by K. A. Linde
“Well?” I prompted when she said nothing.
“I think you want me there, but you like me here, too.”
Well, if that isn’t the damn truth.
I closed the distance between us and turned her to face me. My hands slid down the sides of her dress as I whispered in her ear, “I want you any way I can have you.”
She cleared her throat as I felt her body reacting to my nearness.
“I’ll be sure to remember that.”
Her words sounded like a promise, and I wondered what I’d gotten myself into.
When we arrived at Ari’s house right before midnight, I walked with her up to her door, all the while restraining myself from pouncing on her. Physical restraint had never been my strong suit.
Images of Ari—her lips on mine as I’d pushed her through her open doorway, her body wet from the rain, her nestled against my chest, her laughing on the boardwalk—all hit me with a fresh wave of desire. I wanted to be near her, with her, in her—and I wanted it fucking bad.
When we reached her door, I kissed her pleadingly. Please let me stay. Please let me show you everything I can do to your body. Please let me give you what we both want right now.
I wasn’t going to walk away without trying.
She whispered something so softly that I hadn’t even heard it in the breeze.
“What?” I asked.
Ari turned her head away from me, a red blush touching her cheeks and the tips of her ears. “Nothing. Sorry. Stupid of me.”
I took her chin in my hand and forced her to face me again. “What did you say, Ari?” My pulse was keeping time in my ears.
Her blush just deepened. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“If I don’t want to what?”
“Come inside…” she said quietly.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. Fuck yes, I want to come inside. That wasn’t the only place I wanted to be coming in right now.
Aribel fumbled with the key before opening the door and leading us into her place. I’d been inside before, but it was a different experience to actually be welcomed. She shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it across the back of the couch. She teetered from one foot to the other, not making eye contact with me from across the room.
“Which room is yours, Princess?”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t answer. I could see what was written on her face—I’m not going to have sex with you.
“I know,” I told her.
She startled as if I’d read her mind. “Grant…”
“Which one?”
She nodded her head behind her. When she didn’t move, I walked across the room and guided her back toward it. I could take control. That was fine with me.
Once we were in her room, my lips found hers, and my mind went on autopilot. I needed her. I needed this.
I pushed her back until her legs met the large bed in the center of the room. It was one of those fancy-ass beds that was too high to sit on comfortably. A million useless throw pillows lay on top, and I reached out and wiped them all from their neat arrangement. Then, I grabbed her by the backs of her legs and set her down effortlessly. Her blue dress bunched around her upper thighs, and I hardened at the sight. My hands slid up under the material, and she shivered against my touch.
“Grant,” she whispered.
I thought she’d meant it as a hesitation, but it had come out as a moan.
“St-stop.”
“Ari, please.” My voice was hoarse. I wanted something, anything at this point.
“I’m not going to—”
“I know. I know.” I held back my irritation. “I’m just going to make you feel good.”
“Grant,” she said with a definite warning in her voice.
Well, I’ll just have to fucking show her then.
I dropped to my knees in front of her and saw her eyes widen as her grip tightened on the bedspread. Good.
My hands pressed gently against her knees, spreading her legs farther apart. She squirmed uncomfortably, but I just ignored her. She’d be squirming for other reasons in a minute. I ran my fingertips ever so lightly from her knee to the sensitive skin hidden beneath her dress. She gasped at my touch. That did the trick. My lips followed. Each inch that I kissed brought a new wave of trembles from her body. The anticipation of what I was going to do was getting her riled up, and fuck was it turning me on, too.
When I reached her dress, I glanced up to get an okay to continue, but her eyes were firmly closed. The look on her face was doing anything but discouraging me. I flipped up her dress and kissed my way down the soft lace of her pale blue underwear. She quivered beneath my touch, and it took considerable effort to slow my racing heart and focus on the matter at hand.
I eased her back on the bed, so she was lying flat. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at me with a mix of desire and terror.
“Trust me,” I told her.
She swallowed and nodded.
I pulled her underwear slowly down her legs. All I wanted to do was rip them off of her as fast as I could and bury my dick inside her, but I went slow. I wanted her to be comfortable.
Who the fuck knows if she is going to let me be this close to her again after tonight? She might come to her senses and realize that I was no prince in disguise; I was just a frog waiting for a kiss from a princess.
With the barrier between us removed, I started at her knee and worked my way back up. She was practically panting by the time my mouth found her lips for the first time. I ran my tongue down the length of her and then swirled experimentally around her clit, savoring every sound of pleasure escaping her. And I wasn’t going to stop there. My tongue flicked against her until she could barely keep her hips still. I worked her into a total frenzy before finally inserting one finger into her and then another. Her body spasmed around my fingers as I worked them in and out of her.
Oh fuck. Her body was so responsive to my touch. I just wanted to feel everything that was going through her. I wanted to sink my dick into her wet pussy and ride out that wave with her, but I’d let her have hers. My own breathing was turning ragged as I brought her closer and closer to the brink.
I felt her body seize all at once around my fingers. She stiffened slightly. Her hands dug into the bedspread. When her orgasm faded out, she relaxed. No big fanfare. Typical Aribel.
“Why…why did you stop?” she asked breathily after a moment.
“Because I wanted to watch you come.”
She blushed. “Um…I didn’t.”
I leveled her with a you’re-kidding-me kind of look. “Um…yes, you did.”
“I think I’d know.”
“I’d think so, too. Want me to show you again? Because that was a fucking hot sight if I’ve ever seen one.”
What the hell is she talking about? My dick was throbbing so hard in my pants from her orgasm, and she hadn’t even known that she had one. Am I missing something?
She sat up and self-consciously covered herself. “Um…no.”
“Hey,” I said, taking her face in my hands, “it’s a compliment. I’d do it all over again to watch you one more time.”
She furiously blushed again. I took her hand in mine and placed it on the front of my pants. She jerked back really quick, but I grabbed it and laid it on my dick again.
“See what you do to me.”
“Grant,” she said softly, removing her hand again, “I don’t…I’ve never felt like this. I’m not this…”
She splayed her hands out before her, but I wasn’t sure what she’d meant. All I heard was that she’d never felt like this. About a guy? The orgasm?
I decided to push my luck. Pretty standard for me. I started climbing on top of the bed, and she scrambled backward. My hands latched on to her waist, and I laid her out flat beneath me.
“You know,” I said into her ear, “I’ve never felt like this either.”
I started grinding my hips against her, and she whimpered. Her hands gripped my forearms, ne
ither pushing me away nor pulling me closer. I wanted nothing more than to loose my dick from my pants, slide it against the wetness I’d created between her legs, and ride her as hard as she’d let me. My body was literally aching to be inside her. I was sure she could feel my need as it put pressure between her thighs.
Aribel groaned and pulled me down until my lips met hers. I indulged her as I slid my hand down her bare thigh. I reached underneath her to grab her ass, and she jumped slightly. My cock twitched as she thrust upward against me.
“Please,” I groaned. “Please, Ari.”
She shook her head, but her eyes were filled with the same desire consuming my body. I wanted so desperately to ignore her. I wanted to take what was lying beneath me, take what was mine.
Aribel Graham is mine.
Ever since Grant had left my apartment without a word three days ago, I’d been sleeping like shit. I knew that I shouldn’t agonize over what had possibly gone wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what had happened. The only thing that stuck out was the fact that I hadn’t slept with him. That must be it. He must have thought that after just one date, I’d give it up, and when I hadn’t, he’d moved on. I couldn’t think of another explanation.
And I was amazed, quite shocked actually, that I was physically and emotionally beating myself up about it. For a minute, I’d wanted to rush over to his house and offer myself. The logical side of my brain told me that wouldn’t keep him around any more than me denying him had, but it was difficult to keep myself in check.
Deep down I’d known it was happening. When I had agreed to go on a date with Grant—maybe even before then when I had called him to help with my car—I’d known that I was falling for him. But I’d thought that one date would prove that he was everything I’d thought he was—an arrogant, conceited, manipulative, asshole, playboy rocker who cared for nothing but which bed he was landing in. While that image hadn’t wavered because he was absolutely every one of those things, I’d managed to find that there was more to Grant McDermott…and that had been my downfall.
I’d really thought we had some kind of moment, a connection even, but it all came back to sex. How could I ever think I would hold someone like Grant McDermott’s interest? What did I have to offer that he couldn’t easily get somewhere else? Just thinking about it was irritating me all over again.
And look, I hadn’t even been paying attention to my chemistry professor, so I had missed the entire slide with the homework assignment on it.
I caught up to Kristin as she exited the classroom. “Hey!”
Kristin stopped and waited for me. “What’s up?”
“I forgot to write down the homework assignment. Do you think I could get it from you?”
“You? What?”
Yeah. Great. Just point out the fact that I’m not myself. “So, do you think I could see it?” I asked.
“Um…sure, hold on.”
She pulled out her paper, and I started scribbling down the pages and pages of work I needed to read and all the problems I had to finish before lab on Thursday.
“So, not to be nosy or anything, but after Grant got your number last weekend, did he, like, actually call you?” Kristin asked.
Ugh! Grant.
She must have seen my grimace because she quickly said, “Never mind. He was probably just trying to get some ass, like always. You shouldn’t feel bad that he didn’t call you.”
Breathe in, breathe out, Aribel. Think before you speak for once in your life. “Don’t feel bad for me. Grant McDermott is as likely to get some ass from me as I am of getting a B on the next test.”
“Wait, you mean he didn’t have sex with you at the League?”
“Who told you we did?” I asked carefully.
“Everyone. I mean, everyone was talking about it. Something about a quickie in the back room.”
I saw red. I didn’t even know what to think or do about the situation, but it felt like in one easy swoop Grant McDermott had ruined my carefully constructed reputation.
“I didn’t have sex with Grant. You can tell that to everyone else who asks you, too.”
Kristin looked at me skeptically. “But you were backstage with him, right?”
“Just because I was backstage doesn’t mean I had sex with him!” I snapped.
A few people glanced our way, and I reminded myself to breathe. I scrawled the last few notes into my notebook and then passed hers back. “We didn’t have sex.”
“Okay…you didn’t have sex.”
I ground my teeth together at the disbelieving inflection in her voice. I didn’t even know what else to say, so I just turned around and walked away. I hadn’t bothered thanking her for her notes.
I snatched my phone and dialed Grant’s number. I couldn’t believe that I was giving in and calling that bastard again.
He picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Princess.”
Cocky, conceited, arrogant prick. I wanted to wipe the smirk right off his face. I wanted to forget ever going on a date with him or kissing him or letting him do more. I wanted to forget the last three days of exhaustion, wondering why he had snuck out of my house and why he hadn’t called me back. I’d never had those thoughts before, and I just wanted him out of my life, so this could all stop.
“You told everyone that we slept together?” I asked, nearly hysterical.
“What?” I heard the genuine confusion in his voice.
“You told everyone we slept together!” I repeated. “Congratulations! You have single-handedly ruined my entire reputation. Now, everyone thinks I’m some dumb groupie slut. I can’t believe I trusted you. I can’t believe that I was foolish enough to go out with you. Why didn’t I see this coming? I must be so naïve. You couldn’t get any from me, so you just told everyone that you did.”
“I would never do that.”
“Then, why is everyone saying that, Grant? Hmm? Do you think I’m stupid? I told you I didn’t want to play this game.”
“Ari, would you slow down for one second? I never told anyone that we had sex. Who did you hear that from?”
“My friend Kristin told me that everyone was talking about it.”
“Well, they’re probably just assuming that it happened since you came backstage with me. I didn’t tell anyone that. I haven’t even told anyone I’ve been seeing you.”
I didn’t know why that bugged me just as much. “I’m so glad that not only does everyone think we slept together, but I’m also your dirty little secret. Fantastic.” I reached my car and wrenched the door open.
“Ari, you need to fucking chill the fuck out right now. I’m trying to tell you what’s going on, so shut your smart mouth for one goddamn second and actually listen to me.”
Oh, he did not just go there. “Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot.”
“No one in the whole fucking world could think you’re an idiot, Ari. Just calm the fuck down,” he growled. “You know what? Fuck it. Let’s just meet up. I’m tired of you yelling at me through the phone.”
“Fine. I’ll just yell at you in person.”
“I like my women vocal,” he said with a chuckle. “Your place or mine, sweetheart?”
“Ugh! You’re so exasperating! Just forget it.”
“Princess, you should learn to take a joke. Just be at The Coffee Bean in fifteen.”
I dropped into a booth in the back of The Coffee Bean and tossed my helmet into the seat next to me to wait out Aribel.
Fuck. It was the one word that kept replaying through my mind. I wasn’t sure how I could fucking make any of this worse.
I’d stayed the night at her place, but I hadn’t slept a wink. I’d been too lost in my own train of thought, too horny to let myself relax around her. Then, I’d lost my nerve. I’d fucking lost my nerve. I couldn’t believe it.
I’d been lying there obsessing about the fact that I liked this chick enough to give her what she wasn’t giving me—leaving myself with a painful throbbing erection, dying to at least jack off�
�and I’d actually stayed the night. Then, I’d freaked the fuck out and bolted.
I couldn’t like her this much. I couldn’t fucking be in her house, lying against her soft body while holding her tight, and not want to fuck her. But I fucking respected the woman enough not to push any more than I had, and I’d been pushy as hell.
Then like a pussy, I hadn’t called her after I disappeared. I’d wanted to get laid so bad, but every time I’d closed my eyes, all I would see was her face as she climaxed. I’d never jacked off so much in my life.
How hard could it be to forget someone? Clearly, it wasn’t easy enough because as soon as I’d seen her number on my phone, I’d answered. I couldn’t stay away from her. I’d been stupid for trying, and I was going to convince her that she couldn’t stay away from me either.
The door rattled on its hinges as Ari yanked it open, and I got my first glimpse of her. A thundercloud might as well have been hovering over her head. Her eyes found me across the room. Her smile was replaced with that scowl, telling me she was going to lay into me as soon as she sat down.
This is going to be fun.
“So, I’m here,” she grumbled, taking a seat. “Are you going to explain to me why you told everyone that we slept together?”
“I didn’t tell anyone that,” I said.
Actually, I’d purposely avoided saying anything at all about Ari. The guys had just inferred that from previous behavior.
“Then, there’s no reason for me to stay here.”
She started to get up, and I grabbed her wrist.
“Sit your ass back down.”
She wrenched her arm away from me. “Why should I bother?”
“Look, I didn’t say that I slept with you! But I have slept with chicks in the back room of The League before. We were back there for ten minutes. Vin thought that was what we were doing, and I even told you that they wouldn’t believe me if I’d said we weren’t fooling around.”
“Fooling around does not necessarily mean sex!”
“For me, it does,” I told her frankly.
She glared at me.
“What? Do you want me to tell everyone that I didn’t sleep with you? Do you want me to fuck with my reputation?”