Saving Sullivan

by Sara Hubbard

  He looks up at me and smiles. “You’re beautiful, Abby. Every inch of you. Let me do this.”

  I swallow hard and closing my eyes I give him a little nod.

  At first, I feel his tongue follow the line of my lower lips and he parts them before flicking the nub of my clitoris.

  “Ugh!” I cry out and I stuff the covers in my mouth, fearing I might be loud enough for Ames to hear us. I jerk with his skilled movements, knowing I can’t take this for long. It’s just too much.

  He slides a single finger into my slick entrance and pushes it in, pulls it out—over and over.

  “Please. Sullivan, please.”

  “No.”

  I beg him, but he’s not listening. He likes to push me, further than I imagine possible. I’ve never orgasmed before but I can feel it coming—the build-up of delicious tension and electrical pulses that move through my abdomen like I’m on fire. He slides another finger inside, and it hurts a little at first, but not for long. My hand glides down my moist body to grasp his hand, forcing him to move faster…to dive in deeper. Sullivan is tearing away my reservations and teaching me properly, the way sex is meant to be taught.

  I cry out and capture his hair between my fingers. “Please,” I beg. “I want you inside of me. Don’t make me wait any longer. I’ve waited long enough.” Of course, I don’t just mean tonight. If I'm being honest with myself, I wanted him from the first moment I saw him walk out of that airport bathroom.

  “No. Not yet.” He doesn’t stop until blood rushes through my body and my fingers are clutching the sheets. My body is almost shaking, building up to the upcoming fall. I’m almost there. I’m almost there and…oh! Yes. Please.

  I fall off the peak like I'm jumping from a plane. All of my muscles tighten, anticipating what’s coming, my heart beating so fast I fear it will stop, my breath catching. When my orgasm finally comes, I cry out as a shiver radiates through my body, from my toes to the hair on the tip of my head. I feel so completely exhausted and sated that I don’t think I can take anymore, but that’s when he crawls up the length of my body and settles between my legs. He touches his lips to mine and I taste myself. In theory, I'd expect this to turn me off, but through his hot, bothered breath on mine, his sweet scent mixed with mine, I’m almost ready to come again. The tip of his erection finds my entrance and he drives himself inside of me, delivering a mixture of pleasure and pain. Pleasure wins out.

  “I can’t go slow, Abby,” he says. “Not now. I want this too much. I’ve never wanted anyone or anything more.”

  “Yes,” is all I can manage, and even that comes out so quietly that I’m not sure he’s heard me.

  He pounds into me as I come again and again, contracting around his cock. My insides pulsate in a sweet rhythm that has me biting my lip so hard I taste blood. He gasps and groans, his lips anxious and all over mine. He makes love to me in a frenzy. Like our lives will end any minute and he needs his release before it’s over. I wrap my legs around him, and then I feel his cock throbbing as he comes inside of me, gasping and calling out my name.

  He rolls over and we lay beside each other, staring at the ceiling. I am so beyond exhausted. My whole body feels like I’ve run a marathon and I’ve come. My God, I’ve come. So this is what all the fuss is about.

  I wake at almost six thirty a.m. and realize quickly that it’s a workday, I’m not at home, and I have no scrubs.

  “Shit!” I climb out of bed and frantically search for my clothes, pulling on my bra and panties followed by my shirt and pants. Sullivan is dead to the world so I write him a note. I don’t want him to think I up and left him, but then I wonder if he’s supposed to be at work too. I climb on top of him and kiss his mouth. He responds by pulling me in tight against him and rolling on top of me.

  I pull away, grinning. “It’s six-thirty. I have to get to work. Do you work today?”

  He thinks about it for a moment. “Fuck.”

  I try to push him off, but then he says, “I can be quick. Six minutes tops if I try real hard.”

  I slap his good shoulder. “Stop it. Remember you need this job, right?”

  “What about a blow job?”

  I roll my eyes and push him.

  “For that, I’ll be good in three.”

  “You’re awful. I’ll see you at lunch.” I slide out from under him and hurry out of his room, jogging back in for one more kiss before leaving.

  “Earth to Abby,” Alice says. She tosses a carrot at me and it hits me in the shoulder.

  I glance over at her. “What were you saying?”

  “What is going on with you? You’ve been spaced out all week and every time you’re in la la land you have this goofy smile plastered all over your face. So spill it—who’s got you all hot and bothered?”

  I snatch the carrot off the counter and toss it back at her. She catches it and shrugs before eating it. I frown at her, knowing that just yesterday, someone vomited all over this counter. That’s not to say we didn’t clean it up with industrial-strength bleach, but still.

  “Why do you assume I’m thinking about a guy?”

  “Girl, trust me. I can spot someone getting laid a mile away, and you, my friend, are getting sexed.”

  I laugh at her and feel the blush in my cheeks.

  “I knew it! So who is he? That guy you’ve been sitting with at lunch?”

  I sigh. “Maybe.”

  “He’s Sullivan Hope, right? That rich kid who got condemned to working here this summer.”

  “He’s not rich. His father is. I suppose he has a trust find, but…”

  “So yeah, he’s rich.”

  “It hardly matters.”

  “Sure, if you’re rich, which we’re not. Having money makes everything better. Trust me, I grew up poor and I would totally marry a guy for his money.”

  Keo sits down behind us after coming back from a guest’s room.

  “Anything noteworthy?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Mrs. Marion forgot how to use her puffer. I think, however, she just asked me up there to grab my ass.”

  I swivel in my chair to face him. “She did not.”

  He thinks for a moment. “Okay, maybe she didn’t.”

  “So Abby is just telling me all about her new man.”

  “Oh?” Keo says, feigning interest.

  “He’s not my man.”

  “You’re just sleeping together? I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  Keo starts texting on his phone. He’s truly not interested in my sex life, and good thing too. It would be weird to include him in this conversation.

  “No. I mean, we’re sleeping together, but we’re friends. I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about what we are.” And we haven’t. Sullivan and I have been sleeping together for days now and it’s been the best, most satisfying days of my life—in more ways than one. But we haven’t talked about what we are and I’m not about to bring it up. With him, I feel I need to tread carefully. What we have is new to him and I don’t want to push him or end all of this. I figure he’ll talk about us when he wants to. For now, we share our lunch breaks together; he still flirts and I still pretend not to be interested. Then, at the end of the day he texts me to come over and I’m in his cabin and in his bed quicker than it takes for me to orgasm. And with Sullivan, the orgasms come quick and easy. I can’t stop them.

  “I haven’t heard the best things about him,” Alice says. “I hope you’re being careful, and by careful, I mean glove up.”

  I nod quickly. “Of course.”

  The phone rings, saving me from further prodding and I pick it up quickly. It’s just a personal call for Alice and I hand it off to her. She’s seeing some dentist from town and he always calls her during the day to say hello. It’s kind of cute.

  And speaking of cute… Sullivan appears in the hallway, giving me a nod toward the left. He walks away and I quietly excuse myself.

  “I just have to go to the bathroom,” I tell Keo. He nods but he�
��s not listening. I think he’s now playing Angry Birds. That's what he normally does when the clinic is slow.

  I round the corner and Sullivan is there, smiling. He nods to the right and disappears down the hallway to the bathrooms. He stops just before, opening a storage closet with a key. He leaves the door open and it slowly starts to close, but I hurry inside before it shuts.

  “Sullivan, what are you doing?”

  “I was horny. I couldn’t wait anymore.”

  “You’re going to get us fired.”

  “They don’t even pay you so if anyone should be worried, it should be me—and this is worth it.” His hands reach out and find my waist before brusquely pulling me toward him. I can feel his erection on my hip and I dip my hand down, under his pants to grasp his swollen cock. It twitches under my touch and I slide my hand down his shaft.

  “It would so be worth it,” he says with a groan.

  I lower myself down toward the floor, stopping when my knees reach the tile. His hands slide down my hair before cupping the back of my head. I kiss the tip of his erection, tasting him.

  “I’ve never done this before,” I tell him—and I haven’t. Our sex so far has been in every position imaginable and though he’s lowered his mouth on me, I’ve never gone down on him. I want to please him, make him call out my name, but I’m afraid I won’t do it right or he’ll think he’s had better.

  “When it comes to a blowjob, trust me when I say there’s no getting it wrong." His words are husky and quiet, almost like a caress or a whisper.

  I trust him. I slide my tongue up one side of his shaft and down the other, swirling around the bulbous tip. He groans and pushes his hips forward, begging me to take him in my mouth. I don’t give him what he wants. Not yet. I want to tease him, like he teases me. I want him to beg me.

  I don’t neglect his sac, kissing it and taking each globe in my mouth and sucking. He groans and says my name, making me excited. I can feel my underwear grow wet and I’m uncomfortable. I want him inside me. But no, I want this—for him. I put his cock in my mouth and cover my teeth with my lips. A friend once told me guys don’t like teeth. First, I move slow, and then faster. He moves gently with my strides, pushing forward as I take the length of him.

  “Abby, wait. Just wait.”

  But I don’t. I go harder, faster.

  “I want to be inside you. Please.”

  I don’t stop until he finds his release. He strokes my hair as he heaves in and sighs out. “Fuck,” he says. “You sure you haven’t done that before?”

  I kiss the flesh between his hips and slide my body up against his until I’m standing tall. He tips his head down, finds my lips and kisses me—softly. His tongue reaches to find mine.

  “It was okay?” I ask.

  He looks up and to the right as he thinks about it. “Come to think of it: it was awful. I think you need lots and lots of practice.”

  I punch his shoulder and he chuckles at me. Light streams in from the cracks around the door, enough to highlight his face. I stare into his eyes and he rubs my arms before I wrap them around his middle. He presses a kiss into my hair.

  “You should get back to work,” I say with a sigh.

  He nods, his chin moving along the top of my head. “Probably. Or we could go for round two?”

  I dip my head to rest on his shoulder and shake my head, stifling a laugh. “Let’s not.”

  After I leave the broom closet, I turn and train my gaze over the length of his luminous body. He regards me with a serious face and I watch his Adam’s apple bob, like he’s thinking. Maybe overthinking. It makes me nervous, but I don’t ask him. I have to be careful not to push.

  Twelve

  ANOTHER WEEK OF work and sex and I have to say that I’m a little sore. We can’t seem to get enough of each other. The moment I leave him, I want to turn around and dive back into his arms. His lips are magical and if I wasn’t so set on being a nurse, I’m pretty sure we'd never get out of bed.

  I head back to my cabin after work one Friday. I stumble on a divot in the gravelled trail and almost fall in my face. Laughing at myself, I shake my head and keep moving. The sun beats down on me. It’s so hot today and a thin layer of perspiration builds between my breasts and my shoulder blades. A swim would do me well right now, and of course those thoughts lead to my imagining Sullivan moving inside me under water.

  What's happening to me? I can’t focus on anything but him, and though it makes me feel a little bit giddy, it also scares me. Sullivan doesn’t have a great track record. Chances are he will break my heart. The funny thing is I know this relationship will end at some point. I'm leaving at the end of the summer; my home is in Nova Scotia and it always will be. Sullivan would never live there and I would never ask him to move. I need to accept our relationship for what it is—short and fleeting, but beyond intense and amazing—and then I won’t be disappointed when it ends because my heart will be prepared. At least, that’s what I tell myself… Right now, I’m living in the moment and hoping to help him through whatever it is he holds deep down.

  When I get to the cabin Nicole is lying on her bed, fanning herself with a folded piece of paper. I fan her with my hand to help her out.

  “Oh, that feels soooo nice. Keep it up, will ya?”

  I chuckle. “No problem.”

  “What are you doing here?” Nicole asks.

  “I live here.”

  “No. I mean you’ve been practically MIA the last couple of weeks, which, by the way, I haven’t heard details about. So tell me, what were you doing and please tell me it involves some hot, rich guy who’s not named Sullivan Hope?”

  Capturing my lip in between my teeth, I bite down hard. Talking to Nicole about Sullivan is awkward at best. I know he hurt her and I don’t want to add to her injured feelings. She’s my roommate and my friend, so I tell her exactly what she wants to hear. “I’ve been with some hot rich guy who isn’t called Sullivan Hope.”

  “Really?” Her head perks up.

  “No. Not really.”

  “Fuck, Abby. He’s the Antichrist!”

  I toss a pillow at her. “Stop it. He is not.”

  “Um, yep, I’m pretty sure he is.”

  “I know he hurt you and that’s not okay, but there’s more to him than what people see on the surface. He’s…different.”

  “Wow. You must be blind in love to see all that because I’m pretty sure he’s the shallowest person in the world.” She sits up on her bed. A bead of sweat covers her forehead. The window is open and the breeze is just enough to cool the air to a notch above stifling.

  “Nicole, I care about him.”

  She shrugs. “Whatever. Don’t expect me to be nice to him, though. He’s going to break your heart.”

  I shake my head. “No. I’m under no illusions. We’re friends, and maybe something more, but I know at some point this will end. At the latest at the end of the summer.”

  “My bet is a lot sooner than that. Say like, Tuesday.”

  I frown at her as I peel off my clothing and replace my scrubs with my bathing suit because my bikini is still damp from last night. The suit is the same one I’ve had since I was thirteen which pretty much tells you how much my body has developed since then. It’s all black with a bit layered fabric on the boobs. It transforms my boobs from a B cup to a solid C. At least I think it does when I turn to the side in the mirror. I plan on heading down to the lake at some point tonight to cool off. Man, it’s hot out today and without an air conditioner in our room I can feel sweat on my back and my brow. But I have to stay moderately decent so I throw on a tank and come cut-offs.

  Nicole tosses her hair over her shoulder. “You going out?”

  I shrug.

  “We should take a walk down to the lake or head up to the waterfall.”

  My phone starts ringing and I climb onto my bed searching for it. “Hello.”

  “Come over,” Sullivan says, and if I didn’t hear the hint of a smile in his voice I’d be tel
ling him where to go for ordering me around. But I want to see him, too.

  “Hi, Sullivan. I’m fine, and how are you?” I say, my voice laced with sarcasm.

  “Do you know how sexy you sound right now?”

  I chuckle and Nicole rolls her eyes at me. “Tell Sullivan I said he’s a prick.”

  I shake my head, but apparently he’s already heard her. “Tell her not to be jealous.”

  “Yeah,” I tell him. “I’ll do just that.”

  “Anyway, get changed and come over. Bring your bathing suit.”

  When I hang up the phone Nicole is glaring at me. “I take it you’re going to see him instead of coming out with me,” she says.

  I frown at her. I don’t like to ditch my friends for guys, but Sullivan is this unstoppable force. He doesn’t take no for an answer and I feel a pull toward him. I don’t know how long whatever we have will last, and if I have a choice, I want to see him. “Raincheck? Tomorrow?”

  “I’ll hold you to it.”

  Because I’m hanging out with Sullivan I prefer to wear my bikini so I suck it up and put it on. The cool fabric actually doesn’t feel awful against my skin. I put my clothes back on over it and fix my hair before slipping into flip flops and strolling over to Sullivan’s. He’s in the kitchen with a beer in his hand. I try my hardest not to frown at him. Ames is at the kitchen island, also drinking. He raises his beer to me as I slip off my flip flops and pad toward them.

  I want to approach Sullivan, to take his hand and put my lips on his, but I don’t. Instead, I take a seat on one of the island stools and help myself to some nuts sitting in a bowl in front of me.

  “So what was so urgent I had to race over here?” I ask him.

  Ames glances at me as he brings his beer up to his lips.

  “We’re going tubing,” Sullivan says before draining the rest of his beer.

  Ames reaches into the fridge and pops a beer before handing Sullivan another. I try my hardest not to frown at him. When Sullivan and I are alone lately alcohol never comes into play, but the second Ames is around, out comes the hard alcohol and the beer. And Ames is always filling Sullivan’s glasses once he’s finished his drinks. It’s enough to make me want to punch him in the throat.