One Night Flame

by Beverly Evans

  “I don’t think I could ever be that drunk.” She dries her hands on a paper towel and tosses it in the trash.

  She heads into her bedroom, and I head into mine. The door connecting the two of them through the bathroom doors, are open. She peeks at me through the door, looking slightly embarrassed.

  “I’m gonna close this,” she says, her face poking through the door.

  “Go ahead.”

  She shuts it with a click. I start to undress for bed, sliding on a fire department t-shirt and shucking off my pants, so I’m in my boxers. I hear Nadine in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and showering, so I stretch out on the bed and grab my book. It’s been a while since I’ve had time to read anything that isn’t related to work, so I’ve chosen an old sci-fi novel I like to re-read. The next one in the series has come out since the last time I read it, so it’ll be a nice refresher.

  Just as I get into the groove, I hear a heavy thump above my head in Andy and Angela’s room. I look up for a second, then go back to my book. But then there’s another thump and another. And then they start up even faster. Rhythmically.

  Ugh.

  I slide out of bed and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Nadine has kindly given me one half of the counter space, and the other half has all sorts of toiletries, more than I’d probably need in a month, much less a long weekend trip. I pull out my toothbrush and start brushing. She’s left the door on her side of the bathroom open, and the light is on. She must still be awake. Maybe she’s reading that sexy book I know she has on her e-reader.

  I finish up and head back into my bedroom, where the thumping is now being punctuated with a loud groan or two. Honestly, they can both fuck off.

  I go back into the bathroom to rinse my face. Can I wait it out in there? Who knows how long it’ll take for them to finish up?

  “Is everything okay?” Nadine calls out from her room.

  I poke my head into her room. She’s sitting in the armchair that I noticed earlier, wearing honest to god pajamas with a collar and buttons down the front and everything. It has bunnies and crescent moons on it, a strangely familiar pattern that I can’t place. The mix of the cutesy pattern with the amount of bare leg it shows is hard for my body to process.

  “It’s just Angela and Andy. They’re, uh…”

  “Naked wrestling?” She says, a little grimace coming onto her face. She puts her e-reader down.

  “Yeah.”

  “Want to come in here? It’s not too loud, especially if I put on some music.”

  She looks at me expectantly. No, nervously. This is the first time we’ve been alone all day, and it happens to be in a bedroom. I can’t hang out in the bathroom for twenty minutes, so I step inside.

  She stands up from the chair and offers it to me, then goes to sit on the edge of her bed.

  “Thanks for offering refuge,” I say, sitting down.

  “No problem.” She smiles and crosses her legs. She must realize that she’s flashing me because she closes her legs again, then grabs her phone to turn on music.

  She turns on something chill and turns back to me. There’s an awkward silence between us where we’re just looking at each other, hoping the other person will talk. She seems a little tipsy, but not drunk.

  “So…” I start, drumming my fingers on my knee.

  “So…” She laces her hands together. “How’s it going?”

  “Good.”

  “Cool.”

  Both of us stare at each other for a beat before bursting into laughter.

  “What’s our deal? We’re acting like we’ve never seen each other before,” I say.

  “Yeah, what is our deal?” she echoes. She goes silent again and serious. “Y’know when your dad was saying that he’s glad we’re becoming friends? Do you think we are?”

  Okay, maybe she’s a little tipsier than I first thought if she’s asking questions like this.

  “Yeah, sure. We can get along. We’ve hung out without biting each other’s heads off.”

  And we can also make out like the world’s ending around us.

  “True,” she nods, leaning back onto her hands. I don’t think she’s wearing a bra, so the faintest dots of her nipples are showing through her top. “Why did you hate me so much when we were growing up?”

  “I didn’t hate you. We just got under each other’s skin,” I shrug. “I was just a dick because of stuff going on at home, like my mom being sick, and you were all prissy and reacted when I poked at you.”

  “Prissy?” She raises an eyebrow.

  “Well, yeah. You’re fine now.” I grin at her. “You got the stick out of your ass. You let out the fun parts of your personality more often.”

  “And you’ve mostly gotten the asshole thing out of your system.” She smiles back. “Mostly.”

  She studies me, from my mostly bare legs up to my face. I absently scratch at my stubble since the look makes me slightly self-conscious. I avoid shaving whenever I can when I’m off duty, but now it’s at that weird length where I want to touch it all the time.

  She continues to study me, and I look at her right back. God, she’s so damn pretty, especially like this. The low light of the room makes her look a little mysterious. She has her hair up in one of those messy buns that show off her elegant neck. I hate that she’s sitting on the bed because all I want to do is crawl over her and pin her to the mattress.

  But do I want to take that risk of pissing her off? She’s definitely been putting out vibes that I know aren’t just flukes. I’m looking for every sign that she doesn’t want me, and I’m coming up almost empty, at least based on the time after she apologized to me after our kiss at the gym. I want to just ask her, but sometimes I feel like I’m dealing with a baby deer who’ll bolt if I happen to move just the wrong way. Sure, my general lack of tact in the past was abrasive, but it got me answers when I pushed enough.

  But I’m not that asshole anymore, and I shouldn’t mess with this weird truce we’ve got going on. Goddamn it. If I had my way, the action in this room would be very, very different.

  I sigh, my frustration making the sound harsh, and look out the window through the crack in the curtains. It’s a full moon, so everything is gently lit.

  I hear a big thump and a squeal, even over the music, and the room goes still again. We both look at the ceiling and wait for a few long moments. It seems like they’re done.

  “Well, I guess I should get to bed.” I stand up and head toward the door between our rooms. “Good night.”

  “Good night,” she replies, and I hear her feet hit the floor.

  Just as I put my hand on the doorknob, her small hand touches my shoulder.

  “Wait,” she says. I turn around, and she’s inches away from me.

  I can feel the heat in the small distance between us, flaring up. She bites her bottom lip, though, my bravado melting away the instant I lock my eyes on hers.

  “Um…” She looks down at our feet and takes a little step back. I follow her.

  “Nadine. What do you want?” I ask, my voice low and commanding.

  Her lips part, and she tilts her head back to stare me in the face. The haze in her eyes tells me all I need to know.

  But I want to hear her say it.

  “I want you,” she finally whispers.

  I cup the back of her neck and kiss her, shutting the door quietly behind me. This time she kisses back in earnest, pressing her whole body against mine. She feels so good against me, so right. She’s just the right height, short enough to where I feel like I could dominate her but not so short that it’s awkward to kiss her. I can taste whatever lip balm she put on before she got in bed. It’s coconut, just like her shampoo.

  “Get on the bed,” I whisper, breaking the kiss and turning her around.

  She does and I plant a soft kiss on her back before leaving. “I’ll be right back,” I say, and I dart back into my room, rifling through my bag for a condom. Not that I was expecting anything. It’s lucky that I
always keep a stash with me.

  I go to close the bathroom door on my side, locking it from the inside. That way, if Andy or Angela happened to come downstairs for some reason and go into my room (not likely, but I’m a little paranoid), they’ll just think I’m in the bathroom. When I return, Nadine is kneeling on the bed with her hair down. The moonlight is hitting her jaw and shoulder, and it makes her look like a goddess just appeared out of nowhere.

  I stand at the end of the bed and pull her to me so I can capture her lips again, sliding my fingers through her hair to hold her in place. I tug a little too hard by accident, but she moans. I bite her bottom lip to see if that elicits the same reaction and it does.

  What a lovely surprise.

  I start on the buttons of her sleep top, and sure enough, she’s braless. Her nipples are standing at attention, and it’s not just because of the fan in the room. Her breasts are gorgeous, and it’s nice to see them without the restraint of her bikini top. They’re nice and full and feel good under my hands. I brush a nipple back and forth, and she shudders, reaching down to the bottom of my t-shirt.

  “No, not yet,” I say, capturing her hands.

  I rake my teeth across her neck and suck a little, fondling her tits in a way that gets her hips winding a little bit.

  “No hickies, please,” she whispers, gasping when I flick a nipple. “Not in a place anyone can see.”

  She’s still so polite, even now. I move my mouth down her neck and to her nipples, sucking the left one into my mouth. She lets out a squeal but slaps a hand over her mouth. I look up at her, resisting the urge to smile. Instead, I gently bite her, and she gasps, groaning quietly and threading her fingers through my hair. I let a hand snake up her pajamas and into her panties to see if she’s wet. Her pussy is smooth and soaked. I don’t want to take her there just yet, so I remove my hand.

  “Hm?” She looks confused and annoyed that I’m not touching her down there anymore.

  I go back to playing with her nipples until she’s struggling to stay quiet. I could turn up the music, but that might tip our friends upstairs off that something isn’t quite right. Plus, I like to see her resisting the urge to cry out.

  “Please touch me, please, please,” she begs, her voice raspy.

  “Where do you want me to touch you?” I ask, even though I know damn well where she wants it. I slide my hand back under her panties, gently fingering at her clit, then just inside the opening of her vagina.

  “Everywhere,” she murmurs, kissing the junction of my neck and shoulder and rubbing my hardening cock through my shorts.

  This time I’m the one who has to hold back on moaning. She makes me so hot I can hardly fucking stand it. I think I’m dead or dreaming. Or both, somehow.

  I scoop her up and put her on the ground, shoving down her panties. I push her back onto the easy chair and kneel in front of her, kissing her inner thighs. She spreads her legs eagerly for me, such a sharp contrast from the shy girl I fucked five years ago. I lazily play with her pussy as I nip her inner thighs, spreading her wetness over her clit.

  “Noah, please,” she gasps, grabbing my hair to try to guide my face to where she wants it.

  “Not yet. Just let me take care of everything,” I whisper, sliding two fingers inside of her easily. She thrusts her hips forward and moans loudly. “Shhh. Can you get off with just my fingers in your pussy like this, baby?”

  She nods, her chest heaving already, even though I’ve only been thrusting gently. I pick up the pace and watch her, her head thrown back and body tense as I fall into a steady rhythm. I press the upper wall of her vagina, right in that spot that she should like. She bites the back of her hand to muffle a moan, and her thighs start to quiver a little. I push her leg back, so she’s resting one heel on the seat, opening her to me. I finally lean in and tongue her. She lets out an almost animalistic sound and clutches my hair hard. I love the burn in my scalp and how rough she thinks she can be with me.

  She comes with a hard shudder, her entire body spasming and rolling for a long time. I keep at her as she rides the waves of her climax until she pushes my hands away and sags with exhaustion.

  Before she gets a chance to rest, I pick her up and swap places with her, finally freeing my cock from my shorts. It bobs freely, arcing toward my stomach. I yank my t-shirt off too and toss it to the ground. Without asking, she grasps the base of my cock and licks up the length, making me swear out loud. She takes me into her mouth like a champ, sucking my dick until I feel like I’m close to death. She’s clearly gotten some practice between losing her virginity to me and now.

  “Stop,” I say, grabbing her hair and pulling her away. I take a second to catch my breath and rip open the condom package.

  Nadine grins. “You came prepared,” she purrs.

  “What can I say?” I chuckle.

  With one hand, she takes the condom from me and slowly rolls it down my hard cock, all the way down to the base. She never takes her dark eyes of my throbbing length of even a moment.

  “Ride me,” I whisper.

  I don’t have to tell her twice. She scrambles off the ground, lines my cock up with her entrance, and slides down. Both of us make a little sound of pleasure. She’s tight and warm around me, so snug that I can’t imagine fitting if she were any tighter. I grab her ass cheeks, spreading them a little, and encourage her to start moving up and down. It takes her a second, but she finds a rhythm.

  She’s rolling her hips, not bouncing up and down on me, which feels so good that my eyes are rolling into the back of my head. Shooting sparks of pleasure run through every nerve of my body. It’s all I can do not to explode right now. But she’s so gorgeous. So perfect. I cup her tits as she grinds on me.

  “Oh god, yes,” she whispers, almost to herself.

  “You love riding my cock, don’t you?” I say, thrusting up into her fast and hard for one stroke, so she squeals. She nods. “I want to hear you say it.”

  “I-I love it,” she stammers, her cheeks coloring ever so slightly underneath her tan.

  Her grip on my shoulders tightens, and I hold her still. I pound up into her but realize the sound of our bodies smacking together is actually pretty loud. Instead, I pull her down on me. That sucks. I want to fuck her hard, but the sound of our bodies and probably the bed creaking would travel.

  “You love what, now?” My thumb finds her clit, and I press. I feel her pussy twitch around me. “Say the words. Say exactly what I said.”

  “I love riding your cock,” she finally says, her face screwing up in pleasure.

  Hearing the dirty words come out of her mouth nearly sends me over, but I pull myself together. I rub her clit faster, and her movements become a little erratic. She digs her nails into my shoulders hard and lets out a cry that she muffles as she comes again. Actual tears come to her eyes as she unravels. I can’t hold back much longer and fuck her as hard and quietly as I can until I lose control, filling up the condom with an explosion. I come so hard that my ears are ringing. I’m breathing and sweating like I’ve just done sprints.

  She slumps against me, not getting off of me. She’s just as sweaty and breathless as I am. Somehow, she’s still having aftershocks, and each one is overstimulating my cock. I lift her off of me, and she steps off, stumbling a little before heading to the bathroom to clean up. I try to stand up, but it feels like she fucked out every last bit of energy from my body. I stay there until she comes back, suddenly shy again.

  “Hi,” she says, fiddling with her hair.

  “I should go back to my own room, I think.” I finally get up.

  “Yeah, it would be awkward if someone came in and saw us.” She smiles a little.

  I want to ask her what this means for us, but I don’t want to go there yet. Instead, I kiss her on the forehead and go back into my room, dreading that conversation.

  Chapter Eleven

  Nadine

  “Wow, maybe we should start giving out free champagne when we do cake tastings,” Mom sa
ys, studying the flute the woman at the wedding dress salon handed us. “This is nice.”

  “Cake and champagne?” I sip my champagne. It’s surprisingly good.

  “It’s a tasty combination.” Mom shrugs, and I do too.

  We’re some of the few people in the salon since it’s the middle of the day on a weekday. The woman helping us is in the back, picking some dress options out since Mom wants some surprise choices. I’m not scheduled for a shift, and Mom wants me to give my opinion on the dresses. I’m excited for her and a lot less stressed out than I was when I had to pick my own wedding dress. Even though Grant’s parents chipped in a lot, we had to pay for some things ourselves, including my dress. I cried at least twice, once when picking one out, then once at a fitting when I felt too chubby for what I’d chosen. Not that it matters now.

  Plus, the dresses Mom is going to try on are a hell of a lot fancier than the ones I had tried on. Joseph treats her like a freaking queen and insists that she get any dress she wants. She’s thrilled about that, but she’s even more thrilled that she’s marrying Joseph. The trip to the lake made me realize how deeply in love they are, and it’s almost too adorable to handle.

  I’m glad she and Joseph were too fixated on each other or all of us as a unit to notice that the tone between me and Noah had changed drastically. Finally having sex deflated a balloon of tension between us, and for the rest of the trip, we were totally fine during the day, like friends.

  But at night, once we were sure Andy and Angela had passed out asleep, we did it again. Each time was better than the last. I still can’t believe how good it was and how good he felt. And how his dick is a lot bigger than I remember it being, which is saying something…

  “Deenie?” Mom waves her hand in front of my face. “How do you feel about this silhouette?”

  The woman taking care of us had brought out five dresses in different cuts and fabrics without me even noticing. I blink and look over the dress Mom is holding. It’s a mermaid shape and pretty hideous. From watching a billion episodes of Say Yes to the Dress and having dress shopped myself, I know that one has to be one of the most expensive ones of the bunch. If this lady works on commission, she’s trying to suck her money’s worth out of Mom.