They were making progress. Slow and steady. Tonight he wanted to take it all the way. That meant convincing Jade to remove her clothing.
“I’ll take off my jeans and my panties,” Jade said, her voice tightening. “Let me leave my shirt on.”
“Think about the feel of your bare breasts against my chest,” Garrett cajoled gently. “Don’t you want to rub against me? Picture it, Jade. Anticipate the sensation of our bare bodies, free of any constraint, touching. The thought makes me so hard.”
Garrett felt Jade’s hand tracing the skin just above the snap on his jeans. She never touched any lower. She flirted with the area, driving him crazy. However, this time felt different. He held his breath, hoping Jade would take her exploration lower. The breath rushed from Garrett’s lungs when, with no preamble, she cupped his erection.
The denim between Jade’s hand and Garrett was a minor barrier. The pressure, the light squeeze she gave, felt like a little slice of heaven.
“You are hard.”
“Does that surprise you?” Garrett asked. “Everything about you is a turn on, Jade.”
“Why?”
Jade was the first woman to ask Garrett that question. Why do you find me attractive? What is it about me? In all honesty, it wasn’t a question he had ever contemplated. The smell of her hair? The sound of her voice? The way she turned her head when she listened, really listened, to what he said?
Sexual attraction was such a subjective thing. Not only that, it was fluid — ever changing. One week you can’t live without someone. Her touch, her taste sends you over the moon. The next week she leaves you cold. What changed? Her shampoo? What she ate for breakfast? There was no answer. Not really. Attraction was a mystery better savored than understood.
“I don’t know why, Jade.” Garrett put his hand over hers, increasing the pressure. “This is yours. I feel it every time I see you. Hell, you don’t have to be anywhere near me. The thought of you arouses me.”
“I…”
“What?” Garrett urged when her voice faltered.
“I think about you,” she said a bit shyly. “When I’m alone at night. In bed.”
“Do you touch yourself?”
“Yes.”
He sucked in a deep breath. Damn, that was not where he expected this to go. The thought of her masturbating while fantasizing about him? The image almost scorched his brain to ashes.
“One day you are going to give me a detailed account, and I mean detailed.” Reluctantly, Garrett moved her hand away. “Tonight, we go old school. You.” He kissed her. “Me.” The kiss was longer. “In bed.” His mouth played with hers with long, passionate swipes of his tongue.
“I like the sound of that.”
“Naked, Jade. We are going to be naked.”
Feeling her pull back, Garrett deepened the kiss. He wouldn’t give Jade the chance to lose the heat that was building. He wanted her so out of control she forgot everything. Her pain, her scars. He wanted her to feel beautiful, the way he saw her, inside and out.
Before she could protest, Garrett grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it off in one motion. He went to his knees, his arms around her waist, his face pressed against her stomach. Without a word, Garrett pressed his lips to the skin below her ribs. Jade didn’t protest. She didn’t move. They held their breath as he began to map every inch of her with his kisses.
Garrett felt it — the healed wounds that were daily reminders of something she wanted to forget. When he ran his tongue over a long, jagged ridge, Jade gasped, trying to move away. Her shaking hands pushed at his head.
“Don’t, Garrett. It’s so ugly. I’m ugly.”
The tears he heard in Jade’s voice ripped at his gut. He would give her anything she asked if it would dry those tears. Almost anything. He wouldn’t get off his knees. He wouldn’t take his lips from her ravaged skin. He had to make her understand. She wasn’t ugly.
Unbuttoning her jeans, Garrett lowered the zipper, his mouth following slowly behind. When the denim pooled at Jade’s feet, he lifted each leg, guiding her until she stood before him in nothing but her underwear.
“Such soft, sweet skin.”
Jade stopped trying to push him away. Instead, her hand went to her stomach, splaying across as much of the surface as she could reach. Garrett didn’t reassure her with words. He used his mouth, kissing each finger, his teeth lightly nipping.
“That isn’t fair, Garrett.”
Smiling at the moan Jade couldn’t contain, Garrett nuzzled the mound of silk-covered flesh between her legs.
“You didn’t ask me to play fair, Jade,” he said. “You wanted me to help you feel again. Feel more than you’ve ever felt before. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
Jade’s response was breathy but giving, without hesitation. Garrett pushed his advantage.
“This is all about you, Jade,” Garrett assured her. “What you need. What you want. Do you want to put yourself in my hands? I promise to stop if you want me to.”
“No!” Jade cried out. Her hands slid into his hair, holding him in place. “Don’t stop. Even if I beg you to.”
“Oh, honey.” Garrett kissed the inside of Jade’s thigh. “You’ll be begging, all right.” He edged his tongue under the band of elastic. “If you taste half as good as you smell I won’t be coming up for a very long time.”
“Maybe we could start with something a little less… personal.”
Garrett chuckled. That wasn’t fear in her voice. Unease, he could deal with. The intrigue he could build on.
“If we do this right, it will be nothing but personal. First, let’s get rid of these.”
Garrett divested Jade of her panties before she could think of a reason to keep them on.
“Are you as pretty down here as I imagine?”
“No one is pretty down there,” Jade informed him breathily.
“Now, that is where you’re wrong.” Garrett kissed the skin of her sloping mound. “A woman’s sex is uniquely beautiful. The source of so much pleasure. The bringer of life.”
Garrett’s tongue teased, and then dipped for his first taste. Mmm. Just as he suspected. Instantly addictive. From the sounds Jade made, she agreed. Giving her a gentle push, Garrett toppled Jade back onto the bed. On his knees, he settled between her legs. He planned on giving her multiple orgasms. And he planned on enjoying every moment.
Jade, it seemed, was through protesting. Garrett could hear her deep breathing. He could feel the tension in her legs.
“Are you thinking of England?”
“What?”
God, he wished he could see more than the shadowy outline of her face. That what was tinged with so many emotions. Surprise. Confusion. A big dose of what the hell are you talking about? Her expression must be priceless.
“Isn’t that the old saying? When a Victorian wife was expected to do her wifely duties, she was told to lie back and think of England. It kept her mind off of her rutting husband,” Garrett explained, the whole time running his hands over her legs, satisfied when they started to relax. “I don’t think Victorian women were supposed to enjoy sex.”
“I counted.”
“Counted what?”
On the surface, talking about sex with her husband didn’t seem like the best foreplay. Garrett wasn’t interested in the surface. Jade’s problems were much deeper. If he could help her root some of them out, no subject was off limits.
“I counted how long it took Stephen to finish. I’m happy to say he didn’t have much stamina. At least, not with me.”
“Wham, bam?”
“And never a thank you, ma’am.”
Garrett smiled. There it was. Jade had a terrific sense of humor. One of the many things he was discovering about her. If she could laugh, even a little, about her husband’s many shortcomings, she would heal much faster.
“Not to brag…,” Garrett began, his voice teasing.
“No one starts a sentence like that if they aren’t about to bra
g,” Jade pointed out.
Deciding Jade was relaxed and enjoying their banter, Garrett took advantage by sliding his finger between the wet folds. He entered her easily. Lord, she was tight. Thinking about sinking his cock into her was almost his undoing. He had to pull his thoughts away from himself and concentrate on Jade. Her gasp of pleasure helped him refocus.
“As I was saying. Not to brag, but I can go for hours.” Garrett punctuated the sentence by taking another taste, his tongue lingering, causing Jade’s hips to push forward, silently asking for more.
“Hours?” she sighed. Jade sounded hopeful. And disbelieving.
“I understand. You need proof. No problem.”
Garrett could tell Jade was close. The movement of her body, the shallow gasps all added up to one thing. He planned on making the first orgasm she received from him a memorable one. Moving his thumb to the side, he replaced it with his mouth.
The flavor of her spicy nectar burst over his taste buds. He lapped them up, savoring every drop. The sounds Jade made were like music, filling the room, drowning out the ancient air conditioner. Garrett heard only Jade. His senses filled with her. When her fingers threaded through his hair, squeezing, pulling him closer, he knew she was just as invested as he was. Then when her legs stiffened. When she cried out in wonder, he knew he was hers. It was too soon to speak the words. There was a long way to go before any declarations could be made. Still, when he thought back, he would remember this as the exact moment he knew Jade Marlow was the only woman for him.
Garrett soothed while Jade floated down. Moving from the floor, he joined her on the bed. He took her in his arms, settling the sheet over their bodies. He didn’t speak. Instead, he held on, waiting for her to absorb everything.
“No one has ever done that for me,” Jade whispered after a few minutes.
“Given you an orgasm?” Garrett asked.
“That too. But I meant how you did it.” She sighed, snuggling closer. “Thank you.”
“They don’t know what they missed.” Garrett put his lips close to Jade’s ear. “You taste like heaven.”
“Garrett…”
“Are you blushing?”
“Probably.” Jade hesitated, as though considering her next words. “I want to return the favor.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Knowing that she meant right now, Garrett held Jade close, stopping her hand when she reached for his erection. He was rock hard. The thought of her mouth around him made his entire body tighten with anticipation. However, tonight that image was not going to become a reality.
“We’ll get to it,” Garrett assured Jade. And himself. “When I make you feel good, Jade, I don’t expect anything in return. Two consenting adults. That’s what we are. Sometimes the pleasure is in giving pleasure.”
“I’ve never known a man who would turn down a blow job.”
“Don’t get the idea I’m a self-sacrificing saint,” Garrett laughed. “In the future, when you offer again, my answer will be a resounding yes.”
“But not tonight.”
“Not tonight.”
They quietly lay in each other’s arms. Garrett toyed with the ends of Jade’s long, thick hair, picturing how the red almost glowed in the candlelight while they shared dinner. He tried unsuccessfully to remember Jade in the light of day.
There must have been a time, over the years they lived nearby, that he ran into her. When they were school age, Garrett’s parents took him and his brothers on location during summer break. His childhood had been filled with exotic adventures. Egypt, Japan, Argentina. By the time Garrett graduated high school, his passport was full — his education diverse.
“When you were a child, what did you do during summer vacation?”
“That’s an odd question,” Jade said, her voice slightly muffled. She was nibbling on his chest. As good it felt, it was damn distracting.
“Not odd,” he said. “I’m curious about you. Did you travel? Stay home? Have adventures around the neighborhood with friends? Tell me about young Jade.”
“There isn’t much to tell, Garrett.” Jade slid her hand across his stomach, dangerously close to where the sheet covered his lower half.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Garrett took her hand, kissing the back. He then laced her fingers with his, keeping a firm grasp. “I’ve shared a lot about my misadventures. You don’t have to recite the novel, Jade. Start with the Reader’s Digest version.”
“Fine,” Jade sighed. “My father preferred I socialize with the children of whoever could do him the most good, business-wise. As a result, I hung around with a lot of sullen, over privileged jerks. I can only imagine what they said about me when I wasn’t around.”
“What makes you think what they said was bad?”
“I was shy and I didn’t want to be anywhere near them.” Jade’s laugh was self-deprecating. “Not the best combination to win friends and influence people.”
“You forget,” Garrett said. “I grew up around those idiots too. With few exceptions, they weren’t worth your time or effort.”
“Tell that to my father. I tried, honestly. If only to avoid another lecture.” Jade shuddered. “God, I hated those lectures. He never raised his voice. That cold, impersonal stare he gave me. Why can’t you make more of an effort to fit in? My father is big on fitting in. For years, he has tried to whittle away at my annoying edges, desperate to make this square peg fit into a Beverly Hills round hole.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being unique, Jade.”
“Not unique,” Jade corrected. “Odd. I’m too tall. Can’t do anything about that except relegate me to flat-soled shoes. My eyes are too big, my hair is too red.”
“Too red?” Garrett touched the thick, soft-as-silk strands again. “No such thing.”
“Mr. Deon didn’t agree.”
“Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Because about fourteen years ago, he was the hairdresser in Beverly Hills,” Jade explained. “My father’s girlfriend of the moment insisted I go to him. Mr. Deon was bound to be able to do something with my Ronald McDonald mop.”
“What a bitch,” Garrett said. Jade couldn’t have been more than what? Thirteen? A vulnerable age. Instead of being a friend, this other woman tore at Jade’s insecurities. What was wrong with people?
“Mmm,” Jade nodded her head in agreement. “I became a brunette.”
“Well, that’s not right.”
“I’d show you photographic evidence, but I’ve destroyed every picture from those three years.”
“That long?” Garrett asked in amazement.
“She had her claws in tight.” Jade shrugged. “When my father moved on, so did the brown hair. Gradually. I was afraid to make a too sudden change. Turns out it didn’t matter. One night he was entertaining a business associate. The man’s wife commented that I looked much better as a redhead than a brunette. My father, instead of being upset, glanced at me and muttered, When were you a brunette?”
“My opinion of your father continues to sink to depths I didn’t know existed.”
“I was floored.”
Garrett rubbed Jade’s shoulders, trying to comfort. Anson Marlow displayed a careless cruelty towards Jade that made him sick to his stomach. How could you not care anything about your own daughter? The idea was unfathomable.
“I sound pathetic,” Jade said. Before he could protest, she added, “I had a playmate. Manuela, our gardener’s daughter. Sometimes she would come with her father and we would play in the backyard. She’s the reason I picked this motel.”
That surprised Garrett.
“You told her about us?”
“No,” Jade shook her head. “She once mentioned that her older sister is a maid here. I knew how much pride the entire family takes in their work, so I thought the chances were good these rooms would be clean. I was right.”
“Jade…”
“You have to admit, you could eat off those bathroom floors.”
&nb
sp; “I’ll take your word for it.”
Garrett didn’t know who was crazier. Jade for picking this place on the off chance the gardener’s older daughter was as fastidious as the rest of her family. Or him for continuing to come to this sparkling hellhole. Something needed to change. Soon.
“Garrett?”
“Hmm?”
“Will you…?”
When Jade hesitated, Garrett slid down until they were face to face. Close enough to see her eyes. He felt the frustration again. He wanted to see the changing emotions in those hazel depths. When he gave her pleasure, he wanted to see if the color became more green or gold. Right now, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. He was so sick of existing in the shadows when it came to Jade.
“Will I…?”
“Can we have sex?”
Garrett smiled. Nothing shadowy about that request.
“Let’s start by removing that bra.”
He reached around, unclasping the back, then slid the piece of silk down Jade’s arms.
“Are you excited or cold?”
“Garrett.”
“Jade,” Garrett chuckled. “I’ve touched your breasts. Kissed them. I’ve taken your nipples in my mouth. Your moans have filled this room, so I know you like what I do. Why are you embarrassed?”
“I like it when you do things,” she admitted. “I don’t know if I can talk about it.”
“Does it bother you when I talk?” Garrett asked. He traced the slope of her breast until his finger rubbed the tip. “You don’t like dirty talk?”
“I do like it.” Jade whispered the words as though her admission might be heard by someone outside the room. “I like it a lot.”
“Good. Because I like talking during sex. I like letting you know what you do to me. How good you feel. Of course, I can’t talk when I do this.”
Garrett took her nipple in his mouth. The stiff little peak became harder as he sucked, grazing it with his teeth. Like a juicy strawberry — but much sweeter.
“Do you want me to tell you how you feel in my mouth?”
Dreaming With A Broken Heart (Hollywood Legends #1) Page 11
