The Other Side of Love

Chapter 10

“I want to go to Aruba.” She sat at the table and looked up at me with a demanding face.

“I can’t leave Palm Bonita,” I sighed, irritated that we were having this conversation again.

“I want to go on vacation. This shit is boring.” She looked at me, annoyed. “No one in Aruba is going to know or care who you are.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t go.”

“What use are you to me?”

“I thought you liked my company.” I turned away from her, unable to look at her. I wasn’t sure who she was becoming, or maybe I just hadn’t known who she really was when we first started dating.

“Noah, it’s not that I don’t like your company. It’s that I’ll like it more if we went to Aruba.” She continued painting her fingernails and held them up to me. “What do you think?” I stared at the bright red polish on her nails and thought the color was apt. Her fingers looked like they had been dipped in blood and really, that was the way I was starting to think of her. She was a bloodsucker, only interested in her own needs. The fact was I would have already dumped her if there weren’t other issues to consider, other circumstances that made it more difficult. It was hard for me to walk away from her when I knew that I was possibly putting someone else at risk.

“Looks good.” I faked a smile and turned away. “If you’re wanting to be a prostitute or vampire.” I said under my breath.

“What’s that?” Her voice was shrill, and I looked over at her with a blank expression.

“What’s what?”

“What did you just say?” Her eyes narrowed at me coldly and I almost shivered as I stared at her. There was no happiness or joy in her spirit. She looked broken. Broken and distant.

“Nothing, just that I wished I could take you to Aruba.”

“Whatever.” She flung her hair over her shoulders. “I’ll figure out a way myself or with the help of someone else.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned. “You’re not going to steal again?”

“You act like that’s a bad thing.” She stood up and walked over to me. “You act like you didn’t get off fucking me in that stranger’s house after we stole the handbag.”

“We didn’t steal anything.” I took a step away from her, feeling my body temperature rising. It was getting harder and harder for me to disguise my feelings.

“No one would believe that you weren’t in it with me. Were you not in the house with me?” She laughed cattily, and ran her index finger all the way down my chest and to my crotch, which sat motionless. She looked up at me with a pout. “There was a day when all I had to do was touch you and you would rise to attention.”

“I’m not in the mood.” I looked away from her.

“Do you not find me attractive anymore?” Her tone changed to one of pity and hurt, and I looked over at her. She looked distraught, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she was genuinely sad that I was pulling away from her or just because her feminine wiles won’t working.

“You’re beautiful.” I stared at her and answered honestly.

“I don’t mean to be like this, you know.” Her eyes were open and held a touch of bleakness. “I’ve just been through so much in my life. Every day I’m just in survival mode. I’m just trying to get by. I just want to be free.” Tears slid from her eyes. “I just want to get out of here and be free.”

“I know you do.” I held her hand and squeezed it compassionately, and for one moment we were once again united in our grief.

“I hope that today hasn’t been filled with too many bombshells,” I grimaced as I got into the car with Robin. “I bet you’re wishing that you didn’t come over to the Johnsons’ today.”

“Not at all,” she laughed. “Though it has been one of those Days of Our Lives types of day.”

“That’s a lot of family information for you to get at one time.” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing as we pulled out of the Johnsons’ driveway. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you never wanted to see me again.”

“If that’s all you’ve got, then your life is nothing compared to mine.” She grinned at me, but I saw a tinge of truth and sadness in her eyes. “But, just to clear things up: no, I do not want to not see you again. I’m actually glad that Zane and Lucky intervened.”

“So am I,” I laughed again. “Though do not tell them that. I don’t want them thinking that they can try to dictate my life, but they definitely helped me here. Especially after the other night.”

“What happened there?” She looked over at me curiously.

“I’m not sure.” I looked at her. “I got the feeling that we both weren’t ready to be in a certain place.”

“Yeah, perhaps.” She sat back and looked out the window. “I guess we’re both treading water here.”

“Would you like to go to a movie with me?” I blurted out before I could think about it too much. “I can also just take you home if you prefer.”

“What about your brother? Don’t you want to be with him?”

“I think he’d rather be with Lucky right now.” I smiled at her, happy to see that she was the kind of woman who thought about others before herself. “I’m sure we’ll be doing more talking tomorrow. Once he has time to get over the initial shock, I’m pretty sure he will have a lot more questions.”

“That was brave of you to tell him at the Johnsons’.” Her voice was light and non-judgmental, which I appreciated. “Weren’t you worried he would just lose it and go off on you?”

“Yes,” I laughed, “but Sidney is like my family. He’s known pretty much everything. He was the one who helped me find the private detective. He’s the one who has been badgering me to tell Zane. I know this sounds crazy, but I always knew I wanted Sidney to be around when I told Zane. He’s like my support system. Do I sound like a total weirdo to you right now?”

“No, of course not.” She reached over and squeezed my arm. “He seems really nice and so does his wife. Before you and Lucky arrived, I was talking to them and they really showed a genuine interest in me. It was like they knew exactly what to say to make me feel better about myself.”

“It’s a gift that they have.” I smiled at her warmly, glad that she had taken to them both. “It’s like they can see into your soul and the worries that you have, and they soothe you with their words and care.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “When Sidney spoke to me, I felt like he knew where I was coming from and what my dreams and obstacles were. It was funny.” Her voice grew low. “It’s hard to meet people who genuinely care about you like that. Who want to know your story, rather than just talk about themselves.”

“Yes, yes, it is.”

“So, you were in witness protection?” She changed the subject. “How did I not know that? That’s crazy.”

“I wasn’t technically in witness protection.” I laughed. “But yes, I was helping the FBI and the DEA with a case and I had to disappear.”

“Okay, I take back my earlier statement. Your life isn’t like Days of our Lives, it’s more like Mission Impossible.”

“Not really. All I had to do was go hide out in a small town in Florida. It was Zane who was actually getting to the bottom of the case.”

“That must have been hard, though, leaving your family.”

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life.” I found myself driving back to Zane’s house instead of the movie. “The day I realized that I had to fake my own suicide and have my brother believe I was dead is still surreal to me.”

“What made you go along with it?”

“The agent who was in charge of the case told me that unless I complied, it was likely that they would come after me and my family, which, honestly, I doubted. But then he said, ‘Think of all the other innocent lives you could be saving. The lives that get caught in the crossfire. They were drug dealers, they didn’t care who they hurt.’ And that’s when I knew I had to do it. Special Agent Waldron had shown me photographs of many of the people that they believed were killed by the cartel and there were over twenty children. I didn’t want there to be any new faces added to that pile.”

“Wow.” Robin’s eyes widened. “You’re really selfless. Now you make me feel bad for going off on you two times.”

“I just did what anyone with a conscience would have done.” I shrugged. “And I’m pretty sure you will go off on me again, at some point. I can be infuriating, just ask Zane.” I laughed.

“Where are we going?” She looked out the window as she laughed.

“I figured we could watch a movie.” I paused. “But at home, if that’s not too presumptuous. You didn’t answer earlier and so I thought this may be nice. We can relax, have a few laughs and be comfortable.”

“Sounds good to me.” She gave me a wide smile. “Are you sure we won’t be bothering Zane and Lucky?”

“Well, here’s the other part.” I made a face at her. “I was hoping we could watch it in my room? I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not because I want to sleep with you. I have a king-sized bed so we won’t even have to touch. I just figured it will give us more privacy if they are already home, or if they come home while we are still watching it.”

“Don’t worry, Noah.” She giggled. “I understand.”

“Phew.” I pulled into the driveway. “I didn’t want you thinking this was another seduction move. And that all I wanted from you was a night of hot sex.”

“Don’t remind me of that last conversation.” She groaned. “I’m surprised you don’t think I’m bipolar.”

“You’re not?” I feigned surprise and she hit me in the shoulder before we both jumped out of the car.

“Funny.” She laughed. “Though I suppose I deserve that.”

“Let’s go inside.” I walked over to her side of the car and grabbed her hand. As we touched, I felt another spark jolt through me and I smiled to myself knowing that the connection I had witnessed previously was still there.

“So, are you going to tell me more about your time in Florida? Where did you go?” Robin looked up at me with a happy face, and I felt my heart start to pound. How could I tell her about everything that had happened in Palm Bonita? It was all so complicated and heartbreaking. I didn’t want to burden her with all that information. Not in the same day she had found out about all my family drama. It almost seemed too much. I didn’t want to lose her right when I was getting to know her because of an information overload. Not when I was finally getting a do-over with her. Plus, I didn’t know how to tell her about Skylar. I didn’t know if she would understand.

“There’s not really much to tell.” I said smoothly. “I stayed in a small town called Palm Bonita and basically just sat around and waited until I was able to come home.”

“Oh, that sucks.” She gave my upper arm a squeeze. “That must have been so boring. Did you make any friends?”

“Not really.” I shook my head. “I kept to myself most of the time.”

“Aww, that’s awful. What were the people like? Did they ask you where you came from?” Her eyes were excited. “I bet they were all curious as to who you were.”

“Not really.” Which was true. The people in Palm Bonita didn’t ask questions because they didn’t want anyone to ask them anything, either.

“So what did you do?” She looked confused. “Just sat and watched TV?”

“I did a lot of TV watching.” I nodded. “Not much else. I didn’t really have any friends, so I was by myself quite a bit.”

“So,” she paused. “No special lady friends?” Her eyes looked into mine questioningly, and my stomach churned.

“Not really.” I lied, feeling horrible as I did so. But I knew that Robin didn’t want to know about my relationship in Palm Bonita. She didn’t want to hear about all the places we had sex and how I lost myself in the relationship because I fell in love.

“Oh, wow.” She laughed. “Sorry for the twenty questions.”

“That’s okay. What about you? When did you last date?” I asked her, honestly wanting to know the answer but also wanting to take the focus of the conversation away from myself.

“Right before I moved to Los Angeles.” She gave me a weak smile. “What movie are we going to watch?” She walked away from me and looked at some of the pictures Zane had up on the wall. “These are cool.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “They were painted by kids with cancer.”

“Oh, that’s sad.”

“Cancer is a horrible disease.” I agreed. “Zane does everything he can to support cancer research. He gives a lot of money to a lot of different hospitals.” I paused. “But honestly, I think the best part is that he goes and he visits the kids and he talks to them and plays with them, and he supports their visions for the future.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Yeah. He’s pretty cool.” I nodded and I felt warm inside as I once again realized how blessed I was to have him as a brother.

“Want anything to eat or drink before we go upstairs?”

“Do you have any wine?” She laughed. “Or chocolate?”

“I think we have both. And strawberries, if you want some.”

“That sounds delicious.” She followed me into the kitchen and I handed her two wine glasses and a box of Quality Street that I found in the cupboard. Zane had an addiction to English chocolates and always ordered the boxes in bulk. I grabbed a wine bottle, opener, and some strawberries from the fridge.

“Okay, we’ll all set. Let’s go feast.” Robin followed me up the stairs and into my bedroom, and we placed all the goodies on the nightstand next to my bed. “Feel free to take your shoes off and relax.” I smiled at her as she just stood there. She smiled back at me and slipped her shoes off and pulled off her sweater. I stood there staring at her torso as she straightened her clothes, and I tried to avoid staring at her breasts as they beckoned to me through her thin tank top.

“I guess we’ll be sitting on the bed?” She gave me a wry smile as she slid onto the bed and leaned back against the headboard.

“Yes, you look comfortable.” I opened the bottle of wine and stared at her as she lay back.

“It’s a comfortable bed.” She smiled at me. “I’ve missed being on a comfortable bed.”

“Feel free to sleep in mine anytime you like.” I groaned as soon as I realized what I had said. “And I mean sleep, not sex or anything.”

“You’re going to make me think I’ve grown warts or something.” She laughed self-consciously. “You keep telling me you’re not interested in sleeping with me.”

“Oh, don’t think that. I’d love to sleep with you.” I paused. “I mean, when you’re ready. When the time is ready. I don’t need to sleep with you anytime soon.”

“Okay.” She patted the spot next to her on the bed. “I appreciate it. Now where’s my wine and chocolate?”

“A little demanding, aren’t we?” I laughed and handed her a glass before sitting down next to her and opening the box of chocolates. “Here we go.”

“Oh, I’ve never had these before. Are they good?”

“Are they good? Is this a joke?” I looked at her with wide eyes. “Why, Quality Street are on the best chocolates in the world.”

“In the world, eh?” She leaned towards me and I could see her pupils dilate as our thighs touched.

“Yes, the best in the world.” I reached into the box and pulled out a pink wrapper. “Try this one first, it’s my favorite.”

“What is it?”

“Fudge covered with a light layer of milk chocolate.”

“Oh, my, that sounds divine.”

“It is.” I opened the wrapper and took a small bite. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” I grinned as I chewed on the sweet in my mouth. “Here you go.” I lifted my hand to her mouth and fed her the other half of the chocolate. She opened her mouth and ate the chocolate slowly, her eyes light as she enjoyed the sweet.

“That was good.” She nodded. “Very good.”

“Wasn’t it just?” I leaned in towards her and licked off a chocolate crumb that was stuck to her lower lip. “I like how it tastes on you better.” I sucked on her lower lip and she moaned before moving in closer to me and crushing her lips to mine. Her tongue slipped into my mouth and I sucked on it, enjoying the taste of chocolate in her mouth. I kissed her back hard and she pulled away from me quickly. I sat back quickly, worried I had messed up again, but she absolved my fears quickly.

“Glass of wine still in my hand,” she gasped and placed the glass down on the nightstand.

“Oops.” I laughed as I realized I was also holding my glass and that some wine had spilled on the bed. I leaned over and placed my glass down next to hers and then lay back down. “Shall we watch a movie now?”

“Sure,” she nodded and lay back next to me. Her body was aligned directly next to mine, and our entire sides were touching. I could see her bosom moving up and down, and I could also see the lower part of her stomach as her top had ridden up a little bit. It was all I could do to not reach my hand down to caress her stomach and then her breasts.

“What movies do you like?” I asked casually, trying to calm myself down.

“Honestly, I love thrillers.” She turned over on her side to face me. “I know most men expect all women to love romance, but I love thrillers.”

“Thrillers are great. What’s your favorite?”

“Primal Fear,” she answered right away. “I love both Richard Gere and Edward Norton, and I think they were both so great in that movie.”

“I think I vaguely remember it.” I laughed.

“It’s great. You need to watch it.”

“I suppose we could watch it now? I can see if it’s on Netflix.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh? Why not?” I asked surprised.

“Well, when you watch it, I want you to be see the whole thing.” She laughed.

“Huh?” I was confused.

“I don’t think we’ll get to the end of the movie.” She ran her fingers down my chest. “And I don’t want you to miss the end. It’s too good a movie.”

“Oh.” My heart thudded at her words and I felt my erection growing as her fingers continued their quest along my upper torso.

“Unless of course, you think you’ll be able to see the whole movie?”

“I can’t say that I would make it happen.” I answered honestly and reached over and traced the line around her belly button. She shivered slightly at my touch and I reached my hand up under her tank top and caressed her stomach before working my way up to her bra. I watched her face carefully to make sure that she wasn’t uncomfortable with where everything was going. She smiled at me and moved in closer to me, before moving her hand underneath my shirt and rubbing the hair on my chest.

“It’s so silky.” She breathed out and then gasped as my fingers cradled her right breast over her bra.

“Thank you.” I leaned in and kissed her again. She pulled away from me slightly, paused for a moment, and then pulled her tank top off. I stared at her beautiful body and then pulled my shirt off. We both just sat there for a moment gazing at each other, and then I reached over and slid one of her bra straps down. She lay there motionless and watched me slide the other bra strap down. I then reached behind her and undid the clasp, and the bra fell onto the bed. I was unable to keep my hands off of her, so I reached over and squeezed her breasts into my hand, molding them to my palm before softly pinching her nipples. She closed her eyes and a soft moan escaped her mouth as I teased her hardened buds. I reached over and took her left nipple into my mouth and suckled on it while my right hand played with her other nipple.

“Oh, Noah,” she gasped as my teeth nibbled on her. She lay flat on the bed and opened her legs slightly.

“Yes, ma’am?” I grinned down at her mischievously and kissed in the valley between her breasts before allowing my tongue to explore the line right down to her belly button. I kissed my way to the top of her pants before pausing to look up at her to make sure it was okay to proceed.

“I guess we’re not going to be starting the movie anytime soon.” She gave me a sly smile and wiggled her bottom on the bed. I took that as my sign to proceed and slowly undid her pants and slid them down her legs. She was wearing a pair of black lacy underwear, and I lowered my lips to her ankle and kissed up her calf and then to her inner thigh. She spread her legs and I continued kissing up her inner thigh until my lips were at the center of her. She squirmed beneath me and I suckled on her bud through her underwear. I could smell and taste her wanton lust, and it made me feel delirious with power and hornier than ever. I kissed up to the top of her panties and started pulling them down with my teeth. She lifted her bottom off of the bed to make it easier for me to slide them off, and I used my hands by the time I had pulled them to the top of her thigh because I was too impatient to wait any longer to get them off. Before she knew what was happening, my mouth was back in the midst of her womanhood, and I explored her eagerly with my tongue before sucking on her throbbing bud. She squirmed beneath me as she grew wet, and I felt her orgasm as soon as I slid my tongue inside of her.

“Oh, Noah!” She screamed as my tongue slid in and out of her and I felt her hands in my hair pushing my face closer to her sex so that she could feel me deeper inside of her. I licked her eagerly and passionately, enjoying the feel of her writhing sex against my face. I could feel my erection pushing against my pants almost uncomfortably, and I was eager to feel a release soon myself.

“Yes, Robin.” I grinned as I kissed my way back up to her lips. She wrapped her legs around me as I kissed her passionately, allowing her to taste her own juices. She reached down and unbuckled my pants, and I jumped up and pulled them and my boxers off quickly. She gasped as she stared at my erection, hard and proud, jutting out at her. I was proud of my penis and fell back onto the bed next to her, allowing my hardness to rub up roughly against her inner thigh and close to her opening. She rolled me over so that she was lying on top of me. She positioned herself over my hardness and started moving back and forward without allowing me to enter her. I groaned as she teased me with her grind and pulled her down towards me so that I could play with her breasts as she tormented me. Our eyes connected and I reached out for her hands so that every part of our body was connected while we teased each over. I groaned as she started moving back and forth on me harder and harder and I grabbed her hips to get her to stop. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from entering her if she kept up with her grinding.

“Hold on.” I groaned as I lifted her off of me and jumped off of the bed. I walked over to my wallet and opened it, praying that I still had some condoms in there. I nearly fainted with relief when I saw two packets and grabbed them quickly. I threw one packet on the nightstand and jumped back on the bed with the other. Robin watched me with a veil of desire clouding her eyes and I quickly opened the packet and slipped the condom on. “Are you sure?” I positioned myself on top of her, not wanting to go ahead unless she was ready.

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip and looked up at me with a confused expression. “I want to, but it just seems too soon.”

I tried not to groan as I collapsed on the bed next to her and gave her a soft smile. “It’s okay. We can go at your pace. Like I said before, this isn’t about sex for me.”

“I know. You’re a sweetheart.” She turned over to face me and I tried my hardest to keep my eyes on her face and not on her naked body.

“Why, thank you.” I reached over and stroked her hair away from her eyes. “You have beautiful eyes, did you know that? They go from green to brown to green, and they haunt me every time I look into them.”

“Some people just call them hazel.”

“Oh, but they’re not just hazel. They’re so much more bewitching than just regular hazel.” My fingers traced her lips, and she held her breath as I stuck my finger into her mouth. She slowly sucked on it and I groaned as I felt my cock growing hard again. I pulled my finger out of her mouth slowly and lay back again and closed my eyes. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “We need to just pause for a moment or I’m going to explode.”

“Little Noah, you mean?” She giggled and I felt her breasts against my chest as she leaned into me.

“Who you calling little?” I growled and opened my eyes and pushed her onto her back. “I’ll have you know that big Noah is ready to play.”

“But I put him in time out.” She laughed up at me and I held her hands up by her head. I looked down at her, and my heart caught in my throat as I saw the total innocence and trust in her eyes.

“No one puts Big Noah in the corner.” I winked at her, and she groaned.

“Please tell me you are not misquoting Dirty Dancing.”

“Or what?” I let go of her wrists and moved my hands down to her breasts, allowing my fingers to gently graze her nipples as I squeezed them.

“Or nothing.” She breathed up at me and squirmed beneath me. She then reached up and pulled me down on top of her so that my body was pressed firmly against hers. “Fuck me, Noah.”

“Are you sure?” I looked into her eyes to make sure she was not saying the words out of pressure.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She laughed and reached up and grabbed my cock and positioned it between her legs.

“I don’t want you to think this is all about sex.” I pushed the tip of my cock into her opening and paused. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, my gosh, Noah. Just do it.” She moaned and pushed my bottom down and squeezed her legs around my waist so that my cock plunged into her. We both gasped as I slid inside of her, and a spark of electricity passed through us both. I moved slowly at first, loving the feel of her clenched around me. She felt warm and tight, and I had to control myself to stop myself from coming too soon. Robin bucked her hips beneath me and I increased my pace, slamming in and out of her so fast that I could feel my balls bouncing against her with every thrust.

“Touch me,” she moaned as I moved in and out of her. Her eyes were blazing with desire. “I need you to touch me at the same time. Please.” She groaned and I realized she wanted me to rub her clit as I thrust in and out of her. I adjusted my position so that her legs were up over my shoulders and I reached my thumb down to manually stimulate her as my cock plunged into her.

“Oh, yes. Oh, my God, yes!” she screamed and closed her eyes as I felt my climax building up and I rubbed her clit harder so that I could ensure I didn’t come before her. “Oh, Noah!” she screamed out loud and her eyes popped open as she started climaxing. Her body wiggled against me and across the sheets, and her breasts bounced up and down as she gyrated against me. She screamed as she came and I plunged into her hard two more times before I exploded inside of her. We stared at each other as we climaxed together and I collapsed on top of her, my cock still inside of her as we both finished at the same time. I gave her a long hard kiss and rolled onto my side. I quickly pulled off the condom and threw into the trashcan on the other side of the bed.

“You’re amazing.” I leaned over and pulled Robin into my arms. “That was amazing.”

“Thank you.” She looked up at me apprehensively. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never orgasmed like that before.”

“Really?” I grinned, happy at her admission.

“Really.” She laughed. “I think I would have come even if you hadn’t rubbed my clit.”

“Do you need to be touched to come?” I cocked my head to the side and ran my fingers down her stomach to her pussy.

“Yes. Well, I’ve never come without manual stimulation as well.”

“Oh. That’s sad.” I reached down and rubbed her clit and she moaned.

“Oh, don’t.” She squealed and tightened her legs against my hand. “I’m not sure I can handle another orgasm again so soon.”

“Oh?” I laughed and slipped a finger inside of her. “Are you sure?”

“Noah,” she closed her eyes. “You’re the devil, you know that?”

“No.” I removed my finger and watched her stare at me with wide eyes as I put it into my mouth and sucked it. “You taste amazing.”

“I can’t believe you’re growing hard again already.” She looked down at my cock, which was already growing rigid again, and placed her fingers around the shaft. “I didn’t expect you to be so well endowed.”

“Was I too big for you?” I raised an eyebrow at her and she laughed.

“No.” She shook her head. “It felt just right.”

“Yes, it did.” I groaned as I felt her fingers moving up and down the length of me. “Don’t start something you can’t continue.”

“Or?” She stopped and rolled over back onto her back. “What?”

“You are not going to just leave me hanging here, are you?” I groaned. “Big Noah is ready to play again.”

“Well, little Robin needs a longer break.” She laughed.

“What about back door Robin?”

“Back door?” She looked confused and then she shook her head at me. “Really?”

“Have you ever done it?” I grinned at her. “You shouldn’t knock what you don’t know.”

“Actually, I tried it once. And I wasn’t a huge fan.”

“He most probably didn’t know what he was doing.”

“And you do?”

“I just gave you the best orgasm of your life, right?”

“I never said that.” She blushed and I laughed as I reached down and nibbled on her nipple while allowing my fingers to play with her other nipple.

“I think you pretty much did.” I smirked at her. “But that’s okay, that was pretty much the best orgasm I’ve ever had as well.”

“Really?” She looked surprised. “And what do you mean pretty much?”

“Well, I only orgasmed once, so I can’t be sure.” I laughed as she pushed me onto my back and rolled over on top of me.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to prove it to you.” She looked down at me with glossy eyes, and I laughed as she trailed her breasts along my face and allowed her nipples to brush against my lips. I tried to catch one in my mouth, but she moved it away quickly.

“Oh, no you don’t. I’m in control now.” She sat back and shifted positions so that she was straddling me.

“I love a woman in charge.”

“Really?” She traced her fingers along my nipples and squeezed them hard before moving her fingers back down to my stomach.

“Yes.” I laughed and lay back, happy to allow her to take me on her sexual journey.

“Good.” She moved forward and then shifted backwards quickly and before I knew what was going on, I felt my cock sliding inside of her.

“Oh.” I reached over to the nightstand to grab the other condom, but she shook her head.

“It’s okay. I’m on the pill.” She slowly moved back and forth on me, and the sensation of her bare skin against mine made me grow harder even faster. “I want to feel all of you inside of me.”

“Fuck.” My body tensed as she bounced up and down on me and swiveled her hips back and forth. She was moving so quickly that I was sliding in and out of her effortlessly. I could feel every sensation even more deeply as she moved up and down. I felt my cock going so deeply into her that I almost felt that she was becoming a part of me. I knew that I was also hitting the right spot because she had closed her eyes and was moaning as she increased her pace. Her hair was flying everywhere and her breasts were bouncing up and down with abandon as she rode me. I reached up and squeezed her nipples as she rode me and I felt her climax a few seconds later. This time she increased her pace, and I found myself climaxing into her a few seconds later. She collapsed on top of me, and I grabbed her face and kissed her hard.

“You proved your point.” I muttered against her lips. “That was the best orgasm of my life.”

“You proved your point as well,” she whispered against my lips. “That was my first orgasm from penetration alone.”

“There are plenty more where that came from.” I drew her hair away from her face and stared up into her face. “You’re so beautiful, Robin.”

“You’re not bad yourself.” She rolled over onto her side and grinned. “I’m ready to watch that movie now.”

“I’m ready for a quick nap.” I laughed and she shook her head.

“Typical man.”

“To know us is to love us,” I replied quickly, and I laughed as she stuck her tongue out at me. I jumped off of the bed and grabbed the remote control and threw it at her. “Here you go. Feel free to choose a channel. I’m just going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” She smiled and bit her lip.

“Everything okay?”

“Do you have a t-shirt I could wear?” She looked down at her naked body. “I feel a little awkward lying here naked.”

“I don’t mind you staying naked.” I licked my lips and then laughed as she rolled her eyes. “Hold on.” I walked to the closet, grabbed a t-shirt, and threw it to her. She caught it and pulled it on quickly.

“Thank you.” She smiled and sat back. My breath caught as I stared at Robin and realized which t-shirt I had given her. It was the same t-shirt I had worn all the time in Palm Bonita. It was the same t-shirt that she had worn after we made love. I felt my heart thudding as I realized that I was now thinking about her while I was with Robin. And I hadn’t even told Robin about her. I closed my eyes briefly, not wanting to think of her in this moment. This was a special new beginning for Robin and me. I didn’t want the past to ruin us. I had to live in the present now. I had a real future with Robin. I didn’t want to mess that up.

“You okay?” Robin looked at me with an anxious look.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Sorry, that t-shirt reminded me of my time in Palm Bonita.”

“Oh.” She looked down at the graphic of a lone palm tree and the caption ‘No man is alone in Palm Bonita.’ “Did you get this while you were there?”

“Yeah. A friend gave it to me.” I turned around. “I’ll be back. I just need to go to the bathroom.” I hurried to the bathroom and closed the door and poured some water on my flushed face. “Stupid idiot.” I muttered to myself as I pissed. “Why don’t you just tell her that she’s wearing the t-shirt your ex-girlfriend gave you? The same t-shirt that she used to wear after you fucked her senseless?”

“You okay, Noah?” Robin knocked on the bathroom door, and I froze. How loud had I been?

“Yeah, coming.” I washed my hands and walked out of the bathroom and looked at Robin’s worried face. “What’s wrong?”

“You seem like you got upset.” She looked up at me with a concerned face. “I guess you have bad memories about your time in Palm Bonita, huh?”

“I guess,” I mumbled, wanting to change the subject but not knowing how.

“What was it like?” She walked back to the bed with me and we sat down. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but I’d love to know more about it.”

“It was a small town.” I sighed and leaned back on the bed. “It was full of criminals. A lot of bad people.”

“Wow, how bad were they?”

“Pretty bad.” I shrugged. “Murderers, thieves, tax evaders. Anyone who wanted to get away from mainstream society and didn’t want to be found moved to Palm Bonita.”

“Eww, that sounds horrible. No wonder you have bad memories of the place. Were there any good people?”

“There was one.” I started and my eyes lit up at the memory of Skylar. “Out of everyone that I met, there was one person who was an angel with a heart of gold.”

“A girl?” Robin’s tone was light, but her eyes looked at me with deep interest.

“Yeah. She was my little princess.” I stared at Robin and sighed. “She was a beautiful light in that town of darkness.”

“I didn’t realize that you had someone special there.”

“Sorry,” I shook my head. “I didn’t mean to or want to talk about this. It’s not something I like to dwell upon.”

“Do you miss her?” Robin’s tone sounded jealous, and I felt worry fill me.

“Let’s not talk about it.” I grabbed her hands. “Let’s just think about us.” I pulled her against my chest and stroked her head, but all I could think was, ‘What if I am successful in bringing Skylar to Los Angeles? What am I going to tell Robin?’