Pieces of Rhys Read online

  I groaned and again pushed back, helping him to go a little deeper. My arms were above my head, gripping the edge of the mattress. Rhys put his arms and hands over mine, pinning me beneath him as he moved inside of me.

  "You're so beautiful," he moaned into my hair. "Come for me, Lindsey."

  I cried out as he slammed into me and couldn't help but to do as he had commanded. He groaned a moment later, gripping my hands as if his life depended on it, and then he was still.

  Rhys's fingers covered in chocolate had to be one of the sexiest, tastiest things ever. He was feeding me chocolate covered strawberries in my kitchen. The strawberries were long gone, but he still dipped his fingers in the chocolate and I eagerly kissed it all off. When his lips got jealous, he smoothed some chocolate on my bottom lip and sucked it off. Then his tongue was in my mouth again.

  He pulled away with a devious smile and pulled open my robe. He dipped his fingers into the chocolate again and swathed some onto each of my nipples. He swiped everything off of the kitchen table and made me sit on it. He spread my legs, pulled up a chair and sat between my legs. He greedily took a chocolate covered nipple into his mouth and at the same time, slid a finger inside of me while his thumb flicked over my mound. I didn't think I could orgasm anymore without literally dying, but by the time all of the chocolate was gone, I came three more times.

  This time I was very sure of my death if I even attempted another climax. I insisted on switching places with Rhys. Without any teasing or chocolate, I took him into my mouth without any mercy.

  He grabbed a handful of my hair as he groaned my name, and I increased my rhythm, making sure to take him all the way. I held back my gags and didn't let up until screaming out expletives, Rhys released himself in my mouth.

  Booyah!

  "What did Phil say when you told him we weren't coming in?" I asked Rhys later that afternoon. After our first morning romp, he had called both of us out of work. I know Phil had asked questions because Rhys kept saying things like "yes, both of us" and "yes, really" and "don't worry about it" and "yes, I'm serious."

  "He was being nosey, trying to find out what we were up to, but I'm sure he's figured it out."

  "You told him we had the bird flu."

  "Yeah," he grinned.

  I shook my head at his stupid audacity.

  The day was almost over, and I was feeling a little cranky about it. After dinner, Rhys was going to go home so he could feed his cat, shower and take care of whatever it is he had to take care of at his own place. The most perfect day I've ever had was going to come to a screeching halt and reality was going to resume. I considered tying him to my bed so that he could never leave, but there were laws of some sort against such behavior. Besides, who would feed his cat?

  Rhys's inevitable departure didn't bother me even half as much as the unknown. Just because he admitted his love for me didn't mean that he was going to stop seeing other people and commit to me. I wasn't naïve enough to believe that, and I was well aware that despite the magic of the day, it only further complicated matters.

  "Why are you so quiet?" He asked me after a long stretch of silence. We were watching television, but I wasn't even really watching it. It was a comedy and I didn't laugh once.

  "I'm just tired," I lied.

  "You're such a liar," he said, turning the television off.

  "I'm not lying. I'm really tired. I do have the bird flu, you know."

  "I thought we were being honest with each other today."

  "I'm honest every day."

  "Yeah, accept when you're not."

  "Don't you have to go feed your cat?" I asked.

  "Now you're trying to get rid of me? I feel so used."

  "You were used, and you really liked it."

  "I did," he smiled briefly. "Now speak."

  "Woof."

  "Not funny."

  "Would you rather I play dead?"

  "No, but if you keep this up, I'm going to make you roll over."

  "And then what?"

  "Do you want to find out?" He asked, his voice low and seductive.

  "No. As I mentioned, I'm tired." I tried to look indifferent.

  Rhys sighed and looked a little exasperated.

  "Maybe I can go feed Joe and grab some clothes and come back."

  "Your cat is named Joe?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

  "Yes. Don't make fun of my cat and don't change the topic."

  "I didn't change the topic. Hey, I think dinner is here," I got up and opened the door before the delivery guy could ring the bell. I paid him with my own money before Rhys could pull out his wallet.

  "That was sneaky," he said.

  "What? The pizza guy? Darn those clandestine pizza deliveries!" I shook my fist.

  "Don't be funny."

  "I have to be funny or I come unglued and that can get messy." I said it with a smile on my face, but I wasn't lying and we both knew it.

  Rhys frowned and looked worried, but I had to keep on keeping on.

  "Does fat Joe the cat moonlight as a Puerto Rican rapper?"

  "Just on weekends," Rhys answered, still frowning.

  I passed him a slice of pizza and he ate that plus three more slices. When all of the pizza was gone and I reassured him that I was fine, he finally left, and I didn't find it funny at all.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Know what I want. Go get it. That's what Rhys said. When I woke up the next morning, I knew that I wanted a donut, so I went down into the kitchen and got it.

  That was satisfying.

  If only Rhys was so easy to get.

  And keep.

  I got him, but I wasn't delusional. I didn't have him wholly, and I didn't really know if keeping him was an obtainable option. He wasn't a donut.

  You're probably wondering why I want someone I can't have. Contrary to popular belief, I don't want him just because I can't have him. He's not a challenge, or else he would already have been conquered. I got him in bed twice and I have his friendship for sure, so that's not it.

  Good girls tend to like bad boys. I'm a good girl in the sense that I'm not a hoe bag. Rhys is a bad boy because he is a hoe bag. Many would argue that my challenge is in taming him, halting his philandering ways, but I like him untamed. I don't like his philandering, but he has to want to stop on his own.

  Does it really even matter why I want him, though? The fact is that I do, and after yesterday, I feel maybe he wants me a little, too, but I won't get my hopes up about it.

  I went to work after taking a little extra care to get ready, but had no real expectations. I imagined a hell of a lot of scenarios, but I expected none of them. I knew that in real life, Rhys wasn't going to race into the parking lot on a horse and sweep me away. I knew in real life Rhys wasn't going to show up with an a capella group and sing me a love song, and I knew for damn sure Rhys wasn't going to kiss me in public or say something sweet and corny, which was far bigger than acapella or bended knees.

  I didn't expect miracles, but I didn't expect what I got either...

  Rhys was moody. I had never seen anything like it on his precious face. I didn't know whether to run away crying hysterically like a mad woman or to slap the shit out of him like a mad woman.

  I was about to do the mad woman thing after he snapped at me and Nicole about some work related issue out of our hands, but then he closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. When he opened them he seemed a little more like himself.

  "I'm sorry," he said. "I had a really shitty morning and then the situation here isn't much less shitty."

  "Shittiness has never bothered you before," I said, not yet ready to accept his apology.

  "Yeah, well, I'm just as human as you are, Lin." Now he was irritated again, because I was still irritated.

  Nicole sighed loudly and said "Let's just get through this. I have other things to do."

  "God forbid anyone hold you up," Rhys said, uncharacteristically mean to Nicole - to anyone.

  "Look, i
f you were here yesterday instead of rolling in the sack with your flavor of the month than maybe this could have been avoided, or at least the impact wouldn't be so bad."

  Though the biting words were directed at Rhys, they also nipped at me. I must have really looked wounded because Nicole's face softened and she immediately apologized to me.

  "I'm sorry, Lindsey," she said hurriedly. "I didn't mean to offend you. He's being such a jackass and I only meant to dish it back to him."

  "He is being a jackass," I agreed. "But what gives you the impression I'm the flavor of the month? Could be anyone."

  She looked at me like I was dumb. Maybe I was. We did both call out and it was no secret that we were on very friendly terms. I was struck by how hurt Nicole's eyes looked under her irritation, and I realized that at any moment I could have eyes just as hurt. However, I didn't like being referred to as the flavor of the month. I felt I was a little more than that, like the flavor of the summer, at least.

  "You can't go around saying shit like that just because you're hurt and mad," Rhys admonished her.

  "Heaven forbid anyone believe her," I said coolly and crossed my arms.

  "I didn't mean it like that," he snapped.

  "Okay, you can fix this without me," I said, tossing the pen I borrowed back onto his desk. "I'm done."

  "Lindsey! Get your ass back here!"

  Typically I would have melted and slithered back across the floor and waited at his feet like a lovesick puppy, but I was embarrassed by being a flavor and pissed off at Rhys's rudeness. I went to my office and slammed the door.

  At lunch time, there was a soft knock at my door and Rhys walked in. I was standing at a filing cabinet across the room, rooting for a lost file. I glanced at him but otherwise didn't acknowledge him. He didn't say anything, but within seconds I felt his arms snake around my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder.

  "I'm really sorry," he whispered. "I was upset and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

  I'm a sucker for a hot guy that I've stalked and recently acquired his love.

  "It's okay," I said, my anger gone. I turned around so that I could see his face and he continued to hold me close, despite the fact that we were standing right in front of a wall of glass in plain view.

  "It's not okay. It's never okay to verbally abuse a woman."

  I pulled back a little, surprised by his tone. He was angry, but it was directed inward at himself.

  "You didn't verbally abuse me, Rhys. It was an argument - not even an argument. It was nothing."

  "It wasn't nothing, Lindsey," he said.

  "It was nothing. If you feel so bad about it, make it up to me." I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  He rested his forehead on mine and even though the moment was serious I was stupid giddy inside.

  "It's unacceptable," he whispered.

  "Did Nicole get such a heartfelt apology?" I couldn't help but to ask.

  His lips curved up. "No, but I did apologize."

  "So, can we just put this behind us?"

  He sighed. My heart swelled to fifty times its size. Something down deep in this man was disturbing him and I hated not knowing what it was, and I especially hated that it had such a tight grip on such a normally collected and stable person.

  "Yeah," he said finally, and then pulled away. I thought the worst for about a half a second, but then a smile I was more familiar with appeared. "Why don't you come with me this weekend?"

  "To the shore?" I raised my eyebrows. It was common fact that long weekends at the shore usually meant Rhys hooking up with someone or more than one someone.

  "Yes, to the shore."

  "I wasn't invited."

  "I just invited you," he moved in close again. "You don't want to spend the weekend with me?"

  His fingers lightly trailed across my jaw to my lips. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip. Even after all of the erotic things we did the day before, my reaction to his touch was unaltered. I was tempted to suck on his thumb and then maybe another part of his anatomy, but then he replaced his fingers with his mouth. He pressed me against the filing cabinet and kissed me deeply. I held onto his tie, holding him to me.

  Yum. Kissing Rhys was like eating the most delectable chocolate in the universe while having Bradley Cooper suck on my toes and the guy from Thor give me a back rub.

  A loud knock on the glass beside us snapped us back to reality. Phil stood on the other side grinning, and behind him several stunned workers looked on.

  "Oh my," I said, releasing him.

  I thought Rhys would back away. Despite his other conquests that seemed to be common knowledge, Rhys always tried to be discrete. He didn't discuss those girls, and he was never seen participating in any form of public displays of affection. Even when he was with Nicole, he was careful to keep a polite distance.

  But Rhys didn't back away. He did something so marvelous I almost cried. He laughed, waved to everyone, and gave me a very quick kiss on the lips.

  "Come on, baby, let's go to lunch." He took my hand and led me away.

  I'm sure I left a trail of moistness on the floor behind me like a dog in heat.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Rhys's brother Jake rents a house near the beach every year during the week leading up to Labor Day. Phil has been friends with the brothers since grade school, so he had a standing invite. The other house guests included Freddy and her phone, Jake's girlfriend Veronica and her friend Tina.

  My first impression of Jake was that he wasn't quite like his younger brother. He was polite and seemed fun, but I sensed a hardness that Rhys didn't have. Veronica and Tina seemed very surprised to see me with Rhys, and did nothing to hide it. That didn't bother me, because I was well aware of Rhys's past and semi-present, but what stirred me a little was the way Tina's eyes raked over him. And they had this banter, like they were very familiar with each other.

  It's not the first time that I've encountered any of Rhys's girls, obviously, but Tina's behavior was unsettling and I couldn't figure out why. She was very nice to me and immediately tried to fold me into the group, but something felt off.

  "You want to go down to the beach?" Rhys asked me after we carried our bags into our room.

  I shifted uncomfortably in the rocking chair I was sitting in.

  Here's the thing...I know that at the beach people do things like swim and lounge on the beach and do other beachy things. I knew when I accepted the invite that I may be subjected to these things, but I had hopes that Rhys would have wanted to avoid the sand and water all together. Silly, right?

  I'm not usually very uncomfortable with my body. I rock what I have and my insecurities are minimal, but me in a swimsuit...frightening. I managed to avoid being in one for the most part of the summer.

  "What's wrong?" Rhys asked when I didn't answer. He sat down on the bed across from me.

  "I look like the hippo from Fantasia when I wear a swimsuit," I said quickly, embarrassed.

  "You do not. That's all in your head."

  "You're calling me crazy?"

  "Yeah, I am," he smiled and leaned over and kissed me. "Besides, it's only my opinion that counts, and I think you're beautiful in anything."

  Aww darn. How could I resist that?

  I tried to let my trepidation about Tina go as she went out of her way to make me feel like I was one of them. She took my arm and led me to the water where she and the other girls stood in a small circle talking.

  I was surprised to see Muriel without her phone, but she didn't look all that interested in anything we were talking about. I vaguely wondered why she came, until Phil came over and she watched him with apt attention, even though he wasn't saying anything important, or even interesting.

  Huh. Who woulda thunk it.

  I glanced back at Rhys, who was talking animatedly with his brother, as only brothers can do. He was naked from the waist up, showing the world his beautiful, lickable, bitable, yummable chest, and the thin line of hair that dis
appeared below his trunks.

  I started thinking about all of the dirty things we could do in the sand, but Tina suddenly appeared in front of Rhys, a literal cock block. I whipped my head back to where she had been standing only moments ago. How did she move over there without me seeing? I turned back just as she was bending over in front of him, taking a painstaking amount of time to get something out of her bag.

  Both Rhys and his brother turned their gaze on her, took a good look and then tried to refocus elsewhere, but they couldn't help but to keep turning back to Tina. I knew for a fact when she bent over, her boobs were nearly falling out of her skimpy bikini top.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, the bitch stood up and pounced away. Rhys's eyes met mine, I guess. We were both wearing sunglasses. He flashed me a small smile, but I simply looked away.

  Stupid big boobed floozy.

  I shouldn't have been concerned. Men can't help but to notice a pretty girl with nice knockers. Other straight women couldn't help but to take note of a pretty girl with nice knockers. And maybe Tina didn't realize that she was having major nipple slippage. She seemed frantic about searching through her bag. Maybe she had her period and needed a tampon.

  Or maybe she's just a whore, an inner voice yelled at me. Yes, inner creepy voice, maybe she is.

  Tina reappeared a few minutes later. When Phil and Freddy wandered off together, she said "I freakin' hate having my period at the beach!"

  Okay, maybe not a whore.

  As the day wore on and I found Tina easier to tolerate and converse with, I figured I'd give her the benefit of doubt. So what if she occasionally flirted with Rhys or stole glances at him when she thought no one was watching. He's hot and sexy and mmm mmm. There were a lot of women and gay guys checking him out.

  I put away my negative theories about Tina and enjoyed the day, and enjoyed Rhys, because I didn't know how long this would last.

  The majority ruled that we were going to go out to a local bar for dinner, drinks, and dancing. I was glad that Kit had told me to pack for it, just in case. I put on a knee length blue dress that fully exposed one shoulder and part of my upper arm. I put on a pair of high heeled strappy sandals and pinned my hair up so it was off of my neck.