by Bonnie Dee
He deposited her on the bed and stood for a moment, gazing down at her nude body lying against the blue coverlet. “You’re fucking gorgeous.” His possessive gaze burned through her.
Kelly blushed and reveled in his lingering look. She felt beautiful, Voluptuous was never a word she would have used to describe herself, but tonight she felt ripe and voluptuous, her breasts and pussy plump with desire. Her residual embarrassment at being completely naked while he was still clothed in jeans disappeared. She let her legs fall slightly open.
Ren accepted the invitation, crawling between them. He ran his fingers lightly up the insides of her thighs to her sex and once more spread her labia to reveal the dark chasm of her cleft and the pink pearl of her clit. He simply gazed at her for a moment then bent his head and began lapping.
As Kelly closed her eyes and reveled in his attentions, she was glad the man was so orally fixated. She felt sparks of energy concentrate in the tiny bundle of nerves, gathering and growing in intensity. She lost herself, moaning and thrashing, clutching handfuls of the bedcover, clutching handfuls of his dark hair and urging him on. “Yes! Please! More!” Her back arched and hips lifted. A wave of desire caught her, spun her around and crashed her down again. She cried out, loud and long.
As she came down from her orgasm, twitching and gasping, she was aware of Ren still between her legs. He pressed his lips against her thighs then her heaving belly before resting his chin on it and looking up at her face with a satisfied smile curving his lips. His fox-sharp features gave the impression of a devilish satyr.
“Thank you,” she whispered when she could form words.
“My pleasure.” He slid his body up hers, sinuous as a snake, until they were face to face once more.
Her hands went around his shoulders and stroked his back, enjoying the feel of his sharp shoulder blades and flexing bands of muscle. The fabric of his jeans was rough against her thighs. She reached down between them to unfasten the button on his fly and felt wiry pubic curls brush her hand. When she released the zipper, his cock sprang forth. There was nothing between his firm flesh and her fingers. She should have guessed that someone like Ren went commando.
She grasped the satiny length of his shaft and pulled.
His breath caught. He sat up to give her hand more space to move. Kelly was excited by the sight of him straddling her thighs, naked but for the jeans pushed down his hips. His black hair was a wild riot of spiky ends. His eyes were half-closed, staring down at her hand on his dick. His body was long, lean and sexy and she admitted to herself that the glinting rings in his eyebrow and ear and the tats on his bicep and hip were a big turn-on for her.
She moved her hand briskly up and down, enjoying the feel of his thick flesh filling her hand and the sight of the engorged head already weeping pre-come.
He shifted and groaned at her touch. “Just a minute,” he gasped, covering her hand with his and disengaging it then climbing off of the bed to shed his jeans.
She admired the long line of his back, the narrow waist and tight ass as he fumbled in the pocket of his jeans for his wallet and withdrew a foil-wrapped square. A condom.
This was really happening. Instantly Kelly was cold sober. Sharp-edged doubts nicked at the swelling bubble of lust she had surrounded herself with. She had always been extremely careful about sex, waiting until she had dated a man for months before she allowed herself that loss of control. In fact, she had only had two lovers in her life, which was practically a virgin by modern standards. And here she was ready to give it up to the stranger from across the hall after spending only one evening with him? Kelly bit her lip and tried to imagine how she could back out now, how she could tell him that she’d changed her mind.
Just then Ren looked up from sheathing himself and caught her eye. He smiled, making the corners of his eyes crinkle.
His smile was so warm, bright and reassuring that all of Kelly’s doubts broke and scattered like a flock of pigeons in the park. She opened her arms to welcome him back into her bed.
He covered her body with his and kissed her forehead, her eyelids, the tip of her nose and then her lips. His tongue pressed into her mouth at the same time that his cock pressed into her body, slow, gentle but insistent. Kelly’s channel was tight but slippery wet from her orgasm and he penetrated and slid inside with no resistance.
It felt good to be filled. The aching, yawning depths that had cried out for it were satisfied. She moaned her pleasure and shifted beneath him.
Ren lifted his head to look into her eyes. “Okay?”
She nodded mutely, hugging him to her and wrapping her legs around his.
He dropped his mouth to her throat and kissed her as he began a sure and steady rhythm of thrusting. “So hot,” he murmured, thrusting into her again and again.
She tilted her pelvis for a better angle and lifted her hips off the bed to meet him stroke for stroke.
His breath panted in and out against her neck and he softly groaned against her skin. His wiry body moved sinuously against her.
Kelly grabbed his ass, feeling the hard muscles contract with each thrust. A sense of unreality washed through her. This man, this stranger was in her arms and inside her body where she had invited him to be. Yet he didn’t feel alien, his weight and warmth were somehow familiar and comfortable. She relaxed again and allowed herself to enjoy the experience.
Ren’s slow, easy pace speeded up as he moved toward climax. Soon he was spearing her with more force and less finesse. Low grunts came from his throat as he pushed into her again and again.
Kelly’s heart pounded. She was excited by his loss of control. The masculine sound of his quiet grunts ignited a new, slow-burning fire in her loins. Deep inside her the fuse was lit and it crackled toward explosion.
Ren rose above her, supported on his straining arms. His eyes were screwed shut, a frown twisted his brow and the muscles in his neck were corded. He gasped for each breath.
She could tell he was close to coming and the knowledge set the burning inside her core even closer to the exploding powder keg of orgasm.
His hips pistoned faster. The hot friction between their bodies, the slapping of flesh on flesh was supremely erotic. Then, at the last moment, as they both trembled on the brink, Ren’s eyes opened and looked directly into hers. He focused on her, letting her know he was with her.
Kelly stared up into his eyes and lost herself in their depths, feeling a sense of deep connection with him. She held his gaze as she bucked up beneath him, meeting his every thrust.
He bore down into her, driving her to the mattress. He gave a hoarse, guttural cry then froze as he pulsed inside her.
She matched his cry with a loud wail as she reached the brink of ecstasy and plunged. She clutched him to her with arms, legs and inner muscles clenched around his cock. She could hardly believe that wail had come from her. It had been ripped out of someplace deep inside her that she never even knew existed. Her natural reserve had slipped and a passionate, primal element of her personality had shown its face. That loss of control was a little frightening.
Ren collapsed on top of her, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder and burying her under the full weight of his body. He tickled her throat with kisses. “Wow. That was amazing. Thank you.”
She ran a hand through his crazy hair, damp with sweat and then cupped her palm around his shoulder. She felt his chest rising and falling against her body. Her other hand rested on his waist, stroking his smooth, velvet skin. Kelly felt drowsy and replete, lulled toward sleep by warmth, alcohol and fulfilling sex. Her mind drifted away, untethered and bound for dreams.
She was vaguely aware of Ren rolling off her body. Then he returned, nudged her to lie on her side and curled himself around her back.
Held tight in his embrace, his steady breaths hypnotized her to sleep. Her last conscious thought was that she could get used to falling asleep this way very quickly.
***
Kelly woke to sunlight in her eye
s and a pounding behind them. Her mouth was dry and a man’s arm was slung over her naked body. What was wrong with this picture? She rolled slowly onto her back, the heavy arm sliding down her body but not surrendering her.
Ren was sleeping on his stomach, his face turned away from her. The back of his tousled head was adorable, hair sticking up at random angles.
She wanted to kiss it. Instead, she slipped out from beneath his sheltering arm, away from his warm body. She stood by the bed and stared at his sprawled form. There was no way she could undo this. It was done. In Kelly’s past experience with her alcoholic mother and perpetually in-crisis sister, she had learned that loss of control was never a good thing. Giving into impulse only brought pain and heartache.
Someone like Ren was no good for her. He didn’t fit into the structured, safe life she had created for herself. Maybe if she took a long shower, he’d be gone by the time she got out.
She padded naked across the bedroom floor and locked herself into her bathroom. With hot water cascading over her body, she thought about the ramifications of having had sex with her new neighbor. She did not want to get involved with him. He was a guitarist in a rock band, for heaven’s sake. There was no way she could have a relationship with him.
But, no doubt that wasn’t what he wanted anyway. This was only a one-night stand, something she’d never indulged in her entire life. When she went back in the bedroom, Ren would probably be gone and when they met in the hall in the future they would be polite and distant, pretending the sex had never happened. That’s the way guys like him operated.
She re-entered her room wrapped in a towel, skin moist and hair damp.
Ren was now flopped onto his back still sleeping. He lay spread-eagle across her entire bed, his mouth open and emitting a light snore. Only a bit of sheet covered a portion of his legs, his morning erection was on display. The thick column, veined and pulsing with life, rose from his dark thatch of hair. The head was dark a dark, rosy red and a heavy sac hung below nestled between his legs.
An insubordinate part of Kelly wanted to go over to the bed and fondle his cock, maybe even wrap her mouth around it and find out what it tasted like. She stood halfway between the bathroom and the bed, frozen in indecision.
Just then Ren woke up. His breathing halted with a snort as he snapped his mouth shut. He yawned and stretched, languorous as an alley cat flexing its legs. Seeing her, he beamed a bright smile that creased his right cheek into a dimple. “Morning.”
Kelly clutched the towel tighter around her and wished she had put on a robe. “Hi,” she said stiffly, heading toward her closet.
“Wait. Come here.” His voice was like melted chocolate, warm and rich. “It’s Saturday. You don’t have to rush off.”
She stopped and looked at him once more drinking in the sight of his flat stomach and his hard chest with the dusky discs of his aureoles and beaded nipples. His arms were folded behind his head now, blatantly offering his body for her inspection and he just kept beaming that cocky smile at her, making her nervous and shy.
She pulled her eyes away. “No. I can’t. I have to…Saturday is when I catch up on what I can’t get done during the week. I have to clean my apartment, do my laundry, run all my errands and practice before the performance tonight.”
He glanced around the bedroom. “If this place was any more sterile, you could perform surgeries here. And I’m sure you have enough undies to get you through the week.” He sat up and reached a hand toward her. “Come on, Kelly, I have to play tonight, too, a club called Razor Wire, but tonight’s a long time away. I think we can take a few moments here.”
His voice was so persuasive that her body started to turn to him of its own accord. She caught herself, stopped and adjusted the towel more firmly across her breasts. “I…I’d rather not.” She kept her gaze turned away from his jutting erection that seemed to beckon her.
He dropped his hand to his lap. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry. Last night was incredible, but I’m not…I don’t want to—”
“Get involved. I get it.” He sounded more than disappointed. He sounded hurt. Ren pulled back the sheet and swung his legs out of bed.
Kelly felt terrible. She turned away, opened the door of her closet and stared at the rows of perfectly spaced hangars and color-coordinated sections of clothes. She listened to the rustle behind her as he put on his jeans. She grabbed a blouse at random from its hanger and clutched it in one hand, waiting for him to leave.
Suddenly his voice startled her. He was right behind her, his bare chest radiating warmth against her back as he encircled her towel-clad waist in one arm. “If you change your mind, I’m right across the hall,” he whispered against her hair then kissed her shoulder. “I’m not letting you go so easy.” He paused then chuckled, a warm, sincere laugh that already seemed familiar. “And I don’t mean that in a creepy, stalkery way.”
He let go and walked away, but Kelly felt the pressure of his arm long after the apartment door had closed behind him.
If only she could rewind her life to the day before yesterday when everything was under her control and she knew exactly what to expect from one day to the next. She stared at the blouse in her hand then looked in her closet for the right pair of pants to go with it.
Would Ren really keep pursuing her? Would he ask her on another date? Would they have sex again? She felt a tingling thrill up her spine at the possibility. Her mind might know better than to become involved with him, but obviously her body had other ideas.
She let out a shaky breath and chose a pair of pants at random, not caring whether they matched the top or not. What had she allowed to begin here?
***
Ren leaned against Kelly’s apartment door and blew out a long breath. “Fuck.”
It stung where she’d struck him. He felt like he’d been physically bitch-slapped by her brush-off. He hoped he hadn’t scared her with his promise to keep trying. It hadn’t come out of his mouth quite the way it sounded in his head, but this woman was too special to simply let go. He hoped he read her reluctance right and that it was part of her reserved nature, a wall to be broken down, not a lack of interest in him. It sure as hell hadn’t felt like she wasn’t interested last night.
He’d had a few one-night stands in his past—maybe more than a few. And this didn’t feel like a casual sexual encounter. It felt like the beginning of something real. The fact that he hadn’t wanted to leave this morning was a pretty clear sign to him that he was already falling for her.
But should he press her or give her space? That was the question.
He sighed and walked down the hall to his apartment, entered the disorganized mess and felt instantly even more depressed. He checked his cell phone and found almost twenty missed messages. Some were from the band’s newly acquired manager Burt Stoeffer, a few were from his band mates and a couple of girls he’d been foolish enough to give his phone number to. He ignored the calls from Brian and Austen. The drummer and lead singer were always at each other’s throats and always wanted Ren to take sides. He couldn’t take much more of their middle school bullshit. Part of him expected the band to self-destruct before they ever made it big. But if his playing could be heard even a little, if their one hit was enough to open doors for him, it was worth it.
He returned the call from Burt.
“Ren, finally! I tried to reach you all last night. You guys have a chance to go on a national tour starting next week. The opening act for Dead Dogs cancelled and their management wants Loose Threads to fill the bill.”
“Shit!” Ren’s heart pounded. This was it, the foot in the door. Dead Dogs was one of the top bands in the country at the moment. “Sounds fucking fantastic. I’m--I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll do it and then say that you’ll get your guys in line before you go out on the road. I think John’s drug use is starting to go beyond recreational and I haven’t been to one of you guys’ practices where Brian and Austen weren’t a
t each other’s throats.”
“No, man. It’ll be cool. Everything’s under control,” Ren lied, wondering when and how he had become the designated den mother for his band mates.
“I’ll see you at Razor Wire tonight. After the show, I’m gonna lay out my plan for the next few months. Part of the promotion includes making that video we talked about. I want it on VH1 in heavy rotation while you’re on tour so we’ll have to shoot it this week. I’ve already got a director and crew lined up.” Burt rattled through his list of expectations with a seasoned professionalism that made Ren feel like a little kid who’d accidentally stumbled into the big league. “People have got to be bombarded with Loose Threads from every direction. If we hit hard and fast, your CD should fly off the shelves for Christmas.”
“Wow.” Ren’s stomach rolled, a combination of nerves and morning-after tequila. He sank to the floor. His bones felt like jello.
“Are you on top of this?” Burt said. “I don’t want you guys buckling under the pressure.”
“No. It’s cool,” Ren repeated. “See you tonight.”
He hung up and leaned back against one of the packing boxes. Adrenaline coursed through his system. He was excited, but also terrified that the band, including himself, wasn’t ready for this. Shit, they’d never performed in front of an audience bigger than a couple hundred people tops. Now they would be facing crowds of thousands. Hard core rockers who had come to see Dead Dogs and were only suffering through the warm-up band. They had better burn from the first chord or they were gonna be booed off the stage.
He closed his eyes and watched every moment of his free time evaporating as Loose Threads clawed its way up the ladder to their fifteen minutes of fame. He thought of Kelly and how he had just barely begun to scratch the surface there. He wanted to spend time with her, get to know her, convince her to take a chance on him, but time was going to be an issue in the upcoming weeks.