Chapter 21
It wasn’t like there was a chance for anyone to restock today, though.
Laurin’s pocket condom was the last from his box.
Candace couldn’t even remember using so many overnight, but everything blurred together, so she supposed the count was right.
They only got halfway through lunch before a wide, lazy stretch from Candace got Laurin pouncing on her again, this time making it all the way to her bedroom to raid the second stash.
She wanted to talk with him, to temper things a bit and give the future some realistic expectations, but the combination of new partner and celebration was intoxicating enough that she couldn’t seem to resist any of his passes.
One moment, she was thinking about how important it was that they use this time to talk about parting amicably in case he decided she shouldn’t stay the weekend at his place in Atlanta; the next, she was being held up against her closet door, her knees around Laurin’s waist, his lips lightly sweeping hers as he pumped enthusiastically.
She draped herself over him and allowed herself to get lost in the motions, in the sensations.
In the fantasy.
He was slick with his words. That made Candace wary even as they ensnared her.
He certainly liked his passionate declarations of forevers and bests and belonging, fitting together.
She was his and he was hers and all of that.
The sort of thing that anyone would want to hear in the heat of the moment.
Candace didn’t say any of it back, because she wasn’t foolish enough to think he meant it, even though she wanted his words to be sincere.
Whether he was sincere or not, she had no intention of staying. She’d learned a long time ago that the more she loved someone, the more important it was to be the one to leave, and the more it would hurt if she waited. She had the easiest out this time, and she was thankful for it.
But she lied when Laurin asked, “What are you thinking about?”
They’d made it from the bedrooms to the sofa once the bags were packed, and there were only two condoms left — one of which was currently doing its job.
The back cushions of the sofa had been thrown to the floor so Laurin could make room behind Candace without her falling to the ground.
She had a feeling he was also enjoying curling his body around hers and keeping one hand on her chest to secure her while the fingers of the other hand fussed with her clit, making her come while he rocked gently into her.
The position had since been partially abandoned, though, and while her rear was still sandwiched to his pelvis, her leg still thrown back over his hip to make room for him to fill her, she’d been twisted so her shoulders were both on the sofa.
Laurin had propped himself on his elbow to precariously hold his weight as he kissed her and held her thigh for balance.
The moment was so lush and heady that she got lost thinking about how much she would enjoy these memories after they never saw each other again.
And then she sighed heavily, and he asked that question. What are you thinking.
She couldn’t come up with a good lie, so she said, “I just didn’t think a guy your age could go through condoms that quickly.”
Laurin snorted. “Bonbon, how old do you think I am?”
She couldn’t hide her cringe, not when she was naked and flushed from exertion and raw from the emotions he drew from her with every wickedly divine touch. She didn’t know how old he was. Not much older than her, but guessing a number was never fun. “I don’t know, thirty-four?”
“Thirty-two,” he grunted as he peeled himself off her and laid her flat on the sofa cushions.
No doubt needing to prove his prowess since she’d been right enough on his age, he hooked his shoulders up under her knees and leaned down as he tugged her down the sofa, folding her like a pretzel as he pounded into her until they were down to their last condom.
And then the last condom was also used, for good measure.
Candace doubted at this point that she’d even be able to walk in the morning.
Laurin draped himself over her bonelessly, and she teased the curl of black hair clinging to his sweat-slicked brow while he caught his breath. “Wait, if you’re only thirty-two,” she said, and he grumbled happily at the only, “then, okay, this math isn’t working.”
“Mmm.” He stretched down to land a weirdly chaste kiss right on her nipple. “Are you really doing your mathletics things right now?”
Candace giggled. “Please remove that word from your brain.”
“Never. What’s this math?”
Candace scooted her butt around in the sofa cushions until he was back on top of her, enjoying his weight there.
When she relived this day in her memories, it wouldn’t be the sex that would fill her with warmth, it would be this absent, comfortable cuddling, how familiar their bodies were, the way they could have perfectly meshed.
They wouldn’t, though. Every time she started to think about how good a life shared between them could be, it hit her again that there would never be sharing, she could only ever be absorbed, and she couldn’t put herself through that again.
“Vivvy is six, right?”
“Turning seven soon.”
“And she wasn’t born until after your injury?”
Laurin nodded silently and tucked his arms under her better.
“But you said you were in two World Cups, and those are every four years. If you were, what, twenty-six? Twenty-five? When you were injured, then that means—”
“I was nineteen my first World Cup, twenty-three for the second, and my career was over at twenty-four.”
He said it evenly, matter-of-factly, like it wasn’t any big deal, but it was devastating to Candace.
She made a weak sound of distress and hugged him fiercely as she thought of herself at twenty-four.
And younger. At nineteen, she wasn’t married yet, but she was already on that route to the worst decision of her life.
She couldn’t imagine being a shining star like that, only to lose everything before twenty-five.
“It’s okay,” Laurin whispered. “I lived that life, and now I’m living this one.” He chuckled dryly and said, “I only wish an actual adult had been managing my money back then. The amount of money I spent at clubs alone could have completely rebuilt the bakery.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad,” Laurin admitted. “We have to do some serious downsizing. The money I’ve made the last couple weeks here will help, but we may have to sell the house, move into something smaller.”
Since he didn’t say what he really meant, Candace did. “Unless you win.”
He grunted in assent.
They were going to be going head-to-head in another month, and they both needed the money desperately. This wasn’t a competition of needs, but that didn’t change the fact that no matter who won, the other one would be hurt by it.
“We should probably get cleaned up,” Candace said, gently nudging him.
Laurin only tightened his grip. “No, not yet. Don’t think about that right now, okay? Just be here with me. This is our own world, just the two of us, no one else, nothing else.” He made a soft, growly sound against her throat. “I need you again.”
Candace chuckled but continued to nudge him. “We’re out of condoms.”
Which made Laurin rumble in intense satisfaction. “I have some thoughts on other stuff we can do to pass the time.”
“Like what?” she asked, and she did mean that question sincerely, her logy, sex-muddled mind conjuring thoughts of taking showers or finishing that puzzle or raiding the kitchen for supplies to make their own candies, just to show they would have gone to the finale even if they’d had to compete today. She didn’t understand his dark chuckle.
Until he spun them both about until his already stiffening cock was right in her face, and he didn’t bother giving any instructions on what she should do there before he was burying his own face in her pussy.
Having only had two sexual partners before, neither of whom were particularly adventurous, Candace had never done anything like this.
She thought it’d be more novelty than effective and suffered her first bout of performance anxiety with Laurin.
She was surprised that she ended up enjoying the easy intimacy of it, the detached freedom to enjoy his cock in her mouth as he explored her pussy with his tongue, to absorb and respond without the extra layer of too-intense eye contact and too-tender kissing to muddle things.
And after everything else they’d done to get themselves to the point where they were out of condoms, his sweet kisses on her stretched and swollen flesh were very nice.
Laurin was very respectful and not at all mocking when she did wobble a bit heading into the pavilion that afternoon.
He hooked his arm with hers to give her the extra support while presenting a unified front to everyone still there waiting for them.
Only the slight twist upward at the corner of his lips and the puffing up of his chest showed how proud he was of wearing her out.
Patty, meanwhile, looked thoroughly pleased with herself when her eyes met Candace’s. Candace’s steps slowed as she whispered, “Oh, no.”
“We look just the same as when we left,” Laurin murmured.
It wasn’t the comfort he thought it was, since they had also looked thoroughly sexed their first appearance in the pavilion that morning, but that wasn’t what she was talking about, anyway.
“It’s not that. Patty doesn’t have a poker face.
Look at her. She’s had a great day in the kitchen.
And she’s practically unbeatable on Candy Week on a mediocre day. ”
Laurin groaned quietly, and though Candace knew it was in distress, it sounded an awful lot like the deep but surprisingly quiet sounds he’d made the times he held her close while coming. “We’re not really going into this judging blind, are we?”
Candace shook her head. “We should have talked about how we were going to do this at the cabin.”