by Haley Travis
My spine curled, throwing my head forward a few inches so I could stare into those gorgeous deep eyes as I fisted the back of his hair.
“Dale…” I whisper-choked, then a strange high pitched moan filled the room, that must have been me. This much pleasure was impossible, as my body flooded with waves of electric bliss.
I finally fell back against the bed, as Dale slid up to kiss me gently. Feeling his shaft pressing against my hip bone made me twitch. I’d never felt empty before. Like I needed to be filled. It was fascinating how vivid this primal urge was.
Reaching down, my hand circled his length, stroking cautiously. Watching his eyes half close as he shuddered slightly was unbelievably satisfying.
“Tell me what you’d like to do now, Lindsay,” Dale grinned, kissing along my neck.
“I…” Actually saying it out loud was trickier than I thought.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered huskily.
Stroking his thick length all the way up and down, I blushed, “This.” It was so warm in my hand, twitching slightly.
“Are you sure?” he asked carefully.
I nodded emphatically.
“Should I get a–”
“I’m on the pill,” I whispered quickly.
Covering my hand with his, we brought his shaft between my legs, then I let him take over as my hands gripped the back of his shoulders tightly.
Feeling the tip of his cock brushing against my soaking pussy lips, I tried to relax. My body was screaming that I needed him inside me. My mind agreed, it was just a bit nervous.
He brushed back and forth against my skin, coating himself in my juices before pressing in a bit. He kissed me gently, sinking deeper, then he seemed startled, pulling back to study my eyes. “Lindsay, is this…”
I nodded quickly. “It’s okay… I want you.”
“Are you sure, sweetie?”
I nodded slowly and deliberately, smiling up at him. “Yes.”
Dale seemed hesitant. “Damn, baby, I don’t want to hurt you.”
I realized in that second that I was absolutely falling in love with him. I couldn’t imagine anyone else being so careful with me. “Please,” I whispered. “I want you.”
I saw a flash of raw lust in his eyes, and he grinned. “I want to give you everything, sweetie. Always.” He began taking tiny, tentative strokes inside me, as if trying to gently stretch my body open for his.
Then he plunged deep with one smooth thrust.
I gasped, moaning against his lips as he kissed me deeply. This kiss was different. Hungrier. It would have been the kiss of a lifetime even if I didn’t feel his rock hard shaft moving slowly in and out of my snug, wet tunnel.
My nails dug into his back, and I couldn’t control it. His mouth never left mine, his energy flowing through me as the strange pressure and pinch dissolved into pure pleasure.
Dale’s deep, slow rhythm felt careful, almost dreamy. Even though my body was pinned so tightly under his, I felt like I was floating.
“Oh, Dale,” I heard myself whimper. The pressure deep in my belly was building, and I could tell this next climax was going to be totally different from anything I’d ever felt before.
Feeling his shoulders twitch slightly, I opened my eyes just long enough to catch his expression of ecstasy. “Perfect,” he murmured, “Fuck, Lindsay, you feel absolutely perfect.”
My mind was unraveling, the pleasure short-circuiting every thought I’d ever had. It was too much to take. I was about to explode, and I couldn’t control anything.
“Yes, sweetie,” he murmured as I clung to him desperately. His thickness was sliding in and out so deep that I would have screamed if I could have found the air. “Let me feel you, baby.”
I drew in a harsh, ragged breath as I felt my pussy clench around his cock, then I looked up into his dark eyes as the world exploded around me.
Thrusting faster, deeper, he groaned, “God, you’re perfect. Lindsay, I…”
The pressure inside me jerked slightly, as his warm release filled me completely. Watching Dale’s face as he came was one of the most bizarrely beautiful things I’d ever witnessed in my life. Knowing how much my body was pleasing him was a savage thrill. Yet the feeling of us bonding completely was so deep. Pure.
He immediately began kissing me again, tenderly. Sweetly. Then he leaned back and smiled. “My gorgeous perfect baby,” he grinned. “How do you feel?”
I had no idea how to answer, and burst into laughter. “I feel like I’m supposed to say something deep and important, but my entire brain is a squishy little ball of happiness.”
He laughed loudly, rolling off me and laying down so that we could snuggle together. “I have to get back to the shop later, but I think we need a proper snuggle nap first,” he said, his hand stroking my lower back as he nuzzled my hair.
“You’re amazing, Lindsay. I’m so glad that I found you. Or should I say, that you found me.”
I agreed with him by scraping my chin up and down his shoulder as I nodded, making us both laugh.
CHAPTER EIGHT
* Dale *
I almost slipped. In that perfect moment of intense passion, I had almost confessed that I was already in love with her. Although I certainly didn’t want to hide my feelings from Lindsay, I didn’t want to scare her away either.
When I realized that she was giving herself to a man for the first time, I nearly froze. That was a lot of responsibility. I was unbelievably touched that she trusted me with such an important life event.
It was almost painful having to leave Lindsay curled up in her bed. I tucked her in with a blanket, kissing her forehead before I left, promising to text her soon. She seemed to understand that I had to work most of the weekend constructing some movie sets, but it still felt terrible leaving her alone.
As soon as I got to the workshop, I sent her a photo of the empty coffee pot, with the caption, “Step one of any important construction job. More coffee.”
Throughout the day, as I created fake walls, relatively real furniture, and strange bits and pieces of shelving, I sent her more photos and notes, stopping at eleven pm so that I wouldn’t wake her up. I did the same all day Sunday, wanting her to know that I was thinking of her, even if I couldn’t be with her.
She responded with interesting questions and comments, but didn’t seem offended when it sometimes took an hour or two to answer. Steve took a photo of my paint covered hands at one point, which seemed to amuse her.
I couldn’t wait until this next busy spell was done so that I could see Lindsay, but unfortunately, we had three days with no work planned coming up next weekend. Socially, this was wonderful. Professionally, it was terrible. We needed the shop to be working nearly every day to stay afloat.
But something would come up. It usually did. My luck seemed to be pretty amazing this week, with Lindsay just appearing in my life. I had great faith that something would pop up to keep us busy.
CHAPTER NINE
* Lindsay *
The feeling that I was now living in an entirely new dimension lasted for several days. Then I begin to really miss Dale.
It was absolutely crazy that I hadn’t even met him a week ago, and now he was the person I spoke with most. Sometimes we would text on and off all day if he wasn’t working on something messy. Most nights he called at eleven pm to tuck me into bed over the phone.
He was more romantic than I would have expected, always asking about my day, what I’d seen, and what I’d been reading. Dale was genuinely interested in the details of my life.
As much as we were communicating pretty well, and quite often, I missed the way he held me. I needed him to take hold of me. Kiss me with that strange blazing heat with those thick arms circling my entire body. I didn’t understand why it felt so powerful to be tiny and safe, tucked into his chest, but I loved it.
It was a giant relief when he sent me a text Thursday morning. “Hey, do you want to come meet me at the shop after your work tonight? We
could chat while I finish some detail painting, then we could grab dinner?”
I responded immediately, “Sure, just send the address.”
This was one of the many little things about having a boyfriend that I’d been looking forward to. Making plans, fitting into each other’s lives. Grabbing a meal together whenever possible.
The second that Mr. Donnelly left for the day, I rushed to the ladies’ room to fluff up my hair and add a bit more eyeliner. I noticed that a few of my coworkers gave me strange looks as I rushed to the elevator, but I didn’t care. I needed to see Dale as quickly as possible.
It was only about twenty-five minutes on the streetcar, then I found the huge garage that was their workshop. The second I knocked on the door, I heard, “Come on in, gorgeous.”
I entered carefully, looking out for paint, tools, and supplies, which were everywhere. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the indoor light, I saw Dale grinning at me. He was wearing his usual dark jeans but was shirtless except for a big painting apron. I realized I needed to see him naked again, immediately.
He jumped up and ran over to me, holding his hands up. “It’s killing me that I can’t hug you, but I’m covered in layers of finishes,” he laughed.
Leaning over carefully, he gave me a tiny kiss, then I examined his hands. “You really do like sparkle paint.”
He rolled his eyes, going back to his short step ladder that was in front of a huge backdrop. “That green glitter was two hours ago. Now I’m on to gloss and matte varnishes,” he chuckled. “But it’s been going really well, and I should be done in around twenty minutes.”
He pointed to a white plastic chair against the wall. “That one is clean.”
I dragged it over near him as he painted a complicated pattern across a huge board. We passed the time chatting about work, with him asking me increasingly detailed questions about my job.
“It sounds nice and structured,” he said. “Stable.”
“There are busy spells, and emergencies, like anywhere else,” I said. “But it’s reasonably predictable.”
He flashed me a grin. “I get the impression that you like stable things. You always like to know what’s going on.”
“As much as I can, yes.”
Looking around the huge space, it looked like there were at least five projects on the go. “It must be hard for you to juggle things when you don’t quite know what’s going on in advance,” I said.
“Absolutely. We just have to say yes to everything, and figure out how we’ll actually execute it later.”
“What if it’s impossible?” I asked teasingly.
He looked at me but wasn’t laughing. “We have to do it anyway. Once in a while we call in help, or we don’t sleep for three days. But every single job has to get done somehow.”
“Good grief,” I muttered.
Dale rolled his eyes. “Exactly. There have been many times when we’ve been wheeling pieces into place and begging the cast not to touch it because the paint was still wet.”
I heard a creak as the door opened, then I heard the distinct click of stilettos on the concrete floor. A tall blonde woman in a pink romper strutted into the room, reeking of intimidation and what must have been an entire bottle of perfume.
“Dale, thank goodness you’re here,” she said, not even glancing in my direction. “Donnie and Pam’s team completely dropped the ball, and we need you to fix three sets for a commercial shoot by noon Saturday.”
Dale looked instantly exasperated, and perhaps a bit angry. “Everyone knows they only finish half of the jobs they’re given. Why do people hire them anymore?”
She held up her hands, flashing inch long neon pink talons that looked even brighter against her deep orangey fake tan. “Don’t ask me. I’m just the messenger in this case. I told my clients not to use them, but they wanted the absolute cheapest option.”
Dale wiped off his hands on a rag. “You get what you pay for. When will people learn?”
“Well, certainly not today,” she said, tossing her hair and rolling her eyes dramatically. “Where is Steve?”
“He’ll be back in half an hour.”
“Maybe you could call him and get him here faster,” she said curtly. “Chad is going to have the truck here in five minutes, and it will probably take three of you to unload.” She turned on her heel and left, without even saying thank you or goodbye.
Dale came over to my chair, his handsome face drawn with worry. “Lindsay, I’m so sorry. We have to take this job. Not just for the work itself, but because her clients tend to grow, and we get even more work every time we impress them.”
“Do all of your colleagues speak to you like that?” I couldn’t help asking.
He shook his head, looking instantly exhausted. “That’s Laurie. She fancies herself a trendy hipster, and she’s in the business to make connections and try to be influential.” His eyes tightened. “A couple of years ago, we dated for about a month. It did not go well. But then she ended up in my industry, and I have to deal with her drama.”
A blonde head leaned back in the door. “I called Steve, he’ll be here in three minutes, and Chad is already pulling in.” She snapped her fingers. “Let’s get going.”
“I’m so sorry, Lindsay,” Dale said, trying to smile.
I stood up, grabbing my purse. “It’s fine. We can talk another time.”
“Thanks for understanding, I’ll call you later.” He was already out the back door. I used the front door so that I could sneak out and head back to the streetcar without going by them again.
Humiliation would be a correct emotional response. Jealousy. Anger. There were likely a slew of emotions that would seem rational.
Instead, I just felt numb. And heart crushingly stupid. I felt completely abandoned, and didn’t know how to process that.
One of my biggest fears was being invisible, and the way Dale hadn’t even glanced at me while that loud woman was in the room truly bothered me. It was a tiny thing, but it felt huge.
How could I think for one moment that somebody like me would be able to hold Dale’s attention for any length of time? I didn’t know what was worse, that he cut off our date without a second thought, or that he didn’t introduce me or acknowledge me in the presence of his ex.
They were still coworkers. Maybe friends.
Maybe that’s all we were. Maybe not even that.
My head was spinning with grief and a strange buzzing heat. I was angry at myself for having hoped. For being so utterly foolish.
By the time I got home, I was actually queasy. How could I have overestimated what we were? How could I have made so many assumptions about how he felt?
I didn’t even hear my phone beep as I got ready for bed, only seeing his text as I set my alarm. “Hey, sweetie, can I call you to tuck you in?”
It took me a few minutes to figure out what I wanted to say, but was too numb to think clearly. “No. Too tired.”
Even his instant response of, “Okay, sweet dreams, gorgeous,” didn’t make me feel any better.
Sure, he was sweet with me when it was convenient. If I stayed with him, would he always push me aside the second something else came up?
CHAPTER TEN
* Dale *
Thursday night I ended up getting two hours of sleep on the couch in the office area of our warehouse. Friday afternoon I managed to take another hour-long nap, and finally felt like I was getting a handle on how much work this last-minute job involved.
We ended up calling in one of our part-time painters, who was excited for the extra ten hours of work.
Normally I loved being this busy, but it felt like a black cloud was hanging over everything. I knew that Lindsay was upset, and knowing that I was the one who caused her distress made me feel sick.
Friday evening I sent her a text that read, “Hey, sweetie. How was your day at work?”
An hour later, her response was, “Fine.”
Dammit. That didn’t sound good. I didn’t have
a lot of experience in the dating world, but one-word answers seemed like a red flag.
I called her, but she didn’t answer. I waited five minutes, then called again. Still nothing.
My blood was starting to run cold. I knew that she understood that work had to come first, but had I handled the situation badly?
I sent another text. “Can I see you Saturday afternoon?”
