Keeping Time

by Jamie Craig

  Ana smiled. He was right. He couldn’t sing very well at all.

  She hissed as he found a spot on her inner thigh that made her throat clench. He rubbed her skin with his thumb again and again, and she didn’t need to open her eyes to know he was smiling each time she jerked. Desire threaded through her, tightening her muscles, but his lips were still soft as he mouthed the words against her skin, the words substituting for kisses. How did he do it, she wondered. How did he make everything burn with so little contact?

  “Come here,” she murmured. “I want to get you ready for me.”

  Ben lifted his head. “I’m not the only one who has to get ready. How about we put the perfect number to work?”

  Ana’s eyes widened, and she could only nod. He stood immediately, unzipping his pants and pulling them down his hips while Ana whipped her shirt over her head. She reached for him, pulling him to his bed, while her stomach did slow back-flips. He stretched out on the large mattress, and she took a moment to admire his body. Her memory hadn’t done him justice. She’d thought about him more than once when using her new vibrator, and often, it was just of him in bed, within touching and licking distance, looking back at her with hunger in his eyes.

  She knelt beside him and bent at the waist to lick his neck. She dragged her tongue down the center of his chest, diverging from her path to circle each nipple, before continuing down his body. His skin was tight and salty, his muscles rippling beneath her mouth. When she reached the dip of his hip, she put one leg over his body to straddle his chest. The coarse hair at the base of his cock tickled her chin and lips as she licked a path up his shaft.

  “Oh, Ana…”

  His hands were soft but firm as he pulled her closer to his mouth. Her breath caught in her chest when she felt the first glide of his tongue along her thigh. Ben didn’t slow, even when he dragged his tongue over her wet pussy. Curling his arms around her hips, his fingers traced the crack of her ass before grasping the taut flesh and separating the cheeks. It left her open and exposed, but only for the time it took for his mouth to reach her tight opening.

  Ana paused, needing a moment to become accustomed to his hot mouth and wet tongue. She had known it would feel good, but she was so sensitive to his touch that she nearly screamed at the faintest pressure from his tongue. She took several deep breaths through her nose, gently pushing back against his mouth as he circled her hole. His cock jerked each time her hips moved back, and she gripped his shaft, holding him in place as she wrapped her lips around his head.

  His groan reverberated through her, his fingers digging into her ass. She barely had the wherewithal to concentrate on his taste as his tongue ran around and around her opening, and when he finally pushed it past the outer ring, it was her turn to moan. If it felt this good just from his mouth, getting his cock inside her was going to be nirvana.

  Over and over, he fucked her with his tongue, matching the rhythm she set as she slid up and down his shaft. His fingertips caressed the tight skin along the crack, until her thighs were vibrating and her whimpers almost continuous. When he finally pulled his mouth away, Ben sounded as desperate as she felt.

  “Now,” he rasped. “God, Ana, I want this now.”

  Ana lifted her head and stroked his cock, spread his pre-come over the crown. His shaft was slick from her mouth, and she knew she was more than ready for him. She trembled, her taut muscles aching, her lower stomach quivering. She couldn’t remember the last time she wanted something this much. Even when he would spend hours making all sorts of sinful promises over the phone in his soft, rich voice, she hadn’t been this painfully aroused.

  She moved from his body, but didn’t give him a chance to shift position before she was straddling him again, this time her knees on either side of his hips. His pupils were wide, pushing the color to the outer rim of his irises, and his mouth was parted, his chest rising and falling rapidly. She leaned forward, her nipples sliding across his chest, and reached behind her to position the head of his cock at her passage.

  “What happened to you being on your back?” he whispered.

  Ana smiled. “I like this better.” She pushed back, letting the tip of his cock breach her tight ring. “Do you want to move?”

  “God, no.”

  His hands flew to her hips, resting there more than helping her sink down onto his length. She had to take it slow. It had been a long time since she’d been fucked like this, and while there was plenty of slick, his tongue hadn’t stretched her nearly enough for his cock. It was an inch at a time, pausing as she waited out the stretch and burn, each additional move down his length stealing another gasp from her lungs.

  Ben never looked away. He watched her with a mixed desire and wonder that left no questions about the effect this was having on him. More than once, his tongue came out to moisten his dry lips, and his throat worked convulsively the deeper he got, but he didn’t say a word until he was buried inside her.

  “You’re right,” he murmured. “This is better.”

  The concert was still pouring through the small phone, but Ana didn’t hear it anymore. Nothing existed but Ben’s body. She eased forward, each inch as slow and fevered as when he entered her. She brushed her mouth across his before shifting back. It was easier the second time, and he stretched her again. His fingers pressed tightly into her hips, and she dug into his biceps, bracing herself for more.

  “Have I mentioned yet how beautiful you are?” he murmured. A strangled groan escaped his lips as she slid up his length, and his long lashes fluttered for a moment as he struggled for composure. “The things you do…” When he looked at her again, his eyes shone. “Tell me how I could let you go.”

  Ana sank down on him again, opening and closing her mouth. She didn’t have the breath to speak. But she could have returned the sentiment. He was beautiful to her. Not sexy, or attractive, or any of the other thousands of adjectives she’d use to describe him. He was beautiful.

  “Don’t,” she whispered. “Just don’t let me go.”

  “Never.” One hand left her hip to bury in the hair at her nape. “Never,” he repeated as he brought her mouth down to his.

  Ana tasted her own skin and arousal on his tongue as it swept into her mouth. She moved her hips a little faster, building speed each time she rocked against his body, but the kiss was a startling contrast, nothing but a soft exploration of her mouth. Ana could feel herself letting go of all her self-imposed constraints. She had struggled to maintain walls between her heart and Ben, forcing herself to view him as nothing more than a body, somebody she had fun with, while he had been free to fall in love with her. She had fought and resisted each smile he bestowed on her, each soft declaration of love, each moment when they could have gone forward.

  But now, she let all that go. She took and cherished each caress, every inch of contact, every kiss, every shift in his hips, greedily looking for more.

  His kiss didn’t waver, though the force of their bodies did. Ben started to thrust up to meet her strokes, the hand at her neck slipping between them to glide over her stomach and down to her pussy. Ana cried out when his finger pressed against her clit, but kept her mouth fused to his, allowing him the luxury of swallowing it down. She didn’t want to lose the contact, even when his teeth caught her lip.

  “Come for me,” Ben rasped. “So close, Ana. Need you…”

  His words were powerful enough to send chills down her spine, but she fought her orgasm. She didn’t want it to overtake her yet, not until she was accustomed to being stretched and filled and open and entirely without pretense or barriers. She used his shoulders to push herself into a sitting position, coming down on his length and changing the angle. She arched her back, scraping her nails over his stomach. Each time she lifted her body, his hips rose off the bed, following her. He increased the pressure on her clit, rotating his thumb to massage the swollen flesh. She could see the strain on his face and knew she was torturing him—even if she didn’t mean to.

  Ana mov
ed faster, increasing the tempo until their moans and flesh slapping against flesh filled the room. She opened her mouth, maybe to say something, maybe to say his name, but all that came out was a sharp scream as everything inside her ignited in a bright flash.

  Through the brilliance, she heard her name, ragged and hoarse as Ben tensed beneath her. His cock jerked, and he gripped her hips to slam into her one more time as he shot deep inside her ass. She scrambled for balance, but his sharp yank tugged her against his chest, first their bodies coming together, and then their mouths. Teeth clashed, and tongues twisted, and somehow, Ana found the strength to coil her liquid arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. She could stay like this all night. She could stay like this for a lot longer than all night.

  They kissed until everything from her ragged breathing to the beat of her heart slowed. When they finally broke apart, she rested her forehead on his and smiled.

  “Do you think your friend heard all that?” she murmured.

  Ben chuckled. “For his sake, I hope so. The man hasn’t been laid in months. Maybe this’ll give him incentive.”

  The music that had only been filtering through the background stopped, replaced by an eruption of applause. The timing was a little off, but Ana couldn’t help but laugh. “I do think that deserved a standing ovation.”

  His hands stroked down her slick back. “Give me a few minutes, and I think I can arrange that for you.”

  Ana laughed again and wiped a line of sweat from his brow. “Well, Ben Scalia, now that I’m yours, what are you going to do with me?”

  The amusement in his eyes softened, and several seconds passed before he answered. When he did, his voice was as tender as his gaze.

  “Keep you.”

  Ana swallowed, the very last of her ramparts falling. “Ben, remember about thirty minutes ago when I said I could fall in love with you?” She kissed his jaw, her mouth close to his ear. “I think I just did.”

  His lashes tickled against her cheek, and his arms tightened around her slim body. “I love you, Ana,” he murmured.

  Ana took a deep breath and said, for the first time in years, “I love you, too.”

  THE END

  ABOUT JAMIE CRAIG

  Jamie Craig is the collaboration of Vivien Dean and Pepper Espinoza. Both have been in love with romance, adventure, fantasy, and the written word since childhood. Pepper lives in Utah with her dog and cats and loves to golf when she’s not working. Vivien lives in Northern California with her husband and two teenagers.

  For more information, visit jamie-craig.com.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!