by KB Alan
She opened her eyes and smiled, reaching over him to open the drawer herself. He heard the crinkle as she found the condom and came back to kneel over him at her full height. He took the opportunity to scoot back and up so that his shoulders were leaning against the headboard. She opened the package and gave him the condom, watching avidly as he rolled it down.
“Cross your legs behind me.”
He held her hips while she adjusted then slowly lowered her down. She held him steady and they came together as though they were meant to be this way. Their gazes locked and held as they sat unmoving. Sweat slid down her back and her thighs trembled at the effort of holding still. She was afraid to move. It felt so good, so perfect right where she was, she didn’t want to ruin it. But she needed more, needed him, needed… Ahh. He moved for her, hips pumping up while his hands brought her down even closer. She braced her hands against the headboard, presenting her breasts to his lips. He took the offer, licking between them and around them while he continued to pump into her.
This was so good, so right. Nothing, no one, had ever been this right. It scared her but she didn’t have the time or the concentration to figure out why. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to stop. She gasped when he gave her a tiny bite, then ground against him in a circle. He growled into her flesh. Realizing she had much more leverage than he did, she began to move on her own.
He released her hips and moved back to torment her breasts. “So good.” She didn’t mean to say it out loud, couldn’t stop herself. She clenched her inner muscles as hard as she could and his whole body jerked beneath her.
“Val, sweet, sweet, Val. I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured, pulling back from her. She leaned down to kiss him. She was already getting addicted to his kisses. How was she going to do without? She pushed the thought away, increasing her pace, needing more. His tongue dueled with hers, his hard length stabbed into her.
“Keith…” She was so close. Was he there? She ground into him, her clit hard against his pelvis, his cock hitting all the right places, and she shattered. Her mouth fell from his as her body swayed, his hands going back to her hips to hold her tightly to him while he gave one last thrust up before coming with a long groan. Her vision grayed as she collapsed against him, stupidly thrilled when his arms came around her, pulling her even closer.
She had no idea how long they sat like that. He moved to pull out and she whined, too tired to be embarrassed over the sound. He pressed gentle kisses to her temple and made soothing sounds, rolling her to her back and pulling a blanket up over her. She should probably get up, get dressed, get out before things got weird. Probably…
The bed dipped as he returned and it was so easy, so natural to move into his arms when he lay down beside her. Had she ever felt so comfortable lying in bed with a man? Naked? She thought maybe she should remember why it usually made her nervous but was too tired. His hand caressed her back and instead of being annoying and keeping her awake, it, and his heartbeat under her ear, soothed her into sleep.
* * * * *
Keith woke up feeling good—very, very good, except for the fact that his thighs were sore. And his ass. But that was unimportant considering he had a warm Valerie draped over half his body. Her cheek rested on his chest, her soft breath teasing his skin. He did something he’d been wanting to do for months. Taking the end of one long, pencil-thin curl of hair, he pulled. And pulled. When it was fully straight, he released it, smiling widely as it bounced back into place.
A glance at the clock told him it was earlier then he’d like, but he was worried that Val would run, given half a chance. He figured he had two options. Disentangle himself enough to go turn on the coffeemaker, which he hadn’t set up the night before, or wake her up with morning sex.
Since he didn’t figure he could get out of the bed without waking her, it wasn’t too difficult to make the decision. Of course, he couldn’t do much from this position either, so he would have to move her, regardless. He didn’t let that little detail sway him, now that the choice was made.
Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled so that she was on her back, his body covering hers. She made a couple of soft noises, deep in her throat, but then settled down, back into sleep. He propped up onto his elbows so that he could watch her, gently pulling on another curl. She really was beautiful, he didn’t know why she thought otherwise, though he couldn’t be sorry for it. Constantly surrounded by beautiful women, he knew full well that while plenty of them were perfectly nice, too many were vain and irritating. Hell, even the nice ones were necessarily preoccupied with their looks. He found it annoying even as he made his living from it.
Shaking off the thought, he brushed Val’s hair from her forehead. Her face, with barely a hint of old makeup, was lovely. He wouldn’t mind waking up to that every morning. The thought of grabbing his camera made him pause but that would probably be pushing things. Besides, he had other uses for his hands right now. He scooted down, brushing her shoulders with his lips. She stirred ever so slightly and he waited. When she was still again, he reminded himself to explore her body later, right now he wanted to taste her.
Her legs were only slightly parted so he lifted one carefully and moved his shoulders between her soft thighs. A deep inhale satisfied a part of him he had no idea had been in need. He parted her with his fingers and gave her one long swipe with his tongue. Her thighs clenched around his shoulders but he didn’t think she was awake yet.
Another long lick, then he circled her clit with the point of his tongue, wondering where he’d put the vibrator last night. He’d never played with toys while having sex but the possibilities were intriguing. They’d have plenty of time to experiment. It would be fun to go shopping with her. Awake now, her hands reached out to fist into his hair.
He sucked her clit and rolled his eyes up to watch her head thrash back and forth. That look, he seriously loved putting that look of mindless bliss on her face. He wanted the responsibility of seeing that she wore that look at least once a day.
“Keith…” she moaned.
To busy exploring to answer, he sent his tongue over every inch of her pussy. Her legs shook when he fucked into her as far as he could.
“Keith.” It was a gasp this time.
“Hmmm?” he vibrated. And she came, just like that. He moved down to lick her up, get every last drop of her, thrusting his tongue deep again while her muscles clenched and released.
Finally, when she lay still, he rose up and collapsed next to her. They lay like that for a minute before she turned to face him, a look of desperate hope on her face.
“Coffee?” she croaked.
He couldn’t help it. He laughed. Then he dragged himself out of bed, pulled on a pair of boxers and headed for the kitchen.
Valerie was trying to make her brain work but was too relaxed from Keith’s attentions. She should be panicking right now, jumping out of bed to put her clothes on before he returned so that she could grab the coffee and run. But she had no desire to do that. Her thighs were sore from horseback riding for the first time in ten years, the rest of her sore from activities she hadn’t indulged in, well…not as long as ten years, but still. Plus, she really should be helping the poor man with that raging hard-on she’d seen as he went to get the coffee started. Damn, he’d woken her up with a fantastic orgasm and then gone to get her coffee without saying a word or getting anything for himself. She was definitely going to have to reward his kindness.
The tiniest hint of the best smell in the world drifted into the room and gave her the energy to sit up. She spotted Keith’s shirt on the floor at the foot of the bed next to her jeans. She didn’t see her underwear. Pulling on his shirt, she buttoned it up most of the way, feeling half sexy and half clichéd as she headed down the hall. When he heard her coming and turned, the look on his face reminded her that clichés exist for a reason.
“Morning,” she said.
He just nodded, his eyes glued to the line of his shirt across her upper thighs.<
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Amused, she fingered the hem. “You were just playing down there, it hasn’t changed any just because I’ve covered it up a bit.”
“I don’t know. I might have to investigate to find out for sure.”
Absurdly pleased, she walked up to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she watched the coffee drip. Almost done and she knew for a fact that he had excellent taste in coffee, though she’d never expected to enjoy it first thing in the morning.
Doubt tried to creep in but she pushed it away. Best just to enjoy the moment. Once it was over and she was back home she could have her freak-out.
“I’m glad you’re here, in case I didn’t make that clear,” Keith said as if he could read her thoughts.
“Keith…” She wasn’t sure what to say.
Chapter Seven
“Val, why are you trying to make this so difficult? You had fun yesterday, right? This could be a really good thing. Why are you overthinking it?”
His aggravated sigh irritated her and she lifted her head. The annoyance on his face was too much. He thought it was so damn easy, didn’t he? Figured he was ready to bring sex into their friendship and she should just get with the program. Well, that was just bullshit.
“Most people consider thinking a good thing, you know. Thinking things through, planning them out. Maybe asking another person’s opinion rather than tricking them into going out all day and night when they should be working.” She stepped back, putting more space between them, wishing she was wearing more now, wishing he was wearing more.
“Oh, excuse me if my carefully planned out date was an inconvenience to you.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t have been if you had asked, instead of just assuming that I had nothing better to do for the entire freaking day!” she shouted.
“I did ask,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “You ignored me. Or pretended I wasn’t asking you out. Or pretended I didn’t mean it. Or pretended—”
“Oh, shut up!” Turning on her heel, she stormed back into the bedroom, furiously blinking back tears. She found her top, bra and panties on the side of the bed and pulled on the underwear. Her jeans were at the foot next to his and she yanked them on. She balled the rest up. Screw him, she was keeping his damn shirt.
He was waiting for her in the hallway. “I knew it. I knew that you were going to run this morning.”
“Oh really. Because you know me so well, huh? Well guess what? I didn’t know what you were going to do, or what you wanted, because despite what you said about hinting for dates, you haven’t told me anything.”
“What the hell are you saying? We talked all day yesterday, I told you what I wanted.”
“Yeah, you told me you wanted me. Sex. Great, you had it, so what’s your problem?”
“I wanted you! You! Not just sex.”
“Bullshit, you didn’t say anything like that. You said I looked beautiful, which is a crock of shit when compared to all your models—”
“Oh, great! There you go again with the fucking models.” He threw his hands up in the air.
She didn’t know if he was blocking the path to the door on purpose or not but she was beyond pissed now.
“Get out of my way, I want to leave.”
“Yeah, how are you going to do that? Your purse is in my trunk.”
Her eyes went wide and she’d swear her blood started to boil. She opened her mouth but couldn’t figure out which curse to let fly first. She was considering alphabetical order when Keith shook his head, shoulders slumping. He tunneled his fingers through his hair and her heart gave an uncomfortable lurch, a shiver of ice cooling through her. She tried to stay mad, wanted to stay mad to help keep the tears away, at least until she was out of the house.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Keith said. “If you really want to leave, I’ll go get your purse.”
“You haven’t given me any reason to stay. You haven’t even given me coffee.”
He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and his eyes.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just…don’t want this to end.”
Her own anger washed out of her, leaving a cold emptiness. Her throat tightened but she forced it to work. “This is me, Keith. I’m insecure. I don’t date. I don’t know how to handle it. I tried to keep you away from that, but you wouldn’t let me.”
“You’re worth it to me. I want to learn these things about you, convince you that you don’t have to be insecure around me because I’m…well, I’m already half in love with you.”
“I…uh…I…” She was frozen. Unable to move, unable to think or process or speak or… “Uh.”
His tense face transformed with a flash into a grin.
“I’m sorry I ambushed you with the date. I just…I knew, or I thought…I was so sure we would be great together, I figured once I had you out there, you would see it too.” He sighed again and she wanted to comfort him, but was still frozen.
“Hey, did I ever tell you that my mother was an actress?” he asked.
It was startling enough to let her move again. “Um, no, you didn’t.”
He nodded, his face serious. “I don’t talk about her much. Would you stay for a minute? Listen? If I give you coffee? I promise not to do anything but tell you a little bit about her.”
“I could use the coffee,” she said with a wry smile. “And I could sit down for a few minutes.” She narrowed her eyes at him, forced all softness from her voice. “After you get my purse.”
He winced. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” Without bothering to put on shoes, he grabbed his keys and opened the door, returning only a minute later with her purse held out like a peace offering.
She accepted it, then set it down on the side table he laid his keys on. “Coffee,” she reminded him emphatically. His obvious relief went a long way to banishing the last of her anger. Anger she couldn’t quite remember the purpose of.
Leading the way back into the kitchen, he pulled out a chair for her. She sank into it while he went to pour them both coffee. He fixed hers exactly the way she liked it and she forced herself to admit they had been more than business associates for some time. She didn’t spend even close to the same amount of time with her other clients as she did with him. Frequently he called her over for silly little things that she could fix in a minute but stayed for an hour.
She’d only charged him for the brief time they’d actually worked, not even bothering to add in commute time since she lived so close. It wasn’t something she’d really thought about before, happy to spend the time with him. Clearly she’d been deluding herself, using their business relationship as an excuse to be his friend without the pressure of being a good friend in return.
He sat down across the corner from her and she wrapped her hands around the cup he put in front of her.
“So, my mom was a not very well known but slightly successful actress. Her whole life was about being in Hollywood, being in the movies. She cared very little about her home, her child. My father was a director but he ended up not being successful enough for her and she ditched him early on.” He took a careful sip from his mug.
“I guess I need you to understand that to me, it’s very, very important that a woman I spend any time with not be more wrapped up in her career, in herself, than in her family.” He looked up, his brows furrowed. “It’s different of course, if she doesn’t have a family. I’m not saying she shouldn’t put herself…well, that she shouldn’t be…”
Val put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, I understand. There’s a big difference between putting yourself first and putting yourself first, second, third and fourth.”
He relaxed and slid his hand down to twine his fingers with hers. “Yeah, that’s about right. And I don’t mean to imply that all the women I meet in my line of work are like that, but there’s frequently an uncomfortable resemblance, enough that I’m just rarely even attracted to them. It might not be fair, but there you go.”
“What about your dad?�
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Sadness crossed his face but then he smiled. “He was a good guy, but totally besotted with Mom, even after she left him. I lived with him on and off until I was eight, when he died.”
“Oh, Keith, I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“Cancer. It was very fast. I think he was probably sick for quite a while before he finally went to the doctor. Then he called my mom, asked her to come get me and was gone three weeks later. He left me the money to get my start in photography. It would have taken me a lot longer to become successful if I’d had to support myself as well as build up the business, those first couple of years.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I really can’t even imagine losing my mom.”
“It sucked but it was a long time ago. My mom died a few years ago, basically from cirrhosis.”
“She was an alcoholic?”
“Yes, but in a quiet way. Like I said, she wasn’t really interested in raising a child, so she didn’t bother me much, we just happened to live in the same house for a while. I left when I was sixteen. Sometimes I only saw her once or twice a year, even though we lived fairly close.”
“Wow.” Valerie’s heart ached for the little boy he must have been and the strong man he’d become.
“My father left my mother for a younger woman,” she blurted out before her brain could quite catch up to her mouth. She slapped a hand over her mouth in horror.
His brows furrowed. “Was it a secret or something?”
She put her hand down and smiled sheepishly. “No, nothing like that, it’s just something I don’t talk about. Ever. Besides, we were talking about you.”
“Why don’t you talk about it?”
“I guess because it hurt my mother for so long every time she had to hear about him or talk about him, we just got in the habit of never mentioning him.”
“How often do you talk to him, see him?” he asked, his hand tightening around hers.
