by Shay Savage
“I think you might be right,” I replied.
He kissed the underside of my jaw, still holding my hips against his thighs, so I could feel how hard he was as he pressed into my stomach. I reached down and ran my hand over the side of his length, through the denim. He pushed harder against me, and his lips found mine, eagerly sucking and licking. I placed both hands on his hips and brought him even nearer.
With my fingers at the top edge of his jeans, I worked my way to the skin at his sides and then lifted my hands—taking his shirt with me. Ethan obligingly raised his arms so I could take it off altogether, revealing the dragon on his shoulder and the loving flowers on his chest, where my hands had to touch and examine. While I explored the planes of his chest with my fingers, Ethan created a trail of small kisses from my neck to my upper arm and then back again before doing the same on the other side. I dropped one of my hands again, this time snaking between my stomach and his erection, palming him.
All of a sudden, my back was up against the wall next to the couch, and my legs were wrapped tightly around Ethan’s torso. He covered my mouth with his, kissing me frantically—his need as deep as my own.
“Where’s your bedroom?” Ethan’s voice rang through my ears, and for a minute, I was distracted enough to have to think about the answer. “Because if we don’t get there soon, I’m going to take you right here against the wall.”
“Down the hall, on the left,” I said when I came to my senses again. He shifted his grip on my backside and carried me through the apartment, banging open my bedroom door and going straight to the bed. I didn’t know if he tripped right as he got there, or if he just threw us both down, but we ended up in a heap on top of the duvet.
He gripped my hair and covered my mouth again. I ran my fingers up his arms, over his biceps, across his shoulders and into his hair. I felt the silver hoops laced through his earlobe, and the pad of my thumb caressed them slowly.
“Fuck, I’m going to bust right out of my jeans,” Ethan said, panting.
“Then get them off!” I yelled, then realized I was yelling and felt heat rise to my face. Ethan chuckled low and then got up on his knees between my legs, looking into my eyes as he slowly unbuttoned his jeans. I whimpered, and my heart started pounding as that half smile crept over his face just as he finished unfastening the last button and slowly pushed his jeans down over his hips.
He had gone commando.
“My God, Ethan, you are going to kill me,” I mumbled as the fabric slowly revealed his beautiful, thick, hard cock. Holy shit, I was a fucking mess when it came to that dick, and it made me feel like a complete slut, but I didn’t care. I ran my tongue over my lips and glanced up at Ethan. The corners of his mouth twitched, and he swallowed hard. “I want you.”
I lifted my hips to help him remove my skirt and panties and then twisted to the side to yank my shirt up over my head and toss it off the bed.
“I love these,” Ethan remarked as he flicked the hook between my breasts, which caused my bra to fall to my shoulders. I shrugged it off. “Definitely easier to take off than the ones with the hook in the back.”
Ethan glanced off to the side, blushing and shaking his head at himself. He looked back at me and reached out for my hand, which he used to pull me into a sitting position in front of him. He placed both of his hands on my shoulders and then slowly trailed the tips of his fingers over the outsides of my arms, then over to my hips and back up again around the front, barely brushing over my breasts and nipples on their way back up to my shoulders, to my neck, to my jaw.
He leaned in and ran his lips over mine, and I reached out with my tongue to taste him and then sucked the silver loops through his lip into my mouth, making him groan. I ran my hand across his stomach and then lower, wrapping around his shaft and stroking it.
“That feels so good,” he mumbled with his lips still on my mouth. I bit down gently and felt his hands tighten against my flesh. “Fuck, I want you so bad.”
“Take me,” I offered simply, because there wasn’t anything I wanted more at that moment. Ethan rose up on his knees a bit and guided me backwards until I was lying on the bed again. He pulled back a little.
“Do you, um, have any condoms?”
Chapter 21—Resolve
“Yes,” I said, snickering, “in the top drawer of the dresser.”
He looked at me incredulously.
“Did you just buy them today, knowing I was going to come over?” Ethan started laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. I turned bright red, pushed him backwards so he fell against the mattress, and climbed on top of him. I smacked his chest and yelled at him to shut up, but he didn’t listen. Instead, he wrapped his long arms around me, and I was suddenly on my back again with Ethan’s smiling face above me.
“You are obnoxious!” I said to him.
“Moi?” Ethan placed his hand in the middle of his bare chest, feigning innocence. “You started it.”
“What did I do?”
“Made me feel like a complete letch for having condoms in the first place,” he said. “And now I find out you have a whole pile of them in your underwear drawer!”
“How do you know that’s my underwear drawer?”
“All women keep their underwear in their top drawer,” Ethan replied with a wink. He jumped off me and yanked open the top dresser drawer, which was, in fact, full of my underwear. I saw him glance around at the drawer’s contents before turning back and winking at me. “I knew it!”
“Shut up!” I laughed.
“At least it isn’t an economy box of five hundred or anything.” Ethan smirked as he turned the small box of condoms over in his hands.
“You did not just say that!” I grabbed one of the pillows and tossed it at him. It went wide and would likely have broken my table lamp if Ethan hadn’t caught it.
“Good to remember—Ashlyn’s aim sucks.” Ethan tapped his left temple.
“You better stop that, or I’m going to find some schoolwork to do!”
“I don’t think you really want to do that.” Ethan turned and fixed his intense stare at me, then slowly raised his hand, holding a single square package between his fingers. He raised the corner to his mouth, then bit down, tearing the top edge with his teeth. Using two fingers, he pulled the condom from its packaging and held it up for me to see.
All the comedic feelings disappeared as I watched him lower his hands until they reached the base of his cock. He wrapped his long fingers around himself, slowly stroking up and down, his eyes narrowing slightly. I could have sworn I heard him moan a little. His other hand touched the tip of his cock with the condom, and then both hands worked together to slowly unroll it down his shaft. As soon as it was properly in place, Ethan leapt from the floor to the bed, covering me instantly with his body, his hands, his mouth.
And just like that, we went from playful and silly to intense and all-consuming. He covered my body with his hands, and his hot breath on my shoulder mimicked my own panting. He found the skin on my neck with his lips, and the cool metal of the lip rings made me shiver when they touched me. I moved my hand around from his back to his front, letting my fingers trace over one of his nipple rings, flicking it with my thumb along the way.
“I want to—no, need to—be inside you,” Ethan whispered into my ear. “I need you…so much.”
“Please…” I echoed his sentiments. “Don’t wait. Please…”
Just like the first time, he guided himself into my body and entered me so, so slowly, gently and tenderly, it was almost enough to make my cry. Once he was completely encompassed, he dropped his forehead to my chest and breathed against my skin, trying to calm himself.
“Shit, Ashlyn. You feel so good...so right.”
I tilted my hips, pushing up against him and driving him the smallest fraction deeper. He gasped and reached down to grasp my hip with one hand, while he placed the other next to my head for balance. I looked up into his eyes as he started to move inside me, rocking smoothly u
p against my clit and making little moans come out of my mouth with each of his lengthy, thorough thrusts. After a very short time, I felt the tension building within me, and I tightened my hold on his shoulders as he moved only slightly faster, swiveling his hips as he reached my depths.
“You like that, baby?”
“Oh…God…Ethan! Ughh!!” I screamed out incoherently with my eyes squeezed shut. I pushed my hips up to meet his and pulled him deeper inside. With my legs wrapped around his waist, the sensations rocketed through my body. My eyes slowly opened back to his.
“So beautiful,” Ethan said, his eyes still locked on mine. “I could do this to you for hours, just to watch your face when you come.”
I’m sure I blushed but was distracted by the movement between us and started watching him move back and forth, in and out of me as my muscles tightened in my legs, and Ethan increased his speed. Slipping my hands from his back to his chest, I ran my thumbs over both of his nipples, right before catching the rings between two fingers and pulling gently on them.
Ethan gasped, bucked into me and—quite literally—screamed.
“Oh fuck! Fuck! Yeah! Oh God, Ashlyn! Ashlyn!” He slammed his hips against me, his hand wrapping around my backside and pulling me up against him as he thrust harder. I felt his entire body shudder right before he collapsed on top of me.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God,” he mumbled. “I’m not Catholic, but I feel like I ought to go confess to something!”
I bit down on my lip, trying to stop the smile from breaking free.
“Christ, that was fucking incredible!”
“You’re incredible,” I said, sliding my feet over his rear end and then down the backs of his thighs.
Ethan raised his head and looked at me again, his lips curling up in a beautiful smile and his hair hanging in his eyes. I reached up and brushed it off his forehead.
“I’m so glad I’m here with you,” he said. His smile dropped suddenly and his voice became dark. “I didn’t think we’d ever…I didn’t…fuck. I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose you either,” I said, wrapping my arms back around him and holding his chest against mine. “I was a complete mess today without you.”
“I thought…well, I didn’t know what to think. I was so upset, but I also missed you so much. I know that doesn’t even make any sense when we’ve only known each other a couple of days, but thinking about not seeing you anymore was just downright painful.”
“I missed you, too,” I said. “Everything happened so fast, and then you were gone, and I couldn’t take it back. I looked and looked for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“How did you find Gwen and CeeCee’s place?”
“Alfero told me where they lived.”
“I’m going to have to find some way to thank him,” Ethan said. “Though honestly, I probably would have gone looking for you eventually. Even though I was mad, I hated not seeing you.”
“You had every right to be mad.”
“I still shouldn’t have taken off like that,” Ethan said. “I should have given you more of a chance.”
“I didn’t deserve one,” I whispered. I tried to keep the tears from coming back. “I’m just glad you were willing to talk to me again…give me another chance.”
“I am, too.”
Ethan pulled me close to him, kissing my closed eyes, then my nose and my lips. He moved his hands to my hips, his fingers gripping my skin as the kiss deepened, and I tugged at his hair. We rolled together until he was on top of me, kissing me slowly and completely, his fingers trailing up and down my sides. He turned his head suddenly, resting his forehead on my shoulder for a moment before sitting up and looking down at me.
“I should probably go,” Ethan said with another blush. “You still have schoolwork to do, and it’s getting late.”
“You could stay,” I said softly. I bit my bottom lip but forced myself to release it. Ethan smiled his half smile.
“I told everyone I was just taking you home. I’m already going to have to dodge all their questions about why it took so long.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “I didn’t think about that.”
“I’d rather stay,” he said. He ran his fingers down the length of my bare arm, sending chills through my body. “I definitely want to see you tomorrow if that’s okay.”
“Definitely okay,” I told him. Then I remembered tomorrow was Tuesday. “Oh…shit.”
“What?”
“I’m supposed to see my dad tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
“I should be done in the afternoon, but I will have some schoolwork to do then. Maybe we can at least meet for a little while in between?”
“That would be awesome if you can swing it.” Ethan pulled me close to him for a moment, then let go. “I should get going.”
I nodded reluctantly, and Ethan got up and pulled his clothes back on. I wrapped myself up in a robe and walked him to the door.
“I know I have lunch with Dad tomorrow,” I told him. “If you let me know where you are in the afternoon, I could come meet you somewhere. I’ll have my car with me.”
“Works for me!” I was blessed with a full-on smile to match his bright, sparkling eyes.
“I’ll call you if I have to change anything at the last minute,” I said. “You never know with my dad.”
“Well, let me know what you decide to do.” Ethan kissed the side of my mouth sweetly and then opened the door behind him. “I know the next couple of weeks are going to be really busy for you, but I’d like to see you whenever you do have the time.”
“Definitely,” I agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I watched him walk down the hall a little ways before shutting the door and leaning back against it with a sigh. A sudden feeling of genuine relief washed over me, almost bringing tears to my eyes, and just as quickly, a feeling of dread replaced it. I was going to have to do what I told him I would do. I was going to have to tell everyone about my new boyfriend, starting with Mr. Miles Draganov.
Chapter 22—Position
“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
I glanced up at my father and then quickly looked back down to my chic sushi lunch. I must have been too quiet because it was rare for him to notice when I was off-kilter. I decided on the straightforward approach, and figured I would just spit it out all at once.
“Well…”
“Something up with school?” he asked. “You know you don’t have to worry about your GPA at this point. You’ve got the job.”
“No, nothing like that,” I said, trying to reassure him. I took a deep breath, but I still couldn’t find the words.
“I should warn you,” Dad said, “Vanessa has already begun making preparations for your graduation luncheon. She said she didn’t expect you to prepare a speech, but you might want to think about saying a few words. You don’t have to deliver a dissertation. Nothing more than thanking everyone for their support and all.”
“I’m sure I can do that.”
“Graduation in order and job secured, so what else could you possibly be worried about?”
I opened my mouth, but no words emerged. So much for just spitting it out. I could get through this—I had to. I couldn’t continue to hide Ethan from my friends and family. It wasn’t right, and I had promised Ethan I would come clean to my father today. I wasn’t going to go back on my word to him, so I had to find my voice.
“It’s just…well, I’m seeing someone.” My heart began to pound and my stomach went into a free fall. The words were out, and now I was committed to the dreaded conversation. I squared my shoulders and gripped my chopsticks tightly.
“Are you now?” Dad raised an eyebrow and gave me a little grin.
“Yes.” I took a long, slow breath, trying to calm myself.
“Does he have a name?” Dad glanced around the cafeteria as if he were looking to spy the family of the man I might be dating.
&
nbsp; “Of course he has a name.”
“Do I get to hear what it is?” Dad leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against the table.
“Well, yes, of course.” I paused and stared at my California roll.
“Spit it out, Ash.”
I took a deep breath. I couldn’t delay this any longer, and there was no taking it back now. With one last, deep inhale, I spit it out.
“It’s…it’s Ethan Ramsey.”
Dad went completely still for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed and his fingers clamped down on his chopsticks. All of a sudden, he slammed his chopsticks on the side of his plate and stopped chewing. He was staring at my mouth as if he thought some other words were going to pop out of it instead. His carefully sculpted moustache twitched.
“You are seeing Ethan Ramsey?”
For a moment, I could have sworn the entire lunchroom went completely silent. I think even the cafeteria employees stopped talking.
“Yes.” My voice sounded a lot more unsure and timid than I had planned.
“For how long?”
“Not long at all,” I said. I felt beads of sweat starting to collect on the back of my neck below my hairline. “We met a few weeks ago, so it’s a recent thing.”
“Well, cut it off now,” Dad said. He picked up the chopsticks once more and shoved another salmon roll into his mouth. A bit of wasabi got stuck in his moustache, which he wiped away with a beige linen napkin. The gesture was dismissive, and it pissed me off.
I gritted my teeth and stared straight into his eyes.
“I’m not going to cut it off, Dad.”
“Like hell you’re not,” he said. Though his words were angry, he kept his voice low and calm. “Aside from the fact that he’s still in high school—”
“He’s not,” I said. “He graduated.”
“Regardless,” Dad said, still keeping his voice low, “he’s way too young. Besides that, Ethan Ramsey is completely off his rocker. He’s got brain damage, and he turned into a complete freak after his parents died. I don’t know what he’s told you—”
“He told me all about that,” I said. “I know what’s he’s been through.”
