by J. Daniels
I focus on what I can understand.
“All right. So Mia knows,” I offer, watching Riley nod her head. “And you took off `cause you don’t want your brother knowing about us. That right?”
She does that wide-eyed blink again, not speaking.
“Babe,” I prompt.
“There’s an us?” she asks, leaning closer and looking shocked. “I . . . I wasn’t, I mean, I just,” she stammers, takes a deep breath, huffs it out, then attempts this again. “I had no idea you wanted to be an anything.”
“You forgetting what all I said last night about not being done with you?”
“I wasn’t expecting it,” she answers quickly.
“You weren’t expecting what, Riley?”
“You.”
My brows reach my hairline. Something heavy presses on my chest.
Riley slides her hand down her arm and twists her fingers nervously together, looks away as if collecting her thoughts, does that, then meets my gaze again.
“I just got out of a really long relationship. Like, just got out of it. And I came here not thinking something like this would happen. I didn’t think it would ever happen. Not with you. Then it did and you said you weren’t done with me yet and I—”
“That’s not what I said,” I interrupt.
Riley tilts her head, asking, “Huh?”
I feel my mouth twitch.
Fuck, she’s damn cute right now. I’d rather just kiss her than explain but I want her knowing this and I don’t want there being any confusion about it.
Ever.
I step closer, keeping my arms tight across my chest. “I never said yet, darlin’,” I begin, watching her lips part. “I said I wasn’t done with you and that I wasn’t anywhere near being done with you, but hear me, Riley, I never said yet. Fucked up thing to say and I wouldn’t say it, especially not to a sweet girl like you. If some asshole gives you a deadline to make you aware shit’ll be wrapping up for the two of you and he already knows it, drop him. No man deserves you if he’s already thinking of an out. Do you understand?”
She wets her lips.
“Yes.”
“Now, I’m hearing you say you weren’t anticipating me and the shit that went down between us, and darlin’, I feel that. `Cause I sure as fuck was not anticipating you. That doesn’t mean we should let go of something we’re both wanting more of just `cause it’s tripping us up a little.”
“I’m just not sure,” Riley says quietly. Her eyes dance between mine.
“You’re not sure or you’re just nervous `cause this is new and you haven’t had new in a while, and possibly haven’t had it this fucking good,” I press, needing her to clarify.
After a breath, Riley responds. “I’m just nervous,” she whispers.
I smirk, saying, “That’s good, babe. Nervous is good. I can work with that.”
“But what about Reed? I don’t think this is the right time to lay this on him.”
I can’t argue with that. She has a point.
Not sure how that conversation is going to go down anyway, if it’s a conversation I need to be having, and with the timing of things—Reed getting married in the next couple of hours—it doesn’t feel right dropping the news now. He’s got enough going on.
“Then we wait,” I suggest after thinking it through. “Get back to Ruxton and if this is still something we’re both feeling, we handle it then.”
I watch Riley stare up at me. Then, when seconds pass and she hasn’t agreed to my plan or said differently, I give her a little nudge.
I uncross my arms, drop my hands to her waist and bend down, sliding my lips over hers and speaking slowly.
“Tell me a secret, babe.”
She smiles. I feel it twist across her mouth.
“I like you,” she whispers.
“I like you too, darlin’.”
Her smile stretches into a grin.
“Are you good on what I just said?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Good. Now hurry up and kiss me before your brother comes looking for my ass.”
Heeding my warning and without hesitation, Riley throws her arms around my neck, stands taller on her toes, tilts her head and seals her lips against mine. I move my hands to her back where her shirt is revealing skin. She’s smooth and warm and I hold tight, sliding to her hips as I dip my tongue inside her mouth, flicking and stroking it against hers.
She tastes like her juice, sweet with a bite, a little sour.
She tastes fucking good. Smells good too. And her skin . . . fuck me. Her skin is so damn soft. I want to stay here and touch her for hours.
I break the kiss instead.
“I gotta go,” I share, knowing I’m pushing time.
She drops her arms and steps back.
Turning my head after opening the door, I give her a look that conveys I’m going to be getting more of that mouth later, and she reads it.
I watch heat burn across her freckles before I slip out and close the door behind me.
Suit on and barefoot, standing next to Luke who's beside Ben, taking the spot as best man next to Reed, I watch as two good friends of mine come together and exchange vows.
The girls are all crying five minutes in, except Beth. She's holding strong and practically tackles Reed to the sand when she's told she can kiss him.
That’s some funny shit to watch.
And knowing all eyes are on that scene happening and not glued to where I'm going to be looking, I do just that and look, taking in Riley as she stands across from me.
Blue dress showing shoulders and sun-kissed skin, stopping a few inches above her knees. Flowers in her hand and ones pinned in her hair, and bare feet toeing the sand. Her eyes are lined black and her lips are shiny, plump and peach colored, and when she feels my gaze she gives me hers back, lasting all of a second.
A second I'll take.
Then she looks away, doing this while fighting a smile.
Later that night, Riley sneaks into my room after dark. She’s flushed and breathing heavy like she ran to get here, and she’s still barefoot but her hair is down now, big, loose curls and windblown messy.
I dive my hands into it the second I get her pinned beneath me on the bed.
“You’re lucky Reed was so preoccupied with Beth tonight. He could’ve seen you,” Riley warns around her moan as I suck and kiss down the line of her throat.
“He could’ve seen me doing what?”
She must be referring to all the looking I did during the reception.
Big crowd. Lots of commotion.
I took my chances.
“Well, you were touching me a good bit.”
“We were dancing.”
“I know, but still.”
“Babe, honest? I didn’t care at that point if he saw me or not,” I admit, burying my face in her neck and inhaling.
She smells like sun and beach and smoke from the lit tiki torches.
“You wanted to dance. We were dancing.”
Riley giggles. “Thank you for that, by the way. I’m sure it got a little annoying.”
Her fingers move out of my hair when I lean away to look at her. “Why would it get annoying?”
“I hit you up for every slow song.”
“And?”
“There were a lot of slow songs.”
“I gotta ask again, babe. And?”
She bites shyly at her lip. “Um, I don’t know. Don’t most guys get annoyed with that stuff?”
“With what stuff? Spending time with a gorgeous girl while doing an activity where it’s encouraged I keep my hands on her? Nope. Sorry. That will never annoy me.”
Riley blinks, all wide-eyed at me. “Oh. Well, okay.” She smiles, running her hands up my arms, and seems to melt more into the mattress, as if hearing that relaxes her completely.
What the fuck? Is she speaking from experience? What idiot would ever complain about slow-dancing with her?
Before I can think any more on th
at, Riley grabs my face, yanks me down, and seals her lips against mine.
We both moan. My hand moves down her body, slipping under her dress and between her smooth thighs. I touch the wet spot on her panties.
“Jesus, babe. How long have you been like this?” I ask, pushing up and kneeling between her legs. I grip onto delicate satin and pull.
She presses her fingertips against her mouth, softly admitting, “A while,” as she bends her knees and allows me to drag her panties off.
Fuck. A while?
Fuck.
I toss them on the floor and loosen my tie, shaking my head at Riley when she rubs her dirty feet against my dress shirt.
“You wanting to do my laundry?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.
“Nope,” she giggles, pressing her toes into my ribs. “I’m making it so you have to take that off. I like your chest. I want to see it.”
“Yeah?”
She nods slowly while sucking on her bottom lip.
“I could say the same to you, darlin’,” I tell her, wearing a smirk. When she blushes, I jerk my chin. “You first.”
Without hesitation, Riley drops her feet, sits up, grabs the hem of her dress and yanks it over her head.
I watch as her fat tits bounce free, so full and heavy, her nipples hardening fast as the chilled air hits them.
My nostrils flare as I stare with hunger. Tie gone, I work at the buttons on my shirt and tip my head at the spot on the bed beside her. “Help me out, babe, will you?”
Her eyes find the condom I tossed there, then she’s tearing the wrapper with her teeth and tugging at my slacks at the same time, undoing my belt so she can unbutton and unzip while I toss my dress shirt and tug off my white tee.
Riley’s eyes jump to my chest and hold there, looking from pec to pec.
I see the want in her gaze. The wonder. Maybe her ex isn’t built like me and she isn’t used to seeing bulk like this.
I touch her cheek. She blinks rapidly and tilts her head up. Our eyes catch.
“Waiting, babe,” I prompt, the urge to fuck itching underneath my skin.
Riley nods her head. Then I watch as she goes about freeing my stiff cock. With trembling fingers, she rolls the condom down my length.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admits in an anxious voice, keeping her focus.
I smile hearing that, liking how unpracticed she is.
“The amount of fucking I’m planning on doing tonight, you’ll be an expert by morning,” I promise.
She blushes pink, then pushes the rubber to my base, grips it there, and blinks up at me.
“This okay?” she asks, sounding unsure but looking eager, so fucking willing to please me and to get this right and do it better than anyone ever has.
It fucks with me, that look.
I take her face in my hands and kiss her hard and deep, pushing her to her back and not bothering with my pants or boxers. They stay shoved down to my thighs as I crawl closer and slide the tip of my cock inside her dripping wet pussy. I wait for that little gasp I know she’s going to give me before I thrust home.
And she gives it.
“CJ.”
Riley squeezes my hips with her thighs and keeps one hand flat on my chest and one in my hair, fisting and tugging as I fuck her.
“Yeah, baby,” I pant.
She whimpers and spreads her legs wider.
I feel her fingers move along my skin, tense and curl like she’s trying to tear away pieces of me to keep as I pound into her. We’re kissing and then I’m moving down, still fucking while I play and suck on her nipples.
“Fuck me, these tits,” I growl, palming her left and moving my lips over her right. “So fucking full and heavy and tasting sweet as hell. Fuck, babe.”
Riley bites her lip and then releases it on a moan when I drag my tongue over her nipple.
I lift my head and raise up onto my knees, keeping one hand on her hip and using the other to stroke and touch. “I want you in my bed when we get back,” I tell her, still thrusting slow but hitting deep and bottoming out each time. “I need this gorgeous fucking body in my bed, darlin’.”
Her eyes flicker wider. She licks her lips.
“Okay,” she pants.
I lean over her, brace my hand on the bed beside her halo of blonde, thrust in and slowly drag back out.
“Oh, God,” she breathes, pleasure ripping through her.
“Not done with you,” I growl.
Out, then back in.
“Not even close,” I add.
Riley sucks in a breath. Her body starts tensing, thighs squeezing tighter and breaths coming quicker.
I keep thrusting.
Slower. Harder.
“God,” she moans, closing her eyes. “CJ, oh, my God.”
Her hands move to my shoulders and grip. She tries to pull me down, to get me closer but I want to watch. I need to.
“Look at me, baby,” I tell her. “I wanna see those blue flames while you’re coming.”
I slide my hand between us and start working her clit with my thumb as I keep fucking, slow and hard.
Her eyes flash open, the center of a blaze burning there, flickering like wildfire.
“There it is,” I murmur through a smirk.
Riley gasps, a shy smile lifting her lips.
I drop to my elbow, still working her with my fingers. My hips thrusting. My mouth a breath away. I build it in her fast, watching it in her eyes and feeling the way her body jumps and grows tighter. Then she goes off and she’s grabbing my face and giving me that hot mouth, hard and desperate.
She’s coming and moaning my name and oh, God while she clenches around my dick so goddamn tight I nearly stop breathing.
“Riley,” I growl, pumping into her fast and getting there seconds after she does. “Fuck . . . Riley.”
I empty into the condom and bury my face in her neck.
We come down slow and we kiss even slower. Savoring this. She’s trying to catch her breath and I’m trying to catch mine, both of us clutching at each other until I need to pull away to get cleaned up.
After disposing of the condom, I crawl back into bed, lay on my back and pull Riley close, half against my side and half sprawled across my chest, just like she was last night.
“You’re staying,” I tell her, in case she needs reminding of how I want this to be between us.
Riley’s arm around me squeezes tight. She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t need to.
I close my eyes. Content. Comfortable.
This feels good. Really fucking good.
The light touches of her fingers on my chest and the curve of my ribs are the last things I remember before sleep pulls me under, and I let it.
Riley isn't going anywhere tonight.
I SHIFT THE gear into park and cut the engine of my car, staring at the house through the windshield.
I know what I’m about to do and I’m ready to do it, only I know it’s most likely going to be awkward and difficult given the fact I’m pulled in the driveway behind Richard’s Ford F150, meaning he’ll be a witness to my pack-and-go, and I really don’t want awkward and difficult.
I want this to be easy. I need this to be easy.
We were together for a year and a half, so unfortunately, I already know.
This isn’t going to be easy.
Grabbing my keys, I get out of the car and head for the front door, squinting in the May sun. I test the knob when I step up onto the porch, and when it isn’t locked, I enter.
The house is quiet until I close the door behind me. Then I hear a chair scooting across the tile floor, and when I look down the hallway, Richard is emerging from the kitchen.
“Jesus fuck,” he murmurs, rubbing his hands down his face. He drops his arms and starts advancing toward me. “I’ve been calling you since Friday. Why haven’t you answered me?”
I ignore the harshness of his tone when he stops a foot away, because now he’s close enough I can see how bloodshot
his eyes are and the shadows beneath them.
He hasn’t been sleeping well.
Good.
“I switched my phone off,” I admit.
No point in hiding that.
He nods as if accepting my excuse and the unspoken reason behind it.
“How was the wedding?” he asks with genuine interest in his voice.
I feel my brows pull together.
What in the actual fuck?
“What do you care? You didn’t even want me to go,” I remind him.
Richard looks down at the floor and grips the back of his neck with one hand. “Yeah, that was fucked up. I shouldn’t have been like that to you. I’m sorry.” He lifts his head and our eyes lock. I see his apology written all over his face. He really means it.
I feel a tinge of gratitude for his regret, but what's done is done.
“Fine.” I go to pass him and head for the stairs when he sidesteps, blocking me. “Can you move? I need to get my stuff,” I explain.
“Why are you getting your stuff?”
“Because I’m moving out.”
He flinches, jerking his head back as if I had slapped him. “You’re moving out?” he echoes. “Why? Because we had a fight?”
I blink up at him, starting to feel just as confused as he seems to be.
“We broke up, Richard. That was more than just a fight.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and breathes a laugh. “We didn’t break up,” he mutters.
My brow furrows. “Excuse me?”
“I yelled and said shit I didn’t mean. You yelled and said shit you didn’t mean.” He shrugs. “We had a fight, Riley. Had them before and I’m sure we’ll have more of them. That’s all it was.”
I narrow my eyes and tip my chin up. “You called me a bitch,” I snap. “More than once, if I’m remembering correctly.”
“Yeah. That’s part of the shit I didn’t mean. Come on.” He cocks his head as his eyes soften. “You know I don’t think that about you. Have I ever called you anything like that before?”
I take a second to think, but I don’t need it. I know the answer.
“No,” I reply quietly.
“That’s right, because I don’t think like that.” He reaches out and begins slowly running his hands up and down my arms in a soothing motion. “I was pissed and I took that shit out on you. That was my fuck up. I knew it wasn’t your fault but I put it on you anyway because I needed someone to feel it, and all fucking weekend I’ve been regretting that. Did you listen to my messages?”
