Finding Forever

by Christina C Jones

  “I know I probably sound like the corniest man on the planet right now, but—”

  Laying a finger against his lips, I shook my head. “Avery… stop talking.”

  — Avery —

  Shit.

  Desperate, I searched my mind for a way to smooth this over. Maybe I could laugh it off, pretend I was joking. Nah… Tori was smarter than that. The wine? Yeah, the wine! Maybe I could blame it on the alc—

  “Just tonight, just between us… but… I’m willing.” She swallowed heavily, as if those words had been incredibly hard for her to say, so I hesitated. The last thing I wanted to do was prove Des right by hurting Tori. “Willing… or enthusiastic? If we do this, it needs to be because we both want to, not becau—”

  “Avery… less talking, more sex.”

  With a handful of my shirt clasped in her fist, she kissed me, a soft, seductive kiss with barely-there pressure. She gave me several of those until I pulled her into my lap so she was straddling my legs, and then gently began to probe my tongue against her lips, beckoning her to let me inside. The sweetness of the wine lingered in her mouth, and I took my time tasting her with unhurried kisses.

  She nearly whimpered in appreciation when my lips found the juncture of her neck, nipping and sucking their way to a little spot I’d discovered during our first time together. When I touched it, Tori arched her back, pressing her body closer to mine. She pouted in frustration when I pulled away, picking her up to carry into the bedroom. We left the lights off, allowing the glow of the city lights shining through the sheer curtains to illuminate the room as we stripped out of our clothes. When we were done, I sat down on the edge of the bed, inviting her to stand between my legs.

  I cupped her breasts in my hands, kneading them with my fingers as she looked down at me with lust-filled eyes. Even in the semi-darkness, their golden-brown hue stood out, brimming with anticipation, and arousal, and a vulnerability I doubted she knew was there. Tipping my head forward, I took one rich, red-brown nipple into my mouth, suckling until it turned into a hard peak. I let my hands travel down her body to her ass, cupping and squeezing the soft flesh as I urged her closer. Turning my attention to the other breast, I pulled one of her knees up onto the bed with me, allowing me open access to slip a first, then second finger into the hot wetness between her thighs. She moaned as she clenched around my fingers, a sexy, silky sound from the back of her throat that almost made me lose focus and pull her down onto me, but I couldn’t yet. If this time was going to be the last, I had to prolong it.

  I loved how responsive Tori was to my touch. As I began stroking her with my fingers, my thumb massaging her pearl, she met my rhythm by rolling her hips with me. Every sensual little moan and breathless whimper of my name was turning me on more, and I was painfully hard, aching to be inside of her. When I felt her legs began to tremble, signifying that her orgasm was drawing closer, I stopped, laying her across the bed.

  Positioning myself between her legs, I kissed her again, but we were past the subdued, exploratory kisses from before. We were hungry this time, these were lip biting, tongue massaging, teeth clicking, frantic, clumsy kisses, and I enjoyed every one. I reluctantly pulled away to kiss other places, finally spreading her legs wide to get a full view of what waited for me between them, soft, wet, and satiny smooth. I pushed two fingers inside of her again, eliciting another moan as I lowered my mouth to join them. Before I tasted her, I took a deep breath, inhaling the blissful, intoxicating scent of her sex that had me hard as steel. I went in, licking her lips and placing gentle, suckling kisses around her.

  Tori was disappointed when I stopped, but her expression shifted to pleasure when I entered her with a languid, gentle stroke. She lifted her hips, urging me to go faster, but I maintained the slow rhythm until she relaxed, then I pulled out and lowered my mouth to her again. She cried out in pleasure as I flicked my tongue over her pearl, teasing and sucking, weaving and gliding until I felt her thighs began to shake against my ears. I pulled away to bury myself inside of her again as she raised her mouth for more greedy kisses. With a wicked grin, she raised her leg, hooking it over my shoulder to invite me deeper inside. Tori was so hot, and so wet it was making me dizzy. The sound of her panting in my ear, demanding I stroke her harder, and faster, that I ‘fuck her like I meant it’ was so sexy I was drowning in it, trying to get as far inside of her as possible.

  “Avery?” Her breathing was labored, ragged, as if she’d barely managed to choke that word out.

  “Yeah?”

  “Avery, please, I—”

  Then, she was coming all over me, arching her back away from the bed, trembling and purring as the orgasm hit her body in waves. She was contracting around me, pulling me deeper into what could only reasonably be described as bliss, — no, paradise— and before I was able to form another thought, I was combusting, driving into her as hard as I could as I released.

  I gently lowered her leg from my shoulder, then collapsed onto the bed beside her, pulling her against my chest because it felt like where she belonged. We lay there, recovering in silence until Tori spoke. “I’m gonna wash up a little, okay?”

  She shrugged her way out of my arms, then exited the bed to go into the bathroom. A few seconds later, I felt something warm and hot hit my leg, and realized she had thrown a towel at me, then disappeared back into the bathroom. I chuckled as I cleaned myself up, and a few seconds later, Tori was back, climbing on top of me to straddle my legs.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, her shy smile a direct contrast to her wild, messy hair, and current state of undress. Those pretty brown nipples were pointed right at me, begging for attention, so I sat up, capturing them with my hands.

  “I’m looking at you like that because you’re so damned beautiful.” I grazed her lips with mine, then slowly sucked her bottom lip into my mouth as I ran my thumbs across her erect nipples.

  “Is that right?” Her was voice was sultry and low as she palmed my freshly hardened erection between us.

  “Damn right.”

  Her lips spread into a smile. “Lay back.”

  I did as I was told, watching with excited interest as she placed feathery kisses all over my chest and stomach, then showed that same attention to other parts as she gripped me in her hand, gliding her fingers over me, then finally taking me in her mouth. For me, the sight of a woman giving me head was a fun experience. It was hot, and raunchy, but I never felt anything other the obvious kinky pleasure of the fact somebody was sucking my dick.

  This was different.

  There was nothing lewd, or obscene about watching my erection disappear repeatedly between Tori’s soft, luscious lips. She was sensual, and beautiful, and damn was she good at what she was doing. Her tongue was constantly moving, and her mouth was warm and inviting as she kept things slick and wet, without getting too messy. I felt honored that such a gift was being given to me, and I buried my fingers in the wild, messy mass of curls partially covering her face.

  She lifted her eyes, meeting my gaze with a looked filled with passion, and pleasure, and …. Something else I didn’t want to think about, though the same feeling was coursing through my chest. Instead, I focused on the sexy grin she gave me as she pulled away, repositioning her body so she could slide down on me. I sat up again, wrapping her in my arms as she began to roll her hips in a slow, seductive motion. Burying my face between her breasts, I gripped her thighs to pull her closer, meeting her movements with upward strokes of my own. I didn’t bother trying to stifle my groan as I slipped deeper and deeper until we were fully connected, and she was grinding her hips against mine, gasping for air through the pleasure. Her warmth was pulsing around me, gripping and milking me, communicating clearly that she, along with her body were mine, and damn if I didn’t intend to let her know I got the message.

  Moving my mouth to her neck, I found her spot again, the one I knew would send her into oblivion, and sucked hard, exerting just enough pressure to leave a mark. A
s expected, Tori melted all over me, moaning my name into my ear as a hot new wave of wetness allowed me to somehow get further inside of her. It only took another second before I was exploding in her again, and then I was kissing her, using my lips and tongue to tell her what I couldn’t verbally say, and certainly wasn’t about to acknowledge.

  — 8 —

  — Avery —

  “Can you meet me at my office today? — Tori K.”

  The sight of Tori’s name popping up on my phone brought a wide, inexplicable smile to my face. I hadn’t seen or talked to her in days, not since we’d spent the night together in Chicago, and I couldn’t get her off my mind.

  “What are you smiling about over there, Ace?” Nick was standing in the open doorway of the office at the shop, looking at me with his eyes narrowed, head cocked to the side as if he wondering if the guy he was looking at was really me.

  “Nothing you need to be concerned about,” I said, replying to Tori’s text to ask her what time she wanted to meet.

  Nick chuckled, stepping into the office to plop himself into the chair positioned across from the desk. “So it has nothing to with you sleeping with Tori again this past weekend, huh?”

  My head shot up, and I scowled at the amused grin on his face. “How do you even know that, man?”

  “I didn’t. You just confirmed it for me. What happened to your poker face, dude? I’m gonna have to change your nickname.”

  “Shut the hell up, Nick.”

  He laughed again, throwing his head back. “Damn, man. Cool your heels, I’m messing with you. Seriously though, you walked in here from your weekend in Chicago with a cheesy grin, bouncing around as if your balls were ten pounds lighter. It was obvious you got some.”

  “What made you think Tori though?”

  “Wild guess.” He shrugged, lifting an eyebrow at me. “Why are you so damned uptight?”

  I scrubbed a hand over my face, glancing down at my phone to see Tori had sent back a response.

  “ASAP. Can you be here within thirty minutes? — Tori K.”

  “This was supposed to be private, just between Tori and I. I don’t want her thinking I’m spreading her business around,” I explained.

  “Ace, Relax. You know I’m not going to repeat this to anybody. I thought we were brothers?”

  I smirked. “Well, I’m a brother… you…”

  “Shut the hell up, man.”

  I chuckled, pressing my head into the back of the chair. “Nick, I don’t know what to do. I like this woman. Like… really like her, but she’s not feeling it.”

  “Wack sex?”

  “Hell no. It’s… complicated.”

  Nick shook his head. “It’s never that complicated, not really.”

  “No… this shit is for real complicated. At least for her.”

  “So simplify it. When are you seeing her again?”

  “Today,” I said, glancing at my watch. “I actually need to leave now.”

  Scratching his chin, Nick thought for a second before he spoke again. “Okay… here’s what you do…”

  — & —

  I felt dumb as hell riding up the elevator to Tori’s office with a bouquet in my hand, pumping myself up to tell her, as Nick had suggested, that I didn’t want to go on another one of these dates, unless it was with her. I had rebuttals ready for every possible counterpoint she could throw at me, and I was ready. When I stepped off the elevator and into the Matched waiting area, Melanie looked up at me, surprised.

  “Avery… What are you doing here?”

  “Tori asked me to meet her here, as soon as I could… she’s here, right?”

  Mel lifted an eyebrow, looking at something on her computer screen. “Yeah, she’s in her office, but she has a client back there. Let me see— oh, wait, she just messaged me to send you back. I guess she heard the elevator.” With a heavy, exasperated sigh, she glared up at me. “I’m guessing you haven’t looked at the file I sent you with your matches, huh?”

  “No, I haven’t. Is this meeting related to that somehow?”

  Mel scoffed. “It certainly is not. You should look at that file, okay? But let me get you back there before Tori throws a fit,” she said, gesturing toward the computer. She stood, and walking over to Tori’s door, opened it and directed me inside, closing it behind her with what I could swear sounded like a quietly uttered “fucking dummies.” I didn’t have the time to figure out what that meant before my eyes fell on Tori, looking beautiful as always as she stood behind her desk.

  “Avery, you made it,” she said, giving me a nervous smile as she eyed the bouquet of purple and white orchids in my hand. I was about to speak, when the movement of another person in the room caught my attention. “Avery, I want to introduce you to Maya. Maya, this is Avery.”

  Tori emanated poise and professionalism as she stepped around her desk, leading a strikingly beautiful woman with almond colored skin in front of me. Her face was frozen in a placid, detached expression, but she couldn’t fake it with her eyes, which were too bright, too wet, as if she were a second away from tears.

  “Are those for me?” Maya asked, gesturing toward the flowers with a warm smile. I glanced at Tori, who nodded, but so slightly I was barely sure I saw it.

  “Uh… yes, they are.” I returned her smile, trying to not to let confusion register on my face. Had I really come up here to try to pursue Tori, when she was trying to push me off onto someone else?

  Maya accepted the flowers, then stood on her toes to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Tori, I like him already! Tall, and handsome, and he came bearing gifts!”

  Tori gave her a weak smile and I could tell she was as uncomfortable as I was, but she kept up whatever game she was playing. “Avery, Maya is a new client, who came in this morning. We ran her matches, and the two of you have compatibility off the charts, and I had a little feeling there was the potential there for something special, so I couldn’t wait for you two to meet. Now that you’re in the room together, I’m even surer about it! How would you two feel about going out tonight?”

  Her words were confident, but her shoulders were slumped, and she would not meet my eyes. What the hell was she doing? Did she forget that four days ago…?

  Damn.

  That’s exactly what she was doing, trying to forget, by fixing me up with Maya, so I could get off her back. And I couldn’t be mad about it, because this is what we’d agreed to. She’d made herself perfectly clear about her intentions, and I was supposed to trust her to find me a partner that wasn’t her.

  Maya spoke up first, showing off perfect white teeth as she smiled. “I’m game if you are.”

  “Well,” I said, “If Tori says it’s a match, I guess I’m along for the ride.”

  I glanced over at Tori, who was expressionless even though I still saw the unmistakable pain in her eyes, which were focused on the wall behind us. When she realized I was looking at her, she tried her best to force another smile, but the best she could muster was a grimace, and she quickly turned away before Maya could see her face. She began shuffling things on her desk, and then , without looking up, and with well-concealed strain, said “Okay. I’ll set it up.”

  — Tori —

  This is exactly what I get. It’s absolutely all my fault.

  Holed up in my office’s private bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face in an attempt to calm my nerves. I was nauseated, and had been crying so hard I’d thrown up what little I’d been able to eat.

  From the moment she walked through my door, I hated Maya. I’d certainly had clients before I wasn’t particularly fond of, but this was different. I couldn’t figure it out, because she came across as genuinely sweet, she had a good sense of humor, and a great personality. Nothing about her was phony, or forced, and she was beautiful, with creamy skin the color of toasted almonds, big, innocent brown eyes, dimples, and thick chestnut brown hair in a relaxed style that framed her face. It wasn’t until I ran her matches that I realized why I hated her.


  She was perfect for Avery, and I was sick to my stomach about it.

  I briefly considered calling them both back, saying I’d made a mistake, but deep down… I knew Maya was who he needed. She still had hope for love, where I had none, and hope was exactly what Avery needed.

  Who are you to decide what he needs?

  A fresh round of tears sprang up as I remembered the look of fondness in his eyes when he walked into my office with those beautiful flowers, obviously intended for me. I’d watched it change from happiness, to confusion, and then worst of all— hurt. But Avery would be okay. He might not like me very much, but as sick as I’d felt standing there with them together in my office, I was sure he and Maya would hit it off. They would fall in love, and get married, and have babies, while I… got a cat. Maybe a few cats.

  Oh my God, I’m so pathetic.

  Again, I dissolved into tears, perching myself on the floor with my knees pulled up to my chest as I sobbed into my jeans. I don’t know how long I was in there before there was a quiet knock at the door, and then Melanie let herself in. She wet a towel with cool water, then kneeled in front of me, urging me to let her wash my face.

  “You wanna talk about it?” she asked, when I’d calmed enough to give her a coherent answer.

  I shook my head, swallowing another round of tears.

  Mel sighed, sitting down opposite me on the floor. “Tori… you like Avery, don’t you?”

  “What? No,” I adamantly lied, trying to look and sound outraged by the suggestion. The way my sister rolled her eyes let me know she definitely wasn’t buying it.

  “Tori… why—”

  I held up a hand to stop her. “Look, Mel. The only thing I’m concerned about here, is making sure my client ends up with someone who makes him happy, okay? I have a good feeling about he and Maya, something I haven’t had with any of these others girls. What do you think about her?”