Leap

by Cindy Jacks

  She took the bag from him and pushed him to stand up. Lila moved off the counter and tugged at his jeans button. After sliding down his zipper, she fished his hard cock from his boxer briefs. The shaft twitched as she put a crown of icing around the head. Dropping to her knees, she took him into her mouth. The sweet chocolate mixed with the slightly salty taste of his pre-cum as she relaxed her throat, working him farther into her mouth until she’d engulfed all of his long cock. A few more strokes and he pulled back, a hungry smirk on his face.

  “C’mere.” He pulled Lila to her feet, turned her around and bent her over the counter. She heard the wrapper tear and looked over her shoulder to watch him roll the condom down his cock. She’d forgotten how lovely it was fully erect.

  Gavin parted her labia and then pushed his shaft into her. Just the head at first, teasing at the opening until she dug her fingernails into his thighs. Then he buried himself inside her, his pelvis flush with her ass. With smooth strokes, he set a fast but steady rhythm. His hands roamed over her breasts and then he captured each nipple between his fingers, pinching them with just the right amount of pressure. She groaned and tossed her head back. Brushing her hair from her neck, he pressed his mouth to her skin.

  He reached between her legs and rubbed her clit. Pleasure rippled through her. With each thrust, she grew slicker and he pushed deeper into her. Lila cried out his name as another orgasm ripped through her. Gavin hooked his arm around her waist, bending her forward. She braced herself against the counter. He drove himself into her until he too came, his body shaking. Heavy exhalations grazed her shoulder.

  After their bodies grew still, he carefully withdrew from her. Lila turned to face him.

  She looked into his dark brown eyes. A smile played across his lips. He kissed her forehead and cradled her face in his hands.

  “Of all the ways I expected to spend this evening.” She blew out a sigh and rested her head against his cheek.

  She felt his grin widen. “It’s a pleasant surprise for me too. I was expecting dinner, a few glasses of wine. Maybe a hand job, but that’s it.”

  Lila gave him a playful shove. He leaned in and brushed her lips with his. “You’re amazing.”

  “You’ve learned a few tricks yourself.”

  “Glad to hear it. I’d hate to think I still fumble around like a sixteen-year-old.”

  “I don’t remember you fumbling.”

  “That’s because you didn’t know any better at the time.”

  Very true. Images of Gavin’s younger self flashed through her mind. He’d always been strong, handsome. Fearless. But now, with some maturity under his belt, he radiated something far more intoxicating. He’d been her first lover—they’d spent the whole summer of ’83 attached at the hip. The roller rink. Making love to The Police’s Every Breath You Take.

  When Gavin’s parents split that fall, he’d opted to live with his dad. His father moved north to Alexandria and though the two vowed to stay in touch, stay together, time and distance led the relationship to its inevitable conclusion. She saw him a couple times around Christmas and once the next summer. After that his mother moved to Maryland and Lila never saw Gavin again.

  “You broke my heart back then.” The confession escaped her before she had time to think better of it.

  He pulled her close and caressed the small of her back. “I was a stupid kid.”

  “So you’re not stupid anymore? Now that you’re all grown up?”

  “Ha, I didn’t say that.”

  Lila smiled and took his hand. “Come on. Let’s get more comfortable.”

  Chapter Two

  Lila led him through the kitchen to her office, stopping to put on her panties. Gavin stepped into his boxers and threw the prophylactic into the trash. Once behind closed doors, she took a pint of whiskey and glasses from her desk drawer.

  “Care for a drink?” she asked.

  “Please.” He reclined on the leather sofa across from her desk.

  She brought over two tumblers of Glenfiddich and settled in next to him, lying across the sofa, her head against his shoulder.

  Gavin took a sip and exhaled. “You keep single malt scotch in your bottom drawer?”

  “For special occasions,” she replied. “And for serious bouts of depression.”

  “And which is this?”

  “Well—” she took a gulp, swirling it in her mouth before swallowing. “It was supposed to be a bout of depression, but turned out to be a special occasion.”

  “Why were you down?” he asked.

  She wrinkled her nose and chewed at her bottom lip. “It’s a long story.”

  Gavin brushed the hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “We’ve got all night.”

  Another sip of scotch and Lila began to relay the details of her difficult week. Alan had left last weekend. The demise of their relationship had been a long time coming. He’d been filtering out his things over the past month, but finally ripped off the Band-Aid on Sunday. She saw him off at the airport, one final kiss and that was that. He’d called a couple times, but Lila let the calls roll over to voice mail. At least they’d never been foolish enough to get married.

  “Why did you two part ways?” asked Gavin.

  Lila took a drink and swallowed hard. “It wasn’t due to any animosity. In fact we get along really well. We’re just at different places in our life. He was offered a job in California. He wanted to take the position, I didn’t want to move. My life is here, you know? My bakery’s doing well… My kids are close by. I’m done taking big leaps. I feel like it’s just little tweaks for me from here on out.”

  “Don’t count yourself out yet. You’re only forty-thr—”

  “Shh. I know how old I am.” She waved off his statement. “How old we are.”

  Gavin chuckled. His fingers traced the contours of her face. “Remember when we were both sixteen and I’d coast on my motorcycle up to your house?”

  “And I’d climb out the window. Those summer nights by the river. All we needed was a six-pack of beer.”

  “And a twelve-pack of condoms.”

  Lila clapped a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. “Oh my God. Were we ever that young?”

  “Yeah. We were. But I think I like you more now.” He leaned in for a kiss.

  When he retreated, Lila said, “Liar.”

  “It’s true. You’ve got this confidence now. You seem to know what you want.”

  “I guess I do.”

  He kissed her again. “And I know what I want.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  Instead of telling her, he rolled her beneath him on the sofa. Unlike the heated rush of their earlier lovemaking, Gavin took his time. He explored her body with his fingertips and his tongue. Lila relaxed into his ministrations. His movements slow and methodical, he seemed to take a survey of every curve, every dip, every sensitive spot—the soft patch of skin between her collarbones, along her rib cage, down to her bellybutton and behind each knee and ankle. A shiver dashed through her.

  His mouth engulfed the folds of skin between her legs, suckling gently at first but growing more forceful as she responded. He continued to flicker his tongue over her engorged clit and slid two fingers into her, toying with the same spot he’d discovered earlier. Her body tensed and shook, she grasped his hair to keep from sliding off the sofa. A sudden climax gripped her and she clamped a leg over one of his shoulders, arching her back.

  She tried to repress a few boisterous cries but failed, praying the folks in the bookshop next door couldn’t hear her and if they could, that they didn’t think someone was murdering her.

  Once the orgasm began to recede, she expected him to make love to her again or at least come up for air, but he didn’t. He continued to lave at her, a few lazy strokes when she was at her most sensitive, but more in earnest once she relaxed beneath him again.

  Her legs quaked as Gavin plunged his tongue inside her and then licked upward. He repeated the pattern
with a steady rhythm, setting her afire, her abdomen tight from the gathering wave of pleasure. He closed his lips around her clit and the heat of his mouth sent her careening over the edge of another climax. Violent ripples of ecstasy broke over her.

  She tightened her grip on his hair, but his only response—a small grunt. Lost in the throes of a second orgasm, Lila couldn’t have released him even if she’d wanted to…but she didn’t want to. Hooking a leg over his shoulder, she held him fast between her thighs.

  Gavin seemed to take the hint and worked his mouth against her clitoris and labia. He made her come again and then once more for good measure. The heightened sensation on her already sensitive lips sent another jolt of electricity through her. She choked on a strangled cry. Tears stung her eyes and her body rocked against his.

  He took her down the other side of the crest with gentle nuzzles and kisses between her thighs. Slowly, Lila’s breathing calmed and she released her grip on him. Stroking his broad shoulders with her opened palm, she let out a sigh. He rested his head against her belly and looked up at her, a puckish smirk lighting up his face.

  Eager to give as good as she got, Lila reached for the waistband of his boxers. He caught her hand in his.

  “This time’s just for you.” The edges of his eyes crinkled in a gentle smile. “That’s the one thing I miss about being sixteen. Or, hell, even twenty-six.”

  “Bite your tongue,” she chided. “Do you know how much of my twenties I wasted on bad sex?”

  Gavin’s eyebrows shot up. “Ouch. Somewhere, poor Jack just sat up and cupped his balls.”

  Lila gave a self-conscious twitter. “Well, I’m not trying to be mean. But it was one of the things about our marriage that didn’t work and we were both too inexperienced to understand what we wanted.”

  “But you’re not inexperienced anymore.”

  She pursed her lips and made a locking motion with one hand.

  “My bad. A lady never kisses and tells, right?”

  “Right.”

  He circled his arms around her and her stomach grumbled. “Yikes. I think I need more than a piece of cake to hold me over.”

  “This is your town.” He ran one finger over the swell of her hips. “You choose the place. My treat.”

  While Gavin retrieved his clothes from the kitchen, Lila changed into a pair of jeans and a red silk blouse. She excused herself into the bathroom and brushed on a little powder, lip gloss and mascara. No blush needed. Her cheeks flushed with a natural pink glow courtesy of Mr. Reilly.

  Emerging from the restroom, she watched him pull his jeans over his rounded ass. Her breath caught in her throat.

  Breathe, Lila. Breathe, she told herself.

  “Shall we?” she asked.

  “Sure.” He smoothed his shirt and offered his arm. “My Jeep’s out front.”

  She hooked her arm in his. “It’s a nice night. Is it okay if we walk?”

  “Sounds great.”

  They strolled out of the bakery and Lila locked up behind her. Gavin stopped to feed the meter at his parking space.

  “What happened to your motorcycle?” she asked.

  “Oh, I got rid of that thing about the second time I had to scrape an organ donor on a crotch rocket out from under an eighteen-wheeler.”

  “Sounds wise.”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  They walked to a diner one block over and took a seat in a booth toward the back.

  Chapter Three

  Over dinner, they continued to catch up and reminisce. In twenty-five years he’d changed so much in some ways and in others not at all. True, his face was a little harder and his voice had grown deeper, but he still punctuated his words with hand gestures. While he stopped to think about what he wanted to say, his tongue would dart across his bottom lip, a signature gesture she’d always loved. He wasn’t as quick to laugh as she remembered but when he did laugh—laugh with real abandon—his eyes lit up and he seemed not to have a care in the world. The boy was there, just under the surface. It warmed her heart that he’d managed to hang on to part of the young man she’d known.

  He flipped through the song list on the table’s mini-jukebox. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He dug a quarter out of his pocket and made a selection. Every Breath You Take began to play.

  Lila clasped her hands together and shook her head. “Oh my God. I was just thinking of this song earlier. I haven’t heard it in ages.”

  “Me neither. My daughter, Kelly, insists on that Lady Gaga noise when she’s visiting.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Fourteen. So it’s all, ‘Rah rah, oh la la, blah blah’.” He mimed the video for Bad Romance. “Or however that stupid song goes.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “I’ll forget you just did that.”

  He grimaced and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Please do.”

  Lila listened to Sting’s mellow voice crooning the suddenly eerie lyrics. “You know, I used to think this song was romantic, but listening to it now, I think a restraining order would be called for if some guy told me this.”

  “There’s a fine line between romance and stalking.” He winked at her. “Learned that lesson the hard way.”

  She chuckled. “I bet.”

  The waitress appeared, offering coffee and dessert, but they declined. Gavin settled up the tab and they headed out into the night air.

  “Where to now?” asked Lila.

  He took both her hands in his and shrugged. “My place?”

  She pretended to think over the offer, but who was she kidding? “All right. Let me pull my car around and follow you there.”

  “Or I could drive you to work tomorrow morning.”

  “At four a.m.?”

  “Or you could pull your car around and follow me home,” he teased.

  She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. “I’ll be right back.”

  Her burgundy Toyota Camry sat in her parking space behind the bakery. She started the engine and drove up to Gavin’s Jeep. Once she stopped, giving him room to pull out, he headed into traffic. She followed him downtown to a sparkling tower of newly renovated condominiums. They turned into the parking garage. Gavin rolled down his driver’s side window, motioning for her to come around. Lila stopped next to him and lowered her passenger’s side window.

  “The guest parking is up top, next to the elevator,” he said. “I’ll park in my spot and meet you up there.”

  She nodded and made her way to the roof. After settling the Toyota into a space to the left of a bank of doors, Lila hopped out and waited for Gavin to appear. A ding and a rustle of elevator doors yielded his smiling face.

  “Hey, you.”

  Her knee-jerk response came, “Hay is for horses.”

  He whinnied and tugged her into the elevator. The doors shushed closed and Gavin folded her into his arms. He peppered her face and neck with kisses. Half-tempted to press the stop button, Lila allowed him to slide a hand into her jeans. He brushed his fingers along the patch of hair just above her opening, stroking the very tip of her clit and pinning her against the back wall. All too soon, the elevator came to rest at the fifth floor.

  She straightened her hair and he smoothed out his rumpled shirt before exiting into a long hallway lined with sconces and oriental carpeting.

  “I’m up here, on the right.” He motioned to unit E1260.

  * * * * *

  Gavin led her through the doorway to reveal a spacious foyer and living room, mostly bare of furnishings except a sofa and a glass-top dining table off to the side of the kitchen. Unpacked cardboard boxes littered the glossy hardwood floors. French doors led to a balcony devoid of any chairs or benches, but the panoramic view of the James River made up for all that the interior lacked.

  “I love what you’ve done with the place.” Her voice echoed in the barren apartment. “It’s so…Spartan.”

  “I just lugged everything in this morning. Give me a month and you’ll see what a pack rat I am.�
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  The implication that this was more than a one-night stand sent a jolt of excitement through her.

  Gavin took her hand and led her to the bedroom. An austere mahogany bedframe held a plush king-size mattress set covered in white cotton linens. A matching nightstand stood next to the bed, a wrought iron lamp its only occupant. A couple half-opened boxes of clothes and books sat in the corner. He walked over to the window and pulled the blinds. They lowered with a snap that reverberated through the room.

  Easing himself to sit on the mattress, he caught her wrist and pulled her to him. He folded his arms around her, hugging her midsection. Lila slid to her knees, now eye to eye with him, and ran her hands over his thighs as he cradled her jaw with one hand, drawing her into a deep kiss.

  She broke away, her breath coming in shorter, faster bursts. Tasting his fragrant neck, she traced a path to his lips, then his collarbone. He tugged his shirt over his head and cast it aside. She continued down his torso, fighting with the button on his jeans. Once it popped free, Lila unzipped the pants. Gavin took over and kicked off his sneakers, taking off his jeans and boxers too.

  She wasted no time engulfing his erection with her mouth. It grew harder with each pass of her tongue. But to her surprise, he pulled back.

  Wiping her mouth, she said, “I was going to pay you back for earlier.”

  “Some other time. Right now, I want you in my bed.”

  Lila crawled onto the mattress. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”