I leaped out of bed and directly to my mirror, hauling up my pajama top. They felt better. I just had to see if they looked like it.

Holding the sides of my breasts, I shifted in both directions, hoping to get the all-clear. Maybe a touch of redness remained but no prickly marks. Thank fuck I was back to normal.

I sent off a quick text to Chase: Anytime you’re free to come over, I’d love to see you. You don’t need to wait for the party to start.

His reply was almost instantaneous: A private pre-party invitation?

As private as they come. Daniel’s still in Chicago.

I’ll be there soon, Wild Horses.

My cheeks were practically splitting, and my step had that extra spring to it as I went into the bathroom. My morning started on a high note, and I had every intention of it ending at a sharp-pitched G. I was ready to shatter some crystal.

I warmed up the shower and did another check in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. God, I’d been so worried that I was going to waste most of the day sitting in a waiting room. I poked them a few times. Yep, still doing okay.

I ran down my to-do list as I stood under the water. The basement needed to be tidied up, but otherwise, the house was clean. I’d already done the grocery shopping the other day, and anything I forgot, Perry and Stephen could pick up. I was counting on them to come early to help out, but hopefully not earlier than Chase.

I felt tingles, and it was for all the right reasons that time. We could use a few hours of uninterrupted alone time at the house, and I could relax since we’d have a warning. I’d asked Daniel to let me know when he was on his way. Unlike his father, he’d actually do it.

The call had come in around 10 p.m. the night before. Daniel decided to stay overnight and wanted to make sure I still didn’t need the car. No problem; I preferred him driving on Saturday morning versus Friday night, anyway. He’d sounded wired, hopped up since he felt the interview had gone flawlessly. He was just about to grab a late dinner, so he couldn’t chat long, but we made plans to talk when he got home. We’d have some time with just the two of us after the party ended. Perfect.

I started to hum as I sudsed my hair, shaking my hips. Before long, I was in full-on song mode. “I’m a few years older than you….” I’d found myself belting out Stevie quite often these days. Ever since Chase asked me to sing for him during our first time playing Bunked. He’d told me it was for extra points, but little did I know that night how big I’d actually win.

After I’d finished, with the last of my conditioner squeaked out, I slid open the shower door, reaching for a towel and catching a glimpse of my body sideways in the mirror. Hmm…. Was my butt falling? I’d been lucky so far, but that was sure to be the next thing to go. I squeezed it. Lifted it. Dropped it back down. Couldn’t make a definite conclusion, so I just wrapped the towel around me and stopped thinking about it.

I continued singing as I dug through my makeup bag. I got a decent amount of sleep the night before, so I didn’t need the industrial stuff. I pulled out my light concealer, dabbing it under my eyes, following up with mascara. I dried my hair a bit and checked myself out. Not too bad. I’d take it.

I left for the bedroom to collect my clothes, tossing my towel on the chair. Ugh. Stupid full-length mirror. I did another sideways glance, then a full back one, trying to twist my head all the way around like frickin’ Linda Blair. I did feel a little possessed at the moment. Something kept forcing me to look at my ass when I just wanted to ignore it. Dammit. I lost the fight.

I snatched a pencil out of my dresser drawer and placed it under my butt cheek. I let go and it dropped. Okay, positive sign. I’d heard about the pencil test years before: gravity was still your friend if you could place a pencil lengthwise under your boobs and butt and it didn’t get stuck. I’d given up on my chest long ago; I could put a two-by-four under there and it’d stay put.

Just for good measure, I tried the other side, wedging it as high as I could up my thigh. I pushed it in good, opened my hand, and—

“What are you doing?”

The pencil bounced to the ground and I screamed, “Chase!”

I snatched the towel and covered myself. Silly, considering he’d probably seen me naked more times than not, but he’d scared me senseless. My face started to boil. Holy shit. He did not just see me shoving a pencil under my ass.

He picked it off the floor and twirled it in his fingers, head tilted just so, half his face scrunched up enough to show me he was both curious and amused. I wanted to crawl under the bed.

“Do you want this back?”

“No.”

“I can get you a pen instead… magic marker?”

Dammit, Chase. I crossed my arms and tried scowling at him, pretending the reason my entire head and neck were on fire was due to annoyance.

“I didn’t even know you were here already.” Obviously. I was comfortable with him, but not that comfortable. He didn’t have to see my neuroses in action.

“I didn’t want to interrupt you. ‘Age of Seventeen.’ Nice. I think you hit some of those notes even better than the original.”

I cracked a smile. “Okay, you can stop your blasphemy now. My ego is flattered.”

“I speak only the truth. You should know that by now. I’m surprised I don’t make you sing when I fuck you.”

“What?”

“Now that I have your attention”—he lifted the pencil—“what’s this about?”

I sighed. I didn’t want him to think I had some weird graphite fetish. “You wouldn’t understand. You walk around every day looking like you spent the night in a freezer. Meanwhile, I’m getting dowsed with tenderizer.”

He didn’t ask for details. Instead, he laughed, pulling me against him. Oof. I loved his hardness. Loved it. But times like these, it just made me feel mushier. It didn’t matter that I’d passed the pencil test with flying colors or how good I felt about myself just ten minutes prior. I had issues like everyone else, which were sometimes intensified by the fact that I was dating a much younger, much harder man.

“Do you know what I find sexy as fuck, Jillian?” He kissed my neck. “Your softness. The way your body curves against mine and opens as I bury inside you.” His mouth moved over my shoulder. “Everything.”

I started to tremble. “Everything?”

“Mmhmm.” He slid off my towel, letting it drop to the floor, his lips traveling lower and grazing over the top of my breast. “Especially your moans right now telling me how soft and wet you are for me, how badly you want it.”

“You’re that confident, are you?”

“Am I wrong?”

He cupped a breast gently, rolling a nipple between his fingers. I shook my head, then leaned it back, closing my eyes. No, he was not even remotely close to being wrong, and I didn’t have to touch myself to prove that.

“All better?” he asked. I was about to ask what he was talking about when his tongue flicked over, licking softly.

Yeah, another one of my not-so-finest moments. “Yes, all better.”

“So, it’s okay to do this?” He bit down lightly and then harder, sending a jolt through me. “And this?” His palm pressed into my skin as he took me deeper into his mouth. He stopped being tender and started treating me like a man who couldn’t get enough of a woman.

I fucking loved that. The passion he showed for me. The passion he gave me. The more my body responded, the more I stopped caring that I wasn’t twenty and never would be again. In many ways, I was better. I was definitely more satisfied.

He grasped my waist and led me backward to the bed, lifting me on the edge. My thighs were thrust open and he made himself at home between them, doing one of the things he did best.

The bedsheet crumpled in my hands as his tongue massaged my clit, every movement having the sole purpose of dissolving my body into an undefined heap. If he liked soft, I could do soft. I could be so soft I’d melt all over this damn bed and he’d have to scrape me off later. But what I couldn’t do was hold back a long string of those moans he loved so much. God, I love this. God, I love him. God, I love—

He lessened his touch just enough to slow me down while keeping me revved high. I peeked open one eye. One of those last sounds might have been in frustration because he was looking up. “Are you in a hurry, Wild Horses?”

His fingertips brushed over my clit and I jerked. “Yes, I am.”

A finger slid into my wetness, drawing out and then adding another. “And here I thought we had plenty of time.”

He was being too careful with me. Too slow. Too soft. “Yes,” I hissed. “Plenty of time for me to have multiple orgasms.”

He chuckled as if balancing me on the edge was the funniest thing ever. How long had it been? Oh. Only two days. I was turning into a fiend.

“Chase, please. You’ve had me horny since school yesterday.”

“A little ‘hot for teacher’ thing going on, huh?”

He nibbled up and down my inner thighs, his fingers still too damn slow. Okay, maybe I needed to stop doing these field trips with him. It couldn’t be appropriate to want to drag him behind the snow hill while the kids were off having their hot apple cider break with the other chaperone.

“I almost had to haul out a vibrator last night.” It’d been tempting. I couldn’t stop thinking about Chase, I was alone in the house, I couldn’t stop thinking about Chase….

He stopped the love bites and glanced up again. “You still have those?”

Those. As in plural. I’d told Chase about my collection before, although they no longer had a place of honor in my bedside dresser drawer. No, that seemed to be reserved now for pencils.

I nodded. What was I supposed to do with them? I was pretty sure my local donation center had a rule about stuff like that. Besides, just because I hadn’t had a use for them in a long while didn’t mean I wouldn’t ever again. Maybe Chase would get called away to a month-long band camp or something.

“Why didn’t you call me last night? I would’ve come over and taken care of you.”

He pulled his fingers out. No, wrong way! But when he dragged his tongue across my pussy, all was forgiven.

“Mmm… I didn’t want to bother you in case you were sleeping. And….”

He paused, no longer using his mouth but stroking my stomach instead as he stared up at me. “And what?”

“Well… I didn’t want to make it seem like I was just calling you over for that. You know, I find out I have the house to myself at the last minute and then invite you over? Like you should just drop everything for me when I can’t always do that for you right now because of… the situation.”

I never wanted him to feel like I was just using him for his body ever again. He wasn’t my second anything. But he did share the first spot, and I was still trying to work out that dynamic.

“Isn’t that what you did this morning? Invite me over so we could take advantage of the extra time?”

“But you were coming over for the party anyway, and I would’ve wanted you early regardless if Daniel was home or not. God, I hope you don’t think… I mean, yes, I’ve missed this, but….”

He kissed that ticklish spot I had right near my hipbone, and I squirmed. “Jillian, I was only saying that to prove a point. Whenever you need me, I’m here for you. I know how things are now and I know how things will be later, so don’t worry about bothering me. You’re not. ”

“Okay.”

“So next time you’ll call me?”

“Yes, promise. Now, will you get naked already? Then you can start making me come, please.”

He straightened, standing before me. “Where are your vibrators?”

“What? Why?” He lifted the bed skirt, peering under the bed. “I don’t want them. I want you. And I wouldn’t keep them by my bed, silly. Not when I don’t use them anymore.”

He headed to the closet. “In here?”

“Well, yes, but… why? Come back here. I need you.” I made sure to emphasize that last part, and he turned his head back and smiled. Then he opened the closet door. “Is this a jealousy thing? Because you gotta know, there’s no comparison. To you, I mean.”

He found the box easily, considering it was the only one unmarked. It was like I had a container of crown jewels sitting there labeled ‘Extremely valuable. Don’t look if you’re a robber.’

I let out a heavy sigh, making sure he heard me. “Chase, what’s this—”

“Pick one.” He had the lid off and was holding it in my lap. What? “It’s not a jealousy thing. Pick one.”

I gave him what I hoped was a strange look. “Uhh, why?”

“So you can use it. That’ll be your first orgasm. I’ll give you the rest.”

“Um….” It was making me a little hot thinking about him watching me, but I didn’t want a piece of plastic. Not when I had a man like him beside me. But he did say he’d give me the rest, and I was taking that to mean a whole fucking lot. “Which one,” I whispered.

“Whatever makes you come the hardest.”

He held the box still; it was almost comical looking inside at all the devices I’d needed to get off at one time. Pink, black, glass, rabbit-eared, bumpy, smooth, King Kong… Jesus. What was the matter with me? It was like I had one to coordinate with my outfits each day.

I grabbed my high-powered wand, the one that was small but deceiving. It could buzz one out in seconds flat. Chase set the box on the ground and then propped up next to me on the bed. I suddenly felt just a tad self-conscious.

He took my vibrator-clenching hand and placed it between my legs. “This is the best?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Besides you,” I added. Partly to make him feel better if he was jealous and partly because it was the truth.

“Let’s see how good it works, then.” He grasped my chin and turned my face towards him, kissing me. Soft lips and a warm tongue heating me, bringing me close to where I’d left off before. “Turn it on, Jillian.”

That time I didn’t hesitate. I flipped up the tiny lever with the tip of my nail and brought it directly over my clit. I was already full of pent-up sexual energy, so I didn’t need any warm-up. Chase had more than taken care of that for me.

My body shook as the toy did what it was designed to do, bringing me swift pleasure. It was good but not the riveting good I’d remembered. A localized, mechanical orgasm versus a full-body, emotional one. Hmm….

Chase brushed the hair from my eyes. “How was that?”

“It… did the job.” God, it sounded like we were talking about kitchen appliances. It did relax me, though. Tempered the edge, even if I did remember it being a lot more fun. And that was even without Chase priming me first.

He quietly pulled off his clothes and lay beside me, using that expert mouth on mine once again. He could bring me high with his kisses, then take me down so low I’d forget my name. I’d never even been a huge fan of kissing before. What was the big deal about lips smooshing against lips? Might as well rub elbows.

Yeah, that was ludicrous now. Chase had turned something humdrum into one of my all-time favorite activities. I whimpered as he gave me everything he knew I craved. Everything that made my blood pulse hard and my skin sizzle. I felt it all rolling over me in thick waves, and when I lifted my lids a fraction, his subtle smile indicated he could see it too. He knew how much it turned me on, and he loved it.

The pads of his fingers glided up and down as he watched me. “Feel good, baby?” I nodded. Of course he knew. He always knew. But I still liked to give him the answer. I wanted him to have the satisfaction of knowing over and over again that he was the best lover I’d ever had. He earned that right.

“Mmm… so good, Chase.” He angled my body towards his and his cock knocked against me, probably leaving a bruise. God, it was magnificent. “So good,” I half said, half moaned again. When he brushed over the wetness between my legs, I pulled back slightly. “How do you know I’m still safe?” I whispered.

He laughed, sliding inside me, making me bite down on my bottom lip. “If you weren’t, you’d never let me get within a foot of you naked.”

True. Maybe not that extreme but—ohhhhhh, fuck, that felt good. He rocked in and out of me, triggering all the right switches.

“Fuck, Jillian,” he said, picking up where I left off. “So fucking good. I always want to feel you this way. I never want anything between us….”

The rest of his words faded out as I became lost in the sensations and they swept me away. My second orgasm but it might as well have been the only. No. Comparison.

When I finally opened my eyes, it was to a very contented face. Sometimes I was so into my own, I missed it when he came. I guess it was one of those times.

He caressed my cheek. “Which one would you rather have in the middle of the night?”

Hmm. A head-to-toe, mind-bending orgasm or a…. Oh, I saw what he was doing. I gave him a playful push on the chest, smiling. “Is this your way of telling me to get rid of the toys?”

“No, Jillian, they’re yours. Do whatever you want with them. This isn’t my way of telling you what to do. This is my way of showing you that as long as you have me, you’ll never have a need for them ever again.”