FACE TO FACE
CHAPTER 4
She awoke to a crash and a curse; her first thought was confusion why Chris, who could barely boil water, was in the kitchen. But as her eyes focused and she recognized the room of a certain handsome, blue-eyed author, the memory of the previous night came flooding back.
As she slid out of the insanely comfortable bed and felt a familiar ache between her legs she winced. They'd been awake for most of the night, and Kate wasn't even sure how many times they had sex. At least three, she thought, and she lost count of the number of orgasms she had.
There was no doubt in her mind that they had amazing physical chemistry, which she was definitely interested in exploring even more. But she didn't know much about him as a person. The time between rounds had been spent dozing which, Kate realized when she yawned, was not nearly enough sleep.
At one point during the night she'd stumbled to the living room and retrieved her bag, and had plugged in her phone. She sent a quick text to her boss to tell him she wouldn't be in, and reached her arms over her head in a long stretch.
God, she was sore. She needed a shower, too, she realized as she padded into the ensuite bathroom. She and Rick had shared a bath in his massive jacuzzi tub, but they hadn't used it to get clean. Kate smiled at the memory.
No, they'd been very dirty in that tub.
She brushed her teeth, and as she did she examined her naked body in the mirror, assessing the damage. There were several hickeys, but only one that she'd have to cover, thank goodness. There was a faint set of bruises on each hip, bruises in the distinct shape of Rick's fingers, where he had gripped her tightly many, many times.
She jumped when the man in question appeared behind her, and she spit out the toothpaste and rinsed out her mouth. "What the hell?" She glared at him. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Thought you would have heard me," he insisted, setting two coffee cups on the counter and palming her hip, tugging her into him. "Good morning."
Kate tilted her head to accept the kiss he pressed to her neck and she smiled, leaned into him. "Morning," she drawled in return. "I heard noises, everything okay?"
"Yep, I'm just clumsy." He kissed her again, then gave her bare ass a light pat before moving to the linen closet. "Checking yourself out?"
Kate gave a noncommittal hum, twisting to look at her back. No obvious marks there, she noticed. Well, he did pay the most attention to her front, so she wasn't surprised. "Just assessing the damage."
Rick chuckled. "I did the same thing. You did a better job staying in places I can hide it, though," he admitted, pointing to his chest.
Kate smiled. Yes, she had. There were a couple hickeys on his chest, but a shirt would cover them easily, as well as the bite mark just below his collarbone. And she was relatively sure he had a mark or two high on his thighs.
Rick set two large, fluffy towels on the vanity. "Care to join me in the shower?"
Kate grabbed his waistband when he tried to pass by, dipped her fingers inside his boxers to stroke him, eliciting a low groan. "Absolutely," she murmured against his mouth before she took it in a bruising kiss.
By the time they emerged from the shower, the coffee was ice cold.
"Can I ask you something?"
Kate glanced up from her scrambled eggs to see Rick staring at her, his hands wrapped around a mug of fresh coffee. She shrugged. "Sure."
Rick tapped his thumb against the rim of the cup. "What happened with you and your boyfriend?"
Kate paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, then slowly set the fork down. It wasn't usually a question one would ask someone they barely knew, but since they'd basically spent the previous twelve hours having sex, she gave him a pass. They weren't exactly doing things in a conventional order.
"Chris and I had a closed relationship. He misunderstood. He thought that, since we had gone to a couple parties, that he was free to be with whomever he desired." She shrugged. "And I found out by accident. I saw messages on his phone. That's it."
Rick nodded. "You caught him cheating," he summarized. "I know that feeling."
Kate pushed her still-full plate aside. She wasn't hungry anymore. "Look, I'll be honest, I saw in the paper about you and your girlfriend."
"Ex."
"Ex," she repeated. "It said that you caught her cheating. Was it-" She swallowed hard, the question she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to on the tip of her tongue. "Did you know him?"
Rick shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I didn't recognize him, but I also didn't take a close look. I just saw them, you know, in the middle of it, and kicked them out."
Kate nodded, her hands reaching for her own mug. "Mine was texts," she said. "Texts and pictures."
"Did you know her?" Rick continued when she hesitated. "You said pictures, so I assumed that her face may have been in some."
Kate bit the inside of her cheek while she considered how much to tell him. He'd met Chris at the party they'd all attended, and unless Rick didn't remember him - which was very plausible - then Meredith had been with more than just Chris. There was no point in reopening the wounds even farther.
"I don't think so," she finally lied. "She almost looked familiar, but like you, I didn't look too closely."
Rick gave her a sad smile and finished his coffee. "What a pair we are," he said, standing and reaching for her empty mug. "Two people who hook up at a swinger party, both get cheated on, dump our respective significant others, and end up back together." He fixed them each another coffee, placed hers back down. "Small world, huh?"
Kate quirked an eyebrow. "You forgot the part where we have amazing sex for twelve hours straight," she teased, grinning when his eyes darkened. When he reached for her, she ducked away. "I can't, I'm too sore."
Rick caught her by the waist and tugged her back into him. "Even to mess around?" he growled, nipping at her neck. His hands slid under her shirt and cupped her breasts, his thumbs flicking her nipples.
Kate sagged against him. The ache between her legs was almost unbearable, but she also responded to Rick's touch. Her arousal was immediate; she'd been blind with lust with some men, but never before had she had such a raw, visceral response to someone's touch. "Fuck, Rick," she gasped, rolling her hips back into his. "Touch me."
He smiled against her skin and slid his hand down her torso. "Happy to."
When she woke up next, the afternoon sun was shining through the window, and she was alone. Her disappointment faded when she heard the sound of a keyboard in the next room, what she remembered to be his office, and she slid out of bed.
She found a robe draped over the sitting chair in the corner and she quickly put it on, tied it loosely around her waist, and went in search of her…
Well, she didn't know what to call him. One night stand? Fling? Companion? It depended on what happened when she went home, she supposed.
As expected, she found him sitting at his desk, his bare torso illuminated by his laptop screen, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He didn't seem to notice her right away, so she leaned against the bookcase and took the opportunity to watch him.
Hours of mindblowing sex aside, he was still her favorite author, so being able to watch him write felt special. At least, she assumed he was writing.
She wondered what he was working on, what his process looked like. He must outline; no author would put as many plot twists and subtle foreshadowing as he did without having a plan. Was he working on the next Derrick Storm, or something else?
Her natural intelligence and curiosity helped her graduate at the top of her class and land a job as a junior associate at a prestigious law firm. If she wasn't careful, though, it could ruin her favorite part of reading: anticipating the unknown.
After several minutes Rick looked up and blinked rapidly as his eyes swept across the room. His face lit up when he saw her, and he smiled and held out his hand. "You good?" he rasped when her fingers curled around his.
Kate straddled his lap and looped her arms around his neck. "Yeah, just watching."
His eyes narrowed. "Creepy," he teased, his hands dropping to her ass and squeezing. "Stalking is illegal, you know. You're a lawyer, shouldn't you know that?"
"I'm not that kind of lawyer." She leaned down and captured his mouth with hers, smiling against his mouth when he moaned. Her tongue curled around his, and she echoed his moan, rolled her hips over his growing arousal.
As much as she wished for him to bend her over and fuck her right on his desk - which, judging by the way his fingers flexed against her ass, he wanted to do as well - she was still too sore for penetration. Instead, she pulled away from him and stood, gave his chair a gentle push so she had more room to kneel.
"Kate," he groaned, threading his fingers through her hair, "you don't have-"
"I want to," she interrupted with a smirk, reaching for his waistband. She tugged his boxers off and gave him a long lick from base to tip. When he tightened his grip on her head and lifted his hips, she glanced up at him, curled her fingers around his shaft. "I've had this fantasy for a long time," she admitted before taking him in her mouth.
"Nice," Rick said, following Kate into her apartment two days later.
Kate stepped aside as he passed her, and despite some anxiety, she left him alone to look around. She wasn't entirely sure why she was nervous for him to see her place, especially since they'd spent the better part of the previous few days wearing no clothing and getting to know each other very well.
"Thanks." When he glanced back at her, she shrugged. "It's not as nice as yours, but-"
"It's still great," he interrupted. "Especially for this part of Brooklyn. I didn't realize that junior associates were paid this well." He paused. "Unless you share it with…" His voice trailed off and he shoved his hands in his back pockets, looking suddenly uncomfortable.
Kate felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle at the thought of Chris. There was no reason for it - she didn't see any obvious signs of him in the living room, so presumably he'd listened to her and she'd never see him again - but still she sighed as she tightened her grip on her bag and headed towards the bedroom.
"No, it's all mine," she explained, motioning towards the couch. She didn't tell him she'd inherited a small fortune from her grandparents, the apartment itself from her parents. He may have known multiple ways to give her an orgasm, but he didn't need to know that. "Go ahead and sit, make yourself comfortable. You want something to drink?"
If Rick responded, she didn't hear him, because as she turned the corner and stepped into the bedroom, she froze. Chris was a neat freak, so it was almost spotless and tidy, save for the unmade bed that she was sure had been flawless the last time she'd been there. It could mean nothing more than he slept there, and didn't bother to straighten up before leaving.
Or, it could mean that he'd had company.
She shook her head. It didn't matter. They were over, he was gone, and she just wanted to forget about him. So she dropped her bag by the closet and stripped off the covers, pillowcases included.
She didn't even bother folding them, just rolled them up in a ball and shoved them in the corner.
The sound of her name cut through the fog of rage and she glanced at the door, found Rick leaning against it, concern etched on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice. She nodded, but he stepped inside her room, placed a supportive hand on her back. "What can I do?"
She took a deep breath, let it out on a long exhale, and resisted the urge to throw Rick on the bed and ride him until they passed out from pleasure. She might do it later, but first, she needed to erase Chris from her apartment. And that meant shopping.
She turned to Rick. "Wanna come shopping?" she asked, forcing a grin on her face.
Rick raised his brows, but after he searched her eyes for a long moment, he nodded. "Sure," he agreed. "I'll drive. Where do you want to go?"
"You know," Rick muttered an hour later, coming up behind her in the linen section at Pottery Barn, "I can't help but imagine you squirming on these sheets, writhing while you shatter around me."
Kate felt her face flush at both his words and the hard bulge pressing against her ass. She wiggled her hips, smirking at the low groan in her ear, but when his hands gripped her waist and he held her to him, she froze. "We're not having sex in the middle of the store," she whispered, digging her elbow into his ribs.
Rick chuckled. "I never said we would," he teased, pressing a kiss to her neck before moving to her side and reaching for a dark purple sheet set. "How about these?"
Kate just glared at him for a moment before reaching out a hand to feel the fabric. While she enjoyed the feel of high quality silk sheets, she rarely purchased them for herself. "You think so?" she countered. She took the package from his hand and returned it to the shelf. "Because any movement, and I'd fall out of bed."
"You're right," Rick agreed quickly. His eyes darkened a shade - probably imagining what kind of movement would propel her to the floor - but he didn't elaborate, just followed her to the cotton blends.
"What are you going to do with the old stuff?" Rick asked later, as he helped Kate bring in the several shopping bags they'd carried from the car.
Kate dropped the duvet bag on the floor and collapsed against the back of the door. "You know," she breathed, "I didn't think that far ahead. I just know I don't want it around anymore."
Rick chuckled. "Clearly." He glanced at one of the bags he'd carried in and took it towards the kitchen. "I know the director at the local women's shelter, I'd be happy to give her a call." He returned from the kitchen a minute later, a bottle of water in each hand. "I hope you don't mind that I snooped a little for these. Figured you were just as thirsty as me."
Kate let her gaze linger on his throat as he tipped the bottle back and took a long drink, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. She toyed with the cap of her bottle, her teeth worrying her bottom lip, and when he caught her eye, he lifted an eyebrow.
"See something you like?" he teased, his voice low, a little dangerous. He took a long, menacing step towards her, his dark gaze locked on her mouth. Before she could respond he yanked her water bottle from her hand and tossed it behind him. It landed with a thud that they both ignored.
All of their attention was on each other.
Kate felt her breath catch in her throat when he gripped her wrists and pinned her arms over her head. He slid his foot between hers and nudged her legs apart, just far enough that she could straddle his leg. Her eyes fluttered shut at the hard muscle pressing against her so perfectly, and she gave her hips an experimental roll, moaned at the delicious friction, the brief moment of relief.
"No," Rick murmured.
Her eyes flew open. "What?" she husked.
He adjusted his grip on her wrists so he was holding them with one hand, and he slid his other hand down her side and under the hem of her shirt. His fingers fluttered over her ribs and she gasped, arched her back, her body begging to be touched. He worked his thumb under the wire of her bra, and he pushed up, freeing her breasts.
Her hips rolled as he flicked her hard nipple with his thumb, but he pinched her, narrowed his eyes.
"Not yet."
"Rick," she breathed, almost a whine. Her fingers clenched, desperate to touch him, touch herself, grip his shirt as he pounded into her. She'd experimented a bit with ties and cuffs, even added blindfolds on occasion, but never had she felt such raw strength, power, and domination. With anyone else, she didn't know if she would like it. But with Rick, it was really fucking hot.
And she was really fucking horny.
He'd barely touched her and she was close, so close. As he brushed his thumb across her nipple she arched again, her core seeking him, desperate for release.
Rick abandoned her breast and tugged her shirt up, let go of her wrists so he could drop it to the floor and rip off her bra. He tore his own shirt off in one smooth motion, but before she could reach for him, her wrists were in his strong grip once again.
His eyes bored into hers, his gaze dark and unreadable, but before she could even breathe his mouth was on hers. He was relentless, his tongue meeting hers, almost devouring her.
She lifted herself to her toes, crushing her bare chest against his, and he grunted at the touch, gave just the slightest shudder. She could feel him through his jeans, his hard cock against her leg, and she tried to shift, to get him to press himself where she needed him the most.
"God," she gasped when she pulled away for air, "please." She was close, so close, just needed a little bit of pressure. Just one touch would send her flying, but when she tried to yank her arms free, he just tightened his grip.
He dropped one hand to her belt and toyed with the button of her jeans. "Are you ready?"
"Are you fucking kidding?"
He chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes." He slid the button open and worked the zipper, slowly, the sound of the metal teeth deafening in the silence of the apartment.
"Wait," he commanded, stopping when she tried to kiss him again. He brushed his finger along her panties, over her swollen center, and she almost jumped, almost broke apart, almost cried with joy.
But he was moving too slow, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Goddammit, Rick," she snapped.
He slid his finger under her panties, tugging them aside, and slicked through her folds. "Jesus Christ, you're wet," he mumbled, his gaze dropping between them. "How long have you been like this?"
Kate gasped again when he teased her, his finger nudging against her entrance. "Please, oh God."
Rick ignored her question. "You once told me you stood here and touched yourself, thinking of me," he rasped, taking a step back. He let go of her hands, but before she could reach for him he moved back to lean against the back of the couch. "Do it now."
Kate blinked a few times and shook her head to clear some of the lust from her mind. "What?"
Rick cupped himself through his jeans, grinning when her gaze dropped. He didn't undo them, though, just rubbed his palm along his length. "Touch yourself, Kate," he repeated. "Show me."
She smirked and bit her bottom lip, gazed up at him through her lashes. Her mind drifted back to an afternoon several weeks before, when she'd attended his book signing and brought herself to orgasm upon her return home.
She hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her jeans and bent, dragged the pants down her legs, stepped out of them and kicked them aside. She watched as Rick's eyes followed her every move, his fingers curling around his bulge and squeezing when she slid her hand inside her panties and slicked a finger through her arousal.
Her eyes fluttered shut when she brushed against her clit, and her hips jerked into her hand, a cry escaping through her parted lips as her touch sent shockwaves through her core. Before she could fall over the edge she parted her legs, buried two fingers inside her, and rubbed her heel against her clit.
Her hips rolled in motion with the shallow thrusts of her hand, and she vaguely registered the rasp of a zipper and the crinkle of a foil packet. She opened her eyes and smirked when he grabbed her wrist and pinned her arm above her head once again.
"I thought you wanted to watch," she teased, gripping his waist with her free hand, her fingers digging into his side as he hiked her thigh over his hip.
His dark eyes stayed locked on hers as he tugged her panties to the side and thrust into her, his loud groan echoing off the walls as he set a punishing pace. He ignored her statement, not that she was complaining as she snuck her hand between them, finding her clit, gasping at her own touch.
Rick let go of her arm and replaced her hand with his, drawing her arousal up and over her clit, dropping his forehead to her shoulder as he buried deep and jerked inside her.
The orgasm hit her like a freight train, her whole body roaring as the waves rushed over her. Her hands dropped to his ass, and she held him close, kept him inside her until she finally stopped trembling.
Once she thought she could stand under her own power she lowered her leg, gave his ass a final squeeze as he lifted his head and smirked.
"Amazing," he muttered, his gaze dropping to her mouth before brushing his lips against hers.
She chased him when he tried to move away, slicked her tongue against his, moaned when she eventually broke the kiss. "I could get used to this," she admitted, trailing her fingers through his hair.
"What, fucking against your door?"
She chuckled. "No, although we do seem to like vertical surfaces," she added, her mind drifting back to their first fateful meeting in a dark basement.
He quirked an eyebrow. "And horizontal," he pointed out. "And I seem to remember you kneeling in front of my desk…"
She rolled her eyes and stepped away, bent to retrieve her clothes from the floor. "No," she retorted, "I meant this." She waved her hand between them. "Regular, great sex."
Before she could move away he wrapped his arm around her waist, tugged her into him for another kiss. "And I wouldn't mind more than that," he admitted.
She felt her face flush. "Me too."