by Nella Tyler
“Oh my God! Dexter, please! Stop it!” she exclaimed, clinging to me in a playfully fearful manner.
I twirled her around more, and she roared with laughter.
When I finally set her down, she still leaned heavily against me.
“Oh, I’m dizzy!” Mazie exclaimed, grasping, almost with desperation, onto the lapels of my coat and burying her head deeply into my chest.
“Take your time,” I offered, leading her up the block, “I’ve got you.”
“You’d better,” she retorted in a teasing manner, “If I fall and pull this sweater, I’m going to be upset,” she insisted.
“I completely understand!” I insisted with feigned seriousness.
“How much farther?” she asked as we rounded the corner.
“Only a few more steps,” I answered, hugging her close to me.
“Can I look yet?” Mazie asked, literally a few steps later, in something of a childish voice.
“Yes, you may look,” I told her, to which I received an excited gasp.
I felt her head turn against my chest, getting a whiff of her sweet scent as her eyes focused on the gorgeous sight before us.
Garland and accompanying lights wound around every old-fashioned light post that lined either side of the street, while holiday music and the sound of Christmas bells bellowed out of every shop.
People, who were all bundled up, were scurrying about. Some were loaded down with packages, while others were more interested in window shopping. There were families, couples, and friends, all enjoying the crisp December air.
“This is amazing!” Mazie exclaimed, her eyes wide as she took in all the sights before us.
“I told you. I have no idea how you’ve never been here. This has your name written all over it,” I responded, but she wasn’t listening. Although she hadn’t moved, Mazie was studying her surroundings intently.
As we grew closer, a marvelous scent wafted out of the bakery that was one of the first shops on the street.
Hand in hand, we joined the crowd of bustling people and walked through nearly every store.
Neither one of us bought anything besides hot chocolate, but there was so much to explore, by the time we were nearing the end of our round up and down the street, we were exhausted.
“Did you enjoy that?” I asked her as Mazie playfully swung our hands back and forth.
“Couldn’t you tell?” she retorted before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. I watched as her mouth curved easily around the lip of the cup and instantly wanted to taste the chocolate off her tongue.
However, I was interrupted from my amorous thoughts by what she said to me next.
“Can you believe Christmas is a week from Sunday?”
“No. I can’t. These past few years have gone by way too fast,” I answered, unable to hide the sense of dread in my voice.
“I know what you mean. I feel like as soon as it’s over, we’re getting ready to eat turkey and go shopping again,” she chuckled but stopped short when she looked at me. “Dex?” she called, straining to look me in the eyes, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I replied, trying to focus on sounding genuine.
“Come on! What is it?” she demanded, obviously not trying to spare my feelings.
“Nothing,” I told her, but the way she stopped and stared at me made me rethink my answer, “It’s nothing bad,” I grinned to show that I meant it.
“Then, what is it?” she asked with an understanding grin spreading across her face.
“It’s just…I don’t know. This place reminds me of my mother. She used to take me here, and my father would go along for the ride, simply because she made him,” I said as I recalled the memory. “It was one of the few times I felt like a real family.”
We had started walking again by this point, and for whatever reason, I felt myself opening up to her.
“So, I guess you never had such a good relationship with your dad?” she inquired softly, in an understanding tone.
“I guess you could say that,” I laughed but finished out with a sigh, “Unfortunately, it has only gotten worse since my mother’s passing,” I felt my shoulders rise and fall with a sense of indifference that I could only hope to feel. “I mean, he was never the most loving father, but it seems like the moment my mother died, every sliver of warmth died with her.” I huffed.
We had stopped again, and by this time, Mazie was in front of me, listening intently. Both hands wrapped around her hot chocolate cup intently, while her eyes stared up at me with earnest intent.
“I mean, I guess it makes sense. After being together as long as they were, she was the only reason for my father to get out of bed in the morning. It certainly wasn’t me and my stunning achievements.”
“Everybody needs somebody, right?” Mazie replied simply, and I agreed.
“I just wish we were a little closer, my father and I, I mean, so that I could help him,” I told her, even though I wasn’t completely sure why I was doing so.
“I’m sorry…” she replied, her eyes downcast and her expression sorrowful.
“Don’t be. I have a great life,” I answered honestly, “I have never had a good relationship with my father, so at the end of the day, it isn’t like I’m losing anything, right?”
She agreed, but I wasn’t convinced she didn’t still feel uncomfortable, so I changed the subject.
“So, this is beautiful, right?”
“Oh, it’s wonderful,” she answered, and as she did, a small snowflake, which hastily turned into many, started to flutter down around us, causing her to laugh and put her hand toward the sky, as if trying to catch the wintery bliss.
“What is it?”
“I was going to say, the only thing that was missing was snow,” Mazie replied, her eyes glistening as a reflection of the light in the nearest lamp post.
I grinned, unable to believe how beautiful she looked.
Sliding my hand around her waist, I pulled her into me and pressed my lips against hers. The hint of chocolate melded well with the taste of her, causing me to immediately deepen the kiss.
She giggled behind my lips, held me tighter, and responded in an equally passionate manner.
This continued, wild and sensual, until finally, the eyes of the passerby became too obvious to ignore and we started to feel out of place.
So, reluctantly, we pulled ourselves apart and returned to the car.
Looking at her as she stepped into the passenger seat, still giggling from the ogling eyes of the people who remained in Burnsville, I wanted her.
I felt an intense need to take her in my arms and finish what we’d started, but unfortunately, I knew that now was not the right time, nor place.
So, I managed to control myself, but I couldn’t help to notice a slight sense of disappointment expelling from Mazie, as if she had the same idea and longed for me to make the first move.
Still, on the chance that I had completely misread the signal, I continued with my original plan and didn’t act on my urge.
The ride home was pleasant and easy.
I was amazed at how simple it was to start a conversation or sit in silence. Either way, once we were together for a few hours, our comfort level settled to a height I was unfamiliar with.
The only other person I could sit in silence with was Garrett, and that was generally only because he did something stupid and I had nothing to say to him.
However, with Mazie, it was different, and I reveled in that difference until we arrived back at Mazie’s house.
I pulled in the driveway and put the car in park.
Mazie was already unbuckling her seatbelt, so I hurried to open the door for her.
She laughed at my efforts, yelling for me to be careful and that she would be fine, but of course, I didn’t listen to a word she said.
Instead, I focused on getting to the door.
It had snowed here, and the ground had frozen over, making the driveway dangerously slick. In my hurry, I nearly fell
flat on my ass but caught myself and chuckled.
“I told you!” Mazie scolded playfully, “You’re going to kill yourself on this ice, and I can’t afford to be sued.”
“Aww come on, you know I wouldn’t do that,” I teased, “My father on the other hand…”
She shook her head as she grabbed my hand and I helped to lift her out of the car.
Laughing, Mazie took off for the front door, and I followed suit. However, only a few steps later, Mazie’s foot slipped, and she barreled onto the icy ground. Even though I was certain she hadn’t seriously injured herself, I felt my heart do a backflip in my chest and my stomach somersaulted.
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, rushing to her side as quickly as I could, “Mazie, are you alright?”
“Yeah,” she grumbled, obviously more embarrassed than hurt. She shook her head and tried to wave my hand away, but I wouldn’t be deterred.
Before she could stop me, I scooped her up into my arms and carried her the rest of the way into the house. As she clung to me, I felt her body press easily against my own while her scent wafted in my direction.
I couldn’t help but feel a tingling of excitement. She was so close, and I knew I wanted her. She was so perfect and even though it seemed as though we got along extremely well, better even than when we were children, it was hard to imagine that she felt the same way about me.
Still, the giggle and the tightness with which she clung to me as I carried her across her yard and through the threshold of her house, helped to assuage my fears.
Once we were inside, I walked across the span of her living room and eased her down, carefully, onto the couch.
Mazie grinned playfully at me as I started to check for any bumps or bruises.
“Are you okay?” I asked, serious at first, wanting to ensure that no harm had come to her. When she answered me with sincerity, however, my mind eased into more lustful thoughts.
“Yes, Dexter, I’m fine,” she answered, almost indignantly, but stopped short as I ran my fingers up her soft, silky legs, eventually convening my hands around her knee.
“Does this hurt?” I asked as I shot her a sensual expression before purposefully dipping my head down to press my lips gently against her knee.
Her giddy reaction told me that she enjoyed what I was doing and so, I slowly inched my hands up her leg before kissing it again.
“How about this?” I teased before intermingling kisses with questions as I slowly eased up her front before finally, I was pressing up against her, my chest bearing down on hers and my arms surrounding her as our lips finally met.
Chapter 22
Mazie
I felt him strip off my clothes in a hurried fashion, his lips only parting from mine long enough to relieve the sweater from my bodice.
I moaned and arched my back as he slid the material off me, as my breasts yearned to connect with the warmth of his body.
I giggled as my breasts tingled, while my nipples hardened with anticipation, even though he was still wearing a shirt.
Once I was fully naked, I felt his arms surround me as he pulled me close to him. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his middle and allowed him to pull me off the couch.
It amazed me how easy it seemed to be for him to scoop me up and move me wherever he pleased.
After moving toward the hallway, he pressed me easily against a wall, using the moment to caress my body and kiss my lips.
Feeling the chill of the wall press into my back and shoulders, I was reminded of how heated my body had already become. I was a furnace, awaiting Dexter’s fuel.
I felt as though I needed him to survive. My last breath, it seemed, lay in his kiss and my security was only completely secured when I was in his arms.
With my legs still wrapped around him and my womanliness already pulsing with need and anticipation, I ground myself up against him, trying to tease his manhood.
I could feel him against me and that only heightened my excitement. I couldn’t wait for him to be inside me again.
It wasn’t until this moment that I truly realized the extent to which I had missed him.
I laughed as he spun me around, propelling us in the direction of the bedroom.
By now, I had completely forgotten everything except for the promise of what awaited me in only a few steps.
When we finally made it to the bedroom, Dexter lay me down on the bed, backed away, and tore off his shirt, almost in one, fluid motion.
After his shirt, he disrobed himself of his pants, leaving him completely naked, before returning to my wanting body.
The moment his heated flesh pressed against mine, I felt a moist eruption of emotion saturate the inside of my thighs.
I moaned, feeling my body quiver against his touch as my heart beat faster with intense anticipation. I was excited to feel him, touch him, and accept him inside of me. I could hardly contain the swell of emotion that coursed through me.
As I groaned, Dexter’s eyes became ravenous. It seemed as though his body sensed the advancement of my arousal and couldn’t wait to act on it. Slowly, but with purpose, Dexter’s lips trailed off mine and trailed down the middle of my bosom, while his hands coursed down either side of me. When he reached my thighs, however, his hands dove between my legs.
When I gasped and writhed with excitement, his eyes rose to meet mine. Once his gaze caught my eyes, a purposeful grin crossed his lips as his fingers rubbed the physical strength of my passion.
“Oh God…” I exclaimed, feeling his hands spread my legs apart while his head dipped between them.
As he buried his head in my womanly warmth, I felt the slight coarseness of his beard against my skin, tickling it playfully.
Again, the sensation provided me with a wash of fresh moisture, wetted more by the stroke of Dexter’s tongue, penetrating my molten core.
Instantly, my body squirmed, unable to decipher how to react to this new sensation.
Feeling his mouth caressing my most sacred place was enthralling. His tongue, penetrating the center of my flower and interjecting into my seizing center was wondrous. Within a matter of moments, I felt my thighs instinctively close around him, willing him to delve even more profoundly into the depths of my femininity.
However, his strong, virile, slightly calloused palms slid up my thighs and around, keeping me completely vulnerable to his ravenous will.
He groaned, and I arched my back, propping myself up on my elbows as I reacted in kind to his generous foreplay.
“Oh…oh…” I moaned, closing my eyes as my body pulsed around him. His tongue swirled easily as his hands slid up to the apex of my legs. As his thumbs stroked the nest of downy curls, I called out again, my body tightening.
He chuckled at my reaction, and the vibration reverberated through my core, intensely adding to my amorous intoxication.
From the rapidness of my heartbeat, coinciding with the pumping of my loins, I was sure if he continued to move in such a sensual way, I would explode before he had the chance to give me what I really wanted.
So, in an effort to prolong my excitement and continue our lovemaking, I grasped at him and pushed his head back.
“Dexter…” I called softly, my voice waning from arousal and excitement.
When his eyes met mine, there was a possessive, intense nature about his expression, but when he realized why I had stopped him, a crooked grin crossed his features, and he swiftly repositioned himself.
In the matter of a moment, his lean, muscular body was consuming me again, while his own arousal stroked my already wetted womanly sheath.
The sensation of his phallus so close to me, teasing me unmercifully, caused my heart to beat faster and my breaths to become more rampant.
I moaned as I stared back at him, my hands running down the sides of his face as his eyes pierced into me.
Dramatically, he teased me again, ensuring that he could press himself against the extent of me, flicking my most sensitive area, so that I once again wrigg
led with an intense stab of wild emotion.
He grasped my arms and held me close to him before rearing back and repositioning one final time so that he could finally give me what I yearned for.
Easily and methodically, he entered me, slowly at first. However, his intentions soon took over. He delved deeply into me.
I gasped with surprise and supreme satisfaction.
Having had the first mind-blowing sexual encounter, Dexter already knew exactly what I liked, and he used to that his advantage immediately.
Dexter moved with a sense of perfection that coursed through me in the form of sexual gratification unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
Even before the climax, I was transported to another level of consciousness that transcended any emotion or sensation I had ever felt before.
This, I decided as our lovemaking rhythm hastened, was exactly what it felt like to be completely and irrevocably in love.
This was more than just sex, more than just passion. This feeling, the two of us, bound in such deep, intimate throes of unyielding passion, was too astronomical to be simply the result of a chemical catalyst.
No. The experience that locked us both, body and eyes, could only be the undeniable reckoning of souls coming together as one; two lovers transforming into one solid entity; the unbreakable bond that was shared between two people since the start of time itself.
I was never such a romantic; though my profession often reinforced the existence of a true love I never actually believed in until now. There was no other remotely accurate way to describe it.
Thus, as the two of us came together in the most iconic way imaginable, filling one another, body and soul, with euphoric bliss, I wished with all my heart that this moment didn’t have to end.
Oh, my God. That was amazing! I decided quickly, sure that this time was better than the last.
I closed my eyes and allowed my head to drift deeper into the pillow. However, I stopped short as my eyes popped opened.
Now that I had had my fun, it was as though the clock struck midnight, returning my guilt and anguish over my stupid slip of the tongue.