Bittersweet: An Equilibrium Novella

by Christina C Jones

I nodded. “Well, it was eggnog, but I finished the last of that. I’m on to spiked hot chocolate now.”

  “The one from Guilty Pleasures, that we use at Urban Grind?”

  “Duh.” I grabbed a mug from the cabinet, then went to the stove. “I made a whole pot.”

  He didn’t say anything against it, so I filled his mug halfway, then poured a generous shot of bourbon into a separate glass. I handed him both to let him regulate his own liquor intake.

  He poured half of it into his hot chocolate and the rest down his throat.

  Without flinching.

  “It was a little rough tonight,” he explained, handing me the shot glass back. “We got slammed, right before closing. Great for profits, not so good for the staff.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve had more of those nights than I can count. But… looks like you survived it though.”

  He took a long sip from his mug and nodded. “Yeah, I made it out pretty okay. And I got invited inside for a drink? Oh, I’m good now.”

  “Don’t read too much into it,” I told him, shaking my head. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Like that kiss didn’t, right?”

  “Yes, exactly.” I moved out of the kitchen to retrieve my own mug, which I’d left on the coffee table to answer the door. I wasn’t surprised that Royal followed me, nor was I surprised by his over-familiarity in making himself comfortable in my space.

  “Make yourself at home,” I said, bringing a grin to Royal’s face before he took a long sip from his mug.

  “Don’t gotta tell me twice.”

  He reached up, hooking an arm around my waist to pull me down into his lap – only my most valiant effort kept me from spilling my drink all over both of us.

  “Dude, what the fuck?” I screeched, turning to him with furrowed brows.

  He shrugged, his face way too close to mine. “You told me to make myself at home… meaning get comfortable. I can’t speak for you, but this is comfortable as hell to me.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “But nothing,” he interrupted, shaking his head. He’d already put his own mug down, and now he took mine, stowing it beside his. “Tell me this doesn’t feel good. Doesn’t feel right.”

  I let out a sigh, but… I couldn’t really front.

  It did feel good.

  One of his arms draped around my waist, the other hanging comfortably over my thighs… it was… cozy.

  My lack of an answer must’ve been answer enough, because Royal moved in, kissing my neck. Immediately, my eyes fluttered closed, and I silenced all the blaring alarms in my head as his hand slipped between my thighs.

  “Just… straight for the goods, huh?” I breathed, barely, as the sensation of his fingers sliding over my pussy through the fabric of my leggings.

  “We’ve danced around it long enough,” he grunted into my ear, using his free hand to bury in my hair, turning my face toward his. “Let’s get to the point now.”

  Anything I might’ve had to say got swallowed with a kiss. He invaded my mouth first, his hot tongue licking and exploring until he found the right pace. I turned myself so that I was straddling his lap, giving both of us better access to what we wanted. Then, he slipped his hand under the layers of my leggings and panties, dipping into the space between my legs. His grip on my hair kept me in place, kept me grounded as he pushed his fingers into my pussy, using his thumb against my clit to offer throb-inducing pressure.

  “You… are really wet,” he murmured against my lips, casual as hell as if I weren’t on the verge of tears from how good it felt to be touched like this by someone else. “How do you want me to make you cum?”

  “What?”

  I shivered as he ran his tongue down my throat, then licked his way back up.

  “Fingers… mouth… dick?” he offered, explaining his question as succinctly as possible as my hips began to involuntarily rock against his hand. I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back as I basked in the feeling, hypnotized by the pleasurable friction of his fingers. The hand that was in my hair, he pushed underneath my sweater, quickly discovering my braless state. My back arched against him as he plucked my nipple, pinching it hard between his fingers, no relief from the pressure as he brought his mouth back to my ear to ask his question again. “Fingers. Mouth. Or dick?” he growled, and I whimpered in pain and pleasure as he squeezed me harder.

  “All of the above,” I moaned, and the low rumble of his laughter in my ear almost made me come unglued.

  “Good choice.”

  He pressed his thumb against my clit, flicking it back and forth as his fingers plunged deep, harder. His kissing and nibbling on my neck got reckless, and I didn’t care about whatever marks might be left behind – only the feelings.

  Only the orgasm.

  After that first one, Royal wasted no time stripping me out of my clothes, with my Christmas mix still playing in the background. Right there on my couch, the same one he’d spent the night on, he spread my legs open wide, greedily eyeing my pussy like he couldn’t wait to dive in. He used his thumbs to spread me apart, getting his face close enough to take a deep inhale before he looked up, meeting my gaze.

  I damn near launched off the couch, when he put his mouth over my already-sensitive clit and sucked.

  Hard.

  My hands gripped the cushions as he devoured my pussy, hands gripping my ass cheeks to keep me in place. He didn’t hold back, slurping and licking and fucking me with his fingers again as he commanded another orgasm out of me.

  And then… he wasn’t done.

  Panting, and only half-awake, I laid back and watched as he stripped in record speed, only stopping to retrieve a condom from his wallet. Just as I’d suspected, his dick was beautifully thick and more than enough to have me squirming underneath him as he pushed into me as far he could go.

  From there, it was on.

  He hooked my leg over his arm and leaned in to get close as he stroked me. Deep kisses and deep strokes that had me dripping wet and moaning his name with zero reservations.

  Just bliss.

  Eventually though, he sat up, pulling me up on the arm of the couch and hooking both of my legs over his arms. His feet were on the ground, firmly planted as he started stroking me again – faster this time, and harder.

  Faster and harder.

  Harder and faster.

  So fast, so hard that I couldn’t even hold myself upright, I just fell back, letting my upper body rest on the couch cushion as he plunged into me.

  I was so glad the building was empty.

  Cause there was no chance my neighbors wouldn’t have heard me crying Royal’s name. Laying back on the couch like I was offered a whole new, deeper angle of entry and Royal took full advantage, slowing down to give me deep, careful, steady-paced strokes that had me feeling like I’d finally discovered life’s meaning.

  Thighs shaking, heart racing, chest heaving – I was already fast-heading over the cliff, and then he started playing with my clit again as he moved, adding another layer to what was already too much. It felt too good, and I’d drank a little too much, and I was so tired from what he’d already done, but it was so good.

  “Fuuuck, Anika,” Royal groaned, stopping just long enough to pull me back into an upright position, and releasing my legs to lock around his hips. He took my mouth with his again, even though we were both out of breath and panting. “You’re gonna come for me again, right? You’ve got another one in you, don’t you?”

  I shook my head. Even twice was an anomaly that had only happened when I was by myself, and that shit always put me straight to sleep. “I don’t know. I don’t think—”

  “Nah, I need you to give me another one,” he interrupted, growling the words against my lips as he buried himself impossibly deep, holding there for a moment before he pulled back. “I’ve been good to your pussy tonight, right?”

  “Yes,” I whimpered, nodding as dick-induced tears started streaming down my face. He’d found exactly the right
spot, and somehow he knew it. He was pressing into it, sending my nerve endings reeling as I throbbed and contracted around him.

  “Then you can give me on more,” he spoke into my ear, then grazed my earlobe with his teeth. His hands gripped my ass as he finally pulled back, giving me a moment of respite from that intense spot before he stroked me again. “Cum for me, one more time.”

  “I want to, but I—"

  He slammed into me, hard, and I… completely blanked. For a moment, there was nothing in the world except me and Royal’s dick, pushing directly into a button that had to be labeled “Instant, Overwhelming Bliss.”

  And the button was stuck.

  I couldn’t even begin to explain the intensity that ran through me at that moment, sustained by the sudden arrival of his orgasm making him pump into me as he growled into my neck. My fingernails dug into his skin, keeping my tenuous grip on reality until that other-worldly feeling passed, allowing me to collapse onto the couch and slide backward, my feet still propped up on the arm as my hands fell uselessly to my sides.

  With a deep, satisfied breath, Royal dropped to the floor in a place where his head was close to being in line with mine. I think the goodness of it all had us both a little shaken up, cause neither of us said anything until finally, Royal broke the silence between us.

  “So… can I call you Nik now?”

  Seven

  Royal

  Of all the things I expected might happen, waking up to Anika riding me was not one of them. The condom between us was the only reason I could immediately identify that I wasn’t dreaming – responsible things had no place in my fantasies.

  And… well… that condom she’d put on me was the only sign of the Anika I was used to. I’d expected to get put out in the cold in the wee hours of the morning, and instead, here I was, Anika on my dick, taking full advantage of my hardened state to ride me with abandon.

  I could get really, really used to this shit.

  Pushing myself up on my elbows, eyes low from me still being half asleep, I watched her but made no moves to interrupt. Her eyes were closed, mouth open, one hand planted on the bed, the other between her legs. She was in a zone, and I was more than content to be used like this so I let her go on.

  Patience paid off.

  After a few moments, she opened her eyes and met my gaze, holding it for a moment before she leaned in a bit more. I met her halfway, making up the leverage she lost by moving her hand from the bed to wrap her arm around my neck. As soon as our lips met, she started riding me harder.

  And… damn.

  Anika’s pussy was exactly as good as I’d expected, even though she was… different. None of her usual fixations, or bossiness, none of that need for control. She just wanted to feel good, and I had no issues whatsoever obliging that.

  In every possible position.

  Afterward, though, once we’d caught our breaths, I felt the shift in her. The sexual high had worn off, and now she was really coming to terms with what had transpired between us, from last night to this morning… and honestly well before that.

  I could tell by the way she hopped out of bed, and sprinted to the bathroom.

  So… of course, I followed her.

  She was already in the shower when I made my way to the toilet to relieve myself and dispose of the condom. The sound of the flushing was what alerted her to my presence – I was still sorting out what to say when she snatched the shower curtain back to glare at me.

  “What the hell are you doing?!” she hissed.

  My eyes went wide. “Oh, shit, my bad – that didn’t mess with the water, did it?”

  “No, fool. I mean… what are you still doing here?”

  I frowned, looking around for a second before I brought my gaze back to her. “I’m sorry… did I imagine waking up with you on my dick, or…?”

  Her pretty face flushed with embarrassment, and she let the shower curtain fall back. “I know what we did, Royal. I’m saying… you can go home now.”

  Shaking my head, I walked up to the shower, pulling the printed fabric of the curtain aside for me to step in. “So this is how you do me? Use me for my body then send me home without washing up first?”

  “Get your ass out of here,” she insisted, but didn’t offer a single shred of resistance when I wrapped her soapy body in my arms.

  “You know you’re not going to be able to pretend this didn’t happen, right? Act like nothing changed between us?”

  She tilted her face up to me, and I tried my damndest to read her mind as she stared. “And what makes you think that? Cause I’m really good at pretending.”

  “Not with me,” I said, slipping a hand between her wet legs.

  “Wait,” she hissed. “I’m… just no.”

  I pulled my hand back, sliding it up to her waist instead. “Care to elaborate?”

  “Do I need to?” her gaze was steady on mine, waiting for a challenge that wasn’t coming.

  “No. Do you want me to stop touching you completely?”

  It took her a moment to blink, and I was just about to move away from her when she finally answered.

  “No. you don’t have to.”

  I nodded. “Okay. So… you’re not quite back to completely disgusted by my presence yet.”

  Anika raised an eyebrow. “Who said I ever left?”

  “The fact that you’ve been fairly nice this morning. Definitely wasn’t expecting to wake up to you on my dick,” I explained.

  She laughed at that, shaking her head before she went back to soaping herself with the half-abandoned loofah in her hand. “I wasn’t being nice to you. I was being nice to myself.”

  “Oh, is that how it was?” I chuckled, taking it upon myself to sequester the loofah – she looked like she was struggling a little with her back. So, I did it for her, ignoring the comical way surprised registered on her face.

  Probably the same look I wore when she offered to reciprocate.

  “You gonna be okay today?” I asked after we were out of the shower, and dressed. It was barely four in the morning now, and Anika would need to leave soon to open the coffeehouse. I’d shown up just before one in the morning. And there hadn’t been much sleep since then.

  “I’ll be heading straight for the espresso machine when I get there, but yeah, I’ll be fine. I wasn’t the biggest fan of these shorter, rolling shifts when Roman first introduced them, but I have to admit… I do feel more well-rested now,” she said, looking up at me as she pulled on a pair of boots.

  “Nah… that was this dick,” I told her with a wink, and she rolled her eyes.

  “I mean in general, not just… today. I thought I was going to be swooping in to save your ass a lot, like there would be something every day. But… I’ll admit that you’ve surprised me, Royal. You were actually paying attention between getting on my nerves, and you…” she let out a deep sigh, like the next part was just so tough for her to say. “You’re a good manager, Royal. And you really do bring value to the team.”

  I frowned, moving to get closer to her as I buttoned my coat. “Wait… what was that now?” I asked, cupping a hand around my ear. “Did you… did you want to see me on a nude calendar?”

  “Boy, you heard what I said to you!” she laughed, throwing one of her gloves at me, which I caught and tossed back.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I did. And I won’t front… that means a lot to me coming from you. I kinda needed a win, and my harshest critic let me taste her pussy and thinks I’m good at my job. This is a banner fuckin’ day, wow.”

  “You needing a win?” Anika frowned. “That seems like all you do, to me. You just strike me as that type.”

  I shrugged. “Well, that’s what comes of making assumptions,” I told her. “Because before Roman took a chance on me, all I was doing was losing.”

  Her frown deepened. “Took a chance? Your big cuz certainly doesn’t treat you like somebody he’s taking a chance on.”

  “Just because that’s what you see, doesn’t
make it a reality, Anika. Three years ago, I had a fancy-ass corporate job in marketing. I knew it was what I wanted from the moment I hit BSU. I got my Bachelor’s in three years, went straight into their Master’s program. Competitive as fuck. Had my first panic attack – had no clue what that was. I was in the cardiac hospital hooked up to all kinda shit, sneaking to look at my books when I could. I finally got a diagnosis – anxiety – and I ignored it cause I felt like… hell, we’re all anxious to finish this shit and be the best at it, all that.”

  Anika shook her head. “That’s… not really how it works though.”

  “Oh… trust me, I figured that out. My body and my brain forced me to. I finish my Master’s – finish at the top – after damn near killing myself to do it. I come back, get the cushy internship – still competitive. Still killing myself. Still trying to make sure nobody notices that I look like I’m having a heart attack, not taking the meds because when I do, I can’t perform, just… a mess. I got the job though.”

  “Well yeah, but at what cost?”

  “I didn’t think it mattered. All that mattered was getting to the top. Clawing my way if I had to. That shit all fell apart pretty quick though. It all just became… debilitating, you know? Like my brain was literally shutting down on me. My body would just refuse. I couldn’t meet a deadline, couldn’t finish a project, couldn’t think, none of it. Obviously, they let me go. And… here I am.”

  Anika’s eyes were wide open, apparently thrown by what I’d revealed to her. “Wow. But… you seem to be managing pretty well now? I never would’ve thought…”

  “Yeah, I manage. Try to keep myself out of high-stress environments, and figured out the right dose with the proper meds,” I explained. “I still want to be successful though. And I’m still good at marketing, still good at the things that make a business a business. Which is what brought me to Roman. As long as I take my time… I’ll be good.”

  She gave me a little smile and a nod. “I think so too. So… is that why you didn’t end up an entertainer, like Noble? I mean… you’ve got the looks, the voice, the personality…”