“What is the deal with all these blankets?” Margo’s voice was breathy and just a touch needy and it popped the very last bubble of reserve I’d been harboring.
After ditching the condom, I rolled to my elbow and looked down at her. Mussed hair and bright eyes and lips wide with passion and with a smile. I swooped down to kiss that delectable mouth. “I record and mix audio in here.”
She looked around, clocking, I guess, my equipment and screens and piles of notes. “Oh, right. Sound baffling.”
“You know about that?”
“Two of my sisters are married to rock stars.”
Huh. So they were. In Rockport, the Dunways were just the Dunways, not a conduit to a world of fame. “And you’re not the only musical one in your family, are you? I think one of your sisters sang in my choir back then.”
“Larissa, yeah. The oldest. And Sarita and I were in orchestra. Cole in band. Jeannie, she’s the one married to Brendan Brody, is the only one with, like, no musical talent at all. Oh, and Emmeline can play piano but doesn’t like it.” With that, Margo scooched up and dragged one of the lighter blankets across her body. “Never mind them. I need to know. Were you, like, a sex god all this time?”
“I’m not sure I deserve quite that much praise.” But since I hadn’t covered up when she did, I was sure Margo noticed how my cock jumped at the compliment.
“Sure you do. It’s not as common as it should be, for a guy to focus first on getting his partner off. And to do it with unerring skill? Top of the charts, Karl.”
I studied her face, looking for signs of bitterness or old hurts or anything along those lines. “You’ve slept with some serious duds, sounds like.”
She laughed and reached up to toy with my hair. “Don’t be so grim about it. I’m speaking more from collective experience than personal. If someone I’m with is that selfish or won’t take direction, they’re not getting a second chance with me.”
A whole swirl of bubbles I hadn’t realized I was holding back popped, leaving me washed with hope. “Yeah? Does that mean second chances are on the table for me?”
“Oh, I think so.” Margo’s smile was lazy and satisfied. “I’m thinking you and I could have a lot of fun together.”
“Agreed.” My own smile was uncivilized and uncontainable. I drew my fingers across her collarbones and into the shadowed territory between her breasts, not quite displacing the blanket.
She shivered and relaxed into the futon, tracing the lines of my face as she lifted her chin slightly. “I like these.”
“My crow’s feet? Why, cause you like the reminder of how I’m ancient compared to you?”
“Come on. We’re both adults. How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“Hardly decrepit. That’s, what, eight years? Larissa is older than you.” Her knees angled up, letting the blanket pool around her waist. “Besides, you seem to have plenty of stamina from where I’m laying.”
My growing erection seemed to agree. The curves of her hips and thighs and ass taunted me, but I hadn’t yet gotten as much time with her breasts as I’d like. I kept tracing the not-quite-exposed flesh of her chest, and soon Margo was writhing and arching her spine enough for the blanket to slip, slip, slip down until one breast popped free. It was manna to a starving man, and I swooped to envelop her nipple in my feasting mouth.
“Oh, God.” Margo’s hands gripped my shoulders tighter. “That’s, fuck, that’s so good.”
She was right. The simple pull and swirl of my tongue around her hardening nipple sent shudders through her frame and made me want more. Wanted every twist of her body in response to my touch. Her skin felt like satin, so smooth and fine under my fingertips and lips, and I wanted to lap it all up. Her whole body undulated beneath me and it was an utter tease to my dick, which I needed to bury inside her while her body writhed around me.
I stood and tugged her to her feet.
“No, wait. What are you doing?”
“I have to fuck you, Margo.”
“What you have to do is suck on my other breast. This lopsided attention thing is bullshit.”
I dragged her into my arms, and the impact of all our naked skin meeting was bliss. “I’m not going to neglect it, sweetheart. I couldn’t. Your breasts are a gift, and I’m going to treasure them, just like I did your clit and your cunt. I’m going to trace their heft and pinch their tight nipples and devour them while you tell me exactly how skilled I am at reading your body’s responses. While you beg me for more, because I’m setting all your nerves on fire. But while I’m do all that, you’re going to keep getting hotter and wetter and more desperate for me, okay?”
Her eyes were blown wide, and she nodded, breathing fast.
“But the rest of my condoms are in my bedroom, and when I’ve got you so hot and so wet and so desperate, I’m going to have to fuck you. I have to bury myself in you and feel just how much you need me there. How your body grips and clings while I thrust, and thrust, and drive us both closer and closer to the edge. Do you agree?”
She answered me with a kiss, and it wasn’t everything I needed from her, but it was damn close. Intent and sensual and eager and us. Me and Margo.
I led us to the bedroom, skirting past Parsley who got the message with a quick word to keep hanging out in the living room. Margo crawled up my bed and watched me retrieve the box of condoms, teasing me all the while with her splayed legs and exploring fingers. There was nothing like watching a woman show me how she liked to be touched.
“You’re taking too long. I warned you about the lopsided thing, Karl.”
In response, I found the lube in my bedside drawer and set it beside her.
And then I made good on every dirty promise I’d made, and it was better than I could have dreamed. When we collapsed back on my rumpled and sweaty sheets, I reached to capture her hand.
“Thanks.”
“Right back at you, mister. You talk a good game and I’m not mad about your execution.”
“Well, you were complaining a lot. I had to mitigate that.”
She squeezed my fingers. “God, you’re not going to turn out to be a comedian dude, are you? Cause those second chances aren’t only about your skill in bed.”
“Dire threats.” I looked at her. “If that didn’t count as my second chance, can I officially ask for that now? Do you want to spend the night?”
Her brow pinched for just a sec before she hid her expression. “You still remember the part about me leaving next month?”
It shouldn’t have stung, being reminded about our time limit. “Yeah, of course. But this was fun. You were officially so right to say we shouldn’t waste time. I want more, while you’re here and if you’re willing.”
Her smile didn’t fully inhabit her face, not like the ones I’d earned earlier. “Sounds good. Sure. We’ll make a plan.”
With that, she slid out of bed. When she emerged from my bathroom, her damp hair was tamed down, hiding the orange streak again, and she was fully encased in one of my bath sheets. I’d slipped into clean boxers and a t-shirt and gathered her clothes from the detritus of my study. “Water’s there if you want it. How about some food? A beer?”
She dug through the pile for her underwear. “Thanks, no. I’m on shift first thing tomorrow, so it’s best I head out now.”
“Margo.” Something in my voice, or maybe some genuine urge of hers, stopped her fussing around and got her attention on me. I stepped forward and laid one of my business cards on top of her shirt. “That’s my cell. There’s no need to palm me off with niceties. Maybe I’m not ancient, but I’ve dated enough since my divorce to understand when I’m getting a polite line. Only call me if you want to call me, but just so you understand? I’m not seeing anyone else right now, and I’m very interested in seeing you again. If you change your mind about those second chances, and want to restrict us to conductor and musician from now on, that’s fine. But if you do call, I’m going to have a very long, very detailed list of ways I want us to experience each other, and I’m willing to spend as much time as either of us can spare between now and when you leave exploring them.”
She swallowed, looking from the card to my face to my body and back. And she didn’t answer me.
But she did drop the towel and took her sweet time covering every enticing inch of skin as I leaned back and watched. Once she was dressed, she tucked my card into her bra and approached.
Maybe it would have been cooler, more mature, to sit back and let her leave. Instead, as soon as she was close enough, I wrapped her in for another long kiss. She responded with sweetness and fire, and it made it a bit easier to watch her walk away, leaving me, once again, alone.