Better Deeds Than Words (The WORDS Series) Page 33

  And then his pants were off and tossed aside. I patted the bank of the pool table and raised an eyebrow. Daniel scooted onto the edge. I pushed his shoulders, and he reclined, watching me as he moved. His words from the night before rang in my ears: “I guarantee if you want to see me lose my shit, talk to me.”

  I gazed up at him from under my lashes.

  Okay. Here goes nothing.

  “I hope I haven’t misunderstood. This is what you want, right?” I asked, running my hands up his thighs. “You want my lips right here?” I lowered my face slowly. “And my tongue here?” The tip of my tongue darted out, flicking him gently.

  His hips jumped, and his hands moved to my hair. He moaned, dropping his head back and closing his eyes. I devoted myself entirely to pleasing him, and he said my name over and over as he encouraged my movements. I glanced up, watching his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard, the muscle in his jaw jumping.

  His reactions spurred me on. I was enjoying the experience almost as much as he was. After several particularly deep thrusts into my mouth, his fingers tightened, scratching my scalp as he hissed.

  “Oh, fuck, stop, stop,” he panted, sitting up and drawing me close to kiss him. “You’re so fucking hot.”

  In one quick movement, he was off the table and behind me, leaning me across the felt.

  “Tell me you want me to make love to you,” he said, urgently sliding his hand between my legs. “I want to hear you say it.”

  I shook my head.

  “No?”

  “No. That’s not what I want.” I moved frantically against his teasing fingers.

  He hesitated. “You don’t?”

  I looked at him over my shoulder. “You’ve got me bent over a pool table. Make love? I don’t think so.”

  “Jesus.” He kissed my neck and then bit down on my shoulder. I moaned. “So, what you really want is for me to fuck you so hard the neighbors will hear you when you come?”

  “Your neighbors are a quarter of a mile away…”

  “Exactly.”

  He ran his other hand down my leg, circling my knee. His hot breath made the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “When I was giving you that billiards lesson in February, remember what I said about access?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  He eased my leg up, resting my knee on the edge of the pool table, and then he was inside me in one swift, hard thrust.

  We both cried out at the same time.

  “That is called perfect access,” he said through gritted teeth. Daniel’s hands were firm on my hips as he sank into me, slowly and deeply, again and again. His chest pressed into my back.

  Sweet Jesus…

  “How about angle?” he breathed. “Do you remember what I said about that?”

  I could do little more than sigh and moan. My fingers dug into the table, possibly making permanent divots in the fabric.

  “You need to find the perfect—angle—to execute the shot.”

  Oh, he was working the angle. No doubt about that.

  “Find that sweet spot every time, and the game…is…yours.”

  I nodded and moaned, pushing back and clawing the felt under my fingers.

  My legs trembled. In fact, my whole body was quivering. I’d lost control of my limbs, and if it wasn’t for the table, I’m sure I would’ve fallen over. Daniel reached between my legs, holding me against him, and the trembles became full-on spasms. My cries echoed around the room.

  After a few minutes of potential unconsciousness, my cheek pressed against the table as I struggled to regain my breathing, I realized Daniel was draped over me, one arm circling my waist, the other stretched out along my forearm.

  “You okay?” he asked, kissing my cheek softly.

  “Are you kidding me? I’m great. That was…Wow.”

  “I didn’t hurt you?”

  “No, no, I’m fine.”

  “Good, because I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Really?” I’d been so wrapped up in my full-body orgasm that I don’t think I would’ve known whether Daniel had come even if he’d used a bullhorn to announce it. I eased myself up and turned to face him.

  “Hold on tight,” he whispered. He lowered me on the table and pressed into me, haphazardly pushing billiard balls out of the way. Thumbs pressed into my hipbones, he moved slowly at first.

  “Stretch your arms out,” he said. “Like you did last night.”

  I looked into his eyes as I moved, feeling a billiard ball beside my right hand. Without breaking his gaze, I grasped it and rolled it around in my fingers. I brought one of my legs up to rest on his shoulder, trying to ease the overextended arch of my back.

  He turned his head, brushing against my knee. “Oh God. I love your legs, Aubrey.”

  His tongue slid along the flesh above my knee. Where was my camera when I needed it?

  “You look incredible, Daniel. Don’t hold back.”

  And that was all I needed to say. All pretense of control vanished as he desperately chased release. He gripped my leg, his teeth sinking into my thigh and his other hand moving up to palm my breast as his hips drove against me. He swore and gasped, eventually collapsing onto me.

  “You’re amazing,” he groaned, his chest heaving. A minute passed, maybe two. Finally, he lifted his head. Glancing up at my hand, he chuckled softly. “Do you know you’re still holding the eight ball?”

  I turned to peer up at the black ball in my right hand.

  “Sink that ball at the end of the game, and you win. But you have to call it first,” he explained. “Say which pocket you’re aiming for.”

  “That one over there,” I said, turning to face the corner of the table.

  “Eight ball, corner pocket,” he said, gently resting his lips against my cheek.

  I angled my hand and rolled the ball toward the corner, where it dropped easily into the mesh bag below.

  “For the win!” I grinned up at him.

  I’d thrown Daniel’s T-shirt back on and made a quick trip to the washroom to clean up, only to return to find him lying completely naked in the middle of the pool table, his hands clasped behind his head. I leaned over and ran my hand down his chest to the tight muscles of his abdomen.

  “Comfortable?”

  “Oddly enough, yes.”

  He patted the space beside him, and I climbed up to join him, burrowing into his side.

  “Daniel, that was incredible.”

  “Another fantasy I can cross off the list.” He put an arm around me.

  “Did the real thing measure up to the fantasy?”

  He brushed his lips against mine. “The real thing is always better, especially where you’re concerned.”

  “I’d have to agree. Something about that position. It was amazing. I mean, unnghh.”

  “Unnghh? I don’t think I’m familiar with that word.”

  “Unnghh. The state and or condition of being so horny, you may or may not feel like you’re going to explode.”

  “So, all this time I’ve been feeling unnghh and not knowing what to call it. You learn something new every day, I guess.”

  I smiled at him goofily, throwing my leg over his hips. “I guess we’ve both learned a lot this weekend.”

  He laughed. “When I woke up this afternoon and you weren’t there, I thought I’d missed my chance for payback. I was happy to read your note and see that wasn’t the case.” He reached for his track pants from the corner of the table and pulled out the note I’d left him on my pillow. “What is this, anyway?”

  “It’s a hat. Duh!”

  He laughed. “A hat?”

  “Yes.”

  “What kind of hat?”

  “Hell, I don’t know.”

  “Can we pretend it’s my TA hat for a sec?”

  “Must we?”

  “Yes.” He scrunched it into a little ball and threw it onto the floor. “Ah, so cathartic.”

  “You’re a wingnut.”

  He grinned and brushe
d my hair over my shoulder. “Speaking of my TA hat, can I ask you something? Seriously for a second. Something I’ve been wondering for a while.”

  “Of course.”

  “Have you ever considered doing post-grad work?”

  I rolled onto my back, peering at the Tiffany light hanging above the table.

  “Honestly? I would’ve loved to get my master’s or something. I’m not sure in what.” I sighed. “It wasn’t financially viable, so I stopped considering it. I already have student loans to pay off. I don’t want to spend the next ten years clearing debt.”

  Frowning, he leaned on his elbow as he peered down at me. “I hate that money has gotten in the way of you achieving what you want or pursuing your dreams. That’s so wrong.”

  I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  “So, now what?”

  “All along I’ve been so focused on school, my GPA, the dean’s list. I never really thought much about what comes after the finish line. I’ve known all along that I’ll be staying at Jackman until I leave for England. I won’t have to worry about life—you know, with a capital L—until I get back in August.”

  “I don’t ever want you to worry about life, capital L or otherwise.” He cradled my head in the crook of his neck. “We’ll figure something out.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, rubbing my nose against the line of his jaw as we cuddled quietly for a few moments.

  When Daniel’s phone rang, we both jumped.

  “Shit.” Daniel leapt off the table, fumbling for his phone in his track pants pocket. “Dad? Hi.” He raised his eyebrows at me, communicating his surprise. “Yes, we’re fine. Everything’s great. Is everything okay there? Pardon? Hang on.” He walked to the corner of the room. “How’s that?” He took a few more steps, stopping at the bar. “Can you hear me now? Yes, that’s better. Now I can hear you. Is everything okay?”

  He looked over at me in a way that told me this call hadn’t been precipitated by some sort of terrible emergency. Trapped beside the wet bar with his phone, he continued his conversation but gestured for me to bring him his pants. Being a complete shit disturber, I feigned confusion, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

  “Yes, she’s enjoying herself,” he said to his dad. “We both are. It’s very…relaxing.”

  He pointed to his pants again and looked at me beseechingly. I knelt on the table and held them up, mouthing, “These?” He nodded, so I pulled on the track pants myself, making a point of staring unabashedly at his dangly bits, licking my lips all the while. He narrowed his eyes at me and folded his arms across his chest, trying to look nonchalant as he stood there chatting, without a stitch of clothing on.

  “No, the flies aren’t as bad as I thought they would be. We went for a walk this morning. There were a few about, but not too bad. No, I made a fire last night. There’s a bit of a chill in the air, but as long as you dress for the temperature, it’s fine.”

  I couldn’t help laughing as he glared at me playfully, poor thing. I climbed off the table and went to stand behind him. I put my arms around him, and he spun around, holding me while looking down at me with a glint in his eye.

  Thanks a lot, his face said.

  “Not yet,” he said to his father. “Yes, I’m sure she will. At least, I hope so. Of course I’ll be careful. I’ll swing by in the morning and help you sort out the boxes, all right? Okay, Dad. Thanks for calling. Say hi to Mom. I will. Okay. Bye.”

  He hung up and looked down at me challengingly. “You’re evil, you know that?”

  “Oh, you love me,” I said, kissing him sweetly. “It was nice of your dad to call. Everything’s okay?”

  “Yep. He was checking in to make sure we were doing all right. He says hi.” Daniel patted my butt. “All right, young lady, drop your pants.”

  “My, my, Mr. Grant. So authoritative. What’s come over you?”

  “Goose bumps. All over my whole fucking body. Give me my damn pants.”

  I took a step back, hooking my thumbs into the waistband of his track pants, pretending that I was going to take them off, but then I took another step and turned.

  “You’ll have to catch me first!” I laughed, running across the room.

  “Oh, you little—”

  He chased me up the stairs as I squealed and tried to elude him. He caught me as I passed through the kitchen, about to dash down the hallway toward the bedroom. He trapped me against the wall, where he kissed me and laughed like a schoolboy who’d just won a game of kissing tag. Of course, in my limited kissing tag experience, I’d never had naked boy parts pressed against my tummy.

  “You are so lucky you don’t have neighbors,” I said between giggles.

  “No, you are so lucky we don’t have neighbors.” He undressed me and then put on his T-shirt, smiling wickedly as he drew the pants up his own legs. He picked me up and carried me to the bathroom, sitting me on the counter.

  “Shit, that’s cold,” I squealed as my bare ass hit the marble.

  “Serves you right.” He stood between my legs.

  “I’m sorry. Was that uncalled for? Doing that when you were talking to your dad? I guess I got carried away. It was pretty silly.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” he said, grabbing my silk wrap from the hook on the back of the door and helping me into it. “It was hilarious.” He tied the sash of my wrap into a tidy bow. “It reminded me of the night in February—remember when I thought something had happened to you and I drove over to Jackman to make sure you were okay?” He cupped my face with both hands. “I was so jealous that night, listening to you and Matt. I wanted to be the one on the other side of the door, laughing and having fun with you. And now I am.”

  He kissed me tenderly, and I rested my hands on his forearms.

  “So, yes, it was silly,” he said. “But I need silly. I need someone to make me stop taking everything so seriously. Promise me you won’t stop? You’re so good for me.”

  “Daniel…” His name was all I could muster. I didn’t know what else to say, so I hugged him fiercely.

  “I mean it. I don’t know how to explain how much you’ve changed my outlook on life,” he whispered.

  “You’ve done the same for me.”

  He shook his head. “I want to do more. Speaking of which, there are a couple of things I need to do right now. Why don’t you freshen up and get dressed while I sort out some bits and pieces?”

  “That sounds mysterious,” I said, hopping down off the counter. “What could you possibly need to do?”

  “Well, first I have to make the bed again, and then I need to alphabetize the soup cans,” he said, smiling self-deprecatingly.

  I knew he was joking. I’d be willing to bet a week’s wages he’d already remade the bed. The can thing I wasn’t so sure about, but there was no doubt in my mind that all the labels were facing the same direction.

  Chapter 32

  Yours

  Lady, as you are mine, I am yours: I give away myself for

  you and dote upon the exchange.

  (Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene 1)

  WE WERE CLEANING UP, this time for good. Dinner was done, and we’d be leaving soon. I felt sad and dreaded our return to Toronto. Our time at the cottage had been such a wonderful respite from real life, and I didn’t want it to end.

  Daniel tied up a garbage bag, took it to the front door, and returned to the kitchen to wash his hands. I stole a peek at the clock on the microwave, and my heart sank. Five past seven. He’d told me he wanted to get on the road by eight thirty at the latest.

  “Aubrey, can you do me a favor while I think of it? Can you make sure the windows of the great room are locked and then close the curtains?”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  I crossed the room, stopping to rearrange and fluff the pillows on the couch as I passed by. I tested the latches on all the windows and found them all secure. As I reached up to pull the curtains closed, I was distracted by the sky across the lake. The sun would be going
down soon, and by the looks of it, a gorgeous sunset was in store. Maybe we could sit on the dock and watch it together before we had to go.

  That’s when I saw it—a boat. A small cruiser that hadn’t been there earlier was parked at the dock. When was the last time I’d looked out the window? When we’d been down in the games room? There hadn’t been anything there at the time.

  “Daniel, I think we have company,” I called over my shoulder. When he didn’t reply, I turned. He was standing against the breakfast bar in the kitchen wearing his gray hoodie, mine draped over his arm.

  “What’s going on? Are you expecting someone?”

  He shook his head and held out his hand for me to join him. “We don’t have company,” he said, helping me slide my arms into my sweater.

  “But there’s a—”

  “Come with me,” he said, threading his fingers through mine.

  He led me out of the cottage, around to the flagstone steps, and down to the dock.

  “Well, what do you think?” he asked, bobbing his head at the boat.

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “Where did this come from?”

  “It’s been in the boathouse all weekend, but originally, it came from Orillia.” He looked at me expectantly. “You’re looking at the owner.”

  “Wait a minute. Orillia? Does that mean…? Is this…?”

  “Yes. It’s mine. I bought it.”

  “You bought a boat?” I couldn’t hide my shock.

  “It wasn’t as expensive as you think. It’s only an entry-level cabin cruiser. It’s not even brand new.” His words poured out in a torrent. “But it’s in great shape. I had the cabin overhauled, you know, with new fittings and fabrics. I want to take you out right now. I checked the Weather Network. The sun is going to set in about forty-five minutes.” He stopped for a breath. “We can watch the sunset from the middle of the lake.”

  As he’d spoken, the expression on his face had changed from one of excitement as he described the boat to disappointment, thinking I completely disapproved of his purchase. And now he was gazing at me hopefully, pleading with his eyes for me to approve of his new toy and his plan to take me out for a private sunset cruise.