Keep Me Safe

by Raquel Lyon

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s the cheap stuff. Screw top.”

  “Oh, okay. But we’ll have to drink it out of cups. I haven’t got any glasses.”

  Kendrick sat on the bed and looked around as Molly poured the wine. “I’m not surprised. You haven’t got much of anything. It’s a shit hole, Moll.”

  “It’s better than a park bench, and the rent’s cheaper than Dad’s house.”

  “You can’t stay here,” he said, as she handed him a cup and sat down next to him.

  “It’ll be fine, especially with you here to brighten the place up.”

  “You do that all by yourself,” he said, holding her gaze, as he drained half the liquid and set the cup down.

  Molly mirrored his move before scooching down the bed and snuggling into his chest, the way she had the previous night.

  “This is getting to be a habit,” he said. “Except, there’s no TV to watch.”

  Her finger trailed down his chest. “Then, we’ll just have to find something else to do, won’t we?”

  “Careful, Moll. That’s not something you say to a guy you’re just friends with.”

  Reaching up to draw his face to hers, she quietened his misgivings with a kiss and pressed her breasts against his shoulder, as her hand crept under the hem of his T-shirt.

  Holy mother of god. Her fingertips were like fire on his skin. She’d better watch where she put them, because he could think of one place that was already feeling the heat. What the hell was she up to?

  Raising his shirt a little higher, she left his mouth to plant kisses on his lower stomach, and his dick sprang to attention. Should he let her carry on, or should he stop it now? Because if he didn’t, this was going to end badly. Yeah. He should stop her. Like, soon. Like, in a minute. Yeah, in a minute.

  She stopped. “I’ve decided,” she said.

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?” he said, catching his breath.

  “I want you to be my first.”

  Sweet Jesus. He had to be hearing things. “No. No. I can’t let you do that.”

  Lowering his T-shirt, she raised her head, her eyes full of concern. “Why not?”

  “You don’t know what you’re doing.” Offering herself to him, because she felt she had to, wasn’t how he’d pictured them getting together. Two weeks ago, he would have jumped her bones before she had chance to take a breath, but Molly wasn’t a throwaway piece of ass, and couldn’t take advantage of her.

  She pushed against him to sit up, and her words came out cold. “You think I’ll disappoint you, that I’ll be crap?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then why? I thought it was what you wanted?”

  “Oh, baby, it is. Believe me. More than anything. But I don’t deserve you. You’re too pure, and I’m a selfish git who takes what he wants from a girl and doesn’t bother to say goodnight. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’ll risk it.”

  “You’ll regret it.”

  “No, I won’t.” Her eyes glistened. “You wouldn’t do that to me. I know you wouldn’t.”

  “See. I’ve hurt you already.”

  She eased off the bed and offered him only the occasional glance as she paced the narrow strip of floor in small steps. “So you’re saying you lied? You forced your way into my life, pretended to care for me, and said you could handle my shit, but it’s all been a lie?”

  “No, Moll. You’re not getting it. Christ. I’m fucking this up again. I’m trying to say I care about you too much, and I want to do the right thing.”

  Her pacing stopped, and she stared down at him. “Which is…?”

  “Protect you. Even if that means protecting you from me. I’ve fallen for you. Big time. You have to know that. But you know my rep, and I can’t have you thinking I’m using you to get what I want.”

  “I don’t think that.”

  “But I’ve nothing else to offer you.”

  “Rick, since I met you, you’ve given me your ears to listen, your arms to comfort me, and your bed to sleep in, but most of all, you’ve given me friendship.”

  “And I’ve given you lies.”

  “Now, I’m confused.”

  “Molly, I know I said I was happy just being your friend, but I’m not. I can’t do it. I want more.”

  “So do I?”

  “You do?”

  She nodded. “I want you to make love to me.”

  “You don’t mean that. The wine’s gone to your head.”

  “No, it hasn’t. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Right now, it’s about the only thing I am sure of.” She angled her head. “Please.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “What I mean is… I’ve only ever been with… well, a certain kind of girl.”

  “Sluts?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “You want me to act slutty?” She hitched her skirt up to reveal a glimpse of thigh, teasing him with a pathway to heaven.

  “No.” The word shot out of his mouth. “Fuck, no.”

  Letting her skirt drop, she placed her knees on the bed and lifted one of them over his thighs to straddle his lap. “Then, what should I do? Teach me.”

  Kendrick sighed as he cupped her face and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. Holding back had been hard enough when she pretended to hate him. Now she was offering herself on a plate, it was fucking impossible. But if this was really happening, he had to take it slow. “First, you relax.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Molly

  Relax. Easy for him to say. She hadn’t been relaxed, all day. She had no idea what she was doing, and she hadn’t expected it to be this hard to seduce Rick. According to Yvonne, if you let a guy know you’re up for it, within seconds, he’s in your pants. That was how it was supposed to work, wasn’t it?

  Kendrick lifted her gently from his lap, laid her carefully on the mattress, and hooked his T-shirt over his head. Her breath caught. Wow! In her dreams, she’d imagined him naked, pictured his strong arms and lean yet toned torso, but the reality was far better. Fixing those engines obviously gave him a workout. Although not what she’d call ripped, he had ridges and bumps in places she’d only ever seen on the school gymnastics team. Lean didn’t even get a look in.

  Lying down beside her, his arm reached over to cage her beneath him, and he leaned down to claim her mouth. God, he was a good kisser. He knew precisely how to make her every nerve prickle with pleasure. She reached up to trace the line of his shoulder and down along his triceps. His arm was hard and strong, and she could happily stay in under its protection, forever.

  Resting his weight on one arm, his other hand smoothed down her side and under her dress. She relished the feel of his rough fingertips exploring the back of her knee, her thigh, and her butt cheek, but all too soon, it drew out and moved up past her waist, stopping just below her left breast. She sucked in an involuntary sharp breath through her nose, causing him to break their kiss.

  Small lines appeared above his nose. “Stop me anytime,” he said.

  “I don’t want to.” Her chest heaved as he held her gaze, and his hand moved to pull down the zipper. Then, dipping his head, he kissed her neck and followed the line of her collarbone, before brushing his lips over the swell of her cleavage. Her nipples hardened and ached to be touched, and when he teased away the lace of her bra, and ran his tongue over one pink peak, she had to stop herself from crying out. Holy shit in a bucket, it felt good. Needing him closer, her hands found his ass and gripped him to her. His dick pressed into her thigh, and as his focus turned to her other nipple, he rubbed the length of it against her. She wondered how it would feel inside her. Would it hurt? Yvonne had said that if you used tampons it shouldn’t be that bad, so she had that covered, but still. Kendrick’s leg moved over her thigh, and he knelt up. Why was he stopping?

  “Still okay?” he asked.

  She smil
ed nervously. “Never better.”

  Lifting her up to join him, he slid the straps of her dress from her shoulders, before laying her back down and peeling the rest of the material off over her feet. As she lay under his scrutiny in her underwear, he climbed off the bed and removed the rest of his clothes, leaving only his boxer shorts, and her eyes were drawn to his erection tenting the front. She bit her lip and stared.

  A roguish grin spread across his face. “Have you ever seen a man before, in the flesh, I mean?”

  She shook her head rapidly.

  “Are you ready to?”

  The shake turned to a nod, and she let out an audible gasp as his boxers joined the rest of his clothes on the floor. No wonder he was popular with the girls.

  When he resumed his place on the bed, she asked, “Can I touch it?”

  “Help yourself.”

  She hadn’t expected it to be so soft. His skin was like velvet to her touch, and pliable over the rigid core. His breathing quickened as she stroked, but she wasn’t sure if she was doing it right. Did he expect her to jiggle it about, or something? She moved her hand down to cup his balls, but when she gave them an inquisitive squeeze, he sucked in a breath and stopped her.

  “Time to wrap up.”

  Molly’s heart sank. Wrap up? Had he changed his mind? Did he not want her, after all? “What do you mean?”

  “Condom, babe.” He rolled over and reached down the side of the bed, coming back with a small packet. “I’m not saying I don’t want to have kids with you… someday, but this dive isn’t big enough for one never mind two. You wanna do the deed?” he asked, holding out the shiny square.

  “Oh, um, sure,” she said, relieved. “I’ll try.” After all, she’d had to put one on a banana, at school. How different could it be?

  Kendrick moaned as she rolled the latex down his length. Was she taking too long, gripping him too tightly? Shouldn’t it go all the way to the bottom? There was an inch or so at the base that wasn’t covered, but she seemed to have run out of rubber. Had she done it right?

  “Is that okay?” she asked.

  “Like an expert.” He smiled. “Now, where were we?”

  Kissing her gently, he laid her back down and positioned himself between her thighs. She loved the furry hair of his legs tickling her skin and the way his stubble grazed her neck as he nibbled on her earlobe. He reached around to ping the hook of her bra free, and remove it. “Aw, Christ, Moll. Look at you. You’re stunning. I don’t deserve you,” he said, cupping a breast in each hand and dipping his head to alternate circling and nipping on the bud of each nipple with his warm tongue.

  Every cell in her body responded and tingled with anticipation, and her bean had definitely started flicking. She wondered if he would touch it, and her question was answered when he shifted slightly and pushed her legs wider. A hand slid down her stomach and over her panties, and as he claimed her mouth, once more, his fingers slipped under the cotton edge and found their mark, brushing over it with the lightest of touches, teasing her to distraction. Waves of pleasure raced up her spine and set her skin on fire. This was way better than doing it yourself. His practised technique turned her legs to jelly and her head whirled. Then just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he pulled back and searched her eyes as his finger dipped and tentatively slid inside. Holy crap. Her stomach jumped and she struggled for breath under his hungry gaze.

  “How’s that?” he asked softly.

  Even if she could have found the words, she had no breath to speak them, so she nodded and mumbled, “Mm-hm.”

  He nodded back, before removing his finger and pulling down her panties. She raised her hips to help him and shucked them off with her feet, as he positioned himself and nudged the tip of his length against her. “Just tell me if it hurts,” he whispered into her neck as he carefully inched further.

  Her sensitive fleshed stretched around him, but it didn’t hurt, and she relaxed under his slow, shallow strokes, letting the new sensations ripple through her. Wasn’t she supposed to do something? Move somehow? She rocked her hips gently, trying to match with his movements, but it only caused him to suck his breath through his teeth and hook a hand under her thigh to lift it, as he thrust deeper and picked up the pace.

  Kendrick’s breath panted hot and heavy onto her shoulder, and discomfort overcame any pleasure she’d felt at the start. Digging her nails into his shoulder blades, she tried to will the pain away, as he grunted and fell against her. Was that it? Was it over? Was he taking a rest?

  She waited for his breathing to calm. “Rick?” she said, pushing space between them. “Are you okay?”

  A tear pooled in his eye. “I’m sorry.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Kendrick

  Kendrick looked into the eyes of the girl who meant everything to him and new he’d been an idiot. A stupid, fucking idiot, who didn’t possess a single speck of self-control. He’d thought he’d be able to hold back and treat Molly with the care she needed. He’d wanted to feel her come alive with pleasure, feel her tighten around him as they came together, but instead, he’d let his dick take over his brain and forgotten who he was with. He’d ruined everything.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” he said.

  Molly noticeably swallowed. “It wasn’t?”

  “No. Our first time should have been special.”

  “Then I’m sorry I disappointed you,” she said with a dash of hurt.

  “Oh, baby, you didn’t. It’s me. I’m a selfish bastard. I should have waited. Did I hurt you?”

  “Only a little.”

  “Christ.” He raised his hips to pull out, but her hands pressed into his ass.

  “Don’t. I like feeling you inside me.”

  “And I like being inside you, but I have to get out.”

  “You’re leaving? You’re just gonna fuck me and leave?”

  “What the fuck do you take me for? Of course not. I meant get out of you. I’m losing my wood. I need to get the rubber off before it falls off inside you.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  He pulled all the way out and sat on the edge of the bed to clean himself up. When he turned back, she was already seeking her underwear, with one arm across her breasts. Why was she embarrassed? She should be screaming at him, telling him what a useless prick he was, and he should be begging her forgiveness. No way was their first time going to end like this. He would not have her remembering this night for all the wrong reasons. He had to repair the damage and show her how it should be.

  Taking her hand, he pulled her back to the bed and cradled her in his arms. “I really am sorry,” he said. “Let me make it up to you.” A puzzled look crossed her face, so he continued, “Please. I promise it can be good for you too. You liked it when I touched you, didn’t you?” His hand slid over her hipbone and between her thighs. “Here.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Ah-huh.”

  “Thought so. Just relax and leave everything to me,” he said, as he kissed a trail from her neck to her stomach. “You’re gonna be feeling a whole lot better, soon.”

  She quivered when his tongue replaced his finger, and he knew he’d hit the spot.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Molly

  Molly leaned on the store counter with her head propped on her elbow, trying to decide whether the old guy, who’d been reading a tractor magazine for the last ten minutes, was going to buy it or was just treating the store as a freaking library. He didn’t strike her as the type to own a tractor. The shoes he wore looked custom-made, even if they had seen better days, and he wasn’t wearing a flat cap. Perhaps he was an engineer, or one of those geeky, trainspotter types, who still lived at home with their mother?

  She really should stop analysing complete strangers. Was it her destiny to spend the next fifty years behind the same shitty checkout, wondering about other people’s lives and not living one of her own? Of course, her life had changed for the better, since meeting Kendrick, and
with the end of college and the start of the summer holidays, barely a day passed that they didn’t spend together, but still, it had also hit a small complication.

  At Kendrick’s insistence, the flat searching began, and after many days spent traipsing around a variety of dives, no better than her lodgings, she had finally found a decent flat to let in Lexi’s building, but when she wasn’t working, she preferred to stay within its walls. Yvonne had posted her coursework video of Molly singing on YouTube, and it had gone viral. People pointed at her in the streets and sniggered behind their hands, or worse, came into the store asking for her autograph. She was sure they were only poking fun at her, and she hated it. If she could stay within the cocoon of her flat and never have to come to work, she would do. Anything was better than being recognised as The Kiss in the Rain.

  She’d gone ballistic at Yvonne, when she’d found out. “What the hell were you thinking?” she screamed, when Yvonne visited her at work, one evening. “I did it as a favour for you, not to put on a show for the whole world.”

  “But everyone on my course put their videos on, and I was proud of mine… and you. I wanted to show you both off. I never thought it would get that many hits.”

  “It’s a public site, Yvonne.”

  “I realise that, but most people’s stuff has only been looked at by other students, a couple of thousand at most. How was I supposed to know mine would take off? Personally, I think it’s great. I might even blag an A grade, now.”

  “Well, you’d better. My humiliation has to be worth something.”

  A pause in their conversation was forced by the entrance of a scattering of customers. Yvonne waited for them to walk out of earshot, before continuing in a hushed voice, “Nobody thinks you’ve been humiliated. You’ve had some great comments. People love you. I bet you’ve even got some fans.”

  “Oh. Now you’re just being stupid.”

  “It’s true. You should read some of the things they’ve been saying.”

  “I can’t exactly do that, when I haven’t got a computer.”