by Denise Wells
I open one eye. “No more. I can’t,” I tell him.
“You can,” he says. He leans forward to give me a quick peck on the lips, then moves off the bed to remove his jeans. For this, I open my other eye. I’ve felt what he has to offer, but this is the first time I going to see it in its entirety and I have no intention of missing that.
He looks at me as he unbuttons his jeans, heat in his eyes. “Now I have your attention?”
“You have my full attention,” I tell him, sitting up. I look him up and down again. His body is amazing. I don’t know what he does to work out or stay in shape, but it works for him. Really well. He’s not so bulky that I fear he’ll have steroid dick, but also not so slight that I feel big next to him. I’m a tall girl with a lot of curves, it’s hard to feel dainty and desirable in most situations. But, especially a naked one.
He pushes his jeans and boxers down at the same time. His cock springs forward, asking for my attention. Which it definitely has. The bed dips as he moves his way back to me. A knee on each side of mine and his forearms braced around my shoulders. He slides up my body until we are touching everywhere.
The feel of skin on skin is incredible. His bare dick against my clit.
“I need you, now,” I tell him, trying to find the right angle to get him inside me.
“I aim to please.”
He sits back, ass to ankles, and I’m filled with disappointment. Until I realize he’s grabbing a condom from the side of the bed. I don’t even know how it got there. I watch as he puts it on. Even this most mundane of tasks becoming a turn-on for me.
He moves back over me and lowers his body to mine. My muscles tense. Everything else has been so amazing this far, please let this be good too.
“You okay?” he asks. I nod, then shake my head. He smiles. “Which is it?” He rubs the tip of his cock over my clit as he asks the question.
Oh, that feels good.
What if it stops feeling good?
I bite the proverbial bullet.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
He kisses me again, on my forehead, on each cheek, on my lips. Then nuzzles the side of my face, and asks with a low voice, “Tell me, baby.”
“What if it’s bad?”
His body goes stiff, beads of sweat appear on his brow. “What do you mean by bad?” he asks. “Like you don’t think you’ll enjoy it? I think we’ve proven our chemistry is off the charts, beautiful. And I promise you’ll enjoy every second of it.”
I take a deep breath and let it all out in one big rush of words. “I know my timing isn’t the best, but I’ve not felt anything like this with someone else before. And by that, I mean I haven’t had an orgasm with another person, other than the one time with you. Only myself. And I was a little drunk with you before. And I’m not drunk now. So, this scares me.
“I’ve already experienced so much with you that I never had before. What if I have this with you and suddenly I know what I’ve been missing all these years. Then I don’t have it again. Instead of being okay with nothing because I didn’t know any better, suddenly I know exactly what I’m missing, because I’ve had it, and that’s going to make it even worse. Which is going to make me dependent on you and I already know better than to rely on anyone. That’s just foolishness.
“And before you say anything, I know all about oxytocin and how the brain produces it with sex and that’s automatically going to make me want to bond with you. I’ll be honest, I thought it was total bullshit before, but I kinda get it now and we haven’t even had actual penetration yet. So, can you imagine how it will be once we do?”
“Whoa, beautiful.” He rolls to his back, pulling me with him. “You’ve got a lot going on in your head right now. Let’s just relax a minute, okay?”
I can still feel his hard cock against me. Thank God he’s still hard. But I’m sure he won’t be for long if I keep this up. Which is what I wanted to avoid; I don’t want this thing between us going bad. Yet here I am causing exactly that to happen.
Fuck.
Chance runs his hands up and down my back slowly. Going a bit farther toward my ass each time.
“I didn’t mean to ruin the mood.” My voice cracks as I say it. I clear my throat but don’t continue talking.
“Remi, I’m in your bed and you’re naked in my arms. Nothing could be more perfect,” he says. My pulse speeds up when he says that. He keeps talking. “What do you say we try to get to a point where you’re feeling comfortable and then we’ll talk about things like mood?”
“I’m okay,” I say. I pause to think about it and realize right then that I am okay, and I want nothing more than for this man to fuck me.
Hard.
Chapter 27
Chance
She looks me in the eye. “I want you to fuck me.”
I want to believe her. Trust that she’s really okay. But I don’t want to take this somewhere that she’s not ready to be. I look at her, trying to discern her state of mind.
She grabs my cock with one hand and positions it at her pussy, rubbing the tip back and forth in her wetness. Her other hand grabs my ass and tries to pull me down to her.
“Please,” she moans.
I guess that’s as good an invitation as any. I sink into her. All the way in.
“Oh my God, Remi.”
She gasps. Her eyes widen, her mouth forms a slight O shape.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
“You good?” I grunt.
She nods. “So fucking good.”
I pull out until just the tip of my cock is inside her and thrust back in. Her hips arch up to meet mine.
So fucking good is right.
My balls start to tighten. I reach my arms around her back and pull her to me, slowing my roll. I want this to be good for her. No, I want this to be mind-blowing for her. If I come too soon, it won’t be. I will my dick to cooperate. But sex has never been this good. Not even with Helen, who I thought I loved. Well, shit, if I wanted to prevent myself from coming, thinking about Helen will do it.
I run my nose along Remi’s jawline, breathing in her scent, bringing myself back to the present, and this goddess beneath me.
“You smell so good,” I tell her.
“Harder.”
I raise up onto my forearms to deepen our connection and ram back into her again. And again. My balls slap at her ass. My muscles strain. My dick begs for release.
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh shit. Chance!” Her muscles tighten around me, pulling at my cock. She’s so close.
“Come on my dick, beautiful.”
It’s all she needs. Her body tenses. Eyes shut. Back arching. She gives in, all the way in. I watch as the pleasure rockets through her. She screams my name again. Her body tightens like a vise around mine. I let go, coming with a roar, pumping everything I have into her. My entire body shakes and convulses like never before. I never want to leave this place. Never want to leave her. I want to stay rooted inside her forever. Locked in this moment.
“Never so good, never,” I say into her neck, careful not to say anything more that might scare her away. Because in that moment, I know with absolute certainty, that I am falling head over heels in love with Remi Vargas.
I roll us over so she’s on top and I’m not crushing her. She’s dead weight.
My chest puffs slightly. I did that to this amazing woman. This conundrum of angst, detachment, and drive. I relaxed her, sated her; she’s like a wet noodle, all bendy and limp.
I’m the fucking man.
She giggles, shaking both our bodies, then raises her head slightly to look at me.
“Did you just call yourself the man?” she asks.
“Not intentionally out loud. But I guess if the condom fits…”
She laughs again and slaps me lightly on the shoulder.
“Speaking of, let me up for just a minute, beautiful, so I can take care of this.” I place her to the side of me on the bed, then kiss her softly on the lips before getting up and
heading to the bathroom.
She’s curled up on her side, facing the middle of the bed, and almost asleep when I return. I crawl in behind her and pull her back to my chest. She fits against me perfectly. It makes me smile. Which in turn causes me to laugh at how sappy I’ve become.
She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m introducing her to my entire family this weekend. I just have to remember to tell her about the bet first. I mean, how bad can it really be when she finds out? We just had the best fucking sex of our lives. She’s mine. I’m not letting her get away now.
Chapter 28
Remi
Connie invites me to lunch. And I agree to go. Which doesn’t happen often. We’ve grown kind of close over the last few months, chatting about everything going on in our lives and the such. She being one of the only other women in the company. Regardless, I still don’t pal around outside work a lot with her. But I’m feeling like a new me, one that decides to trust men, and agrees to go to lunch with women who aren’t Lexie or Kat.
We decide on an Italian restaurant that is close to the office so we can walk.
She babbles on a bit about making the travel plans for our upcoming conference.
“Hey, I never asked you what kind of room you want,” she says.
“What do you mean? I get a choice?”
She laughs. “Well, with me making all the travel plans, you do.”
“Okay then, something far away from everyone else, King bed, double occupancy, soaking tub, and a view.”
“Done!” she says.
I immediately think of Chance and what we can do in a king bed. And a soaking tub. Or against a window with a view. I reach into my purse for my phone. Maybe I can talk him into coming up for a night if he doesn’t have to work.
“It’s right across the street here.” She points to the restaurant. I slow my steps before stepping off the curb so I can start a text to Chance. I look up briefly, see nothing, then move to cross the street. Movement in my periphery causes me to pause just as Connie pulls me back by the arm. A blue car speeds by, barely swerving to miss me. My hands drop in shock, my phone falling from them and bouncing off the edge of the curb into the street.
I could have been hit. I wasn’t even paying attention. I was too busy thinking about Chance to watch my surroundings. Another second or so and that car would have flattened me.
“Holy shit, Connie, did you see that? Fucking maniac almost hit me! Thank you so much. Ohmigod.” My heart is racing, and I want to throw up.
“Hey asshole, watch where you’re going!” I yell belatedly after the car.
“You okay?” she asks.
“I think so. I just need to catch my breath. That really scared me.”
“That was a close one,” she says.
I move to pick up my phone, or rather what’s left of it, having bounced off the curb at just the right angle to shatter the entire screen.
Fuck.
“I’m going to have to hit the cell store after this, look.” I hold my phone up so Connie can see the screen.
“Oh no,” she cries. “That sucks. Eating always makes me feel better. Maybe pasta will make you feel better.”
Somehow I doubt that. But I don’t share that out loud. Connie had said this place was her favorite, and even though I think pasta is a little heavy for lunchtime, I agreed. Because that’s the kind of thing that new Remi does with her friends.
Connie crosses ahead of me, but I hold back, double-checking both sides of traffic before crossing the street on still shaky legs.
The hostess sits us at a little table near the back of the restaurant. I grab my menu and plan on what to eat before taking in my surroundings.
Deciding on angel hair pasta tossed with olive oil, Roma tomatoes, and basil, I sit back and sip on my water, the waitress comes to take our order. I give her mine, but Connie asks a lot of questions before making her decision. I take the time to look around the restaurant, it’s got a nice homey feel, with wood paneled wainscoting on lower half the walls and pictures of regular customers posing alongside the owners scattered across the upper half. We are sitting in a deep red high-backed booth that makes me feel like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are going to walk in at any time, call me dollface, and order a platter of pasta and gravy.
My gaze halts at a booth near the front door. A familiar head of blonde hair is turned away from me.
Helen.
Of all the places.
She turns suddenly and sees me. I try to turn away, but it’s almost like I’m caught in her gaze. The fly to the spider web. Her eyes meet mine, a glint of recognition lights in them. Except she’s not exactly looking at me. It’s like she’s looking past me. I turn to see who is behind me. Just Connie.
Holy Shit.
Do Connie and Helen know one another?
Fuck.
Helen rises from her booth and starts walking toward us. She reaches our booth and I brace myself for the interaction.
“Connie, how lovely it is to see you! How long has it been?” Helen exclaims as she leans down to embrace Connie.
“Ohmigod, Helen! What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since Gramma Nono’s reunion dinner. How have you been?” Connie says.
“So, good,” Helen says. “Couldn’t be happier.”
I clear my throat to try and draw Helen’s attention. Because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her ignore me. She knows who the fuck I am.
“Oh, sorry Remi,” Connie says. “Helen, this is my co-worker Remi, she works in the chemical engineering department. Remi, this is my second cousin on my mom’s side, Helen.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Helen says to me, holding out her hand limply.
“We’ve met,” I say quickly grasping her hand in a firm shake, then dropping it just as fast.
“Oh?” Helen pretends to be surprised.
“At the Night Moves show? I’m dating Chance.”
“Hmmm,” Helen says, giving me the once-over with her eyes.
What a bitch.
“Hmmm,” I say.
I give her the same elevator stare back. Because, fuck this bitch.
She turns away from me abruptly, toward Connie. “So, I’ve got to get back to my friends, but it was so good to see you again, let’s not make it so long between visits this time.” Her eyes have a weird glint to them.
“Totally,” Connie says. “Let’s do happy hour or something.”
“That sounds perfect,” Helen says as she air kisses Helen’s cheeks.
She turns toward me. “Nice to meet you, Mimi.”
I narrow my eyes toward her. She knows damn well my name is Remi. But I don’t bother to correct her. Because she doesn’t matter in new Remi’s life.
Helen leaves to go back to her table. I turn to Connie, one eyebrow raised in a question.
“What are the chances?” she says a bit nervously.
“Right,” I say.
“So, that was my cousin, Helen,” Connie says, twisting her napkin around her fingers.
“I got that,” I say.
“You guys met?” Connie asks, her voice awkward and high pitched.
“Connie, she’s my boyfriend’s ex.”
“Right. Of course.” She clears her throat.
“She ambushed me on my date with Chance.”
“She can be a little intense sometimes,” she says almost meekly.
“That’s one word for it, I suppose,” I say.
She looks like she wants to say more, but I don’t really care to keep talking about Helen.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say waving my hand in her direction.
The waitress arrives with our order, preventing any further conversation. But I find it odd that Helen is pretending not to remember me.
We finish our lunch without any other interruptions and return to the office. I make an appointment for later at the cell phone store to see if my screen can be fixed, then bury myself in lab tests and quickly forget about both Helen and Connie.
&
nbsp; *
I leave the cell phone store, relieved they were able to fix my screen so quickly. Chance and I had texted briefly earlier in the day and set a phone/text date for tonight, so it was imperative that I get my phone fixed. We’ve both been working really long hours and have not had a chance to see one another all week.
He’s working late again tonight, and I have an early morning meeting again tomorrow, so this is the only chance we’ll get for a couple days. I want to tell him about seeing Helen, but at the same time, I don’t want to ruin the little time that we have together with reminding him of his ex. Especially when it’s not face-to-face time and I can’t see his face to tell what he’s thinking.
Good God, when did you become such a wimp, Remi?
I ignore my inner thoughts and get ready for bed. My guess is Chance will be texting me soon as his shift ends, which is normally right about the time I go to bed. Like clockwork, I get a ding from my phone signaling a new text.
I try to stop the big smile from forming on my face, but it’s impossible. I fucking like this guy and even though I hate that I do, I’m loving every minute of it.
I pick up my phone and swipe to see the text.
Chance: Hey beautiful, you still awake?
Me: I am. How did your day go?
Chance: I’d rather hear about your day.
Me: Interestingly enough, I ran into Helen at lunch today.
Chance: Helen? As in my ex, Helen?
Me: Yes.
Chance: Where were you?
Me: Out to lunch with Connie, the receptionist. A place near my office.
Chance: That’s a little strange since she lives like forty-five minutes from there.
Me: Weirder still, she’s cousins with Connie.
Chance: Your receptionist is her cousin?
Me: Yes. Small world.
Chance: Or psycho world. Can I call you?
Me: Of course.
I snuggle down deep into my covers in anticipation of his voice. When I talk to him on the phone, it gives me shivers. I don’t try to analyze that feeling too deeply, however.
“Hi,” I say when I answer his call.
He sighs. “God, it’s good to hear your voice.”