by S. C. Adams
Sadie runs up to me begging for the cake to be next. I can’t say no to her. I motion to Claire, who smiles and nods. She announces the cake cutting, and children start lining up to get a piece of cake. I cut Sadie the first slice and hand her the plate. She runs off to her seat and eats it happily.
Claire comes over to help me serve the children as they bounce impatiently for their plate. There are a few moments when I swear she glances at me, but I can’t exactly do anything about it right now. I want to say something, but that would be inappropriate.
I hand out my last slice and look over to see her finishing up too. She looks so comfortable and happy interacting with the kids. I can’t help but smile at her. She stands with a big grin on her lips. Then she looks over at me, and I quickly turn away, afraid that I may have been staring too long.
She takes a slice for herself and goes to chat with the DJ. I slowly savor my own piece of cake, and my mother comes over to stand beside me.
“Tell me, Alex. What’s uh… what’s going on between you and this party planner, Claire?”
I nearly choke on my cake. “What do you mean?”
“Really? You’re going there? All right.” She takes in a deep breath. “Your eyes have been glued to her like a lion on the prowl. What’s going on?”
I cough, actually choking this time. “There’s nothing going on. She’s just—I just hired her.”
“You’re a terrible liar. Don’t lie to your mother.”
I try and try to tell her that there’s nothing going on between us but to no avail. She thwarts my every attempt.
“I know it was hard on you, losing Mary, but I think it would be good for you to get back out there. You’re doing well. Sadie is growing up and almost in kindergarten. You’ll have some more free time.
“And that girl there, she’s a good-looking one. She clearly has a way with kids. She’s successful and seems to have her eye on you too.”
“Mother…”
“What? I’m just telling it like it is.”
I’m saved by Sadie running over to the large table overflowing with presents with her hands outstretched ready to snatch the first thing her fingers touch. I excuse myself and go to the table to act as servant, handing my girl her presents. Claire and a waiter help gather any wrapping paper, ribbons, and packaging.
My mother sits with Sadie and helps her with the stubborn bows and boxes. Sadie rips through all the paper and tears open any boxes in her way. Each present that is revealed is met with a wide-eyed smile, a big hug, and a genuine thank-you.
Claire looks up at me from her post with a soft smile, and I smile back. Our eyes meet and her cheeks turn as pink as her ribbon. I chuckle to myself, knowing full well that my cheeks have done the same. I don’t think Mother noticed, but I can’t be sure.
After a while, the presents are all opened and any toys that were received have been removed from their packaging. Sadie and the other children are now playing with everything and having a grand old time. The parents and other adults lounge at the tables while waiters bring them glasses of wine and other mixed drinks.
I do my best to avoid another awkward conversation with Mother, but she’s a sly one and manages to corner me.
“How’d you meet her?”
“I hired her. She’s a party planner.”
“I mean before that.”
Do I tell my mother that I met her on a random hookup website, we had sex, and then just kind of kept doing it? That seems like the wrong thing to say to one’s mother. “We hooked up once.”
She looks at me with a cocked eyebrow, and I can hear her voice ringing in my head: “Don’t lie to your mother.”
“We met on a dating site a few weeks ago and hooked up a few times with no strings attached. Just a few flings. I happened to walk into her office, without knowing she was there. And now we’re here. Happy?”
She chuckles and pats my arm. “That explains why you haven’t taken your eyes off her. Don’t be afraid of your feelings, Alex.”
“I don’t have feelings for her, Mother.”
She pats my arm again, then wanders off to play a board game with Sadie at one of the tables.
I stand there for a moment pondering what I just said. I don’t think I have feelings for her. Do I? I know I didn’t really mean to kiss her on Wednesday, but it felt right. It’s felt right every time I’ve kissed her. But we agreed—nothing serious.
The party continues for quite a while longer than any of us were really expecting until the first few children start to yawn. Their parents start rounding them up to take them home and thank us for the wonderful party. There are many hugs and goodbyes and thank-yous to be had.
My mother, Claire, and a few waiters help pack all of the leftovers and presents into my car. I pick up Sadie and carry her. A few seconds off the ground and she is asleep on my shoulder, completely tuckered out after her big day.
The last of us head outside. I buckle Sadie into her car seat, careful not to wake her. Mother gets into the car and waits patiently. I thank Claire with a sturdy handshake and can’t help but open my mouth.
“Thank you so much for everything tonight. Would you like to come back to my place for a nightcap?”
She agrees, and I kick myself internally. I didn’t think I was going to invite her—not that I don’t want her to come home with me. But I will need to talk to her. Maybe talking with her will get everything straightened out.
12
Claire
When we arrive at Alex’s place, his mom helps us get everything inside. She helps get Sadie ready for bed and kisses her good night before kissing Alex on the cheek and thanking me again for the party. She takes her leave and tells Alex she’ll be back in a few days to take Sadie to the zoo. She’s a sweet woman.
I help Alex get a partially asleep Sadie upstairs and into bed. She gives me a very tired hug and whispers to me that she had a really fun night and that this was the best party ever. Just hearing her little voice tell me that almost brings tears to my eyes. It’s one thing for a hoity-toity executive to say it, it’s another for a five-year-old to do it.
Alex kisses her forehead, and she instantly falls asleep again. He offers me some wine when we head back downstairs, and we sit down on the couch to open the bottle.
Our conversation starts out a little more serious than before. I start to wonder if he is just trying to view this as a business transaction. After the first glass, things start getting a little more friendly. We share stories about work and some of the games and pranks we’ve played in our office buildings when we weren’t supposed to.
I tell him about the time one of my coworkers got really drunk at a Christmas party and found her way to the copy room. She lifted her shirt and pressed her humongous bosom right onto the glass and had hundreds of copies of her pressed nipples printed out. Then she took them all and headed to the top of the building and threw them all off the roof. They went fluttering down the street, carried away by the wind. It wasn’t until a few days later that a potential client brought one of the copies in that she even knew what had happened.
We share a good laugh about the fiasco, and he shares a story of his. He tells me that he and his buddy Phil were really into sports in college. So, when they first started in an office setting they would play games with one another. One such game they played he described as a game of hockey played with balled up papers and yard sticks. They would write notes or dirty jokes on the papers, crumple them up, then use the yard sticks to hit them as far as possible. They worked on opposite ends of the floor, so the goal was to get the note to the other side of the floor. They got in trouble more than once for this game.
A few more stories later and we both take notice that the coffee table has three empty bottles sitting on it along with our half-empty wineglasses. I didn’t even realized we had drank so much. He clearly didn’t notice either.
We sit for a moment, contemplating exactly how drunk we both are. Then we throw caution to the wind. I ki
ck off my shoes and slide closer to him on the couch. He wraps a strong arm around my shoulders and holds me close. I lean my head down on his chest, and we sit there for a few moments just enjoying the closeness.
I think we’re both trying to figure things out with our feelings, but I don’t think either of us are in a place to really consider things.
He shifts, and I lift my head in his direction. Then he places a gentle palm on my cheek and brings me into a loving, passionate kiss. There’s a spark between us, and I place my hand over his. My cheeks are hot, and I don’t want him to stop.
We kiss again, then again with more tongue. I throw my arms around his neck and press my breasts against his chest. He wraps his arms around my waist. Our lips are glued together, and our tongues dance the mambo between our teeth.
I notice his breathing becoming faster. I want him. I lean into him, forcing him against the back of the couch so that I can whip my leg over his lap to straddle him. We continue to kiss, and he places his hands firmly on my ass. He digs his fingers into my skin, and all I want is for him to pull me closer.
He pulls back for a moment to catch his breath. “Bedroom?” he asks.
I nod and jump up off his lap. He gets up and grasps my hand. We head upstairs to his bedroom with much haste. Once there he presses me up against the bedroom door, closing it shut in the process. He kisses me again with more power than I thought he had.
My legs become jelly underneath me. He wraps his thick arms around me and hugs me tight. Then he grabs the zipper on my dress and unzips it with a quickness I’ve only seen in movies. I let the dress fall to the floor and start to unbutton his shirt.
He pulls away from me, grabs either side of his shirt, and rips it open, causing almost all of the buttons to go flying across the room. For a moment I freeze with my mouth open and my eyes wide. It seems to happen in slow motion, and I swear I can see exactly where each button falls. I watch the fabric reveal his marvelous chest and then those firm, glorious, toned abs.
He tosses the shirt aside and embraces me again. Whilst in the middle of a kiss, I feel my bra pop open and drop to the floor. I am utterly impressed. I reach down and undo his pants, which fall to the floor as well.
I push against him, and he backs up until he is lying on the bed. I pull his boxers away and admire his length standing tall before me. I crawl toward him and place my lips on the tip of his hard cock. He leans his head back and enjoys the sensation.
Slowly I slide my lips around the head, then down the shaft as far as I can take. I let my tongue slide down slowly, then I wrap it around to the other side and slide up. I grasp the base of his cock firmly with my hand and start to stroke. I suckle on the tip, making his leg twitch.
Down his shaft, up to the head, down his shaft, up to the head. I bob my head while pressing the tip of my tongue against the underside of his cock, and I stroke my hand in time.
I can hear him breathing heavily, fully enjoying his cock in my mouth. I bob a little faster. The tip of his cock almost hits my throat. I want to know if I can take it, but I’m not sure. I stroke his cock faster, and I can hear a faint moan escape his lips.
I swirl my tongue around the head a few times before putting my mouth down as far as it will go. Then back up, then all the way down. Again and again I bob my head, putting his entire length into my mouth. He places his hand on my head and gently grasps my hair.
I moan softly onto his cock. He gently pushes me away, and I sit up and wipe my mouth. He sits up and brings me into a kiss. Then he pulls away and smiles at me. I wonder what he has in mind.
He kisses my neck, which makes me moan softly. Then he gently nibbles my earlobe before whispering, “Get on all fours.”
A shiver pulses through my body, and I gladly obey. He kneels behind me and presses the tip of his cock against my wet slit. He rubs it there slowly, making me moan. I want him inside me. He teases me with just the tip a few times before I look back at him with a pleading look in my eyes.
He places both hands firmly on my hips and thrusts his cock deep inside my tight, wet pussy. I moan, and he thrusts again. I can feel every inch of this thick cock as he slams against my ass.
He thrusts a few more times, making me moan each time. Then he slides one hand down between my legs and flanks my clit with the tips of his index finger and middle finger. He rubs gently, and shivers go up and down my spine.
My arms give out, and I lie there with my face in a pillow and my ass up in the air. He slams into me again and again. I moan louder and louder as he rubs my clit. I breathe heavily and think I’m getting close. Then he stops.
He stops thrusting, stops rubbing—just stops. I look back at him, and he has a sinister smile on his face. I wonder what exactly he’s playing at. He starts to rub my clit again gently, and I gasp. He thrusts into me, letting me feel each and every inch of his cock before pulling back and doing it again.
He rubs in slow circles, and I feel his lips on my back. Each thrust ends in a gentle kiss along my spine. I smile and moan softly, loving this gentle touch. He starts to thrust a little faster, and I can feel him breathing on my back. I push myself back against his cock, making my ass smack against his pelvis.
He moans, and it urges me to keep going. His fingers slide away from my clit, and I almost beg him not to leave. But then his hands grasp my hips, his fingers digging into me. He thrusts harder and faster.
With every thrust he pulls me against him, ramming his cock as deep inside me as he can. I moan loudly, almost screaming in pleasure. I can feel him throbbing inside me with a few grunting moans. In the heat of the moment, he smacks my ass hard, which makes me moan. I’m a little surprised by my response, but I don’t mind it really.
After a few more powerful thrusts, he pushes me down so that he is lying flat on top of me with his cock still within. He kisses my neck and reaches forward to interlace his fingers with mine. We stay like that for a short while until he pulls away, and I roll over beneath him.
He kisses me gently at first, then more passionately. He slowly eases his cock inside me. Our bodies are pressed up against one another. My breasts are flat against his toned chest. I have my fingers in his hair, kissing him over and over. I can feel every muscle in his back and legs working to push me over the edge.
I bring one hand down to caress his tight muscular rear. The other is grasping his soft, dark hair. I can feel his muscles tense as he thrusts. Every inch of my pussy tingles as his cock slides in and out.
He nibbles my neck and kisses me softly. Then he places his lips on my breast and suckles. I moan softly, hoping that he might leave just a bit of a reminder of this night. He bites down, and I surprise myself again when I find I enjoy it. He releases the flesh and leaves behind a wonderfully purple mark.
I pull his hair until he places his lips against mine. He groans and thrusts harder, our pelvises crashing together. We moan into tongue-filled kisses. I dig my nails into his ass—there’ll be marks left for sure.
He lifts himself up with his powerful arms, and I bring both hands to his back, scratching lightly. He thrusts powerfully, and we watch each other in all our glory. I moan with every thrust and arch my back, pushing my bouncing breasts up into the air toward him.
He comes back down on top of me and locks his lips with mine. I can feel myself getting closer. I hold him tight, with my nails digging into his skin. I gasp as my body begins to shiver, and his cock inside my pussy starts to push me over the edge.
I lean my head back and scream his name as my pussy clamps down around his warm, throbbing cock. I can feel him filling me as he moans my name softly against my neck. Our bodies shake and quiver. He keeps thrusting as long as he can before it becomes too much.
We kiss each other a few more times before he rolls off me. I lie there staring at his ceiling and panting hard. I can smell the sweat on both of us and smile. I can hear him breathing just as heavily.
When I look over at him, he has his eyes closed and the biggest smile across his
lips. I snuggle close to him, and he wraps an arm around me. I feel safe against his chest, hearing him breathing. We hold each other close and catch our breaths. Before I know it, we’re both sound asleep in each other’s arms.
13
Alex
Morning comes all too quickly. The sun is seeping through my curtains, and Claire’s warm body is still snuggled up next to mine. With my eyes closed, I lie there and just bask in the feeling of waking up next to someone again.
I feel her start to wake, and I roll over to hug her. She makes a small sound of happiness before gasping and quickly pulling out of my grasp.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up.
“Oh, no, no, no.”
She is clearly panicking. She is sitting up with her hands on either side of her head, shaking it and repeating herself. She quickly jumps off the bed, and I get a little distracted by the gorgeous, naked woman standing before me.
Claire frantically reaches for her clothes and starts to get dressed. I get up and grab my robe. She gets her panties and bra on by the time I stop her with my hands on her shoulders.
“Claire, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” she starts. Which is of course what every man wants to hear the morning after amazing sex. “I didn’t mean to stay the night.”
“It’s not the worst thing that could’ve happened.” I brush some hair from her face and lift her chin to look me in the eye. “I can make up some coffee and breakfast and we can just talk things over, okay?”
“Alex, I have to go.”
She pulls away from me, and I watch her pull on her dress. I remember the last time I watched her get dressed. I remember how I felt lying alone in that hotel bed, feeling cold and alone. I don’t want to feel that again. Not after last night.
She is dressed and heads for the door. Right before she opens it, I grab her by the wrist. She looks back at me with sad eyes.
