Across From You

by Amabel Daniels

  Winning points? Oh, yes, I was.

  “So that’s what changed. That maybe you’re not the player I’d assumed you to be. But an actually normal, decent man. A nice and illegally sexy guy.”

  I breathed in relief and reared back enough that she could see me. “I’m not, Lexi.”

  She quirked a brow. “Is this where I learn you can’t take a compliment…or you’re protesting the player label?”

  “I’m not another player who wants to use you.”

  She nodded in a side to side way.

  “I’m…” I hadn’t ever explained myself to anyone. Especially not a girl. But I needed her to understand. This wasn’t a routine gig for me. This was a one-time special.

  “I’m kind of…” I started.

  She raised both brows now.

  “Just to prove my point, it might help for you to know that I’m kind of…a virgin.” There I said it.

  I sucked in a deep breath of air and let that weight fall off my shoulders. Only in the seconds following, I took on a new worry and fear. Of shocking Lexi into paralysis.

  Her feet stopped shuffling in tune to mine. The arms wrapped around me didn’t tighten or loosen. I’d struck her dumb as countless questions seemed to race in her mind, her lips twisting and partly opening as though she was learning to articulate speech in the English language for the first time.

  “Ho— Wh—” She closed her eyes and winced before opening them. “Huh?”

  “I—”

  “Oh, I heard you. What do you mean kind of? You’ve either stuck your stick in the dip or not…”

  “I’ve had sex, yes.”

  “Then…not a virgin.”

  I smiled a little. “I had sex eight years ago. Not once since.”

  “Because of…obligations to the Amish?”

  Huh? “Amish can have sex.” I think? “They avoid technology.”

  “Because of any religious things?”

  I shook my head.

  “Because—” With a snort, she shook her head and stood up straighter. “Never mind. It’s none of my business. Sorry to pry. You just surprised me.”

  She let me hug her closer and I explained. “My ex cheated on me. High school sweethearts and into college. It…burned. And I haven’t let anyone get close enough to matter. For me to want to make love again.”

  “Wow.”

  “Until now,” I rushed to add.

  “Okay. At the risk of forsaking originality, what changed?”

  Her eyes locked on mine, not with a hint of humor at my expense. More like confusion. And a chaser of shock.

  “I met you.”

  Instantly, her smile softened. “Ah. Sweet words.”

  “True words.” I had to leave hesitation behind me and just own up to it. “You’re the first woman who can see past my surface and like what’s underneath. You’re honest. You don’t beat around the bush—”

  A choked laugh escaped her. “Did you not hear that roundabout babble that was my excuse of a toast?”

  “That was different. And that only shows that you can be loyal to those who matter to you, even when said person of the evening is a pushy brat.”

  In a soft yet closed line, she kept her lips tight for a heavy moment. “Smooth talk won’t get you far…”

  What would? Was it a matter of actions speaking volumes? If so, I’d gladly shut up and feel like less of a chatty fool by showing her how much I was coming to like her with another kiss or twelve. “Just the truth.”

  “So…” She smiled coquettishly at me. “You saying you want to go steady with me, O’Connor?”

  Teasing Lexi was just as exciting as all her other modes.

  “If I can entice you to the possibility of a relationship, yes.” Since she hadn’t expressed any outright hesitations in our talk, I lowered my head so only a breath remained between our lips as I whispered some more. “But right now, I’d like to hold you steady up against that wall”—I jerked my head to the left—“and pound into you hard and fast—”

  A breathy inhale sounded before she huffed. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” She peered to the side. “The stucco?” Her hair slipped over her shoulder as she shook her head. “I’m not into pain, mister. That wall,” she argued, nodding to the other side of the room.

  I grinned, loving that she wasn’t too fussy to flinch at mild dirty talk. Her eyes shone with a light of mischief and I fell deeper under her spell. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for someone like you my whole life.” Cheesier than the entire state of Wisconsin, but again, true.

  “Well, I’m usually late to everything and anything. Making others wait is my thing.” She leaned her forehead closer to mine, not at all bothered by my sappy choice of words. If anything, they were bewitching her like a heady aphrodisiac the way she closed the gap between us until our lips were one twitch from kissing.

  Like her, I wasn’t a glutton for pain or unnecessary aches. Who was I to dangle our attraction out of reach just because we were stuck at this damn wedding? I eased her flat to my chest and slammed my lips to hers. No gasp of shock halted my assault on her lips, as if she couldn’t have read the intent in my eyes. Never mind the way she’d slowly but surely pulled the lapels of my tux until she was clutching the fabric like I needed to stoop to a lip-lock level pronto. Her blush must have contagious qualities because heat soared from this kiss and zinged through my body with a tidal wave force, encouraging all available blood not steamed from her urgent muffled grunt to shoot right down to my cock.

  God damn did she know how to work her lips. Not in a sloppy slobber, or a too timid peck of a return. I might not have stuck my stick in pretty much anything other than the grip of my hand or a couple almost-girlfriend’s hands for too long of a time, but I had sampled kisses and foreplay. Never in my life had I been so floored by a woman crushing my face to hers, sliding her warm wet lips over mine, surrendering when my tongue sought entry to finally taste her. She didn’t seem inclined to offer me a chance for a gasp of air or to ease up on kissing her because she’d released my tux and framed my head, her hands holding me at an angle so we could mesh that much closer togeth—

  “And at the rate of neither of them needing to breathe anytime tonight, I’d say we’ll have another pair of newlyweds soon!”

  The DJ’s voice was scratchy like a chronic smoker and enough of a jolt to freeze Lexi. I stilled too, not even daring to remove my hand from its clutch on her sweet ass so as to avoid drawing more attention to her—us.

  Huh. So the song had stopped. Imagine that. World War IV probably could have gone off overhead and I wouldn’t have noticed. Lexi pulled back just barely and licked her lips.

  “We’ve stolen the thunder.” She looked back at my lips. “What do we do now?”

  “Run?”

  “Count of three?”

  I nodded. “Exit’s to the left.”

  “Right.”

  Was it? Wait… “No, it’s to the left.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Correct, it is to the left.”

  “One, two…” I didn’t give her a chance to three and spun around, holding her hand in mine. Only, her idea of left was actually the right, and we did a little bit of a slapstick kind of dance move before she realized her error and doubled back.

  Bev was probably seething back there on the dancefloor as we rushed away. But she had the cake to cut and eat. And I was determined to see that Lexi and I could have our own private version of a dessert in solitude.

  Fifteen

  Lexi

  “I thought you said the left.”

  Jack chewed on his lip as we ran down the hallway. “I did.”

  “I might not have a grasp on being on time, but I’m not disoriented.”

  “I know you’re not. We’re heading in the same direction now, aren’t we?”

  Damn. Did he have a way with words or what? I bet he would’ve brainstormed a Tony-worthy toast back there. Awfully convenient he could taunt me about running the wrong way and summarizing how we’d
gotten on the same page of desire. Seemed he’d kissed me something stupid, though, because I couldn’t multitask anymore. Clutching my dress away from my knees so I could run and giggling at the same time was impossible. He must have clued into my dilemma or assumed I wasn’t the fittest female out there, because, in the next moment, he gathered me in his arms and dashed down the empty corridor.

  “You got a fetish for hauling me around or is this a hint you like to get cavemanish?”

  His arms lowered as though he was about to deposit me on the ground and I screeched. “I’ve got a fetish for touching you and it’s a hint I’m in a hurry to explore more.”

  Again, was he eloquent, or what? Fueled by his urgency, I slid my hand up his neck to thread my fingers through his hair. I didn’t mean for him to meet my eye then, I knew better than to distract a driver from the road, yeah? But look at me he did, just before he grunted and hefted me in his arms so he could kiss me. Having him crash into a column or run into a wall didn’t sound much fun, but as his eyelids slammed down and he growled into my mouth, I figured it wouldn’t hurt too bad. Being a trooper, though, Jack had to know something about distraction while speeding, even if on foot, because he stopped jogging and pushed me back against the wall, caging me in and leaving no room for me to mistake the large addition in his pants.

  “Goddamn do you know how to tempt me,” he got out between kisses on my neck.

  “Oh yeah?” I gripped his hair to pull his mouth back to mine. A kiss later, I said, “I’ve already seen your wicked preview from your modeling adventure. And the full feature is taking forever to get here. That’s temptation.” I ground my hips against his erection and clamped one leg around his waist.

  “I’m going to fucking come right here if you don’t watch it, impatient woman.” He pushed at my thigh and I stood on both feet. Drawing his arms away, he stepped back and gave me way too much of a buffer of space for my liking.

  “Last one to the room strips first.”

  Last one strips first? Huh? Isn’t stripping the reward? Hell, we could manage sexy time partially clothed, too, once we got the important parts out in the open. Just as hot and frantic, which seemed our MO, but I—

  Before I could ask, he took off down the hallway for the elevator.

  “Dammit.”

  I rushed after him and met him at the closed doors. He held my hand but shook his head when I tried to tug him in for a kiss when the elevator chimed its arrival. “I’m not into public exhibition.”

  Laughter barked out my lips before I could even think about how loud and unfeminine it had to sound in the box we entered. “Says the guy who posed nude for artists?”

  His chuckles and exaggerated groan chipped at the tension snapping between us as we rode the car to his floor. We settled from the dip of gravity at landing at his floor, and my stomach did another summersault at the dangerous flutters he inspired in me. Yeah, agreeing to a green light on Jack was a lot like a roller coaster. Long escalations to the top, and plenty of excitement before the big drops and twists.

  “You remember which room?”

  Not sure how I did, but yeah. I nodded. Why would it matter if we were both aiming for the same pla—

  He took off again. Instead of gazing at his fine behind as he sprinted, I growled and rushed after him. I wanted to see him lose his clothes instead of me having to pull off a striptease for him. He’d already fried me so far past salvation I’d probably pull my back getting out of this dress or get the hooks of my bra stuck in my hair. Call me the Queen of Karaoke, but flirtingly disrobing wasn’t in my repertoire.

  “Jack!” I yelled as he got dangerously close to his door. His feet slowed so much it was annoyingly obvious he was going to let me win, but as soon as he turned around and saw how close I was, he laughed in a yip and hurried to dash home.

  Still, I finished strong, running to him. He’d already swiped his keycard for entrance and with one arm held out like a barricade, he hauled me to his wall of a chest and partly carried me inside.

  Instead of falling onto the bed, certainly my destination—both for riding him thirty ways to ecstasy and to freaking lie down after the cardio of getting here—he danced us around in a circle so I stood in front of the bed and he pushed me back so he could sit on it. He jerked the bowtie from his neck and freed his arms from his jacket. “Now it’s my turn to see all that skin.”

  He wasn’t expecting anything sexy or glamorous, right? My priority was to not face-plant or something. I huffed and set my hand on my hip. “You know, all you had to do was take off a robe.” Like ripping a Band-Aid off. Not a piece-by-piece revelation.

  In a swift lurch, he sat upright from resting on his elbows. “You saying you want my help?”

  I nodded, not trusting my voice with his debonair hotness just for me to view this time. He slinked to his feet and slowly approached me. “Whatever it takes.” Within reach, he trailed his hand in a lazy caress from my palm to my shoulder as he walked around me. “I’m tired of wondering.”

  “Wondering what?”

  “If that blush spreads so fast and prettily to the rest of you,” he murmured as he stroked a single rough fingertip from my neck to the edge of my dress holding in my heaving breasts. I started to think he didn’t intend for me to ever catch my breath. I captured his hand and encouraged him to touch me under the damn fabric. One-handed, he pulled the zipper down and guided my back flush to his chest. With the hand still under mine, he smoothed his fingers over my cleavage and struggled for only a few seconds with the clasp of my bra. Standing there in only my panties and heels, I shivered at goosebumps—not from a chill in the room, but from the fire he stoked between my legs.

  “Not done yet…” he said as he pressed hot but slow kisses along my nape, cupping and massaging my breast. I whimpered at the too lazy tickle of his fingers wrapping around my waist to dip under the band of my panties.

  Good things come to those who wa— “Oh, my God.” I all but growled the words. “I’m not this patient!” I bent over and yanked the not-so-dry panties off my legs and did a wobbly fumble as the elastic snagged on my heels. I teetered and kicked those shoes to the wall. There. Much better.

  Only…not. Jack stood in front of me, much too clothed and much too turned on with his erection threatening the seams of his zipper. Oh, wow. Tables turned and all that. He wasn’t resembling a tomato like I’d been at first seeing him in all his naked glory. What did burn in his eyes, though? Uncensored and primal need. For me.

  He didn’t let it get to my head for more than a second because his calloused hands gripped me by the waist to both crush me forward to him for an intense slam of a kiss at the same time as he pushed us both toward the bed. We landed in a gentle thump of tangled limbs and gasping grunts. Gentle didn’t last long. I demanded more from his lips as he sealed mine in a kiss. Harder from his hips as he dragged torturous friction against the apex of my legs. Faster from his fingers as one parted my lower lips and the other unbuttoned his shirt.

  I could help a guy out. My speed and dexterity meant stretching the line of buttons until the fabric ripped. Once that was destroyed, I shoved the sleeves off while he sat back to undo his pants. We might have been roleplaying for a naughty version of Twister as we laughed between kisses. Teamwork, people. It really was the way to go. Two heads working together resulted in Jack covering me with all his hot bare skin. His muscles pressing me down to the mattress to emphasize a third head wanting to say hello to my vagina.

  “Lexi?” He ceased pumping his fingers in me and set his forehead to mine. I wriggled my hips to hit play again and twisted my face up to snare his mouth. Nothing doing. He withdrew his hand altogether and leaned back with a serious grimace. “I don’t have a condom.”

  If he hadn’t done the deed in years, his lack of readiness made sense. “My purse.”

  The frustration in his eyes screamed at me. I just said I had one in my— No!

  I gasped it in repeat. “My purse.” Which hadn’t been in my ha
nds as we danced. That damn bag was way out of reach, still on the head table down at the reception.

  “Could we call room service?” he asked.

  Disappointment hadn’t crushed me yet and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe?” Smoothing my hands over the range of muscles flexed in his back, I offered an alternative. “Or, we could skip it. I’m on the pill. And I’m clean.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m fine with it if you’re okay…with…it.”

  He kissed my nose. “Well, I haven’t been around the block to pick up anything. Your call.”

  I replied by spreading my legs and bringing him right to where his fingers had called intermission. And…game on.

  In one swift, focused thrust, he drove all the way home into me. A groan ripped from his throat as I sucked in air. Holy schnoly. He wasn’t monster-sized, but certainly larger than most. Talk about a homerun. I hadn’t fallen into some kind of grudge with abstinence for years, but it had been a while since I’d gotten some. I wasn’t too slow to put out like floozy Bev always said. Yet I’d nearly been on recess too. Correction: I’d gotten one glimpse of the asshole trainer’s pride and glory—hardy har har—before I faked an orgasm in our single attempt of sex. Okay, he’d come, so he could claim success, but good God. Did he even know where the clitoris was? How to manipulate his hands in something other than a hard massage that made me think he was waxing a car?

  “Slow’s not gonna happen,” Jack whispered in my ear.

  “Damn straight it’s not.” I licked the curve of his ear and arched my back to coax him into pounding me hard. Immediately, he pumped into me again. Less ohmygodthathurts and more oh yeeesss. We could do the agonizingly patient thing next round.

  The tight pull that pooled low in my belly grew and spread as he thrust into me, forcing us into the mattress. I clenched my teeth at how eminent my orgasm was, desperate to just fucking get there after all the visual foreplay Jack gave me days ago. We were here, I was under him, he was within my arms and legs. All those solid muscles bracing against me. Slick skin I could and damn well licked and bit. That taut jawline I traced as I inched my hand into his hair to gather between my fingers. Feeling all the power of Jack, owning it as he claimed me in the most primitive ways—bareback—overwhelmed me. One more pump into me at a lower angle and I was done for.