by Vivian Wood
She licked him up and down, eventually moving to his balls which tightened at her touch. Poppy looked at him with a question in her eyes, and he nodded. She stroked him with her hand while she kissed and sucked his balls.
“I’m almost there,” he said.
“Good.”
“No. Not like this. I want to come inside you.”
She smiled and crawled back up to him.
They kissed like teenagers as he lifted her back on the counter, for what felt like hours. Every now and then, his tip brushed against her heat, but he pulled back when she shivered. Still too sensitive. “We don’t have to do this,” he said.
“I want to,” she said. “Just wait for me… ”
He nipped at her neck and sucked a hickey below her ear.
Finally, he tested her opening and found that she pressed against him. “Seems someone is ready for round two,” he said.
She nodded, and he took a step back. “I want you to watch,” he said as he pressed her thighs open wider. They both looked down and watched as he slowly slid his length into her. Poppy started to close her eyes when he was halfway in, and he stopped. “Watch,” he told her. “Watch how hard you make me. How wet you are. How we fit like this.” She opened her eyes and watched herself take him all the way in.
Ryan pressed hard against her, and she called out. “That’s your G-spot,” he told her, and he felt her nails dig into his shoulders.
He held onto her hips and thrust into her slowly, in tempo with her moans. When her breath quickened, he began to fuck her faster.
“Ryan,” she called, over and over again. Every time she said his name, it brought him closer to orgasm.
She was so wet, he lost track of where she began and he started, but it didn’t matter. The sound of their skin as they slapped together was all he could hear. That, and Poppy’s moans and his name as it rolled out of her mouth.
As he started to get close, a blast of rationality shot through him. “Oh, shit,” he said, but he couldn’t stop fucking her. She felt too good. “Are you on something? Do you take—”
“Come in me,” she said. Those three words were all he needed to hear. He cried out when he filled her up, and the shot of him inside her brought her to orgasm all over again. He could feel the wave of her coming, the throbbing of her walls. It squeezed his shaft, forced every last bit of his come into her.
“Jesus,” he said, and she held him closer.
“You feel so good,” she said. “It feels so good.” He held onto her, and slid in and out of her, half-hard. With every pulse, he made her shake all over again. He could do this forever.
She kissed him as she rolled through the last waves, and he felt their juices start to run down his leg.
“I want to taste it,” she said.
“What?” he asked, confused.
“Let me clean you up,” she said. He was too worn out to argue. Poppy slipped off the counter and onto her knees. She licked him softly and tasted the blend of them together.
“Gentle,” he said. She didn’t stop until she’d finished every last drop.
“So,” he said as they moved to the couch, without a thought to getting dressed. “Is he…”
He wasn’t sure how to bring up Will, but he had to ask.
“He’s gone,” she said.
“Gone?”
“Back to LA.”
“Oh.”
“You staying?”
“What?”
“Are you staying?” she asked again, slower this time.
“If you—if you want me to.”
She just smiled. “Of course I want you to,” she said. “Come on.” She stood up, took his hand and led him into the bedroom.
Curled up in her bed, he couldn’t believe his luck. She was perfect, always had been. Why the hell did it take you this long to see it?
His hand grazed over her breasts as they lay side by side. Her nipples hardened at his touch, but he couldn't get over the hickeys that covered her chest. They were his marks, his proof she was his. “You look like you got your butt kicked,” he said.
She giggled. “Yeah. I think it’ll be awhile before I can wear a swimsuit again.”
“I think it looks good,” he said.
“Yeah? Maybe I should return the favor then.” She started to kiss and bite his neck. He wanted her to mark him, for everyone to see. He’d take her as long as he could have her.
26
Poppy
When she woke up, the first threads of dawn had woven into the night sky. Poppy fluttered her eyes open. She could feel the heat their two naked bodies made. Ryan was spooned behind her, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. She sighed, and felt him start to harden between her thighs. They didn’t have to say anything.
As if it were choreographed, she started to push her ass into him. He tightened his grasp on her waist—he was inside her in seconds.
Poppy moaned as his shaft stroked her G-spot and moved a hand to circle her clit. Ryan bit her shoulder lightly. Her legs blossomed open automatically, and he tucked one knee beneath hers to open her wider.
She took in the last of the night sky as he fucked her, slow and steady from behind. On the nightstand, inches from her face, were two photos. One was of her and Will at a friend’s birthday party. Will’s smile was forced, as always. The other was of her and Ryan at high school graduation. It was one of her favorites, with his arm wrapped around her as they laughed wildly.
Guilt started to seep into her just as Ryan pushed himself up and grabbed both of her thighs to flip her face down. He directed her to pull her hips into the air. Balanced on just her forearms and knees, she pushed the photos out of her mind as he started to kiss and nibble at her cheeks.
“I want to taste every part of you,” he said.
When his mouth roamed to her ass and she felt his tongue start to rim her, she gasped and closed her eyes. She knew the last of the moonlight that shone through the window lit up her fair skin, that Ryan was getting an unprecedented view of her most intimate parts, but she didn’t care. She wanted him to have it all, to see it all.
He had one finger on her clit, moving it back and forth while he kissed and licked a piece of her she’d never considered. It excited her in an incredible way, an unexpected one. But she needed more. She wanted him inside her again.
Poppy raised her hips higher and encouraged his mouth toward her opening. Ryan laughed behind her. “You’re insatiable,” he said, and obliged. When he plunged his tongue into her wet center, she cried out. Poppy put her hand over his, made him work her clit faster.
When she was on the edge of coming on his tongue, Ryan moved to his knees and slapped his cock against her ass. Somehow, he knew he shouldn’t tease her for long this time and slid into her wetness. He called out her name when he hit her depths and she bit down on the edge of the pillow.
Ryan held tight to her hips, but soon fell over her. She could see her breasts hung heavy below her, and watched as Ryan reached below with one hand to cradle them as they bounced.
As her orgasm built inside her, she turned her head and looked at the photo once more. Miraculously, she managed to block out the one of Will and focused solely on her and Ryan. He looked the same to her now as he did then. She couldn’t believe he was inside her at this moment, about to shoot himself into her.
“You want me to come inside you?” he whispered into her ear. Like he could read her thoughts.
“Yes,” she said. More than anything.
“What’ll you do for it?” he asked, a smile in his voice. He slowed his thrusts, and slowed her impending orgasm in the process.
“Anything,” she said as she tried to bounce herself into him at a faster clip. But he was too strong, too big for her to control from this angle.
“Anything?” he asked, and gathered her hair in his fist. He was on his knees again. Lifted by her hair, he made her rise up to her hands. She was on all fours and he governed her like she was an animal.
; Him being in total control of her like that, body and mind, excited her beyond belief. “Anything you want,” she repeated. Warm trickles of her arousal started to inch down her inner thighs.
“I can’t believe how wet you are,” Ryan said. He slid in and out of her slowly, her hair held tightly in his hand. She could tell that he watched himself as he disappeared in her, over and over.
“Anything,” she said again, quieter this time. Her eyes were closed, her neck arched and exposed.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he said. He started to fuck her faster and made her breath speed up.
“I’m yours,” she said. There was no hesitation.
“This is mine,” he said. He let go of her hip briefly to spank her ass, hard and sharp. The bite of pain shot her to the edge of orgasm. For just a moment, she was held up solely by his hardness deep inside her and his hands in her hair.
“It’s yours,” she said.
She felt his heat burst into her and he let go of her hair. Before her forearms hit the bed, she was already coming, her insides clenched onto him tight.
Ryan fell onto his back beside her as she lowered to her stomach. When she looked at him, her eyes went to the photo frames. Both of them. “Want to get cleaned up?” she asked.
He smiled and ran a hand across his half-hard cock. “I think I need to give it a rest,” he said.
“I didn’t mean that,” she said as she swatted his arm. “Shower. We could probably both use it.” Really, she just needed to get away from that photo.
Ryan got up first, and she covertly shoved the photo behind a stack of books.
He opened the window in the bathroom and let the dawning light illuminate them. She could tell neither of them were ready for the harsh brightness of the real world. Please, extend the magic just a little bit longer.
As he trailed the soap across her body, he lingered at her breasts. But Poppy’s mind was elsewhere. She couldn’t stop thinking about the ring crammed in the nightstand drawer. It screamed at her to do something with it. “Hey,” Ryan said over the hiss of the shower. “Where are you?”
She blinked her eyes open. “Right here,” she said, and forced a smile.
He looked beautiful in that morning light. Magic hour, she’d heard directors call it. Nearly every movie had at least one scene filmed at either dawn or dusk. It was when magic was promised. Yet the majority were at dusk because the night felt so wild and mysterious. Dawn was beautiful, but like the calm before the storm.
She bit her lip and drank him in with her eyes. The rolling muscles of his shoulders and the light spray of hair across his chest. Part of him was so clearly a man. She couldn’t recall when he’d packed all those muscles on, or when his abs had become as hard and cut as steel. Yet she could still see the high school jock in him, the sweet softness he used to cover in raglan shirts and letterman jackets.
“See something you like?” he asked with a laugh. She blushed, caught looking at his chest and stomach.
“Pops,” he began. She sucked in her breath. Don’t start this conversation. Please don’t start this conversation. “We need to talk about everything…”
Suddenly she felt incredibly vulnerable. Violated. Poppy was acutely aware not just of her nakedness, but of how swollen she still was between her legs. Their cocktail of juices still ran out of her. Standing here with Ryan in a cramped stall was not where she wanted this to happen.
Maybe you don’t want this to happen at all. Anger poured through her. Why are you ruining this?
“Just be thankful for now,” she said with a snap. His eyes widened and she slid open the shower door with a slam. She didn’t even check to see if anything broke, but padded out of the bathroom without a towel. She felt the slap of her wet footsteps against the wood floors as the water in the bathroom turned off.
She slammed the bedroom door, cursed herself for never getting the lock on it fixed, and shut herself in the poor excuse for a walk-in closet. As she flipped on the glaring lights, the last of the night’s enchantment faded away.
The door to the bedroom clicked open. “Poppy?” Ryan called, confused.
“Just a minute,” she replied, and willed her voice to sound normal.
“I’m going to go get some coffee and bagels from down the block. Be right back.”
When she was sure he’d left, she crept out of her closet and sat down by the nightstand. Carefully, she pulled the photo of her and Will out from behind the books and put it back in its place. Poppy took the ring out of the drawer. It was hidden behind her vibrator and a handful of condoms she’d taken from the student health center years ago. They must have expired ages ago.
You really are an ugly ring, she thought to herself, and instantly felt even guiltier. Who cares about the ring? It’s the intention that matters.
That was the other thing. What was Will’s intention behind this? Had she been too subtle in the hints about her tastes? Was this all just stupidly materialistic on her end? It felt like he'd intentionally chosen a ring he knew she’d hate.
What in the world are you doing?
27
Ryan
Ryan took another swallow of coffee as he sat on his tiny balcony. With just the little steel table and chair squeezed onto the space, it was a small slice of a retreat, but it was his. Papers from the US Marshals were fanned out before him, held down by his phone.
There were a number of urgent vacancies available around the country. All immediate openings were for overseeing WitSec persons or hunting fugitives. Clearly, there’s a reason so many of these posts are going unclaimed. He thought back to what Lieutenant Stevens had said about the Marshals program being starved for new recruits.
He enjoyed the work with Li, but it wasn’t particularly challenging. That adoration of exotic cars just didn’t have the same pull in him it seemed to with other men. Plus, it was very much considered a training post with no promise of long-term or full-time employment. He was technically a contractor with zero stability. Ryan pushed another paper with an opening description under the pile he’d already pored over.
If he left the car post, would Poppy even care? Maybe it would be easier for both of them, and she could slide right back into that pre-packaged life with Will.
Ryan shook his head. Melodramatic much?
Still, he felt like shit after the way they'd parted the other day. He’d returned from the corner shop with Americanos plus bagels and lox, Poppy’s favorite, and they'd eaten in silence. When he’d made an excuse to leave, she’d barely looked at him.
Since when did they connect best in the bedroom? It was exactly what he’d been afraid of—their friendship falling apart. And for what? Some good times between the sheets.
No. Some fucking incredible times between the sheets.
His phone lit up with Sarah’s name. Funny, he didn’t even feel a stir of excitement. Granted, he’d been breadcrumbing her at best since the tubing trip. It’s not her fault. She doesn’t deserve that. He knew he should break it off with her, but he couldn’t. He’d never been good at walking away from relationships, even casual ones, but this one was particularly thorny.
The lies have to stop, he thought. The lies to yourself, and the lies to everyone else.
It was obvious he wanted Poppy. Obvious to him, to Will, and hell, it had to be obvious to Poppy, right? She was all he could think about.
The phone began to ring, and it made his heart race. He wasn’t ready to have the talk with Sarah, not yet. His nerves settled when he saw it was the strange “1111” number that could only be Eli.
“Yes, Mr. President,” he answered.
Eli laughed on the other end. He always sounded funny calling from the office. “Just making sure you’re okay,” he said. “After you nearly drowned in, what was it, six feet of water, Navy SEAL?”
“Those rapids are a trip when you’re a six-pack deep,” Ryan said. “Why are you calling me from the Big House, anyway?”
“You mean the White House,” Eli said. “
I’m sure there’s a whole orchestra listening in, so let’s keep phrases like ‘Big House’ to a minimum, huh?”
“Right, right,” Ryan said. “So, what’s up?”
“You mean besides the whole world keeping an eye on me like a grumpy schoolteacher? Not much. I could use some discourse on the real world, though. Tell me how civilian life is treating you.”
Ryan considered a safe play, but the events of the past few weeks overwhelmed him. If he couldn’t talk to his brother about this crap, who could he vent to? “More drama over here than Afghanistan,” he said.
“Oh yeah? I said no disturbances,” Eli said coolly.
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, talking to one of the interns. But really, what’s up?”
“It’s… I don’t know, man. My ‘love life’ if you want to put a term to it.”
“Oh, I see,” Eli said. “You falling in love, finally? Who is it? That Sophia girl who’s always tagging you?”
“Who? Oh, you mean Sarah—no, not her.”
“Really? I mean, I’m not Facebook stalking you or anything, but you two have looked pretty chummy these past few weeks. She’s cute,” Eli added.
“Yeah. She’s a great girl.”
“So it seems the SEALs couldn’t slow down your playboy roll after all then. What’s the flavor of the month’s name?”
“Poppy.”
“Poppy? Like, the Poppy? The one who’s been your best friend forever?” Eli was clearly shocked. That couldn’t be a good sign. If the President of the United States thought this was dramatic, what would everyone else think?
“Yeah, how many people named Poppy do you know?” He was on the defensive, but couldn’t help it.
“Okay, chill out. How do you… what… does she… doesn’t she have a boyfriend?” Is that the best you can do?
“Technically, kind of a fiancé now,” Ryan said.
“Jesus, Ryan. You need to walk away from that.”
“I can’t,” he admitted. “I think I’m in too deep now.”
