by Jada Cox
It didn’t help that Margaret had been swept away by her latest fling, who took her down to Florida for a few days. She tried to hide it from me, telling me that she had a cousin down there that she was visiting, but I knew Margaret better than that. Sometimes she would hide her romantic life from me, not because she didn’t want to share it, but because I didn’t have one.
Except now I did have one, and I desperately needed someone to talk to about it.
So much had happened, and I had hardly seen her long enough to tell her that I was completely wrapped up in this guy, that I had cashed in my virginity, and that I had needed to walk away from him, all in a few days.
I watched every trashy show I could find to stream on the television, every comedy, ever romcom—anything to make me feel better about telling Julian that I wasn’t sure that I pursue something with him. None of them worked. They all left me feeling lonely in the empty apartment and in complete turmoil over what to do about Julian.
As I lay in bed at night, all I could think about was being in his arms, and I wondered what was wrong with me to turn that away. He was what I wanted in a guy in every way, and yet I still was saying no. What was wrong with me?
My dreams were filled with the replay of Thursday evening, of seeing him in his Dragon form, of passionately showing how much I wanted him only to leave him behind. I woke in tears every time, wanting to go back to sleep so that I could tell my dream self to turn around.
And each morning after these dreams, as I woke up and my senses came to me, I became more confused. I didn’t know that I could be with anyone. I was right in saying the timing was off, and I clung to that idea like my only lifeline.
Monday came around, and I was more than happy to get back to work. I just wanted something that would get my mind off Julian.
I rolled into the staff parking lot and saw, to my delight, the familiar light blue Lexus already there.
Jeremy was back.
“Welcome back,” I said, popping my head into his office. “How are you feeling?”
“Happy to be out of there, I’ll tell you that much,” Jeremy said. He stood over his desk, an iPad in hand while his other hand rummaged through files.
“So what were they keeping you in for?” I asked.
“That is not for the ears of ladies,” he said, stopping his rummaging and pointing at me, giving me a fake stern stair. “And how dare you for asking after my prostate.”
“Your prostate!” I gasped. “Are you—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I told them I was too young for that anyway. Apparently, they didn’t believe me. They needed tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of tests to prove it. But, here we are. Good thing we have good insurance here, am I right?”
I chuckled along with him though did worry that he wasn’t doing well. It could be that he’d just had some nasty kidney stones and spent a week in the hospital, but his face seemed a little ashen. His spirits were up, though, and so long as he was laughing, I wouldn’t worry about him until there was something to worry about.
“I could do with some coffee,” he said. “Cora, let’s walk over and get some coffee, and you can catch me up on everything.”
“Woah, walk?” I asked. “You don’t walk anywhere. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“Well, the doc might have told me I needed to lose a few pounds, so walking a couple of blocks to that coffee place on fourth wouldn’t be so bad.”
“The one on fourth? You know that’s like six blocks from here,” I warned.
“Well, I’m not going to lose weight walking a block, am I?” he laughed. “Come on, I’m buying.”
I loved having coffee with Jeremy. His was a much-missed presence in the office, and I hadn’t realized how much I enjoyed working with him. We went over every account in painful detail, discussing all the decisions and alterations he’d made and why. I knew that many people didn’t take their underlings under their wing the way Jeremy did me, and so I was grateful for the time we spent talking shop.
However, as we were walking back to the office, he informed me, “I’ve got to go over to the Alder Grove house. I’m meeting with all of them for the finalization of everything.”
“Today?” I asked, nearly choking on the air. I coughed. “Sorry. I inhaled a bug or something.”
He patted me on the back in unhelpful thumps. “Yeah. They’re a big account. We’ve done a lot of talking, and we need to finish up the rest of the house. The sooner we can do that, the sooner we can add it to the portfolio and hopefully get other big clients like those guys. Man, do they know how to spend money.”
“I’m sure it will go smoothly for you,” I said. If Jeremy was going over there to finalize things, then it meant that I would need to go over there, too. I had anticipated this, but I was hoping that Jeremy would let me stay behind.
“For us,” he said. “You know you’ve worked on this, too. You need to come along.”
I couldn’t argue with him. I only nodded.
Jeremy needed a little bit of a sit-down in his office after coffee and spent time with Wilma before he reemerged, looking better and catching my eye. He nodded his head toward the door. That was my signal. I nodded back, gathered my things, and went for my car.
“Don’t be silly, Cora,” he said. “We’ll drive together. It’s good for the environment.”
I chuckled as I went to his car and climbed in. The whole way, Jeremy blasted Rush, struggling to hit the high notes but singing like he could anyway. He sure was glad to be out of that hospital.
Despite Jeremy’s jolly mood, a knot of anxiousness was growing in the pit of my stomach. I had been thinking of Julian all weekend, and it had taken everything in me not to get in touch with him. And now, fate was seemingly guiding me straight to him. I didn’t know how I felt. Part of me was excited, while another part of me was telling me I had to be strong and that I couldn’t give in. Was this a test?
I trailed behind Jeremy as he waltzed up to the front door and rapped on it with his knuckles. Credit where it was due, it was always inspiring to watch him when he was in full designer mode.
“Ah, Julian!” he said as Julian opened the door. My heart started pounding in my chest.
“Jeremy,” Julian replied graciously. “I’m glad to see you’re out of the hospital. How are you doing?”
“You know how it is,” Jeremy said, pushing past Julian. “Men’s problems.”
Julian’s eyes met mine, and I blushed.
“Hi Cora,” he said. “I wasn’t sure you’d be coming along.”
“Yeah, Jeremy wanted me to be here, too.”
Julian moved aside so I could get by and closed the door behind me. Before I even stepped into the house, I could hear Jeremy’s voice ringing out amongst other voices. I supposed I was finally meeting the other guys.
As I came through, the eyes of four other men fell on me, all with a knowing look. They knew exactly who I was. I felt myself inwardly shrink back. They probably knew every last detail. I wanted to run and hide in the bathroom, to run back home and jump under my comforter and cancel today. I would start again tomorrow.
I hardly heard the discussion as Jeremy went on, telling them all what he and Julian and I had worked on, to make sure everyone was on the same page.
“Are you alright?” Julian asked quietly to my left.
“I’m fine,” I hissed.
I wasn’t. I couldn’t hear anything other than my heart in my ears and Julian’s breathing nearby. I had no idea how long we stood there while Jeremy and these guys discussed the house. I smiled slightly when I thought I heard laughter and tried to nod my head from time to time, though that was the only semblance of presence I could muster.
“Right, then, Cora,” Jeremy said, turning to me. “I think our job here is done. It was a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Actually, Jeremy, there is a matter I need to discuss with Cora,” Julian said. “Would you mind if she stayed behind and I brought her back after l
unch?”
Jeremy looked at me, and I tried not to look at him or anyone. I had no idea where to look and felt so awkward that I was sure I was showing it.
“Well, we have gone over everything this morning, so as long as it’s alright with Cora, I don’t mind.”
I nodded my head, only partly aware that I was doing so.
“Then it’s settled,” Jeremy said. “I’ll see you after lunch.”
And with that, he was gone.
“Alright, guys,” Julian said. “Go back to doing whatever you were doing.” He turned to me and put an arm behind me, guiding me to the stairs. “Do you mind if we go to my room to talk? Just so we can have some privacy.”
“Sure,” I said. Breathe, Cora, I reminded myself. You’re just having a talk. You’re a grownup. You can do this.
He led me up the stairs and to his room.
As soon as he closed the door behind him, he turned to face me. He looked miserable and uncomfortable, to say the least. This wasn’t him hitting on me; it wasn’t a matter of if he liked me. We had explored that path. We were here to talk.
His eyes met mine and in a surge of impulse, I couldn’t resist any more. I flung my arms around him and pulled him to me, kissing him with every ounce of my being. Emotion rose in me, and I tried to keep it at bay so that I could enjoy this. Just this. I didn’t know what I was going to say or what was going to happen next, but this I could enjoy, just being in his embrace for a few seconds.
His arms folded around me, and he held me gently as if apprehensive of what to do except to kiss me back.
This is what I want, I realized. None of the other stuff matters.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I pulled away from him, separating myself from him entirely. “I know, I know. I’m giving you mixed signals.”
“It’s alright,” he said. He kissed me gently.
“I’ve had a horrible weekend,” I said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you and about this and about everything. And it just kept coming back to you.”
“I don’t understand,” he said, clearly trying to be patient. “What came back to me?”
“Everything,” I said, hardly knowing how to explain myself. “I want to try. I think I’m ready to try. I want to give this a go with you.”
“You mean it?”
I nodded, tears coming to my eyes. It felt like a weight that I didn’t even know was there was lifted off my chest. “Really, really.”
Chapter 15 – Julian
I was overwhelmed with relief. She wanted to try things out—that was a start. A leap of a start for her, and I couldn’t believe that she was here.
The weekend had been rough for me, too, wondering what she was thinking and trying so hard not to contact her. Last week had been amazing, and I was so grateful for our time together. Being away from her for days was agony, but I knew that if I had any chance to be with her, I needed to give her the space she was asking for.
And now, she was here in my bedroom, telling me all the things I wanted to hear.
I kissed her, holding her close to me, feeling her body against mine, feeling the same feeling I had felt the first time I kissed her in this very spot, like the cosmos was coming together as we did and that we were truly bound together by destiny.
She kissed me back with the same intensity that I felt, and the same arousal that I had experienced the first time I had her in my arms stirred.
But it wasn’t just arousal, it was the itch and want for connection, the solidifying of our union. This was the moment of our first step into our lives together. Now that she had said yes, I knew that there was no going back. She would never want to go back; I would make sure of that.
I eased her backward toward my new bed, the bed I had hardly been able to sleep in since I had had it. It had felt so empty and lonely, which was silly because I had rarely shared my bed for a full night and never this one.
I wanted to know what it was like to have her in it, to feel her between the sheets with me.
Cora didn’t resist but let me guide her there. I lifted her onto the bed, still kissing her, and felt the fabric of her blouse. It buttoned up with little pearl buttons that I delicately worked to undo. I wanted to see her, all of her. I yet had to see her completely naked.
I felt each button slip through its designated hole, one by one, as she gingerly went for my shirt, which was also buttoned. I didn’t pull her blouse from her shoulders, not yet. I let the palms of my hands feel her smooth skin, traveling along it to her back, where I found the hinge of her bra. With a skilled hand, I unclasped it.
Cora didn’t seem to mind and pulled away from me so that she could remove both it and her blouse before she lay back on the bed and began undoing her pants.
“I want you,” she said.
I climbed onto the bed next to her and looked at her. Her skin was so pure, it reminded me of milk. I ran my fingers down her chest, between her breasts and along her stomach, circling my fingers along her skin as I kissed her shoulder.
Her breasts were perfect, round and with dark areolas which pinched into tiny nipples. I kissed down her shoulder until my lips found the soft mound of her breast, and I altered my path, until I found one of her hard-pointed nipples and ran my tongue over it. She gasped, sending excitement coursing through me. I loved that I was the first to give her all of these experiences, knowing that she had never had a man’s mouth on her tit before. She was like a sweet candy the universe had been saving just for me.
My hand slid into her pants that she began wiggling out of, revealing pink silk panties today. She was too cute and pure. I loved it. I loved everything about her. Everything she did was a delight to me.
I sucked the nipple into my mouth, toying gently with it between my teeth and tongue while my fingers began to play with the ground between her legs, feeling her desire for me. The sharp intake of air between her lips and the movement of her hips encouraged me.
There was a problem, though.
“I have some bad news,” I said quietly.
Cora lifted her head and looked at me, shaken out of the enjoyment I was bringing to her with my fingers.
“I’m fresh out of condoms,” I said.
She smiled and kissed me, moaning as I pushed my finger deep into her, pressing my knuckle to her opening. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”
“You’re so wet,” I said. “I want to taste you.”
I moved her to sit up as I lay down on the bed lengthwise and urged her to straddle my face with my hands. “You have no idea what an amazing view it is down here,” I said, looking up and seeing her peering over her breasts to see down to me. As I looked up and saw her brace herself against the wall, I snaked my tongue between her lips and watched her mouth part in enjoyment.
I hummed as I wrapped my lips around her clit and drew it into my mouth, playing with it the way I had with her nipple. With my free hand, I touched myself, feeling how hard she was making me with her moans.
I moved my mouth away right before she came. “I want to feel you ride me while you orgasm,” I said. “I know I can’t come with you, but I just want to be inside you while you do. Just once.”
She slid down my body, her breasts moving over my face, and I nipped at them, making her giggle. Cora didn’t need any guidance. She was a pro already as she pushed herself down onto me, arching her back and rolling her head back as she took me in. Her body moved in a wave as she moved herself up and down, my hands resting on her hips as she did so, feeling her motion. She was like a goddess, in exact control, feeling her way around my cock, letting her body explore the angles within her.
Her breasts began to bounce as she did, raising and falling, grinding her pelvis against mine, the color rising to her cheeks as she found the right spot, her pussy clamping around my cock, her voice rising higher and higher.
“Julian!” Cora cried out as she fell forward, riding my hard cock. I ground my teeth together and dug my fingers into her legs, trying to keep myself from
ejaculating.
“Fuck, baby,” I said. “This is a dangerous game we’re playing here. I’m going to come if you keep doing that.”
Cora kissed me hard before lifting herself off my cock and sliding down me, lowering herself to my rearing Dragon. She kissed it once before she took it in her mouth, her tongue massaging my shaft as she bobbed her head up and down it, her fingers rubbing her pussy as she did so. She moaned as she sucked on me in one of the most erotic views I had ever seen. I knew I wasn’t going to last nearly as long as I wanted to. It seemed impossible that her little mouth could take the entirety of my dick, but she was doing it, her lips tightly rubbing along me, all the way to my head and back down again.
“Cora,” I moaned. “Fuck, Cora!” I cried, as my orgasm shot through me, exploding into the back of her throat, muffling her own moaning as she came against her hand.
She raised her head and looked at me, smiling as, to my astonishment, she swallowed.
“Oh my god, baby,” I said. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I thought I’d try it out,” she said.
“And?”
“It’s an interesting experience,” she said after a moment of thought.
“Well, I certainly enjoyed it. You can experiment with me like that whenever you want.”
I took her hand, brought her closer to me, and kissed her, holding her tight. We had never lain completely naked together. This felt like perfection, and I never wanted to move from this spot.
I kissed her again, loving how her lips felt against mine. She was so beautiful, and I couldn’t believe that she was my mate. There could be no other way. I could feel it with every ounce of my being. I had spent all weekend worrying so much over nothing. Fate did come through. Fate had guided her to me. We had always been destined to be together.
I wondered if she knew that this was meant to be. I wondered if she could feel it as well. I supposed that it was the last thing that needed to be talked about to make sure that we were on the same page. A tremor of doubt rippled through me as I thought about telling her, wondering if she would be able to take this last piece of information about me. About us.
