Cutting In

by Julia Wolf

  I’d let Will take the lead so far, but my desire for him couldn’t be reasoned with or slowed down. I wish I could say it was the song that had started the frenzy within me, but this was years in the making. I’d wanted to take him inside me again since the second he softened and slid out of me the first time.

  Back then those feelings of longing and need had been too powerful to deal with. But now? I channeled every ounce of that need into kissing him and showing him with my body how much I wanted him.

  Will pulled his shirt over his head and closed the sliver of space between us, and our skin finally, finally, touched. I sighed, a sense of sweet relief washing over me.

  “You feel so good,” I whispered.

  He ran his rough cheek over my collarbone and shoulder, one hand spread wide across my waist, the other between my shoulder blades.

  “Are we doing this, Annie?” Will asked roughly against my neck.

  I cradled his cheeks with my hands, pulling his face up so I could see him.

  “Please,” I said, my voice laced with frantic desperation. I wanted him, and I could feel that he was physically with me, but I slowed myself down, took a breath and waited. Waited to see the reaction in his eyes. Waited to let him decide if he wanted this too. Waited to see if his heart was fully in this like mine was.

  Twelve

  Will

  She had my head spinning.

  An hour ago I’d been ready for a quiet evening with a book, maybe a beer or two, then the love of my fucking life shows up on my doorstep in tiny shorts and boots and winds up half-naked in my arms.

  She pulled back and watched me carefully, her arms loose around my neck, her chest just a whisper from mine.

  “If we do this, I need to know you’re gonna stick around,” I said softly.

  She had me feeling my most vulnerable. My heart was bare, unprotected. It always was with her. I didn’t know how not to lay everything on the line.

  “I’m here, Will. And I don’t want to go anywhere. You’re where I want to be. I want you and I want to be yours.”

  I stroked her cheek with the back of my hand. “You sure?”

  “So sure. But if you don’t touch me right now, I’m going to be really pissed at you.”

  I grinned and trailed my hand from her cheek, down her neck and over her shoulders. How a woman in patent leather thigh-highs managed to look elegant was a mystery, but Anna did. Her porcelain neck was both regal and delicate. Her collarbones were almost dainty, the fine bones prominent. I kissed along the line of her shoulders, licking the V where the bones met at the base of her neck.

  She let her head fall back, her arms around my shoulders, her fingers toying with my hair.

  I moved away from her and she groaned, slowly tilting her head back to look at me.

  “Where’d you go?” she whimpered.

  I rubbed my eye with the heel of my hand. “I… Fuck! I can’t go slow with you. Not this time.”

  She sucked in a ragged breath at my words, then crashed into me, jumping up and wrapping her legs around my waist. She took my mouth hard, pushing her tongue in and moaning when she found mine.

  With her ass gripped in my hands, I carried her over to the counter and set her on the edge. Without breaking away from her lips, I reached between us and unbuttoned her shorts. She made little mewling sounds as she lifted her hips to let me push them off.

  Of course her shorts got stuck on her boots. Nothing between us seemed to go perfectly smoothly, but I’d accepted that. The best part of us was that we could laugh this shit off.

  “Oops!” she said, giggling.

  I went to work on her boots, sliding down the zipper and stepping back to yank them off of her. Once they were both off, along with her shorts, I paused and drank her in. From her creamy, soft legs that went on forever, to the pale thatch of hair between her thighs, to the flare of her hips and nip of her waist, she was a feast and I’d only covered half of her. Her belly button was small and perfectly round. I bent over and kissed it, my tongue rimming around its edges. Anna moaned and cradled my head against her stomach, her legs shifting and rubbing together.

  “Will, go up or down— something! Please!”

  I grinned against her velvet skin and kissed a line up her torso until I reached her teardrop tits. I cupped them in my hands and finally met her eyes. She licked her upper lip and arched her back, inviting me. Leaning in, I took her pale pink nipple in my mouth and we both let out matching groans.

  Anna wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling my hips snugly into her center. She was so very naked, and I could feel her wet heat through my jeans. I tugged at her nipple, then let go with a pop.

  “I’m gonna take you now. You ready, Annie?”

  She tilted her pelvis up and rubbed herself along my length. “Need you,” she said weakly.

  Keeping a grip on her waist, I used my free hand to push my jeans and underwear off, and we were finally skin-to-skin. I rocked against her, my dick sliding through her slick folds.

  She fumbled in the tote bag next to her and pulled out a condom. She handed me the packet, and I ripped it open and slid it down my shaft as quickly as possible.

  Anna dug her fingers into my shoulders and leaned her forehead on mine. “I need you, Will. Please.”

  Her desperate pleas were irresistible; they were also almost my undoing. I had to take a long deep breath and think about baseball or I would have come all over her thigh.

  When I’d pulled myself back from the edge, I grabbed my length and guided it to her opening. I looked at her, and she stared back, her eyes wide and unwavering. I pushed in and she kept her gaze locked on me as her lips parted and her fingers curled into my skin. With every inch, I watched her, making sure she was with me, that she was feeling me. When I was completely inside her, I stopped and stroked her cheeks and neck and chest. Anna sighed and squeezed me from the inside.

  “Are you trying to torture me?” she asked, her voice thick and husky.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I just need a second. I’m kinda overwhelmed here.”

  “Oh, Will.” She wrapped her arms and legs around me, holding me tenderly. This was already so different than our first time together. I’d been so caught up in having sex, I hadn’t even paid attention to how Anna was feeling.

  I started to move, slowly, my mouth clamped on her shoulder, my hands cupping her ass. She moaned and rocked with me as she ran her hands down my arms and up over my shoulders.

  “Does that feel good, Annie? You like that?” I pumped into her with more force, going deep, but still sliding out agonizingly slow.

  “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!”

  I let go of her shoulder to look at her. Her eyes were open and full of everything. Passion. Arousal. Affection. Love. She let me see it all.

  I ran my thumbs roughly over her cheeks and along her jaw, holding her face steady. But she never tried to look away. Even as I moved faster and her pants grew more frantic, she stayed with me, her eyes locked on mine.

  I reached between us and circled her clit with my fingers. She tightened all over, yanking at my hair, squeezing my dick, knees digging into my hips.

  “I can’t...I’m not gonna last,” I growled.

  “Oh, god, me either.”

  And she didn’t. I pinched her swollen bud between my fingers and pumped into her once, twice, three times and she went flying. She moaned and writhed against me, pulling me in as deep as I could go. Her head tipped back and I latched onto her pretty neck, sucking the delicate skin as I followed her over the edge.

  This time we jumped together and we fucking soared.

  Thirteen

  Anna

  Will led me upstairs to his bedroom and gave me a T-shirt to wear. Then we snuggled in his massive bed, my head on his chest. He stroked my hair leisurely as I listened to his heartbeat and gazed out the window.

  The glow of the Domino Sugars sign acted as our light. If I were a romantic, I would have described it as an orange cast on the horizon,
like the final stages of a reluctant sunset over a fathomless black sea.

  Maybe I was becoming a bit of a romantic because in that sliver of time, with Will’s arms around me, I could believe we were on a beach at sunset, or in a space station watching half the Earth go dark from above. We could have been anywhere, adrift in the calm waters of the moment. I didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, but that seemed unimportant right now.

  “You tired?” I asked.

  He hummed into my hair. “A little. I don’t want to miss this, though.”

  I tipped my head back to see him. “Miss what?”

  He skimmed a knuckle across my cheek. “You, here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m all snuggled up with a gorgeous man in his comfortable bed with a killer view. You’re stuck with me.”

  He chuckled lightly. “Exactly my plan.”

  I tapped my fingers softly over his chest. I still had trouble believing I was here, with my William. I needed to feel his skin under my hands to make myself believe this was real.

  Will pushed my hair off my face. “Are you still gonna go on a date with me on Saturday?”

  I rolled over so I was on top of him and propped myself up so I could smile down at him. “Why would I buy the cow when I got the milk for free?”

  He growled and bucked his hips, sending me up and down on a wild ride. Then he started mooing and I almost choked with laughter. “No, no, stop!” I gasped for breath, trying to get control of myself.

  Will flipped us over and held my wrists above my head. He grinned down at me, an evil gleam in his eye. Then he rolled his hips, his erection pressing against my already sensitive core. I sighed and he furrowed his brow.

  “You gonna go on a date with me, Annie?”

  I nodded vigorously and lifted my hips, my body searching for his.

  “Yes, William. I’ll go on all the dates with you. I’ll go to movies and dinners and picnics and walks in the park, as long as the day ends with you inside of me.”

  He exhaled slowly and let go of one of my wrists to cup my jaw. He didn’t need to hold my face though; I would never look away.

  “Tell me something,” I said breathily.

  “Like what?”

  I shook my head. “Anything.”

  “I’m worried you’re going to get bored with my quiet life once the excitement of our reunion wears off,” he said softly.

  I startled at his words. His brown eyes stayed on mine and they were so vulnerable, so open, that my stomach clenched. I’d really done a number on him.

  “Why would you think that?”

  He shrugged and flopped back on the bed, one arm slung over his forehead. “I mean, I am kind of boring. It’s ten o’clock and I’m ready to go to sleep. You’re probably just getting started with your night.”

  “I don’t get where this is coming from. I understand I messed up when we were kids, but we’re both full-fledged adults now. I told you I’m not going anywhere. I want this.”

  He dropped his arm and gave me a small, brittle smile. “I guess some of my old bullshit insecurities are rearing their ugly-ass heads.”

  I threaded my fingers with his. “You’re being dumb.”

  He barked out a laugh. “Tell me how you really feel!”

  I squeezed his hand. “You are! I have my own insecurities. But about you? Us? I don’t have any. I’m not some cool girl. I’m just me. Our schedules might be a pain in the butt, but that won’t stop me. I’ll just stare at you when you’re sleeping.”

  Will regarded me for a long beat, his eyes wide. Then he reached for me, pulling me onto him, and hugged me. I felt his chest and shoulders shaking and I was worried I’d upset him until I realized he was in the midst of one of those soundless laughs that wracks the entire body. I laid my head on his chest and rode out wave after joyful wave.

  Will stroked my hair as he calmed down, small bursts of laughter bubbling out of him periodically.

  “Ah, god, Annie. Thank you for setting me straight. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to sleep again, knowing you’re going to be watching me all night. But I love how forthright you are. I missed the hell out of that.”

  I cupped his cheeks and grinned. “I’ll just fuck you until you’re exhausted, then sing you the rest of the way to sleep.”

  “I’m wide awake right now…”

  “Sounds like I have some work to do then.”

  This time we went slow. We took our time. Will used his mouth to travel over the length of my body, tasting me, savoring me. And I showed him with my hands and my tongue and my hips just how much I wanted to be there with him. Quiet nights at home, or crazy nights out drinking and going to concerts, it didn’t matter. What mattered was this. Us. We would figure out the logistics. We would decide who we were as a couple, together.

  And when our bodies were sated and my heart was so full of Will that I felt it in my throat, I did sing to him. It was horrible and there was a high probability that he fell asleep to avoid listening to my voice. After drinking in Will’s peaceful, sleeping face for as long as I wanted, I drifted with him, under the soft, orange glow.

  Fourteen

  Anna

  We had our first date a few days after I slept over at Will’s house for the first time. He’d given me everything he had promised: dinner, drinks, and dancing. And over the last couple weeks, our life had been like a montage in a romantic comedy. We’d had our moonlit strolls, laughed until we cried, baked together—Will even wiped frosting on my nose—and kissed until our lips were numb...and then kissed some more.

  Our opposite schedules blew, but we were figuring it out. We spent a lot of time on the phone or slipping in a quick dinner when we could. And weekends...well, weekends were what dreams were made of.

  We snuggled up together on Will’s deck after spending all of Sunday relaxing and eating and generally basking in each other.

  I turned my head and kissed his jaw and he leaned down and caught my mouth, kissing me slowly, sweetly.

  I smiled into his mouth and he pulled away.

  “You smiling at me?” he asked.

  “Mm-hmm.” I sighed. “I like it here.”

  His arms tightened almost imperceptibly. “Better than Tiber City?”

  “Anywhere’s better with you, Will. This deck doesn’t hurt though.”

  “Oh burn, you only love me for my deck.”

  I sucked in a breath. He’d said the L-word. I knew he didn’t mean it, but I did love him. It was crazy and irrational and much too soon, but I was nothing if not unconventional.

  He heard my intake of breath but took it the wrong way. “Shit, sorry, baby. Don’t run away.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere. I told you that.”

  He ran his hands through my hair, stroking it slowly. “I don’t want to scare you.”

  I scoffed. “If you knew what I was thinking right now, you’d be scared.”

  “Not possible. Tell me, Annie.”

  I shifted around on the chair so that I was facing him, my legs draped over his. It was a rather precarious position since I didn’t have on any underwear and I was only wearing a T-shirt, but he kept his eyes on my face, watching, searching.

  I bit my lip. “So, I realized something.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”

  I nodded and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Yeah. I kinda...no, not kinda. I fully, completely love you. And I know that probably makes me seem like a crazy person, and I totally understand if I’m freaking you—” He cut me off when he smashed his lips to mine and kissed me in a way I’ve never been kissed. Not by him, not by anyone. The basic physics of it were the same: tongues sliding and swirling, lips pressing and sucking, noses smooshed into cheeks. But everything else? The important things? It was all brand new.

  He kissed me with our story on his lips. Our friendship and sadness and angst and separation. Then the story shifted into our reunion, our happiness, our forgiveness. And it culminated in this mom
ent, this kiss.

  He pulled back, panting, his forehead on mine. “If you’re crazy, then I’m a fuckin’ lunatic, because I have never, not for one goddamn second, stopped loving you.”

  I choked out a small sob and hugged him tight. He pulled me into him so that I was straddling his lap. Our hug quickly turned into a passionate embrace and before I could breathe I was sinking onto him. We were surrounded by neighboring row homes and busy Baltimore streets, but all of that faded, and we made slow, sweet love in our own bubble.

  I kept my T-shirt on, my one concession for having sex outside, but Will’s hands found their way under, rolling my nipples between his fingers and driving me out of my mind.

  Our mouths fused together, kissing, breathing, panting. His hands moved to my hips, pushing me up and pressing me down, not rushing, savoring the moment. Against his lips, I chanted, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” He took the words into his mouth and returned them with a kiss.

  My limbs started trembling and my belly tightened. I reached between us and circled my clit, and then I came with a sigh, falling more into Will than ever before. He braced me, not letting me crash, and then he fell too, pumping into me desperately, groaning as he released everything inside of me.

  “I love you, Annie. I really fucking love you.”

  “Love you too, William. Forever and always.”

  “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

  I cupped his cheeks and grinned. “Do it. I dare you. See how much I’m always gonna love you.”

  He grinned back. “Okay, challenge accepted.”

  We untangled ourselves and went inside. It was only ten o’clock and I’d normally be awake for a couple more hours, but I was limp and sated and felt like I could sleep for days.