Thank You and Goodnight (2/2)

"I'll make it up to you," Derek said. "I promise. Let me go down on you."

Damn it all to hell.

Layla was on the pill. Same time, every day. And she couldn't shake the feeling that this was her one chance. One chance at what, she wasn't entirely certain, but still...she didn't want to miss it.

"Are you clean?" She caught his gaze and held it. She needed to see his eyes when he answered her.

"Clean?" His nostrils flared, telling her he knew exactly where she was going with this.

She nodded. "I'm clean. And I'm on the pill. Are you clean?"

His whole body stiffened. "Yes. I've never had sex without a condom before, and despite what you think you know about me, I don't just go around fucking strange women all the time. So yes...I'm clean."

Layla believed him, and she hoped he believed her. She just couldn't believe she was about to suggest this. He was practically a stranger.

The problem was, he didn't feel like one.

"You believe me, don't you?" Derek said, a little desperation of his own creeping in along with the frustration in his voice.

"Yes."

The tension lifted from his face, and something sparked in his eyes. She could practically feel it, scorching across the space between them. The flame of it danced in his eyes, white hot and potent, a possibility that had never crossed his mind suddenly catching fire and threatening to engulf them both.

She lowered herself back to her elbows, spreading her legs in invitation. He followed as if entranced.

The hard length of his cock slid between her legs, easily finding its way between the drenched, swollen lips of her pussy. She stared up at his face, fascinated by way his jaw clenched and his eyes squeezed shut as if he was barely holding himself together even though they hadn't even really started. The ridge of it rubbing against her clit as he settled in on top of her and a moan tore from her lips.

Yes.

That was the spot. That was what she needed to relieve the ache.

He rolled his hips, gliding his length through her folds without entering her. Covering himself in her juices. He moved tentatively at first, but then settled into a slow rhythm that stole her breath.

One stroke. Two.

Every nerve in her body, every sensation centered on her clit and where his hardness abraded her. Pushed her toward the edge, urging her to fall when she spent most of her time trying to avoid that kind of danger unless she approached it by herself.

Three. Four.

Slowly.

So slowly.

Derek said something, but the words were lost in the pounding of her lust as it drummed through her head, marching her closer and closer toward the total freedom that came from falling with a man like this. She planted her heels on the floor and tilted her hips, guiding him into the perfect position to take her where she needed to go.

Layla wanted to tell him she was going to come, but she couldn't. She couldn't speak. She couldn't do anything but go where he led her.

Five.

"Layla..."

She flew over the edge, heart racing and every last inhibition torn away. Pleasure ripped through her and she screamed his name.

Suddenly he was inside her. Stretching her, filling her. A flash of pain as her body accommodated the invasion, then nothing but pleasure at being filled by hot, moving man. Not too big at all. Just perfect. Thrusting, thrusting. Prolonging her pleasure until she thought it would never end.

"I didn't know you were that close," Derek gritted out. He rested on his forearms as he pounded into her, his cheek pressed against hers.

Layla screamed again as another wave crashed through her.

"Shit...you're so wet. So hot..." He fisted her hair, one hand on each side over her head, pulling just enough so the boundary between pleasure and pain blurred into a single space where she could linger forever. "So tight. Never felt anything like it."

"Yes...keep doing that."

Derek pulled harder and slammed into her, sending her body back across the carpet so her head bumped into his hands. He held her in place, fingers tangled in her hair and hands at the top of her head as he continued to drive into her over and over and over. Each time he filled her he nudged the opening of her womb, a dull stab of sensation that should have hurt but made her shake with the delicious pleasure of being so completely and utterly filled.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him, lifting her hips to meet him thrust for thrust. When she did that, his cock pressed against a spot inside her that made her see stars. "Oh god, Derek. You're going to make me come again.

When her inner muscles began to clamp around him again, his name falling once more form her lips as her whole world shook on its foundations, his thrusts became more shallow. Quicker.

"I want to come inside you, Ms. M. Please say I can come inside you."

She locked her heels behind his thighs in answer, and with one last, deep thrust he buried himself inside her as far as he could go. She could feel his cock swell as he came, filling her with his seed. Now it was her name on his lips, and the way he said it, she almost believed he'd never say another name like that again.

Derek's fingers tightened in her hair and he dropped his forehead to the hollow of her neck, still thrusting slowly as he brought them both back to earth. She felt utterly spent. Utterly satisfied.

And utterly possessed by this man. For an instant Layla wondered what it would be like if she truly belonged to him and he truly belonged to her.

A douse of cold reality chased away some of the warmth left behind from their lovemaking.

No. From their sex.

This man could never belong to her unless it was within the confines of the game he started when he decided to let a thumbtack serve as a pleasant diversion from his real life.

He kissed her neck, her jaw, his lips brushing hers with a tenderness that made her heart ache. He was still inside her, and he made no move to pull away, as if he wanted to be joined to her as long as possible.

Layla knew better. The first time without a condom was bound to do that to a guy.

"You are amazing." Derek eased his fingers from her hair as she stared up at him.

She gave him a little smile she didn't entirely feel. "You too. Thank you. I've never...lost control like that."

"Me neither." He grinned down at her. The grin slid from his lips as he brushed his knuckles down the side of her face. "Are you sure you're alright with...what happened. I should have been more prepared."

"It's fine. Unless you're not fine with it."

"Not fine with it? Did you not just hear me say how amazing you are?"

"I promise I'm not trying to trap you with a baby or anything." Layla turned her face away. She hated the words as they came out of her mouth.

His eyes widened as if she'd slapped him. They hardened, and he pulled out of her. "Why are you saying that? I didn't think you were."

"It's just if I were you, I'd think every woman wanted to trap me, that's all. A man like you doesn't want to be trapped, I'm sure."

Abruptly he stood. He tugged up his pants and buttoned his fly, his eyes everywhere but on her half-naked, sprawled body. "Every woman...a man like me...here we go again with you thinking you know me so well. Why does everyone think they get to fucking tell me exactly what it is I want or don't want?"

Layla followed his lead and tugged on her pants as well, her face burning as she scrambled to cover herself. She had the distinct feeling the game was over for the night, and it was all her fault.

Thank you for playing, but it's time to move on.

They stood there in her living room, suffocating in that unbearable silence. Derek's gaze settled on her as if he wanted her to say something, but she didn't know what it was.

"Thank you," she said again.

"Yeah. You're welcome." He turned and walked toward her door, grabbing his jacket from the kitchen where he left it.

Layla took a step toward him, then stopped. "Hey. I don't know what you're mad about--"

He shrugged. "What makes you think I'm mad? We're playing a game, right. Games are fun, aren't they?"

The remnants of their game seeped down her legs, warm and wet as he slammed the door behind him.