“Starving,” I said.
He bent down and whispered in my ear. “Good.”
I downed the rest of my wine and let him lead me up to his bedroom. He bent me over the bed and played my body like an instrument. He was a master at his craft. He drew the moment out while I laid enraptured by his touch. There was no final moment. Just one explosion after the other until we collapsed onto the bed, both of us too tired to do anything but bask in the warm afterglow.
Chapter 15
Jake
The first thing I saw when my eyes opened the next morning was Maria sleeping next to me. I hadn’t let a woman stay in my house in a long time. It was against my rules, but having her there felt comforting. I knew it was wrong, but a man couldn’t live off of sex alone. And it felt so natural, like I should’ve had her there all along.
My cock hardened while I watched her breath rise and fall. She sighed softly and turned over, revealing her naked hips from under the covers. I knew that if I waited there much longer, I’d be tearing the blanket off and pounding into her, but I didn’t want to wake her up. She looked so peaceful. I put on a pair of track pants and an old shirt and walked down the hall into the gym.
I hopped on the treadmill and turned it on to a walking pace while I focused on my breath—in my nose and out my mouth, over and over, hoping to distract myself from the way my cock swung back and forth while I walked. It rubbed against my pants. The head burned, and my blood flowed.
I wanted to run back into the bedroom and rail through her, but something told me it was a bad idea. I turned the speed up and started jogging, still clinging to the idea that I could focus on anything other than the goddess laying on my bed.
I turned the speed up higher, thinking the faster pace would clear my head as my lungs strained to keep up with the rest of my body. Beads of sweat fell down my forehead over my face. I wiped them away, but they kept coming.
I closed my eyes to block the sweat from getting into them, but when I did, I saw her in the shower with her head back and water streaming down her neck. I turned the speed up and raised the volume on the TV, but it couldn’t drown out the sound of her screaming when she came.
The treadmill wasn’t working. I needed to push myself even harder. I laid down on the bench press and started my reps. “One,” I grunted. “Two, three, four.” It sounded just like when I pushed through her. I lifted the weight up and set it on the bar.
There wasn’t any point in working out if I couldn’t work off my pent-up energy. I didn’t understand what was wrong with me, or why I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I’d spent countless hours dreaming about women, but this was different.
Normally, I thought about women so I could get off. When I thought about Maria, there was a burst of excitement and wonder. I wanted to pick her brain and find out everything about her. This was a genuine emotional interest, not a shallow fantasy.
I walked back in my room quietly to see if she was awake. She had her back turned, and her chest rose and fell. I couldn’t just kick her out like I normally would. We’d had too much fun, and I didn’t want her to leave right away. I decided to go down to the kitchen and kick the girls out so I could make us both some breakfast.
I began with eggs, scrambled with a touch of cream to get the perfect consistency. Then pancakes. Some with blueberries and others with chocolate chips. Then I fried up an entire package of bacon and sausages. I knew it was a lot, and most of it would go to feeding the staff, but I wanted to make breakfast an event.
I added some greens to garnish the platter and poured up three bottles of syrup: maple, strawberry, and blackberry. Then I walked out back to cut a rose for her. She deserved some appreciation after everything she’d put up with.
I almost felt bad. I knew she didn’t feel comfortable getting paid, but I didn’t feel comfortable using her. Any arrangement we made would have to be completely platonic. A business deal was the best way to set that boundary, and she deserved the money. I could tell that she wasn’t used to it.
Still, in a perfect world, none of this would be happening. I had fought for years to control my sex drive. I pushed it down and wore out my hand. I waited out my cravings, but it just made things worse. In the end, I’d just end up screwing the
first woman I saw, and it broke hearts. I wasn’t a predator. I didn’t want to hurt any of these women. I hated it, but I couldn’t control myself. Any woman I was with would have to take on that burden.
When I walked back upstairs to check on her, my stomach jumped. The covers had fallen down her chest, revealing a rosy swatch of nipple. I had the food waiting outside the door and laid down beside her. I wanted to stroke her face and wake her up with a kiss. I wanted to do that every morning, but it was just too dangerous. We couldn’t do this again. I’d already gone too far.
Chapter 16
Mercedes
A warm band of light streamed in through the curtains and fell on my face. I heard the sound of Jake breathing and felt his arm around me. I shot up.
“Good morning,” he said. The light beat against his ruffled, golden hair.
“Good morning.” I stretched my arms up and looked at the clock beside his nightstand. It was already 9.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’ve got to call my parents. They’re probably freaking out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I know how it sounds.” I blushed. “They’ve got a lot on their plates. Worrying is sort of a family pastime.”