You Are My Air: Breathless Book 1 (16 page)

"Good," I said with relief. I had never dated anyone who was a runner before. I was looking forward to sharing something with Natalie that would just be about us and not be colored by my memories of the past.

"Last night was incredible." Her smile twisted wickedly.

"I agree." I leaned forward and kissed her softly, pulling back before we got too carried away. I stood and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, sweetheart."

"Where are we going?" she asked with a suggestive gleam in her eyes as I led her by the hand to my bedroom.

"You're going to get dressed." I was already dressed for our run, with loose gray athletic shorts and a long-sleeve red shirt.

"Don't you mean
undressed
?"

"No, sweetheart." I smiled and pulled her into an embrace. "Patience, Natalie. We can get undressed later."

"A little delayed gratification?"

"Exactly."

"Is that why you didn't let yourself get off this morning?" she asked as she shimmied her hips against me, the friction making my cock stiffen.

"I've found," I began as I grabbed her hips and ground myself against her, "that waiting makes my orgasms that much better when I finally get to come."

"Doesn't it feel like torture?" she asked as she looked up at me and licked her lips seductively.

"Yes, but I like it." I leaned in close enough for my lips to brush hers. "Just like I like a little pain with my pleasure." She closed her eyes, and her lips parted in invitation. I stepped away and swatted her tight firm ass, as her face filled with disappointment. "Your bag is on the floor by the dresser. I brought it in for you this morning. Get dressed and we can go for that run, then I'll make you breakfast. Alright?"

"Okay," she conceded with an adorable pout.

"Good girl," I murmured with an amused grin. Desire darkened her eyes at my words, then turned into a glare when she realized I was messing with her. I picked my running shoes up off the floor, and grabbed a pair of socks out of my dresser. "I'll be waiting." I winked at her and left the room, smiling wickedly to myself. Torture had never been this fun before.

A little while later, Natalie walked out into the living room again. She was wearing a form-fitting long-sleeve gray shirt, and her leggings were covered in a pattern of black-and-white flames flowing down her long toned legs. She was stunning with all the lines of her luscious body on display, and I was starting to second guess my plan for delayed gratification. I stood and stared at her, practically drooling on the floor.

"I'm ready." She smiled in satisfaction as she noticed my stunned reaction to her clothes. She stopped in front of me, and I reached out to run my fingers down the long braid of thick hair that hung down her back, thinking about the filthy things I could do to her with it wrapped around my fist.

"I'm starting to think you like this torture thing as much as I do." I stared at her full lips, remembering them being around my cock last night.

"Perhaps." Her eyes lit up wickedly as she gently dragged her fingers down my chest to the waistband of my shorts. My cock twitched as she dipped her fingertips into my shorts, and I groaned with disappointment as she pulled her hands away without actually touching me.

"Patience, David," she whispered as she patted my cheek. "Remember?"

"I take it back," I growled at her with narrowed eyes.

"Take what back?" she asked suspiciously.

"You're not a good girl at all."

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked playfully.

"Not at all, sweetheart." I smiled as I leaned in close to her ear. "In fact, I prefer you being bad." I straightened and noted her flared nostrils and heavier breathing. I turned away from her and grabbed my car keys off the end table. "Come on, Natalie," I said matter-of-factly as I reached out to her with my free hand. She took it with a smile, and I led her outside into the cool morning air. I helped her into my car then got into the driver's seat. I took her hand again and held it all the way to the park.

I parked the Audi in a spot close to the running trail I liked to use when I wasn't in the mood to deal with traffic. The park not far from my house had a three-mile loop that circled a golf course and was surrounded by lots of trees. I loved running here, especially in the fall when the leaves turned. The sky was overcast, and the air was crisp this morning. Our breath was visible as I helped Natalie out of my car. She smiled as she looked around at all the trees with their pops of red, yellow, and gold interspersed with green.

"It's beautiful here," she said as she turned to me.

"This is my favorite place to run in the fall." I took her hand again and led her across the parking lot to the edge of the paved running path. "Do you need to stretch first?" I asked her as we came to a stop.

"No," she answered sheepishly. "I probably should, but it's just easier to start running and stretch afterwords."

"Don't feel bad," I said. "I've been doing the same thing for years, and I don't think stretching beforehand makes much difference. Let's go, sweetheart."

I let go of her hand, and we set off at an easy pace. I didn't want to start out faster than Natalie could handle until I had a better gauge of her running ability, but it quickly became apparent that she could pace me easily. She had the benefit of those long beautiful legs of hers. I kept to the easy pace though, so we could talk.

"How long have you been running?" I asked her.

"A little over a year now. How about you?"

"I guess it's been about fifteen years now. I started running cross-country my freshman year in high school."

"Wow, that's a long time." She looked impressed. "Did you play any other sports?"

"No." I shook my head. "I was never much into anything else. That and I didn't fit in with the football and basketball jocks anyway."

"So you were a nerd in high school too." She smiled in amusement.

"Once a nerd, always a nerd." I returned her smile. "What were you like in high school?" I asked. "And please tell me you were a cheerleader, so I can tell all the bullies from high school that I'm banging one."

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't a cheerleader." She laughed. Damn, I loved her laugh. "I was your stereo-typical art major and pretty low on the popularity scale."

"At least you weren't on the bottom," I said with a hint of bitterness I didn't mean to let slip out. She glanced over at me with a sympathetic expression, but thankfully didn't ask about it. Instead, she asked me what high school I had gone to, and to my shock, we had gone to the same one. She had been a freshman when I was a senior, but since it was a huge school, neither of us remembered each other at all.

After that, we came to a hill, and the conversation stopped as we powered up it, bringing our knees up high with each stride. At the top of the hill, I decided to see what she could do and picked up the pace. She kept right up with me and gave me a look that said I'd have to try harder. When we got to the last half mile, she suddenly laughed as she sped up and pulled ahead of me. I took a few moments to admire her long legs and mesmerizing backside as she ran in front of me, but when she started putting some serious distance between us, I sprinted after her. I'd be damned if I let her beat me.

I caught up to her quickly, noting how focused she was as I ran past her. She sped up again, and I had to push hard to get a decent lead on her, just before I blew past where we had started. I eased down into a walk, then turned around to see her finish a few seconds behind me. She slowed and came straight toward me. I opened my mouth to gloat when she was within a few feet of me, but the raw look in her eyes startled me. She threw herself at me and plastered her mouth on mine before I could utter a word.

She latched her arms around my neck, kissing me fiercely, and I was so shocked that it took a few seconds for my mind to catch up with my body. I fisted my hands in her shirt and pulled her harder against me. I kissed her back with everything I had, our lips almost bruising each other in our frenzy to devour each other.

I heard the footsteps of another runner approaching, and I broke the kiss. Thankfully, our heavy breathing just looked like we were winded from our run and not from our raging libidos. A middle-aged guy pounded past where we were standing without a second glance. As soon he was gone, I took Natalie's hand and dragged her off into the woods, ready for this torture to be over, delayed gratification be damned. I crashed through the dead leaves and underbrush with Natalie close on my heels until I couldn't see the path anymore.

I stopped in a small clear area next to a massive oak tree. I grabbed Natalie's arms and pressed her back up against it with my body, then molded my lips to hers again, pushing my tongue roughly into her mouth and taking what I wanted. She moaned, her body undulating against mine, as she twisted her fingers into the hair on the back of my head and yanked on it painfully, just the way I liked. It set me off into a mindless frenzy as I pulled her shirt up above her chest and jerked her sports bra up, exposing her breasts. I gripped them in my hands, rolling and pinching her nipples between my fingers until she whimpered out from the pain.

"Do you like that sweetheart?" I asked her harshly as I put my mouth next to her ear. "Do you like it when I pinch your nipples? Do you like the pain?"

"Yes," she moaned. "God, yes."

"Do you want me to fuck you here?" I growled. "Right against this tree where anyone could see us?"

"Yes, David," she pleaded. "Please."

I grabbed the waistband of her leggings, ready to pull them down when I realized what we were missing. "Goddamn it," I snarled with frustration. "We don't have a fucking condom."

Instead of the disappointment that I expected, Natalie merely smiled at me with that wicked smile of hers as she reached up to the left upper chest of her shirt. Her fingers slipped into a tiny pocket that was just big enough for a small portable music player and pulled out a foil packet with a smug expression. I pulled it from her fingers with a wicked grin of my own.

"You're such a good girl, that you can come whenever you like," I told her. Her eyes lit up with triumph. "But if you scream or get loud when you do, you won't get to come again. Understood?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, then darkened as desire filled them up again. "Yes, sir," she whimpered.

I yanked her leggings down to her ankles, smiling when I saw she wasn't wearing any panties. I lowered my shorts and opened the condom, sheathing myself quickly. I grabbed Natalie's thighs and lifted her up, spreading her legs apart and pressing the head of my erection against her soaking wet pussy.

"Look at me, Natalie," I commanded in a low tone. Her eyes opened, and she met mine. "Watch me. I want to see your face when I shove my cock into you." I held her gaze as I pushed myself into her in one hard thrust. Her eyelids fluttered, her eyes practically rolling back into her head. She dug her nails into my shoulders as a deep guttural groan spilled out of her mouth. It was so damn hot that I almost lost it right then. I stilled to regain control, but Natalie's body wiggled and jerked in frustration. "That's enough. Be still," I told her sternly, and she immediately obeyed, which made me nearly come again. Damn, this woman was almost too much for me.

With a Herculean effort, I somehow got myself back under control, and started fucking her hard and fast against the tree. She came within moments, the walls inside her rippling and squeezing down on me. She clamped her mouth shut as soft whimpering noises managed to spill out anyway, but she didn't scream. "That's my good girl," I groaned out between thrusts. Her hands were in my hair again, pulling at it and digging into my scalp, making me moan with approval. I latched onto her lower lip with my teeth, sucking and biting until a second orgasm ignited inside her, and I swallowed down her moans and whimpers, helping her stifle yet another scream.

"Natalie," I groaned out as this insane burst of pleasure that had nothing to do with an orgasm suddenly welled up inside me. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. It rushed through my entire body and spilled out to my arms and legs, leaving me on fire and hyper-aware of where our bodies were joined together. She was about to come again, and she opened her mouth to scream, her pleasure so much that she forgot my command. I clamped my hand over her mouth, and her teeth sank into my skin, the burst of pain sending me over the edge. "Natalie," I moaned her name again, this time my voice laced with emotion as her eyes flew open, and she met my gaze. Our climax crashed into us, our eyes still locked together as I pounded out our release. Her eyes burned into mine, our connection more than just physical this time, and it jolted me to the core. Our bodies spasmed and convulsed against each other until it passed, and the only thing holding us up was my body weight pushing us up against the tree.

"David," she whimpered, her eyes soft and unfocused now.

"Oh, Natalie," I panted out. "Fuck." My skin was still tingling, my mind in a drunken haze as I tried to wrap my mind around what had just happened. I'd never had sex like this before, never felt connected like this to another human being in my life, and it made the fear roar to life inside me. I tried to stop it, but it must have shown in my eyes.

"David?" Natalie asked with concern, and I looked away. I set her down and put her clothes back to rights. "What's wrong?" She touched my shoulder.

I tossed the condom aside then looked into her eyes again, my fear and my longing for her warring against each other inside me, and I blurted out the truth. "I'm terrified."

"Of what?" she asked, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Of you. Of this." I watched comprehension come over her face.

"I know," she told me as she reached out and caressed my face with gentle fingers. "It's okay, so am I." I searched her face. I saw the fear in her eyes, and I don't know why, but knowing I wasn't the only one made me feel better.

"I haven't let myself feel anything for anyone in such a long time," I told her, my voice shaking with emotion. "I've been lonely for so long."

"I haven't felt like this about anyone before." Natalie took my hand. "And I've felt lonely, for as long as I can remember," she said as a lost look crossed her face.