* * *
As if she wasn’t confused enough, later that night she heard from Leo. He called just as she was crawling into bed.
“Is it too late to call?” he asked, sounding a bit distracted.
Nora tucked the covers around her, trying not to drop her phone. It wasn’t like Leo to call. He seemed to prefer texting.
“No, I’m still awake,” she assured, “just getting into bed. Is everything okay?”
“Hmmm, you’re in bed? What are you wearing?” he teased, suddenly less distracted.
Nora giggled, appreciating the flirtation.
“Nothing but a sheet. It’s just too hot.” she purred, enunciating the last few words. In truth, she was wearing an old Mötley Crüe t-shirt and a pair of white panties.
“Are you laying down?” he asked, his voice low and seductive.
She liked where this was heading.
“Yes,” she whispered, adjusting herself back into her pillows.
“Are you wet?” he growled softly, probably horny as hell.
“Actually, I am,” she said, playing along, his words exciting her too.
“I’m in bed too,” he confessed, “and I’m hard as a rock. I wish you were here.”
“Oh ya, what would you do if I was?” she teased, egging him on, her fingers twirling her necklace.
She put her phone on speaker and set it on the pillow beside her.
“Well, I would slip my fingers into your cunt, just to see how wet you are. I love how warm and soft you feel inside, so creamy,” he said, his voice deep and his words deliberate.
He was on a mission.
“Spread your legs for me, and slip your fingers inside your pussy,” he commanded.
Nora bit her lip and slid her hand over her chest and down her stomach, slipping her palm under the elastic of her panties. She kneaded her soft lips for a moment, carefully spreading them open before dipping her fingers inside. She moaned softly, encouraging him to continue.
“Are they inside?” he asked playfully.
She could hear the excitement in his voice.
“Mmmm-hmmm,” she responded, waiting for more orders.
She liked this game.
“How does it feel?” he asked breathlessly, “describe it to me.”
“So good. Sexy. But it feels so much better when you touch me,” she softly murmured, milking herself with her fingers.
“Pretend it’s me. I’m stroking my cock right now and all I can think about is your mouth on it, sucking me off. You give the best head,” he offered in that deep, smoky tone that turned her on so much.
She felt herself tremble as a current of pleasure fluttered through her body. Her juices soaked her hand as her pussy responded to her touch.
“Now rub your clit, ever so gently, pretending it’s my tongue teasing you,” he continued.
She was already one step ahead of him, but she didn’t tell him that.
“Mmmm,” she moaned softly, fucking herself with her experienced fingers.
She could hear his breathing escalating, and her heart began racing in response. She knew he was pleasuring himself too, and that turned her on even more.
“Tell me what you want me to do. What would make you hot and wet?” he urged, his voice breaking ever so slightly.
Nora’s fingers, wet with her own honey, glided over her clit with the perfect amount of pressure. Could she tell him what she really wanted? Share her fantasies with him? More than anything she wanted to open up to him, but he was so closed off himself. Maybe she needed to be the first one to expose her vulnerable underbelly, and to pave the way for him.
“Tell me, Nora,” he commanded gently, his voice thick with need.
“I want you to restrain me, to tie me up so I can’t move,” she began, hesitating then, her nervousness heightening her desire.
She could hear him take a deep breath.
“Yes...go on.”
“Blindfold me. Tease me with your kisses, your tongue, and your fingers. I won’t know what you’re doing or where you will be touching me next. I will be completely at your mercy,” she whispered, her arousal escalating.
The hot little fantasy fueled her imagination, as she visualized him doing exactly what she desperately wanted.
“Fuck, yeah. I would love that. I could do anything to you I wanted. You would have to trust me completely. That’s hot,” he agreed, not even trying to mask his enthusiasm.
“What would you do to me,” she asked, spurring him on, “if I was blind, naked and bound?”
“I would nibble on your nipples, suck your clit, maybe blow my hot breath all over your body. Whatever I could to torture you,” he said, painting a very hot, sexy picture for her.
Not only could she see it in her mind, but she could practically feel his phantom touches raising the goosebumps on her flesh.
“Then I would bite your neck and feel you writhe underneath me. I would gently bite, pinch and spank your ass and thighs until you are dripping wet.”
“Oh my God,” she purred, one shaky hand pinching her nipple, while the other rubbed her clit, desperately trying to trigger an orgasm.
Pleasure surged from her core as heat radiated from her center shooting out to every limb, curling her toes. She cried out loudly, releasing the hedonistic pressure building inside her, shuddering with convulsive spasms.
“Fuck, Nora, cum for me baby. That…is...so...fucking...hot,” he panted, his own pleasure obvious.
She could hear the unmistakable grunts and groans of a man stroking himself off. Her intensity just started ebbing off as his started to swell. She wanted to bring him closer to the edge.
“Then, just when I can’t take your torture anymore,” she gasped, trying to catch her breath, “you force open my trembling legs, exposing me for your pleasure. You are so desperate to fuck me you don’t care if I am ready, you just force your cock into my ass. My virgin little hole is like a vice, tight around your thick shaft.”
“Yes, fucking yes,” he blurted, “I’m cumming, fuck!”
He exploded hard, his familiar sex noises echoing through the phone. She giggled, completely turned on by his racy spontaneity. She felt wild and free.
“Wow,” she cooed, picking the phone back up and holding it to her ear, wanting to feel intimately closer to him.
She heard him take a deep breath, sighing heavily.
“Nice fantasy,” he teased warmly, as soon as he recovered.
She could practically hear the smile on his face.
“You liked that did you?” she replied, pulling the covers over herself.
He chuckled softly, “I sure did. I wouldn’t mind making that fantasy a reality.”
“Well, maybe we will. Nothing hotter than trusting one another completely,” she suggested, hoping he would understand that she was alluding to something more, something deeper.
He mumbled unintelligible words, clearing his throat.
“Sorry?” she questioned, hoping he would repeat it.
“Nothing, nothing,” he assured, waving her off. “I actually called to ask you something.”
“Oh, you mean this call wasn’t just about phone sex?” she teased, brushing off his avoidance.
“Nah, that was an added bonus,” he chimed back, “I have next weekend off and was thinking about heading out of town for a few days for some R & R. Do you want to come with me?”
“Relaxation and Romance?” she quipped flirtatiously.
A weekend away with Leo sounded perfect. A change of scenery, a few days without distractions. It could be exactly what they needed to reach a higher level of intimacy. Maybe Leo was thinking the same thing.
He chuckled softly at her remark and said, “Ropes and Ravishing?”
“Hmmm, can’t we have both?” she mused, hoping he had more than just a dirty weekend in mind.
“For sure. My parents live in Ojai. I like to go there to unwind,” he went on to explain.
Nora smiled sweetly to herself. Did he wan
t her to meet his parents? Was this his way of telling her he was ready for their relationship to evolve? This could be a good thing for them. Maybe a great thing!
“I would love to meet your parents, Leo,” she assured, touched by the gesture.
She expected a completely different response, but was instead, met with silence.
“Leo?” she questioned gently, before suddenly realizing her mistake. She might have made a huge assumption, she thought.
Leo cleared his throat uncomfortably before he finally spoke up.
“Actually, my parents are in New Jersey for a few months, visiting my brother and his wife. We would have their place to ourselves,” he offered, almost apologetically.
Nora silently chided herself, then quickly shook off her embarrassment.
“That sounds great,” she offered, maybe a little too enthusiastically, “I’ve never been to Ojai. I’ve heard it’s a cool place. When do you want to head out?”
“Can you take off a little early on Friday? I was hoping to beat the heavy traffic, maybe head out around two or three?” he asked, softening his tone as though he felt he needed to placate her.
She knew he meant well, but she hated that she made things awkward in the first place.
“I can try to move some appointments around. That might work. We can confirm times and details in a few days, okay?” she reassured, hiding the emotion she was feeling.
“Sounds good,” he stammered. “It’s getting late. I’m going to let you get some sleep, while I go clean myself up,” he said, chuckling softly under his breath. “I’m glad you’re coming. l’ll touch base on Wednesday, after work.”
“Thanks for the invite. I’m looking forward to all the R’s,” she offered playfully, hoping to end their conversation on a lighter note. “Goodnight.”
“Naughty night,” he whispered flirtatiously before hanging up the phone.
Nora sat in silence for a few minutes, staring blankly at her phone, trying to get her bearings straight. Once again, Leo left her reeling with uncertainty. He could take her from one end of the emotion spectrum to the other, in a single encounter. She shook her head softly, wondering if he was aware of the effect that he had on her, if he was even invested enough to care. He kept his cards so well hidden. She couldn’t explain why she was so drawn to him, despite it all. If nothing else, the weekend would get her closer to the truth. She knew she needed to pull some answers out of him, even if they were answers she didn’t want to hear. She needed to know if he was capable of opening his heart to her once and for all.
CHAPTER 17
LEO
The traffic was light and they made it to Ojai in time for dinner. He showed Nora around his parent’s house, giving her the quick five cent tour. It was a humble little house with a spectacular view of the Topatopa Mountains. His parents moved to Ojai when Leo was fifteen. Both of his grandparents had died that same year, only a few months apart. It was a hard time for his mother, she had been the one taking care of them in the end. She had been suffering from a deep depression and his father thought that Ojai would be the perfect place for a new beginning, something completely different from Jersey. His mother always wanted to live somewhere where the winters were less harsh, so they chose Ojai, California.
At the time, Leo was a pissed off teenager hell bent on making their lives miserable. He didn’t want to leave Jersey. All his friends were there and he was only in his sophomore year. He was a popular kid, good at music, dancing, and sports. He had it made. Changing schools had been hard on him. He wasn’t used to being invisible.
He spent the first few years in Ojai causing all kinds of shit. He had been in trouble with the law on a few occasions too, nothing that landed him in juvie or anything, but enough to get a shitty reputation. Two events finally got him back on the straight and narrow. He met a girl that he fell madly in love with, and his buddy saved his life. Both were significant enough to make him seriously reevaluate his life choices, and oddly enough, they occurred on the same night.
“The house is amazing,” Nora gushed, admiring the view through the patio doors of the sunroom, “it is so quaint!”
Leo knew she would love it. The house was decorated much the same way Nora furnished her own home, very bohemian. His parents were pretty much hippies, having grown up in the seventies, and their taste very much reflected that. When they lived with his grandparents everything was crisp and clean, the way Italian people liked it. Even the furniture had been covered in plastic, to keep it “new” looking. As soon as his parents bought their own home on Ojai, they made sure it fit their unique personalities.
They were like newlyweds again once they hit the west coast, a couple of 40 year old kids. Ironically, his mother seemed to blossom when they left the garden state. She’d had so much responsibility from such a young age that she never got to be a proper teenager. The youngest of five siblings, she was the one expected to stay behind and take care of her parents. Even after she and his dad married, they lived with her parents to help pay the bills. She and his dad worked while Leo’s grandparents took care of the bambinos. It never bothered Leo. He and his brother were spoiled rotten, the apples of their Nona’s eye. For him, life seemed damn near perfect. But his mother was not happy. She and his father married at 22 and by the time she was 25 she already had two kids, Leo and his older brother Gianni.
How his parents stayed together in those early years, Leo would never understand. Especially for his father who was the outsider. It must have felt like a rebirth for both of them when they finally left it all behind them. They tried to visit family every couple of years, back in Hoboken, a town famous for two things—Frank Sinatra, and more recently, Buddy Valastro, The Cake Boss. Leo and his brother used to go to Carlo’s Bake Shop every Saturday morning with their grandfather to purchase their world famous cannolis.
This trip was the first visit his parents had made to Jersey since 2012, when hurricane Sandy had filled Hoboken like a bathtub. Luckily none of their relatives had lost their homes in the storm, but many people did.
Leo wrapped his arms around Nora and pulled her against him, back to chest. He kissed her neck playfully, drawing a giggle from her.
“I thought you would like it here,” he agreed, as he swayed her gently in his arms. “I always like coming here. Can’t beat that view.”
“You said your parents moved to SoCal when you were fifteen? To this house?” Nora questioned, turning herself around to face him.
He looked down at her and nodded.
“Yes, right here. Moved here in 96. Oddly enough, I despised it here in the beginning. Hated the fucking place, but now that I am older I can understand the appeal it held for my folks,” he shared thoughtfully. “My brother lived a few blocks over until just recently, but he moved back to Jersey last year with his wife and kid. My parents are actually staying with them for the next few months because Gianni’s wife just had their second child. They have two little girls now. I’m actually planning a visit back east myself before long.”
“Why did you hate it?” Nora asked.
She seemed pleased to see him opening up about his family. He hadn’t talked about them since their first date, and even then he kept it pretty casual. He shared the logistics but not the dynamics. It wasn’t easy for him to share his personal stuff, but she made him want to try.
“It just felt like a foreign country to me. It was so different from home, and of course my grandparents had just died. They practically raised me and my brother. I had a hard time working through it,” he admitted despondently.
“Sounds like you had a lot of grief.” Nora offered, her voice trailing off.
Leo nodded his head slowly, his thoughts drifting back in time.
“I guess so. Of course, at the time my parents were so damn happy that it made me even more miserable. I hated them for it. On top of all my teenage hormones, I was filled with rage. Not a good combination, I got into a bit of trouble,” he confessed awkwardly.
He
hated drudging up the past. He hated how uncomfortable it made him. Inevitably his thoughts would always come around to Corrine and that would just mess him up. He released his embrace with Nora and sat down on one of the two wicker chairs in the sunroom. Nora took his cue and sat down on the chair beside him.
“What kind of trouble?” Nora pressed gently.
“Oh, I don’t know. Stupid stuff. I vandalized the post office with an inappropriate painting, beat up the school bully, and took a baseball bat to half the mailboxes over on Grand Avenue,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.
It was embarrassing to think about that shit now.
“Inappropriate painting?” Nora smiled curiously.
“Yeah, I used bright red spray paint and drew a picture of an exploding penis on this really pristine white wall. Actually it was a man in a suit with a penis for a head with Prez Clinton scrawled underneath,” he grinned sheepishly. “Pretty prophetic if you ask me, given the oral sex scandal that broke all over the news a few months later.”
Nora laughed wholeheartedly, “That was pretty insightful! What happened?”
Leo rolled his eyes at her and smirked.
“Well, I wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. I brought the spray cans home and tossed them in the garbage in the garage. My mother was sorting through the trash, she was a recycling fanatic even back then, and she came across the cans. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”
“Oh no, what did she do?” Nora asked, still giggling.
“She smacked me with her shoe and then made me go downtown and confess. It was humiliating. I had to repaint the entire wall and she made me volunteer to pick up garbage in Libbey Park. They made me wear a reflector vest and everything,” he told her, laughing at his stupidity.
“I bet you never did anything like that again,” Nora teased, reaching for his hand.
He allowed her to take it.
“Well, let’s just say I got better at hiding the evidence. It took a few more years before I really settled down.”
“So what was the turning point?” Nora prodded gently.
Leo smiled at her but said nothing for a minute or two, his thoughts drifting to the night he met Corrine. The night he almost died. He wasn’t ready to share that with her yet. He had buried it pretty deep and wasn’t sure he wanted to conjure those feeling up again. He shifted in his chair, his physical discomfort suddenly paralleling his emotional unease.
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