Friends with Benefits (Friend Zone Series Book 3)

by Nicole Blanchard

  One kiss wouldn’t hurt.

  Would it?

  And I let him. God help me, but no one kissed like Tripp Wilder. He made me feel like I was the only woman in the world.

  I deepened the kiss, letting him slide a muscled thigh between my legs. The weight of him came over me slightly, a welcome shelter. I wanted more. That was the problem. I wanted too much.

  I’d talk to him.

  I would.

  I just wanted to be with him for a little longer. It seemed that when it came to Tripp, I’d always want more.

  And that was terrifying.

  I broke away, exhaling heavily, and already missing his lips on mine. “Tripp, wait.”

  His lips moved to my neck, biting softly, and then moving to my ear. My weak spot. Was there a link between that spot and my G-spot? It certainly felt like it. Maybe Tripp just knew all my spots.

  He stopped. It shouldn’t surprise me that he did. Tripp was nothing if not kind and considerate. I hated to think about Chris at a time like this, but he wouldn’t have taken me pumping the brakes so well. I should have realized it back then—I had wanted to please him so much that I hadn’t given myself enough respect.

  Tripp didn’t ever make me question myself. He respected me enough for the both of us. This friends-with-benefits arrangement was for my comfort. I was fully aware that he would have been all-in ages ago if it weren’t for my own reservations.

  He tucked me close to his side. “Talk to me.”

  “I’m…I…” Words failed me.

  Noticing my struggle, he said, “How about I talk, then? And you can tell me if I’m off base or not.”

  I unstuck my tongue long enough to mumble, “Okay.”

  “I know you’re worried about your sisters. We wouldn’t be friends if you weren’t the caring, slightly neurotic person you are. I’m guessing something happened today?”

  I shouldn’t be surprised. He always knew. “Doesn’t this break the rules? Emotional chats aren’t exactly one of the benefits in our rules.”

  “Friends come before the benefits,” he answered without hesitation.

  If hearts were made to beat, mine was beginning to feel like it was meant to beat for him.

  I couldn’t meet his eyes, especially not after that revelation. “I lost the twins at the grocery store today.” Even saying it out loud made my stomach tie itself in knots. “For a second, I thought my mom had found them and taken them. It made me realize how vulnerable they are right now. I can’t afford to be selfish.”

  “And I make you selfish.”

  It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “You make me feel a lot of things.” There. That was neutral.

  His mouth moved to my ear again. “Do I make you feel good?”

  Was I imagining it, or was my temperature legit rising from his words alone? “Yes,” was the most articulate response I could formulate.

  “Hmm,” Tripp murmured, licking my ear again. He eased back, and I caught myself reaching for him.

  “How are they?”

  My brain ground slowly as I tried to remember how to string words together. “Honestly, they were mostly fine after I found them. They thought it was like hide-and-seek, I think. They were more upset that I was so upset.”

  “Scared the shit out of you, huh?” His hand rubbed up and down my back. The tension that had filled me while I had been thinking of losing the twins melted away.

  “Totally. But it made me think…what if I’m not ready for this? I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

  “I’ve never known anyone more ready. You’re incredible, and you don’t even see it. I think you can handle anything.”

  He sounded so sure of himself. Of me. “I wish I had that much confidence in myself.”

  “I’d be worried if you weren’t more concerned. It’s a big deal, I won’t deny that. But I think you’re doing a better job than you give yourself credit for.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about, angel?”

  “Basically.”

  “Let me guess. You wanted to punish yourself for making a mistake. A mistake most all parents make at one time or another. You thought you didn’t deserve something good in your life as a result.”

  That couldn’t be right. He was making it sound like I was some sort of martyr.

  But I wasn’t, was I?

  “I’ve been watching you—in a non-creepy way, I promise—for as long as we’ve been friends. You always put other people before yourself. Your friends. Chris. The girls. Your parents. It’s admirable, don’t get me wrong. But you also deserve to pursue your own happiness, too. That’s all I’m saying. So, I guess the question is, what makes you happy?”

  There was a long, tense silence as his words echoed throughout the room.

  When I didn’t answer, he said, “If I’m one of the things that makes you happy, Em, for once in your life, be selfish.” He continued after a breathless pause, “Do you want me to beg?”

  Tripp Wilder.

  Begging.

  For me.

  Was this real life?

  I imagined it for a moment, him kneeling in front of me. The image wasn’t completely unbearable. But I’d never make him do that. “No, I don’t want you to beg. And you shouldn’t have to keep having these talks with me.”

  “What are friends for? Besides, everyone needs a shoulder every now and then. Even you.”

  “Especially me, these days.”

  “You aren’t infallible, Ember.”

  “You are,” I said, finally lifting my eyes to meet his. “You always seem to have an answer.” I squinted my eyes in false accusation. “The right answer. Are you a mind reader? In all seriousness, thank you for being so understanding.”

  “Listening and communicating are parts of the rules,” he said sagely, crawling over me like a cat, all lazy and utterly confident, the ruler of me, if not everything else. His knee nudged mine open, and in one fluid movement, he was on top of me, settled between my legs like he belonged there.

  And maybe he did?

  That was almost as frightening as my parents abandoning us. What if Tripp wanted to be there for me? Maybe that’s why I never let him.

  Pushing the thought away, I said, “I don’t remember the listening part. You should remind me.” My hands lifted to his muscled shoulders, stroked over them, then pulled him fully over me. There was nothing as delicious as his weight pressing me into the bed.

  He kissed me leisurely until my head began to swim. “Then we’ll have to add it to the rules.”

  I almost said, “What rules?”

  “Change the rules? Is that allowed?”

  “For you? Always.” His gaze was too serious to be teasing. I knew without equivocation that he was serious. He may have been a flirt, but when he said something like that, something that had meaning, he meant it to the core of his being.

  Unable to help myself any longer, I brought my mouth to his. Going too long without kissing him was a deprivation I wasn’t prepared to combat. He sank into me, mouth and body, and it felt so right that I didn’t care if it was wrong or selfish. Any lingering doubts I may have had were obliterated.

  If he asked me again what made me happy…

  The answer would be him...without question.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tripp

  A red haze filled my vision, and I blinked several times, confused.

  I didn’t think I’d gone to a party with Alex. Coach forbade any sort of drinking during the season. The punishment was worse than the worst hangover, and no player on the team would risk the wrath of the others if caught. Mostly, they tried not to get caught, but this year, I knew I had to play it safe.

  Which made waking up in a strange room all the more perplexing.

  I shifted, and soft, full curves filled my free hand. The memory of the previous night returned with them. Ember.

  It shouldn’t have been physically possible for me to get hard.
We couldn’t have gotten more than a couple of hours sleep, and my body had reached a level of exhaustion I’d only felt during the worst days of summer conditioning.

  Regardless, my dick didn’t care. Ember was my little spoon, and there wasn’t a breath of space between us. My legs tangled with hers, which meant my dick was pressed firmly against her ass and happy about it. Those curves? My free hand was full of them.

  Sweet Christ.

  My hand contracted reflexively, and I froze. Her nipple had beaded up against my palm. This was foreign territory. Much as I’d like to tease Ember awake, then fuck her senseless despite how bone-deep tired I was, this wasn’t a boundary we’d discussed in our brief but satisfying arrangement. The hell was a guy supposed to do?

  She shifted, and her ass brushed against my dick, which didn’t need any encouragement, for fuck’s sake. The scent of her hair filled my nose. Her nipple teased my palm. The things I wanted to do to her…

  It didn’t take a fucking genius to figure out that her shit-bag ex had left her with hang-ups about sex. The idiot must not have known what a clit was to save his life. I didn’t have that problem. I could spend the rest of my life happily buried between her legs. He didn’t know what the hell he was missing out on.

  That’s why this had to be some sort of test.

  And I was gonna fail so fucking hard.

  Inhaling deeply through my nose, I counted to three. I’d get up, and I’d get dressed. The twins were probably still asleep, so I could sneak back to my apartment without making a spectacle. I’d text Em and tell her I’d gone back to my place and that I’d see her later.

  Only, when I went to move, Ember shifted again, scooting back against me. The head of my dick teased at the crease of her ass, then pointed down to spear between the crevice of her thighs, like it had a mind of its own. It was paradise and damnation all at once.

  Shit.

  My breath rattled out, and I moved to extricate myself from around her. I ached like a sonofabitch, but maybe when she was awake, I could convince her to come over the next time she had a free minute. Even then, I wasn’t sure I’d ever have enough of her, but I’d take what I could get.

  Her hand clamped down on my hand that was on her chest, and I froze again. Her head angled back so that she could see me. “Wait.”

  “I thought you were asleep,” I said. “I was trying not to wake you.”

  She wriggled back against me, and I strangled a groan. “You think I could sleep with this teasing me all morning?”

  “Teasing you?”

  “It woke me up. I’ve been debating whether I should wake you up the same way or not.”

  “For the record, you can wake me up any way you like.”

  She relaxed back down on the bed and pulled me against her. I was thinking about getting my mouth on her pussy again, but instead, Ember reached between her legs and stroked my cock, coaxing it between her thighs. All the oxygen in my lungs seemed to evaporate. She was already wet for me, the skin of her inner thighs slick with her arousal.

  “Why didn’t you?” she asked.

  I couldn’t help it. Once her thighs closed over the head of my dick, I thrust my hips forward and pressed my forehead against hers. I angled up so that I was brushing against her wet folds, teasing us both. Sweat broke out all over my skin.

  “Didn’t I what?” What the hell were we talking about?

  “Why didn’t you wake me up any way you liked?”

  She tensed the muscles in her thighs, and I was this close to begging her to let me in. “It wasn’t something we’d talked about. I didn’t want to cross any boundaries you might have that I didn’t know about.”

  For a second, I thought I had pissed her off because she didn’t say anything in response. Then, she lifted her top leg and rested it over my thigh. She reached down again and angled my cock toward her opening. I sucked in a breath as she adjusted her body until I slid in with ease.

  “Next time, you can wake me up if you want,” she said. “I don’t mind.”

  I was trying to keep a clear head, but it was impossible. She was so warm and wet it was killing me. My voice was hoarse when I spoke. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  We had to be quiet, so I fucked her soft and slow, listening to the sounds of her breathing change, and adjusting the depth and speed of my thrusts. When she was moaning into the pillow she had pressed against her face, I moved my hand from her breast with reluctance to her swollen, sensitive clit. I’d spent the previous night learning everything there was to know about what got her off. I had made her come so many times she’d been begging me to stop in the end.

  Ember’s fingers clamped down on my wrist as I began to draw circles over her responsive flesh. Her hips bucked, urging me to go faster, but I wanted to take it slow and make it last. We both had a busy couple of weeks coming up, and we might not get a chance to be together for a while. I wasn’t going to rush her over the edge if I could help it.

  She began to writhe against me, trying to get herself off with my dick. I chuckled darkly and said, “Someone’s greedy this morning.”

  Practically growling, she replied, “Tripp, please fuck me.”

  Goddamn, I liked it when she was bossy.

  Turning, I adjusted her body until she was lying on her side somewhat, belly to the bed. I straddled her bottom leg and angled the top over my arm. When I drove into her, it was long and deep and slow. She stopped breathing for a second, her eyes rolling to the back of her head and all of her muscles tensing when I bottomed out inside her.

  She liked this position, I had learned. Her thighs were quivering within seconds, and sounds came out of her throat I’d never heard her make before. If it weren’t for the pillow she kept pressed against her mouth, the whole apartment complex would have heard her moaning for me. I kept my slow and steady pace and teased at her clit until she was so wet that I could feel the moisture transfer to my thighs.

  When her hips went crazy, I knew she was close. She liked to fight her orgasm, and I had to keep hold of her leg, or she would have bucked me off. In the end, I had her damn near pinned to the bed, playing furiously at her clit as she sobbed out her release into the pillow. I could wake up every morning like this, imagining new ways to make her scream.

  She lay there for a while until the aftershocks abated. When she could move, I climbed off her and threw myself onto my back. My dick was still rock-hard, but all I wanted was to make her come again, so I was thoroughly satisfied.

  I was only half aware of what she was doing as she slid down my body. Then I felt her hand wrap around my dick and stroke it. I made a strangled sound in the back of my throat.

  “Em…” I groaned when she began to lick up and down the length of me. I’d spend so much time making sure she was always thoroughly taken care of that, in the few minutes we managed to steal together now and then, I hadn’t let her reciprocate very much. If the devious look on her face was anything to go by, she was going to pay me back in full.

  Her heated breath bathed my thighs. “Don’t move,” she ordered huskily, her hand stroking again.

  I could only hold my head up long enough for the vision of her kneeling beside my legs to burn itself into my brain. Her short red hair tumbled around her shoulders. Her chest flushed pink, and her nipples were like pretty little raspberries. I wanted to paint my cum all over those tits, and the thought made me weak all over, and I dropped back against the pillows.

  Comprehension was slow, my brain muggy with sleep and the musk of sex. When I realized what she was doing, I fisted the sheets at my side. Certainly, there was no way in hell she was going to—fuck. And then her mouth slicked over the head of my cock. She crouched beside me, her thick ass swaying in the air as she bobbed over me. I reached out a hand and clamped on the flare of her hip to steady myself.

  I sputtered, not necessarily in objection, but because I didn’t want her to feel obligated to do anything she didn’t want to do. Naturally, she ignored me and merely splayed a hand
over my abs and applied gentle pressure, pushing me back onto the bed as she licked the taste of her orgasm off my cock.

  Was there a more beautiful sight? I didn’t fucking think so.

  None that I could call to mind, anyway.

  While she bobbed up and down over me, I shifted enough to play with her pussy, which was still wet and so pretty pink it was irresistible. Without a second thought, I pulled her hips and helped her straddle my chest so I could get a taste of her while her mouth was wrapped around me.

  She kept herself shaved except for a thatch of hair in a neat little triangle at the top that had the same red color as her hair. I didn’t care what she looked like, but I couldn’t deny hers was the prettiest pussy I’d ever seen, simply because it was hers. She moaned around my dick as I teased her clit. She was so tender that I did little more than lap at the engorged flesh.

  To be honest, I could barely concentrate on doing much more than lick at her. She didn’t mind. She swayed her hips back and forth over me. Then she took my cock deep in her throat, and it flipped a switch inside me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and fused my mouth to her wet cunt. My tongue found her opening and speared in, causing her to choke on my cock. I probably liked that more than I should have.

  The combination of her taking me deep into her throat and the taste of her on my tongue was something that would haunt me...probably forever. She tasted so fucking good, I couldn’t get enough. When she readjusted to take the heavy globes between my legs into her hand to squeeze gently and fondle, while simultaneously taking me as deeply as she could, I pulled away, saying, “Fuck, angel, I’m gonna come.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she said.

  I should have known she’d give as good as she got. She took me deeply again, and I barely had enough time to warn her with a tap on her ass before I was coming down the back of her throat. I moaned against her pussy, inhaling her scent as the orgasm washed over my nerve endings.

  She moved to get up once I stopped, but I kept my arms wrapped around her hips and gave her a second orgasm with my mouth, thinking she was the best breakfast I’d ever had.