Fast acting, p.7
Fast Acting, page 7
Now, though. Now that she had shared things she usually hid from the world, this was more than casual fun.
Well, she had gotten this far with honesty. Keep doing what works. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.
“I just…it seems like we’re connecting. And I don’t want to fuck that up.”
Russell’s hand wrapped around her upper arm. Warm. So warm.
“I’m glad you think we’re connecting. I think we’re connecting too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and his forehead came to rest against hers. She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, soaking in the heat that radiated from his skin.
“How are you so warm?” she asked.
“Maybe so I can heat you up.”
Kathleen laughed. No, she nearly giggled. “Really?”
Russell’s head slipped to the side and his soft laugh warmed her neck. “Yeah. Really.”
“Is it working?” he asked. He could hear the nervous tremor in her laugh, felt the goosebumps the chilly air had raised on her soft skin as he smoothed his hands down her arms to her elbows. Her hands came up to rest on his chest. Could she feel the thud of his heart as it sped up, his body’s anticipation trying to overtake his mind’s restraint?
“I think so,” she said.
“You don’t know?” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“I think I need more evidence.”
He brushed his lips across the crest of her cheekbone. “Oh, listen to the actress tell the lawyer about evidence.”
“Hey. Just about any actress worth her salt has had some sort of lawyer gig.”
“Ha. ‘I’m not a lawyer but I play one on tv?’”
“Literally.”
“Well. What sort of evidence do we need to introduce to the jury? Or is this a judge trial?”
“Oh, no jury. I don’t want an audience for this.”
“And yet you’re an actress. Don’t you need an audience?” He pressed his lips to her neck, felt her shiver, inhaled her subtle perfume.
“Not acting now,” she said, her voice a little hoarse.
“That’s good to know.” He brought his mouth up to her ear, his lips brushing butterfly light. “Who’s the judge?”
She shivered again. “Me. You. Both of us.”
“Mmm. I like the sound of that.” He tugged the fabric sash at her waist, the silky material slipping easily out of its bow, the sides falling open a little. “I’ve thought about unwrapping you like a gift all evening.”
“Lawsuits and gifts. Are we mixing our metaphors?”
“Maybe. Do you mind?”
“No.” She pulled the knot of his tie loose, the silk slithering audibly as it slid around his neck. He swallowed as she unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, her eyes fixed with serious intent on her task. Her fingers moved to the next button.
“Wait.” He clasped her fingers in his, stilling them.
“What?” Kathleen’s eyes met his, a tiny frown putting a crease between her eyebrow.
“Just this.” Pulling her toward him, he slid his arms around her, one hand slipping into the open front of her dress and around her waist, pulling her to him. Her hands wound around his neck as he bent and kissed her, softly at first, then more deeply, their heads angling, mouths opening, tongues sliding together. The skin of the small of her back was smooth under his hand. She gave a little sigh when he pulled away, her eyelids fluttering open.
“Disappointed I stopped you?” he asked.
“Not at all.”
“Are you feeling warmer?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Good.” Tugging at her dress, it opened all the way. “I see my gift image was more spot on than even I thought.”
“Gift wrap by Diane Von Furstenburg,” she said, shrugging the garment off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor, leaving her wearing nothing but her shoes and a matching lace bra and panties the color of champagne, the gold necklace winking between her breasts. She pushed at his lapels, and he let his jacket slide down his arms and join her dress on the floor. “Our clothes will get wrinkled,” she murmured.
“Don’t care.” He kissed her again, but didn’t pull her so close that she couldn’t continue unbuttoning his shirt. His hands slid over the lace covering her ass, then underneath, savoring the smoothness of her skin after the texture of the fabric. The tails of his shirt slid out of the waistband of his trousers, tickling his sensitized skin. Regretfully pulling his hands from her body, he unbuttoned the cuffs and let her push the shirt off him, her fingers tracing lightly down his arms, trailing electrical currents in their wake. Suppressing his own urge to shiver, he grabbed the neckband of his undershirt and tugged it over his head. Before it was fully off, he felt her hands on his chest, sliding over his skin, fingertips dragging across his nipples, making his breath hitch. Her fingers slid lower, tracing down his stomach to his belt, undoing it and working the button of his trousers loose.
He grasped her hands again before she could continue to his zipper. “Wait. Dumb question. Condoms?”
Kathleen’s breath caught in her throat and she looked up at Russell’s face. “Yes. Why?”
He shrugged. “I…just thought about it.”
Her fingers felt like wood in his grasp. “You just thought about it. Just now.” Her gut went cold. Did he not use protection?
“It’s been a while. I’m out of practice. I mean, I have one in my Dopp kit…”
She bit a lip to keep from laughing. “One. You’re kidding.”
He covered his eyes with one hand. “I’m not coming off too smooth here, am I?”
A bubble of warmth welled up in Kathleen. This ridiculous, adorable man. “I got us covered. So to speak.”
His hand lowered and he squinted over his fingers as if he was in pain. “That was a terrible pun.”
“How terrible?” She rose on her tiptoes and tugged his hand away, pressing her lips into his palm.
His inhale hissed through his teeth. “Terrible? What’s terrible? What are we talking about? I lost track. Were we talking about something?”
Kathleen chuckled and he cupped her cheek with his hand. “I’ll be right back,” she said, stepping away from him, kicking off her shoes and removing her necklace before moving to the bathroom to get the box of condoms in her toiletry bag. When she got back to the bedroom, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, having removed his shoes and socks.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself.” He stood, his eyes traveling up and down as he stepped toward her. “You know,” he said, stepping so close that she could feel the heat radiating off his body, “I liked that dress you wore an awful lot, but I think I like this better.”
She put one hand on her hip and gave him her best arch look. “Men. So predictable.”
“Oh really?” His hands slid around her waist, pulling her flush against his body, evidence of his arousal pressing into her belly.
“Definitely. Not sure I’d have it any other way, though.”
“Why, because you have us at your mercy?”
“Maybe.”
“Well.” Kathleen gasped as he nipped at her neck, the scrape of his teeth making her nerves zing. “I’ll throw myself upon the mercy of the court, then.”
“I’ll try to be gentle with you.” His voice was liquid smoke.
“Mmm. Do that.” His lips and tongue traversed the line of her neck, then down into the hollow of her throat. Kathleen swallowed a groan. Every nerve in her body was awake, standing at attention, crackling with electricity.
“Russell?”
“Yes?”
“If we don’t get naked in exactly twenty seconds, I’m going to combust.”
Russell blinked. “Twenty seconds. Well. I’d better get on that, then.”
“Allow me.” Kathleen’s fingers undid his trousers and eased them, together with his underwear, over his erection before he could think.
“Well,” he said, stepping free of the garments puddled at his feet, “I guess it’s time to address your state of undress.” Sliding his hands around her back, he drank in her Cheshire cat smile, then savored her surprise when he left the clasp on her bra intact. His hands skimmed down, fingers hooking into the waistband of her panties, sinking to his knees as he drew them down her legs, then lifted first one foot then the other to free her ankles. Skimming his hands up the backs of her legs, he pressed a kiss to the strip of curls between her thighs, smiling as she gasped. Cupping her ass, he explored with his tongue, teasing her clit, feeling the responsive tremor in her thighs.
“Russell.” Her voice was thready, light.
“Mmm?”
She groaned. “I can’t do this standing. I’ll fall.”
He chuckled and stood, wrapping his right arm around her waist and taking her hand in his left. “Fine then,” he murmured, dancing her backward toward the bed. His erection brushed against her stomach, sending a jolt of need through him. Her eyes were heavy lidded and her pupils dilated as she came to rest with the backs of her legs against the bed. She sat and pushed back toward the headboard, never losing eye contact. Climbing on to the bed, he knelt between her knees, running his hands over her legs, urging them farther apart.
Sliding a finger into her slick folds, he pressed upward as his tongue and lips worked her clit. Her fingernails scraped against the coverlet as she gripped it. He added another finger, pumping gently, pressing his tongue harder, moving it faster.
“Oh. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop don’tstopdon’tstop…” Her pleas ended on a wailing groan as she pulsed and shuddered around his fingers. He pressed one last lingering kiss to her clit as her orgasm subsided and her body trembled and relaxed.
Pulling his fingers out, he moved over to lie on his side next to her, running his palm down over her stomach and hip, then back up to skim the lace of her bra, trace the upper curve of her breast.
One of her eyes opened, a narrow slit, and she looked at him sideways. “You’re…very good at that, you know.”
He kissed her shoulder. “I’m glad you think so.”
“This is not open to debate or opinion. It’s a fact.” She rolled over and grabbed the box of condoms, ripping the cardboard and detaching a packet from the strip. “Now.” She held it up between two fingers. “Round two.”
Kathleen’s body had moved on from being a puddle of relaxation and was thrumming with satisfied energy as she leaned forward to kiss Russell, shifting her body and straddling him. Tearing open the condom packet, she rolled it on to him, taking her time, observing the slight quickening of his breath, the way his cock gave a tiny twitch the first time she touched the soft, hot skin.
Positioning herself over him, she sank down, still slowly, controlling how he pushed into her, filled her. When he was fully inside, she reached back and unclasped her bra, stripping it off and tossing it aside, beginning to roll her hips. His eyes were locked on her swaying breasts. He reached up, gently pinching one hardened nipple and she gasped and her inner muscles clenched around him in response. The barest shadow of a wicked smile crossed his face and he cupped both her breasts, kneading and pinching, creating sensations just shy of pain. The feeling gathering and coalescing inside her was almost too much to bear. Her fingers found her clit, rubbing it, bearing down hard as her hips continued to work, her breathing reduced to shallow gasps. The coiling, tightening feeling inside her snapped wide and she sagged into his hands, almost sobbing with the force of it.
He lowered her onto his chest and rolled them over, her back pressed into the mattress, her legs winding around him. Stroking into her, he rose up onto his elbows, his gaze roaming her face. She grabbed his shoulders and lifted her hips as his pace quickened, his breath a hoarse rasp. His head dropped, his breath warm on her cheek. She ran her hands around his back, urging him closer, wanting the contact of his skin against hers. He sank against her, pressing kisses against her neck, their hips slapping together faster and faster until he pressed hard into her and stayed there, his breath audibly catching and his body shuddering.
Kathleen stroked his back, savoring the smooth skin over hard muscle. He made a low sound, like a purring cat, relaxing, his warmth blanketing her.
“You keep doing that and I’m going to fall asleep right here.”
“I wish you could.”
He sighed as he pushed up onto his elbows. “No, I’d crush you. And besides. Condom.”
“Ah,” she said as he rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Rising to her elbows, she looked around the room. It looked like it had been ransacked by an inept burglar, clothes everywhere. Getting up, she pulled the covers down and slid between the sheets as Russell returned.
He stood, one thumb tracing his lower lip. “Do you want me to stay?”
Kathleen blinked. “Is that a joke?”
“No, it’s an honest question.” The faintest smile made the ghost of his dimple grace his cheek.
“Of course I want you to stay.”
The dimple disappeared. “There’s no ‘of course’ about it. It’s your room. Your decision.”
Kathleen flipped the covers back. “Stay. Please.”
Chapter 9
A dream about kayaking on a river of broken glass dissolved and faded away as Russell woke up, an unfamiliar but not unwelcome warmth and softness pressed up against his body, a semi-familiar fragrance tickling his nose.
Kathleen.
She was spooned up in front of him, her ribcage rising and falling under his arm with slow, even breath, apparently deeply asleep, her ass nestled against his groin. It was sweet and cozy and more than a little arousing.
The problem was, he had to pee.
Moving slowly and carefully, Russell pulled his arm away and slid out of the bed, feeling his way to the bathroom in the darkness. Opening the door, he cringed when the hinges squeaked, not wanting to wake Kathleen. The light switch produced a glare that made him wince and close his eyes until they adjusted a little. He found the toilet with squinting eyes and lifted the lid and seat to relieve the pressure in his bladder.
Don’t forget to put it down. The years of living alone had put him out of the habit, but the patterns of growing up in a majority-female household swiftly reasserted themselves. He finished relieving himself and settled the lid down as he flushed, washing his hands and turning out the light before reopening the door. He stood in the darkness for a few moments, waiting for his eyes to re-acclimate to the dimness.
“Are you leaving?” Kathleen’s voice was thick with sleep.
“Do you want me to?” Trailing his fingers across the wall for guidance, he made his way towards the bed.
“No. Why do you keep asking me that?” The covers rustled as she shifted and he bit back a curse when his toe connected with what must be the leg of the nightstand.
He pushed the covers back and eased into the bed, his toe throbbing. “It’s complicated.”
“So, tell me the complicated thing. You’re a professor. Profess.”
“Aren’t you sleepy?” He bunched the pillow under his head, heard the bedclothes rustle as she moved, maybe doing the same thing, the two of them facing each other in the dark that smelled of light perfume, clean bed linens, and sex.
“Nuh-uh. Wide awake.” Her voice sounded clearer, more alert. “What time is it?”
Russell twisted around to look at the glowing numbers on the nightstand clock. “Almost three.”
“Tell me a story.”
He considered for a moment. Where to begin. How far to go. “Well, it started with my parents. And my older sisters. They taught me to respect women. That was the framework I started with.”
“Your family seems nice.”
“They are. We’re a close-knit bunch.”
“Sounds like there might be something more than that, though.”
Huffing a laugh, Russell said, “Something like that.”
“So…”
“It’s ancient history.”
“It made you who you are. I’m interested.” Kathleen’s voice was soft in the darkness. Her foot reached out to touch his, toes brushing—luckily not making contact with the tender one that still throbbed.
“I was…something of a late bloomer. My high school girlfriend was ready for sex before I was. She pushed. I gave in. Broken condom. A few weeks of panic, but luckily no pregnancy. And a lifetime of caution.”
There was a long silence. Then Kathleen said, “That explains the caution, but not the…what is the word I’m looking for? Chivalry? The constant checking in to see if I’m okay?”
Russell paused. He’d never told this story to anyone. Not the full story, at least. He took a deep breath. “The biggest lesson I took away from that experience is that I let my own choices be overridden by her desires. I let the ‘should’ get to me.”
“The ‘should’?”
“I should have been a horny teenage guy, up for everything. I should have taken anything I was offered. I should have jumped at the chance.”
“And you weren’t horny?”
“Of course I was. But I was also scared. And not ready yet. And I knew it. But I let her pressure me into doing what I wasn’t ready for. Because of what a young man should be.”
“Ah.”
“You get what I’m talking about?” He could barely breathe. The possibility that she—that anyone—would really understand seemed more remote than a star.
“I think so. One of my aunts has a saying: ‘I shan’t be should upon.’”
He closed his eyes, exhaling a long, slow breath. “I’m going to steal that phrase. Your aunt sounds like a smart lady.”
