by Jewel E. Ann
Placing his hands on my bent knees, he slides them up my thighs. Eyes connected to mine, he pushes his finger between my slick folds and swipes it up over my clitoris.
“Ung!” I yell, jerking my hips off the bed. It’s official, my sex is throbbing.
Lautner smirks and slides two fingers into me. I buck into his hand and moan again. My eyelids are lead and I fight to hold back my orgasm, overwhelmed with the most arousing sensations.
He removes his fingers and my eyes flutter open. His head ducks to my hips. Slow, wet kisses heat my flesh as he works his mouth up my body. Stopping at my breast, he covers my nipple with his mouth and tugs at it with teasing teeth. Continuing past my neck, he pauses. He hovers over my lips, and I feel him bring his sheathed erection to my entrance. I suck in a quick breath and hold it in anticipation. Simultaneously, his mouth consumes mine and he eases into me. I release a moan into his mouth. I’m being stretched farther than I’ve ever been before. The fullness is intense. A balance between pleasure and pain.
Lautner stills and looks at me. My chest pulses with rapid, shallow pants.
“Are you okay?” he asks. Every muscle in his body contracts, as if he’s fighting a primal urge by taking it slow with me.
I nod.
He pulls back a little then thrusts into me.
“Gaaahhh!” I cry. It’s pleasure, it’s pain … it’s mind blowing, and I don’t want him to stop. He hesitates again as I yell, but I hurry and pull his head to mine, attacking his mouth while I move my hips toward his. That’s all it takes. He’s setting an intense pace. I dig my nails into his backside.
“Sydney …” My name oozes from his mouth like slow, sweet honey.
Sex with Lautner is beyond anything I ever imagined possible. I can’t think. My mind is fuzzy. I feel dizzy. I’m drunk on him. His pace quickens as his hand slides between us to touch me.
“Lautner!” I cry, out of control with my eyes rolling back in my head while the most unimaginable orgasm rips through my body in relentless waves.
“Oh God … Sydney!” Lautner stills deep inside me then circles his hips once as his lips find mine. The room is filled with soft moans of gratitude as we hum into each other’s mouths. My legs snake around his, silently begging him to not move. My hands frame his face, holding his mouth to mine. Sex was the main course, but this is dessert. The urgency has subsided and we’re lost, savoring the moment of this languid, eternal kiss. Every craving I have for the rest of my life will be compared to this moment.
He eases out and falls onto his back beside me. A breathy laugh escapes him. “That was …”
“Sam?” I hear an echo from downstairs.
“Shit!” I gasp leaping from the bed.
I grab Lautner’s shorts and throw them at him. “Get dressed. You have to get out of here.”
“Who’s Sam?” He’s still lying on the bed.
“I’m Sam. Now, get up. Hurry!”
My moves are quick and erratic as I fumble with my bra and thong. I can’t button my dress with shaky hands, so I toss it aside and grab a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from the dirty pile of clothes in my open suitcase on the floor.
“You said your name is Sydney?” he questions as he walks into the en-suite bathroom, presumably to dispose of the condom.
“It’s my nickname,” I mumble, zipping my shorts.
“Sam? Are you here?”
“Is that your sister?” he asks, walking out of the bathroom, thankfully with his shorts on.
“Yes. Where’s your shirt?”
“It’s downstairs in—”
“I’ll get it to you later.” I push him toward the window.
“What are you doing?” His voice is laced with confusion and his brows are furrowed.
“You have to go out the window. Don’t worry, there’s a metal lattice you can climb down.” I open the window.
“You don’t want your sister to know about us?”
“No. She’s planning on sleeping with you.” I hold back the curtains.
“What are you talking about?”
“She asked if I was planning on it and when I said no, she asked if she could.”
“Jesus, Sydney! You’re trying to pimp me out to your sister?”
“No! Well … yes, but it’s not what you think. I’ll explain later, now go.”
He shakes his head, moving his leg out the window. “What about my shoes?”
“You can get them in a little while. Climb down and wait about fifteen minutes then ring the doorbell.”
He huffs out an exasperated breath and he climbs down.
“Oh … and, Lautner?”
He stops and glances up.
“Best sex I’ve ever had.” I grin and shut the window.
He’s still shaking his head, but it’s not enough to keep a smile from creeping up his face.
*
“Avery!” I yell, coming down the stairs. She’s hunched down letting Swarley lick her like a lollipop. Ass germs! Some guard dog he is. However, I owe him an extra walk or a special treat from the dog bakery for being my decoy and buying me extra time to get Lautner out of the house.
“Sam!” She stands and we embrace. “I left extra early this morning, and you know I’m not a morning person, but I wanted to surprise you.”
I release her and flash an exaggerated gummy smile with my eyes wide. “Mission accomplished.”
She purses her lips and tilts her head. “What were you doing?”
“Uh … nothing. Why?” She messes with my hair, brushing a few stray strands away from my face.
“You’re hair is all disheveled and you look flushed.”
“I’ve been hanging out by the pool for the past week. It’s just a tan, and I didn’t dry my hair after I showered this morning.”
“Mmm, it’s not a tan, but whatever. If you’re watching porn on your computer that’s your business not mine. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Avery, I don’t look at porn on—”
“No need to explain.” She waves her hand in the air while walking into the kitchen and looking out the patio doors. She whistles. “Now that’s a backyard—pool, hot tub, and badass outdoor kitchen. This is officially party central for the next few days.”
While she’s distracted, I snatch Lautner’s shirt off the floor and shove it in the kitchen drawer just as she turns.
“What’s with all the flowers?”
“I like having fresh flowers around.” I shrug while twirling my hair.
“Since when?” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Since … I’ve been housesitting. It … um … brightens my mood when I’m lonely.”
I’m in such a hole right now I’ll never be able to dig my way out.
“Why two cups?” she motions to the island.
“I haven’t thrown away the one from yesterday.”
Avery picks one up, the one that’s Lautner’s. She opens the lid and sniffs. “Coffee. You hate coffee.”
“I know. Stupid barista gave me the wrong one, but I didn’t notice until I’d already left.”
She sets down the cup and raises an eye at me. “It’s half empty.”
“Spilled. Yeah, in the car.” I stutter like the worst liar ever.
The doorbell chimes. Thank God!
“Ave, that’s probably FedEx. Will you take Swarley out back?”
“Sure, I need to check out the pool anyway. Come on, Swarley,” she calls as she opens the back door.
I grab the T-shirt out of the drawer and run to the front door picking up Lautner’s shoes before I open the door.
“Hey!” I exclaim as if I didn’t know exactly who was at the door. Stepping out onto the porch, I hand him his stuff and shut the door behind me.
“Hey,” he returns with a slight nod while poking his tongue into his cheek. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your sister?” He slips on his shoes and pulls his shirt over his head. “After all, we should get acquainted before we …” He suggestiv
ely moves his eye brows up and down.
Before I can respond, the door opens behind me.
“Well, well, well … who do we have here?” Avery’s high-pitched, ditzy blonde voice sounds. She’s not at all ditzy. Avery is quite smart, but somewhere along the way she figured out the clueless damsel in distress gets the most attention from the opposite sex.
I turn with a fake, tight smile. “Avery, this is Lautner. Lautner this is my sister—”
“Avery, and it’s a true pleasure to meet you.” She bumps me aside and offers her hand.
“Avery, the pleasure’s all mine. Sydney told me you were pretty, but that’s an understatement. You’re just … wow!”
She giggles. “Oh, stop.”
WTF!
“Sam, let’s not be rude. We should invite Lautner in for a drink or a dip in the pool.”
She turns, still holding his hand, and pulls him into the house. He flashes me a this-should-be-fun grin and shrugs his shoulders. I scowl.
“Sam, you should make margaritas. Sam makes killer margaritas,” Avery gushes as she scoots her barstool closer to Lautner’s. “Sam was a bartender her last two years of college.”
“Avery!” I growl between clenched teeth.
“Chill out, Sam. I didn’t say you used to get drunk and dance on tables … oops, guess I did now.” She turns to Lautner, resting her hand on his leg. “After Sam’s high school sweetheart snatched her virginity and made himself scarce her first week of college, Sam decided to try out the role of preacher’s daughter, you know, wild and crazy? She sucked at it; that’s my role.”
I dump ice into the blender, slam the lid on, and flip the switch. Anything to drown out my annoying sister. I’m tempted to add an extra shot of tequila in my glass to take the edge off, but I decide it’s best to keep my senses with my sister seducing Lautner right in front of me.
“Thanks, sis.” Avery takes a sip and licks her lips like she’s auditioning for a triple X movie. “Mmm, we should take these by the pool. I’m going to go put my bikini on.”
“Avery, Lautner doesn’t have his suit,” I interject.
“Who needs a suit?” Lautner pipes up, looking at me with a stupid smirk. His hypnotic blue irises are dancing with excitement. Avery’s Wikipedia report of me seems to please him.
The scowl that was on my face when he came in is still in place. I think it’s here to stay for the next few torturous days.
“I like the way you think,” Avery calls from the stairs.
Leaning against the counter, I sip my drink and shoot daggers at Lautner. “Having fun?” I chide.
He stands and saunters over to me, taking my glass and setting it aside. Resting his hands on the counter to either side of me, he skims the tip of his nose along my neck and inhales. “Mmm, you smell like hot, sweaty sex and … me.”
“What are you doing?” I whisper as my pulse starts to quicken.
“Just killing time until your sister comes down in her bikini,” he whispers back.
“Don’t be a jerk and lead her on.”
“Sam? Do you have a hair tie I can borrow?” Avery calls from upstairs.
Lautner takes a step back. “Who said I’m leading her on?”
I squint my eyes and shrug past him. “Ugh, whatever!”
*
Avery is the only person I know who shows up at a pool wearing a bikini and stilettos.
“Gee, Ave, I think you forgot your sash and tiara.” I roll my eyes as she comes outside.
“You like them? They’re new.” She pivots her feet to show off her shoes, completely ignoring my intentional jab.
Lautner’s shirt is off—thankfully only his shirt—and he’s relaxing in a lounge chair on his stomach. I’m still in my dirty, wrinkled shorts and T-shirt, apparently smelling like sex, sitting on the edge of the pool dangling my feet in the water. There’s a cold shoulder situation going on, but I’m not sure if I’m on the giving or receiving end. Lautner and I haven’t spoken to each other since we came outside a few minutes ago.
I think I’m pissed at him, but I’m not sure why since I basically gifted him to my sister before she ever showed up. Maybe he’s pissed too and this game he’s playing is to make a point. What point? Not sure about that either.
“Need some suntan lotion on your back?” Avery offers Lautner.
He lifts his head and smiles. “Sure.”
She lathers up her hands and massages it into his back. “Did Sam tell you I’m a massage therapist?”
“No. But I can tell. That feels so good,” he moans.
“I’m going to put my suit on,” I announce. “Not that anyone cares!” I mumble to myself.
*
The duvet is still on the floor, so I straighten the sheets and make the bed. I pick up the box of condoms and turn in circles trying to figure out what to do with them. “Where to hide the stupid condoms?”
I started talking to myself when I began housesitting a year ago. It might not be the healthiest mental behavior, but sometimes it helps stave off loneliness. “Might as well put them in Avery’s room so she has them when Lautner screws her tonight.” I speak in a fake catty voice.
“I’m not going to screw your sister tonight.”
I jump and turn toward the door. Lautner is leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his bare chest.
“Shit! You scared me.” I rest my hand over my heart.
“Who are you talking to?” he asks as he enters the room, shutting the door behind him. “Sam? Your alter ego?”
I shove the box of condoms under the pillow. “Where’s Avery?”
“Sunning herself. I told her I needed to use the restroom. I thought we should talk.”
I sigh as I sit on the edge of the bed and stare at my fingernails. This isn’t supposed to be so complicated.
“I don’t know how to navigate this. If I tell Avery that we’ve had sex, then she’ll make me rationalize it. I’ll be forced into labeling us. Either we’re just messing around, which in her eyes still makes you fair game, or we’re in some committed relationship which is not an option for me at this point in my life.”
Lautner sits beside me and holds my hand, interlacing our fingers. “Twenty-one days?”
I nod and look at him.
“I’ll take it, whatever I can get. We don’t have to call it anything. It just … is. So, tell your sister. Don’t tell your sister. It’s up to you. I won’t lead her on and I won’t screw her. Okay?”
I smile and look over at him without quite making eye contact because I’m embarrassed that I made such a brass assumption. “Okay.”
He stands and pulls me up to him. I love the feel of being held against his bare chest. Maybe too much. I already feel my pulse quickening so I step back.
“Uh … you should get back down stairs. I need to change and Avery will be wondering where you are.” I slide past him and rummage through my stuff for my bikini.
“So are you going to tell her? I just need to know how to act.”
Finding my bikini, I stand. “I’ll handle it when I come downstairs.”
He moves to the door and pauses. “Sydney, for the record, best sex I’ve ever had too.”
He’s gone and I’m flying high. It’s ridiculous to think that I could possibly be the best sex Lautner has ever had. I was a jittery wreck. However, I’m still bubbling over with giddiness that he even thought to say it.
*
Avery’s in the kitchen refilling their margarita glasses and Lautner is sitting next to Swarley by the pool.
“Hey, Sam, cute bikini. We’re draining the rest of the margaritas. Do you want to throw something on the grill for lunch?”
I’m fidgeting with my hair and chewing on the inside of my cheek. I have to tell Avery about me and Lautner. She’s going to analyze the hell out of the situation, but not because she cares about my sex life. She wants to prove that my attempt to control my future is absurd.
After our mom died, I became focused on the futu
re and achieving my goals before something unforeseen happens … like cancer. Avery focused on living in the moment. It’s crazy how something so tragic affects people differently.
“Earth to Sam? Lunch?”
“Yeah, something on the grill sounds good.”
“Great. Will you get the door for me?” she asks, holding the margarita glasses.
“Ave … uh … about me and Lautner …”
She furrows her brow. “Yes?”
The words are all jumbled in my head.
“What is it, Sam?”
I take a gigantic breath. Here goes nothing.
“I had the best sex of my life this morning; that’s why my face was flushed and my hair was a mess and there were two cups on the counter and one was coffee, which you’re right I don’t drink, and I didn’t spill it in the car. It was just a cover-up, and I didn’t buy the flowers. They’ve been delivered to the front door daily for the past five days while I was having my period and refused to see men.” My stomach is contracted, lungs deflated, and I’m gasping for air, but at least I got it all out—at auctioneer speed.
Avery’s saucer eyes are appropriately complemented by her jaw on the floor. “Wow … I mean …wow! I don’t know what to say, other than who’s the guy?”
As oxygen infiltrates my brain again, it occurs to me that in my hurried spiel I never said Lautner’s name.
“Oh, it’s Lautner.”
“Lautner, Lautner?” she clarifies.
“Of course Lautner, Lautner. How many Lautners do you think I know?” I stand firm with my arms crossed.
“Sam, you don’t have to do this. It’s not a competition.” Her eyes are rolling around while she shakes her head as if it’s the most preposterous thing she’s ever heard.
“Do what?” I demand.
“You’re jealous that I’m here now, and I’m the one getting all the attention. So naturally you want me to back off so that Lautner pays more attention to you.”
