“Can you believe that dramatic-ass hoe?” Cherry slurs, her cheek resting on Rami’s shoulder. “Showing up to kill us after six goddamn months in that ugly blue hood. ‘Little Miss Disappear’? What the fuck was that?”
“I wish I’d seen the look on her face,” Rami sighs. Although they’re not drunk, the spirit of the evening has infected them too.
“And what about Elena just cutting her off out of nowhere?” Doc says. There’s a smear of chocolate at the corner of her mouth, and judging by her glazed eyes, she looks ready to slide into a sugar coma. “That must’ve really pissed her off.”
“Enough for her to send a bunch of mechs after us,” Cherry reminds her. “I’m all about a good heist, but this one was too much. I think I’m coming around to jefa’s point of view. Maybe it’s time to retire to a quiet place near the beach.”
I sigh, leaning further back into the uncomfortable couch. “The beach…”
“Uh-oh,” Rami says.
Doc shakes her head. “Here she goes again…”
“Shut up,” I mutter. “Don’t make fun of my dreams.”
“Sasha knows what’s up.” Elena leans her arm against mine. “I’d love that kind of life. Lounging on the beach all morning, swimming all afternoon, spending nights under the stars...and it’d all be real, not a VR sim.” Her brown eyes have stars in them too, and my heart starts to ache.
“I’m not turning it down,” Rami says. “I’m more than willing to be a beach bum.”
“It’s what we bust our asses for,” Cherry says.
Doc snorts. “You’re all boring.”
“You can learn to parasail,” Rami suggests.
“Swim with dolphins,” Cherry says.
“Swim with sharks,” Elena adds.
Even Doc can’t hide her grin. “Cool.”
“So, you’re going too?” Jacobo says, looking over at Elena. He’s been quiet the past few minutes, although he was an enthusiastic participant before.
“Don’t know yet,” Elena says. “I haven’t been invited.”
“Of course you’re invited, stupid,” Doc says. “You’re part of the crew.”
Elena’s lips twitch into a smile, but when she looks over at me, she’s hesitant.
“You’ve earned it,” I tell her. “We’ll haul your family along too. It’s not like we’re short on retirement cash.”
Jacobo brightens. “Seriously?”
Elena looks surprised as well, although undeniably pleased. “Is this extra incentive for me to risk my life for you all again?” she asks, but I can tell there’s gratitude underneath her attempt to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, but we also like having you around. Usually. Right?”
I look at the rest of the crew. They’re all wearing smiles of agreement. Rock’s is the biggest of all, and the entire couch tilts as he shifts his massive bulk and rises up to give Elena a crushing hug. She almost disappears in his arms, but manages to wrap her own at least partway around his torso. “Okay, okay,” she wheezes. “Can’t say no to that.”
“This calls for one more shot,” Cherry says. “Rami?”
Rami, who has been safeguarding the bottle, waves it in Cherry’s face. “No more.” Cherry’s face falls comically, and Rami pats her cheek. “In Barbados, you can have all the rum you want.”
By this time, Rock has set Elena back on her feet. She sways a bit, but that seems to be because Rock squeezed the wind out of her. When we make eye contact, she looks more sober than I expected. Guess the girl can hold her liquor despite being pocket-sized.
While the others talk, I notice Val watching. She’s fallen silent for the time being, but her gaze says more than words. It flicks over to Elena briefly, then settles heavily on me.
I’m at a crossroads. I can follow Val’s advice and give Elena a chance—not to prove herself, exactly, but…well, yes. To prove she’ll treat me better than Megan. Or I can close the door so I won’t get hurt again. It should be terrifying, but when I look at her, it’s not. I feel warm and I don’t want to stop staring at her. We’ve only known each other two weeks, but in those two weeks, Elena’s shown she cares more than Megan did over a decade.
Maybe this is something else the other Sashas and I have in common. No matter how many times our heart gets returned to us bruised and broken, we always offer it up again.
“Elena?” I brush her arm before she can take her seat beside me. When her eyes meet mine, I give a subtle nod toward the bedroom with the terminal, where most of my stuff is. Hers too, if I remember correctly. I didn’t really think about that when we dropped off our bags.
Elena starts to smile, but then her gaze darts toward Jacobo. He’s lounging on the couch, looking like he’s about to pass out, probably with dreams of Barbados in his head.
Rami comes to the rescue. They smile and mouth ‘go’, and I dip my head in gratitude. Without saying goodnight, and without drawing Cherry’s attention, I take Elena’s hand and slip off. I catch a glimpse of Rami gently attempting to rouse Jacobo and usher him into one of the other rooms before the door swings shut.
“Did you really mean that?” Elena says as soon as we’re alone in the room. “About me and my brothers coming to Barbados?”
“You don’t have to, but the option’s there if you want it. Credits aren’t an issue for me. I…want to do this for you.”
Elena raises an eyebrow. “Never thought I’d end up a kept woman.”
My breath hitches. “No, I didn’t mean—”
“Cool it, chula.” Elena slides her palm up along my chest, stroking my shoulder and cupping the back of my neck. “I didn’t say I had a problem with being a kept woman, just that I never thought I’d be one.”
Hope flutters in my chest. “Elena…the last time you fucked me, it was because you hated me.” It’s only after I’ve said it that I realize ‘the last time’ implies a ‘next time.’ “And the last time you kissed me, it was…”
“Too soon?” Elena shrugs. “Things change.”
“Like getting my memories downloaded into your head.”
She takes a step closer, until her body is flush against mine. “Yeah, but not just that.”
“Then what?”
“Fuck if I know. I guess because you’re you.” She stands on tiptoe to kiss me, and I bend my head so she can reach my lips. She tastes like strawberries and alcohol, but her mouth moves deliberately against mine, and I know: she’s certain about this. About me. And even if I get hurt again, it feels so good to have someone care.
Friday, 06-18-65 18:25:53
ELENA’S MOUTH IS A well of sweetness that never seems to run dry. I drink deep until she’s sucking my tongue and I’m grasping her waist. Her curves are soft, plush, and her hips fit perfectly in my palms. The way her body feels and the way she fits against me makes it hard to breathe. I’ve kissed my share of girls, fucked plenty of them too, but no one except Megan has ever made me feel like this. Like I’ll die without another taste.
Don’t think about her. She doesn’t deserve you. Never did. But Elena’s here, and she wants you. Trust her.
I do trust Elena. Maybe it’s stupid, considering how briefly we’ve known each other and how badly I’ve been burned. But stupid seems to be where I’m headed, because there’s no derailing this train. It’s about more than how good Elena smells, more than how silky the strip of skin beneath her shirt is. It’s about how she’s treated me since Hong Kong—the kindness, the support. I didn’t even have to ask. In fact, I told her to leave me alone. But she offered anyway, because that’s the kind of person she is.
Elena hooks her thumbs through the loops of my pants, pulling my pelvis against her lower belly. “Might still need some convincing to come to Barbados,” she mutters into my mouth. “Wanna show me what I’ll get if I tag along?”
I slide my hands under Elena’s ass and hitch her up, barely giving her a second to wrap her legs around my waist before I carry her to the bed. The frame’s all rickety, and the mattress is lumpy
and cheap, but it doesn’t matter. All I care about is peeling Elena out of her clothes and kissing everywhere I can reach.
Elena squirms out of her shirt as soon as I set her down. While her arms are tangled in it, I run my hands up her sides and past her ribcage, filling my palms with her breasts. They’re already spilling out of her bra. Even though the material is padded, I can feel the points of her nipples when I press in with my thumbs.
Elena tosses her shirt away and stares at me, first with affection, then with hunger. She arches her spine, bracing herself with her arms and pressing further into my hands. I peel down the straps of her bra, painting kisses along her shoulders. There’s a hint of sweat at the crook of her neck, and I suck there hard, until Elena fists the back of my shirt.
“Fuck, Sasha.”
The way she says my name sends a jolt straight through me. I can’t tell if it’s a demand or a plea, but I don’t care. The sound of Elena’s voice makes me glow inside, and hearing ‘Sasha’ fall from her lips is like a star striking earth.
I unhook her bra and throw it aside. Elena’s nails rake gently over my scalp, but she doesn’t need to push. I’m already kissing down toward her breasts, trailing my mouth around them in spirals without touching the stiff peaks. God, her skin. It’s so smooth, burnished gold blended into a warm landscape of bronze. I want to drag my tongue all over it. So I do, until I’m sucking one of her nipples and guiding her knee back around my waist.
Elena’s nails move from my head to my shoulders, leaving sharp little crescents. “Sasha, yes…” There it is. My name again. I kiss across to the other side, tugging Elena’s nipple with my teeth. She gasps. I growl. All I want is to devour this beautiful creature while she begs for more.
It takes all the willpower I have to go slow. The temptation to dive straight between her thighs is overwhelming. Somehow, I manage to make it last, to savor each kiss I plant around Elena’s breasts and along the upper part of her belly, to stroke her sides until she starts shivering beneath me. Her hands return to my hair, and this time, she pulls. “Shit, Sasha, I need…”
She needs me. It feels so good to be needed by someone. It feels amazing to be needed by Elena. I slide my mouth down from Elena’s sternum, kissing and nibbling my way to her hips. The way they rock up to meet me is hypnotic. I can see where the waistband of her pants cuts into the soft curve of her belly, so I flip open the button, placing a kiss over the imprint on her skin. The sigh she lets out as I tug the zipper down and pull her pants off makes my head spin.
“Sasha,” she says, tilting my face up with the tips of her fingers.
I meet her eyes: a brown so rich and warm that I fall straight into them. For those eyes, I’d do anything. “What?”
Elena runs both thumbs along my cheeks, like she’s feeling my smile. “It’s cute that you wanna be gentle… but I want you to fucking destroy me. If I’m not too raw to walk after this, we didn’t do it right.”
That’s a request I can deliver on. I pin her hips to the bed and sink my teeth in beside her navel.
A big grin splits Elena’s face. She spreads her legs wider, wide enough for me to see the dark stain in the middle of her panties. I flatten my tongue against the spot I’ve bitten, but my hands aren’t as gentle. They snap the strings on either side of her underwear so I can tear it away.
“You owe me a new pair,” Elena pants as I change places, kissing my way up her legs. Her smell begins to blossom, heavy and sweet like honey straight from the hive.
“I’ll buy you some,” I mutter into the cushion of her left thigh. “Those were already ruined.”
“That’s your fault too.” Elena slides one calf over my shoulder, opening herself for me. For a moment, I can’t breathe. Her dark outer lips are smooth and puffy, and the red inner ones are glistening. Maybe I’ve died again after all, because this must be heaven. And if it’s heaven, I want to lick it all up.
All I manage is a groan before I lower my head. The first taste drives the lingering flavor of vodka from my mouth. Elena spills like wine over my tongue, and I long to stain my lips with her. Her scent fills my nose, but I don’t want to breathe any other smell. With her wetness smearing my chin, her steadily growing cries, and her heels digging in above my shoulders, I feel like I could live forever between her legs. She awakens an ache in me that I can’t control—that I don’t want to control.
When I dip down to Elena’s entrance, her muscles clasp tight. Their twitching sends an answering shudder through me, and they strain to draw me in, trying to wrap around my tongue. I know this isn’t exactly where she wants me, but the sounds. Oh god, the sounds she makes as I burrow inside her. Her pelvis gives little jerks, like she wants me deeper. I want to be deeper. I want to slide so deep that she can’t hold any more of me.
I let myself be greedy. It’s what Elena’s asking for, but more than that, it’s what I need. I thrust in and out of her, sliding my tongue through smooth satin, letting her slickness run in rivers over the lower half of my face. So wet. She’s so fucking wet, all for me. These clinging walls, this quivering body, these desperate noises, this woman… she’s mine and mine alone, at least for tonight.
I’m surprised when Elena comes. I wasn’t trying to push her over the edge. I only realize it’s happening because she grasps my head tight and wails, bucking once, then shaking from head to toe. More salt spills into my mouth, but I only steal a taste before licking up to her clit. I draw her between my lips and suck, timing my pulls with her pulses.
Elena pounds in my mouth, squirming as if she isn’t sure whether she wants to pull away or grind harder. She’s hypersensitive, in that wonderfully awful way where the stimulation is almost too much. I continue sucking, trying to keep her there as long as possible. More wetness leaks over my chin, pulsing little slips of it, and I sink two fingers inside her without thinking. She wants to be filled. I can tell from the way she’s moving, from the stars swimming in her eyes as she stares down at me, gulping for precious air.
I draw her peak out as long as I can, swirling my tongue to make sure she’s finished. By the time I pull away, she’s a boneless heap, plastered to the lumpy mattress and covered in a sheen of sweat that makes her skin gleam.
“What the fuck,” she rasps. “How do you always make me come in less than three seconds?”
I place another kiss to the tip of her clit. "You make it kind of easy."
"Fuck," Elena growls, "get up here." She pulls me up for another kiss, one that tastes of her. Her muscles squeeze my fingers, clenching hard as her tongue meets mine. I thrust my hand without thinking, seeking the right angle and force, until I hit a spot that makes her cry out. Once I've found it, I catch it again and again, curling my fingers hard enough to make Elena's eyes roll back in her head.
"This...this is supposed to be your turn," she says, even as she rocks her hips to find a harder rhythm.
I drag my tongue down her neck until I find her pulse point. "This is my turn," I mutter into its sweet-smelling curve. Elena makes no more protests. She wraps her legs around my hips and braces herself for the ride.
I fuck her with everything I've got. No matter how fast I go, no matter how hard I push, Elena seems to want more. Soon my hand is a blur and my forearm burns with the effort. My reward is the tightening of her knees around my waist and the rising volume of her cries.
"Sasha," she breathes again.
I’m undone. I long to kiss her, but the last thing I want to do is stop her from saying my name. I could listen to her beg for me until the world ends. I satisfy myself by sinking my teeth into her shoulder instead, sucking hard enough to leave a deep purple bruise. I want to make my mark on her for everyone to see, just like I want to carry her scratches on my back for days.
Elena's inner walls ripple again, and I can tell she's close. She's fighting it, trying to hold out, but I want her to surrender. Somehow, I know I'll never tire of bringing her over the edge. "Come for me," I growl into the dip of her collarbone, close enough for her
to feel my lips on her skin. "I want you to come for me."
She does, thrashing her head to one side in a useless attempt to muffle her screams with the pillow. It doesn't work. Sharp, breathy sobs escape as she clenches around my fingers, spilling a fresh wave of wetness into my waiting palm. It's like I'm holding her heartbeat in my hand. I can't resist the impulse to claim her lips again and swallow the last of her cries.
"Goddamn," she laughs as aftershocks travel through body. "Would you stop already? I know you're a service top, but this is ridiculous."
I know from her smile that she's joking, but my confidence falters. I know what Elena wants, but I'm not sure I'll be able to give it to her. I've got baggage around sex, around trust, around my body, and although I feel good in my skin tonight, I can't guarantee she'll get the results she wants, no matter how hard she tries.
"Elena…"
Elena props herself up on her elbows, her breath hitching as the change in position presses my buried fingers into a sensitive spot. She bites down on her lip and breathes through it, then opens her eyes again and looks toward our bags. "Did you bring it?" she asks, sounding almost hopeful.
All I can do is blink at her. I'd chalk this up to her viewing my memories, but I know it's more than that. She understood the first time, back when we were pretending to hate each other. I search Elena's eyes, but I don't see a trace of doubt in them. I'm helpless against such a genuine stare.
"I always do."
A smirk spreads across Elena's face. "Then go get it," she murmurs, trailing her ticklish fingertips down my neck and along my shoulder. She doesn't have to tell me twice. I roll off the bed, mourning the loss of skin, but knowing the sooner I grab my cock, the sooner I can come back to the warm bed—and to her.
Lucky for me, it's sitting right at the top of my pack. I rarely go anywhere without it in my travel kit. It's not even about sex most of the time. It's simply a comfort thing. I take it out and give it a quick spray with the bottle of disinfectant I carry with me.
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