Breathe You In (14 page)

Stepping outside, into the dark street, I felt a
flurry of cool air flick my hair, wrapping it around my cheek.

“Whoa, it’s getting wild.” I said, ducking my
head and wishing I’d brought a jacket.

“Shall we get a taxi?” Ruben asked, pointing at
a queue of about nine couples waiting at the empty rank.

“No, we’ll be fine, it’s only a few minutes,
isn’t it?”

Ruben glanced at the sky. A streak of lightning
lit the tall buildings opposite.

“We should get going,” he said as a stormy gust
pushed his hair from his face, sending it backward in a soft wave.

We reached for each other’s hands and scurried
in the direction of home. But within minutes the first big pellets of rain hit
me, soaking through my blouse and onto my skin.

“Ah, yuk,” Ruben said, increasing his pace.
“We’re going to get seriously wet.”

I jogged to keep up with him. Several raindrops struck
my face, and I said a silent goodbye to my mascara.

Another bolt of lightning brought the dim street
into illumination. It was closely followed by a bellow of thunder that rattled
through my chest.

I squealed then laughed at my surprised reaction.
Ruben tightened his grip on me and broke into a run, weaving us around the
trees on the avenue and past several wheelie bins that had been put out for the
next morning’s collection.

Soon it was hard to see through the torrential
downpour. My hair was plastered to my head, my skinny jeans stuck to my legs
and my blouse splattered
 
to my
body. The rain smelled fresh as it washed away weeks of dry dust baked onto the
pavement and garden walls. It felt welcomingly cool as it sloshed against me
and seeped onto my flesh, finding every gulley and dip on my body to drizzle
into.

Ruben turned the corner onto my street and
glanced at me with a worried frown. “Are you okay?”

“Never better,” I said, grinning and tugging at
my sodden blouse.

He returned my smile and pushed a lick of hair
from his eyes. “Come on, we’re nearly there.”

We splashed through puddles, pelting spray high
up our legs. Another loud giggle burst from me. I felt like a kid playing out
in the rain again. Purposely, I headed for an extra large puddle and stomped
through it.

Ruben laughed, steered us to the next dip in the
pavement, which held a large expanse of water, and we did the same again, in
synchrony. Water burst upward hitting my thighs.

A car went past, the sound of its tires on the
liquid surface of the road a noise I hadn’t heard for weeks. It sent a puddle
arcing our way. Just before it sprayed us the brief image of the slash of raindrops
streaking in front of its headlights burned into my mind. We grabbed each other
and turned away. I nestled my head in the crook of Ruben’s shoulder as we
hollered our fake rage at the driver for soaking us.

A fun memory logged into my new register of
Katie’s happy times.

Ruben hurried us along, until eventually we
splashed up to the entrance of my flat. We dashed in. Although being wet to my
underwear, I couldn’t see how another few seconds in the downpour would make
any difference.

I was out of breath as I hunted for my key and
climbed the one set of stairs to home. It was hard to even see into my bag; water
was streaking down my face and my hair was hanging in rats’ tails around my
eyes. Eventually I found the key and shoved it into the lock.

“Phew, thank goodness,” I said, stepping into my
flat.

Ruben hurried in behind me and shut the door.

“I’ll grab us some towels,” I said, dashing to
the laundry pile. I retrieved a couple of freshly washed pink towels that
smelled of fabric conditioner and passed one to Ruben.

He took it and dropped it over his head, rubbed
vigorously. I did the same to mine and toed off my sandals at the same time. I
dabbed my face, collected an oasis sitting in the groove of my throat and
patted beneath my eyes, hoping I wasn’t displaying a panda look.

Ruben buried his face in the towel then dropped
it to one side. “I don’t think I’ve ever got so wet so fast,” he said, trying
and failing to flatten his now fluffed up hair.

“It was fun,” I said. “I’d forgotten how much I
like to splash through puddles or how much I enjoy a good storm.”

As I’d said the last word a tremendous boom,
accompanied by white light, filled my flat.

I jumped and let out a slightly hysterical
squeak. “Well, that’s maybe a bit too close for comfort.”

Ruben smiled, but then the smile fell. His gaze
dipped and he stepped up to me. “Did you know your blouse is see-through?”

“Is it?” I glanced down, automatically pressing
my arm over my breasts.

He caught my hand, tugged it to my side. “The
best type of blouse as far as I’m concerned.”

My white blouse had indeed turned transparent,
highlighting my white cotton bra and the small pebbles my nipples had become in
the cool rain. I could just make them out, dark disks beneath white material.

“Ruben, I…”

Suddenly I was face-to-face with him. He’d
picked me up, arms tight around my body and our chests pressing together. My
bare feet were dangling.

I put my hands on his shoulders and stared at
his face. His lashes were still heavy with water and had become tiny triangular
points. A large drip was rolling from his right temple into the fuzz of hair by
his ear.

“I think it’s time,” he said, his lips almost
touching mine. “To pay my debt.”

Beneath his wet clothes, his body felt hot and
hard. There was also a seriously sexy glint in his eye that held determination
and lust—a delicious combination.

I pushed my hands through his damp hair and
kissed him. Was vaguely aware of him walking, heading to my bedroom, as our
tongues weaved together. I slanted my head, deepened the kiss, and he moaned
gently, feeding me more of what I wanted.

Ruben Strong.

He set me on the edge of the bed, his mouth not
leaving mine. I was wet, turned on, scared and excited. It was like living in a
cloud, someone else’s life. But it was mine. My life. And I was here with
Ruben, gorgeous Ruben who was acting like he was more than ready to give me
what I was owed.

He kissed across my cheek, his hands busy
roaming down my chest and my stomach, seeking out my fly button.

I tugged at his top, wanting the wet material
out of our way.

He paused to fist it between his shoulder blades
and drag it over his head.

His chest was beautiful, the hair damp and flat
with rain, his nipples, like mine, taut and hard. I looked at the scar, smooth
and pink, and the neat trail of hair that feathered across his stomach and
disappeared into his jeans.

“Say yes,” he said, kissing my right breast
through my top and bra. “Katie, say yes.”

“Yes,” I murmured, laying fully back and trying
to push at my trousers. “Yes, Ruben, yes.”

He kneeled between my legs, helped me drag my
jeans past my hips and over my buttocks. Peeling away the tight material that
was clinging to my skin. He worked fast, his hands gripping and tugging the
denim downward.

Eventually they bunched at my ankles and with a
final jerk were off.

He shoved them aside and kissed my knee then my
thigh, his lips and hands warm on my cool, damp flesh.

I dropped back on the bed again, folded my arms
over my face. This was the first time I’d been this intimate with another man.
Matt had always said he loved giving me oral, but would Ruben? What if I wasn’t
what he expected? What if all those supermodels and glamorous girls had been
his type and I just wasn’t up to his standard?

“Lift,” he murmured, his breath a hot breeze on
my lower stomach. He gripped the waistband of my little white knickers.

I did as he’d asked. Let him pull them down my
legs then over first one foot then the other, my arms still over my face.

“Katie, look at me,” he said, running his hands up
my inner thighs, his thumbs sweeping very near my intimate folds.

I gasped, tensed.

“Katie.” He stilled.

I pulled my arms away. Looked down.

He was staring up at me from between my legs,
his eyes wide, pupils dilated and a hint of redness on his cheeks. “I’ve been
thinking of this moment for days,” he said. “Giving you the same pleasure you
gave me, but if you don’t…”

“Yes,” I said, touching his cheek, the one with
the mole. “I want you to, it’s just…different.”

“I know.” He dropped a kiss to my inner thigh
then shifted upward and set one over my small strip of pubic hair. “But you
know you talked about we, us?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s be us.” His eyes were earnest, his
longing almost tangible. “Let me make you come, Katie. Because we’re so good
together, and I just have to be with you, touching you, tasting you.” He shut
his eyes, poked out his tongue, and wound the tip into my folds, spreading the
soft flesh and gently searching.

“
Ahhh
…” My spine
stiffened. A weight grew in my pussy, a good weight, one that needed feeding.

He found my clit and created a delicious
suction. He suckled some more and rotated the small bead with his tongue.

I gripped the sheet. “Oh…”

Ruben searched out my entrance, one finger
toying with me in delicate strokes and probes. He found it and pushed in, his
slide to knuckle-deep easy.

I was wet for him, a different type of wet to
the rain. This was sexy wet just for him and made the rich, filling sensation all
the more welcome.

Keeping my eyes open, I watched his head moving,
his hair shifting and his long, straight nose burying in my mound. I curled my
toes and moved my hips in time with his ministrations, loving the almost
forgotten sensation of building to climax. After a few minutes he increased the
pressure and the speed.

Red-hot darts of lust rocketed through me, every
nerve on high alert. I let my head fall to the bed, shut my eyes and grabbed
his hair. I wanted to shunt my pussy into his face, ride his hand. “Oh, God,
yes, Ruben, don’t stop, it’s so good.”

He added another finger, applied pressure to my
G-spot. The density of the sensations multiplied. I thrashed my head from side
to side, drew up my knees and fastened them against his shoulders.

He suckled my clit harder, working it with his
tongue and increasing the pace at which he pounded my G-spot with the tips of
his strong fingers. The point of no return besieged me. I held my breath,
allowed blackness and bliss to consume my body for a few sweeter than sweet
seconds until an avalanche of release crashed through me.

I pulled at Ruben’s hair, bowed from the bed,
dug my heels into his back. I wanted more yet it was too much. “Ah, that’s it,
oh, oh…”

My pussy was
spasming
around his buried fingers, my clit bobbing in his mouth. Soft, juicy noises
filled my ears along with the sounds of my ragged breathing and racing pulse.

“Please,” I said, squirming. “Please, that’s
it…” I needed to catch my breath, orientate myself. Damn, that had felt good.
Mind-blowingly good.

He released me, pulled his fingers from my pussy
and sat back on his heels.

I shunted myself onto the bed fully, pressed my
legs together and flopped backward on the pillow. After allowing another
orgasmic shiver to control my body, I released a whimpering sigh.

A warm glow of satisfaction nestled in my core.

Ruben was up and over me, his hand against my
cheek. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, oh yes.” I smiled up at him. His face was damp,
his cheeks a deeper shade of red. “Thank you.”

“Bloody hell, don’t thank me. That was
incredible,
you
are incredible. So
responsive.”

“Well, it’s been a while. I suppose some tension
had built up.”

He kissed me through a self-satisfied smile, and
I tasted the sweet muskiness of myself.

His wet jeans skimmed my thigh, and I touched
the waistband of them and broke the kiss. “You should get out of these wet
things.”

“So should you.” He plucked at a button on my
blouse. “You’ll make the bed damp.”

Another shock of thunder blasted down. The
window rattled as a fresh torrent of rain barraged the pane.

“It’s horrible out there. Bed is the safest
place for us,” I said, quickly removing my top and bra. I needed skin on skin,
the touch of his body against mine. Him leaving now wasn’t an option. I’d known
all along it wouldn’t be.

“Good plan.” He shucked off his jeans and boxers
and then stooped for his wallet.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, guessing he was
retrieving a condom.

“But?”

“I’m on the pill, it suits me for other
reasons.”

He put his wallet on top of his trousers. “And we’re
so out of the game we’re both clean.”