30 Days

by Christine d'Abo

  Stretched out wide on the bed, I relaxed and let the mattress hold me up. This was what I’d been missing. It wasn’t so much about the sex as it was the connection. Rob and I always had fun when we’d made love. It was one of the reasons why his cards really weren’t a surprise to me. And yes, they would help me get out of my shell sexually, but they also served another purpose. They were a tool to help me find the right man, the one who could make me happy.

  Only someone who could handle these cards with humor and grace would be a good fit for me. Rob must have realized that as well. Too bad the man who was turning out to be perfect for me would be gone in a month.

  With my gaze locked on the ceiling, I realized that Harrison and I really did click. Sure we weren’t perfect, nor did we have the history that Rob and I did before we got together, but that didn’t matter. I loved the adventure, the discovery. I loved the new punch lines we were starting to develop. God, I especially loved the way he could turn me on and play my body like an instrument. It was mind-blowing.

  I loved . . .

  Slowly, I sat up, my eyes growing wide.

  Shit.

  I really was starting to fall in love with him. Somehow, without me really realizing, Harrison had taken up a small spot in my heart that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with . . . whatever the hell the two of us had. He’d started to take root inside me and now I had thoughts and feelings for him winding throughout me.

  I was going to have to figure out what I could do about that before things ended badly for both of us.

  23

  When we sat down and really looked at what Rob had intended for me to do with a partner, we realized it was too much for three days. I mean, I was more than happy with the idea of having nonstop sex over the weekend, and while Harrison assured me he’d be more than able to keep up with the demands, we both agreed that we might need breaks. And possibly food. And wine. Definitely wine.

  I also realized that as much as the sex-ins were good times, I was starting to get greedy again. Harrison was only going to be here for a little over a month and I still didn’t know all I wanted to about him. If he was going to leave me, then I wanted to mine every detail I could from him. Memorize every tidbit and file it in my head next to my memories of Rob. I didn’t need to question why he’d become that important to me. It was obvious.

  That realization hit me as we were in the middle of a particularly epic fuck session. I was on my hands and knees and Harrison was taking me from behind. His hands would alternate between squeezing my hips and caressing the base of my spine. The two motions were so different in their intensity, it got me wondering what he was thinking about. Or more accurately, who.

  “Do you miss your ex-wife?” I asked the question as I reached between my legs and started playing with his balls.

  Harrison chuckled as he slammed into me a bit harder than before. “I’m a bit terrified to answer that question at the moment.”

  I tugged his balls, but not in a way that would hurt him. “Just curious. Have you had sex with other women since her, or just me?”

  In a move that I couldn’t figure out later how he managed, he flipped me over onto my back and slid his cock back inside me. “Why are we talking about my ex?”

  “It’s fun to talk during sex.” I ran my nails down along the length of his arms. “Don’t you think?”

  “Not about my ex.”

  “Sorry. My brain goes all weird when I get horny. Rob used to—”

  “Not about Rob either.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

  Then he did this thing with his hands on my clit and my nipple in his mouth and I was screaming like a banshee. After he’d come and we were stretched out on the bed in all of our sweaty, naked glory, I laced our fingers together and asked again.

  “So have you been with other women since your divorce?”

  He let out this little huff of air through his nose that could have been annoyance, but I took it as him realizing that once I got something in my head I wasn’t going to forget about it. He was smarter than most people if he’d figured that out about me already.

  He gave my hand a little squeeze. “You are the only woman since Angie. I wasn’t all that keen to get into any relationship, even just a fling.”

  “So what made you change your mind about me?” I wanted to be flattered by his about-face on his views on women, but I wasn’t so naïve to believe I was the reason for it.

  “You. Well, you and your situation. Mrs. Le Page talked you up to me quite a bit those first few days. Then there was the incident at the bar. You tweaked my protective streak.”

  “I tweaked something.” I ran my finger up the length of his flaccid cock. “Well, your protective streak is going to have to learn to leave me behind pretty soon.”

  “Six weeks.” He rolled onto his side so our noses were nearly touching. Being this close to him, it was as though the entire world had disappeared and all that existed was this room and the man on this bed with me.

  There was something about the look in his eyes that made my skin tingle and my breathing deepen. A spark that I’d seen before, not in Harrison, but on the day Rob had proposed to me. Slowly, he rubbed the tips of our noses together. “I think we have a problem.”

  “What’s that?” I barely managed a whisper.

  “I can’t get into another relationship. I just can’t.” He swallowed hard before reaching up to cup my cheek. “And you are still in love with your late husband.”

  I jerked, but he didn’t let my face go. “What does that mean? Of course I still love Rob. I always will.”

  “I wouldn’t want anything less for you.” He sighed, his eyes slipping closed for a moment. “I can see that brain of yours working away. You’re comparing me to him. Trying things that you used to do for him to see if I’ll like them. I’m not him.”

  “I know. I don’t want you to be him.”

  It wasn’t fair, and yet I understood why it bothered him. I pushed myself to a sitting position. Given the position, my belly was all doubled over and my boobs sagged down nearly touching the rolls. Rob would have poked at them, maybe even teased me. I wouldn’t have felt embarrassed about the look or his words. Harrison couldn’t resist them either, but rather than poking, he ran his fingers across the dips and valleys in a gentle caress.

  “You’re only the second man to ever see me naked.”

  “I’m honored.”

  “You should be.” I kissed his forehead. “You’re right. In my mind I do compare situations with what I’ve done in the past. Sometimes your reactions surprise me because they’re not what I’m used to. It’s actually really exciting for me, which is something I hadn’t expected. There’s something to be said for a new beginning. I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t wish we could be together longer, see if we could make something work, but I know that’s not going to happen. So let’s just have fun until you have to leave. Okay?”

  Rather than the relief I’d expected to see on his face, I was surprised by the fleeting look of disappointment. “Sounds perfect.”

  He didn’t want things to end.

  My lungs stopped working for a moment while my brain processed the meaning of that. Despite everything—his ex, Rob, only being here for six more weeks—he didn’t want things to end either.

  I didn’t know how to feel about that. I mean, it was good. Really good. Sure, now I knew more about his past and that would complicate matters. And no, I probably wasn’t ready for something serious. Neither of those facts meant that I wanted him to go.

  I wanted Harrison in my life for more than just sex.

  Regardless of the whole sure-I-might-be-a-teeny-bit-in-love thing, coupled with the whole Rob-wouldn’t-fault-me-but-still-guilty thing.

  The moment I sucked in a fresh breath, my heart raced with excitement. If he was starting to have feelings for me, if there was a chance that he might actually fall in love with me, then I was going to take it.

&nb
sp; I wanted Harrison. I wanted a much longer chance to get to know him.

  By God, I was going to win him over.

  Harrison got up and went in search of the sex bag. “If we’ve agreed on having fun, then we better work on these cards of yours. I’d hate to leave anything undone when I go.”

  The cards. Well, if that’s what was going to give me the time I needed to figure out a way to get him to stay in Toronto, and subsequently with me, then I was going to take it.

  “Well then,” I said as I pushed myself onto my forearms, “let’s make a list and get to work.”

  Operation Win Harrison’s Heart was on.

  24

  What I really needed was a grapefruit.

  When I’d convinced Harrison that we needed a break from our sex marathon to go to the store, I knew he wasn’t keen. Getting cleaned up was necessary, as was making our way into the local convenience store where the prices were anything but. When I told him that he didn’t need to come in with me, he smiled and turned up the music in the car to wait.

  That gave me the opportunity I needed to find the one thing I wanted to use to cross off one of the sex cards.

  A grapefruit.

  There’d been this link that the girls had sent around work. It was so non-HR friendly that there were a lot of hush-hush conversations about it, only showing people on a smartphone once they’d promised not to say a word. It was that kind of epic.

  In it was a woman demonstrating how to give a blow job using a grapefruit. She was a pro and yet came across a bit like your aunt who was giving you sex advice without your parents knowing. She showed me and every other woman in my office how to do this with confidence, and I knew that someday, I’d have to try it. The noises that came out of her mouth as she slid and slipped the fruit over a dildo were obscene. And one hundred percent arousing.

  I had to do that to Harrison.

  The clerk gave me an odd look when I put down the case of beer, a package of wet wipes, and the grapefruit in front of him. I simply smiled, happy in my knowledge of what I was going to do with everything and not caring what he thought about it in the least. I paid for my items and practically skipped out of the store.

  “That didn’t take you long.” Harrison turned the music down once I got in. “Whatcha get?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  The beer bottles clanked together when I hit the bag with my feet. “Beer. You’re an awesome lady.”

  “I know.”

  “I noticed there was a park on our way into town. Want to stop for a bit?”

  He was being all subtle about it, but having sex in a park was one of the things on the list. There was no reason why I couldn’t do my thing and give him the added bonus of a little public display. “That sounds great.”

  “I don’t know if I like that smug tone of yours.” He patted my thigh as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  “You will.”

  When we got there it turned out that it was actually more of a boat launch than a park, though there was enough green space that I forgave the mix-up. There was a car parked off on the far side, closest to the water, but that appeared to be it. We were alone.

  “Oh perfect!” I jumped out of the car, taking the bag with me. “Come on.”

  I didn’t wait for him, making my way over to a grassy area by a tree. If anyone were to come by, we’d hear and see them before they’d see us. That would give us the reaction time necessary to cover ourselves and make sure we didn’t get arrested for indecency or anything. “Harrison, grab some napkins.”

  My dad had always taught me to carry a pocketknife in my purse. You never knew when you’d have to break into your car, fix a lock, or whatever unforeseeable adventures he assumed I’d have. For this particular misadventure, I needed it to cut the ends off the grapefruit and core it. Not an easy task given my tools, but totally doable.

  “I think you’re doing that wrong.” He dropped the napkins beside me and laid out a blanket. “Come sit over here. It’s more comfortable.”

  “Will do as soon as I finish this.” I wiped my hands with the damp wipes, grinning as I did. “Oh can you also take your pants off? Underwear too.”

  That particular look on his face was way beyond adorable. He kept shooting me strange looks even as he undid his pants. I love a man who can be both confused and still go along for the ride.

  Seeing his bare legs in the bright sunlight made me appreciate him as though he were a brand new person. The hair on his legs was far thicker than I’d noticed before. The muscles were far more visible as well. They were thick and well formed, running the entire length of him from feet to ass. I’d touched and been touched by his body, but even that hadn’t made me appreciate the whole package.

  “You are one sexy man.” I lifted the grapefruit up for him to see. “Are you going to ask?”

  “What day?” He smiled even as he stretched out on the blanket.

  “I think this will count for Days Twenty-one and Twenty-eight.” I paused to consider. “We could also throw in Day Fifteen if you want?”

  “Sex with food, sex in the park and . . . role-playing?”

  “Good memory, Mr. Kemp.” I got up onto my knees and smiled at him sweetly. “Oh sir, I have gone and found all the things you wanted. What shall I do with them now?” I’d failed drama class in high school. My teacher had actually begged me to never take another lesson and focus on business courses. My performing hadn’t improved over the years.

  The smile on Harrison’s face fell away. Gone was the man who’d looked bewildered a moment ago, and in his place was a man who looked cold as ice. “You took too long.”

  Shit, he was actually pretty good. The whole hard-ass routine was a total turn-on. “I’m sorry, sir. Can I get you a beverage?”

  “Quickly.”

  I put the grapefruit down and went for the beer, using my pocketknife to pop the top free. “Here you are.”

  “You expect me to touch that after you have with those disgusting fingers.”

  I was actually getting nervous. Dammit, he was right. “No, sir. Of course not.”

  “You’d better not. Now, get over here and give me my drink.”

  I wasn’t entirely sure what to do until he lifted up on his forearms and opened his mouth. I pressed the bottle opening to his mouth and carefully tipped it up until he swallowed down several gulps. “Acceptable.”

  “Thank you, sir.” It was only a bit of role-play, but his praise felt good. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  “Something to eat.” His gaze drifted down to the pool of juice that had leaked onto the blanket. “Rather, I want you to eat me. Get down there and suck my cock.”

  Jesus H. Christ. My body shook as I maneuvered myself between his legs. The sun shone through the leaves of the tree above and was hot against my back. Even through the blanket the ground was cold on my knees. The contrast confused my body and put me on edge. I was horny, scared of being caught, and confused as to why Harrison acting like an asshole turned me on.

  There’d be time to question that later. First, I had a blow job to give.

  “Sir, if I may, I’d like to try something. To give you more pleasure.”

  He didn’t answer immediately. Cocking his head to the side, he dipped his chin toward me. “Seeing your breasts would give me pleasure. Take off your shirt.”

  That was easy enough to comply with. I took off my shirt and bra and set them in a smaller pile beside his stuff.

  “Good. Now, you may try your thing. If I don’t like it, there will be consequences.” With that, he stretched back, his hands laced behind his head. “Begin.”

  Okay. Right. Beginning this thing. Here we go.

  I took the grapefruit, eyeing the opening I’d made when I’d removed the core. The width of the hole wasn’t quite big enough to accommodate his girth, so I stuck my thumbs in and pried it apart enough that I thought it would be comfortable for him. Positioning it at his erect cockhead, I carefully slid it d
own the length of his shaft.

  “Fuck!” He bucked his hips up as I went.

  I had to use my free hand to push him back down to the blanket. “Am I harming you, sir?”

  “No,” he said through gritted teeth. “Continue.”

  “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want the acid to get into a cut—”

  “If you stop, I will tan your hide, wench.” There was a sparkle in his eyes and his lips threatened to break into a smile.

  So my crazy idea was working. Thank you Internet blow-job lady.

  I used the fruit to masturbate him for a few strokes. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of things. This wasn’t like the video, the woman far more experienced at using a dildo. No, this was Harrison and me and the last thing I wanted was for an injury to happen and have to explain this to an emergency room doctor somewhere.

  But the more I worked the fruit over his shaft, the more the juice began to flow. His skin shone in the sunlight, the smell of male arousal, grass, and grapefruit surrounded me. I couldn’t resist any longer. I leaned in and on the next downstroke, took his cock into my mouth.

  Harrison’s legs shook as his muscles tightened. I moaned, remembering the sounds on the video, wanting to make this as visceral an experience as I could for both of us. Then I upped the pace. Faster I stroked the fruit up and down his cock, while I swallowed down both the juice and his secretions.

  “It’s like your pussy and your mouth at the same time.” He spoke the words to the sky, but I heard them deep in my body. “Holy fuck.”

  I kept going, knowing that he didn’t need a response. The fruit had softened from my grip, allowing me to play with the rind more. Using both hands, I changed the shape of it, flattening it out from side to side like one of those paper cootie catchers I made as a kid.

  “Alyssa—” He moaned loudly. “Gonna make me come.”

  It didn’t matter that my own orgasm wasn’t currently on the agenda. In hardly any time, I’d pushed him to the limit of his release. I’d reduced him to a quivering mass out in public where anyone could see. I stroked him harder and faster, wanting to push him over the edge. It only took another minute before he cried out. His screams echoed across the water, bouncing off the trees that lined the lake. Come and juice mixed together and filled my mouth. I swallowed it all down, savoring the uniqueness of the taste.