Substitute Boyfriend (7 page)

“Yes, Beth.  It’s okay to touch yourself.  That’s the whole point.”

There were times I was grateful that Roman could read my mind.  This was definitely one of them.  So I let him talk me through it—and I interjected when I could, but a lot of times, he would have to ask me or prompt me.  He was patient, knowing I’d never done this kind of thing before.

It might have been harder imagining he was there if I hadn’t been able to hear his voice and know how turned on he was getting too.  As I imagined his lips on my breasts, my neck, my inner thighs, his head between my legs, I got completely into the moment, and I could hear his breathing growing heavier over the phone, so I knew he was close too.  The nice thing, I guess, about doing it this way was I could tell exactly what needed to happen for me to get there—a slight shift of my leg, for instance.  I knew when it was time to speed up the action, and as I got closer, Roman’s voice seemed to be farther away, but he was all I could see in my mind.  In my head, his wicked hot naked body was hovering over mine as he drove inside me.

I don’t know why the picture in my head was in black and white.  Maybe because it was damn near perfect and movie like.

“Ohhhhhhh, God,” I moaned, yelling probably louder than I ever had before when reaching climax.  It was intense too, unbelievably amazing.  I realized in my haze that I could probably be heard in the hallway, so I bit my lip, but that didn’t stop me from taking care of myself and seeing my orgasm through to the end.  When I was done, I clamped my thighs closed over my hand, breathing heavily, collapsing my head back against the sofa.

I let out one last long sigh, listening for Roman.  I was afraid of interrupting him if he was still going, and I couldn’t remember where I left him off…if that makes any damn bit of sense.  Finally, I heard him breathe, “Holy shit.”

I smiled, finding my sense of humor.  “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

“Yeah.
  But how would you feel about a little company tonight?”

Oh, like this was the appetizer?  “You’re on.”

* * *

A few days later, we made plans to get together, and I knew we’d
wind up doing something fun.  I arrived at Roman’s place after ten, our agreed-upon time that night.  We both had lots of grading to do.  Summer classes were not only more intense for students due to how compact they were, but they were tougher for instructors too for the same reason.  It wasn’t like we could teach less just because there were fewer weeks in the semester.  So we decided work first, then play, and sometimes that meant much later in the day.

It was hot out and
I had an older car.  The A/C hadn’t worked in years.  Ordinarily, I would just drive with the windows down and that would be good enough, but the last two days had been hotter than usual.  Roman had asked if I’d wanted to check out the pool and hot tub at his apartment complex.  I said
no way
to the hot tub, but the pool sounded like it might be welcome relief.  I had a bikini in my purse—one that I hadn’t worn in probably four years, because, even though I liked swimming, it just wasn’t something I thought about doing.  My gym even had a pool but the thought rarely crossed my mind.

In this heat, though, water sounded perfect.

So I got to Roman’s place and he opened the door.  He saw me in shorts and a Bring Me the Horizon t-shirt and said, “Nice outfit, but you’re not gonna swim in that, are you?”

I sighed as I walked through the door. 
“No, of course not.  But I wasn’t going to drive across town in a string bikini.”  He raised his eyebrows but said nothing.  “I’m going to use your bathroom really fast.”  Okay, yeah, so it was silly to undress and dress in private, but part of me still felt like we were friends only.  The other part of me—the one that was more rational—knew that if I undressed in front of Roman, we’d likely never make it to the pool.

I was a little nervous.  Would the royal blue bikini still fit okay?  I hadn’t gained any weight since I’d worn it last, but everything had shifted and I’d built up more muscle.  It had been stupid to not try it on before leaving my place, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now.  If it didn’t fit, I’d just swim in my underwear.

It fit, though, and it hugged me.  It barely covered anything—just the parts that would take me from acceptable to indecent by legal definitions—but I was already a little cooler.  I came out of the bathroom and immediately felt self-conscious again, because I could tell Roman appreciated it.  I gave him a look and said, “Are we swimming or not?”

He acted annoyed. 
“Yeah.”  He pulled his t-shirt off and threw it on the couch.  He was wearing shorts, but they didn’t look like swimming trunks—they just looked like regular shorts.  “I have a towel for you,” he said, picking up two off the coffee table and tossing one at me.  “Let’s go.”

It wasn’t cool out.  Sure, it was cooler than it had been when the sun had been beating down on us a few hours earlier, but the darkness
didn’t offer much relief.  I could hear a few crickets in the distance celebrating who knew what, but I could also hear voices scattered throughout his complex.  It was a busy place with lots of sociable people, and I knew then that the pool area might be crowded.  It was a Thursday night, though, so I expected the noise to die down soon.  Surely some folks there had work the next day.  I knew I did, even though my class was later in the morning.  We walked between a few buildings and I realized then that they weren’t all rowdy.  Some were quiet and lots of apartments had most of their lights off.

When we got to the pool building, though, all the lights were out.  I’d never been to the pool area at his complex, so I hadn’t known what to expect, but from what I could see, the two longer walls were almost entirely glass whereas the walls on the sides were solid.  I could tell that during the day, the pool area must have been beautiful with all that clear, natural light streaming in.  Bummer we couldn’t enjoy it. 
“Damn,” I said, unable to hide my disappointment.

“What?”

“Too bad it’s locked up.”

“Yeah, they lock it at nine.”  So, at this point
, I was wondering why he was toying with me, but he was pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.  I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but he took a credit card out and slid the wallet back in his pocket.  “Hold this,” he said, handing me his towel.  He wedged the card in between the door and the jamb, sliding it down slowly, and I couldn’t tell exactly what he was doing, but he grabbed the handle with his left hand.  After several seconds, he pulled the door open.  “After you,” he said.

Ah, so he’d forced the lock open. 
“Roman, we’re not supposed to be in here, right?”

“Yeah.
  So?”

“So?  Isn’t that breaking and entering?”  I was walking inside, despite my protests.

“Technically, but if it makes you feel any better, my rent pays for use of the facilities.  I’m just being creative because the hours they have it unlocked are not conducive to my schedule.  I still realize that I am personally responsible for any injury that occurs to my person while I’m here.”  I rolled my eyes, but I doubted he could see it.  Even though some ambient light spilled in through the windows, it was difficult to make out details.  “And that is no different than if I’d been here at three in the afternoon.  So relax.”

He walked closer to the pool area.  It appeared to be, for the most part, a pretty open area, and I could at least make out the pool and the surroundings.  There were a few chaise lounges and one table with three chairs and some shelves.  That was where Roman was heading.  I followed.  When I reached him, he took the towels from me and set them on one of the shelves and then slipped his shoes off.  “Hot tub or pool first?”

Ugh.  I felt sticky and miserable from the relentless heat.  “Hot tub?  You won’t get me in there till fall.”

“Then pool it is.
  That’s probably good, ‘cause I don’t know if I could figure out how to turn it on.”  He was peeling off his shorts to reveal what appeared to be swimming trunks underneath.  He also placed the shorts on the shelf next to the towels.  Then he pointed toward the pool.  “Shallow end is on this side.  Last one in is a rotten egg.”  He sprinted off toward the water.

I still had my flip flops on and hadn’t planned on running, so I could be the rotten egg.  I was looking forward to cooling off in the water, though.
  I kicked off my shoes while I watched his shadow run towards the middle of the pool and then he took a shallow dive.  I planned to be a little more dignified about it, instead walking toward the pool.  By the time I got to the edge, Roman’s head was back above water and he shouted, “It’s great.”  I was nervous about the volume of his voice, because if people could hear him outside the walls, we’d be caught and get in huge trouble.  I’d tell him that, but no way was I going to yell it back.  I could make out concrete steps on the shallow end that descended into the water, and more than half of the steps were buried underneath it.  I’d be able to ease myself in rather than jumping like my friend had.  And I was glad, because the water was cooler than I’d expected.  Maybe instead I had been hotter than I’d thought.  Either way, the temperature was a little shocking, and I wanted to adjust.

Roman started swimming toward the shallow end until he stood and started walking up to where I was.  My feet finally touched the floor of the pool, and my lower body was getting used to the coolness of the water.  I certainly couldn’t complain about the heat anymore, though.
  I stayed close to the edge, planning to stretch my arms out while the rest of my body floated, but I had to ease my way into the deeper end first.

Roman got close to me before I got too far in a
nd he wrapped his arms around my waist.  “You realize we have this whole place to ourselves?”

I grinned and kissed him, resting my open palms on his chest.  “Uh, yeah, but last time I checked, this place can be seen through from several different angles.”

He laughed.  “How many people do you see pressing their faces against the glass?”  Before I could answer him, his lips were back on mine.  He had a great point, so I decided to have fun with him.

The water made me feel light and cool.  Even in an air conditioned room, I wouldn’t feel as cool to the core as this pool made me feel right now, and yet I felt warm in another way. 
The way he held me, I could feel that he’d grown hard, and I decided to have a little fun with him.  He was the one who hadn’t been worrying about people watching.  I, on the other hand, found the idea a little nerve wracking.  But no one said I had to get naked.  I slinked my hands down his chest and then his belly and slid my hand inside his trunks.  I wrapped it around his cock and squeezed slightly until I felt his reaction—a pause as he kissed me—and his brain shifted attention.

I
almost smiled then and used my other hand to pull his trunks down.  The water was too cool for me to feel heated up, but it wasn’t hindering Roman at all.  I bent slightly but his lips stayed on mine, and I managed to get his trunks down enough to let his cock free.  Then I wrapped both hands around it.  With the weight of the water, I couldn’t move quickly; add to that, the water wasn’t much of a lubricant, so it wasn’t like I could glide freely over his shaft…but I knew I could still work a little magic.

I took the head of his cock in between the index finger and thumb
of my right hand and rubbed it, kept massaging it until his jaw slackened and I knew it was having the effect I’d been going for.  Once I had his attention, I started massaging the shaft with my left hand, letting the thumb and index finger of that hand also do a lot of the work.  I opened my eyes and looked at Roman in the semidarkness of the cavernous room that should have been quiet but wasn’t.  It was full of echoes and water sounds, and I knew our quiet voices couldn’t be overheard, but what if we got noisy and rambunctious?  Would we be heard all over the courtyard of his apartment complex?

His eyes were closed, his head bent slightly as he focused on what my hands were doing.  I loved that I had such complete control over him right now.  It was a turn on, actually, and I never would have thought that before.  I’d never paid much attention to what I could do for a guy, even though I knew I could make them feel good and enjoyed doing it.  I kept up the pressure and intensity and I didn’t increase the speed until his breathing got heavier.  Then I kissed his neck underneath his jaw
.  I didn’t want to have to try getting up on my tiptoes and losing my balance in the water, so I let my kiss drift lower to his chest and ran my tongue along his skin.  I didn’t know if that was helping at all.  But I had to know.  Was he close…or was I going to have to do more?

“How’s that feel, baby?”

He let a sound out of his mouth then, and I felt the warmth of his load rush out against my skin even through the cool water—not just once but several times, and he let out a groan with the last one, more than I’d ever heard from him before.

Hmm.
  Maybe I was getting pretty good at this sex stuff.  And to think I’d once thought I could only write about it.

Chapter Ten

HA.  I’D DONE well.  At that point, I figured I could just relax against the wall of the pool as I’d planned.  Roman was sated and could go lie on a chaise lounge or we could even just sleep in his apartment.  I was cool enough now, down to the core, so I felt like I’d be able to snooze.

He held me close, though, and
I imagined I could feel the warmth of his body up against mine.  His breathing was heavy in my ear, and I knew he was coming down off the climax he’d experienced.  “Feeling pretty good?” I asked.

“
Mmm.  More than.  Jesus, woman, I wanted to get a little down and dirty but I didn’t expect that.”

I grinned.  “Glad I was able to surprise you.”

“Your turn.”

“No.  I am
not
having sex out here.”

“Aw, c’mon, Beth.
  No one’s watching.  I promise.”

“It’s the idea, Roman.  I’m not comfortable with it.”

“I don’t believe you.  What you’ve told me you’ve done for your books?  I call bullshit.”  He snuggled up closer to me and, as he kissed my neck, slid one of his hands into my tiny bikini bottom.  I tried to tune him out, hoping if he saw that his touch wasn’t doing anything for me right now, he’d leave me alone.  But that finger found my clit and I hadn’t known I was ready for him until he touched me.  It must have been getting him off had turned me on more than I knew, because his finger slid up and down just a few times in my slit and I no longer cared where we were.

Except part of my brain did.
  So when he asked, “Now what do you think?” I pulled away and said, “Maybe later.”  I couldn’t run out of the pool because the water kept me from that, but I walked as quickly as I could toward the concrete steps leading out of the shallow end.

“Beth, what the hell?”

“Not now, Roman.”

When I got out of the pool, though, he was right behind me, and he pulled my back toward him.  His lips were
on the nape of my neck, his hands splayed over my belly, feeling possessive and strong.  Oh, yeah, I did want him.  I wanted him badly, but I didn’t want to fuck out here.  Maybe it was the big windows—even though spots were covered with vegetation, by and large, I felt like an animal at the zoo, and tourists could come observe me in my pretend habitat.

He kept kissing my neck in that way he did, though, and before I knew it, I was feeling too warm to care again.  He
slid his left hand up and squeezed my breast.  I was sure he could feel how it had pebbled, even through the thick fabric of the bikini.  I let out a breath but then opened my eyes, straining to see through the glass out into the courtyard.  Roman was right.  There was no one out there looking toward the pool house, because no one was supposed to be in here at night.  There was no reason for anyone to look.

I turned around and wrapped a hand around his neck while placing the other hand on his chest, kissing
him hard.  Both of his hands were on my ass then, one cupping a cheek while the other fingered the hem, threatening to dip underneath the fabric.  I shuddered at how hot his hand felt against my cooled flesh.  That was what I’d wanted, though, relief from the heat, and the pool had done that.  Roman threatened to heat me up again, and the hot air surrounding us made my skin feel perfect.

He urged me to lie down against the cool stone floor and I obeyed, ready for his touch.  I only wanted him to be quick, because I was afraid of being caught.  He untied the string on the top and kissed first one nipple, his tongue circling and teasing it, and then the other, sucking on it until it was hard.  My nether regions, meanwhile, were aching to feel him there.  My legs, bent at the knees, were spread to accommodate his body, and he moved his hand below, sliding his fingers underneath the fabric of my bikini bottom.  Two fingers drove down my slit until they once more found my swollen nub.  The whole area was damp from the pool, but I knew he’d be able to feel the slickness he’d created from raising my temperature.  I let out a moan, eager for more, and realized I was grinding against his hand.

There was more, though, something I wasn’t about to admit, at least not there.  I found myself even more aroused that someone
might
catch us, discover Roman bringing me to pleasure with his fingers.  Why did I find that such a turn on?

And would I have the guts to write about it later?

I moaned again, already on the verge of a killer orgasm.

My thighs began to quiver as he nibbled at my neck just below my ear.  My breathing grew deeper as I felt the build toward the crescendo, and when it hit, I couldn’t stop myself.  I was
loud, unable to stop the sounds pouring out of my mouth, and for those brief seconds while I was experiencing nirvana, my worries of discovery were nonexistent.

I was
grew anxious again as I started coming off that cloud, but Roman wouldn’t hear anything of it.  His kissed me lightly on the lips and retied my bikini—the top and the bottom—and then managed to talk me into spending a little time in the hot tub.

* * *

Classes ground down into the days of finals in late July.  Unlike the fall and spring semester, final exams during the summer did not last an entire week.  Instead, they encompassed a couple of specified days.  By Friday, I was exhausted but grateful that grades weren’t due until late Monday.

Roman met me in the hallway on campus late Friday afternoon.  “Let’s do something tonight.”

I laughed.  “I have no business doing anything other than grading final essays until they’re done.”

He got closer to me and dropped his voice.  We hadn’t said anything to anyone on campus about our
relationship
…but I wasn’t even sure that was what we’d call it.  But that explained why he kept his voice quiet and also why he didn’t touch me.  “Once you unwind, the grading will go quickly.  You need a little downtime.  Trust me on this.”

I smiled.  I knew he was right.  Besides, even if I had locked myself inside my apartment with no intent of leaving before I completed my tasks, I would have found other distractions…like writing, for example.  “Okay, so what do you have in mind?”

“Night club.”

“Night club?
  You mean the one here in Winchester?”  I’d never been there.  I preferred small bars to dance clubs.  I wasn’t much of a dancer anyway.

“Yeah.
  Why not?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t even know what to wear.”

His eyes lit up.  “You could wear something like that red dress you wore the night you came to my place when we first got together.”

We
had
gotten together, hadn’t we?  Even though Roman continued to feel like a friend, my mind was starting to think maybe he could be something more—if I’d just let go of the notion that we had to stay just friends.  Maybe he was reading my mind, because he touched my cheek.  And I let him. 
In public.
  “Okay,” I agreed, because I wanted to make him happy.

When I got to my apartment, though, I realized the pickings were slim.  I just didn’t have many sexy clothes, because I’d been playing the college instructor for so long…and the music fan.  I had a few items of clothing that might qualify as sexy and my blue bikini was one of them.

Rifling through closets and drawers, though, I came up with a possibility.  I found that I wanted Roman to like my choices.  I wanted to turn him on.  I wanted to look appealing to him.  No one else mattered to me.

I found a snug black miniskirt that hugged my ass and a silver blouse with super short sleeves and a plunging neckline that accentuated
what cleavage I had.  There was lots of skin for Roman’s eyes to see.  I threw on a pair of tall black heels and proclaimed it good.

Well,
good enough.  I knew I’d be able to write the hell out of it later.

When Roman arrived at my place to pick me up, he said, “Damn.  We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to.”  He really liked the blouse and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“This was your idea, pal.  We’re going.”

W
hen we got to the nightclub, we had a quick drink.  They were crazy expensive, though, and on a teacher’s salary, it was way too much to pay.  We didn’t really need to drink, anyway.  Then we hit the dance floor, and I felt awkward.  I stood there for a few seconds, feeling the heavy beat rolling through the club.  I had to admit that, even though this wasn’t my usual cup of tea music-wise, it was infectious.  It made me want to move, but I knew I was an oaf when it came to physical flexibility and grace.  I was afraid of making an ass out of myself.

When I opened my eyes, Roman said, “What the hell, woman?  We paid a huge cover charge and you’re just
gonna stand there?”

I grinned.  Leave it to my friend to be overly honest.  “Yes, I think so.  I can’t dance, Roman.”

“Can’t dance, my ass.  It’s easy.”  He grabbed me and started making me move with him.  At first, I thought maybe I should have decided to have a couple more drinks to loosen me up and make it easier.  I wouldn’t worry so much about looking stupid if I was inebriated.  Roman was trying to show me how to have a good time without it, though, and I could appreciate that.  I was giggling with the way he was making me move.  Finally, he let go of me and said, “Your turn.  Do it by yourself.”

I shook my head.  “I can’t.”

He gave me a look and started dancing again.  Only this time he wasn’t just having fun.  He was being kind of sexy.  As I said, I wasn’t much into dancing, and it surprised the hell out of me that Roman was.  Sure, I knew he was on the athletic side, so his physical agility didn’t surprise me, but the fact that he
liked
it did.  After all, we both liked the same music.  Where the hell had this come from?

That thought didn’t linger, though, as I watched him move his body around me.  He got close a couple of times
but kept some distance.  At last, though, he pulled me into his body, but in semi-spoon fashion.  My back was up against his front, and he wrapped his arms around me, his hands joining at my waist.  He swayed with me back and forth to the rhythm of the music and then he brought his lips to my ear.  “I don’t think you’re having an open mind about this.”

Yes, clearly I hadn’t
up to that point.  His lips on my neck convinced me of that.  Okay, so this could be sexy…and fun.  I opened my eyes again and looked around the club.  Everyone else was having their own good time.  None of them were watching what anyone else was doing, so we were all free to make complete fools of ourselves without worry.  Roman was past the point of encouraging me to dance, though.  It wasn’t but a few seconds later that I realized one of his hands was inside my loose top, finding my breast.  I gasped and started to resist but he said in my ear, “No one can tell what I’m doing.”

I looked around our area of the club again.  He was right.  Besides the fact that no one else was interested in us, it was mostly dark.  Sure, there were flashing lights all around, but the lights just accentuated the shadows.  People would have to be staring at us intently to see what we were doing.

“Relax,” he said as my breast responded to his touch, the nipple growing rigid at the attention his fingers were giving it.  One of my hands rested on his idle one, but the other one I reached behind me to shove into his hair.  He nipped at my earlobe then, sending shivers of desire throughout my body.  Oh, God, this was dangerous…but hot.

We stopped swaying and began grinding.  I figured if he was going to infuse me with lust, I was going to do the same to him, and that was the fastest, easiest way I could think of.
  I was only able to rub my ass on his crotch area because of the high heels.  Otherwise, I would have missed the mark.

I did too good a job, though, because it made him decide to step up the action.  He’d had one hand that had just been holding me tight at the waist and he moved it to the top of my skirt and wiggled underneath the elastic, driving his fingers down underneath my panties.

I was hot, gasping, desperate, and even though the idea of doing it in public was a little exciting, the rest of me was freaking out.  I was a college instructor, for fuck’s sake, and he was too, and I knew if we were spotted by anyone we knew, that would be it.  Game over.  Hell, the way the laws were, I’d be surprised if we wouldn’t have sexual offender charges on our records when all was said and done.  All these horrible thoughts were racing through my mind and made my desire ice up.

I turned around in his arms and he had to unwind from my clothes.  Needless to say, I couldn’t do it quickly.  He looked at me, his eyes on fire but wondering why I had turned around.  “Not here,” I said, hoping he could hear me over the music.

“No one can see us, Beth.”

“It doesn’t matter.  I can’t.”

He wasn’t upset.  Disappointed, maybe, but he’d get over it.  He took one of my hands in his.  “Follow me.”  Like I had a choice.

He pulled me through the jostling, sweaty crowd, and I wondered how many other couples were getting truly down and dirty like we had been.  We got closer to the entrance, but he wasn’t going that way.  He took a turn, and it was after a little bit that I realized we were heading toward the restrooms.
  “Wait here.”