Then You Saw Me by Carrie Aarons

23

Austin

Reaching toward my bedside drawer, I grab a condom and roll it on.

“Ride me,” I growl at Taya, flopping onto my back and putting my hands behind my head.

Hazel eyes, swirled with aquamarine and mocha, flash with lust. She takes in my naked body, all of her slim curves prowling over me like some kind of panther. Christ, how I worship this woman. She’s flushed, and a little sheen of sweat glistens on her. I’ve had her on her back, my mouth between her legs, for the last ten minutes and she’s already come once. The taste of her remains on my tongue, and watching her mount me and take my cock in her hand to slide down onto is like my holy grail.

“You feel so fucking good.” She runs her hands through her hair, and I will keep this mental picture in my memory forever.

In no time, the way she’s bouncing up and down on my cock has me nearly coming. “Slow down, babe.”

The nickname just slips out, and it’s odd because I typically don’t use it. But with her, it fits.

“Lo desideravo da molto tempo.”

Taya’s words curl into my ear like the most seductive drug. “What does it mean?”

I don’t even know what language she’s speaking, but I want more of it. Every time she whispers those accented words, my cock twitches inside her.

“Now, why would I tell you that?” Her voice is breathy and husky.

Without warning, I flip her, pinning her hands against the bed, and grind into her in long, fluid strokes. “Because if you don’t, I’ll torture you. I’ll go just the right pace to make it feel incredible, but not deep or fast enough to give you that orgasm you’re trembling for.”

Another girl would lie back, beg me, or just tell me what she’d said. Not Taya. Instead, she pulls her hands free of mine and rakes her nails down my back just a little too hard, so the pain morphs into pleasure. Then she bites her lip, licking it after releasing it, and her teeth marks are still on her skin.

“You do not play fair.” I growl, because with every little seduction, I’m pumping harder.

I can’t help it. This girl drives me insane. With every thrust, her hips come up to meet me. My balls slap on her ass. Her eyes begin to roll back, and I can feel the sensation of my climax tingle at the base of my spine.

“Come. Now,” I command her, pistoning my hips as fast as I can.

My cock is so deep inside of her when she explodes that all of her muscles grip my dick like a fist. I come, shouting my release, and nearly blackout from the intensity.

I can barely feel my body and feel it all too much at the same time. Beneath me, Taya is still mewling from her release.

Once we’ve caught our breath, I start tracing her spine with the tip of my fingers. Outside, someone shouts on the street, and birds are chirping. The sunlight shines through onto the carpet, and Taya groans.

“I have class,” she whines but doesn’t move from where my hand is slowly stroking her back.

“Skip it.” It’s an automatic response. “We’ll make this afternoon quickie a true afternoon delight.”

She chuckles into my chest, then looks up at me with a sarcastic expression. “Some of us aren’t seniors and have to go to class. Plus, I love my courses. Where else am I going to speak different languages where people actually understand me?”

“You just love that you can say things and I have no idea what they mean, don’t you?” I swat her butt.

“Kind of.” She shrugs, a sheepish little smile sneaking over her lips. “I mean, let’s be real, you know so much of my inner thoughts from that letter that it feels nice to have an outlet where you have no idea what I’m feeling.”

It’s easier for her to address the time capsule letter now, but I still sense the tension between us when it comes to that.

“What is it that drew you to me? I mean, I was a dumbass teenager who cared more about basketball and playing video games than I did about girls.”

“Oh, come on, Austin. You can’t tell me you aren’t aware of how you came off in high school. You were the most popular kid in school, not to mention our town. You won homecoming king all four years. And I mean … look at you.”

She waves her hand up and down my naked body, the one she just rode like she was a professional cowgirl.

“Well, it’s yours to explore now if you want to.” I stretch out, the cockiness in my voice shining through.

She takes one of my pillows and cowers under it; her voice muffled as she says, “All right, can we stop the ‘embarrass Taya time’ now? Please?”

I pull her in, shimmying down the bed to press kisses into her stomach. “Well, beautiful, I have some affection to make up for.”

“And I,” she rolls out of my grip, “need to go to class. I’ll leave you here to think about all the ways you can make it up to me.”

“What an interesting idea.” I flop back, tapping my finger to my chin.

As Taya pulls the black lacy boy shorts over her hips, a sight that makes my dick hard but also makes me want to slide them off all over again, she tries to ask me what she assumes is a simple question.

“So, big bad senior, what will it be after graduation? A job in radio, I’m assuming.”

Of all the things we’ve talked about in the last week or so, this isn’t one of them. Maybe we’re both avoiding the fact that I’ll be leaving here in May. Maybe I just haven’t wanted to address it because I still have no idea what the hell I’m going to do.

“Maybe … it’s complicated.” I try not to get too in-depth.

“Ah, I remember your dad basically threatening you into that job with your uncle.” She comes back over to sit on the bed as she clasps her bra and pulls her T-shirt over her head.

“Yeah, that kind of complicated.” I can tell Taya wants me to spill a little more, so I sigh and try to articulate. “I want to be in sports radio. More than anything. I’ve actually been applying to stations all over the country and have an interview for a lowly assistant to one of the on-air talents at a station in New York City. But it would be a foot in the door.”

She takes my face in her hands; her smile all excitement. “Austin! That’s amazing!”

I shake my head humbly and turn my lips to kiss one of her palms. “Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s just an interview. But if my dad ever found out I was looking outside of the family business, he’d come down here and kill me with his bare hands. I’m a Van Hewitt, I don’t get a choice. Going into the family business is what everyone before me has done, and what everyone will continue to do. Moving back to Webton is a non-negotiable to him, and I know if I do that, I’ll be miserable.”

She frowns, her eyebrows drawing in. “Then what is there to think about? Your happiness comes first. Always. Why go live a life you don’t even want?”

“Because my family would turn against me. Most of them would never talk to me again. I’d be the black sheep, cast out. And yeah, I don’t have a supportive family to begin with, and most of them are absolute sharks out for blood. But there is a big difference between having a crappy family and not having one at all. I’m not sure I’m ready to find out what it’s like being all alone in this world.”

Taya nods, her expression growing sad. She can grasp that, because while we might not love the situations we’re both in with our respective families, considering not having them at all is a scary thought.

“Well, I think you’re going to kill that interview. And with how dedicated you are to the radio station, you’d be brilliant in New York City. I think you could really be something, Austin.”

Taya has started to listen to my show with Gio. And although she says she couldn’t care less about the sports talk, she told me that my voice coming through her car speakers gets her hot. Which, in turn, gets me hot. I can barely sit in the booth anymore without thinking about her circling her clit to my voice in her car. The thought has my dick twitching even now.

“Thanks.” My head takes over, realizing how she’s just complimented me.

There aren’t many people around me who support what I actually want to do with my life. And here she is, doing it without question.

A sense that something bigger is happening between us hangs in the air as Taya leans in to give me one last kiss before heading downstairs and out the door to class. I pull her in, taking the kiss deeper, and lean into the feeling.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to chase the high she provides. Maybe I’ve been waiting for her. Maybe it could work when I leave Talcott.

The spark of hope inside me is both dangerous and thrilling. And I’m too infatuated with Taya to blow it out.