Strike

by Sheryl Zaines

  “I thought you were staring at me because my fly was down, or something equally embarrassing,” he admitted, angling in closer to her. “I made a beeline over here so you could tell me what it was before anyone else noticed.”

  That had her laughing. She relaxed and looked up at him. His eyes were pale from a distance, with only his dark lashes to draw attention to them. From the couple of feet that separated them, she could see they were actually gray, with the many different shades looking like a kaleidoscope. The sound of a barstool sliding behind her was the only thing that drew her out of his gaze.

  By the time Tori turned around, Anne was already on the stool. Her friend was giving her a knowing smile and had one eyebrow raised. Usually it only took one look for Tori to know what Anne was thinking. This time, her mind was blank as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to say. Finally, Anne peered around her, and Tori understood.

  “Oh, this is my friend Anne and I’m Tori. I guess I didn’t get your name.”

  “Collin.” He held out his hand to her.

  Tori took the offered hand and then leaned back so Anne could take it. This was the point when Anne would normally take over the conversation. She would have plenty of time to figure out something smart to say.

  “Are you guys out celebrating something?” he asked.

  The silence drew out. She glanced over at Anne, trying to figure out why she wasn’t responding. Anne was sipping her drink through the small stirring straw and looking back at her. What the hell was going on? Anne usually controlled the conversation, and the one time she needed her to, she was silent.

  “Um, no,” Tori finally responded. “Quite the opposite, actually. Anne is moving away tomorrow.”

  Anne finally joined the conversation. “But we’ve got the internet and telephones, so we’ll be able to stay in touch.”

  “Well, at least you’re keeping a positive outlook about it,” Collin said.

  For the first time Tori was grateful to be sitting between them—that way she could give Anne a dirty look without him seeing it. Anne was still sipping on the small straw and looking back at with her an expression that said “what?” Up until that very moment, Tori had been the one constantly comforting her friend, reminding her that they could still talk every day. Now she was the one who was saying it. She had to have something up her sleeve.

  “Well, I don’t want to interrupt your last night together,” Collin said.

  Before he could get up to leave, Anne’s phone rang. “Hello,” she said as soon as the phone was up to her ear. “Oh, no.” That had everyone’s attention. “I’ll be right over.” She hung up the phone and turned to her friend and the man sitting on the other side of her. “That was my sister. She needs help. I’m not going to be able to hang out like we planned. Don’t forget about the promise.”

  With that said, Anne grabbed her purse and headed toward the door. Collin was half out of his seat and slowly sank back down. He looked back and forth between the door Anne had just exited through and the seat she had left.

  “That sounded important,” Collin said. “Should you go see if you can help?”

  There was nothing Anne needed to help with. She didn’t even have a sister. Neither of them did, so it had become their excuse when one of them needed to be alone with a guy—only normally it was Tori leaving for a fictitious emergency and Anne being left with the guy. Tori had never even signaled for her to leave.

  “No, I’m pretty sure she can handle it,” Tori said. “I guess I don’t have plans this evening after all.”

  * * * * *

  Collin got up from the barstool after Tori did. She’d been saying that she needed to leave for the last half an hour, but was just now actually moving toward the door. He’d really had no intention of following her, yet he was. He’d just realized that although they’d been talking for over two hours, he didn’t have her phone number or know where she lived. He couldn’t let her get away just yet.

  He held the door open and had to catch her as she stumbled across the threshold. With just a little help she was righted and out the door. She obviously wasn’t an alcoholic if she was intoxicated after only two drinks. He found that reassuring. He wasn’t interested in a woman who spent a lot of time at the bar.

  The cold wind slammed into him as soon as he was out on the sidewalk. His whole body shook from the shock. He knew a cold front had been expected the next day—it must have come in early. Tori was visibly shivering and he realized that neither of them had a jacket.

  She looked miserable. He wished he had something to offer her. He knew it would be silly to give her his T-shirt. He had to do something, so he pulled her against his chest. Her back was to him, with the wind stirring her blonde hair around his face. He started to wrap his arms around her, then realized that was probably too forward, so he just rubbed her upper arms.

  “Where’s your car at?” he asked directly into her ear.

  “I don’t have one,” she said.

  He could barely hear her response over the howling wind. He looked around to see if there was a taxi coming, but the street was empty. The next shiver that racked his body was strong enough to move her with him. He needed to think of something fast, or they were going to freeze.

  “Can you walk like this?” he asked.

  He was glad he had followed her out. He would have worried about her being alone in the cold. Knowing that she didn’t have a car just made it that much more important to get her home safely.

  The first couple of steps were tentative because they were plastered to each other. They started out with their right feet moving in unison. Thankfully they didn’t stumble and soon found they were making headway down the sidewalk. They had to stop at the intersection to wait for the light. He thought about jaywalking, but there was too much traffic. As he stood trying to figure out some way to speed up the process, she wrapped her arms around his hips. Her hands rested on his thighs, just below his butt.

  His whole body went rigid and he had to shift to make room for the growing erection. He forced a breath out between clenched teeth, reminding his body that it probably had nothing to do with sex. She was just trying to stay warm. But if she was cold, he could at least be a gentleman. He reached his arms around her and held her to his chest. He leaned forward, resting his chin on top of her head.

  He tried to remain detached and not focused on the body that was pressed up against him. Instead, he inhaled her scent and hoped that the wind would cover up the moan that slipped out. He closed his eyes and drew in her fragrance again. She smelled of honey and apples—it was a fragrance he was never going to forget.

  She started walking. He opened his eyes to see the light had changed. Though he didn’t need to see—his body just followed, keeping as much of her in touch as he could. His fingers skimmed over her stomach, only to be instantly clutching her. The muscles were firm, almost hard, and not like those of any other woman he had been with. He had instant images of the hours she had to work out.

  His hands were roaming, exploring. It wasn’t until they reached the swell of her breast that he realized that she might not appreciate being molested while she was trying to walk. As if he had vocalized his concerns, she slid her hands up until his butt cheeks were in her firm grasp. It was a possessive hold, leaving no doubt in his mind that they were no longer just trying to stay warm.

  Her nipples were hard, but he imagined that had more to do with the wind chill factor than it did with him. It didn’t matter what the cause was. He ran his fingers back and forth over the top of the hard nubs. Then he kneaded the soft tissue underneath. He was pretty sure it was the only part of her body that wasn’t hard muscle and was praying for the chance to find out.

  She stepped on his foot and he laughed to himself. So, he was having an effect on her. Only she wasn’t the only one who had gotten caught up in the fondling. He realized that he had no idea how far they had walked, and looked up.

  “That’s my place coming up on the right,�
�� he said. “You should come up.”

  “I should?” she asked.

  He didn’t answer her with words. Instead, he leaned down to the only skin available to him. The wind was blowing her shoulder-length hair off her long, slender neck, beckoning his lips to explore it. Then he found an earlobe and suckled on it. Her skin felt cool to his mouth. Then she arched her back, forcing her butt to grind against his thighs.

  If he wasn’t worried about hypothermia setting in, he wouldn’t bother leading her up the steps. He could picture taking her right there on the foot-wide concrete railing. He unfolded himself from her and drew her into the building. It was driving him crazy not being able to touch her, but he knew it was smarter to get up the stairs before he plastered himself to her again.

  The only thing he could think about was how much he wanted her. The need had his cock throbbing and his gut clenching. He was leading a beautiful woman to his apartment for the sole purpose of fucking her. And to think, he had been upset they’d had to forfeit the bowling game.

  When they got to the landing, he couldn’t take the separation from her any longer. She seemed to have the same thought, the way she came into his arms the second they were on level footing. She was pawing at him with the same determination he felt pushing him. He hadn’t thought it could be like this.

  It was almost savage, the way his mouth came down on hers. He was kissing her hard, almost bruising her lips with his, but she didn’t seem to mind. As long as she was willing he was going to imprint himself on her. He might not know much about her, but he was not going to be someone she would forget. Somehow they had managed to make their way to his door. He had her sandwiched against it and realized she couldn’t be that comfortable. He could do better than this. Placing one hand on either side of her head, he used his arms to force himself away.

  “We should go inside where we can get cozy,” he said.

  She levered herself off the door and ducked under his arm. He scrambled to get the door unlocked and both of them inside. As he turned on the light, he was slapped with the memory of his last relationship. They had met at a college party and everything had been fine until he’d started working out. One of the older guys at the bowling alley, who looked as if he were about eleven months pregnant, had commented to Collin that he was starting to fit in with his little fat roll hanging over the top of his jeans. That had been when he’d replaced his recliner with a treadmill. Unfortunately, his girlfriend had assumed it was supposed to be for her, since she had just jumped up a size in jeans. Apparently she hadn’t noticed that the junk food and drinking had put just as much weight on him. She hadn’t liked that he wanted to go out and do things rather than spending his day off sleeping in with a hangover. When she left, he’d given up trying to impress anyone else and traded in all his furniture for workout equipment.

  Turning around, he faced the vixen he’d brought home from the bar. His hope for her faded, knowing that she could walk out just like his last girlfriend had. He should not have brought her home, but the thought hadn’t even crossed mind. He had been too caught up in the moment.

  He braced for her reaction, but her eyes never left him as she came into the room. All his fears were drowned in the tidal wave of arousal washing over him. She was kissing him with the same force and urgency she had out in the hall. He had her pinned up against him with his arms, while his hands grasped at whatever part of her was within his reach. His hands weren’t the only ones roaming. She was pawing at every inch of him.

  The nagging voice in the back of his head told him that they couldn’t stand there making out all night. He knew the voice was right, but it felt too good clutching her in his arms. Rather than force himself away from her, he leaned farther into the kiss, sliding his tongue along the sharp edge of her teeth.

  Then he felt her squirming around and knew that something was different. She was no longer pressing against him as hard as she could, but she wasn’t pulling away either. That was when he saw her shoe slide across the floor away from him. She was already undressing. He couldn’t stop the groan that went right into her mouth.

  In a flash, he realized it wasn’t just her shoes that were coming off. She was unbuttoning her shirt. He stepped back, drawing in a deep breath. All he could think about was seeing her exposed. Waiting to see her naked was making his erection strain against his zipper.

  She was unbuttoning the shirt from the bottom to the top, making it so that he couldn’t get a glimpse of her chest until she was done. When the last button was undone and the material pulled away, it revealed another shirt underneath. Instead of skin and bra, there was another long-sleeved shirt that needed to be taken off. The teasing was too much.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” he asked with a groan.

  She smiled at him. “Of course I do.”

  Then she skimmed her hands over the white shirt. Her fingertips danced over her chest and then lower toward the top of her jeans. Now she had his attention. It was the first time he didn’t know what someone was going to do next, and he liked it.

  The jeans were tight over her slender hips, forcing her to shimmy from side to side get the denim down. Watching her hips sway back and forth was like being caught in a hypnotic trance. Then the rocking stopped and the material fell to her feet. She stepped one foot out, then pushed the crumpled jeans away from her with the other.

  Her legs were long and skinny. The skin was tan, but not like a fake tan. He wanted to run his hands over them to see if they were as firm and muscular as they appeared. For the moment, though, he was content to let her do the touching. Her hands skimmed over her thighs. When he glanced up, his gaze locked with hers. She was smiling and it was obvious from her expression that she knew how much touching herself teased him.

  Her fingertips finally caught the bottom hem of her shirt. Slowly the material rose, revealing just a little more of her body. He could finally see her panties. They were plain white, utilitarian underwear. Not quite granny panties, but not something she would have worn if she’d been planning to take someone home, either. He liked knowing that this wasn’t something she had intended. That she was just as caught up in the moment as he was.

  Then her stomach came into view. The skin tone was just as dark as her legs. In fact, he couldn’t see any tan lines. This was getting better and better by the second. The next thing he knew her shirt was over her head and being flung to the side. Her bra matched her underwear—simple and white. Probably something she had worn to work. He wanted to ask if this was her first one-night stand, but was too worried that he would ruin the moment. He would ask her in the morning.

  He only had a few seconds to enjoy the sight of her in just her bra and panties before she was back in his arms. She kissed him as if they had been on separate continents, not just a couple of feet away. It made him wonder if stripping for him had heated her up as much as it had him.

  “I think…we should go…to the bedroom,” he said between kisses.

  Even as he said it, he was already guiding her backward. When he got to the doorway, he fumbled with the light switch. When it was taking too long to get the light on and his hand back on her, he finally looked over at the wall.

  The naked bulb drowned them in light. For a second he was tempted to turn it back off. Then he realized that she was not there to critique his home décor. She didn’t even seem to notice. There was no way a woman like her was real. His hands went to her bra. He wasn’t sure if it was going to have clasps or not. From the front it looked like a sports bra. He found clasps.

  “No.”

  She had only stopped the kissing for long enough to utter that one syllable, then she was all over him again. He was confused. What could she be saying no to when she was obviously as into it as he was? Then she pulled back from him.

  “Close the curtains before you take it off,” she explained.

  He scrambled around the bed and fumbled with the string that lowered the blinds. He never had them closed, already
feeling cramped in the small apartment. He feared that closing them would make him feel as if he were trapped in a box, but for her he would handle it.

  The blinds came down a few inches at a time, fighting him the whole way. One side would lower, then after some struggling with the cord the other side would. Even after the bottom touched the sill, some of the cheap plastic slats refused to separate from the ones above them. He slapped at them, finally getting them all into place.

  He turned around to see her standing with her thumbs under her bra straps. His knees went weak and he had to lock them to keep from falling over. He didn’t breathe. He didn’t move. He just stood there waiting for her to slide the garment down.

  “What are you going to take off?” she asked in a playful voice.

  Without batting an eye, he had his shoes kicked off, his shirt over his head and his pants pushed down to the floor. He had to kick his feet a few times to get free of the material. Then he stood back up in just his underwear and socks.

  He watched her as she scanned his entire body. He kept his back straight and his eyes on her face. It was a battle not to let her see the insecurities gnawing at the back of his mind. Fortunately, he didn’t see any signs of disapproval on her face.

  Oh, his body was great. Not that it came as a surprise to her. She had seen enough glimpses of him working out to know. He was tall and slim. His muscles were toned to perfection without being overdone. She had been right about how tight his muscles were. They were as nice to touch as they had been to look at.

  She lowered the bra straps, bringing the entire contraption down around her waist. He was staring, just as she’d hoped he would. He was looking at her as if he’d been waiting his whole life just to see her and didn’t believe that it was finally happening. She wanted to remember every moment of this, because no one had ever made her feel so beautiful.