“Okay,” Anna said, shifting her feet. “Well, thanks for coming and helping out today.”
Sam gave her a weak smile before slamming the bed of the truck. He picked up a few shovels, throwing them on top of the pile of salt, grass, and soil in his truck before walking up to her, pulling her against him, and kissing her quickly. “Anytime,” he said, moving toward his car. “Go relax. Take a leg and hip bath in that ridiculous tub,” he said and she laughed. He had a good memory. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. Take it easy. You’ve earned it.”
“I’ll try,” she said and he smiled at her, climbing into his truck.
Anna walked to the bathroom, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. The only reason she was moving was the promise of pizza. It took her close to an hour to get bathed and dressed in black yoga pants and a pink tank top. It wasn’t fancy but she didn’t have it in her to throw on another tight dress.
She made her way to town just a few minutes before she was due to get to Eric’s, deciding not to fall into the habit of the inhabitants of Stars Landing and showing up obnoxiously early.
She parked her car outside his garage, feeling nerves settle in her belly as she made her way up the staircase to Eric’s apartment. There was a part of her that felt like she shouldn’t be there after having gotten intimate with Sam again. It felt weird. Like she was being dishonest.
A part of her wanted to reach out to her mother. Viv would be the first one to tell her that you had to test drive a car before you bought it. You had to make sure it handled well and wouldn’t break down. Anna laughed recalling that conversation her mother had given her when she turned sixteen, along with placing a fishbowl full of colorful condom wrappers onto the bathroom counter. “Just use them, no questions asked,” she had said and turned out being the only one to make the supply deplete.
Viv would tell her that she wasn’t in a relationship. Dating meant dating around, seeing more than one person to compare and contrast and make an educated decision. She was under no obligation to tell either guy about the other one. And she certainly didn’t have to feel guilty for feeling attracted to both of them.
Eric answered the door within a few seconds of her knocking in baggy gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt. Barefoot again. His hair was still damp from showering, brushing his forehead slightly.
Viv would tell her to pick Eric, she realized with blazing clarity.
“Hey baby,” he said, moving out of her way so she could walk in. He had cleaned his apartment she realized and wanted to laugh. Shoes and newspaper adverts had been put away and the floors looked swept and there was the faint smell of bleach and lemon, she assumed from the bathroom. Anna inhaled a deep breath and Eric laughed. “Yeah I put the pizza in the oven to keep it warm. Smells good, huh?”
Anna put a hand to her growling stomach. “I’m starving,” she admitted.
“Good,” Eric said walking to the kitchen and taking a lid off a put on the burner. “Because I made macaroni and cheese and,” he said, peeking in the oven. “mozzarella sticks which are starting to explode a little.”
“You’re amazing,” she said, moving next to him to look at the breading of the mozzarella sticks breaking open and warm cheese oozing out. “So why isn’t all of this one a plate right now?” she asked and Eric chuckled, reaching for an oven glove and pulling the pizza and tray of mozzarella sticks out and placing them on top of the stove.
“Go sit down,” he said, reaching for plates. “there is a pile of movies on the coffee table. Pick which one you want to watch first.”
Anna walked over to the couch, slipping out of her shoes so she could sit cross-legged. “Oh my god,” she said, grabbing a DVD box and holding it out to him. “this is a goth opera. You have a goth opera.”
Eric smiled, coming toward her with a plate and bottle of beer. “I had to see what, exactly, a goth opera is,” he said, handing her the plate and putting the bottle on the table. Without a coaster, she realized and Viv would have had a stroke. He took the DVD out of her hand and turned to put it in the player. “It’s actually really interesting if a bit cheesy.”
They sat down to watch it, Anna making him rewind the music scenes until she learned the lyrics to the songs. “It’s important to know what they’re saying,” she defended herself with Eric raised a brow at her insisting to rewind a particular song five times.
Before she realized it, she had devoured half the pizza, four mozzarella sticks, and two servings of macaroni and cheese. She put her empty plate on the coffee table and reached for her drink.
“You’re a really impressive eater,” he commented, putting his own plate down and putting an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her closer to his side. Anna uncrossed her legs, moving them across Eric’s lap. Her head rested against his chest and the contact felt like the most natural thing in the world.
The movie went to credits and neither of them reached to turn it off. Eric took her empty beer and put it with his on the table. He sat back, his fingers absentmindedly running through her hair. His other hand landed on her hip.
She turned her head slightly, her face brushing under his chin. She breathed deep against him as the hand on his hip started to stoke upward, stopping just under the band of her bra before moving back downward. When her hand clutched against the fabric over his chest, his hand slipped up under her shirt, repeating the same motion over and over on her bare skin.
Anna sighed, amazed how easily her body responded to any kind of touch. Then his fingers stayed up, tracing the lower band of her bra making her skin feel like it was tingling.
“This okay?” he asked.
She nodded against his chest. “Mmhm,” she murmured.
His fingers moved upward, slipping between her breasts and running the length of the flesh above the cups. His other hand slid down her back, reaching under the fabric and unfastening her clasps with three fingers and impressive ease. He reached up her sleeves, pulling the straps out and she pulled her arms free. Then the hand above her breasts reached down, pulling the loosened fabric and tossing it aside.
Anna pulled her thighs together, feeling desire building deep in her center. Eric’s hand moved slowly up her belly, stopping on her rib cage for a second. Then his fingertips just barely brushed the delicate underside of her breasts. She moaned quietly, squirming against him. Then his fingers moved upward, continuing a whisper-light touch across her nipples until they were hard and straining, trying to get touched. But Eric’s touch remained relentlessly teasing.
Anna turned her face upward, her eyes heavy-lidded. Eric’s eyes were hooded, looking down at her, her smiled slightly. “You’re so sensitive,” he told her. “All I have to do is this,” he said and his thumb grazed the peak of her nipple. Anna closed her eyes and whimpered. “and you’re responding. It’s ridiculously hot,” he told her, leaning down and kissing her softly.
His hands dipped to her waist, grabbing the fabric of her shirt and pulling it up over her head. Anna pulled backward, moving to lay against the couch. Eric slipped into the small space between her and the back couch cushions, his face coming down to her neck. His tongue worked its way down the side of her neck as his hand went up to cup her breast.
She arched against the soft fabric of the sofa, her hips turning toward his. She turned to lie facing him, both on their sides. Her hands found the bottom of his shirt, slipping underneath to touch his warm skin.
Eric’s hand went around her to grab her ass, pulling her against him. Anna could feel his hardness straining through the forgiving fabric of his sweatpants. She shifted upward and brought her softness down against him. His breath hissed out of him and she groaned at the contact. She moved her hips tentatively against him, her body parting for him to push against her.
Her breath came out in shallow huffs as she moved up and down against him. Eric grunted, his hand grabbing her leg and pushing it off of his hip. He lifted himself upward, rolling her back onto her back and positioning himself on top of her. She gasped, her hands g
rabbing for his hips as he pushed his erection against her core. She felt the whole hard outline of him push rough against her pants fabric, parting her and sliding against her desire.
Eric pushed himself up on his arms, looking down at her with very small eyes. She reached a hand up toward his neck, pulling his face down to hers and kissing him hungrily. Her legs went up around his hips, wrapping across his body as she brought her hips up to meet his.
She felt her climax building, a clawing overwhelming urge for fulfillment. She thrust her hips against his, pulling him tighter with her legs. She heard Eric groan, pushing roughly against her, his speed fast and frantic. Her breath caught suddenly in her chest, unable to inhale or exhale as her orgasm slammed into her body. Her legs shook around him as her arms pulling him against her, moaning as her body crashed through her climax.
Her legs fell from around his back, feeling weak and shaky. Eric leaned forward, kissing her across her neck and upward, finding her lips and kissing her softly before slipping his tongue inside her mouth, lazily toying with hers.
Anna’s fingers grabbed at his back again, her legs going up on either side of his hips. Eric chuckled quietly against her cheek. “Ready again already?” he asked, moving off of her body. He knelt between her legs, grabbing the fabric of her pants and panties and pulling them downward. He fumbled, trying to free her feet and she giggled.
Once off, her thighs snapped together, blocking him from looking straight at her wet softness. Eric sat back on his heels, reaching out and running his fingers up and down the sides of her thighs and calves, patient. Waiting for her to overcome her shyness. Anna sighed, her legs pushing forward, outstretching toward the end of the couch, parting around Eric‘s body.
He continued his exploration, but moved further upward, brushing her hipbones and meeting at the center of her lower belly. On the next stroke upward, his fingers moved toward the inside of her thighs, the skin soft and warm. She found her legs staying close together but Eric’s hands stopped on her belly. One finger slipped downward, brushing the top of her sex before carefully slipping down between her delicate folds.
“You’re so wet for me baby,” he said, his voice husky. His finger moved downward once then up, toying with the area around her clit but not touching the sensitive point. A groan wretched its way out of her lips and her legs fell open to his gentle exploration.
Eric smiled. “That’s better,” he said, his free hand reaching out to hold hers. “Now I can do this,” he said, three of his finger moving lower. They stopped at her slick entrance, pushing against her but not penetrating. His fingers pulsed against her slowly and hard.
Anna whimpered, rising up to him. Wanting more. Wanting something she wasn’t sure she was familiar with. Wanting to feel a fullness inside, she realized. “Eric…” she started, licking her dry lips.
“No not yet, baby,” he answered her silent question.
Anna sighed, leaning back down against the cushion in frustration. Eric laughed down at her, his eyes wicked as he pressed against her, teasing at what she wanted but refusing to give it to her. Anna smiled up at him, suddenly pushing herself up to a seated position. Eric’s eyebrow quirked for a second before his eyes widened, shocked, as her hand reached out toward him, massaging the tip of his cock over the fabric of his pants.
A strange, strangled laugh escaped him, his forehead leaning forward and landing on top of her head. Emboldened, her hand snaked upward and under the material. She realized with a feeling of shocked amazement that he didn’t have any underwear on. Her fingers found his long, hard shaft and grabbed it tightly, stroking up and down at a devastatingly slow pace.
Eric looked down at her and laughed under his breath. “You’re evil,” he said.
Anna kept stroking him, his head falling back with his eyes closed. His hand stilled against her, moving to form a fist against her thigh as she stoked his desire.
He reached up suddenly, pulling his shirt over his head. He gently pushed her down against the couch, pulling each leg out of his pants and quickly lowering himself on top of her.
Anna felt his cock push against her sensitive inner thigh. Her body tensed. This was it, she realized with clarity. They were both fully naked. He was on top of her. They were going to have sex.
Eric kissed her hungrily, finding her lips pliant and unmoving underneath his. He pushed himself up slightly, looking down at her face. Her eyes were tightly closed, her hands in fists at her side. “Anna,” he said quietly. “Anna look at me.” She opened her eyes slowly, feeling uncertainty, nervousness, and the fear of the unknown churn around inside her. A strange toxic combination that had her feeling nauseated. Eric’s eyes lost some of their intensity, his lips moved into a firm, straight line. “You don’t want it to be me, do you?”
Anna felt something inside of herself break open. A new kind of clarity. Something she was trying to keep buried. She knew what she wanted. Who she really wanted.
Eric nodded numbly, moving away from her. He stood up quickly, pulling his pants back up his hips. He sat down on the far and of the couch, elbows on his knees, and head in in hands.
Anna laid there still for a moment, feeling like she had just fell off a cliff. She looked up at Eric, a part of her relieved, but a bigger part of her full of regret. If there was one thing she knew to be unfair, it was to string somebody along. Even a womanizer like Eric O’reilly deserved more respect than that.
She sat up slowly, unfolding her body like a cat from sleep, barely disturbing the fabric below her. She scooted closer to Eric’s side.
“Eric,” she said quietly.
Eric took a deep breath, releasing his head from his head and turning slightly to look at her. There were still the traces of desire there but, more prominently, she saw a disappointment and a deep sadness. She felt realization dawn on her fast and sharp. Eric had feelings for her. Not just the pretty-newcomer-I-want-to-sleep-with feelings, but actual genuine feelings for her as a person.
He shook his head at the regret in her eyes. “It’s okay, baby.”
“It’s really not,” she said, her hand reaching for his. “I never meant to…”
“Anna,” he cut her off. “judging by that weird look in your eye, I don’t think you even knew.” At her perplexed look he laughed slightly. “I don’t think you realized you wanted him.”
“I wanted you too,” she said, her gaze falling from his.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “but not the same way.”
“It should be you,” she said, looking up at him with small smile. “You make more sense.”
Eric laughed, grabbing her bra and shirt and handing them to her. “How do you figure?” he asked, reaching for his beer. “I’m a whore. You’re a virgin.” At her shocked eyes, he laughed, a real full laugh. “Oh, baby you didn’t really think I didn’t know did you?”
“God, it’s that obvious?” she asked, clasping her bra shut.
“Yes, it’s that obvious.”
“Gee great,” she sulked, starting to stand, but stopping suddenly. Eric chuckled, turning his face away so she could locate her panties.
“It’s not a bad thing,” he said, turning back to her. At her outrage, he snorted. “Your naughty bits are covered,” he said and enjoyed the blush rising in her cheeks. Enjoying her embarrassment, he winked at her. “They’re very nice naughty bits if I do say so myself.”
“Oh my god shut up,” she said, her face hot. She pulled her pants up her legs before sitting back down next to him.
“He’s a good guy,” Eric said unexpectedly. “Much better than I am.”
Anna leaned her head against his shoulder. “You sell yourself short,” she told him. “You’re a lot better than you are willing to believe.” Eric’s cheek rested on her hair. “I really really liked you,” she said, a sadness in her voice.
“But you love him,” Eric said.
“What,” Anna said, sitting up straight. “I don’t love him.”
Eric smiled at her, his old, familiar c
harming smile. He patted her leg. “Okay.”
“What the heck am I supposed to do now?” she asked to herself.
Eric stood up, walking to the fridge and pulling out two more beers. “Go to him, strip naked and tell him to ravish you,” he suggested and she laughed. He handed her the beer. “You go to him,” he said simply, shrugging.
“What if he doesn’t want me?” she said, feeling insecure. “Or when I’m about to have sex with him, I realize it was you along?” she asked, smiling.
“In that case,” Eric said, grinning widely. “You come right back here and I’ll show you all the reasons I have such an awful reputation.”
Anna felt her core clench at the idea, surprised she was still attracted to him when she finally realized her true feelings.
“Oh don’t give me that look,” Eric shook his head. “or I’m gonna forget that I am being the bigger man here and ravish you myself.”
Anna laughed, a silly happy sound. She recovered, smiling up at him. “I love you, Eric,” she admitted, her voice soft, the way it was when you tell a family member or friend you love them.
“I love you too,” he said, his voice deep and his eyes fixed on her and sad.
Anna stood up and closed the space between them in two steps. She slipped her arms around his waist, settling her face against his chest. It took a few second but his arms went around her, squeezing her so tightly she had trouble sucking in air. He held her for a long time.
The sound of a horn below pulled them apart. Eric walked over to the window, pulling the blind open and looking out. “Duty calls,” he said, shrugging.
Anna reached for his shirt, throwing it to him. “Hey,” she called as he started toward the door.
“Yeah?”
“We can still see each other, right?”
Eric walked back over, putting his hands on her shoulder and looking at her, uncharacteristically serious. “You can see me anytime you want no matter what, okay?”
His face demanded response. She smiled at him. “Okay. Now go to work,” she said, pushing him toward the door and following him down the stairs.
What The Heart Wants Page 14
