Paper Kisses (10 page)

He tried to get her off him but she
held on.
 
She wanted him to come in her
mouth.
 

“No, Alannah,” he said again and
this time she let him pull her off.
 
But
he pulled her up close to his body and took her hand in his, guiding it to his
swollen shaft.
 
Then he began to pump,
showing her how he liked it, showing her what he wanted.
 
They were chest to chest, he laid his mouth
near hers, and his hand stayed on top of hers.
 
He was panting, his warm breath bathing her face, and it was so
hot.
 
He was hot.
 
Watching him unravel in her hand gave her a
power that made her feel extraordinary.
 
  

“Yes,” he breathed.
 
“Yes, yes.
 
Oh god.”
 

Just like that he exploded,
shouting out a set of unintelligible sounds.
 
Alannah watched him, amazed at how beautiful he was when he lost
control.
 
It reminded her how he’d made
her lose control not too long ago and she was so glad they were able to give
each other mutual pleasure.
 
He slumped
against her in a boneless heap.
 
Alannah
moved back, using the blanket to wipe her hand.

When he caught his breath, he moved
them both under the blanket and he wrapped his arms around her.
 
She snuggled in tight against him, loving how
his big body cradled hers and made her feel cherished.

“When are you leaving?” he asked as
he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“In four days.”

“Then I want you sleeping here for
the three nights left.
 
Okay?
 
Give me your nights.”

That was a no brainer.
 
“Okay.”

Chapter Six

When she woke the next morning, she
knew it was early by the way the dawn light was blazing through the glass
wall.
 
Wow.
Simply breathtaking.
 
Watching the sun peak over the trees and the
pond relaxed her in a way that nothing ever had before.
 
Or maybe it had been the mind-blowing orgasm
from last night. And of course, with that
memory,
came
the near crushing embarrassment of how she behaved.
 
How she
gushed
.
 
Good lord, she’d never had such a wet orgasm
before and a flash of embarrassment filtered through her at the memory.
 
Oh
crap.
 
Oh holy cow
.
 
How was she supposed to face him?
 
Was she just supposed to go downstairs and
act like she hadn’t just had the most awesome, soul-melting sex of her
life?
 

Perhaps she could just sneak out and
walk the five-plus miles back to her car.
 
Thank goodness she brought a change of clothes, and her sneakers.
 

Sky wasn’t in bed with her so she
got up and headed into the attached bathroom, taking a moment to admire the
marble counter tops, the Jacuzzi bath and, good lord, a bidet.
 
Sky didn’t seem like the type of man to use a
bidet, but then she would never have pegged him for a master of bondage,
either, and yet here she was...aglow. With embarrassment, that is.
 
She still didn’t know what to think of last
night so she decided to push that to the back of her mind for now.
 
She found a clean towel and started the
shower, absolutely loving the rainfall showerhead.
 
She could’ve stayed under the hot cascade for
hours but her stomach
growled,
reminding her she’d
only had hotdogs the night before.
 
So
she dried off and when she walked back into the bedroom she saw her overnight
bag sitting on the bed.

Her lips pursed.
 
Had he brought her bag when she was in the
shower because he didn’t want to deal with her yet?
 
Or was it simply that he heard the shower
running so he decided to bring her bag?
 
Did he not like how she looked naked?
 
She liked how he looked naked, but then somewhere along the way he’d
gone from no muscles to He-Man and she’d gone from wearing cat suits at
Halloween to frumpy housewife.
 
This was
the biggest cosmic joke in the universe.

She dressed in jeans and a t-shirt
and headed downstairs, following her nose.
 
Seriously, the man to
had
to have something
wrong with him because he was too perfect.
 
Good job, nice house, talented in bed and now he cooked?
 
How come he wasn’t married?
 
Oh
yeah.
 
Linda
.
 
  

Sure enough, he was behind the
stove.
 
An array of cracked eggs and
chopped up vegetables were scattered on the island.

“Morning,” she murmured, feeling
slightly awkward.
 
All that flashed in
her head was the memory of how she’d gushed.
 
Oh, holy crap
.

“Good morning,” he greeted with a smile.
 
He looked fresh and yummy in his brown police
uniform, a color so ugly it should be outlawed.
 
“I hope you like omelets.
 
It’s
the only thing I really know how to cook.
 
Except for spaghetti, and it’s a little early for al dente.”
 

“I love omelets,” she said.
 
“Thank you.”

“I just made some coffee.”

“Okay.”
 

“Mugs are in that cabinet.
 
I like mine black.”

So as she poured them coffee, Sky
tipped the omelet onto a dish and then handed it to her.
 
He poured the remaining batter into the pan
and quickly cooked up his own while she poured them coffee, adding milk to her
cup.

Moments later they were sitting
across from each other at the table and Alannah hadn’t a clue how that
happened.
 
Just a moment ago she’d been
planning on walking back to
CeeCee’s
, and now she was
next to her best friend not knowing what in the world to say to him.
 
The guy who’d taught her how to play
basketball.
 
The guy who begged her to
take him to McDonald’s for lunch every day because her birthday was three
months before his and she could drive.
 
The guy who’d told her when he lost his virginity.

“You’re thinking again,” he said.

She looked up at him and his blue
eyes were slightly narrowed as he studied her.
 
What was he thinking?
 
What did he
think about what happened between them last night?

“I can’t help it,” she said.

“Stop existing in here,” he told
her, pointing to his forehead.

She bit her lip.
 
“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

 
“Will you tell me how you learned what you did last night?”

He laid down his fork and took a
long drink of coffee.
 
A
stalling tactic?
She didn’t blame him.

“What would you say if I told you
it was because of you?”

Her mouth dropped open.
 
“What…what does that mean?”
 

“Alannah, when you left without
saying goodbye, I was so pissed at you,” he murmured and she winced at the
truthfulness in his words.
 
“You didn’t
return my calls.
 
You didn’t write
me.
 
You said nothing.
 
You just…completely left me.”

She winced again.
 
Well, laid out like that, she sounded like a
bitch.

“When I got to college, I was
angry.
 
Picking fights.
 
Drinking.
 
Fucking.
 
Doing dumb things, like
screwing up my scholarship.
 
And
then one night I was driving and sideswiped a car.
 
Nothing serious, just a minor fender bender
but it was too much for me, and everything came boiling to a head.
 
I broke down, right in front of this woman
I’d never met before.”

“What happened?” she asked,
completely engrossed in the story.

 
He shrugged.
 
“Instead of calling
the insurance company she took me to her home and tied me up.”

Her eyes widened in shock.
 
“She just took you home and said ‘I want to
tie you up’?”

“Well, not so bluntly, but after my
emotional breakdown, it wasn’t hard to seduce me,” he said with a little
smirk.
 
“She said I was thinking too hard
and promised to take it all away.
 
And
she did.
 
She was right. My brain never
shut down.
 
Once I had my senses
deprived, well, you know what I mean.
 
Everything just stopped.”

“Yes,” she whispered.
 
“It’s never been like that for me.”

He nodded like he knew, and of
course, he did.
 
It boggled her mind that
they had that in common, both knowing what it felt like to be strung up like a
Thanksgiving turkey.

“She was a widow and every weekend,
instead of doing something self-destructive, I went to her and she tied me up
in intricate and pleasurably painful ways.”

“How long did that go on?”

“Two years,” he said, and suddenly
his face became very sad and Alannah knew something bad had happened.
 
“She got sick.
 
Cancer.
 
So instead of being tied up, she began
teaching me.
 
When she died, I found out
she left me everything.”

Alannah gasped and suddenly, she
realized how he was able to afford this beautiful home.
 
But looking at his face, she saw that money
was the last thing he cared about.
 
She
saw the pain that still lingered within him.

“Were you in love with her?”

“In love, no.
 
But I did love her.
 
Did you love your ex?”

“In love, no.”

He nodded, as if he understood
everything.
 
“She gave me the calm I
needed.
 
Peace.
 
I was able to let you go, let go of my anger.
 
I became a dedicated and focused
student.
 
I found a bondage club and
continued my studies and now, here I am.
 
And here you are.”

“And here I am.
 
I can’t believe, here I am.”

“By the way, just to let you know,
I’m clean.
 
Always a delicate subject but
I was irresponsible for not mentioning it before.”

“Is that why you didn’t allow me to
swallow?”

“Yes.
 
Safety should always be the number one
priority.”

“Thank you.”
 
She gave a half snort.
 
“I’m clean as well.
 
The last time I had sex was about two months
before Bryce decided he didn’t want me anymore.
 
I haven’t been with anyone since.”

“
I’m really not
liking
your ex-husband.
 
Why did
you marry him?”

“He was everything my father
wasn’t,” she said, and that was all she was going to say on the matter.

He must have gotten the hint
because he dropped the subject.
 
“So
you’re here for four days.
 
That’s how
long I have you.
 
Tonight I’ll do
something special.”

“What?
 
More?
 
But…I don’t need more, do I?
 
It was good.
 
I’m good.
 
Why ruin it?”

“What makes you think it’ll be
ruined?”

“Because…it’s
always special the first time.
 
And maybe the second and third, but after that…you start finding
other things to keep yourself occupied.
 
And I don’t want you to ever remember me as someone you had to occupy
yourself with.”

He picked up her hand and linked
their fingers.
 
“So, after having sex
three times the magic fades?”

She shrugged and tried to tug her
hand away but he held fast to it.
 
“Don’t
make fun.”

“I’m not making fun.
 
I just think you haven’t found the right
partner, because between the right people sex only gets better each time.
 
So, tonight, I definitely think you need
something special.”

 
Her mouth went dry as she stared into his beautiful eyes.
 
“Okay.
 
Oh.
 
Wait.
 
The festival.
I have
to work the kissing booth with
CeeCee
this evening.”

“That’s okay, I’m patrolling.
 
Afterwards.
 
We have all night.
 
If I’ve only got four days with you I’m not
going to waste a minute.
 
Oh, and
speaking of our friend
CeeCee
, I would appreciate a
little discretion about my kink.”

“Don’t you worry,” Alannah assured
him.
 
“I’m mentally shuddering at the
thought of
CeeCee
knowing anything.”