Passion in Portland 2016 Anthology

by Anthology

  My leg falls and his mouth is between my thighs sucking on my clit before I even blink. “Holy shit!” His finger penetrates me and that’s all it takes to make me shatter. I sink into the mattress a little further as I lose control of my senses and my brain becomes foggy.

  A breath that was trapped in my lungs escapes. “Damn.”

  He rests his forearms on either side of my head. “I could do that for hours, Josey. You’re absolutely heavenly.” His lips whisper over mine. “Fucking exquisite.”

  He reaches between us and rubs himself against me, toying with my entrance and then finally sliding inside in one long, smooth, slow stroke. “Fuck, fuck. Josey, you’re perfect.”

  “You are, too.” And man, do I mean that. He just fits. Nothing has ever been so… right.

  I urge him on by lifting my hips, needing more. As much as I love the time he spent on me before, I really just want him to let loose. His eyes don’t leave mine, and every time he slides back in, his jaw clenches. Moisture beads on his forehead and his grunting becomes uncontrolled.

  My legs wrap around his lower back. “Alex?”

  “You okay?”

  “Fuck me.”

  His hands wrap around mine and he raises them above my head and kisses my neck. Then he fucks me like I asked. His hips pound and he growls against my skin. Each time he thrusts against me, my clit begs for it even more, so when he begins to go even faster, I tighten around him and throw my head back as I come for the third time in one day. “I’m coming, Alex.” He sucks on my neck and continues hammering into me while I swivel my hips and ride out the rest of my orgasm.

  My head falls to the side and my sated body moves as one with his. “Shit, fuck.” He curses and warm wetness lands on my stomach. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

  He releases my hands and I sit up and watch him stroke himself as the last few drops land on my rib cage.

  “Damn it, Josey. I didn’t use a condom, but I swear to you I’m clean. Are you on the pill or anything?”

  I shake my head. “I’m clean, too, but I stopped taking anything a while ago.” The thought of getting pregnant scares the shit out of me. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, since you, ya know…” I point to my stomach.

  “I’m so fucking sorry. If something happens, I promise I’ll help you. I’d never abandon a baby or leave you to deal with it on your own.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Fuck that was good. You’re amazing, Josey.” He kisses my head. “Stay put.”

  I collapse onto the unbelievably soft mattress and almost fall asleep before he comes back a minute later with a warm wet washcloth. He wipes my stomach off and I giggle as he dries my ticklish sides.

  After tossing the towels away, he crawls into bed with me and we snuggle under the blankets. His arms wrap around me and I intertwine our fingers. “Whatever happens, just know that I’ll always be here for you. If you ever need anything, just call.”

  “You act like you’re never going to see me again.”

  He stiffens behind me and I roll over to my side to look at him. “Alex?”

  “Go to sleep, Josey.” He scatters kisses on my face and the soft strum of his fingers up and down my arm lull me into one of the deepest sleeps I can remember having.

  ***

  Six Weeks Later

  “Josey,” Mr. Russell hollers at me through his closed door. I grit my teeth together and push myself out of my seat.

  Maybe it’s not fair that I started this job with a major chip on my shoulder, but Ryan Russell is the biggest dick face I’ve ever met. And I swear I’m going to take my letter opener and stab him in the eye if he looks at my boobs again.

  Without knocking on the door, I step into his office and put on a fake smile. “Yes?”

  “Clear my schedule. I have a potential client coming in who demands my attention.”

  “Mr. Russell, you have three meetings this afternoon and two of them have already been rescheduled twice.”

  He snaps his head up from the papers he’s rummaging through. His beady eyes shoot daggers into me and his pointer finger jabs in the air at me. “I didn’t ask your opinion. I said clear my schedule. If you’re not competent enough to do that, then I’ll have to find someone who is.”

  “Fine.”

  I have been a paralegal my entire life, but never have I ever worked for such a condescending prick. When I took this job, I was under the assumption that I would be working on legal cases and not being a coffee bitch. But life doesn’t work out that way, does it?

  After getting yelled at by everyone that I had to reschedule, I go to the restroom and take a little while longer than usual just because I don’t want to go back out to my desk. By the time I get back out, Mr. Russell’s door is closed and two male voices are muffled from inside. His appointment must be here.

  I sit back down at my desk and grab my phone to pass the time, since the only things I do are answer his phone and schedule appointments. And get his coffee and dry cleaning.

  I’m immersed in my game of solitaire, contemplating if I should undo my move to try and cheat.

  “I don’t pay you to play games on your phone.”

  My phone slips from my hands and I whip my head up at a very angry Mr. Russell.

  “Go get us some coffee.”

  For some reason I don’t stand up fast enough and he leans into me and pokes a finger at my forehead. “Can you hear, you damn moron?”

  His anger makes me freeze in place, and my eyes begin to burn, when suddenly he’s out of my face.

  “Ever. You ever fucking touch her or talk to her like that again, I will destroy you. There’s not a dirty trick in the book money can’t buy, Ryan, and I’ll gladly lose it all if you fucking touch her again. We clear?”

  Holy shit. Holy shit.

  Mr. Russell doesn’t answer, and Alex slams him against the wall. “I said, are we clear?”

  “Fine.”

  Alex releases him and without turning around to face me, sticks his hand out in my direction. “Let’s go, Josey.”

  “You can’t be serious?” Mr. Russell admonishes.

  “Dead.” Alex wiggles his fingers. “Jojo. Let’s go.”

  At the mention of my nickname, I grab my purse and phone, then take Alex’s hand and follow him to the elevator. Right before the door slides shut, a hand wraps around it, and I scream when Mr. Russell sticks his head in. Alex wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to him.

  “You’ll regret this, Owens.”

  “No I won’t.”

  Mr. Russell scoffs at him and then angles his head at me. “You sure you’re better off with him?”

  Instead of answering, I squeeze tighter to Alex, his strong body bringing me security in this crazy fucked up situation.

  “Leave us.” Alex commands.

  “You know why he was here to see me, right, Josey?”

  “We’re done.” Alex lets me go and pushes Mr. Russell out of the elevator so he falls on his ass.

  As the doors are closing, he stands up and wipes his hands on his pants, then looks at me. “Murder.”

  I gasp at the same time the door closes, and Alex hangs his head.

  “What?”

  “Josey—”

  “Alex, what the hell?”

  He doesn’t answer, but shoves his hands into his suit pants pockets and rocks back on his heels. As soon as the door opens, I run out and onto the street. He chases after me, and when I turn a corner, I stop to catch my breath.

  “You fucking left me in bed and never called.”

  “You never called me, either, Josey.”

  “Now you show up and I find out you’re being charged with murder? What the fuck, Alex?”

  “I told you I had a lot going on and I didn’t want to drag you into my shit. Look,”—he looks around and runs a hand through his hair—“can we not do this here?”

  “Do what?” I push past him.

  “Fuck, Josey, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

&n
bsp; “Murder?” I whisper.

  He rubs a hand on the back of his neck. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Is it true?”

  “It was a long time ago; I was seventeen. It wasn’t my fault, I swear.”

  “So it’s true.”

  “Josey, please. Can we not do this here?”

  I look at him, really look at him. His beautiful green eyes plead with me and I remember how much our time together meant. There’s no way I believe that he killed somebody. “How could you just leave me?”

  “This is why. This, right here.” He motions between the two of us. “Because I knew once you found out you wouldn’t want to be with me, and I didn’t want to drag you through this with me.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  A homeless man runs into Alex and then makes his way down the alley past me. “Can we please not do this here?”

  “Fine.”

  He holds his hand out for me and I hesitate to take it.

  “I would never, ever hurt you.”

  Knowing he’s telling the truth, I link our hands together and follow him back to his vehicle. He helps me climb up in the seat, and the drive back to his place is silent. After the valet comes around, we take the elevator up. I make myself at home and plop down on his couch.

  He stands in front of me and wastes no time talking. “It happened when I was seventeen and I swear to you it was self-defense. I really don’t want to get into the details, but he was a distant relative, and now his mom is suing me because she finally got sober enough to realize I had money.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “Both she and her son had addiction issues, and at the time it happened they didn’t even consider me a suspect.”

  “So what’s happening now?”

  “She says she found evidence and she’ll go to the police if I don’t give her money.”

  “How does she know?”

  He sits down next to me and rubs my thigh. “She doesn’t. She’s making it up. All she wants is money.”

  “Why don’t you just give it to her?”

  “She’s not getting shit.” His palm squeezes my flesh. “I worked my ass off to get where I am, and I’ll be damned if she’s gonna get a penny of it.”

  “How much does she want?”

  “Half a million.”

  “Dollars?”

  “Yes.”

  “Holy shit,” I pant.

  “It’s not even the money, it’s the principal.”

  He goes to the kitchen and comes back with a couple of bottles of water.

  “So you’d rather have your name dragged through the mud than pay her?”

  “I don’t have anything to hide or lose. Why the fuck not?”

  I take a swallow of water and set the bottle down, then stand in front of him. “Because I don’t want you to be in jail when our baby is born.”

  His eyes widen and he looks at my stomach, then back at me. Then back down one more time. “What?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh, my god.”

  “But you’re not getting one more single chance, Alex. You already fucked up once, and this is the only time you have to make it right.”

  “Josey, shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t think… I thought that—fuck!” He puts his hands on my shoulders and leans down so he’s face to face with me. “I’ll pay her off and get that shit taken care of. Then I swear to you I’m going to be there for you.”

  “I know you will be.”

  His relieved breath tickles my face as my hair flutters against my cheek. “I’m really sorry, Josey. I was afraid you’d find out about it, and I didn’t want you to be dragged into it in the first place.”

  “Were you just going to let me walk out of your life forever?”

  “No. I was going to take care of this court shit and then beg you to take me back.” He smiles and kisses my forehead.

  “Hmm,” I tease. “You think I’m that easy?”

  “Hell no. But when I’m with you, everything else is easy. You make me happy and I’ve been dying these past six weeks without you.”

  My heart leaps a few beats and I throw my arms around him. “Me too. I wasn’t expecting any of this and I know I’m probably losing girl points by taking you back so easily, but I’m scared to do this on my own, and now I don’t have a job and—”

  “I’ll take care of you. We’ll take care of each other, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Let me make a phone call real quick so I can get the paperwork started.” I nod as he pulls his phone out, and I walk to the window and look out at the city below. Shortly after, his arms wrap around my waist from behind and he kisses my neck. “Everything’s started. She’ll have them delivered to her and the money deposited as soon as she signs.”

  “Are we crazy?”

  “Maybe a little?”

  “I’m serious. We don’t even really know each other. And I’m wondering if maybe we just happened to come into each other’s life at the right time and it feels… convenient. I’m kind of scared, but I feel things for you that I never have before.”

  He turns me around and pulls me to his room, then sits me on the bed before he starts digging through drawers. When he comes back to me, he has a couple of yearbooks in his hand. “This is unbelievably embarrassing.”

  His fingers turn to a dog eared page and I bite my lip in anticipation. “I still feel like this about you, but now that I’m an adult, it’s taken on a whole new meaning.”

  The picture of me from my senior year has a heart around it. His sloppy handwriting next to it says: The most beautiful girl in the world.

  “Aww, Alex.”

  “I had a crush on you back then, but when I saw you standing at the front desk, shoeless and with a bottle of champagne wrapped in a paper bag, all of those feelings came back tenfold. And when I touch you, or kiss you… when we made love, I knew that I didn’t want another day to go by without you in my life. I know it was stupid and I know I fucked up by walking away, but I hope you understand I only had your best interest at heart. And now that all of that will soon be cleared up, I’m going to make you the happiest woman in the world, because you being you, and you giving an idiot like me a shot to prove myself worthy, makes me the absolute luckiest man to ever walk the face of the earth.”

  My eyes well with tears and he uses his thumbs to wipe under them.

  “Ah! Pregnancy hormones.” I fan my face. “Okay. Okay, so we’re doing this?”

  “If you’ll let me.”

  “Because… I missed you. A lot. But I really missed the shower.”

  He throws his head back and laughs. It’s a look he doesn’t wear too often, and I love that I’m the one to put it there. Maybe this is a mistake, maybe it’s too fast, but if I don’t leap, I’ll never know if I can make the jump or not.

  “Well, then. Let’s go.” He stands and holds his hand out for me to take. When our skin touches, he links our fingers together and I follow behind him. He looks back at me and smirks, then squeezes my hand, and in that moment I know everything is going to be okay.

  My reasons for moving here may have been to get away from one guy, but this one, the man in front of me, he’s the reason I want to stay. Forever.

  About the Author

  Anna began writing when she thought the world would want to hear her sick lyrics through song. Since then, she's realized her childhood dream wasn't so far-fetched, just misguided. Now she writes romance with real emotions and happy endings. If Anna isn't writing or reading, she can be found by a space heater drinking a ridiculous amount of Diet Dr Pepper. She also likes to hang out with her husband and two boys. If it wasn't for them, she wouldn't ever leave the house. Anna was born in Wisconsin but now lives in the Evergreen State.

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  To Portland, With Love – Cassia Leo

  Rory

  The sunlight penetrates my eyelids and I’m gripped by a sudden fear. Opening my eyes, I fumble around on the nightstand, looking for my phone as my eyes adjust to daylight. I scoop up the phone and click it on, blinking furiously at the time on the display. It has to be wrong.

  My heart pounds as I navigate to the alarm app on my phone only to find that I did indeed forget to set the alarm two hours earlier before I fell asleep last night. It must have been the three glasses of wine I had while writing. Houston is going to kill me.

  I slide out of the silky gray sheets and scurry into the master bathroom of our chic three-bedroom penthouse apartment in downtown Portland. I dial my husband’s number as I turn on the hot water in the marble shower. The line rings twice before he picks up.

  “Where are you?” Houston’s voice is low, but there’s an edge of annoyance.

  “I forgot to set my alarm. Is Karen there? Sometimes she comes early on Saturdays.”

  “No, she’s not here. Is that the shower? Are you still at the apartment?”

  “I can’t leave without taking a shower. I’ll be quick. I promise I’ll be there before you have to leave.”

  He laughs at this. “You’re joking, right? You think you’re going to take a shower and drive ten miles through summer weekend traffic in less than half an hour?”

  Without saying a word, I reach into the shower and turn off the water.

  “Don’t speed,” he replies before ending the call.

  I sigh as I look around the sleek Carrara marble and slate-gray decor. I love this penthouse. Despite the ultra-modern interior, I feel at home here. I love that the apartment was brand new when we bought it six months ago. I love that I can take the express elevator down to the street and choose from a dozen different bars and restaurants, all within a couple blocks. I love that Kenny can come over and entertain me whenever I need a laugh. I love that I can write at any time of day or night without interruption.