The Tenant (13 page)

“I want…your mouth.”

He bent down and closed his lips over hers. “Here?”

“No. You know.”

He sucked on one nipple, flattened his tongue against the hardened peak. “Here?”

She gave him a lopsided smile. “Lower.”

“Where? Tell me. No holding back, remember?”

She turned her gaze to the ceiling and draped an arm over her eyes. “My pussy. I want you to eat my pussy.”

Her phone started ringing again, and she tensed. He wouldn’t have that. He fell to his knees and pulled her hips to the edge so her ass half-hung out the counter. She began to sit up, but he bit her inner thigh, and she leaned back, propped on her elbows. She was looking at him, her gaze as naked and vulnerable as her body. He’d tasted her earlier too, but that had been about him. About making her come to prove himself. This was about her. And he’d make it memorable.

“I could answer the phone and let him listen while I make you moan,” he said.

She shook her head, but Derek could she her mind was wandering. He licked a trail down her slit and looked up again. Amanda’s eyes were closed.

Here we go.

He ate her out slowly, mapping her pussy with his mouth and fingers, learning how she wanted to be touched, until she’d had two orgasms and three missed calls and he was hard again.

They seriously needed to eat. And shower.

Good thing he believed in recycling.

“I’ll check if the cold water is back on,” he said. “If not, I’ve got some empty bottles out in the balcony. Fill them up with hot water while I’m cooking? We can stick them in the fridge or let them cool off till we can use them to shower.”

She nodded, eyes still closed. “Will do. As soon as I can stand.”

Yeah, he fucking ruled.

•●•

Awkward.

Really awkward.

When they weren’t fucking, they didn’t know how to act around each other. Apparently, when their clothes came on, so did their barriers. They were both bent over their plates now, wolfing down the assorted lunch Derek had put together and exchanging fleeting glances.

It made sense, maybe; last night and this morning hadn’t changed things between them. He was still the tenant who wouldn’t leave, and she was still the bitchy landlady who needed him out. The recently single bitchy landlady.

“More beer?”

“Please.” Amanda raised her glass, and Derek refilled it. No eye contact.

Awkward.

He looked up just as she dropped her head into her palms.

“I need to talk to my parents about the wedding.” Her voice wavered. “Tell them it’s off.”

He should ask if she wanted to talk about it. He would, if she were anyone else. Hell, he would, if they’d never slept together, but asking now would indicate actual caring. It might complicate things between them, and Derek liked the precarious balance they’d achieved.

Amanda teared up.

Fuck!

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.

Double fuck!

She shrugged. “Told you what happened. I was an idiot. He slept with someone else. I should have known better.”

That hit a nerve. “It wasn’t your fault the Yeti couldn’t appreciate what he had.”

She raised her gaze to his. The emptiness froze him to his core. “What
did
he have, Derek?”

There was no safe answer.

He stood and picked up his plate. “Someone who loved him,” he said, turning to the sink. “People who don’t appreciate that don’t deserve it.” He heard her chair scrape against the floor. A few moments later the door to her room clicked shut.

When she started sobbing, he ran the water to the max and watched the steam rise. This mess wasn’t his to fix.

He still felt like an ass.

Maybe she’d be in a better mood in the morning.

Derek didn’t care.

Mason treated her the way Catherine treated him.

Maybe Amanda deserved it.

Nobody deserved having their heart broken.

He rolled his shoulders. Not his mess to fix. But if a good night’s sleep managed to improve on Amanda’s disposition, maybe he’d get to reap the benefits. He had a couple things he wanted to try, if Amanda was up to it.

Or they could talk. If she really needed to.

Amanda didn’t reemerge from her room all day. Derek left a BLT outside her door at around eight, but ended up eating it when it was still there an hour later.

His eyelids were too heavy for him to go out for drinks when his friend, and one-time restaurant manager, Mike, called a little after ten, and his feet were too heavy for him to drag them to his room, so he made himself comfortable on the couch. Wouldn’t be the first time he spent the night there.

•●•

Monday, May 5
th
2014

He woke up to Amanda watching him. She wore a clingy top and a pair of cotton briefs, her golden hair cascading down her shoulders. Derek felt himself smile at the sight. He still couldn’t believe someone so sexy could look so innocent.

He propped himself up on one elbow, but Amanda held him in place with a hand on his shoulder and straddled him. “I don’t want to be sad anymore,” she said, looking into his eyes.

“Sounds like a good plan,” he replied. “How do you wanna go about it?”

“I was thinking of maybe fucking you where you are.” The blush creeping up her cheeks belied her confident words.

Derek folded his arms behind his head and bucked his hips once. “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”

She grinned. “Good. ’Cause this may take me a while.” Nimble fingers sneaked under his T-shirt and up his ribs, their touch light, unsure.

“Hey! That tickles.”

Her grin widened, and she dug her fingers into his sides, making him squirm. He retaliated, pinching her ass, and she laughed out loud, her entire body joining her mirth. She bounced on top of him, her ponytail coming loose. Her heat rubbed against him, but he didn’t want to stop her laughing, even if it was to feel that heat around his shaft.

“I’m starting to like you when you’re not being an asshole,” Amanda said.

He was starting to like himself too. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Now can you please quit the foreplay and fuck me already?”

As if he wasn’t hard enough… “You’ll have to say pretty please.”

She batted her eyelashes, her green eyes shining with mischief. “Pretty please, fuck me now, Derek,” she whispered in his ear. “Unless I’ve already worn you out.”

Lightning fast, he stood and turned so she lay beneath him on the couch. “Oh, you’re gonna do a lot more begging before the night is through.”

It appeared Amanda truly was done being repressed. She rolled them both off the couch and landed on top of him. “We’ll see about that.” She sneaked her hand inside his pants and pulled out his cock. “Can’t decide if I want you in my mouth, my pussy, or my ass,” she said sounding completely serious.

Derek gulped. He just wanted to be
somewhere
inside her.

“I think I’ll be selfish for now.” Before he could figure out what she’d meant by that, she kicked off her pants and rubbed her wet, naked cunt against his shaft. Derek itched to grab her and slam her down against him, but he could sense her need to lead, so he let her do things at her own pace.

She crawled up his body so his tip barely touched her entrance. Derek strained to remain still, but his cock bounced against his stomach.

“We need protection.”

Her words acted like cold water down his spine—except they had no effect on his erection. Trying not to sound like he was pleading, he said, “I’m clean. Got tested when I realized Catherine was cheating.”

Amanda nodded. “I’m clean too, and on the pill.” She moved so only an inch of him penetrated her then stopped again. She rocked against him slowly, and his hips flew off the floor, trying to bury more of his length inside her.

“Tut-tut,” she said and tilted her pelvis to keep him from going any further. “This is my turn.”

His entire body buzzed with his desire, and he knew she could tell. Still, she kept up her game, only allowing him to sink in her one agonizing inch at a time. It was divine torture.

He was a heartbeat away from flipping them over again so he could fuck her into the ground, when she took him all in with a sigh.

Her face was taut with concentration as she rode him slowly, lifting her hips until almost his entire length was out, then slamming them down again.

Divine torture.

In the end, he was the one who begged.

They were panting when she rolled off him and molded herself to his side. “This was fun.” She giggled.

He held her close, traced the curve of a hip with his thumb. “Mmmm…” His brain refused to be more eloquent than that.

Her lips curved into a smile against the skin of his underarm, then she slipped away. No post-coital snuggle, then. Cool with him. “Got the time?” he asked.

“It was ten when I—um—woke you up.”

Shit! Mike would kill him. He sat up. “Forgot I have to meet a friend.” He hated to fuck and run, but she’d gotten up first. “And I really need a shower.” Eh, a wet towel would have to do.

“Got any plans tonight?”

“Not really.” Was she going to ask him to do something together? To do
it
? Again? Not that he didn’t like the idea, but making arrangements for sex seemed too cold, even for their situation. “You?”

“Thought of asking Alice if she wanted to come over for a movie, but maybe I’ll go to her place. Give you some time alone.”

“I’m cool if you want her to—”

“Nah, it’s okay…”

“See you…?”

“Later. Sure.”

Awkward.

•●•