by Penny Wylder
The orgasm pours into me like a tide. One long rush that tightens everything in me and releases like a tornado that’s going to change my life forever. I can’t stop feeling it and him, savoring every second of it. And then Rey comes, his face is buried in my neck, lips caressing my skin.
It takes us long minutes to come back to ourselves, both of us catching our breath. I can feel the beating of his heart against my chest, and I don’t want to unwrap myself from him.
“That was—”
“Yeah,” I respond, still completely out of it.
He gently pulls away, and I don’t move, listening to the sounds of him getting rid of the condom and washing his hands before he comes back to me.
His face appears over mine with a grin. “You okay?”
“I’m good,” I laugh. “Maybe. It’ll take a while to recover.”
“We still have those drinks to finish,” he says. “Besides, you can’t be that eager to get back to that house.”
I sigh. “I’m really not.”
“Stay here,” he says, and I raise an eyebrow. “I’m serious.”
“Really?”
Rey chuckles. “I’m not asking you to move in, I’m just offering you a bed in a house that doesn’t have any holes in it.”
I try to suppress my smile and can’t. “Okay.”
“Oh, and orgasms. I’m offering you those, too.”
Pressing my lips together, I finally sit up. “I think that’s a pretty fair offer.”
“Me too.”
6
Reynard
Affliction Creek is a pitiful excuse for a creek.
During the summer monsoons, it fills up and flows, but most of the time it’s just a little trickle of water and mostly mud. Like right now.
This morning when I woke up to Klara curled against my side, I wanted more than just the amazing sex. I wanted to know how I had missed her the first time around. So, I convinced her to come to our old haunt for a bit and get some fresh air before the both of us went back to work on the impossible project.
I want to know more about that, too.
Currently, I’m sitting on a rock watching Klara wade in the few inches of water that there is. She wiggles her toes. “For some reason I remember this whole place being…more.”
“Everything seems that way when you come back to a place with more experience.”
She sighs. “I suppose that’s true. This was one of the only places that felt safe and free. Makes sense that I would have built it up in my mind.”
“But now that you’ve seen the world a little…”
“Yeah.” She looks down at her feet.
I take a sip of the water bottle that I brought with me. “Where did you go? I’ve been meaning to ask, and I keep getting distracted.”
Klara blushes. “I live in Austin now. I’m an interior designer, so I’m not completely clueless about this stuff. I can hold my own with the tools. But I’ll admit that some of the other stuff I don’t have experience with. Plumbing. Wiring. That kind of thing.”
A pleasant shock of surprise rolls through me. At the very least I feel better about her parents giving her the project. They weren’t completely throwing her to the sharks. “Good to know. And why exactly are you under this kind of clock with this kind of project?”
She sighs. “I knew you were going to ask.”
“Of course, I am. You know why.”
Slowly she picks her way across the little stream and comes to sit next to me on the rock. We’re not touching, but close. “You know my dad’s thing?”
I did.
A few years ago, Klara’s father invented a toy that absolutely went viral. A type of silly putty that changed color with the heat in your hands and also bounced like a superball. It was like flubber, Silly Putty, and a mood ring all wrapped up into one, and everybody had to have it. It was the gift every kid wanted for Christmas, and the Miller’s had their big break. They moved out of the house I’d seen Klara at two days ago and across town.
“Yeah?” I ask.
She clears her throat. “Well, after they moved, my parents still really loved that neighborhood, and they bought all the houses. It’s always been their intention to renovate them for a little vacation community.”
Honestly, it made sense. Affliction Creek is actively trying to rehabilitate its image and create more of a tourism industry. We’re close enough to the major cities to be an option. Though privately, I think that the city leaders are going to have to do a little more to draw people in than proximity. “So, what changed?”
Klara sighs deeply. “My mom got sick. Cancer. She’s been in and out of the hospital for a couple of years now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I honestly had no idea.
“It is what it is,” she shrugs. “She’s doing okay. On and off. My dad was supposed to keep working on the houses and stuff, but he really wanted to be there for my mom, and there wasn’t much of a hurry.”
She steals a sip from my water bottle, and I let her. “And then everything seemed like it all happened at once. My dad fell and broke his hip, so he can’t do any work until he’s fully recovered from the replacement surgery. The city is giving my parents a deadline, and the money from the WonderSqueeze is almost gone since it was a fad.”
WonderSqueeze. That’s what it’s called. “What did the city say?”
“That if the renovation isn’t done in two weeks, they’re taking the property with eminent domain. I think their plan is to build some kind of shopping complex.”
“So, your parents want to get it done.”
Her voice holds more emotion than she’s letting on. “They want to try. With the money running out, this was the plan. And it will be great if I can make it happen.” Klara stands suddenly. “Which means I can’t just sit here all day. This is fun, but I have to go.”
I stand with her. “Hold on a second. Let’s go back to my house for a minute and let me make some calls. I have some favors I can call in.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
She shades her eyes and looks up at me. “Why, Rey?”
“Do I need a reason for wanting to help you?”
“You may not need a reason, but I think that you have one.”
I laugh softly as we start to walk. “I used to live there too, remember? I have a soft spot for the neighborhood, and I also know what it’s like to get out of there. And because I know that, I don’t want anyone to have to go backwards to that kind of life. The city didn’t exactly give them a lot of time.”
Klara makes a face. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was intentional. The city wants the property, and they’ve been waiting for a chance to get it.”
“Consider that another reason then,” I say with a grin and hold my front door open for her. “I don’t like bullies, and even though I like what they’re trying to do to the city, it shouldn’t be at the expense of anyone.”
“Okay,” she says, running a hand through her hair. “I’m not really in a position to say no. I’ll show you the budget that we have. I already know that it’s not enough, but maybe we can get some help.”
Stepping forward, I catch her around the waist and pull her against me. It’s only been a couple of hours since I felt her body and it’s already too damn long. I feel like a teenager again, unable to keep my hands to myself. And then I kiss her.
The way she melts against me is not something that I’m likely to forget. And she’s right, I do have reasons for wanting to help her. The ones that I listed, and the ones I didn’t. Mainly that I want to be close to her, and this is a way to do that. Also, I don’t think that I’d be able to live with myself if I didn’t help.
“Like I said, I have some favors I can call in. Give me a couple minutes, and I’ll make some calls.”
And I do exactly that. I go into my office and call all my friends, and I call in those favors. Klara has no way of knowing that I’m one of the most sought-after contrac
tors in the state for what I can do with wood. And she has no idea that offering people a chance to work with me in exchange for some reduced-cost labor is something that they’ll jump at.
In less than an hour I’ve secured us a crew to start the next day. A good one, too. A crew that will work fast and work well. With them on board, we might actually have a chance at pulling this off.
Klara knocks on the doorframe. “How’s it going?”
“Excellent. There will be people here tomorrow to start.”
She blinks. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Holy shit.” She’s across the room and in my lap in seconds, kissing me. This is a situation I have absolutely no problem with. “I owe you.”
“You really don’t.”
“I really do. You have no idea.”
Klara sinks to her knees, running her hands down my body as she does. I see the gleam in her eye and catch her wrists as they move to my belt. “I told you, Klara. I don’t want any kind of payment like that.”
Her throaty laugh sends blood exactly where she wants it, and I harden inside my jeans. “Trust me, Rey, I’m not paying you back. I’m taking advantage of the fact that we now have some extra time on our hands, since we can’t start without the crew and we already have a list of what needs to be done.” She lowers her voice lower. “And maybe I want to go back to last night and have you come all over me.”
“Christ.”
Klara smiles again as she undoes my belt, and when she pulls my cock out it’s already hard and I cannot believe that this is actually happening. I watch as she looks at me like I’m the best thing she’s ever tasted.
Then she flicks out her tongue and Oh. My. God.
My vision goes blurry, and my head falls back in my chair. “Holy shit.”
Warm heat closes over the head of my cock, and the smooth strokes of her tongue draw pleasure up faster than I thought possible. I’m not going to last long if she keeps doing that.
I look back down at her and the sight of her lips wrapped around my cock is enough to make me come. I memorize the look in her eyes and the feeling of her lips sliding along my shaft. So fucking hot.
“Hey, Rey, I had some extra time today and I wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch?”
At first, I don’t process the fact that someone is speaking, and in the next moment, everything happens. Both Klara and I freeze, and I look at the door that I didn’t hear open, where my friend Amanda is staring at Klara and me, my cock still in her mouth.
Well. This is awkward.
7
Klara
Oh my god. Oh my god.
The last thing in the world that I thought would happen right now is for someone to walk into Rey’s office. Let alone Amanda Stevens. Is this actually happening?
I get off my knees and put distance between me and Rey as quickly as possible, and he’s putting himself away quickly too. He looks embarrassed.
Oh fuck.
I should have asked if he was with someone. I should have figured that he was. Reynard is far too sexy and successful to be single. Mortification and heartbreak flow over me in a wave.
Amanda is still standing there, mouth slightly open as she looks between the two of us.
She went to school with us too, and she was the person that everyone wanted to be. The gorgeous, popular cheerleader that every guy wanted. Prom Queen. Literally everything that’s the opposite of me.
“Um,” I say. “I should go.”
“Klara,” Rey says.
“No, that’s okay. I understand. Thank you for the help, it won’t be necessary.” I brush past Amanda without saying anything. What would I say? I can’t even look her in the eye. And if I did, I’m pretty sure that I would find a look that would kill, since I’m pretty sure that she just caught me with her boyfriend.
Jesus. When did I become the other woman?
I can still taste Rey on my tongue. Smokey and whiskey, just like his kisses tasted last night. And even under the mortification, I’m still aroused, though that’s fading now.
How could I be this stupid? My skin is prickling with embarrassment. At this rate, if Amanda is still as popular as she was, after I’m finished here, I’ll never be able to set foot in Affliction Creek again.
I let myself into my childhood home and lean against the door. “Fuck.”
I’m barely standing there five minutes before there’s pounding on the door. “Klara.”
My stomach drops at the sound of his voice. “Go away, Rey.”
“Not until you let me in to fucking talk to you, because whatever you’re thinking is wrong.”
Against my better judgement, I open the door. “Really? I didn’t just get caught as the other woman? Your girlfriend didn’t just see me on my knees sucking you off?”
“No. And if you’d waited five seconds before running, we could have pushed past the awkwardness and I would have explained. Amanda and I are nothing more than friends. Have never been anything more than friends, even in high school. Trust me, I’m not her type.”
I scoff. “You’re everyone’s type.”
Rey smirks. “Not hers. She gave me permission to tell you this, just so you know. Amanda is a lesbian. So, when I tell you that she doesn’t give a shit who sucks my cock, it’s true.”
My face flames with an even deeper embarrassment, if that’s even possible. “Okay,” I tell him. “I need to go die now. You can go home.”
I try to shut the door, and just like that first day, he catches it with his shoe. “I don’t think so.”
“I thought on the way over here that I would never be able to set foot in this town again because everyone would know I was a home wrecker. Now I’ll never be able to because I’ll just perish of embarrassment.”
Rey laughs, and I let him push past me and into the house. As he does, I hear a meow. “Seems your friend is back.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s exactly what I need right now.”
“He’s kind of cute.” He looks behind me. “Have you thought about feeding him?”
“If I feed him, he’ll stick around even more than he already is, and I don’t even live here. I can’t adopt a pet.”
Rey smirks. “Maybe I’ll feed him then.”
“Feel free but do it at your house.”
I turn away and he catches me around the waist, pulling my back to his chest. “Hold on a second.”
The way he feels against me is amazing, and I’m having visceral memories of last night and when he woke me up in the middle of the night with drugged kisses and whispered words. But my heart is still beating too fast, and the instinct to hide is overwhelming.
“You still planning on running away?”
“Maybe,” I admit.
He kisses the skin below my ear. “I know it was a touch awkward, but the desk blocked almost everything. All she saw was the back of your head.”
“I’m not exactly sure how that makes it better,” I mutter under my breath.
“You’re embarrassed,” he says. “But you don’t have to be.”
I shudder against my will. “Yeah, but—”
“But what? Shit happens. And Amanda doesn’t care.”
Swallowing, I try to dig deeper into the feeling. What is the source of the embarrassment? Why do I feel like I need to bury myself in blankets and never come up for air?
I pull away from him slowly and lean against the railing of the stairs. “Amanda, no matter her preferences, was who everyone wanted to be in high school. And it was just…the idea that I hadn’t even asked if you were involved…” I shake my head. “This still seems too good to be true. You’re Reynard Mast. You’ve always been hot as fuck, and never in a million years did I ever think that you would want me. Getting caught like that and thinking that you were together, it made too much sense. You’re the kind of people that go together.”
Rey looks at me, and there’s no humor in his eyes, and he approaches me slowly. “You know what I’ve been wonde
ring the past two days?”
I bite my lip and shake my head.
“I’ve been wondering how in the fuck I missed you the first time, when you were right in front of me.”
Rey’s mouth crashes down on mine, and it’s a kiss I’ll never forget as long as I live. Claiming and demanding. Hot, deep, and hard. The kind of kiss that’s meant to send a message. Every cell in my body lights on fire under his lips, and his hands follow, dragging down my sides.
“Wait,” I say, a little breathless from his attention. There’s nothing that I want more than this, but now my mind is spinning with everything going through it. “I need to ask now. You’re not with anyone? As in, there aren’t any other people that are going to walk in on us?”
“No,” he says without hesitation. “I am completely unattached, unless you count you. And I really, really would like to count you.”
I catch my breath. It feels like I just stepped off a rollercoaster and I’m still dizzy. “I guess I overreacted.”
Rey smiles and I feel it against my neck. “I think you reacted exactly like anyone should have reacted, and I don’t blame you at all for that.” He laughs softly. “I’m just glad you gave me a chance to explain. Amanda and I were always friends, and now that we’re adults, we still are. Plus, she’s one of the few women I can count on never trying to get into my pants.”
I laugh at that, and it turns to a moan as his tongue flicks out and draws a line up my jaw.
“I’m glad you came back here. Now we can get your suitcase, so you don’t have any other excuses not to be in my bed.”
Heat drops through me at that thought. The moment has passed and I’m not about to get on my knees again right now, but the idea of being with him again after last night is so real that it makes me shiver.
“You make a good argument,” I say.
“I know I do.”
Another strident meow comes from my left, and I lean my head back against the wall. “I think you came back here for him,” I say. “Just came back for some pussy.”