The Naked Truth: A Romantic Erotic Short Story (3 page)

“You’ve got me crazy.” He leaned down on his
elbows. His thighs pushed mine apart, and I opened myself to
him.

“You like this way best?” I asked,
curious.

“I come harder like this.” His gruff
admission excited me to no end. His fingers delved between my folds
and he opened me. He rubbed his cock against my clit and then over
my slick entrance. “I can get deeper in you.”

The exertion in his voice turned me on even
more. “And you like that,” I asked, opening my thighs wider.

The gruff sound from his throat was all the
response I needed.

“I like it, too,” I murmured. We both groaned
as he sank into me. “
Will
,” I murmured, every muscle in my
body quivering.

His head dropped forward and I felt his
breathing quicken as he sank further into me. I loved holding
myself there for a moment, holding my breath on the brink of
ecstasy with him all the way inside. I could feel his need, how
long he’d held himself back for me, and I wanted to fill that need.
Every cell in my body focused on my muscles squeezing around his
cock, and he slid so slowly and deeply inside me I thought I might
come right then. I turned my face away and squeezed my eyes shut,
trying to hold out and make this last as long as possible.

He pulled out, and sank in again. Each time
he thrust, hard, deep, I felt myself reaching for something I
couldn’t quite grasp. We climaxed together, his harsh groans
intensifying my own orgasm.

When it was over, Will wrapped his arms
around me, and my hands stroked lazily over his arms.

Long minutes later, when I could breathe
again, I asked, “Do you really come harder that way?”

“Yeah.”

“I do, too,” I admitted.

“And I like seeing you while we fuck,” he
added, his voice thick. He paused. “I wish you’d look at me.”

I gave him a puzzled look.

“You never look at me when I’m inside
you.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing
came out. He’d left me speechless once again.

Will was right. I hardly ever looked at him,
even with him deep inside me, when there was no sense trying to
keep any distance between us. I never thought he cared whether I
looked at him or not.

“I…I didn’t think it mattered,” I said
weakly.

I recognized the silent mode he went into. He
rarely pouted, but when I pissed him off enough, he’d sit there
trying to think of something to say. I could feel his mind reeling,
searching for words that never seemed to come. Sometimes I couldn’t
figure him out.

I drew in a breath. “Look, if you don’t like
the way I—”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” I asked, shrinking away at
the thought of what the answer might be.

“I brought you here so I could tell you
something. But I have no idea what you’ll say if I do.”

When the silence came over him again, I
touched his arm. I knew this is why he’d brought me here, to tell
me something, but I didn’t want him to.

“I love you,” he said.

I froze. Dead silence filled the air. I
couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I went numb.

“I wanted to tell you tonight over dinner. I
thought about how I was going to tell you the past two weeks. I’ve
wanted to tell you for a long time.”

Every muscle in my body weakened. His steely
eyes met mine, and I’d never seen anything more earnest.

“The night before I left you asked if I was
going to see anyone else in New York. Hell, I don’t want to look at
anyone but you. I want us to have a future, whatever you can
handle. I know your ex ruined it for you. I know the past few years
weren’t exactly fun for you. I thought if I told you how I feel,
and what I want from you, you’d run away. So I’ll start slow. I’m
in love with you, and you’re the only woman I want to be with.
Ever.”

I stood there, my mouth agape. My
astonishment turned to anger, and I could barely hold back my
tears. How could he do this?

“That’s starting slow?” I choked out.

He watched me with a pained look in his eyes
as I climbed out of bed. When I didn’t move or say anything, but
just stood there watching him, he rolled over, like he couldn’t
stand to look at me anymore.

I threw on a t-shirt and shorts, slipped on a
pair of sandals, and snatched a room key off the dresser. Tears
stung my eyes while I reached the door. I glanced back, but he
didn’t look at me as I opened it. He lay on his back staring at the
ceiling, one hand under his head. I ran as fast I could on my
shaking legs, out into the hallway and out of the hotel, needing to
escape the thoughts swirling in my mind.

I ran down to the beach, and just before I
reached the water I fell into the sand and cried. His words echoed
all around me, and I was furious with him for saying them. How
could he ruin this? Why did he pick tonight? This weekend? Why did
he have to make what we had into something it wasn’t? So we’d had
some laughs. So I liked his company. So I went out of my mind with
pleasure every time we fucked.

I sobbed, my face buried in my hands.
Adrianne’s words echoed, too.
Time to move on. It’s about
time.

I’d denied it, but if I hadn’t been moving
on, what had I been doing all this time?

I watched the rhythmic flow of waves crashing
on the beach. I shivered, but not from the cool, wet sand beneath
me. The salty ocean air I breathed in cleared my head, and I had no
choice but to admit the truth I’d known all along.

I already knew he loved me. I knew it every
time he touched my arm, held the door for me, or put his hands on
me. Every time he looked at me I knew he loved me. I’d known along
that’s why he’d brought me here tonight, and I’d known what he’d
wanted to tell me. I’d thought if I could distract him enough, he
wouldn’t be able to. We wouldn’t have to move forward and could go
on like before.

Why did I come here tonight if I couldn’t
handle it?

Because all along, I’d felt the same thing
for him. I’d told myself I was using him to get what had been taken
from me during my defunct marriage, but I hadn’t just wanted sex
from Will. I wanted
him
.

I’d loved him from the start, but I’d been
too overcome with bitterness to face it. I hadn’t been fair. He’d
given me everything, and in return I’d given him everything but my
heart.

I panicked. I had to get back to him before
it was too late. Afraid that he’d had enough of me and that he was
packing his bags to go home, I gathered myself together, stood, and
ran with shaky, weak legs toward the hotel.

Terrified that I’d destroyed everything we
had, tears rolled down my cheeks. I ran through the lobby, into the
elevator, and stumbled onto our floor. The hallway was quiet except
for my frantic breathing as I headed toward our room.

I slowly opened the door. In the faint light,
I saw the covers rumpled on the bed. Will was still lying in
it.

Relief overcame me, but tears still flowed
down my cheeks. Trying to pretend I hadn’t had a breakdown on the
beach, I slipped back into the room and silently slid into bed
beside him. The room was quiet and still.

Everything about coming back in here felt
right.

Will stared up at the ceiling, not moving.
Without a word, I sidled up against his body and put my arms around
him. Still, he didn’t move. I closed my swollen eyes shut and
slowly began to plant kisses over his neck, his face, my mouth
damp, wetting his face with my tears. I buried my face in the crook
of his neck.

He’d always left me free to choose, to make
decisions of my own free will, and he’d never demanded anything of
me. Maybe because he knew that if and when I came to him, he would
have all of me.

He knew I’d come back.
I’d had a
choice to make when I left, and he knew that when I came back into
the room, I would have made my decision. He knew I loved him all
this time. I couldn’t believe he’d waited this patiently for me to
figure it out all these months. Maybe he’d known I could never have
done all the things we’d done with someone I didn’t love, no matter
how much I pretended otherwise.

When I kissed him, sliding my tongue into his
mouth, Will came back to life beneath me. I said nothing, my breath
coming faster as he reached for me and pulled the tank top over my
head. He pulled me on top of him and planted soft kisses down my
throat and over my breasts.

I felt his arms wrap around my back, holding
me the way he always did, only I’d never paid attention to how much
tenderness had always been in his touch.

“I didn’t think it was possible for you to
love me,” I said. “I thought I could use you to get what I felt had
been taken from me. I told myself that was the reason I was with
you. But it wasn’t.”

He watched me, silent.

“You’re the only one.” I sobbed, taking his
face in my hands. I leaned down and kissed his jaw, his mouth. I
knew he understood what I meant when he kissed me back, a sweet,
generous sweep of his mouth under mine. I sank my tongue into his
mouth again and moaned softly when he sucked on it.

He rolled me over until I lay beneath him. He
raised my arms above my head and I gave myself over to him. I made
a silent promise to both of us that I wouldn’t look away.

We barely got the protection taken care of
before he nudged my thighs apart with his and slid inside me.

I shuddered, and when I moved my hips up to
meet his, he sank deeper. He kissed me, his mouth hot and
sweet.

I felt wild, excited, my arms around him,
stroking his back.

“Please, Will.”

When he didn’t move, I squeezed his cock
inside me and thrust my hips to meet his. That was all it took. He
matched my rhythm, moving slowly, the pleasure excruciating, making
me ache. When he moved faster, I matched him, and we moved toward
release together.

I wanted to feel him come inside me. My body
shook with need, but I didn’t care about my own pleasure. I only
wanted his, to give him what he’d selflessly given me all this
time. I was rewarded with a climax that sent me over the edge, and
through it all, I felt Will join me.

I didn’t want him to pull out. The thought of
it made me feel empty, but I knew it was inevitable. Afterward, I
grabbed on to him and sobbed.

My arms were wrapped around him as my
breathing came back to normal. He lay against me, motionless except
for the stroke of his hand across my arm. His expression was
serious, but I’d never seen him look so peaceful, either. I felt
it, too.

I wasn’t afraid anymore. I’d been wrong when
I said I couldn’t love him, when I’d fallen deeper in love with him
every minute we’d spent together.

I had faced what I’d been most afraid of, and
it felt more right than anything ever had.

I gave him the words he’d given me earlier,
and nothing I’d ever said had been truer.

“Could you tell me again…what you said
before?” I asked.

He said it again, and nothing had ever
sounded sweeter.

“You’ve got all of me now,” I added. “Does
that scare you?”

“No,” he replied, his head against my
shoulder. His muscled, strong arm lay across my breasts. “I’m
relieved. Happy.”

I felt the relief in him as I settled up
against his body, and he held me there.

“I want us to have the weekend you planned,”
I said.

“And next weekend?”

I laughed. “All of the weekends after
this.”

I heard his satisfied sigh. “Good. Because I
dream about you. I dream about our future.”

A long time ago I’d stopped dreaming I could
have a future with anyone. I didn’t want one and refused to believe
it was possible even if I did. It took this weekend to show me what
had been happening while I was trying to look the other way. What
I’d least expected felt more right than anything ever had.

“I’m dreaming about our future, too,” I said,
my voice barely above a whisper. I curled up against his body and
laid my head on his chest.

I smiled, because I knew he’d heard it.

And we both knew I meant it.