Breath of Fresh Air Ch. 04

The elevator door opened and he ushered her inside, slipping his hand up under her dress as soon as the door closed behind them. His hand went right to it's target, one long finer sliding home inside her, tearing a low groan from her throat.

"Goddamn," he murmured as she rolled her hips against him. "You are wild tonight, aren't you?"

"I get horny when I drink a lot," she said, her giggle coming out sounding more like a whimper.

"I can feel that," he said, sliding his finger out to circle her clit slowly. "You think I can make you come before the elevator stops?"

"You only live on the fourth floor," she laughed.

"It's worth a try." He grabbed one leg behind the knee and pulled it up to his hip, spreading her open wider. Two fingers plunged inside her, curling around to hit her sweet spot as his thumb began a merciless torment of her swollen clit.

"Oh shit," she gasped, her head falling back against the elevator wall. She watched the numbers light up one after the other as they slowly rose and just as they got to four she felt the trembling start in her belly.

"You want me to stop?" he asked quietly as the door slid open.

She shook her head franticly and bit her lip to keep from crying out as the first wave of pleasure hit hard. The empty hall disappeared as the door silently closed again and her body shook with the force of her climax.

His lips brushed hers in a gentle kiss as he removed his hand from under her dress and hit the door open button. He took her hand and she could still feel the wetness on his fingers as he towed her down the hall toward his apartment.

The second they were inside he was unzipping her dress, his hands smoothing over her skin, touching her everywhere at once. He pushed the dress down over her hips, letting it fall to the floor in a pool of fabric, then stepped back to look at her. As usual she hadn't worn a bra, but she still had on her stockings and garter belt with no panties and she was gratified to see that all that silk and lace was having the desired effect on him.

"Damn," he said, his voice rough. "I need to find more excuses for you to wear stockings."

Katie ran her hands down over her hips, the heat of his stare causing her to flush hotly all over. "You don't need an excuse, all you have to do is ask," she said, stepping toward him and reaching for his belt buckle.

He didn't stop her this time and she made quick work of his clothes, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it down off his shoulders, pulling his undershirt out of his pants and running her hands over his stomach and chest.

She slid her hand down into his pants and palmed his erection through his boxers, squeezing him hard as she bit down on the soft skin of his neck. He groaned and pulled her tightly to him, pinning her hand between them as turned his face to capture her lips in a hard kiss.

"I want to be inside you in the next thirty seconds," he said. "If you don't want me to fuck you right here on the floor you better get in the bedroom."

A giggle erupted out of her as she turned and hurried down the hall toward his room with him on her heels. She climbed onto his bed on her hands and knees, but before she could roll onto her back he was behind her, pressing her down into the mattress.

"Time's up," he said, his voice low and quiet, but so close she could feel his breath on her ear.

The next instant he entered her from behind, burying himself inside her in one hard thrust. Katie gripped the sheets in her fist and pushed back against him wanting more. He got the message and pushed himself to his knees before drawing back and slamming into her again. With a firm grip on her hips he continued to fuck her deliberately slow and hard, each stroke sending searing licks of flame through her body.

"You look so goddamn hot right now," he growled, running one hand over the silk stocking on her thigh and continuing up to caress the soft skin of her ass. He thrust again and squeezed her ass cheek tightly. "I'm about to slap your ass again."

He didn't ask permission, but she knew he was giving her the chance to say no and she froze for a split second before glancing over her shoulder at him and nodding. Before she could draw another breath his hand came down with a sharp smack, eliciting a high pitched squeak of surprise from her.

His hand smoothed over the stinging skin and he treated her to another hard thrust, the mix of sensations building into a wall of pleasure that threatened to collapse on her when his hand came down on her other cheek. Her hips jerked back toward him as he thrust and smacked yet again, this time holding her tight and rocking into her without pulling out.

Katie's toes curled and her back arched downward trying to take him deeper inside. He pulled out and thrust back in quickly, timing another slap with his entrance. The climax hit hard, overwhelming her in an instant. Her high pitched moan came through clenched teeth as she ground her hips back against his, reveling in the feeling of him filling her completely.

"Turn over," he demanded before she had fully recovered. He pulled out of her and helped her onto her back, landing on top of her and sliding back into her warmth as his mouth took hers in a passionate kiss.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on for the ride as his thrusts got faster and more erratic, pushing her almost immediately to another peak. He groaned her name into her mouth as her climax triggered his own and he came inside her.

His body lay limp on hers, his head buried in her neck while she teased the hairs at the back of his head with her fingertips. Her breath was still coming short, but his warm weight felt so good on her that she didn't want him to move. The only part of her that was uncomfortable were her stinging ass cheeks and with the realization a little giggle escaped her.

"What's so funny?" his muffled voice asked.

"I can still feel your handprints on my ass."

"Mm," he said, shifting his hips as he lifted his head to look down at her. "Did you like that?"

She nodded as a slow grin crept across her face. "Did you?"

"Fuck yeah. Your ass looked so good all surrounded by lace, but I had to see if it looked even better after I turned it pink."

Katie snorted a laugh and asked, "So did it?"

"Absolutely. You want me to take a picture for you?"

"No, I don't think that will be necessary."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind. I'll take it on my phone and keep it on there so you can look at it any time you want."

Katie laughed, pushing him off her and rolling to her side to cuddle him. "That's very generous of you to offer, but I think I'll just take your word for it."

"Alright, if you're sure," he said, kissing her forehead and detangling his limbs from hers. "I'll be right back."

He disappeared into the bathroom and she got up to go rummage in the kitchen for something to drink, doing a little happy dance when she saw several cold beers in the fridge and grabbing one for each of them before heading back to the bedroom. She was pretty drunk, but feeling good and not ready to go to sleep just yet. Her body was still buzzing from the incredible sex they'd just had.

A wide grin split her face at the thought; the amazement of having someone who could make her feel so good still fresh after all this time. God, she loved that guy- Whoa. She froze in the middle of the hall. Where had that come from? She shook her head, telling herself it was one of those drunk-girl things to say and thanking her lucky stars she hadn't said it out loud. That would have been embarrassing.

She did like him a lot, though. He was pretty great as boyfriends went, definitely the best one she'd ever had. Not that she'd had a lot of them, but still.

The sight of him kicked back against the headboard waiting for her in nothing but his boxers made her breath catch in her throat. He took the beers from her and while he was opening them she climbed up onto his lap, straddling his thighs so she could face him. He handed her one of the bottles and they both took long drinks, parched after all that heavy breathing.

Katie watched his eyes trail down her still-naked body and back up, her nipples hardening again under his gaze. When their eyes met the smile he gave her made her melt inside. It was a happy, secure smile that told her without words how he felt about her. In that moment she made a snap decision.

"D'you know what?" she said, her words slurring together slightly.

"What?" he asked with a grin.

"I have a secret."

"Do you now?" he asked, running his hands up her sides. "Are you gonna tell me or do I need to tickle it out of you?"

"No! Don't tickle me." She giggled as she slapped his fingers away, then tried to compose herself and keep her face straight. "Stop that. This is a serious secret, I mean it."

"What is it?" he asked again, his grin fading a bit.

"I'm in therapy."

"What?" he asked, sitting up straighter. "Since when?"

"Ever since that weekend-" she stopped for a second with an odd look on her face before burping wetly and making a face. "Shit, I drank too much."

"We don't have to talk about this right now, sweetheart."

"No, I want to. I want you to know. When I freaked out on you that night in the tent...it scared me, Mike. I really thought I was over all my shit before that happened. And then you should have seen me that next week, jumping at every little thing and panicking every time you called. I was totally psycho. I was talking to my refrigerator."

She broke down in giggles at the look on his face and snorted a few times before she was able to catch her breath and continue. "Don't worry, it didn't talk back. But I realized that I wasn't all right, you know. Normal people don't talk to kitchen appliances. So I thought maybe I should get help. I never got any back then. I never told anyone except Aunt Meg and that didn't go over well at all. She was so pissed..."

She was losing her train of thought and getting distracted and the look on Mike's face was clearly confused so she closed her eyes for a moment and tried to work out what she wanted to say while she felt calm enough to say it.

"My therapist," she reminded herself what she'd been talking about. "She thinks I should tell people in my life about what happened to me." She felt his fingers on her lips and her eyes flew open.

"Katie," he said, an expression on his face that she couldn't interpret. "I don't think we should have this conversation tonight."

Her face felt like it went numb and she sat there and stared at him, listening to the blood pound in her ears. He didn't want hear it. It wasn't a surprise, really, that he didn't want to know. Probably he was worried about the same thing she was; that he wouldn't be able to look at her the same afterward and she couldn't blame him for that. But it hurt. A lot. So much that she hardly heard him when he kept speaking.

"If you're ready to talk to me about this then I'm ready to listen. But now is not the right time. Not when you're drunk and not thinking clearly and might not even remember what we talked about in the morning."

"Uh huh," she said, climbing off his lap and laying down next to him on the bed. She rolled to her side facing away from him, suddenly feeling sick. His hand rested gently on her shoulder, just as warm and soft as it always was, but somehow his touch felt different and she had to suppress the urge to pull away.

"Do you hear me, Katie? I want to talk about this, just not right now. I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you or something."

Her head was spinning so she opened her eyes, but it didn't help. When he bent his head and kissed her bare shoulder she jumped up and rushed to the bathroom, closing the door behind her and falling to her knees in front of the toilet.

She was going to throw up, she knew it. It was just a matter of when. Of course in the meantime this provided a convenient out from a situation she just didn't want to deal with at the moment.

Mike's toilet was gross. Obviously he wasn't as diligent as she was about cleaning it twice a week. But every time she closed her eyes she got the spins and that was even worse than looking at his pee splatters.

She tried to focus on these things to avoid thinking about what had just happened, though it wasn't working very well. The tears were already burning her eyes and she had to grab a wad of tissue and press it against her lids to try to hold them back. The sound of the door opening startled her, but she didn't turn and look at him.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. That last beer was a mistake. Can you just leave me alone for a bit?"

"Sure," he said, setting a t-shirt and a glass of water on the counter next to the toilet. He hesitated a moment and she thought he was going to say something more, but then she heard the door close quietly and was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Eventually the spins pushed her over the edge and she emptied her stomach of all its contents, noting with disgust that it was obvious she hadn't eaten any dinner. She cleaned herself up, put on his blue t-shirt with bright yellow KPD emblazoned across the back and sipped the water slowly, hoping Mike would be asleep by the time she was done.

The bedroom was dark when she finally climbed into bed next to him, but he wasn't asleep. He reached for her as she lay down and she went to him, wanting the comfort of his warm body despite the ache she felt in her heart.

...

"Good morning," he said as she shuffled into the kitchen blearily rubbing her eyes.

"Is it?" she replied. Katie couldn't stop the irritated sneer from spreading across her face at his chuckle. It didn't feel like a good morning to her; she had the headache from hell and her mouth felt like a furry woodland creature had crawled into it and died.

He set a cup of coffee and two Advil on the counter in front of her and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Feeling a bit hungover are we?"

Katie didn't answer, just took the pills with a swallow of coffee and sat down at Mike's kitchen table. The events of last night were coming back to her and she was starting to realize why she felt so irritated with him.

"I don't feel very good. I think I need to just go home and sleep for a while."

"Oh," he said, leaning against the table next to her. "I thought we were gonna go hiking today."

"I'm not up for it. Sorry."

"It's okay. You're welcome to sleep here."

"I know, but I'd rather be in my own bed."

"Well, do you want some breakfast before you go?"

"Oh god no, please don't mention food."

"You should probably eat a little something, it would make you feel better."

"I said no," she snapped.

"Alright, alright, no need to get pissy about it," he said, the irritation clear in his voice.

"Well, if you weren't being so damn pushy I wouldn't have to."

He didn't answer right away, just crossed his arms and looked down at her speculatively. "You're angry about last night and you're trying to pick a fight with me."

"Thank you Dr. Phil, why don't you go ahead and tell me all the other ways I'm fucked up while you're at it."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Of course I am. Any time I do something you don't like I'm being ridiculous. You have fun up there on your high horse. I'm going home." She stood up and tried to walk away, but he grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Wait, Katie. Stay here and talk to me."

"I don't have anything to say." She pulled her hand from his and walked away. The anger was churning in her stomach and she knew it wasn't entirely fair, but she couldn't make herself stop. If she let herself stop being angry she was afraid she'd collapse in a blubbering heap on the floor.

He didn't follow her into the bedroom and she changed quickly into a pair of khaki shorts she had stashed in her purse, but she left on Mike's t-shirt. It was comfortable and it smelled like him.

She wrapped her arms around herself and heaved a deep sigh. What was she doing? Did she really want to leave like this? Not really, but she needed to be alone for a while to sort out her mixed up emotions.

Mike was standing by the front door, obviously waiting for her, when she finally emerged from the bedroom. For the first time that morning she actually met his eyes and was startled to see so much pain there. She'd expected the anger, but not the pain.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," he said, stopping her hand as she reached for the doorknob. "I thought I was doing the right thing. You could give me a little credit for that at least."

"I'm sure you were doing the right thing. You always do."

It came out sounding much more derisive than she meant it to and he flinched like she'd slapped him. She swallowed down her guilt and opened the door to go, unsure how else to react, but he caught her in his arms and pressed his mouth to hers in a fierce kiss that she couldn't help responding to.

His tongue was insistent, demanding entrance and she yielded to him, needing the contact as badly as he did, and by the time he pulled away they were both slightly breathless. Then he turned and walked into his bedroom so he didn't have to watch her leave.

...

Mike was pissed. The more he thought about it the more pissed off he got. Somehow Katie had twisted things around so he was some kind of bad guy in her mind and the idea of that just rubbed him raw inside. Especially since he felt like he'd always gone out of his way to be understanding with her; laughing off her snide comments and ignoring her pushiness, telling himself she didn't really mean it.

Most of the time he even believed it, but at the moment he was in no mood to be understanding. Her scornful parting shot about him always doing the right thing had hit below the belt and he was still smarting from it. He did try to do the right thing and it hurt to hear that not only did she not appreciate it, she looked down on him for it. It made him question how she really felt about him.

Fuck, maybe he should have just let her talk last night. He'd known almost immediately that he'd made a mistake stopping her, but it was already too late. She'd shut down and there was no talking to her after that. Their argument this morning was proof. But he didn't want her opening up because she was drunk, he wanted her opening up because she trusted him. And he damn sure didn't want her to regret it later when she came to her senses.

Rather than sit in his apartment alone and stew he decided to go work off some of his frustration at the gym. The physical release of two hours of lifting weights and punching the shit out of a sand bag alleviated some of the anger, but even after all that his mind was still running a mile a minute so he hopped on a treadmill to run with it.

Why was he letting her do this to him? And he was letting her, he was under no illusions about that. He could walk away at any time and she would no doubt let him. She probably expected it. That was one reason he couldn't do it; he didn't want to prove her right.

And really, most of the time it wasn't an issue. The vast majority of time they spent together was great. He'd honestly never had so much fun just hanging out with anyone, let alone someone he was dating. They made each other laugh nearly constantly, they could talk for hours about the stupidest things, and the sex was hands down the best he'd ever had.

But he was ready for more than just fun; he needed more from her than sex and laughs. Sometimes it seemed like she felt the same way, but any time they got close to taking that next step she shied away and as usual he was hesitant to push her.

If he was being honest with himself he had to admit that he was afraid to push her. Not because he was being sensitive to her feelings, but because there was part of him that was afraid to find out that she didn't want anything more from him.