The Puck Drop by Jaqueline Snowe

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Michael

More skin. More contact. That’s what I wanted. More. I teased Naomi’s tits until she turned into putty beneath me, squirming and moaning as her wet hair splayed out in every direction. Her pink perky nipples stood on end, and I bit down on one, harder than before, and she bounced off the bed.

“Did you like that?”

“Um, yes?” Her cheeks were pink and her eyes wide, but it was her lips that did me in. Swollen and puffy from kissing me.

“Um isn’t a good enough answer. We almost got caught last time I did this.” I kissed her nipple again, sucking it until it made a loud pop. “Yes or no?”

She nodded, and I clicked my tongue. “Say it.”

“Yes, I like when you do that.”

“Don’t be bashful on me, Fletcher.” I kissed down her stomach and below her belly button, over the silver ring, before I looked up again. I tugged at the ring a bit, loving the piercing on her. “My mouth’s been on you, so there’s nothing to hide from me.”

She quivered, and I licked her nipple long and hard before I reached for my bedside table. I grabbed a condom and put it on, studying Naomi’s reaction before going further. Our chemistry was insane, but I was more experienced than her, and I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable. “How are you feeling?”

“What?” she asked, snapping her gaze to my dick. “You’re asking me that with your massive dick just in the air, swinging around?”

“Yes,” I said, laughing as I crawled over her. I held myself up with my forearms. She looked up at me, her eyes wide and manic, and I kissed her quick. “Because I want to fuck you, but I want you to be alright first.”

“Michael, if you don’t stop talking, I’m going to get pissed.”

I laughed again and grabbed her hip as I crawled on top of her. Despite the fun and teasing, I couldn’t get enough of this woman. Everything about her squirming body got me harder. She dug her fingers into my shoulders as I kissed her collarbone and the trio of birthmarks on the edge of it. She bucked her hips, impatient as hell, and I smiled against her skin. “Are you wet for me?”

“Jesus, yes,” she said, her pleading voice sending a flurry of desire through me. I loved her like this—open and needy and finally mine. I nudged my dick into her slowly as I kissed her on the mouth. She gasped against my lips, and something passed between us as our gaze held. It was…surreal.

I thrusted a few times, letting her adjust to me, and I swore I saw stars. She was tight as hell, warm, and I grunted at how amazing she felt. How right. It’d been a few months for me, but man, I wanted to bury my face in her neck and fuck her until I couldn’t see straight. She made me get that way. Wild.

“Damn, I swear I can feel you in my throat,” she gasped. She brought her hands to my ass and squeezed. “Mm, you’re so meaty. I love it.”

“Meaty?” I said, thrusting a little faster as I got into a better position. Her legs were wrapped around me, and she arched her hips up just enough so I could tell a difference. I buried my face in her neck, taking in her lemon scent and her warm skin.

“Meaty. Thick,” she said, groaning when I went deeper. “Oh, Michael, damn, you’re big.”

“Do you need me to slow down?” I asked, finding the willpower to stop thrusting. It hurt my raging hard-on to pull out, but I paused and glanced at her.

“Wow, no, please don’t.” She wiggled her hips against me and pulled me down so my weight was on her. “I like feeling you like this, on me.”

She cupped my face with one hand and kissed me deep, making me forget for a second that this was just a friends with benefits situation. This wasn’t an emotional fuck, despite all the confusing feelings combining in my head. This wasn’t a relationship, even though she knew me so well. I kissed her back and rocked into her again and again, desperate to get off ever since I’d had a taste of her all those days ago.

“Touch your clit for me,” I said, my hands digging into her ass and holding on. She did as I said. “Swirl it around. Get yourself nice and prepped.”

“For what?”

I continued my pace and showered her with light kisses and nips. As the heat started at the base of my spine, I pulled out and flipped her over. I slid in from behind and reached around from the back to swirl a finger around her clit. She trembled as I thrusted in over and over. She felt so damn good that my thoughts got messy. Her scent, her sounds, her body. Nothing else mattered anymore. Just her, her pleasure, her squirming. She squeezed her legs together, making her pussy feel even tighter, and I growled against her sweaty neck. Her wet hair stuck to my face, and she panted beneath me. The slap of skin against skin, her soft groans, and the sound of me fucking her filled the room.

It was so fucking hot. I took her arms and held them over her head as I pounded into her. She arched her back, providing me the exact angle I needed, and pleasure shot out of me without warning.

“Naomi, fuck,” I moaned, my vision blurring as my entire body convulsed with white hot pleasure.

She bucked and thrashed on the bed as she yelled, ‘Yes!’ way too loudly. “Michael, oh shit, whoa,” she said, her body going limp. Sweat pooled between her skin and my chest, and I kissed the back of her neck before rolling over her. My ears still rang from the joy of being with her, and my god, why hadn’t we been doing that the entire time?

“Damn, Fletcher,” I said, dragging my hand over her back to end on those damn dimples. “Damn.”

“Good damn, right?” she asked, lifting her head to face me and resting on her chin on her wrist. “Because, whoa mama. That was…”

“Yeah. That was,” I said, not needing to explain more. I knew what she meant, but since we were keeping this in the friends-only zone, we had to be comfortable with how we talked about us, sex. Like, could I beg to do this every day or four times a week? I wasn’t sure about the right protocol for friends-who-bang-like-animals-with-benefits.

Naomi blew out a long breath, let out a little laugh, and plopped back down onto my bed. “I need to catch my breath. Regain feeling in my feet. Then, maybe, I can put clothes on again.”

Clothes. I frowned, something nagging at me. Right. “Roll over,” I said, getting up from the bed butt ass naked. The cream I had to help with cuts sat on my dresser, and I picked up the tube. “I want to look at those bites.”

“Oh wow, I forgot about those.” She frowned and ran a hand through her hair “Wait, now I can feel them. Ugh, they sting and itch. Why did you mention it?”

“On your belly,” I said again, kneeling onto the bed and sucking in a breath at the raised bites. They looked angry and painful. “I shouldn’t have kissed you,” I said, my voice deep and laced with shame.

“You already regret sleeping with me?” she fired back, her tone sharp.

“No, no, no.” I ran a hand down her spine, enjoying how her soft skin broke out in goosebumps. “I meant, these damn bites. I should’ve helped you with these first, not attacked your mouth.”

“I didn’t mind.”

That put a smile on my face. “Yeah, I rather liked seeing you wet and naked in my shower.”

I applied some medicine on my fingertips and swiped them over the bites. She jumped a little, and I put my other hand on her hip to hold her steady. Ryann was allergic to mosquito bites, and they could swell into golf balls. These didn’t look too far off from that. “Did you lay on an ant hill or what?”

She groaned. “I must’ve. Can you sex me up again to distract me from the pain, or do you have plans?”

She asked the question so casually, like she was offering up a snack, and I snorted. “I’d very much like to sex you up, but how about later? I’m going to grab some ice to see if I can get the swelling down.”

She looked over her shoulder to stare at me, a line appearing between her brows. “You’re being a real mother hen. It’s sweet.”

“It can happen.” I winked, ignoring the swell of my heart at her words. Taking care of others was easier than taking care of myself. Plus, the little ailments I had from being an athlete all these years? Unless a bone was shattered, I knew basic first aid. “Stay put.”

“Yes, sir.”

I put on a pair of loose shorts and headed into the kitchen to make an ice pack. Tossing some ice into a plastic bag, I found a clean towel and headed back to my room. I had two hours before I met with her dad—shit. Just thinking of Coach sent my alarm bells on high alert.

I slept with his daughter.

My boss’s daughter.

What did I do?

Deep breath in, then out. I reached for the counter to steady myself and thought through everything like a play. Worrying was too late since I’d already slept with her. That line was crossed. We agreed to just be friends, so it wasn’t like I would hurt her. Friends with benefits was a thing. We were adults. Consenting, horny adults.

I ran a hand down my face and ignored the growing pang in my chest. I could worry about all that stuff later. I had a mission, and that was to help her bites. I marched back into my room and found her wearing one of my t-shirts. My breath lodged in my throat. Her hair hung down on her shoulders, the large orange shirt way too big for her. A smile lifted her lips as she held a picture of Ryann and me. She must’ve sensed me because she looked up, blushed, and set the frame down.

“You’re not naked in my bed.”

She shrugged, but a small smile remained. “No.”

I narrowed my eyes and jutted my chin toward the photo. “That’s my sister, Ryann.”

“I can tell. You have the same eyes,” she said, her voice soft and gentle. It was like a warm blanket after spending all day outside. Wait, what?

Was I spouting poetry because I finally got laid?

My eye twitched, and I was irritated with myself. I took the frame from her hand and set it back on the shelf above my desk. The photo didn’t face the bed because a) that was weird and b) photos made me more sad than happy. “Shirt up, Fletcher.”

“Are you always this aggressive with the ladies?”

“When they’re having an allergic reaction, yes.” I made a point to relax my face. It wasn’t her fault my mind was having a field day. She sighed before going back to the bed and lifting the end of her shirt up. It showed off her luscious ass, and I admired the two dimples at the base of her spine. I loved back dimples. I wanted to swirl my tongue in them and spend an hour teasing her there, but that wouldn’t help her.

The bites. I refocused. I applied the cream and smoothed it on her skin, frowning as they seemed to get bigger. “You need allergy medicine.”

“No, I’m fine.” She moved the shirt back down and rolled over, pushing herself up onto her elbows and grinning at me. “Dare I say, you’re being adorable.”

“I’m not adorable. Watch your mouth, Fletcher.” I narrowed my eyes at her, but she stuck out her tongue, and my heart fucking did a cartwheel. “I have some Benadryl you should take. Seriously. They look bad.”

“That makes me sleepy though. Like, twenty minutes after, I’m passed out.”

“Do you have plans tonight?”

“No, but—”

“Then do it. Sleep here. I don’t care.” I motioned to the rest of my bed. “Seriously, I don’t need that much room, and I have to head out in an hour anyway. Use my bed.”

“But what if I find out all your secrets?”

I grinned, wide at that, and swatted her leg. She had no idea that she knew almost everything already. “Go ahead and try.”

Her lips curved up, and in that moment with both of us smiling, I could picture what it would be like to be hers. To be with her. To tell her all the things going on in my head and heart. She wouldn’t judge me or laugh or downplay it. She’d listen. My smile faltered, and I looked away, needing to break the connection. Relationships were so not my thing.

Plus, her dad.

The dad who upset her countless times. God, this was messed up.

Get it together, Reiner.

With my back to Naomi, I rummaged through my desk drawer to find the little white bottle. I grabbed a pill and handed it to her. “It’s settled then. You take this and stay here as long as you need.”

“Yes, sir.” She mock saluted me, and the urge to kiss her had nothing to do with the attraction growing between us. It had everything to do with this pull toward her, the way she teased me like I was just a normal guy. That I wasn’t broken and lost on the inside, and I craved that more than air.

“You’re a real pain in the ass,” I teased, tickling her foot. She kicked me, and I gripped her foot, pulling her back onto the bed. That left me leaning over her, my heart pounding against my ribcage. Her breath hit my face, and she put the pill in her mouth, reached for my water bottle on the side table, and swallowed.

She then sighed and fluffed my pillows around her head, and I just watched her. The way her hair covered my pillow. The way she pressed her lips together to get some of the water that spilled on her mouth. The way her pulse raced at the base of her neck.

“I’m not kidding, Michael, I’m going to pass out in like ten minutes. You sure, you’re sure?”

“Sleep. Rest. Relax.” I squeezed her forearm. “What kind of friend would I be if I told you to get lost?”

Maybe it was me or the way the light streamed from my window, but I caught a slight frown on her face. I couldn’t be sure, but the smile that was there second before faltered. Just a bit. “The worst kind.”

“I can’t handle being the worst at anything,” I teased, needing to see that smile return. I waited, my muscles tightening when her gaze softened. I could breathe again. “I have to head out in a bit. I won’t wake you if you’re asleep. Should only be an hour. If it takes longer, I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good,” she said, her breathing becoming deeper. I got up from my bed and repositioned the covers so they rested over her. Without thinking, I bent down and pressed a quick kiss on her forehead.

“Be here when I get back, please?”

She opened her eyes and blinked at me. She stared so long I ran a hand over my mouth like I had food there or a weird mole I didn’t know about. My stomach sank like I had disappointed her, but then she nodded. “Only because you said please.”

I snorted, squeezed her knee, and got ready to go meet her dad. It was a real confusing onslaught of emotions to not want to leave her but to also go face her father. With one last look, I finished getting ready and left her in my room, hoping like hell she would still be there when I got back because things had shifted now.

We’d slept together, and it was so different from any sex I had before. That complicated the no feelings thing we wanted to do. It’d have been easier if it was just a hot fuck and not… emotional. I pinched the bridge of my nose on the walk and focused on the leaves changing colors instead of the anxiety itching inside my chest.

Even if I wanted more with Naomi, she’d said no. Plus, if she did even think about being more…her dad was legit my boss. So, I had to keep remembering friends was easier and safer for me. I did not have big feelings for Naomi Fletcher, the nerdy goddess who made me feel at home despite being thousands of miles from it.

Liar.

I was in deep shit.