by Rayman Black
“I wasn’t going to ask,” I said mildly, setting my own tea on the coffee table. I ran my hand along her arm. “I was actually going to kiss you. If that’s all right with you?”
This time her smile was pleased. “That would be very welcome,” she said, and set her own glass aside. She sat forward and put her hands on my chest. “I missed you,” she said softly.
I gazed into her eyes and felt myself drowning. “I missed you, too,” I murmured, and pressed my lips to hers.
It was like coming home. Her mouth fit under mine perfectly and she pressed her hands to my chest, fisting her fingers into my shirt. She held me to her and kissed me as if I were water and she were dying in the desert. She consumed me, and I surrendered to her fully.
She leaned back, pulling me with her. “I dreamt about you last night,” she murmured against my lips, twisting slightly beneath me. She wrapped one long, slim leg around me, the heat of her skin radiating under the thin fabric of her leggings. I hardened instantly, and she could feel it. She smiled against my mouth and raised her hips to press against me.
“What did you dream of?” I asked, my voice husky, pressing my mouth down her throat to her collarbone. She arched against me. I slid my hand under her shirt and cupped her breast. I could feel her hardened nipple through her bra. She moaned when I brushed my thumb over it.
“I dreamed - “ she said, her voice hitching as I pushed my hard cock against her soft heat again. She tried again. “I dreamed you were doing something a lot like this. I woke up wet and wanting you.”
“Thank God we’re together now,” I said. I pushed her shirt up and her bra down, closing my mouth over her breast. She moaned, long and low, her legs moving restlessly against me. God, I wanted to be inside her. But more than that, even, I wanted to make her scream.
I kissed my way down her body, pulling her leggings and panties off her long legs as I went. Her skin pebbled beneath my lips and she made a throaty sound that drove me wild. I sat up, holding her foot in my hand, looking at her sprawled across my couch. Her shirt was lifted to her shoulders, her bra pulled down so her gorgeous breasts spilled from it. She was naked from the waist down, and so incredibly lovely. I rubbed small circles on the ball of her foot, moving my fingers gently across her skin. I worked my way up her smooth, silky legs, rubbing her skin gently, exploring the sensitive places and kissing the soft spot behind her knee.
I slid her leg over my shoulder and leaned down, kissing my way up the inside of her long thigh. She shivered beneath me. I slid my hands up her body, cupping and gently squeezing her breasts and my tongue came finally, finally, to the sweet center of her.
I licked slowly, exploring her velvet folds, the bright taste of her bursting on my tongue. I flicked the tip of my tongue over her clit, feeling it stiffen beneath my mouth, then I slid down her labia and delved into her center. Her hands clutched my head, holding me to her as her cries grew stronger. I felt her body begin to vibrate, felt the first waves of orgasm break over her. I didn’t let up, but kept stroking her with my tongue until her quaking subsided.
I moved up her body slowly, kissing and stroking with whisper softness until her body trembled beneath me once more.
“Chris,” she said softly, her voice little more than a whisper. “Oh, Chris. I want to touch you.”
And she did, pulling me to her and kissing me fiercely while her hands got busy touching everywhere. She tugged at my clothes until I helped her to pull them from me. She ran flat palms over my back, my chest. She slid one hand between us and dipped her fingers in her own wetness, rubbing her slick moisture over the head of my cock. She wrapped her hand around me and started stroking, long and slow. I felt my eyes nearly cross and roll back in my head.
“Jesus, Katie,” I managed. “It’s not gonna take very long if you keep that up.”
She grinned mischievously and fitted me to the hot, wet sheath inside her. “Can’t have that,” she murmured, pulling me down for another kiss. She lifted her hips, her body taking me into her.
I groaned against her mouth as her muscles clamped down around me. I held still, fighting for control, but Katie would have none of it. She rocked her hips, stroking herself against my hard shaft within her. I watched her face, her eyes closed and skin suffused with color, her lips curved and slightly parted as her breath came in soft gasps and moans.
I nipped her lip and pushed deeper inside her, glorying in the sound of her pleasured, surprised cry. I pulled out until only my head was inside her, rubbing against the sensitive place right where our bodies joined. She bucked against me, tried to pull me in deeper, but I moved slowly and deliberately until she was panting, until she was nearly screaming. Almost, I thought, watching her as she got closer and closer to the edge. She was the most erotic woman I had ever seen, even more so because she was totally unconcious of her power.
Now, I thought, driving deep inside her. Her eyes flew open and she screamed my name, clutching my back with hands and nails as I drove into her over and over again, taking her to the edge and flinging her over it. Her muscles clamped down around me as her orgasm ripped through her. When I thrust inside her one last time, emptying myself into her depths, I knew my soul belonged to her.
Later, when our pulses slowed and our skin cooled, I led her to the shower. We stood under the hot spray and she told me about her professors and her classes, and the mundane details of her plans for finishing her work and closing this chapter of her life.
“I don’t know that I want to continue school, you know? Lori wants private practice, and Judith is going to save the world on the research side of things. Both of those require advanced degrees and a lot of initials after your name, but I don’t think that’s the right path for me.” She laughed bitterly. “But then what can you do with just a bachelor’s in psychology?”
“I can think of a few right away,” I said. I picked up the soap and started rubbing it between my hands, building up suds. “Human resources, corrections, and marketing come to mind. Seems like any field that requires at least a basic understanding of the human mind would find a psychology degree to be an asset. I think the bigger question is, what do you want to do?”
I turned her gently so she was facing the wall and lifted her hands to it. She gave me an amused glance over her shoulder and spread her legs, standing braced and spread-eagled against the wall. I started soaping her back.
“I don’t know what I want to do long-term,” she said quietly. “I feel like I don’t know enough of life yet to make such a huge decision. I’m twenty-two, and I’ve only ever left Boston for weekend trips with family or friends. All I’ve known is school. How am I supposed to decide what kind of career I want for the rest of my life when I’ve never even held a job?”
I trailed my hands down her ribcage and around to massage the suds onto her breasts. She leaned her head back against my shoulder and wiggled her butt against my growing member. “God, that feels so good,” she said. She reached behind her and started to stroke me until I was rock hard and desperate to be inside her.
I reached up and turned the shower head closer, letting it rinse off the soap as I continued to stroke her skin, massaging her breasts with one hand while the other slid down over her flat belly and into the nest of curls between her legs. I dipped my finger into her soft warmth. She was already wet.
She shifted, leaning further forward until she was almost bent double. She gave me a seductive look over her shoulder and widened her legs, tilting her perfect ass toward me. I answered her unspoken invitation, fitting my cock to her velvet sheath and slowly pushing inside her.
I stroked slowly, closing my eyes as pleasure swamped me. Every time with her was like it was new. Her small sounds of pleasure drove me, directed me, and our rhythm picked up speed until she had her hands braced against the wall and I was thrusting into her so hard her breasts bounced with each one.
“Chris!” she cried, as her body convulsed around mine, dragging me along with her to the place where our m
inds found peace, if only for a few minutes.
She washed my skin after, and we dried each other in the steamy bathroom. We dressed and I handed her the stack of menus with a grin. “Are you hungry yet?” I asked.
She laughed and took them eagerly, flopping on the couch and flipping through them. “Starving,” she said. “Which places deliver, and fast?”
I pulled out a Chinese restaurant menu and handed it to her, taking the others into the kitchen and shoving them back in the drawer. I went back to the couch and sat next to her. “What looks good?” I asked.
She curled into my side. “Everything!” she laughed. “I can’t decide between six different things. What do you want?”
“All six things,” I said, pulling out my phone and finding the number in my contacts. “Plus egg rolls and potstickers.” I gave her an appraising look. “Or should we get two orders of potstickers?” I asked with mock gravity. “Are you a potsticker hoarder?”
“Most definitely,” she said, and laughed. “I’m a good food hoarder, so if potstickers are good, I will hoard them, too.”
I opened my eyes wide at her in disbelief. “Wait, are you telling me you’ve never had a potsticker before?” I asked. “How have you lived this long? That settles it. Two orders it is.”
I ordered enough food for a small army, then tossed my phone on the coffee table and wrapped an arm around Katie’s shoulders. I thought of the gofundme page for the first time since she knocked on my door.
“Can I show you something?” I asked, leaning forward to tug my laptop out from under the couch.
“Is that where you store your laptop?” she asked, sounding scandalized.
I laughed. “Yes, but you can scold me for it later.” I clicked through screens, pulling up the browser and navigating to the page I needed. “For right now, I wanted to show you this.”
I set the computer on her lap and stood, picking up our tea glasses. One of the reasons I loved this Chinese place was because it was only two blocks away, so they delivered really fast. I refilled our glasses and pulled some paper towels off the roll to serve as napkins. I got down some plates and was digging for silverware when I heard her gasp.
“Chris!” she called, her voice urgent. “Did you know you’ve raised almost a hundred thousand dollars for these people?” Her voice came closer and she appeared in the doorway. “It’s only been active for a couple of days. Where did you post it?”
I shrugged. “Mostly to groups of first responders, and to all of my social media accounts. Turns out people want to be generous, if you give them a good reason.” I smiled, thinking of the impact a day of labor would have for the Reyes. “It’s not much, and far too late, but it’s what I could do for them.”
She crossed to me and put her arms around my waist, laying her head on my chest. “It’s a lot, and it’s wonderful. When are you going to give it to her?”
I lowered my chin to rest it on her head. “Soon,” I said. There was a knock on the door and I reluctantly let her go to answer it. “But not until after we eat.”
We had so much food, the boxes covered my small table and half of the counter. We tried everything, eating as much as we could hold. Katie turned her nose up at the potstickers at first, but after trying one on my insistence, she ate an entire order to herself.
While we ate, she told me about her meeting with her sister, and all that had happened. She showed me the manila envelope and said, “I should probably go over there and give this to my dad. It’s a lot of money to be carrying around.”
I wanted to say I was amazed and a little scared she’d had this on her since yesterday, riding public transit all over Boston, but I bit my tongue. Instead I asked, “What are you going to say to your father about us?”
She shook her head. “Nothing, unless it comes up. If it does, I’m going to tell him the truth.” She looked at me levelly and smiled. “I love you and I’m not willing to give you up. He doesn’t have to like it to accept it. And I hope he will.”
My hands stilled in the act of putting the leftovers in the fridge. I rose slowly from my bent position, my eyes locked on hers. “Did you just say you love me?” I asked.
She nodded. “I guess I could wait a few months, let you wonder and guess for awhile, but I don’t want to play games anymore. You’ve shown me it’s okay to be who I really am, and what I am is a woman so in love with you that sometimes I can’t breathe.”
I let the fridge door close on its own and crossed the room, sinking to my knees in front of her. I took her hands in mine and felt a grin break across my face.
“Well, damn, I wish you would’ve said something earlier,” I said. “Because it just so happens that I’m in love with you, too.” I pulled her close and kissed her gently, savoring the taste of her. “I love you so very, very much,” I whispered against her mouth.
It was a long time before she left for her father’s, and when she did, I insisted on giving her a ride.
25
Katie
“You’re not taking a damn bus to your folks’ house with over twelve thousand bucks in your purse,” Chris said, and though he struggled to sound matter of fact, I could hear the frustration in his voice. “You’re incredibly lucky that nothing happened to it, or you, any other time you’ve tried it. Let me just give you a ride.”
I shrugged, too full and sleepy to continue to protest. “If you want to waste your time this way, I won’t say no to a ride,” I said reasonably. “But I’m just saying that there’s no way for anyone to know what’s inside my purse, so I don’t see how I’m in any more danger with cash on me that I ever have been without.”
He sighed and reached for his wallet and keys. “Let’s just pretend like the bad guys have some kind of psychic powers, and they just know when people are vulnerable.” He smiled grimly and shoved his feet into black sneakers. “For the record, I kind of believe that they do.”
We went down to his car and he pulled away from the curb, driving quickly. It was just past the evening rush hour so traffic was light, and as Chris drove I watched the sun sink beneath the horizon, leaving behind brilliant streaks of red, pink, and gold. We didn’t say much on the short trip. I slipped my hand into his, and he held it until he pulled up to the curb of my parents’ house.
“Do you want me to come in with you?” he offered.
I smiled, touched by his offer. I knew how difficult it was for him to make it, to offer to put himself back in the line of fire just to support me as I talked to my father. I shook my head and laid a hand on his cheek.
“You’ve done more than enough today,” I said, and leaned in to kiss him gently. “And this is old business.”
“I’ve got your back for any business, new or old,” he said.
My smile widened. “And when I need you to have my back, I’ll remember that, okay? But right now this is something I need to do on my own.”
He nodded, but he didn’t look particularly happy about it. “Call me if you need me for anything,” he said, kissing me hard. “At the very least, call me for a ride home if your dad doesn’t take you. I don’t like thinking about you on the bus so late at night.”
I waved him off and climbed out of the car. “You worry too much,” I said. I leaned down to peer in the window and grinned. “I love you.”
He grinned back. “And I love you. Handy, isn’t it?”
With a honk and wave, he drove off. I turned to face my parents’ home, the house I grew up in with my sisters. The porch light was on. My father opened the door before I made it to the porch.
“Was your mother expecting you?” He was distant and cool, but I expected that. I gave him a smile.
“No, I was just hoping to catch you. Do you have a minute?”
He looked down the street after Chris’ car. “Was that the man?”
I bit back a sigh. “Yeah, Dad, that was Chris. He gave me a ride, and he may pick me up later. Do you have a minute? I’d really like to talk to you.”
He nodded shor
tly and backed inside, allowing me to come in the house. It smelled like the tacos they had for dinner, and I could hear the dishwasher running in the kitchen. My dad led the way there, gesturing for me to sit at the table.
“Do you want something to drink?” he asked, opening the fridge. “There’s lemonade.” He ducked his head inside.
“Yeah, thank you,” I said, sitting down in my old chair at the table. I laced my fingers in front of me, my bag feeling like it carried a hundred pounds on my shoulder. Telling my father he was wrong about something like this wasn’t going to be easy. I wasn’t sure how to begin without immediately putting his back up, and I didn’t want talking about Samantha to bring up anything about Chris. I wasn’t ready for that kind of conversation yet.
“Your mother went to her book club tonight,” he said, coming to the table. “She’ll be home in an hour or so, unless she gets talking after.” He handed me a glass and sat down at the head of the table, where he had sat at every meal that he was home throughout my childhood.
Looking at him now, it occurred to me that he was getting older. The lines on his face were deeper than I remembered, and his eyes looked tired. A wave of love swept over me. I knew he had done his best to be a good father to us. And I knew a bit about rash choices that were complicated to resolve. Maybe he wanted to mend things with Samantha, too, only he didn’t know how to start. Maybe this would be good news.
“I had coffee with Samantha yesterday,” I began, careful to keep my tone neutral. “She’s living in Worcester.” I waited, but he said nothing. “She seems really happy,” I added.
Dad blew out a breath. “Why are you here?” he asked. “Why are you telling me this? Do you think it will comfort me to hear that my daughter is finding happiness with a liar and a thief? That kind of man can’t be trusted. She can’t have real happiness without trust. But will she listen?”
“Will you?” I asked quietly. My heart thumped in my chest as he turned angry eyes on me.