by Nella Tyler
“It’s late and I’m tired, Lacey,” I said finally, sighing. “I’ll talk to you sometime later. Give it time and maybe we’ll even manage to be friends after all of this.”
She tittered at that, not quite laughing all the way. I could picture the tight expression on her face, the one she used to let me know how done she was with me for the moment. “Maybe. Goodnight, Blaze.”
“Night, Lacey.” I hung up the phone. I really was exhausted after that weird phone call. I dragged my ass off the couch and shuffled back to the bedroom, wishing Sami was here with me.
Chapter Eighteen – Sami – The Next Morning
Blaze kissed me, the instant burst of heat igniting every inch of my skin so all I could do was moan while he pressed me closer to him, not even letting me breathe. His passion overwhelmed me, and I didn’t want it to end, even if it was way too early in the relationship for this. I wanted him, and he wanted me. It was that simple.
I didn’t understand why I wasn’t at home and getting ready for bed. I had a clear memory of sharing a steamy goodnight kiss and reluctantly leaving. But instead of getting into my car at the end of the date, I let him strip off my wool coat, not giving a damn about the cold.
His skin was radiant, like standing near an open flame. His eyes were hungry, and I could see he planned to devour me whole. He attacked my lips again, kissing me much more deeply, his tongue probing into my mouth and spreading that heat from his skin into me. He was pulling my dress up my hips with his strong, insistent fingers, exposing my thighs to the cool air. He didn’t stop until he’d brought it up past my hips. The street was empty, so no one saw us mauling each other and his hands squeezing my bare ass, openly exposed by my scant, lacey thong.
“I want you,” he said, growing the words into my mouth as his fingers kneaded into my skin.
I didn’t stop him when he spun me around to bend me over onto the hood of my car. He didn’t even take off my thong, just moved it aside and stuck his thick fingers between my legs, where it was even hotter than he was. He moved his hips into me, his hard cock entering slowly, drawing out the teasing motion until I thought I would scream from how much my entire body was crying out for him.
He slid in another inch, teasing me with the thick, long shape of him, his hands clamped onto my hips to draw me closer. All of a sudden, he pulled me into him and thrust his hips at the same time, entering me completely.
I gasped, my eyes flying open, the muscles in my body tense and shivering, ready for more, for him to fill me up with his need as he moved himself in and out of me in a harsh, deep rhythm.
I was at home, I realized, blinking and disappointed to find myself in bed, not bent over my car in the middle of the street with Blaze right behind me.
I moaned, a tremor moving through my body. I could feel his hands on me and his tongue in my mouth, like I was still in the dream. I slid a hand down between my legs, pushing over the crotch of the cotton panties I’d worn to bed and moaned again. I was soaking wet. It was a shame Blaze wasn’t here to do something about it.
I could still feel him down there, moving slowly into the wet depths of my aching, needy canal. My cheeks burned hot and red at the thought, but I wanted him. And, I was too excited to just get up without taking care of the desire setting me on fire from the inside. Sometimes, a girl just had to take care of herself.
I pressed the tips of my fingers between my lips, running them back and forth over my clit, just sliding them through that wetness. A bud of pure pleasure began to open up inside me the faster I moved my fingers. I pressed the tip of my index finger inside myself, moaning and tilting my hips, imagining Blaze down there, his tongue moving softly over my clit, mimicking the persistent motion of my fingers before probing inside of me to taste how sweet that wetness was.
I pushed another finger into myself, moving them in and out as I rubbed my fingertips over my walls, closing my eyes and tilting my hips to get myself deeper, imagining Blaze inside me, like he had been in the dream. The heat ran over my skin as that pleasurable little bud blossomed even more inside me, not just where my fingers were busily working, but higher, radiating out into my body. I saw Blaze as he’d been last night, dressed so handsomely, the heat in his stare setting me aflame the more he stared at me, and his passion creating so much warmth at my core in the cool weather that it had followed me home and into my dreams.
I came suddenly, a shudder crippling my entire body, and I actually cried out at the force of it. My muscles gave out then. I let my fingers slide out of the pulsing warmth of my sex, the bud closing up again inside me as my legs relaxed. That pleasurable heat was still moving over me, but I was exhausted. I thought about Blaze, at home in his own bed. I hoped he was thinking about me, about how lovely it had been to feel my lips on his and my body pressed against him right before I drove home last night.
It was going to be hard to get that dream out of my head. I had an unwritten rule when dating a guy that I didn’t sleep with him for 30 to 45 days after we started seeing each other. I wasn’t interested in just getting sex and never had been. I loved sex. That wasn’t the issue. I just wanted to make sure we had a real connection before going forward.
But I could tell it was going to be incredibly difficult to hold to that with Blaze. I wanted my hands on him and to feel his naked body against mine. The more I was with him, the stronger those desires became. He was just so different from any man I had ever met. It wasn’t just that he was mind numbingly attractive — which, holy shit, he was — it was the connection I’d felt the night of the fire. That unspoken link that only got stronger the more time I spent with him, like every event in my entire life had conspired to put me in the exact right place to meet him on Christmas Day.
I’d asked the universe for a sign so many times and hadn’t received a damned thing. And then there was Blaze. I didn’t really believe in fate, but I was finding it difficult to deny that all this felt arranged in some way by some smarter, kinder entity.
I moaned again, stretching my legs. A month was much too long to wait to feel him between my legs. I craved that physical connection with him the same way I craved the sensation of the air sizzling the way it did when he was around. It was his eyes, the curve of his shapely mouth, the need I saw in him that had a companion in the deep well of need inside me. I hadn’t even known it existed before I met him. But, now that I did, I couldn’t get enough of him.
I got out of bed, in desperate need of a steamy shower where I could imagine Blaze in his own apartment, soaping up his tall, muscular body. It was going to be hard to make it even another week without jumping into bed with him if I kept thinking this way.
But at this point, I was okay with that. I was done thinking. This connection between us was outside of my head. I wanted to go with it, to see where it would lead me. For once in my life, I was content to ride on the current. As long as the waters led me to Blaze, I’d be happy.
Chapter Nineteen – Blaze – Late February
I’d already hit the weights and was loosening up on the treadmill while Hector spotted Johnny on the bench press. Every time I was around the guys, all we ended up talking about was Sami, which was fine by me. She was on my mind most of the time anyway — unless I was out on a call, and then I only thought about what was directly in front of me.
I’d been seeing Sami regularly over the last few weeks, mostly meeting up for dinner and the occasional movie after she finished showing houses for the day. We’d even attended a concert one Saturday night, a group she’d liked since college that had started touring right after Christmas, starting in LA and moving up the Pacific coast, hitting every major city along the way. I kept expecting the heat between us to cool as we spent more time with each other, but it was only increasing. To the point where I was starting to expect my skin to melt from the bones and muscle, I was burning so hot for her.
But we hadn’t gone to bed yet. I could see she wanted me, but something was holding her back.
As much as I
wanted the sex — if it was even half as amazing as kissing her, I might not live through the experience — I was thoroughly enjoying the tantalizing wait. Holding off was nearly unbearable, but every second I didn’t spend buried balls deep between her supple thighs stoked the flame burning inside me. I’d never felt anything like this in my life. Lacey had been phenomenal at fucking — so much so that she apparently felt the need to spread those considerable talents around — but she hadn’t ever been able to make me want her this much.
Part of that was probably from us going straight to bed after our first date. Lacey never got the chance to hold any mystique for me. But just saying Sami’s name got me going. Seeing her in person nearly obliterated me. And kissing her…fuck. That did me in every time. I didn’t know how I would be able to handle actually having sex with her, but, goddamn, was I dying to find out.
“It sounds like things are going really well between you and Sami,” Hector said, shooting a brief look over his shoulder at me before returning his attention to Johnny, who was just finishing up his last set. “I’m happy for you. She seems like a sweet woman.”
“Yeah, she’s great,” I replied. I’d slowed from a lazy jog to a walk, so didn’t have any trouble responding. I wasn’t as athletically talented as Hector when it came to running. Not all of us could carry on a casual conversation while clocking a seven-minute mile. If my pace got faster than about eight and a half minutes, I couldn’t do much more than concentrate on my breathing.
“I met a few of her friends last week, too. It was a lot of fun, really natural. I’d expected them to grill me, but they were great.” We’d met up at a bar they all liked — funnily enough, it was the same bar I’d gone to get wasted after I found out about all of Lacey’s cheating — and just hung out over some drinks. I had been a little nervous at first about making a good impression. Sami had known one of the women since middle school, after all. But that went away the minute I started talking to them. They were funny and intelligent, just like Sami. The night had gone really well. I was sure they were able to see how much I liked Sami and, hopefully, she’d been telling them good things about me.
Johnny sat up and even without seeing his face, I could tell he was about to go off. His shoulders were tense, and he was shaking his head. He swung one leg over the bench so he could turn to face me, his dark eyes narrowed in a way I knew all too well. He was about to go off on a rant, most of it bullshit, but you had to admire the man’s passion, even when you didn’t admire the message.
“I can’t believe you’re in another serious relationship so soon after getting out from under the one with Lacey,” he said, scratching his blond head. He’d just gotten a haircut, and he kept messing with his head like it was bothering him. “I mean, look how well that turned out.”
He was actually a few years older than I was, but you’d never guess it by his complete aversion to commitment of any kind. He blew through women like Kleenex. It was funny in one way, but you had to wonder what he was throwing away just because he didn’t want to settle.
I shrugged. “Sami’s nothing like Lacey,” was all I said. I knew how I felt about her. I probably couldn’t explain it in a way that would make sense to anyone else, so I didn’t bother.
“Man, you haven’t had any time to enjoy your freedom.” He stared hard at me like I’d disappointed him. I probably had — not that I fucking cared. I loved Johnny like a brother, but I was going to live my life the way I wanted and fuck anyone who didn’t like it. “There are so many girls out there. I don’t get why you’d want to just settle for the first one you found.”
Hector stepped in before I could even get the chance, and I let him go. He was better at arguing anyway, and he had a better platform. No one could deny how much better his life was because of Juanita. The two of them together were disgusting to watch, but in a good way.
“There’s someone out there for everyone,” he started, glaring directly at Johnny, who was smiling up at him. He liked getting Hector worked up and talking about women was a sure way to do it. “Even you.”
“Believe me, I’m looking far and wide and leaving no stone unturned,” Johnny replied, grinning wider at Hector’s disgusted expression. But he didn’t take the bait, just continued with his argument.
“Finding the right woman isn’t about going through as many of them as you can. Quantity doesn’t beat quality here. Blaze happened to find Sami right after he broke up with Lacey. You don’t control when you meet the right person for you. But you can still fuck things up if you act like a dumbass.”
“That sounds like a load of bullshit, Hector,” Johnny said, still grinning that sunny, shit-eating grin none of us could stand. It made you want to wipe it off with your fist. Johnny was a smartass going way back, but he’d never had anyone knock his block off, which was surprising…until you saw how well the man could fight. He’d been in karate since he was fresh out of diapers. “I’m glad you and Juanita are happy, but that’s an exception to the rule. Men need breathing room. They need variety. It’s proven fact.”
“And, what I just said sounds like bullshit?” Hector asked, screwing up his face.
Even I had to smile at Johnny’s laugh.
“I can’t believe you find any women foolish enough to date you with the kind of shit you spew,” Hector said, but he was smiling, too. This was an old argument. It’d only been rehashed by my breakup with Lacey.
“I’ve never had a problem where finding ladies is concerned,” Johnny replied, grinning wider at Hector’s suddenly sour expression. He looked over at me. “You should let me take you out for a night on the town, Simmers. I’ll show you some of what you’re missing.”
I pressed stop on the treadmill and stepped off of it shaking my head, still smiling. “No thanks, man. I’m happy with Sami.”
“Weren’t you also happy with Lacey?” he shot right back.
I didn’t even get pissed. I just thought about what he’d said. It was true. I’d liked Lacey well enough to stay with her for eighteen months and to eventually put a ring on her finger. We’d had our share of trouble, too, not even counting the cheating.
But things between Sami and me were different and had been since the very beginning. Most of why I stuck with Lacey was because the sex had been mind-blowing, easily the best I’d ever had. The girl knew how to fuck. She’d been sweet, too, but in a way that was manipulative, I was realizing in hindsight. Every time I brought something up that was bothering me or we had a knock down, drag out argument, Lacey managed to distract me with sex. Not like I was some innocent victim. Our angry, makeup sex was fantastic — I’d never had better in my life — but it wasn’t healthy. I could see that now.
What I had with Sami was different. We hadn’t fucked each other on our first date like Lacey and I had. I was getting to know her first. Even though I wanted her so badly it hurt, I could appreciate that this was better. She fascinated me. She was fine as hell, too, but that wasn’t what was really attracting me. She shone with some inner light. It sounded weird to admit something like that, even only to yourself, but it was true. It came through her dark eyes and had punched me right in the gut the night of the fire.
I had to be close to her. I had to find a way to keep her around. I’d never felt anything even remotely close to that with anyone I’d ever dated.
“There were a lot of times I was happy with Lacey,” I admitted with an easy shrug. “But we were unhappy, too. Things with Sami are different. I could feel a connection with her immediately. You know me. I don’t ask girls out on a call, but I couldn’t help it with her.”
Johnny shook his head in a way I knew meant he was blowing me off, but Hector smiled and nodded at me.
“When you find the girl for you, you just know,” he agreed, dark eyes shining.
I didn’t usually buy into his fate bullshit, but even I had to admit that I agreed with him. Sami was something special, and I planned to do whatever I could to keep her by my side.
Chapter Twenty
– Sami – Early March
I walked into the apartment building, chastising myself for how anxious I felt. Blaze and I had been dating for a few weeks now and things were going great, but this would be the first time I’d visited his place. He’d only been to mine to save it from burning to the ground and to pick me up on the night of the ball.
As I took the elevator up to his floor, unbuttoning my jacket as I became accustomed to the warmer air inside the building, I tried to remind myself that I knew this man and enjoyed being around him. He was funny and kind. There was nothing to be nervous about.
But that wasn’t true, was it? Meeting in his apartment symbolized a kind of milestone in our fledgling relationship. I couldn’t pretend it didn’t. We were about to be completely alone for more than a few minutes for the first time ever. All the rules we adhered to when out and about in polite society were about to be shrugged right off our shoulders like an itchy coat. The thought both titillated and terrified me.
I walked down the corridor to Blaze’s door and knocked before my nerves got the best of me and sent me running right back to the elevator. He answered almost immediately, like he’d been waiting right behind the door.
“Hi, Sami,” he said, smiling warmly at me, those emerald eyes burning with a bright, mischievous light. I couldn’t help but smile, too, despite my lingering nervousness. Everything about him was so magnetic. My feet pulled me inside without consulting my head, my entire body just wanting to be near him and all that luscious heat.
“Hi,” I answered back, sounding a lot less nervous than I felt.
He embraced me in his muscular arms and planted a quick kiss on my lips when I gazed up at him. My body responded on its own, arching into him with the color rushing to my cheeks. We’d done a lot more passionate kissing over the last few weeks, so now just being near him was enough to get me going.
