Chapter 6 - Luke
I look around Gabriella’s humble home as she disappears down the hall to the bathroom. Her mix-matched chairs surrounding the small table in the corner of her kitchen make me smile. Judging by her place, it isn’t hard to see that she isn’t living high on the hog. Why is it that the people who have the least always seem to give the most of themselves? In Gabriella’s case, I understand how her life shaped her into the kind woman I’ve had the good fortune of meeting today. But, in general, it always seems to be the people who have barely enough for themselves who will give you the shirt off their backs.
“There, you should be all set!” Gabriella walks toward me beaming. Her soft smile wears down the hard edges that have formed around my heart, protecting it from the cruelty of the world. When I see her face, when she smiles at me like that, it isn’t hard to believe in the goodness I’ve stopped searching for out there.
“Thanks again for doing this,” I start, but she holds up her hands to silence me and my words dry up. I kick off my shoes and hang my thin, dirty jacket on a hook before following her down to the bathroom.
“Okay, so I’ve got fresh towels, lots of soaps and shampoos and stuff like that. Feel free to use any of it. Also, I don’t know if you want to take a bath, but if you do I have some bubble bath under the sink you can use,” she explains.
“No, just a shower will be fine,” I answer and she lingers at my side. I can smell her vanilla perfume as she hovers beside me. For the briefest of moments, I let myself get lost in the idea of her. In an alternate universe where Gabriella and I could’ve been something. Where we could have been everything.
My gaze catches our reflection in the bathroom mirror and reality sets back in, popping my fantasy like a balloon. Someone like her, with her soft curves and silky hair, could never be interested in someone like me. They say the truth hurts. Well, this one is like a punch in the gut.
“Well, I should get cleaned up,” I say too loudly. I can hear the vulnerability in my words echoing off the tile, making me cringe.
“Sure, take as long as you need.” She slowly steps away from me, like there’s something else she wants or there’s something she needs to tell me. However, if she does, she leaves those words unspoken as she closes the door behind her and leaves me in the bathroom.
I quickly strip off my dingy clothes, folding them neatly in a pile and placing them on the edge of the sink. I have clean clothing in my bag, but I’m not ready to wear them yet, so these dirty ones will have to do. I can’t risk getting a stain on my shirt before my job interview.
I turn on the taps in the bathtub and run my hands under the water until the temperature is just right. Pulling up the plug that sprays the shower, I step under the warm rain and close my eyes as my muscles relax. I slide the shower curtain closed and get lost in the simple pleasure of a private, warm shower. It’s one of those things you rarely get to experience when you’re bouncing around in shelters or living in a transition house. Usually the water is freezing, if it’s even working at all. Even in the truck stops, you don’t have real privacy. It’s better, but it’s nothing compared to this.
I grab the clean cloth Gabriella laid out for me and squeeze it under the shower head before slathering soapy bubbles all over it. I take my time, carefully cleaning every square inch of my body. It’s a luxury to be able to enjoy an unhurried shower. It’s the little things that make us feel the most human.
After shampooing my hair twice, I clean my face thoroughly before finally shutting off the taps and letting the steam in the air swirl over my squeaky clean body as I reach for a towel. I dry myself off and wrap it around my waist before stepping out and noticing her toothpaste in the corner of the sink. I grab it and squeeze some out onto my finger, brushing it over my teeth as good as I can without a toothbrush and smile at myself in the mirror.
I feel like a brand-new man. It’s amazing how much better some suds and shampoo can make you feel. I glance around the bathroom, searching for my clothes, and frown. Where I had carefully piled my clothes there is a fuzzy, pink bathrobe. My jeans and shirt and underclothes have vanished, leaving me no choice but to sport the not-so-manly robe.
I shrug and tug the fluffy cotton over my shoulders, tying it tight around my waist, and walk out into the much cooler air of the hall.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I grabbed your clothes and put them in the wash. I figured there was no point in you getting all cleaned up for nothing,” Gabriella calls down to me from the kitchen.
I make my way to her voice and can smell a delicious combination of spices and tomatoes cooking as I walk in.
“I don’t mind,” I answer simply, my stomach growling loudly as I join her.
“Great! I figure we can have some dinner while we wait. I just opened a bottle of wine there.” She nods her head and her blue streaks dance around her milky face. “How about we have some drinks while I cook us some spaghetti?”
I almost forget about the silly bathrobe and walk over to the counter with the wine and glasses she’s laid out, pouring us each a drink. “This is too much,” I begin to protest.
“Nope, not at all. You’re actually doing me a favor.” She slides her head from side to side. “I hate eating alone, so it’ll be nice to have some company for once.” She grins over her shoulder at me.
My roaring stomach tells me to shut up and appreciate gifts when they’re given. It does smell amazing, and I’m not in a big hurry to get back to my crowded transition house anyway. I lift our glasses and hand her one as she stirs some deliciousness in a pot. Gabriella grabs her wine glass and turns to me, smirking at the robe surrounding my frame.
“What should we cheers to?” She nonchalantly holds her glass in front of her and tilts her head.
“How about to your generosity?” I answer.
“How about to new beginnings?” she suggests and her eyes light up bright.
“I like that,” I agree. “To new beginnings.”
Chapter 7 - Luke
“Annnd, another one bites the dust.” Gabriella holds the empty wine bottle over her glass and lets the last red drops plop into her glass. She giggles, her already rosy cheeks flushing more as she stands up on wobbly legs, and walks the empty bottle over to the kitchen counter. “Should I open another one? It’s not that late.” Her eyes shine over at me on the couch.
“No, no,” I protest, holding up my still-full glass. “I think two bottles is more than enough. I should call a cab soon. I still have to get back and get some sleep for my interview tomorrow,” I explain.
Her eyebrows furrow together and her face drops as she pushes out her plump lip in a pout. “No! Don’t leave. Not yet, it’s still so early. Besides”—she slowly walks back into the room, swinging the sensual curve of her hips with every deliberate step—“there are other things we can do before you have to go to sleep, you know.” Her brown eyes narrow onto me and I let my gaze lick every inch of her sexy body like my tongue is salivating to do.
I haven’t been with a woman in so long, I feel like I’d destroy her. It would be hard to take my time with someone so innocent and naughty. My hand grips tight around my glass as I imagine ripping her clothes off her and fucking her like a feral man. My cock tightens slightly against the clean, dry jeans she washed for me earlier and I’m so thankful that I have the barrier of denim instead of that fluffy pink bathrobe to hide my aching need for her.
I tell myself that she’s had too much wine, that I should go, that I might be too rough on her or that she might change her mind about all of this tomorrow. I want her. I can practically taste her on my tongue. I can almost feel her heat pressed against me. But I know, in my heart, that I can’t let this happen. Not like this.
She stops at the edge of the sofa and straddles my leg, with a potent lust in her eyes that almost makes me change my mind.
Almost.
I stand up abruptly and her eyes grow wide as our bodies press tight together. For a moment, I let her feel how hard
she’s made my cock. For a moment I let myself soak up her perfume through my flared nostrils and exhale her scent on my ragged breath. For a moment, we get lost into each other’s eyes and I question all of my morals as the hypnotic siren call of desire takes over my senses. A million scenarios run through my head, and she’s not wearing a stitch of clothes in any of them.
Gabriella swallows hard and her eyelashes flutter like butterfly wings. Before she has a chance to say another word, I swoop her up into my arms, carrying her like a virgin bride across the threshold. “I think you need to get some sleep,” I murmur and from the way she snuggles into my chest, I know I’m right. I walk her out of the room and over to the stairs, carrying her up effortlessly to the second floor.
“No, I don’t.” She stifles a yawn as I nod knowingly. I walk her down to the open door at the end of the hall where I can see her sprawling bed waiting for her. I gently ease her down on the mattress and pull back the covers, tucking her in carefully before turning to leave. Gabriella springs up in the bed as panic tattoos her face. “No! Don’t leave me. Please don’t go,” she pleads, her hands reaching out toward me in desperation.
I stop in my tracks, looking at the door and then back at her. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Gabriella.” I force the words from my throat that I’ve been choking on.
“Please.” She tilts her head and her eyelids half close. “You can go to your interview from here. I’ve already got an alarm set for seven. I just, I need you to stay tonight.”
I slip in under the covers next to her, fully dressed. “I’ll stay, but, Gabriella, can you do something for me?” I relax back into her mattress and instantly the tension I’ve been carrying for a lifetime eases away.
“What’s that?” she purrs, snuggling into me and grinding up onto my thigh.
“No, not that.” I wrap my arms around her and pull her in tight. “Can you just let me hold you, like this?” I explain as she settles down onto my chest and I run my fingertips through her hair. “I just need to hold you,” I murmur. I don’t tell her that I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this close to anyone. How it feels like I’m finally crossing a canyon of loneliness just by holding her against me. How she’s quelled the insistent, endless ache in my soul. Instead, I listen to her breathing deepen as sleep takes her and I kiss her on the top of the head.
This has to be what paradise is like, because this moment is perfection.
Chapter 8 - Gabriella
Way-way-way!
The alarm clock screams at me and I roll over in bed, slapping the edges of my bedside table blindly before swatting the snooze button. My fingers press down on the long bar, but the noise keeps going. It takes me more than a second to realize it’s coming from my cell phone, not the alarm. I peer over at the time and am surprised to see it’s already ten to nine. Lucky for me, I don’t open my salon until after lunch today. My head is a bit fuzzy and my eyelids are still heavy as I lie back in bed and think about my night.
Wait a minute!
I sit up in a flash and my eyelids pop open as I search my room for Luke. My heart clenches tight in my chest. Did he sneak out on me? I go over my memories from last night with a fine-tooth comb, searching for clues about what I could have said or done to make him leave.
Heat creeps over my cheeks as I remember my feeble attempts to seduce him. Even though it’s a bit embarrassing, I’m kind of glad he shut me down. I wouldn’t want anything to start between us just because we were drunk. Well, more like I was drunk. I shake my head as the memory of him carrying me up to my room plays out in my mind.
But, I thought he stayed? Did he just wait for me to fall asleep and leave? The idea stabs into my gut and twists like a knife. I know I don’t really know Luke, not really, but after the time we spent together yesterday, I felt like I did. I felt like we had a very real connection. Was I just a drunken and deluded fool? Sadness tugs down my lips like a marionette as I slide out of bed and pad across the floor to the hall.
“Luke?” I tilt my head, but there’s no answer. Not a peep. I don’t need to search the entire house to know he’s not in it, yet I can’t stop myself. I rush down the stairs searching for some sign of him. Maybe a note or some indication that he was even here, but there’s nothing. It hurts more than it should. Just another man to abandon me. To leave my life without a trace. Tears well up, blurring my vision as the old feelings wash over me. The ones of not being good enough. Not being loveable.
“Fuck.” My voice wavers as I try to muster up some anger. It’s unconvincing at best. I want to get mad, to push away the darkness before it consumes me. To turn the pain into a rage that burns bright inside me rather than a flood of despair for me to drown in. I sweep my fingers over my tear-stained face and go down to the bathroom. I can’t stand here and wallow in self-pity. I need to get ready for my day.
In the bathroom I get my teeth brushed and focus on one thing I can control. My hair. It sounds simple, it sounds stupid, but one of the reasons I got into cutting and dying hair is because of how much impact it can have on you. It can change your mood, it can change how people see you. Isn’t there a famous quote about how if a woman changes her hair, she’s about to change her life? I believe that. I’ve lived it.
I start brushing out my long brown hair, admiring how the light glimmers against the blue streaks, and try to focus on how I’m going to style it today.
Ding-dong!
I jump in place and stare into my own eyes in the mirror. That’s not the alarm or my phone, it’s the doorbell. I drop the brush against the porcelain vanity with a clang and try not to run down the hall to the front door. I don’t bother looking through the peephole. Instead, I swing the door open and smile as I see his face.
Standing on my doorstep in dress pants that are form-fitting but not tight and a dress shirt is the man I’ve been craving since I met him yesterday. His blue eyes are intense as they peruse my face. A smile curls at his lips and I can see he’s just as happy to see me as I am to see him.
Luke.
“Come in.”
Chapter 9 - Luke
She steps back and I walk back inside. I can barely contain the excitement building up inside me, my hands are trembling as I grab her hands.
“Gabriella! I got the job!”
Her eyes light up and she yelps, jumping up. I lift her and swing her around the entryway as she locks her legs around my waist. I love how happy she sounds as she squeals with delight. Holding her tight against me, my hands cupping her firm ass, I stop dead in my tracks. Gabriella’s eyes travel down over my face and settle onto my lips as I hover my mouth over hers. I cover her lips in a tender but firm kiss, urging them to part for me, and smile when our tongues finally collide together in a dance of passion that I’ve been trying to suppress from the moment I first laid eyes on her.
I slowly walk her toward the wall and her back hits against it with a soft thud as I pin her there, our lips never breaking from the kiss we both seem to need so badly. I can’t contain this anymore, and I’ve run out of reasons why I should. I hold her against the wall and run my hands under her shirt, the same one she was wearing last night. I tug the fabric free from her body and my fingers make quick work of removing the bra she passed out in. Her tits are stunning. My mouth waters as I take her tiny rosebud nipple into my mouth and flicker my tongue over the tip.
Gabriella rolls her head back against the wall, moaning my name as she shudders against me. My cock presses painfully against the zipper of my pants, but I still hold her tight, taking my time with her nipples. Kissing and suckling them as she arches her back, pressing her tits out into my face. I need to take it slow now, because I know when I fuck her, when I make her mine, there will be nothing holding me back.
I gently place her feet back down onto the floor and as soon as she opens her eyes, I can see the unasked question in them. “I thought I’d be back earlier, maybe even before you woke up.” I explain, kissing a trail down her ribs as I slide to my knees in
front of her.
“I thought you left without saying goodbye.” Her voice shakes.
“Never. I would never do that to you,” I answer solemnly and unbutton her pants. I tug them and her panties down her supple curves and over her legs until they pool at her feet. Gabriella steps out of them as I settle between her legs, admiring her neatly trimmed pussy. I brush the edge of my finger over her glistening lips, breathing in her natural perfume before pushing my tongue between them and sliding it flat all the way up to her clit.
She cries out and tangles her fingers in my hair as I grab her thick thighs and spread them, making her open her legs in a wider stance. As she does, I bury my mouth in past her lips, diving my tongue deep into her pussy, and moan as she clenches down on it tight. There’s no way I’m going to be able to take it easy on her or go slow. Not when she’s so fucking wet but so fucking tight. My cock throbs painfully, begging to be released, but I grip Gabriella’s legs and swirl my tongue over her clit instead. I want to make sure she’s ready for me. I want to hear her scream my name as I take her to new heights.
Gabriella’s legs quiver in my hands and her fingers tug at my hair as I relentlessly thrash my tongue over her sweet, little clit. Her muscles tense and tighten as her pleasure builds. I release one of my hands and thrust my fingers inside her tight pussy, finger fucking her slowly at first, then faster as I eat her sweet peach.
Her breathing grows ragged and her entire body stiffens as I surround her clit with my lips and twirl my tongue over her clit. “Oh! Luke!” A long shudder runs down the entire length of her frame as she pants above me. Her bliss washes over her and her muscles go limp as I stand back up and quickly strip off my clothes.
Hot, Quick & Dirty: 12 Steamy Short Stories Page 11