Chapter 25
Yasmine
Head pillowed on his shoulder, Yasmine tried to ignore how comfortable she felt with Zeus’ arm around her shoulders, the way he felt for her to curl up against. Sure, cuddling was probably against the fuck buddy rules, but aftercare wasn’t.
And after getting her world rocked the way he had, she’d needed some cuddling to ground her, so she hadn’t objected when he’d gotten them into position.
He knew the score, after all.
If he felt like this was fine, when they were just fuck buddies, she could be fine with it, too.
“Question,” she said, clearing her throat as she stroked her fingers up his chest, playing with the wiry hair that covered the top of his pecs. “You’re smart. You’re thoughtful. You’re good in bed. How are you still single?”
“Same reason you are.”
“You’re cursed?”
“None of my other relationships ever worked out.” He caught her hand and pulled her fingers up to his lips to press a kiss to the tips.
Yasmine watched, fascinated for a moment, before what he’d said—and what he was doing—tipped off her alarm bells.
Alarm bells from the kiss, but also some indignation over his reference to her curse or lack thereof.
“But why didn’t they work out?” she pressed, sliding her arm around his body rather than going back to playing with his chest hair. Sure, this was more cuddly, but it cut off the opportunity for fingertip kisses, which somehow felt more intimate.
Definitely too relationship-y for her, even if it wasn’t for him.
She had to watch out for what her own head was doing.
“I’m too intense, I think.” She felt him shrug, his shoulder moving against her cheek and ear. “Once a girlfriend doesn’t need me, she moves on. Or, in the case of my last girlfriend, she cheats on me, and I move on.”
“That’s awful.” And filled her with a well of anger.
Cheaters always did. There was just no reason for it.
If you didn’t want to be with someone, just break up with them.
If you did want to be with them, don’t cheat.
It was a choice, and she did not understand the people who chose poorly. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. I don’t think we were going to last, anyway.
I thought that maybe I could help her… but she was one of those people who didn’t actually want to be helped.
She just wanted to be able to complain.” He said it almost philosophically, but because she was pressed so closely against him, Yasmine could feel the increased tension in his body when he talked about her.
As much as he might try to sound like it hadn’t affected him, it had.
“What about your other exes? What do you mean by ‘after they don’t need you’?”
“Ah, well. If you’re cursed with your exes moving on to their ‘happily-ever-after’ after dating you,”—his tone was more teasing than serious, the big jerk—“then I’m cursed with women who need my help, then move on once they don’t.”
“Well, that’s also terrible,” Yasmine said indignantly. She wanted to hunt down every one of Zeus’ exes and give them a piece of her mind for making him feel used because that was what it sounded like.
“It’s not that bad.” He chuckled, his fingers trailing over her shoulder. “Right now, I’m enjoying helping you, for instance.”
Yasmine opened her mouth to tell him she wasn’t using him, but then she had to close it. Because she kind of was. That’s basically what fuck buddies were for. Sure, they were using each other, but…
Hm.
“Were they ex-girlfriends or more ex-fuck buddies?” she asked.
“Ex-girlfriends, a few of them. Women I dated.” His chest moved beneath her head. “You’re my first fuck buddy.”
Oh. Well, maybe that explained why he was cuddlier after sex than she’d expected. He was used to relationships. That made sense.
“You’re my first, too.” Which was true. The other men she’d seen between him and Mason weren’t a regular thing. Another thought occurred to her. “So, does that mean you’re not sleeping with anyone else right now?”
“You mean, this weekend? That sounds exhausting. I don’t think I would have the time or energy.” His teasing tone made it clear he knew what she’d meant, and she gave his chest a little slap.
His hand caught hers again, holding it in place against his very impressive pecs. Yasmine decided not to try to pull away. Holding was probably okay. Kissing wasn’t.
“You know what I meant.”
“No, I’m not sleeping with anyone right now, nor do I have plans to.” His voice turned even more amused. “Is that too close to dating for you?”
“No, because we’re not dating. We’re fucking,” she replied primly. “I don’t plan on sleeping with anyone else, either. Or dating anyone else. I was just wondering because if we’re both agreed on that, I would be okay with it if you don’t use the condoms. I’m on birth control.”
There was a long moment of silence, and a trickle of fear went up her spine that she’d said something wrong, or maybe that there was something she didn’t know about him.
“I always use a condom,” he said after a long moment. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I always use a condom.”
“That’s fine, too. I just wanted to offer it.
” And struggle not to feel rejected by the fact he didn’t want to switch.
It wasn’t a rejection; it was good practice, and in case he ever decided to have sex with someone else—because he wasn’t beholden to her—then she would probably even be grateful for it.
Even if thinking about him having sex with someone else made her want to tear the non-existent woman’s hair out.
Shoot, was that because she was getting feelings for him? No… it couldn’t possibly happen that fast. She probably just wanted all the orgasms for herself. If Zeus was going to give a woman orgasms, she’d rather it be her than someone else. That made sense.
“I appreciate the offer.” He turned his head to give her a kiss on her forehead. Which she should probably protest, but… well, she didn’t want to make him feel bad.
It wasn’t as if there were hard and fast rules to having a fuck buddy. Just like with kink. They could do what worked for them. And aftercare, with cuddling and occasional intimate-type kisses, might just be what worked.
Zeus
For all that she didn’t want to be in a relationship, Yas was very cuddly after sex, though she was fighting it. But she wasn’t fighting it very hard. Since she couldn’t see his expression, with her cuddled up on his shoulder, he smiled to himself.
She might say she didn’t want a relationship, but all evidence was to the contrary. Well, other than not letting him kiss her fingertips. There were lines she was drawing, but he would keep nudging up against them until she realized that she was happier being with him than anyone else.
The only moment that had felt fraught had been the condom.
She’d tensed. Zeus worried she’d felt rejected after making the offer, but he just never forgot to put one on.
Not since the pregnancy scare he’d had with his college girlfriend.
While he’d been ready to step up, she’d completely freaked out, and when she found out she wasn’t pregnant, she’d broken up with him.
Sometimes, he wondered if she’d been planning to anyway, and realizing she might be stuck with him forever had hastened the process.
Regardless. He always wore a condom.
“We should probably get up,” Yas said after a moment, though she turned her head into his shoulder when she said it, as if she didn’t really want to.
“Alright.” He didn’t move a muscle. If she wanted to actually get up, she would have to make the first move.
“The dogs probably need a walk.” Her voice was slightly muffled because her face was still pressed against him. He could hear the reluctance in her tone.
“Probably,” he agreed.
After a long moment, she made a noise of frustration, then pulled her hand out from under his on his chest. Zeus let her roll away, though he felt the loss immediately as the warmth of her body was replaced by cool air. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she scowled down at him.
“We need to get up.”
“If you say so.” His gaze dropped to her breasts and lingered. Her nipples were a much darker red than before.
Yas huffed. “We are not having sex again right now.”
“If you say so.” Amused, he watched her get up from the bed and go to her clothing.
“Honestly, I’m not sure my pussy can take any more right now, anyway.”
Well, that sounded like a challenge to him.
Her head was ducked down as she grabbed her underwear off the floor.
She made a face at her thong, shaking her head, and tossed it in the laundry basket before heading over to her dresser.
Zeus finally started getting up as she pulled out a new set of underwear.
The thong had been soaked through, and she didn’t want to put it back on.
The feeling of smugness that permeated him was well-earned. So far, everything was moving forward just about how he wanted it to. Yas had been cuddly after sex. She was reluctant to get up. And he was doing a damn good job of making sure she was getting as many orgasms as he could give her.
Coming up behind her as she bent over to put on her underwear, Zeus gripped her hips and pressed himself against her backside. His cock, which had been fully soft, twitched at the contact.
Straightening up, Yas spun round to face him, scowling again.
“Are you trying to break my vagina?”
That startled a laugh out of him.
“Are you saying I’m getting close?”
“I’m saying I’m starting to worry about chafing.” She tossed her head as he laughed again, pulling her against him. The lacy underwear she’d just put on felt weird against his softened cock, but not bad. Lowering his lips to hers, he caught her mouth for a kiss.
Felt her resist… then soften against him. He lingered, enjoying the moment, savoring that sweet submission, then finally lifted his head. Her eyes opened slowly, and she stared up at him, their lips only a few inches apart.
“I’ll kiss your pussy later and make it feel all better.”
Pressing her lips together to keep from smiling, she shook her head. “You are incorrigible.”
“Guilty as charged.”
Releasing her, Zeus stepped away, snatching her bra from her as he went.
She’d gotten undressed on her own for him; now he helped her get dressed again.
It only took him a few moments to get his own clothes back on while she ran a brush through her hair and pulled it back into a neat ponytail.
By the time she was done, he was already finished getting dressed and sitting on the edge of her bed, watching her.
He enjoyed watching her tend to her hair.
The graceful strokes of the brush through the silky mass.
The way she turned one way and then back the other, swishing her head back and forth to make sure she was satisfied with the final result.
Considering how put-together she always was, he couldn’t help but wonder how many people got to actually see her put herself together.
It felt intimate in a way that even cuddling hadn’t been. Unless he was reading too much into this. But he didn’t think he was.
“All done,” she said, setting the brush down on top of her dresser. “Ready to go?”
“Yup.” He got to his feet, brushing his hands over his thighs to push his jeans back down into place.
“Sorry for the hold up.” She wrinkled her nose. “You didn’t have to wait, though.”
“I didn’t mind waiting.” Since he didn’t think she’d respond to an attempt to hold her hand, he put his fingers on the small of her back instead, guiding her back through to the front of her house. “I liked watching you.”
Even when she snorted, somehow it was a delicate sound.
“That would make you the first,” she said. “At least you were quiet. The only other time I let a guy be in the room with me while I was getting ready, he kept clearing his throat and checking his watch.”
Zeus smiled inwardly at confirmation that getting to sit and watch her get ready was not a common occurrence.
“Then he didn’t deserve you.”
There was just a moment of hesitation, which he only knew because he could feel it. If he hadn’t been touching her, he might not have noticed it at all.
“He didn’t.”
Although she didn’t entirely sound convinced of it, he decided to let it go. Convincing her she wasn’t cursed was going to take more than a few days.