Breaking the Ice Ch. 01

I smiled, taking a little perverse joy that he was at least as miserable as I felt. I let the attendant in with the coffee cart, tipping him extra at the request he ask the front desk to order me a car service. I knew if Shane came out wearing nothing but a towel there was no amount of self-control in the world to stop me from hurling myself at him. I started locating my dress and heels and got dressed. I was buttoning my coat when Shane emerged from the bathroom, pants unbuttoned, running a towel through his hair. "And she's off, ladies and gentlemen."

"Shut up. I am simply trying to preserve what's left of our new friendship by distancing myself from you and a bed as fast as possible."

"Ah, delayin' the inevitable. I'll play along, for now. Give me a sec to get dressed and I'll take you home."

"No need, I called for a car service." He outstretched his arm, guiding me to the door. "How much do I owe you for the room?" He opened the door for me, holding it open with one hand while he set himself against the doorjamb. "Hmm. Let's call it an IOU, to be collected at a later date."

I spun around to face him after I stepped into the hallway. "No sexual favors."

"Woman, I am a grown man, I'll ask for whatever I want. Especially sexual favors."

I grinned wildly at him. "You're impossible. I had fun last night. Thanks for asking me on...whatever this was."

"I had fun too, at least from the parts I remember. Let me know you got home okay."

"Yes, Daddy."

He groaned loudly. "Get out of here before I change my mind and fuck that filthy mouth of yours." I laughed as I walked briskly down the hall to the elevator. The doors opened immediately and I stepped into the car, turning around to give him a wave. He flashed that pearly white smile of his, the best view I could have asked for when the doors closed.

***

"It's been a few weeks since our last session, how have you been Tess?"

Thanksgiving had come and gone, and so had the end of the semester. Finals started Monday and I thought it would be a good idea to check in with before I bunkered down for five days. "I've been pretty good. Thanks for letting me bring Austin. And sorry for my attire." I was dressed for the gym in tight black bicycle shorts and a flimsy tank top with my Yale zip-up thrown over it. I had planned on walking the now snoozing dog before going back home to shower, but Dr. Owen had a sudden opening.

"Not a problem, casual is good. Any recent changes the past few weeks?"

"Ah, well...Shane and I have started seeing each other again. Not dating, exactly, but friends. Sort of."

"You seem confused by the nature of your relationship."

Truth be told, I was a little confused. We hadn't seen each other since the party, but we talked in some capacity every day since - a few phone calls, mostly texts. I was surprised how easily we seemed to be slipping back into old habits. "We're friends, who flirt. I feel that eventually we will probably get back together, but we're just...letting it happen naturally, I guess.

He tapped his stylus against the arm of his chair. "Is that something you want to happen?"

"Yes, but I'm enjoying our friendship as it is now. It's easy."

"Is he also satisfied with the way things are now?" I didn't know, because I'd never thought to ask. Damnit.

Dr. Owen didn't wait for me to respond. "It seems that you are holding Shane at arm's length because it's convenient for you. You get the benefits of having someone close to you without committing all the aspects of a relationship. It's possible you may still feel a little guilt from the way things ended, and you afraid to cause him any more unhappiness." His words struck a chord with me, my stomach churning at the memory of how I left him. "The problem is he may start to feel resentment that you're leading him on. Are you expecting him to wait for you?"

"I'm not expecting it, per say, but I always assumed he'd just be there. But...I guess I am leading him on." I pinched the bridge of my nose, frustrated at how awful I was being. The worse part was I didn't even realize it on my own. "What should I do?"

"You can be honest with your intentions, to start. When you make decisions, you have to include how others will be affected as well."

"Is that your roundabout way of calling me selfish?"

He took brief note and looked up, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "I suppose so, but I don't believe you're doing it intentionally. By being so isolated in your childhood, you tend to internalize your feelings instead of discussing them with others, perhaps because you're afraid that they won't stick around. You're an adult now, Tess. It's difficult, but you have to trust others if you want to build honest, long-lasting relationships with them. Start with Shane, tell him how you feel."

He closed the cover on his iPad, signaling the end of our session. I gathered Austin's leash, gently rousing the dog from his slumber. Walking to my car I got the urge to do something nice for him, even if it was something small. I headed to the store instead of home, Sydney's former advice of "feed him and fuck him" ringing in my head.

***

Pulling into Shane's driveway always made my heart race a little faster, and the four months since I was last here didn't diminish that feeling. "Come on, buddy." Austin barked happily and wagged his tail, his enthusiasm matching my own. I grabbed the coffee and muffins from the front seat and ran up to the porch, about to open the door when I took pause, thinking about what Dr. Owen had mentioned earlier. Are you expecting him to wait for you? What if he has a girl in there? There wasn't another car in the driveway. He could have picked someone up from the bar. I turned to leave, stuck on the steps of the porch. You're being stupid? Right?

"What in the hell are you doin'?" Shane's hoarse voice snapped me out of my internal conversation. I turned and saw him standing there, in sweats with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His hair was mussed as if he just woke up, he had dark circles under his eyes and his nose was red. "I brought you muffins, and thought you might have had a girl in there with you. Are you sick?"

"Yeah, I'm at the tail end of a cold. What do you mean you thought I had a girl in here?"

"Never mind." I took him by the hand while Austin followed us inside. We climbed up the stairs and went straight to the bedroom where I made him lie down. "You're hot."

He gave me a weak grin. "Well thank you, darlin', you're pretty hot yourself."

"Stop flirting. You're burning up." I felt his forehead. "Have you taken anything?"

"'bout enough Nyquil to kill a horse. Why would you think I'd have someone in here?" He sneezed and I handed him a tissue. "Bless you. I'm going to get you some water."

"Can I at least have a muffin before you go?" I held the basket out for him and he grabbed two from the top. I ran to the kitchen to grab him a glass of ice water and a couple of aspirin, then stopped by the bathroom to wet a washcloth for his head. He was happily snacking when I got back to the room, Austin resting at the foot of the bed. I handed him the pills and his water, which he downed in a couple of gulps. "Thanks. Why are you bein' so nice to me?"

I urged him to lie back against the headboard, placing the washcloth on his forehead. "You make it sound like I'm a raging bitch all the time." He frowned and grabbed my hand, pulling me to sit next to him. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know that. It has been brought to my attention by my therapist that I've been really selfish. So I want to make an effort to be nicer. And that starts with me nursing you back to health."

"Oh. I'm glad you're finally seeing someone."

"Yeah, after Mom died...it was time. Now it's time for you to rest." I took his muffin from his hand and set it on the nightstand while he snuggled under the blankets. He grabbed my hand again as I stood to leave. "Don't go."

"I'm just going to go home and grab my books and laptop, I'll be back in an hour." I held his hand against my chest, giving it a squeeze before I tucked it next to him. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"'kay." He closed his eyes. I stared at his boyish face, regarding how impossibly handsome he is. "I know I'm pretty but quit staring at me while I'm sleepin'." I snickered quietly at getting caught while I ran out to get my stuff.

***

For two days I stayed by his side in the bedroom, making sure he didn't have to get up for anything. When he slept I studied; when he was awake he was a little loopy from the cold medicine, but we talked about everything. I told him about Dr. Owen and how I was working everything out, he was just happy I was getting help. I asked him about every aspect of his life: his family, how he got to Connecticut, what kind of music he was into. I felt badly, I realized for someone I was so in love with, I didn't know most of the minute details of his life. I had been so focused on letting my neurotic thoughts get in the way, and I didn't want to be that girl anymore.

On the third day of our quarantine I woke up to an empty bed. I'd fallen asleep sometime in the early morning, my eyes starting to hurt as the words on the pages started to blur. I sat up, about to go and see if he was okay, when I heard the shower stop. Good, he must be feeling better. I stretched my upper body, sore from the awkward position I fell asleep in, as he walked in securing a towel around his waist. "Mornin'."

"Hi. You look better." I got on my knees and wobbled to the edge of the bed. "Come here, let me feel your head." He sauntered over and bent down. I pressed my lips to his forehead, giving him a soft kiss. "You feel better, too."

He licked his lips slowly, making my blood heat. "Do that again." I held the sides of his face and planted another kiss on his head.

The next ten seconds came in a rush. My shirt came over my head. His towel dropped to the floor. I was on my back. He shredded my panties trying to get them off of me. There he was above me, I pushed his damp hair back and moaned embarrassingly loud when he massaged my clit with the tip of his cock. "Alright sweetheart, no more of this 'just friends' bullshit. If we do this, you're fucking mine and that's it. So are you sure you want this?"

I smiled lazily, a sharp contrast to my body trembling with anticipation. "We weren't that good at being friends, anyway." He was inside me in one swift thrust. "Fuck me."

My pussy was sensitive from the fast intrusion of his large appendage. I wrapped my hands around his biceps, keeping him still. "That's the idea. Just go slow, please? It's been a while."

"For me, too." He stayed unmoving, raising his head to look at me. "Did you really think I would sleep with someone else?"

I groaned and covered my eyes with my hand, not wanting to have this conversation, but I was pretty much trapped. "I'd hoped not, but we weren't together, and I figured you hated me anyway, and you deserve someone who's good to you."

He rocked his hips against me slowly, before pulling all the way out. That got my attention. "Lil' girl, don't you get it by now? I don't hate you, I want to fuckin' marry you. I want to have babies with you. I want to fight with you and fuck you and laugh with you. I want a life with you, Tess, but I need you to want that too, and that starts with staying and fighting for us. All this 'you're not good enough for me' bullshit has to stop." He stroked a tear away sliding down my cheek with the back of his hand. "When you left it hurt more than I imagined it would. I love you more than life itself, but I'm not gonna let you break me. If you leave again, I'm not coming after you. Understood?" I nodded firmly. "Good. Anythin' else before I fuck you senseless for the rest of the day?"

"Two things. You still want to marry me, babies and everything?"

He placed his hand on my stomach, a picture of love blaringly present in his eyes. "I plan on plantin' my seed in you as soon as possible, when you're ready. You have no idea how much it turns me on to think of your belly swollen with my child. I want a whole litter of kids."

"I don't know about a litter, but we'll talk about it." Shane chuckled as he captured a nipple in his mouth, sucking it roughly into his mouth. "What's your second question? I need to fuckin' fuck you already."

"Okay, okay. Will you marry me?"

"We already established that's happenin', sweetheart."

"No, I mean now. Let's go get our license and do it today." His head jerked up, searching my face. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack." I shook my head, chastising myself. "Poor choice of words. Yes, I'm serious."

"You don't want a wedding or anything?"

"Not really. We can get married in jeans and go get burgers afterwards. We can have a party or a vow renewal later, maybe next summer." I took a second to remember to include him in the decision. "However, if you want to wait until we can do it in front of our family and friends, then I'm happy with that, too. I don't care how we do it. I just want to do it...this is me fighting for us. I love you, and you're it for me."

He was quiet for a moment, and I was afraid my impulsivity had freaked him out. Finally he came down and kissed me, tugging my tongue around his tenderly. We separated and he planted a kiss on my forehead. "I think we can do better than jeans and burgers. Let's do it." He stood and walked to the dresser as I sat up on the bed stark naked, admiring his taut ass. "You don't want to fuck first?"

"Sweetheart, I'll have the rest of my life to fuck you. I'm getting a ring on that finger now, before you take off again. Let's stop by your place for clothes, you can Google officiants while I drive to the county clerk's office. Oh, and you're going to have to tell my mom, she may not kill me for not havin' a big church wedding if she hears it from you." I disliked the sound of it, feeling bad that his parents may not be happy. "Shane, we can wait. I know they love you and it's probably important that they see their only son get married."

He walked back over to the bed, placing his hands on my shoulders and bending down so we were at eye level. "The only thing that is stoppin' me from marrying you today is if you're not ready. Do you want to get married?"

"Yes."

"Then that's what we're doin'. They may be upset, but it's going to be me and you for the rest of our lives. So that's all who needs to be there. Now get dressed."

I rolled my eyes sarcastically and smiled. "If this is how bossy you are now, I can't imagine how bad you're going to be in fifty years."

"I'll probably be gone, you will have fucked me to death." I laughed loudly and wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me to standing. "I love you, Mr. Thomas."

"And I love you, Ms. Adams. Enjoy that name while it lasts." He gripped a handful of my ass, his erection pressed against my belly. "Actually," he started as he looked at the clock, "it's early. We can get married in a couple of hours." He spun me around and bent me over the bed, pulling my ass back to him as he sank into me. He fucked me with long, slow strokes, my wetness coating his cock, making him glide in and out at effortlessly. I balled up the bedsheets in my fists, wanting to make the feeling last, but my orgasm was not to be delayed. "Mrs. Thomas."

He spanked my ass, making me gasp aloud as my head jerked up. "You know I hate it when I can't hear you, sweetheart."

"Mrs. Thomas. Call me Mrs. Thomas." He grasped my hips firmly as he slammed his cock into my quivering hole. "You are a dirty fuckin' girl, darlin'. Would you like me to make you come all over my dick?"

"Yes!"

"And this sweet cunt only comes for your husband, right?"

I pushed back against him as hard as I could, shoving my hand underneath to rub my swollen clit. "Shane...please..."

"Tell me what I want to hear, Mrs. Thomas. Who do you belong to?"

"You...I'm yours...don't stop..." The words trailed off as I came around him, clenching his cock greedily as he emptied his load within me. My cunt milked him as he ceased within me, still hard. He fell over me, panting softly over my spine. "I love you, Contessa."

"I love you, too."

"And for the love of God, please fuck me like this for the rest of my life." I giggled lightly, reaching behind me to touch his ribcage. "I can do that. Are you ready to be stuck with me for the rest of your life?"

"Hmm, I am, but it's still early, and I'm still hard. So we're gonna do that again, then take a shower and do it in there. After we get hitched we're gonna come back and do it a couple more times."

"You're going to get sick of me at the rate you're going."

He licked my shoulder blade before he straightened, pulling out of my slick channel before plunging into me once more. "Sweetheart, trust me. In a million years, that will never happen."