Her Shirtless Gentleman

by M. Q. Barber

  He shrugged off his jacket and stood. “But you wanna shave sometime, you let me know, ’cause I’ll grab a front-row seat for your show.” Leaning in, he nuzzled her ear. “Maybe ask for a little audience participation.”

  “You’d like that?” The boring repetition of beauty routines gained new allure. “Really?”

  “Absolutely.” He dotted her neck with tiny kisses. “You making a decision because doing something makes you feel sexy or bold or daring? Guaranteed I’ll be harder than a titanium strut.”

  She pressed her hand to the front of his pants, and his moan flooded her with heat. Boldness-response guarantee confirmed.

  “The lady requested a bed, remember?” He tugged her hand away. “You touch me now, and I won’t make it that far.”

  She stepped out of her shoes. Her legs wobbled as she followed him up the stairs. “For the first time.”

  The blank walls begged for photos. Every family saved the wall along the stairs for year after year of portraits. Weddings and anniversaries. Birthdays, school pictures, and sports teams. Smiling faces.

  “Then all the other rooms.” Maybe she’d finally met the man who’d make those memories with her. “I get a tour of the house, don’t I?”

  Groaning, he squeezed her hand with desperate strength. “In the morning, Nora.” Turning at the top of the stairs, he paused and glanced down. “Way I’m feeling tonight, we’ll christen every room in the place by this time tomorrow.”

  And every day for the rest of their lives, if her luck held. “Best get started, then.”

  Flipping on the light, he led her into his bedroom. Cleaner than hers. She teased him out of his tie and sent the smooth silk sailing to the floor. “You could do with a little mess, Rob.”

  “Trying to impress a special gal.” He peeled off her dress and tossed it aside. Unhooked her bra and cupped her breasts with warm, firm pressure. “She’s always impressing me.”

  Sincerity poured from his eyes. His intensity flattened her, sucked the air from her lungs while his belief supported her.

  She slipped the leather tongue of his belt free and rubbed the button beneath. Smooth face. Raised threads. The slightest push enough to guide the disc through the buttonhole.

  Rob built her up without tearing her down. His steady strength made her strong, too. With the last tick of the zipper, his pants dropped to the floor, leaving tented boxers attempting to contain his arousal.

  She dipped inside. His cock bounced against the cotton. Much as she enjoyed watching him dance, the view would be better without the shorts. Gone in one fell swoop.

  He squeezed his balls, and pre-come beaded at the tip of his cock.

  “I gotta apologize.” His tone teased. “I didn’t shave for tonight. It’s like a cover crop down here.”

  Giggling, she shoved his chest. He stood firm.

  “But I trust you, Nora.” He curved his hands around hers. “You wanna wield the razor on me sometime, I’m all yours.”

  Trust. God, she needed that. To trust and be trusted. The currents of honesty and respect, invisible until a twister tore through and shredded them. Swallowing hard, she shook her head and gently scratched his chest. “Another time.”

  She wiggled a hand free. Down his oh-so-firm abdominals. She grasped skin softer than men had a right to have and stroked.

  He whistled air through clenched teeth.

  Her confidence surged, a dizzying swirl of power and pleasure. “I’ve got more important places for this to be right now.”

  “Thinking of a few myself.” He backed her to the bed, stepping out of his shoes and over his clothes.

  Letting go, she tumbled onto her back and bounced on the mattress. Her feet dangled. She spread her arms wide. “I hope your thoughts all start this way.”

  “They surely do.” He bent and opened the nightstand’s top drawer. “With one addition.” He tugged, growled, and tugged harder.

  A strip of condoms unfurled with a snap. Long line. Two, four, six—

  “Only one missing is the one in my pants pocket, honey girl.” He tore free the top square and let the rest fall.

  “You bought a new box for me?” A curious sort of pride filled her.

  He winked. “A man can dream.”

  So could a woman. Too many nights imagining these moments a hundred ways. Now she’d gorge herself on every variation. “With that much inspiration, guess we will be trying every room this weekend.”

  He rolled the latex down his cock. A transparent shield between them. “You’re on.”

  Gripping the back of her knees, he pushed her farther across the quilt. She kicked her feet up and tickled his ribs with her toes. “I feel like a wheelbarrow.”

  “Squirmiest wheelbarrow I’ve ever handled.” He crawled over her, walking his hands up the bed along her thighs, her hips, her chest. “Prettiest, too.”

  The mattress dipped with his weight, rocking her side to side.

  “Sweetest.” He pressed in close, his heat warming her as he steadied himself on his forearms.

  Every nerve ending in her body clamored for his touch.

  “Softest.” He sank down with the welcome scratch of chest hair against her straining nipples. His hard heat pressed to her clit and belly. He kissed her forehead. “Most loved.”

  “Most loved.” Too long since her body had melted for those words and the truth behind them. Joy leaked out in a surprising rush, and she choked on her gratitude. “Thank you, Robin.”

  “Hey, shhh, easy,” he crooned. He kissed the corners of her eyes. “I love you, Nora.”

  He dragged the tip of his nose down her cheek. “Love you.”

  Kissed her mouth in a nibbling line. “You’re gonna get tired of hearing me say so.”

  Nipped at her jawline and teased her throat with his teeth. “But I’m gonna keep on.”

  Rocking his hips, he teased his cock forward and back. “All the time, because I love you.”

  He stroked her side and slipped his hand between their bodies. “People everywhere’ll be asking you, ‘Eleanora, who’s that handsome stud following you around and shouting how much he loves you?’”

  “Oh God.” She hadn’t told her hips to thrust like that. Instinctive reaction to his fingers on her clit. Must be. Her brain contributed a whole lot of nothing to this discussion. Girly bits operated alone. Clit, lips, pussy, and heart. All of them talking to him.

  “Nope. Just your Robin.” He rolled, taking her with him. Now she straddled him, her legs hugging his hips and her hair falling in curls around their faces, shutting out all but their intimate nest for two. He cradled her in his broad hands. “Your choice, honey girl.”

  No, not her choice alone.

  She pushed herself up and snagged his hand. Guiding him, she wrapped both of their hands around the base of his cock. Raised her hips. Nudged him between her lips, seeking the perfect alignment.

  “Our choice.” She sank.

  He groaned and blinked, his mouth wide and his gold-flecked eyes dancing. His cock lodged deep. Sturdy. Strong. Rob. He flexed his hips.

  She shuddered. “I love you.”

  * * * *

  Home. Tight and trembling above and around him, soaking his balls and his thighs. Been a while for her. Him too, but his dry spell just made him quicker off the draw. He’d wanted her good and relaxed, orgasmic and laughing, so he wouldn’t hurt her.

  “Love you right back.” With a fierceness and a certainty he’d never found before.

  After a deep breath, she caught her lower lip between her teeth. Moans poured forth anyway. She’d deny them later. Thought herself quiet as a church mouse, his unrestrained screamer. His Nora.

  Eyelids drifting, lip slipping as her mouth opened and her curls swung free, she ground her hips and clamped down on his cock. On purpose or couldn’t help herself, either way, goddamned hot.

  He surged beneath her. Near lifted her off the bed.

  Rocking forward, she slapped her hands down on his pecs. Fuck, the s
ting upped the urge to grab her waist and drive himself into her until neither of them had thought enough to take a breath.

  No need. She found the rhythm herself, bouncing on his cock with sudden speed.

  Unhh, Christ, he oughta look anywhere but where he disappeared inside her. Too close to unloading every time she pulled him deep.

  The flare of her hips and the ripple in her stomach proved no safer. Nor the hypnotic jouncing of her breasts or her fingers kneading his chest or the brilliant smile on her face.

  Jesus, turn her on and let her loose, and her instincts and eagerness promised him heaven. Land of milk and honey. Moans, laughter, and mind-blowing pleasure.

  “Love the way you ride, too.” He inched toward her center. He’d give her a hand, push her over the edge before she took him. “Not gonna last long like this.” He thrust up as she slammed down. Fuck, her fingers’d leave divots in his chest in another minute. “You feel how hard I get for you?”

  She gasped and groaned. Her clit jumped under his fingertips.

  “That’s all you, Nora, taking me inside your slick, sweet pussy.”

  She spasmed. Victory for them both. Her feet beat an incoherent rhythm on the mattress beside his knees as she milked him.

  Pinning her thighs beneath his palms, he emptied with a shout.

  Lungs heaving, she sagged.

  He wrapped her tight and pulled her to his chest. Her breath gusted past his ear as he kissed her cheek.

  “Mmm, take a breather.” Soft, warm skin with a hint of salt under his lips. “You more than earned one.” Her heartbeat raced below her jaw. “My turn to do all the work next time, hey?”

  She shivered and wormed her arms around his back. “Promises, promises.”

  The smile in her voice didn’t dispel the flicker of a question. Bunching her straying curls in his hand, he turned her head and kissed her with firm, crushing lips. “I keep my promises.”

  Supple arms and legs crushed him in return. “I believe you do, Shirtless Gentleman.” She nuzzled him like a kitten, bumping his nose and cheeks. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” Lifting her head, she giggled. “Definitely wouldn’t be naked. In your bed. Holding you inside me.”

  She tightened already-tight muscles. Deliberate this time, for certain.

  He exaggerated his groan. “It’ll be a sweet death when your appetite kills me.”

  “Am I too much for you?” His woman teased him with a bold tone and a smile verging on smug.

  She’d shed so much shyness since their night at the drive-in. The night his fingers had ventured where his cock rested now.

  “Just right.” And how. He’d have to pull out soon, before he lost the firmness gluing the condom tight to his cock. All well and good to imagine Nora with his ring on her finger and his child in her belly, but spooking her with a pregnancy scare their first night sure as hell wasn’t the way to go about getting there. “You are right on the button for me, Eleanora Howard.”

  Her satisfied hum rumbled against his neck. They lay together in growing quiet. Not the awkward, empty silence of a bad first date but the filling silence of comfort, of summer evenings on the porch swing.

  The smooth expanse of her back flowed under his hand. Stopping himself from petting and stroking her would take more effort than he cared to muster. ’Til he softened, leastwise.

  He rolled her with a growl, pulled his hips back, and made a quick grab for his cock. Missed her tight heat soon as he’d left her. With the latex pinched between his fingers at the base, he twisted to sit up. He tied off the condom and pitched it in the trash. Now he had a sticky dick and a girl waiting. Boxers. Perfect cleanup. He bent over and snagged them.

  A slow wolf whistle sounded behind him, followed by a giggle.

  He wiped off his cock, dropped the undershorts, and shook his ass. “I hope you have dollar bills. I’m a stripper with standards. No free shows.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to wear a g-string?” She sported a less than innocent smile and a goddamned gorgeous body, all sprawling and relaxed like she understood she belonged in his bed. A cat claiming her territory. “I can’t wait to see how you hold those dollars.”

  “Shooting down my bright ideas with your accountant logic?” He launched himself at the bed. Every angle calculated for a safe landing. “Must be consequences for that.” He laid out flat on top of her and kissed her nose. “Big, hard ramifications.”

  “I like these outcomes.” Squirming, she wrapped her legs around the backs of his thighs and squeezed. “How do I get more?”

  “Keep doing that and you’ll find out.” Soon, he hoped. Of course, the longer his dick took to stand up again, the more time he had to tease and explore his woman. “I might be persuaded to let you run a tab.” For the rest of their lives.

  “Could be dangerous.” She rolled her hips, ocean swells fit to drown in. “I’m feeling like a big spender.”

  “I know you’re good for it.” He filled his lungs with the sweet musk of her arousal. His inhalation flattened the roundness of her tits to his chest. He hadn’t dined on a mouthful of them yet. Fix that in a minute, sure enough. “And I’ll cut you a deal.”

  “A markdown?” She gripped his shoulders and stroked his arms. “Don’t undervalue yourself, Rob. You’ve got great selling points.”

  “So do you.” He waited for her to still, her eyes dark and confident. “I’ll respect my value if you’ll respect yours. Deal?”

  “I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem anymore.” Smile spreading across her face, she wiggled her hips. “What does this deal get me?”

  Natural curiosity. Eager interest. No backing down, no shaming herself for sharing herself with him. She’d dropped the weight of her ex-husband’s expectations. They’d cracked open the defective code, however deep the fuckwit’s spiteful words and selfish desires had invaded, and yanked out the virus that had overrun her system for so long.

  “Let me show you all the features.” His cock pushed toward half-mast, sluggish but responding to signals again. He’d have more stamina for a second go. Stay inside her longer, take his time, look her in the eyes while she rolled through her orgasm with him buried deep. “I think you’ll wanna spring for the top of the line model.”

  Lifetime warranty included.

  “I think I will, too.”

  * * * *

  Nora jerked awake in darkness, fragments of a half-remembered dream fading with each blink. A weight across her collarbone pinned her to the soft bed at her back. Heat warmed her in uneven measure, greater to her left and absent on her right.

  Rob. He lay beside her because this bed belonged to him and she hadn’t left it yet. He slept on his side, his face bared to her and his arm draped over her. Years since she’d fallen asleep so close to a man, back when she and David were newlyweds. The distance between them had grown every year since.

  Keeping this closeness demanded a commitment from two. One alone would never be enough. Reaching for something always beyond their fingers. For someone who raced a few steps ahead, who commanded her to follow like a dog. Not so now. She’d done as she pleased and the world hadn’t ended.

  The dating police weren’t barreling down the drive with lights flashing and sirens blaring to brand her a slut. Rob hadn’t laughed at her or berated her. He hadn’t stopped to “correct” her position or her speed or any of the dozens of faults David had found with her.

  Desires she’d shut down and shied away from, afraid to chance raising the subject with David, floated around her in a slow-moving dance. She could trust Rob. She could talk to Rob. She could try things with Rob she’d never let herself imagine before. Terrifying and liberating, all at once.

  She inched to her right. His palm, heavy and warm, rolled across her breasts as she slipped free of his hold. Their clothes littered the bedroom floor. Rob curled his fingers into the space she’d left behind.

  Beautiful man. The comforter lay unused beneath his nudity. The August heat made their bodies enough.
Odd, how he revealed power and vulnerability in the same skin. His broad chest and thick thighs delighted whether as a sturdy platform to ride or a shield to rest under. Draped on his thigh, his cock hung soft and smaller than when he’d helped her roll the condom down his shaft. When he’d laid her back on the bed, risen above her, and entered her with patient strength.

  Stepping around the clothes, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom. She flipped the switch, and invasive light plastered her eyes shut on instinct. Well, the light and the colors.

  His bathroom brought to life a pink-drenched nightmare with stately black trim. Somebody’d rebooted this room in the 1950s. Even the toilet and the pedestal sink resembled Pepto-Bismol piggies. At least both worked fine.

  The mirror didn’t. Couldn’t. It reflected an unrecognizable woman. One who stood tall. One whose gaze flicked past the dwindling curls, half matted and flat, without a wince. One who smiled with pride and remembered pleasure at the purpling ovals dotting her neck and breasts. A woman wide-awake at two in the morning and reveling in the thrill of tiptoeing naked around her lover’s house.

  He’d invited her to make herself at home. “Stay with me, Nora.” Lying drowsy and sated after making love the second time, he’d kissed her forehead and cuddled her close. “What’s mine is yours.”

  Her panties hugged the floor at the base of the stairs beside her shoes. She trailed her fingers along the wall. First stop on her house tour. Maybe he’d repeat that stop in the morning as part of a complete breakfast.

  The kitchen stood at the back of the house, beyond a dining room set up like a home office. Rob didn’t do a lot of entertaining. Or if he did, he served up meals at the homey trestle table in the kitchen. He owned a well-stocked fridge for a bachelor. The glass-front upper cabinets made finding a glass for her orange juice easy.

  The window above the sink overlooked a neatly maintained yard with close-cropped grass giving way to wild prairie. Posts supported an empty laundry line. A lone oak’s leafy arms waved. A yard for children. Waiting for a swing set and a back porch with a heap of bikes and sports gear.

  Condensation dripped from her glass to her chest. Chilly. No wandering bare-breasted in a home full of kids. Enticingly decadent for now, though.