Chapter 77

EPOV

While Sookie had gone up to take a shower, I wandered out onto the patio and stared at the grill hoping just the near proximity alone would help me know how to use it. Cooking with fire should be an innate ability for any man, just like the ability to take a leak while standing up, and I really wanted to be able to do this for Sookie. She’d been taking care of me since I first woke up and pretty soon she’d be taking care of a bunch of inner city teens as well, but who would take care of her if not me? An even bigger question was why did I want to?

I was still confused over my feelings for her. She felt like a stranger and someone I’d known my entire life all rolled into one, but I knew neither was true. The physical evidence was there that she was a part of the small missing portion of my life, but the more time I spent with her, the more I started to believe the stories Pam had told me of how I was around her, even if I couldn’t explain why. I felt protective of her, covetous to the point of irrationality, feeling like she was mine even though I couldn’t remember her. While her decision to want to work in Compton ate at me inside, it dissolved every part of me that questioned if she was only with me for my money. I wasn’t used to being told ‘no’ with people tending to do whatever it was I wanted, but I had to admit that I liked her fiery personality. Any other woman from my past would’ve jumped at the offer for me to take care of them financially, but it only seemed to piss Sookie off and while it pissed me off, it only made me respect her more.

The whole work thing still bothered me and while I could understand her reasons for wanting to help those kids, I still worried about her safety. She was so small and fragile, but I knew I wouldn’t feel better even if she’d be surrounded by the President’s Secret Service detail every day. I felt like it was my responsibility to keep her safe, no one else’s, but I also knew I couldn’t follow her around all day long either. Everything would be so much easier if I didn’t give a shit about her.

But, I gave a shit.

My life, the one I could remember before the coma, had been so much simpler and I recalled some of my first thoughts after waking up to learn about Sookie and how I’d been willing to let her go since I couldn’t remember her; couldn’t fathom the idea of caring about anyone else. I still couldn’t remember her, but I admittedly did care about her and there was no way I’d let her go now.

How could I when I couldn’t remember?

Sookie’s arrival with the burgers pulled me from the darkness of my thoughts and just seeing her made me feel better. Her sense of humor and quick wit combined with her beauty and intellect, not to mention her cooking skills, left me wondering why she’d been unattached. She’d told me about her history with Quinn and while the thought of them together left me nauseous, I still couldn’t see why men weren’t clamoring at her door. Even though I’d never been in a relationship myself, before now at least, I’m pretty sure I would’ve been knocking down her door if I would’ve taken my head out of my ass long enough to see her for what she was; who she was. Having seen the pictures and video of us together, the idea of it didn’t seem so farfetched anymore and I could only be thankful now that, for once in my life, I actually seemed to have made a good decision while drunk.

From what I’d been told, even without the accident induced memory loss, neither one of us remembered our initial meeting, so I was left wondering if it was alcohol infused dumb luck or something else entirely that made me want to marry her. I’d never been one to believe in fate, but unless Sookie suddenly turned into pumpkin at midnight, I just might become a believer yet.

While she cooked our dinner, I replayed our earlier kiss on the hood of her car in my mind and found I couldn’t stop staring at her; her every little movement or facial expression keeping me completely captivated. I recalled the way she tasted; the feel of her body against mine and it ran on a continual loop in my brain only making me want more. I wanted to see the flesh my hands had touched; hear the gasps and breathy moans she couldn’t contain; find each and every spot on her body that would cause her to make them and then use them to drive her insane. It was only fair considering how crazy she made me feel.

Luckily our conversation flowed easily because my thoughts were quickly headed south with Eric Junior steadily rising north and he registered her words before my brain did when she’d whispered, “Sookie Pie,” underneath her breath. If she hadn’t had my complete attention I wouldn’t have caught the words, but since I couldn’t take my eyes from her, I heard them crystal clear.

I knew it was a long shot, but my raging case of blue balls demanded I at least make an attempt and I slid my plate out of the way, suddenly ravenous for something else, and patted the tabletop as I tried not beg, saying, “Hop up. I’m ready for dessert.”

Her face flushed crimson with her eyes bulging out in horror and I stared back at her apprehensively, wondering if I’d crossed an unseen line with my lewd suggestion, but my fears were abated when she nervously laughed out, “Perv.”

My balls and I were both disappointed, but I was still unwilling to admit defeat and reached for her hand, saying, “You offered. I accepted.”

I gave her hand a playful tug, but she didn’t budge from her seat and her face reddened even more as she explained, “I…uh…was talking about the apple pie I made for you before.”

Her darting eyes and lip chewing told me otherwise as I said, “My bullshit meter is reading that as a ‘false’.”

“No, really,” she emphasized. “You loved it so much you said you’d eat it every day for the rest of your life!”

I don’t doubt it.

“Are you sure I was talking about apple pie?” I coyly asked while tugging on her hand a little bit harder. I noticed, not for the first time, the plain gold wedding band she wore with the tattooed heart peeking out the top and wondered why she’d chosen something so simple when I was learning Sookie was anything but simple. I’d seen the video of our wedding and knew we got the tattoos in lieu of rings that night, but I would’ve imagined a trip to Rodeo Drive would’ve produced something better than a basic wedding band.

Before I could think on it anymore the sound of her voice pulled me from my thoughts. The redness was fading from her cheeks as she halfheartedly tried to pull her hand from mine and answered the question I’d already forgotten, saying, “Yes. We were in the kitchen. There were apples. You were eating them. It happened.”

Oh yeah…Sookie Pie.

I couldn’t understand what the problem was. She’d already admitted we’d had sex before and I’d already admitted I gave a shit about her. Why was she still refusing me?

The question tumbled out of my mouth as soon as it had formed in my mind as I asked, “Are you punishing me because I can’t remember us?”

It was driving me nuts that I couldn’t remember a goddamn thing. Pies; rings; anything, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to remember. Was she mad that I couldn’t?

“What?” she gasped. “Why would you think that?”

I thought about it for a moment and replied, “Because I’ve already admitted that I care about you. You told me that you didn’t want us to have sex if it didn’t mean anything to me, but you do mean something to me. I’ve owned up to that a couple of times now, so I don’t understand why you’re still set against it, unless it’s because some part of you is mad at me for forgetting.”

Her lax hand was suddenly gripping mine and she pulled her chair closer to me as she said, “I’m not mad at you. How could I be?”

Because sometimes I’m Prick-ric?

My mind couldn’t focus when she was that close to me, at least not on conversing, and my free hand moved to brush a few stray hairs away from her face as I mustered up something to say and asked, “Then, why? We’re obviously attracted to one another. We care about each other. What else is there?”

Attraction had been my only requirement in the past and I’d never been anywhere close to begging a woman for anything, but my norm didn’t seem to apply with Sookie and I wondered how much more upside down my life could be. I’d been a confirmed bachelor with my choice of women any day of the week who were willing to submit to my every whim. Then I wake up one day and find out I’m married to a woman I don’t know, but don’t want to let go of, and she’s seemingly unwilling to go past second base with me.

Talk about being in the Twilight Zone.

Sookie stared at me long and hard before she finally said, “You don’t know everything about us yet. It…it doesn’t seem right for me to just jump into bed with you no matter how much I want to. I miss that part of our relationship, but it would feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

As if…

A part of me had been worried that she didn’t see me the same way that she once had and maybe her feelings had changed since the accident, so all I needed to hear was that she still wanted me like I wanted her. I managed to stop the chuckle before it left my chest, saying, “We don’t need a bed for you to take advantage of me,” and pulled her forward for a kiss. Her lips were just as soft as I remembered them to be and all I could think was that I wanted her closer. I needed to feel her body against mine and my arms wrapped around her waist, encouraging her to slide onto my lap with her sitting sideways. She didn’t resist me at all, with her arms wrapping around my neck, and every nerve in my body came alive at the feel of her on me.

I wanted to feel what it was like to be in her.

Even as she muttered into my mouth, “We shouldn’t…” I had my retort ready.

“We should.”

We abso-fucking-lutely should and I held her tighter, ignoring the protests of my battered body while swallowing every sound that might make her think she was hurting me, and took as much from her as she was willing to give. The only way I could see her taking advantage of me was because the leg cast and broken ribs limited my mobility, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me. I internally cursed the patio chair we were sitting in, but I was more than willing to improvise. I had no idea of how far we’d be going and I tried to keep her occupied with my lips and tongue as my hands slowly slid her t-shirt up her body, worried that she’d call a halt to everything. My worry appeared to be unfounded when her hands seemed to have the same idea because they clutched at the hem of my shirt, pushing it as high as it could go, and Sookie broke our kiss long enough to look down at me and almost angrily say, “Up.” Her eyes were nearly feral and my arms rose up, mimicking another part of my anatomy, with my hands relieving her of her own shirt as soon as they were free.

Her eyes raked over my chest with her hands following right behind them as she asked, almost to herself, “Why can’t I control myself around you?” It was an affliction we shared, but I’d admitted to enough lately and kept my mouth shut. A couple of smartass retorts ran through my mind, but my balls had already made other plans that had nothing to do with backing up my mouth and every thought soon disappeared when I took in what was in front of me.

There was no doubt her breasts were distracting and her pale blue lace bra was too tempting with my lips drawn to her bare skin like a gravitational pull. Her whole body shuddered against mine as I slowly traced the top edges of her bra with my tongue and when I pulled one side down with my teeth, so I could latch on to the rosy tip inside, I was rewarded with my name being moaned from her lips and her hands moving to hold the back of my head in place. Eric Junior was literally weeping, wanting at least a handshake from Sookie if not a kiss from their reunion, but I mentally told him to shut up. I may not have been able to cook dinner for Sookie, but I could certainly take care of her this way and I had every intention of following through.

Her hips squirmed in my lap with her ass teasing Eric Junior until he was ready to explode, but unless we moved over to one of the chaise lounges, there wasn’t much room for her maneuver in and I wasn’t willing to stop long enough to get up, afraid she’d somehow regain ‘control’ of herself. I was still worried she might try and stop me, so when I moved one hand to the button of her shorts I moved the other to the clasp of her bra and flicked them both open at the same time. My mouth immediately moved over to her newly freed breast while I used both hands to open her shorts the rest of the way and she opened her legs allowing my hand to slide inside. It was a tight fit, but I managed to brush over her clit a few times and make her cry out in pleasure.

That noise was a hell of a lot better than breathy moans.

All I could focus on was the taste of her skin underneath my tongue and the slick wet heat at the tips of my fingers. Her position in my lap and the denim shorts she was wearing didn’t allow much room for my hand, so when her hands left the back of my head and she started pulling on the hand I’d jammed down into her shorts, I felt disappointed she was stopping me before I could finish her off. My lips unwillingly let go of her breast to move back to her mouth where I pleaded, “Let me take care of you.”

I knew I’d meant that in more ways than one, but I concentrated on the task at hand (so to speak) and hoped to kiss the argument right out of her, but she continued to pull on my hand even as she kissed me back and when she moved to stand up, I couldn’t stop the loud sigh that followed.

“Now you’re taking advantage of me,” I protested. I may have even stomped my foot as I said, “It’s not like I can chase you around the yard.”

If only I had a lasso like The Lone Ranger…

Thoughts of having Sookie tied up in my bed weren’t helping matters, nor did the fact she stood facing me wearing nothing more than her open shorts and I drank in every detail I could before she could cover herself again, but instead of moving to get dressed, she stared into my eyes for a split second before pushing her shorts down her legs, leaving them in a heap at her feet and her completely naked before me. When she leaned down with her hands grasping onto the waistband of my shorts, I looked down and watched Eric Junior spring out as she pulled them down my body and I’m pretty sure I heard him cry out, “Hi-yo Silver! Away!”

Once my shorts were out of the way, I still wasn’t sure how far Sookie was willing to go and even though every part of me was screaming for her, I wouldn’t push her to do anything she wasn’t ready for. I’d never felt so unsure while feeling so right at the same time and seeing her stare up at me from in between my legs made my cock twitch, but when she seemed to pause for a moment too long I wondered if she’d regained her control.

I would beg.

I would plead.

Dear God, I promise go to church every Sunday and I help little old ladies cross the street. Amen.

She almost looked as if she was trying to hold herself back while we stared at one another. “Are you sure Eric?” she asked.

I wasn’t sure what she was asking me, but I knew I was sure I would beg, plead, and whatever else God saw fit for me to do if we could just keep going, so I answered, “Yes.”

I knew her well enough to know that her lip chewing wasn’t a good sign, so she barely had the time to utter, “But…” when I pulled her back into my lap.

A Naked Sookie pressed against a naked me was a very good thing and I slid my hands down, groping hers, and saying, “This is the only butt I care about.”

It was a fan-fucking-tastic butt too.

I pulled her into another kiss with my hands running unhindered along her bare skin, enjoying it more than I thought could be possible and when Sookie pulled back to catch her breath, she whispered, “I don’t want you to hate me later because I haven’t told you everything yet.”

How could I possibly hate her, ESPECIALLY after this?

I knew enough about her, had seen enough myself to know that I would only have regrets if we stopped now. I couldn’t think of a single thing she could tell me that would change my mind, so I told her truthfully, “I couldn’t ever hate you and I know enough for now.” I knew my feelings for Sookie were unlike anything I’d ever felt about anyone else. I knew she was caring and had a good heart and, even though I hadn’t given her much reason to lately, I believed she did love me.

I claimed her lips in another kiss before she could argue with me any further and I felt it when she seemed to give in, with her entire body relaxing against mine. Our hands began to roam as our kiss deepened and I could tell the precise moment when something shifted in her mind. I hadn’t known until then that she’d still been holding some of herself back, but it was evident she was now throwing caution to the wind and I was reaping the benefits of her decision. Her lips, tongue, and teeth blazed a path across my neck and down my chest. She bit down on my nipple with the perfect amount of pressure at the precise moment her hand encircled my cock on a downward stroke. An unintelligible noise made its way out of me, but I was already too far gone to care. The rhythm of her hand never faltered as her mouth left a haphazard pattern of moist red marks down my body and when her eyes locked onto mine with her lips hovering above her hand, time stood still.

Birds; squirrels; airplanes; the earth spinning on its fucking axis; the rotation around the god damn sun.

It. All. Stopped.

The bead of pre-cum glistened on the tip beneath her and while her eyes clearly said she held all of the cards, or all of the cock, I’m sure mine were filled with nothing but blind anticipation, like I was watching the series finale of ‘Friends’ all over again, only Sookie was Rachael and my dick was Ross and neither one of us wanted her to be on that plane to Paris. We needed that kiss and before my mind could wander to any other TV shows I’d never admit to having watched Sookie’s tongue darted out, wiping away that drop with one swipe before she took all of me in her mouth.

All. Of. Me.

Never.

Never before had I experienced a woman’s lips around the base of my cock and I knew now that I’d been missing out. When I hit the back of her throat I’d expected her to pull back, but I felt her swallow instead and take in even more until there was nothing left. My eyes never left hers so I could tell that she was enjoying it, or at least my reaction to it, because her eyes danced as she began moving with purpose. The suction from her mouth and the caress of her tongue was making me lightheaded and I kept my hands firmly planted on the armrests of the chair I was sitting in, afraid of what I might do if I let go. It was probably a good thing the chair was made of metal because I probably would’ve ripped them off when she hummed the first time and ended up yelling out a garbled, “Fuck,” when she did it again.

It was too much for me to handle. It had been too long; I’d been worked up too often lately and her skill was too honed for me to not embarrass myself by cumming like a thirteen year old locked in the bathroom with a Victoria’s Secret catalog.

Besides…I wanted to cum inside of Sookie.

I grabbed a hold of her on her last upward stroke and pulled her body on top of mine, kissing her until neither one of us could breathe. The arms of the chair wouldn’t allow for her to straddle my lap facing me, so I turned her body with her back against my chest. One hand moved to her breasts while the other slid down her body with two of my fingers sliding right inside of her. She was wet enough that I could feel the moisture seeping down onto me and all I could think about was how much I wanted to be buried inside of her.

I nudged her hair away from her shoulder and neck, as much as I could with my face, and grazed my teeth along her skin, saying, “You’re so tight Sookie. All I can think about is being inside of you; stretching you; feeling your pussy throb around my cock while I bury it in you.” She whimpered hearing my words and I really hoped I didn’t end up cumming on her back, but it seemed likely by that point. I could only hope I could get her to cum in the next few seconds and try and calm down while she ran inside to get a condom, but Sookie seemed to have other plans.

I thought I would be settling for a handjob when she reached behind herself to grab onto me, but she lifted her body up, placing me at her entrance, and slid herself right back down, gasping out a hoarse, “Fuck.”

I concurred.

Whether or not she’d meant it as a sentiment or an order, I agreed with both and my hands held onto her hips as we both moved her body up and down on top of mine. I couldn’t think about anything other than how she felt around me; the slick heat inside of her body; the way her muscles would spasm along my cock. I had wanted to be looking into her eyes, but when I watched her hand move across her body and her fingers slide down, I felt them trace along the vein on the underside of my dick as it slid out of her and my eyes almost closed from the sensations alone. With her thumb working her clit and her breasts bouncing around in front of me, there was nowhere else I could look and if I couldn’t be looking into her eyes, the view I had was almost as good.

Her gasps and cries of my name only added to the experience and I was sure I would be apologizing to her in a couple of minutes because Ross and my balls, Joey and Chandler, were seconds away from exploding when Sookie’s muscles clamped down like a vice as she screamed out my name. Her whole body seized for a moment before I heard her start breathing again, but I could only mindlessly move her body on top of mine, hoping I didn’t hurt her from the force of it, knowing I could finally let go, when her wayward hand slid down even farther. Her fingers, wet with her cum, left a feathery stroke along the underside of my balls and I felt like my entire body burst at the seams as I came with a strangled roar, long and hard inside of her.

Our bodies seemed to move all on their own as we helplessly twitched in, on, and around each other, with my arms moving to circle her waist to keep her there.

Forever.

Her arms came to rest on top of mine and as my wits slowly returned, I couldn’t recall ever having experienced what I just had with Sookie with anyone else. She truly was like no one from my past in any way and instead of questioning why that was, I could only be grateful for it.

When our breathing finally returned to normal, I kissed the side of her neck and jokingly said, “You need to relinquish all control over your body to me if that’s what I get to look forward to.”

She snickered and playfully slapped my arm saying, “Pfft…like I have any choice. I swear, I get a brainfart whenever I see you without a shirt on and the inmates,” she held up her hands for emphasis, “end up running the asylum.”

I made a mental note to go shirtless from then on and took her hands in my own, kissing each of them, and saying, “Then I’ll have to do something nice for them. Maybe a lighter work detail or some extra cigarettes they can use to barter with the other inmates. Oh! Maybe I can work out conjugal visits for them!”

Them; me. No one lost in that scenario.

“You’d have to be pretty high up to pull those kinds of strings. Should I call you Warden Northman?” she asked.

Was it wrong that I was getting hard again over the thought of Sookie in restraints?

She wiggled her hips, having felt the reaction since I was still inside of her, and she said, “Uh uh…I need a break Warden.”

“Well then you shouldn’t be wiggling your hips Inmate number 696969. Perhaps you need to be restrained…”

Our little improv was doing nothing to dampen my arousal, but Sookie just kept on talking like I wasn’t about to fuck her all over again.

I totally was.

“You’re still inside of me for Christ’s sake! Hell, I’m still dripping you. Give a girl a minute, would ya?” she chided, but I could hear the smile in her voice.

Feeling the moisture that had pooled around and underneath me made me remember the condom we didn’t use and I asked, “Umm…shouldn’t we have used a condom?”

I couldn’t believe we’d had sex without one; I’d never done that before, but like I said. No part of my norm applied where Sookie was involved. I felt her body tense up on top of mine and I worried for a second until she said, “We don’t need them anymore.” My hands immediately started running up and down her arms and shoulders, trying to loosen her back up and wondering what the problem was if she was on birth control.

It was my body that tensed up as she moved herself off of my lap and, sounding defeated, she sighed, “Let’s get dressed and I’ll tell you why.”