No Strings Attached (9 page)

Lifting my chin, he asked, “You okay?”

I nodded, then fell into his arms again. I somehow knew we were moving too fast. We were well passed the point of friends and heading toward something more. I wasn't quite sure which one I was more comfortable with. Keeping our friendship would leave an odd tension between us, but if we continued in the direction we were headed, it could make matters worse.

Only if you mess it up.
And given my track record...

“You're over thinking things again,” Thayre said, playing with my hair.

“How—”

“You got quiet, and after seeing you play music for so long, it doesn't take a genius to know when you aren't mentally in the room.”

“Sorry.” I sat up, but I didn't look at him.

“Don't be.” He brushed my cheek and met my gaze. “If you aren't comfortable with this, we can go downstairs.”

I shook my head and reached for the top button of his shirt. “I think—I want this.”

He cupped his hands around mine, removing them from his shirt. “Then lie down. Same as before.”

I frowned, and was about to ask him why this particular position was so important, but the playful smile on his face was answer enough for me. So, with a little more confidence than before, I returned to the middle of the mattress, making sure my butt was on the edge of the bed and that my legs hung off.

“Eyes closed.”

I took a breath then shut my eyes. By now, the music from earlier was gone, replaced by yet another, equally as mesmerizing melody. And again, I found myself focusing on the music, on where to place my hands on the violin if I were to play along with it.

I gasped when Thayre pressed his lips to mine, and suddenly I was in his room, breathing him in as he deepened our kiss. I sat up so I could work on his shirt, and this time, he didn't stop me. Lost in our kiss, we pulled at each other's clothing, unbuttoning buttons before parting to remove our shirts completely.

Thayre unclasped my bra and added it to the pile, keeping one arm behind my back as he lowered me onto the bed.

“You have any idea how fucking beautiful you are?” He kissed my lips. The side of my neck, slowly moving toward my collarbone. My shoulder. “Just perfect.”

He fondled one of my breasts, gently sucking on the hard nipple as he used his free hand to work on the button to my pants. Lightheaded and a little dizzy, I couldn't keep my eyes open even if I'd wanted to. Between the melody of what was playing in the room and what he was doing with his hands, I was lucky I could still breathe.

I arched my back away from the bed as he drew away from me, using both hands to remove what was left of my clothing. Then everything stopped. Like before, he was quiet, but I honestly couldn't say where he was in the room.

“Fuck,” I released a hiss of breath when he touched a finger to my clit.

“Feet on the bed,” Thayre said somewhere below me. I pressed my heels into the mattress, and with his direction, I parted my legs. “Like that.”

I was tempted to open my eyes and look at him, but not knowing was as exciting as whatever he'd planned on doing next. The front of my mind tingled as I mentally scanned my immediate surroundings for Thayre. I knew he was close. I could hear his even breaths, but he wasn't close enough for me to feel them, yet.

But anytime I thought I heard something—every time I was sure I felt warmth hovering above my skin—I tensed. My clit throbbed, and I bit my bottom lip to keep from moaning or worse—moaning from my own frustration.

I was sexually in need of release. Sure, I'd had my fair share of one-night stands, but they either ended before we reached the bed or the man I was with hadn't bothered to pleasure me before doing the same for himself.

And while Thayre and I had slept together, this was different. The awkwardness of our first night together had passed, and we were rapidly heading into unknown territory. I wanted this—needed this—to sub for him. Though I couldn't say if the same went for him.

I swallowed and took an uneven breath. I ached to open my eyes and see where he was. To keep my eyes shut and relinquish all of myself to whatever he had planned. I wanted to reach out to him and touch his skin, his abs. Instead, I placed my hands palm down on the comforter of the bed, clawing at the fabric as Thayre's hands held on to both of my legs.

“Oh God,” I exhaled, and lifted my head off the bed.

Thayre's tongue on my clit. Two fingers parted my pussy lips, slipping inside a moment later to hook against my G-spot. At this point, wearing a blindfold wouldn't have mattered. There was no way in hell I'd be opening my eyes anytime soon.

Alternating between sucking on my clit and circling it with his tongue, Thayre kept the thrusts of his fingers even, never going any faster than was necessary for me to feel that cool flame coiling around the base of my spine. Already I was nearing my climax. All it would take from him was a little more pressure on my G-spot, or to keep doing those circles around my clit.

They stopped. He withdrew his fingers, and I whimpered as much from the absence as the taste of my pussy on his lips when he kissed me.

“Let me...” I licked my lips. “I want to suck you.” I pressed a hand against the swell in his pants and smiled when I was rewarded with a groan.

“Later,” he said, almost too quiet for me to hear. “But I want to fuck you first.”

I shuddered. “You won't get any arguments from me.”

“Good.” Another kiss. Then he stood to get a condom from his nightstand. “Stay right where you are.”

He quickly got out of his pants and tore the foil with his teeth, grimacing as he rolled the condom on his hard cock. My mouth watered at the thought of tasting him, but that could come later, after I'd had him inside me.

He returned to the foot of the bed, and without any warning, he thrust inside, stealing all the air from the room. I gripped at the bed sheets. Rocked my hips and drew him in as deep as he could go. His shaft brushed my G-spot, spending ripples of endorphins all throughout my body.

There was no going slow this time. No teasing. Thayre's abs trembled from exertion as he withdrew. Thrust in again, all the while, circling my clit with the pad of his thumb.

“So fucking tight,” he said, his teeth chattering the slightest bit.

I smiled and tightened my Kegels, laughing when his breath caught.

“It's going to be like that, is it?” He exhaled. Thrust harder. “Think you can do that until we finish?”

I shivered. “Depends on how fast you go.”

Without saying another word, he strengthened his strokes, thrusting hard and fast while I tried, and failed to tighten my kegel muscles around him. But even then, he didn't stop. I begged my eyes to stay open, to focus on his hips and the way he fucked my clit with his hand. I knew I wouldn't last long, and given the way his breath caught, neither would he.

“Let me feel you come,” he said, slowing his thrusts so they were on this side of bearable.

I took a breath. Held it. Closed my eyes and let my head fall back. He circled my clit one way, then the other. Every time I thought I had a handle on his rhythm, it would change, and we'd have to start all over again. But each time we did, it took less time for me to reach that point of too close and close enough so I wasn't tumbling over the edge.

I growled around my frustration when he changed the speed for the hundredth time. By now, I was fighting to hold on that much longer. I knew I didn't need his permission, but his thrusts had slowed to a crawl, which either meant he was nowhere near finishing, or he was edging himself as much as he'd been doing for me.

“You're close,” he said, drawing me to his presence in the room. “I can feel it. Your clit's so fucking hard. All it would take is one. Good. Thrust.”

“Oh. My. God.”

He thrust hard against my G-spot, and white specs crowded my vision. I took a breath. Held it again, but every thrust forced the air right out of my lungs. I grabbed at the sheets. Lifted my back off the bed. Snapped my mouth shut to stifle a moan.

And, thank God, this time he didn't stop. My pussy convulsed around his cock, getting tighter with every thrust as he sent me over the razor thin edge.

“I'm gonna...
fuck.
”

The room fell silent. My hearing was lost behind my orgasm. I didn't care. Not when it felt this good, and certainly not when I was with him. Thayre said something, but hell if I could understand the words. I was a million miles above the bed.

He thrust in as far as he could go. Once. Twice, gripping at my hips as he let a low groan and came.

I shivered, and once I found my way to Earth, Thayre had me under the covers of the bed.

“Would you be up for seconds?” he asked, getting up to throw the condom into a nearby trash bin.

“Give me five minutes,” I said, my hands shaking when I sat up, “and I will be.”

He smiled, then joined me in bed. “Good, because I'm not done with you yet.”

F
riday morning, I could barely move. Every time I bent over to grab some silverware, my muscles complained. But I smiled, as much from the memory as the cause. In total, I think I may have gotten two hours of sleep, if that. After coming for the third or fourth time, I lost count.

And what amazed me was Thayre could go for as long as I did. I'd never heard of men who were capable of climaxing multiple times in one evening, but he showed me it wasn't only possible, he was also hard to keep up with.

My mind was in a fog for most of the day. My second wind had come and gone by the time the lunch rush was over, and I still had four hours to go before I could call it quits.

I was in the process of carrying a tray of dirty dishes to the washroom when a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Jason asked, not waiting for me to turn around.

“Yeah, just let me put these in the back.”

“No. Now.”

I shrugged my arm away from him, set the bin on the counter, then faced him. “Can this wait until after hours? If you haven't noticed, we're shorthanded today. Lisa's out.”

“I know—I fired her.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Thought that would get your attention. And no, this can't wait. My office. Now.”

I dropped my gaze, wiped my hands off on my apron and followed him into his excuse for a workspace. It was a mess, just like everything else in this place. It didn't even have enough room for a desk and more than one chair. He sat while I stood.

“Close the door.” Once I did, he continued. “Seeing as performance is low, I'm going to need you to stay late tonight and cover Lisa's shift tomorrow.”

The hell I will.
As it was, I'd already worked close to sixty hours this week. Covering the rest of tonight, tomorrow and Sunday was way past my limit. Not like I hadn't exceeded it already.

“I can't,” I said, not looking at him. “I have plans tomorrow.”

“So cancel them.”

I clenched my jaw. “You're in a bind, I get it, but I can't cancel plans I made weeks in advance.” It was a lie of course, but he didn't need to know that.

“You can and will if you want your job to still be here on Monday.”

I glared at him. “And lose another part of the wait staff?” Without Lisa, I was the only one around willing or foolish enough to run double shifts. He didn't have enough staff to cover everything else. “Besides, you can't fire me because I don't work on a day I had off. You'll have to handle tomorrow on your own. I'll stay tonight, and come in early on Sunday, but tomorrow isn't an option.”
I promised Thayre last night I'd go to practice with him.
I turned to open the door, pausing to add, “Do me a favor and interview the new staff yourself. I don't have time to run interviews, much less have enough time to train them before they're kicked out again.”

I didn't wait for a response, and fortunately, he didn't bother me the rest of the day. I rarely talked back to my boss, but I was sick and tired of getting dragged around because of his mistakes.
You really need to get a better job.
I could worry about that later,
after
I met up with Thayre.

* * * * *

P
unching the address into my GPS Saturday morning, I made the fifteen-minute drive from my place to where Thayre and Transcendence were practicing that day. He'd mentioned the other night how it was in town, but he failed to say anything about it being right next to Town Hall.

As I went in search of a good parking space, I could see their music had drawn a crowd. A few people gathered on the corner outside the building, possibly listening to whatever snippets made it past those pale brick walls.

Checking the clock on my dash, I still had time before I was scheduled to meet with him. He'd actually offered to take me with him, but looking back on when we practiced in school, having an audience first thing in the morning was unnerving. And if these kids were around the same age as Tabby, it was probably the last thing they needed.

So, once I'd gotten out of my car, I moved away from the bit of music I could hear and decided to check the local bookstore instead. I'd planned on going in to browse the new titles until I noticed a flyer in the window for Transcendence. Confused as to why I hadn't noticed it before, I walked to the next store, which also had a flyer in the window.

It highlighted a show they had coming up in a few weeks, and while it wasn't Webster Hall, it still left butterflies in my stomach.
You haven't agreed to anything yet.
I'd only come here to watch them practice. I just had to keep telling myself that.

Passing by the bookstore again, I kept walking. I could've gone to the Music Barn a few streets over, but what was the point of coveting a violin I couldn't afford? I shoved my hands in my pockets and headed toward Town Hall.

The crowd outside was larger now. The closer I got to the building, the louder the music became. The butterflies in my stomach grew.

Steeling myself for whatever waited beyond those wooden doors, I took a breath, then stepped inside. The hallway in front of me was lined with doors on both sides, along with photos of local monuments.