Friend Zone (2 page)

“Yeah?” I hoped to sound indifferent, but the groan that escaped his throat told me I’d failed as miserably as he had.

Instead of answering, he moved his hands to my stomach where he pulled my shirt up enough to put them on my skin. Another shiver shook me, and he must have taken that as all the permission he needed.

His fingers roamed up my ribcage as his mouth moved to my ear. His breath was hot as he exhaled against me. His hips shifted to rub his cock against my ass as his hands cupped my breasts, and I lost it.

“Fuck, Sage,” I cried, my body arching upward against his fingers that were now pinching my nipples through my bra. “God damn it, if you are fucking with me, I swear I will—”

Before I could finish the threat, his lips were on mine. I melted into him, my arm moving up to wrap around his neck as I finally turned around and pressed the front of my body to his.

His fingers fisted into my hair as his tongue and mouth ravaged mine. I whimpered at the feel of his lips, his hands, his cock all pressed against me. It was sensation overload. After not having been touched by anyone in six months, I was afraid I would come just from the feel of the skin-on-skin contact.

“Teagan,” he said as he pulled back to look at me. “I’m only going to ask this one time. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It is going to ruin our friendship?” I asked, searching his gaze to see if he would lie to me.

“It might,” he said. I recognized the honesty on his features, and it was enough to bolster my confidence to move forward.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out, huh?”

Chapter Three

Sage urged me to get up then he followed to his feet. His chest heaved as he stared down at me, and I couldn’t help but give him a small smile. This was so strange, but for some reason, it felt completely right. This was Sage. My best friend. Anything that happened tonight would be all right because we loved and trusted each other. At least, that was what I was telling myself.

He was still looking at me as if he didn’t know what to do next. Fighting an eye roll, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head, dropping it to the floor as I kicked off my shoes and toed my socks from my feet.

Finally, Sage copied my actions, though he didn’t stop there. After he dropped his shirt, he reached for the button on my jeans and popped it open. I gasped, and he cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Changing your mind?” he asked.

“No,” I said, though my voice wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked it to be. “This isn’t just a game to you, is it?”

“Teagan.” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his embrace, one hand lifting my chin to force me to look up at him. “I have wanted you for ten years, but your friendship has always been too important to me to risk it for a tumble.”

“And now, it’s not?” I asked.

“Now, it’s time to move forward. We’ve got our friendship. I want to know what else we can have.”

“What an absolutely girly thing to say,” I said, with a smirk.

“Hey, I’m trying for honesty here,” he admitted, and he actually sounded hurt.

“I’m sorry.” I was, truly, but I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. “But come on, that’s not us. Yes, you’re my very best friend, and yes, I love you, and Jesus Christ, I fucking want you like you wouldn’t believe. But don’t go all romantic on me. Please. We are not hearts and flower people. We are beer, pizza and
Star Trek
people. That’s why we work. Don’t cock it up with words. Pick me up, take me to bed, and fuck me until I can’t move.”

One thing I can say for Sage is that he is a good listener. Without pausing for another breath, he whisked me into his arms and carried me straight to the bedroom where he literally dropped me onto the mattress so hard I actually bounced a few times before settling back against the pillows.

He undid the button on his jeans and shimmied them down his legs while I struggled to get mine off, as well. When I looked back at him my heart leapt to my throat. He stood next to me completely naked, and he was beautiful. I climbed to my knees and crawled over to him, my hands sliding up his pecs before wrapping around his neck and pulling him down to kiss me.

His tongue parted my lips as his fingers undid the clasp on my bra. When he worked it free, he moved backward so he could slide the fabric down my arms and drop it to the floor. His body pushed me backward as he climbed onto the mattress and over me.

My body was a bundle of nerves, all on edge, and as his hips parted my thighs and I felt the pressure of his cock against my clit, even through my panties, that small contact sent me writhing over the edge. The tight coil that had built in my stomach unleashed a torrent of curses from my mouth as I screamed my release into the room.

“Damn,” Sage said with a grin.

Heat rose up my cheeks in embarrassment at how easily he had made me come.

“Hey,” he said, placing a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. “Baby, it’s okay. There are going to be a lot more where that came from.”

I didn’t doubt that at all, but it didn’t make it any less humiliating.

Apparently, Sage felt the best way to relieve my self-consciousness was to get me riled up again. His hand slid between our bodies, and his fingers delved inside my panties, parting my lips and rubbing hard circles over my clit.

My back bowed at his touch, pressing my breasts against his chest. A scream caught in my throat, and his tongue sliding into my mouth turned the sound into a moan that rumbled through my chest. Over and over, his digits worked at my soaked slit while his tongue mimicked the movements inside my mouth. I could feel the heat rising in my body, the electric pulse of orgasm growing closer and closer to shattering. Just as the pressure seemed ready to break, he removed his hand and pulled back to look at me.

“Hey,” I complained, my voice taut with frustration.

“What?” he asked, a slow smile spreading across his lips. “Just a minute ago, you were embarrassed about coming. Now, you’re so greedy you expect me to make you come again? Damn, I can’t win with you.”

“For fuck’s sake, Sage,” I said as I flung my arm over my eyes in exasperation. “Of course, I want to come again. I haven’t had orgasms in months. Why in the hell did you stop?”

“Because I want you to come with my tongue in that pretty little pussy,” he whispered against my ear.

I shuddered at his words, the movement turning into a shiver as he kissed his way down my body. He paused to suck first one then the other nipple between his teeth. His hand pinched each in turn then alternated, rolling one nub between his thumb and finger while the other tip was being nibbled, switching back and forth until I thought I would scream in frustration.

His dark gaze flicked up to me, and he smiled around my breast before finally releasing my sensitive nipples and continuing his descent toward my drenched slit.

His thumbs hooked into my panties and slid them down my legs, discarding them before he shifted his body to rest between my thighs. He smiled up at me and winked before lowering his mouth to my aching cunt.

Stars exploded behind my eyelids as my head fell back against the pillows, my body unable to control any muscle functions as he lapped at my slit. His tongue swirled my clit, laving it slowly before he pulled it between his lips. As his finger penetrated my channel, release finally found me again.

My fingers curled into the bedding as I cried out his name and struggled to keep from bucking against his face. Sparks shot through every nerve ending as wave upon wave of pleasure took me.

Sage continued to work my clit and pump his finger inside of me, adding a second when my body finally stopped writhing beneath him.

“I want you,” I said, the words coming out as more of a sob. “Please, Sage, get up here and fuck me.”

Though I had asked him to move, I still felt hollow at the loss of his fingers inside me. Knowing they would soon be replaced with Sage’s cock wasn’t enough to keep me from sighing at the emptiness that suddenly overtook me.

He had rolled off the bed and fumbled with something on the floor. I was about to ask him what he was doing when I heard the familiar rip of a condom wrapper being opened. Thank goodness, he still had his wits about him. I was so far gone I might have just pulled him on top of me and impaled myself on his member without a thought of protection.

He climbed back onto the bed and crawled over me, positioning himself between my legs. He pressed his lips to mine, and I tasted the flavor of myself on his tongue.

“God, you’re so beautiful when you come,” he said as he moved to trail hot kisses across my throat and neck. “I could make you do that for the rest of our lives and be completely happy.”

His words made my throat clench. I would be lying if I said I’d never, during all our years of friendship, thought about what this would be like. How he would be in bed. If he would ever deign to be in mine. Part of me had even wondered if we could ever make it as a couple, but I’d tried never to dwell on that line of thought. It had always seemed too farfetched to become a reality.

But now, here he was in my bed. About to be inside me. And he seemed to be considering the two of us being more than just friends when this was over. Before I could ask him if he meant what he’d just said he tilted his hips and pushed his full length inside me in one motion. My nails dug into his shoulders at the immediate fullness that racked my body. It had been so long since I’d shared this with anyone, and to be in the arms of my best friend was more than I could stand.

Once again, I found myself in a humiliating position with him as tears pricked at my eyes then fell down my cheeks. I was too far gone to have any emotional control at this point. It was so confusing to feel this way about a man I used to tease was a real-life,
Afterschool Special
about the dangers of necking with boys. And here I was crying underneath him like an idiot.

“Teagan,” he said, his voice rough against my ear. “It’s all right. What can I do?”

“Just shut up and fuck me.”

Sage looked down at me and winked. I only had a moment to worry about what that meant before he took me at my word and started to piston his hips against me. His hands went under my ass and lifted me, holding my body at an angle that allowed the tip of his cock to rocket against that sweet nub inside of me that I’d barely ever felt touched before.

Over and over, he struck that spot, hard and fast, until I felt a pressure building inside me that I’d never before experienced. It was as if a giant ball of fire gathered in a place that had never even felt heat. Part of me was afraid I may actually blow apart when the dam inside my body finally broke.

Every muscle in my body tensed, and it felt as if I didn’t even know what to do with the pleasure I was feeling.

“Just let go,” Sage grunted as he looked down at me. “Baby, you have to let go.”

I could see the strain in his face as he struggled to hold back his own pleasure long enough for me to experience mine. But it was all so new I just didn’t know how. Finally, Sage moved one of his hands and pressed against my clit, just pulsing against me until my body couldn’t take the combined assault and everything went black. I heard myself crying out Sage’s name, felt him dig his nails into my hip as he too screamed and his cock started to spasm in my pussy. But within seconds of my body being dropped to the mattress and the pressure of Sage falling on top of me, silence took over the darkness.

Chapter Four

“Teagan?” Sage’s voice sounded far away as he called my name. “Teagan, baby, wake up. Are you all right?”

My eyelids fluttered a few times before they would finally stay open and allow me to focus on Sage’s grinning face.

“What happened?” I mumbled.

“I think I fucked you into unconsciousness,” he said, his tone full of pride. “Are you okay?”

“Mm-hmm,” I replied as I burrowed myself deeper into the pillows.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and I felt the mattress shift then heard the bathroom door close on the other side of the room.

I blinked a couple times and was glad to find that after a few more minutes, I could keep my eyes open, but my body was completely spent. I wasn’t sure I could walk if the apartment burst into flames. I would probably just have to lie in bed and die.

Sage came back and climbed under the covers. He propped himself up on his elbow and smiled at me.

“Thank you,” I said as a yawn broke the words. “I really needed that.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied. He leaned over and kissed me softly. “I meant what I said, you know.”

“Which part?” I asked.

“The part about spending the rest of my life watching you come. Hell, I could just spend forever watching you in general.”

“Where is this coming from?” I asked him. “You’ve never once acted like you wanted anything more than friendship from me.”

“Because I didn’t. I mean I did, I always did, but… Look, Teagan, when I met you I was a stupid kid with a lot of stupid things I had to do before I could be the man you deserve. I wasn’t ready for you.”

“And now you are?” I asked.

“I know I don’t have a great track record with women. But I think it’s because I always knew my future was with you. I was just sort of biding my time until we were both ready to take the next step.”

“So, this wasn’t just a tumble for you?” I asked, wanting to be absolutely sure he was saying what I thought he was saying.

“No, Teag.” He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. And I’d like the chance to prove it to you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“This isn’t going to be easy, you know. Neither of us are exactly relationship material.” I smiled. “I mean, I’d love to try, but you have to promise me that this isn’t going to destroy our friendship. I love being your friend even more than I love being fucked unconscious.”

“I find that hard to believe,” he said as he cocked an eyebrow.