by London Hale
And he carried me to bed.
I’d thought about this moment more than I’d ever admit. Had dreamt about it, fantasized about it when I got myself off. Stroked myself to the imagined taste of her…to the sound of her moans in my head. And now, as she lay on my bed, her towel coming loose and falling open to expose her body, I no longer had to wonder. I knew intimately the noises she made when she came. I knew the taste of her pussy, how wet she got, how tight she was. And every bit of it was even better than my dreams, so I was going to enjoy every goddamn second of this.
Everyday Lola was gorgeous in her uniform of yoga pants and hoodies. Last night, Sleepy Lola had made my cock ache while lying there in only my sweatshirt. Naked Lola? She took my goddamn breath away. She was…exquisite. A tiny waist gave way to the subtle flare of hips, small breasts tipped with dark nipples just begging for my mouth. I wanted nothing more than to swoop down and feel them on my tongue.
But before I allowed myself to indulge, I had to be sure that she still wanted this. That she wanted everything. It was one thing to let me go down on her in the shower. Another thing entirely to allow me every inch of her body. And after everything she’d told me earlier, I had to make sure she knew the choice was one hundred percent hers.
“How much will you give me, beautiful?” I caged her in on the bed, careful to keep our bodies from touching, and brushed a kiss below her ear. “How much will you let me have?”
She arched her back, seeking me out. Reaching for me as she whispered, “Everything. Take it all.”
That was all I needed to hear. Even though I’d already kissed every inch of her body in the shower, had felt her come on my tongue, I had the overwhelming urge to…love her. Over and over again. With my body and my words and my actions. So I did. I brushed openmouthed kisses across her collarbones, between the valley of her breasts, sucked their tips into my mouth. Gave love bites to the small curve of her stomach. Swiped my fingers through her slit, then followed behind with my tongue. I taunted her clit with fluttering touches followed by harsh suction, listening the entire time to her body, studying her reactions. Learning everything she had to teach me about what she loved.
She didn’t disappoint.
Moans spilled from her lips as she arched against the bed, her fingers delving in my hair. Tugging me closer then pushing me away before yanking me back. I filled my hands with her ass and lifted her closer to my mouth, relishing in the fact that I was the only one who’d ever had her like this. The only one who knew the taste of her pussy, the pulse of her clit on my tongue. It was something only we shared.
Pulling away, I worked circles around her clit with my thumb, pressing a kiss to her inner thigh. I glanced up at her, seeing her watching me with hooded eyes. “I love that I’m the only one who’s swallowed your come.”
She reached out, running her fingers down my jaw. “You’ll always be the only one.”
With a smile, I dove in, working her slow and sweet, fast and hard. Taking her up and over the edge again. And again. And again. I lost count of how many times she came, her body arching under me, tits filling my palms, heels digging into my shoulders. My cock was so hard it ached, precome leaking from the tip, but I could spend all night with my face between her legs, never getting relief, and still die a happy man.
After another orgasm, she finally pushed me away, her panting breaths mixed with contented sighs. “Connor…want you inside me.”
I wanted that, too. Desperately. Wanted to feel what it’d be like to sink into her petite body, feel her snug little pussy wrapped all around me. I kissed her inner thigh, sinking my teeth in just enough to make her jump. Then I made my way up her body before snagging a condom from the nightstand and rolling it down my length.
“You gonna come all over my cock like you did my tongue?”
“Yes. God, yes. Please.”
Hands braced on either side of her shoulders, I leaned down and pressed my mouth to hers. Swept my tongue between her lips. Swallowed her moan. She writhed under me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she tugged me down.
Allowing our lips to brush with each word, I said, “You feel so good under me.”
She sighed into my mouth, hooking her legs around my hips and urging me closer with her heels pressed into my ass. I wanted nothing more than to slide into her, fill her completely, but I’d been thinking about this for so long, had been fantasizing about it daily, that I wanted to memorize every second of it. How she stared up at me, her fingers restless on my shoulders. How she rolled her hips up toward me, grinding her hungry little clit against the head of my cock. How she tried to pull me down, force me even closer, as if we weren’t already lined up from head to toe. But what I would think about over and over again, what would keep me company on nights when she couldn’t, was how her eyelids fluttered shut, how she whispered my name as I finally sank deep inside.
“Jesus,” I groaned, eyes closing before I snapped them open, wanting to watch her face as she took my cock for the first time. Goddamn, she was tiny. Everywhere. And so fucking wet. I rocked back and forth, working myself in as she stretched around me. Her pussy gripped me like a vise, her walls already pulsing as I settled fully inside her.
“Connor…” She stared up at me, her mouth open, eyes wide. Like she couldn’t believe anything could feel this good. Like she couldn’t believe pleasure like this even existed.
“I know, beautiful.” I kissed her, soft and sweet, our chests pressing together, then I pulled back and thrust deep, driving her up toward the headboard. She gasped, then groaned, tilting her head back and exposing her neck to me, pushing her tits against my chest. “You feel so good. So fucking good.”
I pressed my forehead to her neck and brushed a kiss against her collarbone. Whispered her name as I filled her over and over again. Her nearly nonstop moans punctuated by the slap of our bodies coming together was the best sound I’d ever heard. It was only eclipsed when she’d say my name in that breathy, awed way she did. I wanted to hear it every goddamn day—every goddamn hour.
“You have any idea how long I’ve wanted you like this? How many times I’ve thought about this exact thing?”
She stilled under me, her breath catching. Then she whispered, “Tell me.”
“Since day fucking one.” I pushed deep, grinding the base of my cock right against her clit. “I’ve thought of a hundred different ways to make you come—some of them on my fingers or my tongue—but this was always my favorite. Feeling you pulse around my cock—ah, shit. Just like that.”
She dropped her legs open, letting me push even deeper. “Connor, Connor…”
“That’s it. Come on, sweet girl. Let me feel you.” I scraped my teeth against her neck as she bowed off the bed and dug her fingernails into my shoulders, a loud moan spilling from her lips. And then she was coming, her pussy pulsing around me, and it was all I needed to let go.
“Lo…Jesus…”
Groaning, I buried my face in her neck as I came, loving how she whispered my name over and over again as I did, her heels pressed into my ass, holding me deep inside her. For long moments, I lay boneless on top of her, trying to catch my breath, while she traced soft paths up and down the length of my back. I wanted nothing more than to stay like this, pressed up against her…as close as we could possibly get, but logistics got in the way.
With a kiss to her neck, I pulled back, only to meet resistance as she squeezed me closer.
She shook her head, nuzzling her face into my neck, breathing me in just like I’d done to her. Against my skin, she said, “Not yet.”
I smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I promise I’ll be right back.”
She relinquished her hold with a pout, and I brushed a kiss across that puffed-out bottom lip, nipping at it before heading to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. Once I made my way back to the bedroom, I used her long-forgotten towel to get her cleaned up, then tossed it to the side and climbed in next to her.
Curling against her
, I slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her back to my chest. I relished the soft hum she gave, how she shimmied her ass right up against me, like she was trying to get closer. Rubbing small circles on her stomach with my thumb, I kissed the nape of her neck before inhaling deeply. Loving that my sheets now smelled like us.
“We can’t spend all day in bed…” Lola whispered.
“I don’t know. I’m not on duty until tonight, which means we can spend all day in bed.” I reached up and cupped one of her breasts, rubbing my thumb over her nipple until it hardened under my touch. “Unless that doesn’t sound appealing to you…”
“It sounds like my own personal sort of heaven, to be honest.”
Mine too.
My car sat outside the four-plex, unused. My rosary beads rested in a bowl by the front door, waiting for me to need them. To take them to the sanctuary for prayer. I didn’t go. I had become a bit of a recluse, afraid even to look at my mail or answer my phone. It hadn’t taken long for that anxiety to manifest—the first time Rumor had called after I’d run out of my John’s house, my heart rate had spiked. The first time I’d received a letter from school about a tuition payment due, my hands had gone clammy. The two were definitely linked together, and both were things I needed to get a handle on.
It was time to be an adult and deal with the world around me.
My apartment was dark and cold when I opened the door. I’d been staying at Connor’s for the past week. Sure, I’d come down here to grab my stuff, but he was overly concerned about the locks not being strong enough, so he always came with me. When he worked, I hung out in his apartment studying, watching my shows, cooking for him—I loved cooking for him. When he was home, we were together. There was usually no need to be down in what was technically my apartment. No need to spend time in the space I paid for but didn’t use.
And yet, I couldn’t hide away any longer.
I shut the door behind me and headed straight for my little desk against the kitchen wall. It had always been warmest there, so I’d set up my office-slash-studying area in the awkward spot. Connor used to joke about knocking over my computer when he was headed for the bathroom, a thought that made me smile. But I couldn’t get distracted. Connor would be home from work soon, and I had things to do.
I dialed the number I knew by heart, the same one I’d been ignoring for days. The same one I knew I should have called the night I’d bailed on my appointment. The night I’d decided to quit my job.
“You’d better have a good explanation for not answering my calls, bitch.”
I huffed a laugh, able to picture Rumor’s scowl. She’d be at her desk in her house, the one very few girls ever got to see. Knowing her, she was wearing something super sexy and expensive, something tailored to every curve. And red. She always wore red.
“Hey, Rumor. I know you’re probably really pissed at me—”
“Hold up, Lola. Pissed doesn’t begin to describe it.” She paused, the soft thump of what was probably a door closing my only indicator of what she was doing. “You run away crying from an appointment, a fact which the goddamn John had to tell me because you refused to answer your phone. You also get picked up by some guy in front of that John’s house, tucked into a car, and driven away—again, something the John had to tell me. Do you have any fucking idea how worried I’ve been? I had Knox go to your apartment to see if you were alive. He said the place looked as if no one was living there anymore. So, no, sweetcheeks. Pissed doesn’t even begin to describe what I am right now.”
Oh God. She’d sent Knox. If Connor had seen him, if he’d run into the hulking, giant of a man Rumor used as her personal security force, he’d never let me out of his sight.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling small and young at her chastisement. Knowing I deserved it.
“I accept your apology. Now, where the fuck have you been?”
“Safe. On the island, but not really at home. Rumor, that night…” I closed my eyes, remembering the sense of drowning. The way I couldn’t stand to be in that costume. The way thoughts of Connor had invaded my mind. “I’d just had enough. I didn’t want to do the job anymore.”
There was quiet from the other end, the only sound Rumor breathing. And then she sighed. “Aw, kid. I get that. I just wish you would have called me or answered your phone. You know my rules—you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, and no one works for me against their will.”
“I know. And I should have answered you. It’s just been… I mean, after Connor picked me up—”
“Hang on,” she interjected, suddenly sounding almost excited. “That was Connor who picked you up? The hottie neighbor you’ve been crushing on practically since birth?”
I might have told her about Connor a time or two. Okay, every day. Though I’d never told her what he did for a living. She probably wouldn’t have been as excited if she knew. “Yeah. We’re sort of a…a thing now.”
“Does he know?” Three words. That was all she said, but the meaning behind it was clear. Did he know what I did for a living? Did he know how I sold myself? Did he know some people would never not see me as a whore?
“He knows.” I bit my lip, picturing Connor as he thrust into me that morning. Remembering the smile on his face and the gentleness of his hands. The filthy words he’d used to make sure I knew I was his. “He cares about me anyway.”
“As he damn well should. You’re a dish.” She hummed a little as the sound of papers being moved crept over the line. “So I’m going to assume you’re retiring, yes?”
That was an easy one. “Yes. Definitely.”
“Not gonna lie, kid—I’m sad to see you go, but I understand. I’ll send Knox over your way in a few. He’s going to have some papers for you to sign—standard stuff, nothing to worry about.”
I glanced at the clock. “Connor will be home in about an hour, and I don’t want—”
“Understood. He’ll be quick and discreet. You…” She paused again, and this time when her voice came back through the line, business Rumor was gone and in her place was the woman I’d told my life story to. The one who’d given me ice cream and taken care of me the first time I’d had a John treat me like dirt. The woman who worried about the girls working for her more than she ever let on. “You go grab your happily ever after, okay? Grab it tight and never let it go.”
My eyes burned as I whispered, “I will.”
“Good girl. Knox will be there in twenty.”
I sat on the floor staring at my phone, missing my connection to Rumor already. She’d been such a force in my life these past couple of years, such a strong figure to follow. I was oddly going to miss her.
Fifteen minutes had passed when the knock at the door came. A quick look out the peephole confirmed my assumption, and I opened it to find Knox standing in my hallway. Or rather, blocking the hallway for anyone who might try to move past him.
“Miss Rumor requires your signature.” He handed me a flat envelope with a black and red symbol on the top. The same sort of envelope I’d received when I’d signed on to work for her.
I took the packet of documents and headed to the kitchen counter, grabbing a pen as I passed my desk. Everything looked on the up-and-up. Termination of employment, exit interview, and nondisclosure agreements, mostly. No naming names, no tell-all books, no discussing what escort jobs were like in public settings, never discussing who Rumor was or what her business did. For all the world, we’d worked as upscale escorts, offering temporary companionship to men who could afford us. The sex…well, that had been off the books. And Rumor didn’t exist.
I signed everything I needed to, tucking the papers back into the envelope when I was done. For the last time, I ran my finger over Rumor’s symbol—a bright red swirl of a bird, a phoenix, she’d told me once. Hopefully, it was my turn to rise from the ashes like she had.
“Here you go,” I said to Knox as I handed the envelope back to him. “Please tell Rumor I’m going to miss her.”
I followed him to the door as he turned to leave, but just before he stepped outside, he pulled another envelope from his pocket. This one smaller. And red.
“Miss Rumor would like to congratulate you on your college graduation.”
I stared at the envelope, my brow tight. “I haven’t graduated yet.”
He tucked the envelope in my hands and smiled…sort of. “But you will, and Miss Rumor figured you wouldn’t mind if she sent your gift early. Good luck, Lola.”
I stood in my open doorway and stared after him for a good few seconds, watching the outer door close behind him. Watching a chapter of my life close right before my eyes. The red envelope burned my palm, though, and I had to open it. I had to know what she’d done.
I sliced through the top with my finger, tearing the beautiful paper easily. Inside…well, inside was my salvation.
Cash.
Thousands of dollars of cash.
A quick flip through the hundred-dollar bills told me I had at least ten thousand dollars. And at the back, at the bottom of the pile of green, was a small red card with a mere ten words on it.
Be careful—judgment lingers—but don’t let that stop you.
She didn’t even sign her name, but she didn’t need to. Only Rumor would do something so kind, would remind me of the nature of the business while pushing me to do what I wanted anyway. Only Rumor—
“Lo? What are you doing down here, beautiful?” Connor appeared in the doorway, his heavy coat still zipped over his dark blue uniform, his brow drawn. “And why the fuck is the door wide open?” He stalked through the little apartment, looking in every closet and behind every door. Searching for a threat, of course. When he was finished, he grabbed my arms and pulled me against him. Surrounded me with his security and his body once more. “Are you okay?”
