Real Challenge (Atlanta #2) (18 page)

She laughed at him and saw him smiling that dimple at her while she completely showed him up. By the time she was almost done with the cool down, she was on the floor supine, breathing with her hands resting soft on her belly, Scott was beside her again.
 

“This part I can totally do,” he said. “You know what else I can do?”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

He rolled over on top of her and said with an ornery grin, “Then I’ll just show you.”

He took her right there on the yoga mat, pausing only for the damn interruption of getting a condom.

Chapter Nine

By early evening they still were unwilling to be apart. Cassie fixed them some pasta for dinner and they sat on the floor by the steamer trunk while they ate. The atmosphere was so relaxed and fun. Scott could not believe he was sitting on the floor, casually eating dinner with a woman he loved. He would have laughed at anyone who would have predicted this. He hadn’t officially said the words yet, but he was fairly sure she knew anyway.

The change in him was immense. Before Cassie, he was the consummate player, and even though he tried to fall back into that persona when he was out with Sean, the whole night was wrong. He tried to be that player again, but he just wasn’t that guy anymore. Cassie shifted his thinking as surely as an earthquake shifted the landscape. Once again, he realized that every force-of-nature metaphor fit her in every way. And she was his.

After clearing the dishes, Cassie walked into the living room and sat down straddling Scott’s lap right there on the floor.
 

“Is it weird that I want to take you back to the barn?”

Scott laughed. “Not weird. Is it weird that I like your fort like I’m a 12-year-old again?”

Cassie smiled so broadly. “Nope. But I don’t plan on treating you like one once we get there.”

“I can live with that,” he said grinning. “But since I can be every kind of honest with you, I’ll just say it. I want to keep you there all night. I’m going to be totally irresponsible and call in sick tomorrow. Want to play hooky with me?”

“I don’t even need to. I don’t have a shift until Wednesday,” she said with a genuine smile of excitement. “There’s a bag in my closet. Pack me some clothes and I’ll pack food.”

 
She loved this new boldness completely. He said exactly what he wanted and didn’t hesitate to ask. From what she could tell, Scott was catching on to why she lived the way she did.

Early Monday evening the couple was at the barn, climbing up the ladder. Scott had the duffle bag strap slung across his chest as they navigated through the bales and into the fort. Cassie flipped on the lantern while Scott unpacked the bag. Cassie had changed into comfy cotton shorts and a thin cotton hoodie back at home so she would be plenty comfortable when they got there. They sat down once they got in the fort’s living area. Scott was in a pair of cotton track pants and a tight tank top, looking so sexy to Cassie.
 

He sat with one knee up and his arm was resting across it. The pose showed off his broad shoulders and narrow waist perfectly and he smiled when he caught her staring. She knew he was sitting like that on purpose, so she struck a pose of her own, resting on her hip to the side and looking up at him through her lashes, pushing her chest out a bit. Now Scott took a turn to stare. He could tell she had no bra under her shirt and her excitement already showed in her nipples pushing hard against the thin fabric of her hoodie.
 

Cassie grinned at his reaction but only invited him to a game of cards. They spent the next hour chatting and claiming ultimate victory over whichever game they played. By that time they were very relaxed in their private world. After one final rummy domination, Cassie announced that she was hungry. She grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the soft-sided cooler they brought and handed one to Scott. They both ate pb&j and sipped from juice boxes. She laughed at his response.

“This is only making me feel more like I’m twelve again,” he laughed.

“Here, let me help you fix that. I bet this never happened when you were twelve…” She sat up on her knees and pulled her hoodie off, freeing her breasts and sitting topless across from him.

“No, that definitely never happened when I was twelve.” He tackled her down on the blanket while she laughed at his sudden lunge. She stopped laughing, however, and only gasped when she felt his mouth suddenly suck in one of her hard nipples. He pinched at the other one and she writhed under him enticingly.
 

Cassie didn’t hesitate. She tugged at his tank top until the fabric was over his head. She marveled again at his broad shoulders and perfectly muscled chest. She squeezed his biceps and loved how thick and strong they were. She absolutely thrilled at the heat of his skin along hers.
 

And this time, he was so playful with her, kissing her and tickling her and grinning while he teased her. Unlike their usual frenzied passion or sweet, soft encounters, this time their building love showed through in pure fun mixed with pleasure. She loved the moment as much as she loved him.

She was still enjoying the attention his mouth was giving her nipples and she laced her fingers up through his hair and back down again to his neck, trying to cause the skin behind his ear to tingle. She brushed her fingers feather-light over his back and he responded with some extra squirming and light laughter from the pleasurable irritation. They both alternated between breathy giggles and full-on moans of pleasure as their hands teased each other through some highly erotic playtime.
 

Soon she felt his hand move down her stomach and straight under her shorts. He moaned a loud, playful “Oh, baby…” when he found nothing under them but her wet opening. He grinned at her with a heated smile, watching her react as his fingers swirled around her clit and her folds, while his other hand tickled along her ribs, driving her crazy with squirming, giggly, breathy desire.
 

His tongue danced along the bottom of her ribs, adding to the wriggling need to respond to the sensory assault on her already electrified skin. She moved her hips in rhythm with his hand and moaned loudly through her own smile when two of his fingers entered her. The playful intensity consumed them both. Scott tickled behind her knee while his other hand got her so close to orgasm. She was laughing and moaning at the same time. A hot sound that combined “ah” with joyful laughter flew from Cassie’s chest when she came.
 

“Cassie, you are so damn sexy,” he said, looking at her and laughing along with her. “You are seriously the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Every time I see you come apart like that, I swear I want you again even more.”

“Mmmmm,” she giggled, still riding the endorphin high. “Keep saying stuff like that and you’ll have me addicted to you for sure.”

He looked back into her smiling eyes and saw the truth. She loved him, too. His playful smile turned sincere as he kissed a trail gently along her lips and held her hand to his chest. They held each other for a long moment when Cassie laid herself back down on the blanket. Their smiles were softer now, but certainly not smaller. He laid down beside her, but then looked at her and seemed a little puzzled.

“What?” Cassie asked, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
 

“I have a question for you,” Scott said, rubbing Cassie’s arm sweetly.

“Ok,” she answered, leaning away from him to rest her head on the pillow so she could look at him.
 

“You asked me at Marcus and Erin’s party about who I am and a couple of times since then, and no matter what answer I give you, you weren’t satisfied, which by the way was very irritating. I think I’m starting to understand, but I have to know. What was that all about?”

Cassie smiled at him. “At the party, it was mostly about knocking your ego down a peg or two by making you squirm.”

“Huh,” he laughed. “And the rest of it?”

“Well, I guess from my experience, I’ve found that most people don’t really know who they are. They do all sorts of things to impress people or put on airs to try to fit into whatever mold they’ve decided they belong in. But that’s it. None of that is real and neither were you. But even so, I was having fun playing with you,” she said, still smiling.
 

He chuckled at her assessment of him. “I suppose you’re right. I
was
all…what do you call it? Oh, yeah. ‘strut and charm’. But what do you think now?”

“I think you’re closer to real than I ever would have thought. You’re real when you kiss me and when you called me irritating. You were real when you talked about Athens and when you took me swimming. You are real every time you tell me straight what you need — no games. You are
so real
every time we have sex. Don’t get me wrong…I can’t get enough of your playful side, too, but I like those other moments
completely
.”

“But you still don’t think I’m real all the time?”

“No. You still try too hard, but I see through it,” Cassie said quietly. “But that’s not an insult or even a bad thing. Some people don’t find themselves for who they really are for a long time. I was just lucky enough to know who I was the minute I left my house on my eighteenth birthday. I was triumphant and I was free. Joy is who I am and fun is what I do. And I know who you are, even if you don’t yet.”
 

Scott tucked her hair behind her ear and thought about what she said. “So who am I?”

“I can’t
tell
you. You have to figure it out on your own to make it count,” she said softly.
 

“It must take a lot of true confidence to be real all the time,” Scott said quietly.

“It really does. Most people don’t get me. I get a lot of condescending looks, but it only makes me feel bad for the people giving them. There’s no way they are their true selves if they’re worried about what I’m doing.”

“I always considered myself confident, you know. I succeed everywhere — work, school, sports — everywhere. But what you’re talking about is a whole different definition of confidence I think.”

Cassie smiled when he said that. “What you just described sounds more like arrogance, not confidence. Confidence is what helped you achieve those goals, arrogance is what you get when you strut around because of them.” She leaned over toward him and kissed him fully. “And just so you know, you are very real right now.”

He returned her kiss and held her tightly. She saw into him, and stayed right there beside him. Being so thoroughly accepted was a powerful feeling.

“But now it’s my turn for a question,” Cassie said directly.

“What is it?”

“I’m going bold here, so buckle up and brace yourself.”

“Now you’ve got me scared,” he laughed. “But consider me braced. Lay it on me.”

“Do you have any STDs?”

“Holy crap, Cassie,” he laughed out loud. He was definitely not prepared for that question. “You said I had to brace myself, but you didn’t say I needed a five-point harness and a roll-bar.”

“Well?”

“No, absolutely not. I’ve never been with anyone unprotected.”

“Do you want to be?”

He laughed again and his eyebrows went up in shock. “What?”

“I’m not really hinting here, Scott. I went on the pill about two weeks after we met, and I’ve never
not
used protection either. So, there you have it.”

“Are you serious about this? You went on the pill because of me?”

“I think I already knew you were it for me,” she said matter-of-factly. She pushed him over onto his back to pull his track pants off. She saw him stare at her, still in shock over their conversation.
 

She ripped him down to his core about his confidence, and tore him wide open by wanting him anyway. She could tell his head was spinning. She gave him a moment to consider what she said, and used the time to lean over to the speakers and toy with the mp3 player she kept in the fort. She set some soft, slow music to play in the background and crawled on top of him to look at the heat in his eyes.
 

His hands moved up her legs and rested on her hips as she whispered, “For the first time ever I want this. I want to feel you come inside of me.”

She felt him get even harder and she didn’t hesitate to move up over him. “Only if you want it this way,” she said, looking straight at him intently.
 

His only answer was to lift his hips up slightly to meet her and use his hands to pull her down over him, sheathing himself in her velvet wetness.

“Oh, God, Cassie,” he said, completely lost in the intense sensation. “You feel so good…”

Cassie could feel every detail of him inside of her. She moved herself over him, bringing both of them pleasure with her motions. He pulled himself up to a sitting position and she adjust herself with her legs around his hips. He held her weight against him as they moved together, sitting up and holding each other for balance, staring in each other’s eyes feeling the intensity. Up to now, neither had experienced this kind of indulgence. She hadn’t saved her body for someone special, but she apparently had saved this experience for the one who mattered most.
 

They kissed and moved in the heat of the moment during their love making, and at other times they gazed in each other’s eyes again. The passion built as always, but even more in this completely free, totally connected way. When they finally came, the heat was over the top, and Cassie could feel his hot stickiness inside of her.
 

Scott looked at her, almost in disbelief of the moment. He gripped at the skin of her back and pulled her in for another passionate kiss. “You are definitely too much for me,” he whispered.

He pulled her in close and squeezed her toward him before letting her separate from his body. Tired and sated, they laid down together along the quilt. He pulled a thin blanket over them once they had cooled down from the passion, and he held on to her, feeling more emotional than he ever had. There was no doubt how hard he had fallen for Cassie, and he was both lost and found because of her.