by Natalie Ann
He’d never lost his cool again after that. Nothing as severe. And he told himself there wasn’t anything in life that would make him react like that again. He could yell in anger but it’d be words and not actions.
“Then maybe I should compliment you more,” he said, wanting to push the past from his mind like a vegan turned their head away from meat and dairy.
“I don’t need compliments,” she said.
“Which is why it’s good to give them. You could return the favor, you know.”
She laughed at him, then pulled back into her parking lot and shut off the car. She reached for the box of dessert and said, “You’ve got good taste when it comes to surprises. Peanut butter is my favorite.”
He got out of the car like her, grabbed his bag and followed her up the stairs. “That isn’t the type of compliment I was looking for. Especially since they were the only cookies they had.”
“You didn’t say I had to be specific with my compliments.”
“I like you feisty like this.”
“You think this is feisty?” she said. “You don’t get out very much.”
“I get out enough.” He dropped his bag when they got in her apartment, took the box out of her hand and put it on the counter, then pulled her into his arms. “Are you going to show me more of your feisty side?”
“After dinner,” she said, kissing him on the lips and then walking away from him. Sashayed was more like it.
If he didn’t watch himself, he was going to lose his heart like a puppy takes off running with a new toy.
That Space of Yours
“I’m just going to go take my contacts out. Help yourself to something to drink. I picked up some of your cousin’s beer if you want one. Hope it was the right choice.”
“Anything of Mason’s is great.”
She walked into her bathroom and removed her contacts, put her glasses on and debated what to do with her hair. The front was clipped back out of her face. Rather than keep it like that, she grabbed a rubber band and pulled it into a ponytail, then went to her room to change into shorts and a T-shirt.
When she came back out, Drake was sitting on the couch with a glass of beer and Tyson crawling on his lap.
“You can push him away if you want. He won’t mind.”
“He’s fine. I was sitting at the island and he was eying me there. I figured you weren’t the type to want the cat on the counter so I moved over here.”
“I don’t like him on the counter or the table. I push him off all the time, but I know he’s probably on it when I’m gone. Not much I can do about it other than always wipe everything down when I get home. The cat hair drives me insane and the thought of it in or around my food grosses me out.”
“You might be one of the neatest people I know. I like that trait.”
“Not wanting animal hair in my food is pretty common,” she said.
“You’d be surprised how many people don’t care about that.”
“That’s nasty. As clean as that cat is, it’s still an animal that pees and poops in a box. His feet are dirty and he climbs on places I prepare food.”
As she spoke she pulled out the Clorox wipes she bought in bulk and wiped everything down in her kitchen that those four white paws might have landed on. When she was done she pulled out two T-bone steaks that she’d picked up the day before.
“Anything I can help you with?” he asked.
“No, I’ve got it covered. I’m going to light my little grill on the balcony and throw these two steaks on. I’ll put hand-cut fries in my air fryer after I season them.”
“You make your own fries?” he asked.
She was looking at him from the kitchen where he was watching her as she worked. The potatoes were out and she was washing them.
“They are better that way.” Once they were dried off she cut them in big thick slices and dropped them in water to get some of the starch out.
“How long do they take?”
“Not long. I let them sit in water for about fifteen minutes, then dry them off, toss them with olive oil and a seasoning blend I like. It’s got a little kick to it, if you’re okay with that.”
“I sure am.”
“Then I stick them in the air fryer for about twenty minutes and they are done.”
“I hear people talking about air fryers all the time. Not sure it’s worth getting one,” he said.
“I love mine. I can’t live without it. I cook most of my vegetables in it and fish.”
“Well then, you can make me fish another night.”
“Oh, so now I’m turning into your personal cook?” she asked.
He stood up and walked into the kitchen, grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. “Why do you hide this personality from so many people?”
“I don’t,” she argued, but she knew she did.
“There you go again. Disagreeing with me. Since I see you, I can tell you you do. The question is why?”
“I’m a private person,” she said. “There is a time and a place for comments and at work isn’t that.”
“Please,” he said, then stepped back when she nudged him out of the way to get back to the dinner. “You scream ‘stay out of my personal space.’”
“But you have no problem stepping into it,” she said.
“I can be persistent. And I get the feeling you don’t let too many people into that space of yours, not even outside of work.”
“You are persistent. And you’re right. If I didn’t want you in that space, you wouldn’t have gotten far.”
“There is a compliment right there.”
She laughed this time. “I wasn’t trying for it.”
“Which makes it even better.”
“If you say so,” she said, going back to the dinner prep. “Do you want a salad?”
“Sure. Let me help you with that though.”
“I won’t argue,” she said, turning to open the fridge and pull out spring greens, a cucumber, shredded cheese and grabbing a tomato on the counter to put in front of him. “There is a can of olives in the cabinet above your head if you want them in there too.”
“So food help you don’t argue about. I guess I’ve got to find other things you won’t argue with me about.”
She leaned back on the counter and asked, “Why is that important? As you’ve established, we have a lot of disagreements or annoy each other, yet you’re in my kitchen and we are getting along just fine.”
“You know, I have no idea. I guess I’ve always been the one in my family that fought the least. You’ve met some of them. We’re loud, we’re crazy and in each other’s faces, and there is a lot of fighting and arguing. In a good way, if that’s possible.”
She knew about fighting and arguing. In your face type. Pushing you around type. She’d bet that wasn’t what Drake was talking about at all.
“And you didn’t want to contribute to it? Why?”
“It’s easier. Don’t get me wrong. I stand my ground when it’s important.”
“So noted.”
“I noticed you didn’t point out how I stood my ground with you.”
She felt some heat fill her face and then her body followed. Not in embarrassment, but with a tenderness that was in his eyes. What exactly was he trying to tell her? It seemed like it was more than just saying she was important.
And there was no way she was going to voice that question to him. For now it could fester in her brain. If she asked and didn’t like the answer, she’d feel like a fool.
She was done feeling like a fool in her life. Or feeling like she wasn’t wanted or couldn’t be accepted.
***
When dinner was finished and cleaned up, the two of them went to sit on her couch and watch TV.
He wanted to pull her into her room, but there was something about the coziness of the night that was making him take it a bit slower.
Considering it was only their second night seeing each other naked, you’d think he’d be as eager as a tod
dler on his first birthday reaching for his slice of cake ready to smash it everywhere.
Instead he was sitting next to her, his arm around her shoulder, her head against his chest while she wiped off the crumbs from the brownie he’d just eaten. She’d managed to put away the whole peanut butter cookie even though she complained about the size of it.
When the show they were watching was over, Tyson sleeping on the floor next to his bed rather than in it, Drake lifted her chin with his hand, lowered his mouth to hers and said, “Are you ready to show me your room?”
She grinned. “I thought you’d never ask. For someone who said he was persistent, you’ve been awful patient tonight.”
“I can be patient when I know I’ve got all night to be with you.”
“So that means I won’t get much sleep?” she asked, her mouth leaving feather-like kisses on his neck, sending blood rushing to his cock in a matter of seconds.
“That was my plan. Maybe it will convince you to let me stay tomorrow night too.”
“Now you’re moving fast for a man that said he was patient.”
“There is no winning with you, is there?” he asked.
“I guess you’ll have an answer to that after we make use of the bed.”
He stood up, pulling her with him, then followed her to her room. It was small, but he didn’t expect any differently. There was no king sized bed there, but at least it was a queen. It would have to do for his size, but like he’d told her, he didn’t expect to get much sleep.
She’d shut the door behind them, and then started to pull her shirt over her head. He’d wanted to undress her, so he stopped her movements.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Taking care of this chore myself. I’ve been thinking about it all day long.”
Her hands dropped to the side after he’d pulled her shirt off, his fingers trailing a path down her back and around her ribs, over her bra-covered breasts, his knuckles fanning across her cleavage.
She might argue with him about a lot of things, keep secrets he was sure she possessed in spades, but her body didn’t lie. What he did to her, she let him know how much she enjoyed it. Craved it. Maybe even loved it.
His mouth moved to her neck, kissing her like she’d done to him, his hands moving up and releasing her hair. He wanted to feel his hands in it. The soft silky strands she’d always pulled back. He wanted them loose and falling over his body tonight.
“You weren’t kidding when you said slow,” she said, moving her head to the side to give him better access.
“You rushed me last time.”
“Just that first time,” she said. “You slowed down the second time around.”
“And I’m going to be even slower tonight.”
His hands went to the clasp of her bra, released it and let it fall to the floor, her breasts spilling out, his hands going to cover them, his mouth following.
He didn’t mind bending over to reach a perky nipple just begging for his mouth, but why bother when he could make them both comfortable.
His hands went under her legs and he lifted her in the air, then carried her to the bed and laid her down, his body covering hers.
“Remove your shirt,” she said. “Keep up with me.”
“You like giving orders, don’t you?”
“Why should you control everything?”
Again, a strong woman in his mind, so he leaned back and pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the floor, then moved over her, his mouth going right for the rose-tipped delight he’d been dreaming of getting his mouth on again.
The minute his lips touched her nipple, her back arched up, telling him what he wanted to hear.
He moved side to side. Covering them both, making her squirm, making her plead. “Are you going to stay there all night?” she asked.
“Did you want me to move somewhere else?”
“You know the answer to that.”
“Then tell me.”
“I thought you wanted to run the show.”
He thought he did too but found out it was better when they did this together. “Tell me what you want, Kara.”
“I want you to take the rest of my clothes off. I want you to put your mouth on another part of my body. I want you to taste me and take me like you did the other night.”
“I never expected you to say those words,” he said, moving to the button on her shorts, undoing it and pulling them off with her underwear.
“You asked me to tell you what I wanted. What words could I say other than the truth?”
“You said it right.”
And then he did what she asked of him. He put his lips on her swollen bud of pleasure and he nibbled lightly, her hips lifting, a silent plea for more. He wouldn’t leave her wanting so he covered her completely and started to suck.
“You are so good at that,” she said.
For someone that was so quiet and kept to herself, she sure knew what to say and when to make it count. “The more I practice on you the better I’ll get. I’ll find everything your body wants and give it to you.”
“You’re doing a damn good job right now.”
“You swore,” he said grinning. “You never swear.”
“Just a tiny word.”
“I’m going to make you say a bigger one before the night is over.”
“Promises, promises,” she said, then squealed when he licked the length of her. Oh yeah, he found something else she liked.
He spread her legs wide, dove right in and went to work. His mouth finding every little nerve she had. Licking it, sucking on it, stopping and making her wait.
When he knew she was on the edge, he slid a finger inside of her, then another and moved them in and out nice and slow, prolonging it as much as he could.
“Put your mouth back on me,” she said, her hands going to his head and tugging him where she wanted him.
He started to lick up and down again, his fingers moving in and out, but she was pulling him up higher. “Is this the spot?” he asked, his tongue now tapping at her tender flesh.
“Yes!”
He stopped moving his fingers, but held them in her, then curved them just right, found the spot he was looking for and she almost bolted off the bed. “There it is,” he said, then pulled her nub in his mouth and applied enough suction while he moved those curved fingers slightly, listening to her panting.
The minute he felt her body let go, the fluid drenching his fingers, the muscles squeezing around him, he bit her, and she let out a shout followed by, “Fu—” with her hand slapping across her mouth.
He’d take that as a win.
And when hours later he was on his side, Kara curled into his chest, her naked ass against his groin, his chest to her back, her phone started to ring.
“Kara,” he said. “Kara, wake up.”
“What?” she asked. “So tired. Let me sleep.”
He laughed. “I know I wore you out, but your phone is ringing.”
“Don’t worry. It’s no one.”
“How do you know?” he asked. Anytime his phone rang in the middle of the night, he was bolting upright thinking something was wrong with someone in his family.
“Because there is no one important in my life,” she mumbled and went back to sleep.
Those words were devastating for him to hear. For someone that had so many important people surrounding him, he knew he’d have to make sure she had someone too.
Always In Control
Kara rolled over, the scent of something pleasant in the air. Food? Why was she smelling food?
She blinked her eyes a few times, looked at the side of the bed where she expected to see Drake’s gorgeous naked body but instead saw emptiness.
That was what she felt this morning. Empty of all energy. A weakness she’d never known her body could experience.
She’d jokingly told Drake, “promises, promises.” Now she knew. He kept his word. And she almost let the F word slip from her mouth if she didn’t
muffle it with her hand in time.
It wasn’t that big of a deal. People swore all the time.
Not her. Or she tried not to. You couldn’t change where you came from if you didn’t break the cycle you hated so much.
“Good morning.”
She sat up in bed, pulling the cover with her to see Drake standing there with two plates in his hands. “Morning.”
“I couldn’t carry the coffee in at the same time as the plates. You don’t have a tray.”
She smiled. “I’ve got no reason to have a tray when it’s just me.”
“You’ve never brought breakfast in bed to someone?” he asked.
“That’s not a fairytale I’ve lived.”
He walked forward and placed the plates on the table next to her bed. He was only wearing his jeans that he probably slipped on when he rolled out of bed. His hair was still messed up with a nice growth of beard on his face. Very sexy.
“Let me get the coffee and we can eat together.”
“Wouldn’t it be more practical if I just went to the kitchen?”
“Practical went out the window when you let a curse word slip last night.”
She felt her face flush but didn’t respond, instead just watched his nice butt as he walked out of her room, then came back with the coffee. And since the only way he could have made it was if he ground the beans himself, she knew it would be a good cup.
“You went all out,” she said, looking at the scrambled eggs, toast, and sliced strawberries.
“I would have done bacon, but you didn’t have any.”
“I’d actually planned on making us French toast this morning with the strawberries, but this is just as good.”
“You can do that tomorrow,” he said, dropping his jeans and underwear and climbing back into bed naked. She just lifted her eyebrows at him. “What? You’re naked so I should be too, but I wasn’t about to cook like that.”
“Good thing. We wouldn’t want you to burn some important part of your body.”
He grinned and took the plate she passed to him, then he grabbed one of the cups of coffee he’d set on his side of the bed to pass to her. “Never going to happen. So tell me, why was it such a big deal that you wouldn’t fully swear last night?”