Diner Girl(13)

She arched at the feel of his lips on her skin. “I like that.”

He stopped.

“Why did you stop?” She reached her hands around his neck.

“Kiss me back.”

She puckered and pressed her lips against his. Still, he did not move. Pulling back, she looked into his eyes. He seemed to be urging more from her without saying a word. “Okay, move onto your back.”

He did as she asked.

She knelt over him and tentatively kissed him again. This time letting go of her inhibitions. Slowly she kissed her way across his jaw, his rough stubble scratchy against her lips. Her hands explored down his chest, rubbed against his nipples.

He let out a moan.

“Am I doing it right?”

“Yes.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and let it spill over her shoulders.

As she straddled him, she looked down at her body. She never thought of herself in a sexual way, but now she couldn’t help it. Her red hair tickled over the peaks of her breasts and looked stark against her white skin. Warmth spread through her abdomen, almost uncomfortable as it trailed lower. Her first sexual experience had left her feeling angry and stupid. As if she somehow deserved to be used and discarded.

Now she felt a thrill of power. The glaze of desire in Mark’s eyes, the way his cheeks pinkened at her movements emboldened her.

She ran her hand across her breast. Reaching down she interlaced her fingers through his and lifted his hand. “Please,” she asked, moving his hand to where hers had been.

He rolled over on top of her and kissed along her breasts. Her body. Before either of them had time to recognize what was happening, the remainder of their clothes landed in heaps on the floor. In her life she had never felt so wanton. Biting along his jaw, she begged him to enter her.

The hardness of his erection lay heavy against her leg. His knee spread her, pressed against the apex, nudged her closer to the edge. The heat surging through every fiber of her body puckered her nipples and stained her skin. Animal urgency forced a groan from her lips as he nibbled her sensitive flesh.

She arched as he kissed lower, tickling the curls between her legs. Crying out, she gave way to the sensations his tongue invoked. She couldn’t imagine anything more pleasant than the way she felt right now. The thrill left her sated, but he wasn’t done. Greedily he devoured every part of her body at a wickedly languid pace until, finally, gentleness gave way to need. Mark entered her, whispering against her lips as she drew him deeper. Beautiful. Beautiful. The words sang through the air and landed sizzling on their skin.

****

The sound of sleet pinging against the windows reverberated through the room. Jennifer could have slept through the rancorous noise, but as her stomach rolled she stared at the ceiling, willing the unease away. She hated feeling sick. A sticky sweat clung to her skin, coating her in a thick, suffocating blanket. Pulling the sheet from the bed, she covered her body and willed the queasiness away.

“Mark, are you awake?” He didn’t stir. “Mark.” A wave of nausea hit and she stumbled out of the room unable to wait for his response. She made it to the bathroom just in time.

Whether it was the alcohol, something she’d eaten, or a combination of the two didn’t matter. “Damn.” She groaned and leaned back away from the toilet, wiping her mouth with a washcloth before calling out for Mark. Uneasiness settled in her stomach and she waited to throw up again, but it didn’t happen. Leaning her head against the cool porcelain seat, all she could think about was how unfair it was that he ate and drank the same things, and yet he got to sleep in the nice warm bed while she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the floor and die a little.

And shiver. She felt cold now.

Her shoulders shook in the frigid air as she heard him enter the room. He knelt beside her, his warm body offering a momentary respite from the cold. She leaned into him.

“Hey,” he said in a soothing voice as he smoothed her hair away from her sweat-streaked face. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried,” she croaked. The nausea moved through her again. This time Mark held back her hair and rubbed between her shoulder blades.

When she’d finished, he soaked a cloth for her forehead and pulled her into his arms back against the bathroom wall. “There you are,” he said as he wiped the cool cloth over her face. “Stay here. I’m going to get you something for your stomach. You feel warm to me. Do you want an aspirin, as well?”

“I don’t think it’d stay down right now.” Jennifer leaned over onto the cool floor. She couldn’t decide if she felt hot or cold. Perhaps just an evil mixture of both.