34. CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 34
ETHAN
I picked Ari up from PT after leaving my mom’s house and on the way home asked what she wanted for dinner, telling her I would make her anything. She insisted we make dinner together, saying she couldn’t just sit by while I waited on her, despite the fact that I said I wanted to do it for her. That led to a little spat.
Then, when we got home, she wanted to shower since she was cold and damp and smelled like chlorine from the therapy pool, and I tried to help her—not because I’m a perv but because she has to step into and out of the tub to use the shower at my house, and I didn’t want her to slip. And that led to another little rift.
I think, possibly, we are over it now. Maybe …
We settled on make-your-own pizzas and, of course, we had to turn it into a competition. Now, Ari and I sit across from each other at the kitchen island with a baking sheet standing up between two cans of soup as a divider so we can’t see what the other is making. We rolled out the dough together and we each greased and flowered our baking sheets, but because everything Ari touches turns to gold and everything I touch turns to shit, her dough stuck perfectly to the edges of the pan while mine has been slowly creeping inward on itself, and now I have a glob of dough in the shape of a hot dog bun that I’ve spread sauce on and sprinkled cheese on and am now attempting to arrange toppings to make it look like something spectacular and not a giant wiener.
Which gives me an idea.
Looking up, I see Ari’s eyes are cast downward as she chews on her bottom lip in concentration. I lean a little closer and her eyes snap to mine. “Hey!” she yells, and a piece of green bell pepper comes hurling over the divider. “Keep your eyes to yourself.” A cherry tomato smacks me in the forehead next.
“OK, OK! I just wanted to see what you were doing. Jeez.”
Another moment of silence passes as I look at Ari. She must have dried her hair after she got out of the shower because it’s straighter than normal and it looks so goddamn soft, and she has no makeup on, but her face still looks flawless and her freckles prominent. She’s wearing one of my T-shirts again which, OK, I might have laid it out on the bed when she was in the shower, in suggestion, but she didn’t have to put it on.
But she did and I freaking love it. Call me a caveman but there is some sort of possessive shit that goes on in my brain when I see my girl lounging around in my shirt.
Ari’s eyes meet mine over the divider once more. “OK, just give me a hint,” I say. “Person, place or thing?”
“Uh, thing, I guess. But I’m done anyway, so if you’re done, too, we can just reveal.”
“Thank God,” I mutter, and pull the baking sheet away so we can look at each other’s creations. Of course, hers looks like a piece of art. She created a flower with petals made out of red and orange pepper slices, with yellow banana peppers in the center and green peppers as the leaves and stems. Out of pepperoni, she even made a little caterpillar on one side, complete with olive eyes and onion legs.
“Ethan, is that …” Ari is looking over at my pizza, turning her head this way and that as she squints her eyes. “It looks like …”
I turn the pan so it’s right-side-up for her, and her face goes still as her eyes travel up to mine. She can’t hide that she’s amused. “You are such an asshole.”
‘“No, I’d venture to say I’m a dick .” I point at the giant penis-shaped pizza on my tray before reaching for a napkin. “A giant, saucy dick with cheese spraying from the tip.”
Ari tries to make a face of horror and disgust, but it falls, and a giggle slips out.
“Aha!” I point at her as she continues to shake with withheld laughter. “I win!”
“How on earth do you win?”
I lean back and fold my hands behind my head. “Because all I want out of life is to hear you giggle. Ergo, I win.”
Ari rolls her eyes and spins on her stool toward the oven that’s been preheating. “Let’s get these in the oven. I hope yours puffs up so big it looks like it has herpes.”
As Ari cleans up our mess on the island, I put some dishes in the dishwasher behind her.
“So, what did you do today before you came to pick me up?” she asks, while wiping down the countertop.
“I went and saw my mom.”
“Oh? How’d that go?”
“It went well.” I stop and think it over. “I was afraid she’d be reclusive living alone, but she joined a book club at the library, and she does yoga at the recreation center on weekends. And she’s doing some online adult education class. So, yeah, she’s really good.”
“That’s great.” Ari’s voice sounds closer, so I turn my head and see she has swiveled on her stool and is looking at me. “You seem closer to your mom now.”
I nod as I dry my hands on a towel and turn back around to close the dishwasher. “Yeah, I guess I am. I told her about you.”
There’s a moment of silence. “Oh.” It’s quiet again before I hear Ari’s sweet voice. “What did you tell her?”
My back is still to her as I answer. “Basically, I told her you’re still the most amazing person I’ve ever known and that I never want to let you go.”
More silence. And then another soft, “Oh.”
There’s shuffling behind me, and Ari’s hands come around my middle as her face presses against my back. I drop the dish towel and place my hands over Ari’s. “That’s a really nice thing to say,” she murmurs against my back. I can feel her hot breath through my T-shirt, and I’ll be damned if my dick doesn’t twitch in response.
I swallow. “Well, it’s true.”
“Mmmm,” she purrs, tugging up my T-shirt and scraping her nails over my abs. “What else did you say about me?”
I place my hands on the counter in front of me as Ari caresses my body. “I said you were beautiful and really great in the sack.” For that I get a pinched nipple. “Ouch!” Oddly enough, my dick bobs in response to that, too.
Un-fucking-believable.
Ari’s hands travel down to the front of my sweats and she gropes me. My breathing picks up as she sinks her hand down under my boxers. As her palm glides across my cock, it rises up to meet her. She grips it firmly, causing me to groan and drop my head to my chest. She gives it two good tugs before sliding her hand back out and is gone. Wondering what happened, I turn around and find her dropping to her knees, ass resting on her heels, looking up at me through thick eyelashes, wearing a wicked smile.
She pulls the front of my pants and boxers down just enough for my erection to spring free. Taking it in one hand, she rises off her heels to bring it to her mouth.
“Are you comfortable?” I ask shakily.
She simply grins.
I grip the edge of the countertop behind me when she takes me in her mouth. “ Fuuuuck!” I let out in a moan as my thighs tremble.
Tilting my head down, my eyes lock on Ari’s. She’s peering right up at me and I can’t help but buck my hips and press further into her mouth. Bringing a hand around, I cup the side of her face as she continues to take me. “Shit, Red … Just like that.”
Bracing myself against the counter with one hand, the other still holding Ari’s beautiful face, I slowly fuck her mouth. I try to take it easy, seeing as she’s on her knees on the hard floor, and she had PT earlier so she’s probably exhausted, but holy shit, I’m losing control.
Gently pulling out and back enough that Ari can’t reach me, even though she chases me before looking up, I stroke her face and say, “I want all of you.”
She wipes some spit from her chin with the back of her hand and raises both arms in the air. “Help me up.”
I grip her under the armpits and hoist her up until she’s sitting on the island, then pull her hips forward so her ass is hanging off the edge of the countertop just enough for me to pull her pajama pants and underwear down. She yelps when her ass hits the cold marble again—bare this time—and I take her face and kiss her breathless.
Just then, the oven timer buzzes behind me, and I curse.
“The penis will burn,” Ari pants against my lips.
“What?” I’m unable to focus as she sucks on my neck. “The pizzas. You have to take them out of the oven.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Don’t move.” I give Ari a kiss, and then another, and another.
The godforsaken buzzer goes off behind me again.
“Shit!” I spin around, my eyes scanning for the damn potholders. I find them and take the trays out of the oven and all but throw them on the stovetop. Then stab the buttons at the top of the oven to hopefully turn it and the timer off.
Spinning back around to Ari, we pick up right where we left off. As we kiss—and suck and slurp and nibble and moan—Ari pulls my shirt up and I curl my back so she can pull it off me, and it gets discarded. I place her feet on the edge of the countertop on either side of me so her bent knees are practically at her shoulders, then I push my pants down a little farther and fist my dick. Reaching down, I swipe two fingers through her sex to see if she’s ready for me—praying like hell she is—and find her drenched.
I chuckle. “Does sucking my cock make you hot, Red?”
“You tell me.” She leans over and pulls my bottom lip between her teeth and gives a little tug.
I growl and line up with her entrance.
“Wait! Condom.” Ari murmurs into my mouth.
Sonofabitch .
I pat around my pockets, which are now bunched at my hips, but don’t feel my wallet. Ari trails kisses along my jaw as my eyes dart around and I see that I left it on the counter behind her. “Ari, baby.” She kisses the corner of my mouth. “Reach back and grab my wallet.”
“What?” She swipes her tongue through my lips.
I groan. “Wallet. Behind you.”
“Oh, right.” She twists and I lick my tongue up her neck, feeling her pulse throb, as she leans back and grabs my wallet, then thrusts it at me. I pull it open and frantically flip through the folds and cheer when I find what I’m looking for.
“Aha!” I hold it up and let the wallet fall to the floor.
“Seriously, guys really do that?” Ari asks around our reunited lips, as I tear the condom wrapper open.
“Hey, it came in handy just now, didn’t it?”
I roll the condom down as Ari stammers, “Yeah, you’re right.”
We both look down, our foreheads touching, as I line my tip up against her entrance. “Lay back.” I give her thigh a little tap and help her lay all the way back. With her feet still on the edge of the countertop, she is spread wide for me.
I kiss the inside of her knee. “You ready?” She nods. “I gotta hear it.”
“Yes. Please, Ethan. I’m ready.” She’s gripping the edge of the island, her fingers next to her feet, while I slowly feed her my dick.
“Ahhhh,” she moans. Her back automatically tries to arch, and I have to press a hand to her stomach to keep her still. I feel resistance, so I pause, circling my hips this way and that, trying to loosen her up as I slip in little by little. Finally, I slide all the way in and a violent shudder erupts through me. I quickly retract, and slide back in again.
“Are you OK?” My voice is strained. “Your back? Your legs? … You good?”
“Just shut up and keep moving.”
Yes, ma’am!
She’s so wet and smooth as I work my hips at a steady pace.
“Oh, God,” Ari pants, and I feel her starting to tighten even more around me. “Ethan—”
“I know, Red.” I reach one hand up to brush hair off her face. My other is splayed across her lower abdomen, holding her steady as she shifts with each of my thrusts. “I’m right there with you.”
The sound of a car door slamming and the beeping of a lock stills up both. “Shit!” I spit out at the same time Ari says, “Is that Fonz?!”
I pull out just a fraction and Ari whimpers and her insides clamp down on me. “Noooo,” she moans.
Fuck .
“Sit up, quick!” I grab Ari under the armpits and pull her upright, hugging her around the middle. “Wrap your arms and legs around me, baby.”
She obliges, and I go to take a step back, but forget my pants are still around my knees and I stumble to the side and have to awkwardly spin, and we crash—well, Ari’s back crashes—into the door of the refrigerator.
“Damnit!” I whisper as I hear Fonz’s footsteps in the garage, heading toward the kitchen door beside us. “You OK?”
Ari giggles and nods into my neck, then starts sucking on it as her legs wrap even tighter around my hips and she starts grinding herself up and down on my dick, which is still buried inside her.
“Are you kidding me right now?” I growl into her shoulder as I shimmy and kick my sweats and boxers the rest of the way down my legs and finally step out of them, all the while she’s sliding herself up and down my length. Pants finally discarded, I hear Fonz’s keys in the door as I push us away from the fridge and start hauling ass out of the kitchen with Ari wrapped around me like a koala, past the dining room, down the hall and into my bedroom.
Just as we pass the threshold we hear Fonz yell, “Seriously? The kitchen counter? I eat breakfast here, guys!”
I brace my arm out in front of me as we fall to the bed so I don’t crush Ari as I land on top of her, and we are both laughing hysterically. “I guess he found our clothes,” she says as I run my nose along her collarbone.
“Or the condom wrapper.”
Before I can start moving again, Ari presses my shoulder. “Move,” she urges.
“Huh?”
“Roll over,” she kisses me softly. “I want to ride you.” Another kiss.
With our limbs still wrapped around each other, we roll until Ari is straddling me, looking down. Without breaking eye contact, she grabs the hem of the shirt she’s wearing—my shirt—and pulls it up and over her head, pulling her hair through the neck hole and causing it to come cascading down around her. Leaning forward, she places her hands on my chest and rolls her hips, grinding on me.
My fingers dig into her hips as I can’t decide if I’m trying to slow her down or slam her harder onto me. But just as I think I may come apart, Ari pushes herself upright, leaving me chasing her kiss. When I open my eyes, I see her riding me, hands on my ribs as she rises up and slams back down, breasts bouncing with each movement. Her eyes are shut, and her mouth hangs open in an “O” as she takes what she wants from me.
She’s in her own world, and while that turns me the hell on, I want her right here with me.
I sit up, wrapping an arm around her waist and sliding a hand up her torso, skimming her breast and gripping her neck. “Ari, baby, come back to me.”
Her forehead rests against mine, and I know she’s here. “Hey, there.” I kiss her lips as we continue to grind together. I kiss her jaw, her cheek, her ear before I whisper into it, “Come back to me, Red.”
Her glassy eyes snap open. “I’m here, Ethan. I’m right here.”
I smile against her lips. “There you are.” Placing one hand behind me to brace us, I put my feet flat against the bed and start to thrust my hips up into Ari’s core as she slams herself down onto me.
My heart hammers against my chest, blood pumps through my veins like a freight train, and my gut tightens as we fuck like animals and I feel my release nearing.
I can feel Ari getting closer as well. She’s tightening around me so fiercely I’m afraid she’s going to get hurt with the force of our thrusts, and I want to be able to stop but I can’t. It’s too carnal. Too intimate. And I explode. With violent shakes and a loud growl that rips from my chest, I heave into Ari and bury my face in her shoulder as I grind her onto me, milking the last drops. Thankfully, she climaxes at the same time I do, with a spectacular shriek, trembling and shaking with each swirl of our hips.
We stay like that for a moment before I open my eyes to find Ari’s still closed. I slide my hand from around her waist and raise it up to push strands of hair away from her sweaty forehead. “Hey, you OK?”
Her eyes open, and I see tears in them as she nods. “That was beautiful,” she whispers, trailing her fingertips down my face and over my lips.
“It was.” I turn my head and kiss her palm. But Ari can see the shadow that comes over me.
“What’s wrong?”
I could lie to her. I could tell her nothing is wrong. Everything is right—which it is. But after what we just experienced, I can’t be anything but completely vulnerable with her night now. So, I tell her exactly what’s on my mind, afraid it may ruin the moment.
“I should have been your first.” Her face falls for only a second, before I add, “I wanted to be your first. I dreamed of being your first—your only. I will spend every day sick with regret that I wasn’t.”
Her own sad smile spreads across her face and she kisses me softly before pulling back. “Believe me, Ethan, you were. You are. You are my first everything. You are my only.”
I nearly choke on tears that I swallow down as the hand I was bracing us with gives way and I fall back on the bed, bringing Ari with me. We lay like that, still connected, still sweaty, as our breathing evens out and our bodies turn to putty. Ari is the first to break and slide off me. As she rolls over and I peel the condom off and move to deposit it in the trash can, we hear a clamor in the kitchen.
“Is that a penis pizza?” Fonz yells. “I’m totally eating it since you now know I eat dick!”