Forget Me Not

by Crystal B. Bright

  Gideon blinked at Janelle’s candor but said nothing. He had similar negative thoughts about his biological mother. He would never voice that opinion out loud. He trusted Janelle, but he needed to know her more before he could let the wall come down completely.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get heavy back there. Anyway, we lived near the Oceanfront Community Center. They would do these youth dances from time to time. She forced me to go to one. I epitomized a wall flower. I found a spot against the wall and stayed there. When they dimmed the lights in the big gym, I thought God had granted me my wish. I moved to a quiet corner next to the bleachers. I was content to hide there for the rest of the night. Then something happened.”

  Gideon’s heart started to pound as he made a slow trek around the bar.

  Janelle continued. “I looked up and there was a tall boy standing in front of me. In the darkened corner, I couldn’t tell who it was. All I remember is him saying something about lips before he kissed me.” She touched her lips as though recalling that moment. “It was the best and most surprising kiss I have ever had…until you kissed me behind my shop. You kissed me in the same way he did so many years ago. After that kiss, something happened in the gym and he ran off. I took that moment to run out of the gym. I walked all the way home, but I have never forgotten about that kiss.” She peered up. “So when I saw you in my store the first time, I had in my head that you were the one who had kissed me before. When you didn’t remember me, that pissed me off. Again, you didn’t deserve that. It was me being—”

  Gideon didn’t give her a chance to finish her statement. He framed her face in his hands again. “Lips.” Then he pressed his lips against hers.

  Everything came back to him in that one moment. No wonder she seemed so familiar. He had been the one to kiss her.

  He pulled back from her. “After all these years, I can’t believe that was you.”

  Janelle put her hands on his arms and brought them down. “It really was you? You kissed me that night? Why? How?”

  “My mother chaperoned those dances. She would make me and my brothers go with her and, like your mother, she would force us to mingle. She wanted us to dance with girls who hadn’t come with dates. She would tell us every girl deserves to be treated like a princess.”

  Janelle stopped smiling. “Oh, so you felt sorry for me?”

  He shook his head. “No. I didn’t even see you until I looked through the bleachers. I could barely see you in that dark corner. I remember that one of the strobe lights shined across a part of your face.” He smoothed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “Your lips. I couldn’t resist you, or at least your lips. I was going to ask you to dance, but I couldn’t stop staring at your lips. I took that opportunity to kiss you.” He chuckled. “Truth be told, you were my first kiss.”

  That bit of news brought a smile to her face. “So what happened? You ran from me.”

  “A fight had broken out. My brother had gotten into it with some other kid. I went to break it up. By the time I came back to you to introduce myself and apologize for kissing you without permission, you were gone.”

  “You are still kissing me without permission.” She screwed up her lips to keep from laughing.

  “Wait a minute. I asked for your permission for my last kiss. But if you don’t remember, I’ll ask again.” He moved in closer to her, his lips mere inches from hers. “Is it okay if I kiss you now? Would you like that?”

  Her breathing increased. He felt her breath feathering over his lips.

  Janelle nodded. “Yes.”

  “Maybe it’ll happen again.” He backed away from her and went back to the dishwasher.

  She growled. “You are an evil, evil man.”

  “But I made you dinner.”

  “Which was wonderful.”

  “And got you over a hundred roses. Would another man do that for you?” When Gideon didn’t hear a response, he gazed up and saw Janelle sauntering toward him.

  “No.” She licked her lips.

  “My God. What idiot let you go?” Gideon enjoyed talking to her, discussing plants, and kissing her. He found her charming, funny, and beautiful. What man wouldn’t want her?

  “Let’s not talk about that jerk unless you want to talk about yours.”

  Gideon added cleanser to the dishwasher, closed the door, which got rid of the barrier between the two of them, and started the cycle.

  “Nothing to say really. Our schedules didn’t mesh. I live on the East Coast. She lives on the West. Neither of us wanted to move. We were doomed.” He approached Janelle. In a lowered voice, he said, “Thank God.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her to his den.

  “Oh.”

  He brought her to a brown, overstuffed couch and encouraged her to take a seat. “I thought we could watch movies or play some board games.” He leaned over her body. “You aren’t the only nerd here.”

  That admission made her laugh. “Okay, testing your nerd levels. If we watch a movie, will it be black and white?”

  Gideon picked up a remote and called up his movie library on his large-screened TV. “Comedy, drama, or romance? I’m also a bit of a sci-fi junkie.”

  “Man of my dreams. I’m thinking Blade Runner. What do you think?”

  Gideon brought up the movie and started it. “I’m thinking this is the best Valentine’s Day ever.”

  He sat down next to her, turned off the lights, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her in next to him. Without missing a beat, she wrapped one arm around his waist and she rested her other hand on his chest. She removed her shoes and curled her long legs on the couch.

  “By the way, my last serious boyfriend left me after I graduated college. We had spent a night at the Cavalier Hotel as a gift to ourselves. The next morning, he said I didn’t fit into his plans.” She exhaled like she’d been holding on to that secret for years.

  Gideon tightened his hold around her shoulders. “Asshole. Pardon my language.”

  Janelle settled onto his chest. “No apology necessary.”

  He propped the leg with his bum knee up on an ottoman.

  She gazed up to his face. “Are you okay? I mean your leg and all. Will you be able to—”

  He silenced her with a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s just watch the movie.” He looked down at her. “It’ll be fine.” If only he believed that.

  At the end of the movie, Gideon found Janelle asleep against him. Without jostling her too much, he turned off the TV. Mustering as much strength as he could, he picked her up in his arms. He felt a sharp pain shooting up from his knee to the top of his head. He gritted his teeth for a moment and breathed through the pain. Once it subsided, he took his guest up the stairs to a bedroom far from his room.

  He’d thought about putting her in the bedroom downstairs or even in the suite. If she woke up before he did, he didn’t want her feeling so far removed from him.

  At the top of the landing, he went to a spare bedroom and turned on the overhead light by brushing his elbow against the light switch on the wall. As carefully as he could, he pulled the comforter and sheet down and placed Janelle on the bed.

  As soon as her head hit the pillow, she snuggled against it. Gideon’s gaze dropped down her body. Her dress had fallen open, exposing her completely shaven sex. Before he could stare at her body any longer, he covered her and extinguished the light.

  * * * *

  Janelle eased her hand between her legs as soon as Gideon’s image filled her head. “Mmm, Gideon.” She busied her other hand by cupping her breast through her dress.

  He’d been a perfect gentleman all night, catering to her needs, even doing the dishes. If she didn’t want him before, now she really did.

  She massaged her breast and found her small hand to be a poor substitute for Gideon’s large one. As soon as her fingers brushed against her clitoris, she opened her eyes. Janelle peered around the darkened room, trying to get her bearings
. She felt next to her, hoping to touch an end table. With all of the spare bedrooms Gideon had, she had no idea where he had placed her.

  When she felt a table, she reached for a lamp and found it. It took her no time to find the switch and turn on the light. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she recognized the room as one of the spares upstairs. So Gideon wanted her close. She wanted to be close to him.

  Janelle threw the covers off her body and peered down. She still had on her dress…and no panties. She got out of bed and padded to the door. Without thinking, she opened the door and made a sprint over to Gideon’s bedroom. She kept her mouth open to take in as much oxygen as she could as she made this bold move.

  Before she could reach his door, it opened. Gideon stood on the other side wearing only pajama pants. Janelle stood a couple of feet away from him.

  “I want you in my bed now.” Gideon didn’t move. His massive chest rose and fell with his harried breaths.

  Janelle pulled the string that held her dress together and allowed it to fall open, exposing her nude body. “Take me.”

  Chapter 13

  Exposing her body to Gideon felt right. She ached for him. Needed him. Craved him. In sleep, she dreamed of only him, how he would take her, conquer her, make her come. As soon as she’d awakened, she’d sought him to satisfy her deep need. The throbbing between her legs wouldn’t stop until he had her, all of her.

  Gideon pulled her into his arms. The roughness of his hands brushed against her skin and scratched her so deliciously that it tickled and teased her. She pressed her breasts against his bare chest. Janelle felt his heart beating hard, pounding in the same rhythm as hers. In her mind, it meant that he wanted the same thing she did. Total satisfaction.

  As he kissed her, he stepped back into his darkened bedroom. Janelle still wouldn’t get the opportunity to see the actual layout. Right now, she didn’t care. Her new dress lay in a heap on the floor outside of his bedroom. Her shoes remained in his den downstairs. Only her stockings covered her legs.

  She broke from the kiss and started pulling down her stockings.

  “Leave them on,” he said with a growl.

  Janelle smiled. “Yes, sir.”

  She coasted her hands down his muscular chest to his rippled abs and to the waistband of his pants. Before she could touch him, Gideon grabbed her wrists.

  “Let me take care of you.” He nudged her back to his California king-sized bed.

  She fell back on it and crawled to the center on her elbows.

  Gideon covered her body with his. As he cradled the back of her head with his hand, he brushed his lips over hers, almost stealing her breath since she gasped with each pass. She swallowed and slipped her hand behind his head. When she fisted his hair, he captured her mouth.

  His tongue sought hers and found it, teased it. She arched her back, needing to feel him on her at all times. The length of him pressed against her stomach. As she reached down to touch him, Gideon arrested her hand again.

  “Touch me and it’ll be all over with.” He cocked a smile at the side of his mouth. “I want this to last.”

  Janelle did the only thing she could do, nod. He kissed down her body. In a slow and methodical way, he placed his lips over her collarbones from one side to the other as though imprinting her with a sensual necklace.

  His massive hand palmed her breast. She’d never thought she had a large chest, a fact her mother loved teasing her about whenever they talked.

  Gideon held her like whatever she had suited him. He planted pecks along the center of her body and once he got in between her breasts, he dragged his tongue to one side. As he continued to hold her tit, he kissed her nipple first before swiping his tongue over it.

  Janelle sucked air between her teeth and writhed on the bed as he maintained his decadent treatment. He twirled his tongue around her stiff peak, which caused her back to rise off the bed.

  “Gideon, oh, God.” She whipped her head to the side when he didn’t stop.

  Once he covered her whole breast with his mouth, she cried out. Janelle kept her grip on his hair while she snatched a handful of his comforter in the other to keep her grounded. None of this seemed real. How could she be in bed with a Super Bowl champion, the nerdy girl who’d hidden behind bleachers in high school and didn’t want to be noticed?

  Gideon gave her one last lick and kiss before making his way over to her other tit, where he gave it the same salacious treatment, swirling his tongue around it and sucking her until she felt spent. Janelle’s body squirmed underneath his as light tingles washed over her. She wrapped her legs around him to keep him in his position. She used her heels to try and push down his pajama bottoms.

  Before she could get them over his droolworthy ass, Gideon continued laving her body, creeping his tongue over her ribs then to her stomach. For a man who battled behemoth men on the field each week, he treated her body so tenderly.

  Janelle barely noticed when her giant of a man managed to position himself between her thighs. He pressed her legs apart while he caressed her nether lips with his thumbs.

  “Gideon. Please, please.” Each word came out in a gasp, like her life depended on his next move.

  Gideon didn’t say a word. He blew his hot breath over her throbbing clit. The light sensation had her sucking air between her gritted teeth. When he flicked his tongue over her slick, hardened nub, Janelle arched her back and held her breath. No one had ever made her feel this cherished, this desirable, this sexy.

  Like he had done it a million times before, he twirled his tongue around her clit. Her legs twitched. Each time she attempted to close her thighs around his head, he gently eased them apart.

  When he covered her sex with his mouth and pressed his tongue against her, Janelle jackknifed up from the bed. As she held the back of his head, her body gyrated, grinding her vagina in his mouth. She didn’t recognize herself from her reactions. Never had she been this aggressive in bed. Never had she demanded anything for herself sexually.

  Janelle kept pumping her hips, thankful that she’d kept herself shaved completely. She felt her body trembling. Her stomach tightened into a ball before contracting into spasms. She didn’t want this to happen already. She didn’t want to be the first to have an orgasm. At best, she wanted to come with Gideon.

  Gideon kept his mouth over her while his skillful tongue touched, teased, and tantalized her. Then he hummed. The vibrations went through her body until she felt like her heart would explode.

  Before she could stop herself, Janelle’s body froze in its spot as the strong orgasmic wave washed over her.

  She reclined and attempted to catch her breath. “I want to taste you.”

  Gideon pulled off his pants. “Another time. I need to feel you.”

  He opened a drawer next to the bed. In the dark, Janelle couldn’t see what he retrieved. From the telltale sounds of a plastic wrapper being opened, she suspected he pulled out a condom.

  While still sitting on the bed, he rolled it on himself with his back to her. Janelle realized that Gideon hadn’t allowed her to either touch his penis or even see it.

  She touched his back. “I don’t care what size you are.” She kissed his shoulder. “It’ll be great because you’re great.”

  She thought she heard Gideon snickering.

  “Thanks, babe. You keep that in mind once I’m in you.”

  Before he did anything, he turned on the light next to the bed. Then he climbed on top of her. The wild look in his eyes excited her. His blond hair fell forward around his face, giving him more of a primal appearance.

  “No matter what, you keep looking at me, okay? Don’t stop looking me in my eyes,” he said.

  Janelle nodded and then cut her gaze down to see what dangled between his legs.

  “Hey, look at me.” He braced one hand on the mattress next to her head as he reach down between their bodies with the other. “That’s it. Right in my eyes.” He smoothed the tip of his c
ock up and down her opening until he finally eased the tip inside.

  She squeezed his shoulders. Gideon slid more of his shaft in her channel. As instructed, she kept her stare directly on his eyes. Then she stopped breathing. The girth of him hit her first before she recognized how deep he had gone in her.

  “Breathe, babe. Breathe.” He gave her quick pecks and held her chin. “Good?”

  She managed to take in a deep inhalation. On the exhale, she said, “Big.”

  He smiled and moved himself in and out of her so slowly, making it seem like he controlled time and space. “You want me to stop?”

  Janelle nodded, but her body had other plans. She coiled her legs around his hips and undulated her body under him. “Don’t.”

  His thrusting slowed down.

  “Stop.” She bit her bottom lip.

  “You want to—”

  She cut him off. “Don’t.” Then she wrapped her arms around his body and dug her fingernails into his tough flesh. Her hips never stopped moving.

  “We don’t have to—”

  “Stop.” She kissed the side of his face.

  The saltiness of his sweat met her lips and tongue. She savored him. Every part of him.

  “I don’t want to hurt you. If this is too much, we can—”

  She held his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. “Don’t stop.”

  His hard member found her spot. With each thrust and curve of his hip, he managed to hit the sensitive zone each time.

  She had her head craned back as he slid inside her, stretching her to a painfully good level. When she looked up, she noticed Gideon wince.