Chapter 30 #2
“Well, that is quite the accusation,” I tease, trying to keep things light, but my brain is firing with all sorts of questions.
“I think you need to explain how this is my fault, pretty girl.” She shakes her head at me, but doesn’t seem to be tensing back up, so I think keeping it light and relaxed was the right choice.
“I thought it was normal to not enjoy sex,” she starts, and I bite my tongue to keep myself from interrupting her, because what the actual fuck, Cherry?
“The entire time I was with him, I had sex because it was the expected thing to do and it helped me to feel like he was emotionally connected and invested. I didn’t realize you weren’t supposed to look at your relationships like a business venture.
Safe, stable, and communicative; those were the only things that mattered to me.
“I was ‘supposed’ to be attracted to men, so I just assumed that what I was feeling was what everyone else talked about. I didn’t know any different.
I was safe and comfortable, but there was no physical spark.
I legitimately thought people were talking about the ‘spark’ of a good, intellectual debate.
” She lets out a self-deprecating laugh before pinning me in place with her arresting gray gaze.
“Then you happened. You came into my life like a goddamn hurricane and I didn’t know which way was up.
The first moment I shook your hand in Karma, I knew there was something different about you.
I touched your hand once and it felt like an inferno sparked to life inside me.
It scared me a little.” She takes another deep, shaky breath before continuing, “Then you kissed me.
In that moment, the world could have burned down around me and I never would have noticed.
“It freaked me out, so I had to test some things out. That’s why I went on all those dates.
I knew I was attracted to you and I started to suspect that maybe I had never actually been attracted to a man before.
The dates I went on…I didn’t feel a single spark.
There’s a few guys I got along with, but there wasn’t even an ounce of what I felt with you.
“I started paying more attention to the actresses I have always said I have a crush on and, sure enough, there was a tiny flame that I could pinpoint. Though, they have nothing on what you do to me. I was so distracted. I wanted to touch you all the time.” At this, her eyes darken and her tongue darts out to wet her lips. “Still do, frankly.”
“So, you figured out that you had never actually experienced sexual attraction to a man?” I ask carefully, wanting to make sure I understand. When she nods, I continue, “That must have been one hell of a mind fuck for you, pretty girl.”
She lets out a breath of relief and nods. “I have been trying to figure this out for the last couple of months. But, even though it doesn’t change anything between us, it felt important to tell you.”
“Thank you, Cherry,” I murmur before crawling over onto her lap and threading my hands through her hair and pressing my lips to hers.
She opens her mouth and submits to me immediately, causing a thrum of satisfaction to flow through me.
I straddle one of her thighs and press my knee against her pussy.
Her hips buck up and our moans sound in harmony.
“Fuck, Cherry,” I groan, tightening my hold on her hair.
“Grind against me. Make yourself come all over me, pretty girl.” I kiss my way down her neck and nip, reveling in the way she whimpers, her hands gripping my hips and grinding herself against my knee and thigh, the softness of her sweatpants doing nothing to hide the heat of her pussy.
Every time she swivels her hips, her thigh rubs against my pussy, the pressure acting as the perfect companion to the power I feel as this strong, beautiful woman comes apart beneath me.
When she starts to grind against me harder and faster, I pull away from her neck and tighten my grip in her hair, forcing her gaze to mine.
“Keep your eyes on me, sweet Cherry,” I say, timing my rocking to complement hers, my own orgasm building. “I want to see you come for me. Come for your princess, Aria.”
Her eyebrows scrunch up as she lets herself go, a deep and guttural moan escaping her throat as she chases the pleasure she never should have denied herself. The heat low in my belly builds until I reach my own peak.
“Aria,” I groan, riding her thigh, my hands tightly gripping her red locks, my eyes locked with hers as I let myself fall over the edge.
We ride out our orgasms together until we are both panting, our foreheads pressed together and our breaths mingling between us. I recover first, pressing a kiss to her hair before climbing off her lap and retreating back to my previous spot across from her.
“So, you had two other items on the agenda?” I say, not bothering to hide my smirk as she sits there opening and closing her mouth and blinking at me.
“I—you—” she stammers, before huffing out a breath throwing me an irked look. I just hide my smile behind my recovered mug and look at her expectantly.
“Fine,” she sighs, “but we are going to continue that later.” The smoldering look in her eye holds a promise I look forward to her fulfilling. “I wanted to talk to you about…shoot, I don’t even know how to bring this up.” She drags a hand over her face and looks away from me.
“Aria,” I say, my voice softening, “You can say anything. Ask anything. I promise I won’t…take it the wrong way, I guess?” I hold my gaze on her until she looks back at me and I smile.
She lets out a long breath. “Okay. Okay. I just wanted to ask…I know we mentioned it when talking about everything with him, but never when talking about us. I wanted to know—” She huffs in annoyance and I wait semi-patiently.
“Polyamory. I would rather talk about what we both want now so that we know where we both stand.” She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and her eyebrows scrunch together as she waits for my reaction.
I can’t help it. I let out a laugh and relax my posture a bit.
“Oh, that’s all?” I say, my tone light. “I thought that I was the one who rambles in this relationship,” I tease.
She rolls her eyes at me, but it works and she drops the tension in her shoulders.
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbles good-naturedly before her lips tip up in a smile of her own. “But, anyway, what are your thoughts? What do you envision for us?”
I take a moment to think. Truly, I have been happy in both monogamous and polyamorous relationships. This relationship with Aria is new and exciting and more than enough for me. But—
“I think,” I start slowly, “that I am open to the concept of a polyamorous relationship with you. It would take a lot of honesty and communication, but I think it would work for us. With one caveat.” She straightens and fixes her eyes on me with an intense focus I can feel piercing into my skin.
“I am not looking for anything else right now, and I know you’re not either.
If you decide you want to start looking for someone—and me too—I would love to know beforehand.
No surprise dates, just keeping each other informed. Would that be okay with you?”
Aria nods slowly, a genuine smile on her face.
“You practically took the words out of my mouth, Princess.” She shifts, wincing as a few of her joints pop.
“I have never been with multiple people and, honestly, part of me feels like I should be horrified at the idea after Jacob. But I can’t help but wonder if it would feel different—be different—with this kind of radical, open honesty. That sounds like a plan to me.”
I smile, my heart fluttering in my chest as I gaze at the woman across from me.
Goddess, I love her.
“Well, I hope that was easier than you thought it was going to be,” I say, arching an eyebrow at her, unable to remove the smile donning my lips.
“It was,” she agrees, a matching look of adoration on her face and I wonder how I got so lucky.
“I am just going to rip the bandaid off for the last one,” Aria says abruptly, and hurries to continue. “I haven’t had a lot of sexual experience, obviously, and I would really like to explore new things with you.”
I nod at her to continue. This is definitely a conversation I can get behind.
“I’m not good at spontaneity,” she continues, gaining more traction as she goes.
“But, maybe if we set aside one day every month for us to try something new? We could trade, you know, fantasies,” she blushes crimson at the word, “and switch back and forth every month?” The last part comes out as a question and her blush spreads to the tips of her ears.
I slowly set my mug back down on the table, silently allowing the tension to build between us.
Instead of crawling back over to her, I crook my finger, beckoning her towards me.
She sets her own tea down and shifts towards me, stopping when her knee meets the side of my thigh.
I raise an eyebrow and repeat the gesture, willing her to continue.
She hesitates for the barest moment before I feel a shift in her energy.
She moves swiftly, catching my wrists in her hands and pinning me to the arm of the couch, reminiscent of the position I had her in moments before.
My sweet Cherry hovers over me, the look on her face is dark, heated, and full of lust before it dims, a look of insecurity overtaking her features.
“Stay with me, Cherry,” I murmur, shifting my hips to try and create more contact. “You have me at your mercy. What are you going to do with me now?”
Her eyes remain conflicted, and I realize she is not quite ready to have total control. I nod, mostly to myself, but she takes it as encouragement and leans down to kiss me. It is slow and hesitant, but her lips are a delicacy worth savoring however they are offered.