The Mission Read online

  She and Keith went inside to say hi to her mother and help Eva get her stuff ready to leave. While Keith and Eva hunted through the backyard to collect all her scattered dolls (they’d all been stranded on a deserted island and had to establish a new civilization), Serena and her mom watched from inside the house.

  Serena was laughing at Keith, who was hamming up his surprise and awe at all the different houses Eva had built for her dolls.

  Her mom said, “Something has changed.”

  “What’s changed?” Serena’s confusion was genuine until she got a look at her mother’s face.

  “With Keith. Something has changed.”

  Her cheeks warming, she murmured, “Yes. But we’re not sure where it’s going, so we’re not making a big deal about it yet.”

  “Okay. It took longer than I thought it would, but I’m glad it’s finally happening now.”

  “You thought something would happen?” Serena’s eyes widened.

  Her mother laughed and gave her a half hug. “Honey, I thought it would happen back in high school! But I was a little premature. Better late than never.”

  Serena wasn’t sure what to make of that, but it didn’t bother her or embarrass her. In fact, she kind of liked the sound of it.

  THEY WENT OUT TO EAT an early dinner at Eva’s favorite pizza place. Eva was in one of her bright, uproarious moods—the one that often preceded a crash—but they made it the whole meal without any meltdowns, and all three of them enjoyed it.

  They’d had to park a few blocks away, so Serena and Eva waited in front of the restaurant with the box of leftover pizza while Keith went to get the car.

  “That was fun,” Serena said, reaching down to give one of Eva’s ponytails a tug.

  “Yes. It was nice of Uncle Keith to pay for it.” Eva’s eyes were sober. She had long experience of knowing they couldn’t always go out to eat or get every dress or toy she wanted because of how much things cost. Only her dad could buy expensive things.

  “Yes. He was nice to do that for us.”

  “Uncle Keith is always nice.”

  “Yes, he is.” Serena could see a thought working on her daughter’s face, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She waited for a minute for the girl to get her thoughts together. Then she asked, “What is it, sweetheart? If you have a question, you can ask me.”

  “Are you going to get married to Uncle Keith?” Eva’s eyes were round but not upset. Mostly just curious.

  Serena grew still for a moment before she answered gently, “I don’t know. Why do you ask that?”

  “Well, he’s your boyfriend—like Amber is Daddy’s girlfriend. And Daddy and Amber are going to get married and I get to be a flower girl. So I wondered if you and Uncle Keith would get married. Was that wrong?”

  “No, it’s not wrong. But why do you think Uncle Keith is my boyfriend now?”

  Eva frowned. “He’s always been your boyfriend. Hasn’t he, Mommy?”

  Serena didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the innocent question, but she settled with stroking her daughter’s head. “I don’t actually know what he is right now. And I don’t know what will happen. We’ll have to wait and see. Is that okay with you?”

  “Yes. It’s okay.” Eva perked up as she saw Keith driving up to the curb in front of them. “Uncle Keith makes everything good.”

  “Yes. He really does.”

  Eva was already moving toward the car, but she asked over her shoulder, “If you get married, can I be your flower girl too?”

  “Yes. Of course you can. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “Okay.” When Serena and Eva had gotten settled in the car, Eva announced in a proud voice to Keith, “We aren’t supposed to get ahead of ourselves, but I get to be the flower girl when you and Mommy get married.”

  KEITH HADN’T HAD SEX for the first time until he was twenty years old.

  While he was sure that wasn’t particularly unusual, back then he’d felt self-conscious about it since it seemed like all the guys around him had gotten started a lot earlier. Before his first time, he’d researched online about how to please women in bed so he wouldn’t do a bad job of it.

  He’d always gone above and beyond with foreplay. He’d made sure his partners always came before he did so they wouldn’t think he was inept or lacking. It was his insecurity that taught him to be good in bed, and that lesson had stuck with him long after he’d gained experience and confidence.

  At twenty, he’d been incredibly nervous about sex. After a year, that anxiety had disappeared, and it hadn’t come back until right now.

  Right when he was getting close to having sex with Serena.

  She hadn’t said she was ready yet, but it felt like they were getting to that point. Keith wanted it more than he could remember wanting anything.

  And he was also terrified.

  When they got home from the pizza place, Eva wanted to watch another princess movie before bed, and Keith was relieved at the space of peace it gave him to pull himself together.

  It might not happen tonight.

  He shouldn’t assume anything.

  But something had changed between him and Serena last night. He could feel it in the air between them. See it in the softness of her eyes.

  Tonight might be the night. There was no way he’d say no to what he’d wanted for so long. But a shuddering anxiety had taken hold of him, and he was having trouble putting it back in its place.

  What if he couldn’t please her? What if she felt awkward about the whole thing? What if one night in bed with him pushed her to decide they should never be anything but friends?

  It felt like there was way too much riding on this, and he wasn’t convinced of his ability to meet the challenge. Their make-out session on the couch last weekend had been different. It hadn’t been planned. He hadn’t had time to prepare. So physical desire had taken over the nerves he might have otherwise experienced.

  But this...

  This might be everything.

  “Why aren’t you watching, Uncle Keith?” Eva’s little voice had a twinge of whine to it as she peered up at him from her place between the two of them on the couch.

  “I am watching.”

  “You’re not laughing. Don’t you think this one is funny?”

  He gave himself a mental shake to switch his focus. “It is funny. I was laughing inside.”

  “Oh.” Eva frowned. “Usually you laugh outside too.”

  She returned to the movie, and Keith forced himself to do the same. He could feel Serena slant a few probing glances his way, as if she was discreetly checking to see if something was wrong with him. She knew him too well. She would likely be able to see his distraction even better than her daughter.

  It took a force of will to accomplish, but he managed to pay attention to the rest of the movie, laughing in all the right spots. Eva was happy at the end of it, and she didn’t complain when Serena told her to run get ready for bed.

  When Eva had jumped off the couch and scurried down the hall, Serena gave Keith a significant look. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Everything is good.”

  “Is it? Because Eva wasn’t the only one to notice that you seem kind of jittery. Is something bothering you?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Not a thing.”

  “I told you this morning this has to be reciprocal. If you expect me to tell you what’s bothering me, you need to tell me.”

  He took a deep breath, feeling the pressure rise up again and also a kind of mental paralysis about how to approach it with sounding like an asshole. “It’s kind of hard to explain—without sounding like I’m presuming a lot.”

  As vague as his words were, it only took her a minute to interpret them. He saw the process on her face. The puzzlement, the deciphering, the understanding. Then she reached over to put a hand on his thigh. “I’m kind of anxious too, but I think I’m ready now. If you are too. If you’re not, I’m happy to wait as long as—”
/>   “We don’t have to wait,” he burst out. “I’m more than ready. I’m just kind of...” He finally landed on her word from earlier. “...jittery. I feel kind of stupid admitting it.”

  “Well, now you know how I feel, admitting all my stupid feelings to you.” She was flushed and smiling and tender as she leaned over to kiss the side of his jawline. “I’m glad you did.”

  Paradoxically, telling her how he was feeling lessened some of his nerves. He smiled back and was pulling her toward him to return her kiss when a voice called from down the hall. “I’m in bed! I’m ready for my chapter!”

  Laughing, they both got up and went to read with Eva.

  FORTY-THREE MINUTES later, Keith waited in the hall as Serena peeked into Eva’s room to make sure the girl hadn’t turned her light back on.

  “She’s asleep,” Serena whispered, softly shutting the bedroom door and turning toward him.

  Keith’s heart gave an almost painful lurch. “Good.”

  “Good.” Serena took a step closer and pulled him toward her with two fistfuls of his shirt. “Keith Howell,” she said very softly. “Do you want to come to bed with me?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “We’ll have to be kind of quiet so we don’t wake her up.”

  “I can be quiet.” He kissed her gently, doing his best to control the storm of emotions that were whirling in his head and chest. “And I can try to diminish my technique enough so you don’t scream your head off in ecstasy.”

  Soft laughter spilled out of her, exactly as he’d known it would. Then she took his hand and led him down the hall and into her bedroom.

  He was hot and cold and thrilled and scared and frozen still and ready to jump out of his skin all at once. As a result, he stood in the middle of the floor without a clue about what to do as she closed the door.

  They stared at each other for a minute, standing about three feet apart. Then her face twisted briefly. “I’m nervous.”

  He gave a huff of dry amusement. “Me too.”

  “I’ve never had sex with anyone but Scott.”

  “I know. And I’ve never had a serious relationship with anyone. But I don’t think previous experience matters that much right now. This is you and me. It might as well be the first time.”

  Her face contorted again, like what he’d said touched her deeply. But then she took a deep breath and said, “It’s going to be good. Because it’s you and me. That will make it good. And nothing else really matters about how it goes. Right?”

  The sweet tremble on the final word blew aside all his worries in an instant. “Right,” he said thickly, moving toward her and pulling her into his arms.

  He hugged her for a minute. Tight. Urgent. Then he loosened his arms so he could take her head between his hands and kiss her hard.

  The kiss seemed to break through the last of her nerves too. She made a throaty sound of pleasure and twined her arms around his neck, softening against him and opening to the advance of his tongue.

  After that, need and desire took control, so he stopped thinking through everything that should be done. They kissed for a long time, slowly making their way over to the bed.

  Keith was already fully aroused, uncomfortably hard in his pants. He’d slid his hands down her back as they kissed and was feeling the soft, full curves of her bottom through the thin, stretchy material of her pants.

  Then she pulled away. “Wait a minute. Sorry. Sorry.”

  He blinked, stunned and slightly winded by the abrupt interruption. “What? You changed your mind?”

  “No.” She giggled. “You should see your face. I promise I’m not changing my mind. I just realized I need to pee before we do this. Sorry to be so unsexy about it.”

  Keith laughed, amused and deeply relieved by her reason for pulling away. “I don’t mind at all. It’s probably a good idea.”

  “You can be taking some of your clothes off while I’m in there,” she said with an irresistible tilt of her head. “That will make it easier for later on.”

  That seemed like a perfectly practical plan, so Keith pulled off his jeans, shirt, and socks while she disappeared into the bathroom. She was only gone for a few minutes, and when she returned, she’d taken her clothes off too and had put on a pretty lavender gown with lace straps.

  He gulped as she approached. “You know I’m just going to be taking that off, right?”

  “I know. But I thought it would be easier than trying to get off leggings. No way to take those off in a sexy way.” Her eyes ran up and down his body. He wore nothing but gray boxer briefs. “I had no idea you’d look so good in just your underwear.”

  “You should see me when I take them off.” He said that only to make her laugh, and it worked. She giggled helplessly as she reached out for him.

  He kissed her deeply, swinging her down onto the bed afterward and then climbing on top of her.

  She smelled like the almond-vanilla lotion she always used, and she filled his senses. She was soft and eager beneath him as they kissed. He stroked her body, drowning in the feel of her. And he was as good as his word since in only a few minutes, he was pulling the gown off over her head.

  He stared down at her, his erection throbbing so intensely that for a moment he was afraid he might lose it. Her breasts were full and heavy. Her hips were deeply curved. Every part of her was soft and touchable and deliciously feminine.

  “Say something,” she whispered after a few moments.

  He almost choked. “You’re so gorgeous, Serena. So beautiful.” He leaned down to kiss one of her breasts.

  She arched up, so he took the nipple more deeply into his mouth, sucking it hard and then teasing it with his tongue.

  She gasped and clutched at the sheets beneath her, obviously enjoying his touch. He worked on her breasts for a long time, making a few trips up toward her mouth and down toward her belly until she was biting back whimpers and squirming helplessly beneath him.

  When she started begging him to make her come, he moved farther down her body until his head was poised between her legs. He swiped her open with his tongue, and she cried out sharply in response.

  Evidently remembering she needed to be quiet, she moved a pillow over so she could smother her sounds in it as he took her to the edge of orgasm with his lips and tongue.

  When he could feel her body shaking with how close she was, he repositioned so he could slide two fingers inside her and pump them. The change extended her climb toward climax. Her hips moved shamelessly, trying to ride his hand. She smothered her sobs in the pillow as he worked her over.

  Then he sucked hard on her clit and she came apart completely, convulsing with the orgasm that wracked her body.

  He knew she was coming hard. Her inner muscles were clamping down so tightly around his fingers that he couldn’t even move them. She’d soaked his hand with her arousal, and her cries of pleasure had gotten hoarse, which he could hear even stifled by the pillow.

  Her orgasm lasted a long time, and he extended it as much as he could with his fingers. When the spasms finally lessened, she was limp and wheezing and flushed all over.

  Her relaxed, sated body and warm, content smile was the hottest thing he’d ever seen in his life.

  “Wow,” she rasped. “That was... Wow.”

  He chuckled, painfully aroused now but also incredibly happy. “It was pretty wow for me too.”

  She reached for him, pulling him down into a hug. It lasted long enough for her to recover from her climax. Then she pushed him over onto his back and raised herself above him. She was smiling down on him as she pulled off his underwear, dropping them over the side of the bed.

  Her hungry gaze was probably similar to what his had been earlier. She looked like she wanted to swallow him whole.

  “Definitely better without the underwear,” she said. “Do you have a condom? If you don’t, I have—”

  “I’ve got one. In my pants pocket.” Cursing himself for not putting it in a more convenient place, he was
about to get up to grab his pants from the floor when she beat him to it.

  She found the packet in his pocket and returned to climb on top of him.

  He opened the wrapper and rolled on the condom, and then she was poised above him, He was dazed and awed and so turned on he was afraid he might lose it as together they fit his erection inside her and she lowered herself onto him.

  He loved this position. Loved the sight of her above him. Her hair swinging. Her breasts bouncing as she started to ride him.

  He pumped his hips up into her, and it didn’t take long for them to synchronize. Pleasure and satisfaction and need and hunger filled him as they moved their bodies together.

  Since his eyes never left her, he could see when she was nearing climax again. Her bouncing accelerated. Her cheeks got even redder. Her little moans and whimpers turned into soft sobs.

  He’d been holding on to her bottom, but he moved one of his hands forward until he could find and rub her clit.

  She arched backward and let out a long, low moan as she came all over him. He kept rubbing her off until she came again. She wasn’t even riding him now. Just arched above him, holding on to his thighs behind her as her channel spasmed all around him.

  He heard himself saying, “That’s right. So good. Come again for me. You’re doing so good. So good. I think you can come one more time for me. Give me all you’ve got.” Her body was like an instrument, responding effortlessly to his playing.

  He could have watched and felt her coming forever as far as he was concerned, but she finally seemed to have enough. She pulled his hand away and leaned down to kiss him, and his erection slipped out of her with the change in position.

  She felt soft and boneless and replete, so he rolled them over so he was on top. He was almost at the end of his control, but he wanted her to recover before they did anything else.