by A. K. Evans
“Stuff?” he repeated.
Nodding, I confirmed, “Stuff.”
“Hmm,” he replied as his lips brushed gently against mine. “I wonder what I could do to get it out of you.”
“I’ll never tell,” I whispered my promise.
“You will,” he insisted.
And the next thing I knew, he was kissing me. Once again, as it always seemed to happen, I melted into Nash and got lost in his kiss. He had shifted us back so that his hips were leaning against the counter with my weight pressed into his body. Just as our hands began to roam, the timer went off and alerted me to the food being ready. I pulled back, gave Nash one last intense look, and turned toward the oven.
Five minutes later, we were sitting down at the dining room table to eat. We ate in comfortable silence for the first few minutes other than when Nash first took a bite and told me how delicious everything was.
But after some time passed, he asked, “So, you said your sister was out here last weekend to visit you?”
I nodded.
“Where does she live?” he wondered.
“She’s in California, in a small town just north of Ventura,” I answered.
“Are you originally from there, or is she originally from here? Or did you both leave wherever home was and go your own separate ways?” he questioned me.
I took a sip of my water, set the glass down, and replied, “We both grew up here. And up until about a year ago, she was still here. But she decided she needed a change of scenery, so she packed up and left.”
“I assume you’re close since you were out together last weekend,” Nash surmised.
“You would be correct,” I told him as I took my last bite of potato and pushed my plate back. “She’s my best friend.”
“That’s got to be tough to have her so far away,” he noted. “At least you can still go back and forth to visit one another, though.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s the good thing about it,” I said. “I hate having her so far away. What about you? Are you an only child, or do you have siblings?”
“A younger sister,” he answered after a brief pause.
My eyes widened, and I reached for my glass of water as I asked, “Does she live here, or is she adventurous like my sister?”
Before he could answer, there was a crash on the table. I’d knocked over my water because I wasn’t paying attention to where I was reaching.
Nope.
I was so distracted by Nash that I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
Not missing a beat, he stood up quickly and walked out toward the kitchen. He returned almost immediately and began wiping up the spill with the dishtowel I had left out on the counter.
For the next few minutes, I apologized to Nash while he insisted it wasn’t a big deal as the two of us worked on getting everything cleaned up.
Before I knew it, we were on the couch in the family room. And for a long while, we sat there cuddled up with one another while the television was on in the background. I heard it, I saw it, but I wasn’t paying attention to anything on it.
I was too focused on the fact that for the first time in a really long time, I was curled up in the arms of a man that made me feel good. My body was pressed tight to his, my legs were draped over his thighs, my cheek was against his chest, and he had one arm wrapped around my back while the other was resting just above my knee. I loved the way it felt to be with him like that. And I kept hoping that he’d be willing to make me feel even better.
While I didn’t think he could hear my thoughts, it was at that moment when Nash’s fingers drifted along my back and up into my hair. He gave me a gentle tug, urging me to look up at him. No sooner did I do that when his mouth descended on mine.
His soft lips touched mine, and I was instantly turned on. Everything about him was just so virile in all the best ways. The way he held me close, like he could protect me from anything, made me want to hold on to him forever. The way his lips and tongue felt against mine made my heart pound in my chest.
I just hoped that the feelings I felt for him—the excitement, the need, and the happiness—were mutual.
And if his kiss was anything to go by, I wouldn’t have any doubt about how he felt. It didn’t take Nash long to deepen the kiss to a point where he ended up shifting us both on the couch. I was suddenly on my back, feeling just a smidge of his weight over me.
Yes.
Yes!
My hands drove into his hair as our tongues explored. Nash’s hand that had been resting just above my knee drifted up along my thigh. The higher it went, the tighter I pressed my legs together. I needed relief.
This ache had been building for days, and I knew I wouldn’t survive another night without him relieving it. Instead of going where I wanted him to go when he reached my upper thigh, Nash’s hand drifted toward my hip and continued moving north.
He made it to my breast and swiped his thumb over my nipple.
Okay. I could do this. It might not have been where I wanted his hand, but it was definitely not a bad thing either.
With each glide of his tongue against mine, with each swipe of his thumb against my breast, I found myself climbing higher and higher. And though I knew I wouldn’t get there without any additional assistance, I liked where I was heading. Needing it, desperate for it, I moaned as I rolled my hips, searching for that friction.
In doing that, I should have just dumped a bucket of cold water on us. Because the next thing I knew, Nash tore his mouth from mine and lifted his chest from my body. At first, I thought he would put us in a new position, but he quickly proved me wrong.
Once he was sitting upright, he brought a hand to my wrist and lifted me from the couch. Then he said, “I should probably get going.”
My eyes widened.
No.
No way.
He wasn’t going to do this to me again. He couldn’t. This was just cruel.
I scrambled off his lap, his lap that told me he wanted this just as much as I did, and felt nothing but hurt move through me.
Why was he doing this?
Unable to stand it any longer, I clipped, “You know, I’ll still be your doctor even if you aren’t into me.”
“What?” he asked.
“I’m serious, Nash,” I maintained. “I get it. You can stop faking.”
“Faking?” he repeated. There was an edge of shock in his voice. Clearly, he never expected me to figure him out.
There was too much emotion, too much adrenaline, running through me. I shot up off the couch and insisted, “Yes. Faking. I can’t do this anymore, Nash. You can’t do this to me anymore.”
Nash stood up off the couch.
“Parker—” he rasped before I cut him off.
“No, Nash,” I shouted, knowing I’d already gone over the edge of reason. There was no telling how this was going to play out. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good, but that didn’t stop me. “You have no idea what you’ve been doing to me. Every single day for days now, you’ve done this. No more.”
“Please, Parker, listen to me,” he begged as he took steps to move closer to me.
I shook my head. “I hear you,” I assured him. “I hear you loud and clear. Every time you kiss me and touch me and get me all worked up only to walk away from me, I hear you. You don’t want me, Nash. That’s fine. But stop playing with me. It’s wrong. It’s cruel. Maybe you don’t get it because it hasn’t been eight long years since you’ve been touched, but I can promise you, I’ve been living in agony for days now. And I’ve had enough.”
Nash froze. His entire body locked on the spot.
I realized what had just happened, what I’d just revealed, and for some strange reason, I didn’t care. I’d clearly lost control of this whole situation a long time ago. In fact, I wasn’t sure I ever had any control, and that realization had me feeling completely, totally helpless.
So, if it made him uncomfortable to know just how awful what he was doing to me was, then h
e could be uncomfortable. Things hadn’t exactly been rainbows and sunshine for me the last few days. He could handle one instance of it.
But because he hadn’t attempted to say anything, and I wanted answers before he walked away again, I rasped, “Why? Why, Nash? Why won’t you make love to me?”
I needed to know what I’d done. I needed to know what this game he was playing was all about.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get an answer.
Because Nash dropped his head forward and looked down at the ground.
And that’s when I knew he had no intention of telling me the truth because he knew that I already knew the answer. It had been a game for him.
She felt it.
She felt the same thing I felt that day in the laundromat. She felt that unexplainable feeling that couldn’t be ignored.
I knew it.
Because it had been eight years.
She hadn’t been touched in eight whole years.
And she chose me to be the first after all that time.
It was her. She was the one. I did not doubt it anymore. Parker was mine.
The force with which that realization hit me was so strong; it was a wonder I could remain standing there in front of her.
Why won’t you make love to me?
I’d been putting her through unnecessary torture. Every day I walked away from her, thinking I was doing it for her, I left her feeling the same, if not worse than I was feeling.
“Answer me,” she pleaded.
The sound of her ragged voice, knowing she was about to break down into tears, forced me to lift my gaze to her face. Then I took a few slow, deliberate steps toward her.
When I stopped in front of her, my chest just barely brushing up against hers, my eyes searched her face. All I could see in her eyes was desperation and pain.
Fuck.
How had I done this to her and not realized just how bad it was for her?
Not anymore.
This was stopping now because I was never, ever going to see this look on her face again.
“Nash, please,” she begged. “Please answer me.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
The pain that slashed through her face at my apology had me wanting to kick my own ass. I knew that hearing those words, she assumed I would admit that she had it all right. That I had been doing what she believed I was doing all along.
How was it possible that she thought I was faking this whole thing with her? Could she not feel what she did to me?
I lifted my hand to her cheek and watched as she flinched and tried to pull away, but my mouth descended on hers again.
At first, Parker didn’t move. Her body was stiff for a few moments as her brain worked to catch up with what was happening. After kissing her for several seconds, with my lips still brushing up against hers, I whispered, “Relax, sunshine.”
I tried kissing her again.
She didn’t loosen up.
This woman was tough as nails.
I trailed my mouth along her jaw toward her ear. My free hand came to her hip and squeezed her gently.
As my fingers lifted the hem of her shirt so I could touch her bare skin at her side, I promised, “I’m going to give you what you need, baby. Relax.”
In an instant, a tortured sound escaped from the back of her throat as her knees buckled. Hearing it nearly undid me. She’d been desperate for this. For me.
And I’d denied her for no good reason.
I brought my mouth back to hers. Parker finally gave in and kissed me back.
My hand dropped from her face and went to her opposite hip. Once there, I used both hands to lift the shirt enough so I could touch her skin. At my touch, she melted into me.
Finally.
My hands spanned her sides and moved up her body while our mouths remained connected. It wasn’t until I grabbed ahold of her shirt again and lifted it over her head that we separated.
My eyes roamed over the soft swells of her breasts, and I itched to touch them. “You’re so beautiful, Parker,” I said softly.
“Let me see you,” she requested as her hands reached out and started pushing my shirt up along my body.
I lifted my arm behind my head and gripped the shirt at my neck to pull it off. I was acutely aware of Parker’s hands drifting over my abdomen and up my chest as the material covered my eyes for a brief moment.
For the next few seconds, the two of us stood there and stared at one another. I watched as her chest rose and fell rapidly, loving what this was doing to her. When my eyes drifted up to her face, I found her looking at me with nothing but burning hot desire. She didn’t need to say a single word, but there was no doubt she was begging me to give her this. To give us this.
Like a flash, Parker flew into my arms. I caught her and lifted her as she wrapped her legs around my waist. Her hand drove into my hair as she peppered kisses along my jaw and down my throat.
As she did that, I turned and moved toward the stairs. I could have taken her right there on the couch, but I didn’t want that for her for the first time with me, especially not after all these years.
It had to be by some divine intervention that I found Parker’s bedroom so quickly. Once I entered the room, I moved toward her bed, kicked off my sneakers, and lowered her gently to her back.
Then it was my turned to get my mouth on her.
I buried my face in her neck, kissing her there as she kept her legs wrapped firmly around me.
I loved that. I loved that even though she knew we’d reached this point and were going to take this step, she still didn’t want to let me go.
My mouth moved down her throat and along her collarbone. One of my arms was still around her back, so I shifted it until my hand was at the clasp of her bra. As soon as I opened the clasp, I lifted my torso just a touch. Keeping one palm pressed to the mattress at Parker’s side, my other hand curled around her bra right between her breasts.
Once I pulled it away and tossed it aside, I looked down at her. Why had I denied myself seeing this?
“Beautiful,” I said, my throat tight.
“Nash,” Parker breathed.
I brought a hand to her bare breast and kept my eyes on hers. As I swiped my thumb over her nipple and saw how much she enjoyed it, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
If she enjoyed that, there was no doubt she was going to love what was coming.
“Loosen your legs, baby,” I urged her.
There was a moment of hesitation before Parker unhooked her ankles and loosened the hold her legs had on me. I lifted until I was standing beside the bed. My hands went to her hips, gripped all the material I found there, and yanked everything down her legs.
I gave myself some time to take in her naked form and felt more blood rush south. Seeing her there naked, I had only one thought.
My mouth. Her body.
And that’s precisely what happened next. I climbed in the bed beside her, kissed her mouth, and trailed my fingers lightly down her body between her breasts and over her abdomen until they landed right between her legs. At that first touch, Parker pressed the back of her head deeper into the mattress as a guttural moan escaped.
She was panting, squirming, and incredibly sexy.
Best of all, Parker wasn’t shy.
She dropped her knees open, allowing me full access to play with her.
As my fingers worked her between her legs, I dropped my head to her chest. I flicked the hardened peak of her nipple with my tongue before sucking it deep into my mouth.
Parker instantly responded. Her back arched off the bed, sending her breast deeper, as she continued to moan.
Hearing her like this had me worried that I’d come in my pants.
This woman was mine—all mine.
It was almost too much to handle.
Her hips were moving fast as she sought relief. I plunged a finger inside, pressed my thumb to her clit, and gave her what she wanted.
“Oh, fuck,” she pante
d. “Nash.”
Shit.
Shit, she was so fucking hot.
My hand moved faster. Her breathing grew shallow.
And within seconds, I released her breast from my mouth so I could watch her come apart. It was, by far, the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.
I worked Parker through her orgasm and slowed the movement of my hand until I stopped and cupped her between her legs.
With a satisfied smile on her face, Parker hummed, “Mmm. That was nice.”
“Feel better?” I asked, fighting against my need to laugh.
As her eyes drifted shut, the smile still on her face, she warned, “Don’t say things that are going to make me angry with you right now.”
“What if I said that I really want to put my mouth between your legs right now, but I’m pretty certain if I don’t get inside you now, I’m going to lose my mind?” I asked.
Parker’s eyes fluttered open. “I’d say you better lose the pants and get inside me then,” she challenged me.
I grinned at her, pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, and scooted off the bed. After pulling out my wallet to grab a condom, I dropped my pants and underwear and sheathed myself.
Then I was right back where I wanted to be.
My body was over Parker’s again, my hips nestled between her parted thighs, and my cock was positioned to enter her body.
Slowly, feeling a bit worried that I’d hurt her since it had been so long for her, I pushed forward.
“You’re so tight, sunshine,” I told her, keeping myself still, wanting to make sure she was okay before I moved again.
“You fit me perfectly,” she marveled. Tipping her hips up, Parker urged, “Make love to me, Nash.”
I needed no additional encouragement. Bringing my mouth to hers, I kissed her and pulled my hips back before pushing forward again.
With each thrust into her, Parker’s fingers dug into the skin at my shoulders, and the sounds coming from her were like music to my ears.
She was beautiful. She sounded incredible. Her pussy was the best I’d ever felt, bar none. And she clearly couldn’t get enough of what I was giving her.
“Nash, babe,” she breathed as I quickened my pace.
In all the daydreaming I’d done about how things would be the first time Parker and I were together like this, and I’d done a lot of daydreaming, I never expected this. Even though I felt that connection to her, the one that made me believe she was the one for me, I still couldn’t be certain that we’d connect like this when we were naked.