The Friday night crowd was thick, but my eyes still found her with ease. She sat at the bar, facing her blonde friend—the same girl that had ditched her the night we met. The relief I felt in my chest was unorthodox. She glanced up and saw me, the smile on her face deepening when our eyes locked.
I wanted to move through the crowd and make my way to her, but I didn’t know what I’d say to her, so I headed to the other side of the bar and ordered a whiskey.
Sliding the tumbler to me, the bartender took the bill I passed with a flirty smile. I looked past her, watching as Gwen’s friend stood. They hugged, and the blonde grabbed her purse before leaving the bar.
When the door swung shut behind her, Gwen turned her head to look at me. I held her gaze, lifting the tumbler to my lips, unable to resist undressing her in my mind’s eye.
She gave me a crooked smile and stood, picking up her clutch and moving around the length of the L-shaped bar to join me on the opposite side.
She’d changed into a little black skirt, the hem falling just below the swell of her ass. Sliding into the free stool beside me, she brushed a strand of her long hair behind her ear.
“Fancy seeing you here,” she said as though she’d known the whole time I’d show. She bit her lip as she stared at my mouth. She exhaled, and I felt the heat of her breath envelop me.
“Yeah. I probably shouldn’t have come,” I confessed. Her brow furrowed with confusion.
“And why not?” she asked, tilting her head, trying to figure me out.
“Well, you are the boss’s daughter.”
“So?” she arched her brows pointedly. “I don’t plan on telling him, do you?”
“No,” I replied, pausing to take a sip of whiskey. I was nursing it, but my throat felt impossibly dry.
“Well, then. We’re on the same page there. Next issue?” she asked, almost as if delegating a legal document.
“I’m not in the place for a relationship,” I repeated the words from two weeks ago, wondering if they sounded as hollow as they felt.
“I never asked for a one,” she replied, blinking once.
“What do you want, then?” I asked, looking at her dead on. Reading the curve of her lips, the vulnerability in her eyes, and the hesitation in her movements.
Her white teeth sunk into her bottom lip and she shrugged. “A casual sex friend, maybe?” I chuckled, shaking my head a little, thinking she was joking. “I’m serious. I want some no-strings-attached fun, and, well, I had a lot of fun with you…if you know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean,” I said, my voice a little gravelly, remembering how much fun we’d had together. I glanced longingly at her lips, considering my options. “What’s the likelihood of you father dropping in unannounced?”
“One percent?” She shrugged. “I mean, you’re more likely to run into Kelsey, and she wouldn’t blab about this to our dad. Trust me.”
“Who’s Kelsey?”
“She’s my sister...the girl that just left? She was there the night we met? Obviously, she knew we hooked up before I knew we worked together,” she replied. “Kelsey’s just happy to see my interest in men is somewhat restored.”
“You have an interest in me?” I cocked a brow, fighting off a smile.
“Duh.” She rolled her eyes playfully, her dimples flashing. “You’ve got an incredible body, and you know how to use it, so I’d say I’m definitely interested. But honestly, I can’t handle a relationship either. I just want…casual.”
Gwen was offering me up rare liberty, one that I selfishly wanted to take advantage of. “All right, Gwen. We’ll give it a try.”
“Your place or mine?” she asked, tilting her head and giving me a sultry smile. I barely had to think about it.
“Your place is closer,” I said, and she nodded in agreement before standing and turning for the door. Abandoning my whiskey, I followed her onto the street.
“Kelsey drove. I told her I’d find my own way back.”
“Seems you did,” I joked, my stomach churning with nervousness the closer we got to my truck. I wanted her, desperately, and yet my adrenaline surged, my nerves tingling with the impending storm. Instinct told me to tread carefully, but the hesitation faded when she slipped her fingers through mine.
She dragged me down a narrow alley between two stores, turning to press her hand against my chest and backing me up against the nearest brick wall, as if she sensed my internal pause and wanted to chase away my apprehension with her touch.
Her hands dropped down my torso, her fingers pressing the thin material of my shirt into my flesh. She lifted the hem, her nails raking against the space between my lower abs and hip flexors.
Encompassed in the dark, we were alone, the only sound was our bated breath. A thousand unspoken secrets lingered between us. I lowered my head, capturing her lips and kissing her. My hands tangled in her hair, and I deepened the kiss.
“It’s strictly a thing of convenience,” she assured me—or maybe herself—when I pulled my lips from hers to look at her, to give her another chance to rethink what we were about to do, her hands brushed against my straining erection, applying just a touch of pressure, enough to drive me beyond reason. “At work we’re colleagues, and after hours…we’re booty-call friends. If you’re otherwise occupied, I’ll find something else to do with my time.”
“Such as what?” I growled, my eyes narrowing in on her face. Her words were offhand, and they should have soothed me. But I didn’t like the idea of her occupying her time with another guy in the slightest.
“Does it matter?” she retorted, arching a delicate brow at me, her smile playful and chalk full of delicious sin. I swallowed my answer as her lips found mine again. She tugged at my bottom lip with her teeth, elevating my worries and fueling my urgency.
I hadn’t been able to chase her from my mind in two weeks, and I was tired of fighting it. Having to see her frequently and not do a thing about the burning need I felt to bury myself in her again was exhausting, and she was propositioning a solution that could work.
It was a dangerous game, but I wanted to at least try to play it. I knew it’d be worth the risk.
My hands slipped beneath her skirt, and I gripped her ass, tugging her body against me, my denim-clad cock aching to be inside her. “Let’s go,” I ordered, setting her down and taking her hand, tugging her the rest of the way to my truck.
I unlocked the doors, and we climbed in, stealing glances full of anticipation the entire seven-minute drive to her apartment. I parked out front, walked around the front of my truck, and met her on the sidewalk. She took my hand, grinning, and led me up the walkway to the glass doors to her apartment.
Someone had propped the door open with a brick, and music filtered down from an apartment toward the back of the building.
“Is that safe?” I frowned, looking up the stairs to the second floor. I could see the doorway to her apartment.
“Probably not.” She shrugged, opening the door and stepping over the brick. She kicked it back with a cheeky grin, and we walked upstairs, the door slamming shut and locking behind us. “Some of my neighbours lack common sense—and common decency,” she added, pulling her keys from her purse.
“At least you’re self-aware!” the elderly lady across the hall snipped, slamming her door abruptly.
“Does your neighbour wait by her door for you to get home or something?” I asked, recalling her from the night I met Gwen.
“It seems that way,” she grinned, her eyes dancing with humour. “I think she just likes to get her jabs in.” She looked at her neighbour’s door thoughtfully before shaking her head and unlocking the door to her apartment.
I pressed against her from behind, laying a sucking kiss to the side of her neck. She shivered, her breath tumbling from her lips, and pushed the door open. She turned her chin to look at me as I ran my hand along her ribs.
Walking us through the open door into her apartment, I paused long enough to close the door and lock i
t behind me, while she moved just out of my reach and slipped her shoes off.
My eyes never left the curve of Gwen’s ass displayed in a remarkable black leather skirt, the hem of it ending just below her knees. Her red halter top left her shoulders and back exposed.
If I had to take a guess on what her favourite colour was, I’d have to go with red. If it wasn’t red, it was certainly my favourite colour on her.
The moment the door closed, Gwen was before me, her fingers tugging at my belt, freeing the buckle. Distracted by the hard planes of my abdomen, she raked her hands against my flesh, igniting a resounding hunger within me.
She hadn’t bothered turning on the lights, and the pale-yellow glow of a streetlight out front guided me to her. I brought my hands up to frame her face, lowering mine to kiss her deeply.
As we kissed, she popped the button of my jeans and yanked the zipper down, her hand slipping into my boxer briefs. Her smooth fingers wrapped around the base of my cock, her grip steadfast. Air escaped my lungs in a whoosh as she slowly pumped me. She smiled, a dare in her eyes.
She dropped to her knees, peering up at me as she slowly pulled her shirt off and unhooked her bra. Her breasts spilled forth, the nipples tight and begging to be sucked.
She let her clothes fall to the ground and took hold of my shaft, stroking it. It was such an arousing sight, and I jumped in her hand.
Gwen’s lips wrapped around the tip, and I ran fingers through her thick tresses, tugging it into a nice fist full to keep it out of her way. She started bobbing on my cock, her torturous tongue and lips working the head of me while her hands pumped my base.
I squeezed my eyelids shut, dropping my head back as I let out a carnal groan. Her mouth was heaven and hell all at once—the sweetest torture. But I wanted more.
Pulling free of her mouth, I tugged her up, my lips crashing to hers with ferocity. She responded with identical vigor, her lips and tongue stroking the fire coiling in my abdomen.
Without breaking the kiss, I picked her up. Her thighs tightened around my hips as I walked forward, toward her bedroom. My cock rubbed against her center, and I could feel how ready she was through the lace panties. I gripped her ass tighter, digging my fingers in and tugging her down against my erection.
She let out a heavy moan, her head dipping back and her pelvis arching against me. Reaching her bedroom, I dropped her down on the mattress and crawled over top of her, my hands gliding up her body to tangle in her hair. I rutted into her, brushing against the silk of her panties. I could feel her heat, feel her wetness, and it drove me delirious.
I sat up, tugging my shirt over my head before I dropped between her thighs, pushing them open. I held her gaze as I sampled her with my tongue. She let out a little whimper, her back arching off the mattress.
I groaned, her flavour bursting on my tongue and sending a jolt of desire straight to my cock. I slipped my index finger into her, and she let out a gasp of pleasure as I curled my finger and worked her sensitive bud with my lips and tongue.
“I’m going to—I’m going to come,” she panted, tightening around my finger.
Gwen
My thighs shook as I came down from oral orgasmic heaven, and I let out a shuttering breath, my skin erupting into goosebumps.
Alaric stood up, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. He grabbed a condom, ripping into the package with his eyes still on my body.
It was easy for me to throw my modesty out the window, with the lascivious way he looked at me. He kicked his jeans and boxer briefs off and rolled the condom on, his eyes slowly moving from my center—bared to him—to my navel, to my breasts, to my lips, and finally—my eyes.
The sweeping reverence I saw there made my breath hitch. There wasn’t a casual thing about it, and there was nothing casual in the way my heart reacted to it. Before I could comprehend what it all meant, Alaric was back on the mattress, moving between my thighs and settling there.
His lips pressed against mine as he entered, sliding slowly into me, giving me a moment to adjust to his girth and length.
It didn’t take me long; ever since the first night we’d spent together, my body had craved this. Him. The way he filled me, so completely, so deeply. He slid in and out of me with hard, sure thrusts, each one of them pushing me closer and closer to another freefall orgasm.
Alaric’s lips moved to the side of my neck, and kissed me there, softly at first, before he sucked down and nipped lightly.
It pushed me over the edge, and my back arched as I exploded around him. My toes curled, and I moaned through it. Alaric didn’t stop, his thrusts growing faster and harder, propelling me toward another shattering orgasm. I could feel my core tightening around him, and his brow furrowed as I clenched.
His pelvis slammed into me twice more before he buried himself inside me, as far as he could. Groaning against my neck, he came.
I took a shuttering breath, clenching around him, milking every drop. He let out a quiet laugh, drawing out and flopping beside me.
“I think we both needed that,” I remarked, my voice a little shaky still. I turned to look at him, my cheeks flushed and my pulse racing.
“I think you’re right,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Maybe if you hadn’t tortured me all week, I might have displayed more restraint.”
“I didn’t torture you.” I laughed. “Did I?”
He gave me a look, cocking his brows and gazing lewdly at my body. “I think you knew what you were doing.”
“Not really, but I’m glad it worked,” I admitted, smirking. “You aren’t planning on leaving before midnight, are you, Cinderella?” I arched a brow at him.
He chuckled, shaking his head a little, his hand finding the curve of my hip. “I’ve got some time.”
10
Booty Call
Alaric
She fell asleep in my arms again, and this time, I hesitated even longer when it came time for me to leave.
I shouldn’t stay, it would give the wrong impression. But I wanted to stay even more than I had the first night.
This time, Tig was waiting back home, so I had no choice but to ease from her bed. She slept on, too spent to be roused by my subtle movements. This time, I left a note with my phone number on her nightstand.
I locked her door, trudging to my truck, moments from earlier washing over me and chipping away at my armour. She was easy, friendly and engaging—and strangest yet, I enjoyed talking to her.
We didn’t talk about heavy things, just safe topics—topics you’d discuss with just about anyone. We both had walls around our hearts.
But when we touched, we both spoke a different language, one that wasn’t that of walls. It was a language of unbridled passion. She awoke something that resided so deep inside of me; I’d forgotten it was there until she set it free.
It was a surreal thing, to carry this knowledge after two heated hookups, but Gwen was like a drug. She’d quietly slipped into my system, and now I was hooked.
I told myself that I could balance it all—work, Sawyer, her. Keep it all separate, keep the lines from blurring, but I knew it was a lie.
Already, I craved her.
At nine o’clock the next evening, my cell phone buzzed with a text from an unfamiliar number. I’d just hopped out of the shower after a day of clearing the weeds from the gardens out back. I wanted to get the heavy, potentially boring work out of the way for my next weekend with Sawyer.
And, I’d needed to do something to occupy my time. I hadn’t heard a whisper from Gwen all day, and I felt both relieved and a little disappointed by that. Leaving my number had been a momentous thing to do, something I hadn’t done since Cheryl.
But I’d asked for casual, and she’d pressed that she needed it too, and I was relieved by the silence while being simultaneously tormented by it.
I grabbed my phone off the bathroom counter a little too eagerly. Unlocking it, my eyes slid across the screen as I read the message twice.
Hey, it�
��s Gwen. Just wanted to let you know…I had a lot of fun last night. Feel free to text me any time you want a repeat. ;)
Her message alone gave me a half-chub, and the invitation behind it only added to that. I wanted to hop on my bike and drive out to see her, but it was too soon.
Me: Duly noted. I’ll definitely take you up on that offer. ;) I sent back as I strolled into my bedroom. I set my phone on the top of my dresser, pulling open drawers for a pair of well-worn jeans and a t-shirt. I dressed, unwilling to acknowledge how frequently my eyes darted to my phone.
Then it rang, vibrating against the counter, and I picked it up quickly.
“Hi, Mom,” I said, leaving the bedroom and walking down the stairs. “Sorry I missed your call earlier. I was doing some yard work.” I crossed over to the refrigerator. I opened it, grabbing a beer from the shelf, and closed it. Cracking the top, I took a deep sip, my eyes going to the clock above the microwave as I drank.
“That’s all right; I figured you were busy.” She said without an ounce of irritation. My mom knew me well—she knew I was a lot like my father, that I couldn’t stay idle. She never took my silences personally, which made me feel guiltier for disappearing on her as often as I had. “I’m just calling to make sure it’s still okay that I come out next weekend?”
“Of course, we’re both looking forward to seeing you. Sawyer wanted to do the gardens, so we’re going to be planting some things.” Mom loved gardening; it was one of her favourite pastimes.
“That’s wonderful!” Mom said, and I could hear how excited she was. “Well, I’m just about to head out with the girls. We’re going to catch a movie!”
“Have fun.” I smiled. “Talk to you later. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too,” she said fondly. “I’ll call you later this week.”
I was just about to put my boots on and head to the garage when I realized I’d received a new message.
Gwen: Would it be casual if I told you I’m horny for you? Because I am. If you’re not busy, you should come over for a bit. If you are busy…well. I’ll just have to entertain myself ;)
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