Chapter 11

Mark

In his living room, pacing the length of his floor, Mark chews on his thumbnail. He hasn't chewed his nails since he was in high school, but when he got a text from Maria, he started to worry and immediately picked up the habit once again.

The text said that she wanted to talk. He has no idea what that means, but he had given her his address anyway. He was getting ready for his lunch break at the time and had rushed home to beat her there. The last thing he wants is for her to have to wait for him.

Since it is his lunch break, he should be eating right now, but eating is the furthest thing from his mind. Whereas he was previously hungry, that all disappeared with one text message.

A week. He's waited an entire agonizing week to hear back from her. He had almost given up hope. Sean had even noticed, though he never told Sean the details about what happened between them. He knows that Sean would try to hook him up with another girl to get over the brief but intense rollercoaster that came with Maria.

But the week has been the hardest thing he's ever done. He refrained from calling her, from texting, or going over to her apartment just to see her face and smell her unique scent. He stopped himself several times from going to the coffee shop and ordering a cup of coffee from whoever was there, just to inquire about Maria.

Does he regret telling Maria anything now? No. He'd do it all over again.

A knock sounds on his door and he startles, having been so lost in thought while he paced.

He heads to the door and quickly opens it. Maria stands there, hands clasped in front of her. She's wearing a blue dress today and matching shoes. She lifts her gaze to meet his and for a moment, they just stand there staring at one another.

"Hi," she whispers.

"Hey."

"I'm…uh. I'm sorry that I asked to meet you in the middle of the day. I know you're busy with your job and I hope I wasn't an inconvenience but I really wanted to talk to you before I chickened out." She rambled. He's noticed that she rambles when she's nervous.

He opens the door wider. "You're never an inconvenience to me, Maria. Want to come in?"

She nods and he moves out of the way to let her enter. When she's inside, he shuts the door and watches as she glances around.

He doesn't live in a small house. His job affords him to have a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with an underground pool in the backyard. The floor is all wood, a selling point for him when he was looking at houses.

Entering the front door leads to the living room. The kitchen is beyond that, visible with the open floor plan, complete with black stainless-steel appliances, white cabinets, and a light gray granite countertop.

She blows out a breath as she looks around. "This is a far cry from my apartment."

He cringes. The last thing he wants is to make her feel inferior. "My job-"

Her hair flips to her back as she whirls to face him, her hands still clasped before her. "I wasn't trying to make you feel bad. I'm just saying that it's a nice house."

He nods a little. His fingers itch to touch her. His lips ache to kiss her. And his body trembles, wanting to feel her curves against him. If she notices his struggle, she says nothing.

"How have you been?" he asks softly because she's just staring at him, clearly at a loss for words on what to say next. He doesn't even know why she's here, though he's glad she is.

She wets her bottom lip and he swallows thickly, following the movement of her tongue. "Do you want an honest answer or the answer I've been telling everyone?"

"Honest."

Her body deflates a little as she says, "Miserable. What about you?"

Raising his hand, he rubs at the back of his neck. "The same."

"That's my fault," she whispers. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make a giant mess of this."

Tears start to gather in her eyes, so he pulls her to him and presses her head to his chest. After a moment of listening to her sniffle, he asks, "What did you come here for, Maria?"

Her tiny hands grip his suit. She's probably wrinkling it with her tears and her fingers, but he could give two fucks about that. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

She sniffles one more time and clears her throat. "I wanted to tell you that I thought about what you said. I wanted to tell you that the reason it scared me so much is because I got all up in my head about my past and it screwed with a good thing."

He kisses the top of her head. "I understand. It's okay."

She pulls away from him to peer up at his eyes. "It's not okay. You didn't deserve it, especially when I knew, even then, that I felt the same about you."

He swallows thickly. "So what are you saying?"

"That I really want to give this a chance. A real one. I want to be with you, Mark. I want all the things that come with it. That is . . . if you still want me."

He searches her expression and finds that she's nothing but sincere. He can't help himself. Everything she said was perfect. Everything she said was everything he hoped she'd say. So, he crushes his lips to hers.

At first, she stiffens, surprised that he'd take her lips so quickly. Then, she melts against him and sighs into his mouth. It makes his cock stiffen immediately, pressing against the confines of his pants. He grabs her hips and pulls her against his erection so that she can feel what she does to him.

She gasps and then groans when he lifts her leg over his hip and presses her core against him. Their kiss becomes frantic with need, with desire and lust, and all the things that words cannot describe.

When she starts grinding against him, he flips their positions and guides her backward toward the door. He presses her against it as she fumbles to free his erection. When his pants are pooled around his ankles, she throws her leg over his hip and wordlessly demands for more.

Without needing further instruction, he slides her underwear aside and shoves himself inside of her. She cries out in pain and then groans with pleasure as he waits for her to adjust to his size. Once she has, he grabs her ass and hoists her in the air.

A squeal comes from her mouth and she wraps her arms quickly around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Don't drop me!"

He presses kisses to her jaw and growls, "I won't." Then, he's slamming into her, making the door shake behind her.

"Oh, my god," she moans out, tipping her head back and giving him access to her throat. He nibbles the soft flesh as he continues to pound into her. She begins a stream of curses that transform into a series of prayers with his name riddled here and there. And when she cums, she screams and it sends him over the edge.

It was quick. It was dirty. It wasn't enough. He plans to fuck her again, and again, and he has every intention of doing so . . . until his phone begins ringing in his pocket.

Breathing hard, he rests his forehead against her, still buried inside her. "Fuck."

"What?" she asks as his phone continues to ring.

"It's work."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was supposed to be back fifteen minutes ago."

Her eyes widen and she taps him to be returned to her feet. Gently, he does so, sliding out of her at the same time. "Mark! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean -"

To interrupt her apology, he kisses her. The phone goes silent when he says, "It was completely worth it. You're worth it."

She smiles at him. "I am?"

He nods and kisses her again, and then he groans. "I have to go."

Touching his cheek, she says, "I know."

He leans into the touch. "Wait here for me?"

"At your house?" she asks, confused.

"If you want. I have a TV. Food. I won't be gone long. I promise."

"Oh. Okay, yeah. I can wait here."

Pulling up his pants, he fastens them and then grabs her jaw from both sides. "When I get back, I plan to fuck you until you can't move the next day."

A brilliant blush rises to her cheeks and she bites her bottom lip. "Okay."

He hesitates for a moment, his expression turning serious. "You know this is getting serious, right? That what we are doing isn't play."

She nods. "I know. We kind of skipped that."

"And you're okay with that? Because I'm not interested in looking backward and analyzing things we could or should have done instead."

Pushing her hair behind her ear, she nods again. "I'm not either."

Smiling, he kisses her one more time and grabs the door handle. "I'll be back soon."