Cuddle bear, p.16
Cuddle Bear, page 16
Maurice bumped his shoulder against mine as we meandered along the sidewalk toward the gym where he had a membership. The rainbow-striped sweatband that sat low on his forehead was adorable and I wanted to demand he wear it more often, but I thought if I called attention to it, I might never see it again, so I kept my mouth shut. Lift of Legends was in a low building with a terra-cotta roof and white stucco siding. The sign had a cute, bulked-up elf holding weights that reminded me of something from a video game. I snickered, and when Maurice followed my line of sight to the character, he grinned.
“You’re certain I can go in here? I have a workout room at my house.”
He shrugged. “This place isn’t fancy, so don’t expect much. I know the equipment here, though, and I like the people. Everyone is laid-back. No one will say anything. I get to bring in a guest a few times a month and I never have. You could probably come with me for a year and no one would ask for your pass.”
“If they do, let me know.”
“It’s fine.” He rubbed a hand over my hip, then stopped and teased his thumb along the waistline of my gray running shorts. I held my breath as his fingertips tickled under my white tank top. The arousal that blazed to life from his touch on my skin had me clearing my throat and trying not to think about last night.
He snagged my hand and gave it a squeeze, and I basked in his attention. I opened the glass door for him, but he dragged me in at his side. My stomach went warm, and I felt like a shy teenager as we walked through the foyer where people had dropped their shoes, if they’d changed them, and hung their bags. The sensation of my stomach dipping and swooping was ridiculous, but I had no control over the happy burst of warmth careening through my gut.
As we went into the main gym area, he led me to the right of the workout space where all the free weights and machines were stationed. A mirror ran the length of the room. The walls were done in the same stucco as the exterior, and there was a simple thin, green turf carpet under all the equipment. A particular scent that reminded me of my high school locker room twisted in the air.
I hummed. “Am I going to see you become a feral bear today? Like last night? I thought you were a cuddle bear, but now I’m not so sure.”
He flushed all the way up to the tips of his ears, then sent me a smirk as he tugged on the collar of his old blue T-shirt. “You were the one who dragged your buddy out of the party. Were you channeling your inner Superman or something?”
Groaning, I dropped my forehead to his strong shoulder, and he laughed. “Walter called and left an apology message, but I didn’t feel like picking up to hear it. He really pissed me off. I’m going to leave him dangling for a while.”
Maurice grunted as if he didn’t think that was quite good enough, but I was willing to give someone I’d known most of my life a second or third chance. Actually, Walter was probably on his sixtieth chance, but I had trouble cutting people out of my circle, even when they deserved it.
Maurice went to a tower of black metal free weights that were scratched in places so the silver steel underneath shone through, and I raised my eyebrows as he picked out a pair of thirty-pound dumbbells from near the bottom. “To warm up. You don’t have to get ones this heavy. Start with the fifteen.” He nodded at the weights closer to the top.
To our right a man grunted. He had a different type of dumbbell, with weights he’d slotted on himself, and he must be pumping closer to one hundred pounds. He wasn’t bad-looking with his shirt off, but his corded muscles were intimidating.
I scowled at Maurice, and he chuckled when I went for a second pair of thirty-pound weights, then winced when I had them in my hands and replaced them with twenties. He shook his head at me as I stood with my new selection and began to mimic the bicep curls he was doing.
“You know, you don’t have to accept the apology from that jerk,” he said, eyebrows dancing upward. The sweatband on his forehead shifted, and I never would’ve thought anything like that would crank my gears so hard, but it was sexy on him.
Shrugging, I winced as my biceps started to burn, and then I bared my teeth and switched my weights for the fifteens. He nodded and didn’t look overly smug when I took his advice in the end. Not for the first time, I considered Maurice might be a better person than me.
“No, I don’t have to accept the excuses for his behavior, but I’ve known him for over twenty years.”
Maurice nodded and put his weights back on the tower, and I thought maybe he was showing off when he picked up sixty-pound weights from the bottom. I hadn’t even known they came in that size. He winked at me as he started doing curls again, but this time his face flushed red and sweat popped out on his cheeks. I snickered.
“What people say when they’re drunk is just what they hold in sober,” he said, then sucked in a deep breath and continued the bicep curls. “Make sure you’re doing those exercises slowly so you don’t tweak your wrists or shoulders.”
I focused on my form for a moment, and the only sounds were the other men and women around us. A couple laughed over at the dead-lift station—they wore matching red outfits, so I assumed they were together. There was a group of high-school-aged boys crowded around a second tower of free weights, talking softly and occasionally bursting into laughter. Every time something happened to disrupt my focus, the weights felt heavier.
Maurice let out a long breath and returned his dumbbells to the bottom of the tower, and I was relieved I could stop what I was doing. He chuckled as I hastily returned my own weights with a loud clunk.
“Do you want to follow me around the room? I can help you with your form and make sure you don’t overload yourself. If you do too much you won’t be able to move tomorrow. I won’t have that problem, but you will.” His sincere expression kept me from thinking he was giving himself backhanded compliments.
“Yeah, I have no clue what to do with this stuff.” I waved vaguely around. “Whatever you think is best.”
He shook his head and amusement danced in his eyes. “You look fantastic. What do you usually do?”
“I run and swim a lot.” I shrugged. “My daddy was a swimmer and I started lessons young, and running was always a quick way to burn calories.”
Maurice groaned and scrubbed his hands over his short beard. “I swim for fun but don’t do laps, and I hate running.”
“You don’t ever jog?”
He shook his head. “That’s a no—a huge no.”
I shrugged and grinned at him. “Then show me what you like to do. I’m up for new things. I’m more than ready for whatever steel you want me to handle.” I waggled my eyebrows, and he sighed at my bad joke.
“Come on and behave yourself,” he grumbled, but he didn’t sound as if he really wanted me to do that. We worked out together for a while, and I enjoyed the way Maurice touched my body to guide me into the proper position for each of the lifting stations. The change up in my routine was more fun and less annoying than I would’ve thought.
When we reached the area dedicated to dead lifting, I felt deeply out of my element because it was something I was really unfamiliar with. Maurice told me all about using my legs and not overloading the bar, which he made me set up myself. I only had a hundred pounds on mine and he put three hundred on his, leaving me feeling a tad surly, but he didn’t mention the difference. We took turns so he could spot me if necessary, and as soon as it was my turn to wait for Maurice to get through his sets, I had nothing better to do than watch his body strain. It was true he had a belly and was shorter than me, but his thighs and calves were strong, and while it wasn’t as clear to see when he was layered in a suit, his shoulders were pure muscle and his arms were thick due to the power he held, not because he was overweight. It didn’t take long for me to remember him lifting me, as if I weighed nothing, and plopping me onto my dresser to kiss me—then fuck me.
My running shorts, which was what I typically wore to work out, weren’t exactly doing a good job at hiding the semi that nudged against the front. I shifted, trying to get my hopeful cock into a less noticeable position, but he glanced into the mirror that ran along the wall and his gaze locked directly onto my crotch. I flashed him a sheepish smile and shrugged.
“What can I say? I appreciate my boyfriend.”
He glanced around and stepped closer to me. “You like this?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
His eyelids lowered and his lips quirked into a sexy grin that made my breath catch. He set the weights down on the floor.
I crept closer to brush a quick kiss against the side of his neck. “You’re so strong.”
Maurice turned and shocked me as he pulled me in for a kiss in front of God and everyone. The brush of his lips to mine was mostly innocent, but he flicked his tongue along the seam of my mouth, and I sighed, leaning my weight against his front. When we broke apart, I caught a man nearby giving us a nasty little glare, but I chose to ignore it rather than stick my tongue out like I was tempted.
“You always know how to make me feel better about myself. How is that possible?” he asked.
“I’m simply stating facts.”
Maurice slid his hand up the back of my neck, and I barely held in a moan as he slanted his mouth over mine and thrust his tongue between my lips. He certainly wasn’t helping my shorts situation. I leaned against him, and he didn’t buckle at all. He was a pillar of strength.
“Let’s go,” I murmured against his mouth. “I need a different kind of workout.”
He nodded and seemed to be tongue-tied, but I didn’t blame him. I was nearly there, too. We managed to keep ourselves contained on the way out the door, merely holding hands, but the second we hit the pavement in the parking lot he tugged me closer, and we were kissing again. We could’ve died on the way to my Maserati because God knew neither of us were paying attention to the traffic.
He stuck his hand into my pocket, and I held my breath as his fingers grazed my hard-on, but he merely dug out my keys and dangled them. I leaned in and rubbed against his front, and he grabbed my left asscheek to hold me still.
“Tease,” I breathed out, snatching the keys.
“Get in the car and I’ll do more than tease.”
Stupidly, I nodded. “Yes. Yes, please.”
He laughed as I hit the button to unlock the Maserati, then hopped inside. I ran to the driver-side door. Does this count as an aerobic workout? I was hoping there were other activities we would do this morning that would get my heart rate up—things that would have me flat on my back or belly, moaning loud enough that Maurice would shush me and warn me others might hear. As I slid into the seat behind the steering wheel, he dropped his palm to my thigh and brushed it upward, shoving the leg of my shorts along with it so his hand was close to exactly where I wanted it.
“Start the car.”
“Uh, hell.” I followed orders and had to ignore the way he lightly kissed along my neck while I was reversing out of the parking spot. It took all my willpower to keep my eyes open and on the road, but I drove off toward my place. Thankfully his gym was on the outskirts of St. Loren or he would’ve had to let me breathe to navigate heavy traffic.
As it was, I quickly began to lose the battle with concentration, so I flipped on the signal and turned the car off the two-lane road into a small pull-in area that had, once upon a time, been the parking lot for a gas station. The building and pumps were removed years ago, but locals still sometimes stopped here to use nearby walking paths, and I was glad no one seemed to be around. I steered the car as far away from the road as possible, then cut the engine.
Maurice settled his hand on my cock and moved his mouth up higher on my neck, and I tilted my head back as he massaged my straining shaft. Hissing, I thrust my hips.
“Love these little shorts.” He nibbled on my earlobe and the tip of my cock throbbed, and then he followed my shaft with his thumb and found the head, putting just enough pressure on it to make me feel ready to go off like a geyser. “All I can think about is pulling them off you.”
With a moan, I raised my hips and tried to get more friction from his hand, but he only lightly caressed me. “I’ll wear them every day.”
“Help me. Put my glasses on the dash,” he murmured, leaning back.
He held still and my heart swelled because he trusted me to take the glasses carefully from him. I was settling the frames on the dashboard when he unhooked his seat belt and shifted around. At first I wasn’t sure what was happening, but he leaned over and buried his face against my trapped cock. His warm breath through the fabric had me bucking against him, and he chuckled.
“This silky material. It’s almost like you want me to strip it off you and suck you down.”
Words. I knew how to use them normally, but I only swallowed and nodded, gliding my crotch against his face when he pressed his lips along the trapped ridge of my erection. He hooked his fingers in the waistband.
I whimpered. “Maurice, I’ve never done anything like this in public.”
He popped his head up and glanced out the windshield at the green field that spread away toward trees, then grinned at me. “You’re worried someone will see us?”
I shrugged and bit my lip as a thrill jolted through me, and I couldn’t stop writhing in the seat.
“Oh, then we better hurry before someone catches us.” He winked and tugged on my shorts, and I lifted up. Between the two of us, the shorts and my briefs were around my thighs in no time.
“Never in the car, huh?” He studied my face.
I shook my head. “Too many risks.”
He kissed my cheek and gave my exposed cock a tender caress. “Would you like it if someone saw me going down on you?”
I panicked for a moment as a million different sensations sliced through my chest, some good, some bad. Finally, I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Hmm.” He smirked and shifted around until he was able to lean forward again. “Better keep watch, then.”
My body went on hyperalert in every way possible as he pressed his soft lips against my straining cockhead. He lightly kissed all around the tip, then flicked his tongue over the slit. I rested a hand on his back and massaged his tense muscles. The tang of sweat and his deodorant was in the air and smelled delectably masculine. My toes curled in my shoes as he swirled his tongue around me, and he used one hand to stroke my thigh in a way that made me wish we were in bed so I could spread my legs for him.
I really did love doing whatever my partner wanted, and it made my stomach hot that he seemed to like taking control of every situation. I hadn’t expected this much aggression from Maurice, but it was a delightful surprise.
“Anyone peeking at us?” he asked. The swirl of his breath on my spit-slicked cock had me trembling.
I glanced all around. “No.”
He used my distraction to slide his lips the whole way down my shaft, and I cried out as I bumped the back of his throat. He began to bob his head, lips a perfect wet drag against my skin, and then he brought his hand in to gently jerk off the part of my cock that wasn’t in his mouth. All I could do was quiver and take it.
Each time he went down on me he managed to go the slightest bit farther, until I was wedged in his throat. The ripples of his muscles around my cockhead destroyed my control and I pumped my hips, trying to get more of that pressure and wet heat on my cock. He moved with me, and I slammed my hand against the roof of the car, using the other to clutch the back of his shirt.
“Maurice, fuck,” I hissed out.
Then I was hovering on the edge of collapse in an embarrassingly short amount of time, but it was all just too much—his perfect mouth, the threat of being caught, doing this in a brand-new place where I’d never had sex. I would never look at my Maserati the same way again.
Pleasure overwhelmed me and my balls drew up close to my body. I moaned. He sucked up my shaft to focus on my cockhead and lap at it like a lollipop. Joy slammed me. My face burned and the muscles in my groin contracted harshly. My orgasm was a pleasure punch that rushed out to tingle in my gut. Yes. I flopped back against the seat, unable to do anything except hold on for the ride as he continued to suck the life out of me through my cock.
When the last wave of heat receded, I panted and couldn’t open my eyes. His lips settled over mine, and I wasn’t prepared as he shoved his tongue into my mouth. I sucked the flavor of my bliss off him, and he moaned, deep and sexy, the reverberations filling the car. I treated his tongue like a cock and drew on it, and he cupped my face, delving deeper into my mouth. The domination at a different time and from a different person might’ve put me off, but right now it pushed all the right buttons.
He kissed along my cheek to my ear. “Want to climb onto my lap? If we recline the seat, I bet we can make it work.”
Blindly, I fumbled around until I rested my hand on his rock-hard dick where it pushed out the front of his sweats.
“Shit, we don’t have anything, though,” Maurice mumbled against my mouth.
“Maybe we should talk about condoms,” I said, because I wanted him to fuck me right now, no matter what.
He leaned back a little and studied my face, and my heart twisted as he brushed my hair off my forehead. “I just ate your cum. I trust you would’ve told me if there was a reason not to do that.”
“So. . . maybe we don’t need them. The condoms, I mean.”
He nodded. “I’m good with that.”
I’d already done one new thing today. I squirmed in my seat. “We could use spit.”
He closed his eyes and his nostrils flared. “I would feel bad if I hurt you.”
“We could try it,” I whispered, and my cock perked up a bit at the suggestion.
A gray truck passed by on the road and slowed, as if they were checking to see if we needed assistance. My heart bounced into the back of my throat. Maurice and I both scrambled to get my shorts back up. The truck passed by, and we waved at the woman behind the wheel to let her know we were fine. She smiled and nodded, then kept going while we groaned together.
Maurice chuckled. “Maybe this wasn’t the best spot during the day.”
