by Claire Raye
We barely make it back to Will’s apartment with our clothes on. Our confession has only added fuel to an already raging fire between us.
Will pushes the door open, and we tumble inside, a laugh falling from both our mouths as our lips connect. We separate for a split second as Will looks around and listens for his roommate. When he turns back to face me, his eyes are dark, his pupils wide and I can see all the want and need I feel reflected in his face. My hands begin to shake as I step closer to him, closing the distance between us, my heartbeat drumming loud in my ears, as I’m flooded with warmth.
I need to touch him, to be close to him, and this can’t be like all the other times we’ve done this. There is so much more meaning in it now than there ever was before.
I love him.
And he loves me.
I’ve said these three words before, to my parents, my sister, old boyfriends, but the intensity of it has never been like this. This is what an intense, all-consuming love feels like; it’s real and honest and raw.
My hands are on his chest, his heartbeat matching mine, a fast and rhythmic feeling; the anticipation intense and when his mouth meets mine again, I grow weak. I feel him turn me around and we walk clumsy toward the bedroom, both of us groping at each other’s clothes, desperate to feel the warmth of our skin. I push his jeans to the floor and he slips off his boots, kicking his jeans off too as he backs me up against the bed. My legs brush the comforter and I lay back.
I feel dizzy, lightheaded as if I’m spinning and I watch his eyes rake over my body and when he lies down, feeling the weight of his body on me, I gasp out loud.
He begins kissing me again, his lips soft and slow. Taking his time, he kisses my face and my neck, my shoulders and my lips as his fingers run down my arms. Each touch brings a shiver to my skin, but I need more. I need him.
Will kisses a line up my neck until he reaches my ear. I can hear his breath coming fast and ragged as he whispers, “I love you, Ellen.”
“Don’t stop, please,” I beg, and I feel like I’m melting. His words, his touch, the way he kisses me; it’s all more than I ever thought I would experience in my lifetime. It’s perfect.
My fingers trail up his arms, caressing the tight muscles in his biceps, and when I reach his neck, I cradle his face in my hands. Bringing his mouth to mine, I exhale slowly as I whisper, “I love you, Will.”
His hands slip around and undo my bra, but he’s slow and deliberate, taking his time as he slides the straps down each of my arms. Each brush of his fingers causes my body to respond. My pulse rapid, my breathing labored, as my body tingles. And when his lips press against mine, his tongue urging my lips apart, I open to him and feel the warmth of his mouth meet mine.
I’m ready for him.
And then it’s just us as I feel him push inside me. Just once though, one simple action, one simple movement that shows our trust in each other and how much falling in love can change a person. I moan when he pulls out and slides on a condom quickly. I feel him enter me again and this time we both respond letting out a soft moan of desire.
His body moves faster, my hips matching the rhythm of his as he moves in and out. Will pulls my nipple into his mouth, biting and sucking, and I call out as pleasure radiates through me. I feel his lips trail along my overly sensitive skin, leaving a burning path everywhere they touch as he makes his way over my neck. He bites and sucks, marking me and making me moan for more. When he reaches my ear, his voice deep and sexy, he growls out, “One day I’m going to marry you and we’ll fuck like this every single night of our lives.”
There’s nothing I want more than to marry him and to feel like this and to be this connected to him for the rest of my life.
Chapter Ten
Present Day
Will
“Where are you going?” I mumble, as Ellen stirs beside me.
“Getting up,” she whispers, even as she rolls into my side.
“Bullshit,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. “Do you remember what day it is today?”
I feel her mouth smile against my ribs before she rolls her body onto mine, her smiling face looking down at me. I reach up and brush the hair back from her face.
“I do,” she whispers.
I grin up at her. “Ever think we’d get this far?”
Her smile widens. “Yep,” she says with a nod. “Any man crazy enough to want to sleep with me after getting drowned in skunk spray was always going to be a keeper.”
I burst out laughing. “And here we are, fourteen amazing years later.”
“Happy anniversary, babe,” she whispers, leaning down to kiss me.
“Mmmm,” I reply, rolling us over so she lies beneath me now. I slide my hands down her arms, my fingers locking with hers as I lift her arms, pining them above her head. Ellen’s smile gets bigger as I kiss a path across her jaw to her ear. “You remember what I promised you?” I growl, the words low.
“Uh huh,” she says, already breathless as her body arches beneath mine.
I suck her earlobe into my mouth, gently nibbling before saying, “That’s why you can’t get out of bed just yet.”
Ellen groans and I continue a path of kisses down her neck to her shoulder, along her collarbone and down to her breast. I slide my body lower as I take her nipple in my mouth, smiling at the whispered, “Fuck,” that falls from Ellen’s mouth.
I tease her nipple, sucking and gently biting, before kissing a path across to her other breast and doing the same thing.
“Oh god, Will,” she murmurs, squirming beneath me because she knows exactly where I’m going next.
“Patience, babe,” I whisper against her skin, kissing a trail down her side to her hip.
Ellen’s legs fall open in invitation and I settle my body between them, kissing a path up her inner thigh until I reach the top.
“Is this what you want,” I whisper before slowly pushing a finger inside her. “God, you’re so wet,” I groan, as I lower my mouth to her.
Ellen’s groan is louder now as I start to tease her with my tongue, my finger slowly sliding in and out of her. She writhes against me, working herself against my mouth and finger as I suck and lick, pushing her closer and closer to the point of release.
I feel her fingers as they slide into my hair, pulling me closer, griping me as though to tell me what she wants. What she needs more of.
I up the tempo of my finger, sliding a second one inside her as I continue to suck and lick her. Eventually I feel her fingers pulling at my hair, her hips pushing off the bed as she calls out my name and comes, her body tensing around me as the waves roll over her.
I don’t move, only slow down my movements as I ride out her orgasm with my tongue and fingers until eventually her whole body relaxes.
Smiling, I kiss my way back up her body to her mouth, slowly pushing inside her as I lean down and kiss her lips.
“Fuck, we’ve always been good at this,” I whisper against her mouth.
“Yeah,” comes her breathless reply. “I think we actually get better with age.”
I chuckle. “Better with practice, maybe?” I suggest, my mind flashing back through the past fourteen years and all the different ways and times we’d done this.
It’s never gotten boring or old. Every time with Ellen has driven me wild with lust and desire and love, and today is no different. I don’t need it to be our ten-year wedding anniversary for me to get all hot and worked up for this woman. I’ve felt this way since the second I saw her.
I slide my hands up her arms, our fingers locking together over her head as I slowly start to move inside her, my movements long and deep. Her mouth finds mine again and she kisses me with a hunger that hasn’t stopped for her either.
I slide one of my hands down her body, slipping it under her waist as I pull her closer, holding her against me as I continue to push inside her, my hips moving faster now.
“Ellen,” I moan as she wraps her legs around me, her heels digging into my ass and
urging me deeper. “God, babe, I’m gonna come.”
“Yes,” she whispers as she pushes her hips up to meet mine. “Yes.”
And then I do, unable to hold back any longer as I push inside her one last time and come hard.
I collapse against her, my body sated, my limbs feeling heavy and lax. I let go of her hands and she wraps her arms around me, holding me against her as both of us try to get our breathing under control.
“Promise me we’ll be doing this for another fourteen years,” she whispers, her mouth at my ear.
I lift my head, my eyes finding hers. She looks up at me with so much love I actually feel my heart shift in my chest with how much this woman means to me. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, I smile at her. “Fourteen, how about the next forty?”
Ellen chuckles, a hand slapping my ass as she teases, “Oh, think you’ll still be going like this when you’re in your seventies, huh?”
I grin. “Please,” I reply, pulling out a little before pushing back inside her, loving the moan that she lets out when I do. “I could be a hundred and still get it up for you.”
She bursts out laughing, her hands gripping my ass as she holds me inside her. I lean down and suck her nipple into my mouth again, her body arching beneath me and just like that, I’m ready to go again.
So I do.
“Coffee?” Ellen asks, as I walk into the kitchen.
“Thank you,” I reply, taking the cup she offers me before leaning in to kiss her.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” she asks.
I grin, sliding an arm around her waist as I take a seat on the stool and pull her against me. “How about we go back to bed and just stay there for the day?” I whisper, nuzzling her neck.
Ellen sighs, her arms sliding around my neck. “That sounds like a plan,” she murmurs. “After we eat though? I’m starving.”
I pull back, grinning at her as I lean in to press a kiss to her lips. “Pretty sure I’ve eaten once already,” I say against her mouth. “But I’m more than happy to have seconds…and thirds…and…”
Ellen silences my words with another deep kiss and I’m ready to say fuck it with breakfast and just have my way with her right here on the kitchen counter when her phone chimes out with a text message.
We both pull back, knowing who it will be from and why.
“Sorry,” Ellen says, her arms still around my neck.
I smile. “Don’t be, seriously, check she’s okay. I’m worried about her too.”
“See,” she whispers, kissing me again. “Just another reason why I love you.”
I chuckle. “The main one being the size of my cock and how good I am in bed though, right?”
Ellen giggles, even as she swats at my chest before reaching for her phone. When she reads the message, she smiles, turning the phone so I can see it.
Lauren: happy anniversary guys – hope you have an amazing day xx
“Shit, that’s sweet of her,” I say, knowing how hard it must be for her to see us this happy after all this time, given everything that’s happened with her.
“Yeah,” Ellen says, typing out a quick response. “What are we going to do about her?” she asks, as she puts her phone on the counter.
I shrug. “I don’t know,” I reply. “Sign her up to Tinder for some no-strings-attached sex?”
Ellen laughs out loud even as she shakes her head. “You think that’s the solution?”
I shrug. “You know what they say, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”
“Of course it is,” she mumbles, still shaking her head at me. “But somehow I don’t think that’s the kind of thing Lauren’s after.”
“So what is?”
Ellen takes a sip of coffee, her thoughts now whirling as she steps towards me and stands between my legs again, half sitting on my lap as she contemplates what we can do.
“I think it’s gonna need to be something big,” she starts, still working her way through whatever plan it is she’s thinking about putting in motion. “Something that she least expects, but which is capable of causing the biggest reaction.”
“A gigolo?” I suggest, slipping my arms around her waist.
Ellen laughs even as she reaches for her phone again. “No, Will. No gigolos, no prostitutes, no anonymous sex courtesy of Tinder,” she says, fingers typing away at something on her phone.
“So, what then?” I ask.
“This,” she says, grinning proudly as she turns her phone to me.
My eyes move over the screen, trying to make sense of what she’s showing me. “An Australian hook-up?” I ask, confused.
“No!” Ellen says, laughing again. “Well yes, actually, but not just any Australian hook-up,” she continues. “I’m talking her first love, her one true love, the boy she’s never forgotten about, even when she claimed she despised him.”
“Ohhh,” I say as it dawns on me whose Facebook profile I’m currently looking at. “Jack?” I ask.
Ellen nods. “Yep, little Jack Wilson, the boy who tormented my baby sister because he had a huge crush on her,” she says. “And just quietly, little Jack Wilson grew up to be big hot Jack Wilson.”
“Hey,” I say, smacking her butt.
“Oh don’t worry, baby,” she says, leaning into me. “You’ll always be my big hot stud.”
“You bet your ass I will,” I murmur, as I look over this guy’s profile. “You think he still has a crush on her?” I ask. “What if he’s with someone?”
“Look,” she says, tapping on the About icon. “It doesn’t say he’s in a relationship,” she says.
“Okay,” I reply. “Assuming he updates his Facebook status regularly, which I’m guessing as a guy, he doesn’t. How exactly are you planning to make this work? The guy lives in Australia.”
Ellen puts the phone down and turns so she’s facing me. “Oh, don’t you worry, I’ve got a plan,” she says, a devious smile on her face now. “And I know exactly how we’re going to get Jack and Lauren back together again.”
My smile widens as I slide my hands down her back to her ass. “So sneaky,” I whisper.
She grins, leaning in to kiss me. “I learned my stealth moves from one of the best,” she whispers. “And I’ve got no problem with resorting to sneaky tactics to get this boy from Down Under back Stateside.”
I smile against her mouth. “Speaking of down under,” I murmur, slipping my fingers inside her panties. “What do you say I take another trip down there?” I whisper, pressing my fingers against her.
“Will,” Ellen groans, her head falling backward even as she widens her stance a little.
“Yeah?”
“God, I love you,” she whispers, her breath hitching as I now slide a finger inside her.
I chuckle, pulling her closer as I put my mouth against her ear. “Right, so it’s not just my cock you love, is it? It’s my fingers too,” I murmur, slowly pumping them inside her.
“Mmmm.”
I grin, turning us so Ellen is backed up against the kitchen counter. She whimpers as I pull my fingers out, but I smile at her, my hands on her ass now as I lift her so she’s sitting on the counter.
My eyes on hers, I slowly pull off her panties, my grin widening as she pulls off her t-shirt and sends it flying across the kitchen.
My hands on her thighs, I push her legs apart, leaning in to kiss her deeply before whispering, “Think I’ll spend a little time down under right now.”
Then I ease her back onto the counter and lower my mouth to her.
Chapter Eleven
Ellen
The kids come running out of the house to greet us when our car pulls up. I truly believe they’re the only things keeping her going at this point and my heart breaks a little just thinking about it.
“Come here!” Oscar shouts, jumping up and down as Olivia takes my hand and begins dragging me up the steps and into the house. Oscar is practically shoving Will as we both enter the house at a rushed pace.
>
“Look,” he says with flourish as his hand floats out in front of him, motioning to the massive expanse of Legos. “We built the Golden Gate Bridge.”
“You absolutely did,” I say with more enthusiasm than necessary, but the kids thrive on that. Will shoots me a look from across the room and I smile back at him. We’re both thinking the same thing. It’s feels like it’s been forever since Lauren built something out of Lego with the kids. And as much as this is progress, I know it’s still not enough.
I leave Will with the kids and slip into the kitchen to find Lauren at the sink scrubbing at her hands. She’s always been prettier than me; tall and leggy with brighter blonde hair and deeper blue eyes, an interesting contrast with her tanned skin. She’s curvy and toned, where I’ve always been a little slimmer and less, well, Playboy Bunny. I’m the plain version.
But none of that really matters. What matters is the kind of person she is and she’s amazing, but I haven’t seen that person in a while.
She hears me come in and shuts off the water, turning to face me she says, “Happy anniversary.” She wears a fake smile that masks the pain she feels as the words leave her mouth.
“Thanks. Looks like you had a good time out there,” I say, my head tipping toward the living room.
“Yeah, we did, and we spent the morning cleaning out that damn crusher again.” Lauren shakes her head and returns to the sink, scrubbing her hands, but the deep purple remains.
“Windex,” I say and Lauren glares at me. She hates it when I tell her what to do, but we both know I’m right. You don’t grow up on a vineyard and not know what removes wine stains.
“You sound like Mom,” she replies, her tone lacking inflection, but she does give me a small smile.
“Because Mom is always right,” I quip back and we both roll our eyes. “Any luck with the crusher?” I ask, knowing full well the answer is no. She had someone out here this morning to take a look at it and despite it being my anniversary, she would have interrupted my quiet morning with that news.