Katori

The first sexual encounter after a long break from sexual encounters felt like the first sexual encounter all over again.

Except different. The man was different, the time was different. The couch was different. I had sex with Sean in his grandmother's living room while she watched Wheel of Fortune. 

JC was being utterly sweet and kind to me, making sure I was ready, that he wasn't hurting me... but I really just wanted him to go for it, to take control. 

To fuck me.

I didn't need a sweet and tender coupling. I wanted to be fucked. And I didn't have a lot of time to make it happen.

When he asked if I was ready, I answered truthfully. Yes, I was more than ready. To show him, I locked my legs around him, gripping his muscular thighs and snaked my hand between us. While he'd let me play and explore, my mind had wandered to how he would feel inside me. It was time to find out, for real.

I gripped him, then scooted down on the couch and aimed him in the right direction, burying his head in the warmth of my core. With a tilt of his hips, he pushed so he was inside me, but then stopped.

"Uhm..."

"Just do it, JC."

"I... okay, but..."

"I know. You're...no shrinking violet. And it's been awhile for me. But don't stop. Please don't stop."

I raised my head to meet his lips and gave him the most searing kiss I could muster up, then rolled my hips up against him.

He took the hint... and the plunge, pushing deep into me, thrust after thrust after... Oh God, delicious thrust. We were skin to skin, pubic bone to pubic bone, and hunching into each other like teenagers.

"You okay?" I already felt a sheen of sweat on his skin. His breath was hot on my cheek.

"Uhmmmyeah... don't stop."

If it wasn't for my son, I'd wish I'd never had sex with anyone else ever in life. As it was, I was pretty sure no one else would never compare to sex with JC. He did this thing where he sucked and bit at my neck and it made me lose my mind, tighten my grip around his body and clench my pussy walls around him. That made him groan and thrust harder, grinding against my clit.

"I don't want to finish first," he gasped, kind of laughing. "But you're killing me, here."

"I am?"

"Fuuuuck. Jesus, you have no idea how good you feel."

"Must be pretty good. You said fuck and Jesus in the same sentence."

"Damnit....Tori-"

"Okay, okay, okay."

I'd been holding out anyway, because being fucked felt really good and I wanted to drag it out. But since he was whining- and I was running out of time, I rocked my hips against him, matching his rhythm until I was nearly convulsing, on the edge of climax. And then he did that thing, sucking on my neck and it took me over the edge. My back arched up off of the couch and I couldn't stop the yelp that tore from my throat. My whole body twitched in time with the rhythmic pulsing of my pussy.

JC buried his face between my neck and shoulder and worked his hips against me in a mad flurry of thrusts and moans until he stiffened and let out a long, loud groan. I felt him pulse... and then completely relax, dropping his body weight onto mine, absolutely spent.

I found the strength to bring an arm around his shoulder and planted a kiss on his temple. He dripped sweat onto me and panted hot breath in my face, but I didn't mind a bit.

"Pretty sure this was not what Eloise had in mind when she told me to be a good hostess."

JC laughed, his abdominal muscles rippling against my soft belly. "Right about now, I'm glad she forced me to come here."

"Mmmmm," I hummed. "Right about now? Me too."

I gave him a few more moments to come down from his sex high, then tapped my palm against his shoulder.

"We need to get up. Kaya and Nasaan will be home any minute and I don't even want to think about how to explain this."

"Yeah. Forgot about that."

JC sat up, reaching for the articles of clothing he had removed. I did the same, bundling them in a pile under my arm.

 "So, I'm gonna... head upstairs and hop in the shower real quick."

I watched him thread his shirt back over his head and pull his jeans on, without the boxers.  "I'd join you, if I could."

I blushed, imagining part two of this super crazy night. "You can come up in a few minutes and shower and change, if you want."

"Okay. I'll uh... straighten up down here."

When I came back downstairs, in my pink cat pajamas, the living room looked nothing like the scene of the crime, with bunched up couch cushions and dirty glasses of liquor laying around. The room looked... normal. JC had stoked the fire again so it was lightly crackling, the reflection of the flames dancing long the ceiling. He was deeply engrossed in a TV show and had opened a beer.

I felt... weird. How was I supposed to act, after I'd just had casual sex with a man I didn't know? A pretty boy who used to be a famous singer but had himself convinced he was normal, average guy from LA? A man who would be gone and part of my history as soon as I fixed his motorcycle?

Apparently, I was supposed to have a seat on the couch next to him, watch whatever show he was watching, and pretend I wasn't thinking about when we could do that again.

... 

To say I woke up early would imply that I'd been able to sleep.

I tossed and turned all night, knowing JC was directly below me, on the couch. Probably sleeping soundly. Like a baby. Or like a man who had nothing to worry or think about, nothing to keep him up at night. What had happened between us wasn't special or memorable to him. It was just some casual fun. Just knocking off some dust.

Why couldn't I make my brain work the same way?

It wasn't like I was in love with him or anything. The few disappointing relationships I'd had after Sean had taught me enough about love and emotions and getting caught up in someone too soon. Or... at all.  I'd had Nasaan to think about, and none of those men ever considered my son in whatever goals they'd set for our relationship. Plans never involved him and the future never included him. It was like they thought he'd disappear.

JC was an improvement, in that regard. They'd already had plenty of engaging conversations, where Nasaan was spoken to and treated like the smart young man that he was. JC was really good with my kid. Scary good.

I had to get his Triumph fixed so he could get out of my house. So he could get away from me before my mind started hoping for things that could not... would not happen.

I rolled out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs, since it was still early. Nasaan had come home around midnight. Kaya had been dropped off, hilariously drunk and belligerent, an hour later.  I'd given up pretending that sex with JC was no big deal and escaped to my bedroom to lay on my back and stare at the ceiling and think nonstop about him. I'd gone back downstairs when I heard her come in and loudly berate JC about the bottle of bourbon on the kitchen counter. Kaya swayed and giggled, in her drunken state, until I led her upstairs and put her in the bed, fully clothed.  

The living room was dark as I passed it, but I noticed the blankets had been folded at the end of the couch and the pillow piled on top of them. The light was on in the kitchen, but the room was empty. The red LED on the coffee pot was lit and it was full, save for what would fit in a mug.

So JC got up, made coffee and had disappeared... somewhere.

I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured a cup for myself, added cream and sugar to it, then stepped into a pair of boots. I pulled the kitchen door open and walked outside onto the porch, then around to the side of the house. JC was on the patio, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

"I thought this cold air was offensive," I said, boots flopping off of my feet with every step. I hadn't tied the strings, since I didn't plan to be outside for long.

JC's head popped up, his body turning toward me. He wore the thermal and hoodie from the day before, but his own jeans and a pair of square shaped glasses that must have been in the duffel bag he'd retrieved from the bike. They sort of... changed the shape of his face. He looked nice in them; they framed his eyes, almost made them brighter. If he'd been wearing them the night I met him, I might not have been so mean.

He lifted his mug in greeting, then swallowed down a gulp. "The coffee is helping," he said, offering me a warm grin. "This fresh air is nice."

He took in my pajamas and my boots and laughed. "You are gonna die. What are you doing out here?"

I giggled, gulping coffee because he was right, about the cold. It was twenty-two degrees out and I was beginning to feel what was so offensive about it. "I was looking for you. To see... you know. How you were doing."

"Oh. I'm good. I hope you don't mind, I snagged your paper. I'm enjoying the Sacramento Mountain News." He flapped the pages of the newspaper at me. "Tori, you should go back inside."

"Okay. I just uhm... okay." I started to turn around and go back to the house but stopped. My fingers were freezing around the mug and I felt a shiver building in the small of my back, but I had something to say.

And I wasn't leaving until I said it.  

"It's just that... well, last night probably meant nothing to you, but it was really nice for me. I wanted to tell you that. And say thanks."

JC paused for a beat too many. I thought he was going to laugh at me for thanking him for sex. I honestly felt a little dumb doing it. It was too early and I hadn't had coffee, I wasn't thinking clearly. One of those moments where I wished I could retract the words I'd just said.

"You're welcome," he finally said. "I guess that's what you say, right? When someone thanks you for something you both took part in?"

 "I guess. I mean, I don't go around thanking men for sex.  But I don't go around having sex good enough to thank someone. Anyway..."

I gulped, staring down into my mug of rapidly cooling coffee. "I also wanted to say that we should probably not tell anyone that... that happened."

"That what happened? That two grown ass people did what grown ass people do, because they wanted to do it? Good idea. I'll keep that to myself."

The pages of the paper crackled loudly as he flapped out the wrinkles and then folded them together. He stood, picking up his mug and tucking the paper under his arm. With the other hand, he grabbed me above the elbow.

"Come on. Let's go, crazy woman. It's freezing out here."

He escorted me inside, taking my mug from me while I kicked off my boots. He topped off my mug of coffee and set it where I usually sat. Then he shrugged off his coat and tossed the paper onto the table before pulling out the chair next to me and taking a seat.

"Let's get something straight, Tori," he said, leaning in, his voice no louder than a whisper. "Whatever you think about pretty boys from LA, I'm not that guy. I don't go around bragging about my... conquests or whatever. I told you last night, you will never be this chick I fucked in New Mexico. You don't have to worry about me saying shit to anyone about what goes on between us. If anyone knows how to keep his mouth shut, it's me. Am I clear on that?"

I nodded, feeling myself blushing, knowing I'd said that term first but hearing it the morning after he'd actually fucked a chick in New Mexico was ironic.

"And," he continued, "I don't know where you got the idea that last night meant nothing to me. I had a good time. A really good time. I hope you did too."

I felt my head bob in another nod, but he deserved more than nonverbal signs that I understood him. "I... I did. It was... that's what I was saying, earlier. I enjoyed myself."

"Then let's just leave it there, without all the assumptions and the rules and whatever. We did what adults do. We're gonna act like adults about it."

I gulped down more coffee, letting the hot brew splash down my throat. Then I  tapped the table and stood, pushing my chair back under the table. I leveled my gaze at JC, feeling like I had my head on straight again. 

"I'm going to get some breakfast on. Nasaan will want to come to the shop this morning. I could use his help, actually."

JC relaxed and reached for his mug. He seemed, if I wasn't mistaken, relieved. "Oh yeah? Does he have a specific job?"

"Those dents in the frame of your bike need to be hammered out. He's pretty good at that. And I'd like him to be there when I swap out the brakes and the engine cover. It'll be a good learning experience for him. Owning a vintage bike is just as much about maintenance and mechanics as it is about enjoying the ride."

"I'm learning that. I'm never gonna be on your level, though. I can't see myself tearing a bike apart in my garage. Or rebuilding one."

I chuckled, pulling open the refrigerator to pull out items for breakfast. "JC, there isn't anyone on my level."