by Riley Ashby
All my worry turned out to be for nothing. No one gave me any knowing glances or treated me any different in the office. A Human Resources person pulled me and Jason aside briefly to sign a little form that said we were dating. I loved how he took charge of everything and made sure I had nothing to worry about. Everyone assured me I need not worry about becoming hot office gossip as long as Jason and I kept our working relationship professional.
“No more closed-door visits to your office, then.” I squeezed his hand in the elevator, alone with him for a few brief moments while we went back to our floor.
He snagged me around the waist and kissed me hard, releasing me as the doors opened. “No promises.” He winked at me as we parted ways.
Once that was out of the way, though, I had another kind of worry. I hadn’t heard anything from Logan since the day of our date. He didn’t send the police banging on Jason’s door again, thankfully, but I checked over my shoulder every day before I unlocked the door to my car.
I made it all the way to Friday without incident. Jason took me out to dinner a couple of nights, and I spent one night at his house. I couldn’t help the blush that rose to my cheeks as we walked into work together the next day, hand in hand, sharing a chaste kiss outside the building before we entered the sterile business world.
Jason came over after work, eager to see more of my world and how I lived. I didn’t think I would be living alone very much longer, the way Jason was talking, so I wanted him to get a feel for how I liked my space so we wouldn’t clash when we moved in together. He walked through my living room while I put away my coat and bag, touching my little row of succulent plants and sucking on his finger when he pricked himself on a cactus.
“Did you not think it was real?” I couldn’t suppress my laugh. I walked over to him and threw my arms around his neck.
He grinned and held out his finger. “Kiss it and make it better?”
I laughed and kissed his fingertip before moving to his lips. “Now I think you did that on purpose just to get a kiss.”
“Am I that transparent?” I could feel his smile in his kiss as he wrapped me up in his arms and walked me toward my couch. When I ran into it he lowered me down slowly, never stopping kissing me, until he completely covered me on the cushions.
“Wednesday night was too long ago,” he murmured. He kissed my neck as his hands snaked beneath my shirt, running his palms over my stomach.
I sighed and surrendered to him as my nipples pebbled beneath my bra. Was it always going to be like this with us? We had only been together a week, but I couldn’t ever imagine being like this with anyone else. Jason made it clear he didn’t want to go anywhere, and I had no reservations about plunging headfirst into his plan for our future. My pragmatic side told me to be careful, take it slow, make sure I really knew him before I gave myself over to him. But it was too late. He held me in the palm of his hand and I knew he would never harm me. We’d had sex several times now without a condom, and I wasn’t on birth control. He didn’t mention it, so neither did I. And with how badly we wanted each other, I didn’t doubt I would be pregnant soon.
“I get so wet just thinking about it, Jason. My pussy needs you so bad.” The dirty talk was still new to me, but Sadie reassured me that most guys liked it. Jason seemed to respond to it, moving one of his hands from my stomach to cup my core.
“You’re so warm down here. It makes me so fucking hard, baby, knowing you’re sitting at your desk all day writhing in need for me. I stroke myself through my pants while I read emails or check conference calls, just imagining you beneath my desk sucking me off.”
I placed my hand between us to feel his cock, hard and long against his leg. It didn’t hurt me any more, only gave me pleasure. I was so glad I trusted him to take care of me.
“I need to take you now, sweetheart.” Jason moved my hand away as he unbuttoned my jeans and pulled them off my legs, sending them flying across the room along with my underwear. A moment later his pants were around his thighs and he was pushing into me slowly. My head fell back with the wonderful fullness that came along with having his cock in my pussy, the way he made me stretch and pushed on all the right places inside me.
“God, Jason, you feel so good.”
“That’s ‘cause inside you is where I belong, baby.” He thrust his hips against me as he fondled my breasts through my shirt. I moaned as he ran his hands over my nipples, craving a closer touch but not willing to ask him to stop to remove more clothes. He was right; it had been way too long since Wednesday. The ache I’d felt all day Thursday and today wasn’t soreness from his girth, but the absence of him. “I’m gonna make you come so hard around me, so my cum squirts deep inside you where it wants to be.”
My heart trilled. I loved it when he talked about coming inside me, like he was thinking about our future baby too. I raised my hips in response, grinding my clit against him so I trembled a little.
“So close, Jason.”
“I can tell. You’re squeezing me so fucking hard.” He spoke through gritted teeth as he thrust harder, grabbing the arm of the couch for more leverage. “Let go, my love.”
There. He said it. Well, not exactly, but it was close enough that my eyes flew open and we stared at each other as I moaned. The orgasm rose from my core, spreading up my torso until it took over my head and I screamed as Jason pressed his mouth against mine, swallowing my cries, and I heard him grunt as he found his own release inside me. He froze mid-thrust, pushing hard against my clit and extending my pleasure even further.
When he finally collapsed and let himself fall on top of me, it was I who took his face in my hands and peppered kisses around his face.
“I love you, too,” I whispered, and he wrapped me up in his arms so tight like he never wanted to let me go.
“I’ve loved you since I first saw you at that career fair,” he whispered, stroking my hair. “I would have done anything to get you close to me. I’m so glad we’re together.”
We clung to each other as the light faded through my windows, until our stomachs growled in tandem and we laughed awkwardly together. We had been so wrapped up in each other, unable to extricate ourselves, that we completely forgot about dinner.
“Let’s go out for food tonight.” He kissed my cheek as he finally pulled himself out of me. I licked my lips at the sight of his cock, still semi-hard and glistening with the moisture from our arousal. He smiled as he tucked himself into his pants and handed me my own clothes. “I need to show you off to the world.”
“It would be my pleasure to be seen with you in public, my love.”
I grabbed my purse as we strolled out into the street hand in hand. Everything really was perfect.
Jason
I let myself into Amanda’s apartment the next morning bearing coffee and cinnamon rolls. I hadn’t been able to spend the night because she had a volunteer event this morning, so I planned to have the entire apartment clean and her morning snack piping hot and ready by the time she got home. The thought of her walking in to all the dishes washed and her clothes folded made my heart light. She would see that I could take care of things while she was busy with her life away from me, and it would make her even more confident in our future together.
The moment I stepped in the door, I knew something was wrong. There was something off about the air in the room. An extra presence that didn’t belong. I carefully set down the food and turned slowly to find Logan watching me from the living room.
I recognized him right away. I’d memorized his face after the incident at Amanda’s apartment so I would know him anywhere. I didn’t want him anywhere close to her, but he’d managed to get into her apartment.
After this, she was moving in with me. No questions asked.
Just as I started to speak, the door opened behind me.
“I smell coffee!” Amanda’s voice broke the tension in the room like a razor blade. She gasped as she stepped into the apartment and saw Logan, her purse clattering to the f
loor as she cried out.
I put one arm across her chest and stepped in front of her, covering her with my body. She put her hands against my back as she peeked around my shoulder.
“Stay behind me,” I muttered to her. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Be careful.” The fear in her voice broke my heart. I would kill Logan for making her feel this way. No one had a right to make my angel so scared and so sad. This asshole needed to learn his lesson once and for all.
“I heard you got a little visit from the authorities the other night.” Logan sneered as he stood and walked toward us, stopping a few feet in front of me. “Amanda, what the hell do you think you’re doing with a guy like this?”
“We know it was you who called them, Logan.”
I shushed her over my shoulder, never taking my eyes off the man in front of me. “You need to learn when to take ‘no’ for an answer, asshole. The lady has moved on.”
“I’m the only person good enough for her.”
I bristled. No one was good enough for Amanda, and whoever was lucky enough to receive her love had better thank their lucky stars. But not this asshole—he thought he owned her just because they dated for a while. Well, I had the privilege of loving her now, and I never intended to screw up as badly as he had to lose her.
“This ends today, Logan. You walk away now, we won’t press any charges. But if you insist on continuing to be an asshole, we’re going to have a problem.”
The words weren’t even fully out of my mouth before he lunged at me. Amanda cried out as she fell into the table behind me, the coffee spilling onto the floor. I slipped and fell, Logan landing on top of me as his hands latched around my neck. I hissed at the coffee burning my back, but I couldn’t afford to let him get the upper hand. I could hear Amanda in the background frantically talking to the police, but I intended to have this taken care of long before they got here.
I slammed my fist into Logan’s face, earning myself a knee to my solar plexus. I grunted and hit him again, finally dislodging his hands from around my throat as he rolled off me.
“Fuck you, man.” He spit in my face and tried to jump onto me again. I scrambled far enough away that I was able to jump to my feet.
“I gave you a choice, Logan. And now you’re going to regret it.”
He went for my legs next, hoping to take me to the floor again, but I met his attack with my foot—connecting right underneath his chin. He groaned and fell back. Blood gushed from his mouth, mixing with the coffee on the floor. He spat out a tooth.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he slurred.
“Not as much as you are.” I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him up, readying a final punch, when I felt hands on my bicep staying the blow. I looked over my shoulder at Amanda holding me back.
“He’s already done, Jason.” Her eyes overflowed with tears. Was she crying for him? “Please don’t do anything else that could get you in trouble.”
I softened and pushed Logan away. He fell against the wall and slid to the floor, poking around in his mouth for more loose teeth.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me,” she whispered. “He got what he deserved. But if you got sent away for defending me, I don’t know how I would survive.”
I folded her into my arms, keeping Logan in the corner of my eye at all times. “I’d never do anything that would separate us, darling. You can count on that.”
The wail of police sirens filled the air and a moment later, officers were flowing through the open door and slapping handcuffs on Logan. He was screaming about being attacked by me, but a few words from Amanda confirmed the real story. After we gave separate statements about what had happened, they left us with the promise that Logan would face justice for his crimes.
When we were alone in the apartment once more, I grabbed Amanda’s hand and led her over to the couch. The coffee on my clothes had turned cold, and my skin was clammy, but I didn’t want to put off this moment any longer.
“Amanda, I’m so sorry this happened to you. I can’t believe some man thought he had so much control over you as to go this far.”
She sniffled a little and squeezed my hand. “It’s all right, Jason. I have you now, and he’s never going to bother us again.”
“I want to make sure of that. And I’m sorry if this seems sudden, but after today I can’t wait any longer.”
She stared wide-eyed as I slipped off the couch to the floor, balancing on one knee, and gasped as I pulled the small black ring box out of my pocket.
“I bought this the day I first saw you. I knew even then I wanted you by my side for the rest of my life, but only if that’s what you want too. We don’t know each other very well, but I promise I will love you until the day I die. I will always take care of you. And I will always respect your wishes when it comes to running your own life. Amanda, will you be my wife?”
She nodded right away, unable to speak with her hands over her mouth and tears of joy—I hoped—streaming down her face. She extended a shaky left hand, and I slipped the diamond onto her ring finger.
“It is soon,” she hiccuped, “but I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Thank you, Jason, for making me the happiest woman on Earth.”
We both rose to our feet, and she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down for a kiss. As our tongues joined, and the band of her ring pressed against the back of my neck, I forgot all about the cold coffee on my clothes and the mess we’d have to clean up because of Logan’s intrusion. There was only us, and only ever would be us, for the rest of our lives.
“Come on,” she said, still a little teary but with a naughty grin on her lips. “Let’s get you out of those clothes.”
Jason
1.5 years later
In hindsight, perhaps tonight wasn’t the best night to try making lasagna for the first time. Amanda usually made dinner, but I had been flexing more of my cooking muscles over the past few weeks. I wanted to make sure she had something nice to eat when she got home from her first day back at work.
Just as the timer for the oven went off, our six week old son Aaron started screaming. Kumo barked, letting me know right away he needed attention, in case I hadn’t heard. He and Missy had taken to each other and Aaron right away when Amanda and I moved in together, and for that I was eternally grateful. I abandoned the oven and ran to Aaron, lifting him out of the chair where he’d been rocking happily for the past several minutes.
“What’s going on, buddy?” I cradled him against my chest, patting his back soothingly. “Mom will be home soon, and she can feed you, okay?”
Aaron crinkled his nose, and I sniffed the air, wondering if he needed a diaper change. But the reason for his face was the smell of burning cheese coming from the kitchen.
Oh, shit!
I set Aaron back in the chair and ran to the kitchen, pulling the browned lasagna out of the oven and fanning at the smoke. I prayed the smoke detector wouldn’t go off.
The door clicked open, and I breathed a sigh of relief as Amanda’s voice filled the house—our house.
“How are my two best boys?”
“Your neediest one could use a kiss,” I called. A moment later her lips smacked against my cheek.
“That bad, huh?”
I shook my head as I continued to pull burned cheese off the top of our dinner. “How did you do this for six weeks on your own? I’ve been going crazy all day trying to keep him entertained and stay on top of all the chores.”
Amanda’s pregnancy and labor had gone off without a hitch. She loved being at home with our son, but she was missing work. She’d been promoted—not by me—a couple of weeks before our wedding, right after we found out she was pregnant with our first child. After a few weeks at home, she wanted to go back to work, but wasn’t ready for Aaron to go to daycare yet. So, I decided to use the other six weeks of my company’s parental leave so she could go back to work and I would
stay with Aaron at home for a few more weeks.
“I guess you’ll find out.” She grinned over her shoulder as she collected Aaron, who immediately curbed his wailing. “I missed you so much,” she whispered, laying soft kisses against his head. She came back to the kitchen and continued cradling Aaron with one hand, while pulling a packet of cheese out of the fridge and setting the oven to broil. She sprinkled a new layer of cheese over the top of the lasagna and pulled open the door as I placed it back inside the oven.
“You are a superhero.” I sighed in relief and collapsed into a kitchen chair. I leaned over to kiss her temple as she sat next to me.
“I missed you too, you know.” She smiled at me softly.
I ran my thumb up and down her shoulder. “Same here, baby.”
We ate the salvaged lasagna as she told me about her day, then we watched TV together as she fed Aaron. When he was finally clean and down for the night, I did the dishes while she took a shower. When I came into the bedroom, she lay naked on the bed.
A grin grew up one corner of my mouth. “Why, Mrs. Graves, you seem to have lost your clothing.”
She smiled and rolled onto her stomach, kicking her legs in the air like a pinup girl. She was still a little self-conscious about her belly, but I loved every curve and stretch mark that showed how well she had cared for our child over the past several months.
I stripped off my shirt as I joined her on the bed. I ran my hand down her back, feeling the nodules of her spine and finally resting my fingertips on her ass.
“I hope this is okay, Mr. Graves. I felt so hot and needed to cool off.”
My hand found its way between her legs, parting her soft folds and finding her wet and waiting for me. I slipped one finger inside her, and she sighed as she rolled to her back.
“You seem rather warm right here, Mrs. Graves. I’m not sure your plan is working.”
She could only respond in whimpers as I stroked her inner walls, then brought my thumb against her clit to send her back arching into the air. Even after a full day of working and an evening spent caring for our child, she was still ready and waiting for me. I was the luckiest bastard on earth to have found a woman this perfect, and even luckier that she chose me day after day as her partner for life.