Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2) (25 page)

“Remember when we finished that one time at
sunset and both took off our shirts to wipe our sweat?” he asked
with a smile in his voice.

She kissed down his stomach. “You mean, when
you were trying not to get caught checking me out?”

He jerked in laughter.
“
Me
trying not to
get caught checking
you
out?” he exclaimed.

Krista moved her body between his legs and
kissed up to his boxers. She smiled and let her chin rest on his
hard length, which was still bursting to get out. Her legs were
tingling with anticipation. She figured that was a good sign for
her, but she still had to brave the rapids of Sean’s emotional
crazy.

“You
so
were trying to check me out!” she
laughed and lightly bit the tip of his penis through his
underwear.

“Oww!”
He jolted when he felt teeth. “Not fair—precious cargo in
that pocket.”

He laughed as he reached down and dragged
her up to sit on top of him, her groin directly on top of his.

“And anyway,” he continued, “I saw you
checking me out.”

“Posh.
No way.” She lay down on top of him, putting her lips on top
of his and giving him a light, playful kiss.

“Way!”
he said, quickly jolting his lips up to kiss hers. “Now,
where was I?”

He flipped her on her back. Instead of
putting his whole body between her legs, he only put one large,
hard thigh. It still felt playful so she allowed herself to
relax.

She sighed with that thigh. Talking was no
fun when there was a Sean-sized playground so near.

“I am so ridiculously wet it is
ridiculous.”

“
That is a lot of
ridiculous, all right,” he laughed and kissed her.

She rubbed his back and moved her body to
feel his leg against her sex. She rubbed her erect nipples against
his chest.

“I want to come,” she said boldly.

“Your wish is my command, oh holy virgin,”
Sean said as he began moving over her, rubbing, kissing her and
stroking her body with this hands. In turn, she stroked his with
hers as well, and soon they were rocking together.

Krista desperately wanted
him to move her panties and enter her.
Desperately.
But she kept a lid on
those intentions. Instead she just enjoyed the feeling of his body.
The safety of the little they were doing.

Soon she was arching herself against him,
straining against his leg and squeezing with her thighs. She was
getting close, he was breathing raggedly, his movements fluid and
silky, his thrusts well placed and well received.

“Oh
Krista,” he breathed into her ear.

She didn’t dare say anything back because
she didn’t trust herself with what command she might give.

He moved a hand down around her butt,
staying over the panties. With his fingers he rubbed the parts that
his thigh couldn’t reach. In reciprocation she made sure her thigh
was hitting him where he needed it most.

As they were nearing completion Krista was
moaning like a banshee. She arched further back, so close,
straining into him.

“Are you there?” he asked, clearly holding
back on so they could enter the great crescendo together.

“Oh God,
almost.
I just need...
don’t know...need something…”

She just couldn’t get
enough
friction
.
“Go ahead,” she breathed, preparing to enter fake orgasm mode so he
would enjoy himself even though she couldn’t get there with him. It
wouldn’t be the first time.

He moved his fingers from rubbing outside of
the fabric, to slipping them under, putting his fingers directly on
her clit.

“Christ
, you
are
wet,” he breathed hoarsely, his movements becoming harder and
more desirous.

She grunted in response and moved herself to
take full advantage of this direct contact.

“Okay, okay,
now
!” she cried as she
hit the height of pleasure and rode the wave in delight.

Sean was right there with her, giving a
spasm of release. He shifted so he was finishing between her legs,
his fingers dipping inside her. She moaned again and squeezed him
with her thighs before she relaxed into the aftermath.

He sighed, took his fingers from her, and
let his body go limp. He moved to get off of her, but before he did
he bent his head to her for a long, slow kiss. Then he got up,
searched in his drawer for a second, and put on some different
boxers.

“Messed yourself, did you?” Krista asked
sleepily.

He gave a lopsided smirk, and eyed her
breasts. He made a sound like “Hmm,” shook his head, and she heard
a muttered “gorgeous” before he turned toward the light to flick it
off. She smiled at the appreciation.

“Don’t let it go to your head, Marshall,” he
said, crawling in bed beside her and pushing his warm body up
beside hers.

“Was that okay? What we did? Did we go too
far?” she asked with her head on his chest.

“Almost. But you pulled me out. I lost
balance there for a minute, but you pulled me back out.”

“Yeah, there was that, but I meant at the
end.”

“Oh no, at the end was fine. I might slip in
a little more...touching, in future.”

“Says you,” Krista said in mock disdain.

He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“Thanks, though,” she said.

“For what?”

“For the little extra bump at the end.”

“I cheated. But it was necessary, I
thought.”

“No arguing there.”

They lapsed into silence. It was a green
light for Krista to drift off to sleep.

“Krista?”

“Hmmmm?”

“About what I said--”

She knew he was talking about the “L”
word.

“Anything said in the heat of passion
doesn’t count,” she interrupted. “That’s why people aren’t
embarrassed to talk dirty.”

“You strike me as the kind of girl
embarrassed to talk dirty any time,” he said with a laugh.

She counted her blessings that they just
sidestepped that ”L” bomb, even though he was incorrect in his
assumption.

“But I am willing to work on it. Maybe,” she
said sleepily.

“Maybe, huh?” he laughed again, snuggled
closer, and passed into silence, and then sleep.

Chapter Seventeen

Sean woke Krista with light kisses trailing
down her neck.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said into her
ear.

“Hmmmmmph.”

He laughed and squeezed her, “Forgot, not a
morning person. Did you sleep okay?”

She yawned and stretched, ignoring him for a
minute. She dug her face into the pillow for a second, stretched
again, and then paused.

Without warning she looked back over her
shoulder, meeting his gaze.

“
What?” he asked with a
smile.

Krista turned back into the pillow with a
thump. “I was just checking to see if you were as handsome today as
you were yesterday. Checking to see if maybe the spell wore
off.”

“And?”

“You’re an ugly wreck,” she said in a flat
voice.

He laughed and squeezed her, then hopped out
of bed. He was in a great mood. For the first time in a very long
time he wasn’t in a hurry to get a woman out of his house. And she
looked just as beautiful with her hair all a mess and her eyes
sleepy as he thought she would. Better, if that were possible.

“Do you want breakfast?” he asked as he
pulled on some sweats.

“Uh...don’t know. I have to jog, hit work
for a few hours, and then take your sister out, so I might get
going. What time is it?”

“Ten after nine.”

“Ehhhhhh. It’ll be nice when we don’t have
to work on the weekends.” She got up and searched the floor. Sean
threw some of his sweats at her and a T-shirt. Without hesitation
she pulled them on. They were so big she was swimming in them, but
she didn’t seem to mind. She took a big whiff of the sleeve and
closed her eyes.

“Pity,” Sean said, running his eyes over her
bare breasts and remembering how they tasted. “Well, after my
play...would you mind if I met up with you and my sister?”

Sean hated that he sounded like an insecure
douche, but he didn’t want to smother her. He didn’t know how to do
this relationship thing. It was a tricky business.

“Don’t make things weird, McAdams,” Krista
said flippantly, leaning against the wall to put on the sweats.
“You want to meet up after, say so. If I don’t want you to, I’ll
tell you to f-off.”

Sean laughed and nodded, “Got it. I’ll call
you after the play is done.”

“
Better text. I’m sure it
will be loud wherever we are. When should I pay attention to the
phone?”

“Ten-ish I should think.”

“Right. Next question: Do I have make-up all
over my face?”

“Yup. You are a hot mess.”

Krista crossed the couple feet separating
them, slid her hands up his chest, and reached up on her tippy toes
to kiss him. He complied eagerly, but not with a rush of passion.
He wanted to hold her, cuddle with her. He wanted it soft, full of
feeling.

When she stepped away, she was awestruck and
doe-eyed. And for the first time, it made him feel like a man,
instead of irritated that a woman was still there. It was a good
change.

She had said, “Big risk, bigger payoff.” He
hoped she was right.

“
And bad breath,” he said
in a grave voice.

Krista scoffed and slapped his chest as she
turned away. He caught her from behind laughing and kissed her neck
and ears, tickling her with his breath. She giggled and squirmed
until he let her loose with a slap on her butt.

Cassie was at the table, eating cereal.

“
Good morning,” she said
with a chipper voice.

Krista mumbled a response as Sean wished the
same to her.

“Did you guys have a good rest?”

Krista sat as she said, “Like a log
actually. Not usual for sleeping in someon--”

She cut off abruptly.

Sean paused with the coffee pot in his hand
and a smile on his face. Most men would probably be pissed that she
was thinking about other experiences, but Sean was no pot pointing
fingers at a kettle. Instead, he was happy she was already
comfortable sleeping by his side. That was a good sign, because he
could have said exactly what she did, and it would have been just
as true.

However, he couldn’t let her get away with
it. He yelled, “I know where that was going!”

He walked out with two steaming mugs,
interrupting Cassie and Krista exchanging a knowing look.

“Do you?” Krista said, reaching for coffee.
“You knew I was going to say, ‘Not usual when I watch Sean sleep,
since I’m usually looking through the peephole in the
rafters?’”

“I
knew
there was a draft coming from
somewhere!” he laughed before he took a sip of his
coffee.

Krista stayed for about a half hour, made
plans with Cassie, and headed on her way. Sean followed her to the
door.

“Thank you for last night, Krista. You--it
ended perfectly,” Sean said, seriously.

“
Thank you, too.
Twice,”
she answered
with a leer and a wink.

He laughed, thankful she could see it with
humor. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging tightly. Before she
stepped away, she slid her palms down his chest. He had no idea how
long he’d be able to keep from thrusting inside her. He wanted her
so bad it was a constant distraction.

“
Okay, buddy, see you
tonight,” he said with a smirk, seeing that soft look of love in
her eyes again. And for the first time, liking it.

“Buddy, is it? I thought we were
friends?”

“Buddy is closer than friend.”

“Ah. Well, thank you, Professor, for
explaining the elevated details on friendship.”

“No problem. I know you can be dense, and I
like to help.”

“Humph.”

Krista walked off in oversized sweats and
T-shirt, on high heels, with dress in hand. Sean couldn’t help
yelling, “Hot mess!” for all the neighborhood to hear. It was a
fantastic walk of shame.

“
How’d last night go?”
Cassie asked when he returned to the table.

“
I sure hope I don’t mess
this one up, Cass,” he said sadly.

She nodded, “You still like her, then.”

Sean nodded, too, “A lot. I like her more
now, after last night, than I ever have. I just…hope I don’t screw
it up, you know?”

“She is tough, I think,” Cassie said
reassuringly. “She is tough and she likes you. Ray said she
wouldn’t even look at you until you stopped playing games. If it
took her this long to give in, it will take her longer to give up.
I have a good feeling about this one, Sean. I really do.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Cassie got up and flicked
him in the head. “I’m
always
right, you should know that by now.”

Sean mock huffed as she left the room.

~*~*~*~

Later that night Cassie met up with Krista
at her house and braved public transportation to the Mission,
against Sean’s better judgment. They were both dressed in going-out
attire, which meant cleavage, tight pants, and sparkly jewelry.
Krista made sure to tell Cassie not to overdress, though. Skinny
jeans and a cute shirt would suffice. The Mission was a casual
place and they should fit in. For a crowd that pretended they
didn’t care what people thought, hipsters had some serious rules to
live by.