Two Weeks (18 page)

I punch and punch and punch and punch until Ally announces that ten minutes have passed.

"Shit," I say. Sweat trickles down from my forehead and I'm out of breath.

"I don't know how you do that," she says. "That takes so much stamina."

"With a lot of training. Think about the first time you went running."

She nods. "Makes sense. And now it's break time."

We walk into the house together and sit down with a couple glasses of water, chatting idly. There is a strange vibe in the air, but I'm not sure what it is, and I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing.

Ally stands and walks into the living room, peering out the front window. "It's nice out there too. A big front yard. You could fit a lot of cars in that driveway. Host big parties."

I follow her in there, standing beside her. "I guess. But I don't throw too many parties."

My heart is pounding, and I can't seem to slow it down. The room is full of blaring silence.
What the hell are we doing here?
I ask myself.
What am I doing here?
I'm going crazy.

I'm nervous, and I don't know why.

"Ally?" Before I can finish saying her name, she cuts me off.

"Okay," she says matter-of-factly, "let's get this over with. I can't wait anymore. I'm going crazy."

"Huh?" I say the word, but it comes out too late. She presses up against me and holy shit, all of that carnal energy is back with a vengeance. My muscles tense, and I'm totally hard in less than half a second.

She kisses me with the same intensity I saw her using against the bag. I try to match her. I fight her tongue with my own, fight her breaths with my own breathing. Oh my God, she's on fire—and so am I.

I run my hands through her hair, tracing all the way down her back until I'm planted firmly on her ass. I pull her against me, and she grinds her hips against mine, fully aware of my arousal. Her hands clench my back, holding onto me like a life preserver.

We kiss like that for a few minutes, the intensity ebbing and flowing. I've never had an experience with a woman like this, and so I try to savor it even though we both know exactly where it's going.

My hands instinctively grab at her sports bra and pull the straps over her shoulder. We try to keep our lips together, but the kiss breaks for just a second as she tosses the bra on the floor. I cup her breasts with my hands. I'm filled with desperate energy. Her skin is so soft, and I gleefully play with her nipples between my fingertips.

Yes, her breasts are absolutely incredible. I'm at a loss for words.

As I do this, she strokes me through my shorts, reminding me that she's still thinking about the next step. I realize I can no longer play around either, and I move her toward the couch. We collapse on it together, and instantly, I'm grinding against her.

She pulls away. "Do you have a condom?" she says, totally out of breath. I barely notice her question because she's pulling down her shorts—and she's not wearing any underwear. "Jackson!" she shouts. "Do you?"

"Shit," I say. My brain is fried. I jump up and with frenetic energy, sprint to my room and grab a condom out of my nightstand drawer, knocking over a lamp in the process. "Shit!" I yell again, but I'm not going to do anything about it right now.

Ally is naked and waiting for me on the couch and I feel like I might die if I don't keep moving. I drop my shorts and tear the foil, rolling the condom into place as quickly as I can.

"Hurry," she says.

And then, I'm right above her, sliding in slowly, and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever felt in my life. My hands grip her shoulders for stability, my weight holding her in place.

She feels absolutely incredible, both tight and wet, like she was made for me. I want to go fast and as deep as I can, but I take it slow because I can see her wincing from the abruptness and lack of foreplay.

I go torturously slow, and she moans the whole time. By the time I'm fully inside her, I fear that I'm going to come immediately—but I don't. I miraculously get myself under control and I start rocking my hips. Her back arches in response and it drives me crazy.

She's here with me—and she wants this just as bad as I do. She even said so. Things never work out this way, yet they are right now.

I take control. I thrust slowly at first, and then I up the pace, keeping her guessing. Her nails are digging into my back, her eyes like they were sewn shut. She's totally lost in a place of ecstasy, and I'm thrilled that I can take her there.

Ally cries out over and over again, calling my name, inflating my momentary ego. I'm groaning too, lost in the fact that every part of her is unreal. Her hair, her shoulders, her abs,
everything
.

Sex has never, ever felt this good. She's so fucking gorgeous that it hurts. Her hair is out of its ponytail and spilling all over the couch. I stare at her breasts, watching them shake with every thrust.

Although I'm fairly under control, I know I won't last much longer. But that doesn't matter since Ally keeps getting louder and louder. I try to grind my body against her clit, try to send her right over the edge.

"Come for me," I snarl, somehow knowing that she won't be able to resist once I utter the words. I barely believe the thought, but it's still real in my head.

My jaw drops. Just like that, she
does
. She's moaning just like she did last night and her cheeks are flushing red. Her hands are digging into my ass now, forcing me into her harder and harder. I can feel her muscles clenching tightly around me. I can see the pleasure on her face.

"Your fucking turn," she hisses, completely out of breath, still in the midst of her orgasm. "I wanna watch
you
come."

The words suddenly make me hyper aware of how good I'm feeling and shit, I lose it, just like she did. My own manipulative tactics used against me in the best possible way.

Our eyes meet as my climax begins. It feels like I haven't had any sexual release in decades. I feel myself twitching, feel that incredible rush of pleasure as our sounds of pleasure seem to harmonize. I hold her, thrusting rapidly and relentlessly. It sounds like she's coming again too.

And then I finish up and collapse on her, holding myself deep inside of her, claiming her for only
me
. I can barely believe this just happened.

I can barely believe she was just as wound up as me.

We lay in silence for a few minutes, savoring the moment. Merely breathing. Putting ourselves back together.

"Shit, that was incredible," she says, interrupting the quiet.

"I know," I say. "I was really losing it in the garage. I was trying to hide my hard-on the whole time."

She starts giggling beneath me. I'm still inside her, and I wish I never had to leave. "Why do you think I was going so crazy on the bag? God, I've been thinking about it non-stop. I feel like a teenage boy that just found a huge stash of Playboys or something."

"Well, I feel like a teenage
girl
," I say. "And I just found a stash of
Playgirls
." We both laugh at the absurd statement.

"I think I might have couch burn," she says, groaning.

"Sorry," I say. "I would have suggested the bed, but it seemed like it might disrupt the flow."

"It was perfect." Ally smiles and kisses me on the cheek.

I take her nipple into my mouth, and nibble on it lightly. "Your boobs are just amazing."

"You think?"

"Yes. Can I keep them?"

She smirks. "They're for rental only."

"Fair enough." I shut up after that because there isn't much else to say. This is incredible.

I want to lay here with her all day, but I still haven't done my weightlifting. It's going to be really tough to get myself back out to the garage.

***

Ally

I
'm in a perpetual state of bliss as I watch Jackson complete his weight-lifting routine. He works with determination as he proceeds through a number of complex routines at a blistering pace. Sweat drips down his body, stopping at the waistband of his shorts.

Without the shorts, it would go all the way to the floor.

He's a perfect machine, and the incredible sex we just had only validates my statement even more.

I do some easy shoulder exercises and a few one-minute planks even though my head is still kind of spinning. I can't even begin to describe how good that felt with Jackson. I'm stuck in an afterglow that I hope lasts forever.

But I'm also here in his gym, so I might as well take advantage of it.

I still can't believe I did that—but I'm glad I did. I've never just thrown myself at someone outside of a long-term relationship. I couldn't battle the voices in my head that reminded me constantly that this was only a passing thing that would soon be over and if I didn't seize the moment soon, I'd probably never seize it.

All morning, I couldn't stop thinking about how he had made me come in the water last night, how he had more or less taken control of me and sent me into a sexual frenzy. Today was no different. I can feel my nipples hardening again as I relive the poignant moment in my brain.

"So what else do you have to do today?" he asks.

"What day is it again?" I realize I've lost track of time in a pretty serious way. But that's how vacations are supposed to be, right?

"Wednesday." He grunts out the word as he finishes his last bench press. His arms are thicker than my head, I swear. "It's tough sticking to a workout with a girl like you in front of me."

I stick out my tongue and sit quietly on the other weight bench. "Is there any
other
kind of workout you'd like to do?" I ask him salaciously.

"Yes," he says as he wipes himself with a towel. "And it involves fucking your brains out again."

I feel the heat singeing my insides again. Off, and now switched back on. Wetness starts to form between my thighs. I'm totally at the mercy of his words, and I love it.

My imagination starts to run wild when suddenly I realize that if today is Wednesday, that means I promised Marlena that I'd Skype with her this afternoon to answer a couple of quick questions about a client.

If she hadn't given me the time off so easily, I probably would have just made up some dumb excuse to get out of it. But she did what she did, so I owe her this. The manual clock on the wall informs me that I've only got about thirty minutes before the meeting.

"Ah, crap," I groan. "I've gotta run for a little bit. I have a Skype date with one of my bosses. I almost forgot about it."

Jackson looks
very
disappointed about my conflicting plans. "Really? Dammit. I'm gonna have to take care of myself in the shower then."

"Save it," I say. "I'll make it worth your while." It's like a silver bullet. He's rendered completely helpless.

He grins at me, a huge smile that says so many different things. "Why did I ever let myself get carried away with a firebrand like you? You're driving me crazy. Everything was so easy before. Straightforward." His desperation is undeniably sexy, even though he's acting like a baby.

A huge, muscular baby.

"You're supposed to be the tough one, remember? Takes a lot of self-control to build those muscles and train every day. You can handle it." I walk over and give him a long kiss. He firmly grips my ass before allowing me to finally leave. "Satisfied?" I ask.

"It's the perfect ass," he says. "Exactly the right size for my hand."

I laugh and then head toward the door. "I'll be back later,
Juggernaut
." I wink at him and then head to my car. He shouts something about alligators, but I don't stop to hear what it is.

Oh yeah, my fake nickname.
I totally forgot about it.

After I'm in my car, I take a deep breath and start laughing. I feel like I'm fifteen, not twenty-five.
Holy shit.

If I didn't have to go do this work thing right now, I'd probably forget who I was totally by the end of the week. Amnesia from overstimulation.

I head back into town, thinking about Max and work the whole time. It's a good, back-to-reality sort of distraction actually, especially after what went on with Jackson. I need to get in that headspace for this meeting with Marlena.

At the very least, Max's relentless text stream had ceased. He continued to send me panicked emails, concerned that I had been robbed or my plane had crashed. Finally, last night, I responded to his fiftieth, neurotic, million-word email opus with a mere "I'm fine. Stop asking."

It was at that exact moment I noticed the email from Marlena.

Thanks again, Max.

I rush inside and say hello to my mom and then head to the shower. I tell her I have a Skype date with my boss and she nods approvingly as I pass her.

I grab a yellow summer dress out of my suitcase and throw it on quickly. When I'm dressed, I brush my still very-wet hair, trying to straighten up my appearance for the call. Finally, I go to power on my laptop, but it's dead and I left the power adapter downstairs.

I rush down and grab it. "I'm going to run to the grocery store," my mom says. "Do you need anything?"

"Not right now," I say. "Thanks though."

A few seconds later, my laptop is powered up and I'm ready to go. Marlena calls me exactly on time. She's five years older than me, but we're actually pretty similar.

"Hey, Ally," she says. "How are you holding up?" It's clear from the visible background that she's sitting in her office. I can see the framed family photos she has hanging on the wall. And as usual, she's sipping coffee, because her huge insulated mug is blocking her entire face every time she takes a sip.

"I'll be honest," I say. "It's nice being home. I'm having a great time here. I'm trying not to think about the bullshit. It seems to be working."

"That's the way to do it," she says. "When I go on vacation though, it's like pulling teeth to get me to leave my damn cell phone and laptop in the hotel room when we go to the beach."

I laugh. "I can only imagine."

"So Max cheated on you, huh?" She's making small talk, and although I don't really like this particular subject, I think it's important for me not to hide from it.