by Beth Ehemann
I ran the backs of my fingers softly down her cheek and along her jawline. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, leaning into my hand as she lifted her fingers and put them over mine. A jolt of anticipation flashed through my whole body when she pulled my fingers and led them down past the waistband of her sweats.
“Wait,” I whispered. She bit her lip and lowered a worried eyebrow when I pulled my hand back. “I’m not fucking you on some living room couch like a frat boy. At least not the first time.” I winked at her as a shy smile broke out across her lips. I took her hand in mine, clicked the TV off, and led her upstairs to my bedroom.
I quietly locked my bedroom door and turned back. She was frowning again. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
Please don’t tell me to stop. Fuck, please don’t tell me to stop.
She looked down at herself and back up to me quickly, shrugging and throwing her arms out to the sides. “Look at me. I’m in sweats and a T-shirt. I’m not very good at being sexy.”
My rock-hard cock disagrees.
“Danicka, it’s not your clothes that make you sexy. It’s just you. And that sassy mouth doesn’t hurt, either.” Before she could argue back, I strode forward and grabbed her waist, lifting her so that she could wrap her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Her lips teased and sucked on mine as we walked to the side of my bed. I laid her down gently and crawled on top of her. Her hair splayed out across my pillow as I rested up on my elbow, staring down at her.
“What?” she asked softly as she stared at me with dark, intense eyes.
I shook my head, pinching my bottom lip in between my teeth as I studied every inch of her face. “Nothing. I’ve just imagined you here, like this, for months now.”
She blinked slowly as she pressed her lips together, smiling lazily at me. Arching one eyebrow, she asked, “Then why do I still have clothes on?”
Game. On.
I sat up quickly and dragged her T-shirt over her head, revealing her black bra and beautiful breasts, which had been teasing me behind button-down shirts for months. Hoping I still remembered how to unhook a bra, I reached behind her with one hand and grabbed the edge, swiftly unhooking the strap as I clasped my mouth down on the sweet skin just under her collarbone. Her bra fell to the bed, and I pushed it off to the side. As much as I wanted to sit back again and admire her, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that I was removing my mouth from her body. I’d worked too hard for a taste of her, and this was just the beginning.
As slowly as I could, I kissed my way from her collarbone down to her breast. I flicked the tip of her nipple with my tongue as she let out a soft moan and arched her back, pushing into me. I smiled to myself, knowing that she wanted more as I pulled her whole nipple in my mouth and sucked harder. After a few seconds, I pulled back and grabbed the waist of her sweats, gently pulling them down and letting them off the edge of the bed, too. She hooked her fingers in the string of her black, lacy thong and started to pull, but I put my hand on hers.
“Not yet,” I said with a smirk. “I want to enjoy that for just a few more minutes.”
I sat back just a little and traced the skin of her hips with my fingertips. Every soft swirl I made with my hand made her body buck and arch in the sexiest way possible. My eyes were trying to take it all in, darting all over her body as she responded in the most incredible way to my touch.
I grabbed on to the strings of her panties and slowly pulled them down, kissing her legs as I went. She giggled and raised her head, looking at me, as I got to her ankles. “Your ankles are ticklish?” I chuckled, kissing her again.
“Yes, very. So you better stop before I accidentally kick and land my foot somewhere that would leave you incapacitated, and both of us very unhappy, for the rest of the night.”
I took her warning seriously and sat up again, reaching over my head and grabbing the collar of my T-shirt. She watched every move I made, her eyes widening as I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor. She let out a tiny squeal of surprise as I quickly surged back over the top of her and claimed her mouth again. Our tongues danced and tangled as the heat built between the two of us.
Her hand slowly trailed down my stomach, ducking inside of my sweats. The instant her hand wrapped around my hard cock, I let out a moan.
“You like that?” she whispered, kissing her way over to my neck and down past my collarbone.
I groaned again, unable to form actual words. I had an inkling where she was headed as she rolled me onto my back and continued kissing south. “Can I see what else you like?”
Holy shit. Yes. Please, yes.
I lifted my head, watching her as she pulled at the waistband of my pants and slid them off of me. Just the sight of her beautiful, naked body hovering over my poor, sex-deprived dick was enough to turn me into a fifteen-year-old boy with no control, but I was determined not to embarrass myself.
She gripped the root of my dick, and I swear the moment she put it in her mouth for the first time, I forgot my fucking name. Her warm mouth moved at a slow, torturous pace as she stared up at me with her intense, dark eyes. I bit my lip and let my head fall back against the pillow, worried that if I watched her work on me, it would be over before it had started. Her head bobbed up and down, her mouth gripped, and she squeezed my balls to the point where I was sure if she slid down me one more time, that was it. I sat up and pulled myself away quickly, causing her lips to make a hot slapping noise. She giggled and ran the back of her hand along her bottom lip.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her up to me. “I want you on top. I want to watch you.”
“Okay,” she whispered breathlessly, her chest heaving with anticipation. I rolled to my nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom, rolling it over my swollen cock in record time. She bent down and kissed me hard. Putting her hands in mine, she intertwined our fingers and lifted one leg over me. The anticipation of that second was stronger than I ever imagined it would be as she slowly lowered herself on top of me. Her wet pussy covered my cock all the way to the bottom, and she threw her head back, letting out a loud groan as she stayed right there for a second.
“Jesus, Dani. Ride me,” I ordered, using my strength to push her hands up just a bit. She didn’t hesitate, pushing herself slowly up on her knees and then back down again. I let go of her hands and gripped her waist.
I wanted to feel her fuck me.
I wanted to watch her fuck me.
I wanted to hear her fuck me.
“Faster, baby,” I moaned.
Again, she listened, picking up the speed as she pumped up and down on me. She used her hands to balance on my chest as I slid mine to the back of her, squeezing her ass hard as I bent my knees and thrust back into her. She stared right into my eyes as she ground harder and harder against me, our skin slapping together loudly each time she slammed into me. Her moans became louder and more frequent, and it wasn’t long before she pinched her eyes shut tight and parted her lips.
“Oh God,” she moaned. “Andy. I can’t—I’m gonna—oh God!” she called out loudly. For a split second I worried that the kids would hear, but as my balls tightened and my own orgasm started, I didn’t care anymore. Watching her as she lost herself and came all over me sent me over the edge, too, but I wasn’t about to close my eyes and miss one second of what she was doing.
I pounded as hard as I could until I exploded, her pussy still tight around me. When I stilled, she continued grinding, rolling every last bit of my orgasm out of me. When we were both done, she collapsed onto my chest and didn’t move.
“Wow,” she panted.
“Yeah.” I gently brushed her hair off her cheek. “That’s an understatement.”
She rolled off of me but didn’t go far, settling in the crook of my arm with one hand draped across my chest.
“So I have a question.” She rolled completely onto her side and bent her elbow, resting her head on her hand.
“Hold that thought.” I held up one finger. Ru
nning as nonawkwardly as possible to the bathroom, I dropped the condom in the garbage and hurried back to bed.
“Okay, your question. Go.”
“Why do men do that?”
I frowned. “Do what?”
“That thing you did before. Pulling your shirt over the top of your head like that. Is it in some Man Handbook somewhere that lets you all know it drives women crazy or what?”
“Man Handbook?” I laughed out loud. “Mine must have gotten lost in the mail, because you women confuse the shit out of me.”
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “Women are the easiest creatures to understand. Men just don’t listen. That’s the problem.”
“Easy creatures?” I scoffed, staring at her incredulously. “You are by far the most confusing person I’ve ever met in my entire thirty-two years on this planet.”
“Me?” she squealed loudly. She quickly covered her mouth and looked toward the door when she realized how loud she’d been. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“That’s okay. If they heard anything at all, it was you praying to God, loudly, five minutes ago.”
She swatted my chest, and I caught her hands in mine, pulling her down for another kiss.
“Wait, no.” She pulled back. “You’re not getting out of this. How am I confusing?”
“Dani, since you first walked into my office a few months ago, you’ve stumped me, you’ve annoyed me, you’ve pissed me off, but more than anything else, you’ve captivated the hell out of me.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” she challenged playfully. “How do I confuse you?”
“Honestly?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“Fine. A week ago you stayed in your office and refused to even talk to me during the day, now you’re in my bed. Why?”
She blinked and her eyes dropped down to the bed as she contemplated her answer. “This has been an emotional week, obviously, but one of my most emotional moments was when I got some tough love from a good friend. She reminded me that life is short and that our time isn’t guaranteed. Then she told me I was wasting mine worrying about what people that I didn’t even know might think about me. I sat in in my room all night taking stock of my life and how I hold everyone at arm’s length and what I need to do to change. Then, as if I needed another sign, we saw the little man at the market today who talked about how he thought he had all the time, and it really resonated with me . . .” She paused and swallowed, lifting her eyes to mine. “I’m ready, Andy. I don’t care what people say or what they’ll think. I’m ready. I’m ready to be happy, and I’m ready to be loved, and I’m ready to be with you.”
Her honesty blew me away. I reached over and gently rubbed her fingers with mine. “First of all, I’m ready, too, Dani. It might not be easy, but we’ll go slow and figure it all out. Second, remind me to double Ellie’s salary on Monday.”
Her eyes sparkled, and she let out a soft giggle as she dived on top of me.
CHAPTER 32
Danicka
“Good morning.” Andy had been saying those two words every single morning for the last month, and it never failed to make my skin ripple with goose bumps.
“Good morning to you.” I grinned back at him as he poured me a cup of coffee in my favorite yellow mug, something else he did every day. There were actually quite a few new routines we’d fallen into over the last month, and not just me and Andy, but me and the kids, too.
Without a doubt the most exciting was my morning walk with Becca, Logan, and Roxy. Once Roxy was feeling better and Dr. Sells was comfortable releasing her, I brought her home to Andy’s house. Turned out the kids had been asking for a dog for years but Andy kept saying no, so the fact that I brought Roxy home definitely upped my street cred with them.
Roxy joining the family wasn’t the only new regular thing we’d started doing. Assuming neither Andy or I had to work late, we had dinner as a family every single night, then put the kids to bed together. Becca and I had started reading books every night, and it was something I’d grown to look forward to, so much so that I’d been stopping at bookstores a lot lately, looking for something new that I thought she would like. After we were done reading, Andy and I would stare the clock, waiting for them to fall asleep, so we could sneak off into his room and make love until late into the night. Even if we didn’t have sex, we would lie in bed with our arms and legs tangled together as we talked for hours. My walls had completely crumbled to the ground, and over the last month, he’d learned everything there was to know about me. I set the alarm on my phone to go off half an hour before Logan’s so I had time to sneak back downstairs to my room. We thought we were being stealthy and hiding it from the kids and Gloria until one morning I ran into her in the kitchen. She was up early making cinnamon rolls as a surprise for the kids.
I stood frozen in the doorway, wringing my hands nervously as I tried to come up with a reason to be slinking down the stairs that early in the morning. I didn’t want her to know I was in the midst of some weird live-in walk of shame. She pursed her lips together and shook her head at me. “Not only are you wearing Mr. Shaw’s favorite T-shirt”—she glanced down at Andy’s shirt and back up at me—“you do know my bedroom is directly below his, right?” My mouth fell open as she winked and turned away.
It took a couple of days before I looked her in the eye again.
“Good morning, Gloria!” I said cheerfully as she came into the kitchen where Andy and I were sitting.
She smiled at both of us. “Good morning, you crazy kids. What’s on the agenda for today?”
“I actually have to head in early. I have a meeting with a potential client at seven.” I craned my neck to look at the clock on the oven. “I gotta get going.”
“Wait.” Andy spun around to face me. “You’re going in early?”
I nodded and walked over to him, giggling as I got closer. “You have some cream cheese on your lip, let me help you with that.” I raised to my tippy toes and seductively licked and kissed his top lip.
A faint gagging sound came from Gloria over at the kitchen table, and we both laughed.
“Oh, Gloria! You know you love us.” I walked over and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, squeezing gently. Andy and the kids weren’t the only ones I’d grown close to since I moved into Andy’s house. We had been friendly before, but after the hallway incident, Gloria and I bonded quickly. Andy adored her, and I respected the very important role she played in the kids’ lives. We also joked behind Andy’s back about how he was technically both of our bosses, and she liked to add that thankfully only one of us was sleeping with him. Gloria’s dry humor kept me on my toes, and I loved her for that.
I was hustling around my room, trying to find an outfit for the day when there was a soft knock on the door.
“Ugh. I don’t have time to talk,” I mumbled under my breath. “Come in!”
The door creaked open, and Andy peeked his head in. “Hey, I’m gonna jump in the shower right now. You sure you can’t wait for me?” We’d been driving to and from work together for the last three weeks or so and surprisingly had only stopped to have sex twice. Kudos to us.
“I would love to, but I really can’t. Not today. I’m barely going to make this meeting as it is.” I waved at him to shut the door as I pulled my pants down.
“Oooh, you wanna have sex? Sounds good to me,” he teased, stalking across the room toward me.
“Get out of here!” I slapped his chest playfully as he tossed me gently on the bed. “Andy, I don’t have time for this. I’m gonna be—” My eyes glassed over as he trailed kisses down my neck and dipped his fingers inside my panties. I tilted my head toward him and took a deep, shuddered breath as his fingers circled and tortured me. After ten seconds or so, he pulled away suddenly and stood up.
My eyes snapped open. “Wait. What?” I leaned up on my elbows and glared at him.
“You’re gonna be late. I just wanted to show you what you have to look forward to late
r tonight, except that will be my tongue instead of my fingers.” He winked at me and left the room quickly as I sat frozen on my bed, trying to form a coherent thought.
The thought of calling him back and having sex right then crossed my mind—twice—but I really was late. I grabbed the first pair of black pants I could find and threw them on, along with a light yellow button-down shirt. I slid my feet into my favorite strappy black heels, which were by my bedroom door, and made a mental note to treat myself to a pedicure on my lunch break.
“Okay, I’m off,” I said to the kitchen full of people.
My people.
“Already? I didn’t even get to see you today.” Becca pouted as I flung my purse over my shoulder.
I walked over and squatted down in front of her. “I know, sweetheart, but I have to get to work early today. But . . . how about I sneak out of work early tonight and stop at the bookstore and grab the new Judy Moody book we saw?”
Her eyes lit up, and she nodded excitedly as she threw her arms around my neck. I squeezed her tight and closed my eyes, sighing happily. Who knew you could be so crazy about a kid that wasn’t even yours?
When she finally let go, I stood up and bent down, kissing her on the top of the head. I snuck around behind the table and planted a kiss on the top of Logan’s head, too. “Good luck on your spelling test today.”
“Thanks.” He grinned up at me.
Logan hadn’t attached to me as strongly as Becca had, but we definitely had a friendship.
Once again, I hooked my arm through my purse and waved good-bye to Gloria. I gave Andy a tight-lipped smile as I walked past him. “Uh . . . I’ll walk you out,” he stammered, looking back at the kids as he followed me to the front door.
We stepped outside, and I was surprised by the crisp coolness of the morning air. It was mid-September, and it already smelled like fall. The leaves hadn’t started turning colors yet, but you could smell the change in the air. Soon everything would be red and orange, bonfires would be blazing every weekend, and s’mores would once again become my guilty pleasure.
