The Terms Duet

by Rowe, Ruby

My gaze falls to his bare feet and roams upward. I see there’s no barrier between his large cock and the thin cotton of his grey sweats. His slender hips do me a solid and barely hang on to his pants for my viewing pleasure.

  I follow the sexy V up to his chiseled abs and on past them until I reach his shirtless chest, which has a spattering of hair. Oh, how I love this irresistible man.

  “Camilla, answer my question.” Reluctantly, I look at his eyes. Yep, still icy.

  “He said he dropped by to hang out with us, so since Liam and I were having a picnic, I was polite and offered him a sandwich. He ate lunch before entertaining Liam on the playground. Then, he left.”

  I bite the corner of my lip, hoping this is the end of the conversation. Leaning against the doorframe, he crosses his arms and furrows his brow.

  “What did you two discuss while hanging out? And your honesty decides whether you receive a reward or a punishment.”

  All his sexiness and the use of those two words cause my pelvic muscles to contract. My stomach flinches from the need and desire, and my breathing accelerates.

  “Stop eye-fucking me. Even though it’s working at getting my cock hard, it’s not enough to take my mind off you and Christopher alone at the park.”

  I can’t help but look at his rigid cock now. Removing the distance between us, he grasps the back of my hair and pulls it downward so I have no choice but to look up at him. This move of his is one of my favorites, so my desire mounts.

  “Technically, Mitch was present also.”

  He purses his lips. “Stop stalling. I’m giving you one more chance to answer me.”

  “He asked if I would spend time with him on occasion. He said he missed us, and he also questioned whether I would be fighting for Tony’s money … you know, for Liam.”

  “And how did you respond?”

  “I said I wasn’t pursuing Tony’s estate. I also told him I wouldn’t hang out with him unless you were present. I handled it. I promise.”

  “And why did you tell him you wouldn’t challenge the will?”

  “I didn’t share with him my reason, but it’s because I want to say Liam’s your child, Sir.”

  His eyes soften in an instant, and his lips twitch. His fingers delve deep inside my long tresses and massage my scalp.

  “Mmm…” I hum.

  “Since I’m so pleased with your good behavior, I’m going to reward you, my Rose.”

  Enraptured by his words, I gasp and feel my body stiffen. Beneath the surface, it’s tingling with anticipation, ready for a hit of his delectable touch.

  Putting a knee on the mattress, he slips his arm around my back and moves me up in bed. I stretch out in the center and stare up at his firm pack of abs. Unable to resist, I skim my fingers over each raised section.

  “You seem rather turned on tonight.”

  Pulling my gaze away from his amazing body, I stare at his piercing eyes.

  “When you’re extra sweet to Liam, like you were today when you said you were building him a playset, it does something to me. Oh, and when I get a chance to gawk at your body, which looks like this, I can’t help but get turned on.”

  Ducking his head to my neck, he nuzzles it with his nose before I hear his long inhale.

  “I like when you’re in the moment,” he breathes in my ear. “You’ve seemed worried and in another place lately. I think I’ll take your mind off things even more.”

  His mouth begins its journey down my neck, applying faint kisses, but they feel the furthest from faint. They’re hot ashes to my skin, his wet tongue snuffing them out after, leaving a smoldering sensation in its wake.

  I need to be in the present with Ellis to forget the painful past and scary future. I want to let go and feel the tingling pleasure he’s delivering, so I clutch the sheet with both hands and tilt my head back to give him all the room he needs to take my mind off things.

  His open mouth trails down my chest and sneaks beneath my silky chemise. He yanks a strap off my shoulder and pushes up my breast, freeing my nipple.

  “It’s ripe for me already.” The tip of his tongue skims around the peak, and I buck beneath him, feeling the hardness through his sweats. I crave more of his mouth and his cock inside me. I yearn for Ellis in a way I’ve never craved another man.

  He blankets me with his body, and I lose my breath from his powerful muscles. His thundering heart against mine is hypnotic, and I get lost in his magnetic presence.

  Slithering his way down, he pushes my lingerie up to my chest to expose my skin. I experience a chill but only for a second before there’s more wet kisses … more heaven … more promises. He provides a sense of protection I’ve never known before.

  “Baby, you smell so good. I can’t wait to taste you.” His gruff voice and erotic words unfurl a moan from my lungs. I grab his hair and clutch it as he grazes his mouth farther south, giving my most sensitive spot a feel of his sizzling breath. “Hold the headboard and don’t let go. No. Matter. What.”

  “Fuck,” I mumble, aware of how difficult it will be. His headboard is a sleigh design, but I can reach the top where I grasp it with both hands.

  “Fuck, Sir,” he says before smirking at me. God, I love playful, sexy Ellis, and to think I’m about to get a cocktail of both playful and alpha male only makes me wetter for him.

  “Fuck, Sir. Please taste me.”

  Ellis

  Camilla begging for my tongue kills my humor, and I pierce her with a stare that emits my lustful thoughts–my torturous plan. Picking up her leg, I place it over my shoulder and slide two fingers right into her.

  She’s soaked more than usual, and damn it all to hell. I’m losing my control once again, growling and burying my face against her sweet cunt.

  Her scent, already familiar, is only mine to breathe, her pussy only mine to taste, and this sensuous body was only made to tangle with mine.

  Camilla is mine, and no weak and conniving man like Christopher is going to swoop in and take her from me. No man is ever stealing her away.

  I lick her rough and hear the squeaky sounds of her hands grappling to hang on to the headboard. She’s moaning excessively, so to further drive her wild, I pull away often and rake the stubble on my face along her inner thighs.

  It’s to mark her so she’ll remember this tomorrow; the way I fucked her with my tongue until she unraveled against my face.

  Removing my fingers from her, I slow it down, barely licking her clit with the tip of my tongue. I don’t move from that spot, and ever so faintly, I graze my wet fingers down between her ass cheeks.

  Her breath hitches, and she comes apart at the seams. My girl crumbles until she’s leveled by a paralyzing orgasm. Damn, if it were possible, I’d watch her for hours as she drowns in the pleasure only I can give her.

  It’s too brief of a moment where I get to relish in her orgasmic glow; a combination of her damp, flushed skin, tight nipples and parted swollen lips. Add her pounding heart and eyelids straining to stay open, and she’s a sensual painting come to life.

  “Ellis … Ellis.” Her words are longing whispers as her arms shake above her. “I need to feel you inside me.”

  “You’re about to feel me all right. Let go of the headboard.” Moving up over her, I prepare to stick my aching cock inside her, but her eyes open wide, and she grabs my biceps.

  “I can’t start my pills yet. Please, this time wear a condom.” I scowl. No can do. “I don’t ever want that barrier between us. You’ll be the only woman…”

  Reaching up, she traces my jawline.

  “That’s sweet, but I told you I wasn’t having another child out of wedlock.”

  “I want to make a little human as awesome as Liam. I want a child of my own … with you.” I look over her head. Why do I always tell her vulnerable shit? It’s silent, so I glance down, and her eyes are swimming in tears.

  “Camilla … for fuck’s sake, don’t cry. I’ll pull out if it’s that important to you.” Realizing I’m kind of being a j
ackass, I gradually lower myself on top of her and kiss her soft lips.

  “You feel so good beneath me. Please, let me inside you.”

  She stiffens and gasps for breath. The next thing I know, she shoves against my chest.

  “Oh, god. Marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow!” I move off of her, wondering what the fuck’s happening. “I–I’m sorry. I have to go to my room.”

  She climbs off the bed at lightning speed, but once she reaches my door, she stops with her back to me. “Ellis, I’m so sorry. For everything.”

  Just like that, she’s gone. I fall onto my back and rub my forehead. I’m a dick. She shouldn’t have needed a safe word in that moment.

  I pushed too much too soon, yet she’s the one apologizing. She’s afraid she’s going to end up alone with another kid, but I’m not my brother.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Ellis

  “Red’s your color,” I say as I glide my fingers along the bottom of her negligee. I touch her bare thigh, my knuckles grazing her silky panties. “It matches the auburn in your hair.”

  Unlike the rest of my body that’s numb from the drinks Tony kept feeding me, my dick is at attention.

  “Thank you.” She rubs her temple. “Damn, the champagne seems stronger than usual.”

  “Probably because we drank the whole bottle.” I hold it up before setting it on the nightstand, along with her glass. My lightheadedness increases, so I fall back on the bed. “Lie down with me. We can be dizzy together.”

  I wake up in a sweat, burning hot and experiencing the same lightheadedness I felt in my dream. That’s fucking wonderful; my mind’s making up new disturbing shit about the lady wearing red.

  I glance to the clock. 1:00 a.m. Jerking off the sheet, I sit at the side of the bed and run a hand through my hair. I’ve got this nervous energy and a cock that’s hard as nails.

  Damn, the night took a turn I didn’t see coming. First Camilla freaked out and now this. A cool shower–that’s what I need. Stumbling to my bathroom, I adjust the knobs for the water.

  I conjure up thoughts about public speaking, the IRS and my mother’s parental tone to get my dick limp enough to take a piss. I manage to relieve myself before I step inside the stall.

  Grabbing the bar of soap, I scrub my body briskly, determined to ease my anxiousness. My cock is semi-erect, but I refuse to jerk off when I have a gorgeous woman across the hall.

  This isn’t helping me in the least, so I rinse, grab a towel from the rack and stroll back to my bedroom.

  “I’m sorry for earlier,” Camilla says from my bed in the darkness. Her voice is timid and sweet, and I’m standing still, unsure of how to proceed.

  Briefs. Yeah, underwear between us is necessary so I don’t fuck this up again. I find my way to my dresser and pull open the drawer.

  “No. Please come to bed and make love to me … or fuck me hard. I’ll leave it up to you.”

  My towel hits the floor, and I stalk over to her.

  “I’m turning the light on,” I say before I hit the switch to the one on my nightstand. Her arm covers her eyes, but as she slowly brings it down, her gaze lingers on my cock, making me harder than ever.

  Moving over top of her, I cage her in with my arms. Her hair is a thick mess of waves, like I’ve already fucked her, and as she stares up at me all doe-eyed, I soak up the sight of her.

  “Let’s see if you’re doing this for me or for the both of us.” Lowering my body, I push her nighty up above her tits. As I skim my fingertips down her stomach, she squirms, her hips moving beneath me. “Stay. Still.”

  I slide them down her slit next and tease her nipple with my tongue. She taunts me back with an alluring whimper and starts to move again, but she stops herself in an instant. “Compliant”–I slip two fingers inside her pussy–“and wet. That means you want this, too.”

  Nodding, she brings her hand up and traces my jaw like she did earlier in the night. Her finger grazes the slope of my crooked nose before her thumb presses into the deep cleft of my chin.

  She appraises my harsh features often, which is perplexing. I’m not the pretty boy my brother was, but Camilla seems to revel in my looks.

  “Why the word marshmallow?” I move my fingers languidly in and out of her, drawing her closer to the brink. She pants to get her breath enough to speak.

  “In the kitchen, the first night we had sex, I was watching you hold that fork and marshmallow. You were grinning and joking and had been so sweet to Liam, reading to him.

  “I realized then how complicated this would become. How hurt I could end up.” She closes her eyes and gasps from the feel of my fingers working her over.

  “At that moment, I thought I should say stop and then flee as fast as possible, but you were mesmerizing. I couldn’t run away then any more than I can now.”

  Grabbing my arms, she clenches them, her fingernails digging into my biceps. She’s close to an orgasm, but I won’t let her come. I want to feel her squeezing my cock first before I’m forced to pull it out of her.

  Removing my fingers from her tight pussy, I push one of her legs up until her knee touches her chest. I drive into her, and she releases a trill of satisfaction, so I pull back and do it again.

  “Christ, baby, I love being inside you.” I move faster, deeper, harder until she cries out my name. “Come, my Rose.”

  My own release hits me without warning, so I drop her leg and manage to pull my cock out just in time to shoot my load onto her stomach.

  Damn, seeing her flushed and sated with my cum all over her skin is erotic as hell. I’m still claiming her, only differently, and I can’t say it’s all that bad. Well, it won’t be on occasion.

  Pressing our bodies together, I kiss my way down her neck and inhale her sweet and addictive fragrance. I need the name of the perfume she wears so I can buy it in bulk. I envision the boxes being delivered now, and I’m wondering when I lost my damn mind.

  This woman causes me to do illogical things. I forced her to live in my home, and I undermined her attempt at getting birth control. She and Liam turned my world upside down, so I’m blaming them.

  I have a hideous child-proof gate a mile long at the top of my staircase, crumbs under my dining room table and sticky fingerprints all over my home.

  I read bedtime stories to my brother’s child who I want the world to think is mine. I want Liam to think he’s mine. What happened to the Ellis I knew all my life?

  “Your scent makes me irrational,” I mumble as I skim my nose along her chest. “No, everything about you makes me irrational.”

  The satin fabric of her lingerie sticks to my damp skin, and I experience déjà vu again. I raise up to stare at her hazel eyes. She’s relaxed and sleepy now, so they open and close … open and close.

  “So, what is your name, Lady in Red?”

  “Let’s keep this night a mystery,” she mumbles.

  Feeling as if I’ve been throat punched, I lose my breath while I’m teleported back in time. Like the beach at Normandy on D-Day, my mind is trampled with memories from the night at Tony’s party: Camilla entering the room, her bashful smile, and her sensuous body in silky lingerie.

  I recall her sitting next to me on the bed and handing me a bottle of champagne.

  Fuck, I met her that night.

  Camilla is the lady in red.

  I blink several times, thinking it can’t be true. Beneath me, her eyes are closed, her breathing slow but heavy. She’s asleep.

  Climbing off her and the bed, I find a pair of pajama pants and quietly leave my room. I head to my office, my place of reprieve, and shut the door.

  As I pace, I try to summon more memories from that night, but I’m drawing a blank past the point of us drinking together. When was that party? The fall I believe. September or October three years ago. No, maybe it was four. Dammit. I rub my forehead.

  Tony was celebrating a business deal he’d scored and insisted I come. I showed up to find strippers and way too many guests. The mus
ic was loud, alcohol and drugs were abundant, and I wanted the hell out of there.

  My brother gave me several drinks to calm me, and before I knew it, I was hiding out in a spare bedroom, only because he begged me not to leave yet.

  I know Camilla wasn’t there the next morning. I stumbled to the bathroom and then left before finding Tony, figuring he was passed out with a woman in his bed, anyhow.

  God, all this time Camilla has been sparing me the embarrassment of being drunk with her in that bedroom. I likely said stupid shit before I passed out. Wait–I know what I said. It’s what I dreamed earlier last night….

  I mentioned her looking good in red and how it matched her hair. We were both dizzy, so I think I suggested she lie down with me.

  What happened after that? Did I pass out then? Shit, she was probably dating my brother at that point, and I was hitting on her … feeling her up.

  I bet she didn’t tell me at the funeral home that we’d met because she didn’t want me to find out about Liam. Then, after she moved in, I imagine she didn’t want to admit she’d lied about that, too.

  This is too much to process. Coming to a stop, I press my palms to my eyes. Meeting Camilla at that party is the reason I was drawn to her when I saw her again at the funeral visitation.

  Somewhere in my mind, I held on to her beauty and kindness, and maybe I’ve had the dream all this time because the control freak in me needed to remember that night.

  I strive to be aware of every aspect of my life, and at that party, I was the furthest from feeling in control.

  Should I mention this to her? I’m humiliated she saw me in an inebriated state, but on the other hand, I want all the pieces to the puzzle.

  I also don’t want her to carry guilt for a secret she doesn’t need to keep. The woman has class, sparing me the humiliation all this time. My Rose deserves another reward.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Camilla

  I inhale the aroma of the wine-colored roses on my dresser. Vases of them are resting on every available spot in my bedroom.