by Ally Adams
I nodded. “Did Valentina know you had tried to break up?”
“Of course. She thinks it is her business to know everything about me, she’s my sister.” He smiled. “Besides, she never thought we were good together.”
I took that all in. I was right about Valentina, she hadn’t given me the tickets to the jazz club to hurt me. That was a relief, especially that I wouldn’t be filling the shoes of someone she loved and wanted with her brother. I could feel my chest getting lighter.
Tomás cleared his throat. “Will you forgive me, Cookie? Are we good?” he asked, his face a mask of worry.
I touched his face. “We’re good.”
His face lit up with a smile. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really.” I narrowed my eyes. “As long as you really are ready to stop playing casually and you definitely have your guest in the guest room?” I teased him, using his expressions.
“I want only you Al...iss.” He leaned on the back of the couch and pulled me between his legs.
“But...” I said.
Tomás raised an eyebrow. “Yes?” He slipped his hands under my dress and without even thinking I pushed him back. He fell back onto the couch taking me with him. He didn’t let me go, protecting me from the fall as I landed on top of him.
“That works for me,” he teased as I stumbled up to straddle him.
“My but...” I said.
“I know. I love your butt. I’ve seen it up close.”
“No, I mean, the ‘but’ I was going to add...”
He put his hands on my hips and positioned me on the hard bulge in his pants. He reached round, grabbed a cushion and stuck it behind his head, his long legs extended down the length of the couch. He looked as if he was settled for the night.
“Go ahead,” he encouraged me. “What is your ‘but’….” He watched me and looked so kissable.
I drew a deep breath and tried to get past that his erection was pressing against my sex. I kept talking. “But... I don’t want us to start again until Julieta has gone home. You can’t have us both Tomás. When she is gone, definitely gone, then I want to have you and have you inside me.”
My words had an instant effect on him; a soft growl emanated from his throat and his eyes drank me in.
“What about event guy? Will you see him again?”
“No. Not if we agree tonight that we will start from Wednesday. I will only have eyes for you Tomás.”
“You won’t let him touch you?” he asked again.
I shook my head. “I won’t let him touch me.”
“No one has touched you? You are still my virgin?” he asked, his fingers dancing around the borders of my dress.
I nodded. “I’m stuck with only qualifications in hand and tongue class.”
He laughed and then sat up, holding me tight, as he swung his legs forward onto the floor, still holding me as I sat in his lap on the couch. He leaned back and studied me.
“I want to have you Al...iss, I want to be the first to touch you and be inside you and the only man to satisfy you. Okay?”
“Yes.” I nodded, unable to get more words out than that and then Tomás pulled me close to his chest and he kissed me with all the passion and healing powers of a true make-up kiss. Relief flooded us both. I was so in love with this man and one day soon I would tell him.
The deeper he kissed me the harder he seemed to become and the more I wanted him. His hand slipped beneath my dress again and I pulled it out.
“No Tomás,” I said, breathlessly between kissing him. “You still have a woman living with you.”
His denim-clad erection kept pushing against me and my hips betrayed me, swaying with him as he pressed me hard against him.
“Touch me, Al...iss,” he begged.
“No. Wednesday we begin.”
He groaned and the ridge of his erection pushing against me increased the need in us both. I wanted to move away but fuck I wanted him. I wanted to hold on to my principles too but what a price to pay—I must be crazy.
He began to kiss me more feverishly and I groaned his name. I don’t think I said stop, just his name over and over as he kissed down my neck and found his way to my bra line.
“Tomás...” I wriggled. I needed to be strong on this, or I would hate myself later and he’d go home to her.
“I won’t touch you,” he said. “Wednesday, I will have you, but my hands and tongue really want to touch you tonight. Like our first two classes.”
I conceded we had done that before but... it was crossing the line of my directive. I was so weak. He moved me from his lap and lowered me onto the couch on my back. I pulled my dress down and he lowered himself on top of me, holding his weight above me. Probably safer I thought since he couldn’t grope my ass in this position, although he was at eye level with my breasts. I breathed in as the new angle allowed him to rub against me, and fuck me it felt so good. Each orchestrated movement of his hips, each flex of his arms as he held his weight above me, turned me on. The friction he caused along my mound was not good, not good at all for abstinence.
I wrapped my legs around him—they just had a mind of their own—and I could feel his hard dick against the fabric of my panties and my clit. Oh God, we were like teenagers in a car at the drive-in. I didn’t need to undress, I was going to have an orgasm from the friction of Tomás Carrera rubbing his erection against my clothes. There was something so desperate and needy about that but I couldn’t stop him. His lips found mine again and he kissed me roughly, as if he was getting his fill for the days he missed and bruising my lips so that no-one else could touch me. My nails dug into the T-shirt on his back and he moaned my name. I might have gripped his butt in the moment, I can’t be sure.
I wanted him to stop but I didn’t also, if that makes any sense. I gasped. I couldn’t believe it, the friction, the feeling was unbelievable and I arched my back. For God’s sake I was going to come just from having him on top of me, rubbing and pressing against me. I was desperate for his touch.
“Tomás, oh my God,” I panted.
“It’s okay, bella,” he whispered in my ear, holding me and then I came with a needy cry, my body shuddering. His lips covered mine, swallowing my cries of relief and I then felt his own body react—his shoulder muscles tensed, he buried his face in my neck and his breath escaped between clenched teeth.
“Fuck,” he hissed as his body shuddered and moments later, he collapsed on top of me, keeping his face buried in my hair.
“Holy Mother of God,” he said, panting beside me.
I started to laugh and he looked at me and grinned. He raised himself on one arm and licked his lower lip. So sexy.
“Well technically Al…iss, I didn’t touch you.” He pointed out the obvious.
“You’ve just given me a no-hands, no-tongue orgasm. We didn’t have that lesson.”
“No,” he agreed. “I was playing catch-up.”
“I’ve never had a teacher like you,” I teased him. I ran my hand through his hair and he met my gaze. He moved up the couch a little, pulled me hard against him and kissed me very slowly as though sealing our agreement.
“I want to stay the night with you,” he said.
“No. You’ve already crossed the boundaries of our agreement on a technicality.”
“It was only a minor penalty,” he said.
I shook my head. “I’m red carding you.”
He winced and moved slightly. “I haven’t lost my load in my pants since I was a teenager.”
I grinned, pleased it was with me and was going to be just that bit messy in his pants for a change.
“Do you want to clean up here?” I asked.
“If I go have a shower, I’m getting into your bed and staying,” he warned me.
“Then you can’t clean up here,” I confirmed. I was standing my ground; I wouldn’t let him stay the night. I meant what I said—we weren’t official until he had sent Julieta home for good. I wasn’t his good time girl.
For t
he next hour or more, we talked, shared a drink, I fed him some cereal—I would have cooked but he didn’t want to waste time in the kitchen—and he lay in my lap as I stroked his hair. He closed his eyes looking happy. I remembered I had to text Mia before it got too late to tell her I was okay. I looked down at Tomás and he was asleep. I guess it had been a long day for him. Cassie’s big L-shaped couch was perfect for tall soccer players as luck would have it.
I sneaked out from under Tomás. He was giving me a dead leg, and I gently pushed a pillow under his head. He moved onto his side, crossing his arms over his chest, but didn’t wake. I stood back and looked at him; this was my Tomás and he was divine. As I moved through the lounge I heard Cassie’s key in the door and I raced over to open it for her.
“Shh,” I warned with my finger to my lips as she came in. I pointed to the couch and she grinned and squeezed my arm. We moved to the kitchen bench where we could see Tomás and talk.
“How was your night?” I asked in a quiet voice.
“So wonderful,” she said. “I didn’t stay because Rick has his mother visiting for the week. His mom is in the guest wing so we’re pretending we don’t sleep together but I’m so frustrated I may have to visit his office at college tomorrow.” Cassie rolled her eyes.
“That’s cool, you should do that,” I agreed.
“I know. Turns me on thinking about it.” She looked to Tomás. “Is it sorted?”
I nodded. “It’s over with his old girlfriend and she leaves on Wednesday. He just couldn’t call it off over the phone. They’d been together a long time, and he had promised her the trip—there’s a lot of history there. But it’s over, and from Wednesday, we’re on.”
She put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “I’m so relieved for you. Why wait until Wednesday?” she asked in a hushed voice with a glance to the couch.
“My rule,” I said. “I want to be sure there are only two of us in the relationship.”
She nodded. “Good thinking… amazing willpower.”
We looked at Tomás as he slept.
“That couch is huge,” I said. “Good for sleeping but not so good for cuddling.”
Cassie grinned. “It was a left over from one of my parents’ investment places, so I grabbed it. You can sit on one side by yourself while the other half of the ‘L’ fits four people with a games console. I know, I’ve test driven it.”
Tomás turned, groaned and winced—and we watched, fascinated. I’m guessing the wince was from sore muscles postgame and not the sticky mess in his pants.
“He really is very pretty, isn’t he?” Cassie said.
“That he is,” I agreed.
Tomás’s phone rang and he jolted awake and sat upright. He ran a hand over his face as he looked around trying momentarily to work out where he was. He saw me and smiled before grabbing for his phone. He answered and spoke quickly in Spanish.
“Sexy,” Cassie said.
“Hell yeah,” I agreed.
He hung up and pushed himself up off the couch.
“Tomás, this is my housemate, Cassie,” I said, and introduced them.
He took her hand in his and greeted her, then he returned his gaze to me. He ran his hand through his hair.
“Ah, sorry to fall asleep on your couch,” he said, looking sheepish.
“Best couch ornament I’ve ever had,” Cassie said, and I nudged her. She laughed.
“Thanks,” he said, looking a little embarrassed. “Well I’d better go. Al...iss won’t have me until Wednesday,” he said, looking to Cassie for sympathy.
“Good for you Al...iss,” she said, imitating his pronunciation of my name.
Tomás grinned and shook his head. “Ganged up on, that’s fine. Goodnight Cassie, goodnight bella.” He reached for his things.
“I’ll walk you to your bike,” I said, and followed him as he grabbed his jacket and helmet. We walked downstairs and he put on his jacket and straddled his bike. I shivered in the night air and he pulled me closer, pushing me against his chest and wrapping the folds of his jacket around us both.
“I know we haven’t made love yet, Cookie,” he nudged my neck with his nose and kissed me lightly, “and we will... it’s the next step in our learning curve...”
“I can’t wait,” I said, my eyes alive with anticipation.
“But you will wait for me? We agree now that we are a couple?” he asked.
A couple. I drank those words in like they were water and I was dying of thirst in the desert… such wonderful words. “I will definitely wait for you,” I said, and couldn’t help but beam at him.
Matching my smile, he gave me a kiss that would have felled nations.
“I want you to know something before I make love to you,” he said, “but I’ll tell you again before then.”
“What’s that?” I asked and bit my lip. I had the motherlode of confessions tonight—I was kind of up on my quota without hearing any more.
“I love you, Al...iss,” he said.
I inhaled sharply. I wasn’t expecting that, not for a minute, and before I could respond he released me, started the bike, kissed me again and slipping his helmet on, sped away.
Chapter 31
Next morning, Monday, and Tomás loves me, sorry I don’t know how that slipped in. I sent a text to Jim and Sasha to let them know I was whipping by the hotel before work to check all was on track for the Saints’ Sisters luncheon on later today. When I got in after nine, they were all hard at it and basking in the glory of the Saints’ weekend win.
Sasha Saxon from the Saints squealed as I walked into our office area wearing a Sasha Saxon original. I did a pirouette for her and Kay.
“It’s by Sasha Saxon,” I said, showing off the fitted designer original dress. “Ladies, you’re looking at a long line tuxedo dress in passion red, a blend of elastane and polyester to show off all the right curves, fully lined with button front closure.”
Kay laughed at my fashion speak and catwalk impersonation, while Sasha was jumping on the spot clapping her hands.
“Oh my God, you are the best. I didn’t know you had bought that.” Her eyes narrowed. “I mail out all orders and I didn’t mail that to you.”
“No, you mailed it to my friend Miranda who I paid to buy it for me so you wouldn’t know. And I’m going to wear it to the lunch today so that when all the girls ask about my outfit—and they will,” I said, “I can tell them where to get it.”
“You look a million dollars,” Kay agreed, beaming at us. “You’ve got talent Sasha, a real talent.”
“Thanks Kay, and thank you Alice, I mean it, thanks a lot,” Sasha said, and ran over to hug me just as The Russian walked past.
“You wait long enough, your fantasies come true,” he said, looking at Sasha and me embracing. We both gave him a look—Sasha’s look said you’re a sick bastard, my look said What? Oh, ewww!
“Great game hey Russian?” I grinned at him, even though he dobbed me in to Lucas and called in his favor.
“Well done Alice, you played very well too.” He winked at me and I’m sure I went three different shades of red.
I cleared my throat. “Um, so you’ll be in your Saints’ suit and at the luncheon by noon Mr. Star Guest?”
“Yes, bossy. I’ll be picking up Tomás so he doesn’t arrive ruffled on his motorbike and we’ll be there.”
“Thanks.” I nodded. I was a little anxious about the lunch. The Russian and Tomás were both quiet personalities and I hoped the interviews would be a little bit of fun and lively. Loretta, our master of ceremonies, had her work cut out. Failing that, let’s hope the champagne was flowing, the girls tipsy and no-one cared if the boys were quiet since they were such good eye candy—much better plan.
I downloaded the weekend game photos from our photographer’s server and updated all the Saints’ social media channels. Then Kay and I headed off to the hotel just after ten-thirty to set up the registration table and name tags. Sasha was coming later and Jim would drop in but
he wasn’t allowed to stay because it was girls only. I think he was relieved.
I couldn’t wait to see Tomás, especially in the navy suit that was the Saints’ uniform. I texted him as soon as I woke up, and I woke up the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. This love thing is so complex.
ME: Breathless this morning, can’t stop thinking about U
TOMÁS: Bella, I’m the happiest man on planet. On Wed I will b uncontrollable
ME: Can’t w8. C U @ noon
TOMÁS: Nervous about pack of women, goin 2 hide behind U
ME: I’ll protect U.
TOMÁS: I meant what I said when I left
ME: I’m counting on it
I didn’t want to tell Tomás I loved him too until I saw him in person. Telling him by text or phone for the first time wouldn’t do.
I brought my attention back to the day and ensured the name tags were ready and checked the room which was a mixture of Saints’ colors and pink; not that they went well together but what can you do? Then I spotted Loretta from Kiss FM radio station walking towards me. Bless her for being early. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, as if we were old friends. She was an attractive woman, a bit taller than me, blonde with very green eyes and probably in her early thirties.
“So no scratchings?” she asked me looking at the rundown.
“Nope, all going to plan,” I assured her.
“The players, today’s talent for the interviews, can they talk?”
“The Russian and Tomás... they’ll be fine. They are not big mouths, but they can answer a question.”
“Single?”
I grinned at her. “I think The Russian is, but I’m pretty sure Tomás is taken.”
She looked disappointed. There was going to be three hundred women looking at Tomás today, and I would just have to deal with it. Let’s hope he didn’t look back.
The ladies starting rolling in right on time and the room sounded as if a flock of birds had landed with all the chatter and clinking glasses. The coach’s wife, Elizabeth, arrived with a friend and we had a brief chat and I could see some of our major sponsors in attendance—a good showing. I also met Maggie, Jim my boss’s wife. She was a bit like him, small and wiry only she was a little nervy with plenty of energy. She was there with a lady she introduced as Anne, the wife of our office accountant Derek.
