by Anthology
Sydney didn’t shy away from his spanking, didn’t resist or ask him to stop. She shuddered and begged, pleading for more. More of everything. She was so close. So close to coming.
Chas must have recognized it because he pressed two fingers into her pussy, driving them in with one hard thrust. Then he curved them, finding her G-spot.
Sydney gripped the table, her knuckles going white as she held on. Held her breath. Fought like the devil to resist.
“Sydney—” He was going to command her to come.
“Please. No. Not like this.”
He stopped instantly. She’d said it wrong. He started to withdraw his fingers, but she closed her legs around his hand tightly. “No! Don’t leave me.”
“I don’t understand. What do you—”
“Gag me.”
“What?”
“Goddammit, Chas. I’m going to scream. There’s no way I can do this quietly. Your gran…”
He didn’t question her further. She watched him walk to his dresser, his image fuzzy due to the tears and pulsing throb between her legs.
Pulling out a clean cotton t-shirt, Chas ripped it into a long strip. Tying a knot in the middle, he returned to her and wrapped it around her head. Sydney shook her head slightly to test it, but she couldn’t dislodge it. He moved around the table and knelt so that she could see his face.
“If you want me to stop, hold up two fingers, like this.” He imitated the gesture. “That’s how I know you’re scared or hurting. Understand?”
She nodded, though she wasn’t concerned with sign language. She was too close to coming to give a shit about anything. God, she’d never considered herself a particularly passionate woman. At best she would have said she was slightly better than frigid. Now she realized just how poorly she’d chosen her lovers.
“Jesus, Sydney. If I’d known this all those years ago, I never would have been able to walk away from you.”
Returning to his spot behind her, he pushed her legs apart, shoving the same two fingers inside her pussy. She jerked and resumed her grip on the table. The gag in her mouth muffled her cries, so she stopped holding them back.
He thrust in a dozen or so times, then used his free hand to reach around her chest. She pushed away from the table so he could find what he wanted. Chas pinched her nipple tightly between his forefinger and thumb. Last week, he’d introduced her to nipple clamps. The tight pinch of the toy had set her off like a firecracker. He imitated the same pressure now and it had the same result.
Sydney shook, the table sliding a few inches across the floor as her orgasm overtook her. She was glad she’d asked for the gag because there was no way his gran would have mistaken the sounds coming out of her mouth.
This time she wasn’t holding back.
Chas didn’t acknowledge her orgasm; rather, he continued to stroke her with his fingers. He kept the sparks flashing, giving her no time to recover, to regain her wits. “I love the way your inner muscles clench against my fingers. I can’t wait until it’s my cock you’re squeezing like that. Should we see if we can make you scream again?”
Suddenly the gag didn’t seem like such a great idea. Chas was teasing her, toying with her body, dragging her back to the precipice. She was barely clinging to her sanity. And then he slowed his fingers, holding her back from what she needed most. If she’d had her voice, Sydney would have cussed him out, demanded that second climax.
“I want you to come, Sydney. Want you to know that I’m going to push you to the edge, watch you fall apart, then let you pull yourself together so I can do it all over again. How many times can you come in a night? Three, four, ten? How many times can I bring you here?”
She shivered at the thought as she pressed her forehead against the cool table and silently willed him to do it. Mentally, she screamed, “Bring it on!”
And then, he did.
Chas pressed his fingers deep, hard, and her orgasm hit her like a freight train, rattling her bones. She clenched her teeth into the gag in her mouth as she let the overpowering sensations consume her.
Chas held still after this orgasm. She felt his eyes on her, knew he was studying her reactions. He was using her responses against her. It was heady, beautiful. Exhausting. Her eyes drifted closed, but opened once more when she heard Chas chuckle.
“Oh no, you don’t. The night is still young.”
Sydney whimpered when he slowly pulled his fingers out of her pussy. She started to close her legs, intent on trapping him, but he was wise to that trick. He pressed his legs against the inside of hers, holding her open.
His large palm encircled her upper arm as he helped her stand on weak legs. “Time to move to the bed.”
She let him half lead, half drag her to the large mattress. She dropped onto it with the grace of a tipsy elephant.
She started to lift her hands to the gag, to remove it, but Chas shook his head. “No. Leave it. You’re not finished screaming.”
She shifted in the bed until she lay on her back in the center of it. Chas made no move to join her.
He reached for the buttons on his jeans, tugging the denim down. For a moment, she was surprised to realize he was still dressed. Then he pulled his t-shirt over his head and gave Sydney a moment to study his naked form. Had he lived in the Renaissance, the great artists would have fought to sculpt him and women would have swooned. As it was, he already appeared to be chiseled from stone, the poster child for male perfection. From his six-pack to his broad muscles to his firm ass to his thick, long cock, everything about him appealed to her.
She let her eyes fall on the tattoos on his upper arms. He’d gotten them shortly after joining the Marines, during the time when they’d been apart, their friendship in tatters. She remembered the first time she’d seen them. Gran had invited Sydney along on a small family picnic by the lake. Chas had pulled his shirt off, tossing it to his towel on the sandy beach. He’d turned to face her when she’d gasped, realizing she had spotted the U.S.M.C initials, flanked by the Corp’s motto of Semper Fidelis on his upper right arm and an eagle on the left arm with the word Strength. Since then, he’d added a smaller tattoo to his upper right pec. It simply said Never Forget, with a cross containing the initials of the two friends he’d lost.
Chas walked to his closet and pulled out a bag. Sydney watched as he removed a tube of lubrication. She knew what he intended to do with it. She was ready.
Once he returned to the bed, he opened the nightstand drawer and grabbed a condom. “Hands and knees. Now.”
Sydney complied instantly. After a month together, she no longer paused to consider his requests. He asked and she gave. The mattress shifted under Chas’ weight as he forced her knees apart so he could kneel between her legs. He stroked her ass, the skin still sensitive from the spanking he’d given her. She hissed in a breath.
“Looks sore. Suspect sitting won’t be comfortable for you tomorrow.”
She glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. He grinned, and then reached for the gag. “I hate not hearing your smartass replies.”
Sydney gave him a saucy grin. “All I was going to say was, lucky for me I have a job that requires I stand all day.”
He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on each cheek of her ass. “You’re perfect for me, Syd. You always have been.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Took you long enough to figure that out.”
Chas ran one finger along her spine, his eyes following the path until he stopped just at the edge of the slit between her legs. “You’re right. It took me too long. What do you say we make up for all that lost time?”
She smiled, her breathy reply showing how much his gentle touches were affecting her. “Sounds good to me.”
He captured her gaze, his face growing stern. “Eyes forward. And keep them there.”
Her pussy clenched with need at his command. Shit. Her body’s responses to his dominance seemed to grow stronger with each experience. It was exciting, but a little bit frightening a
s well.
How far would he take her? How far would she follow? She genuinely didn’t know and when Chas tugged her ass cheeks apart, she stopped caring.
Chas reached forward with one hand and pressed at the nape of her neck, pushing her head down. “Rest on your elbows.”
She dropped lower. When he touched her anus, she sucked in a breath and held it. Once again, she was overwhelmed by emotions—excitement, fear, arousal, hunger. Chas was adept at pulling each feeling out. Like a musician with his guitar, he knew how to strum the chords, how to pluck each string to find the perfect sound.
The breath she’d been holding burst out when he placed the tube at her anus and squeezed some of the cold gel inside. He worked the lubrication deep with one, then two fingers. Like sex, he found a rhythm and she responded to it. Her fears quickly faded as she began to anticipate his thrusts. She moved in time with him, trying to draw him deeper into her body.
She hadn’t anticipated enjoying anal sex. After all, the sensations were definitely different, not as pronounced as when Chas fucked her pussy. She certainly didn’t expect to become this aroused.
Once he’d insured her body was slick enough to accept him, he withdrew his fingers. She rested her forehead on the pillow beneath her and fought to calm her breathing as the sound of him opening the condom drifted to her ears.
Chas didn’t keep her waiting for long. Within seconds, he had the condom on and his cock was there, nudging against her anus, seeking entrance.
Sydney held perfectly still. Despite the three fingers he’d stretched her with, his cock was going to be a much tighter fit. She closed her eyes, her body tense once more.
“Relax, Sydney. And breathe.”
“I’m trying.”
He ran his hand through her hair, the touch soothing, sweet. “Try harder. If it hurts, if you don’t like it, you only have to say stop.”
She didn’t need to hear the words, though she appreciated his reassurances. “I know.”
“Then breathe.”
She did as he asked and was surprised when more of his cock slid in, easier. She took another deep breath and again, he was able to move deeper. Chas never sought to speed things up, didn’t push her to accept more than she was able. He took his time, entering her slowly.
And then…he was there. Buried to the hilt. Her ass felt full, but it wasn’t painful. He held still for several moments, allowing her to adjust, and she was amazed by his restraint. His patience.
She tended to want to rush them straight to the good part, night after night, racing toward him like a kid on Christmas morning, tearing through the wrapping paper, not bothering to enjoy the hidden treasure before rushing on to the next gift.
Tonight, she’d taken heedlessly, reaching for climax after climax while continually grabbing for more. It was Chas who’d forced her to slow down, to appreciate the beauty of them. He was doing the same now.
Most incredible was, he hadn’t come yet. Not once.
“Chas,” she whispered.
He responded to the unanswered request, not with words, but with action. He withdrew until just the head of his cock remained buried and then he thrust back in. Sydney cried out at the force, the impact. He repeated the motion, over and over, as stars flew before her eyes.
She lifted up to her hands, needing more friction. More.
She met him thrust for thrust, her back arching in pure animalistic need. Chas gripped her waist firmly, used his hold to pull her ass against him, to drive him even deeper.
The room became unbearably hot, muggy, sweaty. The only sounds were those of their quiet moans as his flesh pounded against hers. Chas’ fingers tightened, telling her he was close.
She wanted them to get there together. Reaching down, she stroked her clit with her fingers, just once. Chas reached around her and tugged her hand away. “No. That’s mine.” He’d promised she’d never have to find her own pleasure again and he’d held true to that promise. He stroked her clit again. And again.
And then, she was there. She dropped her face into the pillow, her loud “Ahhh!” muffled by the soft down.
Chas stiffened behind her as his own climax erupted in a vast array of curse words and sweet nothings. “Fuck” was followed by “perfect”. “Jesus Christ” came on the heels of “God, I love you”.
He withdrew slowly, tugging the condom off and dropping it to the floor by the bed.
She chuckled. “Such a guy.”
“Why?”
“That’s gross.”
He lifted his shoulders nonchalantly. “I’ll clean it up tomorrow.”
She didn’t bother to reprimand him further because God knew she wasn’t getting up anytime soon. Every muscle in her body ached and she was fairly certain she could sleep until noon...the day after tomorrow, without rousing.
They lay together in quiet contentment, neither saying a word, content to simply hold hands, until they both gave in to sleep.
Sydney startled awake some time later. It was still dark outside, the room dimly lit by a thin stream of light provided from the bathroom, the door slightly ajar.
Chas sat with his back to her, his head in his hands. His shoulders rose and fell as if he’d run a race.
“Chas?”
He jerked at the sound of her voice and for a moment she got the impression he didn’t remember she was there. She sat up and placed her hand on his bare back, shocked to find his skin slick with a cold sweat.
“Are you sick?”
He shook his head, but the hollow sound in his voice gave her no comfort. “No. I’m okay, Syd. Go back to sleep.”
She wasn’t satisfied by his answer. “Bad dream?”
He didn’t reply.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No. It’s nothing. Really.”
Sydney wanted to press him further, but his tone told her he wouldn’t say anything more. Which meant he was clearly remembering something bad.
She wished he would confide in her. Every now and then, a shadow seemed to fall over him and she sensed he was in some dark place. But no amount of prodding on her part could convince him to share his fears or his pain with her.
So the silence drove a wedge between them. Sydney wondered how much distance their relationship could withstand. She wasn’t the type of woman to let things like this lie, but Chas was reluctant to let her in. That hurt. A lot.
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
Chas turned, the light hitting his face. She sucked in a breath at the pure anguish in his expression. She only got that tiny glimpse of how deeply his pain ran before he shuttered the emotions and shut her out. Again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not doing anything. Just sitting here.”
She swallowed heavily. A trace of anger laced his words and she decided to let the subject drop. She didn’t want to start an argument, didn’t want to put any more stress on him. It was clear he was fighting some pretty big demons on his own.
“Okay.” She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. He didn’t pull away from her, but she could feel how tensely he was holding himself, his jaw rigid as if he were clenching his teeth together.
Sydney looked at him for a few moments, trying to figure out what she should do next. Chas made the decision for her.
“Go back to sleep, Syd.”
She lay down, waiting for him to join her. Instead, he rose and walked to the bathroom.
She listened as he turned on the shower. Sydney picked her cell up from the nightstand and glanced at the time. Four a.m.
She sighed. It would appear neither one of them would be getting any more sleep tonight.
Chapter Seven
Sydney stood outside the door to Tyson’s office two weeks later. Chas’ bad dreams and sleeplessness had gotten worse as Sydney woke up every morning to find herself alone in bed, Chas sitting in a chair, his face haunted. He continued to proclaim it was nothing, dismissing her concerns out of hand, offering her no
insight to what was bothering him.
She’d hit her limit this morning and decided to talk to Tyson before heading in to work the afternoon shift at the restaurant. His nurse waved her on when she walked in, telling her Tyson was taking lunch at his desk. Sydney didn’t stop by often when he was at work, but Tyson’s door had always been open to her when she did. She took a deep breath and knocked.
“Come in.”
Sydney walked in and had only just closed the door behind her when Tyson saw her and scowled. The man had a sixth sense when it came to family. They used to joke about it at family occasions, how eerie it was that Tyson could take one look at someone he loved and know exactly what they were feeling.
“What’s wrong?” Tyson asked as she approached him.
“How do you know anything’s wrong?”
“Because you have dark circles under your eyes that tell me you haven’t been sleeping. And you never visit me out of the blue. So what’s going on?”
Sydney plopped down into the seat opposite him, his desk separating them. “Sorry. About not visiting you for social reasons. Makes me feel sort of rude about dropping in now.”
Tyson laughed. “I love when you drop in, even if it is because you want something. I’m one of the few males in a family that is predominantly female. I’m used to needy women.”
Sydney picked up a pen from his desk and lobbed it at him as Tyson chuckled and dodged. “Asshole,” she said, affectionately.
“Trouble in paradise with Chas? Because if so, I really think you picked the wrong cousin to talk to. My dating track record sucks…as you well know.”
“Chas and I are doing great.” Even as she said it, Sydney felt her throat close up on the lie.
Tyson recognized the fib immediately. “Apparently not. Are you fighting?”
“No. No. It’s nothing like that. I’m worried about him.”
“Chas?” Tyson, Evan and Chas had been friends growing up, the three of them playing on the same little league team for years. “I’ll admit I haven’t seen much of him since his welcome home party, but he seemed okay there. What’s going on? Is he sick?”
