by Jessa York
The tenderness he showed caring for me melted my heart. “I told you, it’s fine,” I said, even though it was starting to hurt a bit more.
“Did you take ibuprofen?” he inquired, running his fingers over my foot, ankle and leg, leaving shocks everywhere he touched. I felt like laying down, letting him continue his tender strokes on the rest of my body.
“Not yet.”
Sadly, he lifted his hand and himself then strode off to the kitchen in a huff. I continued opening the plastic bags. On the last one, it finally dawned on me. “Did you just get this game?”
From the kitchen, he answered, “Nah, got it years ago.” The sound of pills being poured out of a bottle filled the air.
My heart sunk in my chest. The game had never been opened. “Why haven’t you played it then?”
“Nobody to play with, I guess,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders, moseying back into the living room. “Take these. If it still hurts later, I can find something else.” Dropping the pills into my hand, he gave me a glass of cool water.
I swallowed them quickly, the cold liquid traveling down my throat. “I’m okay, I told you,” I said, attempting to place the half full glass onto the coffee table but it was too awkward trying to balance with my foot up.
Frowning, he took it from me. “I suppose you’re going to find a way to justify calling first roll as well?” He twisted his torso, setting down my drink.
There was no way I could stop the smile from forming on my face. “I’m the guest.”
He chuckled, “Uh huh, go ahead—guest.”
Picking up the dice, I said, “Everyone knows guests always go first. It’s in the rules.”
Moving my dog the required number of squares, he scooped up the numbered cubes for his turn. Gosh, I loved it when the people I played with did that instead of waiting around to be invited to roll.
“So you’re telling me if I opened this instruction book, it would say that guests do in fact go first?” he said, pulling the small, paper book out of the box, dangling it from his fingers.
My eyes widened as he rolled. “It’s an unwritten rule, passed down from generation to generation.”
He snorted as he picked up his top hat, sailing it through the air onto Connecticut Avenue. As he did that, his pinky nudged my dog from the Just Visiting to inside the In Jail square.
“Okay, hold up, buddy.” My hands met, forming the timeout signal.
Jake rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, more unwritten rules?” His hands slapped his thighs.
“First of all, nice try sneaking me into jail. I hardly saw your sleight of hand,” I said sarcastically, removing my dog from unlawful confinement. “Secondly, first rule—the very first rule of Monopoly is you have to move your game piece one square at a time.” After that, I picked up his top hat, moving it back to the starting square.
“There’s no such rule, Mindy. I can count in my head. I don’t need to touch every spot.” He picked up his piece, readying to fly it unjustly across the game board again.
My hand shot out, covering his. “One—square—at—a—time,” I said, forcing his hand down on each spot.
The fingers of his other hand covered mine. “You have an awful lot of rules to follow.” His stare held my eyes hostage much like his grip was currently doing to my hand. The speed at which I could fall into his gaze and get lost was baffling. And scary.
Right now, all I wanted to do was dive in and never be found. Shaking my head, I snatched my fingers back. “It’s all just common sense,” I muttered, picking up the dice.
I decided to ignore his deep, sexy chuckle that made me shiver. Rolling, I swiftly counted the proper way on the game board.
His turn next, Jake deftly counted the wrong way. Again. “Are you kidding me?” I asked as his top hat sailed right to Virginia Avenue.
“Oh right, I forgot to buy Connecticut. Damn,” he said, counting out his money. “I’ll be the real estate guy.” He looked up at me, waiting for my response.
“Obviously. Do you expect me to be both the banker and the real estate person?”
A brief smile emerged before he cleared his throat. “Of course not.”
He handed me the money. I refused.
Frowning, he asked, “You’re giving it to me for free?” Then set the money on the board.
“You can’t go back and buy a property after your turn is over,” I said, picking up the money, placing it in front of him.
“What? I was too distracted by your ridiculous rule-making to remember.”
“Tough.”
His eyebrows raised as he narrowed his vision on me. “Tough?”
“Mmhmm.”
“You’re not going to let me buy it are you?”
“Nope. I guess I’ll have to bend my counting rule but I’m not budging on this.”
“I see.”
“What would happen if I allowed you to go back and buy Connecticut Avenue?” I asked, raising my hands in the air.
His mouth dropped open a bit. “Umm, I’d own it?” he said, quirking his head to the side.
“Ugh. If I allowed that then where do we draw the line? Next you’ll want to redo a turn you had five minutes ago.”
“Surely chaos would reign over us.”
“Exactly,” I said, giving in to a giggle. We played for a while—surprisingly there were no more incidents. Except of course for Jake insisting on counting in his head. Which equal parts annoyed me and turned me on with how quickly he managed to count and move.
A few times I double checked that he’d gotten it correct. He always did. After he’d made us some popcorn and brought more drinks, I asked him. “How can you do that so quickly?”
“Make popcorn?” he asked, a bit confused.
Laughing I said, “No, move your piece.”
“I don’t think you’ve even seen my piece yet let alone how quickly I can move it.”
I groaned at his horrible innuendo, “Your top hat, dufus.”
He chuckled, grabbing the dice from the board. “I just can.”
“But you’re always right.”
Those sexy lips formed a sly smirk, swiftly melting my panties—well, technically his undies. “It’s just a superpower I’ve always had. Does it turn you on?”
His words made me clench down below because for some insane reason it did. “No, I wouldn’t say that.”
“Then what would you say?”
“I’d say it more so annoys me.”
To that he nearly howled his laughter. “Fair enough,” he said, giving me the once over with those piercing eyes of his. “You’ll let me know when you want me to handle your piece?”
Another, much stronger clench followed by my nipples hardening. Again. Envisioning him handling anything and everything of mine was making me hot. After the initial shock of his words, I tried my best to play it cool. “I’m the only one who handles my piece properly. But thanks.”
The most devilish of grins spread across his face. “Oh I disagree. I’m pretty sure I’d do it better.” To that he casually winked at me before grabbing another handful of popcorn.
9
Jake
Of course, out of the dozen or so games I owned she had to choose Monopoly. Was there a game that took longer to play? Maybe RISK. Thank God I didn’t have that one.
“Bankrupt,” I said, tossing her what was left of my play money—and my pride.
Her hands shot up to the heavens as she did a wiggly victory cheer which I enjoyed very much. Her tits bounced joyfully, asking for my attention. And I was ready to give them as much attention as possible. “Whoohoo, I win!” she shouted, tossing her hair to and fro.
I hated losing. At anything. But Mindy made it well worth my while. “Yeah, yeah, you’re king of the world,” I said, stacking up the few piddly properties I’d collected while she had amassed the lion’s share of the houses and hotels.
Finally ceasing her celebration, she began the cleanup process as well. “Cheer up, nobody likes a sor
e loser.”
Oh trust me, I wasn’t the one who was going to be sore. I also wasn’t going to lose at my next venture. “You’ll have to comfort me in my loss.”
Her eyes looked straight at me—almost bashfully—as her cheeks reddened. Every time I hinted at the prospect of sleeping with her, she’d had similar reactions. My dick also reacted the same each time by getting embarrassingly hard. Fast.
It was like ninth grade all over again. At least I’d had the world’s biggest binder as a shield back then. When everything was packed up, she slowly set the lid on top of the box, pressing down until it was shut. I grabbed it, flinging it onto the other side of the couch.
Moving closer, I put my arm around her, pulling her soft, warm body into mine. “What’s next?” My gaze cruised right on down her chest to those tantalizingly sexy legs of hers.
“Umm, Battleship?” she replied, peering up at me with those gorgeous, sparkling, blue eyes of hers that pierced my soul.
“I have a different game we could play,” I lowered my head, touching my mouth to hers. Those lips of hers drove me mad. I licked across the lower one with the tip of my tongue tasting a slight hint of coconut. “Mmm, you taste so good,” I said, taking her lip between both of mine for a deeper sampling.
She looked up at me, seeming to be a bit uncomfortable. “It’s my lip gloss,” she whispered, her voice breathy and low.
“I think it’s you,” I said, covering her mouth with mine, demanding entry. She opened willingly, trying desperately to keep up with my fevered kiss. This woman had me completely undone. I wanted to rip this stupid T-shirt off Mindy and carry her to my bed. My dick throbbed to be inside her. Now.
A minute later, my fingers on the hem of her shirt—ready to whip it up and off—her head turned. “Why don’t you get Battleship?”
Breathless and a little stunned, I moved back, looking her straight in the eyes. “You really want to play another board game?” I asked incredulously, my cock already impossibly hard.
Her head nodded slightly. Sighing, I sat back, willing the ache in my balls to stop. It wouldn’t. What was up with this chick? Normally it was me trying to slow things down and peel them off. “Battleship it is.” I huffed, rising quickly, turning my back on her so she wouldn’t see the large problem I had in my pants.
Bending down where the games were, I took my time grabbing the correct box and organizing the rest. Anything to give me an opportunity for my hard-on to resolve.
Walking back to the couch, my eyes traveled up her long, exposed legs where they suddenly stopped. I spied a tiny piece of material that was very familiar looking. There was no stopping me from hooking a finger into the bottom of those gray boxers, then letting it snap back to her thigh. “I’m sure they look better on you than me.”
Her mouth opened slightly before her tongue darted out, licking the lips I wanted so much. How could I be jealous of her tongue?
“Whatever.” She smirked, pulling her—my—T-shirt down to cover herself more. Damn.
“All right, why don’t you hit me up with your bogus rules before we start playing this time?” I scoffed, removing the outer shell of plastic from the box.
“Battleship is pretty self-explanatory. You either hit or you miss.”
As I opened the box, removing both foldable game boards and all the playing pieces, I thought about whether tonight was going to be a hit or a miss for me. Nothing so far had gone as planned. “So there won’t be any surprises?”
Her face was always beautiful. But when she smiled the entire room brightened and my heart nearly burst when it was directed at me or something I’d said. Grinning, she said, “I can’t rule out the chance of any surprises.”
Life had pretty much killed my desire for anything unexpected. With Mindy, though? I couldn’t wait to see what she’d come up with. “Very well, then. Grab your pieces and place your ships, woman,” I said, tossing the bags of paraphernalia near her on the couch.
She was right. This game was pretty cheat-proof. There really wasn’t a way for her to come up with any goofy, random rules. You either managed to fire at the other person’s boats or you didn’t. The only thing I was grateful for was the speed at which we were playing. Mindy quickly replied and then shot back her request.
As we continued, I began to realize something wasn’t quite right. With all the white pegs I had on my upper level, it was quickly becoming apparent some of those had to be hits. There was no way I sucked this bad.
“You sure you know how to play this, right?” I asked, fairly certain she didn’t mess up the rules in her beautiful head.
“It’s pretty straightforward, Jake.” She almost scowled at me. Her eyes didn’t stay on mine long before darting back down to her hidden board.
Swallowing, I tried a different angle. “If I hit something you need to tell me so I can mark it down.”
“Yeeeeesss,” she replied, not bothering to look up at me. Hmm, something was amiss here.
Closing my board, I plucked hers right off her lap. “Let me take a quick assessment of the situation.”
She squeaked her surprise, then got up. “Hey, that’s definitely against the rules, bucko,” she said, her hands on her hips giving me a stern look. “Now give it back so we can finish.” Her hands clutched the sides of the game attempting to pull it out of mine.
Taking a quick scan, I realized my suspicions had been correct. “You’re cheating?”
Immediately, her fingers let go of the plastic. Backing away, she said, “No, you’re just being a sore loser again.”
Her words and her actions were at odds as she continued to move away one step at a time. Definitely the actions of a hot, guilty, game cheater. Throwing the game on the couch, I bolted up, dashing straight for her, my heart pounding in my chest. “I’m losing because you didn’t let me know any of the many hits I made.”
She maneuvered around the couch, eyes wide, keeping her distance. It was a smart move, having a large piece of furniture between us. “I may have made a mistake or—”
“Twenty?” I interrupted her, pretending to head around the couch but stopping. The stunned look on her face made me smile.
She squealed again, hobbling sideways. “I’m only human, I can’t help it if I missed something. You played so quickly it was easy to lose my concentration.”
That made me burst out laughing. What a completely bullshit explanation. “Admit you cheated, and we’ll forget this ever happened.” I had no intention whatsoever of letting her off the hook. As soon as I got my hands on her she’d pay for her behavior—naked, on my bed, legs spread. I’d waited long enough to taste her.
“I don’t cheat.”
That was it. The gorgeous woman in my living room, wearing my white T-shirt and tight boxer briefs was indeed a cheater. “You’ll have to pay for your lies.” After my threat, I bounded over the top of the couch, using one hand on the back of it.
Another much louder yell from Mindy sounded as she realized she’d been caught. “Oooff,” she said as I bent down, catching her delicious body on my shoulder. Standing, I turned, heading toward the hallway. “Where are you taking me? This is definitely against the rules.” Her hands slapped my back playfully.
I chuckled all the way to the bedroom until I stopped beside the bed. Hiking her up, I allowed her soft, curvy body to slide deliciously down the front of mine. “What are you doing? I thought we were going to finish playing our game?” she asked, her hair tumbling down her shoulders as she held onto me for dear life.
Running my hands through her hair, moving it out of her face, I leaned in. “I think you’ve been playing more than one kind of game. Now it’s time to play mine.”
With that, my restraint snapped, pushing her a few more feet backward until the bed caught behind her knees causing her to fall. I followed, of course, hands under her armpits to hitch her body further up my mattress.
Her arms circled my shoulders, holding me close. My mouth crashed down on hers, giving her no other opti
on but to open for me. I moaned down her throat as my kiss engulfed her, taking on a life of its own. She was a willing participant, fighting for control just when I thought I had it. I’d be rewarded though letting her explore my mouth just as I had hers.
My hardness was growing more and more impatient, however. I slid away just long enough to get a grip on the hem of her shirt, lifting it up and over her head. She struggled to get her arms out but finally, there she laid. Hair spread out on my bed, bare, luscious breasts waiting for me. God, she should be in a museum or on a painting.
Urgently, I undid the first few buttons on my shirt before shoving it up and off. Laying back down, I spread her legs, folding them around me. “You are so beautiful,” I said, kissing her again like it was my soul purpose in life.
My hand snaked up, covering what I could of her breast, delighting in the heaviness of it. She groaned so seductively, I instinctively ground my hips into her. Leaving her mouth, I licked down her neck in search of what I’d been wanting all night. Taking her nipple into my mouth, I circled it with my tongue.
“Oh my God, that’s amazing. Yes, that feels so good, Jake.” Her hands dove into my hair, holding my head to her chest—not that I needed any encouragement. Switching to the other breast, she again sighed loudly, moving her head from side to side on the bed.
Both nipples teased to perfect buds, I kissed down her stomach, passed her belly button to the ultimate prize. I placed my mouth on the apex between her thighs, only the thin material of underwear between us.
Her legs tightened on my head, then she scooted up the bed, leaving me high and dry. “I—I—I need to—” she said, unable to catch her breath. I couldn’t blame her because I was breathing hard, too.
“Where did you go?” I asked, following her up to the head of the bed. My eyes locked on how her breasts rose and lowered with each breath. She was so incredibly gorgeous—boxers and all.
“Look, I should probably,” she said before I kissed her again, going more slowly now. Maybe my intensity had scared her? I’d show her I could control myself. I think. She melted down to the pillows, allowing me access to her mouth and chest. My hand wandered down, between her thighs feeling the dampness there.
