by Sabre Rose
I squirmed more violently under him, wanting to touch him, to give him the same pleasure he was giving to me, but it was a pointless endeavour. Tyler simply tightened the grip of his thighs, holding me firmly under him as I bucked with anticipation. A tremble started deep within and I clenched around his fingers. Dinner was forgotten. Peta was forgotten. The only thing that existed was Tyler.
His eyes closed when I tensed and a wicked smile crossed his face. “You’re just about there, aren’t you?” he growled.
I nodded and moaned, no longer having use for words, only sounds. But instead of bringing me to climax, Tyler withdrew his hand, bringing his fingers to his mouth and licking each one clean, before leaning close to my ear. “Well, you’re just going to have to wait. We need to go. You promised Peta.”
“What?” I said, sitting up and propping myself onto my elbows as he climbed off, the wicked grin still plastered across his expression. “You’re just going to leave me like this?”
Tyler walked into the ensuite, his tight butt cheeks taunting me, and turned on the water, raising his voice to be heard over the stream. “You’re more than welcome to join me in the shower, but we won’t be finishing this until later.”
“That’s just mean.” I lifted myself from the bed and leaned against the bathroom door, arms crossed and mouth pouting. Tyler stepped under the water and it streamed over his body, playfully sliding over every dip and hollow. My desire only intensified. For a moment, I considered calling Peta and telling her we couldn’t make it, but I knew she would work the truth out of me, and then there would be no end to her teasing.
Tyler lathered the soap in his hands and then ran them over his body. I followed their trail with my eyes, imagining what would happen if those hands were mine instead of his. They certainly wouldn’t skip so quickly. I would move them slowly, over the curve of his shoulders, down the lines of muscles that decorated his back. They would grip onto the tight flesh of his backside and over the fine dark hairs that graced his thighs. Unable to resist the desire welling within, I stepped into the shower and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his back and kissing the taut flesh. Catching my hands with his own, he peeled them away and backed me into the wall, pushing me against the cold glass. While turning to face me, he held my arms away, stretching them from my sides. His eyes skipped over my body like fire. He leaned forward, dipping his head to take one of my nipples between his teeth, eyes locking with mine as I cried out, pushing myself further towards him. But he pushed me back against the glass.
“Stay,” he ordered, releasing me, once again lathering the soap in his hands. He started at my shoulders and worked his way down my body. The roughness of his hands mixed with the soft bubbles of the soap created a delightful friction that only served to increase my desire, but every time I reached for him, or arched my body towards his, he pushed me back, shaking his head, though his eyes remained firmly on my body.
Once he was done, he directed me back under the flow of water and the bubbles washed away. He turned the shower off and dropped to his knees, running his tongue along my wet slit just once, before getting back up and wrapping a towel around his waist. I felt as though the steam in the room had invaded my brain, clouding my thought process and blocking me from thinking clearly.
“We’d better get going,” he said with a teasing lilt.
I simply nodded and watched as Tyler dried himself. Once done, he walked from the bathroom and I followed, running the same towel over my body as had been on his. We both dressed, our eyes slipping to each other, fixating on the flashes of flesh hidden under clothing.
* * *
On the drive there, Tyler’s hand rested on my thigh, occasionally slipping higher, raising the hem of my dress and brushing against the thin fabric of my underwear until I would gasp, or moan, or some sound of arousal would be elicited from my mouth and he would remove his hand, a satisfied smirk on his lips.
Peta and Shrek were outside when we arrived. Their house was two-storey with an expanse of grass in front. There were very few gardens. Peta hated gardening. The two eldest boys played with a rugby ball on the grass, while Shrek and Peta watched, the baby planted on her hip.
“Welcome!” she called as we stepped out of the car. Shrek’s head cocked to the side when he saw Tyler. An expression of confusion quickly passed over his features but he stepped forward and offered his hand.
“Dylan,” he said, shaking Tyler’s hand. “But people usually call me Shrek.”
“So Lauren informs me,” Tyler replied, smiling easily. “Tyler Thornton.”
“So Lauren informs me.” Shrek laughed and started to walk to the house, throwing his arm at the outside chairs on offer. “Make yourself at home. Beer okay? Peta’s on the wine if you’d prefer, or we have got something stronger.”
“Beer would be good.” Instead of taking a seat, Tyler strolled over the grass and picked up the ball, tossing it back to Nicholas who grinned widely.
Peta sighed heavily. “He’s gorgeous,” she said as she watched Tyler play with the boys.
I laughed. There was no point denying it. Tyler was beautiful.
Shrek appeared again. “For fuck’s sake,” he cursed quietly. Peta and I looked up at him quizzically as he placed the two beers on the table and handed me a glass of wine. “I think I just grew ovaries.”
Tyler spent the first half hour playing with the boys, much to Shrek’s disgust, who declared his disdain for Tyler’s perfection. Peta, being the organised woman she was, had already sorted dinner and it was heating in the oven, waiting to be served. The boys noisily entertained us during dinner, each of them battling for Tyler’s attention, and competing who could tell the grossest story. Tyler politely screwed his face up with disgust when he was supposed to and laughed when the boys indicated he should. Sometimes it was hard to tell what the correct response was.
Once dinner was finished, Shrek moved the boys into the lounge with the TV going and plates of ice-cream on their laps, allowing the adults a chance to talk. Despite Tyler’s hesitation at coming, he appeared perfectly at ease, discussing Shrek’s part-time painting and wallpapering business, as well as the perils of staffing issues with Peta, who, very deliberately, kept sliding her eyes to mine.
“Has Lauren told you of my suggestion she go into business for herself?” Tyler asked, looking across the table at Peta. His hand found mine under the table, his thumb moving in slow circles over the soft pad of flesh between my thumb and forefinger.
Peta’s eyebrows raised. “No. No, she hasn’t.” Turning her head slowly in my direction, she looked at me accusingly.
I laughed. “It’s just something Tyler brought up. I haven’t thought that much about it.”
“But I think it’s a brilliant idea,” Tyler said. “She has the talent for it, and if she moved to the city there would be no lack of clients, especially in the hospitality and construction industries. New buildings are going up everywhere. And, of course, she would have Sadie and me at her beck and call.”
“Sadie?” Peta asked.
“My assistant,” Tyler replied. “Well, I hate calling her that. She is so much more than an assistant. She is also currently studying a degree in marketing.”
“Is that so?” Peta lifted her wine glass to her lips and took a sip. “Who knew you had been introduced to all these wonderful people.” There was a hint of annoyance in her voice, and I looked at her questioningly. “Would you help me in the kitchen a moment, Lauren? You boys will be able to entertain yourselves for a moment or two, won’t you?”
Once inside the enclosed safety of the kitchen, Peta turned to face me. “You’re moving to the city?”
I shook my head. “No, no, it was just something Tyler mentioned. I haven’t really thought about it.”
Peta muttered something under her breath.
“What was that?” I asked, stepping closer to her as she loaded some plates into the dishwasher.
“I said, he’s very intense, isn�
�t he?”
“Intense?” I shrugged and gathered the dirty glasses. “I guess he is.”
“He is,” Peta reiterated. “He’s always watching you. Touching you.”
“And?” I said, getting slightly annoyed with her tone. “Is there something wrong with that?”
Peta shrugged. “And now he wants you to move in with him?”
“He’s never actually said that. He just thinks it would be a good idea for me to go into business for myself and the chance of it working in the city is a lot greater than here.”
“And what do you think?” By this stage, Peta had stopped loading the dishwasher and leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed and tea towel flung over her shoulder.
“I’ve told you I haven’t really thought about it.”
“But you will?”
“Did Tyler say something to annoy you?” I asked, mimicking her stance.
Peta turned back to the bench, adjusting the tea towel over her shoulder. “I’ve just never seen you look at someone like you look at him. I’m not used to it.”
“And how do I look at him?”
“Like the rest of the world disappears.”
“Is that a bad thing?”“
“Meh,” she said.
“Meh?” I repeated. “What do you mean by meh? It’s barely even a word. It’s a sound.”
Peta sighed again. “He’s just rather intense, that’s all.” She walked back towards the dining room.
“You’ve said that already,” I called after her.
“Just look out for her mother,” Shrek was saying when we walked back into the room. “She’s an interesting one. You should have been there at Lauren’s last birthday.” Shrek laughed and slapped his thigh, looking over to Peta who was trying to shake her head without shaking her head. “Her parents came down to surprise her after Lauren had told them some lie about Peta making her work on her birthday, and, of course, she wasn’t ready to introduce them to—” He stopped abruptly, eyes locking on Peta’s with a look of panic.
“They’re just very conservative,” Peta said.
“Conservative?” Tyler repeated, waiting for the story to continue.
“Her parents were expecting her to still be with Derek, and—” Shrek cleared his throat nervously. “Well, she wasn’t. Not that they knew that. But her niece was…” he let his voice fall at the shake of Peta’s head.
Tyler nodded slowly and narrowed his eyes in my direction. “I know Lauren was with my brother,” he told Shrek, even though his attention was directed towards me. “Was he there that night?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
Tyler’s hand found my thigh under the table and his fingers gripped into my leg almost painfully. The table fell into silence. Relief only came when Tyler’s cell phone started ringing. He glanced down and rolled his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, this is very rude of me, but I need to take this call. Work,” he said when I glanced over at him. The grip on my thigh had lessened and he stroked my skin softly before excusing himself.
Shrek let his head fall into his hands as soon as Tyler was gone. “I am so fucking sorry, Ren. I just didn’t think. It just sort of fell out and before I knew what was happening I was there.”
“It’s okay.” I reached out to pat his hand. “As Tyler said, he knows I was with his brother. He had to watch it for months.”
Shrek let out a whistle of air and shook his head. “Has to be a blow to the old joystick every time he thinks of it though.”
“Seriously,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. It will be fine.”
“It’s got to be awkward between you sometimes though, right?” he asked.
Peta gently whacked him over the head, hissing, “Just drop it, would you?”
He smiled playfully over at her and blew her a kiss. “Sorry, babe.”
“Do not call me babe.” Peta scowled. “I hate that word.”
“Sorry, love.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Peta is fine.”
Shrek reached over and mussed up her hair. “Ah, there’s my romantic gal.”
I excused myself and tried to find Tyler. He had walked into the bathroom and I stopped outside the door and listened.
“No,” he said bluntly. “This has nothing to do with her. This has everything to do with you risking every—” The door to the bathroom shut and I was left unable to hear the rest of the conversation. It had to be his father. My heart dropped a little. Would my relationship with Gabe forever follow us?
I returned to the table, interrupting Shrek and Peta in a lip-lock, and sat down heavily.
“Everything okay?” Peta asked once she had separated herself from Shrek.
“Just tired, I think.”
Shrek wiggled his eyebrows and reached out for Peta, pulling her back between his legs and wrapping his arms around her waist. “Tyler been working you too hard?”
I rolled my eyes and ignored him. Tyler walked back into the room wearing a stern expression.
“We need to go,” he said to me.
“I hope everything is okay?” Peta asked, once again detangling herself from Shrek’s embrace.
“Everything’s fine,” Tyler said gruffly. “There are just a few phone calls I need to make before it gets too late. I’m very sorry. It was a wonderful meal.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Shrek said, holding out his hand and shaking Tyler’s. “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
Tyler nodded and leaned over to kiss Peta’s cheek, thanking her again for the meal. Peta just looked at me questioningly and I tried to avoid her gaze. I was sure she thought our sudden departure was due to the Gabe conversation and not the phone call Tyler received. And if I was being truthful, I was wondering the same thing.
15
LAUREN
“I’ll drive.” Tyler held his hands out for the keys as we walked to the car.
“You’ve had more to drink than me,” I replied, inserting the key into the driver’s door and unlocking the doors.
He took a deep breath and got into the passenger’s seat. His leg jiggled impatiently.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Fine,” he replied, looking out the window. He looked too large in my car, curled up on the passenger’s seat, head slightly bent to accommodate the height of the roof. He looked large and annoyed.
“Was it because Shrek brought up Gabe?” I asked quietly.
“No.” He shifted in his seat. “I’m just dealing with some stuff at work at the moment.”
“Want to talk about it?”
He shook his head, shifting in the seat, adjusting his position. “It’s nothing to do with you.” The way he said it made my heart shrink. His voice was cold and sharp.
We pulled up the driveway and walked into the house without speaking. As soon as we were inside, Tyler turned and took my face between his hands, crushing his lips onto mine desperately. “I need you,” he growled.
The suddenness of his movement surprised me and I pushed back from him.
He took a step forward. “Please?” he begged.
“I thought you had phone calls to make?”
“I lied.” He reached for me again, but I stepped out from his grasp. “Lauren,” he said, his eyes dark and hungry. “I want you. I need you.” He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to him, once again crushing his mouth against mine with a desperation I hadn’t felt before.
“Tyler!” I pushed against him. “We need to talk about this.”
“About what?” he asked, frustrated.
“About whatever is going on in that head of yours. You’re clearly annoyed about something and fucking me isn’t the answer.”
Tyler smirked. “It sounds like a pretty decent answer to me.”
I narrowed my eyes and he turned away, sighing and running his hands through his hair. “What do you want me to say, Lauren? Do you want me to tell you that the mere mention of his name in connection to yours drives me insane? Becaus
e it does. I know you were with him. I know you shared yourself with him in a way I wished had never happened. It tears me apart. I want to smother you. I want to cover you in me until there is nothing of him left. I want to make love to you until you forget he ever existed.”
“There is nothing of him left.” I stepped in front of him. “I want you, Tyler. I am with you.”
He moved forward, his body undeniably close, but his hands remained clenched at his sides. “Prove it. Prove you want me as much as I want you. Prove to me that it would drive you insane if you had to hear about another woman that I had been inside.”
As if by instinct, my hand raised as though I were about to slap him, but I stopped with it trembling in the air. “Don’t you dare talk about being inside another woman,” I hissed, surprising myself with the vehemence in my words.
He caught my hand, his fingers digging into my wrist painfully. “Prove it,” he said again, and let go.
Instead of anger, his challenge ignited desire and I pushed until his body collided with the wall and tore at his shirt, not caring when the buttons popped and fell to the ground. My hands on his chest trapped him against the wall and I lifted myself to the tip of my toes so I could press my mouth against his hungrily, desperately. He opened easily and let me devour him, and I grazed my teeth over his bottom lip, sliding my tongue into his mouth. All the while his heart beat dangerously under my hands. The aggression of my desire excited me and I trailed my lips downwards over his jawline, and then back up his neck so I could nip on his earlobe, eliciting a sharp breath of air hissed between his teeth. My mouth fell to his collarbone, his chest, his stomach as I made my way down his body, fumbling with the buttons of his jeans urgently until they fell away. He watched intently as I slid his boxers over his hips and let them fall to the floor. His erection almost pulsated with desire, but, although I longed to, I did not touch. I dropped to my knees, staring up at him so he could see the lust in my eyes. Starting at the base, I ran my tongue slowly along the length of him, watching in amazement as his erection grew even harder. I ran my tongue up and down, over and around, relishing the sounds he uttered. Then, when I thought he couldn’t stand the teasing anymore, I took him in my mouth, slowly taking as much of him as I could before I gagged. I reeled back, gasping for air, before taking him again and sucking. Moisture pooled between my thighs. My body trembled as he wound his hands into my hair, pulling it from my scalp in delicious pain.