Claiming Her Innocence

by Vivian Wood

  For what must have been minutes, he stayed like that, deep inside her. He felt their combined juices swimming within her. Finally, he pushed himself to the side and panted.

  Poppy didn’t hesitate. She stood up and walked naked out of the room. She didn’t say a single word.

  24

  Poppy

  What the hell was she doing? Poppy had locked herself in the bathroom for the past thirty minutes. She had heard a small shuffling when Ryan finally left the bedroom, but nothing else.

  Stupid, she scolded herself. She’d just given her virginity away like that, her “last bargaining chip” as her father would say. You’re a slut.

  Still, there was a bigger part of her that knew it was right. She loved Ryan, there was no denying that—always had. But did he love her like that? As more than a friend? After all, she’d been throwing herself at him like mad for the past few weeks. Maybe he was just doing you a favor.

  And what about Will? And Sarah? She hadn’t given a thought to either of them while she gave herself to Ryan. What kind of person cheats on her boyfriend and sleeps with one of her closest friend’s boyfriend?

  Shouldn’t she feel worse than she did? Although Poppy felt worse about Sarah than she did about Will—and that was strange. Her thoughts traveled back to Will on the water, engrossed in conversation with Penny. What was going on with those two? It was no surprise Penny would have a crush on Will, but was it more than that? Was it mutual?

  Poppy shook her head. It was probably nothing. What with Penny thinking there was something going on with Poppy and Ryan, it was only natural for her to take Will’s side.

  Stop it. How can you blame anyone but yourself? She’d learned through counseling in college that having a mother who'd modeled ideal victimization behavior her entire life, had made it pretty easy to slip into that mindset herself.

  You’re to blame. You. Just you.

  “We’re back!” she heard Penny’s voice crow as the front door flew open. “How are you?”

  “Good, I’m better,” Ryan said. He must have been sitting on the couch.

  “Where’s Poppy?” It was the girl half of the couple whose bed they’d just christened.

  “Bathroom,” Ryan said.

  She sighed. It was time to put on the biggest show of her life. She ran the water in the sink and adjusted her hair in the mirror. Poppy tugged at the sarong and tank top she’d grabbed en route from the bedroom to the bathroom. You can do this. Just act normal.

  “Hey,” she said to the group. “How was the rest of the tubing?”

  “Great!” Will said. “It was just that one rough patch.” His glasses were covered in water spots, and she could already tell he was going to burn, not tan. “You doing alright, Ryan?” he asked. Genuine concern coated his voice.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” Ryan said.

  “That was some real hero work you did!” the guy half of the couple said. “Going all white knight on Sarah.”

  Poppy busied herself in the kitchen with Penny. They set up for a family-style meal.

  “Whoa!” the girl shouted from her bedroom. “Looks like somebody’s been sleeping in our bed.” She poked her head out of the room and smiled.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry,” Ryan said. “I crashed in there when we got back.”

  “Not a heavy sleeper, huh?” she asked. “I’d hate to share a bed with you.”

  Poppy could feel Ryan’s eyes on her, but she refused to look.

  As the entire group settled down on the porch with their plates loaded with burgers, salads and chips, talk turned to the events of the day. “I can’t believe you did that!” Sarah said to Ryan.

  “Believe it,” he said. “I see a girl about to get wet, and I can’t help myself.”

  The guys laughed and the women groaned, but Poppy was sure everyone would catch on. Sarah rolled her eyes as Ryan got his second serving. “The rest of us aren’t even halfway done with our first!” she said.

  “What can I say? I worked up an appetite this afternoon.” His eyes bored holes into her, but Poppy pretended to be engrossed in her food—or, more accurately, her second glass of wine.

  “You think you better slow down?” Will asked her.

  “Whatever, it’s the weekend,” she said.

  “Now, now,” Penny said. She was on Will’s other side, and leaned over. She wove her arm through his. “You should listen to your man from time to time.”

  Will raised his brows at Poppy and nodded in Penny’s direction. See? Why can’t you be like that? his expression seemed to say.

  Emboldened with liquid courage, Poppy reached over and slapped Penny’s arm away from Will. She tried to do it like she was joking, but even buzzed she was aware it came across as territorial.

  “Geez, why don’t you just piss on him and mark your territory?” Penny said quietly into her own Solo cup of wine.

  “Maybe I will,” Poppy said. She leaned into Will and intertwined her own forearm with his.

  “A guy could get used to this!” Will said. He beamed at the two women fighting over him. As much as she despised him in that moment, Poppy held onto his arm.

  “Hey now, you’re all mine,” she told him. Poppy leaned over to give Will a kiss and thankfully, he complied. She never knew if he’d play the “PDA is for kids” card or not.

  “I should bring you to the woods more often,” Will said.

  “You want me to get you another beer?” she asked him.

  He looked at his nearly empty bottle. “Sure, why not?” As she walked back to the kitchen, he slapped her ass.

  “—and, you know, I’m not saying it’s a sure thing or anything, but it’s promising. Very promising. But you know how contracts in LA are.” She’d only been gone a minute, and somehow Will had steered the entire conversation around his work and project. She cringed inwardly, but handed him his beer.

  “P? Don’t you mind him being gone all the time?” Sarah asked. Her hand rested on Ryan’s thigh.

  Poppy opened her mouth, but Will cut her off.

  “She doesn’t mind,” Will said. “In fact, she’s a great little cheerleader. Maybe my biggest supporter.”

  “Fascinating,” Sarah said. “Does she even talk and walk like a real girl, too?”

  Before Will could respond, Penny jumped in. “It’s not easy being the girlfriend of a successful artist,” she said. “At least, I imagine.”

  Why am I even with him? He’s such a douche. Poppy sat back in the chair and tuned out Will as he continued to blather on about himself. Is this really the path you’re going to choose? Really?

  There was nothing in Will that she wanted for her future. Maybe there never had been, or maybe she’d just been blinded before. Forget choosing Will or Ryan’s path, what about her path? Where did that go?

  Maybe, Poppy realized, I’ve been so far off my own path for so long I won’t be able to find my way back. Look at him, she thought as she took in Will. He’s so full of himself!

  It had been a long time since Will had mentioned it, but he used to be so proud she was going to be a doctor. He'd brought it up every time he introduced her to someone. “This is my girlfriend, Poppy. She’s in med school. She’s going to be a doctor.” At the time, she'd loved it. That was back when she thought being a doctor actually meant something—something more than saving people. As if that weren’t incredible in itself.

  She shook her head. She was so offtrack. Will only wants you because having a doctor on his arm makes him look good.

  But she wasn’t in this fantasy alone. She’d looked a little too long at advertisements for engagement rings. She’d dropped hints she liked the halo style, and had told Will she thought yellow gold was charming and coming back in style.

  Stop lying to yourself. Okay. All of that was true, she had to admit. But the biggest truth she’d buried from herself? She’d ached for the day Will and her would have a baby—not to start a family, but to quit her life. Will would make it big, they might even move to Hollywood, and she�
�d spend her days at Mommy and Me classes while she swapped advice with other Sweaty Betty-bedecked moms.

  You’re a fraud. Uncomfortable, and with a head swarmed with wine, she stood up. “Guys, I think I’m gonna rest for a bit,” she said.

  “You okay?” Sarah asked, concerned. She rubbed Ryan’s knee.

  “Yeah,” Poppy said as she avoided Ryan’s gaze. “I’m just tired.”

  She was barely curled up onto the bottom bunk when Will appeared in the doorway. “What’s the matter with you?” he asked. “You just up and left me out there.”

  “I’m tired, Will,” she said.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” he said. With a heavy sigh, he sat on the bed next to her. “I was going to wait to tell you this when we weren’t in the middle of nowhere, when you were in a better mood, but it looks like you’re never going to be in a good mood anymore.”

  “Tell me what?” she asked. You’re leaving me for Penny.

  “The script was picked up,” he said. “I’m moving to LA.”

  “You’re—you’re leaving?” she asked, and sat bolt upright in bed. “So, we’re… ”

  “Don’t be silly!” he said. “There’s no reason for us to split, not if you don’t want that. You’re coming with me. There are hospitals in LA, aren’t there?”

  “Well, yeah,” she said. “But it’s not—I’m an intern, Will. I don’t get a say in where I am. Do you remember how hard it was to even get this internship? And even if I was a full-fledged doctor, it’s not easy to—”

  “You just can’t be happy for me, can you?” he asked. “It’s always all about you.”

  “Will! How can you say that? I—”

  “Just admit it,” he said. “This has nothing to do with your internship or anything else. I’m sure you could find a way to finish your internship in LA… if you wanted to. I mean, assuming you’re not wanting to stay here because of Ryan—”

  “Oh geez Will, no. Okay? It has nothing to do with him.”

  “Good! Then it’s settled. And there’s no reason for you not to say yes.”

  “What?”

  Will stood up and dug through his suitcase. He pulled out a black velvet ring box and tossed it toward her. Inside was a pear cut diamond in a platinum setting. Poppy looked up at him, unsure. He didn't move, a challenge to her loyalty.

  Unable to speak, she slipped the ring on. It was too big, and felt like dead weight.

  “Just think about it,” he said as he moved to her and patted her head. “Our future could be great. You’ll see.”

  Like a hawk, he swooped down and kissed her hard on the mouth. It was tight-lipped and rigid. He smiled, turned around, and walked back to the patio. Poppy stayed, alone, in the dark.

  25

  Ryan

  Ryan knocked on her door, and didn’t give a damn if Will was there. It had been two days since the tubing trip, and she’d pulled that crap of pretending to be the doting little girlfriend the entire time. And that proposal—if you could call it that? Poppy coming out of the bedroom with that ring wrapped around her finger and looking miserable? Ridiculous. Yet there was still something about it that unnerved him.

  “What?” she said, sleepy-eyed when she opened the door. “Ryan, it’s like midnight—”

  “I know what time it is.” Her eyes opened wide, and he knew Will wasn’t there. She was in nothing but a thin T-shirt that didn’t even cover the triangle of her panties. And there wasn’t a ring in sight.

  “Ryan—”

  He shut her up with a kiss. His mouth consumed hers while his hands roamed to her breasts. Ryan pulled at her nipples through the shirt and she whimpered. They were in the doorway, but he didn’t care who saw. His hand traveled down, across her stomach and over the silkiness of her panties. They had already started to soak through. “Wet already?” he said with a smile. She bit her lip and pushed harder against him.

  Poppy tried to pull him inside, but he held her steady. In an instant, he was behind her, her wrists pinned easily in one of his hands. With his free hand, he ran his fingers up her shirt and exposed her abdomen to the city below. There was nobody on the streets, no neighbors looked through windows—at least that he could see. Poppy stiffened in his arms, but her passion surpassed any shyness or embarrassment. He kissed her neck and she let her head go heavy, leaned it back and rested it on his chest.

  When his hands moved from her unbelievably hard nipples down toward her underwear, she gave a feeble attempt to free her hands. “Be good,” he whispered to her, and she complied.

  He could tell just by touch that those yellow panties were stained dark by her wetness. Ryan drove his throbbing cock into her ass through his jeans while he flicked a finger across her clit—even with the silk material in the way, she started to shake.

  “You like that?” he asked her, and she whispered a yes as he pinched her folds together. He slid his hand underneath her underwear, across the slickness of her clit, and his finger dove into her warm, wet folds.

  He fucked her with his hand, one finger and then two, while his thumb circled her clit. “Spread your legs,” he told her and she did without hesitation. She stepped wider in the doorframe, faced the street below without question, and let him have his way with her easier. The entry light lit them both up, but especially her. “I want the world to see you belong to me,” he said as he drove his cock into her backside.

  He released her hands and moved his own to her ass, squeezed her cheeks and spanked her lightly. He dove into her panties from behind, and easily slid his fingers into her. She started to moan and bend forward, but he caught her waist with his other arm and held her upright. Unable to move, she started to rub her clit with one hand—and reached behind to unzip his jeans with the other. “Is that what you want?” he whispered in her ear.

  “Yeah,” she said. She fumbled to unzip him with one hand. He fucked her faster with his hand.

  “Tell me, ” he said. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I want your cock,” she said quietly.

  “Say it louder.”

  “I want your cock,” she said. It was a normal level and even as she continued to rub herself and cover his hand in her wetness, he felt her look around.

  “Louder,” he said. She was quiet, and his hand went still but his arm was still clenched around her waist. Poppy started to wiggle against his hand. He grabbed her hand that worked her clit and forced her into stillness. “Louder,” he repeated.

  “I want your cock!” she shouted into the night. He freed her hand, drove his fingers into her two more times, and pulled her into the apartment.

  They didn’t even make it into her bedroom—he didn’t think either of them could wait that long. Instead, he lifted her onto the kitchen counter and fell to his knees. Easily, he tore the underwear off of her, and she spread her legs eagerly.

  He kissed her inner thighs and she squirmed. Ryan loved her frustration when he teased her. Gingerly, he kissed her clit and she pushed, demanding, against him. “Come on,” she said.

  “Come on, what?”

  “Ryan—”

  “I know you want my cock. And you’ll get it, I promise,” he said. “But what about right now? What else do you want?”

  She whimpered and reached for his head.

  “You want me to eat your pussy?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then you know what to say,” he said, and took her between his lips.

  “I want you to eat my pussy,” she said, and opened her legs even wider.

  Ryan drove his tongue between her legs and breathed in her scent. She tasted like a sweet addiction he’d never known he needed. As her thighs rested on his shoulder, her hands on his head, she pulled him back to her every time he pulled away.

  Her hands held his face so close to her he could hardly breathe, but he didn’t care.

  “I’m close,” she said. “I’m close. Ryan—”

  “Come in my mouth,” he said. He barely got the words ou
t before she covered him in her juices, as small streams of her sweetness shot into his mouth and covered his face. It almost made him come right then and there, but he held himself back.

  “Oh!” she said. He looked up from between her thighs and saw she was embarrassed. “I didn’t…”

  She didn’t know she did that. She was a virgin, that was surprising enough. But to think she'd never gotten herself off properly was shocking. “Taste yourself,” he said, and stood up. He cupped her chin in his wet hand and slipped his tongue into her mouth. “See how sweet you are?” he whispered.

  She relaxed and kissed him back. He ran a finger across her swollen folds and she shivered. “Too sensitive?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I’m good,” she said. “Just give me a minute. Let me take care of you—”

  Poppy began to finish her job of unzipping him, but he stopped her. “Tonight, it’s all about you,” he said. He unzipped and stepped out of his jeans. She reached for his cock like it belonged to her, and it felt natural. Ryan pulled his own shirt over his head and then removed hers.

  “I want to,” she said, and looked down at him almost shyly.

  “Have you ever…”

  He knew it was a stupid question, but he had to ask. She shook her head. “Tell me how,” she said.

  She hopped off the counter and kissed her way down his stomach and licked his tip. Just feeling her mouth on him, even this small amount, was electrifying. She played with taking him in deeper. “Wrap your lips around your teeth,” he told her, and she did. “Good,” he said.

  He watched her, on her knees below him, unable to believe it.

  “Hold the base,” he said, “like this.” He grasped the base of his shaft and she placed her hand over his. “Tighter,” he said.

  Slowly, she worked up to take him farther into his mouth. Every time she came up, she made a thirsty sound like she couldn’t get enough. The next time she took him in her mouth, she released her hand and he felt himself hit the back of her throat. “Fuck, Poppy,” he said.