Taking It Off

by Claire Kent

  Because she couldn’t seem to shut up.

  His body was hot and hard and heavy on top of her, and the damp press of his naked skin on hers was overwhelming. The bed was now shaking even more, and Elizabeth was holding on as best she could, her legs wrapped tightly around Matt’s waist.

  “Matt,” she gasped, finally able to form a real word. “Ma—” The friction of his cock inside her was growing more and more powerful. Her vision blurred, and the world seemed to close down into nothing but his strong body moving over hers and the intense sensations building up beneath her belly.

  Matt straightened his arms and raised his upper body, and his eyes never left her face as he pounded into her. She could see the straining muscles of his arms under his damp skin, could see the rippling lines of his shoulders.

  He was thrusting so hard and deep now that it actually hurt a little, but she was too aroused for that to do anything but push her closer to the edge. She grabbed at his shoulders, desperately trying to pull him down closer to her again. Her fingernails clawed at the hard muscles of his back, and her breasts were bouncing wildly—making an embarrassing slapping sound.

  “Eh, eh, eh,” she panted hoarsely over and over again—every pulse in her body focused on his cock slamming into her, on her rising sensations nearly at their limit. She tried to get her legs up higher around his back, her thighs squeezing around him, her heels digging in as she tried to hold them in position.

  Matt released a guttural moan as he breathed in harsh, rapid gasps above her. His eyes still on her face, he jerked his head a couple of times, fisting the bedding on either side of her body as he supported himself with arms so tense they trembled.

  She could hear the sound of wet suction as his cock pumped rapidly inside her, audible behind the mingled texture of their frantic sounds and the squeaking of the springs on the bed. She bucked her hips up to meet his thrusts, crying out in hoarse, choppy sobs for release.

  “Elizabeth,” Matt ground out through clenched teeth. The one word almost sounded like a plea. He was clearly on the edge himself, holding himself off of her, his handsome face twisted with passion, effort, and strain.

  She came on his next thrust, her body freezing as the pleasure slammed into her with his cock. Then she shook and whimpered beneath him while her pussy spasmed hard around him.

  “Elizabeth!” Matt repeated, this time choking on a roar as he froze for an endless moment. Then the tension in his body exploded, and he jerked erratically above her and gasped her name again. His face reflected each wave of his pleasure, and his cock pulsed hotly inside her.

  As she felt his release, Elizabeth made a few more mewing sounds as her body finally began to relax.

  Then Matt’s elbows buckled and his weight fell down on top of her, pushing her into the mattress the way he’d done a couple of weeks ago. His arms were wedged beneath, and he held her in a tight, desperate embrace.

  Elizabeth clung to him too, loving this evidence that he needed her so much. But her feet had fallen asleep and were prickling uncomfortably, so she carefully lowered her legs to the bed.

  After a minute Matt shifted to his side, pulling her with him—so they could keep holding each other without his weight becoming oppressive.

  They lay together—gasping and shuddering—for a long time. Until Matt finally kissed her slowly, gently. “One good thing about starting over,” he said, his voice still thick from his release, “is that we get to do that all the time. If you want to now, I mean.”

  Elizabeth smiled tiredly. “Oh yeah. I want to.”

  They rested in silence for several minutes, still holding on to each other, Matt occasionally stroking her hair. Finally she tilted her head up so she could see his face. “You know what I was just thinking?”

  He smiled at her, tender and tired. “What’s that?”

  “We’ve never actually had sex in my bed before.”

  “I guess not.”

  “We’ve had sex in your office at Bare Assets and my car and outside my car and in your bed and in this hotel room—but not my bed.”

  “Well, if you’d like to take me home—tonight or any other night—we can rectify that matter.”

  “Good to know.”

  She gave him a quick kiss and then rolled off the bed to go to the bathroom and clean herself up a little. When she returned, Matt pulled her back down into the bed beside him, and she relaxed against him, feeling good in every way.

  They lay in contented silence for a while until she asked, “How are things with plans for the new bar?”

  Matt had taken her suggestion seriously, and he’d been starting to work out ideas for opening a new bar—one he could really throw his talent and energy into. She was excited for him. He always acted low-key about it, but she was pretty sure he was excited himself.

  “Okay,” he said. “I think I’ve got a location. The Gold Rush is closing. Do you know where that is? I think I can get that property.”

  “Oh yeah. That would be a perfect place for a bar. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “I just found out about it today. And I didn’t want to always be going on about me.”

  She giggled, but she lifted up enough to give him a stern look. “It’s going to get awfully old to always have to pry information out of you.”

  “Right,” he said, his eyes soft, but nodded as if he understood. “Got it.”

  “Well, if you can get that space, then things could move pretty fast then, couldn’t they?”

  “I don’t know. There’s a lot involved in opening a bar.”

  “I guess so.” She thought for a minute about possibilities, and then she asked, “Will you keeping working out of Bare Assets?”

  Matt shook his head on the pillow. “No. Robbie has gotten to the point where he can handle the day-to-day stuff, so I can get out of there.”

  “Would it really be that hard—to keep hanging out there until you get the new bar open?”

  “Yeah. It kind of is. Too many negative associations. If I don’t want to be that person again, then I think I need to make a clean break.”

  “Did you really hate it that much?”

  “I hated what it meant. To me.”

  She nodded, understanding and touched by how much he was sharing with her. “Yeah. I get it. I’ll kind of miss you stripping for me, though.”

  He pressed a kiss into her hair. “You can take off my clothes anytime you want.”

  “That’s a very tempting offer. I’ll probably take you up on that.”

  After a pause Elizabeth said, very lightly, “They were your friends, though. Right? Robbie, at least. And some of the others.”

  “Yeah. They were my friends.”

  “You’re not going to cut them all off now, are you?”

  Matt was silent for a long time. “No. I’m not going to cut them off.” He gave a rough sigh. “Maybe after a little more time has passed I can go back and not feel the same thing.”

  Elizabeth smiled and kissed his chest. “I hope so. What about your mom? You haven’t mentioned her in a couple of weeks.”

  She felt something shift in his body as he said, “She checked herself out of rehab. I’m telling you, there’s nothing to hope for there.”

  “Maybe. But you never know. People can change. Look at us. We changed, right?” She lifted her head to meet his eyes.

  His gaze never wavered. It was deep and intense and as focused as always as he said, “Yeah. We changed.”

  She relaxed back into his arms. “So you never know. Maybe she can change too. I think it’s something worth hoping for, anyway.”

  “Yeah. I think so too. I’m not going to give up on her.”

  He wasn’t going to give up on Elizabeth—on them—either. She knew it for sure now. Once Matt Stokes committed, it was forever, and the only person he might be tempted to give up on was himself.

  She wasn’t going to let that happen. It was a comforting thought. Because it meant that—together—they would always be
better than they were apart.

  Epilogue

  Six months later Elizabeth woke up from a light sleep when she heard Matt come home.

  It was after two in the morning. He often came home late, since he’d been working hard to get his new bar off the ground. Things were going really well with it, and Elizabeth was so happy for him. But it was kind of a pain for him to work such late hours when she had to get up early.

  She sat up in bed as he came into the room, the covers slipping down to reveal her white tank top.

  “Hey, baby,” Matt said, nudging off his shoes with his toes. “Sorry to wake you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m glad to see you. It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

  “I know.” He walked over and leaned down to kiss her softly. “I’m sorry. The hours will lessen up soon. It’s just a lot of work on the front end.”

  “I know that. I don’t mind. As long as I get to see you sometimes.”

  He smiled that hot little smile. “Anytime you want to see me, you stop by the bar. I’ve got an office that locks there, you know.”

  She giggled. “I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.”

  He pulled off his socks and threw them in the general direction of the closet. When she gave him a significant look, he released an exaggerated groan and went over to pick them up and throw them in the hamper.

  “Thank you,” she said sweetly.

  “The things I do for you,” he muttered. “Putting my socks in the hamper.”

  “I know it’s a great gesture of devotion.”

  “I only do it because I love you, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “I’d like to know what kind of gestures of devotion you have to offer me,” he teased, starting to pull off his T-shirt.

  “Well, waking up at two in the morning to have sex has to qualify, doesn’t it?”

  He froze, the shirt halfway off. “Last night you told me to get off you.”

  She giggled again. “Well, I was sleepier last night. But I might be able to manage something tonight.”

  The T-shirt came off in record time.

  Stifling her laughter, she teased, “Wait a minute. Don’t get too excited yet. You’re going to have to do a little work to get me in the mood first. A girl doesn’t come out of a deep sleep automatically ready to be fucked, you know.”

  “Is that right?” He gave her a small, tantalizing smile and let his fingers linger on the button of his jeans. “I have some talent at getting you in the mood.”

  “Oh, the ego of the man. You think you can give me a sexy look and get me wet?”

  He’d unzipped his jeans and, seeing that she was watching him, he gave her a playful little hip pump.

  She laughed in pleasure and surprise. “Now you’re getting warmer.”

  He was laughing too as he removed his jeans, doing a couple of simple poses as they slid off. Then he did a small leg swirl, the jeans still hanging on his foot, and he swung with such good aim that the jeans went flying across the room, right into the hamper.

  She clapped her hands in astonished delight, rising up onto her knees on the bed to watch. He hadn’t done anything connected to stripping in six months. It was still hard for him to even go visit Robbie and the others at Bare Assets, although he made a consistent effort to do so. The associations were still raw for him, so she couldn’t believe he was doing this now.

  Evidently pleased with the success of that move, he slid off his watch and then stalked closer to the bed wearing nothing but a pair of gray boxer briefs.

  She was actually holding her breath when he made some slow, leisurely pelvic thrusts in her direction, his hands on the waistband of his underwear.

  “That’s right,” she murmured, trying to sound sexy though she was flooded with laughter and something so deep and powerful it was close to bringing her to tears. “Shake it for me. Show me what you’ve got.”

  He chuckled as he did a quick move with his boxers, sliding them up and down to give her a glimpse of what was beneath, which was visibly getting harder as the seconds passed.

  She clapped again and was suddenly so filled with joy that he could do this, that it wasn’t hurting him, that she had to jerk her head to the side to hide the twisting of her face.

  Matt stopped immediately. “Baby, what’s wro—”

  “No!” she interrupted, smiling at him again, although her eyes were burning with tears. “Don’t you dare stop. I want you to strip for me.”

  His hand moved back to his waistband, but the mood had shifted a little. Instead of playful and teasing, it was deep now, meaningful. She held his gaze and she knew he understood.

  He reached out to position her closer to the edge of the bed, and then he did some slow, erotic thrusts against her, placing his hands on her shoulders and guiding her motion.

  She shuddered with pleasure and emotion as he rocked against her. Then, very slowly, he pushed down his boxers, teasing her a few times before he bared himself completely.

  She stared at his gorgeous naked body, feeling an ownership she’d never felt before.

  His body was hers, in all of the strong, graceful muscles, long limbs, and gorgeous ink. All of him was hers—and no one else’s.

  “Oh God, Matt,” she gasped, “I love you so much.”

  He made a low groan as he pulled her into a tight embrace, and then he couldn’t seem to hold himself back anymore. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her deeply.

  He murmured against her lips, “I love you too. You know that, right? Everything I have, everything I am—body and soul—is yours.”

  —

  Matt had seriously thought that any memory of stripping would bring back the sick knot in his gut. He’d lived the best six months of his life with Elizabeth, expanding the business into something new, learning to be in a relationship, trying to come to terms with who he really was.

  He hadn’t intended to do the teasing stripper move for her, but she’d been so pleased he’d found himself doing more. Then, even when she was clearly overwhelmed with emotion over the significance of the gesture, he hadn’t wanted to stop.

  It was so strange. So different. To use his body in this way again but with a completely different intention. To have it really be a part of himself.

  He was just as consumed by emotion as she was, and he figured the only way to fight off the sappy blur of feelings was with some pure animal lust. So he pulled her toward him as she knelt on the bed and he stood beside it, stroking up and down her body, from her hips to her breasts. It wasn’t his most skillful caress, but Elizabeth moaned in response anyway.

  She pressed her body into his, rubbing herself against the bulge of his almost-full erection. “Matt?”

  “Hmm,” he replied, leaning over so he could trail his mouth along her jaw and the line of her neck. When she pushed her pelvis into his again, he pushed back—biting back a groan at the lush pressure against the urgency of his arousal.

  “Matt?” Elizabeth gasped again, dropping her head back and clutching at his shoulders.

  Taking that as an invitation, Matt slid his hands down to her ass. Then he heaved her up. She moved with him easily, wrapping her legs around his middle and her arms around his neck.

  Matt moaned at the feel of her around him. He buried his face in her neck.

  “Matt?” Elizabeth tried again, her voice breathless as she squirmed against him, her position allowing her to shamelessly rub her own arousal against his middle.

  He squeezed her spasmodically, his hips jerking toward her in instinctive response.

  “Fuck, Matt,” she gasped at last. “You know how I react when you strip. If you don’t fuck me soon, I’m going to hit you.”

  Matt huffed out a laugh, loving how she could be so poised and so blunt at the exact same time. He laid her down on the bed, moving over her immediately and starting to pull at her pajamas, desperate to get her naked so he could see her, touch her.

  She seemed to be just as imp
atient as he was, tugging at his underwear until she could slide them off his legs. Eventually they were both naked, their clothes littering the floor beside the bed.

  Staring down at her lush, gorgeous body, Matt moved over Elizabeth again and took one of her breasts in his mouth. He suckled it skillfully, fluttering his tongue in a way he knew she loved, so that soon she started arching and writhing beneath him.

  “Matt,” she rasped, her fingernails digging into the skin of his back. “Matt, enough.”

  He pulled up. Gazed down at her. She was flushed and panting and sprawled wantonly beneath him. Her hair was a mess from sliding her head against the pillow, and her swollen lips were slightly parted.

  The expression in her eyes proved without doubt that she was just as committed to this as he was, that she loved all of who he was, even the parts that were ugly and messy.

  His cock lurched at the same time as his heart. He couldn’t believe they’d actually made it here—after so many detours.

  Elizabeth’s face changed. “Matt?” she asked softly. “Matt? Are you too sappy to fuck?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I promise,” he drawled, “such a condition doesn’t exist.”

  She chuckled appreciatively but then she raised her pelvis and tried to grind her pussy against his hip. “In that case,” she replied, “are you really going to make me beg tonight?”

  He wasn’t. He let out a textured groan at the feel of her obvious impatience. Then he slipped his hand down between her legs until he was able to part her folds with his finger and stroke her.

  She was wet and warm, and she hissed in pleasure as he caressed her. He slid one finger into her pussy, feeling the familiar texture of her and the gathered moisture of her desire.

  She arched up, her hands fisting in the covers on either side of her. Then she gasped out, “Yeah, Matt,” when his thumb closed over her clit.

  He rubbed circles there, his eyes devouring her as she tensed in pleasure and pulled her legs up, bending them at the knee. His own cock was throbbing insistently, but he pumped his finger inside her a few times, never able to get enough of this concrete evidence of her need for him, of the pleasure he was able to give her.