The Athlete

by Elin Peer

  I didn’t hear the rest, because I opened the door and slid inside.

  “Is everything all right?” Hunter’s deep voice sounded from the bed. The room wasn’t pitch dark so I could make out his shape on the bed and saw he had a blindfold on.

  “Uh-huh.” I didn’t want to use my voice, as I was afraid he would recognize me then.

  “What’s going on?”

  I answered him by walking closer and getting on the bed with him. My hand was shaking when I placed it on his thigh. Hunter lifted his own hand and found my shoulder. I sat still as he slid it down my arm in a slow movement until he grasped my hand.

  “Give me your other hand.”

  I placed both my hands in his and wondered what he was going to do. Hunter raised them up to his shoulders and then he searched for my face. His fingers slid down over my nose, cheeks, and chin to my lips. Every touch felt so intense that I forgot to move my own hands and when he touched my hair and leaned his nose against my neck, inhaling, I gasped a little. What if he recognized my scent?

  “Are you afraid of me?”

  I shook my head, knowing that he would feel it with his fingers.

  “Good. Do you want this?”

  I nodded.

  “Is the reason you’re not talking because of my wish for anonymity?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “All right. But I need to hear you say that you want to have sex with me.”

  “Why?” My voice was hoarse, and my emotions were stuck in my throat. Why did he need me to say it? Did Hunter not understand the concept of a sex club?

  “Do you want to have sex with me?”

  My answer was a soft whisper, “Yes.”

  Just by placing his hands behind my neck and pulling a little, Hunter guided me closer to him so he could kiss me. At first it was soft and careful in nature – like he was waiting for me to pull back and say no. When I didn’t, he grew more confident and his kisses more demanding.

  His hands began exploring my body, soon followed by his tongue and teeth. He got rid of the panties I had on, and spread my legs like an eager child unwrapping his birthday gift. “I want to play with you all night long.”

  I felt the same way and suppressed the warnings in the back of my mind that maybe this wasn’t my brightest idea and that there was a real chance one of us could end up with a broken heart.

  “You feel so good.”

  I didn’t answer him in anything but soft moans of pleasure as I let my hands roam over his strong chest and arms. It didn’t matter that the room was dimly lit. I knew how beautiful he was.

  “Uhm.” He was nibbling at my skin, tasting me, and holding my legs apart with his strong hands. Oral sex had never felt this good with a robot; for every time he let his tongue slide up and down, I lost another piece of the control I had entered the room with.

  I was like a mad person staying in a house on a cliff during an active mudslide. It was just a matter of time before my foundation would collapse, and yet, I couldn’t leave. The view from here was stunning. The room might be dark, but in my mind’s eye everything was in vivid colors.

  Time became irrelevant as I mentally floated on the bed with Hunter doing amazing things to my body. He had started out slow with all his questions about me wanting this, but now, I was in his control and his strong hands moved me around like I was his toy to play with.

  “I want to spoon with you.”

  Not sure what he meant, I stayed on my back as he moved up to lie next to me.

  “Like this.” Hunter’s hand pushed at my hip, showing me to turn on my side. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he whispered in my ear, and pushed against me.

  The rocking movements of his hard body against my backside made me close my eyes and moan.

  “That’s right.” His large hand spread across my stomach as he controlled the pace. He wasn’t inside me, but it still felt sexy and intimate.

  “Do you feel my cock against your skin?”

  “Yes.”

  “Give me your hand.” He guided my hand to his erection and as soon as I clasped my fingers around it, he continued his rocking motions. “How does it feel?”

  “Large.”

  “Does it feel deformed?”

  I stiffened. “What?” A sudden burst of panic made my heart race like it could somehow run out of the room and leave me behind to face the humiliation of being called out by him.

  “My roommate teases me because I won’t shower with her. She thinks it’s because I’m deformed.”

  “Oh…” He wouldn’t speak about me in the third person if he knew it was me, would he?

  “Are you okay? You seem a bit tense.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to relax. Of course Hunter didn’t know it was me. I was probably the last person in the world he expected to come in here. For now, I didn’t want to think too much about anything. When my house crumbled from the cliff, I would face the consequences, but for now, I’d stay in the moment and enjoy Hunter. Touching his face, I gave a low “Uh-huh.”

  His voice was breathy when he whispered, “Good, are you ready to feel me inside you?”

  I lifted my thigh a little and pushed back against him. A silent invitation for him to take me, and he accepted right away. Hunter made a deep sound of pleasure when he entered me, one delicious centimeter after the other.

  “Oh, fucking hell, you feel perfect.”

  “You’re big.” I closed my mouth, realizing my mistake of talking.

  “We’ll take it slow.”

  I used my hand to feel how far he was inside me and was a bit shocked to realize that what made me feel so full was only a little over half of him.

  “Take a deep breath for me,” Hunter instructed and when I did, he continued, “Now exhale.”

  He timed his next deep push with my exhalation and I arched my back in pain. There was no way I could take all of him. Placing my hand on his hipbone, I clung to the feeling of a bit of control but it was an illusion, and with his strong arm holding me in place, he ordered me to take another deep breath before pushing further inside me.

  I began hyperventilating. “Stop.”

  He paused. “Just keep breathing. You’re going to be fine.”

  When my breathing was back to normal, Hunter began rocking in and out in small rhythmic movements. “You feel this?”

  I wanted to tell him that was a stupid question, but his small movements were slowly turning pain into pleasure. “Yeees.” His deep moans in my ear made my belly flutter. I was giving Hunter this pleasure. Not some random woman called Frances. Me.

  His confession to Willow the other day, when he said that he found me beautiful, only increased the acute happiness I felt inside me.

  His slow movements became deeper, and I pushed back against him, meeting his rhythm.

  “That’s it. Tell me you think this is fucking magical for you too.”

  “It is.”

  When he released my hand, I moved it up to feel his face. There was no blindfold.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Your blindfold.”

  “It fell off.”

  I held my breath and tried to calm myself. The room was dark and all I could see was the outline of him. There was no way Hunter would be able to see any of my features so I had nothing to worry about. He had wanted the experience to be anonymous and it was.

  Rolling me over on my back, Hunter got on top of me and pushed back inside. The way he kissed me down my jaw and intertwined our hands made me think of making love. Sex with Hunter was intense but he was attentive and gave a lot of himself. It was no wonder he would be afraid of falling in love if he could see the woman he was with.

  “Yes.” I couldn’t help the small moans when he teased my nipples with his mouth and squeezed my hands with his.

  Part of me wished that we could turn the lights up a little so I could take in the sight of him suckling my breasts.

  I was also curious about different positions but afraid to
make suggestions since he would recognize my voice if I spoke too much. I shouldn’t have worried. Hunter took his time with me and tested out my flexibility with some interesting positions. I had heard women in the club complain about lovers being too fast and leaving them unsatisfied but Hunter seemed determined to make it last. He tasted salty from the sheen of sweat we were both covered in, but I couldn’t get enough of him. Twice he’d made me come and for every minute our bodies were merged, I wanted more of him.

  “Where do you want me to come?”

  My eyes were closed, my head leaned back, and all I could think about was the addictive feeling of friction between my thighs. “More.” My fingers would be white from how hard we were squeezing each other’s hands. It was my way of telling him that I wouldn’t let go yet. “More.”

  Hunter’s breathing was shallow but he was strong and in excellent shape. His hips kept pushing in and out, now with an intensified pace that had me begging for a third orgasm.

  “Oh yes, yes, Hunter, yes.”

  “Say it again. Say my name.”

  “Yes, Hunter. You feel so good.”

  “Do you want me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want all of me?”

  “Yes.” My head was blurry, my spine in an arch, and my core tensed up in small cramps designed by nature to milk him for his semen. Crazy thoughts like that filled my mind before everything went blank and I let out a cry of bliss.

  “Yeeesss!!!” The heavy weight of Hunter on top of me made it impossible for me to move as he pushed deep inside me and stiffened. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t have moved. Not with the way he pinned my hands and pressed me down into the mattress.

  I was just about to say something when he rolled over on his back, taking me with him.

  “I’m not letting you go yet.” We were still connected and his arms were wrapped around me.

  I rested my head against his collarbone and breathed in synchronicity with him. When he tightened his grip around me and placed a kiss on top of my hair it made my heart flutter again. I wasn’t supposed to feel this strongly about him, and there was a big chance Hunter would be mad at me if he knew what I had done. But right now, there was nowhere in the world where I would rather be then right here in his arms.

  “Just give me five minutes and we’ll go for round two.”

  After five minutes, I wondered if he had fallen asleep since his grip had loosened around me and his breathing had turned deeper.

  A second round with him sounded tempting, but this was my chance to get out of the room without his knowing. With slow and deliberate movements, I removed myself from the bed without making noise.

  The floor creaked a little when I walked over it and slid out the door.

  CHAPTER 14

  Why?

  Hunter

  Why had Emanuela slept with me?

  And how in the world could she think I wouldn’t recognize her?

  Even if I hadn’t seen her shape when the blindfold fell off, I would’ve recognized her scent.

  As we flew home that night, we were both quieter than usual. I wanted to burst out with all my questions for her, but I wasn’t sure I would like her answers.

  Her comment from the other day, about knowing someone who was attracted to me, suddenly made sense. She had been talking about herself and not Donna. In my mind’s eye I could still see her standing in front of me in the living room, saying, “I mean, she’s not interested in marrying you or starting a family, I think. It’s more like a strong physical attraction.”

  Looking over at Emanuela, I studied her profile as she sat next to me in the hybrid with her elbows leaning on the armrest and her eyes staring out at the dark night sky.

  Think, Hunter, think!

  What the fuck happened tonight?

  Obviously she has to be physically attracted to me, or she wouldn’t have done what she did.

  I know that making love to her was everything I had fantasized it would be.

  I also know she thinks I don’t know that it was her.

  My hands went to my face and I rubbed my forehead.

  “You okay?”

  She was looking at me. I could feel it without looking back.

  “Yeah, I’m just trying to process what happened tonight.”

  “Oh. And what are your thoughts?”

  Lifting my gaze, I locked eyes with her. “You sure you want to know?”

  Emanuela pulled her legs up underneath her. My drone was large and luxurious and she looked petite in her seat. “You can tell me about it if you want to.”

  I narrowed my eyes. Maybe if I gave her an opening to come clear with me. “Did you have a good time at your mom’s place?”

  “Yeah. Nothing special, but it was good to see my family.”

  “Did you stay in all night?”

  Her eyes flickered a little. “Why wouldn’t I? She made me my favorite cake.”

  “I know.” I nodded to the container that her mom had given us when we left.

  “Did you and Cole have fun?”

  “Maybe fun isn’t the right word, but I had the most passionate experience of my life tonight.”

  Her eyes widened a little. “You did?”

  “Yes. It was weird because you know how I wanted the whole thing to be anonymous.”

  She nodded.

  “I waited in the sensory deprivation room and then one of the women we had been talking to came in. I was nervous and I think she felt it because she began talking to me.”

  “Did you recognize her voice?”

  “Right away. Her name was Frances.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then I lost interest.” I gave a small laugh. “I know it sounds crazy that an Nman would lose interest when a pretty woman was offering herself to him, but being in that club tonight just put things in perspective for me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It just finally clicked with me that getting sex is not going to be difficult in this country. That much is clear. But these women…” I paused, thinking about a way to say it without offending her.

  “What about these women?”

  “They don’t get us. Me. They don’t get me.”

  She just looked at me as if she wanted to understand.

  “Have you ever seen a couple who love each other?”

  “Yes. I’ve met Shelley and Marco.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “Maybe there’s just something wrong with me, but I’ve wanted what they have since I was twelve and I witnessed it for the first time.”

  “You want love.”

  I looked deep into her eyes when I answered. “Yes, Ema, I want love.”

  She shifted her position by pulling her knees up in front of her, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her chin on top.

  “Anyway, Cole came to get Frances before anything really happened between us and what confused me even more was that a second woman came in.”

  “Oh yeah? Were you disappointed?”

  “No. I just told you that it was the most passionate experience that I’ve ever had.”

  “Did you recognize her too?”

  “It’s funny you should ask that.” I leaned my head to the side. “Because before I went in there, I pointed out three women to Cole, and she wasn’t one of them.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “It was odd. But her scent was amazing, and her skin was soft. She reminded me of…” I paused and watched her eyes expand. “You. She reminded me of you, Ema.”

  With a clue like that it should be easy for her to come clean and for a second I thought she was going to, but Emanuela chickened out and laughed it off. “That would’ve been weird.”

  I leaned back in my seat, crossed my arms, and gazed out at the darkness. “Yeah, I guess it would’ve been.”

  We didn’t talk after that and when we got back to our apartment it was late and we went straight to bed.

  I couldn’t sleep, of course. Just hours ago, I had made
love to this woman and now I craved more. Every night for two weeks I had suppressed my desire to spoon with Emanuela and I’d wondered what it would feel like to have sex with her.

  Now I knew.

  What should have been an anonymous experiment on my part had been hijacked by a woman I already had feelings for. At least before tonight, I’d been convinced that she wasn’t interested in me and somehow that had made it easier for me to control my own attraction.

  I watched her silhouette as she lay on her side with her face to the window.

  Was she sleeping or thinking about her little experiment from tonight? Had she gotten what she wanted out of it and had she planned it from the beginning? After all, Emanuela had been the one to suggest the blindfold to begin with.

  At two a.m. I was still thinking about my dilemma. Should I try to seduce her or protect my heart?

  The wedding was coming up in a few days and a groan escaped me just thinking about bringing her as a single woman. My protective side roared inside me. If anyone came on to her, I would lose my shit.

  Emanuela yawned. “What’s wrong? Your thoughts are so loud that they are keeping me awake.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You don’t have to. I can sense your speculations and ruminations from over here.”

  “I was thinking about my sister’s wedding. Do you still want to go?”

  She raised her head up. “Yes, I still want to go.”

  “The thing is, going as a single woman is dangerous.”

  “Why? You don’t think any of your sister’s friends would hurt me, do you?”

  “No, but I think every one of the single men attending the wedding would come on to you. If I bring you, I’m responsible for your safety and I don’t want to end up killing someone or getting killed myself.”

  Emanuela gave a cute snicker and turned around to face me. “What are you talking about?”

  I didn’t laugh. “I’m serious. The more I think about it the less I like the idea of you going there as a single woman. Promise me that you won’t flirt with anyone.”

  “Why would I flirt with anyone?”