She nodded. “I believe you. I want to. But it’s more than that. I’m worried about . . . not being good enough.”
I would’ve laughed if I couldn’t have seen how serious she was. “Why the hell would you think that?”
Her throat worked. “First, because I haven’t been with any man for a very, very long time. I told you Craig and I had . . . trouble. I couldn’t stand to have him touch me. We only were together twice. Once before Bridget was born, when I was pregnant, and then after. I think he thought—hoped—it was just the pregnancy that made it so awkward the first time. So when the doctor gave me the green light after I had Bridge, Craig really tried. He set up this romantic night, plied me with lots of wine and was so patient. It was okay during, for him at least, but after, I couldn’t stop crying.” She sighed. “I’m pretty sure that’s when he decided to leave.”
My heart ached for her. “And no one else, Ali? In all that time?”
She flushed. “Men weren’t exactly knocking down the door, and I didn’t have any time to go find them. No, no one else.” She linked her hands behind my neck. “I didn’t want anyone. Not until you came back to town.”
I smiled. “That’s not something to be nervous about, babe. I know it makes me sound like a huge chauvinist pig, but I’m glad you weren’t with other guys. You’ve been mine for a long time. I like that.”
“And that’s the second thing that worries me. You’ve been with other women.” She said it definitively. “They’ve probably been . . . experienced. I’m not. What if you realize I’m a letdown?”
“Ali, no way.” I exhaled. “I’m not going to lie to you. Yeah, I’ve slept with other women. But you need to know . . . I didn’t have sex with anyone else until after you married Craig. One night, a few weeks after, I got ripping drunk, and I slept with a girl I’d met at the office where I worked. It didn’t mean anything. She knew it and so did I.” I lifted my shoulders. “Other than that, yeah, there’ve been women here or there. Not as many as you probably think. No relationships. Just nights when I couldn’t stand to be alone anymore.”
Ali nodded, but her eyes were fastened on my chest. “I didn’t think you were a monk. It still makes me feel like I might be inadequate.” She tightened her hands behind my neck. “And I’m scared . . . because I don’t have the same body I did ten years ago. I had a baby, Flynn. And I’m not seventeen anymore. What if my body disgusts you?”
I couldn’t help it. I dropped my head back and laughed. “You’re insane, you know that, right? Your body? Didn’t you hear what I told you the other night, on the phone? Seeing you makes me hard. You’re fucking perfect, babe. I promise.” I paused, thinking for a minute. “I have an idea. You game to try something?”
Interest sparked in her eyes. “Like what?”
“You said you were getting turned on when we were talking on the phone. Go up to your room. Take your phone. I’ll call you from down here, and we’ll . . . talk. And then when you’re ready for me to come upstairs, I’ll be there faster than you can say the words.”
She giggled, but I could see the prospective intrigued her. “Really? Isn’t that kind of silly?”
“Hey.” I tilted her chin with one finger. “Nothing’s silly when it comes to you and me. Remember, we talk about everything. And we work through it together. So get your phone and go up. Oh, but first . . .” I slid my arms around her waist and drew her closer to me. “First, I’m going to kiss you. If nothing else happens tonight, I’ve been waiting and wanting to kiss you for weeks. That’s happening.”
Before she could respond, I pulled her to me and angled my mouth over her lips. I started soft, with just a touch, but the moment we connected, desire surged. I coaxed her mouth open and trailed my tongue over hers and around her inner lips. Ali moaned a little, just a low sound, but it drove me freaking crazy. I wanted her now, spread open and begging for me.
But I could feel that she was still nervous. Still tentative. So reluctantly I leaned back and pushed her off my lap, my hands gentle on her hips. “If you don’t go upstairs now, I’m going to forget why I’m sending you there.” I gave her a light swat on the ass. “Hurry up before you miss my call.”
Ali grabbed her phone from the counter and sprinted up the steps. I gave her a few seconds to get settled on her bed before I called her.
“Hi, Flynn.” Her voice was low, like it was every night when I called her. I settled back in my chair.
“Hey, Ali. Everything okay there?” It was how I started out every conversation with her.
“Yes, everything’s fine.” She paused, and I figured she was waiting for me to bring up a do-you-remember, as I usually did. But before I could think of what I wanted to say, she spoke again. “Do you remember the last time we made love?”
I closed my eyes.Hell, yeah, I remembered it.“I do. We were down at the lake again. It was the night before graduation. And we went skinny-dipping that night, because it was so hot.”
“You chased me into the water, and I thought we were just going to cool off and then get out. But you caught me after I surfaced from going under, and you pulled me close, and I could feel how . . . aroused you were. And you looked at me, and without either of us saying a word, I wrapped my legs around your hips, and you entered me. We didn’t say anything. There wasn’t any sound but the slosh of the water around us, and when I started to come, you did, too. I had one of the most intense orgasms I’d ever had.”
My cock pulsed between my legs, and I was having trouble breathing. “Yeah. And then I carried you out of the water, still inside you, and we laid down on the blanket, and just . . . touched each other until I was hard again. I rolled us over so you were on top, and you rode me. Your tits were gorgeous, right in my face, and I leaned up to suck your nipple. You told me to do it hard. You ground down on me and started to come. And I—”
“Flynn.” Her voice sounded strangled. “Flynn, come up here. Come up here and make love to me. I want you.”
I dropped my phone and took the steps two at a time. Ali’s door was open, and she lay on her bed, her dress hiked up just enough that I could see she wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“Ali. Holy shit.” I dropped to my knees next to her bed and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her open-mouthed and hard. “God, I want you. I want to take you so hard, babe.”
“Yes.” She buried her fingers in my hair. “I need you right now. I’m on fire for you, Flynn. I want you inside me. Now.”
“In a minute. First . . .” I grabbed her leg, moving her so that she lay crossways on the bed. I ducked between her thighs and then tugged down so that my mouth was at her core. “First, I’m going to blow you away.”
I covered her with my mouth, teasing with my tongue. Ali cried out, arching toward me. She was already so wet, and I knew she was on the verge of coming. I sucked lightly on her clit and then speared my tongue into her.
“Come for me, babe. Come right now.”
