On Paper (33 page)

KEATON'S KITCHEN WAS
a dream. Especially from what I'd heard about New York apartments. I was pretty sure wherever I ended up in the city it wouldn't look like this. I turned on some music and set to making dinner. I had decided on an old recipe that my grandma had taught me to make when I was little.

Once I had everything in the oven and a salad made and in the fridge I glanced around the kitchen unsure what to do next. Keaton was still writing and I didn't want to disturb him. Even the dishes were loaded in the dishwasher already. Domestic bliss had taken me all of forty-five minutes.

Grabbing the trash I headed down the hall to the trash chute. It would always be weird for me to stuff my bag of garbage into a hole in the wall. It felt wrong. On my way back to the apartment I waved at a neighbor as the elevator stopped to collect him. .He gave me a reluctant wave in return, probably wondering who the overly happy, barefoot girl was.

I had a bounce in my step as I made my way back down the hall. Today had been perfect. It was simple and normal, without frills or over-the-top moments. I loved that most. These were the moments that I craved. I was practically humming when I reached the door. I stopped humming when I hit my head against said door when it refused to open.

It was locked.

Shit. It must have locked automatically when I'd shut it behind me. I knocked and waited. Keaton would laugh at me for this. I'd never live it down. I leaned in, my ear pressed to the door, to listen for footsteps. There was nothing. I knocked again. Louder. Still nothing.

I patted my pants pocket, looking for my phone. I could just call him and tell him to come let me in. He probably couldn't hear me all the way in his office. Shit. My phone was on the kitchen counter where I'd been using it for my recipe. I huffed out a frustrated breath, made a fist and began to bang on the door. Why didn't the man have a doorbell? I hit it hard, hoping he would hear me.

He didn't.

My happy mood quickly dimmed and I just slid down the door and sat with my head resting against the wood behind me. Surely he would notice that I was gone at some point.

He didn't.

Eventually, my domestic bliss was all but a distant memory. Dinner would be ruined. Hell, the kitchen could burst into flames and there was no guarantee that he'd even notice it.

I'm not sure how long I sat outside his front door. Long enough to smell the casserole burning. Long enough that I had lost all patience. My frustration was a slow burn, waiting to be set free.

God help me if he was in the zone. There was no telling how long I'd be out here. Maybe if the sprinklers went off he’d come looking for me.

I fell backwards as the door opened behind me. I looked up at the confused smirk on my boyfriend's face. Even though I was mad I couldn't help but notice how sexy he looked right now. His hair was sticking up all over, where he'd been running his hands through it.

"Why are you sitting in the hallway?" he asked.

I scurried to get on my feet. "I took the trash to the chute and I got locked out," I said. I moved past him into the apartment.

"Why didn't you knock?" he asked, shutting the door behind me.

I glared at him, I couldn't help it. "Huh, why didn’t I think of that?” I scoffed. He cocked his head, watching me curiously. I rolled my eyes, “I did knock. I banged on the door like crazy. You didn't hear me."

"Oh. Sorry. I had my headphones in," he shrugged. I huffed and turned to head into the kitchen. He followed close behind me.

"Is something burning?" he asked, oblivious.

I picked up the pace and opened the oven door to smoke. I pulled out the pan, its contents no longer recognizable.

"I'm guessing that's not what it was supposed to look like?" Keaton chuckled as he looked over my shoulder.

"It's ruined."

"It's no big deal. We'll order a pizza or something," he said.

I turned towards him, my annoyance flaring. "I don't want a stupid pizza. I wanted to make dinner. I wanted to do something special and now it's ruined. You didn't even know I was gone. I sat in that hallway for over an hour. You were so caught up in your writing you didn't even smell the smoke. What's wrong with you," I yelled, letting out my frustration.

I didn't miss the smirk that he was working really hard at trying to hide "It's not funny," I warned.

"It's a little bit funny," he said, his smile threatening to overtake him again

I held my glare, hanging onto my frustration and disappointment. He took a step towards me and pulled my arms away from my chest where they were stubbornly crossed.

"Stop it. I'm mad at you," I said.

"You're mad at me?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Because you got locked out?" he asked pressing his body against mine.

Another nod.

"And I didn't hear you? And dinner was ruined?"

"I wanted to do something nice," I said, allowing myself a small pout.

He wrapped his arms around me, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you and I’m sorry that it ruined dinner. I'll get a new lock or a new door." He said kissing the top of my head.

I couldn't help but laugh a little, my anger deflating and the silliness of the moment taking over.

"Better?" he asked.

"Sorry I almost burned your place down," I said grudgingly.

"Eh, I'd just get another one," he soothed. I laughed, my anger falling away. His embrace had the power to diffuse it instantly.

"So, pepperoni?" he asked.

"You might want to get extra cheese," I sighed, leaning into him.

"Anything you want, baby."

We ate our pizza in bed and it was the best dinner I'd ever had.

WHEN I WOKE
up the room was dark and the sheets around me were cold. Keaton must have been gone for awhile. I stretched, letting the sleep release my eyes. I stole a glance at the clock; it was nearly four in the morning. My feet hit the cold floor, sending a cascade of goose bumps across my skin. Keaton's shirt was still on the floor where it had fallen earlier. I slid it on, clasping the middle buttons closed.

I padded into the next room, half expecting to see him on the couch watching the 24 hour news channel, but the living room was empty, lights off, and everything was still. Then I noticed the soft glow coming from his office. I walked slowly down the hall and peered into the room. It was dim, lit only by the lamp and the laptop on his desk. But I could see him, cast in the soft glow, chest bare and head leaned back.

As my eyes focused in the dim light I could see him clearer. My heart began to thump erratically, my breath catching as it tried to exit my body as I watched him from across the room, oblivious to my presence, lost in his own moment. His teeth sunk into his lower lip and his hand moved low across his body as he gripped his length with slow steady strokes. I didn't want to speak, I was too mesmerized watching the way his hand moved and the way his face showcased the pleasure of his touch. It wasn’t the normal rush urging him to release, but like he was lost in something else.

The soft moan fell from my lips before I could stop it. Keaton lifted his head, his eyes finding mine and pinning me to my place in the doorway.

"Quinn." It was almost a growl, as if I'd invaded whatever fantasy was filling his head.

"I woke up alone," I said softly. He continued to touch himself and it had my insides turning in delicious circles.

"Come here."

I walked towards him slowly. It was as if I was being pulled. His eyes never left mine, they commanded me, they owned me.

I stood in front of him and his free hand slipped up my bare thigh. I heard a sultry breath escape him. "I was writing, thinking about you, writing about all of the things that I wanted to do to you." His voice was gravel and silk all at the same time. Its roughness left me feeling raw, while its caress turned me warm and aching.

"Take off the shirt," he growled. I swallowed hard as my fingers moved to the buttons, releasing them from their hold. I let the material slide from my shoulders and it fell to the floor leaving me completely naked before him as he watched me like a hungry animal.

"You're fucking beautiful, Quinn. Your skin needs to be touched. It needs to be tasted." His words came out low and slow, seducing me completely. His fingers traced my leg up from my knee and landing at the top of my legs where he ran his thumb across my sensitive flesh, brushing over my clit and sending fireworks through my body. He had barely touched me and I was already set to come unglued. I wasn't sure if I could stand much longer, now that his fingers were on me, moving over me in measured strokes, I was weak, my mind scattered as the pressure within my body began to build. He pressed soft kisses to my stomach, his tongue tracing a path to my hip where his teeth nipped. My body coiled with sensation. He pulled me closer to him, casting a slow sultry look up at me and I wasn’t sure if it was a warning or a promise, I didn’t have time to decide before his mouth joined the wicked dance of his fingers and his tongue orchestrated a whole goddamned symphony. I felt my knees begin to buckle but he held me up, refusing to let me fall, never losing focus. I could hear the sounds as they tumbled from my lips, begging him for something, the ache inside intense. I gripped his shoulders for balance, tugged his hair in need and nearly cried as I felt him smile against me.

“You want to come so badly don’t you, baby?”

I whimpered my response. “I love the way you tremble against me, the way you beg for me to make you feel good. I want to make it feel good,” he said as he kissed my thigh. "But I need to be inside you, Quinn. I need to hear my name on your lips. I need to make you come hard around my dick. I need to fuck you. Now. Here. Hard across this desk."

He stood and his hands found my face as he pulled me tight against him and my breath caught at the roughness of his embrace. I was so turned on I didn’t think I could take much more of his teasing. I needed him desperately. He slid his thumb into my mouth, and I sucked it, tasting the saltiness of my own desire on his skin. I bit down on the padded flesh with frustration to have him.

He replaced his thumb with his mouth as he kissed me deep and hungrily. It was good that he was holding me up because I'd nearly lost the ability to do it on my own. When he broke the kiss he turned me so that my back was against his torso. I sunk against him as he ran his hands down along my body, his throaty growl in my ear.

He moved his boxers over his hips and then kicked them away and I could feel him, hard and ready at my back. I ached to have him fill me. I was nothing but sensation and need. He hugged me to him, his lips warm on the side of my neck, his fingers teasing my swollen clit.

"You consume me," he said. "Completely consume me." His hand moved, gently pushing me towards the desk. I gripped the wood frame, waiting for him to take me. I needed him to take me. I needed the feel of him stretching me. I felt the warmth of his tongue as it traced my spine, the dampness it left behind sending a shiver through me.

I was just about to beg when he finally gave me what he'd been promising. His thrust was fast and deep and it slammed me into the desk. But he gripped me and pulled me to him, he was in control of this moment and I was happy to be at his mercy. He pushed into me, finding a steady and punishing rhythm. His fingers pressed into my hips, hard and possessive and I was sure that I’d wear the marks of him tomorrow. I could feel the build deep within me, clawing its way to the surface with exquisite precision.

He pulled me up and to him, hugging me against his body, and when he gently tugged at my hair, pulling my head back so he could kiss my neck I felt the first explosion ricochet through my body. I would have fallen, but he wasn't done with me. His arm wrapped tighter around me as he continued to grind into me. “You’re fucking perfect. You feel so good, when you squeeze my cock, I fucking lose it, Quinn. I can’t get enough of you,” he said as he moved against me, so deep and so steady that the second orgasm was coming fast. I could barely get a breath as I panted through my cries. I called out his name, feeling as if I might split in two as the wave of ecstasy rolled over me. This time he fell with me and I felt him jerk within me. I couldn’t hold on anymore, my legs were worthless.