Hardcore Vanilla

by Golden Angel

  It had made so much sense a few minutes ago.

  "Why do I hang out with you perverts again?" he asked, muttering the question.

  "Because you like to watch," Liam teased, making everyone laugh.

  ******

  She had barely taken three steps into her apartment before Jake was on her, his mouth claiming hers in a searing kiss, backing her up against the wall. Every cell in her body cheered in anticipation. They hadn't stayed at Stronghold very long after Jake had announced his intention to be her date to Melinda's wedding, and he hadn't bothered leaving at a different time than her either. Eventually they were going to have to face the music, but right now he was all wound up and ready to take it out on her...

  Yes, please, and thank you.

  "Let me get my coat off!" she protested weakly when he lifted his lips again.

  “Here,” he said with a wicked grin. “I’ll help.”

  The coat was all she got to take off, although one strap of her negligee did slip down and expose her right breast as Jake pressed her up against the wall and fucked her right there. Sharon moaned, clinging to his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into her, hard and fast.

  Captain Caveman was in the house and enjoying himself.

  She whimpered as his hands slid down to grip her ass, holding her in place so that she didn’t bang her back too hard against the wall.

  “Oh fuck... oh fuck...” She panted, one of her hands sliding into his hair as she bounced on his cock.

  Jake had total control over both of their movements and she really wished she had a mirror by the door because she would have loved to see them moving together, him holding her up, his pants undone only to his thighs, and her still in her red dress with her heels... Whoops, make that one heel. The other one had just thudded to the ground, falling off of her foot from the force of his thrusts.

  She squirmed, whimpering slightly as the fingers of his right hand quested towards the center of her ass, but she didn’t protest. Apparently, Captain Caveman was way dirtier than she’d ever suspected Grumpy Cap could be, and she moaned as his finger pressed against her anus. He didn’t push in, because there was no lubrication, but the stimulation was enough to make her shudder as the nerve endings came to life.

  Just the fact that he wanted to touch her there made her even hotter.

  “Ooh, you dirty fucker!” She gasped the words out right before her orgasm hit and she cried out, arching against him as he thrust up into her. Writhing, she dug her nails into his shoulder as hot bliss ran through her body, making her clench around him as he continued pounding into her spasming pussy.

  All his weight pressed against her a moment later as he let out a low, guttural groan of pleasure, burying his face in her shoulder. The position trapped her clit between their bodies in a deliciously painful way and another wave of pleasure hit her as he came.

  The man made it really hard to stay annoyed with him.

  Chapter 8

  It was a mother-fucking ambush.

  Sharon had shown up to Kate’s on Sunday afternoon, as they’d previously planned, thinking it was going to be just another fun Sunday talking wedding stuff, hanging out, and chilling.

  Nope.

  The bitches had tricked her.

  There had been no sign, no word of a change of plans - hell, none of their cars were in front of Andrew and Kate’s house!

  Sulkily, Sharon sat on the couch in between Kate and Ellie, pouting over the hard root beer she’d been handed. Maria was on the other side of Kate, Jessica and Olivia had taken the armchairs, and Lexie and Hilary were sitting on the floor next to the coffee table – which also put them in easy reach of the snacks. A laptop had been set up on the coffee table as well, the screen facing Sharon, so that Angel and Leigh could video chat in.

  As usual, Melody was attached to Angel's boob. Sharon wasn't super familiar with newborns, but she was starting to understand Angel's disgruntled comments about being a milk machine. The fact that her friends had come up with a way to make sure Angel and Leigh could be part of the confrontation was both ingenious and annoying.

  "This is not what I expected," Sharon muttered grumpily. In the back of her brain she'd known she wouldn't be able to avoid the gaggle forever, but she really had thought today would be just her and Kate. She figured her bestie would want to grill her one-on-one, not call for immediate back up.

  "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition," Angel and Leigh chorused, making everyone laugh. Even Sharon couldn't help but crack a smile.

  "And unlike some of us, the rack would work on Sharon," Ellie said teasingly. Sharon stuck her tongue out at the little masochist, who would enjoy being put on the rack. Ellie usually kept her quips fairly quiet, but it was obvious that hanging out with the rest of the loud-mouthed ladies was having an effect on her. It made Sharon feel a little proud at seeing her own influence.

  "Is an interrogation really necessary?" Sharon whined.

  "No, but we had nothing better to do today and whatever is going on between you and Jake has obviously gotten more interesting," Hilary said, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. She was sitting cross-legged and currently pulling her honey-blonde hair to the back of her head so she could reform the messy bun she was keeping it in.

  Lexie nodded, smirking at Sharon. Her gaze was a little heavier than the others - which wasn't surprising since they were talking about her family. She was obviously going to have a more vested interest than the others. "There's no way my brother is taking you to a wedding out of the goodness of his heart or to keep you from 'having to ask' your ex. A month ago, he wouldn't have cared about any of that... so what changed? And when?"

  Stubbornly, Sharon just took a swig of her drink rather than answering.

  "He did get all weird about her talking to Kincaid last week," Maria pointed out, looking around at everyone else.

  "Plus chased her out to her car to 'apologize' and then didn't come back," Kate murmured.

  Jessica smirked and eyed Sharon thoughtfully. "Must have been some apology."

  Despite herself, Sharon felt a little blush rise in her cheeks.

  "Oh! Oh! Bingo! She's blushing!" Kate poked her in the side. On the computer screen, both Angel and Leigh were leaning forward, as though trying to see the pink.

  "Stop it," Sharon said, batting Kate's hand away and leaning into Ellie to get away from the pokey-finger. "You all are making a big deal out of nothing, and it's just weird being the center of everyone's attention. That's all."

  "So, nothing has been going on between you and Jake? And that's why you both left Stronghold at the same time last weekend, and last night, and he insisted you take him instead of Brian to your cousin's wedding?" Kate asked in disbelief, clearly not buying a word of it.

  Sharon rolled her eyes, trying to think of something that sounded more believable than the total bullshit Jake had been shoveling last night.

  "I don't know if you all have noticed, but we're kind of the only two single people left in this group of friends," she said dryly. "We've ended up talking to each other a little more because of that. Obviously, he's finally started to realize how freaking awesome I am and so we're getting along better. It was nice of him to offer to come to the wedding so I that didn't have to show up with an ex and face all the awkward questions that come with that."

  "As opposed to all the awkward questions now?" Leigh asked, making Angel snort with laughter and Kate's living room fill with giggles.

  "New Year's Eve." Olivia's voice cut through the laughter.

  Shrinking in slightly on herself, Sharon felt her giggle immediately cut off as the intimidating Domme stared at her, her grey eyes laser-focused on Sharon. Eek. Olivia had a bit of a reputation when it came to other people's relationships. She didn't interfere - at least, not unless she was invited - but somehow, she always knew what was going on. And she had given more than one of their friends a verbal smack upside the head when she deemed it necessary.

  While Shar
on was submissive, she wouldn't say she was intimidated by too many people. In fact, it was a very short list of names - but Olivia's was at the top.

  "New Year’s Eve?" she asked, her voice wobbling a little and she could feel her blush creeping back up under Olivia's silvery gaze. The entire room had gone silent, all of them looking at Olivia.

  The redhead leaned forward. She didn't need to loom to be scary. Her eyes narrowed.

  "When we were at the hospital for Melody, Jake was being weird about you and I thought he was just being his usual self; but he wasn't, was he? Something happened at Marquis on New Year’s Eve."

  Unable to escape Olivia's intense scrutiny, Sharon felt her cheeks bloom with full on heat. Shit! She never blushed like this! Damn Domme!

  "Holy shit, Olivia's right!" Kate squealed. "You bitch, I can't believe you've been hiding this from me for weeks!"

  "Oh my God, did you two kiss at midnight?" Lexie asked, right over Kate's squealing. "Is that why neither of you two were around later, did you go home together?"

  The room pretty much exploded with tumult and speculation as Sharon shrank down in her seat. Dammit, she was going to need way more than hard root beer.

  Talk about cover blown.

  Smirking, Olivia sat back in her own chair, her lips twisted with amusement.

  "Payback," Olivia mouthed at her.

  Grudge-holding firecrotch! Sharon thought the other woman had forgotten - or at least let it go - the fact that Sharon might have accidentally-on-purpose nudged her into Luke's arms at Angel and Adam's wedding. After all, the two had ended up getting together recently.

  "So how long have you been banging my brother?" Lexie demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Sharon. At least she didn’t look upset, just excited. Although that might not be much better considering the situation.

  Groaning, Sharon grabbed a couch cushion and held it over her face. Maybe she could suffocate herself into unconsciousness.

  ******

  The heavy knocking at Jake's door on Sunday afternoon was not entirely unexpected, even though Jake hadn't invited anyone over. He was not at all surprised to find Patrick standing there, a six-pack in hand and a wide grin on his face.

  "Hey there, best friend," Patrick said, practically shouldering Jake out of the way as he pushed into the apartment. "How are you? I feel like we haven't had appropriate male bonding time recently and I'm missing out on things in your life."

  "You could have just called," Jake muttered, closing the door behind him.

  "Yeah, but then I wouldn't be able to see your face," Patrick retorted as he stepped into the kitchen and pulled two beers out of the box. Holding the caps against the table, he quickly opened both of them and handed one to Jake before putting the rest in the fridge. Leaning back against the counter, he crossed his arms over his chest, holding the beer close enough to his face to sip from and raised one eyebrow at Jake. "So? Talk."

  Sighing, Jake took a sip of his own beer - a nice, smooth ale; Patrick had picked up his favorite - before replying.

  "No judgment allowed," he said finally. Patrick nodded. "No opinions unless I ask for them. No advice."

  "Got it."

  Jake knew Patrick would hold himself to that, even if it killed him a little inside. He was pretty good about that kind of thing anyway, but Jake just wanted it laid out before he fessed up.

  "Sharon and I have been fuck buddies since New Years' Eve." He watched Patrick closely to see his friend's reaction.

  Patrick's jaw clenched, a little muscle moving up and down. The scar near his eye - which Jake had given to him years ago when they were playing with swords - twitched. His lips pressed together.

  Finally, he cleared his throat. "I will admit... I did not see that coming."

  "But you knew something was going on."

  "Oh, I knew something was going on, but I thought you two were just flirting or finally admitting that you're attracted to each other... Maybe that you'd kissed, but... fuck buddies?" Patrick shook his head slowly. "Did not see that coming."

  "Why not?" Jake wanted to know. He was just curious how it looked from the outside. Wondered if Patrick thought he and Sharon wouldn’t work together... and if was for the same reasons Jake didn’t really see them working together long-term.

  "Well, for one, she's definitely not your type," Patrick said, and Jake nodded. "Normally you go for women who are more reserved, more soft-spoken... you know, kind of quiet and restrained."

  Now Jake was frowning. Somehow when Patrick said it, it sounded different than how Jake thought about it. Like Patrick didn't like the women Jake normally went for.

  "And that's a bad thing?" he asked, a little defensively.

  "Not necessarily," Patrick said, shrugging. "None of them seem to have stuck long with you though. It's interesting that you're going for something different now, is all."

  "I'm not going for her, we're just... you know, having sex."

  A lot of sex. Sure, they'd started hanging out a bit too, in between the sex, and they were texting, and he was going to her cousin's wedding but... That was all just because they were also connected through their friends. They weren't dating. They were just exclusive fuck buddies.

  Even in his own head, he knew how stupid he sounded, which was why he didn't bother saying any of it out loud.

  Sure, he liked her more than he used to, now that he spent time with her, but he still didn't think they would work. Not long-term. It was best not to get anyone's expectations up. Including his own. Eventually whatever this insane attraction was between them would have to die down and then they'd probably go back to bothering each other the way they had before.

  "Yeah, that's the other thing," Patrick drawled, interrupting Jake's inner excuse train. "You are not a fuck-buddy type person. In fact, I can't remember you ever having a fuck-buddy before, because you're not very good at casual. As evidenced by the fact that you don't want your fuck buddy going to a wedding with someone else."

  Jake scowled, knowing his best friend had a point.

  Dammit, he was getting attached to Sharon. Despite the fact that she wasn't his type. Despite the fact that she annoyed and entertained him in equal measure - and sometimes for the same reason. Despite the fact that they'd agreed to keep things casual.

  Well, that wasn't good.

  Although... She hadn't seemed unhappy about him demanding to be her wedding date. A little unhappy that he'd done so in front all of their friends, but it wasn't like he'd had a choice since she'd been about to ask her ex.

  Maybe he could think of the next couple weeks as a trial run. Patrick and Lexie's engagement party was next weekend; Sharon would be there. He could see what his parents made of her without introducing her as his girlfriend, since she wasn't. And then he'd meet her family the week after that, as her date but not her boyfriend.

  Patrick was right, she wasn't his usual... Maybe that was why he found her so addictive. Maybe in a couple of weeks, after doing the more mundane relationship type things and no longer hiding it from their friends, it wouldn't be as much fun for either of them. The newness would wear off and so would the thrill of sneaking around.

  Pounding at the door had both of them looking up, Jake turning half around and frowning. He looked back at Patrick. "Did you invite someone along with you?"

  Patrick shook his head, looking as perplexed as Jake.

  "Open up, Jake, I know you're in there." The voice was muffled by the door, but completely recognizable.

  "Andrew," he and Patrick said at the same time, Jake with resignation, Patrick with amusement.

  ******

  Sadly, she was not allowed to make herself pass out. The cushion was too porous for that anyway, she didn’t have any real trouble breathing through it. Which meant she ended up telling her friends everything that had happened since New Year's Eve – thanks, Olivia. At least Kate had gotten her another hard root beer so she had something yummy to sip on while she spilled her guts.

  Well, since Jake's
little sister was there she didn't go into detail about everything... But she probably told them all more than he would be comfortable with. Oh well. It was his own damn fault for blowing their cover in front of everyone.

  "Okay, but do you like him?" Angel asked when Sharon finally finished her recital of events. Melody was finally finished feeding and had fallen asleep in Angel's arms, completely oblivious to the conversation happening over her head. That was one good baby.

  "I mean... Now that he's not a stick in the mud all the time... I mostly do," Sharon admitted. Which was true. She felt like she could relax around him, something she couldn't always say about the men she dated, but Jake already knew what she was like at her most obnoxious. There was no reason to hold back with him.

  And it was kind of fun to see what he found annoying and what he found funny about her. Sometimes he even surprised her.

  But she didn't know if there could really be anything between them, because he was still exhaustingly obstinate a lot of the time. While he found some of her antics amusing, he disapproved of others. Sharon did try to put her best foot forward when she was dating someone, but she wasn't going to change who she was for them in the long run. Jake didn't seem like the kind of guy who would be okay with her outspoken ways for the long-haul.

  Heck, they hadn't even been out in public together except in group settings, where he'd often seemed embarrassed by her.

  "Don't get your hopes up," she said warningly, pointing her finger at all of her friends in turn. "This is not going to be some kind of cutesy, we're the last two single people so we get together type thing. I'm not going to settle for a guy just because he's the only other single person in my group of friends."

  Lexie bristled defensively. "Why would my brother be someone you have to 'settle' for?"

  "Because I'm pretty sure he'd see himself as settling for me," Sharon explained, not at all bothered by Lexie's automatic reaction. It was to be expected. "Any guy that sees himself as settling because he's with me is a guy that I just settled for."

  More than one person blinked as they worked their way through her logic.