“What? Are you asking if I intend on staying around?”
She nodded.
“I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I dare you to try and get rid of me.”
“So this isn’t just….”
He flipped her around so that she was laying back, and he was leaning over her. “I didn’t just bring you here to fuck. I also wanted to get to know you.”
“Is this your usual method of getting to know someone?”
“Depends on what I want from the relationship. Tell me one thing, if we stuck to normal dates, dinner, movies, how long would it take you to open up this much?”
She tried to squirm away, but he put his hand to her cheek, so she had to face him.
“Maybe never. It’s kinda hard to hide anything when you strip me naked and leave me nowhere to hide.”
“Exactly,” he kissed her forehead.
“You don’t play fair.”
“Are you really going to fault me for it?”
“No,” her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Think you can get back to sleep now?”
“Yeah. You?”
He kissed her temple and her eyelids drooped. “I think so. Would you rather sleep on your back or side?”
“You’re not going to let me get more than a few inches away, are you?”
“You’ll be lucky to get a few inches.”
She took a long breath, already on the verge of falling back to sleep. “Side.”
Rolling to his back, he let her nestle against his side, her arm draped over his stomach, and leg crossing over his thigh. He took a deep breath, catching her scent and his mind cleared again.
Lena
When Lena woke the next morning, she hesitated before opening her eyes, thinking that logically, she'd made the entire night up and was at home, tucked in her bed. But when a pair of warm lips touched her bare shoulder, she twitched and squeezed her eyes closed.
“I felt you jump.” With Eric’s voice, reality filled in around the cracks of her waking brain. His hand, motionless on her stomach, his knee touching the back of her leg. At some point in the night, she’d rolled away, but he still wasn’t letting her out of his reach. “It's about time you stop playing possum.”
She pushed the back of her shoulder into his chest, so he’d at least give her room to roll onto her back. “I wasn't. I haven't been awake that long.”
“Mhh hmm,” he moaned into her neck, managing to turn her body into puddle of hot liquid within seconds.
God, why don’t I have any defenses against him? “What time is it?”
“Almost eleven.”
Lena tried to sit up, but Eric's arm didn't let her move far. “Don't we need to get out of here soon?”
“What's your hurry? We don't have to check out until one.”
Her lips curled at the look in Eric’s eye, which she suspected meant nothing but mischief. She was without a doubt defenseless. “And what do you have planned for the next two hours?”
“Breakfast?”
“That wasn't what I expected.”
“We have time for breakfast and what you expect.” He flipped on top, pinning her to the bed. A nip at her collarbone sent a mixture of pain and excitement through her nerves. “I’ll order room service.”
“I've never had room service.”
“You're not missing much,” he said, kissing her chest as he slid down her body and off the bed.
She watched his naked backside as he grabbed the menu from the desk, when he turned around, she had to squash the urge to look away. You just slept with the guy, it's going to get very awkward if you turn red and look away now.
She pulled the sheet around herself and sat up as he returned with the menu.
Without even looking up from the binder, he asked, “What's wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Uh huh,” he pulled the sheet up and returned to his spot next to her. “What's wrong? And remember rule number one.”
“I...uh.... I'm not exactly used to ‘morning after’ small talk,” she said. It was honest, but would he be able to tell that it wasn't the whole truth?
He nodded and slid the menu toward her. “What are you hungry for?”
“Bacon.”
“At least I can get one honest answer.”
She bit her lip, he was definitely able to tell. But he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.
“So, bacon. You want anything to go with that?”
“Scrambled eggs and coffee. Lots of coffee.”
“Okay,” he kissed her temple, and turned to the phone to call the kitchen, while she pulled her knees to her chest, picked at her nails, and mused over the situation she’d gotten herself into.
“Twenty minutes,” he said hanging up the phone. With a kiss to the top of her head he patted the bed. “Lay down on your stomach.”
Lena's eyes widened, “No.” She expected a drastic change to his expression at her response, but he just raised his eyebrows.
“I'm going to stay right here next to you, and that means you'll still be able to see me.”
Lena's jaw dropped.
“Yes, I've noticed that you get squirmy when you can't see me. And, I'm sure you're not ready to tell me why, so we'll save that for later.”
“Later?”
“Later,” he waved his hand in a circle, “roll over.”
She swallowed, moving slowly to do as he said.
He rolled to his side next to her, and began rubbing her back and neck. Within a few moments of kneading mixed with light caresses, most of the tension fled from her muscles. He moved down the bed next to her, so that they were nearly eye-to-eye.
“Does anything else freak you out, like when you can’t see me?”
Lena tried to look away, but he was too close, and she knew he wouldn’t let her get away with closing her eyes.
“Come on, Sweetie. I’d like to know what to avoid.”
“Can I ask a question first?”
When his lips turned into a thin, pale line, she was sure he would say no. “I’ll give you one, but then you have to give me an honest answer.”
“What freaks you out?”
He was quiet for a few seconds. “Pushing a sub too far. “
That explained the intensity of his questions. “Has it ever happened?”
He slid his hand across her back, mixing soft trails across her skin with harder strokes. The longer he delayed, the harder it was to wait on his answer. “No, but it’s been close. I’ve made mistakes. Push too hard, not hard enough—”
“Then, why try to push at all?”
His lip quirked, “Why do you get aroused when I do?”
Lena felt like a hot blanket spread over her face and chest.
“Everyone has their own kinks, and every now and then you find someone compatible.”
“Everyone?”
“Some of them are more ‘vanilla’ than others, but yeah. Now, at my count you’ve had four questions. Time to give me that honest answer.”
“I uh… don’t like things around my neck, even turtlenecks because it makes me feel suffocated. Same thing with tickling. I don’t like not being able to breathe.”
“Okay,” he continued the massage as if she’d just told him as simple as her favorite color being blue, “anything else?”
She went quiet; she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. How much would he want her to explain?
“Come on, Sweetie, I’m not going to judge and we may as well get it out of the way.”
“Blow jobs,” she whispered, hoping it was quiet enough that he couldn’t make it out. Although, in that case, he’d only ask her to repeat herself, and that’d be even worse. Was he going to be disappointed? Try to talk her out of it? Or was it a deal breaker? Her mind blew through the questions faster than she could follow.
“Blow jobs?” he repeated. “I’m going to assume it’s for a similar reason?”
She blinked at him, then pushe
d herself up off the bed. She felt her forehead twitch as she considered that. It wasn’t really how she’d ever looked at it, but that reasoning worked well enough, and going with that was better than giving him a full run-down. “I guess so. It just freaks me out.”
“Okay,” he said, and he even smiled. “You can stop grimacing at me.”
Eric tugged her forward, then pulled her leg over his own until she was straddling his lap. Her breath caught at the intimacy and exposure of the position, but he put his arms around her until she was squashed against his chest. “Limits are limits, Sweetie. Sometimes I’ll push, but I don’t want to do anything that’ll freak you out.”
“So, you’re not going to passive-aggressively harass me about giving you a blowjob?”
Eric grunted. “You’ve dated someone who tried that?”
She nodded, taking advantage of her position by laying her head on his shoulder.
“No. But I’ll tell you this—one day, you might trust me enough to tell me why it freaks you out. And then, if you want to try and move past the fear, we can work on it. But not right now. That’s not my place at this point.”
“You are by far the strangest man I have ever met.”
His lip twitched. “Is that a bad thing?”
“I’m still trying to figure out whether or not to believe that you actually exist.”
With one quick motion, he flipped her onto the bed and pinned her down. “Believe me, little Loner, I exist. And you’re not getting rid of me easily.”
“No? So, I sleep with you once and I’m stuck with you forever?”
“Something like that.” He kissed her neck until her thoughts turned into a muddled mess. “Anything else you’d like to discuss?”
She shivered as he sat back, and ran his hands over her breasts, flipping her nipples with his thumbs, she grabbed his wrists, but he easily reversed the grasp and pulled her hands away.
“Should I swat you for that now, or add it to your count for later?”
“Depends on what the ‘later’ entails.”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Lena’s chest shook when she laughed, drawing Eric’s attention to her breasts again. He bent toward one, but scowled when a knock on the door interrupted his attempt. A growl rose from his throat when he slid off the bed, pulling on his jeans as he rushed to answer the door.
While he was out of sight, talking to the server, she made a feeble attempt at freeing some of the tangles in her hair. A near impossible feat since she’d laid down with wet hair leaving it curled, tangled, and a complete mess.
The door closed, and Eric returned a few seconds later with a tray of breakfast that smelled incredible—particularly the coffee. As he placed the tray on the corner of the bed, and took a seat next to her she waived at this jeans. “Does that mean I get clothes, too?”
“No. I like you naked.” He smirked and tugged the sheet so that it fell to her waist.
She jerked to pull it back up, but he handed hand a plate of food to her. “Leave it.”
Resisting the urge to cover herself, she took the plate and crunched down on a long slice of bacon. But as their banter slowed to the sounds of eating and drinking, Lena’s brain began to wander again. She sliced and poked at the scrambled eggs, as she mulled over everything they’d said and done since coming to the hotel room. Not even Jeremiah, who’d known her since she was ten years old, had ever gotten her to open up so easily.
“What are you worrying about, now?”
“How the heck do you always know?” She asked, realizing that she’d just admitted completely to his accusation.
“You twitch your right foot when you’re fretting.”
She stared down at the offending foot. How dare it give her away so easily. “Are you picking up Charlie after we leave?”
“That’s not what you were fretting about, but I’ll give it to you. I’m not picking him up until later, we’re all supposed to have dinner together tonight.”
“Fresh caught fish?”
“You know, as much time as Dad spends fishing, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve eaten fish that he’s caught.”
“Is he that bad or a catch and release kind of guy?”
“A little of both, I think. I’ve never actually gone with him. Strange enough it was always my sister who liked fishing.”
“Maybe it’ll get Charlie talking”
Eric made a sound in his throat and shoveled another fork full of eggs in his mouth. “Maybe. I have no idea how to get him to open up.”
She laid her cheek on his shoulder. “That’s surprising; you seem pretty good at it.”
“It’s a lot different, and I’m not exactly the most experienced with kids. How do you deal with them all the time?”
“Lots of patience,” she mumbled, savoring the last bite of bacon. “You have to find things they enjoy and relate to them.”
“And what do you do when said child won’t speak?”
“Draw, as I remember from art class, Charlie likes to draw.” Lena shrugged. “He has a crazy imagination, and always told me stories about his drawings.”
“Like what?”
“At the end of the year he had to create a superhero, named him Decker—”
“Decker?” Eric exhaled loudly. “Charlie’s dad used to call me that—not exactly kindly.”
“You two didn’t get along?”
Eric finished off his breakfast, wiped off his mouth, and piled up his dishes on the tray, sitting back with his cup of coffee. “He was normally drunk when he said it, or just in a particularly bad mood.”
“Well, apparently, you keep the zombies away.”
“Zombies….” He mused, tracing an invisible decoration on her side.
Lena straightened, her stomach clenching around her breakfast. When Lena returned her empty plate to the tray, she could feel Eric’s eyes on her every move and her fingers closed around the edge of the sheet. Somehow she managed to resist covering herself and earning another notch in whatever punishment he had planned.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I hate when you ask me stuff like that.” And I really have to go to the bathroom. As an adult that shouldn’t feel so awkward, right?
“You’re avoiding.”
“I’m not used to having someone watching me all the time.” She pursed her lips. “And I have to go to the bathroom.”
“You know where it is.”
“And I’m not going to get in trouble?”
Eric laughed. “I’m a reasonable man, Sweetie.”
“Yeah, but sometimes I’m not entirely sure what you want or expect.”
“What I want is for you to give me a kiss then go do your business.”
***
Lena stared at herself in the mirror, still naked, and not a sight she usually took in. Outside the bathroom door, dishes rattled as Eric placed the tray in the hallway, but she didn’t hear him walk back to the bed. Knowing that he was waiting on her made stepping through the door naked all the more nerve rattling—as if she hadn’t spent the last twelve plus hours naked with him. She twisted the knob and the door opened too easily.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming back out.”
He pulled her close, then pinned her to the cold wall. She arched toward him trying to get away from the cold, but it just left room for his hands to grab her backside, moving down her skin to cup her ass and pull her hips against him. “We have about an hour before we get booted out of here.”
“Then what?” She shivered as she spoke, blaming it on the cool wall against her shoulders.
“We’ll have to figure that out, won’t we? Especially since you work while Charlie’s at school, I’m not sure how much alone time we can manage.”
“Best make use of the hour then.” She was already breathless. He led her across the room, but not back to the bed. Turning her to face a mirror, he stood behind her.
She felt the unease wind around her beginn
ing at her shoulders. “Eric…”
“You can see me. You can see everything I’m doing.”
“I’m not sure I like seeing so much either.”
He pulled her back against his chest and slid one hand down to her crotch. With his other hand, he pulled her hair to one side, allowing him access to her neck. Her breath shortened to pants as his lips and fingers danced across her skin. “Lean forward, put your elbows on the bureau.”
With one shuddering breath, she did as he said, noticing a small packet glinting from near the TV as she moved. A condom, he’d planned this while she was in the bathroom. Jerk.
“Lena. Eyes,” was all he had to say to bring her attention back to him. He pushed her legs apart then slid a finger inside her.
She wasn’t sure there had been a time in the last twelve hours that she wasn’t wet with anticipation for him. Two fingers, he opened her up and prepared her to take him again. Then he plucked up the condom, she heard it tear open, and then a few seconds of stifled silence as she watched him through the mirror. Then her eyes fell to the reflection of herself, bent over a bureau only a few inches from the mirror.
She barely recognized herself.
Eric kissed down her spine, leaving goosebumps sprung up all over her back. Even her nipples tightened into points.
Eric mumbled something, but she was lost to understanding coherent thought. He slowed his thrusts down until he hit one tender spot with each short thrust. The first time nearly made Lena jump through the mirror.
Again, he hit the same spot. After the third time, then his pace increased, every time hitting the bundle of nerves that screamed through her body.
She pushed back against him, wanting more, stronger, deeper, as her nerves threatened to separate from her body and leave her a structureless mess.
With one final hit, everything exploded and all she heard was a strangled scream and heavy breathing. As she came down, she realized that the scream was her and that anyone in a nearby room had to have heard it. Eric panted behind her. Pulling off the spent condom and dropping it into the trash.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure hardly anyone but maids are around at this time.”
He smacked her butt. Then pulled her up to stand against him. Her knees threatened not to hold her, but before they could follow through, Eric had lifted her up and was carrying her to the bed.
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