by Ava Claire
“Wow,” I mused, suddenly feeling the urge to snap a picture. Even though I hadn't cooked a noodle myself, I still felt a sense of pride. It was something very similar to what I'm sure cavemen felt when they went out and slayed buffalo for their women.
Since the table was set, I started on ambiance. I'd briefly debated scented candles, something light and decadent like vanilla sunrise or whatever the candle store was hawking, but decided to go with unscented ones instead. The only thing I wanted to smell was that gentle, fruity fragrance that orbited around Penny like that sun rotated around the earth. It was a fragrance that I wanted to immerse myself in...and made me instantly hard as a rock as I tried to pinpoint the different notes of fragrance in it. It was a dangerous game to play because once I started thinking about her scent, I remembered that she tasted even more delicious than she smelled.
The growl of hunger didn't come from my stomach. It was a lust that only she could satisfy. I had to have her. From head to toe, in the bedroom and out.
Just when I started to pace like this was my first freaking date, the doorbell sounded a second time.
I dusted off the front of my gray sweater, pretending I wasn't quaking in my stonewashed jeans. This woman was making me rethink plans that I thought were non-negotiable and ironclad. I didn't do relationships, but here I was, inviting her to my place. Inviting her into my life.
I opened the door and was rendered utterly speechless. I wasn't sure where to start, what I wanted to delight in first. She wore an ebony colored dress that skimmed the floor, the dark fabric clinging to her like it was painted on. The scoop neckline dipped right above the swell of her breasts, and the cropped leather jacket gave her the edge she'd had the night we met when she first took my breath away. Her face was even more striking without makeup, scrubbed clean so I could see the dusting of freckles on her cheeks and the curves of her thick lips. Her hair hung loose and free, the chocolate and honey strands beckoning me to grip great fistfuls as I pulled her to me.
So I did.
I didn't even let her walk through the door. I held her tight, plundering her mouth with my tongue. She let out a sound of elation that practically unzipped my fly and wrapped its fingers around my cock. She pressed her body into mine and boldly did more than just stroke me with her moans. She cupped my erection through my pants, taking my bottom lip between her teeth and tugging.
She was the first to come up for air, eyes sparkling with a mischief that made me want to do bad, bad things with her. “Hi.”
High off her and ready to skip right to dessert, I stole one last kiss. I brushed my lips softly against hers, losing myself in her caramel eyes. “Hi yourself.”
She nuzzled against me and if there was any doubt whatsoever, it evaporated. I wanted to protect this girl from any possibility of pain, and if I couldn't, I wanted to help her through it. I wanted to see the world with her, and curl up on the couch and do nothing at all. I wanted a life with her.
I was in love with her.
“So, you gonna invite me in or are you having second thoughts?” she murmured, still pressed against me.
I pecked the top of her head, almost not wanting to move at all and just stay locked in our lusty embrace, but I was also excited to show her the place and feed her. “I guess we should get on with the dinner part of our evening.” I held open the door. “Welcome!” She stepped over the threshold and I couldn't resist pinching her ass when she strutted past.
“Xander!” she hissed, but a smile was on her lips.
I kicked the door shut, my cock already shouting louder than my belly. Suddenly, I was itching to christian every surface in my place with her skin and my skin and the sweat of our sex.
There will be plenty of time for sex. Talk first, sex later.
She threw a naughty look at me over her shoulder, like she could read my mind and wholeheartedly agreed with my plans.
Lots of sex.
“This place is amazing, Xander!” She scanned the kitchen, her nails skating across the countertop. “Everything is so shiny and spotless.” She cringed. “Just wait until you see my place. You'll probably want to take a Purell bath five seconds in.”
My heart drop kicked my ribcage. It was just a casual invite, but I felt the distance between us closing in the best possible way. I felt like we were moving forward. “I'm sure your place is lovely.”
“My studio would fit in your living room,” she said gingerly.
“It's your place, filled with pieces of you, honey.” The word just dropped from my lips. The panic was fleeting. Pet names? What if she hated pet names? I decided to just run with it. “Anything Penny related is amazing.”
“When you say things like that...” The look she threw my way was so vulnerable that I almost said those three words, just so she could know that she was safe with me. “It just feels like I'm dreaming.”
I stepped up beside her, my fingertips skimming up and down her spine. “It's not a dream, Penny.”
She tilted her head in my direction and sighed, like she was finally believing it. Finally letting go. “I don't want to wake up if it is.”
I wanted to steer her in my direction so she could see the truth, but she rocked into motion, pointed toward the dining room.
“You made dinner?”
“Not quite,” I answered peevishly. “I find ways to burn water so god only knows what you'd be ingesting if I tried to play chef.” I puffed out my chest. “I did plate everything and set the table though.”
She laughed, lowering herself into the seat and sliding the napkin in her lap. “Well, your plating skills are pretty epic, Mr. Wade.”
“Why thank you, Miss Robertson.” I followed her, picking up the wine and filling her glass, then mine. I slid into the seat next to her and raised my glass. “To us.”
Her cheeks flushed the cutest pink as she clinked her glass against mine. “To us.”
I downed every drop in my glass, knowing that there was no way for me to sit through two courses and not get the arrangement issue off my chest.
She eyed me strangely, barely sipping hers. “Should I be worried?”
I covered her hand with mine, kicking myself when I felt her tremble. “Hell no! I mean, I hope not.” I withdrew my hand, the worst case scenario wreaking havoc on my nerves. What if I told her I wanted more and she told me she just wanted the money? What if I'd misread her and she didn't feel the same way? What-
I shut off that train of thought. I didn't imagine the way she looked at me, nor the way she touched me. And even if I was delusional, I didn't live my life based on what ifs. I got shit done. I took calculated risks.
Sure, there was a chance that she could tell me no. But the alternative was continuing down the path I paved, and I refused to do that. She deserved more. I deserved more.
So I just spat it out.
“I know we agreed that I would pay you to play my girlfriend. It was meant to be a mutually beneficial arrangement for us both. A safe arrangement.” I put it all on the line. “I can't tell you that the way I feel about you is real then pay you like you’re performing some service. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. I don't want a timer ticking away in the back of my mind. And to be honest, thirty days just isn't enough time. I want months. Years. I want you, Penny.”
She gaped at me in stunned silence and my stomach plummeted.
Fuck. I'd rolled the dice and now, I'd lose it all. Not to mention the fact that if she got any paler, I might have to call 911.
She raised her glass back to her lips and followed my lead, downing her wine in a couple of gulps. She abandoned my gaze, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. When she looked back at me, I braced myself for the worst. She was going to breeze out of my life as quickly as she breezed into it.
“You want me?” she whispered tentatively.
Hope ignited in my chest and I cautioned a smile as I nodded my head. Just in case that wasn't enough, I confirmed it vocally. “Absolutely.”
; She bit her lip, but her smile had a mind of its own, giving it all away. She wasn't going anywhere.
“Get over here,” she breathed softly.
I did a double take. “What?”
She let go of her delicious bottom lip and the look on her face was straight up predatory. It was a look that gave me no choice but to obey. “Get over here.”
I nearly lurched from my seat. By the time I reached her, she had risen to her feet, her chin up, the woman before me everything I wanted and more.
She crooked her finger. “Closer.”
She didn't have to ask twice. Our bodies were close enough that I could feel her breathe. I could dive into her heated gaze.
She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed me tight. “I want more too, Xander. You can keep the money. I want you. Nothing else but you.”
I lifted her up and her squeal of delight filled me as I spun her. All the things that kept me on the ground and stuck in neutral floated away.
I put her down, but other parts of me were still in full celebration mode. “We better eat up, because I plan on making all kinds of love to you tonight.”
I expected her to slide back into her seat and scissor her way through her lasagna so we could crash into each other, but she did the opposite. She peeled off her jacket, then stepped out of her dress. She stood before me in nothing but her bra and panties.
“I always liked having my dessert first,” she grinned.
Chapter Five: Penny
When I got Xander's text to come over to his place for dinner, I completely forgot the five minute text rule. I'd already turned off my read receipts, too embarrassed for him to see that I wasted no time opening his texts as soon as my phone alerted me that I had a new message. I literally had to flip to a timer and put my phone outside of texting range when I saw the invite because my first instinct was to send a 'YES!' in all caps with a flurry of happy, heart eyes emojis.
I didn't need a crystal ball to know that we would likely end up naked and tangled up in each other. I'd been prepared in kind, scrubbing myself from head to toe and making sure I was ready to pick up where we left off at the winery. Even with all the questions about the arrangement, and my worries that every day I fell deeper and it would make the goodbye even harder, I couldn't do the smart thing and stay away.
And then he told me he needed me. Needed more. All my insecurities that held me back and kept me chained were broken the minute he told me that he wanted more than a month. He said years. Years.
“Get over here.”
The shock on his face made my body smile. I could still surprise him. Still keep him on his toes. “What?”
Lust gripped me tighter as I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. The memory of his touch and knowing that I'd get to feel it really, really soon, emboldened me. I'd get to have him again. He'd get to have me—and this time, it was for real. “Get over here.”
I watched his every move, his body commanding my gaze in the heather gray sweater that made his pale green eyes glimmer. I'd only touched him briefly back in the hall but I had a feeling that beneath those jeans it was all Xander...no pesky underwear to tear off.
He was enthralled, stopping a few feet from me. Close, but not nearly close enough.
“Closer.”
Desire heated his gaze as he took the final step. I could feel the tone of him, the muscles that rippled beneath the clothes that I wanted to tear from his body. Each breath he drew ghosted through me. Every part of me ached for him. I threw my arms around his waist and held him tight, not wanting to let go.
“I want more too, Xander. You can keep the money. I want you. Nothing else but you.”
I gasped when he lifted me off the ground and spun me wildly in a circle. My heart spilled from my lips as I lost myself in happiness.
He lowered me back to the ground, but I glanced at his groin and saw there was another part of him that was flying high. He let me go, clearing his throat like the time for fun and games was ahead, but we had business to take care of first. “We better eat up, because I plan on making all kinds of love to you tonight.”
I had plans of my own and dinner was the furthest thing from my mind. I shrugged off my jacket, letting it drop unceremoniously to the floor. I shimmied out of my maxi dress and stood upright, glad I'd chosen tonight to wear my cotton candy pink bra that made my petite chest look downright sinful. The cheeky boy shorts got a 10 too from the way his jaw hit the floor.
“I always liked having my dessert first,” I purred with a smile.
He scooped me back up and I leapt into his arms, legs wrapping around his waist, arms wrapping around his neck...tongue wrapping around his tongue. I could taste the moans that rose in his throat. I could feel how badly he wanted me.
We sank onto the couch, me still straddling him, and I loosened my grip around his neck. I drew my fingertips across the strong lines of his neck, then drifted across his jaw as my lips devoured his. How was it possible that he tasted even sweeter than I remembered?
His hands slipped behind me, unhooking my bra. His tongue lashed across mine with each snap until his palm rested against my bare back. I groaned with desire as his fingertips raked across my skin and he pulled it off and flung it aside, my breasts bouncing free—but not for long. He gripped the mounds tight, his thumbs flicking my hardened nipples. When he pinched them hard, I let go of his lips, throwing my head back with ecstasy.
He had plans for his mouth, the warm embrace of his lips indulging in my breasts, sucking, tugging, biting one, then the other. I ground my hips into his, feeling his hardened arousal piercing through his jeans. His tongue circled my nipple, flicking to and fro until I was whipping my head back and forth. Begging for more, and feeling like I could take no more without spiraling into the abyss.
I gripped tuffs of his hair and pulled his lips back to mine. “Oh god,” I breathed in between kisses. “I have to have you, Xander. I need you inside me!”
I vaulted to the side and dove for the fly of his jeans, ripping the button free and unzipping him, grinning from ear to ear when I saw that it was nothing but denim and every rock hard, veiny inch of him. I felt the thrill of a challenge when I saw him in all of his glory. He was thicker than I'd realized, paired with a length that made me bite my lip.
I slid off his lap and lowered myself to my knees. I twisted my hair and let it spill over one of my shoulders. I met his gaze and felt the desire radiating from him in waves.
I leaned forward, my fingers grazing his solid length and skimming his swollen balls. His green eyes were wild, like some far off jungle. I wanted to explore him, find out what made him croon and rocketed him to the edge.
I swept my tongue over my lips and gripped his staff. I didn't wait to ask for permission, taking my tongue and sliding it across the stiff head of him. I savored the salt of his skin and the sweet mix of Xander that collided with my tongue. I remembered the feel of the sun against my skin and the hardness of the cement beneath me back at the winery; the strength of his grip as he spread my thighs apart. The softness of his tongue as he tasted the wet, throbbing place between my thighs. I tasted him now, great strokes of my tongue dipping from tip to base. He pulsed beneath my touch, his moans a deep and rumbling wave that washed over me. I spread my lips as wide as I could stand and his girth pushed them even wider, his bulge hot and thick as I worked my mouth up and down. His fingers knotted in my hair and the gentle tugs didn't guide me, didn't try to conduct my movements. He let me give him the pleasure I wanted to give—and I wanted to give him everything in me.
When I added my hand to the mix, rolling and massaging his balls in time with the rhythm of my mouth, his grip became tighter, his muscles rigid.
“Not in your mouth. Not yet.”
I sat back on my heels, not wiping away the smear of saliva and his juices. I wanted our sex to fade into me.
I watched my guy pull off his t-shirt, his muscles glistening like some big screen dreamboat that I never thought could be mine; thos
e green eyes playfully seeking me out as he stepped out of his jeans to show me that he was even more delicious in nothing at all.
He swiped a condom from his back pocket, tearing the wrapper open with his teeth.
“Presumptuous much?” I smirked.
“Not presumptuous,” he said huskily, rolling it over his erection. “A hopeless optimist.”
I pressed my palms against the floor, getting ready to hop on my feet so I could hop onto a very hard part of him, but he pushed me back down to the floor. All the air was knocked from my lungs. Surprised, turned on by the force of his touch, and how delightfully helpless I felt as he towered above me, I could do nothing but remind myself to breathe as I looked up at him.
“Take off your panties.”
Fingers trembling wildly, I scooped the lacy things off me, getting wetter by the second.
“Show me how wet you are for me,” he rumbled, his voice low and stroking me deep inside.
I nibbled on my bottom lip and spread my thighs apart.
“Jesus Christ, you're beautiful,” he murmured. He hadn't even looked at my breasts, or between my thighs. His eyes were firmly locked on my face, and he smiled. His green gaze drank in my breasts, swept over my abdomen, and widened when he hit the place between my thighs. My body, the velvety soft folds of me, were wide open and drenched in desire. “Fuck.”
He dropped to his knees, like he was humbled by my wetness. Humbled by the gift of my body.
No, I thought, my heart fluttering wildly in my chest. Humbled by me.
I didn't care that we were on the hardwood floor, with the lasagna dying on the table, and spitting distance from a metal coffee table that was definitely an accident waiting to happen if we got really wild. There was no more holding back. No more pretending like I could stand one more second without him inside me.
He held my gaze steady, a look of mixed bliss and the strain of trying to savor every sensation without tumbling over the edge. I felt the tip of him just inside my warmth. Lingering as he drew it up and down the entrance of me. With no warning, he thrust inside me. Filling me. Completing me.