The Homecoming
written by:
Lynn L.

"Seth's coming home!"

My boss's joyful declaration echoed down the hall to my own office, where my hands immediately stilled on the computer keyboard. I glanced up just as Jane came through my doorway wearing one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen grace her face in the eight years I'd worked for her. "Seth's coming home!" she repeated proudly.

"Yeah, I heard." I forced a smile and leaned back in my leather swivel chair as she dropped into the hard, straight-backed torture throne I'd inherited with the office space and deliberately kept in the far corner, out of the "chat" area. Today, however, it was the only seat available, as leaning stacks of legal pads and account files covered the plush seats across from my desk. It both amused and touched me to see Jane, president of her own marketing firm - the fastest-growing firm in the area, I might add - lounging in the corner at risk for splinters while I, her mere assistant, sat in luxurious comfort.

Jane never had been one to pull rank. It was the reason we all loved her so much, why staff turnover was relatively rare. Jane lived by the adage of never demanding more from us than she would demand from herself - on the nights we stayed till well after midnight, Jane was always the last to leave. She opened her home to all of us, selflessly boosting staff morale by throwing poolside barbecues for her employees and their families. And in opening her home, she also made us part of her own family, which included herself and her twenty-two-year-old son, Seth.

I'd always suspected I was a favorite of Jane's, ever since my arrival from the East Coast eight years earlier. I was eleven years older than Seth, so Jane was almost like an older sister to me, or a stepmother. And as I'd left behind everyone I'd known and loved to move all the way out here, it had been extremely comforting to have someone take me under her wing. In these last few years, I'd been finding myself blessed with more and more of Jane's favoritism until I was now publicly considered to be Jane's right-hand employee. Her confidence in me only fed my affection and respect for her, spurring me to devote all of my energies to the firm. The last thing I ever wanted to do was disappoint her.

I sighed inwardly. If she only knew, I thought. It had been a long time since I'd considered that particular possibility.

"He's been gone a year and a half, Lynn, do you realize that?" Jane virtually glowed, beaming at the prospect of her son back under her roof. Little did she know how well I understood exactly how long it had been since Seth graduated from college and promptly followed an old fraternity brother to Vail. "You know, I have seen my only child exactly four times in the last eighteen months, and each and every time, I had to go to HIM. I didn't think I'd ever be able to lure him away from the snow."

"So what brings him home?"

Jane chuckled. "He says he misses being mothered."

"Aww." It had been just Seth and Jane ever since I'd known them; from what I'd gathered in the few snippets Jane had shared over the years, she and her husband had divorced when Seth was quite young, and they hadn't seen him since. As a result, the two of them had always been extremely close. Jane had sacrificed a great deal to start the firm and build its success in order to give Seth everything he could possibly want. Seth was her life - Seth and the firm.

And I straddled the divide. No pun intended.

"He'll be home on Thursday." Jane heaved a happy sigh. "He's staying ten days, he said. That'll give me plenty of time to spoil him."

"As always." I pasted a casually coy smile on my face as she stood up again. "Is he bringing a snow bunny back with him?"

"God, I hope not," Jane said darkly. "It was bad enough having to share him with every female within a hundred-mile radius while he was in college and it was the last of my time to enjoy having him around. I don't want to share him with ANYONE this time around. This time, he's all mine."

I giggled. "Not that you're a suffocating mother or anything." "Certainly not." Jane sniffed haughtily, then dropped the act. "Am I? Was I ever?"

"You? God, Jane, are you kidding? Seth would've revolted in a heartbeat if you were. Instead he lived at home as long as he could. He always like being around you - anyone could see that." I smiled again. "You deserve to keep him all to yourself for once. How often have you complained about how quiet the house is since he's left?"

Jane shuddered. "I hate not having him home," she said emphatically. "All right. I refuse to feel guilty over hoarding my son."

"Good."

"Except for Saturday. I want to show him off. Let's have a cookout."

With that, she headed out of my office and continued down the hall, where I could hear her spreading the good news to the rest of the staff. I sat staring blindly at my computer screen with a sinking heart.

Damn it.

********************

The first time I crossed the line with my boss's son was during one of Jane's barbecues. Seth had brought me into his bedroom, placed me on the edge of his bed, and proceeded to perform the best oral sex I'd ever had while his mother and the rest of the office cheerfully mingled ten feet outside Seth's open bedroom window. The risk of being caught in the act, mingled with the sheer taboo nature of the act itself, made it one of the most erotic experiences of my life - one, nevertheless, I'd been determined not to repeat. Seth had been twenty-one; I'd been thirty-two, and one of Jane's employees to boot. Granted, it wasn't like I'd corrupted his morals - Jane had been sighing and shaking her head over the steady stream of girls passing through the house since Seth was fourteen - but it was still a violation of her trust. Had the situation been reversed, and I'd caught a favorite employee of mine with my only child, I'd have been plenty pissed. And plenty let-down.

It wasn't even something I'd built up to with Seth. I myself was the least-likely advocate of casual sex I'd ever known - I believed in romance, in commitment. Seth, on the other hand, believed in getting laid. I'd never even looked at him that way until I'd run into him out at a club one night, drunk and horny after two years of forced abstinence. Always one to appreciate the female body, he'd given me a thorough once over, declared he liked what he saw, and kissed me. I'd just barely managed to hold to my morals and walk away . . . only to find myself writhing on his bed weeks later with my legs spread wide and his tongue buried deep inside me. And even worse, wanting him to do it to me again.

The second time I'd crossed the line came not long after, when I'd spent the day working at Jane's house and inadvertently left an important file behind. She'd unwittingly sent Seth to my apartment to drop it off. I'd been fantasizing about him for weeks by that point, mentally replaying the episode in his bedroom until not even my vibrator could satisfy me; I needed HIM. And he was more than willing to comply. The hugeness of his cock and the force of the thorough fucking he gave me rendered me nearly unable to walk afterward. It was mind-blowing, like nothing I'd ever felt before. And I suppose that was it.

From there came the final crossing of the line - a weekly fuck-date, every Saturday afternoon, during his last two months of college. And then he was gone, off to Vail, without even telling me of his plans. Not that I'd expected him to - we weren't friends, simply bed buddies (and shower buddies, and dining room table buddies, and kitchen counter buddies . . . oh, the places we found ourselves during those long, hot afternoons). But it did sting a little. Seth was my one and only fling, and it took me quite a long time to get him out of my system. And it was all the more difficult to get over him when I had to do everything in my power to keep Jane from knowing I was missing her son. To the best of my knowledge, she never did find out. And I for one wanted to keep it that way.

He'd sent me a single rose on the one-year anniversary of that first night in his bedroom. I'd toyed with the idea of taking a ski trip to Vail, but in the end, I'd never gone. It was over, I'd told myself, and it was best in the long run that I stay here and Seth stay there and ne'er the twain shall meet again. He was a kid, for crying out loud. He had his own life; I had mine. Rose or no rose, I was nothing but a conquest, one I'd foolishly made easy for him - in fact, he'd probably been baiting me to see if I'd come running. The last thing I wanted to do was put myself right back in that guilt-ridden situation. Instead, I'd bought myself a bigger vibrator. And as long as I didn't get too caught up in comparing the feel of it to the remembered sensation and talent of Seth's cock, it did me just fine.

And now he was coming back, I thought with a deep sigh that night. I swung my feet up on my coffee table, took a long drink of wine, and pondered the situation. Not that there should even be anything to ponder, I told myself sternly. I'd risked a hell of a lot getting involved with Seth in the first place, and as sorry as I'd been to see it end, I had to admit I'd also been somewhat relieved. I'd hated myself for fucking Jane's prized son behind her back, hated myself for keeping such a secret from her when she'd always been so good to me. It felt good to have put enough distance between Seth and the here and now so that Jane and I were finally on an even keel again and I could look her in the eye. Did I really want to lose that?

And, too, I realized, I was contemplating these thoughts based on the idea that Seth was even considering such a possibility. I frowned into my wine glass. How conceited was I? I was thirty-three, a career woman, boring as hell by Seth's standards at twenty-two, living the high life as a gorgeous blonde-haired Michelangelo-couldn't-have-sculpted-him-better guy. So we'd had great sex. Big deal. Seth had fucked so much and so often that he probably kept a rating sheet on all his partners, and I was sure I'd dropped quite a bit in the rankings by now for no other reason than sheer competition. There was nothing Seth liked better than shopping for women, and he wasn't one to pass up an opportunity to test the merchandise.

God, it irritated me to feel my stomach clench at the thought of him fucking other women. I was supposed to be over this by now.

I tossed back the rest of my wine and got up to place my wine glass in the kitchen sink, then headed off to bed. Let Seth come. Ten days was nothing but a blip on my calendar. And I could always play sick and get out of Jane's barbecue if I really wanted to.

Did I want to?

********************

Jane took Thursday and Friday off, to no one's surprise. I was half-afraid she'd show up at the office with Seth in tow, but evidently she was making good on her humorous vow to hide and hoard him when he got into town. It meant I didn't have to lie and fake an illness onset with her around; on the other hand, I discovered, it also left me wide open: She had no reason to believe I wasn't coming to the house on Saturday.

My phone rang late Friday afternoon as I was shutting down my computer and gathering work to take home for the weekend. Out of reflex, I picked it up and was immediately assaulted by Jane's voice before I even had the chance to speak. "I'm sorry, I always swore I'd never be one of those bosses who used her employees for personal business, but I'm really in a bind and I need your help - "

"What's wrong?"

"My car died. Seth's offered to go and sit at the mechanic's with it tomorrow, but that leaves me stranded. I still need to get some things for the cookout tomorrow night, and they can't tell me when the car might be ready. Lynn, I'm so sorry to impose, but I was wondering if you could possibly go to the store and pick up - "

"It's all right," I assured her. And it was; it had to be. Jane was right - she never asked any of us for personal favors. How could I turn her down now just because I didn't want to see Seth? How could I LIE to her and avoid her house just because I didn't want to see Seth? I couldn't. "Tell me what you need me to get."

And so I arrived at the house long before everyone else the next afternoon, my car loaded with grocery bags, wearing my loosest, baggiest sundress and grimly facing the prospect of spending a good two hours alone with the two of them. To my relief, it turned out to be only one of them - Seth was still at the mechanic's with Jane's car. Jane chattered animatedly while we prepared the pool area, telling me how wonderful the last two days had been with Seth in the house, all the things they'd done together, how handsome he looked. As tense as I was, I was also genuinely happy for her. Even I hadn't realized just how much she'd been missing him.

Coworkers started trickling in before Seth returned with the car, and I was glad for people to mingle with and conversations to get involved in. I sat on a patio chaise and nursed a glass of wine, listening to the relaxed talking around me, my stomach quivering violently in anticipation of seeing him again. And when he strolled around the side of the house and approached the crowd at the pool, I felt like I'd been struck through the chest with a white-hot poker.

Seth had always been good-looking from his earliest teenage years on. He was tall, naturally built, and clean-shaven, with dark blonde hair he'd kept short and huge brown eyes you could lose yourself in. Now, as he graciously submitted to another bear hug from Jane, I could only swallow and stare. He'd let his sun-bleached hair grow long enough to brush his shoulders, and his entire body had filled out dramatically, to the point where he now practically resembled a granite wall. He looked older than twenty-two . . . and downright beautiful. What made matters all the worse was that I knew, intimately, every inch of what was under his clothes, and all I wanted to do was see exactly what it looked like now.

Not cool.

I stayed where I was at the edge of the pool, concentrating on my breathing, surreptitiously watching as he made the rounds of people who were like extended family to him. The same old heat was still there, I realized. One glimpse of him could still set me on fire. One look from him could fan the flames until I thought I'd burn alive. And one touch . . .

No one else had ever made me so hot. No one but Seth.

He was working his way toward my corner of the party, apparently saving us for last. I had yet to make eye contact with him, but something told me he knew I was there. I reached down to the hem of my dress and deliberately flipped it lower to cover my legs all the way to my ankles just as Jane shouted that the burgers were ready, and everyone clambered to their feet and headed for the grill as Seth finally crossed the lawn in my direction.

I was essentially trapped. There was no one else within a fifteen-foot radius to hide behind, no one else he could be coming to speak to but me; to get up and walk away would be as good as shunning him in front of everyone. I took a deep breath and braced myself as he dropped onto the chaise next to mine, sitting sideways to face me, arms draped across his knees. "Hey," he said cheerfully.

I glanced at him and smiled, my heart pounding. "Hey."

Silence. I stared at my wine glass, at the dappled surface of the pool, at the congregation at the food table, anywhere but him. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so afraid to meet someone's eyes, but I knew, I knew, that if I looked into his, I'd be consumed. And I didn't want to be consumed . . . or was it that I didn't want to WANT to be consumed?

Annoyed at myself, I clenched my jaw and looked at him squarely. He was watching me with an amused smile, his dark brown eyes twinkling - God, those eyes, eyes I still saw occasionally in dreams that had me waking on the crest of an orgasm. "Yeah, I guess we never were much for small talk, huh?" he joked quietly.

I chuckled in spite of myself. "No, I guess not."

"You look good, Lynn."

"Thanks. So do you."

"Although I've seen you look sexier."

I smiled dryly at the provocative undertone of his voice and smoothed the front of my dress. I knew exactly how sexless it made me appear, which had been precisely the point when I'd pulled it from the back of my closet. "Let's not talk about what you have and haven't seen me in, okay?" I said, looking at him levelly.

"Why not?"

"What would be the point?"

Another pause. He continued to study me, the smile gone, his handsome face impassive. I dropped my eyes to my glass once more. What did you do when suddenly confronted by a man with whom you'd only shared hot sex and nothing more? What did you do when you missed the sex and wanted it back? What did you do when the sex was out of the question? Was there anything TO do?

Not to my way of thinking.

I stood up and walked away, leaving him sitting alone next to my empty chair.

********************

If anyone noticed Seth's abandonment, nothing was mentioned about it. If Jane noticed that I limited my voluntary post-cookout clean-up activities to those that could be done approximately two feet to her left so that I was never alone, she didn't comment, either. And if Seth noticed that I avoided him like the plague, I wasn't aware of it, because I took great pains to keep my eyes off him.

How many more days till he returned to Vail? I wondered as I drove home a bit faster than could be considered legal by any stretch of the imagination. Seven? I could get through the next seven days. Tomorrow was Sunday, with no chance of seeing or hearing from Jane and thus no chance of a Seth sighting or of hearing another Seth tale. That left six days after tomorrow. And - well . . . that playing-sick option was still on the table. I could avoid the office if I really wanted to.

Did I want to?

Early the next morning, as I was staggering blearily from the bathroom back to my bedroom to sleep for a few more hours, four sharp knocks sounded at my front door. I stopped in my tracks and frowned in that general direction, dragging one hand through my long, sleep-tangled hair. "What the hell?" I muttered. It was Sunday, wasn't it? I shuffled forward until I could see the glowing green numbers on the microwave in the kitchen. 7:54.

Four more knocks. Who the fuck was banging on my door before eight o'clock on a Sunday morning?

It's funny the way the mind works - or doesn't work - when commanded to function at less than half-capacity. Instead of ignoring the door and going back to bed, I yawned, made my way across the living room, flipped the deadbolt, and tugged the door open without a second thought. The first thing I noticed was the cold morning chill against my bare legs, which were nowhere near covered by the T-shirt I'd worn to bed. The second thing I noticed was Seth standing in front of me, fully dressed, holding two steaming Starbucks cups.

"Since you made it clear last night that sex is out of the question and we're not allowed to discuss your clothes," he began as I stared at him, my mind blank, "I thought maybe I'd bring a peace offering and we could talk about politics and world affairs." His gaze slid appreciatively down my legs. "You might want to get dressed," he suggested soberly. "Otherwise I might be tempted to steer the conversation toward sex and those red silk panties you're wearing."

Cursing, I yanked my raincoat from the coat tree behind the door and pulled it on, glaring at him. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, lashing the belt around my waist.

"I hate when people are pissed at me."

"I'm not pissed at you."

His eyebrows shot up. "Well," he said carefully, "I already know what you're like when you're NOT pissed at me, so - "

"Godddamn it, Seth!"

"C'mon, Lynn, you cut me off at the knees last night." Still holding the coffee cups, he casually leaned one shoulder against the doorframe and gave me a charming smile. "Every time I tried to catch your eye, you'd look the other way. You're sure as hell not happy with me."

I folded my arms tightly across my chest and met his challenging stare. Another silence fell, like those that made being with him so uncomfortable last night. How could I talk when all I wanted to do was - ?

"So - terrorism," he said casually. "It really sucks, huh?"

I blinked, startled. "What?"

"Think we'll ever find bin Laden? See, I have this theory that - "

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He grinned again and extended an arm, offering me a cup. "I told you. Coffee, politics, world affairs. That's it. Nothing more."

I took a deep breath, hesitated, then cautiously accepted the cup, holding it gingerly in both hands. "I'm getting dressed," I told him.

"Fine."

"And I'm going to stay dressed."

"Fine."

I frowned. His expression was relaxed, friendly even. I found no inkling of the desire I used to see in his eyes every time he looked at me. Was my train of thought the other night correct? Did he really not find me attractive anymore? The idea pissed me off, which irritated me further. Wasn't that what I'd wanted in the first place? I asked myself. To keep things strictly platonic? So why was I so disappointed? "Fine," I echoed.

"Okay."

I continued to eye him suspiciously. He glanced over my shoulder, then met my eyes again. "Can I come in?" he asked politely.

I sighed and stepped back. "Have a seat - I'll be right back."

When I emerged from my bedroom in baggy sweatpants and an old T-shirt from college, I found him settled on the couch - the same couch he'd bent me over numerous times to fuck me like there was no tomorrow. The memory, and the visual aid of the newer and better Seth himself in the middle of said couch, did nothing to improve my mental coherence. I purposely moved across from him, the coffee table between us, to my favorite overstuffed armchair. His eyes flickered as I sat, a sly smile curving the corner of his mouth, and I remembered - too late - the time he'd sprawled here himself, when I'd knelt between his hard thighs and finally succeeded in deep-throating him. It had been no easy task - his cock was easily nine inches long and more than two inches wide - but oh, how he'd appreciated my efforts. I felt my entire body flush and quickly cleared my throat. "So - your theory on bin Laden?" I asked formally.

He chuckled and leaned forward, setting his cup on the corner of the table. "Sorry I never told you I was leaving last year," he said, his voice quiet. "I should have."

"It's okay. It's not like you owed me an explanation."

His eyes flickered again. "I sent you a rose -did you get it?"

I nodded, smiling slightly. "I did. It was beautiful - thank you."

"You're welcome." Those beautiful dark eyes probed mine. "I thought you might come out to Vail."

"I considered it, but . . . "

Silence. His eyebrows lifted. "But?" he prompted.

I sighed and shook my head, rubbing my eyes. "It wouldn't have been a good idea, Seth."

"Why not?"

I stared at him. He stared back without blinking. "How many women have you fucked since you moved there?" I asked bluntly.

"You mean since you?"

"Whatever. How many?"

"Two."

"Bullshit."

"Okay, okay - three."

My mouth dropped. He continued to look at me, his expression open, serene, as though he had absolutely nothing to hide - and he was lying to me. He was lying through his goddamn teeth. Fury boiled inside me. "You son of a bitch."

It was his turn to blink, stunned. "What?" he demanded.

"You lying bastard! You expect me to believe that?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it with a snap and looked away, sighing deeply.

"Damn it, Seth, I've known you since you were fifteen, remember? I watched you stick it up everything in a skirt! Hell, you even admitted to me that you lost your virginity to your freaking babysitter at the ripe old age of TWELVE, and you expect me to believe that you all of a sudden lost your sex drive when you crossed state lines?" My next words virtually dripped with sarcasm. "What, do we have problems with the altitude in Colorado?"

He snorted, clearly amused. "I deserve that," he conceded.

"You deserve MORE than that!" On a roll, I scrambled out of the chair to pace the length of the apartment in jerky, agitated strides. "Do you have any idea what I risked when I got involved with you?" I asked angrily. "I risked my job! I risked my friendship with my boss, who happens to be one of my closest friends! I risked my reputation - what on earth would everyone at that office have called me behind my back once word got out that I was banging the boss's son? The boss's MUCH YOUNGER son?"

"Lynn - "

Frustrated, I pulled both hands through my hair and sighed. "You wanted to fuck me, so you fucked me." I turned to face him and spread my arms wide, then let them fall to my sides. "And that was all there was to it. I don't give a damn how many there have been since you left. And I sure as hell don't want to know how many there were the whole time we were screwing each other's brains out. Because that's all I was, Seth - a number. I know it, you know it - and that's why I've never gone to Vail. For you, it was just sex. For me, it was sex with a whole lot of complications. And if you want to know the truth, my life's been a hell of a lot easier since you moved away."

He sat leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers loosely clasped, watching me without a hint of laughter or arrogance to be found anywhere on him. He nodded twice, dropping his gaze to the carpet for a moment, then meeting my eyes once more. "For the record, there wasn't anyone but you those two months before I left," he told me evenly. "And I know you won't believe that. I wouldn't believe it, either. In fact . . . " He trailed off, half-snorting, and looked away as I stared at him incredulously. "I didn't exactly plan it that way. The first few days after that first Saturday, I was horny as hell, but for whatever reason, I didn't get laid, and then . . . I don't know." He shrugged. "I started looking forward to you. Doing it with you again, doing it differently with you, now that I knew how you wanted it, and you knew how to get me going . . . " He paused again, shrugging once more. "That got me hotter than anything else ever did," he said. "I'd never had sex with a woman more than once or twice, ever, until you. And I realized that there was a lot to be said for monogamy if it meant mind-blowing sex. So . . . it was just you. And after I got to Vail, it was one woman at a time. Three altogether." He winked then, and the old Seth was back, the same devilish twinkle in his eyes, the same smirk on his full lips. "Because God knows there's nothing better than great sex."

A smile reluctantly tugged at my own mouth. I shook my head and looked away. So monogamy equaled great sex. It didn't exactly make him marriage material, but at least he'd grown up a little. And I had to admit it felt good to know I wasn't just a conquest in the end, after all. "So you're saying there's actually been a semi-serious relationship or two in your life?" I asked lightly.

He made a face, then blew out a breath, laughing a little. "I don't know that I'd go that far."

"Of course not. That's too radical a change."

He took a deep breath, looking as though he were about to respond, then sighed again and was silent. I wandered back to the armchair and sat down on the edge, my agitation spent . . . my attraction to him still going strong. If anything, it was increasing. There was a maturity to him now that appealed to me, and when combined with the physical changes in him, the overall effect was intoxicating. Every nerve ending in my body was tingling. I ached to feel his hands on me, ached to feel his mouth cover every inch of me, ached to feel him hot and hard inside me. I remembered all too well that as much as he loved to fuck, it was never about him as much as it was about the woman he was with. I could count on the fingers of one hand the times he'd lost control and come before I did. It used to irritate the hell out of me, the way he could hold himself back while I went crazy. Now I realized just how lucky I'd been.

He raised his head and met my eyes. For several long, still moments, we stared at each other. I couldn't look away.

"Also for the record," he said, his voice low, "none of them even came close to you."

Oh, God. The air suddenly grew hot, burning my lungs. The desire was back in his eyes, on his face. I could only imagine what showed on my own. "I think you'd better leave," I whispered.

He held my eyes a second longer, two, three, then wordlessly pushed himself to his feet, making his way around the couch and heading for the front door. I followed, my knees shaky. "Thanks for the coffee," I said weakly, the words sounding pathetic and cruel to my own ears.

"You're welcome." He reached for the doorknob and paused, turning to look at me. I stopped several feet away, carefully maintaining the distance when he made as if to take a step toward me. He caught the hint and stared where he was, watching me. "Thanks for letting me in," he said, a hint of joviality in his voice.

"You're welcome."

He twisted the knob, opened the door. "See you," he murmured.

"Bye."

As soon as he'd walked away, I gently closed the door, turned the deadbolt, and closed my eyes, resting my forehead against the cold wood.

********************

He didn't stop by the office that week. I knew because I looked for him. And each evening, when I went out to the parking lot, I watched in reluctant anticipation for my car to come into view, wondering if he might have left a note under my windshield wiper as he'd done once or twice in the past. But he hadn't. The twinge of disappointment grew with each passing day.

It was now Thursday evening; I'd learned from Jane that he was leaving Saturday morning, and that she was planning a special night out for the two of them on Friday. Which meant that if he were to surprise me at home and force the issue - which, of COURSE, I didn't want him to do - this was his last opportunity.

And if he were, in fact, respecting my wishes as he actually seemed to be, this was MY last opportunity to force the issue.

We'd never had break-up sex, I rationalized as I sat cross-legged in the middle of the couch where he'd sat four days earlier with a full glass of wine in my hand and the phone in my lap. Not that we'd ever been a couple, but still - he'd never let on that our last Saturday WAS the last Saturday we'd ever have. If he had, that could have been my closure. I needed closure. So this was actually a necessity.

Oh, it was a necessity, all right. I needed him to fuck me. I needed to fuck HIM.

I'd successfully hidden an entire fling from Jane. I could hide a one-night stand.

I raised the wine glass to my lips, took several deep swallows, and then dialed Jane's number before I lost my nerve. If Jane answered, I could ask a question about work, I thought nervously as I listened to the ringing on the other end. The Ellsworth account - we've been discussing that for the last -

"Hello?"

My breath promptly clogged in my throat as my pulse went into overdrive.

"Hello?"

I swallowed. "Seth?" I asked unnecessarily. What other man would be answering Jane's phone?

His voice immediately warmed in recognition. "Hey."

"Hi. Um - " Flustered now that I actually had him on the line, I floundered for words. I hadn't actually scripted an indecent proposal. "I, uh - listen - "

"I'm listening," he said, obviously amused.

"Yeah. Um . . . " I gave up, sighing. "Shit," I muttered.

His voice lowered. "Do you want me to come over?"

And there it was. I sat for a moment with the phone pressed against my ear, plucking at a crease in my jeans, staring my last chance at decency in the face. "Can you?" I asked finally.

"Give me twenty minutes, okay?"

I closed my eyes, my mind already racing ahead to the moment he'd step through the door. "Okay."

********************

He made it in twelve. Not that I was counting the minutes or anything. "Hi," I greeted cordially after I'd opened the door.

"Hi." He slammed it at his back and grasped my waist, pulling me to him by the belt loops on my jeans. "Do we have to talk this time?" he asked, a split second before his mouth seized mine. His tongue parted my lips, warm and wet, sliding over my own as I tangled my fingers in his hair, delighted to finally feel the long, soft strands beneath my hands. He kissed me deeply, continually, until I thought I'd faint.

"No," I answered breathlessly as he eased my head back and dragged his lips down the length of my throat. "We don't have to talk."

"Good." Already his voice had roughened, deepened. His touch, however, was feather-light as his fingers trailed up my ribs to my breasts, his palms passing gently over my nipples before sliding around to my back, then down to skim over my ass.

"Except that this isn't going to do it." I reached down to seize his wrists and press his hands firmly against my body. Every coherent thought had fled my mind. All I knew was the scorching heat of my skin wherever it touched his. "Fuck me, Seth," I whispered urgently. "Don't tease me. Just fuck me."

He chuckled deep in his throat, kneading my ass, working his way up to my hips. "No foreplay?" he murmured.

"No."

"You want it that bad?"

"God, yes."

He yanked open the button on my jeans and tugged the zipper down, then slipped his hands inside, into the back of my panties. I moaned at the touch of his hands on my bare skin at last as he slid them over me, taking my panties and jeans with them over my hips and down my thighs. "Step out of them," he ordered huskily.

I leaned on his shoulders, balancing as I worked one foot out and then the other, and then cried out as his lips, without warning, closed over my swollen clit. His strong arms circled my legs, holding me upright as I just barely managed to stand. My fingers dug into his shoulders as he sucked relentlessly and I struggled to breathe. "Seth . . . oh, my God . . . "

I felt one hand move between my knees, urging my legs farther apart, then the heat of his tongue lapping at my slit, then thrusting inside me, his hands slipping around to grasp my ass and pull me hard against his face. The violent orgasm came out of nowhere, slamming into me; it felt like the world was rocking beneath my feet, and my knees gave out so I half-fell on top of him. He quickly shifted and caught me, rising to his feet and bringing me with him. I clung to him, trembling. He grasped my hand and pressed it over his bulging crotch. "Take it out," he commanded.

I had to concentrate as my fingers fumbled with the button-fly of his jeans, especially with his hands up inside my shirt and under my bra. The press of his fingers on my nipples, massaging in sure, firm circles, sent electric shocks all through me. In desperation, I grabbed the denim with both hands and jerked. Buttons clattered to the tiled floor of the entryway.

"I'm going to have to explain that," he muttered against the hollow of my throat, then caught his breath on a groan as my hands closed over his erection. His skin was burning hot, his length heavier than I remembered as I drew it through the opening in his boxers. He gasped as I rubbed the tip, smearing his pre-come all over him.

"Explain to who?"

"My roommate." He grasped the back of my knee and lifted my leg, hooking it over his hip. The silky head of his cock grazed my opening. "These are his jeans."

"I'll write him a check." I positioned his head, then grabbed his ass with both hands and pulled him into me, inhaling sharply as I felt the entire length of his cock slide inside me, all the way up, pressing against the very back of me. The thickness of him made me feel spread wide open, like no one else ever had. "Oh, God," I moaned, or tried to. No sound came out.

His arms wrapped around my waist like steel bands, hauling me up against him so tightly I couldn't move. One hand slid between our bodies, working its way in so that his fingers gripped my bare hip and his thumb pressing against my clit. A spasm shuddered through me, and I felt my pussy clamp down on his cock. He massaged my clit as he flexed his hips, forcing his shaft even deeper without withdrawing more than an inch, and I sobbed, the spasm sharpening as it sliced through me again.

"I want to make you scream." His voice was harsh, his lips tender as they brushed over mine, even as he rammed his cock still higher. "I want to make you forget everything but the feel of me inside you."

I couldn't speak. He was driving into me relentlessly, stimulating my sensitive clit in perfect rhythm with each hard thrust. Soon he was drawing back nearly all the way, so that I felt the rim of his head catch at the entrance to my opening, then slamming back into me with the force and speed of a jackhammer, over and over. My mind fogged as wave after wave of electric pleasure crashed over me, flooding my pussy, sizzling along my spine. Just when I thought I couldn't bear any more, he suddenly grabbed my hips with both hands and yanked me down as he shoved his cock all the way up into me, farther than I'd ever felt him reach before, and ground his pelvis against mine. He was hard as a rock, hot as fire, huge as a tree trunk - it felt as though he were sweeping through my entire womb as my clit was crushed between us. And the strongest orgasm of my entire life seized my entire body as a scream ripped from my throat, and then there was nothing but darkness.

********************

I was still upright, I noticed dimly as my mind cleared little by little. I was propped up against Seth, his arms around me, pretty much bearing my weight. I became aware of the coolness of the tiles beneath my feet and the great emptiness inside me. His softening cock pressed against my thigh, still warm, damp from my juices. My head rested against his shoulder, and I raised it with some effort. "God - did I pass out?" I asked.

He chuckled, his lips brushing my hair. "Yeah, a little."

"That's never happened before."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

I placed my hands on the back of his head and brought him close to kiss him. He kissed me back, gently, then with more and more pressure until I felt his dick stir against my leg. He began moving me backwards, in the direction of my bedroom. "We're not finished yet," he murmured against my mouth.

"Good."

He drew back and smiled, his eyes flashing wickedly. "Where's your vibrator?"