“Do you want to stop for a minute? Delay it so it’ll be stronger later?”
“No, I want it now. Make me come.”
Well, how can I deny that request?
I spread her open as far as I can and bury my tongue in her, eating her out with enthusiasm as she grips my hair hard with both hands, a low moan releasing out of her.
“Like that, just like that,” she pants.
The harder she clutches at me, the faster I flick my tongue until she’s calling out my name again, twitching in pleasure.
She pulls me up her body when she can’t take anymore, and pressed against her like this, both our bodies nude, feels better than I imagined, her skin soft and smooth as I rub my palm up her stomach and over her breast.
“Can I return the favor?” she asks, her hand moving perilously close to my dick. It jumps at the mere suggestion of her touch, unequivocally screaming yes!
I think back to the other day in the lab, my emotions running high then.
But I’m in control today. I went down on her, now she’ll go down on me. It’s quid pro quo. It doesn’t mean anything other than two people wanting some sexual satisfaction.
This is literally the definition of the mutually beneficial arrangement.
I nod my assent and her hand delicately wraps around my cock, stroking it once, twice. Light, barely there movements that make my stomach dip in anticipation for what’s to come.
She runs her palm slowly up and down its length as she herself makes her way down my body, leaning in close so I can feel her breath hot on me. I raise my hands up by my head, gripping the pillow, watching all that glorious hair curtain my thighs.
She looks up at me, catching me staring at her. A faint blush crosses her cheeks, her expression hesitant yet willing. “I’ve only done this a couple times. So if I do something you don’t like—”
“I’ll like anything you do,” I blurt out, wishing the words back as soon as I utter them. That sounded way too eager. Like I care more than I do. I don’t want her getting the wrong impression.
“Okay,” she says faintly, staring at me a beat longer before returning her attention to the task at hand.
She lays a soft kiss on the tip, then takes it between her lips and gently sucks. Well, she’s doing good so far. I actually have to resist the urge to jerk my hips forward, especially when she swallows me a little further, using her tongue to make a slow circular motion.
“Fuuuuck,” I groan, digging my heels into the mattress, tightening my fingers on the pillow. Is she sure she doesn’t have much experience? Because that seems like some grade A technique right there.
Her breast brushes my thigh as she adjusts her position, and I wish I could cup her tits right now, tease the nipples into hard little buds the way I did before, feel her excitement in the rise and fall of her chest.
She takes me further in, enveloping me, bobbing her head up and down, my length disappearing into that pretty mouth of hers.
“Christ, your mouth feels good. Make your lips like an O, tight around me—” An unintelligible sound escapes me as she does what I say, the suction of her mouth incredible, taking me deeper and deeper each time she bobs up and down until she can’t take any more.
“That’s it, baby. Take me in. Suck me off.” I don’t know what I’m saying, what I’m doing. I just know I never want this to end. I want this girl’s mouth on me always. But that familiar tingle down my spine tells me I’m getting close. There’s not long left. And just like with her, I don’t want to delay it. I want to come.
She runs her palms up and down my thighs, then settles them on my ass, pressing me further into her and makes a humming sound, the vibration adding an extra element of sensation that ratchets my desire higher.
“Mia.” I allow myself to finally dip my hands into her hair, holding her in place gently. I want her to take everything as I come in her mouth. “I’m so close.”
She makes another mmm sound to let me know she understands, and I let myself go then, my hips tilting up of their own accord as hot streams jet in her mouth.
“Fuck, Mia. Fuck.” I tremble and she squeezes my ass tightly, swallowing down everything I give her, everything I am, accepting it in a way that feels different than any time before. Different from any girl before.
When I’m finished, she crawls her way up my body and I automatically wrap my arm around her before realizing what I’m doing. I don’t cuddle. That’s not what this is between us.
I sit up instead and swing my legs over the side of the bed. “That was…” Amazing. Unbelievable. Life-altering. “That was pretty good considering—” I pause, a whiff of something hitting my nose that’s not right. “Do you smell that?”
I glance back at her and she sits up, pursing her lips for a moment before gasping, her hands fluttering in front of her. “Oh my God, the cupcakes!”
She jumps off the bed and flings open the door, still naked, and rushes to the kitchen to slip on two oven mitts and open the oven door. Smoke seeps out, which instantly sets the smoke detector to blaring.
I grab the dirty dish towel from earlier off the counter and wave it in front of the alarm to try and clear the smoke while she takes the two tins out, the normal golden hue of the dessert now an ugly, scorched brown.
When the alarm finally stops, we just look at each other until she cracks a smile. “You’d make a good bullfighter.”
“What?” I’m having a hard time focusing on anything other than her naked body.
“With the towel. You know, Olé!” She mimes waving a flag in front of a bull, and for the first time, I notice the dish towel in my hand is red.
A burst of laughter escapes me at the absurdity of the situation, both of us nude in the kitchen while chaos surrounds us. She giggles in response, the two of us feeding off each other’s laughter until we’re braced against the counter, tears in our eyes.
God, I haven’t laughed like this in… I don’t know how long. If ever.
She finally straightens, taking off the oven mitts, and gives me a quick peck on the lips before heading back to her room. Something about the action has me stiffening. The easiness of it, the nonchalance. Even after what we just shared, do we kiss like that now? Like two people comfortable with each other?
Haven’t I done the same to her in the lab, though?
I glance behind me, watching her walk away, that perfect ass bouncing with each step, her curls falling in a waterfall down her back.
Do I want her to kiss me like that? Not that there was any emotion behind it, but that almost makes it worse. She isn’t my girlfriend to just casually kiss anytime. But really, what’s the harm in it? I’ll let her suck my dick but not kiss me on the lips when we’re out of bed? This isn’t some Pretty Woman scenario.
I sigh, finally settling on the fact that since we’re both naked, it’s okay to still act sexual with one another.
She comes out of her room, dressed in black leggings and an oversized green sweater. “Are you going to stay like that the whole time?” She grins. “Not that I’m complaining.”
I glance down at myself. “Oh, yeah.” I scoot past her, and before I can second-guess myself, grab her around the waist and kiss her. I’m still naked, so it’s okay. “You’re better than you think you are in bed.”
She flushes slightly, a relaxed smile crossing her face. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
I grin. “That’s an understatement.”
“Cocky, aren’t you?” She brings her hands up to cup my face, kissing me lightly. “But with good reason to be.”
She steps away, grabbing her backpack off the tiny dining room table. “Did you still want to study?”
See, she’s already out of sex mode. She’s not trying to make more out of it than what it is. “Yeah, give me a sec.” I go back in the room and change, glancing at the rumpled bedspread, still hearing her sighs, her moans, feeling how she pulled my hair, writhed underneath me. How she sucked me dry, her mouth on me more exciting than any
girl I can remember in a long time.
“Tyler?” she calls from the living room. I startle, unsure how long I’ve been standing here looking at the bed.
I turn around and join her, shaking off whatever it was that settled over me.
Chapter Thirteen
Mia
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Adelaide hugs me tightly, then takes a seat on the other side of the booth. “How long has it been?”
“I think since Halloween. At that party.” I take my own seat at the small coffee shop she chose to meet up at, The Bluesy Bean, and place my muffin and drink on the table.
“That’s right. You were dancing with that guy. What was his costume? Batman? Spiderman?”
“Superman,” I mumble, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.
“Whatever happened with him?”
“Nothing. No lie, he found someone dressed as Supergirl and dropped me.”
“What a douche.” She looks truly outraged on my behalf. Despite seeing each other only once in a while, I love how it never feels like we’ve been apart. She’s always invested in what’s going on in my life.
We met during our freshman year in Precalculus, commiserating over our mutual hatred of all things math, and have stayed in touch ever since. She’s one of those people it’s easy to stay friends with, picking up right where we left off.
“I just met him that night,” I tell her. “It wasn’t a big deal. I don’t even remember his name.” That’s a lie. It was Christian. But seriously, he doesn’t matter. It was one night, months ago. And I have a much better man now.
He’s not your man. He’s a fuck buddy, nothing more.
Right.
“Are you seeing anyone now?”
I bite into my blueberry muffin, taking a moment to collect my thoughts about her question. Are Tyler and I seeing each other? We’re not not seeing each other, so…
“Sort of,” I hedge. “But it’s really casual, nothing serious.” I wipe away the crumbs on the table, then take another sip of my drink. “It’s actually kind of a friends-with-benefits thing.”
She blinks at me. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
I let out a sigh. “I know, it’s crazy.”
She leans across the table, a mischievous smile on her face. “Is he good in bed?”
I almost snort up the hot chocolate, grabbing a napkin to wipe at my chin. “We haven’t actually… you know… but what we have done, oh my God, Adelaide, it’s been amazing.”
“That’s great,” she says excitedly, squeezing my hand. “I had a friends-with-benefits thing once. Some of the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“But it didn’t work out?”
She laughs. “Work out? There was nothing to work out.”
“So why did it end?”
“We decided when it started it would just be for a month. I didn’t want him getting attached to me. Sweet boy, but he was dumb as fuck.”
I ball up my straw wrapper, twisting it between my fingers. “We didn’t set any kind of timeline. Maybe I should the next time I see him at the lab.”
“The lab?”
“Yeah, we’re working on this research study together.”
“You work with him? What if something happens between you two?”
I bite my lip. I hadn’t thought about that. “We’re… professionals. We can act like adults around each other if things change between us.”
“Okay.” She shrugs. Sure, it’s easy for her to brush off. She’s not the one who would have to live with the consequences.
Once he realizes that this “arrangement” you have isn’t benefiting him at all, he’ll drop you. You’ll see him every week, knowing what you’re missing out on—
“How are your cats?” I blurt out, trying to redirect my thoughts. I don’t need to end up a crying, gasping mess in the middle of this coffee shop. “Is Finn still causing havoc? What did he do with your Christmas tree this year?”
“Oh, he totally trashed it,” she laughs. “I ended up only being able to keep ornaments on the top third. It was pathetic. Jake was a good boy, though.”
We continue talking about her two cats that I’m in love with for a while, with promises for me to come over soon and see them, until I have to leave to make it to my Motivation class on time. Thankfully, I understand everything on the review for Wednesday’s test, since Tyler and I actually did study after rescuing the smoking cupcakes.
I can’t believe I’d let time get away from me like that. We’d been so into it, neither of us had even heard the timer go off. What I’d said to Adelaide had been an understatement. Things between us weren’t just amazing. They were glorious. Magnificent. More profound than I’d thought possible. And we hadn’t even technically had sex yet. If it was this good already, how will it be when we finally cross that threshold?
And that we can so easily go from lovers back to friends has to mean something, right? That we’re compatible in and out of the bedroom? Like… a girlfriend.
He doesn’t want a girlfriend.
I know, but if he did—
Don’t get your hopes up. That way lies heartache.
For once, I listen to that voice, concentrating instead on Dr. Hoskins. School needs to come first, not worrying about Tyler like he’s some middle school crush. Does he like me? Does he not? I’m twenty-one years old, not twelve.
There’s nothing more between us.
And I’m fine with that.
Really.
I head into the lab early Tuesday to review our data, searching for trends, anomalies, or anything else worth noting.
I couldn’t help but debate with myself last night trying to go to sleep about whether or not I should bring up an end date with Tyler. Yes, it would ensure there are no hard feelings or assumptions, keep things simpler, but… I don’t want things to end. I like what we’re doing.
And if I brought that idea up, a whole other slew of questions might pop up after that. Are we exclusive? Do we tell people about us? What happens if one of us starts feeling more for the other person?
Well, that won’t be an issue for him at least. He couldn’t get out of that bed fast enough after we were finished Sunday. Or was that just because of the cupcakes? I can’t remember now.
Ugh, why am I worrying about this? I know myself, and I don’t really want the answers to these questions. I’m too scared of what he’ll say.
The door to the lab opens and I nearly jump out of my seat. Tyler raises his eyebrows but doesn’t comment on it as he sets his backpack down on his desk.
“You looking at data?” he asks, coming up behind me to look at my computer screen.
I fidget in my chair, his body so near I can feel the heat emanating from him. Any closer and he’d be touching me, his hands running through my hair, tilting my head back to expose my neck, pressing slow kisses to the tender area…
“Mia?” I jump again, glancing back at him, his forehead furrowed. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Yes. I’m fine.” I clear my throat. “I’m looking at what we’ve collected so far.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Actually, yes. This person.” I point to the screen. “Participant 63895. I think I know who it is, but I want to make sure. Do you have the key that tells who’s who?”
He nods, a worried expression crossing his face. “I put it in the filing cabinet here.” He unlocks it, and after finding the list, scans it. His brow furrows down even more. “It’s Brad.”
“I thought so,” I sigh. “His performance is trending the opposite away, ever since the day he… he asked—”
“Yeah, I remember that day,” he says in a hard tone.
My breath catches. Is he still mad because he thinks Brad crossed the line, or because it was with me? “Um, anyway, his stress is steadily increasing now. He could skew the entire set of data.”
He lets out a long sigh, interlacing his fingers behind his head, pacing between our desks. “Can we drop him?”
I purse my lips. “I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “Are we even allowed to? If researchers could just exclude any participant they wanted because they’re not performing exactly as expected, the study wouldn’t really mean anything. It would be a vanity project.”
“Yeah, but if we told Dr. Price—”
“I don’t want to explain any of that to him.” I cross my arms over my chest, blocking out that whole incident.
“I will, then.”
“No, it was my fault—”
“No, it wasn’t. Brad shouldn’t have asked to begin with and I—” He runs a hand through his dark hair, avoiding my gaze. “I handled it wrong,” he admits, taking a seat in his desk chair. “He probably gets stressed out coming here thinking I’ll bite his head off again.”
He leans back, contemplating the situation, then snaps his fingers. “New plan. When he comes in today, we’ll both act really nice to him. So he’ll like being in the study again.”
I frown at him. “I always act nice.”
“Eh, you’ve been more neutral the last two times toward him than you were before.”
“You’re taking notice of how I act with Brad?”
He narrows his eyes but ignores my question. “If his responses to the biofeedback don’t improve this time, then I’ll go to Price, explain what happened and how he probably feels self-conscious now being in here and if that qualifies us to drop him. I—” He pauses, holding eye contact with me. “I’ll make sure he understands you aren’t at fault in any way.”
I nod, breaking the connection to look down at my lap. Well, that’s not very Slytherin of him. Shouldn’t he be putting himself first, pushing the blame on to me?
Maybe he’s changing. Evolving.
Or maybe he knows you’d fight back against any accusations like that against you, so he’s putting himself ahead of the situation.
Yeah, probably that. “I still want Brad to get full credit for completing the study. He shouldn’t be penalized after what we put him through.”
He gazes at me, his expression softening. “Ever the Hufflepuff heart,” he murmurs.
Under Pressure (Lessons Learned Book 1) Page 11