56 Days (Black) (5 page)

I laughed. 

“Well, remind me to send Michelle Barnes a thank you note.  So, what now?”

“Now
…”  He reached over to the box on the nightstand and pulled out a condom, tearing back the foil.  He eased it on, his broad chest heaving.  “Are you ready?”

“Is that a trick question?”  I smiled.

With that, he pushed into me.  It was slow at first, my body adjusting to his size.  I imagined that he had perfected that move over the years.  I wondered how many women he had been with this way.  The thought made my stomach clench.  He was mine.

Mine?

“Are you okay, Elsa?  Is this good?”

“Yes,” I breathed.  “Harder.”

He studied my face, his eyes fixed on mine. 

“Get on top of me.  Hurry
,” he said, shifting.  He leaned up against the headboard.  I straddled his lap.  “Put your hands on the top.”

I clutched the wood as h
e settled back inside of me with a slow push.  God, I could practically feel him in my throat.

“Jack,” I gasped.

He gripped my back and pulled me closer, pushing my hips in rhythm with his.  “You feel so fucking hot, Elsa.  Push harder.”

I arched my back, placing my hands behind
me, resting on the tops of his thighs.  He licked from my neck downwards, settling on one of my breasts.  I moaned.

“Oh God, Jack… fuck.”

He placed his hand in between my legs, pressing where our bodies connected.  His thumb matched our speed, rubbing circles in time.  I squirmed now, moving faster.

“A little longer, El.  Can you wait?”

“Yes!” I screamed, craning my back.  “Please hurry.”

I meant it.  I was
getting there with or without him… but I would rather have him with me.

He pushed faster, gripping my backside, lifting me up a bit and dropping me back down.

Oh God.

“Push up, honey.  Push up on me.”

I followed his directions.  Totally worth it.  He panted and moaned.  I was in heaven, knowing I could affect him like this. 

“Jack… I…”

“Now,” he whispered, never breaking eye contact. 

I nestled into the crook of his neck, riding out my second orgasm in less
than ten minutes.  I’d never had multiple orgasms.  It was sad, really.  All of the girls I knew bragged about them.  I always just nodded my head a lot and acted like I knew what they meant.  I always thought it was me. 

Maybe I was just incapable of having them… and wouldn’t that just suck?  But I had come to peace with it, knowing that I would never be part of the
copius-climaxers club.

Until
today.

Jack was breathing heavy, letting his hands drift up and down my back. 

“Thank you,” he said, smiling.

“Oh, no, thank
you
.”  I kissed the side of his neck.  “What now?”

“I need five minutes at least,” he responded.

“No, Jack, I mean what happens now?  Like with us?”

I knew it was a pretty serious conversation, especially having it while he was still inside of me.  I lifted
myself up and nuzzled in next to him.

“Let me go take care of this and I’ll be right back.”

He walked into the bathroom.  A few minutes passed and he returned, sliding into bed.  He faced me and rubbed my arm.

“Are you okay?” he asked.  “Like with this?”

“Yeah.”  I leaned in and kissed him softly.

“Good.”  His eyes were serious.  “I want to see you, Elsa.”

“You’re seeing me right now,” I responded with a laugh.

“You know what I mean.  I want to try this with you.  I
need you to try too, though,” he said, grinning.

I pulled him closer, wrapping my hand around his
semi-erection.  “Has it been five minutes yet?”

“No
.”  He laughed.  “Get dressed.  Let’s eat something.  I’ve been a nervous wreck all day.”

“Because of me?” I asked.

“You do have the ability to drive a man nuts.”

“Jack, I have a question.”

“This sounds serious.”  He cocked his eyebrow at me, exiting the bed and pulling his jeans back on.

“When you came to the bakery, you asked me to take Buster.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, what if I would have just watched him at my house
and not come with you?”

“Then you would have watched him at your house, I guess.”

I tried to rephrase the question.  “Did you really need me to watch him?  Or were you just looking for a reason to see me?  I mean, couldn’t your parents have just taken him?  You said they live in town, right?”

He paused. 

“What do you think?” he answered with a nervous laugh.

“Thought s
o.” 

I lay there on the bed
, naked, staring at him.

“What?”
he asked.

“Nothing.  You just look hot.  Like
crazy hot right now.  I mean, how do you get a body like that?”

He let out a
long breath.  “Well, I just have that home gym.  I use it almost every day.  And about once a week, I train with this boxer I know.”

A boxer?
 
Fuck, that was
hot
.

“Really?” I asked, sitting up.

“Get dressed, Elsa.  I’m starving.”

“Me
too,” I said, reaching for the button of his jeans.

He laughed and pulled away.
  “I mean it… like for actual food.  Come on.  You have to be hungry.  We haven’t eaten yet.”

“Grab some crackers from my purse.”

He reached for my bag on the long, console table.  He pulled out a can of tuna, a roll of crackers, a demi bra, a can opener, and a pocket vibrator (in a silk bag, of course). 

“Honey, what the hell is all of this stuff?”

I answered honestly. 

“Well, the tuna
and crackers are for when I’m hungry and can’t afford lunch.  The opener is for the tuna.  The bra makes my tits look good and the vibrator was from Dave.”  My face dropped.

“You keep Dave’s vibrator in your purse?”
  He gently opened the plastic wrapper on the crackers and put one in his mouth.

I paused.
  “Well, when we were together, I could never, you know… get there,” I said, embarrassed by the admission.  “So, he bought that for me, so I could finish.  I meant to take it out, but I just kept forgetting.  That bag is so huge.  I guess I just forgot it was in there.”

His face brightened.
  “You could never
get
there?”

“No
,” I answered, my face reddening.

“You did today… or if you didn’t, you are an awfully good actress.”

I looked at him, my face serious.  “Today was the best sex I’ve ever had.  Hands down.  You’ve ruined me for all other boys.”

He laughed
and placed the crackers on the nightstand.  “Seriously?”

I kneeled on the bed and put my hands on his hips, placing a kiss on his chest. 

“Yep.  I’m fucked.”

“
What’d you keep that guy around for?  He cheated, lied, didn’t take care of you in or out of bed… I don’t get it.”

“Yeah, he was one of those charismatic guys
that dressed well, looked good… I got reeled in and then I started to think he really did love me.”

“
Well, maybe you should try to set him straight the next time he calls, you know?  Just tell him that he needs to try to make it work with his wife and that you’ve moved on.  Now, go pick out something hot to wear.  I’m hungry.”

He cupped my face with his rough hands and leaned in for a short kiss
; the taste of salt lingered on his lips.

I dug through my bag.  I ended up wearing Jack’s undershirt, no bra,
and my short, gray skirt.  I pulled on my heeled booties and wrapped my long (just-fucked) hair into a high, crooked ponytail.  I always was shit at hair styling.  That’s why I kept my hair the way I did. 

Chopped, messy bangs.  Long, layered, waved strands that were also choppy at the ends.  I cut it myself most times
; it showed.  It was box-dyed light platinum blonde with about an inch of black roots at any given time.  I loved it even though I knew I looked like a junkie runaway most of the time.

When I walked out of the bathroom, Jack did a once-over. 

“El, did you forget something?”

“Um,” I responded, looking in the mirror.  “I don’t think so.  Why?”

“Your bra, perhaps?”

“Oh,” I said, sauntering up to him
and pressing my chest to his.  “That’s my gift to you, Mr. Conti.”

“Baby, that’s your gift to everyone
if we leave this room.”

“What if,” I compromised, “I put on a bra and take off my underwear.  Then that would be a gift to you
that only
you
knew about.”

He
lifted the hem of my skirt and dropped to his knees, pulling slowly at my thong.  He raised each of my legs one at a time and rolled the satin into a tiny ball.  He placed it his front pocket.

“Go put your bra on,” he said, swatting me on the backside.

God, he was hot.
  I couldn’t wait to eat so we could get back here for round two.

What would happe
n to us when we got back home?
 
I mean, were we a couple now?

I snapped my bra into place and rea
djusted the girls. 

“Better?”

“I liked it before,” he whispered, “but yes… it’s better.”

We sat out on the patio of the small bistro, overlooking the lake.

“It really is beautiful here,” Jack said, looking out at the water.

“Yes, it is.”

“Ever think what it would be like to live in a small town?”

“I’m from Naperville, Jack.”

“El, Naperville is not a small town; it has like 200,000 people.  It’s not like this place.”

I laughed.
  “Then, no, I guess.  I’ve never really thought about moving from the city.”  I studied him.  “Do you?”

“
All the time.  My parents live on Harrison in Little Italy.  That’s where we grew up.  I’ve never lived outside of Chicago.  Sometimes, I make these deliveries and I fall in love with these little towns.  It just seems nice to be able to park your car outside and not worry about someone stealing your shit every day.”

“Or diddling themselves on the
train.”

“Or that,” he said, smiling.

“So, does Jeremy live with you like permanently?” 

Please say no, please say no.

“Well, he lived with Vince but, once he moved to Indianapolis, Jeremy couldn’t afford that place on his own.  I don’t need the money, but he was desperate so I told him that he could stay with me for a while.  So, to answer your question, we haven’t really talked much about it, but I don’t consider him a permanent roommate.”

Thank God.

“Oh, good.”

“Why? 
Were you looking to move in?” he asked, smiling.

“No
, of course not!” I blurted.

“Well, don’t look so disgusted.  I’m not
that bad.”

I let out a breath.
  “I don’t mean it like that.  We’ve been together for like five minutes.  Besides, I love my place.”

“El, I saw a guy taking a shit in the alley next to your place when I picked you up this morning.”

I laughed.  “I love that guy.  He’s so uninhibited.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.
  “I like you,” he murmured.

I tilted my head, pressing my lips to his ear. 

“I like you, too.  Now, take me back to the hotel and I’ll show you how much.”

He gestured to our
server for the check.  He came over, dropping the bill in front of me.  His phone number was written on the bottom right corner.  Jack picked it up and immediately noticed.

“Hey, man,” he uttered, “I think this is the wrong check.  This one has your number on it.  I assume you meant to give this to someone who was not my girlfriend.”

His
girlfriend
?

“My bad, man.  She wasn’t wearing a ring.  I took a shot.  My apologies.”

Jack threw a fifty dollar bill on the table and grabbed my hand.  I stood and he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me in for a short kiss.  I was embarrassed immediately, his little caveman show on display.  I grabbed my bag and yanked my hand from his. 

When we got out to the parking lot, I
spun on my heel to face him.

“What was that?”

“What?”

“You know what
.  That whole ‘girlfriend’ macho dick move in there.”

“Elsa, I’m sorry.  I know I acted like a dick, but I
couldn’t help it.  You drive me nuts... like completely and utterly insane.  I wanted to strip you naked at the table and lay you out on it for the entire lunch crowd to see.  I can barely make it thirty seconds without wanting to kiss you.  So when that guy gave you his number, I just… I’m stupid.  It won’t happen again.”

He barely got the words out of his mouth before I launched myself at him.  I knew he was being a jealous
weirdo, but I was totally turned on.  That whole speech made up for the fact that he was acting mental.  We’d just have to talk about all of that nonsense at another time. 

We were in broad daylight, but I grabbed his hand
and dragged it to my ass.  He cupped it and kissed me hard. 

“Don’t ever do that again,” I warned, my lips softening against his.  “Now, take me back to the room.  I need to kiss you properly.”

He let me go, examining my face. 

“I mean it.  I’m so sorry.  I’ve never acted like that in my life.  If that same thing had happened to Lana, I wouldn’t have even cared.  I would have just laughed it off.  I don’t know what is
with
me today.  I promise, Elsa.  Never again.”

I put my hand on the side of his face, brushing
his ear with my fingertips. 

“Like
I said, if I’m with you, I’m with you, okay?”

“
Think I should go back and apologize to that guy?  I feel like a dick.”

“Are you kidding me?” I shouted.  “He looked like he was ready to piss himself the first time.  Leave that poor boy alone.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“I know.  Let’s go.”

*****

We
walked back to the hotel to collect Buster, but didn’t stay in the room.  Instead, we took a walk on the beach with him trailing behind us, eating random things off of the sand.  We took our time, leisurely holding hands, finally walking back to the room a little before 6 pm.  We turned on the television, but I could tell he really wanted to talk.

I sat up on the bed and crossed my legs, facing him. 

“What’s going on, Jack?  I can feel you freaking out or something.”

“If we see each other, will you be exclusive or did you want to date other people?”

Whoa. 
This was serious.  “Um, what do
you
want?”

“Exclusive.  That’s the only way I can do this.  It’s not because I’m a jealous dick, I promise you, even if that’s what you got out of what happened earlier.  It’s because of what happened with Lana.  I don’t want to talk about her, honest to God, I don’t.  But, for fuck’s sake, I married her.  The ink was dry on that license for three months when she got pregnant.” 

He paused, taking a deep breath.  “It was fast, but I was ready.  I was reenergized about our relationship.  Everything, really.  But one night, a few months ago, we got into a fight and she told me that the baby wasn’t mine.  We always used condoms when we were together because she wasn’t on the pill, so I was surprised when the test came back positive.  I mean, I had been on a buying trip in Canada for two weeks and I hadn’t had sex with her for at least a week before that trip.  The timing was all off.  She said awful things… that she fucked him in our bed the whole time I was gone… that she was thrilled to finally know what it was like to have a ‘real man’ come inside of her.”

He continued, his hands visibly shaking.  “It was some guy from work.  They had been together
the whole time that we had, but I could give her what she wanted.  Money, a free house, and free time… as much of it as she wanted.  I never checked up on her or looked at her bank statements… I never asked her where she went.  I trusted her.  I trusted people then.”  He ran his hand over his short hair.  “I guess I shouldn’t have.”

“Jack, how could you have known?”

“When I look back, all of the signs told me that I shouldn’t have married her.  My mom… she loves everyone.  And she wouldn’t even look at Lana.  If she knew that Lana was going to be at the house, she would reschedule.  I used to get so pissed at her.  She’s normally so nice to everyone and she just wouldn’t give her a chance.  I tried to talk to my dad about it, but he just said that he didn’t want to get in the middle.  I knew it was because he agreed with her.  All my friends hated her too.  I don’t know why I never noticed.”

“I will.”

“You’ll what?”

“Be exclusive.  If that’s what you’re asking for, that’s what I’ll do.”

He studied me.  “It’s not what I want you to do if you aren’t ready.  I want you to want it too.”

“I do
.
”
 

I did
, honestly.
I was crushing hard on Jack.  I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.
  “God, I’m glad you said that.  I’m not trying to claim you or something ludicrous, but I just can’t fathom being okay with you sleeping with someone else when we’re together, you know?”

“I know.” 

I understood where he was coming from.  It nauseated me to think about Jack with another woman… and we had been together once.  Once!

“You’re so pretty,” he said, his fingertips brushing my face.

“Show me.”

He laughed.
  “Show you what?”

“How pretty you think I am.” 

I lay back on the bed and lifted my skirt.  I wasn’t wearing any underwear; he had those in his pocket.  He ran his hands up my thighs, rubbing his thumbs in between my legs on either side.  His eyes bore into mine. 

“Are you ready for all of this, Elsa?  If you aren’t, tell me.”

“I’m ready,” I breathed.

He smiled.
  “Not for
that
, sicko.  For all of it.” 

He pulled his shirt over his head.

What did “all of it” entail?  Marriage?  Kids?  Was I ready for that?

I propped up on my elbows.
  “What exactly are we talking about, Jack?”

He tugged at my tank top and unsnapped my bra, pulling the lace material off and dropping both to the side of the bed.

“Eventually, I want to get married again.  The right way,” he murmured, dropping down to the front of my thigh, licking his way north.  “Right now, I’d settle with being able to call you my girlfriend without you getting pissed at me.”

I smiled down at him.
  “Okay.  Boyfriend.  It sounds so weird.  I haven’t had a ‘boyfriend’ since Dave and that was a complete nightmare.”

“Did your
ex
-boyfriend do thi
s
?” he asked, pushing my legs apart.

I moaned reflexively.  “Um…”

“Did he do this?” 

He slipped two fingers inside of me, his hand facing up.  He
massaged with practiced care, causing me to shiver uncontrollably. 

“Oh
, God,” I breathed.

He slowly unbuttoned his jeans with his free hand, sliding his fingers into the waistband and tugging them down, never breaking his
internal movement.  After a few moments, he awkwardly reached to the box and pulled out a condom.

“You want to do the honors?” he asked.

“What do I do?”

He stopped his motions,
pulling out slowly.  He cracked a smile.  “You’ve never rolled on a condom, Elsa?”

I breathed heavily, my body still reacting to the loss of activity
.  “No, why?  You guys seem to have that all covered, so why would I know how?”

He lazily stroked my stomach with the same hand that had just been inside of me. 

“Can I ask you a question?”

Oh, God.
  Were we seriously going to talk?

“What?”

“How many guys have you been with?”  He paused.  “Okay, let me rephrase.  You don’t have to tell me that, but just… how experienced are you at all this?”

I panicked for a second. 

“Well, I… there have been a few, I guess.  I’m not some slut, Jack,” I clipped.

He laughed.
  “Honey, I’m not saying that at all.  I’m just glad that I can teach you things, I guess.  And you can teach me things.”  He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my neck.  “What do you like in bed?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I want you to tell me what your absolute favorite thing is.  Anything you want to tell me.  Anything.  I promise, I won’t think it’s weird or disgusting or judge you in any way.  Once you tell me, I will do it to you.  No questions asked.”

I studied him. 
Was this a test?
 

“I like anal.  Lots of it
,” I responded, laughing aloud.

“Oh
, yeah?  Somehow, I doubt that,” he said, letting out a deep laugh.  He ran his hand across my abdomen.  “Honestly, El, what do you like?”

“
Well,” I paused, “when I’m by myself, I like toys.”

He smiled.
  “And when you are with someone else?”

I
immediately flushed at my admission.  “I guess I wouldn’t mind incorporating that… you know, a little.  I don’t know.”

“You mean, you want me to use toys on you?”

“No, not necessarily.  Well, I don’t know.  I just mean that there are ‘couple toys’ out there.  You know, like those silver bullet things with the rubber ring part…” 

I was babbling now.

“A cock ring?”

Oh, God.  Why did I tell him that? 
Now I just wanted to die.

“I don’t know.
I went to a toy party at my friend’s house and there was this hostess girl and she was showing us how to use them and it looked pretty fun, I guess.  She called it an enhancer ring, I think.”