Elly & Kent - The Complete Story: Includes Books 1-3 (57 page)

As I waited for the water to warm up I brushed my teeth and thought about what I was going to say to him. How could I bring it up without hurting his feelings? Was there a way? He would find another woman soon enough and leave me devastated, again. And I couldn't put our friendship through that again. When it happened I would lose him forever because it would be too hard to know him that way and then lose him to another woman. I did not think I could recover from that.

After the shower I stepped into my bedroom and found Kent laying on my bed, his arms coming down after a large yawn, his dark eyes on me. I pulled the towel tighter around my chest and smiled. "Hey, sleepy head, are you gonna lay there all day?"

He nodded his head, flashing me with a sleepy grin, "Of course. I was hoping you could join me."

My feet felt like big blocks of cement. I had to admit to myself that it was a tempting offer as my eyes roamed slowly over his naked chest and his powerful arms. "Don't you have a store to run?" I dropped my gaze and turned, forcing my feet to move. I opened my drawers and rustled around for something to wear.

"I do, yeah, but staying in bed just sounds so amazing right now."
 

I grabbed a couple of shirts and slammed them back into the drawer in frustration. Dammit, where was that goddamn sweatshirt?! I bent down and moved onto the bottom drawer, rifling through it, determined to find it. I vaguely heard Kent speaking behind me.

"You want to come back to bed for a little bit?" I paused and turned, looking around my hip. He was staring directly at my bare ass. I stood up quickly, the edge of the top drawer scraping against the back of my head. I whimpered, stood up straight and put my hand to the spot I swear was bleeding.

"Shit, Elly, I'm sorry. You all right?" I heard rustling and felt his body come up behind mine.

"Fine, I'll be fine." I checked my hand to see if there was blood on it and there wasn't. I stayed where I was, my back still to him, I knew as he wrapped his arms around me that he was naked, could feel the press of his dick against the small of my back.

He pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder and whispered, "Darn. I was kind of hoping I could play doctor."
 

I shivered involuntarily and closed my eyes, trying to block out the yearning. I wanted so badly to play doctor with him but I couldn't let him distract me. "Kent..." I whispered softly. God dammit if he didn't feel good against my back, like I fit with him. One of his hands came up and wrapped around the hand that was clutching the front of my towel for dear life and his lips caressed my neck. I fought back a groan, I had to make this stop or go faster, I wasn't sure which. "How would you feel about being friend with benefits? Like an open relationship kind of thing?"

That did it. He released his hold on me and took a step back, I heard the air leaving his lungs in a rush; I'd stunned him. "That..."

I refused to turn around and stare at him. I continued to rifle through my drawers. If he was as shocked and hurt as I suspected, I didn't want to see it yet.

I heard the bed crinkle as he sat down on it, "Why would you want that? You're not that kind of girl."

I pulled on a white sweatshirt roughly. Maybe I wasn't that kind of girl before, but I was determined to be now. "I've had one bad relationship after another, I don't want to do that again." I grabbed some black leggings and pulled them on. When I turned around to look at him he was hunched over, his elbows on his knees, his hands in his hair, and he was staring at the floor.

He sat up abruptly and I could see his tongue pressing against the side of his cheek, "You're assuming it's going to be bad with us before you've even given me a chance." His eyes looked up to meet mine and I felt my insides melt and pool in my lower belly. "The sex between us is," he licked his lips before continuing, "amazing but I don't want to be that guy who comes over here, makes love to you all night and then leaves the next morning." He grabbed his boxers and yanked them on. "I want the whole thing, Elly."

I felt the frown on my face, "So it's all or nothing?"

He met my eyes and nodded. "All or nothing."

I felt my chest constrict and put my hands behind me to hold onto the dresser for support in case my heart decided to shut down on me. "So if I don't want to be in a committed sexual relationship with you you're just going to cut me out of your life altogether?"

"I don't want to cut you out. I," he paused as his eyes traveled very slowly down my body, his gaze alone making it sizzle and hum.

"You what?" I had to keep talking, to avoid throwing myself at him like a fool.

His eyes met mine as he continued, "I want to feel you against me at night. I want to take showers with you in the morning, cook you dinner. I want to go the movies and fucking hold hands everywhere we walk. Of course I want other things. I'm not going to be able to get last night out of my mind, but I want more than just sex."

He wasn't saying anything that couldn't be done under the cover of Friends-With-Benefits. I lifted my chin defiantly. "So why can't we do that? And be casual about it?"

"There's nothing casual about the way I feel about you."

"Right. The love thing again." I sighed and looked down at my toes. I couldn't see them for long before Kent's came into view. He caged me in with his arms and I painfully dragged my gaze up his practically naked body. If he had done this to me years ago I would've done anything he asked. But not anymore. I met his eyes.

"Don't tell me you don't feel something," he said.

"I feel like I have good sex with my friend." I wasn't about to stroke his ego and admit the sex was fucking stellar. "That's what I feel."
 

"The sex isn't good because it's sex. There is more there. The feelings add to the experience."
 

I almost laughed. He'd had sex with two women in his life, who was he to counsel me about why the sex felt so great. "I didn't know you were a sex expert, Kenny."

He didn't think I was funny at all. He moved like a viper, quickly pressing his lips to mine. His left hand snaked under my shirt, his hand warm against my side. His kiss was fucking hot and delicious and I heard someone whimper. Vaguely, I was aware that it was me.

He broke the kiss and studied my face, "Tell me you didn't feel that." I was mesmerized by his lips, slightly swollen and wet from our kiss, "Tell me you didn't feel that excitement because it was me, and not just someone else." And then he did it again, he kissed me silly as I clung to the dresser behind me for dear life.

He pulled back again, "Tell me, Elly. Tell me you don't want it." His arm slid around my back and pulled me to his body.

"I want your sex attention, yes. But I don't want to be your girlfriend." I didn't expect to see the pain so dramatically on his face, but there it was. And then it was gone, covered. He released me and went to pick up the rest of his discarded clothes.

I felt my knees quaking and I wasn't sure if it was from the kissing or the fear that this might be the last time I saw him.
 

As he dressed he spoke, "I gotta go, Elly." As soon as his clothes were on, he was gone.

Chapter Seventy-Eight

A week had gone by and I hadn't heard anything from Kent. I worked double shifts to keep myself from going to him but I'd worked so much that the boss gave me a couple of days off and refused me when I'd tried to come in.

Christmas was next week so I went shopping to try to fill the void, but everywhere I went I saw Kent, or I saw something I wanted to gift to Kent. Or I saw a couple, holding hands, smiling at each other like they were in love. Which was stupid because a month or a year from now that man was going to cheat on that woman and she would be shopping alone, just like me.

I was standing at the grocery store, staring at the strawberries which, thanks to globalization and world trading, were available in the middle of winter. He was probably regretting his hasty decision by now. He was probably having hot sex dreams about me just like I was. And it was probably killing him but he probably wanted to pout and try to save face. I was going to go over there and find out. I had nothing better to do and it was killing me not to know.

I knocked on his door an hour later with a bag full of stuff. He opened it, and while he was checking me out I stepped in, I didn't want to give him the chance to refuse me entry. It was much easier to bully your way into things where he was concerned. He didn't object so I kept walking to his kitchen, "I've got lots of goodies for us tonight!" I tried to sound cheery so maybe I could trick him.

I felt his presence behind me as I set the bag on his small counter and started to pull things out, "Strawberries and whipped cream. Mountain Dew and Diet Mountain Dew. Twizzlers. Ho-hos. And some bacon for the morning. And, of course, a Redbox movie so we have something to watch." I crumpled up the plastic bag and set it next to the stuff. I went to him and put my arms around his neck, he seemed a little put off but he wrapped his arms around me just the same. "What do you want to do first?"

"Umm... Twizzlers and Redbox."

I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his, trying to slowly melt his resolve and soften him up to the idea of me being in his space. I felt him start to harden before he pulled back. "Elly," he whispered.

I could see the restraint in his face, his body wanted me but his mind was fighting back hard. I pulled him close and kissed his neck softly. "I've missed you." I felt him shiver against my body and felt his dick harden some more against my belly.

"I wanted to hear you say that," he whispered.

My lips met his ear as I whispered softly, "That I missed you inside of me?" My hand slipped between us, grasping him in my hand. I heard the catch in his breath a moment before I felt his fingers close around my wrist. I wasn't about to let him think himself out of what I wanted to do. My body wanted his as much as his wanted mine. "Is that what you wanted to hear me say?" I grazed my teeth slowly down the side of his neck.

"I--," his breath stuttered.

"You?" I squeezed him through his jeans gently.

"I... Want more..." he forced it from between his lips.

"More what?" I moved my hands to the front of his jeans, slowly undoing them, hoping he wasn't going to reject me. He reached behind and put both hands on the counter, surrendering to me. I looked up into his dark eyes, a little smile on my lips. "You don't have to talk, it's fine. I'll talk for you." My fingers slid to his hips and pushed his jeans down slowly. "Elly, I want more of our bodies... Together. I want whatever you want because we're best friends," as I spoke I moved down his body, the last word whispered on the front of his tented boxers, "forever." His eyes were trained on me, watching as I came back up, grabbing his dick and pulling it slowly from his clothes. "Even if I don't want to be your girlfriend...?" I rubbed my thumb over the tip, "Yes, Elly. I want you however you'll let me have you." His eyes closed. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement, finally."
 

I moved away from him and washed the strawberries in the sink. I saw him from the corner of my eye stuffing himself back into his boxers after rubbing his face with his hands.
 

I grabbed the whipped cream and berries and moved towards the bedroom, "Coming?" I heard his footsteps as he followed me after a moment's pause. The plan was working. He was totally going to own my body tonight. I felt the tightness in my belly as I freed my hands and then stripped down to my panties and bra.

"So beautiful," I heard him hoarsely whisper from the doorway.

I looked at him over my shoulder, "If only you'd said that to me when I was fifteen." I laid down in the middle of his bed and waited for him to join me.

"I did," He wasted no time getting into the bed beside me, his pants loose, his shirt half unbuttoned.

"I only remember feeling like you were just being nice." I grabbed the whipped cream and shook it as I turned towards him, my free hand roaming over the warm hardness of his exposed chest. I loved how there was only a sprinkling of hair.

"No, not just nice."

"I know that now. You just wanted to use me to experiment with." I popped the cap off the bottle.

"It wasn't just experimenting, unlike you. What are you doing?"

"I'm having fun with my friend." I held the can upside down and pushed the side of the nozzle. A cold stream of cream sprayed onto his chest.
 

His inhaled sharply, his hands gripping the covers, "Cold!"

I grinned, "I'll make it better," I licked it off his chest slowly, kissing his skin as I went.
 

When I sat up he was chuckling at me and wiped at his nose, "You've got a little..."

I felt my cheeks flame as I wiped off the whipped cream, so much for being sexy. "You want a turn?"
 

I held out the can and he took it. He turned it sideways and sprayed my chest at the bra-line. I closed my eyes when his body leaned over mine and I felt his tongue cleaning up. He made me feel things no other guy ever had.
 

I opened my eyes and took the can from him. "My turn." I reached down and pulled him from his boxers. I sprayed him and then bent down and sucked it off. I felt him shiver and heard the moan. The power I had over him warmed me inside.