Everything But (27 page)

Speaking of the stupid lingerie set, it was something she’d bought for Frank, about a week before they’d broken up.  But she’d never worn it for him, had only worn it when she’d tried it on
in the store in the mall
.  When she came across it today, she knew it would be perfect.
  And the look in his eyes told her that yes, it was.

Grabbing his hand and placing it on her breast had been one of the boldest moves she’d ever made with a man.  She’d always been a little on the shy side in the bedroom, preferring to let the man lead the way, but Riley had opened up something in her.  Maybe it was cuffing him and leaving him, Jackie style, that had lowered her inhibitions
but it might have been that stupid Monopoly strip game they’d played.
  Maybe it was just something about
him
.

But she wasn’t going to analyze her brazen behavior; instead, she was going to reap the benefits.  Riley’s hand closed over her breast and he squeezed it ever so slightly before
he
loosen
ed
his grip and then trac
ed
the nipple with his finger.  Jesus…the air rushed out of her mouth and she could barely keep her eyes open.  It was almost embarrassing because it was like he could read her thoughts.

He moved his finger from her breast to her cleavage
and then traced it slowly down her torso.  She could feel the heat from his flesh through the thin fabric
.  She wanted him right now.  She moved one hand onto his forearm that rested on the table and the other hand gripp
ed his thigh just past his knee as his finger drew its way down her abdomen, brushing lightly over her navel, and then he touched the exposed flesh between the bustier and panties.  She sucked in a deeper breath, her body anticipating his touch farther down.  But he let his finger move over the top of the panties.  It didn’t matter,
though,
because it felt so intense that she closed her eyes as he followed the groove between her labia, straight to her throbbing clit.  She ga
sped again, louder this time, and
she move
d her hand
from
his forearm to run it through her hair.  Her other
hand, though, gripped his thigh as though she were hanging on for a wild ride.
  He brushed her through the fabric of the panties and all it did was
make
her want more.

Then he leaned over and grabbed one of her legs, draping it over his
thigh
, and he followed with her other leg.  Afterward, he
laced his hands around her lower back and pulled her up on his lap.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and met his lips with hers.  His tongue danced with hers and she laced her fingers through his soft
mussy
hair.  She wanted to pull it, grab it, tell him to hurry up and fuck her, but she didn’t know how well that would go over.  She was pressed right up against him and she could
feel how hard he was.  He was just as ready as she was.  She tilted her pelvis forward so she could feel him right up against her and a small groan formed in her throat.
  She felt his firm hands on the small of her back
, and the fabric in the bustier was so thin it was like he was touching her bare skin.

He kissed her deeply once,
then
moved his lips to her neck.  His hands
, the fingers splayed apart, moved up her back, and they felt like fire.  One of his hands moved up to her neck and cupped her head while she leaned back into it.  His lips moved from her neck down to her breasts.  She let go of his hair, dragging her hands down his back, and she sat up again, her lips slamming into his.  Again, she just wanted to demand that he fuck her right there but she didn’t want to break the spell, so instead she moved her hands around and down to his fly where she started playing with the button.

Riley stood, holding her under the ass, and pressed her up against the refrigerator.
 
Her dress was bunched at her waist. 
He had her positioned higher than she would be if she were standing, so that his hard on was digging into her right where it mattered.  She let out a long, heavy sigh, because it couldn’t really be considered dry humping when she was that wet, could it?
  “Oh, God,” she said, digging her nails into his back through the t-shirt. 
He nipped her earlobe and kissed her neck again and took her hint.

“You like that, huh?”

“Yeah…” she said, barely able to talk, her breathing was so erratic.

So he kept grinding into her, his hips swaying in a circular motion.  She heard the way she was panting and she was partly upset with herself that she’d just caved into him so easily.  Her emotions were in such conflict—she wanted him but she didn’t; she wanted to hold off but not.  She was fucked in the head was what she was, and she found him so intoxicating that she could no longer think, could no longer concentrate, could no longer
be
without him.

Seriously?

Yes…those were the weird thoughts swirling in her head as the tightness in her body increased and she knew she was getting closer.  Riley stopped moving and pressed his forehead onto hers, his eyes burning into
the ones in her head
.  He didn’t say anything, and part of her was glad, because she could tell he had a lot to say.  He looked full of
…
pain
.

His hands had never left the underside of her thighs where he’d been holding her up, and he stepped back from the refrigerator, still holding her up, and walked a few steps back to the table. 
Ah, yes
…he’d joked about the table yesterday.  But there was shit all over it.  Their dinner plates, the candles.  If he wanted to use it as a makeshift bed, he’d have to clean
it off.  But she hadn’t realized
what he had in mind.

After he set her down, he placed his hands on her shoulders and
, after another rough kiss,
eased her around so she was facing the table.  Then his lips were down on her neck again as his hands slid across her ribcage, under her breasts, and he fingered the nipples through the fragile fabric.  Now she knew what he was going to do and discovered that there was, in fact, plenty of
room to do it.  He planned to take her from behind this time, and she was merely going to use the table top for support.
  There were no plates on the end of the table where they stood.

He grabbed her bunched-up dress
on
both sides
and yanked it down past her hips.  There, gravity took over and it dropped to the floor.  His lips grazed her earlobe as one of his hands slid down her belly and under the front of the panties.  She sucked in a quick deep breath and leaned her head back against him
as his other hand cupped a breast and massaged it
.  Her eyes fluttered closed as his index finger found her clitoris and started swirling, a slow, circular motion that created an electric vibration deep inside her.
  She let out a loud moan as he started kissing her neck, his tongue tracing a pattern on the skin.

She was getting close already, and he nipped her shoulder but he stopped moving his finger and pulled his hand out of her panties.  He brought both hands around to her back and gently press
ed against the small of it
, moving up toward her shoulder blades.  He pressed against her and she bent at the waist, sensing that he was ready to enter her.  She just wanted him to hurry.  She was so close and didn’t want to beg him.

He yanked down on her panties, almost too hard.  The elastic dug into her hips and she thought he was maybe trying to tear them.  They were well-made, though,
unlike the last ones he tore,
and could stand up to a little bit of aggression.  He got
them down to her knees and Erin propped her head up on one elbow and looked behind her.  Riley had his wallet in hand
and he pulled out a condom package.
 
Finally
.
  She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to
will
herself to be patient.

She looked at him again.  What was that look in his eyes?  He
ran his empty hand up her spine, pushing her down, and then he entered her. 
Finally
.
  She breathed out
, anticipating her orgasm.  He wrapped his hands around her hair and tugged until she faced forward.  She was uncomfortable but his steady in-and-out distracted her from it.
  She rested her arms at her sides, bent at the elbows, to steady
herself
.

That is, until he got close and the tug became pain.  He was pulling too hard, and it reminded her of
her ex, Frank.  Frank often got too rough in bed, and after she mentioned it one time, he got worse.  In fact, it seemed like the more she asked him to be gentle or mindful, the worse he’d get.  So she debated if she wanted to say anything at all right now or ever.  She felt Riley’s hand move to her hip and it found its way back to her clit.  The pressure he exerted there took her mind off any pain she was feeling and her brain focused on that small, tight spot.  She gasped as she got close and then felt the release build until she combusted,
crying aloud as her body let go.

And as her breathing slowed, Riley was still grinding into her, but she could tell he was close to
o
.
  He let go of her hair and grabbed her hips on either side as though to steady her.
  As he finished, he started pounding her harder than before, her upper thighs slamming into the side of the table.  The candles, flowers, and drinking gla
sses were swaying with each impact
, threatening to fall.  She didn’t say
anything,
because
she was sure he was almost done.

He felt like a different person to Erin…like he was possessed.
 
When he was done, h
e pulled out, not saying anything but instead just walking over to the trashcan next to the refrigerator, lifting the lid and dropping in the condom.  Erin just watched him, not moving
, still catching her breath
.  He tucked himself back in and adjusted,
then
zipped his pants back up.  He was still completely dressed.

She, on the other hand,
was just wearing the bustier, and she doubted it had withstood the pressure
of Riley’s lovemaking techniques
.  She finally stood and grabbed her panties,
b
unch
ed up
at her ankles, and pulled them up
over her bottom
.  She wasn’t very happy in spite of the
orgasm, because it was like Riley had become Frank.  He was still acting weird, cold and distant, and even though she had only known him a few days, she knew this behavior wasn’t like him.

Or
was
it?  Was the sweet, sensitive Riley she’d been enjoying the last few days just an act and this version the real deal?  Was this behavior maybe why Riley was still very much single?  He’d told her having access to hundreds of eager
,
easy women wasn’t—what was the phrase he’d used?—all it was
cracked up to be
.  But maybe
he
was the problem.

He walked back over to her and she couldn’t read his expression. 
Not at all.
  His right hand cupped her cheek
while he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close, his hand resting on the small of her back.  He was hot as hell and yet his expression was ice cold and not only did it remind Erin of Frank, she found it almost…intimidating.  But he kissed her and when she closed her eyes, she could only sense Riley.

But when the kiss ended, he said, “I
gotta
go.  See you later.”  He let go of her and walked out of the kitchen.

At first, Erin thought it had to be a bad joke.  She walked to the living room and saw his hand on the doorknob.  “Are you serious?”

She couldn’t read his expression through the clouds over his eyes.  “Yeah…I
really
gotta
go.  Thanks for dinner.”

She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until the door closed behind him.  What the hell?

Chapter Twenty-eight

RILEY JOGGED DOWN
the steps of Erin’s apartment building, feeling like shit but also glad he’d done it.  Erin wanted just a boy toy for the few days he was here
?  W
ell, she got it.  There.  She wouldn’t have to deal with any of the romantic entrapments, and—true to Riley form—he’d even let her believe it was all his fault.  He was good at that shit.  No sense making a girl feel bad about what she wanted…or didn’t.

But
goddamn
if he didn’t want a drink.  He knew the cravings eased off with time and, for the most part, he hardly ever even thought about drinking anymore, but it had been weighing heavily on his mind the past week.  Getting out of her apartment helped with that too, though, because he’d left the wine there.