Friends & Lovers Trilogy (10 page)

“
Wow. Did you know anyone
here before you came?”

Nicole smiled and giggled a bit, as if still
amazed by her decision. “No. I just picked a random spot on the map
and showed up. I had a little money saved up, so I was able to rent
an apartment, but even with the money I make as a hostess, it is
started to become a struggle. That is why I’m hoping to move up to
a serving position, and I’m thinking about getting a roommate.”

Briana looked at her in amazement. “You’re
so brave. I don’t think I could ever do what you did, not in a
million years.”

“
Thanks, but it’s no big
deal.” Nicole said with an embarrassed shrug.

Thinking back on the conversation, Briana
was impressed about Nicole and the decisions she’d made in order to
be happy.

Deciding it was time to get some coffee; she
rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. When she walked in,
she saw that Pete was already there making a pot.

“
Hey,” she said with a
yawn. “What are you doing here?”

When Pete turned, she saw that his jaw was
colorful with the bruises that were starting to form.

“
Ouch.”

“
It’s not so bad,” he
replied, gingerly touching his jaw. “I brought Kara home and stayed
over. She was pretty shook up last night, and I wanted to make sure
she was okay.”

“
Is she?”

“
Yeah,” he said smiling to
himself as he made two cups of coffee. “She’s great.”

Before Briana could ask him about that
smile, he wandered out of the kitchen and into Kara’s room,
shutting the door behind him. She looked at the shut door for a
moment, then shrugged and poured herself a cup of coffee.

Once she’d gotten her caffeine fix, she
looked at the clock and decided that it was late enough to give
Colin a call.

“’
Lo,” he said gruffly,
answering on the third ring.

“
Hey, Colin, it’s Bree. You
asked me to give you a call.” Even though that was true, she felt
nervous now that she was talking to him.

His voice got softer. “Good mornin’. I’m
glad you called. I was just getting dressed, so I didn’t even look
to see who it was before I answered it. I’m happy it’s you.”

She smiled at his response, and felt herself
grow warm at the thought of him pulling his clothes on after a hot
shower.

She cleared her throat. “Um… well, I was
wondering if you wanted to do something today. I have to work
tonight, but not until five.”

“
That would be great. I’m
working later tonight, too, because we have inventory, so that
works out perfectly.”

Briana swore that she heard a smile in his
voice. “Well,” she began, “I was thinking that I could come over
and make you lunch. I’ll pick up everything at the market, then
come by. Will that work for you?”

“
That sounds
great.”

“
Okay, I’ll be there in a
little bit.” She smiled as she disconnected, then ran to the
bathroom so she could shower and get ready. She shaved, lotioned,
and primped. She put on a red sundress with white sandals and blew
her hair dry. She was trying to look effortlessly casual. It took a
lot of work.

When she finished she headed to the market
and picked up ingredients for Chicken Milano, with fettuccini
noodles, salad, and asparagus. As an afterthought she grabbed a
bottle of red wine, and headed to the register. She really wanted
to impress Colin with this meal.

When she arrived at his place, she felt
butterflies in her stomach as she carried the bags up the
stairs.

Before she could knock, the door flew open,
and Colin stood before her, all sexy and smiling. She took in his
bare feet, cargo shorts, and grey T-shirt, before reaching his face
and the flash of dimples. It was all she could do not to sigh and
stare, but she gathered her wits and smiled up at him, lifting the
grocery bags to show him what she’d brought.

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek,
as he took the bags from her hands and moved to the side to allow
her access inside.

“
Hi,” he said as she walked
past him.

“
Hi,” she said back, her
smile still in place.

They walked back in to the kitchen and Colin
began taking the items out of the grocery bags. “What do you need
me to do?” he asked when everything was lined up on the
counter.

“
If you want to start
cutting the vegetables for the salad, I can get started on the main
course. Is it okay if I rummage through your kitchen to find what I
need?”

“
Sure. Mi casa, es su casa.
My mom loaded it up when I moved in, so I should have everything
that you need.”

“
Cool.”

Briana started to prep the chicken. While
she worked, she was conscious of Colin standing next to her
chopping and building the salad. Her body seemed to hum and her
pulse quickened at his nearness. She watched his bicep flex with
every slice of the blade, and started to feel lightheaded.

She cleared her throat and focused on the
chicken, getting it breaded and placed in the sauce so she could
put it in the oven. Once that was done, she put the pasta water on
to boil.

“
Do you have a grill?” she
asked.

He stopped cutting and looked up at her. It
seemed like a current passed through the air, and she knew that he
was as aware of the sexual tension as she was.

“
Hmm?” he asked. “Did you
say something?”

She laughed, her eyes blurring a bit as she
met his gaze.

“
Do you have a grill?” she
asked again.

“
Yeah. Do you need me to
light it up?” he asked, placing the knife on the cutting board and
waiting for her answer.

“
Um, yeah.” Her lips felt
as dry as her mouth and she licked them quickly out of habit. His
gaze followed the flick of her tongue and stayed there for a
moment, as he hoped she’d do it again. Her throat tightened and she
struggled to remember what they were talking about.

“
Oh, um… yeah. I wanted to
grill the asparagus.”

“
Sure.” His movements
seemed slow, as he went out the back door to where she assumed he
kept his grill.

Briana shook her head to try and clear the
fog then got out the asparagus and coated it with olive oil,
pepper, and salt.

When Colin came back in she asked, “Is it
gas or do I need to wait for the coals to warm up?”

“
It’s gas.”

She picked up the plate of asparagus and
walked by him, accidently brushing her arm against his taut
stomach. She heard his quick intake of breath, and bit back the
groan that started in the back of her throat. She rushed out and
put the asparagus on the grill.

When she got back into the kitchen, she
looked at the timer and saw that the chicken still had forty-five
minutes to bake, so she turned off the water that had begun to
boil. Apparently being in the kitchen with Colin was making forget
the basics.

“
Shoot.”

Colin came up behind her, as if to try and
get close enough to hear what she’d said.

“
What is it?”

“
I put the asparagus on too
early. The chicken won’t be done for a while and I don’t need to
cook the asparagus and the noodles yet.”

Colin went back outside and came back in a
few seconds later.

“
No problem. I turned off
the grill and we can set it up again when you’re ready.”

“
Thanks.”

“
So,” Colin began, “Does
that mean we have some time to kill before we have to do the
rest?”

Briana looked at the timer again. “Yeah,
about thirty minutes.”

She’d barely gotten the words out, when
Colin pulled her against him. Her arms went around him eagerly and
her mouth eagerly found his. He backed her up against the counter
and she felt the long hard length of him against her.

His mouth was everywhere, her neck, her jaw,
her earlobe. Her head fell back to allow him better access, and her
hands began an exploration of their own.

His hands found their way to her bottom and
he lifted her easily, causing her to wrap her legs around his
waist. He set her on the countertop, and she shifted down, so she
could feel his erection press against her. She began to thrust as
she tried to work his shirt up and off of him.

He broke away from her to help her, tearing
the shirt over his head and coming back to meet her lips with
his.

Her hands thrilled in the feel of his bare
skin. She loved the muscles that rippled with each movement and
started to feel crazy with need.

She struggled with the straps of her dress.
He reached down to help her, pushing the straps and the fabric down
over her stomach, and taking her bra off in the process.

When their bare skin touched it was like a
fire erupted inside of her. She rocked against him again, causing
Colin to moan and he leaned her back to gain access to her breasts.
Then he sucked on one nipple as he used his fingers to knead and
stroke the other.

Briana kissed his forehead and leaned
towards his ear, trying to reach his skin, but not interrupt his
wonderful assault on her breasts. She scooted down a little
further, eager to have him inside her. This caused her dress to
push up further along her thighs. She was frustrated by his shorts
and her panties, which caused an unwanted barrier.

Her movement caused a tortured sound to emit
from his throat. Colin left her breasts and brought his lips back
to her mouth, suckling and biting her lips, as he pulled her closer
to him and lifted her off of the counter.

He carried her back to his room, but before
placing her on the bed, he pulled away from her and looked into her
eyes.

“
Is this okay?” he asked,
clearly trying to keep his control in check, even as she rocked
against him once more.

“
Yes,” Briana said with
total confidence. “Please.”

That was all the affirmation he needed. He
laid her down and took off her clothes. Then he took off his. He
laid next to her on the bed, stroking her skin with his hands, as
he placed light kisses down her body. He started with the nape of
her neck, then travelled along her collar bone to her breasts.
After licking and nibbling her nipples again, he continued his
descent along her stomach to her thighs.

He moved down the bed so he was in front of
her, and nudged her legs, asking her to open them for him. She did
as he requested, the blood pumping hot through her veins.

He kissed his way up her legs, starting at
her knees, and ending in the one place that burned the most. When
his mouth touched her, she felt momentarily embarrassed. No one had
ever kissed her like this before, and she wasn’t sure how she felt
about it.

One second later, when his tongue began to
lick her and he looked up to make sure she was okay, she lost all
thoughts of embarrassment and let herself be taken away by the
feelings he evoked.

It didn’t take long for the tension to build
in her core, causing her to buck and thrash against his mouth. He
took that as a sign of encouragement and began to lick faster and
deeper.

She came with a shout and a moan. She
couldn’t believe she was being so vocal, but she was no longer in
control of herself.

Colin kissed her thighs once more, before
kissing a trail back up her stomach to her chest. Her sensitive
nipples tingled when he stroked them. She worked to catch her
breath.

When he was fully on top of her, she moved
appreciatively at the feel of his weight. His skin felt silky and
slick and she knew that he had to be ready to explode himself. She
felt him throbbing against her.

She couldn’t help the large grin of
satisfaction that spread across her face, as he said, “I need to be
inside you.”

She felt him reach for the condom and heard
the packet crinkle as he tore it open.

She pulled her knees up anticipating the
feel of him inside her.

He slid in slowly, making her breath catch.
Her eyes closed as she let the pleasure of this intimate joining
overcome her.

When he was fully inside of her, he
momentarily stilled, and looked into her eyes. Emotion washed over
her. She lifted up to kiss him long and hard. She pulled her knees
up further and wrapped her legs around him, lifting her pelvis up
off of the bed and bringing him further inside of her.

His control snapped. He started pumping in
and out of her, and she held onto his shoulders for support. She
rocked her hips up, causing him to rub roughly against her. She
felt the orgasm begin to spread through her limbs once more. When
she knew she was about to come, she suckled on his earlobe, then
bit it.

“
Oh, God.
Yes,
Now
.”

Her throaty words caused him to intensify
his thrusts, and they both came with moans and shouts of
satisfaction.

Briana lay there, stroking Colin’s back and
wondering about how he had just made her feel. He had brought
things out of her that had never happened before.

She couldn’t help but smile, as she closed
her eyes and kissed the side of his neck.

“
I think I just died and
went to heaven,” he muttered, his face in the pillow.

She giggled.

“
If that’s what death is
like, I’m ready to die. Repeatedly.”

Colin chuckled, then lifted his head up to
look down at her. “You’re amazing.” He kissed one corner of her
mouth, then the other, before kissing her fully on the lips.