Friday, December 31, 2010

Chapter Seven

 “It's kind of like your cave on top of the world with a view,” says Toews of his high-rise condo. “It's all very modern, it's new, it's young. I just really felt it fit my personality.”

Callie caught Jon’s lips with her fingertips, just inches from her face.

“Whose shoes are in the closet?” she asked quietly. On her little self-guided tour of the master bedroom, she’d noted two pairs of high heels neatly arranged in the corner of the walk-in closet.

Jon closed his eyes, mouth still pressed to her hand. Tara. Fuck.

“I’m… seeing someone. We’re not exclusive, and she isn’t….” At heart Jon was a nice guy and he did like Tara. She just wasn’t special, not to him at least. But that sounded colder than he meant it. It wasn’t something that Callie would appreciate hearing, even about the competition. “It’s not serious. And it’s not going anywhere.”

She let her fingertip brush over the soft curve of his lip, over the beauty mark he’d always hated and down the strong line of his jaw. Looking at him made time stop, made her feel 17 and indestructible and terrified.

“What about this?” She meant them, a blink away from where they had been five years ago before they broke each others’ delicate hearts without even trying.

Jon planted a kiss in the center of her open palm. “Oh I am Captain Serious about you, Callie. I always have been.”

She smiled up at him, still delicately exploring the smoothness just underneath his chin. “Last time Jon, I… I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She’d been waiting so long to say that. When she blinked, her eyes came back teary.

“Shhhh,” he put his forehead against her temple desperate to kiss her but more determined to do this right. If she would give him another chance he would never, ever lose her again. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

A silent nod was the best she could do. More than anything she wanted to feel his lips again, after forever. But every time she’d kissed him she’d really been kissing him goodbye. “What if we don’t know each other anymore? What if I’m not the same person?”

I love you, he wanted to say. I’ve loved you every day, even when I didn’t think of it, like breathing or blinking, it’s just the way I’m programmed. But at 22 those three little words carried a lot more weight than at 17. Especially when you’d said them before and gotten burned.

I know you. I love you, Callie wished she could tell him. His hand was on her thigh, fingers firmly pressed just below the back pocket of her jeans. They nearly burned through the denim. In the five years they’d been apart, she’d learned a lot. She’d lived her own life. There were things in that time that had shaped her. The last thing she wanted was to start something with Jon on false pretenses.

“Let me take you on a date. Get to know me again, Cal, and I’ll get to know you. It hasn’t really been that long, you know. We should be able to cover it over dinner.” He meant it, but smiled to cover it up. She wouldn’t be pushed.

“And the other girl?”

Jon craned his neck to see the alarm clock. “What time is it? I’ll call her right now.”

Callie’s tension broke visibly. She slugged him on the arm, rolling him away. If only he’d known that one more second looking into those eyes and she’d have done anything he wanted.
____

Jon gave Callie a t-shirt and shorts to sleep in, the rummaged around in his bathroom and came up smiling.

“You can tell my mom you used this, she’s the one who stocked this place up.” He handed her a new toothbrush. Instead of going to the guest bath, Callie took it right into Jon’s bathroom. It was pretty clean – a little gob of toothpaste on the sink, the mirror needed a wipe down – but he wasn’t too embarrassed.

Callie nosed around while she brushed. He had some prescription-strength ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet and she guessed he probably needed it after every game. Shampoo, boy-smelling soap, shaving cream. A basket full of Maxim magazines made her laugh.

“Night Jon,” she said when she was finished. In sweats and a tee, barefoot on the smooth floor, he looked even more like his high school self. He opened his arms and she walked straight in. They both sighed at the comfort of each others’ bodies. Jon rested his chin on top of her head and promised himself he would find the right way to do this. Callie pressed her cheek to his chest and said a prayer that they could make it work.

His lips were soft against her forehead. “Night Callie.”
____

Jon lay awake in bed. In the last year it he’d had his entire life changed by a few, individual days. But at least there was build up, there was work behind the gold medal and the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup. Callie had just turned up, like a gift and he was terrified that she could slip away as easily. At least he knew what he wanted. Getting there would be a delicate process, and he had to be careful not to get too serious about it.

Last time we slept in the same house… he texted her.

Two minutes later, she replied: That was my last night in the house I grew up in.

Jon: I miss home too.

Callie: Your mom totally knew, btw. She offered to have “girl talk” with me after you left.

Jon: Oh my God.

Callie: She’d be pretty proud of me tonight.

Jon: Katie McKenna would not.

Callie: HA! Goodnight, stud.

Jon: Night Cal.
____

In the morning, Callie could almost swear it had been a dream. Except she woke up in a very comfortable bed in an apartment that was not hers, wearing clothes fit for a rather large boy. It was before 8 and light poured in the uncovered windows. Oh, what the hell, she thought. Her feet were almost silent on the floor as she padded toward Jon’s room.

He didn’t wake up as she opened the door – she reasoned he’d had so many roommates over so many years that he probably slept through anything. Well anything other than a girl climbing into bed and wrapping herself around him from behind. Before her arm was around his middle he was rolling onto his back.

“Good, all that really happened,” he mumbled as he slid a bicep under her head and snuggled into her. The warmth from his body could have powered the condo and Callie felt herself relax to a whole new level as she burrowed inside the cocoon he’d made. She tucked her head against his chest, into his shadow.

“How do you sleep with all this light?” she whispered.

Jon didn’t answer, just pulled the comforter right up over both of their heads.
____

Jon woke in the dark confines of their little fort. Callie was fast asleep, barely making a sound as her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, lifting the arm he had curled around her. There was no light to see by but it didn’t matter. Jon had long ago memorized her face, even in sleep. He knew exactly what she looked and felt like now. He closed his eyes and drifted off again.
____

Callie rolled onto her side, Jon stuck to her back. His top knee was between hers and her ass fit perfectly into the hollow of his lap. Well hollow except for the fact that he was hard. She gasped when she realized that Jon’s typical boy morning wood was pressed firmly into one side of her ass. Her brain could not be controlled – Wow, it said. Everything about Jon is bigger now.

Shut up, shut up! she willed, trying not to giggle. Or move. She didn’t want to be wiggling around right now. But she was couldn’t help it.

“If you don’t stop moving, I’m going to lose my shit,” Jon said, voice muffled by the pillow and her hair.

That did it – she busted out laughing.  "Does this count as that date you promised me?"

I’m going to die, Jon thought. He knew his face was beet red, so he turned it down and hid against her back. Of course I’m hard, like a perverted high-schooler. Thanks a lot. But he didn’t want her to leave. Everything about her felt right and he figured she must know that he wanted her in every way.

“Jon,” she sputtered, but there was nothing to say. She just laughed. Soon he was laughing too, embarrassed and unable to help himself.

“I’m getting up,” she said.

Jon locked his arms tight. “Wanna bet?”

Callie felt like splatter paint – she was everywhere with no cohesion or form. She wanted him and he wanted her, she wanted this so much that it overwhelmed her.

“You’re the one who crawled into my bed,” he whispered. His voice was husky, the sound of sleep replaced by lust. If anything, he was harder than before since waking up to find his excellent dream was in fact real.

“I missed you again,” she said quietly.

Rolling her over took no effort. Looking into her eyes took some, knowing that it would only make him want this more. And there was no amount of trying in the world that could stop him from kissing her. He put his mouth on hers. The hesitation in her body only lasted a second – he felt her tense, then melt. It was like cold water on a burn: instant relief so deep it was almost painful in itself.

It had been eight years since their first kiss and five years since their last. Pitifully few kisses had been exchanged during a romance that had run their entire adolescent lives. Jon intended to run up that tab now. Her soft lips gave way and he let everything go.

There was nothing to think but Jon and nothing to do kiss. Years of trying and failing, of wanting and waiting were erased by the velvety feel of his tongue. Callie had remembered their last kiss so many times she’d worn it smooth, like a rock from a river. This new kiss had all kinds of cliffs and drops.

Callie pulled at the same time Jon moved, rolling him on top of her. His shirt came off to expose a square mile of smooth, sculpted body, hot to the touch. She moved a leg between his and ground her hips into his erection, letting him know he didn’t need to be shy. He kissed her so deeply she almost fainted.

The t-shirt he’d lent her hit the far wall with a thump. He tracked kisses down her neck and insider her shoulder until finally his lips met the rounded outside of her breast. The milky skin was just as he’d remembered, topped by a rosy pink nipple. His hand lifted the soft rise to his mouth and he closed his mouth over the achingly taut peak.

“Jon,” she whispered. Callie was going to come before she even had her pants off. She knew there had been some reason not to do this last night. Or yesterday at lunch, in the computer store, in a bathroom at the club. But she couldn’t remember it. All she could feel was Jon leaving a slight trail of moisture from her breast to her navel.

Jon ran passing drills in his head to keep from fainting. The flat plain of her stomach was broken only by a sexy line at either side that defined her abs. Kissed traced down that line and Jon held her firm as he hit a ticklish spot and she twisted. His fingers bunched the fabric of her borrowed shorts and pulled them off with ease.

Last night while dancing, while feeling the round of her ass and the curve of her thigh grinding against him, he’d wondered what kind of underwear she was wearing. Seeing the lacy black waistband above a tiny piece of striped fabric that disappeared into the cleft in her legs nearly made him come in his pants. Their eyes met and she smiled. He kissed the spot where the band crossed her hip, then tugged it down and kissed the bare skin beneath. The other side got the same. Then he slid them off altogether.

There would be time to explore, time to tease and torture. There would be nothing but time. But right now, Callie couldn’t wait. Her fingers pressed into Jon’s shoulders as she urged him upward until their faces were level again.

“Are you scared?” he asked. It was the same question five years ago when they’d done this for the first time.

“A little,” she gave the same answer because it was true.

“Me too.” And just like he had back then, on a squeaky double bed with printed flannel sheets, Jon told Callie the truth. “I love you.”

There was no doubt in his eyes and none in her heart. “I love you, Jon.”

His shaft throbbed in her hand as she guided him to the spot. With terrible slowness he pushed inside, making every fraction of an inch feel like free fall. Callie was at terminal velocity when he finally filled her up and ran out of length.

Jon felt like a virgin all over again. He felt he would come immediately, desperately and ruin everything. His heart hammered. Callie’s slick, succulent body welcomed him with a fireworks display. When he finally felt his base meet her lips, the sigh was as much pleasure as it was relief.

“Oh God,” she said. It had never, ever been like this, not even back then when they’d bumbled and fumbled away at each other. Callie didn’t want to know how much practice he’d had, but she was sure he had it down perfectly now. They’d barely moved together and she was already clawing at the edge of the world.

“I should have come for you, I should have been there,” he whispered, face close and eyes clouded with worry. “There were times when I could have…”

She kissed him quiet. “Shhhh. I could have too, Jon. I could We didn’t do anything wrong.” Her voice had the ring of truth.

“I’m sorry I wasted so much time,” he told her. “I almost let you get away.”

Callie had tears in her eyes as she shook her head. “It was always you, Jon.”

Her hands on his hips signaled for him to move. Every long, slow stroke seemed to take a day off the calendar. Jon calculated he’d need just under 2000 strokes to rewind five years. He figured he could work straight through.

Her fingers got to know every inch of his upper body, searching for purchase against the motion of their bodies. She hooked her feet together behind his back and gave him all the angle she could to plumb her depths. His thick, hard cock took everything she had and begged for more. She dug her heels into his lower back to hold him close when the blackness came.

“Jon,” she moaned as her body melted. Callie could have drown in the sensation. Pure white light flooded through her body, taking with it every last ounce of worry and confusion she’d felt since hearing she was moving to Chicago. Jon was right there with her, whispering that he loved her, needed her.

Jon held himself stock still, buried as deep as he could go, and closed his eyes as Callie’s body went liquid all around him. Hearing his name forced from her lips was as good as any cheer from any crowd. His own voice made promises that he looked forward to keeping. When finally she drew in a huge breath and the shuddering stopped, she put a finger to his lips.

He moved again slowly, impressed with his own restraint. A tiny smile crossed her face to feel him shifting inside her. Someday, he told himself, I’ll work all day to make her do that a hundred times. But not now. Trusting that she was satisfied, Jon let himself go. His hips met hers on every stroke as she arched her back to give him more. Heavy desire pooled between his hips. It had never, ever been like this. Not in their brief time together, even the first time when he’d never experienced anything like being inside the girl he loved. She was a woman now, and she was finally his.

It struck like lightning, tearing a groan from his body. He came so hot he worried he could burn her. Five years of frustration and longing pumped out, draining his hopes and fears into her secret places.

“I love you,” he said again, exhausted but thrilled, winding his arms around her back to be sure she could never, ever disappear.

“I love you,” she answered, kissing the bulging round of his bicep.

“Stay with me. Don’t get an apartment.” He hadn’t planned how to ask her, so it didn’t come out like a request.

She leaned her neck back to look into his eyes. It was dangerous – she knew she couldn’t resist them – but necessary. “I think we’re a little ways from that yet. Remember the shoes?”

Damn. He remembered. “I’ll take care of it today.” He spoke quickly to reassure her there was nothing to worry about.

Callie didn’t know how true that was, but the bliss and being reunited with Jon and the post-sex glow they were nursing were things she knew she would never feel again. They weren’t about to be spoiled by anything.

“And curtains,” she added. “You need curtains.”

He pulled the blanket back up over their sticky, sleepy forms and closed out the world.
____

9 comments:

  1. OMG what can i say it was perfect!!! awhahahaha

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  2. I agree im speechless MORE SEX LIKE THAT PLS PLSPLS LOL

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  3. Please update soon! i really need to know how the girl is going to react when he breaks up with her lol

    lol love the part about the curtains. and as always the love scene with them was soo PURE and SENSUAL

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  4. WOW!! that's all I got to say :D

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  5. SOOOOOOOO HOT!!!!!!!! I have a feeling something is going to go horribly wrong. Keep the posts coming. We all love your writing so much

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  6. A [REALLY BIG] part of me really wants an update, the other is too afraid to find what what bad thing is going to happen [CAUSE WE ALL KNOW IT'S COMIMG.]........... The stubborn half wins out, UPDATE SOON?? :)

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  7. Please tell me you are updating tonight! Pretty please! :)

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  8. "I’ve loved you every day, even when I didn’t think of it, like breathing or blinking, it’s just the way I’m programmed."

    This is really quite beautiful, even more so because it's not sappy or saccharine. You've got a way with words! Love your writing.

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