Constructing Us (New Adult Romance) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-seven

Any feeble, halfhearted resistanc
e that Andy might have intended crumbled as soon as Tragan kissed her.  “Andy…I’ve missed you,” he whispered seductively, brushing another soft kiss on her mouth, then another. 

“I missed you, too,”
she murmured on a sigh.  She combed her fingers into his hair and lightly tugged, wanting more. With a rough groan, Tragan intensified the kiss, cupping the back of her neck and sliding his tongue deep, while he pushed her up against the fridge. 

In seconds, it seemed, they were all over each other, k
issing hungrily.  God, it was this morning all over again, but she couldn’t seem to help it.  Nearly trembling, she clung to Tragan’s tee shirt as she surrendered to his mouth, his hands, every erotically charged detail.  He lifted off her shirt.  Soon he was running his hands over her breasts, around her waist, then on her ass--grunting as he jerked her lower body up against his.  Andy let out a helpless moan when she felt how hard and aroused he was, especially when he rubbed into that tender spot between her legs. 

F
or several minutes, their eager panting was the only sound that filled the darkened kitchen.  Until Tragan ran his fingers under the waistband of her pants and started skimming beneath her panties, and Andy said, “Wait--”

“What’s wrong?”
he rasped.

“Nothing, just…”  She exhaled a deep, shuddering breath, trying to collect
herself.  Then tried to think of what she was even trying to say.  Finally, placing her hand on Tragan’s shoulder, she said, “Sorry, it’s… maybe we should think about this.”

Tragan surprised her by laughing.  It was a short, brusque laugh--followed by his warm palm sliding behind her neck again and his mouth de
scending on hers.  “Don’t worry, I’ve already thought about this all day,” he whispered, before he kissed her again.

“Wait…” Andy repeated when their mouths pulled apart, and settled her hand flat on his chest to get his attention.  “I just mean: let’
s think about this.  Do we really want to dive into another random, impulsive hook-up like we did this morning?”

“Hell, yeah,
” he replied automatically.  Then added: “But there’s nothing random about us; I don’t even understand what that means.”

“Maybe ‘random’ is the
wrong word,” Andy admitted, already starting to cave, and wondering why she’d bothered to interrupt him when he was so thoroughly turning her on.  Really, did she
want
to deprive herself pleasure?

“And there’s nothing impulsive about this,
either,” Tragan insisted, as the hand he had beneath her panties slid lower.  She sighed weakly and leaned into him.  “I’ve been wanting this non-stop since we met.”  Andy’s breath caught in her throat, as his fingers grazed over her opening, setting her blood on fire.  When he felt how wet she was, Tragan swore under his breath.  Then moved his mouth to her ear.  His voice was low and rough when he said, “You know what I thought about the most today?”  Andy couldn’t even formulate a response with Tragan’s hand deep inside her panties, and his finger running teasingly over her.  “Watching you come,” he said--and abruptly slid two fingers inside her.

She gasped hard.
  For a second, she couldn’t quite catch her breath.  The shock of sensation caught her off guard, but changed almost instantly to hot, seeping pleasure.  Tragan stroked her so intimately, so skillfully, that Andy was literally shivering with arousal, feeling on the cusp of an orgasm. 

Tragan
grabbed a fistful of her hair, tilting her head back, so he could trail his tongue down her neck.  Soon Andy was rocking her body restlessly, making choking gasps as he plunged his fingers in and out aggressively.  Suddenly, he whispered, “Is that too rough?”

“No…no…”
she assured him, her voice ragged as she clutched his tee shirt with one hand and reached up to encircle his neck with the other.  She pulled him down for a wet, searing kiss.  “Oh, my God,” she breathed against his lips, “you turn me on so much.”  Tragan groaned in response, sounding starved for her.  “Please,” Andy gasped, “I need you--
now
.”

“Right here?” he said hoarsely
.

“
Yes.” 

H
urriedly she shed her pajama pants and panties.  Then began pushing up Tragan’s tee shirt.  Taking the cue, he yanked it over his head, while Andy ran her mouth on his stomach and grappled with the fly of his jeans. 

Soon, his
zipper was open and he was hoisting her up against the fridge, murmuring roughly in her ear, “I’m gonna fuck you so hard right now.”  Andy moaned and clung to him, hoping he meant it, as the insistent throb between her legs pounded even harder. 

Just
as she felt Tragan pressing into her, she had a spontaneous moment of clarity.  “Wait--condoms,” she managed.

“Oh…
Jesus, sorry,” he said right away.  He paused for a second, as if still in a haze, before carefully setting her back down.  “Wait, I have one!”  Fumbling around in his back pocket, he eventually pulled a condom from his wallet. 

That caught Andy’s attention, making her moment of clarity even sharper.  She felt an immediate stab of jealousy, recalling what Tragan had said that morning about meeting Pellican’s sister’s friend.  “Why did you bring that with you today?” she asked, trying not to sound possessive or hurt. 

Tragan gave a laugh, assuring her, “Trust me, this has been in my wallet forever.”  After he said it, they both seemed to have the same thought--their eyes met for a second--before he looked down at the condom, squinting in the moonlight to read the wrapper.  Then he grinned at her.  “Don’t worry, it’s still good.”

“
C’mon,” she said, tugging on his arm.  “Let’s just go to my room.”

As
they hurried toward the kitchen exit, Tragan kept kissing her and Andy was grabbing onto him, trying to balance, and before either knew what was happening, one of them stumbled over the lift in the tile, and both ended up on the hall floor. 

“Shit--are you okay?” Tragan asked, sounding like the wind was knocked out of him.  Helplessly, Andy laughed; she had to, this was just too ridiculous, and so much for keeping a clear head during her next encounter with Tragan.
  She was naked and lying flat on her back on a cold hardwood floor, and at this moment, couldn’t imagine anywhere else she’d rather be.

“Yes, I’m fine,”
she said, then noticed that the condom had dropped beside them.  Impetuously, she reached for it.  “Here.”  Tragan’s eyes dropped to the condom then drifted back to Andy’s.  His hooded gaze became smoldering as she licked her lips.  “I can’t wait anymore.”

It all would have seemed surreal if it wasn’t so visceral--so erotic--so
burning hot.  Tragan sliding into her…Andy’s eyes dropping shut…their hands everywhere…then, Tragan pulling up on his knees, gripping Andy’s thighs as he drove himself deeper, rubbing against her g-spot with each thrust.  Desperately, she panted, her body writhing, her neck arching.  God, was he doing that on purpose? she wondered hazily.  Or was he just getting lucky with that angle?  No…it had to be deliberate.  He had to know exactly what he was doing: working her up into such a fever pitch that her climax was inevitable. 

And then it happened.  W
hite hot pleasure spread through her as the friction became too intense to bear, and a shattering orgasm wracked her body.  As she cried out, Tragan bucked his hips even harder, faster…until he groaned raggedly with his own devastating climax. 

“Oh my God,” Andy whispered shakily.  Still breathing hard, Tragan
collapsed beside her, careful not to crush her with his weight this time. 

Afterward, t
hey lay on the floor together quietly. Andy’s head was still blissfully muddled until a sound interrupted her haze.  It was a faint, rasping sound--the sound of Tragan snoring--and again she had to laugh.

The next morning Tragan awoke on the floor, alone. 

Sunlight streamed from the kitchen, hitting his eyes as he blinked awake.  He slowly registered the dull throbbing in his skull as he lifted it up and looked around.  The comforter from his bed lay on top of him, and a throw pillow from the couch had been tucked under his head.  There was a wet circle on it.  Drool?  Nice, he thought deprecatingly, and slowly rose to his feet. 

As h
e pulled his jeans up, images from the night before sprinted through his mind. 
Andy
.  Where was she?  First, he glanced in her bedroom.  The bed was made and the room was neat except for the high piles of books populating one corner.  “Andy?” he called, even though he could tell he was alone in the apartment.

Heaving
a sigh, he tried to ignore the pounding in his head and crossed to his own room.  Last night was unbelievable.  Yet, at the same time, not exactly a shining moment.  In the light of day, if Andy cared about maturity, pompous Brad seemed to have the edge.  Here Brad had planned a special romantic night for her.  What had Tragan done?  Gotten jealous, gone out drinking, then come home reeking of tequila and ended up taking her on the floor.  God, he hoped Andy didn’t have any regrets this morning.  He needed a chance to show her that he wasn’t a complete jackass--that he could be a mature boyfriend, too.  That he was solid and she could count on him.

After a
steaming hot shower, he got dressed and went to the kitchen--where he found Andy, setting a to-go cup on the table, along with a bag from Carl’s Kitchen, the breakfast place they’d gone to together.  This morning she was dressed in a worn pink tee shirt that enticingly outlined her breasts, and faded blue jeans that curved perfectly over her cute ass.  Suddenly she looked over.  Tragan smiled at her.  “Hey.”

“Hi
there,” she said.  “How are you feeling?”

Coming closer, Tragan
made a grunting kind of sound and a face to match.  “I was just going to make coffee.”

“I got you some
.  Here’s everything you’ll probably need this morning.”  Next to the to-go coffee and bag were a bottle of water and three Advil on a napkin. 

“Bless you,”
Tragan said gratefully and scooped up the Advil first.  After chucking them down with a swig of water, he eyed her carefully and said, “So please tell me that I didn’t have a smoking hot encounter on the floor with myself last night.”

Andy
smiled almost coyly at him.  “It wasn’t a dream if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Thank God.  But…
you left.”

“I had to.  Yo
u were out cold and it got freezing out there.”  With a nod, he dropped into the chair and reached for the bag.  “We should talk,” Andy said. 

“Oh, no,” Tragan said apprehensively
, pausing as he took out his breakfast sandwich.  “Is this how you lowered the boom to Brad?  Are we about to have one of those
talks
?”

“No, stop it.” 
She pulled out the chair adjacent to his and sat down.  “Tragan,” she began evenly, not quite meeting his eyes.  “You know how I feel about you.”

“How?” he said
cautiously.  She hesitated, her gaze still ducking behind her lashes, so he said, “Do you feel the way that I feel?”

Now Andy looked at him straight on.  Her voice was almost timid
.  “I hope so.”

Grabbing her hand, Tragan told her, “Look,
I want us to be together.”

In response,
Andy gave him the sweetest, most genuine smile.  He almost couldn’t ask for more than that.  “Me, too,” she said, lacing her fingers through his.

A smile broke across Tragan’s face, too.  “Good, then it’s done.”

“And I’m sorry about yesterday morning,” she offered.  “I know I acted kind of awkward.  I just got so flustered in that moment.”

Shaking his head, Tragan insisted, “Forget it.  I’m just
happy you’re here with me now.”

“And you really never got my text last nigh
t?”

“No
.”

Andy leaned forward to pull her cell out of her back pocket. 
She scrolled up to “sent messages” and found it for him.  “See, here it is.”

Tragan grinned as he read it.
 

Sorry--
I forgot my phone today. Home now. I miss you xo
xxx
. 

p.s.
same :)

“Nice
…triple X, huh?”

Though
Andy let a giggle slip, she soon turned serious. “But wait, Tragan--”

“No
waiting,” he told her, cutting her off.

“But--”

“No buts.”

“Just
listen
,” Andy insisted.  “I think we should give this a little thought.”

“Give
what
thought?” 

“You and me.”

“Okay, Andy, even if my head didn’t hurt too much to think right now, there’s still nothing to think about.”  He didn’t mean to be dumb here, but he was crazy about her, what else was there to know?  And couldn’t she see that by now?

She exhaled a sigh.  “Look, b
eing in a relationship with someone who’s sick sometimes…  All I’m saying is that it’s not always going to be easy.  It can be really depressing when things aren’t going well.”

“I don’t care,”
Tragan said.

“But--”

“Look, Andy, you’re not sick
now
.  If you get sick again, we’ll deal with it.  That’s it.  I know what’s involved and I’m all in.”

“
Okay, Tragan, maybe that sounds good to say when you’re playing blackjack, but this is real life.”

His mouth twitched at that.  “Oh, sweetheart, y
ou don’t say ‘all in’ during blackjack.  You say it during poker,” he informed her with two condescending pats on the shoulder.  “In blackjack you double down.”

Andy rolled her eyes and laughed.  “Fine, whatever.  D
on’t try to confuse me.”

Chuckling, he
brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it with affection.  Then he tugged gently, coaxing her to lean forward so he could kiss her lips.  “We’ll get through everything,” Tragan promised her.  “Really.  It’ll be our thing.”

“Gettin
g through everything will be our thing?” she repeated doubtfully (but with the corners of her mouth turning up, hopefully).

“Yep.”

“I still think--”

Again
he shook his head. “Enough.  Please.  Are you really going to keep arguing with a guy who’s hung over--yet still getting hard right now, thinking about going down on you on this table?”

“
Oh my God--Tragan!” A faint blush came to Andy’s cheeks, making her even prettier in his eyes. 

With a mischievous grin, he shrugged unapologetically. 
“Look, I’ll do it just to shut you up if I have to.”

She gave him a cute little smirk.
“Yes, I’m sure that’s why you’d be doing it.”

Abruptly Tragan pulled Andy
forward, hauling her onto his lap.  Coiling her arms around his neck, she sank into his hug.  “Listen, I’m sorry I was such an animal last night,” he murmured sincerely.

A little laugh spilled
out of her before she laid her cheek on his shoulder.  “That’s okay, I was, too.  When you start kissing me, it’s like I can’t even think.”  Instinctively, Tragan hugged her closer, feeling a sudden pressure on his chest.  This was real, this was amazing.  She was his now and he’d never let her go.