Fair market value, p.6
Fair Market Value, page 6
He made his own exasperated sound but didn’t budge. “No. It wasn’t like that. Not at all.” She gave him a doubtful look and tried to wiggle out from beneath him but he held her effortlessly. “Listen, tonight you saw me nearly hurl on stage, have an embarrassing argument with my cousin, and then as a finale, I acted like a complete jerk in the parking lot. I was trying to even things out between us, show you that I wasn’t a complete waste of your time. Yes, I wanted to see you lose control but mostly I just wanted to be with you.”
She stopped struggling and went still, staring up at him in disbelief. “You thought you were a waste of my time? Are there no mirrors in that giant white house of yours? Because you are waaaayyy too hot to be this modest. If you’re wearing contacts, you may want to consider a stronger prescription.”
He chuckled. “See. You’re funny and clever. I’m... well. Not.”
Unable to help herself, she reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand. “James, I do not think you’re a waste of time. I don’t think that about anyone. Especially you. Would I have doled out a big chunk of my savings to spend an evening driving around in your truck if I felt that way?” She gave him a teasing smile.
He sighed. “That was before you got to know me. When you bid on me you were probably thinking I was like my brothers.”
She furrowed her brow at him in confusion. “And aren’t you? Like your brothers?”
He shook his head and a lock of hair fell forward over his eyes. He whipped it back impatiently. “Hell. No. I’m not like them at all. They always know what to say and what to do. You`d never catch them puking themselves green over getting on stage like that.” He hung his head. “Those assholes have their shit together.”
Lauren stared up at his handsome face. Was he really this insecure? It didn’t seem possible. When she looked at him all she saw was the perfect features and the incredible physique. How could he feel he was less worthwhile than his brothers?
He started to ease his body away from hers but she stopped him with one hand on his chest.
“Come here,” she whispered and gently pulled on his collar to encourage him to lower his big body on top of hers.
He hesitated, clearly embarrassed at his outburst about his brothers.
“It’s ok. Come on,” Lauren said, using the soft tone of voice she always employed when her dad was having one of his episodes. Come to think of it, she used the identical tone during thunderstorms when her cat, Brutus, started freaking out. It never failed to relax the two men in her life. She fervently hoped it would work just as well with James.
She nearly crowed in triumph when James closed his eyes and slowly sunk down onto his elbows until their bodies were aligned and his face was buried in her hair.
Lauren wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss against his temple. It was a comforting gesture, not a sexual one but she still felt a small tingle as her naked breasts were squashed against his hard chest. She ignored her body’s enthusiastic reaction to his close proximity and wracked her brain for something clever to say to distract him from his obvious resentment towards his family and embarrassment over his panic attack. Drama was slowly killing her one-night stand and she needed to get it back on track. She had to stop letting her emotions get the best of her. This was about her deprived libido, not her heart.
“I think you’re giving your brothers entirely too much credit.” She raked a hand through the back of his hair, marvelling at its soft texture and wondering idly what kind of conditioner he used to make it feel so silky. “Any sane person looking down at all those frozen faces would have been terrified. Honest to God, I’ve never seen so much Botox in my entire life. Practically everyone in that room looked like The Joker.”
James chuckled against her neck. “Nice try but unfortunately, I’m a hot mess in front of large groups of people. And strangers. Oh yeah. And women, in general.”
She nearly laughed. He had to be joking. A man like him should be completely at ease around people, especially women. They’d probably been fawning all over him his whole blessed life. She must have misunderstood. “Women? What do you mean?”
“I mean, I usually freeze up around them. The attractive ones anyway. I’m usually ok if they’re senior citizens.”
Lauren gaped up at the ceiling of the truck. Did that mean he only dated old ladies? She really couldn’t imagine his fine ass cruising the nursing homes, so what was the alternative? He didn’t date at all? No freaking way.
Lauren cleared her throat. “Um. Are you saying you’re a virgin?” She asked quietly.
He made a choking sound. “Jesus. No. Of course not. Why would you think that?” He reared up on his arms and glared down at her, clearly appalled at her suggestion.
She shrugged. “You just said you were a mess in front of women.”
“I meant that I have trouble forming a coherent sentence around them. Not that I can’t function sexually around them.” He shook his head in disgust. “Jesus. Talk about kneeing a guy in the crotch when he’s down.”
“Fine.” She muttered with a slight eye roll. “I didn’t mean to insult your masculinity or anything.” She patted his chest and he relaxed against her again. His pelvis ground against her as he shifted positions and she had to bite her lip to avoid a little cry of disappointment when he stopped squirming around.
God. Why couldn’t she stop talking and just grab him. He was so intensely grab-worthy, but her curiosity just wouldn’t allow her to let this whole non-verbal dating concept go. “So how do you get to, you know, have sex with women if you can’t talk to them. Do you just grunt and point to your crotch, or what?”
He sighed. “Can we just forget I brought this up? And get back to the part where you thought I was mean. ‘Cause I think I liked that way better than you thinking I’m a pathetic loser.”
“I don’t think that, but I do want to understand how you approach women if you’re as socially awkward as you say.”
“I don’t approach them.”
“How is that possible?”
He mumbled something into her neck.
“What was that?”
James reluctantly repeated himself. “I said, ‘They approach me.’ I’ve never chatted up a woman in my life.”
“You’re kidding me. Women just throw themselves at you? You don’t even have to talk?”
Another long-suffering sigh against her neck. “What can I say? Women don’t come to me looking for great conversation.” He said these words casually, but there was some underlying bitterness in his tone that made Lauren realize exactly how hurt and used he must feel. Any other guy in the world would trade places with him in a heart-beat but in reality they probably wouldn’t like it if no one gave a damn about what was going on above their belt-buckle. Or would they? Men were strange creatures.
Obviously these women James had been with were too preoccupied with his beauty to give a thought to the actual person. But could she blame them? Hadn’t she done the exact same thing? She hadn’t bid on his personality or his soul tonight. She’d been mesmerized by his looks, just like every women he’d been with in his whole lonely life.
“Hold on.” She tugged on his hair to get his attention. “But you’ve been talking to me for most of the night. And I’m not sixty. Does that mean you don’t find me attractive?”
He nudged her with his erection. “Lauren. Seriously? Does that feel like I’m not attracted to you?”
“But you said you could only talk to the aged and unattractive. I’m not a wrinkle-farm so that means you find me repulsive.”
He leaned down and kissed her nose. “I think you’re adorable and sexy and funny. So that’s not it. Yes, I’ve been talking to you, but look how badly that turned out. We could have been heading to round two on the porch by now but I had to open my stupid mouth and try to explain myself.” He shook his head in disgust. “I should really just stick to grunting.” He raised himself back up on his arms and began to shift off of her.
“Wait. Where are you going?” She had the impulse to cling to his neck to keep him on top of her, but didn’t want to seem desperate so she let her hands trail along his really impressive shoulders as he pulled away from her instead.
His face was blank as he responded. “I’m going to drive you home.” He curled his long body away from her and she immediately missed his solid weight nearly flattening her into the seat.
“What? Why? What about round one?”
He stared down at her with his hands on his narrow hips. “You can’t seriously be interested in doing this now. I just turned into a total chick and bared my soul. I’m pretty sure my dick is going to be repossessed after tonight. Not exactly what you were looking for tonight.”
She suddenly didn’t care if she seemed desperate anymore. She knew what she wanted and that was him. All the other stuff didn’t really matter that much compared to connecting with him on some level, even if it was only a sexual one. When she thought about how it would feel to be driven home in silence and dropped off at her door, never to see him again, it became crystal clear that ending this now was not a possibility for her.
At the back of her mind she was very aware that she would have to face the repercussions of her actions later. Her father would make her suffer for abandoning him, of that she had no doubt. So she needed her sacrifice to mean something, if only to make the punishment worthwhile. It seemed like a steep price for a few moments of pleasure but she was willing to pay it as long as she had some good memories of this night, rather than yet another regret to add to her long list.
“If you’re a chick, then I must be a lesbian because I still want you. In fact, I want you more because you were honest and open with me instead of acting like some unfeeling, uber-macho, grunting jerk.” She sat up and reached for the top button of his shirt. She popped it open with a flourish and moved onto the next one as he stared at her in surprise.
And complete and utter lust.
Chapter Five
“Are you sure about this?” James asked, trying not to stare at the truly magnificent breasts just inches away from his face.
When she nodded eagerly and began tugging the tail of his shirt from his waistband, James quickly stood up and began shrugging out of his sleeves while scrambling on the floor for the condom packet he’d dropped earlier with one hand.
His movements were awkward and frenzied but he didn’t give a damn. He was usually pretty smooth once the clothes started coming off but not tonight. Fortunately for him, the girl beneath him didn’t even notice his clumsy attempt to escape his own shirt, which seemed to have grown tentacles. She was too busy running her hands over his naked torso to even notice his struggle. All his days and nights lifting lumber and pounding nails seemed entirely worth it to see the look of naked admiration on her face as she traced each and every one of his stomach muscles as if wanting to memorize them with her fingertips.
When he finally ripped the stubborn garment from his shoulders he grinned in triumph before throwing it across the truck where it smacked loudly against the driver-side window. Lauren giggled and pulled him down to her again. He felt both her arms and her legs wrap tightly around him as her mouth found his and she kissed him, gently at first but then with some real aggression that made his dick twitch and jump between them in appreciation.
God, he loved it when she tried to take control. It made him want to spend the rest of the night showing her exactly who was in charge, and it certainly wasn’t this dark-haired little minx who was so reserved on the outside but was actually pretty damn freaky once you got past that serene veneer.
He also loved the fact that she didn’t seem disgusted by how much he’d revealed about himself earlier. He didn’t know much about the fairer sex but one thing he was pretty certain about was that no woman wanted a whiner and he had definitely taken a ride on the wussy-train tonight. He never talked about his little verbal constipation problem with anyone, not even his family and yet with her he’d gone ahead and shared, not just his problem talking to women, which was bad enough, but he’d also gone ahead and revealed his resentment towards his brothers. What had he been thinking?
His thoughts were interrupted by her small hand inching its way down his stomach towards his aching cock. Jeez. If she even brushed her hand over his straining fly he was going to embarrass himself, big-time. He was already desperate to come. Being a gentleman sucked but he always ensured his partner was satisfied before he got his turn. He took pride in this one small consideration to all the women who’d used him in the past and he wasn’t going to turn into a selfish lover now, not when it actually mattered.
Whoah. What?
He was obviously having some kind of psychotic break. This woman didn’t matter to him. They’d just met. He was obviously confusing guilt with something more. She wasn’t his type at all. He just felt bad that she’d wasted her money bidding on him. He was just trying to make it up to her, that’s all. Nothing more than that. Once he’d rocked her world a few times he could drop her off and feel good about how they’d ended things. Then he could move on to someone who hadn’t seen him nearly blow chunks on stage. Or just stick with The Harem. They didn`t confuse him or demand anything from him. He could do worse than unlimited sex with three beautiful women. Then why did the thought of them kind of disgust him now? Maybe because next to Lauren, they seemed cheap, easy and fake.
That was ridiculous. He didn’t even know her last name or a single thing about her. Well, besides the fact that she smelled like strawberries and really seemed to like kissing. She was acting like his mouth was made from the last piece of chocolate on the planet and she wanted to savour every lick and nibble of the delectable treat.
Not that he was complaining. Kissing Lauren was amazing. She was so focused and responsive, he felt like she was totally present with him, just enjoying the moment instead of expecting him to perform like some kind of porn star. He was shocked to find that she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely even though he wasn’t doing anything other than returning her kisses. Unlike some of his other partners who seemed to have Sexual Attention Deficit Disorder, she wasn’t constantly changing positions every five seconds or screaming obscenities or trying to display her body from the most flattering angle. Even weirder, she didn’t need any toys or pain or games to stay interested. All she needed was him and for James that was a complete novelty.
He was surrounded by her sweet-smelling flesh. It should have felt claustrophobic to have her wrapped so tightly around him but he had no impulse to pull away from her. Usually missionary position was too intimate for him but with her it seemed right, especially considering the amazing view it afforded of her large, rounded breasts with the impossibly pale, pink nipples.
He kissed his way down her neck until his face was buried between those superb breasts. He could feel one of her small hands tangled in his hair as the other toyed with the button on his pants. Her ankles were locked in the small of his back and she was pushing her mound rhythmically against the hard bulge behind his zipper. He could feel her wet heat sliding against him and it took every single bit of restraint he had in him not to yank open his fly and sink into her in one violent, yet satisfying, thrust.
He began calculating room dimensions in his head to avoid disaster. He hadn`t used this technique since he was a kid but he called on it now and it nearly worked. Until she slid her silky fingers into his pants and squeezed the head of his cock. That was all it took to nearly send him over the edge. Again.
He froze as her hand closed around his shaft and slowly slid down his aching length. Dammit. That felt so good his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. He definitely couldn’t take much of that, so he reached down and gently tugged her hand away from his crotch and raised it over her head, pressing her knuckles into the seat.
“Did you not like that?” She asked, looking up at him with hurt eyes.
He gritted his teeth and shook his head. “I liked it. Too much.”
An expression of glee spread over her face. She grinned up at him. “Seriously? That’s fantastic.”
He rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t think it was so fantastic if you were the one about to embarrass yourself for the second time tonight.”
She smoothed his hair back from his forehead with her free hand and gave him a look that was full of tenderness and trust. “I’m going to take that as the ultimate compliment. So thank you.”
If she kept looking at him like that he was going to do something really foolish, like beg her to stay with him. Forever. But he couldn’t do that. He’d sound insane. As usual, no clever words came to mind. For about the millionth time in his life, James didn’t know what to say, so he leaned down and kissed the rosy tip of one breast instead.
Lauren’s free hand tightened in his hair, holding his mouth to her breast with surprising strength. He sucked hard on her nipple, drawing it deep into his mouth as he reached down and pushed his pants down his hips. His aching dick was suddenly blessedly free and he nearly hissed as the cool evening air hit his sensitized flesh.
He grasped his cock tightly in his fist. It felt huge and hot in his hand. He stroked himself slowly as he feasted on her breasts.
“James. Please. Now.” He heard Lauren cry as she arched her back, pushing her breast deeper into his mouth.
Unable to wait another second, James reared back and stood between her spread legs. He let go of her hand and grabbed the condom from the seat above her head. He ripped the foil open with his teeth and clumsily slid the latex down his length, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t rip it in his impatience.
When the condom was situated he reached down to cup her pussy with his hand. She was incredibly wet and hot against his fingers as he tugged her panties to the side and guided himself towards her center.
He hesitated, watching her face as he ran the head of his cock along her slit. She was biting her lip and her eyes were tightly closed. Both of her arms were now thrown over her head in complete abandon. She looked utterly beautiful as she waited for him to fill her with his cock.
