CAT I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN something was up when Connor texted me last night and told me to go to sleep early. I should have known when I heard the click of the dorm door opening at midnight and the soft footsteps walking back towards Elleâs room. I should have known when I heard my bedroom door open five hours later, but I had convinced myself that it was one of the girls. But itâs hard to miss his smell.
I turn over in bed, trying not to open my eyes. Itâs way too early for this.
âBaby, wake up,â he urges, his voice soft and quiet. I just want to curl up into him. I open one of my eyes, peeking to see him kneeling at the side of my bed, smiling at me.
âWhat are you doing?â I ask sleepily.
âItâs our date today.â
I glance over at the clock on my bedside table, and as expected, itâs a ridiculous time in the morning. âItâs five in the morning, Connor. Let me go back to sleep,â I groan, snuggling my face into my pillow. He just continues smiling at me and then the thought occurs to me. âDid Elle leave the door open for you to sneak in?â
He shakes his head, but the grin on his face is answer enough. âNever mind that. I have an idea for today, so youâve got to get your cute ass up.â He presses a kiss to my forehead before he brings up a mug to my bedside table, smiling wide. âI made you some hot cocoa.â
I match the grin on his face. âThatâs not going to help wake me up, Connie.â
âI know, but you donât drink coffee, so this is the next best thing.â
Heâs right. Coffee makes me too shaky and it gives me a stomach ache whenever I have it, but the fact that he remembers that about me makes me lean down and kiss him slowly, sweetly. I pull back when I realise that Iâve only just woken up.
I press my fingers to my lips. âOh my god. Iâm sorry. I probably have really bad morning breath.â
âDonât care.â He shakes his head, pulling my fingers from my face and wraps his hand around my neck, pressing our lips together again. âKiss me whenever you want, baby.â
I wish Connor had given me more of an indicator as to what today is going to be like because now I have no clue what Iâm doing. Once Iâve gotten dressed into a thick burgundy sweater, black jeans and some Uggs, Connor just stares at me quietly as we stand in my bedroom.
I place my hands on my hips. âWhatâs the plan?â
âIâm glad you asked,â he says, clasping his hands together. âWe can spend the first half of the day outside or at my house because my parents are working all day. Archer and Wes are sick and I donât want to be around them in the dorm. So, the first half of the day is up to you.â
âConnor,â I whisper, twisting my thumb in my sleeves. âYou want me to plan a morning date with five minutes notice?â
âYouâll figure something out, sweetheart,â he replies, tugging on my arm and pulling me into him. âIâve already told you that everything you do is perfect.â
Perfect.
Iâve lost count of the amount of times Connor has used that word when heâs spoken to me. Iâve never felt like what I do, or what I say is perfect. Iâve struggled with perfection in everything for years, but Connor throws that word around so easily.
âHow do you feel about walking to your parents house?â I ask, knowing how far it is from here. The walk there is a trail people take in Colorado. It takes you through the forests and winding roads that lead to a stop just behind their estate that overlooks the mountains. Weâre in the dead of winter, so I know itâs going to be freezing, but the sight will be worth it. âIf we leave now, we could catch the sunrise, but itâs a long walk.â
âIâll walk for days if itâs you Iâm walking with,â he replies, kissing me softly.
After sneaking out of my dorm, we picked up some snacks from the grocery store and got on our way.
It feels like itâs been months since Iâve been outside in the fresh air, and whenever Iâm with Connor everything feels better. Itâs as if all my senses and every single thought Iâve ever had become louder. He makes me giddy, makes me feel like thereâs a tiny fire bubbling in my stomach whenever he says something sweet to me.
He holds onto my hand just as he said he would and doesnât let go until weâre closer to the edge of the forest that overlooks the top of our old estate.
Connorâs warmth radiates from behind me, locking his arms around my shoulders as we both take in the view. Weâve both wrapped up warm, but when Connorâs body is pressed behind mine I donât have to worry about getting cold anytime soon.
I knew just how pretty it would look, but my breath is completely knocked out of me when I truly take it in. The sky has faded into a pink-orange colour, the snow on the tips of the mountains is slowly melting and the air is still thin and chilly.
Weâre both quiet as we watch the sun grow brighter. We donât have to speak. Just existing in his presence is more than enough for me. Just breathing the same air as him, looking at the same sky, knowing that we have each otherâs back is all I need.
When his arms tighten around me and my gloved palms reach his forearms, I know that heâs going to continue taking care of me when I donât feel like looking after myself and Iâll do the same for him.
I hear him sigh behind me, his face nuzzled into the side of my face between the folds of my scarf.
âItâs gorgeous, isnât it?â I murmur, unable to tear my eyes away from the scene.
âYou are,â he responds quietly and I can feel his eyes on me.
âYouâve become such a softie, Connie,â I say, laughing. I turn around to him, hooking my arms around his neck as he looks at me intensely.
âSo have you,â he argues, âIf I said that to you months ago, you probably wouldâve punched me in the balls. Now, you have a much better relationship with my balls so Iâm sure you wouldnât want to punch them.â
I scoff. âPretty full of yourself now, huh?â
âNot really, but you could be full of me if you wanât. It felt so fucking good last time,â he whispers. It amazes me how he can have such a filthy mouth with the cutest smile on his face as heâs wrapped up in a puffer coat, a beanie and a scarf. He leans in to me, our lips only millimetres apart, but I donât let him kiss me.
âIf we start now, weâre never going to stop, and you owe me the rest of today as a date,â I reply, the excitement I had in my stomach earlier bubbling again.
âFine. Iâll take you to the next destination,â he says, as chipper as ever.
And we do exactly that.
He doesnât let go of my hand the entire way to his parentsâ house. He wanted to go for a pit stop and I didnât mind. Even when he makes us both a cup of hot cocoa and he sits right next to me, he just tells me all of his new tactics for the next few games coming up and doesnât tell me at all where the second part of our day is going to be spent.
Still, now, I donât even know how to react as we stand hand-in-hand outside one of the largest bookstores in our town and I look at the displays in the window. Itâs still early in the day and the store only opened a few minutes ago and there is nothing that beats the fresh smell of a bookstore when it opens.
âCan you repeat yourself one more time, because I donât believe this,â I say to Connor, basically bouncing on my heels. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, desperately trying to contain my excitement.
He laughs quietly. âWeâre going to go in there and you can pick out a book from every floor and something from the cafe and Iâll buy it for you. If you want special editions, Iâll get those too, no matter how much they cost, and I know how expensive they can be.â
âAre you sure? I donât want you to feel like you have to spend money on me,â I whisper.
âYes, Iâm sure,â he responds, âI want you to spend my money, Cat. Whatâs that saying? Whatâs mine is yours, right?â
I squint my eyes. âYeah, but weâre not married.â
He rolls his eyes and slings his arm around my shoulder instead. âNot yet,â he whispers and my whole body tenses. âCome on. Letâs get you these books and fill your room up even more.â
The bell chimes above the door as we push through into the warm store. It smells so inherently like books that my stomach swarms with butterflies just at the thought of what I would be able to find.
I always get that extreme sense of adventure just by walking into a bookstore. I never go looking for something in particular. Mostly because I wouldnât be able to handle the disappointment of finding out that itâs not there and because it gives me the opportunity to explore different genres and books I never would have imagined having in between my hands.
One day I hope to have compiled enough journal articles into a book that will be on these shelves. Iâll get to do a book signing of some sorts and have all my friends line up to take photos with me and maybe some strangers too. I want that kind of recognition. Not fame or celebrity status. Just the thought of being known is enough.
CONNOR If I knew a bookstore could make my girl this happy, I would have taken her a long time ago.
Iâve never really been on a date before and I donât understand the exact rules for them, so I tried to come up with something fun to do today.
The hike was unexpected, but totally worth it. Watching Cat watch the sunrise is going to be an image Iâll burn into my memory forever.
She looked so peaceful and content beneath me. Itâs been a while since Iâve felt that way. With the season now in full swing and the semi-finals coming up soon, this date couldnât have come at a better time.
The best part of having a girlfriend is by far holding hands. Yes, I might have one hand occupied with a basket full of books as we make our way through the shelves, but my other hand is completely tethered to hers. Iâve never truly enjoyed these small acts of intimacy until I met her.
She makes the simplest of touches feel like my whole body is about to erupt. Her kisses are soft and smooth. Her hand-holding is God-like and it makes me want to curl up into a ball and snuggle into her forever. Her hugs make me want to die and come back to life and I can barely fathom the sex.
She tugs on my arm a little tighter as we make our way through another fiction aisle, this one has a lot more cartoon covers than before. Is this a kidsâ aisle? My mind tries to make sense of it as I stare at them.
âWhat are you thinking about?â Cat asks me when we get to a table of books. She looks up at me, tilting her head to the side as she twists a paperback in her hands.
âIâm wondering why all these books have cartoon covers, but they donât look like kidâs books,â I say, turning one over and reading the blurb. A teacher and student romance novel. Interesting. âI donât get it.â
She laughs as if this is the funniest joke sheâs ever heard in her life. I just blink at her dumbfounded. âDo you really not know what these are?â I shake my head. She places her book back down and steps in closer to me. âSo, a lot of authorâs make cute book covers with illustrations on them, but they actually just havealotofsexinthem.â
I blink at her again. âSorry, didnât get the end of that, sweetheart.â
She sighs, rolling her eyes. âIÂ said, they just have a lot ofsexinthem.â
They have a lot ofâ¦.
Oh.
Oh.
I gasp dramatically, looking inside the basket which has two books with cartoon covers. âDo you secretly have a porn addiction?â I whisper, leaning our faces so close that I could taste her.
âItâs book porn,â she corrects me, unable to stop smiling. My eyes lighten with surprise. Well, I shouldnât be surprised. She can act as proper as she wants in person, but Iâve seen what sheâs like when sheâs a wreck beneath me, moaning my name. âWhat? Why are you looking at me like that?â
âNothing,â I say, shaking my head. âIâm just thinking about how Iâm going to prove to you that Iâm better than all those men that you read about.â
âItâs not a competition, Connor,â she replies. I let out a short laugh, removing the distance between us as she backs up onto the small table, her hands dropping to either side of her and I let the basket hit the ground.
I lean into her, breathing in her vanilla scent until it feels like itâs all Iâm going to become. My nose brushes against her neck and I inhale. âTell me, Cat, have you ever read about a guy finger fucking his girlfriend in a bookstore?â
Her breath hitches. âN-No. Not yet.â
âWant to make that into a reality?â My hands find themselves unbuttoning her coat and she helps me button it down until my hand finds her warm skin under her sweater.
âWe could get kicked out,â she whispers, tilting her head away from me as I press kisses across her neck, feeling the heat of her skin beneath my mouth.
âSince when donât you want to break a few rules?â I whisper, biting her neck slightly.
âSince my dad is the mayor and if we get caught I will be in a lot of shit,â she challenges. Oh, shit. I almost forgot.
Catherine has done a public relationship before and that didnât end well for either of them. More for him than her, but still.
I pull away from her. âYeahâ¦. Youâre right. Iâm sorry. I shouldnât have tried to do that, thatâs completely my fault,â I mutter, scrubbing my hand across my face. When my hand drops, she locks her fingers with mine and looks up at me. She leans up on her tiptoes, her pretty lips coming dangerously close to my ear and I swear I almost combust.
âThat doesnât mean you canât finger-fuck your girlfriend somewhere else,â she murmurs, biting on my ear. Fuck. This woman has cast a spell on me, or something, I swear.
I grip onto her hand, pick up the basket and buy all of her books so quickly that I donât even check the price. She tries to walk beside me innocently as we trudge back up to my parentsâ empty house, but all I can think about are her filthy words and the very filthy things I want to do to her when weâre inside the house.
After taking off our layers at the door, she walks straight to the kitchen, not even looking at me as she opens the fridge. I watch her do so, my cock already hard and waiting for her as she insists on teasing me, edging me until I can get what I want. She spins on her heels, tilting her head as she holds up a carton of apple juice.
âThirsty?â she asks. I eliminate the space between us, grabbing the carton from her hand and pulling her up onto the kitchen island instead. âWhatâs wrong? Do you not want a drink?â
âThatâs not what I want, and you know it,â I mutter, tugging on the hem of her sweater. She helps me pull it over her head, throwing it to the side. âWhat I want is going to taste a fuck lot better than apple juice.â
âYeah?â she teases in that breathy voice of hers as she leans both of her arms back on the island, arching her back for me.
âYes,â I reply, my fingers playing with the button of her jeans. âCan I take these off and eat you out before I lose my fucking mind?â
She giggles before telling me I can. I waste no time ripping her jeans off her until sheâs in nothing but blue panties. I took off her bra the second I could see her nipples beneath the thin material.
My eyes burn over every single inch of her body before I focus in on her needy tits, hard and waiting for me. I lean forward, pulling one of her nipples into my mouth and she moans so loud I almost lose my balance.
Her hands twist in my hair, gripping onto my curls as if her life depends on it and I let her. I savour every part of her, loving the fresh taste of her skin in my mouth. My eyes connect with hers and I suddenly feel like an animal, needing to touch and taste every part of her.
I kiss between her breasts until I get down to her stomach before I spread her thighs apart. My cock aches with need when I see the wet spot on her panties, showing me just how badly she wants this. Wants me.
âAre you always this wet for me, sweetheart?â I ask, my voice gruff and hoarse.
âAre you always this slow?â she groans. Just for that comment, I press my fingers to her clit over the fabric of her panties, gaining a whiny moan in response. Thatâs what I thought. âConnor, please.â
âPlease, what?â I tease, still edging her with my fingers against her panties, her arousal coating my fingers so much I want to taste her. âI thought you liked it slow, Catherine. If you want me to go faster, you have to use your words.â
She doesnât respond. Instead, I curl my fingers inside her panties, pulling them off her legs, leaving her a bare, wet, mess on the island. Fuck.
She looks fucking stunning like this. Her whole body is on display to me â her legs apart, her hands on the marble, her head slightly tilted back as her hard nipples are right in my face. I want this exact sight to be forever burned behind my eyelids.
I push her further back on the counter until both of her feet lay flat on the rock. âAs pretty as this sight is, Iâm not going to let you come unless you ask me.â
âPlease, justâ¦â Her breath catches when I edge my middle finger at her entrance, collecting her arousal. âJust touch me. I donât care what you do, or how you do it, just make me come.â
âThatâs exactly what I needed to hear,â I murmur.
I do just as she asked. When my mouth connects with her needy pussy, I curse myself for not wearing less restrictive clothing. My whole body throbs when my tongue is on her clit, tasting and sucking as if itâs the only thing keeping me sane. She tastes so fucking good.
Each small whimper that leaves her mouth only drives me to go faster, pushing my tongue into her until her body shakes.
I press my palms against her slick thighs, pushing her legs further apart to give me better access to her cunt.
From what sheâs shown me, penetration doesnât do much for her so I stick to paying as close attention as I can to her clit. I roll it through my mouth, my teeth lightly grazing her flesh and her thighs clamped around my face.
âKeep your legs open, pretty girl,â I demand, opening her legs once again. As soon as I get back to work, her legs close again and I groan. âItâll feel better I promise.â
âI know,â she pants. âIt justâ You just feel so⦠Good.â
âDo you like this, hm? Do you like being tongue-fucked over the kitchen counter like the good girl that you are?â I murmur into her skin.
âYes,â she cries, her head flying backwards.
âSo fucking needy, arenât you, baby?â I tease her again, sucking her swollen clit into my mouth. Her thighs shake. Small sharp breaths leave her lips and my head spins.
âYes,â she whimpers.
Sheâs lost all control and I fucking love it. As much as Proper Catherine turns me on, In The Middle of an Orgasm Catherine is something else. Her voice changes when she moans and her whole body responds to every small move of mine. She makes me want to memorise every muscle that moves in her body and to study for hours on what will make her feel good.
After our little show-and-tell session back in my dorm, I know that when my tongue moves faster and her hips start to move that sheâs close. I hold tighter onto her open legs, pressing them apart as my tongue works seamlessly over her clit, my head shaking as I flick the small bud in and out of my mouth.
Her orgasm is so sudden that I barely have time to process it when her body shakes and she moans my name so loud Iâm sure the neighbours would be able to hear.
Eating her out on the counter was not in the itinerary for today. But fuck me if it isnât the best meal Iâve had in my life. As she catches her breath, I help her slip back on her clothes until she looks somewhat decent.
I press my lips to hers, letting her taste how good she is and she moans into my mouth.
âYou,â she whispers against my lips. I donât even have to think about what she means, because I feel it too. Right down to my core.
âYou,â I whisper back.