“You know,” Riley began, slipping an arm around Vanessa, “next time YOU want to make sure someone falls for you, wear that dress.” 

She smiled at him, wrapped her arms around his neck, then kissed him deeply. “You are the last one,” she said against his lips.

She thought back on the last few days.  Walks on the beach hand in hand, cuddling on the couch watching movies, talking, laughing… by this time, she would be getting tired of spending so much time together.  She couldn’t get enough of Riley, and he seemingly couldn’t get enough of her, either.  He was constantly touching her, like he was compelled to feel her skin at all times, almost like it kept him grounded. 

And the sex… she could only say that it was amazing.  Most of the surfaces of his house had been christened by the two of them, even once outside on the patio late at night, which was very unlike the shy, safe Vanessa.  There was little chance anyone could see what they were doing in the complete darkness, but it was still unlike her.  It turned her on to be so free, but she understood the danger.  Pictures of Riley Tate having sex would no doubt spread like wildfire.  She told him that the patio sex was a one-time deal, and he agreed.

She had more hot, steamy (and a few times, pretty down-and-dirty) sex in the last five days than she had in an entire year with her previous boyfriend.  The sweet, boy-next-door was gentle at times, but he generally liked it hard and fast.  She never dreamed she would like a bit of rough sex, but she loved it, often begging for harder and faster.  However, Riley seemed to worship her, and she had to admit that each time with him felt like a religious experience… at least she called out to God enough for it to count.  She was glad that it was Wednesday night and time for Darby’s party.  She felt her girly bits needed a rest.

She let go of his neck and tugged at the mid-thigh, shorter-than-she-was-used-to hem of her teal halter dress and adjusted the cowl neckline.  “Let’s just hope nothing falls out of the dress.  Emily insisted I get it.”

“Remind me to thank Emily.” He nibbled down her neck to her shoulder.

“Ok, Lover Boy, there is no way you could possibly be thinking about THAT anymore,” she teased.  “What is in the bag?”

“Darby’s gift.  Native American art.  She’ll love it.”

“Okay, but let me re-wrap it for you.  You wrapped it like a man.”

“Well, that’s good, since I am a man,” he laughed.

“Yeah, but you have me now.”  She moved the gift to the couch to girl it up.  He moved behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder.

“And I don’t intend to let you go, at least not without a fight.”

           

***

 

“Happy birthday, Darby,” Riley announced as he handed Darby her present. 

“I get a present?  And here I was thinking that seeing this smile again was enough.”  Darby elbowed Riley playfully in the stomach.  She hugged Vanessa and said, “Thank you, and not for the present,” in her ear.  Darby pulled away from the hug and looked back and forth between Vanessa and Riley.  “Wait…”  She  studied their faces.  “Oh my goddess, you two had sex!” she seemed to shout, but it was not really heard over the club’s music. 

It became one of those moments when it seemed everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in their direction.  In actuality, it wasn’t, but Vanessa’s face reddened all the same, and she had to sit down.  She darted to a table in the corner and sat in a chair.  She was too busy with her closed-eye yoga breathing to notice Darby excuse herself and Riley kneel beside her, his one hand on the back of the chair, his other rested on her left knee.  He began to move his thumb in a soothing light circle, and she used that as a focal point.  After a minute, she opened her eyes.

“Darby wanted me to apologize for her.”  Riley looked at Vanessa with concern. 

“There’s no need for her to.  She did nothing wrong.  I don’t know why I panicked.”  She pulled a chair over for him.  “Let’s sit here for a few minutes, then we can dance.” 

“Yeah, I can’t wait for you to see me get my groove on.”  Oh, Lord.

Thirty minutes later, after watching Riley get his “groove on,” she wished she could find his off switch, although her many thorough searches of his body this week had led to proof that no such switch existed. 

Her ankle started aching, so she and Riley sat out for the remainder of their evening, mostly alone huddled together in the corner of the VIP room.  They talked and laughed, making up stories about the people in the club.  Normally she hated the club scene, but she found herself enjoying her dark corner of the world with her own personal perfect movie star.  Hours passed in a blur, which always seemed to happen around Riley.

The one thing Riley Tate can’t do is dance.  I’ll take it.  One imperfection only makes him more perfect.  Plus, it’s not anything to make me want to run screaming from the building.

“Are you ready to go?”  Riley asked as they watched the packed dance floor.

She looked at her cell phone to see it was well after one in the morning.  “Yes.  I’m wiped.”

They found Darby.  Riley hugged her.  “We’re gone,” Riley offered as farewell.  “Will I see you next Wednesday for my rematch?”

Darby rolled her eyes.  “Alright, yes.  I’ll give you a chance to win back the title, as long as it’s okay to move our time to nine in the morning.  I might have to go to an appointment with Allison early that afternoon.  Is early okay?”  Riley nodded.  “Cool.”

Darby turned to Vanessa.  “Can I see you alone for a minute?”

Vanessa looked to Riley, who shrugged.  They walked five steps away. 

Darby grabbed Vanessa’s hands.  “I wanted to apologize personally for earlier.  What I should have said was that it’s obvious to me that you two are falling for each other.  The sex thing was really personal.”

“Like I told Riley, there is no need for you to apologize.”  Vanessa smiled.

“Well, I think you know I do love that guy over there.  I’m glad you came along, Vanessa.  But something you may not know is that he isn’t one to take anything lightly.  I can see he has really deep feelings for you, and I encourage it, but I also know what that means.”

Vanessa wasn’t sure how to respond since she wasn’t sure what Darby meant.  “Darby, I won’t… I don’t…”

Darby looked deep into Vanessa’s eyes.  “It means you have the power to hurt him.”

Vanessa glanced at Riley and looked cuttingly back at Darby, and she had to bite back the bitter tone as she responded.  “That power goes both ways, Darby.”

Darby hugged Vanessa.  “Oh, gosh, I don’t want that at all, either, Vanessa.  Just please, please, take care of him.  I don’t like it when he’s hurting.”  She looked at Riley.  “I like him like this.”

Darby waved to Riley and rejoined her party. Riley walked over and laced his fingers through Vanessa’s. 

“What was that all about?”  Riley inquired.

“Not quite sure.  I think I just got big sistered.”  

Vanessa fought the urge to fall asleep in the car to no avail.  When they arrived home, she woke up just long enough to walk to Riley’s room, go to the bathroom, take off her makeup, brush her teeth and slip out of her dress.  She grabbed one of his t-shirts that she saw Graciela put away the other day and climbed into his bed.

“So you assume you can just steal my t-shirt and crawl into my bed, Dr. Taylor?” Riley teased as he moved in behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. 

“Why not?  We’ve been sleeping in the same bed for almost a week now. And you assumed you could climb into my shower and steal… well… me, Mr. Tate,” she retorted, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 

She woke up Thursday morning with Riley still sleeping beside her.  Somehow during the night, his hand had found its way up her shirt and rested on her breast.  She realized that she was so tired last night, she didn’t pay attention to how Riley had dressed for bed.  The last few days, they both slept naked, but she didn’t know if it transferred to sexless nights.  Lifting the covers slightly, she dared a peek.  Boxers.  Damn.  I was hoping for naked.

She didn’t want to disturb him, so she watched him sleep, warming at the utterly peaceful, content expression on his face.  She ran her fingers lightly down his shoulder to his elbow and back up again.  She repeated the action, this time taking her fingers all the way to his hand, the one resting on her breast.  She moved his hand down to her waist, but when she trailed back up his arm, she realized his hand kept moving south. 

“My hand was quite happy where it was,” Riley said with his eyes still closed.  “Now, it’s just going to have to find a better place to play.”  His hand slid under the top of her panties.

“Really?  Better?  With all the time your hands spent on them the past few days, I figured they liked the girls better.”

“Well,” his fingers found their target, “my hand will just have to spend some additional time here to collect more data to make a better informed decision.”

She arched her back at his touch, then lifted her shirt. “Okay, but only in the name of science, and only if the girls don’t get jealous.”

Damn, Riley is certainly gifted.  If he has only had the two girlfriends, I probably will wonder how he got so good with his hands way later.  Right now, Oh. My. God.  Shit, he can get me revved up quickly.  No, I don’t want to come, not yet.

She stopped him so she could roll him to his back and climb on top.  Ripping off her panties, she yanked down his boxers and straddled him.  She lined him up and sank down on his cock forcefully, taking charge, controlling the pace and completely in command.  He willingly gave her the helm, watching her with curiosity and awe, taking orders like a good sailor should.  She grabbed his hands and lifted them to her breasts, guiding his fingers to tug, twist and flick her hardened nipples not so gently.  Once she was satisfied with his action there, she reached down with her own hand, and he watched with wide-eyed pleasure as she rubbed the spot Riley had become very familiar with earlier, performing her own scientific exploration.  She groaned and arched her back, rubbing and pinching her clit, never taking her eyes off his.

“Oh, my God, Vanessa,” he breathed as he watched her hand, which incited her to widen her legs and enhance her performance.  She loved him watching her so much that she delayed coming as long as she could.  When she could no longer hold back, she fully let go, quite loudly, which immediately triggered Riley to come boisterously as well.  They both fell against the bed, gasping and gratified. 

“Wow,” Vanessa said between breaths.  “I’m not sure what that was, other than really unlike me.”

“I’m not either.  But I know I really liked the show.”  He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.  “Shower?”

She smiled and nodded.  “Shower.”  He smiled and jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom to start the water.  Once she caught up to him, he turned around and looked her up and down and smiled salaciously.  She drug her eyes down his torso and watched his cock harden again.  “Jesus, Riley.  Again? How?”  He shrugged, unaffected by her question.  “This is just a shower… no more sex for a while.  I need a break.”

He pulled her under the water and kissed her.  “Uh huh.  I am going to have fun trying to change your mind.”

 

***

           

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” she asked over breakfast on the patio.  Sunday morning had come on quickly.  They spent the last few days watching movies, walking on the beach, and shopping together, luckily undetected.  She remembered Riley telling her he had something to do today, so she had made plans with Emily, who she hadn’t seen in weeks.

“I’d like to say a repeat of a combination of Tuesday night on the patio, Thursday morning, and this morning, watching you.”  He lowered his voice to that sexy rumble.  “Dang, it’s hot to watch you get yourself off.  You swear you’ve never used that bullet vibrator?  You sure knew what you were doing.  I bet that little vibe would feel real good with me inside you,” he closed his eyes, “but I think all three is pushing it.  Frankly, I don’t know if I can take much more.  It’s something we can look forward to trying later.  So maybe I’ll just try to convince you to listen to and like more love songs.”

She loved his newly-developed dirty mouth, and although they had slowed down on the amount of sex, she still needed a rest.  “Yeah, I think it’s a good idea to take some time off, too.”  She smiled.  “And you’re right, it’s hot when you watch me just like I love watching what you did when you watched me.  That made me come so hard.”

His eyes flashed and he swallowed.  She could tell he was trying not to get too turned on, so he changed the subject.  “Yes,” he cleared his throat.  “Well, anyway, I have a production meeting at one, but before that, I need to go talk to Charles.”  He took a drink of orange juice.  “I really don’t want to be away from you, but I should be back before five if you want to have dinner and pick up on the movie night thing.  I have more than just my movies if you are getting tired of them.  Maybe we can start a series on Netflix or something.”

“Just being with you sounds nice.  Plus, this works out because I promised Emily we’d go have lunch today.”

He put his hands under the table and leaned in over his plate.  “Can I meet her?”

Vanessa choked on her Dr Pepper.  “You want to meet Emily?”

His eyes twinkled.  “Yes.”

Wow, this means it’s serious if he meets my friends.  This makes it real.  Am I ready for this?  There are the dimples.  Damn.  Say yes.  He could probably commit some heinous crime right in front of me, but flash those dimples, and I’d swear he didn’t do it.  Damn those dimples. 

“I’ll call her and have her pick me up here for lunch.”

Fuck.  This IS real.