I reach for his shirt, fumbling for the buttons, desperate to see all of him. He doesn’t stop moving, just keeps thrusting into me, watching me while I undress him.
I shove the fabric off his shoulders and rake my nails across his chest. It’s solid and sculpted, exactly how I expected a guy whocares about himself to look. There’s sweat slicking the skin that stretches over smooth, hard muscle and not a tattoo in sight.
He looks wild and beautiful, like a man completely undone and out of his comfort zone with me. Something tells me that this is his first ever one-night stand.
“Fuck me,” he groans, voice hoarse.
He grabs my other ankle and places it on his shoulder, driving into me so deep I swear I can feel him in my stomach. Then his palm slides from my throat, across my chest to right above my pussy. He presses hard against my lower pelvis, like he wants to feel his cock moving inside me from the outside, and that’s it. That’s all it takes.
My second orgasm hits fast and hard, tearing through me.
I cry out, my body clenching around him as he lets out a guttural sound, a deep, raw growl that vibrates against my skin. He buries himself to the root, his head dropping to the crook of my neck as his release takes him.
For a long moment, neither of us move. We stay like that, tangled and spent, before he slowly pulls away.
“I’ll be right back.”
He stands and discards the two used condoms in Leo’s kitchen trashcan. I lay still, splayed out on the carpet like a starfish, watching him move through the apartment, his body a masterpiece of toned, coiled muscle.
Then he returns to me, still naked, and scoops me up as though I weigh nothing before setting me down on the couch. He grabs a blanket, then slides in behind me, wrapping his arms around my body and holding me close.
“That was fucking…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. He doesn’t have to because we both know it wouldn’t be a lie anymore, and the truth is I don’t have words for what that was.
Needed?
Unexpected?
Amazing?
His warm and steady breathing lulls me into sleep, and for the first time in years, I go to sleep feeling content, thinking about none of the responsibilities that I have waiting for me back in Brookhaven tomorrow morning.
And when I wake up the next morning, sunlight’s pouring through Leo’s blinds in long, golden slats that cut across the floor and the face of the half-dressed man still sleeping beside me.
His arm is draped heavy over my waist, his breath warm against my shoulder, and for a second, I just lie there, caught between wanting to stay and knowing better that I have to leave.
Cain looks peaceful like this. His lashes are resting against his cheeks, mouth slack, beard grown in a little more. But I know that the moment he wakes up, the spell will break, and he’ll have questions. Questions that don’t matter since this is just a one-night stand headed to nowhere.
So, I carefully ease out from under his arm, slow enough not to wake him, and reach for my phone. The time makes my stomach drop. I’ve got a therapy appointment back in Brookhaven and the train won’t wait. My birthday night of no responsibilities, no accountability, and way too much tequila officially ended with the sunrise and it’s back to reality.
I tug my sweater dress back on, scanning the living room for my panties. Nowhere. Figures. Leo’s going to lose his mind when hefinds them tangled somewhere they shouldn’t be, but at least I’ll have an explanation—namely, the half-naked stranger sprawled across his couch that I’m sure he saw when he got in last night with Chris.
Before I leave, I pause in the doorway. One last look at the hottest one night stand I’ve ever had.
Cain’s arm is thrown over his eyes now, chest rising and falling slow, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Something tells me this is the first time he’s felt this light, too. And that makes me happy that we could both enjoy this.
This is what New York City is about. Fast moments. Fleeting connections. Taking chances and not apologizing for them with strangers we’ll never see again.
I grab my purse off the floor, slip my shoes on, and smile to myself. Yes, I’ll never see him again, and that’s okay. Some nights aren’t meant to last, just to be remembered.
And this one? I’ll be carrying it with me for a very long time.
Chapter 5 – Rhiannon
Seven months later...
???
My sister Eden stares at the box of cereal that I’ve placed on the table, her cute, button nose that matches mine wrinkling in disgust.
