Page 7 of Finding Hope

Shannon

Her heart beat a rapid staccato in her chest as she stared up at Jonathon. Kissing him was like ice cream and heaven all in one. He didn’t say anything; he just let his hand slip under the strap of her sundress. Goose bumps popped up all over her body as he caressed the silky skin of her shoulder. Jonathon slid the strap down and bent down until his lips touched her skin. She moaned as he dragged his tongue up her shoulder to her neck, nipping at the sensitive flesh.

He slid the other strap down until the dress was around her waist, then picked her up again and laid her down in the middle of the bed before joining her. Shannon’s back arched up off the bed when she felt Jonathon’s lips wrap around her nipple through her bra. Her eyes closed and her mouth hung open as he moved back and forth between both nipples.

She ran her hands through his hair before holding on to the strands as he pulled the cups of her bra down. He continued to lick and suck her nipples, making her writhe and pant below him. He released her nipple with a pop and continued to kiss down her body.

“Raise your hips, baby.” Shannon did as instructed and she felt him slip off her dress. She closed her eyes when she felt him remove her panties. She wasn’t bare down there. Sure, she kept it trimmed, but it wasn’t waxed completely hairless like a lot of women did, which men loved. “So pretty,” he whispered reverently. Pushing up on her elbows, she opened her eyes to watch him lean forward before dragging his tongue up her pussy.

Her moan sounded so foreign to her own ears. She tried to keep it inside. She didn’t want to turn him off if her moan sounded stupid, but he was working her into a frenzy that she couldn’t contain. Jonathon sucked her clit into his mouth and it took an embarrassingly short amount of time before she was coming against his tongue. He continued to lick and suck as he brought her back down.

While she tried to regain her lost brain cells, she watched Jonathon stand up and strip out of his clothes. She knew he was tall, but he was a lot more muscular than she thought. His eyes were filled with hunger as he continued to watch her while he finished undressing. When he pulled his boxer briefs off, she felt her mouth dry up. It was the most beautiful penis she’d ever seen. It was long, but not too long and was thick. She knew it was going to hurt the first time, but she was going to enjoy it regardless.

He climbed back onto the bed with a condom in his mouth. Once he was between her legs, he ripped open the wrapper and then quickly sheathed himself. After that, things seemed to move quickly. He was on top of her with his lips on hers. She felt him reach between them and then felt the head of his cock at her opening. Then he started pushing inside of her. Back and forth he moved in and out of her until he was buried to the hilt.

In unison, they moaned into each other’s mouths. In and out, he slowly began to move. He pulled his lips from hers. “You feel incredible. You’re squeezing my dick so hard.”

It didn’t take long before she felt herself hurdle toward another orgasm. He reached between them and began stroking her clit. She grabbed onto his biceps and held on tight as the feeling of her oncoming orgasm wound itself up—ready to detonate. Jonathon must’ve been able to feel it coming because he started pounding into her harder as he stroked her clit even faster.

“Oh God,” she cried out as she felt herself splinter apart. Jonathon’s growl against her neck had her orgasm continuing, and all she could do was hang on as he brutally pounded away and then she felt the throbbing of his dick as he came inside her.

Neither of them moved for what felt like forever. Shannon’s heart still felt like it was going to pound right out of her chest. She let her hands stroke up and down Jonathon’s back and kissed his forehead. He relaxed into her for a minute before freezing and then quickly pulling out of her.

Shannon didn’t understand his hasty retreat, but that’s what it felt like. He avoided eye contact with her while he pulled on his boxer briefs. She watched him woodenly get up and walk across the hall to her bathroom. Quickly she sat up in bed and gingerly got out and grabbed a nightgown from her drawer. Once that was done, he still hadn’t come back out.

She grabbed his clothes off the floor and saw something shiny fall to the carpeting. Carefully, she bent over and picked it up. It was a thin gold band on a gold chain. What the fuck, she thought to herself. Was he married? No, he wouldn’t have lied to her. The inside of the band was engraved:

Jonathon and Alex forever.

Quickly, she folded up his clothes and with them still in her hands she walked out into the hall. In the bathroom there was only silence. A part of her wanted to knock and see if he was okay, but another part, a hurt part, wanted to know if it was guilt that drove him off her so quickly. Or was she that hideous? Regardless of why, he made her feel cheap and dirty and it hurt.

Shannon made sure the ring was shoved back in the pocket before she set the clothes and his shoes in the hallway so he’d see them when he finally came out. She stepped quietly back into her room, shut her door, and locked it. Later, she’d go search for Felix and let him in her room. As soon as she took out her sound processor, she was engulfed in silence, her favorite place to be when she needed time to think.

She turned off her light and curled up in the middle of her bed. Of course, the sheets smelled like him. How long was it going to take for him to be gone? Her bedroom was at the front of the house so she’d see his car lights when he got in his car and drove away.

It ended up taking forty-five minutes before his lights finally came on and then disappeared. She got out of bed and peered out the window, and sure enough, his car was gone. She wasn’t sure if she was happy or sad that he’d left. She’d gone out into the living room and found Felix sitting by the door, scooped him up, and then carried him into the bedroom.

***

She shook off the memories of that night a week ago and continued stocking the fridge with the imported beers they carried. She’d never felt more humiliated in her life, and of course she hadn’t seen Jonathon since that night. It didn’t surprise her, though. He got what he wanted and she gave it up easily.

After stocking the refrigerator, she took the box in the back and found her dad chopping vegetables. Shannon and Michael got their strawberry locks from their father, but their green eyes came from their mom. Her brother and sister were both tall like their parents and Shannon favored her paternal grandma when it came to her height; she was the shortest one of the family.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“Hey, honey, what’s been going on? I feel like I’ve hardly seen you.”

She didn’t tell anyone about her hookup with Jonathon and now she was glad she hadn’t. Reliving the humiliation of last week was something she did not want to do. Especially with her sister or her best friend, Kasey. “Things are good. We’ve just been busy.”

“Yeah, business has picked up a bit. Well, I’ll let you get back up front.”

Shannon kissed her dad on the cheek before heading back out to the front.

The lunch rush was finally dying down, so she sat at the end of the bar to eat a turkey sandwich. The bar was in the middle of downtown Charleston and a block away was the Cooper River. So during the day they got people who worked nearby or people who were out shopping. A man sitting at the end of the bar kept staring at her. He was nice looking, but honestly she wasn’t interested. She couldn’t trust her judgment since she’d misjudged Jonathon so badly.

After she finished her sandwich, she put her plate in the back and then retied her apron. The guy at the end held up a finger and she went to him. “Hi, what can I get you?”

He gave her a smile. “I’ll take another Bud and how about your phone number?”

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