by Riley Ashby
I squeezed his wrist, and he let me go, both of us inhaling deeply as I soared higher and closer to my climax.
“Again,” I growled. I was so close. He obeyed.
I grew wetter with each stroke; he twitched harder inside me as he suddenly froze and let go of my neck, grabbing a handful of my hair. His other hand roamed my body, grabbing skin where he could and twisting it, leaving searing heat in his wake, the feel of stippled bruises forming beneath my skin.
“Do you think you can turn over?” His breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. I could feel the imprint from his fingers as my blood rushed to the bruised skin. Cold turning to hot.
“I can manage it.” I sat up to kiss him quickly before he could get away from me.
He pulled out long enough for me to kick my jeans the rest of the way off, and then I was lying flat on my stomach on the back seat of the car while his hands pried between my thighs to make way for him to enter me again. I brought my legs tight together once he was inside. He groaned as he sank into me, and a familiar shiver ran the line up my body, from my clit to the top of my head, as he hit the right spot inside me.
“Can you go any faster?” My breath came in gasps; my clit was rubbing against the leather.
He laughed. “I’ll hurt you.”
“You just choked me. Go harder.”
He put his hand on the back of my head and shoved the side of my face into the seat as he pistoned faster than I would have thought possible in the small space, hitting my G-spot at the right angle while pushing me down so hard I melted into the seat.
“Yes,” I gasped, my voice muffled. “I’m almost there.”
He somehow worked his other hand beneath my stomach, enough to jerk my hips up as he thrust harder than ever, and we toppled over the edge together. I slapped a hand against the window, condensation from our efforts coating my fingers as I cried out my release. He fucked me through both our orgasms, his grunts growing higher and louder with each twitch of his cock inside me. His cum filled me, spilled out, dripped down my legs even while he himself still filled me. Of course, there was no room for anything else inside. I groaned as I came again quickly, like a lightning strike, as his cock fluttered a final time.
Our breaths were the only sound as we recovered. One of his hands still wrapped around my middle and the other was on my head. He planted soft kisses on my back, my shirt plastered to my back with sweat. As the present shifted back into focus, I realized I was able to see more with my eyes adjusted to the dark. Jamie’s hand let up off my head.
“Sorry,” he muttered, helping me sit up as he pulled out. I felt the hot rush of his cum down the inside of my legs and blushed, glad he couldn’t see me.
“For what?”
“I might have gotten a little carried away. Could you breathe?”
I had to grin. Right after sex and he was back to his normal, polite self.
“I was fine. Don’t worry about me. It was good.”
He fell back against the seat, one arm still around my middle, and I leaned against his chest as my breathing returned to normal.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have a condom. I’m tested, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Stop apologizing. It was a crazy moment. I’m okay too; you’re not going to be a father or anything.” If the guy apologized one more time, it was going to ruin the entire night. I was already a little irritated, the high of the orgasm draining away. But he fell blessedly silent, holding me against his sweaty chest with my half-torn T-shirt the only thing separating our skin.
When we caught our breath, we moved silently and simultaneously to dress again. I struggled into my underwear and jeans, and Jamie handed me his shirt since mine was destroyed. He zipped up his pants and climbed into the front seat. I followed a moment later.
“Do you want to get food?” The roar of the car engine was deafening after the silence between us as we recovered.
I shook my head, but he couldn’t see me in the dark. “I should get back. I don’t want to get to bed too late.”
We went to his apartment together to retrieve my purse, and then he insisted on walking me to my car on the street. He leaned against the driver’s side as I started the engine, and I rolled down the window to say goodbye.
“I’m glad you came over, Tori. Let’s not…” He trailed off. His hand extended to touch my neck, the bruises that were probably forming there. I’d have to be creative with makeup for the next few days. His thumb trailed across my jawline.
I swallowed past my sore muscles. “I won’t tell Sophie.”
His face twisted a little, and he shook his head as he pulled his hand away. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows and waited.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s not be strangers now. Okay?” He leaned down a little so he could look me directly in the eye. “I mean it. I’m glad you were here.”
I didn’t know what to say. We stared at each other a moment longer before he ducked his head through the window to peck me on the cheek. I laughed out loud; we just had rough unprotected sex in the back of a car, and he bade me good night with that little kiss? But his smile was easy as he patted the hood of my car and stepped back.
“Call me if you drop,” he said. “We didn’t get to talk as much as we should have. I want to know you’re okay.”
“Sure.” I smiled at him as I rolled up the window.
That most definitely would not be happening.
***
The next morning, I couldn’t get out of bed. I sat on the edge of the mattress, feet dangling an inch above the carpet, staring at my toes. Getting to sleep the night before had been a trial, and all of a sudden, I realized why.
I crawled back underneath the covers and pulled out my phone, opening my text messages automatically to the last person I’d contacted.
Jamie.
No. I wasn’t going to involve him in this. No need to contact him and have him laugh at me or call me a pussy for not being able to handle what I asked for. I swiped over and shot off a message to Vail.
Tori: Not feeling well today. Rain check on yoga?
Locking the phone and dropping it to the mattress, I burrowed underneath my comforter and squeezed my eyes shut. Only a minute later, the phone dinged, and I opened the reply.
Vail: What’s wrong? Do you need me to come over?
Damn, how could I forget she was a nurse? I tapped out a response quickly, trusting autocorrect to fix my spelling mistakes.
Tori: No, it’s nothing. Just a migraine. I’ll take some pills and get over it.
I squeezed my phone and prayed that would be enough to stave her off. Peeking as it buzzed again, I cursed under my breath.
Vail: I’m coming over. Stay in bed.
As if I had anywhere to go. I thought about struggling to the bathroom and brushing my teeth, but there hardly seemed a point. I curled around myself even tighter, hoping if I breathed in enough of my own breath, I might pass out and she’d think I was asleep. But the door opened five minutes later, and the lights clicked on. Vail yanked back the covers, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut against the brightness.
“What’s going on?” Her shoes thudded gently against the floor as she kicked them off, and then she crawled in next to me and pulled the blanket over our heads once more. “Tori Ryder doesn’t get sick.”
“She does today.” Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. “It’s not a big deal. I just need to rest up a little bit.”
Vail snuggled closer to me, sharing her body heat. She smelled like chamomile, and it calmed my brain enough that I could open my eyes. She smiled when I looked at her. “Where did you go last night?”
“I was hanging out with a friend.”
“Hmm. Is that why your knuckles are all bruised up? Hanging out?” I tucked my hands beneath my head, holding back a wince at the pressure put on my skin. Vail’s smile faded. She reached out with one finger and touched my neck ge
ntly, pressing lightly on a bruise left by Jamie’s fingers. “This looks more like the kind of hanging out you’re in to.”
God, I wished I’d never told her about my predilections.
“Did you call him? I’ve read enough books to know he’s supposed to take care of you.”
“I’m fine,” I snapped, causing her to draw back her hand. I continued in a gentler tone. “I just need to rest up today, and I’ll be back to normal. It was pretty late when I got back.”
“You’re overreacting. We’ve done much more than that before. I don’t want to lose my whole day to lying with you on the couch.” He frowned at the stains on my pillow left by my tears. “Are you really going to make me hang around here when you knew I had plans with the guys today?”
Shaking my head, I pressed my face into the pillow to wipe away my tears. “I’m sorry. I’ll get over it.” He was usually right about these things. Came with the territory, I guess, since he was so much older than me.
“Great, babe. I’ll catch you later.” I raised my face to kiss him goodbye, but he was already halfway out the door with his back to me.
“Bye,” I whispered as the door slammed shut.
“Okay, Google says you need caffeine.” Vail pressed a button her phone and held to her ear. “Hi, Karen, could I get two double shot lattes in Tori’s room? Yes, soy milk is fine.” She rolled her eyes at me, and I laughed halfheartedly. Sophie and her plant milk. “Also some donuts. The sugary-er the better. Thanks!” Rolling back toward me, she leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead. “This will make you feel better. And I’ll be here, okay?”
“Castel will miss you.” I didn’t want her to leave, but I wasn’t exactly keen on pissing off her boyfriend, either. We were getting along on a regular basis, but sometimes the ground we stood on still seemed a bit rocky.
“He’s giving Archer the rundown at the office. They’ll be busy all day.”
I nodded. That made me feel a little better.
She rose to grab the donuts and coffee, only to find Sophie at the door instead of the housekeeper.
“What’s going on?” Sophie chirped, crawling into bed next to me. She rested one hand on her growing belly as she tugged back the comforter to look at me. I hunched up my shoulders, but not before she frowned at the bruises around my neck. “Was that consensual?”
“Of course, it was,” I grumbled. Was everyone going to find out about my kinks at the same time? It almost made me wish I had called Jamie instead of Vail. Almost.
“Oh. So are you dropping? Did you call the guy?” Sophie settled against the headboard next to me. “I slapped Ellery one time before I knew about all this stuff. That was a fun day.”
“Please keep the details of your sex life with my brother to a minimum. She’s not calling him, but she won’t tell me why.” Vail rolled her eyes as she coaxed me to sitting so I could drink and eat.
Sophie narrowed her eyes at me as she snagged a donut. “That’s not good, Tori.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to see him again.”
Sophie and Vail exchanged a look over my head. I pretended I didn’t see anything and grabbed another donut. I did feel a little better after the food, but then, I had always been good at taking care of myself because it was the only option I had.
Vail played with a strand of my hair. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” Not with you.
“Okay.” She grabbed the remote from my bedside table and turned on the TV. “Double Shot at Love it is.”
A fate worse than death.
She didn’t call me.
I wasn’t in the least bit surprised, but I was a little bemused at the hurt I felt. I wasn’t heartbroken, exactly, but I found myself checking my phone after my workouts and first thing in the morning, wondering if I had missed a call or a text. But my inbox and voicemail remained empty. When a week had passed and she hadn’t even shown up at the gym, I had to concede that she definitely wasn’t just playing hard to get.
Tori wasn’t the kind of person I could chase after. I knew it from the way she looked at me the first time we met, and her aloof attitude even around the people she cared about the most. She barely knew me, and she wasn’t going to let me in so easily. At least, not emotionally. Because the reason I was so intent, so eager to see her again, was the change I saw in her when she let me drag her down the sidewalk and fuck her in the back seat of my car in a seedy neighborhood late on a Saturday night.
Alonso caught me as I left the gym on Friday evening. “Catch you tomorrow, Jamie? I could use someone to spar with.”
I tried to hide my smile at the invitation. Alonso was one of the up-and-coming fighters in the gym, and the guy I’d be accompanying to Vegas in a few weeks. We were well matched in skill level, but physically, I more closely resembled the guy he’d be fighting against. I was also a Muay Thai specialist, one of his areas of weakness, making me an ideal sparring partner. Every time he reached out to me to practice with him solidified me in his inner circle. It was insurance, an agreement that he’d have my back when my turn came for the big fight. He had a lot of clout, and his endorsement could get me far.
“Wouldn’t miss it, man.” My ribs might protest, but it was all part of the process of building my bone and muscle density. We shook hands before I left the gym and walked to my car, eager to head home to my dinner of unseasoned chicken breast, rice, and broccoli.
My thoughts turned back to Tori before long. I’d thought she wouldn’t want to be taken the way I took her that night. I expected her to be more dominant in bed, wanting to direct the action, probably looking for pretty vanilla sex. And that was fine. I was used to most women I dated not being into the level of dominance I wanted to exert. With my frequent apologies and overbearing politeness, they didn’t expect it from me. If anyone asked me why my personalities diverged so strikingly the moment my clothes came off, I couldn’t have told them. For me, it was just another facet to my personality, the way I preferred a porter to an IPA or the color orange over any other. I’d gone into my night with Tori expecting we’d have a good time, but it wouldn’t be anything mind-blowing. I would enjoy what she had to offer, and we would be able to look at each other full in the face without a problem the next day.
She was hiding from me now, but the reason was sublime. Because she liked what I had to give her. Or at least she would, under the right circumstances.
I must have scared her. That was the only thing I could think of. Or maybe not scared, exactly—I wasn’t sure when the last time she got scared was—but maybe disgusted. Maybe she was appalled by my behavior, the way I jumped into the scene without any kind of talk, discussion of safewords, or making sure she was on board with what I was doing. She had been eager to take off after, so maybe that had been about me, not about her. As I pulled into the parking garage and turned off the engine, I let my head fall forward as I considered the possibility she had been speaking with Ellery and maybe even Sophie all week, telling them how destructive I was, convincing them they needed to cut me out of their lives.
The steering wheel left a red mark on my head when I finally forced myself to sit up and go inside. No, she hadn’t done that. I’m sure all she had to do was say one word to Ellery and he would have cut me off faster than his net worth was growing. If I’d scared her last weekend, she hadn’t told anyone about it.
I needed to know which it was. I had to find out whether she had been as into the experience as I was. Because if she liked it, if she was willing to let me use her like that again … and again … I was going to take advantage.
***
I called her myself the next morning. The phone rang eight times before it went to voicemail.
“Tori, it’s Jamie. Please call me.”
After an hour passed without a response, I called once more. This time, I was sent straight to voicemail. I hung up without leaving a message. How many times was I allowed to call her without a response before it turned creepy? I
called back and left another voicemail this time.
“Tori, I would really like to talk to you. Text me if you’d like. I’ll be at the gym in a couple of hours.”
I looked for her all through my workout, even losing some easy shots to Alonso because I had one eye on the door the entire time. Was she going to ghost me? She had to know we’d be seeing each other again at some point eventually. If anything, the fact she hadn’t convinced Ellery to fire me and run me out of the city meant some part of her probably wanted to see me again. Right?
Shit. Maybe I had crossed the line. What if she had dropped and didn’t tell me? I should have checked in with her earlier. I texted her as I left the gym.
Jamie: Can we chat? I’ll buy you ice cream. And we can finish watching that movie if you’d like.
My phone dinged a couple of minutes later, and I snatched it up at the first red light I hit.
Tori: Can’t you take a hint?
I smiled. Finally, a response.
Jamie: I prefer directness. In case that wasn’t clear.
The driver behind me laid on his horn, and I dropped the phone as I sped through the light.
There wasn’t another text until I got back to my apartment. I heard the tone from the shower and nearly slipped and broke my ankle rushing to grab it.
Tori: I’ll come by later.
I grinned and pumped my fist in the air like a frat boy before I set about cleaning my apartment. I wasn’t sure what was going to come of tonight, but I intended to do the best I could. It was strange how quickly she’d gotten under my skin. One bizarre fight, one heavy-handed fuck in the back of a car, and I was wiping my sweaty palms along my pants like I was getting ready for my first date.
I watched TV for as long as I could, though I barely absorbed what happened on the screen. I jumped a little as the door banged open and Tori stormed into the apartment without knocking. Her purse landed on the same spot on the table, but she didn’t walk to the kitchen. She whirled on me, chestnut hair flying out behind her as she stalked over and poked me in the chest.
