Warning: Slight non-con roleplay, nothing too intense yet.

. . .

Chapter Nine:

I don't expect anything to happen when we walk through the door with boxes of food in our arms. Everything feels normal and happy between us again, but I'm fairly confident that Alex's sly, flirtatious glances in my direction will stop once she's occupied with her hot wings.

I don't expect anything to happen when we finally curl up in the living room and start eating. With food spread out on the coffee table and the late news playing the background, it feels like a normal, relaxed night at home. But Alex's hand lingers a little too long above my knee when she bends over to grab some extra napkins, and her eyes are bright behind the frames of her glasses. Apparently, I guessed her priorities wrong.

I don't expect anything to happen when she leans closer and closer, until her beautiful face is hovering inches away. It's not until she's actually kissing me that I realize what she's done. Her lips slide against mine softly at first. A delicate brush, press and release. It's almost like a game. She's teasing me, trying to coax me into kissing her back.

I don't expect anything to happen, but when it does, I can't resist.

I grip Alex's waist with one hand and the back of her neck with the other. She shivers, then melts in my arms, whimpering against my mouth as my tongue pushes past her lips. It's the way she likes to be kissed best. Hard, deep, until she can't breathe. They aren't usually my favorite kisses, but right now, something about them is perfect. I crave more.

Tasting her drives everything else out of my head. Feeling her sigh into me makes me forget all of the reasons why this is a dangerous idea. I can even smell her - the sweetness of her perfume and the heat and salt of sex. I haven't opened my beer yet, but I already feel drunk. She's so soft, so open to me, making sweet little noises every time my tongue strokes against hers or my hand grips her waist.

I kiss her harder. Tangle my fingers through her hair and pull it loose. It falls around her face in sheets of gold. When she gasps, I bite her lower lip and pull it between my teeth. The slight pain makes her fingers tense on top of my thigh, but I know it's a good sign when they slide up. Too soon, both of us need to breathe. I pull away from her, and a low groan breaks in my throat when I realize that one of her hands is already cupped between my legs. The angle is awkward, so it's not a lot of pressure, but it's enough.

"Fuck, Alex… If you keep doing that, I'm not going to be held responsible for ravishing you."

I don't mean for to come out like that. It's supposed to be a joke. But once I say the words, I can't call them back.

Alex looks surprised for a moment. She doesn't move. A deep red flush blossoms out from the points of her cheeks, covering her face and running all the way down her neck. Her breathing comes faster, and her pulse jumps just above the dip in her collarbone. I'm not sure whether to be aroused or terrified. "Alex?"

"Make me."

Her voice is soft, breathless, but easily understood. I ask her to repeat herself anyway. "What did you say?"

"I said…" She swallows. Gives the hand between my legs another firm squeeze. I pulse hard against the seam, against her fingers. "Make me."

"You know you can stop me?"

She nods her head once.

This is it. Everything comes down to whether I trust us or not. Whether I trust Alex to use her safe word, and whether I trust myself to listen. The answers come more easily than I expect. I know every bit of her now, inside and out. I know just how to touch her. I know which words to whisper in her ear. I know she isn't too proud to stop me if things go wrong. And I know there's nothing in the world that would make me want to hurt her.

This time, when I lean in to kiss her, she tries to pull away. It's a hesitant action, one she has to think about, and I can tell she's doing it deliberately, not instinctively. But I don't let her. I pull her closer. Crush my lips against hers. Steal her breath with kisses and seal off her words before I can lose my courage. This is not just her desire anymore. It's mine. I want to claim her, consume her, draw from her until I've taken everything she has.

She doesn't resist when I push her backwards onto the couch. She doesn't struggle when I hook one of her legs around my waist. Her hips even push up against mine, as if she knows I still need a few physical signs that she really wants this. It's not until I take both of her hands and trap her wrists together above her head that she gives me her first, "No."

Over the past few weeks, I spent a long time thinking about what I would do if… when... Alex said no. Wondering how 'no' would feel. Wondering if 'no' would freeze me in place, or if I would completely ignore it. But when I look into her eyes, I only see 'yes'. She doesn't look afraid. Her face is open, trusting, exhilarated. And 'no' isn't the word we agreed on to stop this. I pull back a little, shifting so that only one of my hands is holding her wrists. I wait a beat. Give her a chance to use her safe word. But it doesn't come.

I slide my other hand down her stomach. Shove her skirt out of the way. Drag up along her thigh. I know I should say something, and to my surprise, the right words come out. "No?" I push forward, past her skirt, past the waistband of her underwear until my fingertips find heat. "Then why are you so wet?"

It's all I need to say. Her hips buck. More warmth spills into my hand. Physically, it feels just the same as when I'm making love to her. I'm not sure why I thought it would be different. Even though I know that physical reactions have nothing to do with consent, I'm relieved that she's still responding to me, to my touch.

My fingers slip forward almost by accident. She's so slick and ready that it's impossible to stay outside. Her muscles clamp down tight around me, but they also pull me in with soft little tugs instead of trying to push me out. I'm so deep, as deep as I've ever been, and it only took a few seconds. I groan as heated silk ripples and pulses around me, leaning forward to trail a string of kisses along her soft throat.

"No," she whispers again, but I can feel her clit throbbing into the heel of my palm. Its hood is peeled back along the hard little shaft, and the tip catches against my hand. I pause and look down, giving her another chance to stop me. She doesn't. Her face is open, and I can see the trust there. Until she uses her safe word, this 'no' is really another 'yes'.

I bite down in a tender place just below her jaw. Curl my fingers forward through clinging warmth. Hook against a full, heavy spot inside her. This time, her "no" is lost in a sharp cry. It's a sound I've drawn from her hundreds of times before. I know what it means, but I'm surprised at how easily I can get her to make it. Usually, she tries to swallow it down for the first few minutes, and only lets it out when I've pushed her to the edge. She's close. Fluttering around me, shivering with each stroke. I want her to make that noise again.

This time, I start thrusting in and out of her instead of just curling. The sweet sobs falling from her lips make it easy to ignore the painful bite of elastic along my wrist. I never bothered to take Alex's panties off. I want to make her come so hard that she ruins them. Hard enough to stain the skirt she's still wearing and the couch below us. I want to draw a flood from between her legs. Fuck into her until she screams her throat raw and pours out everything she has. I want...

My teeth move to another unmarked patch of skin along her throat. She hisses and tries to pull her wrists free. I tighten my grip and pin them again. If she really wants to get free, all she needs to do is say the safe word. Even though I want to kiss her again, I keep my lips where they are, sealed around her shoulder. When she's this close, I feel like she needs to have her mouth free. Just in case.

But Alex doesn't stop me. She goes rigid beneath me and throws her head back against the arm of the couch. I can feel the wild pounding of her heart in my own chest. Her uneven, ragged breaths. I slow down my thrusts just enough to trap her clit beneath my thumb. It's so swollen that I can barely cover it. I slip over the head a few times, and the full spot inside of her swells against my fingertips, stretching so tight that I know it has to hurt.

Some of her words come back to me. The soft confession she murmured into the safety of my neck while I held her in my arms. 'Forcing me to come while I'm so vulnerable… It makes me feel a little sick, but that's probably the part that arouses me the most.'

I release Alex's shoulder. There's something else she needs, one more thing I can do for her. I lean down and whisper into her ear as her hair tickles my face. "Come for me."

She obeys. Her inner muscles squeeze and contract, clutching my fingers so tight that they can't move. The shaft of her clit grows thicker, straining against its hood as the exposed tip twitches hard beneath my thumb. And with one more thrust, the swollen spot along her front wall finally bursts. A gush of warmth pushes out around me, running over my hand, spilling between my fingers and soaking through her underwear. And it doesn't stop once the first flood is over. The harder I push inside of her, the faster I rub over the tortured bud of her clit, the more she gives me. She comes until the wet fabric of her skirt is clinging to her thighs and there's a large, dark patch on the couch beneath us.

It's too much. The pressure is growing inside of me now, and I need something, anything, to take the edge off. I pull my free hand away from hers, forgetting that I'm supposed to keep her trapped as I shove my arm between our bodies. It's not easy undoing the button of my pants while she's still writhing beneath me, but somehow, I manage to shove my fingers past the waistband. Only a few quick strokes, and I'm coming with her. My eyes snap shut, and all I can feel is the ripples running endlessly through my body. I've barely had any contact between my legs, but the violent, unrestrained pleasure I've forced from her is enough to give me one of the most powerful orgasms I can remember.

I groan into her lips as I finally give into temptation and kiss her. When she realizes what I've done, what I'm doing, Alex comes apart all over again. Another burst of fluid rushes over my hand, and this time, my mouth cuts off her cries. It isn't until several moments later that her lips go slack against mine and her entire body sinks back into the couch. Each breath is a struggle, and I can't keep kissing her anymore, no matter how much I adore her taste.

"Liv, it's all right," she says in a shaking voice, even though she can barely speak at all. "Everything's all right. God, I love you. I love you so much. This was perfect. You're perfect. It's okay. You did everything right. Everything I wanted..."

At first, I'm still too drained from what just happened to realize I need the reassurances. My mind is blissfully empty. But when the doubts do come creeping in a few seconds later, I can already feel her words sealing around me, protecting me, cutting off my fear before it can take root anywhere in my mind. Maybe it's strange, the idea that I would need more comfort than Alex after a scene like this. But somehow, she anticipated it. She knew.

I keep my fingers buried inside of her and nuzzle into her shoulder, breathing deeply and resting in the darkness. She smells the same. She feels the same against me. I haven't hurt her, and I don't think I've hurt myself, either. My mind is still spinning, and I feel lightheaded from the rapid thumping of my heart, but I'm pretty sure that I'm smiling. We're both going to be fine.

. . .

AN: I am delighted to announce the release of my third published novel, and first solo project: The Second Sister! It's been through two publishing houses, countless editors, and a LOT of websites. It's a fantasy story loosely based on Cinderella, but in case you were wondering, Ellie definitely doesn't end up with the prince, and there's lots of drama and action along the way. ;D It's in first person, and the characters are stronger than any others I've written before. Loved All The Pretty Things and Dark Horizons? Buy this book. Thought they were pretty good, but a bit lacking in character development compared with my fanfiction? Buy this book. Belladonna is one of the more interesting love interests I've written for any of my main characters. Read it online already in the past? Buy this book. I extended and rewrote all the sex scenes, fixed plot problems, and completely revised the entire thing. It is the first in a series of four books, and the next book in the series is coming sometime around August.

For Smashwords: books/view/424670

For Amazon: The-Second-Sister/dp/B00JDW5OXO/

Oh, and in case you are one of the readers that is tired of my cock stuff, there's none of that in the entire series. It's all toyless. xD But don't worry, I'm sure Dante, the sequel to Dark Horizons, and the sequel to All The Pretty Things will take care of that for you if you like it. ;D Speaking of which...

I'm also pleased to announce that All The Pretty Things will be revised and picked up by Desert Palm Press, in addition to its sequel. Both should be released at the same time, near the end of the year. And guess what? If you already bought ATPT, you'll get the new, revised version free from amazon! So hopefully I'll be able to deliver you an even better book than the first time. Feel free to send me your ideas and comments for the sequel. And if you buy my books, LEAVE REVIEWS (hopefully saying nice things).