by Cathryn Fox
I bite down on my lip as he pushes a thick finger in and out of me, and I can’t even believe how close I am. He adds another finger for a delectably snug fit, and his palm bangs against my swollen cleft, taking me higher and higher. I gasp, and heat centers on my core.
“Nate,” I cry out, and his nostrils widen like he, too, is becoming unhinged.
“You are so damn responsive, Kira, it’s fucking killing me.”
His fingers scissor, and I lift my hips, push against them, and within seconds I’m coming all over his hand. His soft curses reach my ears, and I love the rattled look on his face. I ride out the pleasure, and he keeps his hand in my pants, stroking gently until I stop spasming.
When I can finally talk again, think with any sort of clarity, I answer his question. “I’ve been thinking about how much I want to taste you.”
His fingers still.
“What?”
I reach for the zipper on his pants, drag it down slowly. His breathing changes, grows rough and labored.
“This,” I say and take him into my hands. “I want to taste.”
He briefly pinches his eyes shut, and if I thought he was rattled before, it’s nothing compared to now. “Kira…you don’t have to.”
“It’s what I want, Nate. Wait, don’t you like that?” I know I’m not very experienced, but come on, all men like oral sex, don’t they?
“I…fuck yeah, I like that, but most girls don’t, right?”
I shrug. “I don’t really know. I’ve never done it before. I might not be good at it, but I’d like to try.”
“Jesus, fuck,” he says, and his finger slips from my body. He turns me and leans against my desk as I sink to my knees before him.
“Besides, how is it fair that you get to put your mouth on me, and I don’t get to put mine on you?”
“Not fair at…” His words fall off as I lick his crown, taste his tangy pre-come.
“Mmm,” I moan. His hands grip my head, fist my hair and his hips curl. The tip of his cock slides into my mouth, and I suck him in.
He shifts, settling himself on my desk as I revel in the texture and softness of his skin, the only soft thing about him right now.
From the top of my desk, a strange clicking sound fills the quiet, but my brain can’t register the noise. A second later, Nate is cursing, and as he jumps from the desk, I fall to my ass with an undignified thump. Was I that bad? He turns away, and that’s when I see blood trickling down his very nice rear end.
“What the hell,” he groans, and when I realize what happened, I cover my mouth. He turns back to me. “Are you laughing?”
“No, it’s just I thought I was terrible at oral sex, and that you were pushing me off, but that’s not it at all. You have something…something…”
He reaches behind his body and pulls out the staple that pierced him. “A staple? How the hell…”
“I sometimes play with things when I’m working. I was flicking it open and closed, and I guess I left it open.”
“Motherfucker, cockblocked by a cow, and now I get my ass stapled.”
“Could have been worse,” I say as he bends to pick me up off the floor.
“You think?”
“Could have been me.”
He laughs out loud at that. “That’s what you’re going to say, even after I saved your ass from Eddie?” Before I can respond, his expression goes serious, and he takes me into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“A bruise on my butt, but I’ll take that over a staple.”
Lust is back in his eyes when he says, “If you want something to play with when you’re working, I can help you out.”
“Okay, there is something I’d like to play with.”
“One second.” He takes the stapler, shoves it in the drawer, and scans the desk. “There’s nothing else that’s going to attack me is there? You don’t have any letter openers or a shredder that I should keep any dangling parts away from?”
“Nothing on you is dangling right now, Nate,” I say and take his hardness into my hands.
“Kira,” he murmurs, his eyes drifting shut as I explore him with my palms, taking my time with him, as his focus shifts.
“For the record, you don’t suck at it,” he says.
“Yes, I do.”
His eyes pop open as I sink to my knees and take him in again.
I laugh inwardly at that silly play on words and run my lips over his length. I take him into my throat, savor his tangy flavor, and close one hand around him as the other cups his balls. As I spend time pleasuring him, his hand goes to my hair to control the depth to which I take him. His hips power forward, but he never gives me enough to choke, and I appreciate his thoughtfulness.
“Kira,” he groans, and I steal a glance at his face, see the torture in his eyes. Wow, this is seriously killing him. My chest puffs up a bit, proud that I can unhinge him the same way he unhinges me. “I want to be inside you.”
Wanting that, too, I let his beautiful cock plop from my mouth, and he helps me to my feet. Jaw so tight I’m sure he’s going to crack teeth, he turns me around, and a gasp catches in my throat as he cups my neck and urges me forward until I’m bent over the desk. Oh, this is different. But I like it. I like it a lot.
He runs his hand along my back and drags my pants to my knees, his hands practically shaking with need. Who am I to talk? My entire body quivers. The sound of foil ripping reaches my ears, and I moan when his crown breaches my entrance. Big hands grip my hips, and I slide my hands across the desk and hang on to the other edge. From the urgency in his touch, I’m sure this is going to be a wild ride.
He drives all the way into me, and it pushes air from my lungs. “Nate,” I cry out, and he stills, giving me a minute to catch up. When I can finally breathe again, he falls over my body, his mouth near my ear.
“This is what you do to me,” he says, as ribbons of pleasure trickle through my blood. He inches out, pounds back in again, and we begin moving in sync. I match every hard push, and soon enough, our groans of pleasure mingle. Before I know it, I’m coming again, and his growls grow deeper, needier. My sex clenches around him, and he calls out my name, his fingers biting into my flesh as he lets go.
This man…my God, this man and the things he can do to me. He puffs out a breath and falls over me. His weight presses me into the table, into my day’s research, which is now strewn everywhere, and I don’t care. I chuckle at that.
“Something funny?” he asks, his deep voice shuddering around me. He relaxes his grip on my hips and lightly rubs the indentations with soft fingers.
“We just had sex on my research,” I say, not at all sure why that is making me laugh. All I know is I’m giddy, lighter inside than I have been in a long time.
“What do you get when you mix quantum verification problems and hot sex?”
“I don’t know. What?” I ask.
“Beats me. That’s why I asked you.”
I roll my eyes, but he can’t see me in my current face-down position. “I’m trying to give up bad math and sex jokes, but it’s hard, Nate. Really, really hard.” He lets out a roar of laughter, and I say, “We need to get ready for the party.”
He snatches a few tissues from the box on my desk, and my stupid heart misses a couple of beats when he reaches between my legs to clean me. What is it about this man’s consideration that gets to me? I’m not sure, and I’m not about to give it any more thought.
“I think you need antiseptic and a bandage,” I say as he disposes of the condom.
“I’m not putting a bandage on my ass.”
I dress, and ask, “Why not?”
“Try explaining that to the guys.”
“Do they see your ass often?”
“Can we please stop talking about my ass, especially when yours is so much nicer.” He pulls up his pants and buttons up.
“There is something else I’d rather talk about.”
“What?” he asks and angles his head.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I say, and nibble on my lip to keep my grin at bay. “You can say no.”
“Just tell me what it is.”
“I thought it would be fun if we both dressed up. I went to the Halloween store the other day. They didn’t have much left, but I grabbed us each something.”
“Tell me you didn’t.”
I give him a coy look. “Now, that would be lying.”
Chapter Twelve
Nate
“Nope, no way, not happening,” I say, my brain kicking back into gear after that fantastic round of sex. Maybe that’s what Kira had in mind. Maybe she thought without all my synapses firing, I’d say yes in my post-orgasm bliss. It’s a theory, but it’s not logical, considering I was the one who jumped her. That, and she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl to use sex to get what she wants. I’ve met far too many of them in my life.
Kira stands back, folds her arms, and glances at the costumes on her bed. “Come on, why not? I think it’s cute.”
I step back and shake my head. “I’m a guy, Kira. Cute is not what I’m aiming for.”
“What did you dress up as when you were young?” she asks, real curiosity in her eyes.
“Batman, Superman, Spiderman.” I lift my arms and flex my biceps. “The Hulk.”
“I’m sensing a theme here.” She frowns at the costumes. “No worries, it was a last-minute thought. You don’t have to wear it.”
Last-minute thought, my sore, pierced ass. I’m guessing she put time into this. She never had a Halloween, Nate. Never had the chance to dress up.
Jesus, I’d be a real prick if I didn’t do this, and if I do, I’ll be the laughingstock of Lunenburg. I fight an internal battle, but everything softens in me when she runs my costume through her fingers and begins to fold it. The disappointed look on her face is like a goddamn punch to the gut.
“One condition,” I grumble.
Her eyes light up. “Really.”
“If I’m going to wear a yellow jumpsuit with a wedge of cheese wrapped around my torso, then your mouse costume has to be sexy, and something I can easily remove from your body later.”
“Deal.” She grabs the set of ears and puts them on her head. “I’ll add whiskers with makeup, and this is my suit.” She holds up a gray fleece suit and gray leggings. It’s not sexy, but somehow, I know it will be once she’s in it.
“I thought you were afraid of mice,” I grouch.
“Real ones,” she says. “This is kind of cute, though, don’t you think?” Her full lips quirk as she examines the costume.
I scrub my face, and my bristles rustle. “No pictures. And I want to be out of here before anyone gets home. Sam would have a field day with this.” At least the guys and Izzy have been out of the house most nights, and it’s Friday, so they’ll likely be at the Anchor, scheming up ways to save the B&B. So far, they haven’t asked for my help, but I’m expecting it any day now. I snatch the outfit from her bed and step from her room.
“Oh, don’t worry, Nate. Your costume is awesome, not cheesy at all.”
“Ha. Ha.”
Kira’s quiet laughter follows me into the room, and I turn on the shower and strip off. I can’t believe I’m going to dress up as a piece of fucking cheese. A laugh catches in my throat. I don’t know what it is about that woman, or how she ever managed to pull this off.
Once I’m clean, I tie a towel around my waist, grab the “cheesy” costume, and open the door. Kira is coming from her room, freshly showered and dressed in her mouse outfit. Yeah, I was right. She made it sexy. My towel tents, and she spins, aims her ass at me, and shakes her little mouse tail.
“That’s not in your best interest,” I point out, my voice an octave lower.
She straightens, turns around fast, and draws her bottom lip between her teeth. “Why not?”
A growl crawls out of my throat, letting her know the directions my thoughts have traveled. “You do want to make it to the party, right?”
Her face lights up, and it’s clear she loves the power she has over me. Sweet, naïve Kira might be a brilliant mathematician, but she’s also a fucking tease, whether she realizes it or not. I shift the cheese costume in my hand, give her a full view of my tented towel.
Her head drops. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
“Cheese stick?” she asks, as she fights back a laugh.
I point to the stairs. “Go, I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Bossy-pants,” she says, and darts down the stairs, her sweet ass dragging my attention until she disappears from my sight. I go to my room and tug on the ridiculous costume. I glance at myself in the mirror. Maybe I’ll put a mask on so no one will know it’s me. I make my way downstairs, and Kira comes from her office.
Her eyes light up. “Nate, you look awesome. Maybe we’ll win a prize for the best costumes.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I say, unable to put less enthusiasm in my voice if I tried. I go to the hall and grab our coats. I’m shrugging mine on, with great difficulty, when the kitchen door opens and in walks Izzy and Sam.
Fuck me sideways.
“What the ever-loving fuck?” Sam hollers.
“It’s a costume party. I picked Nate’s costume,” Kira says, coming to my defense. But I just stand there, waiting for it.
Izzy walks around me and whistles. “You’re looking gouda there, Nate.”
“Go ahead,” I say, and glance at Sam. “Let’s get this over with.”
“I was going to see if you wanted to grab a beer at the Anchor, but I see you have grater plans.”
Laughter fills the kitchen as Izzy reaches out and pokes the plastic wedge of rubber cheese.
“Hands off,” Sam says, playfully whacking her away. “That’s nacho cheese.”
“Are you done?” I ask, and shift in the uncomfortable costume, tugging at the stretchy pants.
For a moment, no one can talk through the hysterical laugher, then Sam pulls himself together.
“Do you have a cheese wedg-ie?” he asks.
“Are you twelve?” I shoot back.
“Come on, don’t be so blue,” Kira says, and I give her the death glare.
“Not you, too.”
Her shoulders shake as she stifles a chuckle, and she looks so fucking adorable I want to take her into my arms.
“Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Let’s go.” I grab my keys from the counter and open the back door. The clouds have cleared, and the stars light up the night sky. The brine of the ocean carries in the breeze and I follow Kira to the passenger side of the vehicle and open her door. “I have no idea how I’m supposed to drive in this.” I circle the car, and with great effort, climb into the driver’s seat. “Next time I pick the costumes,” I grumble.
“There won’t be a next time. I won’t be here next Halloween, remember?”
I nod at the reminder, a bit grateful for it. A woman like Kira can make me forget my bigger purpose here, and that there can never be more between us.
Her hand touches mine. “Thanks for doing this for me. I think it’s going to be fun.”
My heart softens. Great, now my insides are melting like a damn grilled cheese.
“You owe me one,” I say.
“I owe you more than one. I’m indebted to you, remember,” she says and reaches for her seat belt. I start my truck and head to the McMurtry’s. Beside me, Kira is shivering. She’s always shivering, so I jack the heat.
“Thanks,” she says through chattering teeth.
“You’re definitely not cut out for the cold, are you?” Sh
e shakes her head and hugs herself. “It’s supposed to warm up tomorrow. Which is good for the kids who are going trick or treating.”
I drive through the streets and pull up in front of Albert’s place. There are numerous cars in the driveway, and I pray to fuck, I’m not the only one dressed in a ridiculous costume. I park on the curb, and Kira is climbing from her side of the cab when I reach her. A wave of unease moves over her face.
“You okay?”
“I’m not that great at small talk.”
“Really, could have fooled me.”
“It’s just that… I’m comfortable with you and the guys now. New people I have a hard time with. My work is my life, and what I usually talk about, and no one wants to hear about that.”
“You need to get out more,” I tease, but who am I to talk. Work here has been my life, too. Or at least it had been until Kira showed up.
“True.”
“Talk about Gram’s painting. You hit it off with Amber and had lots to talk about. But something tells me Gram is going to steal the show tonight anyway.”
She blinks up at me, her eyes watering from the wind. “You think?”
I shrug. “Sure. You’re her granddaughter. People are going to want to share stories with you.”
“I like that idea.” She reaches for my hand, gives it a little squeeze. “Thank you.”
She picks up the pace, and my gut twists in this odd little way from her touch, her sweet smile of gratitude. We reach the door, and I knock. Amber, dressed as a Crayola crayon, opens it, and shrieks when she sees us.
“You two are adorable,” she says and waves us in.
“Adorable,” I grumble. “No one called me adorable when I dressed as the Hulk.”
Kira laughs and glances at Amber. “You look so cute.” Amber waves a few of her friends over, and they’re all dressed up as crayons. Some man dressed as a lobster comes into the kitchen and grabs a beer. He cracks it open, and that’s when I realize it’s Jeremy from Albert’s boat.
“Nate,” he says, lifting his beer.
“Jeremy,” I say, and then introduce Kira.
After the introduction, Amber chuckles. “He’s Jenny’s lobster.”
