While they waited for their check and for their food to be packaged to go, it seemed to be a tortuous eternity. Thomas extended his leg under the table and stroked her calf. The effect was nothing short of erotic; he barely had to do anything to send a wave of blood rushing her ears.

She tried to be subtle in her reaction, so as not to cause a scene in public, but Thomas had her squirming on the bench of the booth. Cheri felt her face slack with arousal, so intense she could hardly lift her eyelids.

After they finally walked out with their food, Cheri tilted her head up to look at him.

Thomas took his cue and lowered his face to hers, kissing her softly on the lips. “What is it?” he asked as he mindlessly secured the bag of food to his bike.

“Do me a favor,” she whispered.

“Anything,” he said.

“Braid my hair again,” she mewed.

He chuckled. “My pleasure. Turn around,” he ordered.

Once again, Cheri stood while he fooled with her hair, filling her with the most intense, lulling sensation she’d ever felt. She was limp while she awaited her helmet.

He braced her shoulders. “Are you okay?” he demanded squarely. “We can walk if you’re not.”

“Are you okay?” she asked back.

“I only had half a glass,” he said, his lips curling into a smile. “I’ll take care of us, but we can walk if you prefer. It’s nice out, and it’d take ten minutes, tops,”

“I don’t think I can wait that long,” she said breathlessly.

“Neither can I.” His voice was so deep and rich that she was sure she could have stood there listening to him whisper sweet nothings to her all night.

Thomas lowered his mouth to hers, nudged her chin up with the tip of his finger, and stole a sweet kiss. She was happy to comply, for she had missed the taste of him, a taste she had known only briefly. The kiss surged with intensity as he penetrated her mouth with a powerful sweep of his tongue. It was different from their first kiss in the metro, and it was different from the raw, erotic kisses of their weekend. This kiss was all them: a connection, a possession, an utter, two-sided claiming.

When he pulled away, their faces lingered, each savoring the little afterglow. “Are you good to ride?” he whispered.

“I am,” she answered soberly.

“Let’s go then.”

They put their helmets on, and she paid close attention to one of her favorite parts of riding the bike: the magnificent spectacle of his leg sweeping over the seat. Cheri eagerly climbed behind him, and this time, when he pulled her close to him, she took full advantage of every urge she had worked so hard to suppress on their first ride. She pressed her body against his, savoring the feel of her soft breasts against his hard, broad back. She let her hands run a course over the thick denim that encased his ripped thighs. Flashes of what he looked like naked danced through her mind with every touch.

Thomas positioned her hands tightly around his waist, and Cheri hugged him tightly as they drove to her place. The cool draft from the ride carried his scent into her nostrils, like a favorite perfume that induced a strong, erotic reaction.

Don’t fall too hard now, Cheri silently told herself as he revved the bike engine. Though their mix was rare and potent, some part of her was clear-headed enough to remember that was only part of what made two people work. There was no way to resist him if he was near, no way she could pass up an opportunity to be with him if one presented itself. Saint or sinner, she just wasn’t strong enough to walk away from him.

She hadn’t prepared to have a guest, but as luck or providence would have it, she had mercifully just changed her sheets. She wasn’t a messy person, but because she lived alone and had few visitors to impress, she sometimes slacked off on her housework. Her home was nowhere near as immaculate and perfect as his, which would have made any Marine sergeant proud, but it was fine for their purposes.

They removed their helmets, and Cheri shook her head to loosen the braid.

Laughter rumbled in Thomas’s chest as he gathered the bag of leftover Carmine’s.

“What’s so funny?”

“Well, I’m thinking that as soon as I step inside, this doggy bag’s just gonna end up in the trash. I doubt we’ll find time to eat it.”

“Hmm. Well, in that case, I guess you’ll just have to ask me out for dinner again,” Cheri said with a smirk. “Sooner or later, we’ll get it right.”

“I’d be happy to do so,” he said, “no matter how many tries it takes.”

“What happened to the guy who wouldn’t let me take him to dinner?” she teased.

“He met this hot little Southern belle during a hurricane.”

“He sure did,” she purred. “You’re right about the food, though. It’d be kind of wasteful not to eat it. I guess we’ll have to show some discipline. Besides, we might need the energy.”

Thomas’s eyebrows nearly rose off his face. “I’m sorry. What?”

“What, what?” she teased.

“Don’t be coy with me. Off my bike,” he ordered in a playfully dominant voice. “Now.”

She began to dismount, but he very spontaneously hoisted her up off the seat before lowering her down. He was so powerfully built, and she was a featherweight; she had no trouble appreciating the fact that he could lift her so easily.

“Wow, that was fun,” she said.

“Like that?” he asked, then whipped her around.

She couldn’t help but squeal. “You’re like a human amusement park,” she said as she landed.

“Lady, you have no idea,” he said with a sexy growl.

“I think I have some idea.” She smiled. “I’ve tried out your rollercoaster a couple times before, mister.”

“Well, you’re about to get your money’s worth.”

They stepped onto the landing, and Cheri quickly worked her key into the door.

As soon as she had it unlocked, like a proper superhero Thomas tossed the food down and dashed up the stairs with her in his arms. “Which way?”

“What if my room’s on the bottom floor,” she toyed with him.

“Is it?” he asked, hesitating a moment.

“No, but what if?” she asked.

“One…” he counted, his voice full of fake threat.

“To the left,” she giggled.

Thomas tapped her bedroom door with his foot.

“Say, were you a firefighter in a past life or something?” she asked with a soft laugh.

“No,” he answered.

“Could you be one for me?”

“Certainly,” he said, setting her down on the bed. “I’m always happy to take requests.”

As he leaned over her, Cheri put a hand between them to stop him. “One second,” she said, her voice deadly serious. “I’ve got another question for you.”

“What?”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a contractor,” he gently replied. “I own my own business.”

“Then why do you take the metro?” she asked, not buying it.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’ve got job sites all over the place, a few projects going downtown. There’s a lot of work to be had right now, with all these remodels and renovations.”

“What’s the name of your company? Are there signs or billboards or anything?” she asked, continuing her interrogation.

Thomas turned on her assertively. He took advantage of his size and created an almost human canopy over her as he urged her back to a submissive position. “Didn’t you read my witness statement?” he asked with a playful scold.

“No, I did not,” she admitted.

“Then what did you do with it?”

“I shredded it,” she confessed.

“Bad girl! If you ask me, that deserves a spanking,” he said. “You’re a paralegal, so you know the first paragraph would have mentioned who I am, where I live, and where I’m employed.”

Cheri dropped her head in shame, realizing he was right.

Thomas laughed. “You could’ve had the goods on me a little sooner.”

“Okay, okay,” she admitted.

He touched her jaw and turned it so she was looking him directly in the eye. “Look, Cheri, the two of us met during… a whole lotta craziness, but I would really like to put all that behind us. If you have any questions about me, just ask. I’ll answer you, and I won’t put you off. I want this to be a fresh start,” he said.

“Like really dating?”

“Yep, like that,” he said with a nod.

“I’m down with that,” she teased, intuitively knowing it would push his buttons.

“I got your ‘down with that’,” he said, tickling her.

“Please!” she squealed. “Don’t! Uncle!”

“Aw. Don’t like that?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Cheri purred between giggles, “but let’s call a truce for now.”

“If the lady wants truce, the lady gets truce,” he conceded.

Cheri didn’t know exactly what he meant by that, but what he did next skirted any confusion she felt. She opened herself up to the torrent of intense emotions and sensations that the union of the two of them created. She was flooded with a sweet high of attraction for him, and forceful, powerful moans erupted from deep within. She couldn’t contain herself, even though all he’d done so far was to take off her clothes and pepper her body with light butterfly kisses.

Their wrestling soon transformed into soft, gentle stroking. Cheri’s whole body undulated toward him, arching and yearning. Thomas’s mouth left hers to blaze a path down the length of her body, trailing the valley of her breasts to the flat of her stomach. Cheri spread her legs wide and drew her feet back toward her buttocks, offering herself to him. His lips and tongue found her, and she restrained her stomping her feet with the thrill of his contact.

Thomas’s style was extraordinarily knowing. A lightbulb went off in her head at that; she didn’t know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that Thomas was so damn good in bed, that he seemed so talented and experienced at what he was doing.

His mouth was so hot, though, and he expertly explored the dewy folds at the entrance of her body, torturing her sweetly and swirling her doubts away in a fit of passion. He tended to her with agonizing slowness that made her stew in complete arousal. Cheri fisted the bedding. In no time, he had her on the verge of begging.

“Thomas!” she called. “Oh, Thomas!”

He didn’t answer her with words. Rather, he reached for her blindly and took her hand in his. She squeezed it at times as she withstood his sugared bliss. Her fingers groped, tangling and playing with Thomas’s wild hair. It was a wispy mix of colors, and Cheri toyed with it while he made love to her with his mouth.

She writhed, rocking her hips upward to intensify his pleasure and her own. He pinned her with his powerful hands. His hands felt so rough and large around her thin waist. As he braced her, her body absorbed the full impact of his pleasure. It coiled around and around on itself, building in her belly.

She could only manage to make slight movements, just enough to help her ecstasy along. She cupped her mouth and bit gently on her finger as the pressure built within her, threatening to make her explode. Then it hit, like a nuclear blast. She slammed her hands against the mattress, clutching futilely while a sweet, luscious orgasm ripped through her, punctuated by several aftershocks that left her breathless.

Cheri spasmed again and again, tremors coming from deep within her core. Thomas rose above her like an erotic storm cloud. She looked at him through slitted eyelids and smiled. He smiled back and then, in a single, furious stroke, entered her.

“Goodness,” she murmured.

“Goodness back,” he said.

He began to move in and out of her hungrily, pushing up on his palms and drawing her leg up behind her knee to drape it over his wrist. He pumped into her again and again, his groans growing louder with each thrust. She reached up for him, touching and exploring his masculine body, the hard contours of his muscled, sweaty physique.

Thomas’s pace was surer and more assertive this time, and with each stroke he enflamed her pleasure, threatening to jolt her orgasm back to life. Cheri slumped against the mattress, so sweetly sensitive to his every touch and pressure.

She reached between the two of them and touched herself. She brought herself to the edge, then let up. It was like being on a very fine drug. She sucked in, her breath raking her teeth as she tried to hold off. She looked up and beheld Thomas’s gorgeous face as his passion climbed, transforming him. His eyes were glossed over, trancelike. She concocted a counter-rhythm of her own, trying to push him to his own crescendo. She bucked her hips wantonly, to turn him on just a little bit more.

Thomas’s body shook within her, shivering in response to the pleasure she gave him. That, in and of itself, was another turn-on for Cheri, and this time she didn’t hold back. Instead, she released to her second climax, which sent Thomas tumbling in total rapture. They writhed on the mattress, erupting simultaneously with sweet orgasm. Their bodies trembled, reverberating pleasured waves through them.

When Cheri finally floated back to earth, she grabbed a blanket and rolled around with glee. “Oh, my goodness,” she declared. “Yes!”

“Yes?” he asked.

“We have officially christened my bed,” she informed him.

“What does that mean exactly?” he asked, enveloping her in his arms.

“It means I’ve never had sex in this bed,” she replied, laughter in her voice.

“And how long have you had this place?” he asked, his hand swimming across her lithe frame as they talked.

She smiled, noting that his touch became more intense as they spoke; even their conversation was turning them both on again. “Almost two years,” she said.

“You mentioned rodeos before.”

“So?”

“So…anywhere in the house?” he asked, with some disbelief

“Nope,” she rasped.

“When was the last time you had sex?”

Cheri couldn’t help but put the ball back into his court, but she did it gently and with levity, trying to make a point. “I’ll answer that when you do, Mr. Graham,” she said. “I’ve got a feeling I don’t wanna know, though.”

Thomas let his torso free-fall to the mattress. “Ugh,” he exclaimed. “Talk about a buzzkill.”

The room was momentarily quiet as it seemed Thomas had to collect his thoughts, something Cheri didn’t quite know how to take.

“Well,” he said finally, “I’ve avoided relationships since I got out of jail. I admit I’ve used sex as a bit of a painkiller at times, a diversion. I just couldn’t believe I sank so low, couldn’t wrap my head around it. I thought I’d keep my life as square as I keep my house and my business by just having casual sex.” He paused and touched her arm tenderly. “Look, I’m not sure rehashing the details of my escapades—and yes, that was all they were—is a smart move. I can promise you those days are over,” he said emphatically.

“So you won’t tell me?” She pressed her body closer to his. “Not even—”

“Na,” he said, cutting her off. “It’s not because I’m trying to be dishonest. It’s just for your own good. Like you said, you probably don’t want to know the details. It’s just morbid curiosity, and I don’t think it’d do either of us any good,” he said, his words a bit too unfiltered for her taste.

“You know, you’re so blunt and direct sometimes and so mysterious and secretive others.”

“Yeah, well, I’m quite the enigma,” he joked. “Anyway, I think we’ll get used to each other in time.”

“I guess.” She was glad that he was at least willing to try.

“Tell me, as a Southerner, do you make a mean sweet tea? I bet you’ve got a pitcher of it in your fridge right now, don’t you?” he teased.

“Actually, I don’t.” she said. “I’m not all that Southern. Just an occasional twang. I’m from Virginia, remember?”

“Occasional?” he scoffed.

“Well, since we are changing the subject,” she said randomly, as his smooth transition had not caught her off guard, “can I tell you something?”

“By all means.”

“I really like that motorcycle of yours.”

Thomas erupted in laughter and pulled Cheri in toward him, as closely as he could.