Pretend Love Romance by Penny Wylder
AJ
I want to buy into the fantasy of us so much, but I know it’s not real. Still, as we sit inside the limo, I can’t help but think about my hands on her hips, my lips on her neck, the ring sparkling on her finger … and the look she’d given me in those photos. They looked so real. That was the face of love. Even Carson continues to text me, warning me that she may actually be falling in love with me and that I should be careful. Little does he know. He has no idea that I’ve always loved her, that I’ve compared every woman I’ve been with over the years to her and they’d just never measured up. He doesn’t know the reason I called off my previous engagement was because I couldn’t marry a woman when I still had lingering feelings for another. I tried so hard to push those deep down. They always resurfaced. I couldn’t ever really move on.
I’ve always thought Claire was the one who couldn’t be swayed into feeling anything. But those pictures we took together are giving me pause. I still can’t get that look she gave me out of my head. And it wasn’t just lust. Yes, there was that too, but it wasn’t everything. There was more.
Claire stares out the window on our way back to the Hope Center.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
She bows her head, and I know she understands what I’m talking about.
“I know,” she says.
“I built the Hope Center with you in mind.” She slowly turns her head toward me. There’s just enough light for me to see her eyes, wide with curiosity. “But I would have opened it even if you hadn’t come to work for me. The project was important to me. That’s why I wanted you to run it. I knew there was no one else more dedicated. There was no one else I could trust. As creepy as it might sound, I’ve kept track of your career over the years. I knew you were the best of the best.”
I hear a barely stifled laugh from her. “What?” I ask.
“Doesn’t sound too creepy, I guess. I’ve kept track of your career as well. Only it was probably easier for me given that you live in the spotlight.”
“You’re such a stalker,” I say.
She laughs and I see those walls around her crumble if only for a small moment.
“Why me?” she says. “There are plenty of other qualified doctors.”
“That night at the frat party, after you and I were together and that guy started choking … you saved his life. You were so calm about it. No hesitation, no fear. It was as if you’d done it a million times. Your instinct kicked in and you did what needed to be done. He would have died right there in front of me, but you brought him back. That changed me. You were the one who inspired me to make a difference. If it weren’t for you I might have taken the fortune I earned and spent it on cars and exotic vacations. But you are the reason I felt as though there was more to life. That night, even though you broke my heart, you gave me purpose. So when I got the chance to build the Hope Center, I wanted the woman who changed my life to be a part of it.
“Recommending you to the clinic board was all innocent at first, I promise. I had no intention of sleeping with you or starting anything … but when I saw you at the ribbon cutting ceremony, all of those feelings that started freshman year in college came rushing back.”
“Freshman?” she says. Her face is hidden in shadow, but I imagine the confused look she must have. “We slept together our junior year.”
“My slight obsession with you happened freshman year when I first saw you moving into the dorms. I was helping a friend move in. I tried to talk to you on occasion, but you didn’t seem interested in talking to anyone except pre-med students.”
She laughs. The passing light of a well-lit street shows her chagrin. “Trust me, I remember. I thought a guy like you, some popular jock surrounded by cheerleaders tripping all over you could never want someone like me. I thought if I ever allowed myself to feel anything, I was just asking for heartbreak.”
“Really?” I say, challenging her. “I thought I was just a big dumb fuck. Your words, Claire.”
She sighs. “Don’t think I’m not ashamed of that. I thought the only way to protect myself and my feelings was to push you away. I’m sorry. To protect myself, I hurt you, and that’s not fair.”
I put my hand on her knee and feel her body shift. “It’s okay.”
When she doesn’t try to remove my hand or get away from me, I decide to push my luck. My hand slides up her knee and rests on her thigh. She sucks in a quiet breath. I feel her tremble, but still, she doesn’t try to stop me.
She looks at me, her eyes never wavering from mine. It’s a curious expression, like she’s trying to make some sort of decision about me. Then, suddenly, she’s climbing onto my lap. The motion is so swift and unexpected. I have an instant hard-on as she lifts her dress over her hips to give herself full range of motion.
“I don’t have a condom,” I tell her.
She hesitates, but only for a moment. “Pull out when the time comes.”
Good enough for me.
“We’re only five minutes from the clinic, though.”
“So quit wasting my time,” she says, leaning down to kiss me full on the mouth. “Let’s go.”
I quickly unzip my pants and pull my cock out. She slides her panties to the side, and I glide my fingers up and down her slit to make sure she’s ready for me. She’s hot and wet already. I position my cock right at her entrance, and with a hand, I push down on her hip, feeling her tight pussy stretch around me, enveloping me in perfect heat. I plant my hands on her luscious ass, and thrust up into her. She gasps and grabs onto the back of my neck.
She lowers her lips to mine, kissing me sensually as she slowly rotates her hips, pushing me deeper and deeper inside of her. “Your cock feels so good,” she whispers into my open mouth. “I love the way it fills up my pussy.”
Her words make my dick throb. I take her by the hips and press hard into her, feeling myself bottom out. She whimpers, her face contorting. “It’s so fucking big,” she moans.
If I’m hurting her, she does nothing to try to stop it.
“Fuck me harder,” she begs and starts to grind against me.
I reach behind her, grab her bare ass and squeeze it, hard. Secretly hoping to leave fingerprint bruises for her to find in the morning. “You better come fast,” I tell her. “We’re almost back to the hospital.”
She doesn’t disappoint, riding me hard and fast. Her wet pussy makes sucking sounds in the quiet cocoon of the limo. She bites her lip, trying to be quiet, but I remind her that the back of the limo is sound proof to the driver no matter how loud she gets.
She climbs off of me and strips off her panties, then climbs back on and starts to ride me again. The sound of her pleasure fills the limo, echoing in my ears. My own pleasure groans from my very soul. When I reach between her legs to thumb her hard clit, she screams and her body starts to spasm and my lap is soaked with her cum. As her pussy contracts from her orgasm, choking my cock, I can’t hold on any longer.
“I’m going to come,” I tell her urgently.
Instead of climbing off of me, she bears her weight down. “Come inside of me. I want to feel it.”
I have no more control, there’s no time to argue, and she refuses to get off of me, and so I explode inside of her. I feel the pressure of my orgasm vibrate in my groin. My vision grays and I am weightless, on a different plain.
She collapses on top of me, breathing heavy. I only come back to myself as the limo rolls to a stop. I want to just sit here, basking in the euphoria of my post orgasm, basking in her. But there’s no time for that. I snap to and we scramble to redress as the locks pop and the driver opens the door.
We try to appear as put-together as possible, but our clothes are wrinkled and disheveled, and her hair is a mess. Mascara gives her raccoon eyes and my face is smeared with red lip stick. The driver raises an eyebrow. He’s probably seen enough people in this position to know what just happened and to keep a professional poker face.
We start to walk back to the hospital entrance. I reach for her hand, but she pulls away from me. I stare at her, confused. She runs so hot and cold; I never know what to expect.
“We can never do that again,” she says.
“Claire, wait,” I say, but she disappears back into the Hope Center, and once again I’m left feeling like one huge, useless dumb fuck.
