“Sure, you could. If we take this past friendship and you can’t live with the job, you’ll hate me because I’ll never make a choice. Think about that for a minute; what I mean by that. And what that will mean for you.”
She dropped her forehead against his. She wanted to argue with him. She wanted to convince him that she’d never ask him to make a choice between the job and herself, but she knew she couldn’t swear to that. “I want to be okay with it.”
“My buddy, Wilson, suggested you talk to his fiancé, Rae, about what it’s like. And we do have a team shrink. You could talk to him too,” Burke said. “Well, if we do get deeper into this relationship, you’d definitely talk to the team shrink. All the wives and girlfriends talk to him to help deal with the job we do.”
“I’m not opposed to talking with either of them,” Donna said courageously.
Burke kissed her again. A real kiss, a passionate kiss. Instantly, he was aroused. He pulled his lips away. He needed to have more of that conversation with her before he made love to her, and he was close to doing that. His eyes stared deeply into her half-hooded eyes, which beamed desire, affection, and trust at him.
“What do you think a deeper relationship would look like between us?” he asked. He truly wanted to know what she wanted in a relationship.
“Well,” she began, not sure how honest she should be. She didn’t want to scare him away. “For starters, I want to make love with you, and I want us to sleep in the same bed all night. I need to know that we’re exclusively seeing each other,” she said bravely.
A smile pulled up Burke’s lips. “Donna, I haven’t seen any other woman since I met you. We’re exclusive and we have been as far as I’m concerned.”
Relief flooded through her, bringing peace to her as well. She didn’t know if he’d been seeing other women or not. She’d never asked. “I haven’t been with any man since Jeriah’s father. And he left when I was pregnant with her.”
“His loss,” Burk said. “And I’m sorry he made that choice. You deserved better.” He continued to stare into her eyes. “Anything else?”
She knew he was asking what else their deeper relationship would look like to her. Her self-confidence to put more out there faltered. “What do you see it looking like?”
“Like this,” he said.
He kissed her again, this time parting her lips with his tongue. This kiss was different from all others they’d ever shared. He kissed her with intent, with affection, with unrestrained desire.He wasn’t sure how far the physical relationship would go tonight, if he’d make love to her tonight or not, but it would go farther than it had in the past, he was sure. And unlike in the past, he wasn’t already thinking about when to pull back, how to stop it from going too far. He enjoyed the kiss, and he allowed himself to enjoy it.
Donna returned Rich’s kiss with much passion, matching the enthusiasm he showed. Something was different. Maybe it was how he held her. Maybe it was how she didn’t sense that he was going to stop and pull away any second, like he always did. Or maybe it was because of the conversation they were having.
His hands caressed places on her body he had never touched, which gave her the courage to run her hand over the front of his pants, over his very hard member. She had only stroked him there a few times, and he always removed her hand and halted anything physical between them. It was akin to getting her hand slapped. This time he didn’t. She shifted her position, so that she straddled him, to allow her hand better access to his cock. In doing so, she raised up just enough that her breasts pressed into his face.
He moaned his pleasure at her touch and at her breasts in front of his eyes. He slid his lips down her neck and into her cleavage as his hands massaged her breasts, cupping them both. Encouraged by his advances, Donna worked his belt until it was undone and then pulled at the button. Then she lowered his zipper.
With the sensation of her hand slipping between the fabric of his boxers and his lower abdomen, coming in contact with histhrobbing shaft, Burke pulled his mind from the erotic fog, and he leaned back to create a little space between them, his eyes boring into her dilated, wide eyes.
“We need to slow this down,” he said.
Donna saw the shift in him the second it happened. And when his gaze met hers, she knew the switch had flipped in him. He was about to pull away. What the fuck? Instead of stopping, she grasped him more tightly and stroked his full length. “No, I think that’s the last thing we need to do,” she purred while she flashed him her most erotic smile as she continued to stroke him.
“Oh, fuck, does that feel good,” he growled. Damn, did the soft skin of her hand, with its impossibly firm grip, feel amazing on his cock.
“Just enjoy it,” she said, still working her hand over his shaft. She could tell that he was having a hard time telling her no. She leaned in and left a trail of wet kisses up his neck. She paid special attention to his ear, nibbling on the lobe and blowing a hot breath over it. He even leaned in a way that gave her better access.
Burke let the incredible physical sensations wash over him, fully enjoying the moment, fully enjoying Donna. Her kisses left his ear, and her tongue drew a line over his jawbone. His mouth reclaimed hers, and he was lost to the lust, driving him to kiss her more deeply than he ever had as his hands cupped her perfect ass, pulling her into his hip so her hand’s mission wouldn’t be interrupted.
Just as he was about to blow, he pulled her off and laid her back on the couch cushions. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he lay on top of her, his hard dick pressed to the outside of her pants between her legs.
Burke held himself over her, keeping his weight from crushing her. “Don’t think for a second that I am not attracted to you. I am, and I always have been. But we need to talk before this goes any farther.”
Donna was confused by his actions. “So, talk.” She released her legs, so they no longer were wrapped around him.
“I’m trying to make decisions that are fair to you and the kids.” His mind was racing, fueled by the desire he felt. It would be easy to just sleep with her and worry about it later, but that wasn’t fair to her.
“You think what’s going on between us is fair to me? News flash, Rich, it’s not. But I haven’t complained, have I? I take the little bit of time you give me, and treasure every second we have together, every phone call, text, and video call.”
Hearing her say their current relationship wasn’t fair to her was like a bucket of cold water in the face. “I never wanted you to feel that way. I don’t want to hurt you, Donna. I’m sorry you’re not getting what you need from this relationship.”
“I didn’t say that. Even long-distance, you’re more a presence in my life than any man has ever been, and you give more time, encouragement, and attention to me and my kids than any oftheir fathers ever have. Is it wrong that I want more time with you and I want a sexual relationship with you where you don’t hold back?”
“No, it’s not wrong,” he said.
