by Aja Cole
The groans from across the small table do two things to me.
One, confirm that Luna’s does in fact, have the best donuts in the world.
Two, absolutely wreck me with lust because I can’t help but wonder if he makes those same groans with his clothes off.
“Tell me I was right.” I take a bite of my own cinnamon sugar donut, licking my lips when the sugary mix clings to them.
“Good as fuck,” He mumbles, chewing and shaking his head. “Might not eat anyone else’s.”
“Having the best will ruin you that way.” I pull my gaze away from his lips, slicked with a little bit of glaze that’s throwing indecent images in my mind.
God, it’s been so long since I’ve had sex and putting this newly single man in my bubble is just unspeakably cruel of the universe to do. I mean, how can I be expected not to take this opportunity for a rebound? Imagine what the pick-me-up of good, uncomplicated sex could do for me before I face my parents and my insecurities.
And to top it off…I’m going back to Atlanta and he’ll be right here in California.
That’s plenty of distance between us for things not to get awkward and for Chris to never find out. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t turn me down either, not once I convinced him that I’m a grown woman capable of making my own decisions without my brother policing who I can and can’t sleep with.
Jackson might not realize it yet, but I’m not going to bed alone tonight.
5
Walking up the path in comfortable silence, I feel like an infatuated teenager, doing everything I can to make this mean something.
I let my hand brush his every so often, and I know I’m not imagining the small jolts I feel every time we make contact.
Jackson and I have chemistry.
I knew it when I first opened that door at the motel and he knows it too.
If my brother trusts him, then he’s a stand-up guy. That takes away half the things I’d need to figure out if I’d met him on Tinder for a hookup. Not only is he hot enough to warm the city, but he’s already got a seal of approval built in.
The only thing left to uncover is if he’s willing to dive in with me.
He pulls out the key for the front door, but drops it. I scoop it up quickly, at the same time as he leans to do the same, and we’re staring in each other’s faces, eyes locked and breath held.
“Truth or Dare,” I throw out impulsively, straightening and keeping the key in my palm.
“Truth.” He murmurs.
I tilt my head, choosing my words carefully and refusing to drop his hazel green gaze. “If I weren’t Chris’ little sister, would I still have my clothes on right now?”
His delicious lips part and his large body stills. I stare at him straight on, my challenge issued.
Maybe I’m high on feeling like I’ve wasted the last three years of my life.
Maybe I’m just out of fucks to give after hearing my husband tell me that he should’ve married the woman he was having an affair with instead of me.
All I know is that unless Jackson tells me that he doesn’t want me, that he’s not attracted to me, then this is what I want right now.
“Nomi…”
I put a finger to his lips before he can give me all the reasons why we can’t do this. “You have to answer truthfully, Jackson. It’s the name of the game. Not what you think you should say…the truth.”
Long moments pass with us standing at the front door, me holding my breath because I so desperately want him and him warring with himself about what his next move will be.
Doubt starts to filter through my veins, because I wonder if I underestimated his loyalty to my brother. I haven’t asked him much about his life or their relationship, because I’ve been trying to keep things light and not get overly attached like I know I would if I knew his life story or listened to more anecdotes about what makes him the man he is.
I don’t even know his job, but that’s the way I want it.
When I leave here, I’m leaving Jackson behind too.
Just when my resolve starts to waver, when I think that I’ve overplayed my hand, his lips part and he nips the pad of my finger gently, pulling a gasp from my throat and sending heat to my core.
“Yes…” He starts, voice low and raspy. “But only because I don’t need to be arrested for public indecency. You know how hard I was when you were licking cinnamon and sugar off your fingers? And the sounds you were making? I just knew you were fucking with me.”
“Me? You had me wanting to jump across the table with the sounds you were making.”
“I guess I’m in good company then.” He crowds me against the door with his large body and it feels like the amount of available oxygen just disappears. He’s so big and masculine. He’s not hulked out with muscle, but I’m betting that he’s definitely no slouch in the weight room. The way he moves is almost graceful, athletic. I have the fleeting thought that I’m glad that I’ve kept up with dancing because I’ll probably need that stamina to keep up with him in bed.
“I just have one request.” I bring my hands up between us, sliding them over his dark grey tee and up to run my palms over his shoulders and biceps reverently.
“Hm?”
“It doesn’t go past this, however long I’m here. Once I go home…we just let it be a good memory. I want…this is how I want to remember California, not breaking down on my patio in lingerie.”
“That’s quite the visual, but if that’s what you want, then I’ll respect your wishes.” He drops a kiss on my forehead, one across my nose, skirts over the tops of my cheeks and lingers just over my lips. “Let me make sure I make it a helluva time to remember.”
Jackson notches his hips against mine and I mewl, unable to mistake the hardness rocking against my clit as anything other than a very impressive erection.
“Got a few questions of my own before we get inside.”
I tighten my arms around his neck, sighing. “The answer is yes to all of it as long as you speed this up.”
His rumble of laughter shakes his chest and mine, making me smile too, then he gets down to business.
“Last time you were tested?”
“Full panel the day after I left my husband, so nearly 6 weeks ago and all clear.”
“Mine was last month, same partner and always used protection. Clear too. You on birth control?”
“Yes, not looking to be a mom anytime soon.”
“Kids aren’t in my life plan at all, so that works for me.” He distracts me from the small pang of disappointment I feel hearing that by nuzzling his lips along my neck and ear, making me bunch my shoulder towards him and shiver when he blows air softly across my skin. “I need you to talk to me. If something’s not workin’ for you, you tell me. You feel like you’re not gonna come, that’s fine as long as you’re having a good time, but don’t fake it with me. Might be a fling, but I want it to stay real. Cool?”
I can’t even make words come to my lips, that’s how lightheaded being so close to him is making me, so I just nod, my knees buckling just slightly from a swipe of tongue against my collarbone.
This man is going to wreck me.
I know it.
But I just can’t figure out how to care right now.
I just want him to do me already.
Whipping around and blindly groping for the door with the key, I open it and stumble forward in my haste, breath whooshing out of me when Jackson scoops me up after he shuts the door behind us. He heads up those same stairs that he and Ansley went up earlier, and it feels like it’s been days since that happened and not mere hours that he’s been single. I cling to him, using these last few moments before things get real to gather myself and ask myself what I really want out of this. However long this is.
Because I haven’t decided exactly when I’ll head home, despite giving Jackson that impression. It’ll really depend on this, on him, on when it feels like I’ve gotten in too deep and I can’t live in the fantasy world anymore
where I don’t need to get a job, actually talk to Vaughn or fill my family in.
I meant it when I said that I wanted him to be the memory that I look back on, ending this time.
“Hey,” He says softly, pulling me from my thoughts. I realize we’re stopped in front of a door to what I assume is his bedroom, “We can stop at any point, no matter how far we get or what we’re doing. No pressure.”
“The last thing I want to do is stop.” I tighten my arms around his neck and nod towards the door, resting my cheek against his strong chest. “Take me to bed, Jackson.”
6
After Jackson sets me down, he goes to turn the light on and I stop him with a gentle hand, shaking my head in the dim room that’s only lit by some of the lights on outside. “No…just feel me.”
He turns and slips his hands against my face, tilting my head up and stepping closer…closer…close until our bodies are flush against each other.
“I plan to feel you all night.” His voice is rough, heady and intoxicating. I can’t decide if I want him to talk me to sleep or talk me to orgasm, but I’m certain he could do both.
Then he kisses me for the first time and I sag against him, trying to get even closer because the feeling of his lips slanting and moving over mine, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips and the energy arcing between us makes me want to crawl right inside his body and never leave.
He tastes like sugar and it’s even better that I get the sense that he’s just as sweet.
He tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth and I moan, my arms around his waist, losing more oxygen as each second passes and not giving a single damn if I pass out right now.
I need to feel his skin, need to know if he’s as hot as I am.
Finding the bottom of his shirt, I do my best to rip it over his head but he’s too tall, so he helps me out by dropping to his knees. Dropping his shirt away, I wish that I’d let him turn on the lights, but it’s also that much hotter without them.
Later. Later, I’ll spend all the time I want admiring him with the right lighting.
Now…now is for touch. For feeling our way around each other in ways that I’ve only fantasized about. For intimacy, for heat, for connection, for the things I miss the most.
He unsnaps that button on my jeans, dragging down the zipper and pushing them over my hips and over my thighs with small tugs, still on his knees. I kick them away, making quick work of my button down and ripping off the white tank top I had on underneath. I reach around to unhook my bra, but Jackson grips my hips and pulls me forward to press a kiss just under my bra.
“Leave it.”
I move my hands from my bra to his hair, raking my fingers through the dark strands.
“I’ve never really felt much from oral, so you don’t have to go down on me.”
He rests his chin on my stomach, and I can feel him looking at me. My eyes have adjusted some, but I still can’t see his eyes in their full, sparkling glory. “But do you want me to? Not asking what it’s been like before.”
I hesitate, and that small moment must be enough for him to know my answer without my confirmation. I’ve been with three other men and between them, I’ve probably gotten oral a total of thirty minutes. The few times it happened, they couldn’t figure me out and I’ll admit that guidance in bed isn’t my strong suit. It just got to the point that I thought maybe I was the problem and just not one of those women who feels much from it, so I started just saying they didn’t have to. Vaughn protested the first few times, but eventually, I think he was more than happy to just have me give blowjobs instead.
Instead of the bed, Jackson pulls me down to my knees and presses me back until I’m laying on the plush carpet while his hands move up my bent legs. “We’ll take it slow. I’m a very patient man.”
With every word he speaks, my pussy pulses a little more. It’s calling out for him, and I wonder if I’ve just finally found a man who speaks its language.
Jackson slips my panties over my ass and up my legs, dropping them to the floor before he presses my knees out and down, surprised when they touch the floor completely.
“Shit, you’re flexible.”
“I’ve danced all my life.” I breathe out, heart pounding in anticipation. He’s tracing circles and squares and god knows what else on my skin every second, making my nerves come alive and my breath stutter.
To add on to my torture…he starts talking.
Telling me what he’s doing and what he’s going to do.
“Sometimes, the trick is to drag it out, to not give you what you want until it’s driving you crazy.” He murmurs, dropping down so that he’s laying on his stomach between my legs, fingers still lightly touching me and pulling low moans from my mouth. I’m spread open for him, completely and totally, but he’s not even fully touching me. “With my fingers, with my mouth, with everything I’ve got at my disposal. Then just when you think you can’t handle it anymore…I’ll show you that you can. And you will.”
Jackson blows breath over my clit and I cant my hips towards him, feeling the bundle of nerves stiffen and throb with blood. His fingers move nearer to my center, and I lift up on my elbows, unable to look away because the feelings are building my visuals. I wiggle, trying to get him closer to where I need him to be, but he holds me in place easily.
So much for not needing oral.
When his hands are closer to the junction of my thighs, he starts to massage lightly, pressing into my skin and somehow relaxing me and making me hotter at the same time.
I was definitely not prepared for Jackson, that’s becoming abundantly clear.
Part of me wants to stop this now and run before I’m in pieces, and the other…well, the other is the one that wins because I’m staying right here. If this is how I’m going out, then I at least know that it’s going to be nothing short of amazing.
His thumbs swipe over my slick labia softly, teasingly.
With his fingers, he parts my skin, rubbing and torturing.
“Wish you could see how wet you are, it’s killin’ me.”
“Jackson, please.”
“Soon.” He promises, and he finally brushes my clit with his fingers.
“Aaah.”
“Let’s see how you like it,” He busses a kiss over my inner thigh, starting to slide his thumb in a wet circle over my clit leisurely. I arch my back. “Slow?” He speeds up and I tense, gasping. “Fast?” He slows down again and I groan, shaking my head.
“Fast, please. Go fast.”
“Thatta girl,” He says, following my edict. My core flutters and aches, and I bite my lip, tensing. “Let’s see how you want my tongue.”
The visual, my god, the visual that springs to mind is almost enough to unravel me completely.
And then, it’s reality.
His fingers slip against my inner lips, testing and seeking while he captures my clit between his lips gently before he presses his tongue against the underside, firm while he suckles slowly.
He speeds up, and I know what he’s asking since he can’t say the words.
“Slow,” I croak out, “And do your tongue like your finger.”
Immediately, I can feel his tongue start to circle my clit and I sob as he keeps it up, pressing a finger inside my wetness before adding a second. His fingers press against my walls in a way that no one’s ever done before. They’ve always just gone fast and hard, like it was their dicks, but Jackson…no, he’s in a league of his own. His fingers learn me and drive me mad, giving me pressure that’s exactly right with the rhythmic, consistent strokes of his tongue.
He’s some kind of sex god sent to ruin me for anyone else and show me exactly what I’ve been missing. And holy shit, I guess I’ve been missing a lot and we’ve barely started.
“I’m gonna cum, fuck, I’m gonna cum.” I gasp, rolling my hips and reaching for his head. He doesn’t let up, doesn’t change up from what he’s discovered I like and he gets me there.
He throws me over his head off that
damn cliff and my orgasm thunders through me like never before. All I can do when it’s over is shake and twitch, panting hard and feeling the sheen of sweat across my skin.
“When there’s feeling in my limbs again, I’ll return the favor.”
“I don’t keep score, baby. Watching you come apart like that is enough for me.” He pulls me up to standing with him and topples me onto the bed, getting rid of his sweats easily before he helps me get rid of my bra. “And I’m not gonna last if I get your mouth on me.” Before I’ve caught my breath fully, he’s rolled a condom on and spread my legs again, covering my body with his and capturing my mouth again. I sink into the kiss, sighing and hooking my ankles high on his back. Without stopping our kiss, he lines up and starts to press inside me, stretching me with his thickness, making me tighten my arms around his neck.
I swear I can feel every inch, every push, and I’m sure that I won’t be able to take all of him. Only, just when I’m wondering if he’s going to come up my throat, I feel his pelvis against me and have to tear my mouth away, gasping for air and groaning at how full I am.
It’s a tight fit, but fuck, it’s a great one.
“Give me everything, Jackson.” I whisper in his ear, tugging his ear lobe with my teeth before I suckle my way down his neck and find my way back to his mouth. “Please.”
He strokes in and out of me with precision and promise.
Every movement, every sound, is like nothing I’ve ever felt before.
Passion.
Strength.
Skill.
No words seem adequate to express him, this, what this energy is in the air.
Magic.
Fate.
Truth.
I cling to him and devour his lips with mine so I don’t say anything that I’ll regret. So my mouth doesn’t spew all of the things I’m feeling before my brain can filter it. He takes me higher and higher until my body is one big ball of arousal and heat, until I’m strung tight like a bow and need the release.
