by Moira McTark
Waves of searing heat and pleasure pulled from every nerve in her body, collecting in a tidal wave of intensity deep within her core. Her legs started to give out under her as she panted, trying not to scream. Brian’s strong arm immediately came around her waist holding her tight against him. Wrapped up together in a spell, no one on the planet but them, nothing more important than their immediate union, bodies and souls fusing as one.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you, baby,” he said against her ear as he thrust into her. His other hand moved back under her skirt to her pussy, his palm cupping her, guiding her movement in rhythm to the music, as his middle finger circled her pleasure nub. “I’m going to make you come again.”
She moved under his direction, lost in ecstasy as he stretched her to take him. She watched the crowd, unable to control the pressure building within her, harder, faster. They moved together until she was no longer moving herself. Supported by the backs of Brian’s solid thighs and iron grip around her waist, she felt him pumping in and out of her as she watched the crowd, trying not to scream. It was building fast. He ground against her back, thrusting deeper. So good. Deeper and deeper, until, gasping, she came in a series of silent spasms.
Brian rocked her slowly then, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck. Kissing her shoulders until every last wave was through. And then he withdrew and lowered her skirt. With a quick adjustment he returned his unspent organ to its khaki prison and, still supporting her, turned her to face him.
He pulled her in close and leaned down into a slow and tender kiss, brushing his lips over hers with a back and forth motion, sinking into it with infinite care. When he pulled back, he said, “Dance with me.”
Amber leaned her cheek against his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart over the music from the stage. He stroked her hair as they swayed together, dancing with the crowd.
—
When they returned to the street, it was after two a.m. The night air was cool and pedestrian traffic light. Amber couldn’t believe how late it was. They’d talked for hours and the time had simply slipped away. She lost track of everything in Brian’s company. Time, inhibitions, impulse control. It was fantastic. So good, that every time she stopped to think about just how good it was, she tensed with apprehension. She didn’t get vulnerable. It didn’t happen to her. And yet, she couldn’t stop worrying about losing this feeling she’d never had before.
Brian was one of the most handsome and genuinely sexy men she’d ever met. And more than all of his exceptional physical attributes put together, he was the most interesting. His stories charmed her, his tenderness warmed her, and his every touch—every look—excited her. He knew about everything and they shared so many common interests that at one point she had to stop him and get him to swear that he wasn’t just trying to hustle her. He’d simply laughed and asked why, so he could get into her pants? They’d both laughed and she’d decided to take his word for it.
Now they were walking along the sidewalk, past darkened storefronts, holding hands and talking softly about their families.
“Three brothers and two sisters? Oh, your poor mother!”
“Yeah, a good Catholic bunch,” he joked. “But it’s nice. As much as we hassled each other as kids, now it’s like having five best friends. Even as scattered as we are.”
Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew his wallet and showed her a picture of his family.
Amber took the photo, holding it carefully at the edges, and smiled at the bunch of them. A handsome group. It was several years old and reminded her of the boy she had known in sigh school.
A gust of wind burst past them and blew the picture from between her fingertips.
“No,” she cried, trying to retrieve it with a wide sweep of her arm.
Brian stepped back and caught it out of the air. “I’ve got it, don’t worry.”
“Amber, is that you?”
Her heart stalled at the familiar voice that shouldn’t have been within shouting distance. She spun around and looked down the block at a pale, lanky man with a shock of bright red hair. It was Eric, walking with a couple of friends.
His smile grew wide as he jogged over and swept her up in a bear hug. “Baby, I tried to call, but you were already out. This is perfect.”
She stiffened as he set her down and looked at Brian who stood back a few feet and watching the exchange with a dark expression.
“Brian, this is—”
But Eric moved past her with his hand extended in introduction.
“Hey, Brian. I’m Eric Henner, Amber’s boyfriend.”
Brian took the hand and shook it politely before stuffing his hands back into his pockets and staring at the ground.
Amber’s eyes widened and her heart sank. This couldn’t be happening. She stepped over to Brian, leaning in close. “Brian, this isn’t what you think. Eric’s been in New York—”
“Oh, New York? That explains it.” His voice was low and cold, edged with accusation.
She immediately saw he thought she was sneaking around behind her boyfriend’s back. But that wasn’t right. She couldn’t let him think it. “No, you don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly. This schmuck was away and you thought you’d play.” Those blue eyes, so open and inviting before, now reflected like cold hard ice.
Her mind turned to sludge as panic edged in. She was already losing him. She had to explain. Eric had left months ago, left her months ago. In an effort to show Brian where he stood, she turned to Eric and braced herself to tell him the truth. This was a date. She hated to hurt him, but she would talk to him later.
“Eric, Brian is someone I know from high school. We ran into each other on the train today—”
“—and just decided to catch up some,” Brian cut in. Then with a low aside to Amber, he said, “Pretty much what I figured with a girl like you.”
Turning back to Eric, he gave a nonchalant shrug. “But since you’re back, I was pretty much done here anyway. I’m beat. Mind if I take off and leave you two alone to top off the night?”
The blood drained from Amber’s face, as the shock of Brian’s callous dismissal set in. And then all of that blood flooded back in a hot rage as she understood what he was saying. He’d been just about done with her anyway? Too good to be true. Well, to hell with him, then!
Eric grinned and threw his arm over Amber’s shoulder. “Hey, no problem man. Need a ride?”
Turning to walk the other way, Brian paused. “No, I’ve already had one—I mean, I’ve got my own. Thanks for the good time, Amber.”
It felt like a slap to the face. As intended, she imagined. Hugging her arms defensively around her bare midriff, she felt sick to her stomach.
Eric pulled off his sport coat to wrap around her shoulders. Ever the gentleman.
“You ready to get out of here?” he asked, rubbing her arms over the jacket.
Brian shot a quick glance back over his shoulder at them. It was a look of contempt. Amber frowned watching her fantasy fade into the night. “Yes. Take me home, please.”
Chapter Four
Damn it, why did she feel like this? Like her heart had been crushed beneath a boulder. When Brian had smiled and spoken, Amber felt like her chest would burst open if she didn’t let go and give in to the current pulling her toward him. The current she thought was bringing them together. For once in her life, her mind had relinquished control to her heart and for a moment, it had been heaven. Amber didn’t believe in magic, but last night, she’d felt it. Felt freed by it in a way she could never have imagined, never dared to fantasize about. Sniffling, she wiped a stray tear with the back of her hand and sighed. She’d been under a spell all right, and then everything had gone to hell.
There was no fairy tale. Just a handsome prince out for a fuck. What of it? If she’d had her head screwed on straight, she would have known that was all it was and would be sipping coffee and smiling over a pleasurable conquest. Instead, she was sulking under her comf
orter in the same clothes she’d been out in.
“Aggh,” she groaned throwing off the covers and sitting up in bed. Enough wallowing. Life moved on. One thing Amber had learned and would never forget: fantasies weren’t worth waiting for. This broken dream wouldn’t hold her down for another second.
Eric had to be dealt with and that wouldn’t be pretty. She’d told him goodnight from the sidewalk in front of her building and had made plans to see him that afternoon. It was time to make the assumed break-up official. The emotional investment in the relationship had always been out of balance. Typically, Amber couldn’t feel what he felt. Then he transferred to New York and the affair had ended easily enough. Or so she’d thought. Though why Eric imagined that he was her “boyfriend” after a month without speaking to her, she had no idea. Whatever the reason, when Eric belted his former status out it gave her a chance to see Brian’s true colors before she found out the hard way—sitting by the phone and waiting in vain for it to ring. Better to discover the truth early than to realize she was the only one spellbound and stupid. Prince Charming had been ready to wash his hands of her. Fuck-and-chuck-style. Asshole.
Well, she would scrub him from her memory. Pretend Brian Matthers was nothing more than the high school boy she used to pine for. She should have known the whole bourgeoning romance was all an act. No one was that good. It was her own damn fault for wanting to be proven wrong. It had all been sex. If only he’d been straight with her about it, instead of playing head games, she would have jumped into bed with him anyway. He was her damn fantasy man! The opportunity of a lifetime, she thought, with a bitterness rising in her throat.
As angry as she was, physically he’d been worth pining for, she grudgingly conceded with a quiver at the memory of the night before. She could still feel the lingering sensations of his presence within her, still smell the scent of his subtle cologne on her skin and clothes.
A shower was definitely in order.
Once the hot stream was pounding against her skin, soothing the tension gathered in the muscles of her back, she stared into nothingness, wishing the water could loosen the tight hold of hurt in her heart.
Screw him.
Well, she’d been there and done that. And it had been amazing. Was it just the unbelievable physical compatibility between them that was confusing her? When he’d touched her, it had been electric. She’d never had a man give her such powerful orgasms before. She would have sworn it was the same for him.
He thought she was a slut for all but demanding he fuck her in the middle of a crowded club. But who cared, that was one fantasy he had fulfilled. Just the thought of it was turning her on again. The crowd around them, clueless as to what they were doing. She’d tried so hard to keep her face blank, but when that man turned and looked her in the eye… Her breath hitched at the thought of Brian’s thick cock pushing inside of her. He was so big. That kind of penetration was something she’d never had before, either.
Her fingers nestled between her legs. There was no way she’d be able to give herself that kind of satisfaction without a bigger dildo or some special toys. If she wanted to get over it, then a few presents for herself would help. She’d hit the internet as soon as she finished her shower, and then she’d deal with Eric.
—
“It’s not a hangover.” Brian held his head in his hands as he sat at his kitchen table. He felt hung-over, but he hadn’t had enough booze the night before to merit the diagnosis. His discomfort was something else altogether.
Neil snorted. “Well you sure look like shit. What’s up then?”
“Nothing. Maybe you’re right, it’s just too much of the drink.” He didn’t want to get into the details of the night before with his neighbor. Neil was a great guy and the two men shared personal information freely, but Brian didn’t want to deal with this himself, let alone confess it out loud to a friend. Cheating was something Brian had no tolerance for. He respected commitment and, unlike many of the guys he knew, felt the same way about stepping into someone else’s relationship as he did about stepping out on his own. He just didn’t do it.
He always asked women if they were single before asking them on a date. How had he gotten to the point where his dick was coated in Amber’s cream before finding out she had a boyfriend? He felt like crap.
The worst part of it was, for every minute he spent with his stomach knotted up with guilt, he spent another trying to keep his dick from getting hard while he thought about the way she felt around him.
Neil spun a kitchen chair around backwards and swung a leg over it to sit.
“So it’s not a hangover.” He stared across the table at Brian, wearing the smirk of a man who knew. “Which means a chick must have messed with you something terrible. You know what I say about that: One bucks you, the next one fucks you.”
“This isn’t an issue of getting laid.”
“Sort of doubted it was. Not your style. But it is a girl.”
Brian sighed, staring past his friend at nothingness. “She was amazing. We went to high school together, but didn’t really know each other. Met on the train last night and hit it off, I mean, it was intense and immediate. She talks and I forget about everything else on the planet. I can’t stop looking at her. She’s beautiful. She’s smart. She’s so fucking sexy, I can’t see anything but her. And then, after we spend an incredible night together—”
“Together?” Neil raised his eyebrows as he made obscene hand gestures to verify.
Brian’s shoulders slumped. No sense denying it. The sex was the biggest problem. “Yes, we had sex. A few times. Being with her—it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. She was so free and confident and racy and… And then her boyfriend showed up, back early from his trip to New York.”
Neil leaned back nodding. “So she’s gotten to you, but she’s a cheater, and worse than that, she made you a cheater, too. Been to church yet?”
“Picked up the coffee and paper on my way back.”
“Do any good?”
“No, I had to leave because I kept getting stiff thinking about her.”
Neil bowed his head into the back of the chair, his forehead turning red as his shoulders bunched.
“Don’t laugh, man. This isn’t funny.”
But it was no use. Neil broke down, rubbing his eyes as he howled.
Brian wanted to stay pissed, but Neil had a way of wearing a guy down. Finally he gave in. Cracking a smile and shaking his head, Brian flipped him off.
—
It had been four days since Amber met Brian on the train and her life had run completely amuck. Eric was back in town, at least temporarily. He would be back and forth from New York over the next four weeks until the Spanex deadline hit. Knowing she would see him at the office, and because she did genuinely care about him as a friend, she had followed through on her plan to end the relationship with a clean, honest break. But Eric hadn’t been that easy to shake. He’d called every day and finally, on Wednesday, she’d agreed to meet him for dinner.
Now he was seated across the table, holding her hand between the water and iced-tea glasses, and pleading with her to give him one more chance.
“Amber, I know I fucked up. But you mean more to me than I realized. I can’t let you go.”
She took a deep breath. “Eric. What we had was nice, but it was never that serious. You have to know that, too. I mean, one day you tell me they offered you a job at the New York office and the next you were gone. There wasn’t any question. You didn’t hesitate for a minute, wondering if what you had here was worth more than what you might get there. Because you knew. And I’m not mad about it, either. I just think you aren’t being realistic about what our relationship meant.”
“No. That’s not true. I was just confused. I didn’t ask you to come because I knew how much you loved your job, I couldn’t ask you to leave it, and we didn’t have another opening for you in New York. And I thought you wouldn’t respect me if I didn’t follow my professional path
as diligently as you were following yours. I mean, what if I turned the promotion down and then they offered it to you?”
Eric squeezed her hand and then flagged the waitress. “More bread? Thanks.” He turned his attention back to Amber, waiting for her to respond.
Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, she answered him.
“Eric, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t feel that sad when our relationship ended. I felt like I should be sad, hurt, mad…something. But I really wasn’t. That says something to me. I think it should say something to you.”
She wanted to extract her hand from his grasp, but he had her in a double grip now.
“That’s understandable. I wasn’t a good boyfriend to you before. Distance has given me perspective.”
The waitress arrived at the table with a basket of bread and cleared her throat.
Seeing the opportunity, Amber retrieved her hand and moved a few glasses to accommodate the basket. It wasn’t fair to string him along, and he clearly believed there was more of a chance than she did. When the waitress retreated, Amber removed the linen napkin from her lap, placed it on the table and stood up.
“Eric, I’m sorry. I just don’t feel the way I once did. There isn’t anything more to talk about. I’ll see you around the office.”
She turned to leave, not wanting to wait for his argument. There was nothing he could say to change her mind. She was halfway to the open exit when a steely hand wrapped around her upper arm and spun her awkwardly around. Eric pulled her against him and into a full kiss. His tongue swept wildly into her mouth as his angular joints pressed into her body. He tasted like Thousand Island dressing. All she could think, as he tried his best to pull her into his passion, was that Brian had ruined her for any other man.