“Seriously? Running?”
“Yeah.”
“Only running I do is between bases.”
“See, that’s not enough time for me to think. I like that about long-distance running.”
“You think too much.”
“Maybe,” she said, laughing at his accurate assessment. She led him into the dining room. “Enough about me. My house is the star of the hour. So, this,” she said, opening her arms and gesturing to the space around her, “is my dining room. This table came with the house. It may be functional but it’s old and dated and totally not me.”
“No, definitely not you. You are modern, yet with classical elements.”
She liked his opinion. She valued what has worked in the past along with the modern conveniences. “Exactly. I like the modern take on classical furniture.”
They discussed more specifics about what she wanted for this space. Tom pulled a small notepad out of his back pocket and scribbled a lot of notes. “Show me what you’ve done to the rest of the place and what you haven’t. I want to see what you like.”
“Okay,” she said, leading him into the kitchen and family room area. His eyes were all over, taking in everything, occasionally jotting down something in his notebook. When she talked, he was focused on her. When she wasn’t, his eyes took in her home.
“I didn’t do much to the kitchen because I love it as is,” she said, continuing down the hallway to the sun room. “This room is pretty much me. I love the worn leather sofas, my piano, the area rugs, and then the modern-style tables. It’s so not done, but I’m getting there. Decorating this house has been one of my projects while I’m in town this time. Come on, let me show you my bedroom.”
If she hadn’t been watching him, she wouldn’t have seen how his smile changed. It surprised her. She wasn’t naïve. Well, not anymore. She knew when a man was interested and by the darkening of his blue eyes, Tom was definitely that. And she didn’t know how she felt about that.
“Lead the way, Mia,” he said.
She hesitated for a moment before leading him up the back stairs to the third floor. “The entire third floor is the master suite. My office,” she said, opening the door to the room at the back of the house. He stuck his head into the room and quickly looked around before following her to the hall entrance to her closet. She opened the door and smiled. She loved the large room that housed all her clothes and shoes. One hundred times better than the cramped space she had in her studio apartment.
“Walk-in closet,” she said, making her way through the room to the bathroom. She looked back and found Tom lingering in her closet, a piece of clothing between his fingers, one of her old t-shirts. She couldn’t tell which one it was from where she stood.
“Tom?”
He let the red fabric slide from his fingers before he turned his attention to her. “Sorry, memories.”
That’s all he said before joining her in the bathroom, still lost in thought. What memories, she wondered, and why were they coming to him in her closet?
He walked through the bathroom and stood inside of the master bedroom. She walked past him to the center of the room and because she was nervous, her mouth motored on. “And this is my bedroom. All this furniture is pretty much from my old apartment aside from the chaise. That’s really the only new thing in here.”
Mia turned around and caught him staring at her. His gaze heated her body from her head to her toes and back to the core of her. Desire filled her. Holy hell, her reaction surprised her. She needed to take a step back, get a handle on the situation before she did something she would regret.
“Tom?”
He stalked forward and stopped in front of her, his face displaying some sort of battle that waged in his mind. Then his hands were cupping her face, crushing his mouth to hers. Hard. His kiss acting like a portal that took her back when they kissed that one and only time. She remembered her lips felt wondrously bruised after that kiss. She had wanted so much more than that. She’d wanted him. But an ill-timed interruption from her bandmates had stalled that.
Pulling back, his eyes searched hers. “Is this okay?” he asked hesitantly.
Mia wanted this man to make it all go away, have his hand push away the pain, his lips mask the ache. She wanted that now.
“Yes,” she replied, pulling his head back to hers so she could feel his lips on hers again. The instant the tip of his tongue touched her bottom lip, she opened her mouth to him. There was no time for play or teasing. His tongue assaulted her mouth. She gripped onto his belt loops as his mouth, lips, and tongue, bullied her into submission. This kiss was so much better than that kiss years ago. She wasn’t high or drunk like she’d been back then.
His hands roamed over her back before stopping on her bottom. He squeezed and pulled her against him. She moaned into his mouth when she felt his excitement for this moment. Tilting her head to deepen the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck. That’s when things quickly turned frantic, their movements frenzied.
Her moans didn’t stop when he began to peel off her clothes as they made their way to her bed. By the time her body touched the mattress, Tom had divested her of all her clothing, and he stood above her, staring at her naked body, a tower of sensual power. He lifted his arms and placed them on his shoulders and ripped the T-shirt over his head. Her eyes locked on his torso, taking in the smoothness of his chest, down his abs to that nice V that led to his—holy fuck!
When the hell did his pants come off? Mia thought as she stared at his very impressive cock, standing erect and pointing in her direction. Telling her he wanted her.
A smile broke the seriousness of his face before he joined her on the bed. “Still so beautiful,” he murmured against her neck, his breath hot and instantly warming her skin. Her head fell back, his featherlight kisses hitting the spot.
Still so beautiful.
Still? What did he mean by that? A little bell went off in her brain telling her she should think on this, but his fingers and mouth won her mind over.
God, his touch felt familiar, like her body remembered, yet so different than what she was used to the past couple of years. The thought threw her off.
Tom was rougher, pushing the boundary between pleasure and pain. She liked his roughness. It pulled her own pain out and focused it into pleasure. She needed that. The pain overwhelmed her, took over every aspect of her life. But now . . . it was all focused on Tom and on her pleasure.
His teeth left a path of delicious pain from her shoulder down her chest to her breast where he nipped, making her call out from the sweet agony of it. He captured her nipple between his lips and sucked away the soreness. A jolt of desire went straight to her core. She groaned as he continued his attention to her breasts, his hands sliding downward, one resting firmly on her hip, the other continued on, finding her clit with mastered skill, overwhelming her senses.
Fuck!
One, two, three swipes and she screamed out, surprised that he had her coming so fast.
“So responsive, Mia,” he said roughly as he licked and nipped his way down her stomach.
With ease, he flipped her over and continued his taste test of her body. As his lips tickled up her back, Tom grabbed her hair and pulled her head back and kissed her hard. Possessively.
His body molded to hers, his hard cock resting on her ass. She wanted to move so he lined up better, but his hold and kiss kept her in place. She yanked her head away to take a deep breath and on the exhale spoke his name.
She felt his smile as he leaned his head down towards her, his teeth gliding along her shoulder blade. His beautiful, white teeth were doing a number on her.
“What do you want, Mia?” he spoke against her ear.
What did she want? She wanted him to help her forget. He had been doing a fabulous job of it. The different style didn’t remind her of Ethan and she wanted that to continue. No thoughts of Ethan or the mess of her life. Just Tom and the awesome sensations he provided.
“
Fuck me,” she answered.
“Turn around then.”
“No.”
He lightly slapped her ass. She tensed for a moment, expecting it to hurt, but no, all she felt was herself get wetter.
“No?” he asked, rubbing the spot where he spanked her, soothing her.
“That’s what I said,” she replied.
He laughed. “Get on those hands and knees then,” he said before stepping away from her. She quickly obeyed and then turned her head to see what he was doing.
“You have a condom?”
He looked up from rolling the rubber down his cock. “I’ve had a condom in my wallet since the day after I met you.”
“That’s not expired, is it?” she joked because what purpose would an eight-year-old condom actually serve.
He walked back to the bed, her heart beating irregularly the closer he got. Kneeling down behind her, his hands gripped her hips. “Give me a little credit. I changed it out on Friday,” he said, nipping a delicious trail up her back.
A laugh escaped past her lips but then turned into a pleasant groan when Tom put his lips to her neck and began to suck, drawing the pain away.
“I’ve missed you, Mia,” he stated quietly against her throat, moving her hair out of her face.
“I missed you too, Tom.”
“Have you?” he asked, roughly pulling her to him, his cock in position between her legs. She didn’t realize her distance the past couple years had hurt him. She had been a bad friend. She may not have been around, but she did miss him.
“I have,” she said, scrambling around to face him. She grabbed his face and said it again. “Tom, how could I not miss you?” she said, kissing his lips. “Let me show you,” she spoke against his mouth. She didn’t wait for his answer. Tipping her head down, she placed her lips upon his chest. She couldn’t tell who moaned louder, him or her. As she explored his torso, she pushed him to the bed. He didn’t resist. She quickly followed, straddling him, her heat against his hard stomach.
“Let me show you,” she repeated as she adjusted herself over him, needing him inside of her. With her hand resting on his chest, she locked her eyes on his and slowly descended upon his cock. She couldn’t keep her eyes open as he filled her.
Oh my God, she thought.
It felt better than she remembered. With a quick internal shake of her head, she corrected herself. Not remembered—imagined. Now that was the right word, even though her body just seemed to know him. His touches, his kisses.
“Fuck, Mia,” he exclaimed, gripping her hips. They stayed like that for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her.
“What are you looking at?”
“One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” he answered back, a smile softening his face.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“God, I wish you could see what I see. The way your hair falls, framing that pretty face of yours. The flush your skin takes on when you’re turned on. The way you let the pleasure envelope you. You don’t hide it. It’s right there on your face. It’s hard to look away from that. It’s always been hard to look away from you.”
“Tom . . .” she said, a little uncomfortable with what he’d said. How long had he felt this way?
“Don’t freak out on me. They’re only words.”
“No. Those are feelings,” she countered, not wanting to deal with them.
“You’re right, they are. I have feelings. Like right now, I feel you gripping my cock and I feel like I’m in fucking heaven.”
She scoffed quietly at that, but that turned to a satisfied exhale of breath when he tilted his hips, hitting her in just the right spot.
“Did you feel that?”
“Yes,” she groaned as he did it again. She fell forward, her hands now on either side of his head.
“How about this?” he asked. She first felt his hot breath on her breast and then his mouth covered her nipple, suckling it hard in between his lips.
“Oh, God, Tom!”
“Damn, you can feel that,” he said when she clamped down hard on him.
“Move, Tom. Now,” she ordered, wrapping her arms around his neck. He didn’t hesitate. He pistoned his hips upward, pounding into her. She held on tight, probably choking him, but he didn’t complain. No, he held on tighter to her, his fingertips digging into her ass, not letting her move an inch, as he moved inside of her.
Suddenly he paused, pushed them up and then flipped her over so he hovered above her. Her skin was slick with sweat, his and hers. Her hips met his thrusts over and over, the pressure building, her orgasm just around the bend.
He knew it and held her hips steady and in three strokes silenced her as an earth-shattering orgasm gripped her.
Holy shit!
How did he know how to do that? He knew her body so damn well, like he’d been there before. Or was it the fact that she hadn’t been with someone in close to a month? Did that have anything to do with it? She had no idea. The only thing she did know was that this was some fucking mind-numbing sex.
Tom collapsed on top of her after he came, capturing her mouth in a quick kiss, then got off her and ran to the bathroom. He came back, condom free, and crawled into bed next to her. He pulled her to him and held her like he didn’t want to let her go. She burrowed against him, her head on his chest, content for the moment, until the bell in her mind rang again.
This was their first time, but why did this feel so familiar? Was it because of Ethan? Mia didn’t think so . . . well, not exactly. She hadn’t been thinking about Ethan, but guilt was claiming her now. It had been close to a month since she last slept with him and here she was naked in bed with another man. But he wasn’t any other man. This was Tom. She’d known him for eight years. It felt natural doing this with him, but there was still a part of her that felt wrong. What the hell did that even mean? What happened with Tom, it wasn’t cheating. She hadn’t cheated on Ethan, but she’d be damned if it didn’t feel that way. She loved Ethan. He loved her. But it wasn’t just a break anymore. They were not together.
But . . . if it wasn’t for her troubles, maybe they would still be together. She should be figuring things out so she could get back to Ethan instead of sleeping with Tom. But Tom made her feel so good. He made her forget that pain. She needed to feel that from him. She didn’t feel guilty that she was hurting Tom.
For now, at least.
Her brain actively pushed those thoughts back into her hidden corners of her mind. It didn’t want the pain either. But the bell rang inside there again, nagging her.
“It feels like we’ve done this before. It was like my body recognized you. Weird, right?”
He turned on his side and looked at her incredulously. “You seriously don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
“This isn’t our first time sleeping together.”
Fuck, she didn’t expect that bombshell.
“Very funny, Tom. I would totally remember sleeping with you.”
“Obviously not.”
“We really slept together?” she asked, realizing he wasn’t kidding. How could this be? How could she have slept with him and not remembered it?
“Yeah, about three and a half years ago. A few weeks after our first kiss.”
“I can’t believe we slept together. Things were so awkward after that kiss, I thought you didn’t . . .” she trailed off.
“I didn’t what?”
“You didn’t like me that way. You didn’t want to step over the friend line again.”
“Things got awkward because you didn’t remember what we did.”
“What did we do, Tom? When did this happen?”
“We were at a party at Marc’s house. You and the guys were jamming, drinking, and probably getting high before I arrived. You and I kind of went off by ourselves, talking, flirting, drinking. While sitting on the deck, we kissed again and that turned into a serious make-out session. We somehow decided to head ins
ide to one of the guest bedrooms. And then it pretty much happened like this,” he said, gesturing at her room. “Clothes being thrown, lips and hands all over one another.”
Mia frowned.
She had absolutely no recollection of that night. Her body did, but her mind, not so much. What the hell? How high had she been that night not to remember sleeping with Tom, someone she had wanted so badly? Three and a half years ago . . . 2004, right? She inventoried what she could of that summer and fall. Shit, she was at a party like every weekend and she could probably guarantee she was high at all of them. She wasn’t going to remember now.
“Are you mad?”
He put his hand on her cheek and let his thumb caress her lip. “No. Disappointed? Yes. Frustrated? Hell yeah. We were on fire that night. I wanted more of you.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me about this?”
He sighed and she knew he was upset. She wanted that answer, but by the look on his face, she wouldn’t get it. She’d be getting something else.
“Instead of talking about this, how about we make up for lost time?” he asked, pulling her to him, her breasts pressed so wonderfully to his chest. “What do you think?”
She smiled as his hand went straight between her legs, making sure she didn’t say no.
Luke
April 2008
“Come on! Answer!” Luke wailed at his phone. Frustrated didn’t even cover what he felt right now. Since Mia left Indy, her communication with him had been pretty much non-existent. When he called, she never answered. He had not heard her voice in over a month. He just got brief texts from her. Nothing like the talkaholic she normally was with him, and that worried the hell out of him.
Luke had been texting with Ethan, asking the quarterback about Mia and the end of her tour when Ethan told him that she’d ended it. She hadn’t said a word to Luke. Again, unlike her.
When he called her and left a message, asking if it was true, he received a simple, two-word text from her—It’s true.
Why the hell would she end what she called the best thing that had ever happened to her? First the break and now the end of their relationship.
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