by Noelle Adams
“I won’t even tell you not to be smug,” she said, wrapping both arms around him in what was almost a hug. “You deserve to be smug after that.”
“It’s not over yet,” he said. “Do you have a condom?”
She nodded over at her clutch on the nightstand, and he reached for it and handed it to her. She pulled out a condom, and then she pushed him back onto his side so she could reach the front of his pants. She unfastened them carefully and then pulled his erection out of his underwear. He gasped and stiffened as she stroked him.
“I guess I can make you feel good too,” she said.
“Def—” He broke off the word with a moan as she stroked his balls. “Definitely.”
She would have spent more time caressing him, but he had finally seemed to lose patience. He took the condom from her, ripped the packet open, and rolled it on. Then he moved back over her, moving aside her panties again and then lining himself up at her entrance.
She bent up her legs as he entered her, and they both moaned at the penetration.
He was staring down at her deeply, warmly, and the intensity of his expression made her self-conscious. He was obviously enjoying this, and he clearly wanted her to enjoy it too, but other than that, she didn’t know what he was thinking.
He pumped his hips a few times, and she relaxed her body around him. She couldn’t believe she was doing this—tangled up with Timothy’s body, feeling him moving inside her.
She’d wanted this for a long time. She’d never thought it would happen like this.
He kissed her softly as he moved rhythmically above her. Then he lifted his head and asked, “What works for you?”
“What do you mean? This is good.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s good, but I think we can manage better than good. I want you to come again.”
She was genuinely surprised, and her eyes widened as she said, “I already had my turn. I came. A lot.”
He’d straightened his arms, holding himself above her, and now he was frowning down at her. “This isn’t about turns. Why would it be about turns? I want you to come again. Is there something wrong with that?”
“No. Of course not. Just that it doesn’t always happen.”
“When it does, what works for you?”
Ridiculously, despite their intimate pose, she felt a little self-conscious as she admitted, “I don’t normally come in this position.”
His face relaxed. “Okay. So what position works best for you.”
Her lips parted.
“Tell me,” he said gruffly.
Damn, for such an innately nice guy, he could be stubborn—even in bed. Relenting, she smiled and admitted, “If you must know, it’s usually doggie style.”
His eyebrows arched.
“You asked,” she said defensively.
Laughing, he pulled out of her and rolled over onto his side. “You think I’ll have a problem with doggie style?”
“Well, no, but…” She trailed off, suddenly overwhelmed by the teasing warmth in his eyes. Giving him a playful swat, she giggled and said, “Stop laughing at me.”
“I’m not laughing.”
She gave him a significant look.
“Well, maybe a little,” he admitted, that same delicious smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Now you’ve driven me crazy for long enough, so turn over on your hands and knees.”
Her cheeks burned with excitement and a little embarrassment. “So now you’re going to be bossy.”
“You have no idea how bossy I can be. Turn over for me. Now.”
She did as he said, thrilling with an excitement she didn’t really understand. She positioned herself on her hands and knees and looked behind her to see that Timothy was kneeling behind her. He leaned over and kissed her softly over her shoulder. Then he pulled her bottom cheeks apart until he could find her entrance. She was still very wet and pliant, so he slid in easily.
She let out a little whimper of pleasure at the penetration in this new position.
He reached over to brace himself on the headboard with one hand, and then he started to thrust into her from behind. It felt good almost immediately, and soon it felt so good she couldn’t hold back her helpless groans.
“You do like this position,” he said thickly, picking up his speed. “You’re definitely going to come.”
“Yeah,” she gasped, pushing her bottom back against each of his thrusts. They were making an urgent slapping noise that turned her on even more. “Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh… yeah!” The last word was almost a scream as the pleasure tightened unexpectedly.
“Oh fuck, you’re so good, so good, oh fuck, I want you to come for me.” His voice had gotten raspy, choppy, as he was starting to lose control.
“Gonna… gonna… gonna… Oh please, harder.”
He took her even harder, holding on to the soft flesh of her bottom with one hand. Her whole body was jiggling, and her breasts were bouncing rhythmically now. The bed was shaking shamelessly, and she was so, so close.
“Fuck, honey. Nothing has ever felt as good as you do.”
She came at the breathless words, her body shaking through the intense sensations. He kept thrusting as her upper body fell down, leaving only her bottom in the air. He was still pushing into her, not really pulling out, and her clenching channel kept clenching until she was sobbing with the pleasure.
When all the spasms had finally worked through her, she was limp and gasping and let Timothy pull out and turn her over onto her back. He settled between her legs and slid inside her again, raising her thighs so her legs were folded on either side of him.
He kissed her urgently as he pumped into her with a short, clumsy motion. She kissed him back, her hands sliding down so she could feel his ass muscles clenching and releasing. He was far gone now, and she loved the feel of his letting go, how the shudders ripped through his body, how he kept groaning into her mouth.
His thrusting finally turned into little jerks as he worked through a long climax. He panted against her mouth as his body shook through the aftermath. Then he was finally as relaxed as she was, still kissing her a little.
When he finally straightened up and pulled out of her, his eyes were soft and hot and intimate. “You are so amazing,” he murmured, giving her one last kiss before he took care of the condom.
Madison wasn’t sure Cinderella would ever have done this with the prince, but she couldn’t imagine Cinderella could ever feel better than she did right now.
Four
Madison woke up earlier than she would have expected since it had been after two in the morning when she’d fallen asleep.
Timothy had slept with her all night. He hadn’t asked or said anything about it when he’d gotten back from the bathroom to dispose of the condom. He’d just gotten under the covers with her, and she’d turned out the light.
She liked that he’d slept with her, that he hadn’t thought it was weird or awkward. She had no idea what was happening with him, but she was glad he hadn’t gone back to his room after they’d had sex.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was that he was awake too. He was lying on his back, one hand bent up above his head, but his head was turned toward her and his eyes were resting on her face.
She gave him a little smile and was relieved when he smiled back.
He looked unbearably sexy at the moment with rumpled hair, bare chest, and a groggy look in his eyes. He lowered his arm and rolled onto his side so he was facing her.
“Did you sleep?” she asked.
“Yeah. I just woke up a few minutes ago.”
“Oh. Good.” She had absolutely no idea what to say. “Last night… it was… Thank you for last night.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as if he were trying to read her expression. “Am I supposed to say you’re welcome?”
“I don’t know.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “I don’t usually do this.”
“Me either.”
“To tell you the truth,
I’m not sure how I ever thought I could go through with… with my plan for the weekend.”
“Hooking up with Kevin?” he asked dryly.
She should be embarrassed that he knew so clearly what she’d had planned, but it was actually a relief that she didn’t have to explain it to him. “Uh, yeah. It was just… I don’t know. Charlie, Hannah, and I all wanted to do something to get what we wanted this weekend. What they wanted was a lot bigger. But I guess I just wanted to take some sort of concrete steps toward… toward…”
“Feeling good again.”
She nodded, oddly emotional.
“You think I don’t know how you were feeling? You think I haven’t wondered if I’ll ever feel good again.”
The emotion in her throat tightened so much she couldn’t breathe for a moment. “I know you have.”
Timothy’s expression softened, and he reached out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I didn’t mean to play some sort of victim card that trumps everything else. We all have hard things. We all have to struggle to get through them. I was just trying to say that I understand.”
“I know you do. I’m glad. I… I had a really good time last night.” It was the most she could make herself say to lead into the conversation she wanted to have—about how he felt about them now.
Was this just a one-night thing? Or did he want them to be something more the way she did?
“So did I. Obviously.” He paused, his eyes scanning her face. “Wasn’t it better than a hookup with a stranger?”
“Y-yes. Definitely.” She smiled casually, but she didn’t really like how that sounded. Maybe he was thinking it was just a hookup.
If that was what he was thinking, then she was okay with that. It was what she’d wanted after all. Just to have fun, feel good again.
She had.
She had nothing to complain about now.
She waited to see if he would say anything else, but he didn’t. She swallowed hard and searched her mind for something appropriate.
There wasn’t anything.
She’d already said thank you. She’d already said she had a good time. She couldn’t ask him to have sex with her again if that wasn’t what he had in mind.
And she certainly couldn’t ask him to love her if he didn’t.
Even if she wanted him to.
She’d always been practical. She’d always been realistic. That wasn’t going to change now.
She’d done what she wanted to do.
Everything would be fine.
“That brunch thing doesn’t start until ten,” Timothy said in a different tone of voice, as if he wanted to move them past the awkward moment. “I thought I might take a hike. It’s a little cold, but you could come if you wanted.”
“Yeah. That would be great.”
She smiled, trying to be relieved that they were being friendly and normal again.
She wasn’t relieved.
She didn’t want to be friendly and normal with Timothy.
She wanted to be more.
***
They hiked for a couple of hours, and Madison basically enjoyed it. She liked the cold, brisk air, and she liked the scenic mountains, and Timothy was always good company, telling her all kinds of interesting things about the trees and the anthropological history of the area.
After a while, she even forgot that she was kind of disappointed by how the night had ended. Other than a lingering heaviness in her stomach, a remnant of emotional aftermath, she had a good time.
They got back just in time to shower and change for the wedding brunch. It was served buffet-style, and guests could come and go as they liked. Madison was happy to see Hannah and Bruce come in shortly after she and Timothy did, so they all sat together. The conversation was casual and friendly, and Madison tried to act normal. But when Hannah excused herself to go to the restroom and suggested Madison come with her, Madison knew her friend had something to say.
She knew from the text Hannah had sent her and Charlie earlier that Hannah had completed her mission last night. She was no longer a virgin. As soon as they were alone, Madison whispered, “So how was it?”
“Good,” Hannah said, looking slightly diffident. “It was really good.”
“And Bruce was okay with everything?”
“Yeah. He hesitated at first, but he was fine.” Hannah’s expression twisted slightly as she added, “He doesn’t want things to get complicated.”
“Ah.” Madison was quite sure that Hannah’s feelings for Bruce were deeper than she’d ever admitted, so she wasn’t surprised that Hannah was rather torn about the whole thing.
“But stop trying to distract me. What’s going on with you and Timothy?”
“What do you mean?” The question was just a stall. She never kept secrets from Hannah and Charlie.
“You know exactly what I mean. Something is definitely going on. You look like you’re about to shatter from acting so normal, and Timothy can’t keep his eyes off you.”
That last bit surprised Madison. “What do you mean he can’t keep his eyes off me?”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “I mean that every time you’re looking in a different direction, he’s staring at you like he’s trying to read your mind but he doesn’t want you to see that he’s looking.”
“Is he?”
“Yes, he is. Now tell me what happened.”
“We had sex,” Madison admitted in a whisper. They were standing near the sinks in the restroom, and no one else was there, but she still lowered her voice.
“What?”
“We did.”
“How? When? What the hell happened?”
“I don’t even know. It just didn’t feel right with Kevin, and then Timothy and I ended up in my room, and it just… it just happened.”
“And it was good?” Hannah’s eyes were very round.
“Yeah. It was… great. But now… I don’t know. I feel like it wasn’t exactly what I wanted.”
“You’ll never convince me you didn’t want to have sex with him.”
“Of course I did. Of course I did.”
Hannah nodded. “You just want even more.”
Madison let out a breath, letting out the tension in her body at the same time. “Yeah. I guess I do. But he doesn’t seem to want the same thing.”
“How do you know? Timothy isn’t into casual sex. Even I know that about him.”
“I know he’s not. But he keeps talking like it was just… something we needed for the night.”
“Maybe he’s not sure what you think about it. Maybe he’s waiting to see what you’ll do.”
“I need to know what he wants first.”
“Why? Why does what he wants matter most? Why doesn’t what you want matter just as much?”
Madison stared at Hannah for a moment, oddly struck by the abrupt questions.
It reminded her of what Timothy had said to her more than once.
What she wanted did matter. She didn’t have to wait to find out what Timothy wanted first. She didn’t have to mold herself around what other people wanted or needed all the time.
She wasn’t sure why she always did that.
“So you’re going to say something?” Hannah asked, evidently reading something on Madison’s face.
Madison nodded. “I guess so. I’m not sure what. I don’t want to humiliate myself or make things irrevocably awkward between us. But I’m not… I’m not happy with how things are right now.”
“Then change them,” Hannah said with a smile. “That’s what this weekend is all about.”
“I’ll try. Are you going to do the same thing with Bruce?”
“I… I’ll try.”
***
Despite Madison’s resolve, the afternoon passed quickly, and she couldn’t find a good time to bring up the topic she wanted to discuss.
Timothy said he needed to grade the rest of his papers in their few hours of free time, and he insisted that she go down to
the spa and enjoy herself some more. So she got a wonderful massage and a specialty skin treatment and got her nails done. She had a good time, but the whole time she was wondering what she should say to Timothy—or if she should say anything at all.
By the time she’d gotten back to her room, it was time to get ready for the wedding. She did her hair and makeup and put on a pretty steel-gray dress with a soft skirt and sweetheart neckline. She ended up ready twenty minutes early, and she was so restless and nervous about not having said anything to Timothy yet that she ended up walking across the hall and knocking on his door.
He opened the door in just a few seconds, fully dressed in his tux. He had a slightly tired look in his eyes, and his laptop was open on the table across the room.
She blinked. “Are you grading papers in your tux?”
“Not all afternoon. But I was dressed and I have two more papers to go, so I thought…” He gave a wry little shrug.
She giggled. “At least since you do it online, you don’t mark all the papers up in red pen.”
“Oh, I use track changes so all the markup is still in red. They’re not getting away with missing out on the red.”
She smiled at him. Then realized she’d come over here without anything planned out to say.
“Were you ready to go down already?” he asked, his eyes scanning over her body.
“Oh. No. I was just… Anyway, I’ll let you finish your papers.”
Shaking his head, he reached out with one hand and pulled her into the room by the shoulder, closing the door behind her. “The papers can wait. What did you want?”
“I wanted to…” She trailed off. Admitting what she wanted was a lot harder than it should be. “I wanted…”
Timothy took a step closer to her, holding her gaze with a very serious look. “Tell me what you want, Madison.”
“I wanted to… to talk.”
He nodded. Licked his lips. Then said, “About last night?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you feel… awkward about it?”
“Yes. Do you?”
“A little.”
