Boxer Next Door Read online

  “How slow do you want to go?” he asked, voice strained as he ran his hands up and down my thighs. “I’m about at my limit, here.”

  “Me, too,” I admitted. I avoided his eyes, instead I ran my hands down his chest.

  Ken leaned down and pressed kisses along the side of my face, making me sigh and slide my eyes closed, tilting my head back against the couch. He kissed down my neck, to my chest. His hands finally moved from my thighs, sliding up my sides, then around, so he was cupping my breasts. Even through my bra, it felt good to be touched there, and I gasped, arching my back and pressing my breasts further into his palms.

  “Can I take this off?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said immediately. “You don’t have to ask. But you’re stripping, too.”

  He grinned at me and righted himself. He slid off his jacket, then took the hem of his t-shirt with both hands and stripped it off. Freely ogling and feeling greedy, I smoothed my fingers down his chest and abs, tracing the outline of the tattoo I’d wondered about. Black tribal art ran the span just below his collar bones, spears I had to assume. My fingers continued down and I paused when I grazed his nipples and he groaned in response. I didn’t know men could be sensitive there, but Ken really seemed to like it, so I did it again, only this time he growled low in his throat.

  Ken had to get off the couch to strip off his pants and boxers, and I shifted to sit up so I could watch. I pushed off the rest of my clothes and fell back against the couch to look up at him, his legs caught between mine as I stared up at him. Ken’s body was beautiful, a work of art that he had sculpted into perfection. I could feel my lips part as my eyes went lower, down to that part of him that I wanted the most right now. Our gazes locked and Ken knelt down in front of me, his knees settled between my thighs as he ran his fingers along the outer edge of my thighs.

  Both naked, Ken tugged until I was right at the edge of the cushions, slumping in the seat, but at just the right angle now. My eyes drifted down of their own accord, and I could feel my insides tighten at the sight of his cock; long, thick and hard, and pointed right at me. He pressed himself into my wet heat and my hips moved of their own accord, causing friction for both of us. I couldn’t wait, I didn’t want to wait, and I groaned in frustration. He noticed where I was staring and gave me a dirty laugh that had me staring at him defiantly with a challenge. Fuck me or get off. He covered the space between us to give me a quick kiss, his hands pushing my legs up and out.

  “Tell me if this hurts,” he instructed. Then, I felt the soft, silky heat of him as he poised at my entrance, and his lips found mine just as he thrust into me.

  I gasped quietly as he filled me, my hands moving to his shoulders for something to hold onto, my body wracked with shivers as he inched his cock inside of me.

  It had been too long, and he was big, so it was a bit tight. He took his time, pulling out and working back into me slowly until he bottomed out. He paused for a few seconds so we could both catch our breaths, then he started moving slowly. I looked up at his face, his eyes closed as he concentrated on me, and I felt a deep satisfaction at just how lost he looked.

  I moaned his name as he moved within me, distracting me from every thought except the deep ache that was now turning into pleasure.

  Ken leaned over me to kiss my hot lips, teasing me with playful little swipes until I put my hands behind his neck to hold him still. He gave a low chuckle and moved down my neck. When he found my breast, he licked a circle around my tight nipple, before flicking the bud with the tip of his tongue. Heat shot down to my very core and I gasped as he did it again. Then he took me into his mouth and sucked. I shuddered, my hands flexing as I whimpered.

  He’d paused as he gave his attention to my nipple, but I couldn’t hold my body still. I flexed my hips on his cock, stirring the pleasure that had started out as little more than a beautiful ache but was now a consuming inferno. I whimpered in loss as he moved away from my nipple but sighed as he did the same for my other breast, and alternated between them, teasing me, driving me wild as I fucked myself with his cock.

  “You’re amazing,” I heard him whisper as I moved against him and I looked down to see him watching me.

  I knew my cheeks must be flushed, my hair as wild as I knew my eyes must be, but he looked fascinated, caught by something beautiful he didn’t want to look away from. I was about to speak when I felt his hips thrust back at me, and he increased his pace. His long, deep strokes became short and shallow as he picked up speed and strength. He knew instinctively what I wanted, what I needed, and gave it to me gladly.

  I wanted his mouth so I could muffle the sounds coming out of my own, but he’d pushed up, his hands digging into my hips where he held me tight as he fucked into me, over and over. I wanted to lose myself in him, I wanted to scream his name, but my son was upstairs, and I tried to gasp out what should have been wild shrieks of pleasure.

  He circled his hips, his cock hitting my walls just the right way to have my back bowing and my hips dancing against his. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from crying out. Bryson was a heavy sleeper, but I didn’t want my screaming to wake him up. There was no way I could explain this to him.

  Ken’s arms wrapped around my back, holding my body to his as he fucked me just a little bit harder, just a little bit faster, leaving me gasping with every thrust. Finally, he was done playing with me, and I gratefully groaned into his mouth as he kissed me. In my position, I could hardly move, so I just hung on for the ride, and damn, was it beautiful.

  I squeezed my limbs around him when I knew I was close, my insides starting to convulse around his cock. Ken bit down on my lip with a moan as he felt my slow pulses clasp my walls around him, and he moved even faster, his rhythm going erratic as he moved against me. I poured moans and whimpers and pants into his mouth as he drove me higher and over the edge into so much more.

  “Ken…”

  I gasped his name against his lips as I felt his cock pulse within me and knew he was following right behind me, right over the edge into a shaking orgasm that left me unable to even form thoughts.

  “Lydia,” he ground out, his lips hot and wet against mine. “Fuck, you’re so tight.”

  Then he stopped speaking as he lost himself in his own pleasure. In me. I felt him within me, powerful pulses that set off renewed shivers of pleasure within me. I knew this wasn’t enough, once would never be enough for me.

  We both slumped against the couch, my trembling limbs still around him, air seeming to elude me as I clutched his shoulders. Ken buried his face against my shoulder, unable to do anything more than gasp as he fought for his breath. After a couple of minutes, I wiggled, shaking him a little.

  “Off, Ken,” I grumbled. “You’re heavy for such a fit guy.”

  He was still before he was shaking with laughter. He was still inside me, and the action caused us both to gasp. Then he was sliding back on his knees and out of me. Our eyes met, and I could feel my lips twitching before I broke down in laughter.

  “There’s nothing funny going on!” I said. “Why are we laughing?”

  I had to know the reason why he was laughing.

  His eyebrow shot up. “Better laughing than crying.”

  I didn’t get what he meant, and he didn’t explain.

  “We need to pick our things up,” I said once we both calmed down. “Can't leave them around for the kid to find.”

  Ken got up and, suddenly feeling shy, I diverted my gaze. He noticed, and laughed at me, before holding a hand in front of my face to pull me up. I let him, nearly stumbling when I got to my feet because they still felt like jelly. He held me against his chest until I could move.

  “Are we getting dressed?” he asked, seeing me pick up my clothes and head for the kitchen for what I’d left there.

  I paused to throw him a look over my shoulder, wrinkling my nose. “Of course not. I’m going up for a shower.” Then I winked at him, grinning. “You can join me if you’d like.”

  He
looked surprised, like he’d expected me to toss him out right after. But that would be entirely rude, and it had been a while since I’d had experience with one night stands.

  Besides, we were trying to avoid making things awkward. Sending him home and pretending as though nothing had happened would likely do the opposite.

  I picked up my blouse from the kitchen, and Ken followed me up the stairs and to my room. Neither of us bothered to put on our clothes first, and I was giggling quietly as we ran up, holding my clothes up to cover my chest.

  Ken then followed me into the bathroom and before I knew it, he had me pinned to the wall, our hands clasped as he held them to the wall, my face his playground of choice for the moment as he kissed me deep and hard.

  I was going to get my second chance at him.

  When I woke up to the sound of my alarm the next morning, he was gone. He’d left a note, saying he didn’t want Bryson catching him in the house; I understood and agreed. He also said to call him during my lunch break at work so we could meet.

  That made me a little nervous. Fuck, was he disappointed with last night? But we’d done more than one round, and there hadn’t been any complaints from him. Or maybe he wanted to tell me things wouldn’t work out, and we shouldn’t do it again.

  I sighed, sliding back under the covers. I had a ton of stuff to do to prepare both Bryson and me for the day, but suddenly, I wanted to be a little lazy for once.

  Why do I feel so depressed? I chided myself. I expected this.

  Still, I was surprised just how much it hurt.

  11

  Kenji

  Sneaking out of Lydia’s house early in the morning felt somewhat wrong, but I thought it would be better than her having to explain to her kid why the neighbor spent the night.

  It had probably just been the two of them since her ex left them, and I didn’t want to confuse the kid. For all my parents’ faults, their relationship was probably the only thing that stayed stable about them. I couldn’t imagine what Bryson had gone through, first the divorce then his father just up and disappearing.

  I went inside my house and locked the door behind me, slumping against it with a satisfied grin.

  “Fuck!”

  Last night was amazing. Even before we were naked, my mind was blown, and it had only got better the longer the night went on. Even falling asleep beside her and waking up with her still there was amazing. I remembered how, with Ella, I had to beg her to spend the night with me, and the few times we did, she was always gone in the morning.

  Probably off to her other flings, I thought, knowing what I did now. Back then, she’d just told me work was too demanding, and I didn’t live close enough to her workplace, even though my apartment had only been a couple of streets away from her place, and I was always up at six-thirty on the dot, so it wasn’t like I would have let her oversleep.

  “Whatever,” I growled to myself. “Just stop thinking about her.”

  Let’s think about Lydia instead, a traitorous voice in my mind said, and I groaned.

  I had shit to do for the rest of the day, and I decided to get started on it. Hopefully, she’d read the note and call me later so we could talk, and I wanted to get something done first.

  I might as well have saved the energy, because for the rest of the morning, Lydia was all I could think about. It was distracting and, considering the heavy work I was doing, there were a few accidents, but none that hurt too badly. Not to mention all the worries that kept stabbing me as time moved forward, and I started checking the time frequently.

  Fuck, I thought to myself, worry setting in. What if she wasn’t expecting anything more after last night?

  The closer lunchtime grew, and the longer my phone remained silent, I worried she’d had enough of me. I wanted to curse at myself. When did I get in so deep that the thought of her saying no to seeing me again made me feel like I’d been stabbed in the chest? I was supposed to know better, dammit. I just couldn’t seem to keep away from Lydia.

  Thankfully, before I could start thinking too much, my phone rang. I practically jumped for it and would have fallen if I didn’t right myself at the last minute.

  “Hello?” I said, sounding a little breathless.

  “Ken?” said a hesitant voice, and just hearing it made my heart leap. “Sorry, I don’t know if this is a bad time, but you did say to call during my lunch break.”

  “Yeah, no, it’s fine,” I said hurriedly, then paused to take a deep breath. “It’s fine, you just caught me while I was working. Let me know where you are. I’ll drive over right now. It’ll be easier than you coming to me.”

  I was already heading out of the studio as I spoke, making sure I had my keys and wallet, then locking the door behind me. Lydia gave me the name of a café and the directions on how to get there. We hung up, and I jumped into my truck and punched the gas. I didn’t know how long her lunch break was, and I didn’t want to take up too much of her time. I could have waited until she got home, but I just wasn’t that patient.

  Luckily, I was there twenty minutes later. She was seated at one of the outside tables in front of the café, and I parked the truck and headed over to her.

  “Hey, Lydia,” I called, and she looked up.

  She didn’t smile at me like she usually did, even when it was just out of politeness. She looked nervous. I wasn’t sure whether that was a good sign or not. I sat across from her, then frowned at the space in front of her.

  “Didn’t you order something? How long do you have?”

  She shrugged. “I wanted to wait for you first, but I would have ordered if I thought I was going to be late.”

  Her eyes focused on something over my shoulder, then she raised a hand to wave someone over. A minute later, a waiter appeared at our table. “What can I get for the two of you today?” the waiter asked, notepad and pen held up.

  We both gave our orders. I picked up the menu and chose the first thing I recognized so he would leave faster. Finally, he was gone.

  “So,” Lydia said, looking down as she played with the tablecloth. “What did you want to talk about?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her it was about last night, but the words stuck in my throat as my fears rose up again. Crap, what if she thought it was just a one night stand? Leaving in the morning, even if I left a note behind, was usually a big clue that someone wanted out. Hell, I never even got the fucking notes. But I knew one night with her just wouldn’t be enough for me. Not when I remembered how sexy her smile was from last night, how inviting her eyes had been. How badly I wanted her to look at me like that again and growl my name as I fucked her hard and fast.

  “It’s about last night, well, this morning actually,” I managed to say. This was too important for me to fuck up because I felt shy. “I’m sorry I left without talking to you, but I knew you’d have work and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

  Especially when we’d gone to sleep so late; my fault, because I kept going back for more until we were both exhausted enough to pass out.

  She peeked up at me from under her eyelashes, curious. “It’s fine. I don’t mind, and it was the right decision. If I were thinking last night, I would have woken you up myself.”

  We were interrupted as the waiter came back with the food.

  “Enjoy,” he said with a nod to the both of us, then walked away.

  I picked up my utensils and tried the food. It wasn’t too bad, but I was too preoccupied to judge it properly. I ate mechanically, keeping my eyes on Lydia as she did the same.

  “Would you like to talk about last night?” I asked when she didn’t say anything further. My hand tightened into a fist under the table as my body tensed up, waiting for her answer.

  After a few excruciating seconds, she nodded slowly, facing me properly with a small frown on her face.

  “I do. I wanted to ask you, but I didn’t know how you’d take it…”

  “Ask away,” I prompted. I needed to know if she had any objections to being with me.
I was a coward, wanting to know how she felt so I wouldn’t face rejection.

  “I wanted to know… exactly what that was? We… slept together, but how was it for you? Was it a one-time thing, or…?”

  Her voice trailed off as her courage failed her, her cheeks brightening as she blushed, eyes falling to the table. But she’d taken the first step, and it was enough to get me to open up.

  “I … don’t want it to be a one-time thing.”

  Her eyes snapped back up to meet mine, opened wide. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then a smile lit her face, just as inviting as I’d been hoping for.

  “I want that, too,” she admitted.

  Then, suddenly acting shy, she looked down. She ate happily instead of just poking at her food, and I smiled at her and did the same. There was more we could have talked about, but I wanted to save anything intimate for later, now that I knew there would be a later.

  “I have to get going,” she said when she was done with her meal, digging in her purse for some cash as she shot me an apologetic look. “I really can't afford to be late, or I’ll have my boss on my case.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, waving a hand at her. “And you don’t have to worry about paying. I intruded on your break, the least I could do is pay.” Besides, I’d been done ages ago and was just waiting for her to finish because I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

  She tried to insist on paying, but I was stubborn until finally, she had to go, or she’d be late. She sent me a mock glare as she went, ruining it by grinning before turning around and moving away at a fast walk. I watched until she disappeared, then went inside the café to pay for the meal instead of waiting for the waiter to come to me. I got my change and left.