I’M COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED SEXUALLY, MENTALLY and emotionally. I have never felt this raw before but at the same time, safe and slowly healing. Sex has always been pleasant for me. Zane was a tender lover, sweet and caring, but God I never knew sex could feel like that. Blake is bigger than Zane by a good few inches but it was the passion, the intensity of our need that was new to me. He read my body as if he was created just for that, he played my pleasure, creating a flawless symphony and I’m sinking in his sinful allure, but I don’t want to be saved. I want to be covered in everything he is. I’m captivated by the soul of this inconsistent, confusing, mesmerising man who just showed me I can be saved. I can fix some parts of me that I thought were lost. I will never fully recover but I will learn to keep breathing, healing, and surviving without them.
The delicate touch of his fingertips dancing over my skin makes me smile up at him. He took me twice more after the first time, taking his time to sate his sexual palate. The sore hum between my thighs reminds me of his complete ownership over my pleasure. “Why do you call me Puya?”
He recoils a little before saying, “Your tattoo. It’s not the only rare blooming flower. Puya chilensis are rare, and their bloom is extremely rare, but when they do it’s unique. They are adaptable and can survive almost anything.”
I move further into him. “That’s beautiful.” His nose wrinkles, it’s quick and he tries to hide it but his eyes are looking everywhere but at me. “Are you lying?” I prod at his naked chest. He grins and it’s breath-taking.
“No. I’m avoiding a key element.”
“Spill it.”
Wrapping me up in his arms and pulling me on top of him, he nuzzles my neck. “Sheep become impaled on their sharp spikes. They die and the plant absorbs them.” I tug away from him but he holds me firm. “You snared me in your captivating hold, you re-wakened me and you’ve slowly been absorbing my soul every night since.”
Oh God, I’m falling hard and fast. I lower my lips to his, soaking in the fierceness of his touch. Knuckles rap against the door and break our connection. If it’s Cherry and Red they will melt into a puddle at the sight of Blake naked in my bed.
“Just be quiet they’ll go away.” I chuckle.
“Mel, you in there?”
Oh my God, Zane? My insides squeeze. I expected to hear from him sooner but not a visit. An email or text at the least, a call at the most, but shit, he’s at the door and I’m naked on top of a detective.
“Who’s that?” Blake’s deadly voice shocks me into action.
“Shit, shit.” I jump from the bed, grabbing my robe and sheathing my body in the thin, cool silk fabric. I gather Blake’s wet clothes and toss them in the bathroom as he appears behind me, me making me jump.
“Who is he?”
I push him towards the bathroom. “He’s my oldest friend,” I answer, shutting him in the bathroom and going to answer the incessant knocking.
The door whooshes open with a gentle tug, lifting the air up around me and making my hair fly across my face. Calloused fingers scoop the strands, tucking them behind my ear. Bright blue eyes meet mine, along with a half-smile.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I was away with the team, my folks only just told me. I jumped a plane straight here.”
Tears fall from my eyes as his arms encompass me in their familiar comfort. His smell reminds me of home, the feel of his ironed shirt against my cheek, warm from his body underneath. Zane always runs hot. His athletic body is constantly burning, making him warm to touch even in the harsh winter nights.
My tears leak onto the cotton.
“Let’s go inside, Cereus.”
My stomach drops. Shit, how am I going to play this? I need to get dressed, get Zane out of here and then text Blake.
Zane slowly motions me backwards.
“I just need to get dressed then we can go get coffee. You want to meet me outside in ten…” My words fade into a whisper when I realise Zane is staring over my shoulder.
Awkward. I inhale and trace his path with my own eyes. Blake stands in the bathroom doorway, arms braced against the top of the frame, his sun caressed skin pulling tight over all those defined muscles. He works out, I felt him inside my body, pumping into me, over me, skin on skin, touched and licked every groove yet he still leaves me lightheaded, staring. He’s shameless, bold and I’m uncertain of his motives. Will he make a crude joke or is he establishing his place, letting Zane know I have someone now. Do I have someone? Yes, without a doubt for me. He’s inside, consuming me. I felt him in my veins, follicles, every tiny fibre he had infected and I wasn’t looking to be cured. I welcomed the fever he brought on me.
Zane’s eyes bounce from me to naked Blake.
“Blake, this is Zane from back home. Zane, please excuse Blake’s nakedness, we got caught in the storm.”
Blake’s hands drop to his sides, his feet taking casual strides towards us, his arm coming around my waist, pulling me against him. “That’s not why we’re naked, though, huh? Baby.” He emphasises the baby, and a chill races across my skin. He heard Zane call me baby.
Zane studies us both before saying, “You seem like a real decent guy and all, Blade, was it? But I came along way and it wasn’t to see who had the bigger cock. I came to see my girl.”
The atmosphere is so thick with animosity, a recollection of the taste of blood in the air fires off in my mind.
“Please don’t do this,” I say.
I feel Blake’s fury and it’s terrifying. My body shakes. Zane’s voice calms my nerves with his next sentence.
“Hey, breathe, Mel. It’s okay. I’m going to wait outside while you get dressed, okay?”
This is why I loved him; he’s level-headed and knows me so well. I can’t handle any violence or aggressive glares and barbs, especially not from two people I care about.
The door shuts quietly behind him. Sighing I turn to smack at Blake’s chest. “That was pathetic.”
“Your pussy is warm with my cum and you being called baby while wrapped up in another guys arms is insulting to me.”
I want to strangle him. He’s a being a douche but he’s right. I hid him in the bathroom like I was caught doing something wrong. We’re both adults, and me and Zane haven’t been together in a long time.
“You’re crude and an ass but you’re right. I’m sorry.”
He seemed stunned by my reaction. His eye flash wide a slither of a smile tilting the corner of his mouth. “Good, because this shit is new for me and I don’t know how to deal with everything I’m feeling. I’m learning as I go but I know this much, Puya. I claimed you as mine today and there is nothing and no-one that will change that. That means I may act pathetic from time to time but believe me, that is tame compared to what my inner voice wants to do, so you keep yourself from other guys’ arms and I’ll keep from killing them.”
Okay, wow. What do I say to that? Since I met him he’s been like a tornado ripping through me, turbulent and unpredictable. Now I’m in the eye it’s still scary, an eerie calm with all the chaos swirling on the outer edge. He’s baring his soul to me, showing me a deeper part of himself. He isn’t used to connecting and although he really needs to word things better and not act like a caveman, he’s being vulnerable, opening himself up and that is a huge deal for him. I want to protect his vulnerability, shield him from exposing himself so he doesn’t feel weak from it.
“He has been in my life a long time. We were high school sweethearts.” His rigid posture makes me squirm. “But that was high school and I’m learning that what we had doesn’t compare to what I’m supposed to feel when I’m with the right person.”
He had risked opening up so it was my turn, and I needed to lighten the tense tic in his jaw. “And for the record, you win in the bigger cock department.” I wink.
He charges me, tackling me to the bed, grinding his bigger cock into me. “Damn straight, B.A.B.Y. I’m all man, that’s why. He’s still a boy.”
I giggle. “Does that make me still a girl?”
He growls, tugging open my wrap and exposing my body to him. “You’re all woman. My woman.”
A million lightning bugs ignite my insides and travel to my heart. It’s such an overwhelming feeling to know that in my lost despair, when I fell, I wasn’t met with the ground this time. This time I was caught by him.