Beg for It

  “Smart-ass. You know what I meant.”

  “I don’t think so,” Reese said. “I don’t think I’d have been able to. I’d never been anywhere or seen anything but the farm, pretty much. You were the one who always kept an eye on the news and stuff.”

  She sipped the wine, then set the glass on the table and wriggled in his lap. She loved the way he shifted a little at the pressure of her against his crotch. She’d had him put the plug in as soon as they got home, and she knew it had to be making him at least a tiny bit crazy.

  “You had opinions,” she remembered.

  He laughed and stroked her hair off her forehead. “Of course I did. But they weren’t very informed, I don’t think.”

  “No, you liked to talk about philosophy and stuff like that.”

  “I did?” He looked surprised. “No way. I don’t remember that at all. Me?”

  “Yep. You. You’d argue with me about the existence of God, life on other planets, that sort of thing.”

  He frowned. “And you put up with that?”

  She sat up. “I liked it, at the time. I don’t think I’d mind it, now. I love that we can discuss current events and financial planning, don’t get me wrong…”

  “You make it sound so sexy when you put it that way,” Reese interrupted drolly, with a roll of his eyes. “So I went from freaky goth kid to boring old numbers cruncher, is that what you’re saying?”

  Corinne laughed. “No! Not at all. I like that we can have real conversations.”

  He kissed her, then said into her ear, “Even if we’re talking about the ramifications of current political policy while I have something inside my butt?”

  “It speaks to your powers of concentration.” She turned her head slightly. “How does it feel?”

  “Good. It reminds me every time I move that I’m doing what you asked me to do.”

  Arousal flooded her, peaking her nipples. “Ah.”

  Reese moved a little, tugging at the front of his jeans. “I’m half-hard from the pressure.”

  “Mmm,” she breathed.

  Just like that, she wanted him iron-hard, throbbing, and begging for release. She wanted him on his knees for her. She wanted his ass in the air while he opened himself for her…she wanted every piece of Reese Ebersole.

  “Stand up,” she told him.

  He did at once, his instant obedience a burst of fuel on the already smoldering fire of her desire.

  “I want you naked, but in the bedroom. Go take a shower and get on the bed for me and wait. I want you facedown, ass up.”

  Reese blinked rapidly as a soft hiss of breath escaped him. “Umm…yes, Ma’am. Okay.”

  The wine had given her a lovely warm glow, but watching his reaction intoxicated her even more. She waited until he’d disappeared down the hall and then went to the kitchen to put together a platter of cheese, grapes, and crackers. Some chocolate truffles they’d picked up this afternoon went on a small glass plate she realized with a start had come from her old apartment—she’d never known he’d taken it with him when he moved out and would perhaps have been angry about it at the time if she had, but seeing it now only moved her to an emotion so tangled and twisted she couldn’t have put a name to it.

  Nostalgia, melancholy for what might’ve been if they hadn’t both been so stubborn and stupid. Bittersweet longing. Affection.

  Love, she thought. Yes. Okay, so this was love, or at least the beginnings of it. And that was okay.

  All of this was going to be all right.

  Putting the food, along with the wineglasses and bottle, on a tray, she carried it carefully down the hall. She’d dallied to be sure Reese had ample time in the shower and to be waiting for her. She had anticipated he would be.

  She hadn’t been expecting this.

  He’d lit candles. A dozen or more, some small votives and some pillars, placed carefully on all the flat surfaces of the room. In the middle of them, on the bed with the comforter and sheets already pulled down, he waited for her, exactly as she’d told him to. Head turned away from her, his arms spread, knees wide, ass up. She could see the rounded ring of the plug she hadn’t told him to remove.

  He had done what she’d asked of him, and it was beautiful.

  Setting the tray on the table next to a few of the candles, Corinne crossed to the bed. “Good boy.”

  He smiled, but said nothing. His fingers twitched, though. He breathed deep, his body moving. His cock was long, thick, and totally hard, the tip just barely brushing the crisp white sheets.

  “I’m going to fuck you,” she said.

  He let out a small sigh, but said nothing.

  From the bag she’d tucked inside the guest closet he’d shown her, otherwise empty except for the dress she’d hung there, she took out what she’d bought earlier. The clerk had made sure she knew precisely how to put it together, so she didn’t have to fuss with securing the dildo to the harness. She’d also picked up a bottle of special lube.

  She had everything she needed, but she was far from ready. How had she managed this, before? Had they both simply been so young and lust-crazed that everything had seemed easy? Facing Reese on the bed, Corinne tried to focus on how turned on she was at the sight of him presented for her, but she was letting herself get distracted at how she was going to look once she donned the strap-on.

  It helped that he wasn’t looking at her. She slipped her legs through the spaces in the harness, adjusting it at her waist so the artificial cock pressed just right against her clit. The curve of the dildo was meant to press his prostate, which it wouldn’t do in the position he was in, but she would worry about that in a minute or so. For now, she got on her knees behind him, the bed dipping as she did.

  Her hands smoothed over his ass cheeks. “Tell me how it feels to wait for me like this.”

  “Exposed. Excited.” Reese’s voice was a little slurred, though not, she thought, from too much wine. “I’m remembering how it was before, but thinking it will be different now.”

  She ran her hands down his thighs, then up again, stroking his skin. She tugged the ring of the plug gently. “And this?”

  He groaned at the motion of the plug. “Good. It’s good…”

  “What’s it feel like?”

  “Pressure. Fullness. It was almost too much at first; it’s been a long time. But the longer I wore it, the more I could feel it, pressing me inside. My cock is dripping, Ma’am.”

  She looked. “There’s a nice little wet spot there on the bed.”

  He thrust forward a bit. “I want to…I want to fuck against it… If I bear down, it’s even better. Or worse. I’m going crazy for you, Ma’am. Please fuck me.”

  “Not yet.” She toyed with the plug again, not pulling it out, easing off when she felt the toy begin to move.

  Reese groaned and shook a little bit. “Fuck, it feels so fucking good.”

  Corinne smiled. “I’m glad. I want you to feel good for me.”

  She’d never had a lover who hadn’t tried to get into her ass, but Reese had been the only man who’d ever responded positively to her getting into his. What had happened naturally for them had become weird with other lovers, and after the first time she’d been soundly and embarrassingly rejected, she’d never really tried to play that way with anyone else. So many things, she thought as she tugged again on the toy, had been special to only him.

  “I’m gonna come,” he muttered.

  “No, you’re not.” She tugged the toy again, then let it settle back inside him.

  “Please, Ma’am, I want to taste your pussy, I want to make you come first, please, or else I’m going to, and you won’t…”

  “I will, don’t worry.”

  He quieted. “I want to make sure you’re happy.”

  “I know, puppy.” She kissed his butt cheeks one at a time, laughing.

  He laughed, too, moving. “Ffffuck…”

  Carefully, she eased the toy out of him, pleased to see that in addition to the candles, he?
??d also thought ahead to putting down a towel. She set the toy on it as Reese moaned, hips thrusting again a couple times before he stilled himself. She let her hand move between his legs to stroke him, feeling the slickness there.

  “On your back.”

  He moved, rolling onto his back as she positioned herself between his legs. He was already pulling his knees back. Staring down at him, Corinne ran her hands over his skin—knees, thighs, belly. She gave his cock another couple strokes but stopped when it throbbed in her fist.

  “Slow,” Reese said.

  “Of course.”

  She coated her fingers and the strap on with the thick, unscented lube. She used her middle and forefinger to press his tight ring, finding it already open for her after the use of the plug. Her fingers slid inside him with little resistance, and she curled them upward in a come-here gesture that had him bucking and crying out in seconds.

  She stopped, her other hand flat on his belly to soothe him. “Hush.”

  Reese opened his eyes to meet hers. “Corinne… I haven’t…”

  “I know. Shhh.”

  He swallowed hard, licking his lips. She let her hand rub his belly in small circles. Her fingers inside him pressed upward again in a slow rhythm. She watched him close his eyes and move with her. After a minute or so, she withdrew her fingers and pressed the tip of the dildo against him. Then, slowly, she breached him, filling him until she’d settled inside all the way.

  Reese muttered again. His fingers bit into the bed as he rolled his hips, pressing himself onto her cock. The motion pushed the end against her already pulsing clit. Corinne began to move, watching him carefully for his reaction. Going slow. Sliding in, then out, her nails scratching lightly at the insides of his thighs.

  “Yeah, yeah, that,” he groaned. “Harder.”

  Her nails dug into him. “Harder, what?”

  His eyes flow open. “Please, harder, Ma’am…”

  “Like this?” Harder, faster, she thrust.

  She’d never seen a look like that on any man’s face. Never before on his. Reese was clearly lost in the sensation, and watching him, Corinne felt herself tumbling into a swirl of tightly coiling desire that built with every thrust.

  “Fuck me, Ma’am…please fuck me…”

  She did, every smack against him sending another bolt of pleasure through her clit. Both of them spoke, fuck-talk. Words of love too. His gaze snared hers, not letting go. They were connected, both of them surging hard toward climax. Reese slid his hands across the bed and along the outsides of his thighs so Corinne could lace her fingers through his. Pumping inside him with short, shallow thrusts, she winced as his grip tightened.

  His cock had gone a deep, flushed red and bounced with every thrust. A puddle of clear sticky fluid had formed on his belly.

  “Yes, baby,” she crooned, her own orgasm swirling, her cunt clenching. She stroked him, helping him along. “Come for me.”

  He did, a thick, creamy cascade of ejaculate hitting his chest. The sight of it, this visceral, visible proof his pleasure, tipped Corinne into her own orgasm. Subtle, rippling waves of desire tickled through her, forcing a gasp. Then another, louder as a second, stronger and surprising wave of contractions hit her. She shuddered with it, no longer thrusting. Incapable of anything but letting the ecstasy pound through her, leaving her breathless.

  Still inside him, Corinne came back to herself aware that Reese’s grip on her fingers had loosened. Blinking, she licked her upper lip, tasting sweat. She smiled. So did he. She eased out of him and rolled onto her side next to him to stare up at the ceiling, smiling again when he reached between them to take her hand.

  “Was it always that good?” she asked after a moment or so of quiet. “Damn, baby, I just don’t remember it being that good.”

  “I don’t know how anything as good as what just happened could’ve ended.”

  That sobered her. Still thinking, she looked at the ceiling. Their fingers squeezed, gently.

  “I loved you so much, Reese.”

  She felt him twist a little to look at her, but she didn’t look back. “I loved you too.”

  There could’ve been more to say after that, and maybe she should’ve found the words, but silence was all she could manage at the moment. They’d already gone over so much of this old ground, some of it in anger. All she wanted to do right now was bask in the afterglow.

  Without moving much, Corinne unstrapped the harness at her hips and wriggled out of it. “I’m going to take a shower. You want to come in with me?”

  A soft, contented snore was her only answer. Laughing quietly so as not to wake him, she kissed his cheek. She brushed his hair, damp with sweat, off his forehead. He was going to be sticky when he woke up, but for now she’d let him sleep.

  “I still do,” she whispered, thinking his smile was because of his dreams, but his answer trailed after her as she headed for the bathroom.

  “Me too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Before

  “Bad boy, you couldn’t wait for me to get home?”

  Reese turns from the stove, where he’s been stirring the pot of sauce Corinne told him he was supposed to let simmer. “Just tasting it.”

  She looks tired. She had class in the morning, worked the night shift at the diner before that, and is scheduled to go back in tonight. She’s due to start her new job in a month, after she graduates. That will let her quit the diner, too, but until the job actually starts, her schedule is going to be insane. He told her she should quit the waitressing job, but she’d given him a look that made him feel stupid.

  He hasn’t told her about the money he got from his parents. It would be more than enough to cover the rent for the next two months, if she quits. More than enough to cover a lot of the bills too. But Reese has barely gotten used to the idea that both his parents are gone, and that money…it’s his ticket out of here, for good. He wants to tell her, but it has to be the right time.

  Usually she comes home from class and goes right to sleep, but today she’s a little later than usual because she’d stopped at the grocery store. Reese would’ve done it for her, but he still hasn’t managed to buy himself a car. Corinne slings her bag over the back of a chair and offers her face for a kiss.

  “How’s it taste?” she asks.

  “Not as good as you.” He kisses her, hands going to her hips, and though she responds, it’s not with as much enthusiasm as he’d like. When he tips her back a little to nuzzle at her throat, Corinne shrugs out of his grasp to move past him.

  She grabs a can of cola from the fridge and pops the top. “Will dinner be ready soon? I’m starving.”

  “I’ll put on the water. You want spaghetti or rotini, or…?” Reese pauses at the sight of her slightly slumping shoulders. “What?”

  “Did you make a salad or anything? Garlic bread?”

  “I was going to wait for you to get home.”

  Corinne turns to face him. “So dinner’s not ready. Nothing is ready?”

  “It’ll just take a few minutes. You can grab the stuff for the salad, I’ll start the water boiling.”

  “Never mind.” She gulps cola. Without looking at him, she grabs her bag and disappears down the hall. The bedroom door shuts.

  Irritated, Reese follows. She’s already gone into the bathroom, stripping out of her shirt to stand in her jeans and bra, brushing her teeth. Hair pulled into a ponytail. She’s gorgeous.

  But when he moves behind her to kiss the back of her neck, Corinne pulls away. “What?”

  She gives him a look in the mirror and bends to spit toothpaste into the sink. “Tired. Hungry. I’m going to grab a nap before work. I’ll eat there.”

  “But I made dinner.”

  “You’ve been home all day long,” Corinne says without turning, her lip curled. “You didn’t make dinner. The only thing ready is the sauce, and I put that on the stove this morning before I left for class.”

  “I was filling out résumés. I worked o
ut. I was busy, and there wasn’t any point in making the pasta if you weren’t home yet.”

  She pushes past him and into the bedroom. He follows. The bed is covered in laundry he’d been folding, and when she turns to look at him, Reese feels her contempt like a punch to the gut.

  “You know, when I agreed to let you live here, it was with the understanding that even if you couldn’t pay rent, you were going to do all this other crap.”

  He has been doing all the other crap. Most of it, anyway. He’s doing his best, at least, and most of the time, he’s done a pretty damned good job of it. “I’m not a housewife.”

  “No shit.” Corinne snorts soft laughter that doesn’t sound at all like she’s amused. “Whatever, Reese. I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

  He grabs up the laundry she’s about to toss to the side. “Hey, that’s clean.”

  “Then put it away!”

  “You don’t just throw it on the floor, Corinne!”

  “I wasn’t going to throw it on the floor,” she snaps. “I was moving it over so I had room to get under the blanket. Maybe if you had put it away, I wouldn’t have to.”

  “I can’t believe you’re being pissy with me about this,” Reese says as he tosses the clothes into a basket. “What the hell?”

  Without a word, Corinne slips into the covers and turns away from him, her dark hair a tangle on the pillows. Muttering, Reese puts the laundry basket on the chair. He doesn’t want to fight with her, not about this or anything else.

  Pulling his shirt off over his head, then shucking his jeans, he quietly gets into bed behind her. Pressing to her back, he slides a hand around between her legs. Making her come will make her feel better. Let her sleep. Orgasms are good, right?

  “Stop,” she says after a minute, and when he tries again, she sits up to twist around. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “Fine.” He sits up too. “I just wanted to make you feel good.”

  “Then pay attention,” Corinne mutters. “I’m not a blow-up doll, okay?”

  “Sorry. I guess I’m just a bad boy,” he says, trying to tease. To be light about it, bring the conversation back to neutral ground and not anger. “Maybe you need to take me in hand?”