand, bunching up the fabric around her ass. Sierra moves closer, bringing her leg up and over mine. My fingers press into her skin, feeling the warmth between her legs as I urge her onto me. Sierra pushes up, fury in her kisses. I slide my hand up to her waist, pulling her close.

  She’s over top of me now, and, fuck, she’s hot. Her breasts crush against me and she’s kissing me like her life depends on it. She widens her legs, straddling me, putting us off balance, but it’s so far in the back of my mind, I don’t realize it until the floaty flips over and Sierra and I both sink into the water.

  In the shallow end, we both pop out of the water, Sierra flips her wet hair out of her face, green eyes wide. She looks at me for a beat and then we both start laughing. I reach for her, bringing her against me.

  “You did say you wanted to go swimming,” I muse.

  “True. And the water does feel good tonight.”

  “It feels very good.”

  Water laps against us, and I reach out to push Sierra’s wet hair away from her face. I’ve never been a cuddle-after-sex type of guy, but right now I want to hold Sierra to me, wrapped up in peaceful silence as much as I want to fuck her.

  Sierra takes my arm, wiping beads of water off my tattoos so she can trace them with her finger.

  “Do you want to dry off?” she asks.

  “Only if you do.”

  “I don’t mind being wet.”

  I can’t help but smirk.

  She flushes slightly but laughs. “Take that how you want.”

  “Can’t I just take you?” I take her around the waist and bring her over.

  “I think so,” she whispers softly as her long, wet lashes come together. She leans back in the water, spreading her arms and legs out in an attempt to float. “I always sink.”

  “The wet dress isn’t helping,” I tell her. “It’s weighing you down.”

  “Chase Henson, are you trying to get me out of my dress?” she asks with fake shock, standing upright. She backs up to the edge of the pool and hops up, keeping her feet in the water.

  “Is it working?” I ask as I join her.

  “There’s a good chance it will.”

  Fuck. I can’t resist her any longer. I twist and wrap my arms around her, and we’re kissing like we never stopped. Water from her wet hair drips down her face, but I don’t care. I find the zipper on the back of her dress and pull it down, slipping my hand inside her dress and feeling her wet skin. We lay back on the concrete surrounding the pool, kissing and removing each other’s clothing.

  “Chase,” Sierra breathes. “Hang on.”

  It takes everything I have to move away. Her finger sweeps across my cheek and then she gets up.

  “Come here,” she says, taking my hand. We go around the bar and into the pool house, emerging into a living room. It’s nicer and larger than probably half the houses in this town and sits empty in the Belmonts’ backyard most of the time. The air conditioner is on, bringing a chill to our wet skin.

  “You were right about the dress. It is heavy.” She bites her lip and turns around, gathering her hand in her hair. “Can you unzip it all the way?”

  Fuck yes, I can. “Sure.”

  Slowly, I pull the zipper the rest of the way down, where it stops right above her ass. She’s wearing a bright purple bra and her lace underwear matches. If she were anyone else, I’d strip her out of the dress, pick her up over my shoulder, and throw her down on the couch. We’d fuck, get dressed again, and I’d leave with an empty promise of a phone call.

  But she’s not anyone else.

  She’s the only woman who’s succeeded at making me nervous about fucking this up. And she’s not even trying.

  With her back turned, she lets the straps of her dress slide over her shoulders and into a
fabric puddle around her feet and onto the floor.

  “That’s better,” she says shyly and turns around, fighting herself to not be self-conscious. Though she has absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.

  “You are beautiful,” I tell her and step over, taking a firm grasp on her hips. “So fucking hot.” I kiss her neck, and Sierra softly moans, hands going to my chest. She drops them to my waist, popping the button on my jeans. Using her free hand, Sierra fumbles to push my jeans down, but the wet denim sticks to my skin. I help her get them off, then raise my hands above my head so she can remove my shirt.

  She shivers as the air kicks on again, sending a blast of cold right at us. This time I do pick her up and take her to the couch, grabbing a blanket. I cover us both and put my arm around her shoulders, bringing her in so her head is resting on my shoulder.

  “This place is nice.”

  “It is,” she agrees. “I had sleepovers out here a lot when I was a kid.”

  “I bet your friends loved it.”

  “I think they loved it more than they liked me,” she says with a laugh. “That all seems so long ago. And so trivial.”

  “It does.”

  She relaxes against me, absentmindedly running her fingers up and down my arm. Then she turns and puts her hand to my chest, outlining a tattoo on my chest.

  “What does it say?” she asks softly, mouthing the words spelled out in Latin.

  “‘If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.’ Mark Twain said it.”

  “I love that. It’s deep in a very simple way.”

  “Yeah,” I agree, and that’s the reason I got it. To remind me to stay grounded despite the crazy shit I got myself into.

  “Why is it in Latin?”

  I shrug. “I thought it sounded cooler that way.”

  Sierra laughs softly. “Does each one have significance?”

  “Yeah, in a way at least. They’re significant because I like them,” I offer, making Sierra smile. “I get a new one every time I move.”

  “You’ve moved a lot.” Nerves tingle under her fingers as she outlines another tattoo.

  “I have.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  “You can,” I tell her. “And I’ll answer, though I don’t really have a good answer other than the concept of people staying in one place is weird to me. You work the same job, doing the same thing over and over again only to come home to the same house, surrounded by the same people every day for the rest of your life. It’s too easy to get stuck in an endless cycle of going through the motions that way. I wanted to experience life, not just survive because I had to.” The words leave my mouth a second before I recall one of Sierra’s voicemails, which said something similar.

  “I like going home to the same place and seeing the same people every day.”

  I shrug. “Maybe if I had people I liked to go home to, it’d be a different story.” The honesty in my statement sends a shock through me.

  Sierra doesn’t speak, but instead tips her head to the side, inspecting me. “Were you looking for them?” she finally whispers.

  “Who?”

  “People you liked enough.”

  “No. I didn’t think they could exist.”

  “Didn’t? You do now?”

  My heart speeds up. “I’m starting to think it’s possible.”

  Her hands land on my shoulders, and I rest mine on the small of her back, gently bringing her in.

  “You have no idea how fucking beautiful you are, do you?” I ask.

  Sierra just shakes her head, looking a little shy.

  “If only you knew what you are doing to me.”

  The shyness goes away and Sierra flashes a coy smile. “Oh, I know.” She drops her gaze to my lap, staring for a few seconds before moving closer. She plunges her hand inside my boxers, feeling the full length of my hard cock. Her slender fingers wrap around it, starting at the base, and slowly pumping up. She circles her thumb over the tip, and it feels so damn good. My head falls back against the couch as she keeps working her hand. I widen my legs and Sierra moves closer, going onto her knees. She keeps jerking me off, and her soft skin is enough to make me come if she keeps this up.

  I take her wrist and pull it from my boxers and kiss her hard. My tongue goes in her mouth and I pull her to me, crushing her large breasts against my chest. We lay back, and I cannot stop kissing her.

  The glistening tip of my cock sticks out of my boxers, and Sierra reaches for it again, moaning with hunger for it when she feels the wetness.

  “God, I want you,” I groan, and Sierra’s grasp tightens. Her hand on my cock feels fucking amazing. Her pussy is going to destroy me and I’m going to love every fucking minute of it.

  “I want you too,” she pants and I advance, laying her down on the couch, dick pressing into her tender core. Sierra bends her knees and wraps a leg around me. I can feel the heat of her pussy through her panties. She inhales deep, pushing her tits up into my face.

  She bucks her hips, rubbing herself against me, and moans. I brush her hair out of her face and kiss her, taking her bottom lip between my teeth before I move my mouth to her neck. Sierra gasps and a shiver runs through her. She curls her fingers, nails biting into my skin. The pain turns me on even more, and I’m rocking my hips against hers, feeling like I could come in seconds.

  I’m so caught up in her. I want to come while at the same time I want to fuck her all night. I kiss her neck again and start to trail kisses down it. I pause at her collarbone and pull back to admire her breasts. Her bra has no padding—not that she needs it—and I can see the faint outline of her nipples through the wet fabric. It’s the kind that clasps in the front, and it’s so fucking hot when I undo it. I palm my hand over one of her tits while I kiss my way to the other. I flick my tongue over her pert nipple, and Sierra squirms.

  She rakes her fingers through my hair, moaning softly. Keeping one breast in my mouth, continuing to tease her nipple with my tongue, I slide my other hand down and slip my fingers inside her underwear. With one finger, I circle the entrance to her sweet pussy, cock aching to push inside. She’s so fucking wet.

  I rub my finger over her clit, spreading her wetness from inside. I want to taste her, to lick up every drop she gives and not stop until she’s coming so hard she screams my name.

  In one sudden movement, I pull away and move down, head between her legs. I look up, smirking at Sierra who steals a glance down. She bites her bottom lip, eyes wide, and breasts heaving as she inhales. Keeping my eyes locked with hers, I take both sides of her panties and slowly roll them down her thighs. She lifts her ass so I can slide them off, leaving them in a pile on the floor.

  Then I move back up, putting my lips to hers once more before kissing a trail down her stomach, not stopping until my mouth is hovering over her pussy. Her muscles twitch, and I know she’s waiting. Wanting.

  I turn my head and take the soft skin on the inside of her thigh into my mouth. I suck it soft, then hard, and then nip at it with my teeth. Sierra groans and reaches down, taking a tangle of my hair in her fingers. I turn my head, warm breath hitting her clit. She’s squirming against me now, so fucking worked up she’s desperate for the release.

  I lash my tongue out against her once, relishing in how good she tastes. Then I pull back again, running my fingertips up and down her thighs. Her grip on my head tightens, and she directs me to her pussy.

  There is something so fucking hot about a woman who takes charge. She knows what she wants.

  Me.

  And I don’t disappoint. I move my hands under her thigh, lifting her legs over my shoulders. I spread her wide and go at her clit with my tongue, feeling her core tighten as she gets closer and closer to coming.

  I slip a finger inside and moan against her pussy when I feel how hot and tight she is. I press against her inner wall, finding her g-spot.

  “Ohhh,” she moans, twisting her fingers in my hair. “Faaa…faaa…fuck.” She pushes herself aga
inst my face as she comes. Her pussy contracts wildly around my finger and my dick aches to feel her tighten around it. I keep my mouth on her, not letting up until she’s writhing in pleasure.

  Sierra’s chest rapidly rises and falls, and she lets her hands drop to her sides. The orgasm brought a flush to her face and it’s sexy as hell. I wipe my mouth on the back of my hand and then kiss her again, gently brushing her damp hair back, giving her a moment to catch her breath. Sierra wraps her arms around me, slowly running her fingers down my ass. She grips me tight and pushes me against her. I pull back just enough to look into her eyes. She’s so beautiful.

  Sierra lifts her head off the couch and kisses me. She tugs down my boxers with her other hand. I want nothing more than to push my dick into her, but I want to make sure she’s okay with it too. She was hesitant only yesterday, after all.

  I pull my mouth away from hers, feeling like I’m underwater and just ripped off my oxygen mask.

  “We can stop,” I pant. “If you want to. Just tell me.”

  She brings her hand up and cups my face. There’s so much emotion in her eyes, and it almost breaks my heart. “I want you.”

  In a mad dash of desperation, she yanks my boxers off. My skin, cold from the wet fabric, burns against her warmth and I fucking love it. She widens her legs, welcoming me between. Her thighs are still wet and warm from her orgasm. She lifts her hips, aligning the tip of my cock against her tender core. I move my gaze down and she opens her eyes, and for a split second, it’s like I’m looking into some sort of mirror that reflects only my soul.

  My lips find hers again and I kiss her as I push inside. She cries out, eyes falling shut. She’s tight and warm and feels so fucking good. I bury my cock in her pussy and kiss her hard. I pull out slowly, not stopping until only the tip is back at her entrance. Then I push in hard. Sierra moans and grips me tight, rocking herself right along with me. I thrust in and out of her hard and fast, then stop and move my hips in a circular motion that sets Sierra over the edge. Her breathing quickens and I feel her core tighten around my cock. Her fingers dig into my flesh and her legs shake as a second orgasm rolls through. I open my eyes and watch her face as she comes.