He looked down where his hand rested on her side, his smile almost shy. Stepping closer, their bodies nearly touching, he looked into her eyes. Lauren’s breath caught in her throat as she anticipated his kiss. It felt like every cell in her body stood at attention, yearning for the contact that never came.
“I’m glad you’re up,” he said softly. “I want to show you something. Do you want to go for a walk?” Lauren nodded. “Great. I’ll go get dressed and meet you out front.”
A few minutes later, Lauren stood in front of the iron gate. The streets were quiet at this late hour, the only noise from the constantly running cables beneath the pavement. A distant fog horn called from the bay, mournful and iconic. As she tugged at her hood strings, she was glad she’d decided to stay up, excited to spend more time with Landon before leaving. The front light flicked on and he stepped out. She watched him lock the door and jog down the stairs, looking like he was about to go for a run.
“You ready?”
“Yeah, where are going?”
He reached for her hand, fingers interlacing naturally, casually. “You’ll see. It’s only a mile away.” He led her around the corner and up the street.
They walked in comfortable silence yet Lauren wracked her brain for a conversation starter. Don’t talk about work. Don’t talk about Nick. Is my life really so lame I have nothing else to talk about? After a couple blocks it didn’t matter. The pace Landon set hiking up the steep hills left her too breathless for words.
After some time she pulled back. “Wait, hold on. You said it was only a mile away,” she panted. They’d just summited a street so steep the sidewalk had turned into stairs half way up. “I really need to go to the gym more.” He smiled at her and patiently waited, looking like he hadn’t even broken a sweat. “How is it possible that every street goes up? They have to go down at some point!”
“It levels out one more block up this way. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.”
Drawing a deep breath and letting it out dramatically, Lauren grinned. “Alright, I trust you. Lead on.”
True to his word, the top of the next block was about as high as they could climb in the near vicinity. They paused and took in the scenery as Lauren caught her breath. The streetlights cast an orange hue over everything and more than a few houses were still awake. The breeze was stronger up on top, cooling the sweat on her neck. As they started the slow descent, Landon began to speak.
“I was fifteen when I fell in love for the first time. Jessica Holley. We went to school together and she was a year older than me, which made it even more amazing. I know I’ve joked around about it but I wasn’t unpopular in school. I wasn’t popular either, just sort of, there. She, on the other hand, was that girl, you know? The one everyone loves. Sweet, kind, talked to everyone and didn’t give a shit about cliques. To this day, I don’t know where I got up the courage to ask her out,” he laughed. “It was probably because I knew even if she said no, she’d do it in a nice way.” Lauren looked up at him as he paused, completely enthralled and taken aback by this story. “We were together for nearly a year and became pretty much inseparable. My mom was convinced we were going to get married, which should’ve seemed insane to a teenage boy but it didn’t. I think we both figured we’d end up together too.
“The end of my sophomore year, her junior, her family decided to move up to Seattle. It was devastating but we promised to stay together through the year. She was going to go to Berkeley for college when she graduated the following year and we’d be back together. I mean, we had phones and computers. It wasn’t like it is now but we still talked all the time.” His voice cracked and Lauren glanced at him, his expression twisting. When he continued, his voice was flat, as if reading from an index card.
“She died that September. She was at track practice and her foot caught on a hurdle as she jumped. Apparently, she landed awkwardly and hit her head. It didn’t knock her out or anything and it was so innocuous no one had thought to tell her parents after practice. She went to bed early complaining of a headache and just never woke up. The impact caused a bleed on her brain even though it didn’t even cut her skin. She slipped into a coma and her parents took her off life support about a month later.”
“Oh my God, Landon that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.” She hugged his arm as they walked, not knowing what else she could do.
“My parents sent me to a psychologist right away so I coped pretty well, all things considered. I even went up to see her and say goodbye but it haunted me. What if she hadn’t died? What if she’d just become paralyzed or something? What if I’d called her that night and her parents found her quicker? That took a long time to get through.” They slowed to a stop and he stepped in front of her, still grasping her hand. He rubbed his face, as if clearing his mind of the memories. After a moment, she was surprised to see his expression filled with warmth, not sadness. “There’s one thing that’s stuck with me. It sounds trite but it’s true.
“Life is short. It can be plucked away at any moment or change,” he snapped his fingers, “just like that. I’ve learned to let go of a lot of bullshit in my life and to just embrace the good stuff that happens, you know? I’m not a hedonist or anything but I don’t see the point in suffering. I can always make more money but I can’t manufacture moments like this. Time is the only thing we have a finite amount of and I don’t want to waste it.”
Lauren nodded, understanding everything he said. She’d never had to face the finality of death; both sets of grandparents were still alive, parents, brother. There’d always been this pressure on her that she believed had come from expectations but yet...the limiting pressure of time. It made sense.
He smiled, looking away, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand as if embarrassed. “You said you wanted to get to know me, so there it is. That’s my true motivation for everything I do, every decision I make. That’s me laid bare on the table for you.”
When his eyes returned to hers, the intensity made her lips fall apart slightly. She never felt so connected to another person in her entire life. Everything stood still. She was aware of her heartbeat, her breath, the way his fingers tightened against hers. The world around them dimmed and for the second time that night, she was sure he was about to kiss her. How she wanted to feel his lips...
“Do you know where we are?” he whispered. As if in a dream, she shook her head, unable to pull her eyes from him. “This is what I wanted to show you.” He stepped back and pointed down the hill. Lauren started as if the scene had just appeared in front of her. She’d been so engrossed in his story she hadn’t paid attention to where they’d stopped.
“Lombard Street!” she laughed with surprise. The famous, winding street was beautifully landscaped. Flowers and shrubs filled each curve as the road twisted back and forth down the hill. The tall, narrow houses lining the street were impeccably maintained and the brick road looked like something out of the Wizard of Oz.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” he said dropping her hand. “I’ll see you at the bottom.”
“Wait, what—” she started to say but he was off, sprinting down the road whooping and hollering as he went. She was stunned, watching him hop and jump down the hill like a little kid.
He nearly fell over as he looked back to yell, “Come on!”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Lauren threw caution to the wind and followed. Cautiously at first, she jogged around the first corner. The angle made her legs feel as though they were running away without her. Like an old friend, a memory popped into her mind of skipping down grass hills as a child, so she took a big leap into the air. She traveled so far down the hill with each bound it felt like she was flying. She glanced up to see Landon nearing the bottom of the slope and that’s when she realized she was laughing, the total freedom intoxicating. With a twinge of self-consciousness, she switched back to running, arriving only a few moments behind him.
She ran right into his open arms. He caught her, spinning and laughing as th
e speed whipped them around. Lauren giggled between deep breaths.
“You’re crazy,” she panted, looking up at him.
“But you get it, don’t you? You actually understand me.” His kiss surprised her, filled with passion and need.
She pulled away with a gasp, smiling. “I have to catch my breath!”
His hands slid up to the back of her head, brown eyes studying her face. “I can’t wait that long.”
Their lips met once again, a deep, hot kiss. Lauren threw herself into the moment, savoring everything she could. Again, she was happy to discover how comfortable and safe she felt around him, more than most people in her life. Lauren took a deep breath as his lips traveled down her neck, tingles shooting down her back. She pulled his face back to hers, melting into his embrace once again.
“Let’s go home,” he whispered against her lips. A nod the only response she could manage.
They slowly walked back to his apartment, their arms wrapped around one another’s waists. Several times they stopped to kiss, the desire overwhelming, demanding. Even with gravity on their side, it took nearly twice as long to return to the house. As Landon opened the front door and turned off the light, Lauren fought a wave of apprehension.
Maybe we shouldn’t do this. I know what’s going to happen with Nick when I get back but it still feels a little weird...
They stood in the dark hallway. “I know you’re still with your boyfriend but I heard you talking to Ali yesterday and, well...it’s not my place to say. All I know is I don’t want to waste one minute I have with you, so if it’s okay with you, I’d like to take you upstairs.”
Lauren blinked at him, stupidly wondering for a moment if he’d just read her mind. After a slight hesitation, she leapt for him, mouths slamming together.
“I guess that’s a yes to going upstairs,” he chuckled as she pulled him down the hall.
She walked backward on the balls of her feet and winked. “I can’t wait that long. Let’s go in here.” She yanked him into the living room. “You know what I realized? I haven’t see you naked yet.”
“Yes you have.”
“Nope, not really. Not like this,” she said pulling her sweatshirt up over her head and tossing it to the side. “Come on. This weekend is about getting to know each other, right?”
He followed suit, only he had nothing beneath his sweatshirt. With a grin, she wiggled out of her tank top, standing in only her yoga pants. He took a step closer, she took a step back.
“Your turn.”
“But I only have one thing left,” he fake pouted.
“Off.”
Hooking both thumbs in the waistband of his sweatpants, he slowly pulled them down. She knew that he was purposely flexing his abs and chest but didn’t mind the performance. A patch of dark hair appeared between the sweet grooves of his Adonis belt which made Lauren bite her lip. He looked up, head cocked to the side, knowing full well what he was doing to her. She tutted at him, putting her hands on her hips. With a swift movement, he yanked them down and stepped out. His cock was already rock hard, curving nearly flat along his stomach. Landon held her eyes, clearly comfortable in his own skin.
“Your turn.”
“There is literally no sexy way I can take these off,” she giggled pulling down her pants, the ends snagging on her feet.
Landon’s eyebrows shot up as he looked her over. “Well, that’s a new look!”
“Oh, right!” Lauren ran her fingers over the tiny patch of hair that remained below. “It involved Ali and a couple shots of tequila. Long story.”
A thick, charged silence fell between them. They stood five feet apart, Lauren in the middle of all the blankets and pillows. Like shedding another layer of protection against the world, Lauren realized the gravity of what she’d initiated. Here they were in their most basic, honest state. Vulnerable, open, and present. She could almost feel his eyes grazing her, tracking the line of her collarbone to her breast, down the center of her stomach. She wanted nothing more than to feel the heat of his skin against her.
Lauren took a half step forward. Landon halved the space between them, close enough she had to look up. With a smirk, she took another tiny step, their bodies now a mere fraction apart. He reached around and traced the path of her spine with a single finger, the feeling rippling through her heightened senses. She let out a shuddering breath and kissed him. Her world became nothing more than the feeling of his body against hers, hands gripping, hot breath against her skin.
They slid to the floor, their lips barely leaving each other for more than a second. Pressed into the softness of the pillows, they lay on their sides, arms entwined. Lauren wrapped her leg around his hip, pulling him close with her heel. Without a word, without pulling away, Landon guided his cock inside in one fluid motion. Lauren moaned against his mouth, then gasped at the sudden pleasure. He rested there, still, filling her. His hand held the back of her head as he nibbled on the delicate skin of her neck. With agonizing slowness, he rocked his hips back then forward, driving her insane. She lost all sense of herself, not knowing where she ended and he began.
She cupped the side of his face and looked into his eyes. He smiled softly, kissing her forehead, the tip of her nose. Their mouths connected once again, a deep kiss with twisting tongues. The intensity threatened to consume her. This sex went beyond the search for climax. This was the climax. Simply having him inside was all she could ever hope for.
He pushed his weight onto her, pressing her back into the soft floor. She hooked her ankles together around his waist, rolling her hips to match the slow rhythm he maintained. Burying her face in the hollow of his neck, his name escaped her lips in a ragged whisper. A low groan rumbled from his throat and he scooped her up, sitting back on his heels, hands firmly holding her by the ass as he stretched his legs out. Now seated upright, she settled back into his lap, the deep penetration eliciting a groan of her own.
Landon supported her at the small of the back and just between the shoulder blades as she rocked in a circular motion. His mouth kissed a path to her breasts, gently sucking one nipple then the other. She arched into him, feeling like she’d become little more than an overwhelming bundle of sensations. Running both hands through his hair, she felt the pressure begin to grow, the need becoming more urgent. Grinding her sensitive clit against his body, his hands, his mouth, the all encompassing sense of him, of them, together. The unmistakable buildup surprised her, arriving even though she hadn’t searched for it.
She pressed her forehead against his, her breath quickening as she drew closer. His hands kneaded her flesh, his hips rising to meet her.
“I’m close, I’m gonna...I’m...” she whispered.
The hunger in his eyes, his mouth open and breathless, that was the last push. Lauren threw her head back as a shock wave of pleasure rocketed through her. Her body quivered with each pulse, her pussy tightening around him, pulling him in deeper. Moments later, she felt his body tense. He moaned through gritted teeth, squeezing her with his arms as he came. She could feel each throb of his cock as he finished inside her.
They were still softly kissing as he scooped her up and onto her back. Gathering her in his arms, cradling her head against his chest, he pulled a blanket over their sweaty bodies. He kissed her tenderly on the forehead and the last thought Lauren had as she drifted off to sleep was, Great. I think I’m actually falling for him.
9.
After a more energetic romp in the morning, Lauren and Landon took a quick shower together. The master bathroom was incredible, pretty much the most perfect shower for two. With a fogless mirror at one end, a long waterfall bar stretched the entire length of the shower. Lauren found she couldn’t stop smiling. She kept sneaking peeks at him when he wasn’t looking, trying to mentally photograph each moment.
As they chatted over breakfast, both back in the clothes they’d stripped off the night before, Landon became serious.
“I know it’s probably way too early to say this, and re
ally, I’m only saying it as a friend and not a...well, whatever I am,” he chuckled. “If you decide to move out to California, you could stay here. Until you find a place or even longer.”
She loved seeing him become flustered, loved knowing that she was capable of making the normally confident Landon DeWitt blush and stammer.
“What about that girl you’re seeing? Won’t she be a little upset when I move in?” she asked slyly. The playful jab had more meaning than she cared to admit. It still bothered her that she had competition but the look on his face made her wish she’d bitten her tongue.
“Oh screw her. She was a diversion, something to keep my mind busy and off you. Ever since I met you, other women have just...shit, listen to me! I swear I’m not about to propose to you something.”
Lauren smiled, reaching across the table for his hand. “I feel the same way. Let’s leave it at that. There’s no reason I wouldn’t want to move out here, but I do want to think about it. I’ve never been more than a couple hours from my family. It’s a big change, ya know?”
“Of course, yeah. Totally understand.”
It was Lauren’s turn to grow serious. Her brow furrowed as she asked, “Not that I want to get into a whole big discussion here, but you’re confident we can make this whole thing work? Business, personal life...it won’t get too complicated?”
“Forgetting the fact I nearly proposed to you just now,” he chuckled, “I think we’d work well together regardless. I think we’re both good at wearing different hats when the situation requires and I know you aren’t afraid to call me out on my bullshit.”
“And maybe now, whatever we are together, you won’t try to pull so much bullshit,” she laughed. “Just know that I definitely prefer the simple life, as much as it might seem I don’t.”
“One of the many things I like about you.” Landon glanced at the time on the oven display and sighed. “I’ve got some stuff to take care of before we go. You still have to pack, right?”
Playing with Power - Book 4: New Adult Office Romance Page 6
