Once Upon A Grump, page 19
Tomorrow, at least. Or maybe the day after. The important part was I felt like I was ready to do it soon. Ish.
35
CHRISTIAN
The bus was a double decker with an open top. I’d purchased the whole bus so we wouldn’t have to deal with other people. Lola had rolled her eyes at me when she realized, but I didn’t care. I wanted her to myself, so we went to the top floor and sat at the back. I pulled her into me with one arm around her shoulder. There were little speakers positioned all over the bus. We’d passed a little old lady who I wasn’t sure looked qualified to drive the bus. She’d smiled and waved at us, eyes looking huge behind a pair of glasses that looked thick enough to stop a bullet.
The night was warm and humid ,and the streets were alive, as usual.
“Damn it,” Lola said. “I forgot a hair tie.”
“Here.” I turned her back to me and gathered a chunk of hair. I braided it into a long strand, then scooped up the rest of her hair and used the braid to wrap around and form a ponytail. I was sure to tie a knot that came loose easily.
She faced me when I was done, reaching back to touch her hair in astonishment. “Did you just… use my own hair to tie a ponytail?”
“Yes.”
“First of all, where has that knowledge been my whole life? Second of all, how is that in your toolkit? Oh God. Please don’t tell me it’s a blowjob thing. It’s a blowjob thing, isn’t it?”
I cleared my throat. “Looks like the tour is starting.”
Lola narrowed her eyes at me, but eventually just shook her head and leaned back into my side.
The bus chugged and hummed a little worryingly, but eventually started to inch along the road. The old woman’s voice came blaring over the speakers so loudly I thought I might end the night with hearing damage.
“Alright, alright,” the old woman said through the speakers. “Where should we start our little tour?” Her accent was so heavy it sounded like she was asking where we would start the Jewish Holy Book instead of a tour. “We could go to Queens, eh? Who wouldn’t want to be Queens for a day? Or Staten Island always floats my boat. Then again, the views from the Empire State Building couldn’t be NYCer… Get it? Okay, yeah, that one makes more sense if you write it out.”
I turned to look at Lola. “I didn’t know she would be so…”
“She’s perfect!” Lola said, smiling wide and squeezing my arm into a hug.
I couldn’t help smirking at the look on her face.
“Alright, alright. I’m sorry for Yankee-ing your chains, but it only gets worse from here, folks. Buckle up! Actually, you can’t. This bus has no seat belts for passengers. If the passengers don’t need belts, why do they give me one? Huh? I’ve always wondered that.”
“I thought a bus tour would involve more… touring,” I said.
“Oh, sometimes they do. But the best ones are when you get a crazy driver like this. I don’t care what she shows us. I’m just enjoying the ride.”
“Anyway,” the old woman continued. “I read this story last night about a guy who has been pulling up two-hundred and fifty pound catfishes from the Hudson. Big deal, I say. I do that every day on Tinder.”
“Do you think she’s really on Tinder?” Lola asked, eyes bulging.
“I think she must’ve looked up a list of bad puns on the internet and made a list of them to torture us.”
Lola smiled and slid her hand into mine. I squeezed it and found myself leaning back, idly looking out over the street while our crazy grandma driver continued to blare very bad, cheesy jokes into our ears.
I could almost forget that Adrian Bellamo had a figurative gun to my head. I could even mostly forget one of the other reasons I’d decided to come to New York–that Adrian’s father, Luco Bellamo operated out of the city.
Lola and I had gone at breakneck speed from hating each other to casually fucking and then to dating and holding hands like a pair of high school kids. But none of that seemed to stop me from feeling like I’d do anything to protect this. I wanted to have her to myself, and I wanted to keep my company. I wanted her to be in Max’s life because I could see how good they were for each other. I wanted all of it, and the only way I might be able to get that was if I played along with Adrian’s demands. Soon, I’d find out what the hell Luco wanted from me and then I’d decide how much of my soul I was willing to sell.
“Alright, alright,” The driver said. “I’m gonna Central-park myself here for a few minutes. I gotta take a leak. Yous two decide to leave, that’s not my problem, alright? If I’m not back in twenty, I might’ve stopped for a few drinks. You’ve been a great audience!”
I stared at Lola.
She laughed. “That was like ten minutes. Didn’t the website say it was an hour?’
“It did,” I said. “But I can think of a few ways to kill twenty minutes.”
I slid my hand up Lola’s thigh and used my other to cup her cheek, pulling her toward me for a kiss. She was my fucking drug. One taste and all my worries were blasted into the far corners of my mind. One touch and I was content. I could even imagine not giving a shit if I lost the company as long as I knew I’d still have her.
That last thought made me pause.
“What’s wrong?” Lola asked.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” I pulled her in, kissing her again. But even her mouth couldn’t fully distract me from the fact that I was even considering letting them win and giving up the company. No. I needed to remember that no matter how good this all felt, it was temporary. No matter what I might want, Lola would eventually figure out I wasn’t who she thought I was. She’d move on with her life and I’d be right back where I was, cold, alone, and with only my company to cling to. If I lost the company and I lost her, I knew there’d be no turning back for me.
I couldn’t help remembering I was in the same town as Luco Bellamo. I intended to wait as long as I could to meet with him, but I knew it was looming. I just hoped I could forget about everything ahead and enjoy the time I had with Lola while we were here first.
36
LOLA
I was a little tipsy, smiling, and loving the way Christian’s arm felt around my shoulder. He worked the key into his apartment door and let us in a little after midnight.
The sound of Max’s voice from behind her door cut off abruptly once we came in.
Christian frowned. “She’s still awake?”
“Probably on the phone with a boy,” I said, secretly hoping she’d patched things up with that guy who broke her heart because he wanted to be with someone he could see in person. Maybe she’d told him she was going to Fairhope High after all.
“Like fuck she is,” he growled.
I rolled my eyes. “You can either be cool about your niece dating and liking boys and she just might talk to you about it. Or you can try to forbid her and she’ll do it anyway behind your back. Better to make your choice now.”
He scowled in the direction of her door, but when he looked down at me, I could see his thoughts had already shifted gears. There was a smoldering look in his eyes. “Bedroom. Now.”
“I need a shower,” I said. “It was muggy out and I feel gross.”
It looked like Christian wanted to argue, so I gave him an innocent shrug. “You could help clean me off,” I suggested.
He made me giggle when he scooped me up and carried me through the apartment, kicking open doors and expertly swinging me through doorways without bashing my head or my feet on anything. He locked the bathroom door, then pulled me into the shower and turned on the water without even stopping to take off our clothes.
I gasped and sucked in a breath when the cold water hit me. “What the hell!” I laughed.
Christian pulled me closer. “It’ll heat up in here. That’s a guarantee.”
“Did you just soak me and my clothes in cold water for the sake of a cheesy line?”
“Yes,” he said.
The water pattered against our clothes, probably ruining his expensive dress shoes and shirt. If he cared, he gave no sign of it. He put his hands around the small of my back and pulled me toward him. The water was hitting his back and rolling off his shoulders to splatter me. It was finally getting warmer.
His hair hung down in dark clumps, dripping down his beautiful face.
I lifted my fingertips and dragged them down his shirt where I could see the white fabric clinging to his skin. I thumbed his nipple, playfully biting my lip and looking up at him. “You know,” I said. “It’s a lot harder to take off wet clothes. You’re going to regret this.”
“I’ll manage.”
Christian started working on my clothes. He was rough with them and didn’t seem to care if he ripped or tore things in his hurry to get them off. After an enjoyable minute or two of watching him work to strip me down, my clothes were in a wet pile between our feet. He looked at my naked body and made a low, growling sound before cupping one breast and taking my ass in his big hand, squeezing hard. He lifted me and pinned me to the wall, lifting my leg so my sex was against the hard shape of his erection.
He kissed me hard, tilting my chin back and teasing my tongue with his.
In a matter of moments, I was desperate to have him. I wanted all of him. I wanted him inside me, around me, kissing me, loving me. I swallowed, distracted by the thoughts running through my head, even as he stepped back from me and started tearing his clothes off.
Loving me? Was that really what I wanted or expected from him?
I’d come to Colorado to escape the mess I left behind. The plan had been to avoid getting entangled in any more drama, and now I was here in the shower with my boss hoping he was falling for me like I was falling for him? But the sight of him literally ripping his button-down shirt open pulled me back to the moment.
I giggled, flinching back as a rogue button bounced off my collarbone and clicked to the floor.
He shoved his pants down and stood there, fully naked and fully perfect. Rivulets of water ran down his powerful chest and across the ripples of his abs–down the sharp “V” of muscle that led straight to the most beautiful erect penis I’d ever laid eyes on–not that it was an excessively long list, but still.
“Bring that over here,” I said, beckoning with one finger.
He didn’t need me to ask twice. He only stopped to fish a condom from his soaked pants and slid it on, then he came to me.
Christian’s hands were in my hair and his tongue was in my mouth. My leg was up and around his waist so my heel dug in his muscular ass as he ground against me, animalistic in his search for friction.
I reached between us and gripped him, letting him fuck my hand.
But I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed him inside me. Foreplay could go fuck itself.
I lifted his cock and titled my hips, positioning him at my entrance so his next thrust pumped straight into me. My free hand gripped his broad back until I probably was drawing blood with my nails, but he didn’t stop. He took my ass in both hands, lifting me higher against the wall and pounding into me, filling me until there was nothing left to give.
He rocked his hips in some magical way that had me almost ready to orgasm after just a few pumps.
“You are so fucking tight,” he growled.
“Maybe you’re just big,” I breathed.
“I want to feel you grip me,” he said.
I focused on clenching every muscle I could and nearly lost it from the rush of extra sensation. Christian growled loudly, increasing his pace. “Fuck, yeah,” he hissed.
I clenched again and a moan slipped from me. It only seemed to encourage him more.
He surprised me by pausing when he was completely inside me. He reached down between us and rubbed a torturous circle on my clit with his thumb, locking eyes with me. I didn’t exactly need help orgasming, but I wasn’t about to complain.
I locked my ankles behind his back, humping my body into him to fuck his cock while he circled me.
I was moments from climax and breathing hard when he suddenly stopped, pressing into me so hard I couldn’t move against him anymore. The feeling of impending orgasm slipped just out of reach, and then he started again, still watching me with explosive intensity.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Making sure you come so hard you’ll never be able to imagine fucking someone else ever again.”
“That hard?” I breathed.
He smirked, circling me again with his thumb and moving in slow, agonizingly perfect thrusts. It wasn’t long before I was at the edge again and he stopped, watching knowingly as I felt the sensation fade once again.
He turned me around, lifting my hands and planting them on the wall before bending me over in front of him. He reached one hand around me, still toying with me as he took me from behind, one hand cupping my breast and teasing my hardened nipple.
I lost track of how many times he brought me to the edge and stopped. All I knew was I might lose my fucking mind if he kept it up.
I gritted my teeth when he stopped once again and reached behind to grip his ass. I started fucking him roughly, glaring up at him as if daring him to make me stop.
He tried to wrap a hand around my waist to stop me from pounding into him, but I was going to have my goddamn orgasm.
Christian had worn a mask of control and dominance the whole time, but I saw a glint of fear in his eyes as I slammed my ass into him again and again, fucking his cock for all it was worth. His forehead creased and I saw he was just as close as I was.
I gasped out, slamming my palms into the wall and arching my back, sliding my wet ass up and down as my walls gripped his cock.
I felt him twitch inside me and he let out a low growl of pleasure, hands gripping my breasts so hard it hurt as he leaned forward. He pulsed several more times, groaning as I moaned and gasped for breath.
When I finally stood up and turned to face him, he was smiling. “I wondered how long it would be until you took what I was dangling in front of you.”
I stared, open-mouthed. “You planned that?”
“And it was even sexier than I’d imagined. You did amazing.”
I was smiling in self-congratulation when he fell to his knees and put his face between my legs.
“What are you doing?” I asked. Usually when guys orgasmed, they were tapped out and done. I wondered if he’d lost something down there and was on his way to find it.
“I’ve been thinking about tasting you again ever since the last time.”
“Oh,” was all I managed. He slid one of my thighs over his shoulder and then lifted the other, taking all my weight and letting me lean my back against the cold shower tiles. I gripped his hair for balance with one hand and planted the other on the wall.
Christian went to work on me with enthusiasm, sucking me between his lips and running rapid circles around my sensitive clit with his tongue. He used his hands to position me so he could slide his tongue down my valley and into my entrance, swirling as he brought his fingers back to work alongside his mouth.
I was still riding the aftershocks of my first orgasm, and I could already feel another banging on the door, waiting to be released.
I closed my eyes, biting my lip as I tried to hold it back. This was fucking heaven. I didn’t want it to stop.
But Christian wasn’t teasing me this time. He wanted me to come, and he wanted me to come fast.
He increased his pace, lapping me up like I was the most delicious thing on the planet until I couldn’t help from grinding myself into his face. He groaned against me, sending a rumble of vibrations through my most sensitive places and pushing me over the edge.
I gasped, grasping his head with both hands and rubbing myself into his face as he drove his tongue into me, finger still circling. My whole body shook and went tense with my climax. Once it finally passed, I felt like a warm pile of goo.
He lowered me down, setting me on the ground so the shower water splashed across my chest and sent little tickling drips of water against my eyes and face.
“Jesus,” I gasped, chest still rising and falling rapidly.
“Yeah,” he agreed, leaning over me and kissing me deeply. “Did we ever really think this could just stay casual?”
“For like ten seconds, yeah,” I laughed.
He smiled. He was idly running his fingertip down the center of my chest toward my belly button, watching the trail of water follow its path in fascination.
“Do you think this can really work?” I asked after a few moments of silence.
“Us?” he asked.
“Yeah. I mean, that Bellamo guy is going to screw you if you’re still with me and watching Max in a month, right? Wouldn’t it be better if you could cut us both loose and try to claim he was making it all up?”
“I don’t know,” Christian said, lowering his eyes. His palm was resting on my stomach now. “But the more time I spend with you, the more I think I’m going to do something stupid to make sure I don’t have to give you up.”
I bit my lip. “Yeah,” was all I could say. I felt the same. I felt it worse, even. Being with Christian felt too damn good to ever imagine letting it go. But I had to be ready, didn’t I? I knew him well enough to know how much his company meant to him. If cutting things off with me was the only way to save his company, I didn’t want to be in the way. I didn’t want to have him if it meant he had to give everything up to have me. So I had to try to guard my heart. Somehow. I had to find a way to make sure I didn’t go all the way over the edge.
But what if I was already there?
37
CHRISTIAN
It was our third day in Manhattan, and part of me wished this little trip never had to end. I’d taken Lola to a Broadway show, two museums, an art gallery, and we’d toured a butterfly farm with Max. I took her to my favorite restaurants and we brought dinners back for Max, who was more than happy to be lazy at the apartment.
