by Clara Bayard
Seven
Part of me wanted to sit there on the floor just holding each other forever. But the feeling of Matthew's body against mine again after so long, and the emotional release of finally being completely honest awoke other needs. The scent of his skin triggered a powerful response in me, and I didn't need to fight it anymore.
I turned my face to his and kissed him. Tenderly, almost tentatively at first. But as our bodies shifted together, fitting curves to flat plane, softness to firmness, the kiss deepened. With lips and teeth and tongues we reunited wordlessly. While my heart still ached from the long time apart, my body ignited like he'd never left.
I moaned against Matthew's mouth as I ran my hands over his chest and back. He was different. Harder. Lean muscle had twisted into something stronger and more solid, but still familiar.
As my nails dug lightly into the skin of his lower back, he hissed and I pulled away with a gasp.
"Did I hurt you?"
Matthew smiled. "No."
Concern managed to drown my desire for a moment. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
I looked into his eyes to make sure he was being honest.
He sighed. "I swear, I'm okay. Clean bill of health. Trust me, a team of doctors prodded and poked everything I've got before I could even get on a plane to come back."
"Okay."
He kissed the tip of my nose. "I love how you worry about me, I do. But you can stop now. I'm fine." He lifted his shirt off over his head, displaying what I'd felt with my hands. "See?"
What had once been pale was tanned and chiseled. "Oh, yes," I breathed.
Matthew chuckled from deep in his throat. "Yeah, I did a bit of working out. Even after physical therapy ended. Worked with a real trainer to…" his voice trailed off as my hands slid up his bare chest. "Excuse me, I'm trying to talk to you."
"Uh-huh." I leaned down and kissed his stomach and up over his abs.
"Don't you want to hear the details of my recovery?"
"Later." I raised my head and looked at him. "Unless there are things you need to tell me?"
He smiled and stood up, pulling me along. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he held me tight against him. "Nope. Stronger than ever. Let me show you."
I laughed and tucked my head in the crook of his neck. "How? Want to arm wrestle?"
"Not exactly." He grabbed my hips and lifted me off my feet, tumbling us both back onto the bed.
I yelped and clung to him, breathless. "Impressive."
He rolled us over so he was on top of me, resting between my legs. "Just wait."
Burning for him, I said, "I think we've both waited long enough."
As a sign of agreement, he leaned down and kissed me hard on the mouth before sliding down over my chin, neck and chest. He lifted my top out of the way, exposing my bra and belly. His hair tickled the tender skin between my breasts as he kissed my stomach, sliding his tongue and fingers over the generous swell.
Softly, muffled against my skin, he said, "Just like I remembered. Perfect softness I could get lost in."
I sighed and tangled my fingers in his hair. This was home. Everything I ever wanted.
Matthew's mouth moved up to my breasts, planting soft kisses over the lace of my bra, as his hand slid between my thighs, pressing against my heat that seemed like it should burn through my panties and clothes.
"Off," he said, breath caressing my skin. "All of this has to come off right now."
I nodded and we grappled ridiculously, trying to shed our clothes without losing contact with each other's body. Finally, as my panties were flung through the air to who knows where, we were both completely naked.
Matthew looked down at my body, his hot gaze sweeping over me. Through his eyes I saw my own beauty and it overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes and sank back into the bed as his hands followed the paths his eyes had traced. The calluses on the tips of his fingers from playing guitar were softer now.
"I really missed you," I murmured.
"Me too," he said, sliding farther down my body. He spread my thighs and buried his face between them. "You can't imagine how often I've thought of this. Being with you again. Tasting you again."
I gasped as his tongue swiped across my wet folds, and my back arched.
He held my legs apart firmly, swirling his tongue across my clit, then retreating teasingly while I writhed. The pleasure was agonizing and all I could do was hang on, fisting my hands in the sheets while his talented mouth devoured and delighted me.
Pressure that built and built released in an explosion as the tip of his tongue entered me. I screamed and bucked, but he held on tight, never stopping, never letting me catch my breath.
For a million years he sucked and nibbled and flicked, drawing out my climax until I sobbed and begged him to stop. Every nerve ending in my body was firing at the same time. So much pleasure it was almost pain.
When he released me, I was panting and half-mad. Matthew rose up and buried his face in my neck. His engorged cock rested between my thighs, further heating my enflamed flesh.
Through labored breath, I said, "That was…"
He nipped at my throat. "Only the beginning."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
I took his face in my hands and kissed him, trying to regain my composure.
He returned the kiss and it turned hungry, insistent. I rolled my hips, enjoying how the thick length of him fell heavily against my sensitive skin.
Matthew groaned and ran his hands under my back, grabbing my ass and grinding against me.
"Please tell me you have a condom," I said, running my fingers over his muscular back.
"Lots." He chuckled and reached over me to his bag. After smoothing one over his cock, he sat back on his knees and looked down at me with hooded eyes.
"What are you waiting for?" I asked, impatient and overcome with desire.
"I wasn't sure I'd ever get to be here again. Savoring the moment."
"Savor it while you're inside me, please."
He laughed again. "Since you asked so politely."
My smile turned into a raw shout as he slid quickly inside, filling me.
Matthew's gaze locked on mine as he began to move slowly but relentlessly. My core clenched, holding him inside me. He bent down and took one of my nipples between his teeth, tugging gently as he pressed fully inside me and then moved back only to do it all over again. Each thrust opened me more as my body became accustomed to him again. Lust and love overcame me and I stopped thinking altogether. As he reached between us to rub my clit between strokes I stopped being a person, succumbing to the pleasure, existing only as desire personified.
Matthew took one of my hands in his and entwined our fingers as he fucked me deeper and harder. My heart raced and my eyes glazed over. Digging my nails into his knuckles, I bucked and swore as he thundered into me faster and faster.
My entire body coiled tighter and tighter until I couldn't see or hear or feel anything, and then a tsunami of ecstasy crashed over me and I screamed.
At the same time, Matthew plunged in once more, filling me completely and shouting his own climax. After a long moment he collapsed on top of me, his skin hot and damp. The comfortable weight of him soothed me and I held him tightly, silently.
When I could speak again, I nuzzled him and said, "Okay, I believe you're healed."
He chuckled. "I am now. In every way."
I smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.
"Mmm. Keep doing that and you'll get a repeat."
Even though I was tired to my bones, arousal flared. "Already?"
As an answer, he throbbed inside me, thickening again.
"Well, I do have some free time in my schedule," I said.
Matthew kissed the tip of my nose and turned us over, still buried deep inside me. "Good. I think you're going to need it."
I was about to respond when my phone rang from wherever it had fallen. I backed up reflexively, sad to separate from him e
ven for a moment, glancing at the floor around us.
"Where are you going?"
"To answer my phone."
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "What could be more important than this?"
"Well, I don't know. It could…" I trailed off as he stroked himself to full length, and I forgot what I was going to say.
"Could what?" Matthew asked, staring at me like a jungle cat sighting its prey.
My voice was husky when I replied. "Don't remember. Don't care."
He licked his lips and slid another condom down over his cock. "Then come back here."
I climbed on top of him quickly and guided his length back into my swollen, slick channel. Rocking back and forth, we joined completely. I leaned down and he cupped my face in his hands, thrusting slowly.
Staring deep into his eyes while he made love to me, I didn't care about my phone or anything else. The whole hotel could have burned down around us and it wouldn't have mattered. This time we were slow and tender, but just as intense. My body and soul, my heart and mind were entirely with him, and his with me. It was a connection so powerful it would have scared me before, but not now. Now I knew the intensity was strength.
Right before I came again, I told him, "I love you," and then let bliss consume me.
A few minutes later, while we held each other, Matthew's stomach growled loudly in the silent room.
I giggled. "Very romantic, Mr. Daniels."
He pinched my hip lightly. "Quiet, you. I've been exerting myself, in case you haven't noticed."
"Oh, I noticed." I was deliciously sore all over, so it was hard to miss. "Want to order room service?"
He caressed my cheek with his thumb. "There's a private chef in the suite."
"Fancy. Do we have to go out there to get food?"
Matthew scoffed. "If we did, I'd rather starve."
"You? Pass up food? This must be love," I teased.
"Must be." He grinned and kissed me quickly before rolling over to grab something off the nightstand.
"What's that?"
"Becca's notes. I saw something in here about kitchen hours and stuff. Ah, here it is. We can ask for anything we want at any hour. Just have to text her or our personal concierge."
"Really?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yup. How dumb is that, for a handful of people."
"Agreed. But, convenient right now." I sat up, unselfconscious about my nudity.
"Mm-hmm. Definitely appreciating it right now."
I stretched my arms over my head. "Why don't you pick something while I go take a shower?" My sore muscles thrummed at the idea of some hot water.
"I am a room service master."
I got out of bed carefully and walked towards the bathroom. "I remember." I could feel his eyes on my back as I left the room, and I smiled.
I was still pressing buttons on the massive steam shower when Matthew came into the room. "What happened to getting food?"
He stepped inside the stall. "Ordered. Gonna be twenty minutes, so I thought I'd offer to wash your back for you."
I looked down between his legs and arched an eyebrow. "Again? You're insatiable."
"I am. For you." As the room filled with steam, he pushed me back against the marble tile. Hot water beat down on us from above and I kissed him, reaching down to take his hard length in my hand and fell to my knees.
It was too loud in the shower to hear him, but I could feel his whole body tense as I swiped my tongue over the head and then slipped him inside my mouth. Holding his shaft in one hand I advanced and retreated, taking him a tiny bit deeper each time. Squeezing the base, I licked and sucked, changing the speed and pressure as he reacts, thigh muscles flexing against me. As my lips slid over his velvety skin, I looked up through the steam into his soulful hazel eyes.
"Ellie," he cried out, dragging me off and up to a standing position. "I need to fuck you. Right now."
I kissed him on the lips while still gripping his length, and he groaned.
"Back to bed?" I asked.
"No time." He rushed out of the shower stall for a second and then came back with a foil packet in his hand. He stood staring for a moment. "Look at you."
After planting a kiss on my lips, he turned me around and walked us over to the wide bench seat in the shower. Sliding his hands over my shoulders, he leaned in to whisper into my ear. "I want you every way, and everywhere in this hotel room. I'm going to take you until we both pass out. Then when we wake up, I'll start all over again. We have so many missed days to make up for, and I'm going to find a way to."
"Starting now?" I asked.
"Staring now." He bent me forward at the waist and rubbed the thick head of his cock over my slick entrance.
All thoughts of soreness disappeared as he pushed inside me again, and I couldn't wait to see if we could fulfill his challenge, even if I feared I wouldn't be able to walk afterwards.
*
Many hours later, Matthew was sitting in bed with his back against the headboard, and I was curled up at his side. We'd gone through two rounds of food and countless rounds of sex, and were both barely awake. Completely sated, I couldn't imagine doing anything but this.
He stroked my arm lazily. "You know, that film you made, it's wonderful. Which sounds self-centered, but I don't mean it like that."
"You didn't like the parts about you?"
"No, I did. Helped me see myself more clearly. As a member of the band, and as a person. I always relished and resented my position at the same time. That was dumb. What I thought was wrong. I could see it in the way the guys talked about me. In the way the fans reacted. Just because everyone can't see me for everything I am doesn't mean they're not seeing me at all."
"I see you."
He smiled. "You always have. And I wish you could see how much I regret what I did."
"I do. And I forgive you. How can I not? I think this is in the top five days of my life," I said.
He nodded. "Mine too." Leaning down, he planted a quick peck on my kiss-swollen lips. "Well, except for the parts where you hated me."
"I never did. I never could."
He smiled. "Good."
"Thanks for letting me yell at you."
"I deserved it."
I squeezed his hand. "Yeah, you really did."
Matthew barked out a laugh. "Damn, I really love you."
I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. "You better."
"Wow. You've been spending too much time with my band. Those boys are a bad influence. You used to be nice."
"That was your brain damage. I was never nice."
"Hey! I did not have brain damage. Well, not medically, anyway."
"Okay, fine. It was probably spending so much time with Rick. Compared to him everyone is nice."
"I will tell him you said that," Matthew said archly.
"Oh, I already have."
We both laughed as there was a loud knock at the door.
"Uh-oh," I said, still giggling. "He heard us. We're in trouble."
Matthew rolled his eyes. "Go away," he said loudly at the door.
The knocking continued.
"What the hell?" He glanced over at the clock we'd been ignoring all day. "It's after ten. I thought everyone else would be out at a club by now."
I frowned, remembering all the calls we'd both ignored. "Maybe it's important."
Matthew wrapped a sheet around his waist and strode over to the door. "It better be." He gave me a moment to climb under the covers and then opened up.
Joe was standing in the doorway. He looked strange. Nervous and excited, but mostly nervous.
"What's wrong?" Matthew asked.
"Sorry to bust in on you guys, but I need to talk to you. I tried to call and text you both."
"We were uh… sleeping."
Joe flashed a crooked smile. "Right, sure. Well, you can get back to ‘sleeping' in a second. I'm getting everyone together tonight. Or, I guess, tomorrow actually. Midnight. Details are in the text I sen
t.
Matthew brushed his hair out of his eyes. "We're not really in the mood to go partying."
"It's not like that. We need to talk. All of us. Including you, Ellie."
My heart jumped into my throat. This sounded serious, and I couldn't imagine what couldn't wait until the morning. But we'd spent the entire afternoon and evening out of contact. Anything could have come up. It seemed like our bubble of happiness was going to burst a lot sooner than I thought.
"All right, okay," Matthew said. "We'll be there."
"Great. Thanks." Joe left, casting a strange glace over his shoulder before he went.
Matthew shut the door and came back over to the bed.
"That was weird, right?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "Definitely weird. I guess we better find our phones to see what the hell is going on."
The sense of calm serenity I'd been basking in was smothered by worry as I prepared for the latest disaster.
Eight
At the stroke of midnight Matthew and I were waiting in a closed bar at the hotel. He was in dark jeans and a nice shirt, and I'd thrown on a cute dress to look "kinda nice" as requested in Joe's mysterious text messages. Matthew had been telling me all about the really awkward evening he'd spent with my brother, which explained another mystery. I was still laughing when we met up with the others, similarly attired. We headed into the bar together and assembled in the center of the room. Dex, Becca and Rick were roaming around. Julia and I stood together, speculating about what was going on.
"You don't have any idea?" I asked the stunning redhead.
"No. I know Liss got into town this evening. Maybe this has to do with her?"
"Maybe. But why would I need to be here? I've only met the girl like twice."
"Fuck if I know. But there's a bottle of tequila with my name on it upstairs and I'd really like to get back to it." She cast a look at Becca, who was smoothing her long blond ponytail. Julia took my hand and dragged me over to the other woman. "What's going on, Becca? You know everything. Spill."
Becca grinned. "Not this time. Joe asked me to book this place for the night but that's all I got."
"Fuck. Well, if he doesn't show in the next five minutes I'm out. I want to go dancing."
