Just This Once

by Mira Lyn Kelly

  “You look really good in these,” she said quietly, letting her palms smooth over the sides, down the leg to where they ended, but not quite mustering the courage to venture to the front where the fabric strained against the swell of him. He looked big.

  Tossing the condom to the bed, Sean took her hands in his, moving them to the place she’d been too intimidated to touch. Her hand curved around him, molding to his shape as she eased up and down the length that seemed to grow more with her every stroke.

  “I never let myself think about what it would be like to have your hands on me,” he confided, his fingers sifting through her hair before moving lower. “But now that I know, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to stop.”

  Molly peered up at him as he leaned closer. But instead of kissing her the way she expected, he caught her by the backs of her knees and tugged.

  “Sean!” she squeaked, her back hitting the bed.

  “Panties,” he growled, hooking his fingers into the waistband and pulling them off.

  She was naked. With the light on. In front of Sean. And not just artfully bare, like some tasteful nude in a gallery. She was brazenly exposed, her thighs spread to Sean’s urging touch.

  Dropping to his knees, he stared at her sex like a starving man. Then, eyes flicking up to hers, he gave her a peek at that half smile again. “You remember all the times you told me to bite you?”

  Her eyes went wide as he leaned into the space he’d made for himself. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Oh, I would,” he assured. “I will.”

  And then he was kissing her there, making love to her with his mouth, slow and sweet. Running his tongue through all that wetness before dipping inside and tipping her world off its axis.

  Dropping a kiss against the spread of her sex, he looked up at her. “Do you have any idea what it did to me, hearing you come?” Easing a finger inside her, he thrust slowly. “I’d barely touched you, and you were falling apart in my arms. Is it always like that with you?”

  “No,” she answered, the single word unsteady but true. Because while she was not a virgin, getting off had never been an easy feat. She’d been with guys she was really into, guys she’d been less into but who had been built or beautiful or talked a big game about everything they were going to do to her and how much she was going to like it. She’d tried to be polite, putting on a good show so their egos didn’t have to take the hit when she couldn’t get past lukewarm—and most of the time, she couldn’t. But tonight, with Sean, she’d come less than ten minutes before, and already her body was winding tight again, the heat in her center ready to boil over and spill through every part of her.

  Her inner walls clenched around him, and he raised a brow as he lowered his mouth to her again. “No?”

  “Aghh,” she cried out as the sensation intensified. “Only with you.”

  Sean’s eyes met hers again, the amusement and teasing gone. “You can’t say that to me, Molly.” Adding a second finger to the first, he stroked in and out. “It makes me want things I shouldn’t have.” Then curling them, he hit the spot that until that very moment she hadn’t totally believed existed. “It makes me want to take all your ‘only with yous.’”

  Just imagining what that would be like had her fingers digging into the comforter and her back arching hard.

  “You like that, Molly?” he asked with another beckoning stroke.

  “Yes,” she panted, her hips lifting to meet him. “Oh God, yes.”

  “So fucking hot, Moll.” Another stroke, and she was there, her body seizing around his thrusting touch, her head thrown back as she shattered.

  Sean leaned over her, kissing her hot and deep, giving her a taste of her own pleasure as he moved them back up the bed and reached for the condom.

  “Last chance, Molly,” he said, restraint tightening his features as he searched her eyes.

  Sliding her heel up the back of his thigh, she asked, “Trying to back out?”

  But she knew that wasn’t it. He was trying to make sure they didn’t regret this night any more than they had to.

  Sean’s mouth met hers in another soul-shattering kiss, and then he was pushing inside her, stretching her as, inch by inch, he took her deeper, filled her more, until finally, she had him all.

  Her breath left on a shuddering gasp as emotion and sensation tangled together, overwhelming her. Everything she’d wanted was, in that minute, hers.

  “Molly, look at me,” he urged, bracing on his elbows so his hands could cup her face. “It’s just us. You and me.”

  She nodded, tears pricking her eyes. “It’s just…so much.”

  She knew he understood what she was saying, could see it in his eyes. They were connected in a way they never had been before. It was powerfully overwhelming, in the very best way.

  “I know, Moll.” And then because he was Sean and he always knew exactly what she needed, he added, “I’m a big guy.”

  She laughed, which made him laugh too, which was really weird considering the way they were connected but was also the most perfect thing that could have happened. She touched his cheek and sighed. “Only you.”

  The corner of his mouth pulled up, his eyes going tender as he started to move. “Don’t forget it.”

  “Never.”

  * * *

  Just once.

  That’s what they’d said. What Molly had said. So it wasn’t even like Sean could pretend she’d been agreeing with him just to be cool. She’d brought it up. She’d said it first. And like the total fuckwit he was, he’d thought she couldn’t be any more perfect, because once was supposed to be enough to scratch the itch.

  But now Sean was breathing in the sweet, sexy coconut smell of her neck, the five seconds he’d allotted himself to collapse on top of her well past expired already. He needed to get up. He needed to deal with the rubber. He needed to figure out how to stop thinking of Molly in terms of how insanely hot it was being inside her…how wet her kisses were…what she tasted like.

  He needed to stop thinking about what it had been like making her come for him four times.

  “Mmm,” she moaned from beneath him, still doing that thing with his hair that he was also going to have to stop thinking about, because friends didn’t run their fingers through each other’s hair, and friends definitely didn’t get hard thinking about how fucking good it felt either.

  How was he going to come back from this?

  Start by getting off the girl, numbnuts.

  It was time, much as he wished it wasn’t. Because this thing with Molly…was just a thing with Molly. It wasn’t their first step toward forever.

  And it wasn’t like he and Molly could just date and see where it went. For one, it was Molly, his go-to girl for everything short of, well, this. He couldn’t risk what would happen if things didn’t work out. He couldn’t risk hurting her.

  Which meant it was time.

  Reluctantly, he started to push up on his arms, making it less than an inch before Molly moaned in protest, wrapping her arms and legs around him tighter.

  “Just one more minute?” she murmured with a contented purr when he gave her back his weight. “You just feel so good like this.”

  “I’m not squishing the life out of you or cutting off your air supply?” He checked, burrowing his face into her neck, because apparently it was okay.

  “No.” Her breath washed over his ear, soft and warm. “Feels good.”

  Yeah, it did. Especially when she started sliding one knee up and down at his side. It felt good everywhere, silky soft, but especially where he was still buried inside her. He was already getting hard again. He definitely needed to get out of her. Get rid of this cond—

  “Mmm, Sean,” she half moaned, her blue eyes startled as they met his. “Are you…already?”

  The tip of her tongue touched her bottom lip, and his cock
swelled even more, triggering her lips parting on one of those tiny gasps that hit him like a wrecking ball.

  “We said just once.” Okay, and maybe things would have gone differently from there if he hadn’t rocked his hips into her…while licking the lobe of her ear before sucking it between his teeth.

  “I won’t tell…if you… Sean!” she cried out, her inner walls grasping at him like hungry hands.

  Two thrusts, and she was sucking on his tongue while he took his fill of those insane legs of hers.

  So fucking good.

  So fucking hot.

  So fucking perfect—

  “Jesus!” he choked, pulling out before another second passed and, from the looks of it, not a second too soon. “New condom, baby—Molly,” he promised, backing off the bed in record time to change out the equipment. Heart slamming, he shook his head.

  What the fuck, man?

  That was the closest he’d ever come to flaking on the safe part of sex. And it had happened with Molly. Who he cared about more than any other woman he’d ever been with. It was inexcusable and—

  “Sean?”

  He looked back, ready to beg forgiveness, when instead, that racing heart skidded to a stop.

  Because the way Molly was looking at him—holy fuck. He’d never seen anything so sexy in his life. Those smooth, long legs shifted restlessly together as one hand stroked lightly across her breast and the other played with the pink ends of her hair. She bit softly into her bottom lip, pulling it through the clasp of her teeth before whispering, “Hurry.”

  His breath hissed out, that last word tightening every damn inch of his body, flipping switches he didn’t even realize he had. She was killing him, and he never wanted her to stop.

  Turning back to her, he rolled the condom on, and catching the flare of interest in her eyes as she watched, he gripped himself, running up and down his length a couple of times just to see how she would react.

  “So hot,” she whispered, that hand playing at her chest teasing lower, coasting past her belly until—

  “Show me, Molly,” he gritted out through clenched teeth, and when she did, parting her knees for him as she slipped her fingers down to where she was glossy and slick because of him, he groaned, “Fuck.”

  And then he was back on top of her, pushing her already-spread legs wider with his knees and pinning her wrists above her head. She took him full length in one long stroke that ended with their mingled moans, their eyes locked, and smiles on their lips.

  Just once…more.

  Chapter 12

  They’d showered separately. She’d been first, brushing her teeth when she finished and laughing when Sean shouldered into the small bathroom naked, shrugged, and stepped into the shower while she was still standing there, minty-white foam overflowing from her lips.

  As much as she would have liked to, it would have been weird to just stand there and watch him shower, so she’d gone to her room and pulled on a pair of panties and a tank top to sleep in. She’d been on her bed when Sean walked in ten minutes later. He was wearing his boxer briefs, light blue this time, and his hair was a sexy, wet mess that looked almost as good as it had after she’d had her fingers in it through two rolls in the hay. She’d been about to comment when, without a word, he scooped her off the bed and tossed her over his shoulder and marched out of her room.

  “Sean!” she squealed, futilely grappling for a hold. “What are you doing?”

  “I put out, twice,” he announced above her laughter, dumping her onto his bed with a bounce and then following her down. “I earned the cuddle.”

  “You think?” she teased, not even trying to keep a straight face because oh man, oh man, had he ever earned a cuddle or anything else he wanted.

  “Sit up.”

  She did as he asked, checking around the bed beneath her to see if she was on top of something. But that wasn’t what he wanted.

  “Arms up, Moll,” he ordered, pulling at the hem of her tank top until she complied.

  “So this is going to be a naked cuddle?”

  “Don’t be crazy. Friends don’t cuddle naked.” The tank landed on the floor in a little heap, and for one second, Sean just stared at her chest like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “Sean?”

  “Right,” he said with a contented sigh. “We’re getting a friendly topless cuddle. Just tonight.” He punched his pillow and then lay back, that amazingly muscled arm outstretched like a pillow too perfect to resist.

  Sean was a pretty cuddly guy, so it wasn’t like they’d never curled up before. But this was something else. This was skin-to-skin contact, warm and comforting and so very right. Her head settled against his shoulder, and he pulled her closer. Their legs were tangled together, and she was in Sean’s arms. And even though she’d thought she’d never be able to unwind after what they’d done, already she could feel her muscles loosening and that contented fog settling in her mind.

  Sean pressed his lips to her brow. “You know I’m going to have to move out after this.”

  “I know.” He’d have to. They’d crossed a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. There wouldn’t be any more pretending salvation could be found in the yarn channel. They’d have to rely on good old-fashioned will and, short of that, space.

  Still… “I’ll miss having you here.”

  His gruff laugh ruffled her hair, and even with her eyes closed, she could sense the smile on his lips as he held her closer.

  “I know.”

  The last thing she remembered before drifting off was the too-good feeling of Sean’s arms tightening around her as if he wasn’t ready to let her go.

  * * *

  Molly had been so sure the morning after was going to be hell. Filled with regret and all the awkward tension she’d been accumulating since Sean moved in, times a million. But it wasn’t. Sean was at the office when she dragged herself out of his bed around eleven, and in her room was the most beautiful bouquet of flowers she’d ever laid eyes on. There were roses, peonies, and stargazer lilies in every shade of pink, and on the card, there were two words written in Sean’s script.

  Only you…

  Molly hadn’t stopped smiling since. Which was something of a feat considering no small portion of her day had been spent scrubbing grout and toilets for the Goudins, whose newly remodeled kitchen was going to be featured in some design magazine, and before the shoot, they wanted the entire condo scoured to a high-polish gleam. She’d been happy for the job, they were paying her double to come in on a Sunday, and Carla was a breeze to work for.

  Finished by three, Molly had time for a shower and change before heading over to Belfast for the evening shift. She’d been telling Brody about their latest vendor issues when he sat back in his chair and pushed both hands through that wild mane of hair.

  “That’s great, Moll. If you want to try out the other guys, set it up.”

  “Got it.” Pushing up from her seat, she asked, “Anything else?”

  The eyes that met hers were patiently amused. “You tell me.”

  Jill must have told Brody what she’d seen the night before behind the bar.

  Mouth pursed, Molly crossed her arms and looked down at her boots. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

  The gruff burst of laughter from her boss said about the same thing as her heart. She was a liar.

  “Try again. Or better, have someone cover so we can grab a beer. I think you’re going to want one.”

  He rounded the desk and threw a heavy arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his side. They walked past the bar where a couple of regulars sat, more there for the game and the meal in front of them than the beer. She thought Brody would head for their usual table, but instead, he guided them right rather than left. They didn’t open the restaurant side on Sunday nights, so the room was only lit by a handful of spots around the p
erimeter.

  “Grab the table in the corner, Moll, and I’ll get the beer.”

  Molly crossed to the far side of the room where the wall was lined with booths and slid in. A minute later, Brody was back with a couple of pints. Sitting across from her, he rapped his knuckles on the glossy surface of the table.

  “Here’s what I know,” he said, pushing his phone across the table, screen side up.

  Molly choked, heat surging to her cheeks.

  The small screen had captured a kiss that looked like it had been seconds from becoming flat-out porn. Sean had Molly wrapped around him, her jean skirt pushed up enough that she could see where every one of his fingers dug into her ass. Their mouths were fused together, his shoulders hunched forward as he held her close, her chest pressed into his, and her hands knotted in his hair. This stolen snapshot had captured their kiss completely, the need and heat etched on their features frozen in digital clarity.

  “Oh, Jill is so dead.” How could she?

  “Not Jill. Or at least not what you think,” Brody corrected. “One of the girls she was out with had been looking for a place to grab a smoke and headed out the back door. I guess she saw you guys, snapped a picture, and then went back in, laughing about the couple out back. Which was when Jill looked out. She didn’t even realize her friend had taken the picture until she posted it on Instagram. Jill saw it pretty fast and had her take it down. She even went over to her house and made sure her friend deleted it from her phone and backup storage…but she sent a copy to me first. I don’t know, maybe she figured you’d want to know what had been out there, just in case.”

  Molly’s breath left her in a slow leak. Sean tried really hard to keep a handle on his public image. He practically lived two lives to make sure pictures like this one didn’t happen.

  Brody reached for his phone, but Molly got it first, pulling it all the way in front of her.

  This was so bad. But it could have been much worse if Jill hadn’t acted so quickly. “Okay, so I guess I won’t be scheduling Jill for back-to-back closing and opening shifts until time eternal. Has Sean seen this?”