“Patience,” he whispered against my stomach, while pulling my pants and underwear down at the same time. His mouth and tongue forged a blazing hot trail down to my center.
He entered me with one finger, then two, sucking on my clit at the same time. I was ready to come undone right then, but when I was about to topple over, he stopped.
“No,” I wheezed, my body one big wanting mess.
“I want to be inside you when you come,” he said and opened his nightstand, pulling out a condom. “Last night was just for you. But tonight, I want it all.”
His words made my chest expand and my insides warm and I watched with hungry eyes as he rolled the condom on.
His body was back over mine and he kissed me again, this time hungry, wet, and deep. He slowly guided himself inside me, stopping when he felt me tense up. I knew that he was big, but actually feeling him inside was pure ecstasy. He gave me time to adjust and slowly kept pushing in, until he was fully seated inside.
He started moving with gentle strokes, bringing me back to the brink in a few short moves. My body trembled and my lips quivered. I mumbled out incoherent words, and then I fell over the edge.
He followed me right after, exploding inside me with a guttural roar. I was a boneless mess, the only thing that seemed to work was my arms that held him to me in a tight embrace. I couldn’t even feel my injury anymore; the only thing on my mind was Mason.
He was heavy, making it hard to breathe, but I wasn’t ready to let him go yet. He brushed kisses across my face, and I sighed with happiness. Every time his lips met mine, my heart turned over in response. I inhaled deeply, trying to get rid of the gooey feelings his touches evoked.
“Let me up, baby, so I can get rid of the condom,” he whispered against my ear before he nipped it.
I grudgingly let him go, knowing that whatever this was would be over as soon as he left the bed. We could have fun together, but I would save us both the embarrassment of waking up next to each other. Mason was not a relationship guy, and I had no illusions where this was going. Or not going, in our case. My modus operandi was retreat, and I had perfected the skill over many years. It was an instinctual reaction; my body was ready to sprint from the bed before Mason had even left it.
He kissed my nose one more time and went to the bathroom. I spotted my underwear on the floor and got up and put it on. When I saw Mason’s discarded shirt, I pulled it over my head. It was so big on me, it went almost to my knees.
It smelled like him and my emotions were raw enough that I needed something of his to keep with me tonight. I padded out of the room when I heard the toilet flush, already wondering if a repeat of what had just happened was in my future. We could be friends with benefits. I’d pitch my proposal to him tomorrow.
Turned out Mason didn’t agree with my plans. The first indication that he wasn’t feeling all warm and fuzzy about last night was his sour mood. He refused to look at me when I came into the kitchen the next morning and just glared at the coffee pot. I, on the other hand, was looking at him as much as I could without running into things. Now that I knew he could back up his delectable body with some serious moves, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
He hadn’t shaved, and the scruff on his face and his sleep-mussed hair nearly made me throw my pride out the window and jump him.Oh, who was I kidding, I would definitely forget about my pride if he had given me any indication at all that he was interested.
But I didn’t even get one of his mumbledgood morningsthat sounded more likegah.
All of my attempts to talk to him were ignored. In fact, he made an obvious effort to ignore me. Now this whole roommate thing was going to get even more awkward.
Before my mood plummeted further, and since I wanted to remain floating on my pink cloud of sexual bliss, I decided Stella version 2.0 would tackle the awkwardness and just get it all out there—and I would do it in the car where he couldn’t get away. I doctored my coffee to be 80 percent milk and 20 percent coffee, and we silently went to the car. It was chilly outside, and I cradled my coffee mug, hoping to get some warmth from it.
When we pulled out onto the road, I decided it was going to be now or never. “So, Mason, I was thinking,” I started, watching him for his reaction. Or rather his lack of one. He didn’t even acknowledge that he heard me. “I think last night proved how compatible we are. So I was going to propose an arrangement. Between the two of us. Like a friends with benefits thing.”
I nervously sipped my coffee while he stayed quiet. I watched him and waited for a response that never came. When we pulled into the garage parking lot, I had downed my whole cup and needed to use the restroom.
“So what do you say?” I asked when he parked his truck.
“No.”
I hated his one-word answers. Especially when they were no.
“Why not? Isn’t an arrangement like this every guy’s dream?”
“If he just wants to get laid, then yes, it is.” He finally turned his head to look at me, and I gulped at the intensity of his eyes. “And how do you think this should work? We fuck when the mood strikes? But we can see other people?”
My stomach dropped at the thought of Mason with someone else.
“We’d have to agree to not see other people while we’re doing this,” I said.
“You mean while we’re doing each other.”
“Yes, exactly.” I felt hopeful that maybe he would agree on an arrangement. Didn’t he see that this would be the perfect solution? We could both get something out of it. And I wasn’t ready to end whatever we had between us.
He inhaled deeply and opened his door. I leaned forward and caught his sleeve to stop him from getting out before I had my answer.
