17. More Questions Than Answers #2
While I soap up and wash my hands free of our combined fluids, I don’t hear his approach from the rushing water. I yelp in surprise as he throws his arms around my waist and picks me up from the floor. I can still feel his moist member slapping against my ass.
“No? Like what then?” He spins me around and sits me on the counter, his lips finding root against my collarbones.
“Like... a little hair pulling or biting here and there.”
“Miss Bailey... are you telling me you’re wanting to try something kinky?” Edward’s kisses drift lower and lower down my body, between my breasts and down to my belly button. His hands part my thighs open as he stares up at me.
I bite my lip as he continues his journey south, eager to see where he ends up. My entire body shudders when his teeth find the soft skin of my inner thigh, and I have to muffle a squeal when he nips into it a little harder.
Okay, maybe that is a little exciting.
He repeats the gesture on the other thigh, watching with a fixed gaze to measure my reaction. He smiles against my skin when he sees how his actions are affecting me, and teases his biting kisses higher up my thighs.
I raise my feet to the counter and curl my toes over the edge to find the right perch, leaving myself completely exposed and vulnerable to wherever his whims take him.
Edward closes his eyes and inhales deeply as he draws closer to his prize, and I can feel my inner walls clench at the sensation of his hot breath against my labia.
I silently scream in my mind for him to do it already and end this drawn-out charade that’s driving me crazy.
I almost fall off the counter when the first inch of his tongue probes the sensitive nub above my opening. Hot and wet, he flicks it with such eagerness that it takes all my strength to not collapse into the sink or break the mirror behind me.
He must have seen his effect on me because he wraps his hands around my rear to keep me in place, perched on the edge so that he can have full access to me.
The flicking turns into sucking, and it’s not long before I’m dripping again. I reach over and snag a washcloth from the towel bar to shove into my mouth so that I don’t fill the entire apartment with my moans of delight.
“Oh? Should I invest in a gag ball too?” He teases as his fingers spread my folds open, treating himself to every inch of wet, pink flesh.
I mutter a muffled “shut up” from behind the fabric, both wanting this to last as long as possible and wanting to get to the end so that Alexander doesn’t catch us.
“Aye, aye,” he growls low under his breath before he dives in again, his digits plunging deep within me as he continues to bathe my clitoris with attention.
Swear after swear is soaked up by the washcloth, my body arching with pleasure as I thrust against his fingers.
He takes notice and settles on a rhythm that I like, his tongue swirling wet circles around my tender hood.
He requires no encouragement to go deeper and faster, sensing that I’m already approaching that bittersweet end. I bite down even harder on the washcloth when the first spark shoots up my spine and I feel my loins begin to swell.
He locks his eyes with mine and that spells the end of my self-control.
I shut my eyes and focus on my grip, my entrance dripping with pleasure. He curls his fingers once more and they spray all over his face, much to his surprise. But he doesn’t let that deter him and finishes the task at hand before letting me escape.
“Okay, you’ve never done that before.” He gets his arms around me and carries me bridal-style into the shower.
“What can I say, I was caught up in the moment.” I lean up to kiss his lips, my face still flushing with the bliss slowly ebbing out of my body. Everything tingles, and when he tries to put me down, my knees buckle.
“Oops! Don’t want you cracking your head open. How am I going to find someone to watch Alex?”
I lightly slap his chest and pry his hands off me. I can’t tell exactly when this started, us having casual sex now and again, but I can’t say that I regret it. I don’t want to describe it as moving on from Benjamin; I consider it more of a reminder to myself that I’m still attractive.
Edward understands this too, that I have no intention of this becoming a thing, in case either of us wants to seek out someone else for a real relationship.
I also don’t want to become Alex’s stepmother. He needs stability in his life right now, and Edward taking on a new permanent partner is going to throw a wrench into the works.
He turns the hot water on full blast before he adds some cold to make it more bearable. The only thing I’m envious of is his water pressure. My apartment is nice and all, but it’s never reliable.
“We’ve got ten minutes,” he whispers in my ear as he lathers my back with a soapy sponge. His tone insinuates something.
“I don’t want to push our luck. But there’s always later when he’s in bed this evening.”
“Nngh, you expect me to wait that long?” He kisses my shoulder and then hands me the sponge so I can wash myself.
“Hey, if you want to get it from someone else, that’s none of my business. Casual, remember?”
Edward goes silent and he’s no longer near me. Have I said something to upset him?
“Casual, yes. But... what do you think about telling the others? Stan and Drake?”
Drake. I don’t know if he would take the news very well. Although he’s supposed to be going to therapy now for his pill problem, I don’t want to give him any reasons to relapse.
“Why would you want them to know?” I ask.
“I mean, if they come over for dinner at some point, are we supposed to pretend like we don’t know each other?”
He has a point. Playing up pretense is always more difficult and tiring than simply telling the truth. At the same time, it still feels awkward knowing...
“You’re stewing on something. Penny for your thoughts?”
Guilt washes over me. I still haven’t told him about “before.” Would that make him feel weird?
“I have something to confess.”
“Uh oh, you’re not an alien in disguise, are you?”
“Edward, can we be serious here for a second?”
He clears his throat.
“Sorry. Serious face time.”
“That evening at the hospital when Benjamin passed away... Drake and I were in a conference room and... we kissed. I don’t know why I did it, but I let his hands roam over my body. I let him carry me across the room and slide his hand up my skirt.”
I start to throb again at the memory of his touch against me.
“We almost would have, if a janitor hadn’t walked into the room. Then when he was here, he told me he had a crush on me and tried to kiss me again.”
He doesn’t need to know what Drake said about Oliver and the argument that ensued. That will only complicate things.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I spoke to Oliver. For the two weeks he stayed after the funeral, we pretty much talked every day. We even exchanged phone numbers afterward and sent texts now and again. It must have tapered off without me noticing.
I should have at least said goodbye.
“I didn’t let him that time, not when I could tell something was wrong with him. That’s all I wanted you to know, I guess.” When I turn around to hand him the sponge, he has a peaceful smile on his face. I’d expected him to be confused or at least a little angry, but he seems... unconcerned.
“Oh, I know. About the first one, I mean. Drake told us.”
Oh. Well, that changes a lot of things. I guess I was feeling guilty for nothing.
“Did you like it?”
“What?”
“Him touching you. Kissing you.” He finally takes the sponge and adds some more soap to it.
What the hell kind of question is that?
“Why? So you can tell him? You two want to swap stories about how you made out with me? Compare who kisses me better?”
Edward gives me a look before he starts washing.
“If I’d already told them, would I have asked if you wanted to keep this secret?”
Oh. My face flushes hot again and I dunk it under the shower stream.
“Okay. Okay, fine. So I may have jumped the gun on that one.”
“You’re a little defensive, aren’t you?” He chuckles and hands me the shampoo.
“Can you really blame me when I’ve had to keep my previous relationship secret? Going out with someone twice my age isn’t exactly celebrated.”
“Ah, so you have a silver fox kink. A shame.” He runs his hands over his smooth head and puts on a mocking pout. “I don’t have a full head of white hair to show off.”
“You’re impossible, you know that?” I lather up my hair and focus on getting rinsed before Alexander has to get out of bed.
“You never did answer my question, by the way.” He elbows me lightly in the back.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you with all this water running.”