by Bex Dane
"It doesn't yet. But it will. Trying to finish the roof before the first snowfall."
"Do you have anyone helping you?"
"Torrez, my boss, gave me a four-man crew. I could use fifty, but if I make it with a small crew, he'll be more impressed. Subcontractors will help out with landscaping and electrical. I just need to supervise and coordinate. I'm doing most of it myself because I want to make sure it's done right."
"Did the tile arrive?"
"Yep. High-quality stuff. It'll look good. Come on. I'll show you the best part."
Her cute butt bobbed in my face as she climbed the spiral staircase off the entry. She shimmied through the crawlspace in the third-floor ceiling into a room only five feet in diameter. Just enough for two people.
"What's this? An attic?"
"A turret. Look out the window." I didn't have the glass in yet, so the cold air blew her hair back as she leaned on the sill. I'd worked like a bat outta hell to finish the roof in here for tonight. She stiffened when I wrapped an arm around her waist and tucked her into my chest, but I pressed my lips to her neck and she relaxed. The curve of her ass fit right into my hips.
"It's stunning." She placed her hand on top of my arm. The moon put on a supreme show for me, making the waves a fluorescent white.
With my nose nuzzling her hair, I spoke softly in her ear. "I don't have much to offer you right now, CeCe. That's gonna change. Soon. But until then, I can give you this. The edge of the Atlantic."
Her head lowered as I spoke.
"Think of how wondrous it is. From here, there's miles of water with no land. The whales are their kings. Mother Nature is their god. Our world is inconsequential to them."
A hiccup rocked through her shoulders as she covered her face with her hands.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Shit. I'd made her cry. "You don't like my free gift?"
"I love it. You'll never know how much."
I spun her shoulders and caught her gaze. My carefully put together Cecelia—her makeup smudged under her eyes, her hair a mess from the helmet and the wind—looked incredibly vulnerable and utterly gorgeous. "Why does the ocean make you cry?"
"I bet you can see lots of migrating birds from here."
She never answered me when I asked her a direct question. Alright. I'll play along. "You like to watch birds?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She shook her head and sniffled. Her fingers swiped at her face, smearing the black more, adding more perfect imperfection.
"Tell me about the birds."
"You know. They just… form flocks. They join together for a common goal, flying over us in a V formation. Winter is inevitable. They can't stay where they are, so they flap their wings and go somewhere they'll be happy and the sun will shine."
A loose lock of her hair flapped in the wind and stuck to her face. "And you wish you could fly away?" I smoothed it down her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.
"Yes." She huffed a nervous laugh. "Don't we all?"
"Uh-huh." I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say, but her eyes were begging me to kiss her.
When my hand wrapped in her hair, she arched her neck for me. She tasted warm and sugary like last time, but more desperate. I gave her all I could in that kiss. With a nip at her bottom lip, she opened her mouth and our tongues tangled. What were we talking about? I didn’t know. All I knew was she needed to get naked so I could slam my dick inside her.
No, no, no. Slowly, carefully, gently. I had to break through to her little by little. A jackhammer would only scare her away.
I guided her back against the wall and smashed my body along the length of hers.
She moaned. Her fingers crawled through the short hair on the back of my head and latched onto the longer part at the top.
"Yes, baby." I encouraged her. "Let go."
She sucked in my kisses like she'd been underwater without air for hours and my lips were an oxygen ventilator. Whatever she needed, my mouth provided.
I'd been pressing my hands to the wall behind her head, trying to control myself, but when her hips surged out and ground against my cock through our clothes, all that blew out the open window. My hands flew to her breasts, clasping them from below and pushing them up. I kissed down her neck and lavished the swells of her boobs with kisses.
She pushed me away and stared into my eyes. And as I looked at her through my passion-hazed gaze, she changed.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Too fast.
A dark veil closed over her face. The switch flipped inside her.
I lost her eyes as she dropped to her knees and—what the fuck?—worked open my belt buckle. As she started on the button, her smile faded and her hands faltered. What the hell was this?
She acted… obligated. She'd gone submissive on me. My sexy tutor transformed into my servant. All wrong. I'd seen too many women kneeling to men back home. Women should stand and men should worship. Women are strong, and we are stupid ogres compared to them.
Even though my dick was about to burst free on its own, I reached down and pulled her up with my hands under her arms. "Stand up, darlin'."
Wide, vacant eyes stared back at me. "I thought… Isn't that what you want? Don't you want me to please you?"
"I do when it's right, but something's off. Let me take care of you first." Talking was not gonna work now because my head was in my pants, and she was lost in her own head. I knew one surefire way to get through to her. "Rest against the sill." She leaned her elbows on the window sill, and I kissed her lips.
As I worked open the buttons of her sweater, the alluring candy from earlier came into view again. I trailed my lips down her neck, kissing every inch of newly exposed skin. With each kiss, her muscles relaxed. "This here." I pressed my lips to the top of her cleavage and skimmed the tip of my nose out to one nipple, gave it a gentle nip, and returned to the other one. "This is so magnificent. Any man would give his last dollar to be where I am right now."
Slowly, my Cecelia came back to me. I took my time working off her leggings and skirt, enjoying each new morsel of her exposed skin. Yep, I was right. Pink underwear matching the lacy bra. I inhaled with my nose hovering over her belly button. "God, you smell so good. I could play here all night kissing the curves and dips, smelling you. It's like citrus. It's mesmerizing."
My fingers tugged the panties down her hips, and my mouth followed. I lifted her knee to work them over her foot. I kissed behind her knee, opening her up to me. "This is where I belong. Between your legs, looking at your sweet pussy." She tensed and moved her leg in slightly to obscure my view. "Relax. Let me do this. Feel my lips. My breath. The pure heat between us." I scaled my mouth down to her core and rested my lips just over her clit. "Let it take over. Don't fight it."
I licked her once, nice and gentle.
"Oh god." She arched her back and gripped my hair.
"Feel good?"
"Yes."
"More?"
"Ugh!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
My lips closed around her clit and sucked. I ran my mouth down and tasted her. Sweet honey coated my tongue. "Damn, girl. Tastes so good." I wanted to stay there forever.
"Please… I can't."
"You can. Let me show you. Relax. Feel this." I lapped at her clit and sucked. She writhed and squirmed as I worked two fingers inside her soaking wet pussy. Her breathing sped up and her hips spasmed. "That's it. Good."
She froze and held her breath. With a throaty moan, her soft core gripped my fingers tight, clenching over and over. It went on forever. Heavy breaths gushed out of her, and her clit pulsed on my tongue.
Damn. Beautiful. Hot as hell.
I kissed back up her tummy to her lips. She attacked me again with a hungry kiss. Her hand landed on my dick and squeezed. Not submissive anymore. Aggressive. She wanted it. And damn I did too. I groaned into her mouth.
"Let me help you." She rubbed her hand over my erection.
"
I can wait." I nuzzled her ear with my nose. My dick might self-combust but if she needed me to wait, I could do that.
"No." She had my pants undone and reached inside my briefs to grab my cock.
"Holy shit." I sucked in a breath through my teeth as delicate fingers wrapped around my dick and squeezed. It had been too damn long since anyone's hand except my own had been there.
"Oh my god. It's so big."
I couldn't answer her. I was too busy biting my lip to stave off a very premature ejaculation. Cecelia wearing nothing but her pink bra, her face flushed from her orgasm. Her hand stroked up and down once. "That feels fucking incredible."
My words spurred her on, and she went to town. Our lips crashed together as she pumped my cock like she was trying to get water from a dried up well.
My hips thrust back. We were lost in the moment and in each other. Too soon, a wall of pleasure surged from my balls and I came hard. My come hit the other wall of the turret, I shot so far.
Holy fuck, so damn good.
She kept pumping. Milking every last drop out of me. Cecelia was going to be the death of me.
"Come here." I wrapped her in my arms and turned us so my back was to the wall.
"Was that your first orgasm?" I asked her.
"Yes."
"Good. Happy to give you that."
"Mmm."
"One thing, CeCe. When you're with me—each and every time—you will be pleased before me. At least once. With you tasting this good, I'm thinking twice before I sink my dick into you."
She gasped and her head popped up. "We're not going to do it."
With my hand on her head, I brought her ear to rest on my pec. "Mmm-hmm. Not gonna argue with you right now because I'm liking the way you're looking all relaxed in my arms. Enjoying that. We'll talk about fucking some other time after I get a better sense of what's ticking in your head. Right now I just wanna hold you."
"Okay."
"Are you tutoring me Monday?"
"Yes." She dragged it out like it was obvious.
"You're done trying to end our sessions?"
"Unequivocally." She sighed and snuggled her head up under my chin.
"What's that mean?"
"Without question."
"Ha!" I squeezed her tight. "My new secret weapon. Whenever CeCe starts giving me no, we shouldn't, I make her come hard and it's yes, no questions asked."
She giggled for a long time. She shivered in the cold.
"Let me take you downstairs."
"Okay."
I helped her dress and guided her to the room I was using as a bedroom. I sat on the floor in front of my mattress and pulled her down between my legs, her back to my front.
"Can I ask you a question?" She twisted and peered up at me.
"No."
She punched my chest. "C'mon."
"Okay. What is your question, Cecelia?"
"The Brotherhood was a strict religion, right? They must've kept things from you."
"Mmm-hmm."
"How do you know so much?"
"Like how to make you come hard with my magical tongue?"
"Yeah. And like the song. Simon and Garfunkel? How do you know that?" She pulled away and turned to look at me. I kept a hand on her knee, not ready to lose contact just yet.
"I was away on jobsites a lot. Jeb couldn't enforce his rules when we were off the compound. My brother and I went nuts trying to find stuff. We'd watch TV and radio in hotels or on our phones. You tell teenage boys they can't do something, they'll find a way to do it. Every chance we got, we'd go out cruising for girls. Destry was a chick magnet."
"Your brother? I'm sure you were too."
"Yeah, wasn't too hard to meet girls. Anyway, when I was chosen by the prophet, Jeb brought me into the inner circle. What a fucking double standard. The men could do what they wanted. The women were isolated and secluded. He'd take me up into his private room for men only. He had TV, radio, internet, magazines with pictures of naked women. Porn videos. It was weird, but I got an education on that part of life at least, even if nobody was teaching me to read."
"So you learned about sex from porn?"
"Nah. Mostly from times out with Destry. And Vanity, during the time I was with her."
"Did you guys do it a lot?"
"Vanity? No. We didn't do it. Back on the compound, you couldn't get away with anything. Jeb had eyes everywhere. We managed to take the horses out before everyone woke up, but we never had much privacy. The one time I pushed it... It was her eighteenth birthday. Jeb caught us. Punished her bad. Sent me away. That was the last I saw her before she escaped and Jeb made me go with him after her."
"What happened?"
"He said I had to go with him to Boston. Said he found Vanity and she needed to be brought home."
"So you did it?"
"I wanted to be there as a witness so I could testify against him if he hurt her."
"So how did Jeb get arrested?"
"Vanity and Rogan fooled him into confessing. By then I had all the evidence I needed against Jeb, so I cooperated. I was too late. I'll never forgive myself for not stepping up sooner. I was so blinded by fear, I let Jeb dictate everything."
"I know how that is."
"Do you?"
"Yeah."
"Tell me." I knew she wouldn't, but I asked anyway.
"You know that first night when you fought with Rogan and Dallas?"
I chuckled at her sneaky change of topic. "Yeah?"
"I thought you were incredibly brave. And hot. Like really hot."
"You did?"
"I was shocked you fought back against two big guys. Even when they pulled a gun on you, you didn't back down."
"Mmm."
"And when you looked at me, bumps formed on my skin and my spine tingled. In a really good way."
"Thank you for covering for me."
"I don't even know why I said it was my drink. My gut told me I should."
"It wasn't your drink?" I asked.
"No. Rogan assumed it was, and I didn't have the courage or desire to correct him."
"I thought it was your drink. Was hoping you'd come back. Wasn't hoping to get caught though."
"Must've been a rough time for you."
"I shouldn't have done it. It was my first night in town. I didn't have any money, no place to stay."
"Where did you end up staying that night?"
Oh shit. More reasons for her to run. "You want the truth?"
"Yes, please tell me."
"I didn't have money for a motel room. I thought I might be sleeping under a bridge."
"Oh no."
"I ended up walking the streets of Boston trying to figure out where the bums hung out. In an alley in a bad neighborhood, I witnessed a drug deal going down. The supplier pocketed a bunch of cash and the buyer walked away. It was just me and him in that alley. I knew he had cash and he was a dealer."
"So what did you do?"
"I jumped him. He put up a good fight, but no one can beat me. Took the cash. A thousand bucks. Managed to lift his gun too."
"You attacked a drug dealer and took his gun?"
"Yeah."
"Oh my god. You're crazy."
"A little. We all are. Slept in a motel that night though. Had enough money to buy your damn golden goose coffee and pooshootoe."
"Prosciutto." She corrected me.
"Whatever." I turned her around and settled her back against my chest. "And, babe."
"Yeah?"
"I'll let it go this time. But you will tell me what you fear. Hear me?"
She tensed and answered quietly. "Okay."
Yeah, she was gonna need a lot more orgasms before she'd tell me. Fine with me.
Chapter 9
I was working on the third downstairs bathroom. Torrez knocked on the open door. I put down my wrench and looked up at him from behind a toilet. He had a set of plans in one hand and some beautiful woman on his left. Great. Gave her a good view of my plumber's crack.
I washed my hands and shook his.
"Lavonte."
"Guthrie."
"This is my right-hand man, Blythe."
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." I tipped my hat to her.
"I'm no ma'am and no man. I'm a woman and I know you both know that by the way you're staring at my tits, so let's get real about it."
"My apologies." One thing I'd mastered was kissing ass with a charming smile.
"Accepted." She returned a brief grin and piped down.
"How do you like it so far?" I asked Torrez.
"Looks pretty good. You did all this with four men?"
"Working day and night on my own. It's a big fucking place, but I'll get it done."
"Let's walk it."
Shit. A surprise inspection. I had nails everywhere, sawdust on the floor, pipes laying around.
I walked him through the area I'd finished up front. The stairs to the turret, a guest bedroom, and guest bath.
"The entry and stairs look perfect. Fine workmanship."
"Woodwork's my specialty."
He inspected the shower head in the guest bathroom.
"The plans call for dual thermodynamic waterfall rain shower heads. How many have you done so far?"
"Just this one. It's temporary so I could use it. I'll get the fixtures sorted later."
"You'll need to replumb it. The waterfall pipes in from the roof. The body massage sprays need a dedicated line in the walls."
"Alright."
He rolled the plans out on the bathroom counter. "See it here on the plans?"
"Yep."
"This tub should have LED lights."
"I can add those."
"Read this to me. What does it say?"
"I don't have my glasses."
"Can you read, Zook?"
I didn't answer.
"You did all this and you can't read?"
"Got a really good tutor."
"Impressive. Well done, Zook."
My favorite words. A job well done. I'll take it.
"Blythe will be dropping by to read the plans to you," Torrez announced like he was my father, which he wasn't. I didn't take orders from no one.
"I don't need no help. I can read the drawings."