One Night

by Allie Everhart

  She lets out a soft breath, her eyes falling shut.

  I kiss her, my lips barely touching hers. I've held out long enough. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to kiss her. That sexual frustration I was talking about? We're both suffering from it and it needs to be dealt with.

  "More," she breathes.

  I kiss her again and her lips part for me, and moments later, what was only going to be a kiss becomes more as I lie her down on the couch, my hand sliding up to her breast. And then it's like the floodgates break open. We kiss harder and faster, our hands yanking at each others clothes, trying to get them off. Soon my shirt is tossed aside and so is hers and I'm tugging the zipper down on her skirt.

  "Dylan," she whispers, her eyes closed. "We said we wouldn't do this."

  "You want to stop?" I ask, but in my head I'm begging her not to end this. I know we said we'd wait, but why? This doesn't feel wrong. Or too soon. It feels perfect. Right. Just like that night back in May.

  "Keep going," she whispers.

  I pick her up off the couch and go to her room, setting her on the bed. We're both breathing hard as we race to shed the rest of our clothes. She grabs a condom from her dresser and rips open the package and slides it on me while we kiss. And then I'm on her, inside her, and nothing has ever felt more right.

  She's the one. Amber is the one. I felt it that first night we met and I've felt it ever since. I don't know why I feel this way about her. Why I feel so strongly that we belong together. I can't explain it. I just know that whenever I'm with her, it feels right.

  Like now. The sex is freaking hot, but it's more than that. It's more than just physical. I feel like we're connecting on a deeper level. An emotional level. And the combination of what I feel, both physically and emotionally, is so powerful it's overwhelming. And addictive. We haven't even finished and I already want more. I crave her body. Her touch. The feel of her legs wrapped around me as I move in and out of her.

  She cries out my name as she comes, her hands digging into my shoulders, her legs clenched tightly around me. The feel of her release causes my own release, and it's so strong I grip the sheet, my body jerking from the force of it until it finally comes to rest.

  Lying over her, I kiss the smooth skin along her shoulder, inhaling the soft sweet scent of whatever perfume she wears. It's heaven and I just want to stay here, right here in this spot, for as long as possible.

  "Dylan." Amber rubs her hand over my back, softly, lovingly, and I wonder if she feels as much for me as I feel for her. I don't want to say I love her, even inside my own head, but I feel like I do. I've never been in love so I don't know if that's what this is, but I feel like it might be.

  "Can you move?" she asks.

  "Yeah, sorry." I move onto my side. "Was I crushing you?"

  "A little." She smiles. "I was starting to have trouble breathing."

  "Sorry." I kiss her. "I'll move off sooner next time." I said 'next time' to see how she'd react. Was this just a one-time thing or are we going to continue this?

  She doesn't respond, her eyes closed, like she's falling asleep. I get up and go to the bathroom and when I come back she's under the covers. I slide in beside her and she snuggles against my chest, her hand wrapping around me, her head on my shoulder, and we fall asleep.

  We wake up a few hours later. I'm hard again and I can't hide it. I'm on my side, my arms wrapped around her, her body tucked into mine. Her smooth, naked ass is lined up with my crotch, positioned in just the right spot for me to slip inside her. But she's asleep, and even if she were awake, I don't know if she'd want to do it again. So I adjust my head on the pillow and try to go back to sleep.

  As I close my eyes I feel her move, just slightly. Then I feel her ass press against me. Her hand reaches back and grips my thigh as she continues to circle her ass, making my cock twitch, as if begging if it can go where it wants to go. I'd like to help it get there but I don't want to assume anything so I keep it where it is and slide my hand up to her breast and caress it while kissing her shoulder. She pulls away as she reaches for the nightstand, then I feel her hand under the covers as she slips me the condom. I quickly roll it on, then resume where we were, my hand on her breast as I kiss the back of her neck. She softly moans, then slides up just enough to position herself over my tip. I slide it in, then grasp her hip and guide her the rest of the way, until I'm deep inside her. I keep her there a moment, then begin a slow rhythm of thrusts, wanting to prolong this because it feels so fucking good. I reach around and touch her breasts, tease her nipples, and feel myself getting even harder.

  She's moaning, breathing heavy, pressing into me. So much for making this last. It's too much. I'm ready to burst. I lower my hand between her legs and when I feel she's almost there, I thrust faster and harder. Her body tenses up, and as I feel her come, I do as well.

  Our bodies fold into each other as we catch our breath. I slip out of her and hold her closely against me. I'm completely relaxed, left in a content, happy state that makes me want to drift off to sleep.

  But then I hear her talking. "Dylan."

  "Yeah?"

  "I don't think I can do this."

  My heart takes off in a panic and I sit up, looking down at her face. "Do what?"

  "This...this rule where we can't be together like this."

  I let out a huge sigh of relief. "Shit, I thought you meant—"

  "No." She turns to me and smiles. "Not that. I meant this. What we just did. I don't think I can go without it. When I'm with you, I can't help but want to be with you. Like this. I know it's not a good idea but..." She reaches up and moves the hair off my forehead. "You're hard to resist."

  "Then don't." I lean down and kiss her. "Don't even try to resist. Let's just be together." I smooth her hair. "Amber, I know you're worried this is just about sex but it's not, at least to me it's not. I care about you. I want to be with you, and not just like this. I like spending time with you. Getting to know you. And I want to keep getting to know you, which means not just doing this but other things. Things that will help me learn more about you, and help you learn more about me. I want a relationship with you, Amber. And not one based on sex, but a real relationship. I've wanted that with you since the night we met."

  She looks up at me. "I want that too."

  "Then it's settled. No more rules. We can do what we want. Act on our urges." I kiss her. "And right now, my urge is to kiss every inch of you until you scream my name like you just did."

  She smiles. "It won't happen again for a while. Maybe not until tomorrow. I can't have more than one or two in a day."

  "Says who?"

  "Me. I know my body."

  I grin. "I'm taking that as a challenge."

  She laughs. "It's not gonna happen. Two maybe, but not three."

  "We'll see about that." I pat her hip. "Let's go."

  "Where are we going?"

  "I need to eat. I'm starving."

  She turns and checks the clock. "It's three in the morning. Why don't we just go to sleep?"

  "I'm too hungry to sleep. Sex always revs up my appetite. You got anything to eat or do you want to go find some twenty-four hour diner?"

  "Let's stay here. I'm sure I have something."

  We get out of bed and she puts on a robe and I pull on my jeans, leaving my shirt off. Her apartment is warm. She keeps it much hotter than I keep my house.

  "Cereal?" she asks. We're in the kitchen now and she opens a cupboard, showing me her collection of cereal boxes.

  "You got anything else? Cereal doesn't seem like enough."

  "I have peanut butter. We could make sandwiches."

  "Then we'll both smell like peanut butter. What else you got?" I open her fridge. "Eggs? You've got cheese and some ham. We could make omelets."

  "We could, but I don't know how. I always burn eggs."

  "I'll make them. Just need a skillet."

  "Kira said you didn't know how to cook."

  He takes the ingredients from the fridg
e. "Why were you and Kira talking about my cooking skills?"

  "I'm not sure. I can't remember. As for me, I can't cook. I've tried and it almost never turns out."

  "I can't really cook either but I can do basic stuff, like omelets, spaghetti, mac and cheese. And I can grill meat. We have a grill at the house."

  "What about your roommate? Can he cook?"

  "Van? God, no. And if he tried, I wouldn't eat anything he made. Cleanliness is not his thing. I've seen him drop a burger on the carpet and pick it up and eat it. And the carpet at that house is disgusting. I don't even want to think about what's living in there." I find a bowl and crack the eggs. "You'll have to come over sometime and meet Van."

  "I've met him. I met him at the bar when I went to hear you guys play."

  "Yeah but you only met him for like a minute. You should come over and hang out when he's there so you can get to know him. He may offend you at first because he doesn't filter what he says, but if you can get past that, you'll see he's a really good guy." I turn on the stove and pour the eggs in the pan. "Shit, I did it wrong. I was going to make two omelets and now it's gonna be one. Or I could just scramble everything together."

  "That works," she says, hopping up on the counter.

  I go over and kiss her. "This has been a great day. And a great night."

  "I agree." She kisses me back. "But tomorrow, or I guess it's morning, so later today, I need to get some work done."

  "Does it really need to be done today?" I place my hands on the counter and lean in to kiss her neck. "Or could it wait?"

  "Dylan, don't tempt me."

  "Why? You need some time off and so do I. So let's spend the next three days together. Kira won't be back until Sunday night. We have the whole apartment to ourselves."

  "I know, but I have so much to do."

  "Like what?"

  "Your eggs are going to burn." She points at the skillet.

  "I have it on low. It won't burn. Now tell me what you have to get done that's so important."

  "Just stuff for holiday parties for the groups I'm in."

  "So not homework? This is all just volunteer stuff?"

  "Yeah, but it's still important."

  "More important than spending time with your boyfriend?" I kiss her. "The guy who makes you scrambled eggs? Makes you scream in pleasure?"

  She smiles. "Okay, fine. I'll take the weekend off. But after that, it's back to work. No more excuses. And you can't come over here and tempt me."

  "I'll just tempt you at work. I know how much you like it when we sneak around."

  "I do not," she insists. "It stresses me out."

  "In a good way." I run my hand up her thigh. "In a way that makes your heart race. Makes you aroused. Makes you want to do things you don't think you should be doing."

  She tilts her head. "Maybe that's a tiny bit true. It does kind of turn me on." She smiles and runs her hand down my chest.

  "You're making me hard again. You wanna forget the eggs and go do it?"

  She glances down at my tented jeans. "You're ready to go again? Damn, you're a machine. A sex machine."

  I chuckle. "I've never been called that, but okay." I press my lips to hers. "And this doesn't always happen. Only with you. So...food or sex?"

  "Food first, sex second."

  "Then I'll hurry with the food." I find a spatula in the drawer and go back to the skillet, turning the eggs. I add the ham and cheese, and a few minutes later we eat our early morning snack at the counter.

  "I need a shower," I say, sliding my plate aside.

  "Now? Don't you want to sleep?"

  "After the shower." I stand up and help her off the barstool.

  "But—"

  I kiss her. "I should probably mention that we're doing more than showering."

  She smiles. "Oh."

  The shower sex is something Amber's never done. I could tell because she acted like she didn't know what to do. So I took charge, which turned her on, and that, along with me thrusting into her as I held her against the shower wall, had her coming for the third time today. Something that's only happened to her with me. Just like the shower sex. She's only done it with me. I feel some pride in that.

  Back in bed, we fall asleep. I wake up at ten and find Amber is gone. She's in the bathroom. I hear the sink running.

  My phone rings and I see it's Austin calling. "Hey," I say, picking up. "How was Thanksgiving?"

  "Good. We had a ton of food, even more than usual. I wish Kira had been able to come but she really wanted to see her family. When I talked to her yesterday, it sounded like she was having a good time."

  "And she's coming back Sunday?"

  "Yeah. I'm picking her up at the airport."

  "What time do you guys think you'll be over here?"

  "Why would we go over there? Am I forgetting something?"

  Shit. I meant here, at Amber's apartment, but Austin doesn't know I'm over here so he assumes I meant my house. Can I tell him about Amber and me or is it a secret? We haven't talked about this but I don't know why it'd be a secret. Austin and Kira know we're dating.

  "I meant the apartment," I say.

  "You said 'here' like you're there right now."

  "I am."

  "Why are you there so early? You guys got plans for today?"

  "I'm not sure. We haven't talked about it."

  "So you just dropped by or what?"

  "I've actually been here since last night."

  "She let you spend the night? Did you sleep on the couch?"

  Austin knows about Amber's rules. He just doesn't know we're no longer following them.

  "We slept in her room. In her bed."

  "No shit? What happened to her rule about you guys not being allowed to make out in the apartment?"

  "That rule is gone." I chuckle to myself. "Long gone."

  "So you finally did it."

  "We didn't plan on it, but yeah."

  "Well, good for you. It's about time."

  "We've only dated a few weeks."

  "Yeah, but in your heads it's like you've been dating since May. I know you thought about her every day, and according to Kira, Amber felt the same way. She couldn't stop thinking about you. So does Kira know?"

  "Not yet, unless Amber called her. She's in the bathroom. I just woke up."

  "I'll let you go. I just wanted to check in and see how Thanksgiving went. I guess I never asked. How was it?"

  "Good. My family loved Amber. She fit right in. She didn't even freak out when Gramps let one rip at the table."

  He laughs. "Good ol' Gramps. He cracks me up."

  "I gotta go. I'll call you later."

  "Yeah, bye."

  Amber walks in, wearing a long t-shirt that hangs down to her thighs. "Were you talking to someone?"

  "Yeah. Austin called. I told him about us. I hope that's okay. I didn't mean to but he kept asking me questions which led to me telling him I stayed over."

  "I don't mind. He'd find out sooner or later. You want to use the bathroom? I'm done in there."

  "Yeah." I get out of bed and go over to her. I give her a kiss and smile. "Morning."

  She smiles back. "Good morning."

  I walk out of her room to the bathroom, smiling the entire way. She makes me happy. Even when she's not around, I feel happy knowing she's mine.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Amber

  While Dylan's in the bathroom I call Kira. I hope she picks up. I have to tell her this and I don't want to wait.

  "Hello?" she answers.

  "Hey, it's me. What are you doing?"

  "I'm at the mall with my mom. She's Christmas shopping for my brothers. The crowds are insane so I went to a coffee shop to get a break while she battles other moms at the toy store."

  "Oh, yeah, it's Black Friday. I totally forgot. Can you talk or do you have to go meet up with your mom?"

  "Are you kidding? I'm not getting anywhere near that store. The lines are out the door. I told her I'd wait her
e. So what's up? How was Thanksgiving at Dylan's house?"

  "Great! I loved it. His family is hilarious, especially his grandpa."

  "Did you leave after dinner?"

  "No, we stayed for a few hours then went to a movie, but the theater was so crowded we decided to leave. We came back and watched TV."

  "Are you guys doing anything today?"

  "Yeah, but I don't know what."

  "What time's he coming over?"

  "He's already here. He, um, spent the night."

  "Wait, does that mean what I think it means?"

  I smile. "Yes."

  "You broke your rule? Already?"

  "I know. I'm so bad. I couldn't even make it two weeks. But there's just something about him. I can't resist him. I seriously can't. That's why I made the damn rule. And then he kissed me last night on the couch and that was it. The rule was out the window."

  "And was it just as good as last May?"

  "I think it might've been even better. It got better each time."

  "Each time? You did it more than once?"

  "Three times."

  "Amber! You're gonna hurt yourself." She says it jokingly.

  I laugh. "I'm fine. In fact, I'm ready to do it again."

  "Just don't be doing it all over the furniture. I have to sit on that stuff, you know."

  "Hey, I know for a fact you and Austin did it on the couch. I walked in on you guys, remember?"

  "One time. And we never did it again."

  "And the kitchen counter?"

  "Okay, yeah, but I thoroughly cleaned it when we were done. I'll clean it again if it makes you feel better."

  "Don't worry about it. I'm just kidding. And as for Dylan and me, we'll keep it in the bedroom." I pause. "And the shower."

  "You did it in the shower?" she asks, her voice raised.

  "Maybe. Why? Are you mad?"

  "No. I'm shocked because you've never done it in the shower. It seems too...unconventional for you."

  "What are you saying? I'm a prude?"

  "No, but you do tend to live on the safe side, and I distinctly remember you saying shower sex was dangerous. Wet floors. Slippery tile."