Tempted

by Brenda Ford

  “You want more?” He slowly edges my panties down as his mouth travels over my body. “You want me?”

  “Yes, oh yes,” I gush out, not even caring if the occupants in the next room can hear me. “I want everything.”

  When only my pencil skirt remains on my body hitched up around my waist, Artie slides to the hotel room floor with a thump. Before I can even prop myself up on to my elbows to look at him, he has hold of my thighs and he’s dragging me down until my ass is hanging off the edge of the bed, my core fully exposed to him.

  “Oh, your scent is intoxicating,” he gasps, breathing deep to inhale me. The sensation of his breath tickling all over my sex has me shuddering with need. “I want to taste you, Rose. I want to fuck you with my tongue.”

  I don’t answer. I can’t. He has completely stripped the air from my lungs by consuming me with that rough promising tongue of his. It’s an onslaught of bliss, he’s dragging me deep in to the murky waters of pleasure with him, practically drowning me in need. I thrash about, the desire shooting through me, shattering my body in every single way. Right now, Artie is all of me, he is the only thing in the world that matters. I honestly can’t remember why we haven’t been doing this the whole time. Whatever issues we have had, they vanish in to thin air. How could I ever be upset with someone who knows how to make me feel this phenomenal?

  “Oh fuck!” He tosses me over the edge hard. I am in the abyss of pleasure way before I’m ready for it. It’s hot and burning, it swells powerfully in all of my veins, the orgasm swallows me up whole and I am more than happy to let it. “Fuck, Artie, Artie…” I can’t stop saying his name, it’s like a prayer. “Artie, oh my God.”

  But if I think that he is going to give me a moment to bathe in the post orgasmic bliss then I am very much mistaken. As I’m still shaking under the violent nature of the pleasure, Artie slides up my body and kisses me hard all over again. Only this time I can taste myself on his lips and it feels really good.

  “I want you,” Artie murmurs. I can feel his fingers making light work of unzipping his thick, throbbing cock and making light work of expertly slipping a condom over himself. All about safety. “Is that okay?”

  “Oh God yes,” I murmur while nodding eagerly. “Definitely.” I wrap my legs around his back to cling to him hard and hold him in place. “I want you too. You have no idea how fucking badly I need you.”

  He might have only just given me a rush of pleasure, but it isn’t enough for me. He has me hungry, eager for more. I need to feel that steel rod erection of his deep within me, hitting every part of me.

  Artie rests his forehead on mine and stares lovingly in to my eyes, making me feel an intense sensation of romance as well as a deep-seated pleasure which still sits deep within me. Then I feel him, teasing my entrance, begging for permission physically as well as with his words. But he doesn’t need to ask me for anything, he should be able to tell right now how much I want him. But just to be sure, I grip my calves tightly around him and lift my hips off the bed, driving him within me… and oh… my… God…

  I don’t even recognize the guttural groan that flies from my chest. It’s primal, animalistic, greedy for more pleasure. Thankfully, Artie seems to feel the same way as me because his thrusts quickly become hard and fast. He is slamming in to me over and over again, the sound of our bodies clapping together echoing through the room, making my head whiz up in to the clouds all over again. Every time Artie plunges in to me, he hits all the right spots, and soon I lose complete control of my body all over again. I spasm and scream, feeling the intensity of every single emotion that I have felt for this man hitting me all at once from every angle.

  I have loved this man, I have lost him, he has been my world, but then he vanished from my existence. I clung on to the dream that he was going to come back for me, and then I had to deal with the crushing disappointment of him never coming back. I never hated him though which is why all I can feel is positivity for him.

  I want him back; I realize as we come hard and fast together in a wave of pleasure that feels like it will never end. I want him to be that perfect boyfriend he always was once more. I want us to be sweet hearts again…

  And I keep living in that dream as we collapse on the bed next to one another and we gasp and pant for air through the post orgasmic bliss. I imagine what it would look like if me and Artie actually did end up in some magical happy ever after that can’t honestly be real, however much I want it to be the truth.

  Me and Artie don’t talk, we don’t need to. Instead, we curl in to one another and hug. We cling desperately to one another, needing to savor every single second that we have together. It’s almost as if we know that it’s going to end soon enough and we need to make the most of it… because it would be silly to imagine us actually getting back together, wouldn’t it? We aren’t high school sweet hearts anymore, it’s ten years later and we are two different people. He is someone that I wouldn’t want to get involved with had I only just met him, and that is an instinct which I should stick with because Artie Wilson seems to be bad news these days. He is a tattooed guy who still spends a lot of time on his motorcycle, but who also seems to surround himself with people that he shouldn’t, meaning that he has become someone that he definitely shouldn’t be. It’s a shame.

  But he was amazing, I remind myself. He was the best guy ever. I couldn’t do better than him.

  I curl in to him tighter and slide my eyes closed, allowing the weariness to come for me. Maybe this isn’t something that I can do forever more, perhaps it is going to be problematic tomorrow morning, but tonight I can live in the fantasy, can’t I? I can pretend just for a little while that me and Artie are together in joy. People do this, don’t they? They allow themselves to exist in their day dreams for a little while, even if they know that it will hurt them later on. The pain that comes afterwards is worth the wonderful second of happiness.

  “It will be fine,” I whisper to myself as I press my hand on his chest, feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest showing that he has already slipped in to a peaceful happy sleep. “I will be okay. I will… I have to be okay.”

  Chapter 7 – Artie

  Waking up next to Rose is the best that I have felt in a very long time. I’m refreshed, happy, and myself all over again. I didn’t know that it was possible to feel this way, but I do. I really don’t think that it’s the lack of guilt either, despite the fact that Rose has successfully managed to make me feel a little better about the worst time in my whole life, it’s the fact that she’s here, that she still wants me, that we share that chemistry still.

  “Morning,” she murmurs with a small smile playing on her lips already. Rose might not have even opened her eyes yet, but I’m glad to see that she doesn’t seem to have any regret on her face. Now that would be awful. A great way to bring my mood crashing back down in to the ground again. “How are you feeling?”

  “Wonderful.” I dip my head down and kiss her. “Absolutely amazing. I’m glad you are still here.”

  She wraps her arms tightly around me and keeps me in the kiss for a few seconds. “Of course, I’m still here. This is my hotel room, remember? You are the one who snuck in bed with me. If anyone would be gone…”

  “Oh, but I’m not going anywhere,” I reassure her. “For as long as you want me here, I’m here.”

  At that moment her eyes pop open and I can see a slight burst of panic on her face. Automatically I move backwards to give her a little space so that she can work out just how she is feeling. I don’t want to let her go but I also don’t want to smother Rose in my emotions until she can’t handle it anymore.

  “I have to go home today,” she finally tells me sadly. “I’m leaving. My work here is over.”

  A wave of sickness over comes me. It takes everything that I have not to let it come spilling out. “Are you serious? You have to go already? But you only just got here, Rose. I don’t want you to go anywhere.”

  “That’s the nature of the
job, isn’t it?” Her fingers trace up and down my arm as she talks making it very difficult to focus. “I travel around a lot. I don’t stay in one place for too long. Not a long time after my meeting anyway. Once it’s done, I have to either go back home or I have to go on to somewhere else.”

  I don’t like this; I don’t like it one bit. It makes it feel more like a fleeting moment in our lives rather than the start of something incredible and I don’t know if I can handle this. I lost Rose before because of my own stupid actions, because I didn’t fight hard enough for us. I don’t want to make that same mistake again.

  “Are you needed somewhere?” I practically beg her. “Or can you stay for a little while longer?”

  “What do you mean?” She props herself up on to my elbows to look at me. “I have my train ticket booked already. I had all the travel arrangements sorted for a long time before I even came here.”

  “But that doesn’t mean that you have to stick to it right? You can go home a little later?”

  Really, what I want her to do is cancel her ticket completely. I want her to give up everything to stay here with me, but of course I can’t ask that of her. I never would anyway, that isn’t the sort of person that I am, I wouldn’t want her to give up the life that she has built for herself which clearly makes her happy… but I can’t anyway. I mean, what sort of life would I be able to offer her here? The idea of it makes me shudder like crazy.

  Right now, I’m not good enough for a long-term sort of thing, but I can have her for a little bit.

  “I suppose so,” she finally replied with a slow nod. “I don’t see why I can’t put it off for a bit. But I can’t stay longer than the day because they will be expecting me back at the office tomorrow. I can’t miss work.”

  My heart skips with joy. I am just pleased that she is willing to give this much of herself to me. A day with her might be all that we both need anyway to feel much better. I don’t want to assume that it will be enough to get us through the rest of our lives, but it has to be better than nothing.

  “Right, well since you are going to stay, I am going out to get us some coffees. I’m sure you want one, right?” She nods eagerly. “That will give you some time to get dressed, then we can hang out.”

  “Is there much to do here?” she asks me eagerly. “I would love to get to know your home town.”

  “Hmm… stuff to do might be thin on the ground.” I laugh and thankfully she joins in. “But I can take you for a ride on my bike if that’s what you want? I could show you the town from that angle?”

  She seems happy to do that which is awesome. We used to ride on my bike a lot together when we were younger so this will be reminiscent of that. It’s going to be awesome to have that memory even if it’s happening in a different place. I can’t stop smiling as I exit the hotel room and I head towards the local coffee shop.

  The smile falters a little when I glance at my cell phone screen and I see some messages from Butch asking me to come and meet with him, but I fire one back to him telling him that I have some family drama to take care of today. It might be a lie, but family drama is one of those excuses that he is okay with. Thankfully. Or that might be just when it comes to me because I have seen him be much harsher with some of the other guys.

  Not that I want to worry about Butch and the motorcycle gang today. I just want to focus on me and Rose because this definitely isn’t something that happens every single day. I want to live in the moment and enjoy every second. I need to savor this, to commit it to memory, to enjoy every single second. I intend to make this one of the best days of mine and Rose’s life, even if there isn’t that much that we can do here. We don’t need stuff and activities to make us happy. Me and Rose can do that all on our own…

  The wind rushes over my body as I pick up speed, and with the sensation of Rose’s arms clinging tightly around my waist, I feel like I am actually fucking flying. That I am soaring above the planet and enjoying every single second of life. It really doesn’t get much better than this, this is what life should be.

  I love her, I tell myself seriously as I whizz around the town. I never stopped loving her.

  I think that I always knew that, I think that I have always clung on to that love, but now it’s washing over me like the most glorious shower I have ever experienced. I never want it to end. There is a little cheeky voice in the back of my brain screaming at me to just drive off with her, to run away with Rose to start a new life. We could put all of this behind us, we could even adopt new identities, we could just be me and her…

  But it’s only me who wants to start a new life, it’s only me who needs to escape, she has everything that she needs. I can’t steal her away from the life that she has built for herself because that would be wrong.

  Eventually I pull over and we climb off the bike. As Rose pulls off her bike helmet and her ashy blonde hair spills around her face, my heart skips about ten beats. I can’t resist taking a giant step closer to her, closing the gap, and pulling her towards me in a passionate romantic kiss. Her lips immediately connect with mine like they have always belonged there, and we kiss for what feels like forever, locked in one another’s arms.

  “Oh God, I don’t want you to go,” I murmur as we pull apart. “I want you to stay.”

  “Hmm, in an ideal world I would stay here as well,” she tells me honestly with her hand rested on top of mine. “But life isn’t ideal, is it? I have things to do and I’m sure that you do as well.”

  I feel like she’s trying to push my buttons here. She’s trying to make me tell her what I do for a living so she can see that part of me, but I can’t open up about any of that yet. I don’t want to send her running for the hills. Maybe if I can push it all behind me, I will never have to tell her what my life has been like.

  “Will we ever see one another again?” I probably shouldn’t ruin this amazing moment by trying to push for more, but I can’t help myself. I can’t resist needing more from her. “Or is this the end?”

  “I can come back,” she replies simply, making my life immediately a million times better. “If you want me to. This doesn’t have to be the end of everything if you don’t want it to be. It can be whatever we want.”

  I pull her back to me and kiss her some more, relishing in the warmth of what could be about to happen. Of course, I am aware that this could just be words spoken in the heat of the moment and she might not intend to follow through on any of it, but at the same time, I don’t want to worry about that. I just want to exist in the moment. I just want to cling to the belief that everything is going to be okay in the end.

  “I want you to come back,” I murmur against her mouth. “As much as you can.”

  It feels funny to step apart then to exchange cell phone numbers. It’s such a silly and small thing which shouldn’t need to be done because we are so close to one another, but it’s a stark reminder that a lot of time has gone passed and we need to be respectful of the fact that we need to get to know one another again. I guess it’s better that there is a distance which will force us to take things slow because we could easily end up head over heels for one another, in love in that deep pit all over again. It would be wonderful, but scary as well.

  This is better, this is smarter, and it also gives me the time and space to get my own life in order. There is a lot that I need to do, a lot that I need to work out, and I can’t do that while I am melting for Rose. Much as it’s going to be agony to drop Rose off at the train station and to say goodbye to her, I will hold on to the knowledge that this is all a much-needed catalyst for change. A spark to light a fire under my ass to make everything so much better for me and hopefully for Rose as well, because if I can be the best version of myself for her then I will be pleased. I will know then that I am worthy.

  Chapter 8 – Rose

  My dreams have been torturous all night long, even worse than before. It seems that now I have let Artie back in to my life, my brain can’t think of anything else. He is all of me, he ta
kes up every single bit of me, and it’s too much. But too much in a good way, this is the best that I have felt in a very long time.

  But I know that chemistry isn’t everything, I know that love isn’t always enough, which is why I need to get my sorry ass in to the office to speak to Nikki about everything. I really need some advice on what to do right now. She might not have been around when me and Artie were together before which will cause her to have a different opinion about the whole thing to me, but maybe that’s a good thing. Perhaps that is a perspective I need. Not from someone who’s head is still trapped back in high school and that little romance.

  “There you are,” Nikki gushes the moment that she sees me. “What the hell happened to you? I was waiting for you to call me all through the evening to let me know how things went with the meeting, but you never did.”

  “Oh God, sorry.” I groan and clap my hand to my forehead in agony. “I got a little swept up in things.”

  “Uh oh, that doesn’t sound too promising.” She furrows her eyebrows at me as I take my office chair. “What the hell happened? Was the guy super cute or something like that? Did he take you on a date?”

  “Urm, no, Andy was an old-fashioned sexist idiot.” I roll my eyes. “It definitely wasn’t him. It was…”

  “Oh God.” Nikki’s eyes pop wide with surprise. “Was it the ex? I was so sure that you wouldn’t see him…”

  “Me too,” I admit. “But I did. He was in the freaking bar where we went for dinner.”

  “Oh no, that is a joke, right? I know that it was a small town, but that is wild. A bit like…”

  “Fate.” I snort with laughter. “I know. Some kind of sick and twisted destiny. That’s what I thought at the time. He must have seen me before I spotted him thought because he surprised me when I was in the bathroom.”