Second String (In Too Deep #3) (19 page)

I
sat on the back of his bike, relishing the fact that because I was sitting behind him, I had a totally legitimate reason to press my chest to his back. My hand slipped a little too low when I put them around his waist, and I acted like it was an accident. He took my hand in his and cupped it around the hardness I'd barely brushed seconds earlier. "You can go ahead and get a little feel," he said, turning to the side and nearly yelling over the sound of the bike. "You know you want to."

Chapter 24

Ethan

Emily had her hands all over
me at that club. It was exactly what I'd hoped she'd do, but I was still a bit surprised by how she was all up on my stuff on that dance floor without a care in the world about who was watching or what they thought. We got down right nasty on a couple of those songs, and neither of us cared a thing about our surroundings.

I parked my bike at the top of Emily's driveway, and we went into her house. We considered leaving Sal at Gretchen's, but figured he'd whine
and disturb them after hearing us pull up. Emily let him out through Gretchen's kitchen door, and he lumbered across the pool area, following us into Emily's little house.

Once insid
e, Emily and I both stooped over to give Sal some attention. "I'm sorry buddy, but you need to get in the kennel." Sal's ears perked up when she said the word kennel as if he'd been missing it while he was in the main house. "Kennel-up, boy. Go on." Emily clapped her hands together one time, and Sal cantered across the room and followed her into her bedroom where she kept his kennel. I heard the clanging sound of the kennel door being locked.

Emily reentered the room. She
stopped near the doorway and looked at me until she knew she had my full attention. She crooked a sexy little finger at me, and I stood to go to her without any hesitation whatsoever. If she was a Siren, consider me mesmerized. She met me in the living room, using my shoulders to steer me exactly where she wanted me. Without saying a word, she made it clear that I should have a seat on the oversized couch. I fell into the center of it with my arms outstretched, and smiled up at her; ready for whatever she was throwing my way.

"Just relax," she said.  "I owe you something, and I always make good on my debts."

I tried to think of what she could possibly be thinking about. I was hoping there was a bet I was forgetting about where she ended up owing me a blowjob, because that would be a wonderful thing to have her owing me right now.

Emily's hair was put up in an
intentionally messy mass at the nape of her neck. She'd put the helmet on and taken it off several times during the course of the evening, and little wisps of honey blonde hair fell over her forehead. She smiled at me and her blue eyes sparkled with excitement and… something else. Mischief?

I narrowed my gaze at her, and she stuck a finger into the air, telling me to hold still for a minute. I rested my head on the back of the couch
and closed my eyes for the briefest of seconds. That's when it hit me that I was about to get a private dance. When I opened my eyes, Emily was headed to the entertainment system with her phone in hand. She plugged it into the stereo system and stared at the screen of her phone before giving the face of her phone a few taps, and setting it on the bookshelf.

She turned to me with an expression that made me understand she was very much in character. Her gaze was so intent on
getting something across to me that I wouldn't have taken my eyes off of her for a million dollars. I heard a girl's voice, start to come over the speakers, in the distance, and jumping from speaker to speaker. These are the words she sang:

You da one that I dream about all day,

You da one that I think about always,

You are the one, so I make sure I behave

My love is your
love, your love is my love

I vaguely knew the song. I thought it was one I'd heard a few times by Rihanna, but I'd never really paid attention to the lyrics before. Maybe the reason they began to sink in was because Emily was holding a pose, stone still, staring at me, daring me
not
to pay attention to the words that filled the air.

The beat dropped, and Emily, who had until then been perfectly still, began to move to the music.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, the girl knew how to dance. Emily's body was meant to be moving to music. She danced, and the lyrics came to life in front of my eyes.

Baby, I love you, I need you here

W
ith me all the time

Baby we meant to be

You got me smiling all the time

Cause you know how to give me that

You know how to pull me back

When I go
runnin, runnin

Tryin
' to get away from loving ya

You know how to love me hard

I won't lie, I'm falling hard

Yep, I'm falling for
ya but there's nothin wrong with that.

She was so passionate in her movements that it was all I could do not to get off the couch and move with her. I had done an impromptu lap dance for her one night when I was just being silly, but there was nothing silly or impromptu about what Emily was doing. She'd obviously planned every second of this dance. You could just tell her movements were all very calculated. Calculated to drive me freaking insane.

She took off her clothing bit by bit over the course of the song, so that by the time it came to the bridge, she was down to a sexy
little bra and panties set. They were both flesh tone, lacey numbers with black trim. My eyes were stuck to her like glue.
The bridge of that fucking song might have been the best twenty seconds of my entire life.
I really hoped that scene would be permanently seared into my memory because I was planning on recalling it often. The combination of the booming music with lyrics that made me want to claim her was almost too much to handle by itself, but the way her body moved put me over the edge.

I turned to face the ceiling and
rubbed my eyes for a second because the sight of her moving like that to the bridge of that freaking song was just too much. I was so hard for her that my erection strained and jerked against my pants. I had to take my eyes off her for a few seconds in order to control the urge to tackle her to the ground and shove my dick into her in about three seconds flat. She was still moving to the music, only now her moves were down right gritty. She'd been sexy the whole time, but her movements were now mimicking the motions she made when she rode me from the top. Seriously. That was too much for me. No man could be expected to handle that.

In one motion, I sprang off the couch and snatched her from the ottoman sh
e'd been using as a platform. She squealed for a split second but then relaxed in my arms. Then my mouth was on hers as I placed a searing kiss on her face. Needing to feel skin on skin, I stopped the kiss long enough to start unbuttoning my shirt. She reached out to help me finish taking my shirt off then her hands moved lower, to the fly of my jeans. I stood up and let my jeans fall to a pile at my feet. It felt so good to no longer be straining against the binding fabric.

"Did you leave him?" I asked. I knew the answer
was yes because the lyrics she'd danced to made it obvious… I just needed to hear her say it.

She almost looked a little apprehensive when she nodded.

"You my girl now?" I asked.

She nodded again.

I turned on her, pinning her on her back on the couch. "I'm glad you already took care of that business, because I wasn't planning on taking no for an answer tonight."

She didn't even respond. Well, she did, but not with words. Her hands were roaming over my body, hungrily feeling and exploring every inch. She cupped her
gentle little hand around my shaft, and I thrust forward, into her hand. She let out a moan, which I caught in my mouth when I leaned down to kiss her again. "I want you inside me," she said. She was basically already panting with desire. We both were. Our breathing could have definitely been described as ragged. I didn't give her what she wanted right away. Instead, I made her wait for it.

I didn't, however, make her wait for pleasure. I slipped a hand in between her thighs,
which parted easily for me. I slid one finger between her slick lips, and inside her warm body. She moaned again, and I started pumping my finger into her a little faster. She began grinding her hips into my hand. "More," she said, still a little breathless. I slid a second finger into her, and she let out a cry of pleasure. Again, I moved them in and out of her until she began to grind against my hand. I stroked her with my thumb as I continued to pump my fingers into her. "Harder," she whimpered. I reached deep inside her for a few hard thrusts of my hand, and then her legs were clinching around my hand in spasms of pleasure. "Oh my God, Ethan. Ohhh yeessss!" She had a hold of the back of my hand, and was holding it securely in place inside her. There was no need for that, though. I wasn't planning on taking it anywhere until I knew she was finished. After a few long seconds of feeling her body spasm and quake around my hand, I pulled it out and replaced it with something that could go even deeper. "Oh my God, Eeeethan," she said, as I entered her fully, "I love having you inside me."

Not as much as I loved being there, I can tell you that right now.
She was so hot and wet around me, and I was already about to explode after watching that dance. I had to concentrate on pacing myself to keep from having it be over after only a few thrusts.

"L
ove me hard," she said. "Take me hard right now, and later tonight we can be soft."

"I don't want to hurt you." I said.

She looked at me with challenge and anticipation, and I thrust into her hard. She gasped, which scared me for a second, but then she followed it with "Yessss!" I thrust into her again and again, with a force I wouldn't have used had she not been asking for it. I was so glad she wanted it this hard, because tonight, I felt the strong urge to somehow mark her, brand her as mine.

Chapter 25

Emily

Having sex with Ethan Erickson was perhaps the most fun thing I
'd ever done or could imagine doing. It had never been like this with Jeremy, despite the fact that I was crazy about him. Enough about Jeremy. It's not fair to Ethan to even compare the two. Ethan's different. He's perfect. Okay, maybe he's not perfect, but he's perfect for me, anyway.

I was worn out after the little s
ession we'd just had, and that was saying a lot, because I had cardio for days, thanks to my trainer. Ethan collapsed on top of me and we stayed there, tangled in each other's arms. His coach gave him the next day off even though he was supposed to be at the pool. Ethan said his times were looking really good and he and his coach were excited about the changes they'd made in his stroke. I was so glad he had the day off. I would have probably driven down to San Diego if I had to go much longer without seeing him.

I
cuddled up with him, hoping he'd volunteer to spend the day with me. I made a mistake a week ago when I told him we shouldn't spend my birthday together, and I desperately hoped he'd give me the opportunity to make up for it.

"I'm
gonna head back first thing," He said. That was exactly what I didn't want to hear.

"
Aww, why do you have to take off?" It came out a little too pouty for me since I hated to be
that girl
, but I was disappointed, and I couldn't help it.

We had rolled over just before he spoke,
and I was resting my head on his broad chest. It started to shake beneath me, and even though I couldn't hear him, I knew he was laughing.

"
What?" I asked, picking my head up to look at him.

"I don't have to go home early, I was just ba
iting you to see if you wanted me to stay." He was smiling down at me and I couldn't deny myself the opportunity to kiss him. I sat up onto my elbow and stretched to put my lips on his.

"I want you to stay really bad," I said, smiling back at him. "And
, now that my car's fixed, if you're not careful, you're gonna find me in your bed in San Diego about once a week."

"I think I could handle having you in my bed
at least
that much," he said.

"It's okay, Ethan, I'm not expecting anything,"
I said. "I know we're both used to having our space."

Now it was
me
baiting
him
.

He had my number.

"I don't want to be with anybody but you, Emily, and, yes, that includes having anyone else in my bed. I'm just gonna have to ask that you pay me the same respect."

I had to lay my head back on his chest for a few seconds to hide the
huge grin that I couldn't hold back at his words. He tensed, not knowing what was wrong with me.

"What's wrong?" he said. His already tight abs
flexing as he strained to look down at me.

"Nothing," I said. I brought
my head up, and my eyes met his. "I think I could definitely pay you the same respect." I paused. "I don't want to be with anybody else, don't
want
anyone else." My expression turned a little serious. "I know you're not used to being with one girl all the time, so I'm sure we'll need to ease into things."

"Shut-up,
Em." He used his fingers to swat my head like he was trying to knock some sense into me. "We're not going to be
able
to see each other all the time, because we live in two different cities, and for right now, we need to stay where we are. But I want to see you as often as I can. You know I have fun when I'm with you."

"I know
I
have fun when I'm with
you
," I said, "so I figured the feeling was mutual."

I rested my head on his chest again, and he ran his fingers through my hair.

"So how's Sal gonna take the news that you have a man in your life?" 

I almost reminded hi
m that I'd just broken up with someone, but I thought twice about it. Besides, Jeremy didn't really count. At least not where Sal was concerned. Actually, he didn't count at all. I couldn't imagine feeling happier than I did right then in Ethan's arms.

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "Sal loves you. If he had his way, he'd be up here on the couch with us."

"I don't know about all that," Ethan said. "He can come up here when we're watching a movie or something, but I'm not trying to let him in on my couch time, if you know what I mean."

"What exactly do you mean? That you're not
gonna be able to keep your hands off me for the rest of the night?"

"Rest of the night?" he asked, laughing. "You'll be lucky if we make it to the end of the hour. I do have to get some sleep tonight, but I'm not done with you yet."

****

Ethan and I spent the morning together. He borrowed Joel's bicycle, I rode my own, and we went
on a really nice paved trail that winded through a nearby park. Neither of us wanted a hardcore workout, so we stopped after a mile or so, and sat on a park bench. We talked about everything from dogs to motorcycles to committed relationships and how we were now in one.
Can I get a girly scream?
The subject of hiking was also brought up, and Ethan made me promise I'd consider getting into it so I could think about doing Mount Everest with him. I told him I would.

At one point in the conversation, we
compared our taste in stand-up comedy, reconfirming that we had the exact same sense of humor. Ethan said he almost got a tattoo of Louis C.K. He was joking, of course, but I cracked up at the idea because the comedian was one of my favorites too. We sat on that bench, talking and laughing for two hours.

Gretchen sent me a text telling me that she and Joel would just be around today if we wanted to
drop by the main house for a while before Ethan went home. Ethan and I both agreed that having some alone time in the guesthouse was a priority, and if we had time after that, we could go by their place.

Alone time was amazing, like I knew it would be, and we still had a little time to spare before Ethan had to hit the road.
Sal walked with us over to Gretchen's. She patted the seat beside her, and Sal jumped up onto her couch.

"You don't have to let him up there," I said. "He's fine on the floor."

"He gets up here all the time when you're not looking. Don't you, boy?" She was in full-blown baby talk mode by then, and I knew I'd lost both her and Sal—or so I thought. Gretchen's head snapped up, surprising me. Her eyes were wide. "How'd it go last night?" she asked.

I looked behind me to see how close Ethan was, but he'd stopped in the kitchen and was talking to Joel. I smiled and she patted the seat at her side opposite Sal.

"It was good," I said. I was sort of too shy about it to know what else to say.

"Did you tell him you broke up with Jeremy?"

I nodded.

"Is he
gonna be good to you?"

Smiling, I nodded again.

Ethan and Joel made their way over to us by that time, and she discretely changed the subject. "
Yeah, so we're thinking we can plan on having the doors open by next year at this time."

"That's awesome," I said. She was talking about The Center, and it was information I
knew already, but I assumed it was all she could think of under pressure.

"When's the cabin supposed to be finished?" I asked. They were building a cabin in the woods, and
the projected date of that was something I actually didn't know the answer to.

"We'd love to have it ready by Christmas, but we're not stressed about it," Gretchen said.

Joel sat on the other side of Sal, reaching out to rub his belly. I didn't know where Ethan would sit since the huge sectional sofa was, for the most part, covered. He nudged my shoulder telling me to get up so he could sit in my spot. I agreed without ever breaking eye contact with Gretchen while she was talking. Once Ethan sat down, he pulled me into his lap… a place where I was entirely comfortable. 

"Trey and Tonia's restaurant will be the first of our projects to be completed. It's on track to be done by early fall," Gretchen said.

"They're about to start working up the menu," Joel said, "and we get to reap the benefits of that. We'll call to see if you want to come by and pick up a plate lunch when she brings food."

I sucked some air through my teeth.
"I don't know if I should," I said. "That would mean me having to hit the gym twice as hard. I already fill out my uniform more than most of those other girls."

"Ethan, that's the place where you disagree with her and tell her how thin she is," Gretchen said. She was just teasing us both.

"I'm not telling her that," Ethan said, looking at Gretchen like she must be kidding. Then he smiled and gave me a squeeze. "Her big booty is one of my favorite things about her. Hell, it's one of the main reasons I talked to her when we first met."

I
gasped in mock horror, turning on Ethan to fake a punch to his shoulder. I didn't care if he talked about my big booty. I knew he liked it. Plus, I was confident enough in myself to not mind if he said things like that anyway.

"I'm looking forward to adding a few pounds to my booty while I have the excuse of being pregnant," Gretchen said. "Thank God I'm starting to feel better. It's perfect timing with the Sims starting to bring food over."

"Okay, you talked me into it… call me when they bring some food," I said. "It might be worth adding an extra spinning class to try the new menu."

"I wish I could get in on some of that," Ethan said. "My mom doesn't cook for shit, and Josh and I never
make anything more complicated than spaghetti." 

"I'll bring you some when I come see you sometime," I said.

"You might have to bring enough for Josh unless you want to see a fight."

"I don't think so," Joel said, t
hen immediately looked like he regretted saying it.

"Did you hear something from your friend?" Ethan asked, "because Josh hasn't heard back from the guy since he told him what it will take to relocate."

"I know he's planning on making Josh a good offer," Joel said. "More than he asked for."

"Seriously?" Ethan asked. "Josh thought it was a long
shot because he asked for more than he thought he should."

"Well, Mitch is planning on giving it to him," Joel said. "Do me a favor, though, and don't mention it. It's between Mitch and Josh… I just wanted to give you a head's up since you might have to look for a new roommate."

"I'm not looking for a new roommate," Ethan said. "It'll be quiet around there, but I won't mind the change. I'll miss not having my boys in the same town, though. First Collin, and now Josh."

"Why don't you just
move to L.A. too?" Gretchen asked.

"There's no way I could even
think
about that until after the trials, but it's definitely a possibility eventually," Ethan said. He looked at me to see how I reacted to that, and I bent and put a kiss on his cheek in front of God and everybody.

"Oh snap," Gretchen said. "I didn't think about Josh moving up here. Brit's not
gonna like that one bit."

"Why would
Brit
care if
Josh
moves to L.A.?" I asked.

"Did I tell you she was seriously considering taking the job as art director at The Center?" Gretchen asked.

I shook my head. "I knew she was thinking about it, but I thought she was leaning against it," I said.

"She said the more she thinks about it, the more she feels like it might be the right thing."

"What's that got to do with Josh?" I asked.

"She and Josh sort of get under each other's skin a little." Gretchen said.

I thought I remembered a few things here and there that got tense with them, but I didn't think it was anything that would make Brit change her mind about moving.

"Can't you just not mention it to Brit?" I asked.

"I think I'd have to," Gretchen said.

The boys just stayed silent, listening to our conversation.

"Wow, that's really weird," I said. "Do they just rub each other the wrong way, or what?"

"That's an understatement," Gretchen said.

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"Brit told me about a conversation she had with Josh that almost turned into a fight. She really has an aversion to him for some reason."

"T
he feeling is mutual," Ethan said.

My head whipped around to look at him. This was turning into some good old-fashioned drama.

"What'd
Josh
say about her?" Gretchen asked.

Ethan looked at Gretchen, not knowing what she'd relay to Brit. "Nothing," he said. "It's nothing
. I shouldn't have said anything." He tried to leave it at that, but Gretchen and I both looked at him like we wanted the rest the story. "Just ask Josh what he thinks about her the next time you see him, I'm sure he'll tell you all about it."