by M. J. Perry
“Do I need a condom?” he asked, not taking his eyes off mine.
“I’m on the pill and I’m clean,” I answered quietly.
Mike had always worn one, I’d always insisted on it and it puzzled me why I just gave James permission to go bare but I didn’t question myself too hard, I had a deep need to feel him inside me, skin against skin.
James nodded, and he pushed slowly into my body. “I’m clean too.” He groaned.
I don’t know why I was so worried about his size; I was so wet he had no trouble sliding inside of me. There was no pain just a delicious feeling of being stretched. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him closer to me. He looked up from where he’d been watching himself enter me and I saw his teeth clench. He was making sure he didn’t hurt me and my heart swelled with love for him.
“I can take you,” I reassured him while I tightened my legs.
He didn’t wait for another invitation before he entered me fully in one hard thrust making me groan. He stayed still for a moment letting me get used to his invasion and my inner muscles squeezed him. It was his turn to groan now, he leant down to kiss me with so much tenderness it brought tears to my eyes. He started to move while we were still kissing. We might have started off hard and fast, but he was slowing it down and making love to me. My stomach tightened and my clit throbbed. I could feel another orgasm building making me whimper at the sensations he caused inside my body. He stopped moving and my eyes flew open to look into his.
“You’re mine. No one else gets to see you like this. No one else gets to touch you at all.” His voice was hard.
He moved again in short, hard thrusts. His hands moved to my face and kept my eyes on his while he stared at me.
“Say it.” He demanded.
It made my mind spin. He picked my hands up and pinned then above my head, all the while he never took his eyes from mine.
“I’m yours.” I whispered, feeling totally floored by his words and my reaction to them. I thought of myself as an independent woman yet this man made me want to be claimed. What the hell. My insides already tight from my impending orgasm went wild with butterflies and I knew I had to ask him what my mind was screaming me to ask.
“Are you mine?” He looked up in shock, but before I could panic he brushed his lips over my own.
“Of course woman, what do you think is going on here?”
“I wasn’t sure,” I answered truthfully.
We have some serious lust going on, but that didn’t mean he felt the same way. He made me say I’m his, and I was. James looked into my eyes a moment before he took my mouth in a kiss that made my lips tingle. Boy, could he kiss. My thoughts splintered when he started to move again and I struggled to catch my breath. He kept my wrists pinned above my head and gave me most of his weight so all I could do was lie there and take what he was giving me. I felt safe and protected. It was like we were in our own little bubble. The fact I couldn’t move turned me on more and I knew it was because of him. If Mike had tried to do this, I would have made him stop but James was different. He had a way of making me trust him even when I hardly knew him.
His steady pace didn’t once falter, and his eyes never left mine. I wanted to beg him to go faster, but I bit my lip instead, and when my third climax hit me I screamed out his name. Not long afterwards James jerked against me and groaned as he followed me over the edge. I sighed when he let go of my wrists and moved off me taking us both to our sides. Still connected with him inside me, he kissed me softly holding me against him in a loose hold and for the first time since my parents died, I felt peace. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep.
Chapter Seven
Scarlett
When I woke up, there was warmth at my back and I smiled at the arm around my waist. I waited to feel regret for jumping into bed so fast, but it didn’t come. My insides bubbled with happiness and if I’d been alone, I would have jumped up and down screaming. In the back of my mind I had doubts, but I pushed them away, I’d think about them later and torment myself with the knowledge I should have known better if it goes bad, but for now I’m going to bask in the afterglow of amazing sex. James stirred and used his arm to roll me until I faced him. His hair was messy in a sexy way and he wore a grin which only added to his appeal, but it was his eyes that made me start; they were so warm and tender
“Hey,” He whispered.
“Hey,” I whispered back still looking into his eyes.
“Stop thinking,” He grinned, and then he kissed me sweetly. He didn’t deepen the kiss, and I didn’t have the chance to before he pulled away to smile. I smiled back, and I knew I looked goofy, but I didn’t care.
Happy, I was happy, and it felt marvellous.
“Let’s get up and I’ll make coffee. Ok?”
“Yeah,” I whispered and my happy bubble popped. Damn, getting up meant getting back to the real world and having to think about Ruby and all the bad shit. I really didn’t want to do that and my face showed it. James leant over and kissed my nose.
“We can find something fun to do; once I’ve done all the work, I need to do.” He grinned. My mind automatically went to last night, and I blushed. That was sure fun. I heard him chuckle as he moved out of bed. Wow. I would never get used to his body and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his bum, it was a masterpiece.
“Keep looking at me like that, my control will snap and I’ll be inside you in about two seconds,” He growled, and I looked at him with a grin after he’d finished pulling up his jeans.
“I could really get on board that plan.”
He groaned. “Later. We have too much to do.”
It was my turn to groan. “Ok.”
“I’ll go put the coffee on and you get ready first. It’s not a good idea for us both to be in here at the moment.” He laughed and stepped out the door.
He’s right. I stretched my arms above my head and winced at my achy muscles. It’d been a long time since some of them had been used and I was pretty sure it had a lot to do with how big James was. I couldn’t wait to do it again though, especially after what he’d said last night. I didn’t believe for a minute that James went around telling all the women he slept with that they were his.
Jumping out of bed I went back to my room so I could grab a shower. I took my time and relaxed under the spray, I was meeting Sarah this morning and I knew she’d give me hell about Ruby and want to know everything about James. What I’d tell her about him I wasn’t sure because I wasn’t ready to share him yet. She’ll go off her head once she knows the whole story about Ruby. She’ll also worry herself sick about me and I wished I could spare her that, but I wouldn’t because Sarah would be more upset not knowing and finding out afterwards. Besides, selfishly I needed someone who knew my sister to listen even if she didn’t like her.
I got dressed and brushed my hair out. James didn’t have a hair dryer, and I’d forgotten mine.
James was on the phone when I went to find him. I stopped in the doorway of the kitchen to look at him and shyness rushed over me. Could I just go up to him and hug him or was that too much? I didn’t have long to worry because he walked over to me. He didn’t take his eyes off me until I was in his arms and that’s how he finished his conversation.
“Matt is going to pick you up from Sarah’s when you’re ready.” He informed me as he cut the phone connection.
I nodded into his chest. “I need coffee.”
“Sit down and I’ll get it for you.” He squeezed me and let me go. I did as he ordered and sat on one of the stools watching him move around the kitchen with such ease. I could seriously get used to the view. He put a cup in front of me.
“I think I’ll need at least five more before I meet Sarah.”
He grinned at me, but I was serious.
“It won’t be that bad will it?”
I sighed. “She’s going to be so pissed. Ruby has really done it this time and I’ve dragged you and Matt into it as well.”
“Hey. You didn
’t drag us into it. We stepped into it willingly so don’t say shit like that.” He ordered.
I nodded not really believing him. Neither he nor Matt was the type to see shit happen and walk away. He gripped my chin and waited until my eyes met his.
“Babe seriously, you need to understand that if I didn’t want you here, I would have palmed you off to Matt and promptly forgotten all about you.”
I could see the honesty in his eyes, and I didn’t know if I should feel hurt at his words or take them as a compliment, after all I was here and not with Matt, but it worried me because it made him seem so ruthless.
“Ok.”
“Good, now get what you need and I’ll drop you off.” I gulped the rest of my coffee down, grabbed my handbag and met him at the door. After giving him directions to Sarah’s house I leaned my head back on the car seat and closed my eyes.
James hadn’t told me any news about Ruby so I guessed there wasn’t anything new. No news was good news, right? My life had taken a weird turn, and I had three problems, Ruby being the first. The second being I was practically living with a guy I’ve known three days, we’ve made love already and made some kind of commitment to each other. And the third was being quite behind on my work, I needed to pull my finger out. I knew there was no point worrying; life will turn out how it wants to. James and I will work out or we won’t. My being behind in work isn’t that big a deal, it will take me a couple of days at most to catch up and then it will be fine. I can’t do anything about Ruby except wait for news, I’ve looked everywhere I thought she could be hiding, I’d tried ringing her, but she didn’t answer, either she’s pawned her phone along with my jewellery or she was just ignoring my calls. My stomach clenched at the memory of the mess Ruby made of my house. Pain and anger warred with each other and I tried to put myself in Ruby’s shoes to understand how she could do something so mean and nasty to me after everything we’d been through. That’s what hurt the most. She knew how much I love my house, how hard it was to save and buy the furniture I had, and how precious it was to me. The jewellery she stole was special, the fact she stole it and pawned it showed she didn’t give a shit about me and that broke my heart.
James must have realised I needed quiet time because he didn’t speak until we pulled up outside Sarah’s. He’d kept my hand in his the entire time though giving me support silently. He squeezed my hand now to get my attention.
“Don’t leave here until Matt comes to get you, babe, please.” He tacked on the word please at the end, but I’d heard the order.
“Ok, I promise,” I reassured him.
Did he think I would fight him on this? I had no plans to go anywhere on my own. He leant over and kissed me hard on the lips before opening his door and coming around to mine. He walked me up to Sarah’s building and kissed me once more. I saw Sarah through the glass and I waved at her as she walked to the door to open it. James gave her a chin lift then he caressed my face with the back of his hand before he said goodbye. I watched him walk away to his car; his behind was like a beacon calling to me. Sarah chuckled, and I met her eyes once James drove away.
“Wow,” Sarah said and her voice was breathy.
“Yeah, wow.” I agreed then burst out laughing.
It didn’t take long for Sarah to join me.
Once we stopped laughing, we made our way to her flat. It felt so good to be with her. Her personality, her sweetness and her patience are exactly what I needed right now. I knew she would start stressing soon and be mad enough to tell me how she really felt but at the moment I relished the peace. I chucked my coat on the back of her sofa as soon as we made it inside and I collapsed on to it. Sarah went to the kitchen, I couldn’t hear her over the kettle boiling so I had time to close my eyes and relax. I couldn’t believe I’d kept it all from her, granted it had only been a couple of days but before James she would have been my go to person when the shit hit the fan. She always was. Chocolate, wine and ice cream were a common occurrence for the both of us when we were having a bad time and with Ruby involved it was more than occasional. It surprised me we weren’t both as huge as a house.
When Sarah came back, she eyed me up but didn’t say anything until she passed me my drink and sat down. I took a sip and sighed in bliss.
“Ok. Spill.” she ordered.
I told her everything from the answerphone message, looking everywhere for Ruby and then my house and my run in with Sketch. She held my hand so tight I thought I was going to lose my fingers. Once I finished I didn’t speak I just let her be, and she eventually loosened her hold. I explained why I was staying with James but left out the fact that we’d slept together I wasn’t ready to talk about that yet but she knew me too well. She stared at me in silence and it freaked me out. Maybe she was in shock? I opened my mouth to ask her if she was ok but she held a hand up.
“You had sex with him.” It wasn’t a question.
Shit. “Yes.” I sighed; I braced myself when she moved closer.
“Ruby has totally screwed you over. She’s in so deep from what you’ve told me she probably won’t come out of it unscathed and the worse thing is she’s dragged you into it.”
My eyes filled with tears. “It’s not your fault,” Sarah said with such conviction I wanted to believe it. “You couldn’t have known any of this would happen and I sure as shit know you wouldn’t have been able to stop her. Ruby is her own person she always has been. She jumps feet first without thinking of the consequences and then expects you to deal with it. She’s a trouble magnet and I’m surprised it took as long as it did to get to this point because she’s hard headed and makes her own decisions. There’s nothing you could have done.”
“I’m starting to see that.” And I was. I couldn’t keep blaming myself.
“You’re not going to say ‘I told you so?’”
“I’m sure I could come up with one or two.” She grinned.
I grinned until she spoke again. “Tell me about James. How on earth have you gone from avoiding all men to living and sleeping with one in three days? Don’t get me wrong I’m not judging. It’s about time you got some, but I’m worried.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. It just kind of happened.” She raised her eyebrows clearly not convinced, and I laughed.
“James is forceful and bossy. He took charge, and I didn’t really get much say about staying with him. As for sleeping with him, well I felt something for him when I first saw him. Not love, just something. Like a jolt of lightning and my whole body felt electric. I wanted to jump his bones there and then.” Sarah stared at me with her mouth wide open and I chuckled at her expression.
“Hasn’t that ever happened to you?” I asked.
“The jolt? No. The wanting to jump bones thing happens a lot but of course I don’t jump them. Except in my head,” She giggled.
“Mike never made me feel like that. Not once did he ever even make me feel like I was the only woman in the world but James does. It’s like I had a part of me missing until I saw him and now it’s clicked into place. It sounds corny, but it’s the complete truth.”
“I can see that. After Mike trampled you I thought you’d become a cat lady, living your life with no one but me and your sister but I’m glad to see I was wrong. You closed up and even though you put on a good front there were times I could see the sadness and it wasn’t going away. Today I can see it has. I’m glad, but I want you to promise me you’ll be careful and take it slow.”
“I’ll try, but he really is demanding. I can’t control my feelings Sarah and I don’t think I want to. What I really want is to see where this is going. It’s not one-sided, James is so possessive and the way he looks at me… He feels the connection too.”
I wasn’t going to tell her what he’d said when we’d made love; the words were written on my heart. I didn’t need to convince her because she’ll see how he is with me eventually and she’ll understand.
She nodded, but still looked concerned. “Just be careful like I said. Even with a
ll the stress of Ruby you have a glow about you which obviously has a lot to do with him. Take a step back and slow down and just see how it goes without throwing all your feelings into the open. Can you do that? I don’t want you to suffer like you did before.”
“James would never hurt me like Mike did,” I swore.
“There are other ways to get hurt, honey. Just remember that and proceed with caution. That’s all I’m asking.” She said in a quiet voice.
“Ok. I’ll be careful.” There was no point arguing with her and I didn’t want to. She thought I was glowing, but it wasn’t coming from the inside. Inside I was a mess of confusion and conflict. I knew he could hurt me quite easily, and I wasn’t naïve enough to think it would be all rainbows and sunshine. I’ve known him three days after all and I knew nothing about him except where he lived, where he worked and his car. What I did know was that he was amazing in bed, he made me feel safe and that was all I needed right now.
“Shall we watch daytime TV?” I asked changing the subject because I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
She took the hint. “Is there anything else to take our minds off our silly lives?” She got her chocolate stash, and we settled down to watch crappy TV and stuff our faces until the world seemed right. We were about two hours in when my phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw Matt’s name. James must have programmed his number in earlier.
“Hey,” I answered.
“Hey. I’m coming to get you in about half an hour.”
“Great. I’m not sure how much more daytime TV I can take.” I laughed.
“That bad is it?”
“Well put it this way. My problems seem like a walk in the park compared to the people on these shows. DNA testing, cheating and dads finding out they are actually the uncles instead.”
“Wow. Your life is full of roses then compared to that.” Matt teased.
“Don’t forget the woman who didn’t know which man was the father of her baby. It was between four of them!” Sarah shouted and Matt laughed obviously hearing her fine through the phone.
