Don't Ever Give Up Ch. 01

"You fucking idiot," he said. He wasn't above fits of rage, and he'd probably be punching his steering wheel right now if this whole thing wasn't so damn familiar. He looked up into the rear-view mirror. "When did you become such an asshole?"

As usual, his reflection chose to keep quiet. He pulled out of the parking area and made a series of turns until he hit Interstate 540. The other Sunday afternoon traffic barely registered as he quickly threaded his way in and out of other vehicles, trying to leave the whole Research Triangle in the dust as quickly as possible.

Julia Waters had been in Tim's life for well over a year now. Well, more accurately, she'd been trying to get into Tim's life for well over a year now, ever since they met at a picnic in April 2007. The relationship, if it could be called that, had started out as nothing more than friends with benefits. From the beginning, he told her he couldn't do anything more, and Julia was okay with that.

At first, they only saw each other once or twice a week - he'd see her as he was leaving the airport after returning from a road trip, and they'd get together. He took summers off once the NBA season ended, however, which meant fewer trips out of town and fewer meetings at the airport. Tim couldn't remember who called the other first during that summer, but by the end of 2007, they were sleeping together every other day. When the summer of 2008 rolled around, it was an everyday occurrence.

Through it all, though, Tim had kept himself emotionally detached. He made it clear that this wasn't an exclusive relationship, and that they were allowed to date other people. She was free to come and go as she pleased, and so was he. They'd hook up after work, spend a few hours keeping the neighbors awake at her place or scaring the shit out of the ducks and fish on the lake behind his house, but by sunrise, they'd go their separate ways. That was the routine, and there were very few exceptions to it.

About six months ago, however, Julia had started making things a little more personal. He remembered it pretty clearly - he'd just flown the N.C. State women's basketball team back from Philadelphia, where'd they'd lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and Julia was waiting at the gate when they landed. She kissed him in front of the entire team, which earned him no shortage of grief afterward, and then held his hand as they walked through the terminal. When they got outside, she suggested that she ride with him back to his house. He shut that down quickly and reminded her that nothing had changed.

She backed off that day, but she still did things that made a lot of people interpret their relationship as a serious one. She cooked for him all the time, even on nights when they didn't hook up. She also cleaned his house whenever she was there. He usually kept things pretty tidy, and he wasn't home much to mess things up anyway, but Julia dusted, vacuumed and scrubbed - things Tim wasn't much into. She started leaving clothes and other personal things at his house, and she insisted he give her a key. Despite the red flags that went off, he finally gave in. Whenever he felt like things were getting too personal, he always sat down with her to remind her that he was still just in it for the sex, and wasn't capable of anything else. She reluctantly agreed every time, but those little chats only fixed the problem for a day or two.

That didn't stop him from recognizing how special Julia was, however, and how good of a catch she would be for someone. In just three years of working for Southwest Airlines in Raleigh, she'd risen from ticket agent, to gate agent and up to customer service. Now, she was the station manager for Southwest at Raleigh-Durham, answering to a regional Vice President based in Atlanta.

That was probably the career she would choose, he figured, but if not, she also had a Bachelor's Degree in accounting from Wake Forest, and she'd finished up an MBA from Duke a couple months ago, at the end of the summer semester. She knew more about politics and the bigger issues than even Tim did, and she could still recite Emily Dickinson and quote Shakespeare. She didn't talk about this, but he found out through J.T. that she spent all of the last Christmas season volunteering with the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots, a program that helps distribute Christmas presents to underprivileged children. She was also a raging sports fan, especially with the NFL. Tim worked for the Carolina Panthers during the NFL season, so he didn't get to watch much football on TV, but the one Sunday the team had had off this season, Julia had spent the day at Tim's house, watching football and raving like a lunatic right along with he and his buddies.

And then there was her body. Sure, there were imperfections, but Julia Waters exuded raw sexuality like no other woman he'd ever known.

On those rare occasions when he let his mind go there, he realized she was pretty much the perfect woman.

No, Tim thought. There's no such thing as perfect.

Not anymore.

Tim brought up the Linkin Park folder on his SUV's built-in MP3 player, and the sounds of "Breaking The Habit" filled the car. The appropriateness of the song wasn't lost on him, but he tried valiantly to push those thoughts out of his mind.

Several minutes later, he finally reached his exit and turned, heading down a more subdued tree-lined highway with a lower speed limit and much lower traffic count. Tim could almost feel the bustle and the worries of the everyday world slipping away as he inched closer and closer to the sanctuary he'd built for himself on Jordan Lake. Carlos and his fumbling problems, J.T. and his nosiness, everyone worrying about him, his issues with Julia - they seemed more and more like memories the closer he got.

Finally, when the road looked like it dead-ended in the lake itself, he hung a left and climbed up a winding driveway about 150 feet before pulling to a stop in front of his house. He shut off the engine and climbed out of his SUV, and as he always did, he stopped to take in the view for a minute.

The house was three levels - two and a half, really - and custom-made for him. An architect J.T.'s family used frequently drew up the blueprints with constant input from Tim, and Tim himself did most of the actual construction work, along with J.T. and a bunch of friends, leaving only the most complicated projects to professional contractors. He'd begun construction almost four years ago, and had started to wonder if he'd ever finish it. After what happened with Leira three years ago, though, the only thing he ever seemed to want to do was work on the house, and he'd finished it about nine months later. That was about the only positive he could think of from what happened with her.

He entered the house at street level, which was also the basement. In addition to the garage, the basement had two guest bedrooms and all the staples of the quintessential bachelor pad -- a pool table, a few chairs, a full bar, an air hockey table and a flat-screen HDTV the size of your average freeway billboard.

There were two staircases down here, and he climbed the one closest to the garage up to the first floor, which offered a breathtaking view of Jordan Lake out the massive bay window in the dining room. It was around 6 p.m., so the early fall daylight was starting to fade, but he could still see a couple of sails on the lake, and he could see one wake trail left behind by a jetski. He'd built himself a massive kitchen - he had no earthly idea why, since he could list all the things he used in it on one hand: the microwave, the trash can, the coffee pot, and the side of the refrigerator that held the beer. Tim's idea of cooking was either a microwavable TV dinner or something in the Top Ramen family of quality nutritional foods. Julia absolutely loved it, though.

He spent most of his time down here. Across from the kitchen was his personal game room - the room with a giant flat-screen TV, a recliner, a top-of-the-line personal computer, a couple of video game systems and a sound system that could put most professional party DJs to shame. The basement was used when his friends came over or when he hosted a rare party, and this room was just for Tim. J.T. frequently used it as well, when he came out to do some waterskiing on the lake.

Down the hallway was a bathroom and two more bedrooms, but Tim climbed yet another stairway to the second floor, where he did most of his work. He emerged into his office, which was really a private study and a library. The TV, large as it was, was mostly used to watch video of his sessions with athletes and take notes. It was surrounded by dozens of shelves of books, everything from the tens of thousands of dollars worth of psychology textbooks he'd wasted half of his 20s buried in to aviation books, from volumes of Marine Corps and general military history to the latest Harlen Coben novels. Very few people had ever been in this room since he'd finished the house.

He crossed the hall into the master bedroom, which had another picturesque view of the lake, but this window had blinds he could close for privacy. A door at the end of the wall led outside to the deck, which he'd insisted on building. He spent a lot of hours outside, just he and his laptop and a cold drink. Sometimes it was just he and the drink, watching all the various parties being thrown on the lake and its shores after sunset. His hot tub was out there; he'd probably fire that up later.

The master bathroom was equally as impressive. He'd installed a shower that could handle four people, though no more than two people had ever been in it at once. There was a separate bathtub that so far, no one besides Julia had ever used. Tim either took showers or soaked in the hot tub - he didn't have time for baths.

Tim rinsed off with a quick shower, just enough to wash away the dirt and grime of four days in Boston. He knew he'd take a longer - much longer - shower later, and he wouldn't be alone. The water pressure in his shower could have run hydraulics, and he never ran out of hot water. Most times, he had no desire to leave the steady stream of hot water, and today was no exception.

When he finally forced himself out of the shower, he threw on a pair of workout shorts and a tank top and headed downstairs. He grabbed a bag of carrots out of the fridge and munched idly while watching the last of the boats come off the lake. If this were a Friday or Saturday night, they wouldn't leave until morning, but on a Sunday night, the partiers tended to pack up pretty early.

Tim had almost finished off the bag of carrots when he heard another car pull up in the driveway. Again, he smiled involuntarily, but forced it away before it did any harm. He heard a door slam, and he listened for the distinct sound of high heels clicking on the steps up to his front door. She never came in through the basement.

He listened as she fumbled around in her purse for her keys, and he leaned up against the wall to the right of the door so that when she came inside, she'd walk right past him.

Finally, she put the key in the lock, and the door slowly opened. Tim watched as she walked into his house, closing the door behind her but not looking back. Since she'd just been at work, Tim knew exactly what she'd be wearing, but just the sight of her took his breath away. It always did.

"Do you have any idea how fucking gorgeous you are?"

Julia spun around to face him, a smile lighting up her face, the first floor of his house and half of the lake behind her. She kept her dark hair cut relatively short, pageboy style, and though Tim usually preferred long hair, he thought the style was perfect for her. She stood 5-foot-5, about nine inches shorter than him, so she had to look up to meet his eyes. That gave him a nice view down the front of the dark brown dress she wore, which was fairly low-cut anyway. It stopped a couple of inches above her knees, which was about as short as she could get away with under the Southwest dress code. He didn't care - she still looked unbelievable.

Before she had time to answer his question, Tim closed the gap between them, sweeping her up into his arms. Julia let out a little squeal as Tim carried her into the kitchen, quickly depositing her onto the island in the kitchen.

"Miss me?" she asked.

"What do you think?" was his only verbal response, and he immediately attacked her lips with his own as he pulled the sleeves of her dress off her shoulders. Once that was done, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, returning every bit of the passion he was throwing at her.

Tim broke the liplock and began kissing down her neck and across her shoulders as his fingers set to the task of unhooking the bra that kept her C-cup breasts constrained while she was at work. It put up a moderate fight - he always struggled with the bottom hook when he was working from the front - but he eventually won the battle, tossing her bra onto the floor behind him.

Tim backed up for a second to take in the view, but only for a fleeting moment. He leaned Julia back onto the island and quickly attached his mouth to her left nipple, forcing her to moan and run her fingers through the little bit of hair Tim kept on his head. He alternated between her magnificent breasts, sucking one dark brown nipple between his lips and then the other, switching back and forth early and often. He licked the underside of her breasts, and nibbled all around the tops of her tits, leaving evidence of their encounter for anyone who might be looking.

After a few minutes, his kisses trailed down Julia's chest and onto her stomach. She was constantly telling Tim and anyone else who would listen that she needed to lose 20 pounds. And she did, he thought - if she wanted to be on the cover of fashion magazines. As it was, though, she had a little bit of extra padding in all the right places. Her tits were just a little bit bigger, the curves of her sides were just a little bit softer, her hips flared out just a little bit wider, and she filled out a pair of blue jeans just a little bit more snugly.

He loved every inch of her body. He'd been with women with perfect bodies before, and while he wasn't about to say they didn't turn him on, there was just something more real about Julia's body. The fact that everything he saw was all natural - something about that just did it for him.

He dipped his tongue into her bellybutton for a moment, making her giggle and squirm under his touch. He didn't waste much time getting her dress hiked up onto her hips, though - with the sleeves off her shoulders, there was now just a dark brown heap bunched around her stomach. He didn't even bother removing the black lace panties she wore beneath her dress - he just pulled them to one side and immediately dove between her thighs.

"Holy shit!" Julia exclaimed when his tongue moved immediately to her clit. "Oh my God, Tim, you don't know how bad I miss your tongue when you're gone."

He pushed her legs apart with his hands, gaining more access to her already-dripping-wet pussy until her panties slid back into place. Tim growled at them angrily before moving them out of the way again and re-attaching his lips to her clit. Normally, Tim would take it slow and build her up, but after four days of being in Boston, the only thought on his mind was giving this mind-blowing woman a mind-blowing orgasm as quickly as he possibly could. He licked down over her pussy lips and thrust his tongue as far into her pussy as he could, but he mostly just focused on her clit.

"I told you you could make me cum in three or four minutes," she gasped, "but I didn't think you were actually going to do it."

"I'm impatient today," Tim replied, pulling away from Julia's soaked pussy to say it. As he did, the panties again slid back over her lips.

"Your panties aren't taking orders very well, young lady," he said, reaching for the one object that normally sat on the kitchen island - a set of cutlery. He grabbed a pair of stainless steel scissors from the middle. "I think I need to teach them a lesson."

Julia gasped as the cold metal touched her skin, and moaned as Tim snipped the waistband of her panties, quickly moving them out of the way. He'd done this before - it seemed to be something she really enjoyed, along with the inevitable shopping trip they would make so he could replace the clothes.

"Oh, you like that, do you?" Tim asked, slapping the side of the scissors against her pussy, making sure not to catch her with a sharp edge or the pointy ends. She just moaned even louder. "Well, I think I can find something even colder."

He set the scissors down and reached behind him to the fridge, pressing the automatic icemaker's lever on the door. A few cubes of ice trickled out, and Tim caught one of them, quickly popping it into his mouth.

"OH, FUCK!" Julia cried out as the ice cube and Tim's hot tongue simultaneously contacted her pulsing clit. "HOLY SHIT, THAT'S HOT!"

"You mean cold?"

"What the fuck ever!"

Tim threw her legs over his shoulders and really went to town, occasionally forcing the rapidly melting ice cube down into her snatch before sucking it back out again. Julia's moaning was now a string of incoherent babbling, something that might have been English when the thought formed in her mind, but not so much when it got out of her mouth.

"I'm not stopping until I make you cum all over this counter and all over my face, Julia," Tim said, making eye contact with her by looking up at her from between her legs. "I'm sure there's more than enough ice in there to do the trick."

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she moaned at his words, and Tim went back to licking all over her crotch. The ice was gone quickly, but it cooled down his tongue and his lips enough to still provide a stark contrast.

When he switched to rapid-fire flicks of his tongue over Julia's super-sensitive clit, her moaning and wailing climbed up another octave and her fingers tightened their grip in Tim's hair. He knew she wouldn't last much longer now.

"That's it, baby," he said, mostly muffled by her pussy. "Cum on my face."

When he sucked her clit entirely into his mouth, she did just that.

"FUCK!!!!" she shouted, loud enough to alert any lingering boaters to the activities going on in his kitchen. "I'M GONNA CUM, TIM!"

Tim managed a half-smile despite the fact that Julia's pussy was bucking against his face, soaking his nose, lips and chin with her juices. Her entire body was convulsing.

She finally stopped shaking after 15 or 20 seconds, but he didn't let her rest. He started back up with his tongue on her clit as she wriggled underneath him.

"Tim, it's really sensitive after the ice," she said. "I don't know-"

Little did she know, Tim had dropped his workout shorts to the floor while he was eating her pussy the first time. Her lightning-quick orgasm had turned his eight-inch dick into a flagpole, and without warning, he stood up and slammed it deep into Julia's pussy with one quick stroke.

"FUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!" Julia shouted as she sat up and buried her face in the crook of Tim's neck. That took away a little of his leverage, but not enough that he couldn't keep sawing in and out of Julia's cunt. "Jesus, fuck me with that beautiful cock!"

"My pleasure," Tim said, leaning her back slightly now that the initial shock was gone, so he could plunge as deeply inside her as possible. She was still sitting up, but her ass was at the edge of the island, so that Tim could bury himself to the hilt while still standing up straight. Every stroke seemed to go deeper and make her gasp a little louder.

After a few dozen strokes, Julia found the energy to wrap her legs around his waist and pull him inside her even harder. Since Tim didn't need his hands to support himself, he used them to massage Julia's breasts, pinching the nipples roughly and occasionally flicking them.