One and Done (Two Outta Three #2) (21 page)

The words tumbled out of my mouth so effortlessly. How? After all those years denying them, it was as if my words took on a life of their own.

They were cultivated in a prison. Your words are free now. Keep them rolling.

And keep them rolling I did. By the time I was finished exposing my heart and soul, I was sure Rocky wanted nothing more than to turn away.

She didn’t.

“I’ve always loved you too. I think you’ve always known that, though.”

Happiness was never meant for me. I knew it. My mother knew it. My dad knew it. It was the reason I kept Rocky on a string—a self-fulfilling prophecy of loss and despair. Yet at that moment it was as if the heavens opened up and blessed me with some sort of miracle. She still loved me. I wasn’t stupid enough to deny the fact that I didn’t deserve her love, but I wasn’t about to throw the God given gift away. Not again.

Her head tilted toward mine, her warm breath bathing my lips, soothing the ache in them. I brought her close to me, taking my time to take in her beauty.

I can’t believe this is finally happening.

All nerves and worry out the door, bravery took hold of me. Sticking out my tongue, I carefully ran it over her lips, relishing the sweet taste of cherry with a slight tinge of salt. Soon Rocky was beneath me, kneading my back through my shirt. I was desperate to feel her skin against mine, with nothing hanging between us.

Pesky shirt.

As if hearing my thoughts, Rocky tugged at my tee, grunting softly as she tried to slide it up.

“Having trouble?” I snickered.

“Actually, yes.”

First comes stripping and next comes…

I gulped. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I just want to hear it out loud.

Her fingers twisted around my shirt. “Yes, I trust you.”

Trust. If that wasn’t the best aphrodisiac ever. My cock throbbed against my pants and I knew there was no way I could stand being clothed one second longer.

Shirt off now.

My breaths quickened, feeling the cool air hit my bare chest. My throat strained to swallow as I gazed down at her beautiful eyes, which watched me hungrily. I was just as starved. “Your turn.”

She attempted to lift her arms, but before she could even move I impatiently pushed her shirt up to her neck. Expecting some frilly underwear I was pleasantly surprised to find two rosy pink nipples staring back at me. I licked my lips, preparing to take each bud into my mouth. “No bra?”

“Can’t sleep with that contraption binding me.”

Good.

Her olive-toned torso beckoned to me and like a moth to a flame, I dove in, flicking my tongue against her nipples and appreciating the way they hardened under my touch. I felt her fingers stroke against my crotch, but I shifted away. “Let me do this first. I’ve always imagined how it would be to taste you.”

“Okay.” She nodded eagerly.

I licked her soft skin, trailing a circle around the mound of her breasts, before taking one inside my mouth. Her breaths quickened, only egging me on. Keeping my lips against her cleavage, I expertly reached for the loose waistband of her sweats and pushed it down a few inches. “No underwear?” I asked hopefully.

I pulled just enough away to peek and caught a glimpse of light blue lace. Rats.

Her giggles were like music to my ear. “I don’t go commando.”

Well, we’re about to change that.

“…You first,” she breathed, gently pushing my hands away.

If you insist.

My pants were soon in a pile on the floor, and unlike her I did go commando. My dick throbbed as I watched her lick her lips in anticipation and ached a bit more once she was unclothed. When she lifted her head toward my cock I felt like I was about to explode, but no, this wasn’t the way I wanted it. After years’ worth of buildup I couldn’t rush through this.

“In a bit.” My voice came out strange, low, and gravely. I stood up, lifting her with me, and coaxed her legs around my body. “You deserve to be treated like a princess, remember? No couch for you.”

Laying her down, I took a moment to admire her. I couldn’t believe I was the lucky son of a bitch who’d be her first.

And hopefully her last.

I shook my head slightly, reminding myself not to get ahead of myself. I’ve been disappointed before, I wasn’t about to let myself down again.

Head in the game. Head in the game.

I repeated my mantra as I eyed the beautiful woman up and down. God, could she get any more perfect? Her dark hair was fanned against my bed, perfectly framing her face, which glowed with excited anticipation. Her breasts remained perky though she was sprawled against my mattress. My gaze traveled down to her tiny waist, which tapered before widening into the most bodacious curve of her hips. Did I want to even get started on her impossibly long legs?

Wait a minute. My eyes traveled back up to her delicious looking sex, which was perfectly waxed.

Did she do that for Ethan?

No, I wouldn’t let my mind wander in that direction. She was mine…at least for tonight.

Silencing those pesky thoughts, I dove straight between her legs, grabbing the back of her knees to anchor myself.

I have to taste her.

Flicking my tongue, I swirled it around the delicate skin of her lips, completely lost to her feminine smell and taste. I opened my eyes and watched as her hips thrust against my mouth, wet and ready for me.

Damn, I can’t wait any more.

I pushed myself away, smirking at her disappointed whimper, and reached toward my drawer for a condom. As I busied myself unwrapping the purple foil, Rocky’s fingers gently wrapped around my cock, pumping up and down. I nearly blew my load right there! Gently nudging her hand away, I pulled the condom on, and like a broken record, asked the same question over again, desperate for one last answer of validation. “Are you sure you want this?”

Her answering smile was blinding.

“As your first?” I gulped.

“So you admit a tip doesn’t count,” she joked.

Ah, so she wanted to joke around, huh? I could take care of that. Placing my hands on either side of her, I gently nudged against her entrance, only pushing the very tip of myself inside. Even then I could feel how tight she was and I wanted nothing more than to thrust all the way in, but my stubborn self had a bit more self-control than that. “Does this count?”

“No.”

I pushed a little more, my insides crying to go all the way. “How about this?”

“N-no, it doesn’t,” she stammered.

If I didn’t go all the way inside, I was going to lose my mind, but yet…“What about—”

“Fuck, Jesse, just do it!” she cried out.

Good to know she felt the exact same way I did. With one deep breath I plunged my body forward and instantly felt my eyes roll back and mouth widen in pleasure. She was tight, no doubt about that, and had just enough wetness to make the friction insane.

I pumped slowly, gently; wanting her to enjoy her first time, though feeling her around me was so foreign that I almost felt like I was the virgin in this situation.

“Are you okay?” I barely whispered, feeling my biceps tremble as my body cried out for release.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Good enough answer for me.

As if her words freed any last inhibition within me, I pumped faster. Gripping the side of her waist, I guided her body against mine—pulling and pushing. I made sure to keep my eyes fixed on hers, but couldn’t resist the urge to glance down to watch our privates against one another. Pulling out for a moment, I moaned as I watched my dick, which was slick with her wetness, enter between her delicate lips.

Rocky cried out as her walls trembled, convulsing against my dick. I gritted my teeth, watching as her breasts bounced along with her shaking body.

“I think I’m gonna come,” I whispered, or at least I thought I did. Aside from Rocky’s incredibly sexy orgasm and my incredible release, I had no idea what was going on.

Taking a deep breath, I collapsed onto the bed, rolling beside her. My chest rose and fell quickly, struggling for air. I had no idea how I was going to come down from such a high.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that,” I commented with a breathy chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah. Me too.” She nodded her head eagerly, the ‘after sex’ glow evident on her face.

“I mean, that was a first for me too,” I admitted almost shyly, reaching out to take a few strands of her hair between my fingers.

“What do you mean?”

Letting out a puff of air from my nostrils, I whispered, “I’ve never made love before.”

After experiencing such incredibleness I had no idea how I’d ever turn back.

Chapter 29

I made love to the girl—err, woman now—that I’d loved ever since I could remember. Not only that, I was also her first. Her first!

Nope, not gonna count that whole tip shit drama into the equation. I was one hundred percent the man who helped her cross that milestone. I possessed her. I made her mine.

Not Ethan.

So why weren’t things all rosy afterwards?

For one, I made the big mistake of leaving the room after we consummated our…well, whatever the hell we had going. It wasn’t as if I regretted doing it—hell to the no! However, I did need some room to think.

“Okay…”

I blew air through my lips, making a raspberry type noise. Wincing, I glanced over to the closed door of my bedroom hoping I didn’t wake her. Holding my breath, I listened intently and was relieved to hear nothing but silence.

“So we’re together…I think. What’s next? Do I move back? No, I can’t possibly…” I closed my eyes and cringed, imagining a future in Bethel Falls. The town was nothing but a curse to my kind and I couldn’t possibly imagine starting any sort of future with Rocky there. “Does she move here?”

I immediately began glancing around my dim living room. It was a bachelor pad to the fullest, but I couldn’t help but feel a slight jump of my heart, imagining feminine décor littering some space.

“What the fuck are you doing, Jesse?” I threw back my head and let out a silent laugh. As usual I found myself making Rocky’s decisions for her.

But as my dad always said, old habits die hard.

Chapter 30

There was no way Rocky could move to Charleston.

The realization hit me hard as I drove her back to Bethel Falls—her home. There was no way I could ask her to do something so rash. Where did I get off thinking that she’d pick up and leave after I deserted her all along? To make matters worse, Ethan was waiting for her when we came back. Feeling like an idiot for thinking that one night together would change a lifetime of wrongs, I quickly left as soon as we pulled up to Rossi’s, leaving Rocky in the parking lot gaping after me.

“Guess I made a habit of leaving too.” I laughed out loud, though I knew it was no laughing matter. Sneaking a peek at my mirror I crumbled when I spotted Rocky’s face. She was definitely wearing the mask of grief.

I was an asshole.

“You’re better than this, Jesse. What are you doing? You have to talk to her one last time.” I took a deep breath and tore my gaze away. “Guess you’re going back to work tomorrow.”

***

Well, maybe going back to Rossi’s Novelties was not one of my finest ideas. If Rocky’s anger wasn’t hard to bear, then certainly her parents’ surprise return was even worse!

“We leave for less than a week and you turn this family store into a sex shop?” I cringed at the sound of Mr. Rossi’s voice, which sounded no louder than a sonic boom. The tips of his ears reddened, and I was almost afraid that the plump man was going to explode at any second.

Rocky’s eyes darted back and forth. She was obviously freaking out beyond belief, and though I wanted nothing more than to come back to her defense, I knew how this story would play out—the same exact way it ended years ago.

Her voice was hoarse. “Dad, I…”

Then just like that, Mr. Rossi’s attention turned on me. I took an involuntary step back, taken by surprise by the fury in his eyes. Though I towered over him, I didn’t doubt that he’d do everything in his power to reach up for my neck and choke me to death. “You! I knew I shouldn’t have hired you. That good boy act you’ve been pulling—you’re just like your no-good mom!”

“Dad!” Rocky yelped. “Jesse had nothing to do with it! Mom, please. You have to believe me.”

“Did you even work while we were gone?” Mrs. Rossi was always the level-headed one, but at that moment I feared she was even worse than her husband. Her face was like stone, smooth and hardened, her eyes narrowed slits, calculating and brutal.

“Yes! Check the books.”

My face immediately paled. Rocky mentioned she sold some of the penis shaped straws I put out on the shelf as a joke. I hoped to God her parents wouldn’t find any of those records in their books.

“I’ll do just that,” Mr. Rossi replied.

Great. I swallowed nervously, watching the plump man flip through the gigantic black binder mercilessly.

His caterpillar-like eyebrows rose when he spotted something in black and white. “Miscellaneous? What is this? We don’t sell anything marked ‘miscellaneous.’”

“I…uh…don’t remember,” Rocky stammered.

I shut my eyes. Rocky was always the worst liar imaginable.

Her dad scratched his head in ferocity, and for a moment I worried he’d cut right through his skin. “Did you sell a…a…what are they called?”

“A dildo, honey,” Mrs. Rossi answered with a surprisingly calm tone before scampering away.

Rocky winced and shook her head. “Um, no…they were straws.”

“Why were they marked miscellaneous?”

“I…uh…the barcode was scratched and I was too busy to grab another one to scan.”

Wow, maybe she wasn’t such a bad liar after all.

Just when I thought Mr. Rossi was about to buy it, the sound of his wife’s screams filled the store. Simultaneously, the three of us jerked up and quickly ran toward the source of the commotion. I skidded to a stop in front of a pair of painted purple footprints.

Crap! How could forget I painted the floor to the store? No wonder Rocky hated me.

“What is this?” Mrs. Rossi exclaimed, on the verge of hyperventilation. She licked one of her fingers and frantically tried wiping my “artwork” off to no avail. Face scrunched in anger, she gazed at her daughter with a look of pure ferocity.

That was it. I could no longer hold out any longer and let Rocky fight my battles for me. Repeating history or not, I had to take the blame again.

“Enough! Enough of this,” I growled.

“Jesse! Be quiet,” Rocky hissed in warning.

Ignoring her, I pressed on. “It was my idea. All of it. Our stores in Charleston do well by selling those toys. They also put glittered prints around their stores as a gimmick. Rocky didn’t want to do it at first. But as usual I was able to convince her.”

And with a snap of a finger I was once again kicked out of the Rossis’ homestead, banished from seeing their daughter. I couldn’t blame them for hating me. It was true; I did need to leave Raquel alone for good. Dad was right, we were a bad combination. As much as I tried to fight it, we definitely brought out the worst in each other.

“Shut up, Jesse,” I muttered, starting my car up. “You’re the only thing bad in this combination. Better walk away again before you screw things up even more for her. That’s what you are, aren’t you? Just a screw up…” I rubbed my eyes and took a few breaths to steady my heart, which was still beating erratically. Once I finally calmed myself to think rationally, I shook my head in disgust. “I can’t cut her out of my life again. I’m not strong enough anymore…so what do I do now?”

The answer to my question was simple. It wasn’t up to me. It never was up to me. It was time that Rocky took the lead, just as she wanted. It was time for her to step it up.