2. 2
2
The door to Barrett’s studio apartment swung open to reveal a modest loft with red support beams and exposed brick walls. It smelled faintly of sweat and cologne. The open expanse was decorated with mismatched leather furniture and littered with laundry, cowboy boots, and half-full water bottles. The counter was full of strewn papers, surfaces speckled with bits of food and water rings from perspired glasses.
The moment the apartment door clicked shut, Barrett hung his keys on one of the prongs on his mounted jackalope head by the entrance. The taxidermied rabbit’s head adorned with glued-on antlers stared back at them, a gift his grandmother had given him as a housewarming present years prior.
Barrett grabbed Aphrodite’s hands and pinned them over her head against the brick wall just inside the front door. He pressed his mouth to hers for a deep kiss and then trailed smaller, softer ones down her chin and neck, skimming across her collarbone with his eager mouth.
She panted, arms slackening in his grasp as he softly nipped at her jaw and bottom lip. She moaned, loud and fierce.
Barrett thought about his neighbors down the hall and how they were desensitized to the female voices coming from his apartment by now. Their averted, bashful gazes in the laundry room were something he took pride in.
“Mmmm. That fucking moan, girl. Do that again. I liked it,” he groaned, voice gravelly. His eyes grew dark, hooded by a thick veil of desire.
“ Make me. ”
The taunt sent a bolt of heat to his groin.
“I do like a feisty woman,” he said gruffly, the corner of his lip twitching up onto a half-smile. He released her hands, backed away, and headed toward the kitchen.
“Wow.” She made her way to the center of the apartment, looking around at several hung paintings of the nude female form and the occasional framed photo. “I like your place. I love these old buildings; they have such a vibe .”
“A vibe ?” he asked from the open kitchen. “What kind of a vibe are you getting from this place?”
“It has a sort of stylish industrial charm to it. I bet it gets gorgeous light during the day.”
He watched, unable to take his eyes off the way her colorful hair danced against her shoulders.
She circled his weight bench in the corner, still racked with fifty-pound weights, clacking her nails against the metal bar as she passed it.
She stopped in the middle of a bank of windows, soaking in the town’s main thoroughfare below. A few run-down cars peppered the roadway, and drunken patrons meandered down the sidewalks. The lights of Jackson twinkled like fireflies in the dark night sky.
“It’s a great view,” Barrett said, making his way to her, pressing himself softly against her back and wrapping a strong arm around to offer her a beveled glass of booze.
“No, thanks.” She shook her head, only peeling her eyes from the stunning view long enough to decline.
Barrett shrugged and poured her drink into his. He set the empty on the brick sill and leaned against the window, staring at her as he sipped.
She strode toward him, nudging between his bent knees with her leg to get closer.
Something about being near her sent a prick of sweat to the back of Barrett’s neck, the embers between them stoking hotter every time they touched. He slid a flattened hand to her stomach, and she tensed.
“What’s your real name, Aphrodite?” he asked, stroking the tender skin there.
“I’ve already told you the only name you’re going to get.”
“Hmm,” Barrett pulled his hand away and brought the bitter amber liquid back to his lips. “So, Aphrodite, what do you do for work?”
“Do you really want to talk about work right now?” She stepped away, waltzing toward his leather couch and sitting in it like royalty on a throne.
“If I can guess what you do for a living, will you tell me?” Barrett stared for a moment, eyes locked on her body, overwhelmed by an insatiable urge to taste her.
She looked away. “Why not? I’ll grant you three guesses.”
“Thank you, sexy genie.”
She fought a smile.
“Guess one: you’re the hottest DJ Wyoming has ever seen. DJ Greek Goddess is your moniker.”
“ Oooooh . So close!” She held her fingers a centimeter apart. “Two left.”
“Okay. You’re not a DJ. No, I was way off. You’re a Wyoming Cowboys cheerleader?”
She shook her head.
“No. Dumb guess. You’re way too hot for that. Although, there goes my fantasy about finally seducing a cheerleader.”
“Why would you want a cheerleader?”
“Because they can do the splits.”
“Who said I can’t?”
Barrett moaned involuntarily and stepped behind the raggedy recliner to hide his growing hard-on.
“Let’s see… rainbow hair… you’re artistic.”
“Hardly.”
“You’re a photographer, aren’t you? You shoot weddings and shit.”
“That your final answer?”
“Yep, final answer.”
“Wrong. I’m not a photographer…”
“Damn,” he muttered.
“But I am involved in weddings, actually.”
He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “I knew it.”
“I’m in sales. Like insanely overpriced dresses, constrictive suits, painful shoes, and monogrammed hankies for the sobbing helicopter moms.”
“The whole nine, huh?” He approached the couch and took another sip of liquor to bolster the courage to sit next to her before finally taking a seat.
“The whole nine.” She kicked off her shoes and drew her feet up to the cushion beside her. Her mismatched socks made Barrett chuckle.
He reached out to tap the blue ankle sock on one foot and the pink calf-height one on the other. “Cute.”
She looked at them and smiled, allowing her eyes to affix on his. “I guess this is the part where I am supposed to ask about what you do.”
“You don’t have to.” Barrett eyed her feet, desperately wanting to touch them, to rub them, to have them in his lap. “I just started a new job this week, so there isn’t much to tell.”
“Yeah?” She snuggled into the couch a little more.
“The hours are flexible, which I like. I still want to have fun and live a little, you know? I don’t wanna look back and have any regrets. I wanna look like shit by the time I’m in my casket.”
“Preach.” She picked at a small tear in his sofa absentmindedly with her nail. “Speaking of regrets… you got any tats?”
He laughed aloud. “Now, why would you ask something like that?”
“You strike me as the kinda guy with a hidden thigh sleeve or the quintessential ‘Mom’ tattoo in a little heart somewhere.”
His smile faded at the word ‘Mom.’ After a moment, it slowly returned. “I actually do have a tattoo. It’s small and stupid.”
“I knew it. I have a sixth sense about these things.”
“It’s on my butt cheek.”
Covering her mouth, Chastity stifled a loud laugh.
“Back in the day, I lost a bet to my buddy, Alan. True to my word, I got it.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a bumble bee wearing a ghost costume.”
She twisted her body to look at him. “ Explain .”
Barrett stood, unbuttoned his jeans, and pulled them and his underwear down three inches, revealing a two-inch tattoo that looked exactly like he’d described.
“I don’t get it.”
“ Boo-bee. It’s a boo-bee. Like,” he turned and motioned as if he had huge breasts. He couldn’t help but smile at Chastity’s laughter. He pulled his pants up, re-zipped them, and returned his butt to the couch, inches closer this time.
“What about you? You got any ink?”
“I do.”
He waited a moment. “Well…?”
“I have one tattoo, and if you play your cards right, I’ll show it to you.”
He grinned and made a puckered face like Robert Deniro before taking another sip from his glass. “I’d rather see it anyway.”
She held her palm out, silently requesting the glass in his hand.
“I thought you didn’t want any.” Confused, he handed it over.
“Needed to be sure it wasn’t roofied or something. Never can be too careful.” She took a big gulp of it.
Barrett scooted closer and reached over, caressing a long curl of rainbow-dyed hair with his outstretched finger. “I like this. It’s pretty. Love all the colors.”
“Yeah?”
“If I was a bettin’ man, I’d guess this is either a post-breakup hairstyle… or you had a strict upbringing.”
“Nope,” she said quickly, but the lie was apparent on her face. She cleared her throat and averted her eyes. “I just like some vibrancy in my life. I couldn’t decide on one color, so I chose them all.”
Barrett’s bent finger drifted from her hair to her cheek, grazing the flushed flesh of her ear, feeling the heat seeping from her skin.
“I like these, too,” he lightly toyed with her earrings. They looked like human rib cages coated in teal epoxy with hot pink hearts dangling inside.
“I like that you’re not afraid to stand out. That’s sexy.”
She smiled, eyes darting away.
“Hey, no, look at me.” His voice was soft but stern, echoing out into the quietness of the space.
She forced herself to meet his gaze and smiled. He leaned in slowly, slow enough to allow her to say no, to halt him, or admit she was having second thoughts. But she didn’t speak. The only sound between them was the crinkle of leather as he slid his hand up to the back of her neck and pressed his lips firmly to hers.
She kissed him back with a demanding urgency. Her hand wrapped around the back of his neck, and she pulled him closer, savoring the taste of liquor on his warm tongue. Barrett gripped her by the hips and slid her roughly toward him. A small moan escaped her, and he felt the delightful ache grow between his legs.
She grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him against her, digging her nails into his shoulders. He parted her legs with his knees and weaved his fingers into her multi-colored locks.
He moaned against her lips before pulling at the hem of her shirt, hand diving beneath, grazing soft skin with calloused hands.
She shoved her hand between their bodies and massaged his hardened cock through the denim. He gasped and pinched his eyes closed.
“ Mmmmm. Such a naughty girl. ”
“ Mmm-hmmm, ” she purred, stroking harder. She sucked his bottom lip and nibbled, raking her nails down his neck.
She was a furnace beneath his writhing body, one radiating intense heat as his fingers pulled at the loops of her skin-tight pants.
She turned her face away and spoke as he left a trail of kisses along her neck. “Let’s move this party to the bed.”
“ Mmmmm .” His voice vibrated her throat.
He climbed off, black hair mussed, dick tugging so hard at the zipper of his jeans one could see every inch of his cock’s drool-worthy outline. He scooped Aphrodite in his arms, coaxing a giddy giggle from her. Without strain, he swerved her around piles of clothes, guitars, and odd assortments of men’s health magazines like someone deftly completing an obstacle course.
Barrett playfully tossed her onto the unmade queen-sized bed, and she laughed. But the heavenly sound halted the second Barrett peeled his black T-shirt off, exposing a hard-earned six-pack and a tapered deep ‘V’ of muscles that formed an arrow pointing straight to the crotch of his Wranglers.
She watched him undress, eyes studying his tanned deltoids and powerful biceps.
He smiled down, cocky, and unbuckled his belt, tugging it out of the loops in a flash. He folded it in his fists and pulled until it snapped like a crack of thunder.
Aphrodite jumped at the noise and rolled onto her stomach, watching him over her shoulder with a look of excitement mixed with fear.
“Does it turn you on, the thought of a naughty little Goddess getting the belt?”
She blushed, lying for a moment in silence.
Without even a trace of a smile, Barrett ran the folded belt softly over the meat of her ass, imagining the sexy pink mark it would leave on the skin beneath her jeans.
“It does… but I don’t know the first thing about you. That sorta thing requires trust.” She laid the side of her face on her clasped hands, bright hair spilling on the covers around her. “At least, for me.”
Barrett studied her. He wished he’d learned to paint, wished he’d taken art seriously so that he could capture her beauty in this moment on a canvas. He’d hang it on his wall and stare at it for hours every day.
His face softened. He nodded and tossed the belt near a pile of rumpled laundry. “Fair enough.”
Aphrodite rolled onto her back and yanked up on her shirt.
“No.” He stopped her. “Half the fun on Christmas morning is unwrapping my presents. Don’t you dare take that away from me.”
She nodded and swallowed hard.
He pulled off her shirt slowly, marveling at her breasts from above, ones pouring out of her grape-purple bra.
“ Jesus ,” he whispered, “ you really are a Goddess. ”
Barrett tugged her toward him until she was on the bed’s edge. He moved her fingers to the waistband of his jeans. Her eyes stayed locked on his as she unbuttoned them. He could feel his pounding pulse throb in his dick, one that was dangerously close to that smart mouth of hers.
She pulled the zipper and peeled the jeans down his muscular legs, smiling at the eager bulge in his underwear. She leaned back onto her elbows as he stepped out of the lump of indigo material.
Barrett unbuttoned hers, ridding two curvaceous legs of all material, tossing the pants carelessly over his shoulder.
He glimpsed the large, graceful tattoo of a blue orchid that wound from her hip to her ribcage, tracing the edges of it with his finger softly.
Her legs parted, slow and with intent, offering him an unimpeded glance at the crotch of her soaked sapphire thong. He could tell through the thin material that her pussy was hairless. She was bare and beautiful beneath. His favorite. He feared his knees might buckle at the sight.
He leaned in and kissed her, deep and hard, reaching a hand beneath the underwire of her bra to cup the excited mound of flesh beneath. His eyes bolted open, and his head cocked to the side like a dog, a smile spreading across his shocked face.
“Pierced nipples?”
She nodded, sliding a hand down beneath the waistband of his underwear and grabbing a handful of his marble-hard ass.
“Goddamn, Aphrodite, now that is fuckin’ sexy .”
His thumb and forefinger teased the barbell, and she squirmed and smiled. He pried the cup of the bra up and drew the pink, studded bud into his mouth, playfully tonguing the metal. Every movement sent an unmistakable zing of pleasure through her, coaxing soft moans from her parted lips. It was music to Barrett’s ears, a sensual, seductive tune he wanted to play on an endless loop.
He reached around and deftly sprung her bra loose in one quick motion.
“Wow. Done this before, have you?” she joked breathlessly, pulling her arms from the straps and tossing the constrictive article over her shoulder.
He shrugged. “Once or twice.”
His mouth captured her other breast, and his torturous tongue flitted against the metal there, too. She hissed with pleasure.
Barrett kneeled on the bed, slipping between her thighs and forcing her back onto her elbows. He took a moment to appreciate the stunning creature beneath him, an image that blew every Victoria’s Secret model he’d masturbated to as a boy right out of the water.
He traced a hand up and down her stomach, settling his fingertips in the waistband of her panties. She tilted her hips, and he peeled them off. Her thighs parted wide for him. She was wet and smooth, and his breath caught at the sight of her, naked on his sheets, his erection throbbing painfully against his boxer briefs.
He pressed his hips against hers, his fabric-covered cock resting against her warm entrance. She writhed as he slid against her. He savored the way each small thrust made her gasp a little.
With hooked thumbs, she snapped his waistband, startling him with the unexpected sensation. She giggled, and its sweet sound made something inside him wild.
He rolled her onto her stomach and wriggled out of his boxer briefs. He pried her legs apart with his knees and pressed his hard cock against her.
“One,” she said.
“Excuse me?” He halted, still and throbbing.
“You can give me one… little… spanking,” she muttered breathlessly.
Barrett smiled. “My, you are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
He caressed the soft skin of her ass and then slapped it with his palm, watching it jiggle beneath the stinging force. Aphrodite moaned into the fabric, bucking up toward him as if her body was begging for another.
“Is that all you got?” she moaned into the pillow.
Barrett scooped up her hips, pulling her up onto all fours. “Keep it up, Sweetheart, and I’ll fuck the sass right out of you.”
“ Promise ?” She wiggled her naked hips, pussy wet.
He grunted, moistened two fingers, and slid them deep inside of her.
She moaned, loud and long.
“You want me?” he growled.
She nodded.
“No, Aphrodite. You’re gonna fucking say it with that pretty little mouth of yours. I want to hear you say, ‘Please. Barrett, fuck me. ’”
She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. She only smiled defiantly back at him.
He raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
He dipped his fingers into her again, sliding them all the way in without resistance. She groaned, nails digging into the comforter.
“You look beautiful like this, my fingers inside of you, pussy all wet and ready for me.”
His cock raged at the sight of her arched back, at the warmth and wetness tightly enveloping his fingers.
“If you want my cock, you’re gonna beg for it. You have to tell me how much you want it.”
He hooked his fingers, pressing hard against the ridged flesh of her G-spot. Aphrodite rocked her hips back with need, fucking his hand, dragging them in and out of her as much as Barrett’s wrist would allow.
“Barrett,” she hissed, backing up against them again. “Please… Fuck me. ”
He slipped his fingers out and gave her other ass cheek a hard spank, fingers leaving wet, pink marks where they made contact.
“Yes, Aphrodite, since you asked nicely …” He rose and shuffled to his dresser. Using his teeth, he tore open a condom wrapper and slipped the latex sheath around his engorged cock.
He strode back to the bed, yanked her by the hips back to the edge, forced her legs to spread wide, and pressed himself deep inside of her.
The instant he bottomed out, he groaned loudly, throwing his head back, savoring the feel of her pulsing, eager muscles as they clasped around him.
She shouted through the expansive loft, her pleasure echoing off the brick walls like a symphony. Every inch of him delved into her, seeking her most sensitive spots, the tilt of her hips silently guiding him to each.
They fucked as though they had both once been a single entity, one tragically separated, mending back into a perfect union of skin and bone. Every withdrawal from her warmth felt like a loss he would never recover from.
“Fuck! Just like that.” Her lips dragged over her clenched fist as he hammered himself into her.
Her toes curled, muscles clenched, climactic wails sending shivers up Barrett’s spine. The air hung heavy with their commingled scent as she screamed.
He gripped her hips so hard he imagined his clenched fingers leaving bruises, marks that would prove to other men that she was his , even if only for one night.
She pushed herself up, twisting, forcefully pulling him onto the bed. He fell to the blanket beside her, pliable and willing beneath her force. She climbed on top of him, sliding her trembling knees around his hips, sinking down onto him.
Barrett moaned as she leaned forward and rocked, nipping and licking at the perfect set of pierced breasts waved in his face.
She rocked her hips, sliding her clit against him, shamelessly using his body to procure another powerful orgasm for herself.
Barrett’s hands roamed, grasping her ass, her hips, her breasts. She threw her head back in another loud orgasm, and his mouth split into a wicked grin. As she tightened around him, he released his own torrent of pleasure, dick pulsing, jaw tight as he came inside of her.
After a long moment of silence, she collapsed forward, burying her face in the crook of his sweaty neck, content body melted and weak.
He kissed her softly, nuzzling her nose, hands playing with her colorful tresses.
She flopped down to the bed with a smile, and they both lay side-by-side in the silence, staring at the ceiling.
“I know you said you don’t do sleepovers, but that was a damn-near religious experience, and I’m not ready to let you go after just one round.”
She smiled and rested her face on his chest, closing her eyes to enjoy the sensation of his rough hands as they stroked her naked skin.