by Daisy Allen
"You always have a choice, Emmie."
I smile at the nickname. I've always hated nicknames, but I like it coming from him. Like I exist to him in a different form than I do to the rest of the world.
I sigh again. "I'm so happy," I tell him. And the smile grows wider.
"Me too. I didn't think I could be this happy."
"We're a couple of happy mush-heads."
"Well, you're a happy mush-head, I'm a smoldering pile of happy muscle and manliness."
I poke him gently in the chest and he lets out a little yelp.
"Ow!"
"Oh, yes, very manly."
"You have strong fingers! Those uke strumming fingers. I used to have fingers like that."
I grin and reach for his hand and drop a soft kiss to the fingertips. "They'll be strong again. I'll be sure to give them lots of practice."
His smile changes to a look of want and he lowers his head to mine, kissing me, gently at first, and then it builds, and builds and builds, his hands are in my hair, mine around his neck. I want him. My body feels like it needs to be devoured by him, taken, possessed.
I nibble on his lip and he lets out a low growl, his mouth moving to trace along my neck. I throw my head back, exposing his tongue to more skin and he dips it into the valley between my breasts.
And then he stops.
Dropping small gentle kisses back up my décolleté to my mouth, he then pulls away, kissing the top of my head.
I wonder what made him stop, but I don’t ask.
I face the window again, the sight of the tower overwhelming me. I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing it.
We stare out into the strip for a few minutes, the music from the fountain drifting up to us, like orphaned notes scattering in the desert winds, the fountains shooting a canon of water droplets high up into the air with only some returning to the pool, the rest catching on a whoosh of air and disappearing into the night, cooling on the upturned faces of the spectators.
Then it's over, the crowd dissipates, and it's just us once more.
"So, what do you want to do now?"
Have you fuck me. My mind answers. But my mouth keeps it between us.
I thought he'd want to.
I've given him every sign that I want to. That I want him.
"Um, what do you want to do?" I ask him, my voice suddenly shy and quiet.
"Well, you can't come to Vegas and not gain 10 pounds. I'm pretty sure that's illegal. Shall we hit the buffet? The Bellagio's is one of my favorites. Or we could go to Wicked Spoon or one of the newer ones. But if you like desserts, which I know you do, we're just a few hundred steps away."
He takes my hand and spin me around and for a moment, just a moment, I let the magic of the moment consume me. I twirl, my dress ballooning around me, and I laugh as the lights of the Eiffel Tower reflect in his eyes.
And I want to be nowhere else but right here.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jez
She's quiet through dinner. Not totally, but she's not the usual effervescent and chatty woman I'm used to. I can't help wondering if she's regretting her decision, and realizing she's doesn’t want to be here, to be with me.
I ask her if she wants a coffee and she gives me a small smile and shakes her head.
Maybe she's tired, and doesn't want to tell me?
You idiot, she's been in the hospital for... well, I'm not sure how long, but for some time. She's recovering from a brain injury at least, and you don't even give her time to rest. Thoughtless prick.
"Are you finished?" I ask as she puts down the fork she's been using to pick at the cheesecake on her plate. She didn't eat much. Even more of an indication that she's probably pretty tired. I've seen this woman put away a plate of Emily's lasagna even before I could get a forkful.
She nods and takes a sip of her water, patting at her lips with the napkin. It's quite late now and the buffet dining room is pretty empty. I'd managed to get a booth in the smaller room and there aren't many people to see us.
The last thing I want is to be ambushed while we're here. Without bodyguards and the entourage and the other guys in the band, I'm not really sure how I would handle it.
I get up and give her my hand. She shakes her head and pulls herself out of the booth.
"I don't want to hurt your hand," she explains as she stands up and then takes it and pats it gently before letting go.
Her thoughtfulness is touching and my heart lurches in my chest. While I'm pushing her to fatigue, she's still thinking of me. I take her hand and lead her out of the restaurant. The chaotic noise of the casino instantly bombards us and she flinches.
I pull her closer, sliding an arm around her waist.
Stay with me, I think. I'll keep you safe.
She rests her head on my shoulder as we walk towards the elevators.
"Tired?"
"A little, I guess," she says quietly, and I can barely hear her over the beep-beeps of the poker machines and yells from winners and losers at the game tables.
"Let me get you up to bed and you can go to sleep," I say, kissing the top of her head.
She stops.
Her hand dropping from mine.
"What's wrong? Did you need to go to the restroom?" I ask, pointing to the row of doors behind her.
"Argh!" She yells, "What is wrong with you? Or is it me?"
"What?" I ask; she’s angry, and I have no idea why.
"No, you need to tell me. Is there, like horns growing out of my head?” She makes little fingers movement on either side of her temples. “Or do I smell like funky cheese, or do you only like really tall women, or really short women or something?"
"Um." She's glaring at me, and her chest is heaving with deep, heavy breaths. I'm assuming I've done something wrong but I can't figure out what it is.
"Why... ugh, never mind!" She storms off without finishing her sentence.
I run after her, catching her hand and spinning her around.
"Whoa, whoa, Emmie, baby! What's going on? Did I do something?"
"No!" She snaps, avoiding eye contact.
"So I didn't do something?"
"Humph, exactly!” She throws her hands up in the air.
I’m no more informed than I was a minute ago. She just stands there, fuming, but refusing to look at me. I touch the side of her cheek, hoping it’ll make her look up at me.
"Hey… Emmie, what's going on?"
"Do you... do you not find me attractive?" She fidgets with the hem of her dress, her voice soft and quiet.
My brain goes from confusion to completely blank. Like it can't even process her words.
"What in the world?"
"Well, do you?" She finally lifts her eyes and meets mine.
"Of course, I do!!"
"Then why don't you want to have sex with me?"
My mouth drops open and for a moment I think I’m hallucinating. Did she just say what i think she says?
"Say that again."
"Why. Don't. You. Want. To. FUCK. Me??!" She repeats, with a slight change in words for emphasis, the anger returning to her voice.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I choke.
Her eyes narrow and her hands brace on her hips. She looks so angry and strong and sexy and feminine and I'd fuck her right now if I wasn't trying to figure out what is going on in her brain.
"Why in the world would you think that?"
"Because... you haven't!"
"Oh my god." I let out a guffaw. She IS crazy. "You are one crazy woman,” I splutter, still unable to really understand where this is all coming from.
Her eyes narrow even more. Guess that comment didn't help.
I notice a crowd starting to form around us but I don’t fucking care.
I grab her by the shoulders so she can’t look away, and she looks just as pissed off as she did before.
"Why, on God's holy earth, would you think that I'm not attracted to you?" I shake my head, the words coming out of my mouth sou
nding so ridiculous even as I'm saying them.
"I thought you would've wanted to… have sex with me by now,” she says, with a small shrug.
"Oh my god. Noémie, sweet, sexy, drive me fucking crazy Noémie," I pull her in against me, so close she has to tip her head almost all the way back to look up at me. "I want you so much I feel like my veins are filled permanently with cement, my whole body hard, stiff... for you. I want you so bad, I can't even look at you most of the time, in case I can't control myself and have to have you right there and then, wherever it is, at PT, on the plane, in a cab on the fucking L.A. freeway, in the middle of a crowded casino...”
"You.."
"I'm not done. I want you so much I can barely function. I want you so much... that nothing will take the place of my cock inside you. Do you know, I haven't cum in three months since my accident? I thought after I took my arm casts off, I'd be making up for lost time, but I don't want to orgasm, unless it's inside you. I want you so bad, that I've stayed up whole nights thinking about every little thing I want to do to you and in what order. Firstly, I'm going to peel off every layer of your clothing, because I'm sick of imagining what you look like naked. I want to see it with my own eyes... and touch it with my own fingers. Secondly, I want to trace your nipples with my tongue, until they get so hard and wet, that you beg me to take it into my mouth. And even then, I won't stop.”
“Thirdly..."
I stop as she places a finger against my mouth.
"Stop talking."
"But..."
"No. Stop talking. Stop talking… and start doing."
Her front teeth dig into her lip and it's so sexy I almost burst. I lean over and kiss her. Kiss her so hard I think I draw blood, but I don't care. I want to kiss away every doubt in her mind that I want her. And replace it with the knowledge that I am nothing but consumed with want for her.
"Jez..." she moans, and I pull back to give her a moment to take a breath. Her eyes are wide and round and dark and full of lust. And I'm not sure how I stop myself from just taking here there and then, but I do, promising myself, soon.
I take her hand and we almost run to the elevators, standing far apart once we're inside, in case we can't hold off for those last few seconds.
The elevator door dings, and we practically race to our room, she moves the key in front of the lock and my hands are already on her, my mouth on the back of her neck.
The door finally gives way to us, and we fall inside, arms and legs and mouths and hands all over each other.
Not like this, not in the foyer of our hotel room, not for the first time. I think.
Before I know what I'm doing, I pull her arm over my neck and sweep my other arm under her legs.
"No! Jez! Be careful!" She cries into my ear.
I silence her with a kiss as I carry her to the bed.
"I'd break all the bones in my body one by one to be with you just this one perfect time," I whisper into her ear. I lay her gently on the bed and press a soft kiss to her lips before I drag my fingers down her body and pull off her shoes.
"One," I rasp. My hands walk back up her body, tucking under the shoulder straps of her dress, ready to peel it from her body.
"What?" She gasps, as I pull her dress down her body.
"'One' I said. I told you, I've thought about the order I'm going to do this in for a very long time."
Every single movement is causing me pain. Not in my hands. In my cock. I need to fuck her so bad I can barely take a breath, but I want this to be right for her.
"Jez," she says pushing my hands away and getting up on her knees on the bed. She pulls on the front of my shirt until my mouth is on hers. It's hard to not be kissing her constantly. She tastes like the most delicious, sweet, plump, juicy strawberry.
"Forget the numbers,” she says and I raise my eyebrows. "And just fuck me."
She releases the dam, and there's no going back. I push her down onto the bed, climbing over her. Her mouth is waiting for me, and I devour her, as my hand fumbles between her legs, pushing them apart.
She reaches down her thighs and slides her panties as far down her legs as she can, and I rip them off the rest of the way.
God, her scent fills the air. Fresh, salty, driving me insane.
I barely have time to unbuckle my belt and free my cock, before she reaches for me, pulling my mouth back down to hers again. Her need for me is making me dizzy, breathless. It’s the most incredible feeling in the world.
I wriggle my hips, my cock springing free. Ready for her.
She moves to wrap her legs around my hips and although it’s excruciating to stop, I have to.
"Fuck... wait, wait, baby,” I pant, “I don't have a..."
"Shhhh, you don't need one.” She presses her fingers to my lips. “I promise, you're safe with me. If you can promise the same, then we don't need one."
And in that moment, I know I’ve fallen all the way.
"I do,” I tell her. Saying everything in those two short words.
She smiles, and for a moment, her sweetness overtakes her sexiness. But then I feel her hips rock under mine, her heat permeating my groin and my mind short circuits.
And I all can think about is driving myself inside her.
I push my knee between her legs and they part for me, wide open, falling back against the bed. I press my index finger into her wetness, and it glides in past the first knuckle.
She squeezes, involuntarily around the tip of my finger. And I try to ignore imagining how it’s going to feel when it’s my cock inside her.
"Uhhh, damn. Jez." She groans as I press deeper inside her, as far as I can reach.
She’s ready. She's so ready for me. The thought makes my cock twitch so hard I'm almost afraid it's all over.
I pull my finger from her and she watches as I slide it into my mouth.
Tasting her.
"You are so delicious, Noémie, so sexy, you drive me wild," I whisper into her ear, my voice raspy and thick.
And then I grip her hips, positioning my cock right snug in that delicious opening between her legs and drive myself into her.
"AH!” She moans, and I can just growl in response.
It’s sheer bliss. I rock my hips against her, dragging my hardness in and out, in and out of her.
Her legs come up to wrap around my waist and pull me even deeper into her.
"Oh, Noémie, sexy, temptress Noémie. How could you possibly think I didn't want to do this? God, all I've wanted to do since I met you the first time, was fuck you." I admit, remembering how I’d have taken her in that mens’ bathroom, against the wall, against the door, on the floor if she’d have given me the tiniest indication she wanted me.
But now, after everything, getting to have her now, makes it all the more sweet.
My hips thrust forward and her moan catches deep in her throat. I force myself to open my eyes as I watch her. Watch her as I fuck her.
"Yes, yes, yes," she murmurs, and I can tell she's close. We’ve been on the edge for days. This was never going to last too long. Nor do I want it to. I want to come inside her.
"Come with me, baby," I urge her.
"Yes," she pants.
I brace against the bed, one arm over her head as I thrust, harder and harder. She squeezes around me, and my brain empties of all thought except our climaxes.
Her fingers scratch at my chest and I'm so close I bite down hard on my tongue to hold back. The sting temporarily distracts me from coming.
"Oh god!" she screams, almost deafening me, and her whole body stiffens.
I can't wait. I can't hold off any longer and I slam myself against her one last time, already feeling my body shake as my cock jerks and empties inside her.
"Oh... fuck. Noémie. Baby, shit fuck," I babble, as I feel her start to relax, her hands coming up to run through my hair.
I collapse against her, once I'm done. Struggling for breath.
She wraps her arms around me, and I can't speak yet. So, I just
kiss her. A soft, gentle press of my lips against hers.
"Oh, Jez," she sighs, and it's the most incredible sound in the world.
After a few minutes, I move to slide off her, but her arms tighten around me.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Nowhere, I don't want to get too heavy on you."
"You're not. I like it. Just a little bit longer, okay?"
"Anything you like, baby. Anything you like."
I lay back, my head against her shoulder, my body draped over hers, our legs entangled, me still inside her.
Exactly where I want to be.
"So, you did want to fuck me," she says after a little while, and there's a cheeky grin on her face.
"Yup, pretty sure we've cleared that up, you little minx," I say, sliding off her so I can pull her against me.
She settles against my chest, and I brush the hair from her face, trying to ignore the fresh scar on her scalp.
"Did you really think I wasn't attracted to you?"
"I didn't know. You never... I mean, so we kissed a few times and you seemed to want more than just talking. But you never made a big move." And I almost burst out laughing because if only she’d known the thoughts I was having about her in my head, she would probably have run off in the opposite direction screaming at the creepy pervert in the hospital room down the hall. But the truth is, there’s more to it than that. And I tell her.
"I was... I still am, worried."
A frown flashes across her forehead. "About what?"
"That I'm going to hurt you, sweetheart. I don't know what your injuries are, we've never really talked about it."
She shifts so she's sitting up on the bed, looking down at me. Her hair is tousled, wisps framing her face, and then ends hanging over her bare chest, her soft pink nipples peeking out from under it. It’s a good thing I’ve just come, or else I’d been leaning over to take them into my mouth right now. Her lips are red and bruised and her face is bare, makeup free.
And I've never seen someone so stunning in my life.
"Sit up," she says softly, patting the bed in front of her.
And I move, kicking my pants completely off. I'm kneeling in just a black T-shirt in front of her, and I’m utterly comfortable. She smiles and takes my hand and lifts it to the left side of her head.
