Connections (9 page)

She nodded as her body moved without thought, urging his hand to touch more of her.

Carter kicked the door open further and took her with him into the room, pulling her shorts down just enough as she fell back on the bed.

She kicked her shorts off the rest of the way as she watched Carter remove his t-shirt before dropping to his knees, pulling her body towards the edge of the bed.

Carter moved quickly with his fingers, exploring the wet, virgin hole before he started to taste her slowly with his tongue. He was going to drive her mad, bring her to the brink, slow it down and then back again.

Amanda couldn’t think straight, she couldn’t focus with all that her body was doing. She only knew that this was exactly what she wanted. She could feel her stomach tighten, her head get light, the world seem to be spinning around her as her body exploded in a way she’d never gotten close to before.

Carter had never been with a woman who was this wet, this ready. He opened his nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom. Tearing the wrapper open, slipping it on he looked down at Amanda, still lost in the bliss of her orgasm as his thumb trailed over her clit as he thrust into her quickly.

“
Oh fuck!” She cried out, her eyes squeezed shut as her hands clutched the bedspread in her hands.

Carter didn’t move, he wanted to, but he knew she needed a moment with his cock inside of her, his thumb drawing her body’s focus to her clit before he started to thrust. Careful to make sure he didn’t go to hard, too fast just yet.

“
Harder.” She begged as she released the bedspread and reached down, taking control of the action of her clit.

Carter grabbed her legs, loosing himself in the moment as he fucked her, enjoying her tight pussy gripping him, hungry for him until he couldn’t hold back any longer as he started coming.

“
Oh Mr. Jensen!” Amanda cried out as she felt another wave of pleasure sweep through her body.

Carter collapsed on top of her, she kissed him. It was soft and sensual.

“
That was better than I imagined it would be.”

He kissed her neck, knowing he wasn’t done with her just yet, “You’re so tight, I’ve never felt someone so tight and so wet.”

He was still inside of her as she began to rock her body slowly building the momentum.

“
I saved myself for you.” She confessed as she wrapped her legs around him, her heels pushing him into her.

Carter was shocked; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The clarity of the situation was starting to hit him. He was in the middle of fucking one of his students. If anyone ever found out this happened, he would lose his job, he knew he should stop, end this now but everything felt so right, everything else in this moment made sense. He didn’t know what to say to her, so he kissed her just as he felt his body spasm with a small climax.

“
You can’t tell anyone about this.” Carter finally spoke a few moments later as he stared at the ceiling.

Amanda lay next to him, “I know. I won’t.”

Carter sat up, “I know your 18, but I’m your teacher. I could lose my job.”

“
You won’t.” She reached out, stroking his face with her fingertips. “I don’t want just one night with you Carter.”

He felt his heart race, he hadn’t thought this through and he knew that now. But he thought about his options, he could keep chasing women he’d gone to high school with who if it hadn’t happened with by now, it wouldn’t. He could finally give into Eva’s advances, but the thought of that turned his stomach. This woman, ten years his junior was looking at him in a way no woman had—not even Shayla in high school.

“
We keep this between us until I say so, okay?”

Amanda nodded, “I promise, no one will find out from me.”

“
Good, now come here.” He opened his arms for her and she filled the space as he held her.

Carter Jensen hadn’t realized what he’d been looking for. He wasn’t sure if he’d really found it. Whatever he had discovered though was what he needed after all this time, and the years of heartbreak and living in the shadow of his brother.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The sky was still dark when Shayla opened her eyes, feeling Zach arms holding her. She couldn’t remember a time when she felt so safe in a man’s arms. She had never felt that way with Brad, not that they’d had many nights where he actually held her.

Her stomach twisted as she thought about him, everything she’d done with him, for him. She took a moment to study Zach’s face while he slept, the way his lips were parted slightly and body breathed.

His lips looked so kissable, she was tempted to give in and kiss him. Yet even though she was drawn to him in so many ways, she knew that now was not the time. The sun was aching to kiss the sky, just as much as she was aching to kiss him.

Not here. She couldn’t stay here a minute longer then she really had to. She pushed herself off the bed, trying to let him sleep as she looked around for everything she had brought with her.

Zach sat up, his eyes heavy with sleep. “Shay?”

“
Hey, I didn’t want to wake you.” She pulled a t-shirt on and looked around for her jeans.

“
It’s alright.” He stood up, stretching his athletic body.

“
The first train leaves soon. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“
Are you going to tell me what the problem is?”

Shayla pulled on her jeans and socks, “My Mother, I just need to get away from her. She’s the reason I don’t normally come back home. I just can’t deal with her, and the secrets.”

Zach just nodded, knowing that she would talk, if and when she wanted to. “Yes, well I will have to escort you then if are serious about going out this early in the morning.”

She threw the last few items into a bag and pulled her sneakers on, “How did I get so lucky?”

“
You took the right train back here, that’s how.” He smiled as he grabbed her bag. “Are you going to leave a note?”

Shayla sighed as she realized he was right, “I guess I should.”

“
I’ll meet you outside.”

“
Thank you.” Her hand reached out gently brushing against his for a moment before she pulled it back.

Zach opened the door, the glow of the hallway night light behind him. “Anytime, Shay.”

She looked around the room for a piece of paper, finally pulling open her bag and ripping off the cover of a script.

Had to go back to the city, I need to prepare for work.

She tossed the note on the kitchen table on her way out of the house, meeting Zach on the front porch.

Taking in one final look of the house, she felt like she was finally free of some dark cloud that had been over her for as long as she could recall.

They walked in silence, thankful as the sun came out and the birds started to sing. Shayla purchased her ticket from the machine and looked over at Zach, “Thank you, I know I’ve said it already, but I need to say it again.”

“
I have a meeting, Wednesday with my agent, so I have to be in the city. Um, would you like to have lunch?”

Her stomach twisted with butterflies and nerves, “I would love that.” She just had to get this Brad situation under control, once it was, she would be ready to give into her real feelings for Zach.

“
I’ll call you.” He kissed her, softly, intimately in a way that surprised himself and her.

“
You better.” She teased as the heard the train nearing. “Don’t let Carter and Eva get to you.”

“
Easier said than done.” He started to back away, even though he really wanted to just go with her. “Safe journey.”

Shayla blew him a kiss before grabbing her bags and boarding the train. She sat in the first available seat she saw, chewing on her lower lip as she for the first time since yesterday afternoon had a moment to really think about what had happened.

Her mother had lied to her, all of her life.

The same mother that had tried to convince her not to go into acting.

The same mother that told her not to work on a soap opera.

The same mother that had secretly been an actress.

The same mother that had secretly been an actress on the
same
soap opera she was now on.

Her mother, would be playing—her mother.

Escape.

That’s all Shayla wanted right now. She had to get away from the hypocrisies of her family. She had to get back to her real life, no matter how empty it really was. An emptiness waiting to be filled by someone, she just wasn’t sure who.

Shayla opened the small box as she looked over the desk towards Brad. “What is this?”

“
It’s a key, to a studio apartment a few blocks from here.” He rose from his chair and moved towards the front of the desk watching as she studied it.

“
I think I’m missing something.” Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail; her nails a perfect airbrushed French manicure.

Brad smiled, “It’s where I want you to live while you go to school.”

“
It is?” She couldn’t believe this. “Why?”

Brad took her hand, running his thumb on her nails, “Because Shayla, I want you in a safe place. I want a place where I can stay with you; I can’t do that in the dorms.”

“
You mean, like overnight?” Her heartbeat was loud in her ears, was this really happening.

“
I can finagle a night a bit more often now that I got the promotion. I told my wife it would be cheaper to have a little studio for me to stay in then getting a hotel room, that that I’ve got more entertaining to do in the city.” Brad looked at his hand, his gold wedding band looking up at him. “Anyways, she’ll never question it if I stay over once a week. She’s more grateful for the time away from me.”

“
Oh Brad, don’t worry about her. You’ve got me.” Shayla smiled her lips glossy and eyes bright. “One day, you’ll be free of her, and you’ll still have me.”

He smiled as he looked at his young lover, “I’ll always have you, won’t I?”

“
Yes, of course you will. I will always be yours, you can count on me. If I could I would shout it from the rooftops. I would do anything for you Brad, don’t you see that? I’ve already done so much for you.” Her eyes searched his nervously.

“
Yes that you have.” He kissed her forehead, “You know, I only ask that of you when I really need your help.”

“
Yes, I know that.” She took his hand in hers, “Now, is there anything I can do for you right now?”

Brad reached over on his desk, picking up an envelope, “In here, is a credit card with your name on it, and some cash. Go pick out some linens for the bed and something for yourself.”

“
Really?” Shayla couldn’t believe the responsibility of this all; she couldn’t believe any of this.

“
Yes, really, it will be your home and mine.” Brad couldn’t help but smile.

“
Well, I guess I better get going. What’s the address?”

“
Here” He picked up a piece of paper, “I’ll be by this evening after work for just a little bit.”

“
Thank you, Brad.”

“
Thank you, Shayla.”

Shayla opened the door of her apartment; it was a spacious loft really. Glass windows all along one wall looking out on the city, plenty of light during the daytime and yet she was high enough up that she felt as though she had plenty of privacy. The floors were hardwood, her kitchen counter tops were butcher block, and the appliances stainless steel.