Bachelor Mother (8 page)

She knew Bubba would've never agreed if he hadn’t been sure. Yet she still wondered if she had the right to do this.

The door squeaked gently. She looked up to see him walking into the bedroom. He smiled and she smiled back, then looked down at the bedspread, suddenly self-conscious.

What next?

“I’ll be out in a minute.” He walked quietly into the bathroom.

She heard the muted sound of running water. He was brushing his teeth. Melanie fidgeted restlessly on the bed, putting her legs up, then swinging them back over the side of the bed.

When Bubba came back out he was wearing nothing but his cutoffs. He’d ditched his Hawaiian shirt in the bathroom.

When he noticed her studying him, he said, “I figured colors like that would light up the room even with the light off.”

She nodded her head. There was a pressure in her chest. She had a queer feeling of light-headedness. Why was her body going completely berserk on her? Why were her emotional responses running riot? Why couldn’t she put this entire evening in the proper perspective? She had to get pregnant and Bubba was helping her out.

Mel had never really learned to rationalize away her emotions. They were always close to the surface.

“Lights out?” Bubba walked over to the light switch.

She swallowed painfully.
Tell him now.

“Bubba, there’s something…” She clenched the hand behind her hip into a tight fist and rushed on. “I want you to know, if nothing happens on my end, it’s not anything you’ve done. It’s me. I’ve just never really gotten the hang of it. Do you know what I mean?”

She couldn’t quite meet his eyes. She felt more naked in front of him than if she’d thrown off all her clothes and paraded around the bedroom.

“Okay, Mel.” She felt the mattress depress as he sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “What I said downstairs still applies. Nothing that happens up here is going to affect my feelings toward you.”

She cleared her throat and continued. “It’s just that I know you’ve had a lot of experience and you might think that if you took enough time something would happen, but I don’t think so. I just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Phillip used to tell me I was cold.”

She felt his hand tighten on her shoulder momentarily but she didn’t look up.

“I don’t want you worrying about a thing, Mel. Let me take care of it, okay?”

“Okay.”

The mattress squeaked again as he got up and turned off the light. He walked over to the window and drew the curtains. Mel looked everywhere but at him, a part of her still not quite sure how she and Bubba had got here. There was a dreamlike quality to the evening. Reality hadn’t set in yet.

He clicked off the bathroom light and the room was plunged into darkness. She heard him go to the door and shut it firmly. Even thought the room was dark, she closed her eyes. She could sense his presence in the room, knew a split second before he sat down on the bed next to her.

“Do you want to take off your clothes or do you want my help?” he asked.

She appreciated his sensitivity. “I’ll do it myself.”

She could hear him turning down the bedspread and sheets as she stepped out of her jeans and pulled her sweater over her head. Her hands moved to the fastening of her bra but her fingers hesitated. Deciding she wanted to have the cover of bed sheets before she took the plunge, Mel lifted up the sheets on her side and slid into bed.

She could hear Bubba sliding in on the other side and closed her eyes again for one split second.
There’s no going back now.

“Mel? Give me your hand.”

She did and felt his firm warm fingers close around it and gently pull her against him. His other arm came around her shoulders slowly. Then he was easing her against his hard, warm body. He kept pulling her against him until the tips of her silk-covered breasts rested against his chest.

“That’s some nice underwear you have on,” he whispered softly.

“Thanks.”

“I like the way it feels.”

Bubba was truly a sensualist. He was the only man she knew who took physical pleasure in an active life. He’d been quite the jock in high school and Mel knew he was comfortable inside his body.

At least one of us is.

She started slightly as his hand ran lightly over her shoulder, then he dug his fingers into her tense muscles. He didn’t tell her to relax and she was grateful for that. Bubba simply began to massage her shoulder, slowly working out the kinks. It felt good. Mel began to relax, began to lean into his warmth and accept his touch.

After several minutes he pressed gently so she rolled over on her stomach. He dug his fingers into both her shoulders and she took a deep breath. Whatever he was doing, it felt good. He gave her a complete back massage, running his hands over the muscles, releasing some of the tension in her body.

She was barely aware of the moment when his hands moved to the fastening of her bra but suddenly her back was bare and he was rubbing it, pressing the heels of his hands against her muscles and giving her firm, long strokes. A soft moan escaped her and she immediately tensed.

He didn’t say anything when he finished, simply lay back down beside her and drew her into his arms. She felt that she was melting. Her body felt so pliable, as if she didn’t have a will of her own. Mel didn’t protest as she felt the silken scrap of her bra slowly removed from her body.

There was a moment of silence. Their faces were close together, so close she could feel the warmth of his mint-scented breath on her face. She tiled her head back across his arm and it felt good to stretch her neck. Bubba seemed poised on the brink of something. Waiting.

Then she felt him trace the contours of her face gently with a finger, turning her mouth intimately close to his. She knew he was going to kiss her and she tilted her head closer. She’d kissed Bubba before. This part couldn’t be too hard.

But it was a different kiss. His mouth came down over hers, his lips firm and warm. There was the slightest tickle, like the tiniest shock, when they met, and then he opened his mouth slightly, urging her to do the same.

She was so unprepared for the unexpectedness of the feeling that her mouth did open, slightly, and it was all the invitation he needed. His tongue entered, not forcing its way inside, simply urging her to deepen the kiss. It was tantalizing, the way his mouth moved over hers. He didn’t give her everything but simply teased, promising more.

She liked it, liked the way he was taking his time, as if they had all night to explore just this one kiss. When his lips finally moved away from hers, she gave a softly startled gasp and took a deep breath. Somehow, during that kiss, he’d rolled his body so he was positioned slightly above her and to one side. She knew he was looking down at her.

He lowered his head and kissed her again, slowly. He was setting a very gentle pace, waiting for her feelings to catch up to his. It was so different from the way she’d been kissed before. There was none of that mauling, clumsy quality, none of the scarcely repressed impatience that usually caused her to freeze up inside, knowing she was already behind and would never catch up. But Bubba was gently urging her, taking her deeper and deeper into pure feeling.

The second kiss melted into a third, a fourth, a fifth. When, in a dim corner of her mind, she realized his hand was finally beginning to move down her body, she tensed in spite of herself. She knew the drill – first one breast, then the other, then down her belly to between her legs, then –

He surprised her, moving his warm fingers slowly down her side to her hip, then rolling her up on her side so their bodies were touching, side by side. Her breasts were bare now. She could feel the hair on his chest rubbing against the sensitive tips and for a moment she wanted to press even closer. He didn’t hold her tightly, just enough so they were touching.

She could feel his arousal, hard and taut against her belly. But he wasn’t aggressive. He didn’t grind against her or grab her hand and force it down to touch him. It was as if he accepted his body and its responses and wasn’t ashamed of what she stirred in him.

Tentatively she slid her arms up around his neck and pulled his head back down to hers when he broke the next kiss. The feelings vibrating through her were unlike any she’d ever felt before. She opened her mouth a little more and he was slightly more forceful in his taking. But she enjoyed it, running her fingers through his hair, wanting to touch and be touched.

His hand was moving slowly at the base of her spine, softly kneading the muscles there until she felt that part of her body begin to melt. It was as if her muscles could no longer support her as she rolled slowly onto her back, taking him with her, never breaking the kiss.

When he broke it, she could hear the change in his breathing. It was deeper She felt him move, then he was kissing her temples, nuzzling her hair. It was so arousing, his slow exploration of her body. No one else had ever touched her this way.

Tentatively, shyly, she slid her hands from around his neck and touched his shoulders. She
wanted
  to touch him and it surprised her. Usually she felt she had to, wanting to get things over with. But these light, sensual, unhurried touches of Bubba’s were different. They made her feel so different.

She felt his muscles tense slightly as her fingers began to explore his back, the powerful muscles, his smooth, hot skin. It
was
  easier in the dark, almost as if Bubba had become another person. There was nothing to see, only sensation to feel.

He was kissing her neck, then the spot where her shoulders began, when she surprised herself. Placing the flat of her palms against the top of his shoulders, she pushed gently, wanting to feel his lips against her breasts. He adjusted his position accordingly and she felt his mouth move softly down the front of her body, kissing, nuzzling, caressing.

When his lips touched her breast, she drew in her breath sharply. Her back arched as if her body had a mind of its own. He teased her so gently, so lightly, waiting until he had a physical signal from her before deepening the caress.

Melanie had never felt more secure in a man’s lovemaking. He was with her, letting her set the pace for what was to come.

Though she'd thought of that final culmination with quiet dread, knowing she would feel awkward and shy with Bubba in such an intimate situation, this was nothing like she'd imagined. It
wasn’t
  Bubba in bed with her, simply because she’d never seen this side of Bubba before. She’d known of his almost hedonistic pleasure in life, known he liked women, but had no idea how that would all translate into the bedroom.

He moved to her other breast and she held his head, pressing against him. Where she had been stiff and clumsy sliding into his bed, now she felt warm and liquid and free, graceful and sensual. Her body seemed attuned to his, wanting more than he was giving her.

As gently as he’d done everything else that evening, Bubba took the lead. He gently removed her last piece of clothing. Mel was slightly surprised when he began to kiss his way down her stomach but she was still in such a sensual haze that she didn’t react until his fingers closed around her inner thighs and he gave her the most intimate kiss of all.

Her eyes flew open at the same moment her hips arched up. A part of her rational mind came to life, intensely embarrassed that Bubba was making love to her this way. She curled her fingers into his hair, determined to tug him back up beside her, but he chose that exact moment to begin flicking his tongue in a most disturbing, erotic way.

Her hands wouldn’t obey her. Instead of pulling him away, preserving what little modesty she had left, she feathered her fingertips over his hair then felt her arms fall away limply to her sides.

Tiny licks of fire shimmered over her body. She felt taut and on the edge, everything within her attuned to what Bubba was doing. He was in control now, his fingers spread over her buttocks, raising her, holding her. And Mel, for the first time, began to feel passion race through her blood. It left her light-headed and weak, almost helpless. As if denying her own sensuality, she felt her head begin to move back and forth on the firm mattress. She bit her lip, clenched her fists, scared of the sensations that continued to build deep within her.

Bubba led her, step by intimate step, until everything was concentrated in the growing heat between her thighs. He was merciless, driving her deeper and deeper, refusing to stop even when he had to be hearing her breathless, throaty cries.

When it happened, she felt as if she were nearing the edge of a waterfall of pure heat and light, caught up in a powerful current that wouldn’t let her go. For a split second she tried to fight it and swim back the way she’d come but she couldn’t. He pushed her over, his sensual caresses causing her to fall over the edge. Everything in her body tightened then released, sensation ricocheting throughout her.

She felt buffeted by the strong sensations that left her body trembling and weak, barely aware of the feel of Bubba’s body as he slid slowly up over her. He claimed her mouth with his and she could taste the warmth and scent of her arousal. She felt his fingers thread through her hair, holding her mouth against his. These were different kisses again, less arousing, more passionate. Fiercely possessive. His body burned against hers and she welcomed the warmth, the hardness of each muscle. And she was intensely aware of how much he wanted her, the potent proof hard and hot against her.

Everything changed, both of them caught up in that most private, passionate world. This time, when his lips touched her breasts, he suckled strongly, and she recognized the low moans as her own – little sounds of pleading, asking for more.

He was kissing her all over, his hands and lips exploring her entire body. She cried out when he found her center with his fingertips, his accuracy almost heart-stopping in what it did to her. Her thighs drew apart, her legs shook. This wasn’t Bubba, couldn’t be Bubba, this passionate man who tore intense feeling from her as if it were due him.

She felt him moving toward that most intimate joining of all and she moved against him, arching her hips, wanting him to know she was ready, more than ready. Aching for him, wanting him on a purely primal level. It was as if once her awakened passions had been let loose there was no turning back. It was dangerous knowledge, what her body was capable of, what fire and passion lurked in her thighs, her breasts, even her mouth.