Rhys

I ended up staying at my studio until late. Painting had always helped me clear my head, and with Lily rejecting me, well, let’s just say I needed some hardcore art therapy.

I blasted some heavy metal, which I used to do when my dad would get to me. Only this time, it didn’t really help. Truth was, this was a different kind of hurt. I loved Lily. I knew that somewhere deep down, she loved me too. But I’d fucked up and caused her to bury those feelings.

It fucking killed me.

I found myself staring at my canvas for long periods of time, simply thinking about her, seeing her in the colors, the swirl of red and white paint reminding me of the shorts she used to wear.

Late into the night, I finally glanced at the clock. It was half past four. I decided wearily that my bed would be a better place to crash than the hard floor of my studio, so I went out into the cold, dumped myself in an Uber, and headed back.

 

I let myself into my apartment, took off my shoes, and got myself a beer from the fridge. On the way to the bedroom, I rolled my neck, trying to loosen the tightness that had accumulated over the evening. It hadn’t been an easy night, and I was looking forward to falling into bed.

I took one last slug of the beer, put it down on my bedside table, and then peeled off my clothes. I’d gotten paint on my new jeans, but I was too exhausted to give a fuck. They came off, along with my shirt, until I was only in my boxer briefs.

I had just sat down on the edge of the bed when a voice called out.

“Rhys?” the sleepy voice asked.

I jumped up and turned on the bedside lamp. “Lily? What are you doing here?”

She slowly sat up. “What time is it?”

“It’s late.” My eyes raked over her. She was still dressed in her work clothes, the top few buttons of her shirt undone so that her bra was exposed. I was so confused -  What was she doing in my bed?

“You left,” she said, her voice still throaty from sleep.

“I did,” I agreed carefully. I was trying to piece together why the woman who’d rejected me eight hours earlier was now in my bed. “How did you get in here?”

“You aren’t the only one skilled at B&E.”

“B&E?” She was so cute when she was half asleep. Her face was more relaxed, her voice rough but unguarded.

“Breaking and entering. Robbing lingo.”

“Ah, got it.” I examined her. Was she drunk? I didn’t think so.

“You were gone a long time. Where did you go?” she asked, slowly propping herself up.

“The studio.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Her ease of appeasement amused me. “Why?”

“I was worried you were with some hussy,” she admitted, offering a small smile.

“No hussy,” I assured her. A moment passed in silence before I asked again, “Lily, what are you doing here?”

Her eyes darted up to meet mine, glowing in the low light. “I fucked up, Rhys.”

I tilted my head.

“Hang on.” She unbuttoned her shirt. “There’s something I want to show you.”

My heart started to pound. Lily was undressing in my bed. This felt like such a turn of events, I needed to understand what was happening “Lily, wait.”

She ignored me and shrugged off her shirt, twisting to show me the back of her shoulder, which was covered in gauze.

“What is this?” I glanced between the bandage and her.

“Conner,” she said. “Just take a fucking look.”

I went slowly and carefully removed the pad.

“Do you recognize it?” She turned back to me expectantly.

“Lily,” I said, almost inaudibly.

She reached over to the other nightstand and gave me the ornament I’d made for her all those years ago in Lake Tahoe. She’d taken the butterfly I’d stitched and gotten a small tattoo of it on her shoulder blade.

I looked at the ornament and then back at the tattoo. “When did you do this?”

“Tonight. After you left, I came looking for you. When you weren’t here, I made Jen take me out. She knew a guy.”

I was quiet for a few minutes, simply taking in the beauty of her pale shoulder and the red ink. She had something I’d created put on her skin forever.

“Say something, would you?” she finally said.

“It’s… amazing. You know tattoos are permanent, right?”

She rolled her eyes and laughed as she pulled her shirt back up. “Yeah, thanks. I think I know how they work.”

“Why did you do it?”

She reached out and touched the side of my face. “Because I love you, Rhys.”

She loved me? I felt my heart fly out of my chest but at the same time the pain of caution. “Wait, Lily. Are you sure? You just woke up.”

“This isn’t a sleep-induced confession, Rhys. I’ve loved you for a long time. I’m sorry I didn’t say it back.”

I almost couldn’t believe my ears. Lily loved me?

“Rhys,” she asked carefully. “Can you kiss me now?”

I pulled her in, and as we connected, I found my home. Instantly, I was transported to the safest place I’d ever been. I’d missed this place. With Lily, nothing could hurt me.

I slid one hand down around her hips, her eyes darkening as I cupped her face with the other. My touch caused her to shiver in that good way I’d almost forgotten about. I wanted to go slow and savor every moment of this, but Lily grew impatient and pressed her lips to mine.

Soft and firm and warm. I hesitated for just a second and then grinned against her mouth.

“Hayes,” I whispered. “So forward. I like it.”

“Shut the fuck up,” she teased back as we kissed.

I reached down and helped her take off her pants. Then she finished unbuttoning her shirt for me.

“Wow. I’d almost forgot.”

She looked down at her boobs and blushed.

Candy cane bra.

She shrugged. “You know me.”

“Tradition. I fucking love it.”

I pulled out her tits so they were resting on top of the cups and gently squeezed her nipples, causing her to shudder with delight.

“Are you on birth control?” I grunted, my throat hoarse as I rubbed the outline of my erection with one hand. “I’m clean. I was tested last month and haven’t been with anyone since, I promise. I want to feel you.”

She nodded. “Yes. Me, too.”

The idea of feeling her without anything between us did me in.

We were both wet and drunk with lust and couldn’t wait anymore.  She moved her hand toward the apex of her thighs, looking for relief.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Uh-uh. Not yet, sweetheart.”

She frowned at me.

I stepped toward her and pulled off my boxers in one clean movement.

Her knees instantly fell back together, only to have me push them apart again.

“No, I like you like this,” I said, holding her feet apart. “I want to look at you.”

I took a step back, our naked bodies glistening in the low light. I knew Lily was looking at my new tattoos.

Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?”

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

She pointed at my chest. “That!”

I grinned and shrugged. “It’s a butterfly.”

“You - you got one too?”

I cupped her jaw, and tilted her forehead against mine. “Babe, I got it a long time ago.”

 

Lily

I still couldn’t believe Rhys had gotten a tattoo also. I needed to process this. Unfortunately, I was fairly distracted at the moment.

I’d forgotten how good he’d felt. How good we’d felt.

He kneeled onto the bed and pushed my knees wider, dipping his dick between my legs and running it up and down my channel, coating himself in my wetness and then using it to give himself a few more pumps as he stared at me.

I pressed my lips together and tried to clench my thighs.

“Mmm. Princess doesn’t like that?”

He looked so content, so confident. Meanwhile, over here, I could barely hold it together.

He just winked and then backed up. He pulled me by my hips to the edge of the bed.

“Rhys?” I asked, confused for a moment, but then I realized what he was doing. Oh, God. “Rhys, uh, you don’t have to - ”

It was his turn to scowl up at me. I swear to God, somehow having Rhys Conner scowl at you from between your thighs -  I didn’t expect it to be, but it was one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen.

I lay back as he hooked my legs over his shoulders and started devouring me with long, slow licks. He was finding sensitive areas I didn’t even know I had and abusing that power in the most delicious way. When my clit was so swollen I thought I would burst, he added a finger and then two inside me and started sucking on it.

I exploded.

“Oh my God.” My thighs clamped down on his head, preventing him from moving as a current pulsed through me like an electric shock.

It took me a moment for the energy to die down and for me to loosen my grip on him. Once I did, he climbed up next to me.

“Holy shit, Rhys,” I panted. “What the fuck?”

He grinned. “Not bad?”

I blinked, still trying to find my words. “Yeah, not fucking bad. Jesus.”

He trailed his fingers over my stomach and massaged one of my breasts. “You are so fucking beautiful, you know that?”

I turned to him. “You are not so bad yourself. I mean seriously, what the fuck, Rhys? Are you, like, working out or something?”

“Something like that.” He grinned and reached down to pump his erection. “And you, princess, you make me so fucking hard.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He shook his head. “You don’t know what’s coming for you.”

I grinned. “Bring it.”

“You sure you’re ready for it?”

His eyes darkened, and he crawled up, kneeling before me on the bed. He paused, and then in one fell swoop, he flipped me over and pulled my hips back to his, so that my ass was pressed against his erection.

Fuck. Rhys had always been good in bed, but it was clear he’d learned a few things over the years.

He circled my ass with his hands, squeezing me, and then leaned forward and pulled my hair off to the side, his lips close to my neck. “God damn, I’ve fucking missed this.”

I felt his length push between my legs, finding my entrance from behind. It felt easy and familiar but at the same time exciting and new. We were strangers but old friends, two people who had known each other as intimately as two people could, but then parted and found separate lives.

He fucked me slowly at first, taking his time as he filled me, and hitting that sweet, sweet spot deep inside me. Rhys had owned my body from the moment I first saw him, and now back together, we melded completely. He was a caring and impassioned lover, taking what he needed but in a way that made me feel necessary and protected.

He took me to the brink and back, teasing me at first so that I was begging for release. When he finally gave me what I whimpered for, it didn’t end there. Over and over I came, so quickly it almost felt like it was against my will. He’d let me recover, but only for a moment until he brought me back again. It was like surfing an unending wave. His control, and his control of my body, was other-worldly.

“Rhys,” I stammered, my body and mind both weak after coming again. “What about you?”

I felt his hands tighten around my hips as he spoke. “Are you ready?”

I nodded. I wanted him. I needed it.

He pulled out and flipped me over on the bed so I was staring up at him. He stalked over on his knees, spreading my legs, my swollen cunt between us.

“Are you sure? Can you take more?”

I nodded, my breath shallow. I needed him to come inside me. I wanted to feel the rush of him filling me up.

He crawled over me, finding his place between my thighs and angled to my entrance. I raised my legs, trying to create more of that sweet pressure.

“Look at me, princess. I want to come inside you.”

“Me too,” I panted, desperate for him.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded, and he plunged into me. The sensation caused my mouth to gape, but we maintained eye contact even as he bucked and rolled against me, pulling me along with him.

And then I was lost, the sensation overtaking me as I entered into freefall. Heat erupted as he pistoned inside me, lubricating us from the inside out. I felt all his muscles tense and then release as we collapsed together.

After the fog passed, he pulled off and fell onto the bed with me.

“Wow.”

“Wow is right,” I agreed.

“Was it like that in Tahoe?”

“It was amazing in Tahoe, but I think that might have topped it.”

He let out a long sigh. “You’re fucking amazing, princess.”