Quarter-Life Fling Read online

  “My cabin is fine.” I belatedly realized he was waiting for an answer. I didn’t know much about the guy, but I knew I wanted him. Besides, having a one-night stand (or one-day stand in this case) was something I’d never done before.

  Instead of holding my hand, he put one arm around me, sliding it down to my butt and guiding me along like that. I exhaled hard as he squeezed. My knees were pretty shaky by the time I stepped over the threshold of the cabin.

  “I haven’t unpacked yet,” I said inanely. I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing, but he turned those gorgeous hazel eyes on me and smiled.

  “More space for us to use.”

  “Really? What did you have in mind?” Purely rhetorical question, of course.

  When he approached me with that intent look, I tried to keep my eyes open, gaze locked on his. But my eyelids fluttered shut at the touch of his lips. This was no fumbling teenage kiss nor was it an embrace stolen on someone’s couch or in a movie theater. This was the real deal, and it was toe-curling good.

  The outfit I’d so carefully chosen that morning was rumpled by the time he started peeling it off me. When he finally paused, I was standing before him clad in Agent Provocateur lingerie, thanking my lucky stars I hadn’t worn my granny underwear. I’d never expected a guy to see my new purchases so soon. If ever.

  My breath left in a rush as his hands slid upward, thumbs feathering across my nipples. If it hadn’t been for the pleasure coursing through me, I’d have felt way more self-conscious. But Jude’s concentration never wavered, his eyes half-closing as he caressed me.

  Unlike my former boyfriends, Jude knew what he was doing. But my guard was still up and I suddenly couldn’t help but wonder why he was here with me, doing what he was doing.

  Then I happened to glance downward where his dick strained against the fly of his jeans. Whoa. He found me a turn-on? Okay, maybe this was the real deal. My brain chose that moment to short out.

  It was a simple matter to tease the zipper across the bulge, and his groan of pleasure as I did so melted away most of my doubts. Except…

  “Um, I don’t actually have protection or anything.” I blushed as I spoke. This really was one of those conversations best kept in a Sex Ed class where we could all giggle as the teacher stretched a condom over a cucumber. Jude felt nothing at all like a cucumber, his shaft warm in my hand as I continued to hold him.

  “I do, babe.” Sudden concern shrouded his eyes. “You a virgin?”

  I shook my head. “No. But I kind of wish I was. My first time was spectacularly bad.” The times after that hadn’t been much better, but that was probably way too much information.

  “Sounds like you’ve got some memories to erase.” In his hand was a bright-orange condom. He grinned at my reaction to the color. “It glows in the dark too.”

  “In case I can’t find your penis?”

  He laughed. “That would be kind of difficult. Anyhow, there’s a crazy amount of novelty condoms out there. I’d like to try them all on you.” He moved closer, breathing the last words against my neck.

  His hips tilted forward and I let go of his erection, his jeans falling around his ankles. He leaned back to kick them away, affording me a glimpse of his entire body. Double whoa. He had no tan lines.

  Before my low self-esteem kicked in again, Jude’s hands undid the clasp of my bra. He spared hardly a glance for the lacy garment as my breasts spilled into his hands. I tensed as he bent to tongue them, drawing each nipple deep into the warm wetness of his mouth then jolting me to the core as he flicked out with his tongue.

  I’d never been this built-up before sex. Jude was taking foreplay to a whole new level. I was almost ready to come now, and when he tugged my damp panties down, I couldn’t help but moan. The skim of his fingers against my newly shaven pussy was about to drive me wild. I tried desperately to hold on to the shreds of my dignity, clamping my mouth shut.

  He backed me into the bedroom, teasing apart my clamped lips with his kisses. The bed caught me at the backs of my knees and I fell into its softness with a little grunt of surprise. Jude propped himself atop me and I was a little disappointed to see he’d already put the condom on. The latex glowed faintly in the dim light of the bedroom and I almost broke the mood with a totally inappropriate giggle. Men didn’t like women giggling at their junk, I realized just in time.

  Fortunately, it didn’t take much to wipe the smile off my face, just another few kisses. His hands parted my legs, cock pressing maddeningly against my entrance. I shuffled a bit, getting impatient, and he eased home. I gasped. I was so wet we hadn’t needed lubrication—a first for me. I’d never been so turned-on, so ready.

  I turned my head, admiring his bulging arms as I tried to keep hold of my sanity. A tattoo wound its way around his biceps, linking the letters S and P in discreet but elegant script. Vaguely, I wondered what they stood for. Was he married? Were they the initials of a girlfriend? God, I hoped not.

  That line of thinking evaporated as he thrust again. I couldn’t help but gasp, wrapping my arms around his neck to urge him on. I was used to faking it, making do with the little spikes of pleasure that were all I had gotten from my exes. So when my breathing became ragged and the world began to spin, my first instinct was to try to shut it down.

  “What’s wrong, babe?”

  I looked desperately into his eyes. “I can’t—I’ve never—”

  “You’ve never fucking come?” His voice was incredulous. “You gotta just let go, babe.”

  Let go? I didn’t understand what he meant. I was barely clinging to sanity here. But he kissed me again, claiming my lips with a sustained ferocity that completely undid me. There wasn’t any letting go involved as I catapulted headlong into sensation. I couldn’t stop my reaction, crying out against his lips as the first orgasm of my life shook me to the core.

  So that’s what I had been missing. No wonder half my friends had fucked like bunnies throughout college. Pleasure laced with smugness almost overwhelmed me as Jude came too, dropping his forehead to my shoulder as he let out a long Ahhh of bliss. His hair was finally mussed up, just like I’d wanted it earlier.

  I wanted to cradle him close but I didn’t dare. If I snuggled into him, I wouldn’t have to make eye contact. It would be cool if we could put off that post-sex awkwardness for as long as possible…unless, of course, he just got up and walked out. I tensed as he moved, but he wasn’t going anywhere, only reaching for a box of tissues.

  “You okay, Alanna?”

  “Yeah.” My voice sounded small even to me.

  “That’s good.” His voice, baritone and soothing, vibrated my cheek as I lay against him. I suddenly wished I knew more about him. There was a maturity about Jude that I’d rarely seen in most male college students, and I really liked that.

  Make conversation, dummy, I ordered myself. Before you skeeve him out.

  “How long have you worked here?” I couldn’t quite bring myself to use his name yet. It seemed too intimate.

  “What? Oh, I don’t. I co-own a landscaping company and we were hired to improve the grounds. So I’m staying here until the end of the week while I oversee the project.”

  “All right, so this one-night stand thing isn’t part of the package I bought. Just checking.” I kept my tone light, playful, and was relieved when he laughed.

  “It’s more than a one-night stand, if you want it.” His voice went lower, quieter, for the last four words.

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  I took a deep breath, glad my face was still tucked safely into his chest. “Um, I’ve never just jumped into a relationship with someone. You’re single, right? And, uh…”

  “Yeah, I’m single. And no, I don’t have any STDs.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “We can go down on each other and all that good stuff.”

  This probably wasn’t the time to tell him that neither of my exes had ever gone down on me. I was somewhat of an expert on blowjobs, though. Most
ly the hurried, inside-the-movie-theater variety. Or a quick, snatched-in-the-dorm-room kind of deal, the one where one of us was on high alert for a roommate returning.

  The bed we were lying on now could hold three of those dorm cots. It was way more comfortable too. Wait…was Jude planning to stay in one of these cabins while he did his landscaping thing? I had to ask.

  “Yep. Cabin number twenty, wayyy over on the outskirts where my presence won’t bother anyone.”

  “Or turn anyone on,” I muttered.

  He laughed again. “You were looking at me when you got out of your car. I was hoping you liked what you saw.”

  “I thought you were looking at my car.”

  “Well, I was. Then I decided you were more interesting.”

  I turned my head, coming nose to skin with that intriguing tattoo. “I’m not all that interesting,” I protested.

  “To me, you are. Young woman like you shows up at a wellness retreat where most people are middle-aged hippies, driving a BMW of your own. Sparked my curiosity right away.”

  “I work at a software design startup in Silicon Valley. I got lucky, landed the job just before I graduated, and figured I’d splash out on a car.” I shrugged self-consciously. “Actually, my boss is probably going to kill me when he realizes how much work I’m not doing. I thought I’d have internet access but they took my phone and laptop. They probably use candles instead of electricity here.”

  “Huh. I still have my phone if you want to look anything up. And candles can be kind of fun. How long are you here for?”

  “Until Friday. I might take you up on the phone thing.” I finally found the courage to look up at him. Unlike my exes, who still retained some of the gangly teenage boy look, Jude was filled out, with broad shoulders and thick stubble that darkened his cheeks.

  “How old are you?” I blurted.

  “Twenty-six.”

  “And you co-own a landscaping company?” A smile tugged at my lips.

  “Yeah, and you own a Beamer, design software and shell out the bucks for a health retreat. I think we’re pretty evenly matched in our out-of-the-box approach to life.”

  “I wasn’t making fun of you,” I said quickly. “I’m just surprised. And I know how it feels to constantly be told how well you’re doing, how you’ve got such a good head on your shoulders and all that.”

  “Makes you want to do something really crazy, doesn’t it?”

  Whoa, he got me. I’d wanted to do something wild for ages, but setting foot off the straight-and-narrow wasn’t all that easy no matter how I yearned to let loose. First it had been grades and parental approval, now it was all about making a good impression at the job. When did it end?

  “I can’t even think what crazy thing I can get away with,” I admitted.

  “Moonlight motorcycle ride?” Jude flashed me a quick grin, hazel eyes dancing. “Naked?”

  “That might be good for a start.” I smiled back, knowing full well he was joking. “But I don’t think I’m old enough to rent a motorcycle.”

  “I have a Harley.”

  I sat up. “No fucking way. You have a Harley and you were all jealous of my car? I’m jealous of you.”

  “No need for jealousy.” He sat up too, stretching his arms over his head. “You can ride it any time you like. You wanna go tonight?”

  “Hell yes.” The words came straight from my heart, and it was worth a lot to see his face light up. “Um, I don’t know about naked though.”

  “We can play it by ear.” He grinned and stood up. “I’d better get back to work, babe. I’ll see you tonight.”

  * * * * *

  Dinner couldn’t be over fast enough. I sat at a table near the window with the other “young people” the receptionist had so kindly rounded up. The girl sitting next to me was a trust-fund baby pre-detoxing before a stint in a harsher rehab facility down in Southern California. The brunette across the table had recently experienced a family death and was taking some time off college to recover some emotional equilibrium.

  Fortunately, food arrived before we had to make much conversation. The meal was just a little bit too skimpy for my liking—chicken in some sort of tangy-sweet sauce, a handful of skinny fries, way too much salad with cucumbers. I ate, listening to conversations flow around me. The blonde trust-fund baby complained up a storm about the accommodations.

  Halfway through her diatribe, the brunette—her name was Zara—rolled me a helpless look, and we both had to hide our grins behind our forks. When the blonde got up halfway through the meal to use the bathroom, Zara shook her head.

  “Finally, a break. I didn’t think the cabins were so bad. There’s a rainforest shower and a Jacuzzi.”

  “Yeah, seems fine to me. Especially since a cleaner comes during breakfast.” I ate the last bite of chicken, keeping my eyes peeled for the trust-fund baby’s return. “You know, I don’t think she’s doing much detox if she’s spending that long in the bathroom.”

  Zara giggled, mimicking the blonde’s accent. “Like, it’s pre-detox so it’s totally okay. Anyhow, forget her. What’s your cabin number?”

  “Seven. You?

  “I’m in Two. Hey, you’re near that new pond that’s slated to go in. Have you seen the landscaping guys? Dreamy.”

  I took a quick gulp of water. Seen them? I’ve had sex with one of them! “Uh, yeah. Cute guys.”

  “Especially that one dude. I think his name is Salvador—I overheard his friend talking to him.” Zara sighed, and I sat back in relief. Not that I had any right to be jealous over what was effectively going to be a four-night stand, but I couldn’t help my sudden possessive feelings. He was all mine for those four nights, dammit.

  “Why don’t you go and talk to him?” I suggested.

  “Me? Talk to him? I don’t know…” Zara shut her mouth as the blonde returned, and we smirked at each other as the other girl began talking a mile a minute again.

  Dessert consisted of melon slices. It was over mercifully quickly. I walked Zara out before someone could rope me into guided meditation or something. I’d try that some other time… I didn’t want to keep Jude waiting.

  If he was waiting.

  I tried to ignore the sudden niggle of doubt.

  “How long are you here for?” Zara asked.

  “I’m scheduled to leave on Friday. I was supposed to come here with my best friend, but she got sick at the last minute. What about you?”

  “I’m leaving next week. My mom wanted me to take some time off, chill out a bit.” She hesitated. “My sister died a couple months ago.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear that.” We stopped walking now that we were some ways away from the main complex. The only sounds were the faint rustlings of wildlife as they settled in for the night.

  “I guess I’m still taking it pretty hard. I broke up with my boyfriend two weeks ago, so that was a double whammy. Anyhow, I don’t want to burden you with all my troubles.” Zara forced a laugh.

  “It’s no burden.” I felt bad for ever considering my life hard. By comparison, it was just boring. “I can find out more about Salvador if you want.”

  Zara shot me a surprised look. “Really? How?”

  “I’m, uh…hooking up with his boss tonight.” That felt weird to say. I was such a goody-two-shoes that I was blushing, not that anyone could tell in this darkness. But that was part of the beauty of all this—removed from everything familiar, I was free to become a different person. At least temporarily.

  “Oh, no kidding? I’d better let you go, then. Tell me all about it tomorrow morning!”

  Zara waved cheerily, disappearing toward her cabin and leaving me free to make my way back to my own place—and Jude. I walked slowly but steadily, enjoying the freedom, peace…and hot anticipation.

  * * * * *

  Jude lit the last of the candles and stood back to survey his handiwork. He had rushed to get the cabin ready for Alanna’s return and was still sweaty from the day’s work. He planned to take a q
uick shower while she enjoyed the chocolate he’d brought back for her.

  He hadn’t meant to get involved so deep and fast. But he didn’t regret it one bit. This was the kind of relationship that was supposed to progress quickly—it would either be over by the end of the week, or…or they’d actually have to make it work somehow. Which was a little bit crazy, but also surprisingly exciting.

  Restless, he walked outside to wait on the porch. With summer winding down, the Central Valley nights were still balmy and he was looking forward to a leisurely motorcycle ride with Alanna. He waited, growing more and more impatient until he heard the crunch of footsteps in the distance.

  Moonlight limned her form, shining bright as she continued toward him. He couldn’t wait to see her gorgeous dark-brown eyes. She might be a little bit shy and self-conscious, but he hoped to get to know her a lot better tonight.

  “Hey. I’m glad to find you here.” Alanna stepped onto the porch and he immediately opened his arms, drawing her into an embrace.

  “I’m kind of dusty from digging up a flowerbed,” Jude said. “You mind if I use your shower real quick?”

  “Go ahead—oh.” She’d peered through the door and seen the candles. “Did you light those? They’re beautiful.”

  “Yep. You were right about the whole no electricity thing.” He grinned as she flashed him a suspicious look. “Just kidding, babe. I thought it would be a cool surprise. I got you some chocolate too.”

  “Awesome. The dessert tonight was melon.” She made a face. “And I had to listen to some girl complaining about everything.”

  “Takes all kinds to make the world go ’round,” Jude commented. “I like melons, though.” He reached down, tracing one finger across the underside of one of her breasts. She shivered, pressing closer to him, and he couldn’t resist a smile. He was already hard—had been from the moment he saw her—and at this rate he needed to get his jeans off and get into the shower before things went too far.

  “Come on, let’s go inside. Your chocolate’s on the pillow. I’ll be right back.”