Passionate Tides

by Johnson, J. N

  It was his turn to be under her control and she planned on making him beg for her to stop. She made quick work of his shorts and boxers, his erection standing hard and long, bobbing against his hard abs. She wanted nothing more than to taste him. Pushing him back on the bed, she went down on her knees, spreading his legs wide. It had been so long since she had a man spread before her, that she hoped she remembered what to do.

  She began laying soft kisses on the inside of his thighs. She lifted her head to watch him throw his head back and take in a deep, shuttering breath, his body racked with small spasms, and she marveled in each quiver of his skin. She continued her assault on his body, traveling further north, but not to where he wanted her mouth the most. She teased him by suckling the inside of his groin, and pulled on the place where his heartbeat was the strongest, all but eliciting a cry from Jake.

  “Lord, woman, you are going to kill me,” he shouted but she didn’t stop.

  Taking his shaft in her hand, she ran her fingers over the hardened flesh, and then used her tongue to make wet, lazy circles around the crown before taking just the head into her warm mouth. Jake fisted his hands in the sheets, as if trying to hold on to his control. She took him deeper, lightly using her teeth to tease his senses. Her hands traveled between his thighs to his sac that was high and tight, and massaged him gently. A low growl came from Jake, letting her know the effect that her touch had on him. She took him as deep as she could, moving her hand higher to squeeze the long length she was unable to take. She worked him in and out of her mouth, taking as much of him as she could. Her jaws ached from the repeated action, but it was a welcomed ache that she would gladly suffer time and time again. His pulse thundered under her tongue, signaling his release was near and she could feel his precious control slipping. As much as she wanted to give him that release, her need to have him inside of her was much stronger.

  “I need you, Jake.”

  He guided her up the length of his body with his hands until she was cradled in his embrace. Releasing his tight hold on her, he laid his hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes. The look said he wanted nothing more than to sheath himself into her warm body, but his actions told her he may be having second thoughts. When he left the bed and gathered his shorts, her first thought was that he was leaving her like she had done to him that night on the beach. She felt her heart sink low in her stomach, the sickening feeling something she had vowed never to feel again, but when she saw him take the small foil package out of his pocket, there was such a sense of relief that she almost cried. Her body grew tight, her breasts heavy with need as she watched him sheath the silky hard length of his erection and walk toward her with a look of determination.

  Jake climbed back onto the bed, taking his place between her legs, his hands splayed on her thighs spreading her wide. She was wet and ready for him as he probed her outer lips with the crown of his hard member. She wanted him to take his time, to draw out their time together forever, but her body demanded that she feel him inside of her now.

  With one long and painfully slow thrust, he sheathed himself all the way to the hilt, bumping against her womb. She dug her nails into his ass, and raised her hips, letting him know that she would happily take all he had to offer, no holding back. He picked up the pace, moving in and out of her warm heat, her body tightening around his swollen shaft. With his hands anchoring him to the bed, he rocked back and forth, taking her to the edge. Their climaxes hit them at the same time, and when his body lay over hers, she could feel the erratic beating of his heart pumping in time with her own.

  After what seemed like an eternity, he rolled to leave the bed and she instantly missed his warmth. She heard the water running in the shower and stood to gather her clothes and put on her robe, only to be stopped with one arm in the garment. He stood behind her, laying small teasing kisses on her neck and shoulders.

  “You do plan to join me in the shower, don’t you? I wasn’t quite done with you yet.”

  The thrill of his voice and the invitation he delivered caused her nipples to harden once again and moisture to pool between her legs. Feeling brave, she dropped her fuzzy robe and sauntered down the hall, swaying her hips to the music in her head. She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that he watched her walk away. The way she sashayed her hips demanded that he follow her every move.

  * * *

  Jake stood watching her walk down the hall, teasing him with her gorgeous body. His mouth hanging open, not believing that she wanted him. Her hips swayed to the beat of her own making, teasing and exciting.

  His ex, Tara, had done a real job on him, agreeing to marry him, and then sleeping with his best friend. He knew betrayal and heartbreak, but for Paisley, he was willing to risk his heart again. For her, he would risk everything.

  It didn’t take him long to start his feet down the hall when he heard the interrupted cadence of the water as Paisley’s naked body entered the shower.

  Her sweet taste still lingered on his tongue and he cherished her flavor. He entered the room to the most arousing scene he had ever seen. She stood under the water, her head thrown back in abandon as she washed her body. Tantalizing bubbles covered her breasts, cascading down her soft rounded stomach on a journey to her sweet mound.

  It was as if she was deliberately toying with him. Unable to stand the distance between them, he opened the door and joined her under the hot spray. Her body was flushed pink from the heated water, and when his cool hands wrapped around her from behind, chill bumps broke out over her skin. Taking the wash cloth from her hands, he worked the lather until it was covered in a new layer of bubbles. He ran the soapy cloth over her chest, taking care to give each breast ample attention. When her hips bucked back into his body, his hard length rested against her back and along the top of her ass.

  He wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her body again when she placed her hands on the wall in invitation. He bent her ever so slightly, pressing himself tighter to her heated skin. The cold air hit her skin, causing gooseflesh as he opened the shower doors and reached for the unopened condom he had brought with him after watching her walk down the hall.

  Taking his time, he watched her wiggle with anticipation as he slid the latex over his engorged flesh. Not wanting to leave her suffering, he slid behind her, pulling her close. He probed at her entrance, meeting no resistance and slid his length home. The temperature change was instant. She was hotter than the water ever dreamed of being and he wasn’t scared of getting burned.

  The water made her feel different, her texture heightened by lubrication of the water and he could feel each nuance of her body, each ripple in her flesh as she held on tight to his erection. He fisted his left hand in her hair and pulled her head back for a kiss, while his right hand snaked around her body to play with her small bud. Every nerve in his body was alighted with flames, licking each and every nerve ending until his knees began to buckle. He could feel her tensing beneath him. She was so close to coming that he couldn’t let go just yet, he had to see her climax first.

  He could feel the pressure building, her muscles tight from the strain of holding back, but like helium in an over-filled balloon, she couldn’t and her body exploded into shattered pieces of ecstasy. She screamed his name as her orgasm broke free while his body pounded against her back. He turned her in his arms to face him and placed his hands under her ass to lift her up against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he probed to re-enter her body. He quickly regained his tempo, moving in and out of her as the water washed over them, getting trapped and released with each hard pump. Soon his movements became erratic and his tempo more unsteady, his body erupted, emptying into her channel.

  Jake leaned down and kissed her with all of the passion he felt. “I don’t know about you, but wow! You are amazing.” He started to say I love you, but stopped the words before they left his mouth. They had known each other only a few weeks and she had already pushed him away once. He didn’t
want to scare her off again with those three little words. He wanted her to return them, but he was afraid that was something she wasn’t ready to do yet.

  The workers were just about finished with the house. What were the chances that he was falling in love with a woman that was bound to leave him broken and alone? Looking into her eyes, he was afraid the answer was pretty damn good.

  * * *

  Stepping out of the shower, she threw Jake a towel before covering herself. She didn’t even take the time to dry off, she just headed down the hall to the spare room where she closed the door and sat on the bed. She was so confused. She thought she was in control of her desire for Jake and what they had would stay in the friend zone, but after what they had just done, there was no looking back.

  She wasn’t sure how to handle it. Jake looked at her in a way that made her heart race and when they weren’t together, she ached for him to be near. The lovemaking was the best she had ever had, but she didn’t want to fall in love. She didn’t want to risk her heart again. She just wanted someone to hold her and make love to her without the fear of a broken heart. But somehow Jake had managed to steal her heart, and when she headed back to West Virginia in a few weeks, he would most likely keep it here in North Carolina.

  What had she done? She had fallen in love and her divorce had only been final for a few weeks. Resting her head in her hands she felt the hot sting of tears fill her eyes. “I’m such a freaking idiot!” she said out loud to herself. She lay back on the bed and ignored the sound of footsteps retreating down the hall. A door opened and closed on the first floor and she knew that Jake had left. She was alone again.

  * * *

  Jake didn’t know what to think, one moment she had been so wrapped up in him that it felt like they were one, and now she was running and locking herself in the guest room? He asked himself over and over again. What did I do? Why would she shut herself off from me again?

  He took her escape to the guest room as just that, an escape from him, so he left. Maybe he should have confronted her, asked her what was wrong, but he couldn’t stand to be shunned again by a woman he loved. He knew he was taking a risk with her; their relationship had a stop date posted on it. Once the house was done, she would leave and head back to her old life. Against all of his past promises to never to do it again, he had fallen in love with her. Now his heart was tearing in two and the only person that could repair it was hiding from him behind a locked door.

  * * *

  Paisley sat on the deck overlooking the ocean, her laptop in front of her. No words came to mind as she stared at the blank pages on the screen. Her thoughts kept going back to Jake, and the way he had made her feel, and the way she had run from him, again. She knew she had messed up, but she couldn’t find the courage to make things right.

  She zoned, watching the waves crest and fall over the sand. The wind was cold enough to make her want to retreat into the comfort of her temporary home. Lightning lit the sky over the horizon. A storm was brewing somewhere far off over the raging sea. Jake had spent the last few nights anywhere but in his apartment, and she feared that she may have scared him off for good. Claiming defeat, she gathered her notes before the wind took them and headed into the house. Stripping off her yoga pants, she climbed in bed, but sleep was far from her grasp. His scent still lingered in the sheets and the taste of his skin haunted her every thought. She wrapped them around herself and cried as the storm outside raged on.

  Paisley watched the red numbers on her clock through blurry eyes. Hours had passed since the storm had forced her into hiding. Her rooms were depressing and quiet without Jake’s presence, the tiny reminders of their time together pressuring her to face the mistake she had made and the reality that she had to fix it. The moon appeared over the calm waters of the ocean as the sun made its decent behind the dunes, casting the sky in brilliant shades of gold, orange, and pink. She stood on the upstairs balcony, watching the brilliance of the painted sky, its beauty a reminder of the ugly decision she had made. Her shoulders slummed with defeat as she turned her back to the sound and took the short steps to the ocean front deck, resigned to her fate of eating chocolate and crying in her pillow.

  Just as she turned the corner on the wrap around deck, she saw a form sitting on the beach, one lonely shape standing out in her view. It had to be Jake. She had gone to his apartment hoping to apologize and explain the reasons behind her odd behavior, but when she knocked, there was no answer. He hadn’t spoken to her since the night she left him standing in the shower alone. Her guilt over the way she had left him and the feelings of loss his distance provided was too much for her to handle, so she did the only thing she knew to do. She picked up the phone and called Tiffany and prayed that her best friend would give her the advice she needed and be the kind ear that had been there for her since she started wearing a training bra. The desperation was evident in her voice as her friend had answered the phone. “I need to talk, is it too late?”

  “What has that son of a bitch done now?” Tiffany all but yelled through the phone.

  “It’s not Vince…Tiffany; I have made a huge mistake.” She told Tiffany the whole story, everything that happened between her and Jake. The more she talked about him, the more her body craved to be near him. Silence filled the phone line and she wondered if her friend was still there. “Tiffany? I think I need to come home, I can’t do this anymore, I just need to come back home and get what’s left of my life in order.” Her best friend of nearly twenty years did something that she had never expected. She yelled at her.

  “Paisley Ann, you get your cute little ass downstairs and apologize to Jake right now! He is a good man and you deserve someone like him in your life. What do you have to come home to? Nothing! Your home is on the market and your husband is on his whore. You are an incredible woman and I want nothing more for you than to be happy and Jake can make you happy.”

  “I know Tif, but I really think I fucked this one up. I let the fear of being shit on again destroy what was starting between us. Tiffany, I left him standing there alone while I ran off and had a panic attack. How do you apologize for doing something like that?”

  “Did you tell him about Vince?”

  “No, I didn’t see any point in bringing up that piece of personal hell with someone I wasn’t planning on having a relationship with. He was supposed to be a fling, damn it! I didn’t plan for this to happen. I didn’t want to fall in love with him!”

  “You love him? Then you have to go to him, if not to explain what happened, then to get closure and tell him goodbye. Jake is one of the good ones, honey, and he doesn’t deserve to thrown away the way Vince did that to you.”

  Hanging up the phone, she ran her friend’s words over and over in her mind. Tiffany was right about one thing; actually she was right about everything. Jake wasn’t Vince and he deserved better. Love was like playing a game of high stakes poker, everyone at the table held a chance at the pot; just some players were more willing than others to bet everything for the prize. She had been dealt a shitty hand in the past, but this time she was going all in, and even though the stakes were high, she had nothing to lose, except her heart, and she was willing to give that to Jake for free.

  * * *

  Paisley headed toward the beach. The sun had long set and the moon was casting its light across the waves. As she neared the beautiful man sitting on the beach, her fear caused her throat to close up. Unable to speak, she quietly took a seat beside him. Jake stared out at the ocean, not even a muscle twitched to acknowledge her arrival. She felt like an interloper, disturbing his peace. She sat there for several moments and was ready to leave him to his coastal sanctuary when the first tear crested her cheek. Digging deep, she found the courage to speak, and in a small and broken voice she all but croaked, “I’m sorry, I know you don’t understand, and why would you, it’s not like I had shared my past with you. I wouldn’t blame you if you asked me to leave, but please, just give me this chance to talk. If you want me to go
, I will.”

  He didn’t tell her to leave or shut up, so she continued, pouring her shattered heart out to tell him the reason she ran. “I was married, ten years to my high school sweetheart. A few months ago, he served me with divorce papers and told me he was leaving me for his secretary, Elise. I lost everything and I just couldn’t take the chance of it happening again. If this is really possible…if we can make this work and you can promise never to break my heart...” The tears that were threatening broke free and her voice came out on a shuddered breath. “If you can forgive me, I promise I won’t ever run from you again.”

  * * *

  When he looked at her tear stained face, he knew he never wanted her to leave his side. Her reasons for running were valid and he agreed with everything she had said. He had had a few days since she had shut him out to think of all of the reasons he should pack up and leave Topsail, but his heart had demanded he stay until he found the courage to knock on her door.