Right Under My Nose

by Parker, Ali

  “All right,” she agreed, a weight seeming to lift from her face. The waiter approached with a pad in his hand.

  “Ready to order?” he asked, and I nodded and picked up the menu.

  The rest of the night was perfect. The food was great, the wine was delicious, and the view over the city was unforgettable. It felt so nice to be able to whisk my woman out on a real, bona fide date. I loved spending time with her and Hunter, but there was something luxurious and fun about the two of us kicking back as well. We talked about movies and books and work, gossiped about our friends, and I avoided the topic of Karla carefully to make sure I didn’t let my ex throw a wrench into the works of the best date I’d had in years.

  I paid the bill when we were done, and we slipped into a taxi to head back to the hotel. Autumn was leaning her head back against the seat, eyes closed, hands resting in her lap.

  “You okay?” I asked her gently, and she opened her eyes and looked at me.

  “Yeah, I’m great,” she promised me. “Just don’t want to forget any of this, that’s all.”

  “Me neither,” I agreed. I reached over and slipped my hand onto her bare thigh, just below the hem of her dress. I glanced over at her and found a small smile creeping across her face, and I knew the same thing on my mind was on her mind.

  I paid the driver, and she led me to the hotel room, grabbing my hand and taking the elevator. She was a little shaky in her heels, and I wasn’t sure if it was the booze or the promise of what we were about to do.

  As soon as we were through the door, she wound her arms around me and looked deeply into my eyes.

  “It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?” she asked me. “When we get back?”

  “Of course, it will be,” I promised her. “But we have a little time left here first, right?”

  “Right,” she agreed with a smile. I leaned down to kiss her, and as soon as our lips met, I knew where this was going.

  56

  Autumn

  The moment I felt his hands on me, pushing up the hem of that red dress, I knew exactly what I wanted from him. What I needed from him. This night had been perfectly, gloriously romantic, and now I needed something a little dirtier to round it off. I knew exactly what I wanted to do to him.

  He pressed me back against the wall, his hands all over me, gripping at the bare skin exposed wherever he could find it—my arms, my legs, my shoulders—his fingers brushing teasingly over my neck and my throat. The heels I had on meant I was actually nearly his height, so I could kiss him without having to stand up on tiptoes, but I didn’t want to keep this height difference for long. No, I had something in mind that he was going to like.

  “I think it’s only fair I thank you for dinner, no?” I breathed in his ear, and he bit down softly on the lobe of my ear.

  “And what exactly did you have in mind?” he asked. I grinned.

  “Let me show you.” I moved a little so I was no longer pressed back against the wall, and I sank to my knees before him. There was something so hot about getting on my knees for him. We had spent the whole night playing at being expensive, luxurious, classy adults, and now I wanted to show him that he would never be able to scrub out my dirty side. In this fancy dress, in this beautiful hotel room, I wanted to worship him and show him how much I still wanted him.

  I unbuckled his pants and pulled out his cock, taking it into my hand and stroking it a couple of times to bring him to full hardness. He looked so good already, his beautiful suit enhancing his sharp edges. I looked up at him as I leaned forward to take him into my mouth.

  “Mmm.” He groaned as I twirled my tongue around the head of his cock. I could taste a little salty precome on my lips, and I loved the way it tasted, the way it filled my mouth. I kept my gaze fixed on him as I slid down a little farther, moving my mouth to take as much of him as I could. I shifted my hand up to cover the rest of the distance so I was taking care of every part of him at once and then moved my spare hand beneath his balls so I could play with them while I went down on him. He had shown me a perfect evening tonight, and the least I could do in return was prove to him how much I appreciated his efforts.

  I moved my hand and mouth in time with each other, working my tongue up the underside of his cock as I went, making sure he was slick and wet enough for me to really fuck him with my mouth. I wanted to take him as deeply as I could, and he seemed in no rush to stuff his cock down my throat as so many guys were. No, when I looked up at him again, he was gazing down at me with complete helplessness, as though he wanted nothing more than for me to take control and do what I wanted with him. The pure desire in his eyes was a little intoxicating, even more so than the outrageously expensive wine I’d enjoyed earlier in the evening.

  I began to move with a little more purpose, stroking his cock farther into my mouth, and I was starting to get seriously wet. Something about servicing him like this, where I was both powerful and submissive to him, was beyond erotic to me. I moved my hand between my legs, slipping it beneath the beautiful dress he had purchased for me, and began to play with myself as I went down on him. I couldn’t wait to have him inside me, couldn’t wait to feel his beautiful cock throbbing in my pussy as he fucked me.

  I closed my eyes and lost myself to the task at hand. I’d forgotten how much fun it could be to go down like this, how much I enjoyed pleasuring him. He never pressured me to do more than I was comfortable with, and his gentleness with me made me feel safer in exploring things I might not have before—wrapping a hand around his thigh to pull him deep into my mouth, leaning down to suck on his balls, sucking and lapping at his tip alone for a moment. I could hear his breath growing harsher above me, and I knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer. I would have been happy to let him come in my mouth if he’d wanted to, but he seemed to have something else in mind entirely.

  He scooped me up off the ground suddenly, and it was clear that my turn in control was over. I giggled as he spun me around and unzipped my dress, letting it fall to the floor below me, and dropped to his knees to pull down my panties. He planted a kiss on each of my butt cheeks in turn, running his hands over my thighs and my ass as he did so.

  “Fuck, you look so good,” he murmured as he got back to his feet. He guided me toward the bed, and I bent over, still in my heels, and pushed my ass up into the air for him. I had never fucked in heels before, but I had always thought it sounded pretty sexy. Now was a prime opportunity to test my hypothesis.

  I heard the rip of a condom wrapper behind me and then felt his cock pressing against my slit. It was clear he had no intention of waiting around, which I was glad for because I couldn’t hold out much longer. He slipped into me with a long groan in one smooth motion, and my legs trembled dangerously in the heels as he penetrated me for the first time.

  “You look amazing,” he told me for what had to be the dozenth time that night. I loved it when he told me how beautiful I looked. I wasn’t used to hearing such compliments from the guys I was dating, but Holden showered me with praise, with lust, with his adoration for my body and everything about it.

  “Fuck me,” I said with a groan, unable to wait any longer. Finally, he gave me what I wanted.

  He didn’t hold back for an instant, driving himself into me in long, deep strokes that sent shockwaves through my entire body. I planted my hands on the bed to keep myself from keeling over. It felt so good, so decadent, as though the luxury of the night was spreading over into this too. I flicked my gaze up and caught sight of the two of us in the window opposite the bed, his eyes closed as he fucked me, and the image at once burned itself onto my brain. We looked so right together, so good, as though we had been built to do this with each other. I had known from the first time we’d fucked that we had crazy chemistry, but I’d had no idea it would grow more and more intense as time passed, better each time we were together.

  He moved his hand between my legs and began to play with my clit, picking up the pace of his thrusts a little and really burying h
imself all the way inside me. I couldn’t get enough of the feeling of him taking me like that, my ass angled up thanks to the heels and allowing him even deeper access than normal. I closed my eyes and focused on the sensations, the way they seemed to burn up through my body, every nerve ending burning bright as I crested toward an orgasm.

  “Fuck,” I moaned. He slid his other hand over my back and wound it into the hair at the nape of my neck, tugging back softly. The prickling in my scalp, that mesh of pain and pleasure, was enough to put me over the edge, and within seconds, my pussy clenched around his cock as the orgasm tore through me.

  I had fucked him before this, but this time was different. I had never felt anything as purely good as this before, the selfish pleasure rocking through my body and sending every muscle to jelly in a moment. I wasn’t even sure the noises I made were fully human, but I didn’t care. I just wanted him to know how good this was for me, how good he was for me.

  A few moments later, he found his own release in my pussy, thrusting frantically a few more times before he came. He let out a deep groan-growl and slipped out of me, leaving me to crash forward onto the bed, still in my bra and my heels.

  I lay there for a moment as I waited for him to join me, and he slipped onto the bed next to me just as I sat up to get fully undressed.

  “No shoes on the bed, right?” I remarked as I kicked my heels off to land next to the dress he had ripped off me a few minutes before.

  “That was amazing.” He trailed his hand up my arm, sending a spiral of tingles along the skin. “You’re amazing.”

  “Not so bad yourself.” I giggled and then slipped onto the bed next to him. I should have gotten up to take my makeup off, but I didn’t want to break the moment yet. I wanted to revel in this, in it being just the two of us for a little while longer. We didn’t have much time before we had to return home, and when we did, we would have to face up to everything that came with that—his ex, Hunter, the friends who had supported us through our breakup. It was going to be weird to have to explain ourselves to people, and that was why it was so tempting to hole up in this hotel room and pretend the world at large didn’t really exist.

  He wrapped his arm around me and drew me in close, and I laid my hand on his chest to feel for the beat of his heart. I found it so comforting, so cooling, so grounding like it was bringing me back down to Earth—even though I still felt as like I was rotating up there with the stars.

  57

  Holden

  “What exactly are your intentions for my Autumn?” Zoe tapped her finger on her chin and eyed me from the other side of the cab. Autumn leaned back from the front seat to take my hand and gave me an apologetic look, but there was no need.

  “Well, taking her back to Portland first,” I told Zoe. “And then immediate marriage, two kids, everything. That sound acceptable to you?”

  “As long as I get invited to the wedding,” Zoe agreed, and Autumn laughed from the front seat.

  “The two of you planning my entire future back there?” she teased.

  “Well, someone needs to,” Zoe replied, winking at me. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with Autumn’s best friend, but I liked her. She seemed to have Autumn’s best interests at heart, which I could get behind.

  “Fair point,” Autumn agreed, and she grinned at her friend. “Sure you don’t want to come back with us?”

  “No, I’m going to stay for a few more days.” Zoe flashed her a smile. “I have someone here now, remember? I want to spend a little more time with him before I go back.”

  “Ooh, keep me updated.” Autumn tapped Zoe’s knee.

  “And you keep me updated on what it’s like to fly around in a private jet,” she shot back, raising her eyebrows at me. “I can’t believe you actually have one of those, Holden. That’s, like, crazy-rich stuff right there.”

  “Well, maybe one day I’ll find an excuse to take you somewhere in it,” I said. “All three of us could go somewhere maybe.”

  “Oh, you shouldn’t have put that offer out in front of me.” Zoe wagged her finger at me. “I might take you up on it when you least expect it.”

  “We’re here,” Autumn announced as we pulled into the airport. The private jet would be ready and waiting for us, and I was looking forward to getting back to see Hunter, though I would have been lying if I said I wasn’t a little sad to be saying goodbye to this place as well. Vegas would always have a place in my heart after this, as the place were Autumn and I had connected with each other again. It had been a pretty special few days, and I was sad at the thought of bidding goodbye to them, even if it meant getting back to our real lives.

  “Well, I guess I should let you guys get away.” Zoe stretched and yawned, and while she turned the corners of her mouth down at the notion, I could tell she was looking forward to it. Things were going well with this new man she was seeing, or so Autumn told me, and she was likely glad to be getting some time with him to herself once more.

  Before I got out of the car, Zoe grabbed my arm, and I turned to her. She raised her eyebrows at me and gave me a pointed look.

  “I know it’s a cliché for the best friend to say this,” she told me, “but I have to come out with it. Autumn’s an amazing woman, you know that. Please don’t hurt her.”

  “I won’t,” I promised her, and she let go of my arm.

  “Trust me, I know how amazing she is.” I grinned at her. “I’m never going to forget it.”

  “I guess I can let you off for now then.” Zoe nodded at me. “Have a safe flight home, all right?”

  “Will do,” I promised as she got out of the car to say goodbye to Autumn.

  “Keep in touch,” Autumn ordered her as she gave her a tight hug. “And be back by the time school starts again, okay?”

  “I will be,” Zoe agreed. “I’ll message you when I get back in Portland. We can catch up then.”

  “See you soon.” Autumn squeezed her friend one last time and walked toward the plane. Gathering our bags, I quickly followed her.

  We settled into the plane—after the requisite amount of Autumn wandering around the place gaping at every little detail, stunned that anything so luxurious could exist in the real world, let alone her real world—and I offered her a glass of champagne as we took off to head back home.

  “It’s probably a bad idea.” She giggled. “But why not?”

  We toasted one another, and Autumn turned to look at the Earth retreating below us as we gained altitude. Just like that, the world we had been hiding inside for the last few days seemed to drop away as well. A furrow appeared on her brow, and I noticed a darkness flicker across her face. Leaning forward, I put my hand on her knee, and she turned her attention back to me.

  “Something on your mind?” I asked gently, and she shook her head, took another sip of her champagne, and then nodded.

  “Actually, there is,” she admitted.

  “What is it?” I pressed her, though I had a good idea what this was going to be about.

  “You said the stuff with your ex was back in Portland,” she reminded me. “Well, we’re headed that way now. What do we do now that we have to deal with her again?”

  “Nothing.” I shook my head. “The ball’s in her court now, and there’s not a lot I can do about that for the time being. If she takes me to court, I can deal with it that way, but I doubt she’s going to bother us personally anymore.”

  “And what if she does?” Autumn eyed me nervously. “What if she really wants to be part of his life, and she finds a way in? What then?”

  “What exactly is it that you’re worried about?” I asked, patient as I could be. I knew she didn’t understand how terrible Karla had been when we had been together, the manipulation and cruelty she had inflicted on me.

  “I’m worried that if she comes back, there’ll be no place for me in the family anymore,” she confessed, dropping her gaze down and fiddling with the hem of her dress. “She’s his mother, after all. I don’t know if I can compete with that
.”

  “Autumn, please.” I leaned forward and grabbed her hand, and she looked up at me at last. I hoped she could tell from the intensity in the way I was looking at her that I wasn’t kidding. “She’s never been a mother to Hunter. I know that might be hard to believe, but it’s true.”

  “But she is his mother,” Autumn pointed out, clearly not wrapping her head around the comment. “More than I ever will be. She gave birth to him.”

  “Yes, and that’s all she did,” I assured her. “That’s where her involvement with our son comes to a dead halt. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “I guess.” She wrinkled up her nose, and I could tell she was struggling to wrap her head around what I was saying.

  “I’m telling you, that woman had nothing to do with raising Hunter,” I told her firmly. “She might have brought him into the world, sure, but that’s it. I’m sorry, but that’s not the kind of woman I would consider a mother, would you?”

  She stared at me for a long moment, clearly trying to understand what I was saying to her. She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath.

  “What happens if she does want to come back into his life?” she asked quietly. “What happens to me then? Won’t I be unnecessary?”

  “Autumn, that’s never going to be the case with you.” I squeezed her hand tightly. “Even if, by some fucking miracle, she does manage to convince me and a judge that she’s serious about being in Hunter’s life again, I don’t give a damn. You’re still important to me, and you’ll still be important to Hunter.”

  She let her gaze drop downward, and it was like there was something she wanted to tell me but didn’t quite know how to come out about it. But then she shook her head and managed a smile.

  “I’m sorry I keep bringing it up,” she said, sighing. “I want to be able to drop it as much as you do. I just can’t seem to get it out of my head, that’s all. What would happen if she did come back, properly.”