Secrets, Lies & Imperfections

by Pamela L. Todd

  I tickled her ribs. “Stop teasing me. Or I won’t get you off ever again.”

  Cassidy sighed. “Seth Hamilton—the guy who knows how to make you come through a pair of jeans, but can’t figure out a cuddle. It really sucks I can never find a guy who’s the whole package.”

  “Man, you’re mean after you orgasm. You should warn guys about that, you know.”

  “Give me your hand, asshole,” Cassidy said, groping for me.

  I slid my hand over her hip. She caught it and tugged my arm around, tucking it between her breasts. With my arm under her head, I brought it down to hold her tighter against me.

  “There,” she said, her breath tickling my arm. “Was that so hard?”

  “Honey, it’s been hard for hours. I’m getting used to it,” I mumbled, pressing my face into her hair and inhaling the floral scent of her shampoo. It was nice, like spring and sunshine.

  She laughed and nestled closer. “Good at spooning—I’ll be sure to add it to your list.”

  “You’d better, or I won’t do it again.”

  I felt her lips curve into a smile from where they touched my arm. It made me want to hug her even tighter so she couldn’t move an inch away. I wanted to demand that my body not soften or relax with sleep, so I could hold her all night long.

  She was giving me a gift. No, it wasn’t sex. But it felt more intimate, more real, than sex could ever possibly be. Sex with Cassidy would be fucking awesome, but spooning her… She was willingly in my arms, in my bed and it made my chest swell with pride.

  * * * *

  I slept like the dead. Before I’d fallen asleep, I’d thought every time Cassidy so much as twitched I’d wake up and wonder what the hell was going on. But we were exactly how we’d been the night before, me wrapped around her small body, Cassidy burrowing into me as if she wanted to stay there forever.

  The glowing numbers on the clock on the bedside table showed it was only five a.m. No doubt Cassidy would be out for another few hours. Yet as the thought came to me, she moved in her sleep, her ass rubbing my dick.

  I swallowed a groan and resisted every urge to move—to tighten my hold on her hip and grind her more firmly into my crotch.

  Cassidy moaned, a low, quiet noise, and arched into my hand. Which was right around when I realized we weren’t in exactly the same position as I’d initially thought. I had a pretty good hold of her tit…and sleep-Cassidy liked it.

  “Cass?” I whispered, my voice rough. God help me, I wanted her to know where she was. Who she was with. Please be with me, Cass. The alternative was that she was dreaming of someone else. And dammit if that didn’t make my Neanderthal side come out.

  She made a purr-like noise and wriggled closer to me. Cassidy slid her foot up my shin and back down, the move too deliberate to be passed off as unintentional.

  I kissed her shoulder, a sliver of bare skin where the T-shirt had slid down. “Are you sleeping?”

  “Mmm.” She rolled onto her back and nuzzled my throat.

  Fuck me, this woman is going to be the end of me. “Cass, I need to know if you’re asleep or not,” I said, dragging the pad of my thumb over her stiffened nipple.

  Cassidy groaned and grabbed my wrist. She pulled my hand from her. Okay, definitely not asleep anymore, then. But instead of punching my dick and storming from the bed for the misunderstood groping, she slid my hand under the T-shirt, so I could take her bare breast in my grasp.

  “I had a good dream,” she murmured.

  I grinned and kneaded her warm flesh. “About me?”

  She sighed, sleepy and happy. “No. The guy from the movie.”

  “What the fuck?” I asked, ripping my hand from her.

  “Hey,” she protested, pushing up onto her elbow. She wasn’t so delirious with sleep anymore.

  “You’re going to regret saying that.” I shoved the T-shirt up, exposing her breasts. Trailing my hand up her abdomen, she shivered and her stomach dipped.

  “Jesus, I was kidding,” she said.

  “I don’t give a shit,” I said, stroked her tit with a single fingertip, the touch featherlight, making the nipple pebble even harder. “You’re in my bed. You’re with me. I should make sure you’re not capable of thinking about another guy except me ever again.”

  Cassidy let her head drop back. “Why doesn’t that exactly sound like a punishment?”

  I smiled and flicked my tongue out to taste her nipple. “It should. I could get you strung out on me.”

  “Like you are with me, you mean?” she asked, a smile in her voice.

  Well, shit. She had a point, I guess.

  When I didn’t answer her, Cassidy cupped my jaw and drew my head up so she could kiss me. Brief, dry. “I was dreaming of you, Seth.”

  I dropped my forehead to hers. “You’re driving me fucking crazy. What the hell are you doing to me?”

  “Making sure you’re not capable of thinking about another woman except me ever again.”

  “Cass, that’s been true for a fucking long time, now,” I said.

  She leaned in to kiss me again, longer this time. When she parted her lips I slid my tongue in, gliding over hers in a deep, lush kiss. Cassidy thrust her hands into my hair, tugging at the roots as I claimed her mouth. I groaned and caught her leg. She went with the motion and threw it over my hip, grinding her pussy against my cock.

  Cassidy scraped her teeth over my tongue and made a pleading, tortured noise in her throat. I ran my hand down her back and over the curve of her ass. She attacked my mouth like a woman possessed, kissing me harder and deeper as though she couldn’t get enough.

  I stroked her cunt through the boxers. “Is this what you want?”

  “No,” she mumbled against my lips. Cassidy grasped my wrist and guided my hand inside the clothing. “I want to feel you inside me this time.”

  Fuck me…

  Before I felt the warm satin of her cleft, I withdrew my hand and pushed Cassidy onto her back. Kneeling between her legs, I tugged the T-shirt over her head and ripped the boxers partway down her legs. She kicked them off and reached for me, pulling me down on top of her fucking amazing body.

  Bracing myself on my elbow, I cupped her hot pussy. Cassidy moaned and arched into my touch. At the first glide of my fingers in her slick folds, she whimpered. Forcing myself to go slowly, I slid one finger inside her. She was tight and warm and I wanted to fucking eat her. To shove my face into that sweet cunt and devour her until she couldn’t walk.

  “More,” she said, nipping at my throat with her teeth.

  I gave her another finger and pushed deeper inside her until she cried out. Cassidy groaned and lifted her back off the bed as I pressed against her clit with the heel of my hand while I pumped her. I caught her mouth in a hungry kiss. We met in a clash of teeth and tongues, a battle of wills as I worked her into a frenzy with my hand.

  She circled her hips, mewling as I pumped faster. “Jesus, I’m coming, I’m coming,” she said, breaking the kiss and panting.

  “Good,” I growled. “Come for me, Cass.” I dropped my head to her breast and sucked her nipple into my mouth.

  She pulled on my hair and writhed beneath me. Cassidy cried out her release, her body shuddering.

  I caressed her side as she shivered and came back from her orgasm.

  “You’re really good at that,” Cassidy said, her voice breathy.

  “That was nothing. Just wait.”

  “At least now I can see why you’re so fucking cocky.”

  I laughed and kissed her throat. “I’ll be right back. Try and get some more sleep.” It damn near killed me to leave her lying in bed, looking fucking beautiful spread out naked, but if I didn’t take care of my dick I’d end up begging to be inside her, and there was no way I was ruining this thing now because I was a horny douchebag.

  I closed the bathroom door behind me and turned on the shower, keeping the temperature as cold as I could tolerate. My dick throbbed as I shoved my boxers down. I hadn’t been so work
ed up in years and Cassidy had me tied up in knots.

  Stepping under the spray, I hissed as the water hit my overheated skin. I braced my hand on the wall in front of me and took my cock in the other.

  The shower door opened and I jumped as if I’d been caught doing exactly what I’d intended to do. Cassidy stepped inside and said, “Are you okay?”

  My balls pulsed at the sound of her voice. I hung my head. “Jesus, Cass, please leave me alone.”

  She laughed and reached past me to adjust the temperature to something above Arctic waters. “Don’t be such a baby.”

  “My balls are ready to fucking explode,” I grumbled.

  Cassidy stroked her hands down my tense back and around my waist to take my dick in her grasp. The first drop of pre-cum beaded at the head. I needed to come, and come right fucking now. “Turn around,” she ordered.

  She didn’t let me go as I turned to face her. She stood before me, looking like a goddamn angel. Her hair was a mixture of just-fucked and sleep-mused perfection. There was a still a healthy flush to her cheeks from her own release. And her body… Christ, her body was like a wet fucking dream. I’d never been with a woman with curves like hers.

  I’m not a picky guy, and as a rule of thumb, I don’t have a type. There’s so many varieties of women, why limit myself to just one kind? I liked blondes and brunettes, redheads and everything in-between. I liked skinny girls, plumper girls, big tits, small tits, round ass, long legs, pixie girls. But Cassidy…she was her own type. Too curvy to be classed as thin but by no means overweight. The swell of her breasts made me want to take them in my hands, the perfect handful. Long legs that I wanted wrapped around my back as I thrust into her. The swell of her hips feminine, and Jesus…that face. I could stare at it all day long and not get enough.

  She bit her lip. “Is it weird how much I like you staring at me?”

  I shook my head and cupped her hip, pulling her closer so I could kiss her. “It’s good you like it, because I don’t think I can ever stop.”

  Cassidy’s breath hitched. She squeezed the root of my dick and slid her hand up my length. I groaned and touched my forehead to hers. “I’m not usually so selfish. I forgot how you must be feeling.”

  I’d take this agony a thousand times over if it meant I’d made her happy. Cassidy’s hands on me were sweet relief, but seeing her come undone because of me was so, so much better. I made a noncommittal noise and leaned into her touch.

  She gripped me tighter and increased her movements, stoking the fire building in my belly. I hissed in a breath through my teeth and thrust into her hand. Cassidy gasped and pumped me harder.

  I barked out a moan. “Fuck, I’m going to come, Cass.”

  Cassidy took my aching balls in her hand, rolling and squeezing. I came with a bellow, spurting long and hard. I panted, trying to catch my breath. My heart thumped in my chest, a tightness unfurling, giving me relief I hadn’t known I was craving.

  “Feel better?” Cassidy asked, kissing my chest.

  “Hmm,” I said, incapable of actual words yet.

  She reached for my shower gel and squeezed a dollop into her palm. Cassidy worked it into a lather and started to wash me down. Her small hands drifted over my shoulders, my chest, my dick.

  Taking the bottle, I took some in my hand and started to soap her up too. She gave herself over to me and let me have my bidding over her body. When my movements turned sensual, she chuckled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me. “The point wasn’t to get you worked up again.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” I mumbled against her lips.

  Cassidy sighed and pulled away.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning.

  She gave me a small smile. “Absolutely nothing, Seth. That’s the problem.”

  Like an idiot, I opened my mouth to ask her just what in the hell she meant. Last night, then again this morning, had been amazing. Fantastic. Un-fuckin-believable, in fact.

  And…therein lay the problem—right now, there were no warning bells…for either of us.

  She wanted to give herself to me, to surrender and let me drive my cock so far into her she’d feel me for days, but she wasn’t ready. And if this was how deep I was feeling so soon, I wasn’t altogether sure I was, either.

  I pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, trying to pour all the reassurance into it that I was capable of. “I’m fucking starving.”

  She laughed, quick, like she was shocked by my words. “Me too.”

  “Breakfast?”

  “Please.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cassidy and I sat at the island eating toaster waffles and drinking coffee. It was hardly the breakfast of champions, but I doubted any meal had ever tasted better. Life felt fucking awesome that morning. The sky was bluer, the grass was greener and all that shit. Cassidy sat beside me, her thigh touching mine, her eyes dancing with amusement and a glimmer of satisfaction.

  Her lips were kiss-swollen and I wanted to taste them again.

  I leaned in to kiss her while she was still chewing.

  “God, seriously?” she asked with a laugh, covering her mouth as she swallowed. “You’re an animal. No willpower.”

  I frowned. “Why would I want willpower? I take what I want when I want it.”

  She rolled her eyes and picked up our plates. Cassidy placed them in the sink and came back to stand between my legs. “Thanks for breakfast.”

  “Thanks for staying,” I said, grasping her hips and bringing her closer.

  Cassidy smiled. “You do give great sleepovers. I may even try it again sometime.”

  My eyebrows drew together. “Oh, you’ll be trying it again, you can count on that. But that’s not what I meant. Thank you for staying for dinner last night. And for hearing what I had to say.”

  Her eyes softened and she rubbed her thumb across the stubble on my jaw. “I’m glad I did.”

  “Are you really?”

  She nodded. “You irritate the hell out of me and I still think you’re a cocky jackass, but it’s sort of growing on me. And after what you told me last night, everything about you makes a little more sense now.”

  “I’m trying to do better. To do better for you.” I swallowed. The admission wasn’t one I had been planning on. But once it was out there I knew I wanted her to know just how different this was for me. I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t fuck this up somewhere down the line, but she had to know I was trying.

  Cassidy looked down, and when she finally met my eyes again, they were full of uncertainty. For a heartbeat I thought I’d ruined this not by being a sex-crazed idiot, but a soppy, overeager Romeo. “I have something to say, but I’m not sure how it will come out.”

  “Try me,” I said, squeezing her hip.

  Cassidy released a long breath. “I’m not interested in casual, Seth. Fooling around with a guy for a couple of weeks isn’t on my agenda and frankly, it would be a waste of my time.” Her eyebrows pulled together as her face took on a more serious quality. “Please don’t think I’m trying to get some kind of early commitment out of you, because I’m not. But it’s important to me that you understand I’m not in this for a hot and fast affair. And if you are…then I need to know now, before I invest myself and someone ends up getting hurt.”

  I wasn’t used to girls who played it straight and didn’t twist things into a game. The few times I was with the same girl for longer than a night, more often than not they claimed they were only interested in a good time. It didn’t stop them blowing up my phone when I moved on, feigning some kind of connection that didn’t exist.

  But Cassidy…she was laying her cards on the table, giving me ample opportunity to throw in the towel now without being a dick. We’d only just got on the same wavelength with each other. There was no way in hell I was backing out. “I like the sound of the hot, but not the fast. Whatever this is…I’m in. Okay?”

  Her body visibly relaxed. “Okay.”

  That action in itself spoke volume
s. I’d bet anything that someone, once, had really hurt this girl—made her not exactly distrustful, but cautious, when it came to giving herself to another person. “You might have to help me out sometimes. I’m a relationship virgin, remember.”

  “Just keep being honest with me.” She smiled. “And I’ll try and get used to just how honest you are when you really shouldn’t be.”

  I grinned. “I speak my mind. What’s wrong with that? And right now, my mind is wondering why the hell we’re still talking when there are other things our mouths could be doing.”

  Cassidy gasped as I gripped the backs of her thighs and stood, lifting her with me. I perched her ass on the edge of the island and stole her mouth in a hard kiss.

  She mumbled something about me being an animal again before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and kissing me back with as much enthusiasm as a nymphomaniac. Her tongue slid over mine and I growled, my grip on her tightening.

  Cassidy cried out softly and it awoke the hungry beast within me. Jesus, I needed inside this woman yesterday. I was going to be jacking off like a teenager just to take the edge off as it was.

  The sound of a door closing had us breaking apart.

  Marley stood beside the patio doors, Bob’s leash in her hand. Her eyes flitted between me and Cassidy, her mouth parted in shock.

  “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath and stepped away from Cassidy. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  Marley broke out of her spell. “Oh, I was just walking the dog.”

  I nodded and realized the crazy-awkward tension in the room wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I gestured to Cassidy. “I swear this isn’t what it looks like.”

  Marley’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh no, then what is it?”

  Cassidy hopped off the island. “Jesus Christ,” she whispered. She snatched her car keys from the counter and rushed from the kitchen.

  “Wait a minute. Where the hell are you going?” I called after her. What was that? I looked at Marley, hoping she had the answer.

  She was quiet for a half a moment before she thrust her hand out in the direction Cassidy had just fled. “What are you looking at me for? Go after her.”