Among the Echoes(53)

"No, I mean really trust me. And when you do, I am going to f*ck you with the lights on and door open while touching every inch of you." Her whole body stiffens on top of me. "But despite my initial reaction, I’ll wait for you to be ready." She gives me a weak smile that I can barely make out in the darkness. "Now, tell me. Are you wet?"

"I would be if you got naked again."

I quickly peel off my clothes and roll on another condom from the nightstand. Riley watches my every move, licking her lips.

"Show me you’re wet. Give me another taste."

She takes my mouth in a rough kiss. Her tongue slides over mine, and I can feel her hand brush over my cock as it moves between her legs. A second later, her fingers are snaking between our tongues. I groan, sucking her fingers all the way into my mouth just as she slides down onto my cock.

Riley slowly rides me until she finds her own rhythm. Her pace quickens, and I grab her ass to slow her, but she throws her head back, lost in the feeling. It’s f*cking beautiful to watch this woman, who is normally so closed off, unravel around me. I pull her forward to take her mouth. Gripping her hips, I thrust hard, taking complete control of the situation even though she’s on top. It doesn’t take long before she begins to tremble through her orgasm.

"Slate," she moans, dropping to my chest.

"Fuck, beautiful." I thrust into her one last time before finding my own release.

We lie down, sated, trying to catch our breaths for a moment, but Riley suddenly sits up with a bashful smile.

"I love that you called me beautiful when you came."

"Well, it’s fitting, and you told me not to call you Riley." I reach up to tuck a hair behind her ear.

"I also really like when you take control from the bottom like that." She pauses to look away.

"That’s good to hear too, because one of these days, I want to kneel between your legs and watch you take control of my cock while you f*ck me from the bottom."

"Jesus, Slate," she sighs. "You know, for a quiet guy, you have a deliciously filthy mouth." She begins to giggle, and I can’t help but laugh along with her.

Just to watch her subtle transformation from only hours ago is amazing. No tears this time, and that hits me deep. I’m f*cked—literally and figuratively.





Three weeks later…





"Hey, beautiful," Slate says, walking in the door.

He never knocks, but he always shouts my name from outside the door. At first, I thought he was crazy, but then he produced that silly list clearly documenting my fears.

"Hi," I respond, looking up at him through my brown contacts.

He gives me a deep, lingering kiss and scoops me up off my feet, causing me to immediately wrap my legs around his waist.

"How was your day?" he asks, kissing my neck.

"Terrible."

"Pretty in Pink," Dave answers from behind us. He’s wearing the same smirk he does every time he sees Slate and me together.

The day after Slate made things clear that we were building a relationship, Dave called off the move. I told him that I didn’t want to leave, and he spent the next thirty-six hours shouting at people over the phone. I didn’t ask and he didn’t elaborate, but if possible, I fell in love with him even more because he fought to give me more time with Slate.

I still haven’t showed Slate my scars, but he doesn’t push me. We have this amazing balance of him letting me squeak by with no questions answered and me asking him everything about his life. I’ve never broached the topic of his mom though. I’m not that brave yet. I also don’t want him to pour his heart out about his past and have to look directly into his eyes and lie about my own.

Since the first night, one thing remains consistent—Slate sleeps with me every night. Whether we are at his place or mine, he’s always there when I close my eyes. And I always sleep, a magical feat of its own. Before I met Slate, sleep was a bit of an issue for me. I was an insomniac to say the least. Stress has a funny way of screwing with you. I’ve never been a huge sleeper, but the five to six hours I get a night in his arms is more than I ever would have thought possible. Noises in the night still terrify me, but now it's because I’m worried someone will take him from me. I lost myself, but I don’t think I could survive losing Slate. However, every day that we are together, I put his life at risk.

"Riley, you going to explain the movies?" Dave says, snatching a piece of bacon off the plate.