Petal Plucker

by Iris Morland

  Jacob’s shoulder rose and fell with his breaths, and his hair was roughed up from sleep. Or from me running my fingers through it. I wanted to kiss his shoulder, but I didn’t want him to wake up. Not quite yet.

  I felt like my heart was going to burst through my chest like that creepy monster in Alien, except it would be a more romantic explosion. I wanted to explode all over Jacob like the lovesick idiot I was.

  I’d dreamed of having sex for so long, but the real deal had been so much more than I could’ve expected. It had been real because in dreams, you couldn’t really feel the texture of someone’s skin. You couldn’t taste the salt on someone’s upper lip as he kissed you. You couldn’t hear the way he said your name right before he came. You definitely couldn’t feel the pulsing hardness of a cock almost breaking you open, and yet, somehow, putting you back together again in a strange way.

  And you couldn’t fall in love with a dream. Jacob had been my dream for many years; having him as my possible reality was like the difference between seeing in black and white and seeing in full color. The entire array of the rainbow was now before me, and it overwhelmed me.

  Jacob stirred. I watched him come awake, turning over to look at the ceiling before he saw me. Then he smiled. And my heart flipped over in my chest.

  “Good morning,” he rumbled.

  “Hi.” I snuggled into his chest. “Did you sleep okay?”

  “Like the dead.” He stroked my arm. “Last night was…” He trailed off.

  “Amaze-balls? Orgasmically ridiculous?”

  “I was going to say ‘great,’ but I think those descriptions work better.”

  He kissed me. Soon, I deepened the kiss, not caring that I was sore and should probably wait for more amaze-balls sexy-times, when my stomach growled.

  “Well, I guess I’m making breakfast,” I said.

  Kevin was waiting at his food bowl. When he saw Jacob, he didn’t hiss, at least. He just swished his tail and looked disgruntled. Normally, Kevin slept with me during the night. He’d probably be pissed at me for a day or two.

  I guessed that was the price you paid when you fell for a guy and he stayed over: your cat got jealous and started planning your demise.

  I made us eggs and bacon, giving Kevin a few bites of bacon to appease him, the little monster. As I was scrambling the eggs, Jacob kept looking at my floral arrangement that I was going to enter into the competition.

  I’d finally decided to give into my natural instinct to do something a bit avant-garde that my dad would probably hate, but the moment I’d begun putting together this design, I knew in my gut that it was right for me. An arrangement of golden-red ranunculus and large fern leaves that didn’t follow a perfect curve but instead stuck out at various points.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Jacob as he moved closer to look at the arrangement. “The dying fern leaves with the brown tips…” He shook his head. “Only you would think of something like that.”

  I smiled, way too pleased by his compliment. “We’ll see if I can win this time. I’d really love the prize money.” I sighed at the thought of it.

  “What would you do with it, if you won?”

  “You’ll probably think it’s stupid,” I hedged.

  “I doubt that.”

  I began to plate our breakfasts. Where once I would never have told Jacob anything about design or running a shop, now I felt like we were partners in crime. I felt like I could trust him with this idea that my dad had never understood.

  “I want to expand the store so we can teach classes and workshops,” I said as I sat down at my kitchen table. “It’s always been a dream of mine.”

  Jacob gave me an odd look. “Why would that be stupid?”

  “It’s not. It’s just that my dad would rather keep Buds and Blossoms only about selling flowers.” I shrugged, stabbing at a bite of scrambled eggs. “It’s probably why he resisted having me take it over, because I would do something crazy like teach classes.” I widened my eyes dramatically.

  Jacob chuckled. “I think that’s what parents are for. To act like change is the end of the world.”

  “Your parents still don’t like that you’re helping with Flowers, huh?”

  Jacob shrugged. “They’ve come around to it, finally. The grumbling has cut back from once a day to once every other day.”

  I gave Kevin another bite of bacon under the table. “I feel like if I can win the competition, I can show my dad that I’m serious, you know? I think he believes I just want to expand on a whim, even though I’ve been talking about it for ages.”

  Jacob was chewing on a piece of bacon before saying, “I’m going to be at the convention, too. Forgot to tell you.”

  “Oh.”

  Was it silly that I felt a little hurt that he hadn’t told me? I’d told him how important this competition was to me. The fact that he was going to be there seemed like a big detail to forget. Then again, we weren’t dating. We were just…having explosive sex together.

  “Do you want to share a hotel room?” I said. “I mean, to save money. Not because I’m hoping the hotel doesn’t have your reservation again.”

  Jacob got up to take his plate to the sink. “I already have a room.”

  I flushed to the roots of my hair, like I’d misstepped somehow. Did he regret last night? That thought alone was enough to bring my breakfast back up.

  He returned to the table with two mugs of coffee, including creamer and sugar. “I got a hotel room ages ago,” he said by way of explanation, “and anyway, you’ll just distract me.”

  I was partially mollified. “Because I’ll hog the bathroom so much that you won’t have time to brush your teeth, and then you’ll have such bad breath that no one will buy anything from you and you’ll gain a reputation as Halitosis Jacob?”

  “Wouldn’t happen. I’d get some of those breath strips. No one would be the wiser that I hadn’t brushed my teeth.”

  I clucked my tongue. “My evil plans, foiled again.”

  Kevin came up to the table and stretched before letting out a loud meow. To my surprise, he didn’t start tapping his paw against my leg for more bacon: he tapped Jacob. And kept tapping him when Jacob didn’t do as he asked.

  “You better give him some bacon, or he’ll never leave you alone,” I said, sipping my coffee. “Don’t get between Kevin and his bacon.” I chuckled at the pun.

  Jacob gave Kevin a piece of bacon, and as the cat ate the bit of crispy meat, Jacob was able to scratch Kevin behind his ears. They were such a funny contrast—a one-eyed, three-legged cat and this beautiful golden man—that I didn’t know if I wanted to keep laughing or shed a tear. Mostly my heart felt dangerously squishy watching Jacob winning over my misanthropic cat.

  “How did you end up with a cat like him?” said Jacob as Kevin went to sleep on top of his cat tree.

  “I had planned to get a kitten. With four legs and two eyes, you know. But when I got to the shelter, I saw this poor cat who’d had a hard life but who still had a lot of love to give. So I ended up going home with Kevin. Even better, he was on sale because black cats are harder to adopt, let alone ones missing various body parts.”

  “You’re amazing.”

  I started in surprise. “Me? No, I’m not. I’m pretty average.”

  “You’re the least average woman I’ve ever met. The crazy thing is, you can’t see it for yourself.” Jacob kept looking at my arrangement as proof of his statement.

  I was talented in that arena: I wasn’t going to deny that. Having Jacob recognize that meant more to me than words could convey. Oh, my treacherous heart fell more in love with him in that second than it ever had when I’d been convinced I loved him as a kid. I’d gotten to see him this time, not just a fantasy mostly in my head of what it would be like to be with him.

  “Thank you,” I said quietly.

  Finishing off my coffee, I got up and took his hand, leading him to the living room. Morning light streamed through the window decal
s I’d put up to give myself privacy, and it filled the room full of rainbows when the sun shone through them. I made Jacob sit on the couch, and I climbed into his lap before I kissed him.

  He grunted, catching on quickly. His tongue darted into my mouth, and we kissed like that for what felt like hours. Unlike last night, when we’d been in such a hurry, this morning the kisses were slow, the touches almost lazy. Jacob stroked my breast through the tank top I’d thrown on before I’d fallen asleep. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to sleeping naked.

  “I like you like this,” he said, sucking on my neck. His morning beard scraped against my skin.

  “Sitting on your lap?”

  “Yes. But in the light. Now I can really see you.”

  He pushed my tank top down, exposing my breasts. Pinching one nipple, he sucked the other into his mouth with the perfect amount of pressure that had me rocking into his lap. He was only wearing boxers, and his erection grew with each swivel of my hips.

  I’d always thought of myself as average in terms of my looks, but I felt beautiful as Jacob stroked my back and kissed my breasts. I sucked in a breath when he blew cool air on my nipples, making them pucker.

  “Are you too sore?” He palmed my pussy through my panties. “I’m not sure I can stop myself from being inside you, even if you say yes.”

  I moaned when he stroked through my folds. I was sore, but I didn’t care. It was the kind of pain after a good, long workout: satisfying and proof that you’d done something worthwhile. Besides, Jacob’s fingers were already making me so wet I could hear the sounds my pussy made when he inserted his index finger inside me.

  “This perfect little pussy,” he breathed against my neck, “I love how you grip my finger and my cock. Like you never want me to leave.”

  “I don’t.” I arched when he tapped my clit. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “If I could, I’d stay inside this pussy every hour of every day.” His words washed over me like the heat from a sauna. “I wouldn’t move, though. I’d just stay inside you, and when you’d beg me in that voice of yours when you’re desperate and you’re mad that you’re so desperate—”

  “I have no idea what you mean—” My voice squeaked as he rubbed my clit hard for a second before going back to gentler strokes.

  “As I was saying.” I could feel his smile against my throat. “I’d wait until you were clawing at me, and your pussy was pulsing around my cock, telling me that you had to come. And I’d let you—but not quickly. I’d just barely massage your clit, my cock growing inside your tight pussy every time you said my name, until you exploded around me, drenching me completely.”

  I was already so close. I was shaking with need. I’d never thought I would’ve liked dirty talk, but fuck me, I loved it. Even if it made me squirm and blush, I didn’t care.

  I reached inside Jacob’s boxers and squeezed his cock, stroking him from root to tip. His jaw clenched with every pump of my hand. Even though I wanted him inside me, it was a major turn-on to have him at my mercy.

  “You’re a fast learner,” he said. He bucked when I fondled his balls with my other hand. “Shit. Dani.”

  I kept pumping him because I wanted to see him lose it. He didn’t stop me like he had last night, and I was glad. I kept stroking him, watching him pant and his muscles bunch. With a shout, he came, his seed coating my palm and dripping onto both of our legs.

  I hadn’t realized how messy sex was, but somehow what would’ve bothered me normally only turned me on further. It was messy and wild, and now I was so wet that my panties were soaked.

  “You’re still hard,” I said, marveling. “I thought that wasn’t a thing.”

  He grinned. “I’m a man of many talents.”

  He sounded so proud that I rolled my eyes, but soon he was stripping me of my tank top and urging me to take off the rest of my clothes. Before I maneuvered off his lap, though, he took my hand covered in his semen and used it to lube his cock, his gaze never leaving me the entire time he did so.

  “Oh my God,” were the only words that came to mind. “Why am I so turned on right now?”

  His blue eyes were like the blue of a flame. “Take off your panties, Dani, before I tear them off.”

  I didn’t protest. Blessedly naked, the morning light streaming in and coloring our bodies with rainbows, I sat on his lap with my legs spread wide. He took hold of his cock and pressed it against my pussy. I moaned as he sank inside me; I felt a pinch of resistance, but it disappeared just as quickly.

  “Ride me.” He held me by my waist to anchor me. “Fuck me, Dani.”

  I did. I already was. I didn’t have any smooth moves, but once I started riding him, it didn’t matter. I was stuffed full, until I could feel it practically in my fingertips and toes. Every time I came down, I angled my pelvis so I could get the perfect amount of pressure against my clit.

  “You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. Yes, just like that.” Jacob palmed my ass and sucked on my breasts, which sent sensations straight to my pussy and clit.

  My release slammed into me, so hard that I couldn’t breathe. I shook and cried, hanging onto Jacob for dear life.

  He gave me all of one second before he threw me down onto the couch and pounded into me. I could only widen my legs, taking everything he had to give me. When he came, he buried his face in my neck and filled me to the brim.

  By the time we caught our breath, we both had to leave for work.

  Jacob kissed me. “I’ll text you,” he said, caressing my cheek. He threw his suit jacket over his shoulder with a wry smile as he looked down at his outfit. “I should’ve brought another pair of clothes to do this walk of shame.”

  “But you look so sexy in a suit.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t make me take you straight back to bed. I have work to do.” He smacked my ass, kissed me one last time, and then left me feeling dazed, ecstatic, and beautifully exhausted.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was hard to concentrate when your brain was reminding you that you’d had sex last night. And that you’d had sex this morning. And that it would very much like you to have more sex.

  Sex sex sex sex sex sex SEXXXXXXX went my brain that Saturday morning. It was pretty much an endless stream of porno, except it was featuring me and Jacob.

  When my first customer came in, she wanted to buy some peonies. Except my brain heard penis, and then my brain thought, I LOVE PENISES! And for a moment my body got very excited, too. Until my customer looked at me strangely, as if she knew my mind was a nonstop loop of Pornhub, and I realized that I hadn’t said a word to her.

  Like I said: way harder to concentrate than I would’ve expected.

  During a lull, I checked my phone and saw that Anna had texted me a bunch of times last night, but my phone had been on silent so I hadn’t heard them.

  * * *

  7:05 PM: Want to get drinks tonight?

  7:30 PM: Where are you? You better not be dead.

  8:16 PM: WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME. Fine, be a bitch-face.

  8:41 PM: I’m assuming your phone is broken otherwise I’m kicking your ass tomorrow.

  10:14 PM: I really hope you aren’t dead, though.

  * * *

  “So you are alive,” said Anna on the first ring. “Or you’re Dani’s kidnapper and are demanding a hefty ransom.”

  “How could a kidnapper use my phone when it’s locked?” I countered.

  “Easy. Use your fingerprint to unlock it. If you were tied up, you wouldn’t have a choice.”

  I didn’t really want to ask why Anna knew so much about this subject. “Well, I’m not dead.” I took a deep breath. “Actually, Jacob came over last night.”

  “Is that code for, ‘he came over to talk about growing potatoes’ or something boring? Or are you telling me something else?”

  “No potatoes were involved.” I lowered my voice, even though no one was here to listen. “We slept together.”

  I held the phone away fro
m my ear right before Anna screeched like a banshee.

  “You little slut! You had sex and didn’t text me right after?”

  I didn’t even need to put my phone on speaker to hear her. “I’m not going to text you at two in the morning to give you the nitty-gritty details.”

  “Give me the details now. And I mean everything.”

  Despite Anna’s demands otherwise, I didn’t give her every single detail, although I did give in and tell her how much Jacob was packing (re: a lot). She screeched again when I told her that tidbit and I was pretty sure my eardrums were bleeding from it.

  “Wait, hold up,” she said, “why was he wearing a suit? Did he have some fancy flower meeting to go to?”

  “Oh, I forgot that part. He came here as my prom date, to make up for the fact that he stood me up.”

  Anna was silent for so long that I thought the call had dropped.

  “Dandelion Nicole Wright, are you seriously telling me that Jacob West got dressed up in a tuxedo, brought you a bouquet and a corsage, and danced with you to Taylor Swift last night?”

  “Yeah. Is that a bad thing?”

  “Bad? Woman, he’s in love with you.”

  I laughed when she said the words, but soon I had to sit down because my knees had turned watery. I was the one in love with Jacob; that love had always been unrequited. Always.

  “He’s not in love with me,” I protested weakly.

  “No guy does something like that if he doesn’t have feelings for you. Come on, Dani. You’re a smart girl, and you know I don’t bullshit.”

  “He didn’t say anything about it.”

  “Well, to be fair, neither have you.” I could see Anna rolling her eyes. “You’re both idiots. Honestly.”