For Authentication Purposes (13 page)

I giggled.

Then sighed.

Then I caught myself giggling and sighing and flailed my arms in an attempt to clear my mind, catching my funny bone on the side of the desk I was sitting at. Howling in pain, I slid off my chair and curled into the fetal position, breathing in and out slowly in an attempt to ease the pain and throbbing in my elbow.

I was going to be so pissed if Frank woke up because of that.

Turning over on my stomach, I let my face rest against the wood floor of the hallway and groaned. I did
not
want to get up.

Shifting onto my side, I looked down the hallway and then back again and something caught my eye; a book lying on the floor in Blair’s room. Her door was ajar, and I could see the hardback novel right there under the edge of her bed. Checking my watch, I noted that Frank had at least another hour left of his nap, which would give me ample time to check the book out and see what the fuss was all about.

Wardo

Dinner was already starting out as awkward as I had expected it to.

Dawn had shown up almost half an hour late, looking flushed and excited, in another hard-on inducing skirt. Her legs? No words could describe her legs in a skirt.

Candace was never one to be too excited about anything, so I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t jump out of her seat to hug Dawn. And Nolan was so damn socially inept I was a little worried that his hand was going to fall off from being extended for so long waiting to pull Dawn in for an embrace that never came.

I’d already started drinking before anyone showed up because my life had just taken a severe nosedive over the course of the past few days. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be catching up with my ex-stepsister and my old best friend from high school. They were both living away from home, getting to have their genuine college experience which meant I saw them on a very rare basis.
 

Dawn’s knee brushed mine under the table, and I snapped out of my internal bitch session to glance her way over the top of my beer bottle. She was nodding at Nolan in fake interest, her lips turned up in a sly smile.

“I mean, they’re fascinating, right? How fast the orientation time is to when the male starts his seduction?” Nolan flitted his hands by his shoulders like a fly. “Singing his ‘song’ and then pretty much following the female around. He stalks her. It’s sexual and intense, you know. And then . . .” His eyes grew wide and he looked over at Candace who was rolling her eyes to the ceiling and muttering under her breath. “There’s the licking.”

Holy shit. He looked like it was legitimately turning him on.

“Then they . . .” He did a motion with his finger poking into his other hand. “They seal the deal and . . . just . . .
wow
.” Nolan wiped his hands through his hair, and I could swear I saw some sweat on his forehead. “Fuckin’ fruit flies, man. Amazing.”

Candace let out a heavy sigh and tilted her head in his direction. “Cool story, bro. Do you need some time alone in the bathroom with a copy of
Fruit Flies Illustrated
? Work out some of that pent-up sexual frustration? Should we rent
The Fly
tonight and get kinky?”

“Well, that would just be disgusting.” Nolan was dead serious. “It’s such a farfetched premise and it’s—”

“So how have you been?” Candace asked Dawn, cutting Nolan off mid-sentence.

Dawn chuckled and ran her hand through her hair, letting her calf brush against mine under the table. “I’ve been really . . .
really
good. Thanks for asking.” Her eyes slid my way for just a second. “Things are starting to . . . look up.”

I swallowed my mouthful of beer and choked a little as I looked away. What was she doing?

“How’s your book coming along?” Nolan leaned over the table, and I tipped back in my chair to appraise her reaction. I’d been under the impression that she hadn’t told anyone about her writing, but this was Candace we were talking about, after all. Of course she would know about Dawn’s book, which meant that Nolan would know about it too.

Dawn cleared her throat. “I’m doing a lot of research.”

Candace made a
hmm
sound, and Nolan looked distracted.

“Speaking of books, though, I was at work today, and Blair had this new novel that just came out.” Dawn turned in her seat to address me, her hair swinging, the smell of her fruity shampoo hitting me in the face, making my stomach tighten. “Did your store get copies of
An Early Education
? I heard that a lot of places were all but banning it being sold.” She licked her lips. “But I started it today, and holy mother. That book is too erotic for the public and no holds barred.”

I slammed my beer down on the table and pushed away from it, my chair making a rough sound against the floor. “That book is garbage and complete bullshit. I wouldn’t waste my time with it, Bunny.” Aggravated, I stood up from the table. “I need a smoke.” Shoving my way by the random people milling around the bar, I pushed the door open and gulped in a huge breath of air as I moved out into the chilly night. I needed to think. Needed to breathe.

The entire book situation was eating me alive, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do about it.

It was about me, that much was obvious. I’d gone away to college after my mom divorced Candace’s dad. No one knew I was as smart as I was, so I hadn’t drawn any attention to myself after I had unenrolled from Weston High. I’d simply taken my placement test and gone into college half a semester early. It was there that I met my mom’s friend, Mandie. She was a professor, and my mom had kind of hinted for her to take care of me while I was away from home.

And take care of me she did.

Right before I was going to turn eighteen was when she’d snuck me beneath the bleachers. I hadn’t lied to Dawn when I said that I’d just been with three women. It’s just that one of the women had, like, the experience of ten women and then some. She’d taught me every last thing I knew. Even some I didn’t want to know. Before that, I had just slept with my ex, Willow, in high school. After the college found out about the affair Mandie had been asked to step down and I had been paid a lump sum of money to keep quiet, as long as I left the school.

I’d tried to have random sex once when I’d come back home, but I’d experienced so much with Mandie that a meaningless fuck wasn’t fulfilling enough to justify getting hard for.

And then Dawn appeared, and I knew I could give her what she needed. As long as I could keep her interested for the long haul and not give in to sleeping with her, then maybe I could convince her that there was more between us. There always had been more. I had asked her to marry me, after all, when I was just fourteen years old.

Lighting a cigarette, I moved into the darkened alley behind the bar, leaning against the cool bricks, I closed my eyes, laughing in annoyance. It was obvious that Mandie had decided to write a book. Or else someone close to her had decided to ghostwrite it to keep her name out of it.

But was she insane? They renamed me Walter Grant. W. G. Those are still my initials, you callous bitch. And Walter is a terrible name. I should have been offended.

“Warner?”

I opened my eyes to see Dawn staring into the darkened alley with concern written all over her face. I could see her as clear as day with the streetlights behind her, but I was pretty sure she could just see the smoke from my cigarette.

“I’m here,” I called to her, taking another drag from the stick.

She walked over to where I was giving off my smoke signals and stopped just close enough to see my face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, Warner. I know you.”

I laughed and flicked my cigarette to the ground at my feet. “Do you, Bunny?”

“Yeah.”

Taking her hips in my hands, I pulled her to me with a jerk. “I’m pretty sure you know some things about me, but mostly you know what it’s like to have me lick your pussy and make you come.” I dropped my face to her neck and took in a deep breath.

She shivered and a thrill ran through me. Licking at her skin, I pulled her flush to my chest and moved us farther down the alley. When I was sure we were far enough away that no one could see either of us, I pinned her against the bricks. Nudging her thighs apart with my knee, I moved a hand down to raise her calf and settle her foot on a nearby crate. Trailing my fingers upward, I traced the soft skin of her thigh and higher until I was palming the front of her
bare skin
.

“You planned this?’ I asked, raising a brow and moving back an inch to see her face.

She shook her head a little and gasped. “Not in an alley. I figured maybe a little action under the table would be fun . . .” Her words tapered off when I kissed her as hard as I could, shoving my tongue into her mouth and spreading her open between her thighs with my fingers. Her lips opened even wider, and I felt her grow wetter in my hand.

“You want it so bad, don’t you, baby? Huh? I can tell.” My fingers played along her clit, teasing until she was pushing into my palm for more. “So hot and slick. You want my cock, don’t you, Dawn?”

“Yes,” she admitted, and I could hear the hint of desperation in her voice.

“I’ll give you a taste.” I yanked my belt open with my other hand and shoved my jeans down low enough to retrieve my aching dick in my palm. I stepped into her and slid the tip along her opening once. Her other foot scrambled to find another crate, and once she secured herself, I ran the entire length of my cock against her, pressing up with my pelvis so that her clit was flush with the base.

Grinding into her, I listened to her breathing pick up and anchored my forearms next to her head. As I tilted upward, she gripped on to the back of my jacket tightly.

“Warner.” She was breathing my name, and my heart surged at the sound, making me angle against her more, grinding my pubic bone against her clit until she was shaking. Her lips found mine, and I kissed her, letting my eyelids fall closed as her mouth opened to allow my tongue inside.

I let my hands rest on her head, and I controlled the kiss as I controlled our bodies sliding against one another. We kept moving until the experience was just too much and I knew I was about to come. The feel of her on my dick was more than I could take. She was so wet and writhing against me, sliding over the tip and then pressing down against the base. “Dawn.” I pulled her face away from mine. “Step down and close your legs, baby, like you did when you made yourself come in my lap the first time.” She nodded. Her eyes were half open and dazed as she dropped each foot down, making me bend at the knees to keep level with her. Her thighs closed, shaky and weak as I resumed my motions between her legs and grinding against her clit. It was a tighter squeeze that felt so good, and warm and wet.
 

“Are you close?” I asked against her lips, and I felt her tremble as she nodded. Burying her face into my shoulder, she let out a low moan into the leather. I turned my chin into her ear to whisper, “Stay with me tonight, Dawn. I promise I’ll make you feel so good.”

“Yes, okay, yes.” I felt her body tense and her legs go weak.

At her admission, I gave in and buried my face into her neck, pulsing and shooting thick spurts between her cheeks and onto the wall behind her. I held her, my heart thundering in my chest and the warmth from my orgasm coursing through me, making the edges of my vision hazy. Her face tilted back to mine, and I kissed her long and tender, letting my lips play over hers again and again.

“Dawn Sims. What do you want from me?”

She sighed and looked into my eyes. “The same thing you want from me?”

I shook my head and sighed. “I doubt that’s true.”

Dawn’s eyes went wide, and I ignored it to help her move her legs in order for me to take a step back from her. There was a mess, that’s for sure. Down the back of her legs and the front of my pants.

“Shit, how am I supposed to explain this?” I groaned and looked around to think of something quick to clean up with.

Dawn grimaced and held her skirt away from her legs. “I can’t go back in there like this.”

Nodding, I zipped my pants and pulled my shirt down as low as it would go. “I’ll go inside. You wait here.”

“In an alley? Without panties?” she hissed.
 

“You’re more than welcome to drip your way inside.” I motioned toward the restaurant. She huffed and settled against the wall. “I thought so.” I rushed toward the end of the alley, and then slowed as a familiar form came into view.

Nolan was leaning against the far wall with his hands in his pockets. “Heya, Wardo.”

“Uh, hey, Nolan.” I pushed my hand through my hair out of habit before remembering that it had Dawn’s juices all over it.

He nodded and cleared his throat. “So you’re past the licking phase, huh?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

He just shook his head. “Fuckin’ fruit flies.”

Dawn

I had waited in the alley for what felt like an eternity before Warner appeared in the darkness, holding some napkins in his hand. My legs were sticky, but drying, and I made a point not to lean against the wall behind me for fear that I would end up with an even bigger stain on my skirt.