by Jamie Craig
“You haven’t. Not with me.” His hand cupped her face, his thumb drawing soft circles on her cheek.
Ana smiled, tilting her head to rub her cheek against his hand. His simple touch conveyed so much that his words didn’t, but it was easier for her to accept it through contact instead of words. “I have an idea. Why don’t we try to watch that concert again?”
“I think the operative word in that sentence is try.” Ben brushed his mouth across her temple. “But no way am I turning down an offer like that.”
Enjoy it. And, frankly, stop worrying. Claire’s words came back to her as she helped soap him down, washing away what remained of the afternoon’s sweat and dirt. Enjoy it. Enjoy him. But that was the problem. She enjoyed him a little too much, and it would be so hard to let him go.
Chapter 8
Ana was in the kitchen fixing dinner when his phone rang. Stopping his search of her CD collection, Ben dug it out of his pocket and immediately sighed when he saw the caller ID. Damn it. He’d completely forgotten about calling home this week.
“Hi, Mom,” he said. There was nobody else it would be. The ritual was always the same. Sandra Scalia did the calling, and then she passed the phone around to whomever was present.
“Are you too busy to call your mother?” she greeted in a teasing tone.
He glanced at the door. If you only knew. “It’s end of semester,” he said instead. “You know it’s crazy.”
“Your semester ended last week,” she countered. “So tell me about your plans for the summer. What are you going to do?” Ben knew that was code for Are you coming to visit?
Ana stepped into the living room, tilting her head. “Who is it?” she asked softly.
Ben covered with his hand and mouthed, “My mom.” Back into the receiver, he said, “I just got my grades turned in three days ago. I haven’t thought about it too much yet. Except for a tutoring job in August so that I’m not living on the street.”
“You know if you came home for the summer, you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Sandra pointed out. “And you know your father will be able to get you a summer job.”
Ana sat beside him, leaning over to whisper in his ear. “What does she want?”
“Dad wants a free slave for the next three months,” Ben countered, his voice teasing. “Aren’t the twins coming home? Dad can torture them this summer. I get enough torture from my students.”
“Now, it wouldn’t be free. Think of all the money you’d save with room and board. Your sisters won’t be coming home this summer either. Helen is working at a pre-school center, and Rachel is taking classes over the summer semester.”
Ana ran her hand up his thigh, stopping at his fly. He glanced at her, but she merely smiled, the picture of innocence. She freed the button of his jeans, pushing her fingers under his waistband. She wasn’t quite touching his cock, but she stroked his sensitive skin with the tips of her fingers.
“So basically this is about you trying to fill the empty nest with your soft touch son, is that it?” If he was smart, he’d push Ana’s hand away and finish this call without distraction. But already, the muscles in his stomach were twitching from the casual caresses, and the last thing he wanted was to discourage Ana’s attentions. “I still have to pay rent on my apartment here, Mom. And there are people I don’t want to leave behind for three months.”
“People? Who? This is about that band, isn’t it? Helen told me they’re playing in Cleveland. That’s only a few hours away.”
Ana pulled his zipper down, but she didn’t reach for his shaft. She continued to caress him, pushing her hand into his pants to run her fingers over his inner-thigh and his groin. He could almost ignore that, until her nails scraped across his balls. She cupped his sac in her palm, massaging him gently. Ben shifted uncomfortably as his cock hardened.
“I’m on the Street Team, Mom. That means I have to actually promote them here in LA. But, no, that’s not who I’m talking about.” He reached and stroked Ana’s cheek, unable to hold back his smile. “I met someone.”
“Oh?” There was a definite note of interest in her voice. “Who is she? What is she like? How did you meet her?”
Ana stretched out on the couch, laying on her stomach. She wrapped her thumb and forefinger around the base of his cock and pulled him out of the confine of his pants. Flashing him another innocent smile, she touched the tip of her tongue to his shaft.
The first wet contact made him hiss, and he covered the phone for a moment so that his mom wouldn’t hear it. “Her name’s Ana,” he said, shaking his head as he met Ana’s twinkling eyes. “And she’s crazy. Gorgeous, but crazy.”
“Crazy?” Sandra’s voice sharpened. “Like Charlotte?”
Ana traced the vein running down the top of his shaft with her tongue, before puckering her lips and blowing a gentle stream of air on his wet skin. She repeated the act twice, before guiding the tip of his cock to her lips. Ana traced her mouth with his crown, smearing his pre-come over her lips.
His heart was thundering in his chest, and it was taking all his concentration not to groan over the line. Ben wanted nothing more than to hang up and let Ana finish the job properly, but he knew that was impossible. If he hung up, his mom would call right back, and she’d keep calling until he picked up. It was better to ride this out.
Though if Ana decided to ride him, he was probably well and truly fucked.
“Not like Charlotte,” he assured. His voice sounded a little high to him. Hopefully, his mother wouldn’t notice, though Ana’s wicked smile said she did. “Ana works in PR. I just meant she keeps me on my toes.”
Ana lifted her head and ran her tongue slowly over her glistening lips. He watched, riveted. He noted in a distant way that the tip of her tongue was the softest pink. She ducked her head again, finally sucking his head between her lips. She sucked on the sensitive skin, and his hips jerked forward, but she pushed him back down.
“Oh, PR. That’s nice. How did you two meet?”
“She’s on the…” Ana probed the slit with her tongue, and Ben gripped the couch to keep from whimpering, swallowing hard before he could finish what he was saying. “On the Street Team for Decrepit Moon,” he managed. A sudden idea made him grin. Turnabout was fair play. “I’m actually at her house right now. Wanna say hi?”
“Oh, of course.”
Ana looked up sharply. No, she mouthed, shaking her head. He pushed the phone toward her. “No, no, no. Ben…” He pressed the phone into her hand. She glared at him, but when she greeted his mom, she had a smile on her face. Ben thought he was getting a demonstration of how she dealt with clients she didn’t want to speak to. “Hello, Mrs. Scalia.”
With Ana now occupied, Ben slid from the couch and knelt between her legs, slipping his hands beneath her ass in order to tug her forward. He made quick work of the shorts she wore, yanking them down to her knees to expose her pussy. She tried pushing him away, but he caught her free hand and pinned it to the couch, bending his head to run his tongue over her outer lips.
Ana swallowed hard, trying to pull her hand away from him, but he refused to let her go. Her legs closed around his head, but that wasn’t enough to deter him either. “No, I don’t think I’ll be able to take a trip to Toledo this summer, but thank you for the invitation. That’s very kind of you.”
Ben used his free hand to spread her pussy. She glistened with excitement, probably from when she’d been torturing him the same way, and his mouth watered. He loved eating Ana out. He probably loved it even more than she did. Glancing up at her through his lashes, he smirked as he licked a path up her inner thigh and then deliberately changed his course to catch her clit against his teeth.
Ana’s face twisted, her eyes squeezing shut. She jerked her hand free from his grip and buried it in his hair. She twisted her fingers around his hair, and he expected her to pull him away from her pussy, but she didn’t. “No, actually, I’m not in school anymore. But I got my degree at USC.”
The sh
arp sting in his scalp spurred Ben to double his assault. Now that he didn’t have to worry about holding her hands away, he twisted three fingers together and slid them inside her slick channel, concentrating on the firm flesh between his teeth. She ground against his mouth, smearing her juices across his face, but all it did was prompt him to suck harder.
Ana squeaked, clamping her mouth down hard to trap any other sound before it could escape. He glanced up through his lashes, watching as her cheeks darkened. Her eyes were half closed, her lips pressed in a tight line.
“Oh, really?” She took a deep breath, and he curled his fingers, brushing against the spongy flesh on her front wall. “I think…” She opened and closed her mouth. “I think Ben mentioned that. What exactly does your husband do?”
It was hard not to smile. Mom was talking about the family; she wasn’t going to shut up any time soon. That didn’t mean Ben was going to waste his time, though. Ana could find any number of excuses to get off the phone, and he wanted to see if he could get her to come first. There would be hell to pay later, most likely, but it was going to be worth it.
He pumped his wrist, adding a fourth finger to his strokes. Ana’s legs tightened around his head, and the scent of her arousal added to the urgent flicks of his tongue across her clit. She might have to hold back her sounds, but Ben sure as hell didn’t, and soon, his lips were vibrating from his low humming.
“For thirty years?” Now her voice was high and breathy. “No, no, I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t. Ben didn’t need to hear her voice to know how close she was. He scraped a tooth across her clit, and she thrust against his face one final time, her fingers tightening in his hair. Pain radiated down his scalp, but Ben hardly noticed it as her hips bucked again and again, her juices coating his mouth.
“I’m sorry,” Ana said tightly. “The food is burning. I’ve got to go.” She flipped the phone closed and tossed it across the room. “You’re in so much trouble.”
“What?” He affected his most innocent smile. “I didn’t do anything you weren’t.”
She unwrapped her legs from him, but she didn’t release his hair. She forced him backward, sliding off the couch to straddle him on the floor. “Yes, you did. And now you are going to pay.”
Her position had his cock nestled in her wet folds, but this was Ana’s show now. As much as he wanted to lift her hips and bury himself inside her tight heat, he was too curious about what she was going to do next to act on the desire.
“Is this where we break out the chains?” he goaded.
“Oh, no.” Ana smiled sweetly. “I don’t need chains.” She bent to kiss him softly. “I’ve got something more fun in mind.”
Ana shifted her hips, and the head of his cock slipped into her pussy. She held him there for what seemed like an eternity, and then slowly slid down his shaft, clenching her muscles around him. “Like that?” she breathed, her lips brushing against his.
His head was spinning. She was soft and tight and oh-so wet that it made his entire body ache. “God, yes…” Ben grasped her hips, but when he chased her mouth to deepen the kiss, Ana eluded him. “You feel amazing.”
“Mmm, so do you,” she murmured, continuing in the same slow—so excruciatingly slow—pace. It was enough to make him feel like he was going to explode. She rocked back, until he was completely inside her, then paused. “Guess what?”
He had to scramble to focus on her mouth, her simple question taking far too long to register past the pleasure. “What?”
She grasped his wrists and pried his fingers from her hips. “My food is burning.”
Before he even understood what she was saying, her body disappeared from his. She jumped to her feet and just out of his reach. “And it wouldn’t do to ruin dinner, would it?”
All Ben could do was watch as she rushed from the room. A few seconds passed, and then, he let his head drop back to the floor and laughed. He’d asked for that.
He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the scent of her so that it filled his nose.
It had been worth it.
Chapter 9
It went too quickly.
Seven days was a lot of time when you were waiting for grades to get turned in, or anticipating getting concert tickets the day they went on sale, or looking forward to meeting the woman who had turned your head around online.
Seven days wasn’t any time at all when said woman was leaving town for a long business trip and this was all the time you were going to get with her for the next month. It was barely a blink of an eye when there was so much more you wanted to say to her, and do with her, and watch her do.
Ben couldn’t sleep.
The red numbers on Ana’s alarm clock mocked him with their reminder that it was now 3:26 A.M., and in three hours, Ana would be rising from this bed, grabbing the case she’d already packed, and then kissing him at their cars as she disappeared for the airport. She was supposed to call him when she arrived at her first stop, but he wasn’t going to hold her to it. This was business. He was going to satisfy himself with e-mails that she could answer at her leisure and try not to think about the fact that he’d just had the most amazing week of his life with a woman who still worried that he was too young for her.
She didn’t say anything about it anymore, but Ben knew. He saw it in the shadow of her eyes the split second before she buried her face in his neck. He heard it in the way she avoided more serious topics of conversation. It was like she deliberately didn’t want anything to distract from the fantasy of their week-long date, something Ben couldn’t really blame her for. He didn’t want it to end, either.
But it was going to. In three hours.
He watched her sleep in the dark, his eyes long adjusted to the lack of illumination. Her lips were parted slightly, her head turned a little away. It allowed him the luxury of studying her elegant profile, to think about what it was like to kiss the smattering of freckles she had over her nose and cheeks. She hated them, but Ben thought they were adorable. When she smiled, they and the twinkle in her eyes gave the impression of a mischief only the lucky witnessed. He liked to think he was in that minority.
Unable to resist, Ben leaned over and skimmed his lips over her cheekbone. She stirred immediately at the contact, and he had to pull away when she turned her head toward him, her eyes blinking lazily open.
“Hey,” he murmured.
“Is it already morning?” she asked sleepily.
“No.” He laid his head down on the pillow, as if she needed the example set. “Go back to sleep.”
She rolled to her side, draping her arm and leg over him. “Why are you awake?”
He couldn’t tell her the truth. Because I don’t want to lose any more time with you. It would put Ana on the spot, and he didn’t want her last memories of this week to be bad ones.
“Because I never sleep well the night before flights,” he said instead. “Even when they’re not my own. My head gets all wrapped up in not wanting to miss it.”
She closed her eyes and smiled. “I never thought of you as the nervous type.” She was silent for so long, he thought she fell back asleep. “I usually don’t sleep the night before a business trip.”
“You were doing fine before I woke you up.” She was warm and comforting against him, and he stroked the small of her back without even thinking about it. “And I’m not the nervous type. At Thanksgiving my freshman year, I overslept and missed my plane back home for the holiday. My mom was so pissed, I’ve gotten paranoid about it ever since.”
“I overslept once and nearly missed my wedding.” She sighed. “It was probably an omen.”
Ben was dead curious about her ex, mostly because Ana never, ever talked about him. There was no evidence of him anywhere in the house, and beyond a few caustic remarks when they’d first started e-mailing, the subject never came up. The only thing he knew for sure was that the ex had been responsible for the break-up, but Ben didn’t know how any man with half a brain coul
d leave Ana.
“How long have you been divorced?” he asked carefully.
She wrinkled her nose. “It was finalized about three years ago. He moved out of the house four years ago. After eight years of marriage he just…moved out.”
He did the math automatically in his head. Twelve years ago. Ana had gotten married when she was twenty-six. Older than he was now. No wonder she thought he was a baby.
“And since then? Have there been any other guys sending you bootlegs?”
Ana yawned. “Nothing serious. A few blind dates, a few drinks with colleagues. A few weekends in Vegas every now and again. But that’s it.”
Ben needed to stop talking. She was tired, and she needed her sleep, and his curiosity could wait until…but she was leaving. And he wasn’t sure how much of her voice he was going to hear while she was away, so a few more minutes of sleepy conversation wouldn’t hurt her too much.
“We should do that when you get back. Before I start my tutoring in August.”
“If there’s time,” she murmured. She shifted again, burying her face in his neck. “Have you been sending many girls bootlegs?”
“A few,” Ben conceded. “But nobody serious since I started the grad program. I’ve been too focused on school, and nobody I met seemed worth the effort of taking away from that.” Closing his eyes, he nuzzled the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. “At least, not until you.”
“Oh, Ben. You can say that now.”
“And I’ll be saying it when you get back,” he countered. “I told you. I haven’t met anybody like you in a long time. One of these days, you’re just going to have to live with that fact.”
“I’m just not going to hold you to it,” she muttered, but she moved closer to him, her arm tightening, like she didn’t intend to let him go either.
“No, but I will.” He took pleasure in her warmth, focusing on the effortlessness in which they fit together. “I just have to figure out what to do with myself the next three weeks now.”
