by Lexi Aurora
All he wanted was Riley.
“Damnit,” he murmured.
He sighed heavily before he slid out of bed. Within a few minutes, he was dressed and snatching the car keys from the hook next to his door; he was going to see Riley; he needed to see her, and he was done asking questions.
He locked the door behind him and took the elevator down to the parking lot, his mind whirling with thoughts and Riley and how well their dinner had gone before it just... hadn’t.
He was half-distracted while he was driving, too, and he almost forgot where she lived despite that he had picked her up at her apartment many times before. His palms were sweaty when he got out, and counted backwards from twenty in an effort to calm himself. He had never felt this way about anyone before, and while it was confusing and perplexing, there was also an element of excitement and yearning that he couldn’t turn his back on.
After a few buzzes on the intercom, her voice sounded through the speakers:
“Hello?”
“Riley? It’s Harrison, will you let me up?”
There was a very long pause, and Harrison didn’t think that she was going to let him up; figures she would make him find his own way to her. After several seconds, though, he heard the door click and the buzzer sounded. With a quick smile, he grabbed the handle and let himself inside, rubbing his hands against his jeans to get the sweat off them.
When he reached her door, he tapped his knuckles against it and hid his nervous excitement by internally shoving it somewhere deep inside of him; it was the only way he was going to be able to focus when she finally opened the door.
The sound of her footfalls came closer and closer until they paused right next to the door. Time seemed to go on and on before the sound of locks unlatching and unlocking sounded, and within moments the door opened. Harrison started to smile, but when he spotted the expression on Riley’s face, it faded. She looked stressed, anxious, even though she was clearly trying to appear as though everything was fine. Maybe her acting skills would have worked when they’d first met, but they didn’t stand a chance now.
“Riley? What’s wrong? What happened at dinner? Come on, talk to me.”
“No...I don’t have to.”
Harrison felt a surge of frustration as she turned away from him and walked into her bedroom. He frowned, choosing to follow her after he closed the door. She’d invited him up here, so that had to mean that there was at least something still between them.
“Look, I’m not going to give up until you tell me, straight to my face, to get the hell out of your apartment.” When there was no response from her, he strode slowly, cautiously into the bedroom.
She sat there very quietly with her legs curled underneath her and her shoulders pressed into the wall. He’d never seen her in such a state of misery before, and while part of him just wanted to leave her, the rest of him was determined to stay.
“You can talk to me.” He tried again and slowly moved to sit next to her on the bed.
“No...I can’t.”
“Then why did you invite me up here? Come on, Riley, what’s going on? You’ve been all over the place lately, and it’s really starting to give me whiplash. It’s not fair, you need to–”
“I don’t need to do anything, Harrison.”
“Hey...” He gripped her jaw and turned her head so that he could make eye contact with her. “Just tell me, baby. I’m not going to hurt you, and you know by now I’m not going anywhere. That’s just the way it is. So please just...tell me what’s wrong.”
Come on, he thought as he stared at her. Talk to me... tell me something, anything.
She shook her head and looked away from him. Just when tears began to shimmer in her eyes, she grabbed him by the face and kissed him. It was a hard, aggressive kiss that caught him by surprise and made him moan. He’d never get tired of how her mouth tasted or the way that her tongue swept over his in just the way that he liked it. This time, though, he wanted to show Riley that it was okay. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t like Brad, and explaining that in words seemed so inadequate; it was time to try something else.
“Easy,” he murmured into her mouth. “Just breathe, let’s go slow this time...”
She clung desperately to his shoulders, and her mouth continued to take what it wanted, but he was patient with her. Right now, he had to be; he had never seen her as vulnerable as she was now. With time and encouragement from him, her kisses grew less and less frenzied, and within seconds she was letting him push her back into the bed. He crawled over her and let his body stretch across her own. He cupped his hands around her face and he gave her the softest, most gentle kisses that he could muster. Her hips wiggled and strained beneath him, but she wasn’t trying to escape; she was trying to get closer.
The longer their kiss went on, the harder Harrison’s heart pounded. He knew then, as their bodies pressed and writhed together, that he felt things for her that he had, in the past, berated himself for. He wasn’t the kind of man who committed to any woman, but he could not deny how unbelievably attracted he was to Riley. All that mattered was her.
Soft, gentle. Never in a hurry. He gradually unbuttoned her shirt until he could push it open to reveal her bare breasts; clearly, she had been getting ready for bed. He wrapped his lips around a nipple and sucked, and he didn’t stop until he heard her moan in pleasure. He gripped the other one and massaged it, the pad of his thumb dragging back and forth across her other perk nipple. She was like a doll in his arms, her body melting into his own.
The sound of zippers being pulled down, the gentle pop of buttons being undone, the soft huff of their breaths, the noise their bodies made when they rubbed together – these were the only things Harrison heard, and combined with the smell of her, the taste, the way that she looked with her hair down around her shoulders took away every breath that he had.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered into her ear, his mouth travelling along the length of her neck to her shoulder.
The smile she gave him made his heart stop, and he growled his satisfaction, teeth closing around her collarbone to gently squeeze. He released her, only to run his tongue along the spot he had bitten; he did this over and over again, all the way from one side of her collarbone to the other. Riley squeezed his hand each time she felt his tongue, and it wasn’t long before her hands were tugging at his pants. He didn’t stop her from pulling them down, his own hands pushing the blouse away from her shoulders and completely off her body. With a smooth caress, he splayed his hands over her belly and touched her everywhere that he could reach, rubbing her from her breasts to her ribs and down to her hips. His mouth followed everywhere that his hands touched, and her hands eventually dove into his hair and clung to it while she whispered his name in earnest.
He murmured her name in return and rolled her onto her belly, always gentle, always soft. He wrapped his arms around her and closed each hand around her breasts to squeeze and knead. She pulled herself to her knees and pushed her back into him, her rear pushing against his hips. Breath caught in his throat as he pushed his own pants down, thumbs dragging boxers at the same time; he couldn’t get out of his clothes fast enough.
This time, when he eased his throbbing shaft into her, he did it slowly, caressing her with it even as he felt her eager walls all around him. He went for her clit as his fingers attacked that tender bundle of nerves; he stroked her again and again, even as he began to thrust from behind at the same time. She draped herself against him, both arms reaching up to wrap around the back of his neck, her back arching in the most beautiful way he’d ever seen.
Soon, only the slap of their bodies could be heard within the room, along with the moans and gasps and pants of their broken breaths. Harrison had never felt her so compliant, so relaxed, and when she widened her stance, she took him in deeper and deeper until he could feel his balls straining against her at the end of each thrust. He was starting to lose control, and his body felt like it was ready to burst into flames. H
eat pooled in his belly and swept in every direction as he turned her head just enough so that he could capture her lips. Their kiss was heavy and deep, but not aggressive, and his whole being pulsated with ecstasy each time their tongues entwined. She slid one of her hands down from his hair and cupped his face; it rested there as though it had always belonged, and he felt his heart slam hard against his chest at the notion that a single touch could entice such unbearable desire.
His control was ebbing away from him, and soon each time their bodies collided, it was with more force and more speed. He was falling out of his rhythm the closer he got to release, and when she cried out into his mouth with her own orgasm, his body shuddered with unadulterated need.
A second orgasm gripped Riley, and she screamed; her feminine walls clenched and gripped and clutched him almost to the point of pain, undulating and throbbing. His entire body felt tight, and the t-shirt still across his back was all but intolerable. Sweat made it stick to his skin, and heat rolled from it in waves.
“Riley...” her name felt as good on his lips as her tongue did. He kissed her up the side of her neck to her ear before he pulled her down next to him, his arms hugging her tightly to keep her back flush against his chest.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen...” she murmured.
“What are you going to do about it?” he challenged.
She was silent after that, and he smiled, pressing kisses along the backs of her shoulders. “You don’t have to tell me, Riley...but I’d really like it if you did.”
There was still nothing from her for a long time, and Harrison was sure that she was going to either leave him there alone or say absolutely nothing. Leave it to her, though, to surprise him:
“All I can tell you, Harrison, is that...I really like you.”
He blinked several times in surprise, and he could almost feel the heat from her blush. As much as he was unwilling to admit it to her, he really liked her, too, and hell...if she could push through her fear of telling him, then couldn’t he?
“The feeling is mutual, Riley. I know there’s more going on, but thank you for at least telling me that much.”
She tilted her head back to look at him, her expression serious. “It’s just hard sometimes... knowing who to trust. I mean... you’ve met Brad. I’m sure you’ve had a few ‘lemons’ in your life, too.”
“More than my fair share.” Harrison felt a small pang of guilt, but at least it wasn’t a lie. Had he had his fair share of lemons? Absolutely he had, though none of them had even gotten close to turning into a relationship; Riley was, hands down, in a league all her own. “But if I’m going to be honest with myself, and you...I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Okay, you need to stop right now.” Riley laughed.
“I’m serious... you are.”
“Not even your charm can make that true... but thank you?” After a moment, she added, “can we just lay here for a while, until we fall asleep?”
“Yes... of course.” He gave her a small smile she couldn’t see and nuzzled his mouth against the back of her head. He took in a deep breath of her scent and squeezed her even tighter. As he drifted off to sleep, all he could think about was Riley nestled in his arms.
Chapter Thirteen
BZZZZZ. BZZZZZ. BZZZZZZ. Bzzzzzz.
The vibration of Riley’s phone as it dug into her elbow jerked her awake. She gasped and shot backwards, wide-eyed and startled out of a deep sleep. Papers scattered in every direction, all based around research and articles regarding real estate trends. She’d been working steadily for a real estate company in Japan, writing blogs and other content for their websites.
“Holy crap,” she muttered as soon as she found her senses. Letting out a soft giggle, she answered the call while picking up all the papers she’d displaced. “Hello?”
“Riley?” Jessica’s voice sounded almost confused on the other line.
“Yeah, it’s me, you dork.” Riley laughed. “You’re the one who called me, why do you sound so out of sorts?
“Well... I guess I just feel weird about wanting to go baby shopping with you.”
Riley laughed. “Baby shopping as in getting baby supplies or baby shopping as in–”
“Supplies! Supplies, I swear!”
She burst into laughter. “All right, I’ll come and get you in a few minutes.”
“Okay, yes! But first, question: Did you have sex with a certain someone again?”
Riley laughed again. “Jess! You’re incorrigible, I’m telling you. I’ll meet you at Piper’s Baby Things, okay?”
“I know, it’s why you love me. And okay!”
Riley could just imagine Jessica with her tongue sticking out, and she giggled quietly. “Yeah, yeah. See you there.” Before her friend could make any more comments, Riley snapped her phone closed. She had next to no idea how to shop for babies, but she had to start somewhere, didn’t she? With Jessica’s support, everything was always so much easier anyway, and so she told herself to just breathe and focus on not stressing.
“You can do this... you got this...” She snatched the keys off the coffee table where she’d unceremoniously dumped them last night after the dinner date gone wrong. After quickly assessing that she had everything she needed, she headed out the door.
The entire drive to Piper’s Baby Things was full of Harrison. Every song she heard on the radio, she could somehow relate to him. Every stop light or stop sign where she had to wait, her thoughts drifted. She felt so torn and had no idea how she was going to broach the subject with him that she was pregnant despite that she’d gone over that very same topic numerous times before. The more weeks that went by, the tougher it was to keep such an immense secret from him.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally arrived in the baby store’s parking lot. Jessica’s car was there already, but she didn’t see her in the store; she must have gone inside already. She licked her lips as she locked her car and headed for the door. She was all nerves as she resisted thinking about Harrison, and she had the absurd idea that he might be in there looking for baby supplies right now.
This is crazy, she thought. When did I become such a paranoid idiot?
“Riley! There you are!”
Jessica’s voice jerked her out of her thoughts, and she tried not to jump too high. She let out a quick, semi-nervous laugh and wrapped her arms around her in the tightest squeeze she could muster. “Jess, hey! Would you believe I hit every red light on my way here? The traffic is nuts!”
“Um... no, it’s not. What’s happening? Why are you so insane right now?”
She chewed briefly on her bottom lip and grabbed Jessica’s hand, leading her into a quieter area of the store. “It’s just everything. I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind. I don’t even know what’s me and what’s the hormones anymore. Besides which, I have a person growing inside of me, and I have no idea how to deal with that. Or what to tell Harrison or my parents. Or anything. Oh my god, I’m losing my mind, for real...” She pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.
“It’s okay, hey... it’s okay.” Letting out a sympathetic laugh, she wrapped Riley into her arms and hugged her tight. “Listen. Here, listen. Do you remember last year when you were driving me to school? It was pouring rain out. Like, sheets of rain, thunder, lightning, the works. And I was an absolute wreck. I could barely breathe, I couldn’t speak, all I could do was curl back against the seat and sob. It came out of nowhere, and instead of ignoring it, you pulled over to the side of the road, in the middle of this insane storm, got out of the car, and curled up with me in the back seat. You didn’t even say anything, you just held onto me because you somehow knew that it was what I needed. After a little while, when I finally stopped sobbing, you told me that everything would be okay. I said there was no way that it could be, since I had a screenplay due by the end of the day and it was nowhere near finished. Do you remember what you did, Riley?” She paused and
smiled widely. “You stayed with me, right there in the back of that damn car in that stupid downpour, and you helped me finish the screenplay. Of course in hindsight, writing it all in the back of your car probably wasn’t the best place to do it, but we got it done in time together. And I ended up getting an A.”
“I remember...” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m telling you this because I’m not going to leave you. I’m here to stay, and we’re going to figure this out together, just like we always do. Okay?”
She pulled back from Jessica. Her head shook, and she gave her the best smile she could muster. “Okay...you always did know exactly what to say... I don’t even know how you do it.”
“Because I’m awesome. And because you have never turned your back on me. I’m not about to do it to you.” Jessica grinned. “Now let’s go see what we can find, shall we? What are you wanting to check out first?”
“Yes... okay. Good idea.” She squared her shoulders and swiped hair back from her face. “Um... I actually have no idea. How about something that’s fun...like little shirts and little pants or toys or...something.”
“Perfect choice! Oh my god, look at these!” She held up a purple and blue jumpsuit. “Can you believe that we were both this small once upon a time? Look at how cute... and the feet! Riley, the feet aren’t even as big as my hands. I can’t handle it! Take it!”
They both laughed as Riley took the jumper and pressed it against her cheek. She smiled and gave it a squeeze, imagining how a baby would look in such an adorable piece of clothing. It made her wonder, too, what sex her baby would be; she wouldn’t know until at least the next ultrasound. “Hey, Jess, you need to help me pick out a name, as soon as we know what–” As she turned around, still speaking to Jessica, she felt all the color drain from her face; Owen was standing already directly beside her.
