"God, Hunter," she breathes. "You feel so fucking good."
"Tell me how bad you want me," I say.
"So bad," she says, gasping. "I'm so close."
I thrust into her as deep as I can go, and we explode together. I shoot stream after stream of cum into her, and I don't stop until I'm completely spent.
When I finally pull out, she yanks her jeans up and spins around to face me, a guilty expression on her face. "I cannot believe that just happened."
I zip up my jeans and catch my breath. "Oh, but it did."
She grins, and I feel like she wants me to kiss her. I want to kiss her too. But I don't want to accept what it'd mean if I do. It's going to be hard to have more fun with Tess without also having even more feelings than I already am.
Just then, the bell on the counter dings. There must be a customer at the counter. "Barely in time," I say with a smirk.
Tess hurriedly re-ties her apron behind her back and sneaks out from where I have her pinned against the counter. "And imagine what they'd say if they knew this is all fake," she says.
I watch her as she turns the corner, and I already feel my cock hardening yet again in my pants. Yeah, she may not have the exact same body she had at 18, but the truth is, I don't give a fuck. Not at all. She's still the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, and she's my wife. My fake wife, with benefits, at last.
At least for a little while longer.
That night, we unwind at Tess's apartment with a six pack of beers. She's gotten it cleaned up in the last couple weeks. She threw out all of her old soap- and candle-making supplies, and the place looks like an actual home now instead of a damn warehouse.
She even bought a new leather couch from Costco, and we sit side-by-side on it, sipping our beers. She wears a thin, see-through white t-shirt. I can make out the outlines of her bra through it, and I have to consciously restrain myself from reaching over and cupping them through her shirt. She looks so damn good I can barely help myself.
I can't stop thinking about what happened earlier. And neither can she, from the sound of it.
"You know, you don't have to sleep on the floor if you don't want to," she says, thumbing the lip of her bottle. She glances at me and catches my eye. "It doesn't look very comfortable."
Every night we come home from the shop, we've both been exhausted as hell and we always follow the same pattern. She goes down the hall to her bedroom and clicks the door shut, and I pass out on the sleeping bag I've got set up in the living room. Neither one of us has proposed a change, until now.
Shit. I don't have the fucking willpower to turn down a chance to sleep with her in her own bed, even if I know I shouldn't let her in any further. As much as I try to deny it to myself, I know I'm in way, way over my head already. I'm way more attached to her than I should be.
"You're saying you want to sleep with me?"
She blushes and drops her gaze to the beer bottle she holds upright in her lap. "I guess I am."
"Are there rules and limitations attached to this offer?"
She looks back up at me, her eyes shy. "I don't know. Just… don't hurt me."
Fuck. Now that she's offering me what I've wanted all along, I don't know if I should take it. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt her no matter what I do at this point. "You realize I'm leaving. Soon." It's just about two weeks until the terms of the contract are fulfilled.
"Yeah," she says softly. "So when are you thinking?"
This is another topic we've managed to avoid so far. With the way things are going at the shop, I haven't had the heart to tell her that I have a firm date in mind. But she wants honesty now, so I'll give it to her. Least I can fucking do after what happened today.
"Day after the contract ends," I say. "I've already stayed too long. I've got to be on my way then. I've got a country to ride across, and a whole life ahead of me once I get to Alaska. And now you've got the restaurant you always wanted."
She takes a swig of her beer but doesn't say anything.
"Glad I could help you with your dream," I say. I nearly reach down to make sure my balls are still attached. I must be getting old, because I'm becoming a big fucking softie.
"Yeah," she says ponderously," finishing off her beer and setting down the bottle on the coffee table. "Then let's enjoy it while it lasts."
I wipe the sleep out of my eyes. I'm lying on my side in the middle of the bed and Tess is pressed up against me, her round ass snuggled into my body.
My cock presses against it, and it's rock hard. Fuck, it's almost painful, and it's all I can do not to grab her hips and pull her into me, until she wakes up and begs me to slide my cock into that tiny pussy that I know would be dripping wet for me.
Last night we slept together in her bed. We fucked over and over, until the sun started to rise. And now, we just woke up spooning each other.
I watch her curvy body rise and fall, covered only by a pajama tank top and shorts that barely cover her ass. The regularity of her breathing tells me she's still asleep.
Slowly, I pull myself away from her. And that's when she wakes up.
"Huh?" she says sleepily, stirring. She flips onto her back, then onto her other side, so she's facing me. For a few seconds, she snuggles into the warmth of my body, pushing herself closer. Then she opens her eyes and realizes what's going on. She blinks a couple times and her cheeks turn pink.
"Oh, hey," she says, mumbling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to, ah…" Her voice trails off.
I can't help grinning. Not much makes me feel awkward, but this almost does. But in the best of ways. Like I'm a teenager again, and girls are new and exciting, and I just woke up from a sleepover with my best friend's ass pressed against me.
"Looks like somebody couldn't keep away from me," I say, grinning. I sit up against the headboard, the bright morning light hitting my cut abs and chest. Shit, I can't lie, I must be looking pretty good right now considering the way Tess can't keep her eyes off my body.
She turns onto her back and stares at the ceiling, pulling her hair into a ponytail. She's at just the right angle for me to see down her shirt, and I can make out a hint of cleavage under her neckline. My morning wood throbs in my boxers under the sheets, and I can't help myself. I reach over, slide a finger under her neckline, and stretch the collar so I can see under her shirt. I catch a glimpse of the curve of her breast, and I see her tight, pink nipple. I bite my lip.
For a second I think she's mad, but she doesn't brush my hand away. When she finishes bundling her hair, she turns on her side to face me again. "You like what you saw?"
"Fuck yeah, I did." I slide a hand around her waist and pull her into me, grinding my hard cock against her through our clothes and the sheets. I want her to know the effect she has on me.
"Want to see more of it?" she asks quietly.
"I don't just want to see it," I growl. "I want to take my time to enjoy every inch of your body. I want to taste every part of you. Last night wasn't enough. I don't care if we're late to the shop this morning."
I feel her heart beating hard.
But she sits up suddenly. "Wait a sec," she says, and then she scurries off to the bathroom. I roll on to my back, rubbing my eyes with my palms. Patience is one of my best qualities, but I can barely fucking wait to be inside Tess again.
When she comes out of the bathroom, she looks disappointed. "I'm sorry," she says. "I… My period just started."
I can't help chuckling. Maybe this is a sign from Jesus, telling me not to let this girl get any closer than she already is.
"And I'm out of tampons. Would you mind… going out to get some?"
I groan. Now I officially feel married.
15
Tess
As Hunter and I walk to work, I can't stop thinking about the way we woke up this morning, him spooning me in my bed, his hardness straining against me through the thin layers of fabric. When I invited him to sleep in my bed, it was only thanks to liquid courage and a burning desire to repeat wha
t happened in the kitchen earlier that afternoon. But waking up that way felt intimate, way more intimate, than I'd expected.
The problem is, I want to do it again.
And even though I felt like the unsexiest little girl when I had to ask him to go on a tampon run for me, he was a perfect gentleman about it. Well, as much as he's capable of.
Summer's in full swing now, and the damp morning heat pervades everything. My clothes cling to my damp skin, my hair frizzes, and my underarms feel swampy and horrible. It's okay in the shade, but whenever we step into the sun, I start to bake.
As we turn the corner onto Main Street where the strip mall is located, we run into Eddie and his wife, also heading toward the strip mall where their restaurant is. Hunter slips an arm around my waist, hooking his thumb into one of my belt loops. We've nearly perfected the art of pretending. We must have, because no one in the town has suspected a damn thing. The only person who really knows, Meg, has managed to keep her mouth shut for once. But now it feels way more than pretend. Every time we hold hands in public, it feels more natural than the last. Sometimes it feels just like it did in high school.
"Another day in paradise," says Hunter, tipping his head at Eddie. I expect Eddie to come back with one of his usual retorts, but the look on his face tells me something's wrong.
"Hunt, man, Tess, you gotta come take a look at this. Been circling the block looking for you."
Hunter's hand drops from my waist, and he doesn't even brush his hand against my ass like he normally does. "What's going on?" he asks.
"Come see for yourself."
We follow Eddie around the corner and head straight for the strip mall. When we turn the corner, I immediately see something's wrong. Jason stands outside on the sidewalk, along with a few of our regular morning customers. But this time, there's a big pink notice plastered right in the middle of the front door. My stomach churns acid. I knew something like this was going to happen. Everything was going so well. Too well.
"What's all this?" I ask as we approach the patio outside the café. "What's going on?"
"It was like this when I got here," says Jason, shaking his head. "Read it."
I slip through the small crowd of customers and read the sign:
Rainbow Café
CLOSED By order of the Maple Ridge City Health Department
This food facility has been ordered to temporarily close until the violations listed below are corrected. This notice must remain in place throughout the period of closure. It may only be removed by authority of the health department after confirmation that the violations have been corrected.
- Failure to sanitize surfaces (flour dust on floor)
"Flour dust on floor?" says Hunter. "What in the actual fuck does that mean? It's a damn bagel joint!"
I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down. "The inspector came by two days ago," I say. "It was all routine He didn't say anything about this."
"Excuse me," says a man standing behind me, "Does this mean you won't be opening today?"
"Of course it fucking—" says Hunter, before I elbow him in the side to shut him up.
"Unfortunately it does," I say. "We'll have to clear this up with city officials. With any luck we'll be back tomorrow."
The customers, all of our early birds, look disappointed. A few of them shuffle off to the old Sunrise Café, which is just opening its doors down the street. Some others get in their cars parked along the street and take off. Only Hunter, Jason, Eddie, his wife, and I remain.
"This doesn't make any sense," I say, standing in front of the door. I read the sign over and over again.
"It makes zero damn sense," says Hunter, next to me. "What do they fucking expect, for us to sweep the floor every fifteen minutes? Some fucking flour dust on the floor isn't a fucking health threat to anyone." He turns to Jason. "What the hell do you make of this, kid?"
Jason shakes his head. "You're right. It doesn't make a lick of sense."
I can always tell when Hunter is actually mad, because that's when he stops insulting other people.
Just then, Oscar comes out of the pawn shop a few doors down and approaches us.
"Damn man," says Eddie. "You know anything about this?"
Oscar nods his head yes. "Bet you a hundred damn dollars I do."
"Well then, spit it out."
"It's that damn old man Wilkinson."
"The mayor?" says Hunter.
"Damn right."
"But why would he hassle me?" I say.
Oscar shakes his head. "Hell if I know. Same reason the city's always revoking my pawn license. The old man's got grudges and nothing better to do than carry them out all day." I remember what he told us at the potluck, that he keeps being falsely accused of buying and selling stolen tools. "Did you do something to piss him off?"
"Not that I know of," I say.
"Alright," says Hunter, clenching his fists. "Show's over. We'll deal with this." He storms back into the street, back toward my apartment, and I follow after him. I glance over my shoulder as I scurry after him, and see Jason and the others file away from the restaurant dejectedly.
Hunter paces back and forth in my living room. "I'm going to have a talk with that fuck," he says, clenching and unclenching his fists. I can't remember seeing him like this before. I sit on the coffee table with my hands between my knees. Hunter may live for confrontation, but I don't like it.
"Let's just call the health inspector's office and do this the right way," I say. "It's not worth getting upset over."
"The hell it isn't," says Hunter, whirling to face me. "He's fucking with my friend, and now he's fucking with my wife."
"Your fake wife."
"I don't care. For all he knows, you're my real wife. Probably has a copy of the fucking marriage certificate on his desk right now. So it's personal."
"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."
Hunter shakes his head. "I dealt with fucks like this in the SEALs. They literally have nothing better to do than sit on their fat asses and fuck with people. You have to deal with these assholes with strength. It's all they understand."
"What are you talking about, Hunter? This is politics, not war."
"Same thing."
"I want to deal with this my way."
"Just let me take care of this."
"This isn't like you," I say. "Since when do you blow up?"
"I'm not blowing up," he says, slowing his pacing. "I'm pissed because he made this personal by fucking with you."
"I'm flattered, but I can solve my own problems, Hunter. It's my shop."
His eyes narrow. "Yeah, it's not like I put a shit ton of effort into this business too."
"It was as a friend. A favor. We talked about this." Usually I'm the one getting mad and Hunter calms me down, but right now he's really mad.
"I'm not asking for a stake in the profits. But don't deny me a stake in the decision making. I'm dealing with this guy the way I know how."
"Hunter," I say. "You're leaving. Just let it go."
"Yeah, well, I'm here now."
"And what does that mean?" I say, standing up. Now I'm getting emotional too. "What is this? What is this situation we're in?"
"Well that's crystal clear."
"Is it?"
"You're my fake bride."
"With benefits, apparently."
"With benefits."
"Hunter," I say, and I start feeling more emotional than I want to feel. "This feels like it's turning into more than we bargained for."
"I didn't bargain for anything."
"Don't you know that you hurt me when you left last time?"
He stops pacing again and glares at me. "Bringing up eight years ago again? Seriously?"
"I'm afraid of getting hurt again."
"I told you," he says, "I'm leaving." He exaggerates the word and it hurts my feelings how he says it.
I stand up and my fists clench too. "Hunter, you just came back into my life when I was vulnerable,
and now things are complicated, and—"
"Things are not complicated," he says. But the way he says it, he might as well have just said "things are complicated."
"What do you feel for me?" I ask. My heart pounds as I say the words, and I'm not sure what I want his response to be.
But he changes the topic. "Look, we've just got to deal with this as swiftly and effectively as possible. I'm going."
"Don't," I say forcefully. "If this is really a personal grudge of the mayor's, you'll only make it worse."
"Goddamnit. I'm getting some fresh air."
I watch silently as he storms out of the apartment.
I sit back on the couch and pull a throw over myself even though I'm not cold. I can't stop thinking about our conversation. I was starting to get attached to some stupid, false hope that Hunter was starting to see me as important again. I was starting to hope he'd be decide to stay, and that maybe I'd have some kind of fairytale romance that ends with me getting the guy I wanted ever since high school.
But instead, I think this is going to end in heartbreak for me. Just like the last time. And maybe my restaurant is going down in flames, too.
16
Hunter
When I come back to the apartment late that night, Tess is already sleeping in her room with the door shut. A clear signal that I'm back to sleeping on the floor. There's a note taped to the door:
Hunter: Meeting with mayor tomorrow at noon. Leaving the house early. Please be there and be calm.
I go to sleep on the living room floor. I can't stop thinking about Tess. I want to be in bed with her instead, touching every inch of her body until the sun rises.
When I wake up the next morning around 10, she's already gone. I toast a couple frozen Eggo waffles and wash them down with a nasty-ass cup of instant coffee. With all the "artisan" coffee I've been drinking at the shop over the last few weeks, I realize I'm on the verge of turning into a damn hipster myself. Two months ago, I wouldn't have so much as flinched at this joe. Now I can almost tell the difference. Almost.
Prince's Secret Baby Page 26
