Holy hell. Wham, bam, thank you, Bram.
He lifts his head when my spasms begin to fade. “That’s how I like to wake my woman up.”
I give him a look, my head swimming, my body floating. “What if I want to wake you by giving you a blow job?”
“We don’t even have to compromise,” he says as he crawls on top of me. The iron-stiff length of his cock rubs against my slickness and I hope to God I have enough condoms in my drawer. The fool had only brought one last night. I’m not sure what the hell he was thinking.
I’m about to bring it up – I may take the pill religiously but condoms are a definite must, especially with a player like Bram – when I hear a shuffle on the other side of the door and then the sound of the door trying to open.
“Mommy, the door is locked!” Ava yells. “Let me in.”
I exchange a look with Bram and realize he doesn’t have much in the way of clothes other than his pants. I leap out of bed, slip my house robe on and throw his pants at him. I open the door a crack, keeping Bram out of view, and slide my way through.
“Hi, angel,” I tell her, my back to the door, holding it shut as I peer down at her. “You’re up early.”
“Why was the door locked?”
“Oh, that was an accident,” I tell her.
Then the door opens and Bram appears and thank God his erection is gone.
“Bram?” she asks. “Do you live here now?”
Bram gives me a cheeky grin and then squats down to her level. “No, little one, I’m still next door. I just spent the night.”
“Okay,” Ava says brightly then walks off to the bathroom. I know Ava isn’t old enough to get an idea of what adults do in situations like this. She’s thankfully far too innocent for that train of thought. But after Phil, I’ve been very careful about what guys I’ve brought over. There haven’t been many, but I was with a guy called Ben around the same time that Steph and Linden were first getting together. He was nice, which was why I was with him, but there weren’t any sparks. But Ava liked him and the more time he spent over, the more attached to him she got. Then when we broke up, it pretty much broke her little heart. Since I’ve learned she wants Bram to be her daddy as a Christmas present, it’s pretty safe to say that she’s going to get her heart set on him.
As for me…I don’t know. I watch as Bram saunters into the kitchen, my eyes glued to the swing of his slim hips and narrow waist and that long expanse of muscular back. I regret not making any claw marks on it last night, but there’s always next time.
Oh God, please don’t let that have been just a one-night stand, I think, suddenly afraid that he might revert. I know what he said last night about only wanting to fuck me, but for the life of me I can’t imagine where this will go.
Then again, I told myself I wouldn’t analyze this to death. That’s not “fun.” That’s not wild and free. I was just going to enjoy the ride and worry about what may come later.
“So,” Bram says as he puts on the coffee. I love how comfortable he is in my apartment, even though weeks ago it was annoying as hell. “When is your next shift? Do you have time to go to IKEA today?”
“IKEA!” Ava yells. “Balls!”
I laugh. “Yes, Ava, balls.”
“I love balls!”
“Just like your mum,” Bram notes, biting his lip to keep from laughing.
“Hey,” I wag my finger at him. “Let’s keep this morning rated G.”
“Balls!” Ava yells. “Bram-a-lama-ding-dong!” She runs back to her room and I hear her bouncing on the bed.
“I don’t know where she gets her energy,” I say with a sigh, going to get the medicine and the glucose meter.
“At least you can say she’s been doing great ever since she was diagnosed,” he says. As I brush past him for the cupboard, he grabs me around the waist and pulls me to him. “How are you?” He lowers his voice. “You seemed to enjoy the way you woke up.”
I can’t help my smile. He keeps his grip firm on me and searches my eyes.
“I did,” I tell him. “Better than coffee. Speaking of, you better hurry up or I’m going to gauge your eyes out.”
“Ah,” he says. “You’re one of those angry ones who aren’t even human until their third cup. Good to know. Wake up Nicola with good head and coffee immediately after.”
“That sounds like heaven.”
“Heaven can be arranged,” he says and places a lingering kiss on my neck, kissing up until right under my jawline. “I think I’ve found my heaven right here.”
I keep my head back and eyes closed and that ache between my legs flares up, wanting just as badly as before. But there’s no way that can happen today, not with Ava in my care. Unless IKEA has a sex pit, we’ll have to hold off on the bedroom stuff until it’s dark.
“So,” he goes on, pressing me to him and inhaling deep. “Oh, sweetheart, you smell so good. It’s distracting as fuck.”
“So,” I say to him, trying to keep him on track. “About today.”
He pulls away and eyes me. “Yes. Are you free?”
“Today is a day off,” I tell him. “I’m all yours.”
“Good,” he says. “Because even if you weren’t, I intended to make you mine anyway. Remember all those things I said about you being totally underfucked? Well, it’s going to take a long time and a lot of practice until I have you on the right side. But you can deal with that, can’t you, babe?”
Now that sounds like an offer I can’t refuse.
***
Though it’s the afternoon when we pull into Emeryville again, it’s a weekday and IKEA isn’t as busy as I thought it would be. To be honest, I’m actually excited to be back. It’s like when we were here before that was a totally different Nicola and Bram. Now we’re here and though we aren’t together together, this time I know what his cock feels like when it’s inside me – I no longer have to wonder.
Unfortunately, because we aren’t the first ones there, there’s a bit of a wait for the daycare fun center to fit Ava in, so we make the most use of our time by going into the dreaded customer service line and returning the couches. Apparently they don’t have any issues in taking them back and I’m sure the assembled couch will find itself in the “as-is” section, where the desperate and lucky souls go hoping to find that holy grail of all furnishings, the IKEA item that’s already been assembled.
Finally when it’s time for Ava to get into the daycare, we’re pretty much done for the day and ready to go home. But Bram points out how excited Ava is about going and I can’t say no to free child minding, so we agree to take a look around the store again while she has her fun for an hour.
After we wave goodbye to her, Bram pulls me close, his fingers firm against my wrist, his thumb delicately stroking the skin there. He whispers in my ear. “You remember the dare from last time?” he asks.
I give him a steady look. “It was a few days ago, so yes. And still no. You can call me no fun again, but I am not going to sit on a showroom toilet and pretend to take a dump.”
He smiles. “No, that wasn’t quite it. But it is a dare. One you’ll enjoy if you’re brave enough to believe me.”
My eyes narrow. “I don’t know…”
“Come with me,” he says and he leads me upstairs and back into the showroom area. We stride down the halls, past couples flopping down on couches and finicky women testing the smoothness of drawers.
Bram tugs at the tulle skirt I’m wearing. “Glad you wore this.”