Holding You

by Jewel E. Ann

  “Don’t give me that look now that you have me all excited about hitting the slopes.”

  “What look?” I grabbed his hair and pulled his face to mine, brushing my lips over his before easing my tongue into his mouth.

  He hummed a deep groan as I pulled away then discretely tried to adjust himself while shooting me a dirty look. “You’re going to pay for that later.”

  I batted my eyelashes at him, flashing a wry smile. “God, I hope so.”

  He swatted my ass. “Get in the snow.”

  We spent what was left of the afternoon and the better part of the evening snowboarding. I surprised myself at just how easily I picked it up. Quinn was amazing, that being an understatement. After getting my fill of the slopes, I enjoyed planting my butt in the snow and watching him fly off of the ramps, boxes, and rails. He was giving me a taste of the extreme sports he enjoyed and I enjoyed every minute. His carefree, adventurous, no-limits personality was as sexy as the body in which it resided.

  He finished his last run, stopping on a dime just inches from me.

  “Hey, beautiful, you cold?”

  I bit my lower lip and slowly shook my head. I wanted him so badly, he could have taken me right there in the snow.

  “Are you hungry?”

  My head continued to move side to side.

  He grabbed my gloved hand and pulled me to my feet. Our faces were inches apart, separated by a small cloud of warm condensation. “Do you want me to get a room?”

  I nodded.

  It was about twenty minutes later, but it felt like hours before we stumbled into our room. Our frantic bodies created a tornado of snow gear and clothes being ripped off, tossed aside, and thrown around the room. He pulled his thermal shirt off exposing his glistening sweaty torso.

  “I’m a sweaty mess. We should shower,” he said breathing hard.

  “Nah uh,” I groaned, removing what was left of my own clothes then making haste with his pants.

  I pushed him onto the bed, losing what little control I had left. Never in my life had I wanted anyone so much. He felt it too, but even his eagerness fell a step short of mine. I crawled up his sweaty body and ravaged his mouth with mine, pushing myself onto his waiting erection.

  His whole body tensed. “Ah, fuck, that’s so good, but …” he closed his eyes “ …I’m not wearing a condom Add—”

  “Shh …” I breathed out as I rode him. “I want you so much.” My voice was strained and almost painful.

  He leaned up on one elbow, flexing his washboard abs, and took one of my breasts in his mouth.

  “Ah!” I arched into his mouth, grinding my hips harder.

  Our bodies were covered in sweat as they slid against each other. He released my breast and hissed in a breath between his teeth. He eased his hand between us and massaged my clit, releasing my orgasm. My movements slowed, milking every last sensation. Still breathless, he flipped me on my back and dominantly pulsed into me several times.

  “Fuuuck!” he growled. As I clenched my muscles around him I felt his warm release fill me.

  He rolled to his back searching for his breath. “What the hell got into you?”

  I laughed. “You.”

  “Jeez, that was … I mean I thought I was the adrenaline junkie.”

  “I guess having my way with your homely body has become my extreme sport. You are very very bad for me, Mr. Cohen,” I declared while outlining the muscles on his chest with my fingernail.

  “Speaking of … are we going to discuss the no condom part of the evening?”

  I traced my fingers lower circling his belly button. “That’s simple. I’ll be starting my cycle in about two days so the chances of me getting pregnant are about nil. However, if you’re carrying around some STD that I end up with, I promise you I will go bat shit and cut your balls off then feed them to you in your sleep.”

  He turned toward me covering his man parts with the sheet as if attempting to protect them. “I’m not going to pretend that I was a virgin or anything when we met, in fact far from it, but I’ve always been very careful and I get tested regularly, requiring the same of my partners.”

  “Is that so? Well, then why did you so willingly have unprotected sex with me but didn’t ask for my test results.”

  “Have you been tested?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “No.”

  “You’ve never been tested?” Shock filled his voice.

  I shook my head.

  “You know that condoms aren’t one hundred percent. I can’t believe you’re so cavalier with your sex life.”

  “For the record, you’re the only cavalier part of my sex life …” my voice turned to a mumble “ …or sex history for that matter.”

  “What did you say?”

  I raised my voice a notch. “I said you’re the only cavalier part of my sex life.”

  “No, not that, the last part that you mumbled under your breath.” He raised his body up on his elbow so he was looking down at me.

  Dodging anymore questions, I sat up and headed to the bathroom. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to worry about me passing anything to you, that’s all.”

  After hurrying into the shower, I took a moment to gather my composure and thoughts. What had gotten into me? I wasn’t worried about getting pregnant and the naive part of me did trust that Quinn was clean, but it still was not an excuse to be so reckless. My hunger for him was insatiable; my greed clouded my thoughts, which made it easy to find an excuse not to use protection. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

  The door opened to the bathroom then Quinn stepped into the shower with me. Not saying a word, he grabbed the soap and went to work lathering my body, caressing and massaging every inch of me. He took the handheld shower head and rinsed me off, pausing briefly as he aimed it between my legs. The sensation made my body jerk. He moved it away, flashing me his wicked smile. Shaking my head at his mischievousness, I reached for the soap and worked the suds over his body.

  No matter how many times I saw him naked, I still gawked at his body in awe of its flawless beauty. “You’re perfect.” It was just a thought but it slipped out of my mouth as I stood behind him washing his back.

  He turned around and looked down into my eyes. “I’m not.” Gently, he cupped my face and inched lower, ever so slowly, until his mouth was covering mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me up. His naked erection filled me again as our bodies melded. He released my mouth and moved his lips to my ear.

  “This, my beautiful, this … is perfect.”

  *

  Mother Nature left a thick layer of snow over New York City, but I was able to get a flight booked for Monday afternoon. We left the ski resort Monday morning making it back to Quinn’s by noon. He had a business meeting scheduled for that afternoon, but considered rescheduling it until I insisted he go; it would have only given us an extra hour together before I had to leave for the airport. I agreed to come back to New York between Christmas and New Years. He and his sister were leaving for Spain the week before Christmas to be with his brother and mother then they planned on returning the day after.

  On the way to the airport, in the back of Quinn’s Bentley, I received a text from him.

  Can’t concentrate, thinking of you in some naughty Santa lingerie.

  It’s going to be a long two weeks. Q x

  In any other life I would have thought meeting Quinn was the equivalent of winning the dating lottery. In this life it felt like a cruel joke. It seemed like the chances of us working through all our baggage and finding some semblance of happiness was virtually impossible. Cutting my losses early and just getting out would have been the smart thing to do, but I couldn’t. He had become my drug, the attraction was my addiction, and I didn’t have the willpower to quit.

  Not sure I own anything to that effect. A x

  Elves, babe, my wish is their command. Q x

  Kinky, spoiled little rich boy ;) A x

  Little boy? Was
that a little boy who fucked you at the front door before going to work this afternoon? Q x

  Our “never goodbye” kiss earlier took a small detour. Quinn was wearing a grey three piece suit, white shirt, and dark purple striped tie. He had a day’s worth of dark stubble on his beautiful face. I was wearing a fitted, charcoal, recycled wool dress that fell above my knee with three quarter length sleeves. What sent Quinn over the edge were my soft pink, lace cable-knit boot socks peeking out above my black knee high boots. I expected the tease to be my hair divided into my signature pigtails. When I walked down the stairs he was donning his wool overcoat but slipped it back off the moment he caught sight of me. Spewing a string of dirty expletives about my “naughty little school girl look,” he had his pants dropped to his feet, my panties ripped off, and me pinned against the front door in no time flat. He took me quick and hard with my dress pulled up to my waist, my legs wrapped around his, and heels digging into his butt. I was quite certain he was going to have a reminder of me on his ass for a few days.

  Ah, I stand corrected.

  It was definitely all man who violated that innocent little school girl. A x

  She deserved it, fucking tease. Q x

  Have your mom clean up that potty mouth of yours while you’re gone;)

  Gotta go, I’m at the airport. Bye! A x

  Safe trip, beautiful … but never goodbye. Q x

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “The worst kind of pain is when you’re smiling just to stop the tears from falling.”

  ~Unknown

  MAC PICKED ME up from the airport and grilled me for every detail before I even retrieved my luggage. I put her off, not wanting to start with all the details until I was home.

  As soon as I walked in the door my phone chimed with a text from Quinn.

  Home safe?

  Yes, thanks!

  You should send me a picture of yourself. Qx

  It hit me at that moment that we never had taken photos of each other together or separate. It warmed me to think that maybe he wanted a picture of me to show his family when he went to visit. I decided the best picture I had of myself was the one from my website, so I copied it to a text and sent it.

  “Are you sexting Hot Pants already?” Mac asked while she threw off her boots and coat, getting comfy for all the details of my trip.

  “No, he just wanted me to send him a picture of myself, so I sent him the one from the café’s website.”

  She laughed.

  “What? You don’t think that’s a good one?”

  “No, Addy, it’s great. I just doubt that’s the kind of picture he was thinking about.” She suggestively raised her eyebrows.

  “Shut up! That’s not what he meant, leave it to your filthy mind to go there.”

  Before I finished, my phone chimed again.

  Cute, babe, but that’s not quite what I had in mind. Qx

  I stood frozen in shock.

  “What’d he say?”

  “Uh, nothing really.”

  “Bullshit, let me see.” She lunged toward me as I tried to hide my phone in my pocket.

  “It’s nothing, stop!” I yelled as she pinned me against my kitchen counter.

  “If it’s nothing then let me see.” She peeled my fingers off it and yanked it out of my pocket, quickly turning her back to me so she could read it before I took it back. “Ha! Told you. He wants a nudie, Addy. God, I love how innocent you are.”

  Mac tossed my phone at me. I caught it and sent back a quick text. “Yeah, well it’s not happening.”

  You first! Ax

  After pressing send, I quickly shut off my phone before he could respond, fearing he might in fact do it and that would not be shared with Mac.

  “I could take the picture for you before I leave. Wouldn’t want the poor guy jerking off to an empty pillow.”

  “Nice, Mac. Forgot to put in your filter today, I see.”

  “I have a hard time believing any woman who’s been with that man could possibly be offended by my mouth. How about you tell me about your trip skipping all the yada yada about the culinary institute and get straight to the good stuff?”

  “Fair point.” I blushed just thinking of my intimate and erotic moments with Quinn.

  I spent the next hour filling Mac in on most of the details, skipping the R or maybe X rated specifics. It was almost midnight before she left, and I was exhausted from my day of travel, not to mention the hour time difference. I threw on an old T-shirt, washed my face, and brushed and flossed my teeth before collapsing into bed.

  *

  My alarm brought the morning too quickly. I was surprised how much I missed waking with the comfort that came from being wrapped in Quinn. It would be two weeks before I would see him again, so I made the most of my time at home and jumped right back into my routine. I put in a full hour of yoga but skipped the run since Milwaukee was also covered in snow and the paths could be pretty icy. After my shower I went down to the café for the world’s best smoothie and wheatgrass shot. As I was cleaning up, Jake arrived for work.

  “Morning, Addy!” Jake exclaimed as he gave me a big hug.

  “Hey, Jake, how’d everything go while I was gone?”

  “If I say great you’ll think you’re not needed, if I say terrible you’ll feel guilty and never leave again, so what do you want to hear?”

  I smiled and kissed him on the cheek before heading back to the kitchen. “Hmm, maybe you should tell me things went okay, but you sure are glad to have me back because it eases the pressure of you having to take the credit for all my fabulous culinary creations.”

  He started washing kale and lettuce. “I wish. Unfortunately the popular response was ‘tell Addy everything is amazing as usual.’”

  “You could have changed up the menu and added some of your own recipes. I would not have minded since I trust you.”

  “Really?” he asked in surprise.

  My time at the culinary institute reminded me just how great aspiring chefs can be if given the right guidance and opportunity. I wanted the same for Jake. He was very talented and no longer required much guidance. It was the opportunity he was waiting for. It was time I gave it to him.

  “Absolutely, in fact, I’ll be gone again around Christmas and you can have complete rein over the menu.”

  He looked at me in disbelief but then his doubt turned into an enthusiastic grin as he turned back around and continued prepping.

  I was going to text Mac and have her stop to pick up some more limes and that was when I remembered I’d left my phone upstairs. Finding it on my kitchen counter, I turned it on and was alerted to two missed calls and three texts. One call was from Mac with a message saying she would stop and pick up limes on her way in. Great minds think alike. The other call was from Quinn and his message was a hostile one, demanding I respond to his texts or calls. Bo-ssy cow. I immediately checked my texts.

  For your ogling pleasure. Q x

  Attached was a photo of Quinn. But something was off about it. He looked younger, not that he showed any signs of aging but it was more about his build. He was standing in a pair of white briefs with a black waist band, his back to the camera, his head was turned looking over his left shoulder with a “sexy and I know it look”. His left hand was pushing the back of his briefs down just half way over his left buttocks, exposing part of his tight, tan ass. He was fit and trim in the photo but having recently inspected every inch of his beautiful body, I knew his muscles were a bit larger and even more defined than they were in the picture. The photo also looked professionally taken. I moved on to his next text.

  Waiting? I’m wearing my shirt that smells like you and sex. Where’s my photo? Q x

  A little pissed you haven’t responded. Guess I’ll have to resort to other means.

  All three texts were sent within a two hour time frame last night. What the hell was other means supposed to mean? Olivia?

  He didn’t sign off with his Qx either. Immediately I responded.

&nbs
p; Shut my phone off to talk to Mac and forgot to turn it back on. What other means? Ax

  I waited a few minutes but no response, so I went back downstairs and started filling lunch orders with Jake and the girls. About ten minutes later my phone chimed.

  No time. In a meeting.

  I immersed myself in work to keep my mind off the short, cold sounding message from Quinn. It was hard not to read into it, but I tried not to. By the end of the day I was in better spirits, not because I’d heard back from Quinn, but simply because I loved being back at my café, working with fun like-minded people, and serving such grateful customers. Later that evening around seven, I returned to my loft ready to just chill out on my couch with a good book. Around eight o’clock, my phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, baby, good to hear your voice.” Quinn sounded tired.

  “Yours too. Bad day?”

  “Just long. I spent most of the day dealing with unfinished business my father left behind.”

  I wasn’t sure if his openness was an invitation to ask further questions.

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  “Not so much, I’m wishing you were here to take my mind off of everything.”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Two weeks too long.”

  “Well one week before you leave for Spain and there’s nothing like family to provide a good distraction.”

  “Not in my case. It will simply be more talk about everything that went on today.”

  I sensed it was time to lighten the mood and change the subject. “Nice picture by the way, but it’s not recent. When, where, and why was it taken.”