Casual Affair (Timid Souls Book 2)

by Melanie Munton

I groaned and almost ran into a street sign before I corrected the vehicle. “Bloody Christ, Bea. Do you know what you’re doing to me right now?”

  Her hand wrapped around my entire shaft and stroked harder, faster. “Oh, I know exactly what I’m doin’.”

  Yes, she very well did.

  Ten hours later—at least, that’s how long it felt—I flew into a parking space and yanked open her door. I had zero patience left and didn’t want to hear anything out of her mouth except her moans of pleasure and my name. Without a word, I pulled on her wrist and practically dragged her up the stairs to my door. Luckily, she seemed as eager as me and didn’t give me any sass. Granted, I would have almost enjoyed it if she had.

  There were times when that cat-and-mouse game could be fun.

  But not now.

  I was way too pent-up right now to delay my gratification. Or hers.

  As soon as the sound of my door slamming shut echoed through the apartment, I flew at her, attacking her mouth with mine. Our groans mingled together the instant our lips touched, our tongues immediately dueling for control. Her taste was something I would forever recognize, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go this long without it again.

  Her hands wrapped around me, squeezing my ass and pulling me closer into her. My hands went into action, grabbing the bottom of her tank top and ripping it over her head, revealing her sports bra-clad chest to me. Her hands were fumbling for my own shirt but was becoming impatient, so I reached back and pulled it over my head, throwing it to the floor.

  I leaned back down to connect our mouths again, needing to savor every part of her, consume every breath. Her hands trailed down my bare chest and around my back as if she wanted to touch all of me at once but couldn’t. I couldn’t take much more, so I divested her of those ridiculously tight shorts and started walking her backwards toward the bathroom.

  I tore my mouth away and looked down at her when we were just outside the door. Her face was tinted pink with excitement and her eyes were dark with arousal. I absolutely loved knowing that I was responsible for that look and I craved more of that feeling.

  “I can’t wait anymore, Bea. I need you now.”

  Her chest was rising and falling with heavy breaths. “Do it. Fuck me. Right now.”

  Those words having a primal effect on me, I quickly yanked her bra and panties from her body, leaving her spectacularly naked before me as she pushed my shorts and underwear to the floor. Her hand went to wrap around me once again but I pulled it away.

  “You do that now and this won’t last long.”

  She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Every part of her fit so perfectly in my hands, it was like a dream. Her body was all woman. Toned and fit, strong yet soft where it counted. Capable of handling a bigger, stronger man and willing to participate when things turned rough and frantic.

  I was never worried that I would break her.

  Knowing that she could take all I had to offer and still ask for more—that her preferences matched mine—did something to me.

  We made our way over to the shower, our kisses now traveling along each other’s necks and shoulders, hands groping everywhere. I reached up with both hands and started to run my thumbs over her nipples. Her head flew back, her eyes closing at the feeling, and her breathing quickening.

  “God, I love the way you touch me,” she breathed.

  I almost came right then, just from hearing those words. I backed her into the shower and reached back to turn on the water. Cool water hit our heated skin in a welcome relief, but it did nothing to stave off our desires.

  “Yeah? Well, then you’re going to love this.”

  Before she could react to that, I knelt down on my knees before her and lifted her leg to rest on my shoulder. She clearly knew what I was about to do and she tried to push me away. I wasn’t having it and gripped her hips to keep her in place.

  “Zane, I’m sweaty and gross. You don’t have to do that.”

  “I’m going to fucking taste you, Bea,” I growled at her. “It’s been too long since the last time I did and it’s been driving me mad. I need to.”

  I wasn’t going to wait for permission. I stroked her a couple times and leaned forward, covering her entire mound with my mouth. Her hand flew out to steady herself on the shower wall, but I had a good grip on her ass so I wouldn’t let her fall. My tongue lapped at her with a ferocity that I could tell she wasn’t used to. Her other hand gripped my hair and pulled slightly but it felt good.

  Before long, she was thrusting her hips forward into my mouth and I swear it was the sweetest moment for me. When she was basically asking for more of what I was giving her, practically begging for it. When she needed something that only I could give her in that moment.

  When she started whimpering and chanting my name incoherently, I knew she was close. I thrusted two fingers inside her and closed my eyes in amazement at how tight she was. She was going to feel so good. Even better than the last time because now we knew more about each other and it somehow just made everything that much better. That we’d been able to connect on a non-physical level made this form of intimacy that much more addicting.

  I felt her channel pulsing and knew she was right there. “I need you to come like this, luv,” I told her, coaxing her to give in. “I need to feel you let go just like this, on my mouth.”

  When I leaned in again and sucked that bud of nerves into my mouth, she released with a scream. “Oh my God! Zane…shit, Zane.”

  The realization that my mouth had caused her legs to tremble brought me immense satisfaction. I pulled away and steadied her before rising to stand before her again and brace her against the wall. As I reached around the curtain to grab the condom I’d placed on the sink just before we got in the shower, I noticed a strange look on Bea’s face, one I had never seen before. She looked almost nervous. I’d never witnessed Bea look unsure about anything, never seen her vulnerable.

  Seeing that look on her face made my heart squeeze. “What’s wrong?”

  At that question, she immediately wiped the look from her face and replaced it with her signature smile of seduction. “Nothing. You’re just really good at that.”

  I wasn’t sure if I believed that nothing was on her mind, but I smirked in spite of myself.

  “Oh, luv. That was just the beginning.”

  ##

  Chapter Seven

  Bea

  Another week passed of not seeing Zane, but the difference this week was that we had texted almost every day since Soccer and Shower Sex Saturday. Shower sex that, by the way, tied for the hottest experience of my life. The other experience was the first time I slept with Zane. I swear he knew every button to push with me. If I didn’t know better, I would say that he could read my mind because he did everything I wanted him to do only seconds after I thought about it.

  That had never happened to me before…with anyone.

  But my mind had been preoccupied with something other than those sexy texts from Zane, telling me how much he missed feeling my hands on him. The night I met Zane, our friend Gwen had told us about the affair she was having with Clay Masterson, one of the candidates for this year’s D.C. mayoral election. And Gwen was engaged to Clay’s opponent in the election, William Callahan.

  I should clarify that Gwen was not a cheater by nature and certainly not a whore. She’s just never been happy with William and was only engaged to him because her parents were both psychotic and pushed her into a relationship with him in the first place. William was certainly no prince, either. He was extremely controlling over Gwen and, in my opinion, was just a very shady character. I’ve had a bad feeling about him ever since I first met him, and I’ve always been really uneasy about his relationship and overall treatment of my friend.

  It was something that had worried Felicity and I for the three years Gwen and William had been together.

  And for some reason, she’d been on my mind all week. She’d really opened up to us about her affair with
Clay and she actually seemed genuinely happy with him. She’d shared with us how he made her feel, how sweet he was with her, and her hopes for the future when she’d eventually be able to leave William so she could be with Clay and no longer have to keep their relationship a secret.

  The thing that had me freaked out?

  The feelings she had been describing were eerily similar to how I’d started to feel toward Zane.

  Gwen called this love. She’d said that she was in love with Clay and that had me panicking. I thought I was in love once but learned I was wrong. And that in no way compared to this. This was a whole different ballgame with Zane.

  My phone rang.

  Speak of the devil.

  My insides practically liquefied at hearing that smooth accent of his reach my ears. “Hey, luv. Hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

  It’s never a bad time if you’re calling I wanted to say but thought that might have been a little much.

  “Not at all. Just finishin’ up my lunch break.” The lunch break that consisted of a protein bar and sparkling water. It was so unlike me to not have an appetite but that’s what I’d been dealing with the past couple of weeks. “What can I do for you, Mr. Price?”

  There was at least five whole seconds of silence before he responded. “You should definitely call me that more often.”

  With the way his voice had changed, taking on a huskier tone, I knew exactly what he meant by that. I had to stop myself from imagining what the next time we had sex would be like. With him, I never knew what was coming next. Pun intended.

  I laughed. “With pleasure, Mr. Price.”

  He groaned and I could picture him having to adjust his suit pants. “Believe it or not, I didn’t call to have phone sex, although that is sounding more appealing by the second.” He cleared his throat and seemed hesitant, which had all of my senses on alert. “I was actually calling to ask if you’d like to go bowling with me and some of my co-workers tonight. We’re in a league and one of our team members is out of town, and the back-up we normally use is sick. We just found that out this morning or else I would have asked you sooner.”

  Hmm. Bowling. Sounded harmless enough. And other people were going to be there so it wouldn’t be considered a date, right?

  Why that thought suddenly depressed me I had no reasonable explanation for.

  And I really liked being around Zane. A lot. Regardless of what my head was trying to tell me, I was going to say yes no matter what.

  “Yeah. That sounds fun.”

  “I hope you’re not too sore over the last time I beat you. I’ll try to take it easy on you this time.”

  He laughed into the line and I tried not to smile but lost the battle. I wanted to be indignant but I really couldn’t be. He could be just as arrogant as me. For some reason, I liked that.

  “Won’t we be on the same team?”

  “Yes, but I guarantee I’ll bowl a higher score than you.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to tell you that you’re goin’ to be eatin’ your words.”

  A few beats of silence passed and then, “I’d rather eat something else.”

  My body was instantly on fire and for once in my life, I was too flustered to throw out a comeback, some sassy retort. This man was turning my world upside down and I could never steady my footing.

  “Text me the details,” was my curt response before I hung up the phone, cutting off Zane’s infuriating chuckle.

  ##

  “You’ve got to be joking me,” Zane grumbled when I knocked down all ten pins, getting my fourth strike of the game.

  I turned around, beaming a huge smile at him as the rest of his team broke out into applause. “I tried to tell you.”

  “Yeah, be happy, Mr. Price,” his receptionist Denise said. “She’s picking up our slack,” she added, gesturing to her girlfriend.

  “I think we may have to permanently replace Lyle with her,” said another one of his co-workers, a man named Randall who seemed to be the unofficial captain of the team, despite the fact that Zane was the boss. I took Lyle to be the one who was out of town tonight.

  I smiled at Randall and turned back to Zane to find his gaze locked onto me, his eyes narrowed in thought. “What?” I asked warily.

  He slowly shook his head, a small smile spreading across his face. “Nothing. You just constantly amaze me. Is there anything you’re not good at?”

  I laughed, very much aware of our legs rubbing up against each other. “Now that you mention it, I’m a terrible linguist. I was never able to learn another language and barely passed high school French.”

  He leaned in closer, looking interested in learning more about me. “What else? What else are you less than proficient at?”

  I squinted my eyes up at the ceiling. “Well, I have to think about it. I mean, the options are so limited.” He rolled his eyes at that but didn’t say anything, just waited. “Um. Well, I definitely wasn’t born with a green thumb.” When his brow furrowed in confusion I explained, “I have zero gardening skills. I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever owned. And accordin’ to Felicity, I’m also terrible at doin’ the dishes.”

  A laugh rumbled from deep within his chest, making me want to wrap myself up in his arms for some idiotic reason. I had to distract myself from thoughts of that nature, and it had been a struggle all evening.

  “What about you? What are not good at? Besides bowling and darts and shuffleboard and—”

  “Okay, that will do,” he interrupted, raising his hand to silence me. I tried not to smile, I really did. He glared at me but acted like he was thinking about my question. “Scrapbooking.”

  “Scrapbooking?”

  He nodded once. “Scrapbooking. I’m a God awful scrapbooker. My mum loved it, though.” He smiled as he said it and had a far-off look in his eyes, like he was somewhere thousands of miles away. But it also looked sad, too, which made my chest tighten.

  “I tried to make her a scrapbook once when I was in secondary school.” He laughed to himself and continued. “It was a mess. It looked terrible, nothing like the ones she used to make. But when I gave it to her, I had never seen her look so happy. She must have known how hideous it was, but she said she loved it and that it was the best gift anyone had ever given her.”

  I smiled, imagining a younger Zane trying to make his mama happy. “Do you get to see her often back in England?”

  His expression hardened and he dropped his gaze to the floor. “No. She died just a few months after I gave her that scrapbook. Breast cancer.”

  My entire face fell, my heart suddenly aching for this man. I had no idea. I suddenly remembered the night we met and him telling me that it was just him and his father now, but I hadn’t considered why his mother wasn’t around. And I also didn’t realize until that very moment that anytime he had referred to his mother, it was always in the past tense.

  “I’m so sorry, Zane.”

  He looked back up and smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s okay. We had a lot of good years with her. I’m just glad she’s no longer suffering. And it was ages ago, anyway.”

  But it still hurts.

  You could see that in his eyes.

  “What about your father? Do you get to see him a lot?”

  His face softened, making me exhale in relief. I was hoping he at least had some family around since I knew he was an only child. “Yeah. My father lives just outside of London in the house I grew up in. He had an accident a couple of years ago at the factory he worked in and had to go on government assistance. I’ve been helping him with his finances so he can stay in the house he lived in with my mum.”

  Just when I thought that I couldn’t be more enamored of this man, he goes and tells me something like that.

  “Wow. That’s amazing of you, Zane. It sounds like you’ve been a wonderful son.”

  His head snapped up, his eyes searing mine with piercing heat. I wasn’t sure where that came from. The casual shrug he gave was at total odds with
his expression. “It’s nothing. I’d do anything for family and he’s the only one I’ve got left.”

  You have me.

  Whoa. Pull on the reins a little there, girl.

  Where in San José had that thought come from?

  He didn’t have me and I didn’t have him. Right? We were just friends who were having a casual, brief affair. There were no claims being made. We had no rights over each other. Right?

  Then, why did it sort of feel like we did?

  “Zane, you’re up!” said a voice from somewhere behind us.

  He winked at me before he stood up to take his turn.

  What in the hell was Zane Price doing to me?

  ##

  Chapter Eight

  Bea

  It was three days before I saw Zane again after our night of bowling. His score had ended up being higher than mine by two points. But I hadn’t minded losing. Not when he had looked immensely proud of himself, grinning like a five-year-old with his chin stuck in the air. Especially not after he’d told me the story about his mama and then I hadn’t seen that smile for a good half hour.

  All I’d wanted was to see it again and if it took me losing to accomplish that, so be it.

  Because I was quickly learning that when Zane was happy, so was I.

  He was a constant fixture in my head these days and I still hadn’t figured out what to do about it. We had just sort of been taking it day-by-day, floating from one encounter to the next without defining anything between us. It felt good to not have to worry about categorizing our relationship, but at the same time, I knew it couldn’t last. There was a feeling of impending tension between us that was causing a sinking feeling in my stomach and I didn’t like it.

  I knew we were going to have to talk things out soon.

  I was just doing everything in power to prolong that conversation as long as possible.

  I wasn’t sure how it would go once we did finally discuss it. And if it went poorly and I lost Zane forever, I wanted to enjoy our time together as long as I could.