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I ACCEPTED THE WINE from Brad, promising myself I would only have one glass. I wasn’t sure where this was going, or if I would have to drive back to Corey’s place that night. My own apartment was much closer, so that was also a possibility. I wasn’t sure how I felt about sleeping alone, but that wasn’t the most pressing concern.
I’d bought the ice cream hoping that it would be enough to get me in the door. It worked, and now I was standing in Brad’s kitchen, having a good laugh. Glancing over at the kitchen table, I couldn’t help but remember that hot encounter we’d had a few weeks ago. It wasn’t loving or tender, but we had been all over each other.
Licking my lips, I turned back to Brad, trying to keep the memory from shining in my eyes. He was probably thinking about it too. It was only natural. The last time we’d been in this kitchen, we had used our bodies to say what our words couldn’t. We were angry and desperate to keep things going.
All along, I had known that things would change when the court case was over with. It was true. I wouldn’t have to worry about Nikki ever again. And once I managed to set up the payment plan and get a new job, then things would start looking up. In the meantime, Brad was still the most important part of my life. A few weeks apart didn’t change that.
His comment about running the other way when things looked bad really struck me. I hated that things had worked out that way, and I hated myself for not being stronger. If only I could have taken what he was offering, or at least not pushed him away. Then we might still be together and have the option of a very long life in each other’s company.
I knew Brad had been serious about me before the breakup. He took me to visit his family and tried to encourage me to move in with him. You don’t do those kinds of things for someone you’re only passing the time with. It was my fault that we were no longer together. He had been nothing but patient and loving, while I’d argued with him every chance I got. The details of our past arguments escaped me, and I was left with a nagging guilt that I had managed to screw something beautiful out of existence. Could we ever get it back? That was the question I was determined to answer, and the evening was going fairly well so far.
“I have other news,” I said, deciding to take a detour rather than address the situation head on. “I was fired.”
“Fired?” he gasped, setting his wine glass down. “What happened?”
“She said it just wasn’t working out.” I replayed the awful confrontation in my head. “My head wasn’t really in the game. I was distracted a lot.”
“Teddy, I’m so sorry,” Brad said.
He slipped out from behind the counter and came around to my side. Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me against his chest. The moment my cheek connected with his heart, I felt the walls inside my mind come crashing down. A flood of emotion was released, and I found myself crying into his T-shirt.
I didn’t mean to show any weakness. I thought I would just be peppy and friendly and win him over with a silly gift. But I hadn’t counted on the power of my own unhappiness. Everything that was going wrong in my life ganged up on me, crowding into my headspace as Brad held me tightly.
I felt the sting of losing my job, of losing the court case, and of losing Brad himself. All these things nipped at my soul, shedding a river of blood from a thousand paper cuts. I reached up to grasp his sleeves, pulling him even tighter.
“I’m sorry,” I managed, apologizing for being a human being instead of the perfect girlfriend that I so desperately wanted to become.
“Shhh,” he said gently, stroking my hair.
I held on tightly, letting the waves of pain wash over me. I needed this; I needed him. No one else in the world could communicate so effectively using only a hug. I pressed my eyes closed and let myself pour all the negative emotions out. I watched the horror of Annie’s dismissal float by me on a river of tears. I watched Nikki’s sneer move toward me and then fade off into the distance as the comfort of Brad’s strong body took hold.
He said he was uncomfortable watching me lick a spoon. I didn’t sense any of the same longings watching him eat, but this was something entirely different. There was one thought that rose from the ashes of my discontent. I wanted to kiss him.
The need was so bad I put aside everything that had come between us in the past few weeks. I didn’t even consider whether he would object, or what it might feel like if he turned me down. Tilting my head up, I found him looking down at me. Our lips met, and sparks flew.
There was no discussion afterward. He didn’t pull away, and neither did I. We fell into each other so completely that it seemed for a moment that we had never left. I could taste the wine and the ice cream on his tongue as he licked deep, filling me with hope.
I tore my jacket off, never breaking the kiss. I just wanted to be closer to him, to have more skin exposed to his touch. He scooped me up, his arms so strong he didn’t even flinch. He walked through the kitchen and out into the living room. Needing his eyes to see, he had to temporarily release me from our lip lock, so I did the next best thing. I circled his shoulders with my arms and began to nibble on his ear.
He set me down on the sofa and sat next to me. I was on him in an instant, not caring what anyone thought. If I was the aggressive one, I trusted Brad to say something if he wasn’t interested. But everything he did just drew me in.
I centered myself over his crotch, pressing our pelvic bones together as I rocked forward to lean into his chest. My breasts hit his collar bone, the nipples hard and aching to be touched. I feathered my fingers up his throat, to his jaw where the night’s stubble had already started to grow.
Kissing him fiercely, I burned away all of his resistance. He was mine for the taking, and I knew that any fine print was going to wait until after we were satisfied. He gripped me at the hips, pulling me down onto his lap.
I drank him in like a woman dying of thirst, as if I hadn’t been kissed in decades. He slid his hands up and down my back, memorizing the shape. After a few passes, he dove beneath the fabric of my dress and eased it up over my head.
I took the opportunity to do the same for him, grabbing fistfuls of his cotton shirt and pushing it up his ribbed abdomen. He cast it aside, gazing at me just as I gazed at him. There was one breathless moment where we checked in with each other to see if this was really going to happen.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Fantastic,” he replied.
That was all the permission I needed. I kissed him again, and once more for good luck, before sitting up and undoing my bra. The moment my breasts swung free, I saw his eyes light up. He gripped me firmly from behind, using one hand on either side of my body to pin me in place. Squeezing one breast gently, he latched on. I felt a jolt of electricity sizzle through my core, landing in the one location that was aching to be used.
Arching my back, I felt the tip of my hair brush his forearm. His mouth surrounded my nipple with heat, a dull throb building in my chest. I ground myself against him, needing more even as he fed my growing desire.
His arm was locked behind my back, holding me in place. Pushing against it made me feel protected. I wasn’t going anywhere, and he wouldn’t let me fall. I rocked my hips back and forth, digging down into his lap to find the root of joy I was searching for.
There was something hard between his legs, but I couldn’t yet taste it. The way he sat beneath me masked most of its power. The jeans he wore covered him completely, allowing nothing to penetrate.
My panties stretched into my crotch, their thin cotton barely protecting my inner folds. I squirmed as he worked on my chest, feeling wave after wave of delicious warmth wash over me. The drama of the courtroom receded into the distance, taking with it all the poison of Annie’s final words.
There was nothing left except Brad’s love, and I was about to feel it even more completely. I closed my eyes, focusing in on his touch. There was a fire burning between us, something much deeper and more passionate than any marshmallow roast.
I couldn’t stand it any longer, reaching down to pull his mouth away. Kissing him fiercely, I wiggled my way out of his grasp, taking up a position in front of him on my knees. He bit his lip, knowing what was next.
I didn’t leave any room for argument, plucking the button of his jeans open. He replaced my hands with his, easing the zipper down over his long rod. I thrust my fingers beneath his waistband, helping him shed the last remaining barrier between us.
For a moment, I allowed myself to marvel at the rigid weight of his prick. It rose like a sculpture from his seated form, heavy with the promise of heaven. I knew what it would feel like inside me, but I was willing to wait. Before allowing him to complete the deed, I needed to taste his masculinity, to feel the bulk of it pressing down against my tonsils. I was hungry, and this was a thousand times better than any flavor of ice cream.
I glanced up at him with a wicked smile, letting him know exactly what I planned to do. He gazed down at me with dreamy eyes, his hand going instinctively to the top of my head. I felt him pet me like a cat, his vision unfocused and nearly delirious though I hadn’t yet begun to suck.
Pressing my lips together, I blew cold wind over the tip. Wrapping one hand around the base, I fondled his balls. I released my tongue and licked him gently, feeling the resulting shiver pass through his body and into mine.
I opened my mouth wide and sank my lips down over him. The shaft passed my inner cheeks to graze the back of my throat, filling me up with joy. Releasing my hand, I placed both palms on his thighs, gorging myself on his flesh until I nearly choked.
