Jump Shot Read online

  A blackened pizza – burned to a crisp but now soggy – sits in the sink looking like a Freddy Krueger face, all burned and gnarly. My eyes scan the kitchen and I see a handful of bottle tops on the counter and a bunch of empties in the recycle bin.

  I’m not opposed to drinking, nor am I a teetotaler. The evidence could represent a number of things, so I won’t jump to the wrong conclusion just because my instincts tell me to worry.

  I’ve ignored it for the better part of the year, but I have a growing concern over Lance’s drinking. He gets out of hand a lot of the time. Drinks in excess and then will blackout. He’s never done anything to put himself or anyone else in harm’s way, so I guess it’s just his way of blowing off steam and having fun.

  My worried thoughts are scattered when I turn around and I’m gifted with the sight of Lance standing in the arched doorway, arms raised overhead as he grips the frame, a flirtatious smile drawn across his face.

  “It appears I’ll be taking you out to dinner tonight, as my attempts to cook have once again gone up in flames.” He lets out a loud cackle of laughter. “Literally.”

  I bite my lip trying to subdue my own giggles, but it’s no use. I burst out laughing while looking behind me at the mess he made.

  “I hate to state the obvious, but a top chef, you are not,” I note, lifting an eyebrow in amusement.

  The next thing I know, he’s got me up against the counter, his arms caging me in as he hovers over me with a serious expression.

  “I have other talents and skills, ya know. If you’re lucky enough, I may show you.”

  He presses his lips to the curve of my ear, his fingers sweeping the hair over my shoulder, his nose caressing the sensitive skin underneath my earlobe. I tilt my head to the right, closing my eyes from the sheer intoxication of being surrounded by Lance.

  His strong jaw, normally covered with a mass of dark scruff, is clean-shaven tonight and feels soft against the skin of my neck. Words get caught in my throat when he pulls away from me and I see the searing gaze that reaches straight through me and into a private corner of my soul reserved just for him.

  “Micaela,” he says almost breathlessly, my name floating out in the charged air between us. “I need you so bad. Don’t deny this anymore. Please.”

  I came here tonight with very clear intentions, and it’s the desperate plea in his voice that’s my complete undoing. The scratchy quality of it, mixed with heat and desire, has me flinging my arms around his neck like I did earlier today, and grasping at the base of his head.

  I wrap my legs around his waist and my feet find purchase just above his butt, as his hands cradle my bottom and he pulls me into him with such force it takes my breath away.

  And then we’re all lips, tongues, bodies and heat.

  Who knew so much emotion could come from a kiss?

  He’s demanding.

  Gone is the gentle and sweet Lance, replaced with a man who is on a desperate mission to complete what we’ve started over and over again. He lets go of his restraint like a rubber band expanding and snapping into place. His urgency fuels me further. My hands venture over his wide shoulders finding the smooth, taut skin around his neck as I trace down to his collarbone.

  Dios mío, his body is so hot, his flesh scorching the pads of my fingers as they move down his torso until I find the skin underneath his t-shirt. I could bury myself there and never want for more.

  Lance shifts me against him, turning us and backs me up against the counter and grinds his erection into my belly. We continue kissing as I circle my hips against his arousal and we both moan into each other’s mouths in tandem. I want to touch every part of him – the valley between his pecs, and the V leading down to his shorts, and the hard-muscled planes of his abdominals. And of course, the solid length of his cock.

  I’ve had sex with exactly one guy. It was my senior year in high school and I’d been dating him for a couple months before I finally gave it up to him. There were no choirs on angels singing the Halleluiah chorus when I lost my virginity. There was really no heat or excitement or thrill of losing it. I was just going through the motions to get it over with. I’m not even sure if I was wet.

  Back then, it was all fumbled movements, in a state of half-nakedness from the waist down, and the quick jabbing motion of my boyfriend’s prick as he entered me and snatched my maidenhood.

  It was over in less than three minutes. And I was left bored and unsatisfied.

  But there is nothing unsatisfying in this moment with Lance.

  Just from the way he grips my body and the movements of his hips confirm what I’ve already guessed from our previous encounters– sex with Lance will be amazing.

  I finally get a chance to speak when he moves his lips to my jawline, nipping and sucking there. His hand finds my breast and he pumps and squeezes, a ripple of pleasure coursing through my spine when his thumb strokes my sensitive nipple through my t-shirt. I want to be naked for him, so I can feel his hand everywhere across my heated flesh.

  “Can we go to your bedroom?” I ask, hoping we can take our time in there and get naked together.

  His half-lidded eyes pop open as if he just now remembers where we’re at, as a slow, sensual smile tugs at his mouth.

  “Fuck yes we can. I just didn’t want to get my hopes up in case you said no again. But I hoped you’d say yes.”

  Just those simple words have my heart clenching for him and I smile.

  “I’m saying yes.”

  He kisses me hard on the mouth before he walks us down the short hallway and into the largest of the three bedrooms in the apartment. He normally has roommates, but the new guys won’t be moving in until the end of the summer. And I’m more than glad of that fact in this moment.

  Lance enters the room and unceremoniously dumps me across his unmade bed. A bolt of nerves floods through me for a second until he whips off his t-shirt and I’m assaulted once again with the magnificent architecture of his chest. He is ripped in all the right places, a section of his torso tattooed and inked in colorful mosaic fashion.

  I watch as he casually divests his shorts and briefs until he stands naked and erect in front of me. My throat goes dry and I try to swallow my fear as I finally get a good look at the formidable size of his penis.

  I’ve touched him before in the dark and know he’s big, but until now, I had no clue just how big he really is. Ten times bigger than the boy who took my virginity in high school. Words such a monstrous, gargantuan and Super-Sized come to mind.

  I gulp again.

  As he opens his nightstand and pulls out a condom, I close my eyes and say a quick prayer to the saint of…well, I don’t know if there’s a saint of fornication. But I need protection from something, cause that thing could do some damage.

  When I open my eyes, he’s smirking, biting his lower lip in amusement. He’s tossed the condom on the side of the bed and begins stroking himself. Holy shit – I’ve never…I mean, just wow.

  “You okay there, Georgie?” he asks with a lilt of humor, using my nickname. But then his expression grows serious as he looks me over. I probably look like a nervous bunny, stunned and trapped.

  “Wait…you’re not a virgin, are you?”

  I giggle a little. “No, I’ve had sex before.”

  His body relaxes but his words are tight. “Who? When?”

  I roll my head to the side, avoiding his penetrating stare. It’s embarrassing really. Here he is this college basketball god who probably had sex just this past week alone with half a dozen willing women and I’ve only had one less-than-fulfilling experience. Two years ago.

  “Mica…” he warns, grabbing my ankle and pulling me toward him so that my legs are now off the bed and spread in front of him. The hair on his legs tickle my inner thighs and I squirm at the sensation.

  “When?” he persists.

  “Once. In high school.”

  “Oh Christ,” he growls, but then he straightens as if he’s found resolve. “Okay…I can
go slow. I’ll make it good for you. I swear.”

  And then I hear, rather than see, him land on his knees next to the bed and his face is planted between my legs.

  And I know nothing from here on out will ever be the same.

  13

  Lance

  Go slow, go slow, go slow.

  This phrase repeats in my head, to remind myself to take my time with Mica. But it’s so fucking difficult when I can smell her arousal and know without a doubt that everything is going to change from this moment on.

  I’ve been waiting so long. Damn near over a year, out of my mind with want for Mica. And now here she is, spread out on my bed, ready and willing for me to take her. If she were any other girl, I wouldn’t give two shits about taking my time, I’d just do my thing to get off and get them out the door. Which makes me a fucking prick, but they knew the score.

  But it’s all different with Mica.

  Hearing her admit she’s only done it once before and so long ago, well shit. I’ve got to do everything in my power to pull out all the stops and make sure she comes. I want to give her more pleasure than she’s ever imagined before taking my own.

  The problem is that this girl has had me wrapped up in a tight ball of need. I was ready to explode the minute I touched her in the kitchen and tasted her warm, fragrant scent. Sweet cinnamon and honey, with a hint of vanilla. If I wasn’t already feeling high from the effect of the Oxy, I’d be flying high just from her scent alone.

  In fact, her scent, coupled with the Oxy and beers from earlier, have done a perfect job of taking the edge off my scrambled feelings of despair. But they do nothing to mute or desensitize the way I feel for Mica.

  My dick is ram-rod hard and ready for action.

  I inhale a deep breath of air to regain some of the control I lost the minute I saw her in my kitchen. I was flooded with desire from the kiss we shared earlier and I’d been waiting for more. I bend at my waist and place my lips at her inner thigh, loving the way goosebumps break out across her flesh. A devious smile forms on my mouth as I swipe my tongue up the length of her leg, getting the skin wet and blowing on it to evoke more gooseflesh. She quivers as I hook my hand underneath her knee, spreading her legs wider so I can make room to bury my head between them. She’s still wearing her tiny shorts, which I need to remove as quickly as possible. My head spins with worry that she’ll change her mind before this happens.

  Drawing a line from her knee up to the hem of her shorts with my tongue, I inhale her scent and lick my lips.

  “God, Mica. I’ve waited so long for you, baby,” I murmur, my hands fumbling with the buttons on her shorts until she reaches down with an assist.

  “Me too.”

  My hands shake with either nerves or anticipation as I peel the denim material over her hips and down her legs, her butt lifting as I slide them off.

  When I return my gaze to the space between her legs my mouth goes bone-dry. She’s wearing a lacy pink thong that I could stare at all day. I want to flip her over, smack the bare ass that I know will be on perfect display and bite her meaty cheek. It makes me wonder if she has tan lines or if her entire body is the same shade of caramel cream.

  My cock throbs so hard it feels like I could go off at any moment. Being with Mica like this is like the anticipation of the best Christmas as a kid. Where every present I asked for is wrapped beautifully and neatly waiting for my hands to open as my eyes sparkle with wonder.

  “Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” I hear myself confess, whether to myself or Mica, I’m not sure.

  She responds with a little snort-like giggle.

  “Don’t be dumb. You’ve been with so many girls – far prettier than me.”

  My head snaps up to her and my hands grip at her waist for emphasis.

  “No,” I confirm with emphasis. “You are perfect.”

  I lean over the warmth of her and place a kiss at her navel as she sucks in a sexy gasp. Slowly, ever so slowly, I work my way down, kissing and licking a path until I reach the edge of her panties. My mouth salivates with anticipation. Desire. Need.

  Burying my nose at her center, she squirms above me. When I look up the length of her body, a smile takes over my face. This right here is heaven. And she is my angel.

  I want to spend the rest of tonight getting to know every spot on her beautiful body. I want to know what makes her wiggle with desire, gasp for breath and will have her screaming my name in passionate rapture. I also know I won’t last that long. I’m not used to going at a turtle’s pace. Everything I do in life is usually at warp speed – ball, school, drinking, sex.

  And right now, I feel like a beast who hasn’t eaten in weeks, ready to devour the princess who got lost in the woods and is now trapped in his lair.

  Sliding my finger underneath the edge of the pink silk, I slowly and almost painfully, expose the heated flesh hidden by her panties. She startles – her thigh muscles contracting around my shoulders– and I groan at the sight.

  She has a dark triangle of hair leading down a landing strip to her wet hot center. A rush of lust courses through my veins, stronger than any drug that has ever been in my body.

  I hear her whisper my name as I dive in. Yes. This is what I wanted to hear.

  The hard tip of my tongue runs along her center, from bottom to top where I reach the nub of her clit and flick it just once as she jerks at the intrusion. And then I repeat the pattern, but this time I lay one palm on the slope of her belly to hold her there, the fingers of my other hand spread her folds, giving me more access to her core.

  Holy shit, I could spend the rest of my life here.

  My fingers trace circles around her belly, moving the material of her tank up toward her chin so I can gain access to her breasts. And then a realization hits me – I’ve been derelict in my duties because she’s not fully naked yet.

  As if it’s a compulsive need that can’t be contained, I pull her up in a seated position and take a moment to look at her face. Her natural beauty hits me smack square in the middle of my chest.

  She’s everything I’ve always wanted. Everything I never thought I deserved. I still don’t think I’m deserving, but I won’t stop things now.

  Her cheeks are flushed, her long, thick hair tousled and cascading around her shoulders, and her dark eyes are half-lidded with lust. As if she’s drugged from the sins of the flesh. And it makes me feel like a king knowing I’ve put her in this state of desire.

  “I want to see all of you – touch all of you,” I say, pulling the hem of her tank up and over her head, as she struggles to remove her arms from it. She gets caught and we laugh together. The sound is magic and fills me with happiness.

  Once off, I throw it on the floor behind us and when I return my gaze to her, she’s self-consciously covering her breasts with her arms. I tentatively reach up and cup her neck, toying with the skin there.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Her eyes dart away and I gently tip her chin back to me with my two fingers.

  “Hey, you can leave your bra on if you want.”

  She stares into my eyes and with a shy smile and shake of her head, says, “No, it’s just no one’s ever seen me completely naked. It’s just, intimidating.”

  My hand stills at her confession. Realization dawns on me. I’m the first she’s let in. A year ago, I may not have appreciated the weight of this encounter. But I do now. It means she trusts me and is giving me a gift that I need to treasure.

  I have no words, so I kiss her lips tenderly, my lips slowly moving down the curve of her neck and shoulder where she tastes so sweet. When I encounter the bra strap, I slowly glide the elastic material off one shoulder and down her arm, kissing every inch of skin as I go.

  She relaxes into my touch and then drops the bra and her arms.

  And I’m not prepared for it. I’ve groped and touched Mica’s tits in the dark make-out sessions in the past, but I’ve never seen her naked breasts. Never had access to her entire body – a body that I’
ve wanted for so long. The pleasure of the anticipation and finally getting what you want is unreal.

  The swells of her perfect breasts are fleshy and buoyant. Large enough that they’re a handful, but small enough to still be perky. My eyes drink in their heavy shape and I use the pad of my index finger to trace around the dark circular areola. Her inhale of breath makes her breasts heave and I can’t stand it anymore. I lay my entire palm over the soft curve, plumping and squeezing her in my hand.

  My heart hammers inside my chest as I watch pleasure flit across her face.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  I know I’m repeating myself, but she must know. She must realize how incredibly gorgeous she is and how it’s not just the shape of her body, but everything about her. The kindness she extends to her family and friends. The smile she gives so often to others. The exotic sound of her voice – the dialect so smoky and breathy every time she speaks.

  The blood in my veins reacts to what I see in front of me, heating and sparking. Boiling to a point where I know I’ll lose control and spill over, burning up from the inside out.

  I lean down and take a peaked nipple into my mouth, sucking it between my teeth – gently at first, teasingly – but I’m so turned on from her moans and the way she arches into my mouth – I become feverish with want.

  My body needs more of her, so I place a hand behind her back and lower her down on the bed again, covering her with my body. Taking a moment to look her over, she’s so small beneath me. I want to savor her and everything she’s going to give me.

  I continue to kiss and touch her everywhere – her face, her swollen lips, her dusky rose-bud nipples, her breastbone and her sleek stomach. My fingers weave their way between our bodies and I open her up with my index finger, slipping inside her dewy heat. She gasps and moans, as I suck the sounds from her mouth with mine. She repeats my name over and over again as I pump one finger, then two, in and out of her warmth.

  Using my thumb, I rub and pluck at her clit, until I feel her muscles tensing, her eyes closing tight, and she cries out. She clenches and spasms around my fingers and it’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done.