Skin on Skin (7 page)

She looked up at his face. He watched her, watching them, his eyes dark slits, jaw clenched as he fought against his own climax. His hand came up to pinch at her nipple, sliding down until it rested at the top of her mound. Her clit was exposed, ruby red and throbbing, begging for the rasp of his callused thumb.

“Come on, baby, I want you to come with me.” His thumb circled her clit, and she flinched and moaned as her body clenched around him.

She didn’t want to come yet. She wanted this to last forever. This savage giving and taking of pleasure, feeling every nerve in her body sizzle with delight, knowing that he fought and strained for it as much as she.

Then his thumb made one, two, three slippery forays around her clit, up and down the sides, sliding against it in the same rhythm of her thrusts, and she was gone. Heat burst from her womb, down her limbs, with such intensity that even the tips of her toes and the top of her scalp tingled.

Tony came at the exact same moment, until his orgasm became hers, and hers his, and they both shuddered under the relentless waves.

For several moments, neither one could move, much less speak. Lauren huddled against his chest, shaking, listening to his heart thundering like a jackhammer under her cheek. Sweat and tears streaked down her face, mingling and dripping onto his chest.

His hands shook a little as they rubbed up and down her back. She felt a modicum of relief when she realized she wasn’t the only one who felt a little ransacked after that.

Eventually he rose to get rid of the condom. A fresh wash of tears pricked her eyes as she felt him slide from her body. How many more times would she get to feel that luscious sensation?

After tomorrow, everything had to go back to normal.

The mattress dipped under his weight and he slipped under the covers with her. His arm fastened around her waist and he pulled her firmly back against his chest. The heavy weight of his penis nestled against her ass, and his palm flattened between her breasts. She drifted to sleep, wishing he’d never let go.

“I
don’t know about you, but after last night’s
excitement
I could have stayed in bed all day.” Carly MacLean made this pronouncement over eggs benedict and mimosas.

Lauren tried to ignore her mother’s all-too-perceptive gaze. From the moment she and Tony had arrived, her mother had been sliding her those knowing glances and making little comments until finally Lauren wanted to stand up and shout “Yes, we fucked! A lot! And so good we could probably get a gold medal in the Olympics of fucking. So you can stop worrying about your poor, frigid, potentially lesbian daughter.”

But she said none of this, simply moved her eggs around her plate, tracing designs in her hollandaise. Her characteristically healthy appetite seemed to have abandoned her somewhere in the night.

She couldn’t decide if it was the postorgasmic euphoria, the deliciously distracting feel of Tony’s hand on her thigh under the table, or perhaps the sick, choking feeling she got when she imagined what would happen when they got back home.

Nothing. Because she couldn’t do this indefinite casual sex thing, and Tony made no bones about his desire—or rather, lack thereof—to settle down.

“Sweetheart, you’re not eating,” Carly commented around her own delicate bite of eggs. “That is so unlike you.” A wicked glint appeared in her eyes. “You must be so
tired
.” She slanted a sly look at Tony, who smiled blandly as if not understanding her mother’s innuendo.

Bless him.

“I know when I’m
tired,”
Carly continued, “my appetite absolutely fails me. Isn’t that right, dear?”

Lauren’s father shot Carly a censorious look and didn’t reply.

“How long do you think it will take you to get home?” Mark asked Tony in a completely unsubtle change of subject.

Tony wiped his mouth before replying. “Without traffic, eight hours or so.” He leaned back in his chair and slid his arm around Lauren’s shoulders.

A shiver raced down her spine at the lovely feel of his fingers coiling themselves in her hair, the warmth of his palm on her bare shoulder.

He had touched her this way a thousand times in the past, casual, friendly touches. But now everything was infused with an undercurrent of sexual promise that she feared she’d never be able to suppress.

“The time went by too quickly,” Tony continued. “I would do just about anything to have this weekend last a bit longer.” He was looking right at Lauren when he said this.

The crack in her heart widened a little bit.
A bit longer.
That’s all he wanted. Not forever.

Just a couple more fucks until the novelty wore off and he found himself once again in need of variety without entanglements.

She had a sudden, awful sensation that she was about to burst into tears. “Excuse me,” Lauren said abruptly, and mustered up any last shred of composure she possessed. She made it across the pool deck without tripping or crying and found refuge in the pool house.

The luxurious bathroom, which doubled as a changing room, was dominated by a large padded bench in the center of the room. Lauren sank down on it. “What the hell am I going to do?” she moaned to herself. Once again, she’d fallen in love with a friend. At least this time she was confident that Tony, unlike Brandon, was actually attracted to her.

That was what made it so much more dangerous. Brandon had crushed her in one swift blow, but at least he had ended it quickly. No ambiguity there, and with the added dose of humiliation to keep Lauren away, she’d gone off quietly to lick her wounds without having to see him all the time.

But Tony…It would be so easy to continue sleeping with Tony when they got home. Yet, while she would just fall deeper in love, he would merely be taking the edge off.

The click of the latch startled her from her thoughts and she heaved a frustrated sigh as her mother entered the bathroom.
Great. Just what I need, my mother pressing me for a play-by-play.
Did other mothers show this unusual fascination with their daughters’ sex lives?

“So you two finally did it,” Carly said without preamble as she sank down on the bench next to Lauren.

“What do you mean, finally?”

“Oh, you can tell when a couple has finally slept together,” she replied with great authority. “I could tell you hadn’t yet, yesterday—the way you circled around each other. And the way Tony looked at you,” she shuddered a little for effect, “like he wanted to lay you out on the buffet table and eat you up.”

Whatever attraction Tony genuinely felt, he had obviously amped it up for the benefit of their audience. She supposed she should be grateful.

Her mother was still chattering about sexual dynamics and body language. “And this morning, he’s more territorial, the way he keeps touching, his hand on your neck, on your thigh. And he looks at you like he finally knows exactly what you taste like.”

“Mother! Gross!” Lauren shot up off the bench.
You’d think that after she delivered a dildo to my room, I wouldn’t be shocked by anything.

“What?”

“Why do you have to say things like that? You’re my mother, for Christ’s sake.”

Carly held her hands up in front of her, palms out. “Sweetie, I just want you to feel comfortable about sex. You’ve always seemed a little uptight about it and—”

“What do you expect?” All the resentment born of growing up a porn queen’s daughter came rushing out. “By the time I was thirteen years old, practically everyone in my class had seen your movies. And even if they didn’t, they knew about them!”

Carly’s cheeks flushed and her mouth set in a tight line. “I’m not ashamed of my past.”

Lauren fisted her hands in her hair and paced. Her mother, for all her faults, was a wonderful, good-hearted woman, and the last thing Lauren wanted was to hurt her. But still…“Mom, I’m not saying you should be ashamed. But you have to understand, when other kids saw that, they expected me to…to…be like you. To do that stuff.”

“That’s why you stopped wearing makeup,” Carly said, the dawn of enlightenment cresting her face. “You were always such a girly girl, stealing my makeup and trying on dresses. And then…”

Then, Lauren remembered, she’d stopped all of that altogether, and done her damnedest to make everyone forget there was anything feminine about her. Until the fiasco with Brandon, of course.

“The last thing I wanted was for anyone to see me sexually, and then you—” she remembered her mother’s frank talk when she was younger, all but encouraging her to have sex when she wanted with whomever she wanted, and not to forget the stash of condoms Carly always kept in the upstairs guest bathroom. “You made me feel like a freak because I wasn’t having sex.”

Tears welled in Carly’s eyes, trailing in fat droplets down her cheeks. “Lauren, I never meant to make you feel like a freak. Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Lauren shrugged. “I was a teenager, and I suppose I hoped you would drop it if I kept ignoring you.”

“I was afraid of what would happen when you found out about my past,” Carly said between sniffles, “and I hoped that if you felt as I did, that sex was nothing to be ashamed of, you would be better prepared to deal with whatever anyone said.” She smiled wanly. “I suppose I went a bit overboard.”

Lauren sighed. “I’m not ashamed of sex, or of you. It’s more that I’m insecure about it.” She smiled ruefully. “It took me awhile to get up the nerve to do it, and when I did…”

“Brandon,” her mother said tightly.

“How did you know?”

“Like I said. You can tell when people have had sex. Plus, you used to spend almost every afternoon after school and most weekends with him, and you suddenly stopped.” She rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine what a disaster that was.”

Lauren chuckled. “You have no idea.”

Carly’s delicate nose wrinkled. “He must be awful in bed. You can tell by looking at him.”

Lauren didn’t bother to defend him. “He was only eighteen. His technique has probably improved.”

Carly shook her head emphatically. “No, you can see it in his face, that self-satisfied, narcissistic look. It’s all about him, all the time.” She paused, slid Lauren a glance. “Tony, on the other hand, truly appreciates women. Am I right?”

Lauren’s cheeks caught fire. “Mom, in case I haven’t made it abundantly clear, I’m not comfortable discussing sex with you.”

She was mildly chastened. “Okay, okay, I won’t bother you for details, but it’s nice to know you’ve found a man who really knows how to put a smile on your face.”

“Don’t read too much into it, Mom,” Lauren replied glumly, sinking back down on the bench. “I don’t think it’s really headed anywhere.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Typical parent, attempting to give hope when there was none. “Trust me. Tony’s not about to settle down, especially with someone like me.”

Carly snorted. “I’m not even going to acknowledge the pity party about to start.” She paused, and Lauren could tell she was pondering her next words very carefully. “Listen to me, honey. Sex can mean nothing, and sex can mean everything. And I can just tell, whatever you and Tony are doing, it’s not the nothing kind.”

“It is on his part.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Lauren rolled her eyes and stood. If her mom wanted the last word, she would cede it. She wanted nothing more than for her mother to be right, but knew better than to get carried away by false hopes.

Her mother caught her hands just as they were exiting the bathroom. “I’m sorry if my prying has made you uncomfortable, honey. I just want you to be happy, and find someone who can give you the kind of love your father has given me.”

Lauren grabbed her in a hug. Carly was tiny, nearly a foot shorter than Lauren, yet somehow Lauren still felt like a little girl taking refuge in her mother’s embrace.

They returned to the table, and both Tony and her father looked up expectantly, relief crossing both faces as they noted the women’s amicably joined hands.

She sat down and Tony immediately tipped her face up for a soft kiss. She decided she might as well enjoy the last few minutes of their pretend relationship.

“We thought maybe you’d fallen in and your mom was lost trying to rescue you,” Tony grinned.

Her mother quirked a meaningful eyebrow at Lauren, looking pointedly at his hand where it rested on her shoulder. “Girl talk.”

Her dad looked a little worried. He was plenty familiar with the inappropriate turns his wife’s girl talk was capable of taking.

The housekeeper cleared their breakfast plates and Tony sighed, sounding convincingly regretful. “Well, I suppose we better get on the road, since my slave driver of a brother wants us at work by eight tomorrow.”

A sharp pain hit somewhere near Lauren’s ribs at the reminder of reality. Or maybe it was just indigestion, she thought, ignoring the fact she’d barely touched her food.

Within minutes they were off, amid tears and kisses and threats to rent a house in Squaw Valley over Thanksgiving.

“I like your parents,” Tony said as he negotiated his way through weekend beach traffic back to the highway.

Lauren braced herself for one of his patented inappropriate comments, perhaps something about her mom.

When she didn’t respond, he elaborated. “A lot of times, when you meet people like that, with that kind of money, they’re really snobby.” He looked at her carefully. “Lots of parents in your folks’ position wouldn’t like their daughter dating a guy like me.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “A guy like you?”

“You know, blue-collar. When you could have the king of the country club.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right. Like a former adult film actress and a former porn director can afford to be snotty.” And just as she started feeling all warm and fuzzy that he liked her parents, she remembered that this was all just a game of let’s pretend. “I don’t see why it matters anyway. I only invited you to convince my mom I was finally getting laid, and I think we accomplished that. Whether they like you or not doesn’t matter.”

Tony’s jaw clenched, both at her uncharacteristically snippy tone, as well as her comment.

True, he had come with her to Newport Beach under the guise of pretending to be her lover.

And now that they weren’t pretending anymore, he’d be damned if he’d let her just brush it off. “I’ll see them again when they come visit.”

She made a scoffing sound.

“What?”

“Tony, we don’t need to do this indefinitely.”

“Do what?”

“I don’t need you to keep pretending to be my boyfriend. Trust me, if I were in the market for one, you’d be the last guy I’d pick.”

“Why?” The question flew out of his mouth, before he could remind himself that he should be relieved.

She turned to him, brow furrowed. “Are you kidding? Tony, it’s obvious you have no interest in commitment, and I’m not even sure you could if you tried. A woman would have to be a moron or a masochist to ever attempt a relationship with you.”

Ouch. Not that he was looking for a girlfriend, either, but she didn’t have to be so vehement.

She had a point, though. His longest relationship to date had been a month, back in high school. And it had only lasted because it took him that long to get in her pants.

After that, he stuck with girls who didn’t say no, and if they did, he moved on, always confident that someone just as good or better would be willing. And once they had done it once, maybe twice, he got out before she started getting any ideas.

But he couldn’t cut Lauren out of his life so easily, and once again he mentally punched himself for sleeping with such a close friend. He couldn’t imagine not having Lauren in his life, but after such a small sampling of her heretofore untapped sexual prowess, he didn’t know how he was going to be able to be near her without trying to fuck her senseless most of the time. And just to make everything totally confusing, a whole slew of unfamiliar, intense emotions twisted around in his gut every time she so much as smiled at him.

Lauren was silent, curled up and in the passenger seat. He reached over and casually rested his hand on her knee, unable to keep from touching her, even as he knew he should back off for both their sakes. But he couldn’t stop himself from touching her, not when she was so close. And in a few short hours they’d be home, and he was supposed to put all of this behind him. Forget how she looked, straddling his hips, lips parted as she moaned. Forget how she felt, hot, slick, and tight, clenching around his cock as he came.