Midnight Ballerina

by Cori Williams

  “It did. Thanks for letting me rest. I needed that. And now I have some much-needed energy for something else that’s been on my mind lately. Nonstop.”

  Her eyebrows shot up and she bit down on her lip. “What’s that?”

  “You,” I replied, before scooping her up into my arms and heading straight for my truck.

  I RELEASED A deep breath once we pulled into Miller’s driveway. Okay, this was it. He must’ve sensed my nerves because he squeezed my thigh before hopping out of the truck and running around to open my door. I moved to get out myself, but he pulled me out and didn’t put me down again until we went through the front door, up the stairs, and into his bedroom. He set me down in the middle of his bed and then took a step back, licking his full lips as he looked down at me with a hungry expression and peeled his suit coat off.

  I didn’t know what Miller’s intentions were, but I was ready, at least that’s what I kept telling myself. The past few days working so closely with him, made me want him even more, and though he said he wasn’t going to be in the office that much, he seemed to always make sure he was there when I was.

  I came in today, excited to see him since his truck was parked out front, loving the feeling of butterflies in my stomach every time that I thought about him and knew I would see him soon. And then I found him asleep, looking uncomfortable as hell with his head tipped back, his hands laced behind his head, and snoring. Loudly. Funny as it was, I was not sure if I would want to sleep next to that every night. But then I looked at him again and decided I could deal with some snoring if it meant being able to sleep next to him.

  “Why exactly am I in the middle of your bed?” I asked and he laughed before crawling onto the bed himself and sliding up my body until he hovered directly over me.

  “Because I decided we’re taking the rest of the day off so we can get our fun started early. Is that okay with you?”

  “Of course,” I answered, just barely, before his mouth stole the words and his hands greedily landed on my body, stroking every inch within reach as his tongue tangled with mine. I fisted my hands in his hair, pulling him tighter against me, just letting myself enjoy Miller’s demanding, controlling kiss.

  I wasn’t going to think about what this could lead to. And then I felt his hands touching the bottom of my skirt, and he pushed it up until it bunched around my hips. Thank goodness I wore pretty panties today, my prettiest in fact—lacy black ones with the tiny little pink bows on the sides. It’s like I knew something was going to happen today. I even had the matching bra on. That was quite an accomplishment for me.

  I whimpered when his hands stroked my thighs, our mouths never breaking apart, and his fingers continued upward, landing on the outside of my panties. They didn’t stay there long enough though and I sighed loudly into his mouth as his hands abandoned the area I needed them the most.

  He pulled away, smirking down at me. “I said I was taking things slow, remember?”

  “Really?” I huffed. “You’re going to get me all worked up and leave me hanging again?”

  Miller laughed before moving his hands again, this time to slide underneath my shirt and feather lightly against my sides and then my belly. “Not this time. I can’t. But I can still take my time exploring every inch of your body.”

  “Okay,” I breathed out, my eyes rolling backward when his warm hands pushed my bra up and cupped my boobs before finding each of my nipples and squeezing them slightly at the same time.

  His mouth was on my neck, sucking greedily on the sensitive skin, and I bucked my hips against him as he continued the slow, sweet torture he was inflicting on my body. His hands suddenly slipped back out from underneath my shirt, and I started to sit up only to have them right back there, lifting my shirt up and over my head. Once that was gone, he made quick work of my bra, and then I was pushed backward, his mouth landing on my nipple right away, sucking and teasing, lightly nipping before letting it go with a pop and moving to the next to give it the same treatment. I tugged at his shirt the whole time, my hands skimming along the smoothness of his back, and he stopped for one split second to pop the top two buttons and then threw his shirt on the floor right next to mine.

  So then we were chest to chest, skin to skin, and I loved the sensation. It was so intimate, like we were taking this next step that was so big and could be a turning point in our relationship, and I was ready. Completely ready. And then I felt my skirt being slid down, my panties following it, and a little bit of nerves set back in as Miller stared down at me, lying there completely naked beneath him.

  With the way he was looking at me, though, any shred of self-consciousness that I had, completely disappeared. “Beautiful,” he murmured, before sliding his body downward, landing at the end by my feet. He stood, pulling his pants off, leaving him in just his boxer briefs, and I couldn’t help but stare at the glory in front of me. Miller was lean in all of the right places. No, he didn’t have a perfect six-pack like a body builder or something but he certainly could be in the running.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t remove his boxer briefs, but I quickly forgot that once he dropped his head down and started kissing me again, starting at my toes and working his way up. The anticipation of when things would finally happen was killing me, and I think that was the point. Once his face pressed in-between my inner thighs, my mind completely shut down as his warm mouth met my skin.

  “Oh my….” My voice caught in my throat when his tongue licked a trail between my legs, and then his fingers joined along, first one and then two, pumping in and out of me. I groaned, pressing against his face, needing more, starting the climb that would help relieve the tension building in my belly. But then he abruptly pulled away, stopping the sweet torture that I didn’t want to end.

  He mumbled something and I peeled my eyes open, tilting my head so I could look at him. “What’s wrong?”

  He sat back on his knees, a sulky expression on his face. He was adorable when he got so pouty.

  “I didn’t really plan this ahead of time.”

  “Miller, it’s fine. I didn’t need you to plan anything out. I know you wanted to take things slow, but I’m ready. The spontaneity makes it that much better.” I sat up, pulling on his arm to bring him back down and finish what he started, but he wouldn’t budge.

  “I don’t have protection, Monroe. That’s what I mean. I’m clean, but we need something.”

  “Oh,” I dragged out, smiling as I tugged on his arm once again. “Don’t worry, I have that part taken care of, and I’m clean too, as long as you’re okay with going without one.”

  “You’re on birth control?” His forehead crinkled and I groaned internally, not really wanting to get into the reason of why I was on birth control when I was never really sexually active.

  “Yeah, we’ll get into that later.” I yanked on the elastic of his boxers, using my foot to guide them the rest of the way down, and he grinned before hovering over me. And then the talking completely stopped. His hands were all over my body and mine were all over his. I couldn’t get enough.

  He pressed a kiss to my lips before pulling back, staring at me deeply as he slipped a finger between my legs and started pumping in and out, bringing me so close to the edge again, my hips bucking wildly against his hand. Then I felt his hardness replace his fingers, the tip just brushing my entrance and I completely stilled.

  “Relax,” he murmured into my neck, and I let out a deep breath, trying to do just that and it seemed to help. Slightly. His lips moved back to mine and just as he was deepening the kiss, I felt him pushing slowly inside, inch by inch. I gasped as he filled me completely, the pinch of pain passing so quickly that I was soon moving with him, wrapping my legs around his waist to bring him in even deeper.

  He moaned as he left my lips and stared down at me, keeping still inside of me for a split second before sliding almost all the way out and entering me again in one quick thrust. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me up and into him, and I loved the feeling
of him going even deeper as I rocked against him.

  “So good, baby,” he whispered hoarsely before giving me his mouth, his hands moving to cup my breasts as our movements matched those of our tongues. I adjusted the motion of my hips, and he hissed in response, picking up the pace even quicker as he continued to slam into me. So apparently he liked that. I was nervous that I would be too inexperienced and Miller would get bored, but he seemed anything but.

  I bit at his lip and he let out a low growl, grinding harder in response. “Miller,” I panted. “I’m so close. I’m…oh my….” Words ceased to exist when his hand slid in between our bodies, his finger rubbing quick circles around my clit, and I opened my thighs wider, calling out his name as I came. He pounded into me even harder and faster, making my orgasm continue on and on.

  “Fuck,” he grunted, coming inside of me in a hot rush, pumping twice more before collapsing on top of me, breathing labored, his hands running through my hair as we lay there with our bodies tangled together.

  I was exhausted and ready to pass out, but then I felt his lips on my shoulder and his hands stroking my sides and I perked right back up, peeling my eyes open. “Aren’t you tired out?” I grinned, brushing back the strands of his hair that had fallen over his eyes.

  “Nope,” he replied with a pop. “In fact, I’m nice and rested up now.” His lips moved to my jaw and he murmured against the skin. “That was just a practice run. You haven’t seen nothing yet.” He winked at me and I giggled, pressing a kiss to his chest.

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “Well, I guess we should move on to the real thing then.”

  “DID YOU TWO finally do it?” Amelia whispered into my ear, well, at least I think it was meant to be a whisper but I saw Miller’s head turn in our direction. He was sitting in the passenger seat of Tanner’s SUV and I could tell by the smirk on his face he heard exactly what she said.

  “Amelia, we are not talking about this right now. Or probably ever.” But I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face and the bright red blush covering my cheeks when I thought about how many times Miller and I had “done” it that afternoon.

  After, we went back to the office to get my car and then he followed me to my apartment so I could get ready for our night out. Then he drove me to his house, leaving my car behind, to meet up with Tanner and Amelia, who I invited along since I really didn’t have a bunch of girlfriends. Amelia was single, though, so I guess that was a plus, but she and Tanner didn’t seem to be hitting it off very well.

  “Oh, we will,” Amelia assured me. She leaned forward, knocking her fist twice on the center console. “Mind telling us where we’re going now?”

  Miller shrugged one shoulder but I’m pretty sure he didn’t know either and Tanner snorted. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride, blondie. We’re almost there. You probably won’t want to break a nail though, so you can sit on the sidelines and watch The Cox in action.”

  “The what?” Amelia sputtered, one hand pressed against her mouth as she looked at me sideways in horror.

  It wasn’t the first time I had heard that nickname since I worked with Tanner, but Miller explained. “This jackass somehow got granted the great last name of Cox. Most people would try to play it off, but not this guy. He owns it and makes sure you remember his last name, mainly by talking about himself in third person using the nickname he gave himself. The Cox.”

  “Wow,” Amelia sarcastically responded. “So, since you talk about it all the time, is that sort of like what they say about guys who drive big trucks?”

  I rolled my eyes, turning to look out the window. I didn’t know where this was going, but it probably wasn’t good. I’m not sure what the issue was between Amelia and Tanner, but she definitely wasn’t being a southern belle tonight. At least Tanner was giving it right back to her, so I guess I couldn’t care too much.

  “I don’t know. What do they say about guys who drive big trucks, blondie? That they’re awesome? Let me guess, you’re not a fan of them are you? You probably prefer one of those snooty cars like a Benz, right? So they can shove the fact that they’re loaded in your face.”

  “Whatever,” she said, ignoring his question. “But, most of the time they’re driving those big trucks because they’re trying to overcompensate.”

  Miller chuckled loudly and I smothered a laugh with my hand. Miller drove a big truck, a huge one in fact, and he most certainly wasn’t trying to overcompensate for anything.

  “Are you trying to say that I call myself The Cox because I have a small dick?” Tanner pulled the SUV into what looked like a giant field, nothing more, and undid his seatbelt, turning around with an amused look directed at Amelia. “You want to step outside so I can show it to you? I can promise you I’m not overcompensating for anything.”

  Amelia glared at him, her mouth dropping open before clamping shut, and she turned her glare toward the window, giving him the cold shoulder.

  “That’s what I thought.” Tanner smirked before winking at me. “So y’all ready to get started?”

  “Tan, do you think this is really a good idea?” Miller asked, giving me a tight smile from the front seat.

  “What in the hell are you talking about, Miller? Do you think they can’t handle it or something?” He grabbed his keys from the ignition and hopped out of the front seat. “Let’s do this.”

  Amelia followed me out of the car, mumbling something under her breath, and stopping short when we reached where Tanner and Miller were talking to some guy at a tiny booth that I hadn’t even noticed when we drove up.

  “Seriously? Who in the hell let him plan this little outing?” Amelia hissed into my ear, yanking on my elbow.

  “Why? What’s wrong? I don’t even know where we are.”

  “He brought us paintballing. I mean, really? I just got my nails done.”

  “You can always sit out then,” Tanner suggested as they walked up with a bunch of equipment in their hands. “It would probably be for the best anyway. Miller and I kick ass at paintball. Miller here’s even made a few girls run home crying to their mamas, even Marissa. We wouldn’t want that to happen to you, blondie.”

  “Who’s Marissa?” Amelia asked, ignoring Tanner’s chatter that I was starting to find pretty funny. Apparently she wasn’t.

  “His ex-wi—well, soon to be ex….”

  Tanner cut Miller off with a quick shove to his stomach. “Why don’t you help Monroe get into her gear?”

  Amelia looked at me with raised eyebrows, but I just shrugged my shoulders. I had heard the name Marissa before, but most of the time I was busy with work and tuned the guys out. Amelia would weasel it out of Tanner soon enough if she really wanted to know. I’m sure he would give her just as hard of a time though.

  Once Miller put my protective vest on, checking three times to make sure it was on right, and my helmet, he cautiously handed me my gun. “You don’t have to play if you don’t want to.”

  “I want to. This should be fun.”

  “Yeah.” He scratched his head and pointed his finger at Tanner. “Monroe’s on my team.”

  “What?” Tanner whined. “No way. We always do girls versus guys.”

  “Be on whatever team you want, but Monroe’s on mine.”

  “Whatever, dude. I’m not being on the same team as blondie though.”

  “Why would I want to be on your team anyway?” Amelia crossed her arms over her chest. “I think I’m going to be on the other team. Is that all right with you, Monroe?”

  “If you’re sure.”

  “Of course.” She lifted her gun, grinning. “You better watch your ass.” She walked off toward the other group of people that was forming, and in true Amelia fashion, quickly made friends.

  “All right.” Miller grabbed onto my arm, pulling me quickly behind him. “Let’s go find you a good hiding spot.”

  “Hiding spot? Aren’t we supposed to be running around, shooting people?”

 
; “Yeah, you’re not. Let’s go.”

  I HAVE NO clue why I didn’t see this as a bad idea when we first got here. Don’t get me wrong, I was ecstatic about paintballing. It was something Tanner and I did all the time when we were younger, but it had been years since the last time we went. Life just ended up getting in the way.

  But then Tanner mentioned how I used to send some of the girls home crying because I didn’t care if they were girls; if they were there to play, then I would treat them just like any other player. This was different, though, because Monroe was with me. There was no way in hell that I was going to let her be on the other team. Paintball might be for fun, but those tiny little bullets stung like hell if they hit in the right spot, so I needed to protect Monroe.

  “Here.” I found an area that was sectioned off in a square shape by bales of hay. I took off my mask and looked at Monroe, standing there, her tiny fists planted on her hips.

  “What in the hell are we hiding from? Are you scared I’m going to get hurt or something, Miller?”

  “What? No, not at all.” I gave her a slight push and she climbed over the hay with a huff. “This can just be our lookout point. We’ll be able to scout out the other players from this spot.”

  “Okay,” she dragged out, sliding her mask on top of her head. “If you say so.”

  She smiled and I leaned down to kiss her on the forehead, scooting her a little further behind the largest stack of hay. She let out a little sigh, and I dropped down next to her, lifting her onto my lap so she was straddling me, reminding me of what we could be doing. Yeah, taking things slow my ass. When I woke up from my nap earlier, all I wanted was Monroe. So, I closed up the office, forgetting about all of the shit I had to do for the day because it would be there tomorrow. I took things as slow and gentle with her as I possibly could. I wanted to have her every which way, but I knew that would have to wait. I guess we could take that slow.