Burning Down the House (19 page)

“
Your jack-o-lantern looks like a mental patient.” Placing my hands on my hips, I surveyed Rob’s work critically. I’d requested that he make it scary, but instead the pumpkin sort of resembled that crazy-eyed school bus driver from South Park. Which I guess could be construed as scary, in a way.

“I never claimed to be Rembrandt.”
He smoothed off one corner of the jagged mouth with the knife’s edge. “Actually I think it looks pretty good.”

“It looks like it needs a straightjacket,” I giggled.

“That makes two of you then, doesn’t it.” Wiping his hands on his jeans, he reached for another miniature Butterfinger out of the plastic bowl on the counter, tearing open the wrapper with his teeth.

“Would you stop eating all the candy!”
The guy was like a bottomless pit. I mean, where did it all go? He must have the metabolism of a coked up hummingbird.

“
All
of it? Shit, Sara, we bought enough to keep every kid in the neighborhood wired until Christmas!” He shoved the whole thing in his mouth. “Sthtop bein’ sthtingy.”

I was trying to come up with a witty
rebuttal when Dana’s ringtone broke my train of thought. “Trick or treat, ho!” I greeted her cheerfully.

“Happy birthday,
floozy!” she replied, laughing. “What are you up to?”

“Watching
Rob demolish a pumpkin.” I grinned when he raised an eyebrow at me. “How about you?”

“Nothing much
- Trent’s here, we’re watching a movie. I’m about to start getting ready for tonight. Did you decide if you were coming or not?” In the background I heard Trent holler, “
You’re cordially invited, bitch!
”

“Tell him that was the
absolute worst Tiny Tina impression I ever heard and to lay off the Borderlands. And I still don’t know…how late do you think you guys are gonna stay?”

“Guess it depends.
Why don’t you just give me a call later if you decide you’re coming, okay?”

“Okay. You guys be good.”

“Don’t count on it…” she sang gaily before ending the call.

I slid the phone back into my pocket
and watched as Rob began carefully slicing the top off the second pumpkin. Without taking his eyes off his work, he asked, “You planning on going out to Savage River tonight?”

I shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe
, after I’m done passing out candy. You can come with me if you want.”

“I could.” Grasping the stem, he pulled the top off and scraped the pumpkin guts
and seeds that were clinging to it. “Or…you could just stay here with me and we could veg out on horror movies.” He shot me a quick glance and there was something there, I don’t know what exactly, but I could feel deep inside that he had more on his mind than a late-night movie marathon. That the thin veneer of his wall of resistance was cracking. Maybe I was wrong. But I didn’t think so.

Well, that settled that.
I wasn’t going
anywhere
tonight. Disregarding the anxious butterfly wings beating against my chest, I carefully kept my voice steady as I agreed nonchalantly to his suggestion. “Sure…okay. We could do that.”

It was
5:30 and scarcely dusk out when the first trick-or-treaters started showing up. Rob had disappeared to go have a shower so I settled myself outside on the front steps between the two goofy jack-o-lanterns. From this vantage point I doled out treats to fairy princesses, superheroes and even one adorable little boy dressed as a garden gnome, complete with white beard and pointy cap. The early arrivals were mostly toddlers and smaller children holding tightly to their parents’ hands so they didn’t trip and fall. They were all so cute I went a little overboard with the candy. That was okay though - we’d made a trip to the store earlier so there was no worry of running low.

I smiled when I
caught sight of Peyton skipping up the sidewalk from her house next door, all decked out in her pink tutu and ballet slippers. Her blonde curls were even pulled back into a neat little bun. Mr. Weston followed behind her, strolling along at a more leisurely pace. Her mother must have stayed behind to pass out candy.

“
Trick or treat, smell my feet!” she chanted loudly, swinging her plastic orange pail.

I crossed my arms over my knees. “Well, now who is this? Don’t I know you
from somewhere?”

“I’m
the sugar plum fairy!” she announced, twirling around in a few unsteady circles to make her point.

“
Oh, I see…well, in that case you’ll need lots of sugar, right?” I grabbed two big handfuls and dropped them into her bucket, then looked over my shoulder as I heard the front door open and close behind me.

“
Well hey there, Miss Sassytude.” Rob sat down beside me on the brick steps, close enough that we were shoulder to shoulder. I could smell the Irish Spring soap he’d just used, and for some reason that turned my insides to jelly.

Peyton
propped a hand on her waist just above the tutu and assumed her prissiest stance, with one tiny hip jutting out and head tilted to the side. “
I’m
not a sassytude - I’m a ballerina! Don’t you know
anything?
”

“
My bad. I’m always getting the two mixed up.”

“She’s the sugar plum fairy,” I informed him before confiding in Peyton, “Boys are
so dumb, aren’t they?”

“Yeah - boys are dumb!” she
agreed.

“Say ‘thank you’, Peyton,”
Mr. Weston prompted her.

“Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” I told her, waving to her dad as she skipped away, still singing
trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat…

“Have fun with all the little goblins
tonight!” he called back with a grin, hurrying along to catch up to his tiny dancer who was eager to continue making her rounds.

Rob
nudged me with his shoulder. “I just remembered something. I haven’t given you your birthday present yet.”

“
But you already got me a present,” I reminded him, surprised.

“This is different. It’s something I saw that
made me think of you.” He hopped up. “I’ll be right back.”

I
passed out handfuls of fun-size chocolate bars to another group of trick-or-treaters while he was gone, wondering what it was that he could have seen that reminded him of me. And why he would’ve gone to all the trouble when he didn’t have to. Unless…
unless
he liked me a lot more than I dared to hope. The anticipation triggered my stomach into performing little back flips. He came back outside after just a couple of minutes, reclaiming his place on the steps before handing me a small white box with a miniature blue bow on top.

“There you are.”

I stared down at the tiny box, almost afraid to open it. There was no way of knowing what to expect with him. Apprehensively I asked, “What is it?” If it turned out to be a gag gift I was going to kill him. At least the box was too small for it to be a plastic dog poo Pez dispenser or something like that.

He laughed at my wariness. “It’s not
gonna bite you. I promise.”

Carefully
I removed the lid and almost immediately felt a lump form in my throat. I couldn’t take my eyes off what was inside. Cradled on a bed of cotton was a crystal ballerina attached to a slender silver chain. The blue gems in her tiny tutu sparkled under the dim glow of the porch light. Touching the delicate charm with my fingertips, I found myself completely and utterly speechless.

“I didn’t know what to get you,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed.

Oh, God…don’t just sit there, idiot. Say something.
“You didn’t have to get me anything.”
Brilliant, Einstein. Like he didn’t already know that.
I removed the necklace from its soft bedding, holding it up to dangle from the chain while admiring the way the crystal caught the light and refracted it. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, well…like I said, I saw it and thought of you.”
He reached for my hand and I swear I literally felt sparks from his touch. “Let me put it on you.”

Gathering
my loose hair out of the way, I waited while his fingers met behind my neck and fumbled with the clasp. He leaned in closer so he could see better, his face temptingly near mine, and I breathed in the scent of his Axe shampoo while entertaining the notion of giving his ear a little nibble. How would he react to
that
, I wondered. But no, I’d promised myself that the next move would be up to him. Friends without benefits - until he indicated otherwise, that’s all we were. Even if fantasizing over the possibilities of those benefits was keeping me up at night.

“There.”
One hand dropped down to lift the charm from the front of my Joe Ghoul sweatshirt so he could inspect it. “You like?”

“I love it…thank you…”
I covered his hand with mine and felt the breath anchor in my chest when his hazel eyes elevated to catch me in their magnetic field. I struggled to think of something else to say. Something that would distract me from the intensity of his probing gaze. If only I knew what thoughts were running through his head right now. All my own lame brain could come up with was, “This was so sweet of you.”

“I can be good when I want to be.” His lips curved into a
devastatingly sexy smile. “It’s just that most of the time, I’d rather be bad.”

I opened my mouth to say
oh, is that so?
But the slamming of a car door almost underneath our noses snapped both of us out of the moment. I expected to see more candy beggars coming up the front walk, but instead it was the pizza delivery guy. Oh, lovely - I’d called them over an hour ago and the driver decides to show up
now?
He should get a promotion for his unbelievably crappy timing.

Or maybe it was perfect timing. I guess it all depended on how you looked at it.

15

“Okay, what’s it gonna be?
House of 1000 Corpses
,
Halloween
or
Trick ’R Treat?
”

Returning from
trading my clothes for a comfortable gray sleepshirt, I flopped down on the opposite end of the sofa and pulled a soft fleece throw over my legs. It was 9:00, the kids had dispersed and the porch light was out, and I was ready for some peace and quiet. Well, as much peace and quiet as one can expect with scream queens getting hacked to pieces onscreen. October TV is the best. When else can you get an endless supply of horror movies on a dozen different channels?

“
Trick ’R Treat
,” I decided, happily curling up underneath the fleece blanket. At the other end of the couch, Rob was facing me with his back against the armrest and long legs bent so I had enough room. He switched to the requested channel before tossing the remote onto the coffee table.

“
Sara...” He gave me a reproachful look. “Are you really gonna sit way over there?”

I felt
my insides dissolve into warm goo at his overt invitation. Without a word I slid across the couch in between those long legs to snuggle up against his chest, while his arms enfolded me in their warmth. “That’s better,” he murmured, pulling the blanket up over us. I couldn’t have agreed more. This was pure heaven. Better than walks on the beach, better than chocolate, better than…

Sex?

I wouldn’t know about that. But if ever there was anyone who made me anxious to find out, it was him.

We lay there together in mutual silence
, watching the movie in the dark, and it wasn’t long before one of his hands moved slowly from my waist to find its way underneath my nightshirt where he began idly stroking my thigh. I tried to keep my attention focused on the plot. I really did. But it was difficult to concentrate with his fingers lightly grazing my skin, and all but impossible when they started working their way upward.

I sucked in my breath sharply when he drew them across my belly, and
behind me I heard him chuckle softly. “Ah, I forgot, you’re ticklish…”

“Don’t even think about it
,” I warned him, my stomach muscles clenching at the prospect.

“Think about what?”
His thumb gently skimmed the bottom of one of my breasts and I relaxed again, closing my eyes blissfully.

“
Um. Never mind…”

“So this is okay?” he
breathed suggestively, surrounding the curve with his hand and squeezing while stroking the tip with his thumb. His other arm came around my waist to hitch me closer to him, so close I could feel the conspicuous hard-on wedged against the small of my back. Even through the sturdy denim of his jeans I could feel it, thick and solid and very prominent.

“
Mm-hmm…” I arched my back a little, pushing against his thighs with my hands while he continued his erotic massage with both hands now. I wondered if he could feel the runaway rhythm of my heart. There was no alarm clock to rudely interrupt us this time. We had no classes to get to, no place to be and all the infinite time in the world. At least, it seemed that way. Tomorrow didn’t exist yet. If I lost myself in the abyss of right now, maybe it would never come.

“
Sara…” he whispered into my hair.

“Hm?”

“Turn over for me.”

Careful not to knee him in
the jewels, I gingerly shifted my position until I was facing him, stretched out across the length of his body to look demurely down at him. “That better?”

“That’s perfect.”
Grasping the back of my head with his hands, he gently captured my bottom lip between his teeth before pulling me into a deep, hungry kiss that gained in force as his tongue sought out mine. I welcomed him in willingly. Pressed against his firm erection, I felt a familiar and desperate ache building within me. I wanted him to fill that need that had never before been eased by another person’s touch. I wanted it more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. And judging from the intensity of his kiss and the throbbing hardness beneath me…so did he.

When I finally pulled away
long enough to catch my breath, he took the opportunity to tug my nightshirt up over my head and toss it across the back of the couch, leaving me in nothing but a pair of lacy black panties. Then he lowered his head just enough to latch on to one of my nipples with his mouth. I felt like screaming with the consummate pleasure of it all. Stripped almost bare and straddled over the sexiest high school running back in existence - my nightly fantasies had suddenly come alive in vibrant reality.

“Mm…every part of you tastes so good.”
His tongue traced a few teasing circles before he caught me in his warm mouth again and sucked gently. God, it was like some kind of exquisite, exotic torture. My whole body was starting to tremble.

“Are you cold?” He reached blindly around me for the fleece blanket, but it had fallen to the floor
at some point earlier.

“No, not really.” I
sighed when he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me securely against him. “So. What happened to ‘friends without benefits’?”

“Fuck that. You should know by now I have no willpower where you’re concerned.”

Smiling to myself at his confession, I worked one hand in between our tightly pressed bodies to slide down to the bulge in his pants. Stroking him through the denim, I was rewarded with a low groan before he reached down to unsnap his jeans.
Oh, heaven help me…this is it, isn’t it?

Hearing my
nearly inaudible gasp, he stopped what he was doing to look up at me with smoldering eyes. “Yes or no, Sara?”

There was only one answer
to give. I truly believed I’d wither and die if I didn’t have him tonight, right now, this very minute. “Yes,” I whispered.

Abruptly he rolled over on top of me
, then stood up. For one dreadful moment I thought he’d inexplicably changed his mind. But then he took both my hands and pulled me to my feet. I felt suddenly vulnerable, standing there in front of him with practically nothing on. At least the only light was the glow coming from the television. The movie was almost over, and I couldn’t recall a single scene from it.

“Why don’t we go to bed,”
Rob suggested, guiding me down the dark hallway to his room. He didn’t bother turning on the light. Feeling totally exposed, I was grateful for that. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and I could just make out his silhouette as he dropped my hand and began undressing. My heart thumped wildly against my chest.

“Wait…uh, wait a second,” I said
, suddenly remembering the birth control pills in my bathroom drawer. I hadn’t been taking them long enough for them to be fully effective. I was supposed to wait seven days to be safe. Shit, that could be a problem. “Do you have any protection?”

“There’s some condoms in my nightstand.”

Okay…condoms in the nightstand. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. Why exactly did he have condoms in here? I’d never seen him with anyone else.
Why are you obsessing about it, scatterbrain? He probably has them for the same reason you went on the pill. For you, duh.

Shimmying out of my panties,
I groped around for the covers and pulled them back so I could slide in bed underneath them.
I cannot believe I’m bare ass naked in Rob’s bed. This is too crazy.
I heard the sound of a drawer opening and closing, then felt the slight movement of the bed as he crawled in beside me. One arm slipped around my waist and for the first glorious time, I felt his bare body against mine.

“Well, hey there,”
he whispered, trailing his fingers down my back. I felt his hard-on against my belly and my hands itched to touch him there.

“Hey,” I
replied breathlessly. “Come here often?”

H
e laughed softly at my unintentional play on words. “As a matter of fact, I do…come here often. Never quite like this before.”

“
Then how?”

Reaching for my hand, he navigated it to his stiff penis and folded my fingers around it. The skin there was amazingly smooth.
I marveled at how something could be so rock-hard and yet so soft at the same time. With his own hand, he guided mine into the slow rhythm that he wanted. “Like this,” he breathed against my lips before pressing his mouth to mine. I reveled in the taste of his tongue again while stroking him the way he liked.

But touching him like this was igniting
a blaze that desperately needed to be extinguished, and
now
, so I boldly threw one leg over his hip and rubbed my slick heat against him. I wanted so badly to feel him inside me, I was literally aching. Never mind that I’d never done this before - I was ready to climb him like Mount Everest.

“Oh
…
God
, Sara…” Groaning between clenched teeth he squeezed my backside, grinding his length against my wetness hard enough to elicit a soft moan from me. “Hold that thought,” he said, pulling away just long enough to reach for the condom he’d placed on top of the nightstand. Ripping open the packet, he quickly rolled it on and pushed me gently over onto my back.

With one hand he guided himself
to my entrance, then tried to push his way in. Of course, he didn’t get very far. Feeling the pressure against my internal barrier, I instinctively shrank back against the pillows. Hesitating, he tried again. And got nowhere. It just wasn’t going in.

The
hazel eyes stared down at me in disbelief. “Holy hell…you’ve never done this before! Have you?”

“Um. No.” Why did he make it sound as if I’d done something wrong? Was it a crime to be a virgin these days?

“Oh
shit
, baby…” Shifting all his weight onto one arm, he used the opposite hand to brush an errant lock of hair away from my face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What should I have said?”

“I don’t know. It just seems like you might’ve given me a little advance warning.” He ran a finger across my lips. “I had no idea.”

“
I don’t know why you act so surprised.”

“Am
I hurting you? Do you want me to stop?”

“No, I don’t want you to stop!”
To provide validation, I wrapped both legs around his waist and lifted my hips a little. His eyelids fluttered shut in ecstasy. “Please, Rob…don’t stop...I don’t want you to,” I quietly begged.

“You sure?”
His voice sounded shaky. I was pretty sure by now he was past the point of no return anyway.

“
Very sure…”

He didn’t need any more convincing.
Pushing against my resistance in short thrusts, he leaned down to kiss me and whisper against my cheek, “Take a nice deep breath for me, baby girl. Then let yourself relax.”

I
did like he said and inhaled, but the breath I released was broken by my startled yelp. With one quick, hard thrust he’d found his way in. The sharp pain was fleeting, inconsequential. Gone in an instant. He held himself inside me, frozen. “You okay?”

“
Yes…I’m fine.” That was a lot easier than I’d expected.

He started moving again, very slowly, retreating to the point of
withdrawing before gradually pushing his way back inside, filling me, stretching me…never in my life had I ever felt anything so intensely, incredibly stimulating. Tangling my fingers in his silky strands, I raised my hips to meet the thrusts that were coming quicker now. The sensation that had been hanging on the precipice all evening finally burst forth in all its glory and I clenched handfuls of his hair as he literally rocked my world.

I heard my name spill from his lips in a husky groan, felt him
contract within me, and the arms on either side tremored before releasing some of the burden of their weight to rest against me. Drained and spent, we lay there silently for a moment while I traced the contours of his shoulder blades and felt his ragged breath come and go with mine. I’d never felt so completely…
complete
. A hundred confusing emotions swept through me in that instant. I wanted to laugh, cry, profess my love - though every rational part of me knew damn well it would be stupid to do any of those things. So instead all I did was kiss him on the shoulder and say teasingly, “Now
that
was the best birthday present
ever
.”