Choosing Him

by Liliana Rhodes

  "No! Oh my God, no!" He laughed. "I have a strict rule about clients being clients. I honestly don't know what came over me. I just like you and figured it was worth losing you as a client." He leaned in close to her.

  "Well you won't lose me as a client. My hair looks too good." she laughed and leaned towards him until their lips touched.

  He moved his lips over hers and she enjoyed the combination of the softness of his lips with the aggressiveness of his mouth. He took the beer out of her hand and set it on a nearby table then slid his fingers into her hair, all without stopping their kiss.

  He pressed his body against hers and she thought about how good he felt. Her hands glided under his shirt and up his strong back. He inched his lips down to her neck and one of his hands slid over her blouse roughly.

  She grabbed the bottom of her blouse and pulled it up, over her head, leaving her in her pink lace bra. His lips moved aggressively over her breasts, at times biting and sucking, and her breath caught from the excitement.

  She tugged his shirt up further and he pulled away from her, his eyes glued to hers and he yanked his shirt off and tossed it onto the floor then started unbuttoning her dress pants.

  She giggled and ran her fingers through his wavy hair as he pulled her pants off. He grabbed hold of her panties and looked at her, asking without saying a word. She bit her bottom lip and lifted her hips and he slid her panties down and dropped them on the floor. He slid his hands up her legs while he moved between them, she wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his jeans rub against her skin.

  He grinned then picked her up and carried her to his bed. He set her down and began kissing her again. Her hands glided over his back and down onto his ass but he grabbed her hands and moved them up, above her head, against the mattress.

  "This is about you relaxing, remember?"

  She laughed, she couldn't help herself. He slid down her body, his lips began kissing her stomach as his hand travelled up her inner thigh to where she knew she was sopping wet. She felt his fingers enter her and she gasped and went to move her hand over his bicep but he gave her a look and she grabbed the pillow instead.

  He suddenly got off the bed and grabbed her legs and yanked her to the edge of the bed. She loved how strong he was and how delicate it made her feel. He kneeled on the floor and bit into her tender thigh and she gasped, surprised, before he sucked on the spot. She really didn't think she could get any wetter.

  He looked up at her and their eyes met. His fingers glided over her clit and her hips began moving involuntarily. She watched as he stuck his tongue out then slid it over her clit.

  "Oh...God!" She grabbed onto the pillow.

  He moved his lips over her clit then softly sucked. She felt shivers run up her spine and her breath quickened. He grabbed onto her hips and wiggled his tongue wildly, rubbing her clit before dipping it into her pussy and tasting her.

  She couldn't take it anymore. The intense feeling of pleasure built inside her and she suddenly breathed in deeply and came. She held onto the pillow tightly as she felt the wave of orgasm crash over her.

  She was beginning to catch her breath when he slipped two fingers inside her sensitive pussy. Her hips bucked and she giggled.

  "Oh no! Too sensitive! It tickles."

  "Move past it." He kept moving his fingers in and out of her.

  "No, what are you doing? It's too sensitive, I already came."

  "No you didn't." He adjusted his fingers and started rubbing something inside her she didn't know. Suddenly she felt tingling sensations spread from where he rubbed, out to her entire body. She gasped, unsure what was going on and felt a light sweat develop on her skin. The tingling intensified to the point where she thought her body was losing control and her breath caught, she moaned and then cried out as she felt everything inside her go.

  She felt lightheaded and dizzy. Her hands let go of the pillow and dropped back onto the bed. She was out of breath ands felt a slight trickle of wetness drip from her pussy. She laid there and stared up at the ceiling and noticed glow-in-the-dark stars which would have made her smile if she wasn't already.

  Emily heard the shower turn on in the bathroom and thought it was funny she didn't even realize he was gone. She got up and walked back into the living room and began looking for her panties, skirt and blouse.

  "I started the shower in case you wanted to take a quick shower before going back to work." Ryan stood in the doorway wearing only a towel.

  Emily picked up her clothes and followed him into the bathroom. He took off the towel and she admired his naked body as he stepped into the shower. She put her hair up, took off her bra and stepped into the shower with him.

  He lathered her skin and then pulled the shower head down to rinse her so her hair wouldn't get wet. They didn't speak and neither felt they needed to. Afterwards they got out and dried off and she put her work clothes back on.

  "So how do you feel? Relaxed?" He teased.

  "Like I need to answer that?" She laughed and quickly hugged him. "Give me a call sometime, ok? Maybe sometime you need relaxing."

  "I will, I promise." He winked at her.

  She left his house and drove back to work feeling the most alive and relaxed as she ever had in a very long time.

  Having Him

  "Has Ryan called yet?"

  Emily spun around in her office chair and smiled when she saw Sophie, her closest friend and co-worker. Sophie was pretty, thin and blonde. Even though Emily was a fairly confident person, she always felt like Hardy to Sophie's Laurel. She knew it was all in her head, but she felt heavier when Sophie was around. She sat up a little straighter in her chair and tried to look taller than her five foot two.

  "No, he hasn't. But he told me to call so I don't know what to think," Emily said.

  Sophie sat on Emily's desk and crossed her legs. Emily pushed some errant strands of her long auburn hair behind her ear and thought about Ryan. Her hair still felt soft from the conditioning treatment he had done two weeks ago, which was also when she went over his house for what he called "relaxation". She found herself playing with her hair more since then, because each time it reminded her of him.

  "Think? That's your problem right there Em. You think too much. He told you to call. You're the only woman I know who could have a man give you a mind blowing orgasm and then not call him. I mean if that's his idea of relaxation and he told me to call him, you know he would've gotten a phone call from me the next day!"

  The women giggled. Emily remembered going back to work after her lunch time visit to Ryan's. Sophie immediately noticed her flushed cheeks and Emily couldn't help but fill her in on her adventure.

  "Oh! I have to show you something."

  Emily dug through her bag and pulled out a popular fashion magazine. She flipped it open to a dog eared page, laid the magazine on the desk and pointed at a picture of a ruggedly handsome man with dark wavy hair and green eyes.

  "That's him?" Sophie picked up the magazine to get a better look. "Give me his number and I'll call him. He is hot! I could use a conditioning treatment..."

  Emily shot her a mean look even though she knew her friend was joking. She really didn't know why she hadn't called when he told her to. Not a day had passed that she didn't think about him and it wasn't just the mind blowing orgasm, it was how beautiful he made her feel and how afterwards he almost worshipped her body. She knew she could turn heads when she wore the right clothes, but naked she was always self conscious. She didn't feel that way with him.

  "You're right, I should call. I guess I just don't know what to expect or what to say. I thought he was pretty clear this was just a friends with benefits situation, but I thought I felt more from him. Like he wanted more." Emily thought about her recent break up with Kyle and how devastated she was. She felt a little pang in her chest. "I'm definitely not ready for another relationship."

  "Then take him up on his offer. Call him!"

  Emily chewed her full bottom lip for a second th
en nodded her head. She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. Ryan's number was programmed in it.

  ***

  Ryan was dressed in his black biking shorts and an old grey tee shirt he got while he was in the Marines. He was filling his water bottle when he saw his cell phone light up with an incoming phone call, but he didn't pick it up. He knew if he answered the phone he'd never get out for his ride and figured whoever it was could leave a message.

  Slipping on his old sunglasses with mirrored lenses, he got on his Trek road bike and began riding. The strong sun reflected on his bronzed skin as he made his way to a park several miles away. Biking was his favorite form of exercise. He loved the free feeling he got when he rode, the wind blowing through his wavy brown hair. It was something that even if a friend joined him, he still felt alone while riding, he liked that.

  Ryan was glad for the day off. While his job as a hair stylist was completely different from his Marine training, he found he loved his job. Yes, having to work with so many pretty young girls was great but none of them were his type anyway. To the tall, muscular ex-Marine, a woman wasn't really a woman unless she had some meat on her bones.

  Lately his mind had been on one curvy girl in particular–Emily. It had been two weeks since she came over. He swore if he closed his eyes he could still smell the sweetness of her perfume, feel the soft voluptuousness of her body, and even taste her sweetness.

  As he approached Dobson's Lake, in the center of the park, he noticed his old friend Steve skipping stones across the water, his own bike leaned against a nearby tree. Ryan changed course and headed over to say hi.

  "Hey man, how've you been?"

  Ryan stepped off the bike and walked it closer to Steve. Steve was tall but not as tall as Ryan and he kept his light brown hair cropped short. He was dressed similar to Ryan in black biking shorts except Steve wore a bright blue and white striped tee shirt.

  "Hey! Its been a couple weeks. I've been good. Seeing a new girl, what about you?"

  "No, nah you know me."

  "Yeah I do know you Ry. You really should get out. Date. Doesn't have to be anything serious. How long has it been since Carly? It's time to move on."

  Ryan didn't say anything for a moment He didn't want to talk about dating and much less about Carly. He just couldn't handle a relationship. Not after Carly. Carly was the love of his life. They had been together for years and were planning to get married after he retired from the Marines. She was the reason he retired. She didn't want to be married to someone on active duty. He understood that. He saw countless families torn apart by the war. Plus he would've done anything for Carly, she only had to ask.

  "Its been a year. She left a year ago."

  Simply hearing her name was enough to change his mood. He quickly said good bye to Steve and began the ride home. As he thought about Carly he realized he could smell her. He hated that her scent was still ingrained in him. He tried to push his thoughts elsewhere and thought again of Emily. He lied to her about Carly. He told her they broke up because he didn't want to get married, it was the other way around.

  Somehow his mind began to jumble the two women together and he wondered if Emily wore the same perfume as Carly. He shook his head thinking he had to be crazy to think he was still smelling her. Emily reminded him a lot of Carly. She had the same innocence and sweetness to her. The same seductive smile. Ryan began to think that Emily got what she wanted and that was it. Just like Carly.

  He was having a hard time separating his conflicting feelings for Carly with how much he liked Emily. He knew Emily shouldn't take the blame for Carly ditching him all those years ago, but something about her brought back all those feelings again. Even the passionate ones.

  He rode up the driveway of his house and finally looked to see who called him earlier. Emily. He listened to her message again as he thought about how cute and sexy her voice was and he knew he needed to have more of her.

  He wasn't normally like this but there was definitely something special about Emily. It wasn't that he was looking for sex, he had a phone book filled with women's business cards and phone numbers, some whom he got together with on a regular basis. There was just something different about Emily. He briefly thought about taking her to dinner or a movie.

  But Ryan didn't date. He didn't have relationships. He definitely did not have a girlfriend nor was he looking for one. He just wanted a good time and in return he hoped he'd be able to offer the best time possible.

  Sex was a physical act and he didn't see any reason why emotions needed to be involved. Whether you wanted to call his lady friends fuck buddies, friends with benefits or even just booty calls, he always made it clear ahead of time what kind of relationship or lack of, to expect from him.

  He peeled his sweaty clothing off his muscular body and got into the shower. He wondered if Emily was busy later and figured he'd call her back when he got out. As he lathered up, he thought how soft Emily's skin way. He didn't think he ever felt skin as soft. He then wondered if she liked candles.

  ***

  After a long day at work nothing relaxed Emily more than cooking in her fully equipped, modern kitchen. She lived in an exclusive building of new condos. She saved every penny she made to buy that place and she didn't skimp on any of it. She had granite countertops, tile floors, plush carpeting, and she was proud it was hers.

  She had stopped off at the grocery store on the way home and bought some scallops. She made a side of pasta in a lemon butter sauce and was just waiting another minute so the sear on her scallops would be perfect. As she waited she listened to Dave Matthews Band and sang along.

  A lot of her friends couldn't believe how well she ate at home, but she enjoyed it. She knew she was a little overweight but to be honest she'd rather be curvy than stick thin and never enjoy food at all. Besides, she knew from going hiking with them that while she might have a little "junk in the trunk", she was in much better shape than they were. Plus how many of them had sexy ex-Marines flirting with them? None! She giggled to herself as she thought about Ryan and sat down to eat.

  She heard her cell phone ringing and saw it was him calling. She stared at his name for a second, a bit surprised, then took a deep breath and tried to sound calm and relaxed.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey Kid. What are you up to?"

  "Not much. Just finishing dinner. What about you?" Emily forgot how sexy his voice was. She tried to stop but couldn't help giggling.

  "I saw you called while I was out on my bike."

  "You have a bike? I had no idea. What kind?" Emily pictured him on a motorcycle, his wavy hair windblown.

  "It's an old Trek."

  "Oh that's cool."

  She felt embarrassed and giggled again. She hated that she kept giggling, it made her feel like an idiot, but she couldn't help it. He made her nervous and giddy like a school girl.

  "So Kid, I'm glad you called. Do you want to come over?"

  "Sure, when?" She tried to act cool and contain her excitement.

  "How about now?"

  She looked at the time and saw it was already 8pm. Normally she'd be winding down for the night and not looking for anything to do, especially not in the middle of the week. But it seemed her mouth had other plans.

  "Sure, just let me take care of some things and I'll head over. I should be there within the hour."

  "Great. Just let yourself in."

  She put the phone down and quickly went through her wardrobe in her head. She needed to figure out the right combination of looking good and not trying too hard. She took a quick shower and touched up her make up. She tried to tame some of the frizz in her auburn hair with an ointment Ryan gave her then let it hang down in soft waves.

  She decided on a pair of dark blue jeans that always made her butt look great and a purple empire waist tunic she always got tons of compliments on. She slipped her feet into a comfy pair of ballet flats and headed out the door of her condo and into the hall.

  As she lock
ed her door she noticed an unfamiliar man coming out of the elevator. He was so handsome, she stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at him. He was tall with hair so dark it was almost black, eyes as blue as the ocean and a strong jawline and cheekbones. Emily thought he looked like Superman...if Superman's alter ego wore a chef's coat.

  Luckily for Emily, the man stepped out of the elevator and headed down the hall with his hands full, otherwise he might have caught her staring. She admired how his broad shoulders filled out the white jacket and then noticed he stopped at a door just a couple down from her. With his hands full, he tried unlocking the door. Emily ran over to help.

  "Hi, let me help you with that."

  "Thanks. I was being lazy and didn't want to make a bunch of trips to my car. Didn't think about how I'd open the door."

  He spoke with a French accent that Emily thought was the sexiest thing she had ever heard. He flashed her a perfect smile which she returned. She opened the door for him and then turned to leave, knowing Ryan was expecting her.

  "Well I'm glad I could help. I'm Emily. I'm over at 4B if you ever need anything."

  "You're leaving? I'd love for you to come in. Maybe have a drink? It's the least I could do for you helping me out."

  "No, sorry I have to get going. Another time maybe?"

  She didn't wait for a reply. She didn't want to keep Ryan waiting. She headed towards the elevator which was just opening and got in and took it down to the parking garage. For the first time in weeks she wasn't thinking about Ryan.

  The way to Ryan's house looked different at night. It had been lunch time when Emily drove there last. Now the glow of street lamps and car lights made it look strange to her and she wondered if she should head back home and have that drink with her neighbor. She returned her thoughts to Ryan and figured it was just her nerves getting to her.

  She replayed the last time she went over his house for what he called "relaxation" as she drove. She wondered if it was wrong of her to assume they'd be having sex this time and hoped she wouldn't get disappointed and end up playing Scrabble or something else. As she thought about it, she realized she didn't just want sex. She knew she wasn't ready for a relationship but she didn't think she was the type of girl who could just have sex without any attachment.