by Sam Destiny
Just as I wished Lacrosse were bigger, as more of a threat than anything, someone knocked on my door.
I didn’t hesitate long. No one ready to hurt me would knock first. I turned on the outside lights and looked through the window, seeing Dale standing there. Curious, I opened the door.
“Clare,” he whispered. I could tell he was intoxicated. “Can I come in and…come in?”
I blinked, absolutely taken aback, while Lacrosse had clearly decided he wasn’t a threat. She trotted off, probably to lay down on her blanket next to the sofa.
“Why, Dale? You live next door and it’s the middle of the night.” And why in the world was I inclined to open the door and let him in, despite the late hour?
Maybe it was because of it.
He reached for the screen door, opening it, and stepped forward. “You don’t lock your doors anyway, so I guess I’m letting myself in,” he decided, closing the space between us. I was so dumbstruck, I didn’t move.
My chin tilted up slightly as I glanced up at him, blindly reaching for the switch to turn on the hallway lights. He grasped my hand with surprising precision.
“No,” he muttered, his lips close to mine, the scent of expensive whiskey and his cologne, a heady mix, hitting my nostrils.
“No what? If you want to talk, I at least need to see you,” I replied, finally taking a step back. There weren’t many reasons Dale Harris would be here this late at night, and it definitely didn’t involve shouting.
“I don’t wanna talk.” His words had a soft edge, tinged by alcohol, but they weren’t slurred, making me wonder if he were actually drunk.
“Dale—”
He cupped the back of my neck and silenced me with a kiss that left me weak-kneed. His tongue teased mine, dancing a slow tango, and my heart skipped a few beats as I tried coming up with all the reasons this was possibly the worst idea ever.
First, we were neighbors, and second, we hated each other. He made my life hell, had since I’d moved in, but I had to admit I made it just as hard on him.
I couldn’t help but think the only thing we had in common was the fact we both loved his daughter.
“As I sat in that bar and started checking out the ladies, I wanted to go home with one, wanted to get lost in one for just a few hours. But all I could think was that none of them looked like you. None of them sounded like you.”
Oh god, his words were a warning in and of themselves, but I found myself drawn in by his confession because sometimes, when I was weak and had no defenses left, I pictured him taking me against the shower wall, his strong arms holding me up while he drove into me and made me see stars.
“You needed someone to scream at you? To throw you out? You’ve come to the right place,” I replied, wanting to put up a fight, but hoping he wouldn’t leave.
He caged me between himself and the wall, one hand on either side of my head, as his lower body pressed into me, the feeling of his erection causing a delicious shiver to run down my spine.
“Just give me two hours, then you can kick me out,” he murmured against my lips and kissed me again, letting his hands roam, cupping my breasts through my flimsy shirt.
My nipples pebbled and, Jesus Christ on a cracker, wetness pooled between my legs as he dominated the kiss, as if letting me know I’d never stood a chance to begin with.
And maybe, just maybe, he was right about that.
His lips traveled down my jaw as one hand found its way into my sweatpants. Before I got a chance to protest, to pretend I didn’t want that, didn’t feel the burning need to have him inside me, his finger brushed across my clit before sinking into me without preamble. I gasped, a moan leaving my lips.
His forehead came to rest against mine and I felt as if I were getting drunk on the air we shared. “Fuck, Clare, you’re so wet. God…” The pad of his thumb brushed across my middle, circling the small bundle of nerves, while his finger pumped in and out of me. I grabbed his biceps, holding on for dear life, my legs threatening to give out with every new wave of burning hot pleasure I felt.
I couldn’t remember the last guy who’d taken his time to actually make me feel something instead of just chasing his own pleasure, and I most certainly didn’t recall anyone ever bringing me to the delicious edge as fast as he was.
“Hands on,” I muttered. His hand stilled, giving me a brief second to sort myself out as he gave me a questioning look in the moonlit hallway.
“What?”
My breath came in short bursts, my body aching for the release he’d promised with his touch. I licked my lips.
“I need my hands on you,” I clarified, then grabbed the hem of his shirt, immediately regretting the loss of his hand between my legs. I pulled it off, pressing my palms against his chest, scratching my nails across his nipples. He shivered.
“Change of position,” he decided. I couldn’t agree more, thinking it wouldn’t hurt to have him lose his pants on the way to wherever he decided he’d take me.
He yanked off my top, discarding it onto the floor, before unhooking my bra and depositing that as he moved me away from the wall and toward the stairs. I fumbled with the button of his jeans and pushed my hands into the waistband, finding he’d been a man on a mission because he’d gone commando.
As I brushed my fingertips across his ass, I couldn’t help but feel jealous of all the faceless women he’d considered for the night—soon changing to happiness that he’d come to me instead.
But when his lips closed around my nipple, every thought left my brain as I let the wave of longing wash away my worries, leaving only desire in its wake.
DALE
I shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t want this with every fiber of my being, but the moment my fingertips felt Clare’s arousal, I knew I wouldn’t leave before we had fucked. I hadn’t lied about the way none of the women at the bar had compared to her. After three whiskeys, my inhibitions left me. So I’d downed a beer, grabbed a cab, and came straight here.
Twirling my tongue around her taught nipple, I moaned when her nails dug into my ass, a small whimper leaving her lips.
Yes, pretty lady. No matter what my mother said, I had come out tonight with a plan.
God, I needed my mouth where my fingers had been earlier, then I needed my dick buried inside of her.
I didn’t bother asking where the bedroom was or trying to steer her into the living room. Instead, I gently placed her on the stairs leading to the upper floor, knowing it wasn’t the most comfortable place, but it was the most convenient one.
She didn’t seem to mind as I nudged her to lift her hips, drawing her sweatpants and panties down in one move. The pale moonlight cascading through the windows was just enough to make me see her skin, yet I tried to tell myself I just needed to get my dick wet.
It wasn’t true.
I sucked her other nipple, my hand going back to her core. She breathed out another moan, the sound turning me on more than I thought possible.
As it was, my cock started leaking, demanding attention and not getting any.
It was better that way. I wanted Clare on the edge once I drove into her, and I definitely wanted her to take something good away from this, too, no matter how selfish my appearance at her door had been.
“Dale, I…I need…something. God… More. Just give me more,” she pleaded. I moved her up a few more steps before I positioned myself between her legs, sweeping my tongue across her middle.
“Fuck,” Clare muttered, her legs falling open wider. I let my fingers join the action, pushing two inside her while I licked and teased her clit, bit her thighs softly, then continued teasing her again. When I felt her tremble, I decided to torture myself and her just a little bit longer.
With my free hand, I reached into my jeans, squeezing my erection, hoping to tone down the feeling. I hadn’t even been touched, yet I was ready to explode just from the sounds she made, the way she writhed beneath me.
The tip of my tongue circled her clit. I made sure to keep
the pressure light, barely there, causing her to whimper.
“Stop messing around, Dale,” she ordered, sounding angry.
I chuckled, kissing her again. It was funny how much I enjoyed toying with her, having my hands on her full breasts, feeling her shiver against me.
“You freaking ass,” she groaned. “I was so damn close!”
I laughed now, realizing how tender it sounded. It freaked me out. To turn all tenderness off, I pushed down my jeans and reached into the back pocket while holding myself up with one arm.
I held out the condom pack and she tore it open with her teeth, then reached between us to roll it on.
Holy shit. That alone almost made me come. I bit down on my lip, hoping to keep myself from ruining this before it really started.
She wrapped her legs around me, using her feet to push down my jeans farther until I could easily kick them off, then lifted her hips to nudge my erection.
“Bedroom?” I asked in an attempt to make this somewhat more comfortable. I was half-kneeling, half-lying on her, and I knew the steps pushing into her back had to be a little painful, but she just shook her head.
“Stairs. Now.”
I wanted to say something, gather her close, but realized how those gestures weren’t about a quick fuck. I tempered those feelings, along with the need to kiss her.
“This is just a fuck, right, Dale? We need to set the terms.”
I hesitated, my whiskey-riddled brain wanting to tell her maybe this could be more, but I reminded myself that this was Clare, my annoying neighbor, and I nodded.
“Just a fuck. We’re adults, right?”
Clare just wrapped her legs tighter around my hips, my tip meeting her wet entrance, my eyes nearly rolling back into my head. God, I wanted this, needed to be inside her, but I had to keep my emotional distance. Clare Delaney was the last complication I needed in my life.
“Just move already, Harris, before I finish myself,” she snapped. I didn’t need to be asked twice.
With one flex of my hips, I was inside of her, pausing to get used to the feeling, to swallow down the need to drive my dick in and out of her until I shot my load.
Damn. She’s so tight and warm…and feels like heaven.
“Hell yes,” she whispered, and I chuckled, moving my other knee up to have more leverage—and to bring a little more distance between us. I leaned in to bite down on one hard nipple while slowly rolling my hips, feeling her fingertips brushing across my arms before her nails dug into my skin.
I forced myself to set a steady rhythm, almost punishing, wondering what I was trying to prove. Part of me wanted to draw this out, to make sure it lasted, while the other part was ready to finish as quickly as possible, then bring her up to the bedroom and do it all over again, taking my time during the next round.
One of her hands slid between us. I felt her fingers brush against my cock as she started to tease her clit, her walls clenching around me, making me grit my teeth.
I’d slept with a few women in my life…hell, Jacky and I had a busy sex life even after Sally was born…but I couldn’t remember ever being as confused about sex as I was at that moment.
Suddenly, she sat up, forcing me to switch positions with her, then she started riding me, her breasts bouncing up and down. I caught one nipple between my lips, rolling the other between my fingers while she took the pleasure she needed, her wet middle taking me deeper.
“Fuck, Delaney. I’m close to coming. You’d better—”
She leaned down and bit my shoulder, her walls clenching around my dick, as if on a mission. I pushed into her twice more and came so hard, I nearly saw stars I was squeezing my eyes shut so tightly.
She rode out the waves, moving carefully, teasingly, until I couldn’t stand any movement anymore, my dick spent, my brain muddled.
This definitely had been my worst, yet best idea ever. When she sank against me, I refrained from wrapping my arms around her. That would be too intimate, too confusing, and definitely not something I’d do after just a fuck.
“Holy shit. Thank you. I hadn’t realized how much I needed that,” Clare stated, standing. I carefully removed the condom and tied it closed, then padded off into her kitchen to dispose of it, not seeing the garbage can.
She passed by, her skin cool, and opened a door underneath her sink, then stepped back.
Awkward didn’t even begin to cover the situation, especially as she pushed my clothes into my hands.
“Here.” She waited as I dressed in her dark kitchen. I hated myself at that moment. I should’ve at least taken her to the living room instead of ravaging her on the stairs.
“Thank you.”
I didn’t know what I was thanking her for, but heard her choke out a disbelieving cough. Maybe I should’ve said something, should’ve tried to make this less of a disaster, but I was a guy who used whiskey as his excuse for everything. So I gave her a peck on the cheek and walked out the door, not pausing until I stood on my own porch.
Holy shit, my mother was right. All a one-night stand would create was a mess, and I’d certainly created one of epic proportions.
CLARE
I wished I could say I regretted that night, those few moments, with Dale.
I also wished I could say there wasn’t a repeat performance, but there had been. A few, in fact. Three weeks after the first time, with his mother still in town, he’d snuck out three more times, being intoxicated only the first two. What he told himself afterward, how he justified his actions, I didn’t know.
I just knew what I told myself—we were adults and could do as we pleased.
I also told myself I didn’t care that we never talked, or that it was like a hit-and-run each time.
Or that I absolutely didn’t long for him to hold me close, kiss the side of my head, linger for just another minute before he left.
Frankly, the thought of his visits preoccupied my brain, even when I tried to work. I’d opted to work from home, my mind on nothing but the way Dale had claimed my body yet again last night.
Lacrosse sat next to me, her tail wagging as she waited for me to decide whether I would try to focus or take her for a walk instead.
When there was a knock on the door, Lacrosse bounded over, the prospect of someone playing with her too exciting to remind her that she was supposed to keep watch over me.
“You’re a sucky guard dog,” I muttered as I got up and opened the door to a woman I’d seen around but had never spoken to—Dale’s mother.
My cheeks heated as I mentally went over my house and how presentable it would be if I asked her in.
“Miss Delaney, I’m—”
“I know,” I interrupted. “Do you want to come in, Mrs. Harris?” I stepped aside, hoping she wouldn’t look around too closely. She nodded, pausing to lean down and scratch Lacrosse behind the ears.
“I heard so much about you, pretty puppy. My granddaughter is absolutely in love with you,” she cooed, and I couldn’t help but smile as I led her to the living room.
“I’m sorry there’s dog hair all over. Lacrosse doesn’t understand that the couch is not for her.” Truthfully, I allowed her on there and didn’t have the heart to tell her to move whenever she snuggled up next to me.
Dale’s mother laughed. “No worries, child. It’s her home, so I need to adapt.” She sat and winked at me. “Besides, if I’m covered in her hair, maybe she’ll accept me as one of her pack.”
I shook my head, smiling, then remembered my manners. “Can I offer you anything? I was about to make myself some tea.”
She shook her head. “Thank you. I’m fine for now, but I’ll wait until you’re back with yours.”
I debated about going to the kitchen, then decided against it.
“It’s not that pressing. It would’ve just been something to do besides work.” I sat on the armchair across from her.
“What do you do?”
I shrugged. “Office work. Invoices, account checking, paying bills, answerin
g emails, typing out letters. Those kinds of things. There aren’t too many people in the office currently, so it’s slow and I can work from home a couple times a week. I won’t lie, though. I’m more productive when I’m at the office.” I winked, making her smirk.
“I know that feeling.” She turned serious then. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here.”
I nodded. “I won’t lie. It’s unexpected.”
Mrs. Harris clasped her hands together in her lap. “Besides the fact that Sally is at daycare playing and Dale’s at work carrying God-knows-what to God-knows-where causing me to be bored, I’m curious. Did you meet Jacky before she was taken from Dale?”
Ah, his wife. “I didn’t. I moved here after everything happened. Dale and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, so I don’t know anything about her.
Except that it had been brutal. The whole neighborhood knew that.
Her eyes reminded me of Dale’s, his just as warm as hers, and her hair was white as a sheet. I still couldn’t put my finger on how old she was because her face seemed youthful, her eyes alight with curiosity.
“He’s been lonely ever since she died. They’d been high school sweethearts. I don’t think Dale ever knew what true love was.”
I choked on air, surprised to hear his mother say something like that, especially to a stranger. “The way it sounded, they were very much in love. Besides, you can find love in high school. Lifelong love, too.” I hadn’t, but I heard it happened.
“Miss Delaney—”
“Call me Clare. You calling me ‘Miss’ makes me feel older than I already am,” I replied. I had no idea why my biological clock ticked so loudly lately, but it did. It was almost all I could hear some days.
“You’re still young, Clare, and the fact that you’re here without your own family tells me you, too, have never really loved. Let me be blunt.” I wondered how much more blunt she could get. After all, she didn’t exactly hold back with her opinions…about anything. “Dale knows he needs someone in his life, but lately, I have a feeling he’s compensating that need with one-night stands, and that’s…” She sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s the solution to his problem. However, I’ve seen the way he sometimes looks over here, heard the way he speaks about you and his daughter. You like Sally, don’t you?”