Worth The Risk

by Carly Marie

  “Are you jacking yourself off?” I hissed.

  Mark’s eyes snapped back to mine. “No, I’m trying to give myself more room. But Jesus, if you keep making noises like those, I’m going to cum in my pants like a teenager.”

  I hadn’t expected the admission and my mouth hung open in surprise. He might not have had a lot of experience dating, but it didn’t stop him from expressing himself. I dragged the spoon through the cake and ice cream again, but instead of putting it to my mouth, I held it out to Mark. “You have to try this. It’s heaven on a spoon.”

  Mark smiled as he rolled his eyes. “I think it’s more like sex on a spoon. At least if your reactions are anything to go by.” I wasn’t going to argue that point, and pushed the spoon toward him.

  “Open up. I will not hesitate to eat this whole damn slice by myself. Then you’re going to have to roll me to the car, and I’ll be too miserably full to do anything tonight but moan and complain.”

  “You’ve done quite a bit of moaning already,” Mark retorted before leaning forward and taking the bite off my spoon. His eyes rolled back before they closed.

  And now I was sporting a matching erection in my way-too-tight dress pants.

  I shot a saucy smirk his way when Mark’s eyes opened again. “Good, right?”

  “Yes, very good. I may not feel as passionate about it as you do, but I can appreciate a good cake.”

  I palmed my erection under the table, likely wiggling just as much as Mark had a moment before. “Okay, we need to behave or we’re going to end up with wet patches on our pants and get banned from this restaurant. Could you imagine the Yelp reviews from tonight if that happened? Great food, free entertainment. Or, Blew expectations away.”

  Mark choked on his bite of cake. “I need to be careful taking you anywhere.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Mark

  Dinner had been perfect. Marcel had shocked me to my core by creating a special menu for just the two of us. The icing on the—proverbial and literal—cake had been Jeff’s reaction to the dessert. I didn’t think he had any idea how loud his moan had been when he tried the cake. That damned moan had gone straight to my dick, and it filled at an alarming rate.

  Over the course of a few days, I had gone from barely remembering my dick could be a source of pleasure to jacking off numerous times a day and checking my inbox to see when the sex toys I’d ordered would arrive. Oh, how the tides had turned, and it was all because of the man sitting across from me. So, when I took a bite of the cake and Jeff ended up being the one squirming in his seat, I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of myself that I’d caused that. I made it a mission to figure out the different ways I could turn Jeff on before we made it home. Though if it came down to a competition between the two of us, he would probably win. His mind seemed to be a naughty place to be.

  After our meals were finished, Marcel came back out of the kitchen while we were shrugging into our coats. He had a large white box with a simple twine bow wrapped around it in his hand. “I have it on good authority that you liked the dessert.”

  Jeff’s smile brightened the dimly lit dining area. “It was amazing. I may have texted my kids pictures.”

  Marcel laughed so hard diners turned to him. “Oh, please, don’t tell my instructors back in Paris that your favorite part of the meal was a simple chocolate cake. They would tear up my degree! But I’m happy you enjoyed it. Since this was a special dessert for a special meal, I feel it is only right that you take it home.” Marcel handed the box over to Jeff, and for a moment I thought Jeff might choose to leave with Marcel.

  “Thank you. Thank you so much.” He turned his attention to me. “If you give a slice of this to Jenna, she may not make you pay for babysitting.”

  Note to self—the entire Rusk family likes chocolate cake. “I appreciate the information, but maybe we can just give her a slice as a tip. Babysitting Eli and Thomas can be an adventure.”

  Jeff shrugged. “Your loss. Besides, she grew up at a repair shop. She can handle anything thrown at her.”

  Marcel reached over and gave me a hug. “I need to get back to the kitchen, but I’m glad I got to see you. Have a great night.” He winked over at Jeff and I felt heat flood my cheeks as he turned back to me. “And don’t be a stranger. We need to catch up now that you’re so close again.”

  We said final goodbyes between promises to meet up again soon as Jeff and I left the restaurant. While we waited for the valet to bring the car around, my hand brushed up against Jeff’s and I intertwined our fingers. Jeff’s hand wrapped around mine and he squeezed gently. “Thank you for dinner.”

  “Anytime.” And I meant it. I didn’t know that it would always be somewhere as nice as Marcel’s. But between watching him enjoy his meal and the ease of conversation, I wouldn’t hesitate to take Jeff out over and over again, even knowing I’d have an erection the entire night.

  We stood in a comfortable silence, Jeff’s thumb rubbing absently at the spot between my thumb and wrist. Dwayne and I had dated for a number of months before things went south, but in that entire time, I couldn’t remember ever outwardly showing affection with him. When our relationship basically consisted of meeting for lunch at the pizza place on campus or fucking in one of our dorm rooms, the opportunity to hold hands hadn’t presented itself.

  Jeff was at ease with holding my hand, both in the car on the way here and now on the sidewalk while people flowed in and out of the restaurant. His hand fit like a puzzle piece with mine. I didn’t feel like my hand swallowed his up, and his hand didn’t feel like it would crush mine if given half the chance. There had always been something intimate and familiar about holding hands, and with Jeff, it was by far the most intimate thing we’d done to date.

  Kisses happened, even lust-filled ones that left me running from Jeff and my feelings. Hugs were common—friends hugged, lovers hugged, family hugged. Hand holding was different. It was intentional and showed a degree of familiarity and trust that not everyone was privy to.

  All too soon, the valet showed up with my car and we were forced to separate to go to the theater, Jeff’s precious cake safely tucked onto the floorboard in the back.

  We entered the theater halfway through the credits. Looking around, we were shocked to find only one other couple. I grinned. “Where would you like to sit?”

  Jeff directed us up toward the top of the theater, away from the other couple and almost to the center of the row. “Maybe it’s time to admit to you that I have no life, because I could have sworn this was a huge box-office hit like a week and a half ago.”

  I pulled out my phone and looked up the movie. “It was a box-office hit… two months ago.”

  Jeff groaned and shook his head. “Where does time go?”

  I didn’t have a good answer for that. I swore I’d just turned in my resignation to the chief of staff at the hospital the week before, but that had been almost four months prior. The older I got, the faster time went by.

  Jeff sat back in the chair and waited for me to take a seat before he tilted the armrest up and leaned into me. “Let me know if this is too much. I’m a cuddler.”

  It definitely wasn’t too much. “You’re good.” I enjoyed the feel of his body resting against mine. I settled back to watch the movie, my arm around him, holding him as close I could. Until that moment, I’d forgotten what having an adult in my arms had felt like. For the past six years, affection had come in the form of two wiggly boys who would sit like they had ants in their pants. If they were still, they were either asleep or sick. Jeff was neither.

  We’d made it thirty minutes into the movie, and Jeff’s hand had yet to stop moving. It wasn’t annoying or impatient, it was steady… deliberate, even. At first, it had been almost absentminded and easy to disregard, but as the scenes played out on the screen, Jeff’s touch became more difficult to ignore. Openhanded movements changed to a single finger dragging up and down my stomach. He’d managed to find the definition in my abs and had trac
ed each groove, even through my shirt. As his finger circled my belly button, my cock once again took notice of him.

  It was difficult to find a comfortable position when my cock was pointed downward and was trying to fill the nonexistent space around it. I shifted to try to find more space. Jeff ignored my movement but kept his finger moving across my stomach, inching upward before circling around one of my nipples. The fabric of my dress shirt moved with his hand and drew my attention to the fact that my nipples had already hardened. I sucked in a ragged breath, trying to not gain the attention of the couple at the front of the theater.

  Jeff’s head tilted upward and his lips wrapped around my earlobe. Goosebumps spread down my body and caused me to shiver. Had my earlobe ever been an erogenous zone before? I never remembered it feeling that good.

  A car exploded on the screen and Jeff’s teeth closed on my earlobe, biting the place he had just gently sucked seconds before. I couldn’t hold back the whimper that escaped and couldn’t stop my hips from thrusting upward, only to be met with air. “Fuck,” I hissed, the action scene blessedly drowning out the sounds coming from me at the moment.

  Jeff released my earlobe and his eyes met mine. It was hard to make them out in the dark theater, but when his hand moved in a straight line down my sternum, then over my abs and past my belly button, I knew where he was targeting. His eyes were watching me for any sign of hesitation, any panic, any indication that I wasn’t totally into it. He could stare at me all he wanted—he wasn’t going to see anything but pure want and need.

  He slowed his movements as he reached my belt but didn’t stop. Painfully slowly, he moved toward the bulge in my pants. It felt like it took forever but the same car chase was still on screen, so I knew it hadn’t been that long by the time his hand finally cupped my aching erection. When his hand fully engulfed my length, his eyes widened and he licked his lips. Holy fuck, crossed his lips before he used a finger to trace the fullness beneath my clothes.

  The action on screen quieted, dialogue filling the theater instead of the roar of engines and explosions. Jeff adjusted himself so he was sitting up instead of leaning against me. His finger went to his mouth in a hushing gesture while his left hand worked the zipper of my pants down. My eyes were wide, but the only thing going through my head was a plea for him to not stop. It had been so long since anyone other than me had their hand on my dick that I was close to exploding already.

  It took him a moment to work his hand into my underwear through just the fly of my pants. I wanted to tell him to unbutton them, but words had eluded me as soon as his teeth met my ear again.

  His warm hand finally made contact with my cock, which had begun to throb painfully at the uncomfortable angle. As though he could read my mind, Jeff lifted his hand, providing more room in the crotch of my pants, and maneuvered my cock upward. It wasn’t free and still felt constricted, but it was no longer painful.

  My mouth parted and my head fell back. “Shh,” Jeff warned, alerting me to the fact that we were still in the movie theater and in what had to have been the quietest scene of the entire movie. His fingers wrapped around me and began to move awkwardly inside my pants. Each time his hand moved toward the base of my cock, my hips bucked upward. I was damn near too close to care that the action on screen had gone virtually silent or that there was a couple eight rows in front of us. My logical brain had shut off and I was working entirely on feelings and desire.

  A loud crash filled the theater as glass shattered on screen. At the same time, Jeff spoke in my ear. “How do you want to cum? With my hand or in my mouth?”

  One second I was teetering on the edge, overcome by want and desire, and the next my cock pulsed hard and cum began to fill the space between the crease of my leg and my waistband. The moan that tore through me was unable to be held back and I swore my orgasm was going to go on forever. Jeff’s eyes were wide, his mouth parted in shock as ropes of hot cum filled my pants and coated his hand.

  Explosions continued on screen while I writhed, my hips bucking frantically, trying to wring the last of my orgasm from me before I finally collapsed back into the chair. Sweat poured down my neck and back as I heaved in gulps of air, trying to calm my racing heart.

  Jeff slipped his hand from my pants, examining the cum that coated his fingers. He winked at me as he brought his hand to his lips and licked it clean, finishing by sucking his index finger into his mouth. When he was satisfied that he was clean, he zipped me up and turned to snuggle into the seat beside me once again.

  “You. I. You’re.” So maybe I had cum so hard I’d lost the ability to talk, but he hadn’t cum and was now snuggled into my side, content to watch the movie like nothing had ever happened.

  Jeff must have been able to read what I was thinking because he grabbed my hand and placed it onto the front of his pants where a large wet patch had formed. And just like that, words had once again slipped from my vocabulary.

  CHAPTER 15

  Jeff

  While we are noticing significant improvements district-wide, out of an abundance of caution, school will be closed today to allow additional time for staff and students to get over their various illnesses.

  I read the screen on my phone three times before letting out a long sigh. Another day off school. If there were still that many absences on a district level, I didn’t want to think about what the clinic would be like again that day. Mark had been putting in between eleven and twelve hours a day for the last week two weeks. Between the flu, strep throat, and the normal viruses that ran rampant through the winter months, he hadn’t caught a break since school started back up.

  Another text vibrated my phone; a quick glance told me it was from Mark.

  Please tell me I did not see that text from the district.

  This was the only way we’d communicated, aside from lunch breaks and a call every once in a while, since the beginning of the year. Well, aside from Tuesday and Wednesday when I’d ended up at the clinic with each of the kids. The first time was with Jenna, who was diagnosed with strep throat, and then with Seth, who was also diagnosed with, surprise, strep throat. Now that it was Friday they were both feeling better, and according to their discharge papers, good to go back to school, but school was still canceled… again.

  Unfortunately, you did. Today’s Friday. After being closed since Tuesday and going into the weekend, hopefully everyone will get these random illnesses out of their system?

  I could almost hear his groan.

  My parents are taking the boys tonight. I seriously can’t wait to come home and sleep. This is almost as bad as working nights at the hospital. I’m starting to feel comatose.

  I understood some of what he was dealing with. He’d even opened the clinic last weekend because people were so sick. At this rate, I was starting to worry he’d think town doc wasn’t going to be worth it and leave for one of the hospitals in the city. What if the compensation wasn’t enough to deal with the added hours? Or what if being away from home so often was too much? Would he go back to the city? Would he leave Fairview?

  Let me know if you need anything this weekend.

  Bubbles appeared immediately.

  LOL! At this point, just let me know if you start getting a sore throat. That stuff is like the plague.

  I groaned into my dark bedroom. The last thing I wanted was to get sick.

  Don’t jinx me. Okay, we both have to get up, jobs await.

  I made it to work, then made it until nearly noon without talking to Mark again. He’d been so busy this week I hadn’t wanted to bother him during work hours. If he showed up at the shop at lunch time, we enjoyed our time together. The last handful of nights, even texts after his kids had gone to bed hadn’t happened. He’d been falling asleep as soon as they were in bed.

  To my surprise, Mark started texting me around noon.

  I can’t get out for lunch today, but there’s something that has been eating at me. Are you free to talk?

  I looked at my phone for a f
ew seconds and turned the screen toward Annie. “Should I be worried?”

  Annie’s brow furrowed. “That looks ominous.”

  I started and deleted three texts before I finally sent a single word.

  Sure.

  Not even five seconds later, my phone rang in my hand and Annie took it as her cue to leave for lunch. She shut the office door just as I hit accept.

  I couldn’t help how hesitant I sounded when I answered. “Hi.”

  Mark didn’t seem to notice anything as he barged in with the conversation, though he sounded upbeat. “Hey. I’m sorry I can’t make it for lunch today. How are Jenna and Seth feeling?”

  His easy tone had me relaxing some and I sat back in my chair. “They’re feeling a lot better. Seth’s throat is still scratchy, but Jenna’s pretty much back to normal.”

  “Glad to hear it. You’re still feeling okay?”

  I smiled at his concern. “Yeah. Feeling great.”

  “Awesome.” I’d gotten to know Mark well enough over the weeks that I knew he was stalling, but I had to wait him out. A few seconds later, he began. “I woke up halfway through last night and realized that I hadn’t fully explained to you why I haven’t been ready to jump into being open with our relationship.”

  This wasn’t where I was expecting the conversation to go. I propped my legs on the desk and waited for him to tell me whatever it was that he was thinking about.

  “I dated a guy in college. He was amazing at first. His smile lit up a room.” I could hear a smile in Mark’s voice, but I knew there was a but coming. “We started dating our sophomore year of college. I thought things were going well. Except I always went to his dorm room, and even after being together for months, we hadn’t actually gone out.”

  This sounded ominous and I had a feeling I knew where it was going.

  “Sex was amazing. Or at least I thought so at the time. Looking back now, I can see that it wasn’t equal. He took, he never gave. It was one-sided.”