Pauline Orr - The Ultimate Erotic Short Story Collection 18

He had admired her music and respected her sense, but he hadn’t really given much thought to her looks. In the years since their initial meeting at a music festival they were both playing, Juliet had changed and grown.

Where she had been slightly awkward, with features that were slightly too adult-looking for her teenaged face, she was now a confident woman whose high cheekbones and big, dark eyes were in perfect balance with the rest of her face. And then, of course, Dan had noticed that as she had gone through puberty her curves had intensified; the woman in front of him had the kind of hourglass figure that women went through surgeries to acquire.

If Dan had to put an exact moment to when he had become attracted to Juliet, it would have been sometime around when she had turned eighteen. She had finished school early and spent months in France, working on material for her second album.

Dan envied the way that she had managed to balance a normal school life with a career in the music industry. He and his brothers had invited her to come out to their rural home and visit for a few days, and she had happily accepted. Dan had met her at the airport, and she had appeared in the crowd, jet-lagged and in the most comfortable clothes she owned-and suddenly beautiful.

She had greeted him with real, genuine enthusiasm, her eyes flashing and her smile as bright as he had ever seen it. Dan remembered that her hair had been in two braids that day, hanging down from either side of her head and extending down to her full bust. When she had hugged him, he'd had to fight the urge to crush her body against his and breathe her in.

Dan was pulled back to the present by Juliet speaking. “You want some coffee?” she asked, standing up. For a moment, she was slightly wobbly on her feet, and Dan instinctively reached out to steady her. She giggled, smoothing her hair back from her face and yawning.

“I’ll have some coffee and then we can talk about this project, and then we’re driving you to your own house and you’re going to sleep.”

Juliet pouted, putting her hands on her hips and trying to stare him down. Dan laughed and stood, giving her a gentle shove toward the door.

“You’re exhausted, admit it.”

Juliet sighed, ruining the effect with a grin. “Okay, fine, I admit it.”

Dan drove the two of them to Juliet’s house after they had gone over the details of what she wanted help with on the album. For the most part, she wanted help with the percussion arrangements; Dan had been pleased and flattered when Juliet had mentioned that she had tried working with several studio musicians, but none of them had quite the knack for her peculiar time signatures and sound that Dan did.

On one or two songs, she had wanted his voice-and Dan had looked over the lyrics and started the process of working out the harmonies with her. Toward the end of their discussion, as they were singing parts to the basic melodic framework, Juliet’s voice had started cracking with fatigue, and even she had to admit she was too tired to work profitably.

Dan noticed her hands shaking from the caffeine as she put on her shoes and had snatched the car keys out of her hand, holding them over her head. “Your hands are shaking, you’re exhausted. I’m driving.”

When they arrived at Juliet’s house, she snatched the keys back and unlocked the front door. Dan had stayed at her house more than once, so he carried his suitcase in with him, putting it down next to the couch.

“I’m going to get a shower,” Juliet told him. “Make yourself at home, as usual.” She gave him a friendly grin and Dan nodded, heading straight for the kitchen. He had managed to take a nap on the flight over, but he was always hungry-and Juliet was a good cook who always had a well-stocked fridge.

He heard the water come on from the direction of Juliet’s bedroom; he concluded that she had left the door to the master bath open in case he needed to ask her something. Dan closed his eyes, standing in front of the fridge.

For a moment his brain was consumed with an image of the curvy woman standing in the shower, water sluicing down her body. He had never seen her naked, but he could easily imagine-a shiver moved down his spine, a bolt of arousal heading straight for his cock at the thought of her.

He groaned, pressing his forehead against the cold fridge door. One or the other of them had been in a relationship the entire time they had known each other-until now. For once, they were both single.

Maybe it would have been a better idea to stay in a hotel, Dan thought. It was potentially dangerous for them to both be under the same roof, both single, and with the overwhelming attraction he felt for her-dangerous, at least, if she returned his interest. Dan forced his eyes open and opened the fridge, making himself to go through the motions of building a sandwich with automatic movements.

Juliet stepped into the kitchen just as he was finishing his first sandwich and working on his second one. Dan held himself back from staring at her; her dark hair was down, still damp from the shower, and clinging to her face, neck and shoulders.

She was in pajamas, with no bra on underneath the tee shirt she wore; the cool air had made her nipples press against the thin fabric.

“Feeling better?” he asked, tearing his gaze away from her chest. Juliet grinned, nodding and heading toward the fridge.

“The hot water worked out most of the kinks in my neck and shoulders, at least,” she said, taking out a pitcher of filtered water and pouring herself a glass. Dan closed his eyes while her back was turned to him for just a moment; the way her pajamas clung to her skin was almost unbearable. He took a shaky breath and opened his eyes in time for her to turn back around to face him.

“I’m still too keyed up to sleep,” she said. Dan chuckled, standing up from the bar stool he had taken to eat at the counter. I can think of several ways to make you tired enough to sleep , he thought deep, deep down in the back of his mind.

“Wanna watch TV for a little while then?”

Juliet nodded and he followed her into the living room, trying not to stare too much at the sway of her hips. Instead, he settled himself on the couch near her as Juliet turned on the television and flipped through channels until she found something she wanted to watch.

After a few moments, Dan felt comfortable and confident enough to pull Juliet back to lie against him. She peered up at him suspiciously.

“What? You need to relax. It’s not like we haven’t laid about like this before.” That was true enough-they had even fell asleep once after a particularly crazy show, tangled up in each other’s limbs on the couch on a tour bus. But his motivation wasn’t quite so simple this time, he thought, breathing in the scent that radiated from her hair and body; it was like fresh roses after a summer rain.

“My hair is going to get your shirt wet,” she told him, though she didn’t stir, instead relaxing against his shoulder. Dan rolled his eyes.

“Like I even care about that. It’ll dry.” Dan fought against the urge to wrap his arms around her, to reach up and cop a feel of her breasts through her tee shirt. He wanted more than anything to feel her nipples harden under his palm, to hear the catch in her breath that would signal her arousal, but he reminded himself that she was too exhausted to think rationally, to make up her mind.

Instead, he moved his hands to her shoulders and began slowly kneading the tight muscles there, finding the knots that long hours of work and awkward sleep had formed. Juliet moaned softly, relaxing into him by degrees.

“Where did you learn how to give a proper massage?” she asked him absently, turning her head to direct his fingers where they would do the most good. Dan chuckled.