Playing House

by Willsin Rowe

  Mark bellowed his desire out, relief and frustration all at once. His hot breath coursed all over my back, and combined with the sound of his voice it dramatically heightened the sense of danger. Sometimes the animal part of him was so close to the surface it seemed he’d sprout fur, or grow fangs. It was more than simply exciting, it felt near perilous. In the fantasy, I feared for my life. In reality it was simply my way of life that was in danger. The perfect way he guided my body toward orgasm made me worry I’d lose my mind, or totally change myself just to get another taste of him. As if he’d somehow seduce me into the darkness of chaos.

  The lurching silk of Mark’s hips pounding into me tore all coherent thought from my mind. The ferocity of the moment filled me until I was as beastly as he was, rocking back against him as if trying to eat him with my body. Swallow him whole. Every forward thrust of his was met with a pounding push of my ass back against him. When he glided out it left me feeling lost… abandoned. The only thing that saved my sanity was the very human ability to see a quarter-second into the future. The knowledge I’d only have to wait half a heartbeat before his cock was buried deep inside again was all that kept me from wailing. From turning around and sinking my claws into him, dragging him bodily down on top of me. The idea still wasn’t out of the question, since only then could I get my teeth into his skin.

  “Oh, god, Luce. You feel like heaven.” He ran his hands up my back, clawing his fingers into the shoulder straps of my top. With his frighteningly beautiful strength he hauled back on them as he drove himself even harder, the rippled underside of his cock rubbing across that magic spot inside me, stealing my breath.

  As he growled with effort and need, he pulled again, with a strength that came from the Stone Age. The fabric of my top was no match and it parted with a near-animal scream of its own. He tossed it away somewhere and leaned forward, pressing on my shoulder blades as he pounded with a renewed vigor. I could barely breathe with his weight on me and it was sweet, torturous bliss.

  He swept the loose flow of my hair into his hand and tightened his grip. Rolling his fist to get a strong hold, he drew back, and the stinging across my scalp felt like paradise. With every thrust of his hips he increased the pressure, raising my head from the floor, higher and higher until it felt he would bend me back on myself. The muscles in my neck and back squealed with the painful bite of pleasure, every inch of my skin tingled with blissful need, and my pussy...oh, if my pussy had a voice she would have sung an aria.

  Mark’s voice became nothing but a rumbling snarl, a deep and lupine sound. He pounded me harder and harder, each impact seeming to drive another sharp breath from his chest, as if I was punching him.

  I was almost kneeling by that point, and my greatest fear in the world was that his magical cock would slide out of me. He seemed to feel it too, and stilled his hips with a moan of want. Still with a strong grip on my hair, he pulled me back hard, and I slammed into his chest with a delicious thud. He snaked his free hand around and cupped my breast while he eased himself backward until I could straddle him properly.

  He found the side of my neck with his teeth and he gnawed a long, keening wail out of me. It felt as though he might send me into orbit, so in desperation I threw my hand up and pulled on his hair, shaking his head side to side. The deep rumble of need in his chest vibrated against my back as he licked my skin and squeezed my nipple.

  When he released my hair from his talons it let the blood rush back into my scalp. The pain I’d become accustomed to eased into a different kind of pain. From pinpricks to pins and needles. I nearly jumped out of my skin as he slipped that hand down over my belly, grasping and kneading the full flesh there as if it were a treasure he couldn’t live without. For the first time, I allowed myself to hope that might even be true.

  “Your body is fucking amazing, Luce.”

  He swept one hand all over my big breasts, squeezing and lifting, exploring every part of them. He inched the other hand lower again, through my trimmed bush until he could glide a finger either side of my slit, like he was framing his cock. As he sucked on my neck, he drew those fingers back up to my clit without a single moment’s pause and ground into her. With my body pulled back awkwardly against him he could barely pump his hips, but I made little circles with mine, and clenched myself around him. He pressed at my hypersensitive bud, gliding a finger either side and pinching, dipping into my slit to get his fingertips slick and then running circles around my clit. All while his cock was buried so deeply inside me it felt like I owned it. And maybe I did. He sent keen buzzes of electricity through my limbs and back, driving a wiry cloud of sensation straight up into my chest, where it met with the sweet tingling agony that he was pinching from my stiff pink nipple.

  “Oh, fucking hell, Luce...”

  His hips quaked like the house was collapsing beneath us, and he made tight circles around my clit. The wash of his breath coming down across my chest, the heat of his mouth on my neck, the power and hardness of his body behind me all conspired to push me over the edge of pleasure and into ecstasy.

  Mark’s moaning turned to a grunt, then to a dry, rasping sound as he fell backward, pulling my body with him. My belly, my hips, my thighs all felt stretched, and they tingled under his firm touch. It was like a sweet hybrid of yoga and sex.

  The thud as his back hit the floor drove his hips so hard against me that it ended us. With a bellow he pumped his hot juice straight into the heart of my hips and my pussy claimed it all. I drew on him as my own climax punched me in the belly and chest, pulling tingling strands of pleasure inward from my fingers and toes, my lips, my ears, even my hair.

  As the pounding waves of pleasure ebbed, Mark curled his strong arms around me from below. He burrowed his lips through the thickness of my hair until he found the back of my neck. The gentleness that infused his every movement was a complete and beautiful contrast to the ragged savagery from only a moment before. He glided a snaking path upward to suckle on my ear and paint my cheek with hot kisses.

  My fingers were still buried in his hair, though I’d lost the power to grip. I felt like I could lie there all day and night, just resting against the hard comfort of Mark’s hot body. Especially while he still had his fingers down there, toying with my clit and working fizzing little Catherine wheels of pleasure out from my belly.

  “Mark?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I wish I knew, Luce. I seriously have no clue what we’re doing. Do you even understand the power you have over me?”

  “Me? I can’t even be in the same house as you without getting wet.”

  He bit lightly into the meat of my neck and I lost the power to speak.

  “Maybe that’s why I can’t keep my eyes off you. And now, I’m afraid, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you, either.”

  I grasped his hand and pulled it up to my mouth, kissing the back of it lightly. There was the robust musk of his male skin there, but it was the scent of my own desire all over his fingers that got my belly buzzing again. “And you’d better not even try. That was perfection. But… maybe we should talk about what the hell we’re doing here?”

  He sighed, the warm wash of breath threading through my hair and across my neck and shoulders. “I thought we already had. Like, a zillion times. And no matter what we say about holding off, keeping our distance, we end up like this.”

  “I know.” I took a breath and tried to construct my words. “Is it a problem, you think? I mean, are you okay with… with this?”

  He slipped his softening cock out from me and sat up. “This? With mind-blowing sex? I am the most okay man in the world with mind-blowing sex. And snuggling afterward? You just try and stop me. But…”

  With that last word, his voice seemed to go cold against my neck.

  “What is it, Mark?” I really didn’t need to ask. I was certain I knew where he was he
ading.

  “Look, I mean it. I really am okay with this. Y’know, up to a point. I love everything about you, Luce. You’re the most fun housemate I’ve ever had, and you’re by far the most amazing lover I’ve ever known. I can tell that already. So if you need to keep things at that level? Then I guess, yeah, I’m okay with that for now.”

  “And I can hear that horrible but rearing its ugly head again.”

  He leaned over to cup my head in his hands.“I’m afraid so. Don’t you wonder how it might be if we actually became a couple?”

  “Of course I do, Mark. All of my body and most of my mind is certain it would be perfect. But what if it doesn’t work out?”

  “What if it does? What if it’s everything either of us has ever wanted?”

  I felt like there was a block of ice in my chest. He was right, of course. We’d shared enough already in such a short time. There was every chance we’d not only be good together, but that we’d be damn awesome. Which just meant my hesitation made me feel stupid. For keeping him at arm’s length, except for when I needed his cock’s length inside me.

  “Mark... I’m not...” What? I’m not what? I’m smart and I read a lot, but with all the words I had in my head, there didn’t seem to be more than one at a time that made sense.

  Mark enfolded my hand in both of his. “Luce, I think part of the problem is I think so highly of you. You fulfil me—physically, intellectually, emotionally—like no one ever has. I didn’t mean to get so damn crazy about you but you forced my hand by being so… fucking adorable.”

  “It definitely is my curse.”

  His laugh felt strained. “I could do this, you know? Be your fuck-buddy, for a while. If it means I get to spend intimate time with you then sure, let’s go nuts. But if that’s where it begins and ends then I’d rather it just ends now. Otherwise I know I’ll come out the other side broken. Bitter and empty.”

  I was shocked to see tears rolling down his cheeks, and I brushed at them with my free hand. “Mark...”

  “I want you, Luce. You’re the thought that wakes me every morning. You’re the dream that sings me to sleep every night. You’re the most beautiful, funny, frustrating… heavenly creature I’ve ever known.”

  His declaration seemed to stab me in the chest. As with any of his hungers, the raw honesty of his words spoke to a part of me that was beyond rational control. And I could no longer deny that I was deeply, stupidly in love with the big oaf.

  “Oh, Mark. I’m so sorry.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced. “No. No, Luce. Please.”

  I threw my arms around his neck. “Mark, no. You don’t understand. I’m sorry because I’ve made this so hard. With my fears, and my resistance and my erratic behavior.” Pressing my lips to the top of his head, I squeezed him hard, trying to say with my body what I hadn’t been able to get out in words. “I couldn’t let myself believe in you, in us. I wanted so much to be strong but you… you, sir, make me so weak.” I kinked his head back and kissed his forehead. “I need to tell you something.”

  His brown eyes swam before me as he searched my face for answers. “What’s that?”

  “Mark, I want you, too. More than neatness, more than order, more even than breath.”

  When I felt his strong arms encircle my waist I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

  “Oh, God, Luce. This better not be a game.”

  “I told you. I don’t play games.”

  “The hell you don’t.” He sat upright, dropping me onto my ass without ceremony. “But one thing’s for sure. This will be a hell of a lot of fun. Because you, Lucy Featherstone, are most definitely the right girl.”

  21

  Despite the most intense and beautiful sex, I was still wary of us diving straight into each other’s life at full speed. So instead of me leaping into his bed afterward, I’d insisted on sleeping in mine. If nothing else, it offered the chance to actually sleep. If we were in the same room I’d never keep my mouth off him.

  I caught Mark at the breakfast table the next morning.

  “Mark, how’s work been going?”

  “Oh, same as always. Heaven on Earth. Every call an angel’s voice, every moment worth bottling. You know what they say… there are no problems, only opportunities.”

  “Someone needs a coffee.”

  “And the folks who call in… oh, it’s like a new kind of bliss every day. They’re not strangers. They’re just friends I haven’t bludgeoned to death yet, and only because they’re in other parts of the country.”

  “Stop. Please. I get it.”

  He brought that evil gorgeous smile to life across his lips. “Sorry, beautiful.” He blew out a long, slow sigh. “I guess I never pictured I’d still be working in IT after eight years. It was supposed to be something short term. Just to pay the bills.”

  “Until your music career took off, huh?”

  “Exactly. I was ‘Chopsticks’ champion of Grade Four, you know.”

  I pressed my hands down on top of his, hoping it would make the moment a little more serious. It certainly seemed to catch his attention, at least. “It’s just… I have an idea.”

  He looked me up and down, one eyebrow raised. He was even sexy when he was fooling with me. “You sound more like you have an evil plan.”

  “Potato, potahto. You said you had a ton of vacation time banked up, right?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I pulled out the big guns, leaning forward and pressing my boobs together. The flash in his eyes told me I’d hit home, although if I wasn’t careful we’d end up rolling around all over each other. And I had to see this through. “Because I was thinking… you remember Mario? The old guy who owns the café next to my store?”

  “Yeah. He was brilliant.”

  “Well, he’s out of action for at least a week. Maybe more. He’s really worried his business will go under.”

  “It’s a shame, but what does it have to do with me?”

  “Oh, come on, Mister Barista. You’re a smart guy.”

  “No, I’m a smart-ass. There’s a difference.”

  “What do you say? Put in for a week’s leave. Look after Mario’s café until he’s back on deck. I’ve already asked him and he’s fine with it.” It sounded so true when I said it like that.

  He slipped his hand out from under mine and rubbed at his chin. “Man… I mean, on one level that could be awesome. Living my dream and all that crap.”

  “Plus we could have lunch together. Maybe you could come in and help me, um… with my bar codes.”

  “With your what?”

  “I mean have sex with me.” His smile grew and he closed his eyes, shaking his head in resignation, so I poked him in the arm. “Give me a break. I’m a nice girl and I have no experience with double entendres.”

  “Oh, you are a nice girl. Only not in the way you meant it just then.” He rapped out a tattoo on the table for a moment. “I mean, there’s a lot of positives there. But on the other hand…”

  “If you do this, then on the other hand will be me. Whichever part of me you’d like.”

  He shook his head with a cheeky grin. “You drive a soft, wet bargain, girly.”

  “I work with what I have.”

  “Thought you said you were no good at double entendres?”

  “It just came to me.”

  “There you go again. You’re on a roll.”

  To stop the flow and get things back on track, I clapped my hands in front of his face. “Come on, Mark. Focus. Are you in or out? Not like that!” I’d caught the first hint of a cheeky grin curling in the corner of his mouth.

  For a moment he stared at the table as if the answers were scratched into it. They’d better damn well not be, of course, but before I could think of what I might do in that situation, Mark looked back up at me. His gorgeous brown
eyes were filled with hope.

  “Hell, yeah. Let’s do this.”

  I bit into my bottom lip as I tried to stop myself beaming from ear to ear. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really. God, you’re amazing, Luce.”

  “Me? I haven’t really done anything.”

  He swept my hands up into his and pulled them to his lips. “Yeah, you. Thank you for putting this together.”

  “Just work your evil java mojo and it’ll all be good.”

  * * * *

  Every morning spent in the car with Mark instead of driving alone was stupidly wonderful. The drive itself was pretty amazing, and it was for nothing more than having lovely company. The fact I could look at the scenery instead of the traffic, for the first time since I’d bought the store, was just a bonus. And knowing this stud would be right next door to me for the entire day gave me tingles in all the places I enjoyed having them.

  When we pulled in to our street, I was struck by how good it actually looked from inside a car. Andrew was doing his little door-waving trick again, and Marjorie had most of her floral display out. My side of the street was looking decidedly ordinary by comparison, and it struck a bit of a nerve. Maybe my lack of business success was down to little more than presentation.

  Mark pulled into the car park behind my store and even ran around to open the door on my side. Playing along, I held out my hand and waited until he helped me stand.

  “Thank you, boy.”

  “My pleasure, ma’am.”

  We rounded the corner and again I was taken by the beauty of the street, especially with the fresh shiny surfaces thanks to the overnight rain making the sunlight glisten all over the place. I stopped walking as an idea formed.

  “Luce? Something wrong?”

  “Huh? Oh, no. You go ahead and open up. I’ll be in for my tea very soon.”

  There was no traffic to contend with, so I scurried across the road and into Marjorie’s store, coming back out with four big bunches of flowers to decorate my front window with. I figured if karma was going to amount to anything, then I’d give her something to work with.