‘I commend you on your efforts.’
Rei let out a gusty laugh. ‘Thanks to those efforts, I think it’s safe to say that our friendship has been effectively ruined.’
He brushed his lips over hers. ‘Whatever. We’ll make new friends.’
‘Fair enough.’ She slipped her fingers inside the back pockets of his jeans. ‘Maybe next time we can do this without your clothes on, and you can try your hand at seducing me, cowboy.’
‘I think that can be arranged.’
She rolled out from beneath him and reached for her corset as if to dress, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him. ‘Now that I think about it, I don’t know how I feel about other people seeing the photos we took today,’ he murmured. ‘What exactly are you planning on being famous for again?’
She grinned as she gave him a tap on his nose with her fingertip. ‘Getting exactly what I want.’
The Boy Across the Hall
Kathleen Tudor
Kaylee shifted the grocery bags on her hips and started up the second flight of stairs. Her frown turned to a smile, however, when she saw Arthur coming down from the third-floor landing with some sort of messenger bag slung over his shoulder. ‘Arthur!’ she exclaimed, pleased as always to see him. He was sexy in a geeky sort of way, always blushing or stammering when he saw her, but she didn’t mind. She loved the way his freckles made him look boyish, and the way his brown hair always looked like he’d just run his hands through it. And she loved those sexy green eyes that he hid behind his glasses.
‘Oh, uh, good afternoon, Kaylee,’ he said, sliding to one side as if to put as much distance between them as possible. At first she’d thought he hated her, but she was starting to realise that he was just painfully shy.
‘Help me carry my groceries?’ she asked, cocking one hip at him in an invitation to take the bag balanced there. He looked startled, as if he knew he should have offered and was surprised that he hadn’t done so, and reached for the bag. He almost spilled it in his haste, but Kaylee held it steady until he took it from her, and then shifted her other bag to the centre and continued up the stairs with Arthur trailing after.
He waited patiently as she unlocked her door, then followed her inside. Kaylee set her bag down and started to put things away. ‘Would you like something to drink?’ she asked, smiling at him. Arthur was still standing awkwardly just inside the doorway holding her second bag.
‘Um, no, I’d better be going. Thank you.’ He stepped forward quickly and set the bag down on the counter beside the first one, then nodded to her and practically fled.
Kaylee sighed as she crossed the room to shut the door behind him. She’d tried being friendly and patient, but Arthur was sort of lost in his own world and oblivious to her interest. And she was interested. There was something about him that warmed her, and in those rare moments when he forgot to be nervous and actually interacted with her, it seemed like he was interested, too.
So how to get him out of his shell …
* * *
Arthur could have kicked himself as he went down the apartment building stairs, but he waited until he got outside to swear softly about it. Kaylee was smart, gorgeous and had the best smile, which she freely offered to him whenever they ran into one another. He’d had a crush on her since she first moved in several months before, and he’d been trying to work up the courage to ask her out practically ever since.
He sighed and adjusted his satchel as he walked the half-block to the deli where he’d planned to spend the afternoon. He’d thought Kaylee was just being polite, but in retrospect maybe she’d wanted to hang out with him. He should have said yes, and left only if things got awkward. Then he sighed in resignation. More awkward, he admitted to himself.
He sat down with his sandwich and pulled out his tablet. He was planning to spend most of this afternoon playing with a couple of logo designs for a client and working up sketches for a third. As he toyed with the designs, his mind wandered back to Kaylee. She’d looked so sweet and inviting, standing there with ice-cream in her hands and a smile on her face, that all he’d been able to think about was how soft her lips would be, or how small and warm she would feel if he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.
He’d never really been bold, but he knew his confidence had been even lower since his last girlfriend. She hadn’t just broken his heart, she’d eviscerated him, and he was having a hard time bouncing back. Somehow he was going to have to figure out how to get past that hurdle, though. A gorgeous girl like Kaylee wasn’t going to stay single for long in this city, and the last thing he wanted was to watch her walk up the stairs with some other guy.
When he got home in the early evening, he found a piece of paper just inside his door. He unfolded it to find a home-printed invitation. Classy, he thought, sort of cookie-cutter, but understated and the colours are good.
The invitation stated that he was invited to a party at the home of Kaylee Thomas to celebrate ‘The Joy of Living – Come Play with Me!’ at 7 p.m. that Friday. She’d filled in all of her information, and he wondered if he’d been a last-minute afterthought because he’d run into her, or if she’d planned to invite him all along. He considered saying no, just to avoid offending her, but of the two options – ‘Yes, I’ll be there’ or ‘No, count me out’ – she’d checked the ‘yes’ option with a large, sparkly purple mark.
He drew a smiley face next to her mark with a handy green pen, then stepped out into the hall and slid the invitation under her door. OK, Kaylee, you got me.
He would put a move on her at the party. But no, that was too obvious, and there might be too many strangers there – and too many of her friends getting between them. He bit his lip as he shut his apartment door and leaned back against it. There had to be a way to ask her out at the party without seeming like a jerk.
When he realised what he had to do, it struck him as so obvious that he was shocked it hadn’t occurred to him before.
* * *
Kaylee had dinner set to go and the house cleaned by early afternoon on Friday. She’d taken the day off because she knew she’d be too excited to work, and, sure enough, her nerves were dancing as she waited for the hours to tick by. She was scrubbing the counters for the second time when a knock at her door startled her so badly that she jumped and dropped her sponge.
She glanced quickly at the kitchen clock, but it was only 6.30. Could a salesman have got into their building? She picked up the sponge and tossed it in the sink, stripped off her rubber gloves and went to check the peephole, where she was surprised to see Arthur standing and looking especially handsome in a button-down shirt.
As soon as she opened the door he whisked a bouquet of flowers from behind his back, and Kaylee couldn’t help giving a girly purr of appreciation as she took them. She buried her face in the fragrant blooms, inhaling deeply as she enjoyed the scents of lilies and carnations. When she looked up again, Arthur laughed.
‘You have pollen all over your nose,’ he said, and reached up unselfconsciously to brush it away from her nose and cheeks. She froze, holding perfectly still as if to move would be to scare him away.
‘You’re early,’ she finally said, smiling at him to show that she didn’t mind.
‘Oh! I wanted to bring the flowers over and ask if you needed any help, you know, getting things ready.’ He shuffled his feet, and Kaylee stepped out of the doorway and gestured him in before answering.
When the door was safely shut behind her, Kaylee leaned against it and smiled. ‘Well, I have been getting things ready all day, so I think I’m pretty much set. But now that everyone’s here, we can get the party started early.’
Arthur looked worried as he looked around the apartment. ‘People are already here? I thought half an hour would be early enough! I wanted to ask you out before anyone else showed up.’ All of a sudden he seemed to realise what he had said, and his face went slowly red as he turned to stare at her.
Kaylee laughed, delighted, and went
to find a vase for her flowers. ‘You did?’
‘Well, yeah.’ He paused, then added, ‘I’ve had a crush on you since you moved in here, but I never really knew what to say to you.’ He looked around again, then followed her into the little kitchen area.
‘That would have been a good place to start,’ she pointed out. She trimmed the stems and arranged the flowers, cheered and delighted by the bright colours. ‘Lilies are my favourites, by the way. Thank you.’
‘I’ll remember. I thought you said everyone was here. Where are they?’ He looked around the small one-bedroom as if he were afraid that a dozen people were going to pop out of the closet.
‘I got sick of waiting for you to work up the courage, so I decided to send a little invitation of my own. You are the party, Arthur.’ She moved out of the tiny kitchen and shrugged, suddenly nervous. ‘If you want to be.’
Arthur laughed and stepped closer, and suddenly those sexy green eyes were smouldering. He touched the tip of his nose to hers, their eyes locked, and then he slowly tipped his head and brought his mouth to hers.
Kaylee relaxed into the kiss, letting the warmth of it flow over her from head to toe, warming something inside that she hadn’t even realised was in need of warming. When he turned the heat up, taking the kiss from a sweet simmer to something deliciously spicy, Kaylee followed his lead, nipping at his lower lip to encourage the aggressive move.
When they pulled apart again, both of them were breathing heavily. ‘I have fish ready to bake,’ she said. ‘And wine. I have wine, if you’d like some.’
‘Wine would be good,’ Arthur said, and the way he moved was no longer nervous and shy but confident and even slightly suggestive. Kaylee stepped back into the kitchen to pour them each a glass of chardonnay, and he took his and clinked it lightly against hers. The little ring of the glasses touching seemed to resonate up and down her spine, and she shivered happily as she led the way to her couch.
When he sat down a foot away from her, Kaylee scooted closer, and Arthur set his glass down on the coffee table, untouched. He put an arm around her and she felt herself warmed from the inside as if she were half-drunk, though her wine glass was just as full as his was. She set it beside his – she actually preferred cider anyway – pulled both of her feet up under her and snuggled into him.
‘I feel like a teenager again,’ he joked, and Kaylee snorted, remembering her own slightly wild teen years.
‘Not me. When I was a teenager, I would have been sprawled on the couch making out,’ she teased. She was afraid of scaring him off with the details, but he didn’t look scared. In fact, he grinned at her as he took his glasses off and set them beside the wine. Then he leaned towards her, moving his body over hers slowly, easing her onto the couch.
‘Like this?’ he asked, covering his body with hers at last. She shivered again, pressing up into him to feel the full weight of his body against hers. ‘Or more like this?’ He kissed her, his tongue seeking and gaining entrance as he teased at her mouth. ‘Or maybe this?’ This time his kiss came down on her neck, nibbling at her throat and nipping along the line of her jaw, teasing with the tip of his tongue. She moaned as she tipped her head back to enjoy the sensations, but something was missing.
‘You forgot a little bit of this,’ she said. She grabbed his hand and pulled it up to her breasts, and this time it was his turn to moan. She dug her hands into that shaggy hair as he continued to explore every contour of her neck, and she whimpered happily as he shifted and pressed his erection against her. Her sounds of pleasure seemed to encourage him, and she arched up into his hands as he fondled her breasts and pinched her nipples.
‘Where were you when I was in high school?’ he asked, his breath hot on her ear as he leaned in close. She sighed, melting happily into the sensation.
‘I take it you’re not hungry?’
Arthur bit down on her earlobe, sending chills through her. ‘On the contrary,’ he whispered, ‘I’m starving. Just maybe not so much for fish right now.’
Kaylee felt the perverse urge to tease him, despite the difficulty she’d gone to to get him here and the pleasure she was enjoying in his presence. ‘What are you hungry for?’ she asked as innocently as possible.
Arthur laughed and sat up, and she was afraid for a moment that she had startled him away. He lifted a hand to her face and traced a finger over her eyebrow, down her hairline, across her cheek, and over her lips. Kaylee held as still as possible, her eyes falling closed as she followed his finger with her awareness. He left a tingling wake across her face and a craving for more.
‘I’ve been hungry to touch you and to taste you for months now, and I’ve been starving myself out of politeness,’ he said, smiling. His hand cupped her cheek for a second, then drifted lower to cup her breasts instead.
‘Politeness is overrated,’ Kaylee said.
‘You know, I think you might be right.’ He grabbed the hem of her shirt, and – despite what they’d just agreed about politeness – waited until she nodded before drawing it up and off of her. Her skin was sensitised and eager, and she could almost feel the air moving against it as she waited for his touch. She reached back to unfasten her bra, unwilling to wait for the polite moment. When she tossed it away, Arthur’s eyes fastened on her breasts and he groaned.
She reached down to cup his erection, and he ground against her hand before easing back and lowering himself to taste her breasts. She was ready for everything, but he moved slowly, licking her skin and tasting her as he moved over the top of one breast and down under the other, kissing or nibbling at the flesh as he went. By the time his mouth found her nipple and drew it into her mouth, she was ready to scream for mercy.
Kaylee had never come just from nipple stimulation before, but she had heard that some women could, and right now she was ready to believe it. She gasped in pleasure and grabbed him by the hair, this time holding him against her. He chuckled as he continued to suckle and tease, and the vibrations shot through her like an electrical charge. ‘Oh, God,’ she whimpered, and her sounds only made him chuckle again and start it all over. When he switched to the other breast, Kaylee decided that she was going to die of sheer frustrated arousal.
The more she moaned and bucked and wiggled beneath him, the more Arthur seemed to enjoy sucking, nipping, licking and teasing her nipples. He hummed happily, and she finally had to push him away, sure that her spine was going to explode from electrical overload.
She wiggled out from underneath him, then knelt in front of him, teasing at the waistband of his trousers. ‘You going to let me have a turn?’ she asked coyly.
Arthur’s blush returned, much to her pleasure. ‘You do that and the fun will all be over before it even gets started,’ he said.
‘Nonsense. There’s lots of ways to have fun,’ she murmured, and he didn’t protest as she undid his trousers and slid them off. His cock was bigger than she’d expected, and it swayed slightly with the rhythm of his pulse, eager for her.
Kaylee leaned in close, letting her breath tease over his shaft, torturing him with her nearness for a moment before allowing her tongue to dart out and sample his smooth skin. He groaned and dropped his head back as she teased him with her tongue, giving short, light licks without giving him what he really wanted.
‘Kaylee,’ he moaned, and the way he groaned her name made her realise for the first time that he’d probably fantasised about this moment a hundred times. It was incredibly erotic, but for a second she was almost crushed by the weight of the pressure. What if she wasn’t as good as he’d imagined?
She licked her way delicately to his tip, then circled the crown with her tongue before sucking the head of his cock into her mouth and holding it there against the length of her tongue. He moaned and bucked his hips up, but kept his hands to himself, letting her control the pace. She liked that.
‘You’re delicious,’ she said, teasing him for another moment before she finally let his cock slide all the way past her lips and deep into her mouth.
He groaned again as she swallowed around him, and suddenly the sounds he was making were too much to resist. Even as she started to bob up and down on his cock, she reached into her own pants and began to stroke her wet slit.
When Arthur noticed what she was doing with her free hand, he hissed through his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, his hands balling into fists and his cock twitching. Then he opened his eyes and stared at her with an intensity like the sun, and she moaned as she felt the weight of his attention and arousal.
His eyes widened a fraction, then his cock pulsed and she tasted the hot, salty semen as it spilled into her mouth. Her fingers worked frantically on her clit and she shuddered hard as she swallowed him, the sound of his shouts of pleasure giving her the last tiny push that she needed to join him in pleasure. She moaned loudly as she came, finally letting his cock slip away from her mouth to throw her head back and embrace the pleasure.
It shot through her, coursing up and down her spine and pooling in her fingers and toes with sharp tingles. She panted as she sat back and looked up at him.
His eyes were fixed on her. ‘That was incredible. You’re so beautiful, Kaylee.’ He reached out, cupped her cheeks with both hands and drew her forward. She leaned into him, passing the taste of his come back to him and drinking in the taste of his mouth. Her spine felt rubbery with the aftereffects of pleasure, but she’d worked to get him here and she wasn’t ready to be done with him yet.
Kaylee pulled Arthur’s shirt off and straddled his lap, sinking deeply into a kiss that slowly warmed from deeply and quietly erotic to something hot and spicy and immediate. They both made quiet, aroused noises, and she smiled into the kiss when she felt life throbbing into his cock once again.
‘Come to my bedroom, Arthur,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s play.’
He stood, took her hand and followed her as if he were in some sort of aroused daze, and Kaylee felt like she was walking on air. Her body still stirred with desire for him as she moved to the bedroom and dug into a drawer. He looked surprised at what she pulled out.
Come Play With Me Page 10
