As I work the shampoo into my hair, I start singing my favorite song of Austin’s. I can’t get over how much emotion it evokes from me, and I can’t explain why.
“Hey, babe. I’m feeling dirty. Mind if I join you?”
“Holy crap!” I jump, almost knocking my head on the tiled wall. “Geez, Austin, you scared me!” My heart pounds against my chest, not just from the scare, but because this gorgeous man just climbed into the shower. I’ve never showered with anyone before.
He places his hands on my waist and steps closer, and I have to mentally remind myself to keep breathing. Shampoo slides down my temple, but I’m frozen to wipe it away.
“The most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on is naked, wet, and singing my song. I can tell you with complete honesty that I have never been this turned on.”
Heat zings through my body, causing me to shudder. Austin feels it, because he tightens his grip on my waist. Then he brings his face to mine and kisses me softly. So softly. The flutter of his lips so gentle it’s as if air whispers over my lips. A hint of passion, desire…
Love.
* * *
After our shower, I step out of the bathroom and scan the room, tapping my index finger against my lips.
“What has you perplexed, babe?” Austin asks, wrapping his arms around me from behind and placing a kiss on my neck.
“I have no clue what I’m going to wear tomorrow.”
“Nothing?” he whispers, then slides his tongue over my ear. His teeth settle on my lobe, biting softly.
I press my backside into him and grind against his pelvis. The action is met with a low moan and I almost think he’s going to devour me.
“Fuuuuck.”
“Will you have any of those long, black tank tops at merch?”
“I can’t answer merch questions right now, babe. I want to be inside you so bad.”
“Focus,” I say, turning my head slightly to meet his eyes.
“I am so completely focused I can’t think of anything else.” He moves his hands to the top of the towel secured above my breasts.
“I thought we were doing this in the van?”
The towel drops to the floor.
“Throw some clothes on. I need to fuck you right now,” Austin growls, then slaps my bare bottom.
I jump and look at him with wide eyes.
“You like that.”
It’s a statement, not a question, because he knows the answer without me having to say it.
“I’ve got tanks in the van,” he says as he slides a pair of silver basketball shorts up his legs.
“Oh good!” I grab a tank top and oversized boxer shorts out of my bag. “Can I buy one to wear tomorrow?”
Austin looks at me like I have three heads.
“What? Is it completely dorky for me to wear a band tank? Is that frowned upon?”
“No. I can’t wait to see you rocking our stuff. But you’re not going to pay for it.”
“Why wouldn’t I pay for it?” I ask, stepping into my shorts.
“You’re my girl,” he says as if that’s all the answer necessary.
“So?” I ask. “I should still pay for a tank top. You paid for it. You have to recoup the money.”
“You’re not paying.”
“Austin.”
“Why you always gotta argue?”
“Because I like to be a pain in your ass.”
“Oh girl, I’d love to be the pain in your ass,” Austin says with a wide smile. He takes two steps toward me and we’re nose to nose.
“I don’t know how I feel about that comment.”
He licks his lips. “I love when your cheeks get red because of something I suggest, because I know that no one has ever even suggested it before.” He reaches between us and tweaks one of my nipples. “And I know that you’re entertaining the idea in that beautiful brain of yours.”
I bow my head, but he immediately places his fingers under my chin and lifts my face to his.
“You never have to be embarrassed with me, Liz. I would never do anything you didn’t want. I respect you completely. I’m literally a slave at your feet.”
His words are everything any girl wants to hear. Things every girl wants to believe. And all I can think of is how much I want to believe him, but then a stupid flash of insecurity peeks through and I wonder what he sees in me.
“Stop thinking,” Austin commands. “Because I don’t like whatever is going through your head. It’s not true. You’re the most phenomenal human I’ve met in my entire life. I don’t care if you don’t believe me right now. One day you will. I’ll spend every fucking second until that day proving it to you.”
Tears spring to my eyes.
“Nope.” He licks the outside of my eye, where a drop has slid out. “Too high up for you to be wet.” As he speaks, his fingers slide under one leg of my boxers and slip into me. “That’s where I want you wet, babe.”
I know I’m not disappointing him. Everything he does turns me on. Especially after his heartfelt declaration.
“Where were we?” he asks. His fingers work me without relent. My breathing gets heavy, deep, fast.
“I was paying you for a tank top,” I manage to say, as I try to ignore his deft fingers; getting back to solid ground will help hold my emotions at bay.
“How about I give it to you to wear in exchange for—” Two fingers curl, pumping at my G-spot, faster and harder until I’m bucking onto his chest and squeezing his hand between my thighs.
“Austin!”
“Yeah, babe,” he whispers, holding me as I collapse onto him. “Come for me, babe. I love when you come all over my hand. You’re so fucking sexy.”
He removes his fingers from inside me, twirls me around so my back is against his chest, and reaches around, hitting me with a three-finger assault on my clit, rubbing hard and fast in a circular motion. He knows exactly how to get me off. I try to breathe through it to enhance the orgasm and make it last, but I can’t. My breath comes out in short, fast pants. The only thing holding me up is Austin’s free arm around my waist.
“Oh! Oh god! Oh god!” When the orgasm hits, I arch against his chest and scream, “Austin!”
“Yes, Liz, yes! Fuck yes! I love when you say my name when you come.” He knows I’m in the zone, but he won’t let up, plunging his fingers into me again, his deft digits piston on my G-spot, helping me ride it out. Finally, the wave relents and I slump against him.
He kisses my neck as he removes his fingers. “I will never get enough of watching you come, Liz.”
His hard, thick cock presses against my back, making my pussy throb.
“I will never get enough of letting you watch me come,” I tease, still trying to catch my breath.
Austin laughs, then spins me around and wraps his arms around me. He rests his chin on my head, while I bury my face in his neck and inhale the scent of my amber, vanilla body wash on him.
“You ready to go get that tank top out of the van?”
“Do I get to ride your dick while we’re out there?”
“Of course.”
“Will you let me pay for the tank top?”
“You will be wearing a tank top with my band’s name and logo all day long at our first major festival. That’s called advertising. Giving you a free tank top in exchange for advertising is an intelligent business decision, wouldn’t you agree?”
Shoot. He’s got me.
“Yes. I agree with the statement.”
“I knew you’d see it my way.” He kisses me quickly. “But Liz—you’re my girlfriend. You’re gonna get free band shit. You gotta get over it.”
“Fine!” I laugh. “Now that I know I’m a walking advertisement, I’m completely on board.”
“Good. Now put some clothes on, woman! It’s time to fuck in the van.”
Once we’re both wearing enough to walk around outside without being too risqué, Austin leads me down the sidewalk and around a corner. The van is parked in the back of
the lot between two huge semi-trucks. Guess he’s not as much of a voyeur as I thought.
Or maybe he did it for me, thinking I’d be more comfortable tucked away. It’s comforting, but the thought of someone seeing us in the van is actually turning me on. Like when he fingered me at The Market. I never thought public sex acts would be such a turn-on. It’s like he’s peeling away my straight-laced layers one by one.
“You hid the van away?” I ask.
“Didn’t want any hitchhikers or prostitutes walking in on us.” He winks. The reference to my outburst earlier makes me giggle.
Austin opens the door and takes a step back so I can climb in. The scent of Lysol wipes fills the air—and I realize that’s why he left the room earlier. He was out here cleaning the seat. My heart swells.
As I climb to the back, he smacks my butt and I lurch forward. “Geez!”
“I want to bite your ass so badly, Liz. It’s perfect. Smooth, round, firm.”
“Oh my gosh! Stop!”
“I want to do other things to it, too, but I won’t scare you with all that tonight.”
It’s the second reference he’s made to anal tonight. It’s not a thought I’ve ever entertained before. Ever. But with Austin, in the right environment with the right preparation, it doesn’t seem like it’d be so bad. If that’s what he likes, I trust him enough to try.
“It doesn’t scare me, Austin. I feel completely comfortable and safe with you,” I say, looking at him as I collapse onto the bench on the last row.
“That’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me. You’ll always be safe with me, Liz. Body and soul.”
No one has ever spoken to me like Austin does. He hits me in the heart and the brain. He’s stability and strength in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Stability has always been the guy who went to a prestigious school, and has a good job and who can provide. More of a business transaction than a heart connection.
I reach out and pull him onto me, but I’m cramped in the back with my knees, and he falls directly on top of them rather than between, accidentally spearing him in the gut.
“Oh my gosh, Austin, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” I ask, opening my legs so his body slides between them.
“Yup,” he responds through teeth clenched in pain.
“Thank you for sanitizing the seat,” I say in an effort to make up for the knees to the stomach. One hand slides through his hair, comforting him.
“How did you know?”
“It smells like what I imagine a red-light district bedroom smells like between clients.”
Austin busts out laughing. “What the fuck, Liz?”
“What?”
He shakes his head, the smile still painted on his face. “You crack me up.”
He places a hand on the back of the seat, and uses it to shift a bit and lift himself toward my face. I know he’s trying not to put his full body weight on me, which makes for a very awkward position for him.
“Maybe you should straddle me?” he suggests.
“Oh! Yeah! Good idea.”
Figuring out logistics of fucking in the van is taking the sexy spontaneity out of our tryst.
After he lifts himself up and leans back on his calves, I scoot up enough to allow him to sit down, before throwing one leg over to straddle his lap. When I wiggle my butt, getting comfortable on his legs, I feel him hard and ready underneath me. Evidently the comical way we’ve gone about getting situated hasn’t hindered his excitement.
“Fuck, that feels good.”
I look into his eyes and lift my hands to his face, stroking his beard on both sides from temple to chin. I love how soft it is and I know he loves when I do it. He closes his eyes and I see the tension in his shoulders release. Knowing that he’s completely relaxed makes me happy. I lean down and place my lips on his. The touch is soft at first. Then I move my hands to his hair and grab hold, pulling at the roots as I intensify the kiss.
Austin doesn’t hold back. He grabs my hips, digging his fingers into my flesh. Our tongues tangle with greater need the longer the kiss goes on. When I pull away, he catches my bottom lip in his teeth.
“You’re really turned on by this, aren’t you?” I ask softly.
“I’m fulfilling my groupie-van-sex fantasy with my hot girlfriend. What’s not to like about that?”
His words make me laugh, but I want to play the groupie role, so I reach down, grab the hem of my tank top, and pull it over my head. Austin watches with hooded lids as I arch toward him, presenting my breasts to his face. He leans closer and licks one of my nipples. The touch makes me shiver.
“That’s it, baby,” I whisper seductively. “Make me your dirty whore.”
Austin bursts out laughing for the second time in minutes. He hides his face between my breasts, though I can still feel him shaking.
“What?” I ask.
He removes his face from the valley between my boobs. “I wasn’t prepared. I’ve never heard you say anything like that. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard you swear before.”
I shrug. “I’ve never had a reason to talk like that.”
“Never?”
“If any guy I dated wanted a whore, he’d pay for one.”
Austin flinches, which makes me want to take back my words immediately. I grab his face with both hands and say, “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that none of those guys ever asked me to play that role. They didn’t think I had ‘bad girl’ in me.”
“That’s hard to believe. You have such a dirty, sexy mind.”
“They didn’t know that. I never really felt comfortable enough to show that side of me. I don’t know.” I lean back, releasing his cheeks, and tuck my hair behind my ears. “All they saw was a book nerd. The girl who was always studying. I told you I haven’t had many boyfriends, Austin. Some of them—” I glance out the side window. “A couple of them called me cold.”
“Cold?” Austin asks.
I turn back to him, but don’t lift my eyes, focusing instead on the intricate lines of his neck tattoo. “Cold. Ice Queen. Emotionally unavailable.”
In my peripheral vision I see a look of understanding cross his face. He leans toward my exposed breasts and presses a kiss onto my chest, right over my heart.
“Fuck them. You’re not cold. You’re guarded. You don’t share yourself with men easily because they have to prove their worth before you give your heart away. But make no mistake, Elizabeth Commons. I’ve never known someone with a more beautiful soul. Warmth and love radiate from you. I felt that the first time I saw you—even when your lips were blue and you were shaking.”
“Are we back to the groupie fantasy thing?” I ask, confused at his words. “Because I was burning up the first night we met. All that dancing and all those people cramped together.”
Austin pauses, then shakes his head and laughs, “Yeah. No, I know. I was in another world for a second.”
Tears prick at my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. He’s either mixing me up with another girl, or I really did give off a cold vibe that first time we met at The Underground. What had I done wrong? I thought it had been a wonderful night. I was open and free.
He’s right about me. It does take me awhile to open up. Which is why I’ve never said I love you to any man. Not even a guy I dated for two years. Because I didn’t love him. And I’m not going to throw those words around. They mean something to me.
And to think, I almost said it to Austin.
“You thought I was cold that night, didn’t you? Stand-offish? Bitchy?” I fold my arms across my chest, trying to hide my exposed breasts. It’s not going to work, because they’re pretty large, but it makes me feel better to be somewhat covered.
“Fuck no! Liz! I just told you the first time I met you I was completely taken with you. I—Jesus Liz, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. And—fuck. There was so much more.”
“What does that mean?”
“Can I tell you a story?” he asks. “About the song Open Y
our Heart?”
“Please,” I say, intrigued because of how much the song resonates with me.
“I was late for class driving through a crazy-ass ice storm, when I saw a vehicle on the side of the road, smashed between two trees. I pulled over immediately and ran to the driver’s side to make sure the person inside was okay. But she wasn’t. She was slumped over the steering wheel, blood coming from who knows where.”
I listen intently, keeping my eyes on Austin as he speaks.
“I ran back to my truck, grabbed a crowbar, and pried open the door, then I lifted the girl out gently and carried her to my truck. I didn’t call nine-one-one. I should have, I know.” He brushes hair away from my face and lets his fingers slide through until he reaches my shoulder. “It was pretty stupid of me to move her, but I had no clue how long she’d been there and the hospital was just up the road, so I took the chance.”
“It wasn’t until I brought her into the hospital that I saw her face. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, despite her blue lips.” He smiles.
My mind—and my pulse—are both going a million miles a minute as his words come back to me.
The most beautiful girl he’d ever seen—despite her blue lips.
“…Warmth and love radiate from you. I felt that the first time I saw you—even when your lips were blue and you were shaking.”
“When I told the nurse what happened, she immediately took the girl back to triage. As I stood there, another employee informed me of who the girl was.”
I’m hanging on every word, my heart pumping faster with each piece of information he reveals.
“It was the daughter of one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the city. My heart dropped. I walked out of the hospital dejected. There was no reason to even think about her again because I didn’t have a chance. We could never be together. But it was all so romantic, right?” He looks at me with warm eyes. “The star-crossed lover’s thing. Rich girl, poor boy. I decided to keep the secret to my grave and write a song about forbidden love with that beautiful girl.”
“It was you?” I swallow hard as tears fill my eyes. “You saved me?”
OPEN YOUR HEART: Material Girls 1 Page 18
