The First 100 Kisses: Practice Makes Perfect

by Danielle Bannister

  “Okay. I’m ready.”

  Liam nodded but didn’t reply. He stood up and held up a hand for me to follow him. I did as he asked and waited again when he got to my apartment door. He looked out then motioned for me to follow. At his apartment door, he hesitated.

  “I know you think I’m foolish for making you do this, Chloe, but I just have a bad feeling about that guy.”

  I took his hand with my free one.

  “No. It’s okay. After seeing what he did to my couch, I agree with you. He’s dangerous. I knew that last year, and still, I texted him. I’m such a moron.”

  “Yes, you are, Chloe.” I froze. Liam didn’t say that. Damon did. He was behind me.

  Liam worked fast to unlock his apartment and shoved me hard inside.

  “Lock the door, Chloe.” Liam instructed.

  I tried to open the door to drag Liam inside with me, but he held the door in his hand, forcing it closed, almost as though he knew I’d do that. Cursing, I locked the door.

  “She’s so obedient, isn’t she?” Damon laughed. “She loves being ordered around.” I could see in my mind the sick smirk he must have worn. He was such an asshole. What did I ever find attractive about him?

  “I need you to leave,” I heard Liam say through the door.

  Standing on tiptoe, I looked through the peephole. I could just make out the back of Liam’s head.

  “Calm down. I just forgot my wallet,” Damon said.

  “Fine. Get your wallet and go.” Liam repeated. His voice was dead calm.

  “Or what? Your wimp-ass is going to make me?” Damon laughed again. My stomach churned.

  “Yes.” Liam said without a trace of nerves.

  Please don’t egg him on, Liam.

  “No offense, but you don’t seem like Chloe’s type. She likes it rough if you get my drift, and you…well, she’d probably break you.”

  Damon was wrong. I didn’t like it rough, but I was smart enough to know that it was better not to argue with him and just endure his desires. It was less painful to appease him than deny him.

  “I need you to leave, Damon,” Liam repeated.

  I willed Liam to stop talking. Damon had a temper. It came out when he was threatened, but he was threatened by a great many things.

  “Do you even know what a head case you have in that one? She’s fucked up, man. She’s a good little girl, though. I never once needed to beat her into submission. She went willingly on her knees, begging for it, every time.” The satisfaction in his tone made me want to vomit.

  “That’s it,” Liam said. “I’m calling the cops.”

  Another laugh. “For what? Freedom of speech?”

  “Breaking and entering,” Liam said.

  “I have a key, asshole, and don’t forget, she hit me. I could press charges against her.”

  As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. It would be my word against his on the self-defense aspect, and every woman knew the odds in those battles were never in the woman’s favor. There would be the text message to him, his access with a key I gave him, and me, greeting him in nothing more than a silk robe. All strikes against me if he pressed charges.

  I unlocked the door and opened it a crack.

  “Liam get inside. He’s not worth it.”

  Liam pulled the door shut again.

  “Liam?” Damon laughed, “You even have a pansy-ass name. Look, clearly you must suck in the sack if she’s calling me for a booty call. But that’s cool. You can have my sloppy seconds. Word of advice though, if you want to keep her from straying?” Damon stepped closer. I could see them practically nose to nose through the peephole. “When you smack her ass, do it hard. Make sure her teeth rattle. She’ll explode around your cock like a rocket.”

  That’s when Liam punched him.

  I ripped open the door and saw Damon on the floor, his nose bleeding, again. He was laughing. Like, hysterically laughing.

  “Yes, hit her just like that, Liam. Your cock will thank you for it.”

  “Get out of my apartment building,” Liam growled. His face was beet red. He looked like he was going to tear Damon’s head off. He’d lifted the umbrella over his head, ready to swing.

  “Just go, Damon,” I whimpered.

  “I can’t, baby doll. My wallet is in your bedroom. Why don’t you come help me find it?” he teased through the blood trickling down his face.

  “Chloe,” Liam said. “Go get this trash his wallet so he can leave.”

  I looked at Damon who was on the ground still, leaving me little room to maneuver around him. I didn’t relish the idea of being that close to him, especially in just my robe, but I also wanted him gone. There was no way I was going to let him back into my house again after what he did to my couch. So, I did what Liam asked. Damon let me pass without issue.

  “You see, Liam? Just like I said; submissive. She does what she’s told,” he laughed, sitting up against the wall. There was blood all over his shirt and caked onto his face.

  I ignored his jab and ran into the bedroom to hunt for his wallet. I didn’t see it anywhere. Either he put it somewhere else, or he was lying. My money was on the latter.

  Back out in the hall, nothing had changed. Damon was still on the ground and Liam was looming large over him, umbrella at the ready, even though Liam was half Damon’s size, he hadn’t tried to get up off the floor. It dawned on me in that moment, that Damon liked to dish out fear but didn’t seem to know how to handle it when the tables were turned. A guy like Damon should have easily been able to take Liam down, but Damon seemed submissive to Liam’s anger. How ironic.

  “Your wallet isn’t in there,” I hissed.

  “Huh,” Damon said, getting to his feet. Liam gestured for me to get behind him, which I did, willingly. “That’s weird.” Damon reached his hand against his back pocket. “Oops. Here it is. My bad,” he smiled.

  That asshole.

  “I want my key back,” I said.

  Damon smiled. There was blood in his mouth, coating his teeth pink.

  “Sure thing, doll. It’s in my front pocket. Left side. Come and get it,” he teased.

  “Give her the key,” Liam barked.

  I narrowed my eyes at Damon. “No. It’s fine. I’ll get it.”

  Walking over to Damon, braver than I’ve ever been near him, I stood in front of him nose to nose and showed him just how un-frightened of him I was. With my eyes locked on his I reached into his left pocket, but it was empty.

  “Whoops. It must be in the other one,” he said with a grin.

  The fucker.

  I reached into the other pocket and found the key, and the erection through the fabric. Bile rose in my stomach. I took the key and dragged it along the edge of his dick, hard, as I pulled it out, causing him to curse.

  “Whoops. Sorry.” I said, getting back behind Liam.

  “Fucking bitch. You two deserve each other,” he said, before spitting blood on the ground. Liam stood taller, shielding me from Damon, but there was little need. He held no power over me anymore. He knew that he would no longer be able to control me, so I was useless to him. He left without another word.

  “Get inside,” Liam ordered.

  “He won’t be back,” I said.

  “Please, get inside,” Liam whispered.

  The tone of his voice surprised me. It was so broken. Pained.

  “Okay.”

  I curled back on the couch, hugging my knees to my chest. I felt so stupid. I should never have made those texts. I dragged Liam into a situation that could have been avoided if I weren’t such a complete and utter fuck-up.

  When Liam finally came inside, he had my bag. He locked the door and set my bag in his room. When he came back out, he stood there, his head pressed against the doorframe. His neck muscles were straining against his anger.

  “I am so sorry, Liam. I had no idea he was going to—”

  “Are you okay?” Liam asked, his head still pushing hard against the frame.

  “Yeah.
I’m okay.”

  He pushed off from the door then and started to pace behind the couch. “I shouldn’t have hit him” Liam said. “I know that was wrong, and irrational. The odds of me winning that fight were not in my favor. I just couldn’t stand him talking about you like that.”

  More guilt washed over me for putting him in that position.

  “He was just trying to get a rise out of you. That’s his thing. How he wields his power. He loves head games.”

  Liam stopped pacing and came to sit beside me. I couldn’t help noticing how far away from me he was. I lowered my eyes. I deserved that distance. He didn’t deal with people well to begin with, then throwing in a conflict like that where he had to be so animalistic? I had put him in a horrible situation. It shocked me that he even knew how to behave so barbarically.

  “Liam, you were amazing out there,” I said after he was quiet for a while.

  He shrugged his shoulders, “I had little control of it. My body just sort of took over. In retrospect, it was probably pretty stupid.”

  “Very,” I said, laughing a little. I wanted to cuddle with him, like we always used to and forget about all of this, but his body language told me he wasn’t open for that. He was still upset by what happened, and rightfully so.

  “I’m sorry you had to do that, but he won’t be back.”

  Liam clenched his jaw a few times.

  “That’s not what’s bothering me.”

  He turned to face me.

  “What is it, then?”

  I could tell that whatever it was, it was challenging for him to articulate. You could actually see his brain struggling to find the right words for the sentence he was crafting. This was one of the ways people first noticed Liam was wired a little differently. Where most people would blurt the first thing that popped into their heads, Liam was the opposite. He took his time replying, especially if it was important.

  “Liam, what’s bothering you?”

  I couldn’t stand being so far away from him, so I scooted closer to him, drawing the line at taking his hand.

  He swallowed, but then his face grew serious. He had formulated his sentence.

  “Was he telling the truth about you? Do you really like the…rough stuff? Is that why you liked it when I pulled your hair?”

  That’s what was bothering him? Not that he’d just come to blows with a manic, but my sexual preferences? Though, it made sense. He was still learning about how wildly complicated sex was. It wasn’t just insert part A into part B. It was so much more than that. He didn’t understand how the lines of pleasure and pain often blurred when it came to sex.

  “I can understand how that might be confusing to you. Do I want to be hurt or hit when having sex like Damon suggested? No, of course not. But if someone I’m crushing on grabs my hair in a fit of passion, that’s something different. It’s a gentle grab. They don’t yank my hair out or anything. But when a guy grabs my hair and positions me for a kiss, when they hold me in place like that…that’s just desire showing, and sometimes desire looks a little rough, when it’s really not. Damon never understood that subtly. For him, pleasure and pain were one and the same.”

  That seemed to make Liam more uncomfortable, so I tried to change the subject.

  “We only went out a few times, until I found out what he was like. I was in a dark place when I met him. He is one of the many mistakes I’ve made in my life.” I let out a deep breath of regret. “In that way, I’m jealous of you, Liam. You haven’t been tainted by the ugly side of sex, yet.”

  Liam didn’t seem any more at ease.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “No, I told you, I’m fine.”

  He shook his head. “No, I mean…before?”

  I reached out and took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. I’m a big girl, Liam. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m just sorry you had to deal with him at all.” I let his hand go and stood up. “One positive thing that came out of this though, is now you don’t have to keep me as a roommate. I have my key back, so—”

  He reached out and grabbed my hand and guided me back onto the couch. “No. He still might come back. Chloe, I’m not going to let you put yourself in danger. You’ll stay with me, as planned.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is that an order?” On the one hand, my hackles were raised as a woman, that he was ordering me around like he owned me. On the other, it was a delicious surprise. It wasn’t like him to be possessive, but yet it also felt…flattering that he cared enough about me to want to keep me safe.

  “No. It’s not an order. It’s a request, from a friend.” His voice was markedly softer. “If you want to go, I will, of course, respect your decision, but please don’t leave, Chloe. Not today. Stay for the day, at least, for me.”

  This was important to him. I could see that. Even though I honestly didn’t fear Damon coming back, it was clear Liam did.

  “Fine. I’ll stay, on one condition,” I said, returning to my spot on the couch. I couldn’t help but smirk.

  “Anything,” he said too quickly. Foolish boy, always thinking before he speaks, except when it seems like a no-brainer.

  “I get to teach you the next lesson.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

  Liam frowned.

  “You can’t be serious, Chloe.”

  “As a heart attack,” I said.

  “What else could I possibly have to learn?” He asked. “I think we covered just about everything last time,” he said gesturing to his bedroom.

  Oh, the poor, uneducated boy. I slid off the couch and crawled over to him on my hands and knees and sat directly in front of him.

  “Oral sex,” I purred.

  I could see his breath rising and falling in his chest.

  “Hardly a skillset I’d need on a first date,” he countered.

  “I wouldn’t say that. Angel has already sexted you. I think you can kiss the idea that she’s still this good old Christian girl out the window. She wants to jump your bones. And since you said you aren’t ready for that, you need to be prepared for all the other things you would consider doing so you know where to draw that line on Friday.”

  He started to counter my argument, but then stopped himself. I couldn’t believe it. He was actually considering letting me blow him. I was way too excited about this. I have been dying to feel him, see him, and god damn it, taste this man ever since we started this process. This was my one chance to do it and I didn’t want to throw it away. I knew this was going to go down in history as the dumbest thing I’d ever done, but this man drove me wild. I knew this might be my one chance to have this before I gave him away to Angel. One taste of her, and he’d probably forget I even existed. It was a selfish play but screw it. I wanted it.

  “What exactly are you proposing that we do?” Liam asked, clearly unsure how he felt about me being on my hands and knees.

  “I want to give you a blow job. It would mean my lips directly on your cock. It’s not sex in the traditional sense, but you will come.”

  He looked at me with a heat I wasn’t expecting. I held my breath. He wasn’t horrified by the idea, which meant there was a shot.

  “What do you say? I show you this one, enjoyable thing Angel might do on Friday, and I stay the rest of the day?”

  When he didn’t object, I took his legs and spread their stance, so I could place myself between his knees. Using the hair tie on my wrist, I pulled my hair into a ponytail so he’d be able to see everything I was doing.

  I ran my hands up his thighs, watching with delight as his body responded to my touch. My hand reached for his belt, and that’s when he lunged his hand out and grabbed my ponytail. Not hard, but just enough to elicit my own heat.

  “You have to stay the week. Not just today,” Liam whispered.

  Jesus, the look in his eyes was hot.

  “Honey, after you come in my mouth, you’ll never want me to leave.” The line was vulgar and raunchy and highly inappropriate for our friendship, bu
t his cock definitely liked the sound of it.

  I pushed his legs further apart, signaling my agreement.

  “I think you’re gonna like this,” I said, smiling at him wickedly.

  As much as I wanted to tear off Liam’s pants and take him in my mouth right then and there, I listened to the voice in my head that warned me to make sure he was really on board with this. It took all the restraint I had, but I rocked back on my knees and found his eyes.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this? We don’t have to. I’ll stay the week. I don’t want to force you into this,” I let out a breath to try and reign in my libido. I couldn’t compromise his morals if he wasn’t ready. That would be unfair and unkind, not to mention downright evil.

  “I’m having a hard time thinking straight if I’m honest,” he admitted.

  I thought as much, because he’d sort of stopped breathing for a minute, there.

  Admitting defeat, I sat down. He wasn’t ready.

  “Oh, God, please don’t stop,” he said.

  Looking up at him, I saw that he was serious. Well hot damn. He did want this.

  Still, perhaps his head and his cock were in direct conflict. He looked slightly panic-stricken. Helpless against his own physical desire.

  “Tell me what you’re afraid will happen if we do this?” I whispered, returning my hands to his calves. He spread his legs wider for me, purely out of instinct. His body wanted this, but his mind was clearly resisting.

  “That this…what we’re about to do,” he began.

  “The blow job?”

  “Yes, that. Ultimately, I worry that it’s not any different than sex. Angel’s parents certainly felt that way.”

  “Ah,” I said, pulling my hand away again. “So, you’d be losing your virginity if I got you off with my mouth?”

  He nodded, “Though, one could argue that our evening last night was full on sex, too.”

  “And what do you think? Where is the line for you?” I asked. My fingers found their way back to Liam’s legs, as though unable to control themselves. They worked their way up the outside of his leg and rested against each hip. Kneeling in front of him, my mouth so close…it must have been torture for him to answer me.