by Natalie Ann
He followed her eyes down to where they’d locked right on what was growing under her hips, then he held his breath. “What’s that?”
Her face started to turn a little red. “I was wondering if I could do something to you that you’ve been doing for me.”
“Only if you want to,” he said.
“I do. I really do.”
He slipped his hands under her ass and stood up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist. “Let’s go take a shower first and get all nice and clean.”
“Can I wash you?” she asked, attacking his neck right now like a starving woman and he was going to be her feast. Or so he hoped!
“You can do anything you want with me.”
She giggled, then bit his neck and he took the stairs two at a time. “I like when you move fast like that. Maybe I need to bite you more often.”
Rather than answer her, he walked into the bathroom, removed one hand from her and turned the shower on. He missed the heat from her body when she slid down and started to undress in rapid movements, sending clothing flying all over this bathroom.
He was trying to match her speed, and when he couldn’t she helped him out, then tugged him under the water with her, laughing the entire time. He’d said he’d never laughed as much as he had before he met her and that meant in the bedroom too. Who knew how great laughter and humor could be during sex?
They were both under the water now, soaking wet, when she reached beyond him and grabbed the bar of soap, lathered her hands up and went to town.
Slick and warm, gliding all over his body. Touching places he’d never thought would feel so good. The crook of his elbow, behind his knee, his collarbone. Places he just washed to get it done before.
But she wasn’t really just washing him. She was feeling him. She was pleasuring him.
Then she found what she was wanting all along, washed him more thoroughly than ever before, made sure he was rinsed off and then she cleaned him up again. This time with her mouth.
Her hands were all over him. Up and down his legs, her nails grazing him. The heat of the water running down his back, that of her mouth on him, and the chills of her fingertips, were ready to send him over the edge.
He grabbed her by the hair, probably harder than he meant, but his hands got tangled in the wet strands. She just looked up at him, her mouth a little red, her eyes sparkling, and then she shook his hand off, lowered her mouth and went right back at it. Harder and faster and he was lost. So utterly and completely lost.
***
Jessica couldn’t believe she’d done that. That she wanted to and that she enjoyed it as much as she had.
She’d heard her roommates talking about giving guys blow jobs before and she always thought it was kind of icky. But when you were with someone that you cared for—that made you feel so good about yourself—then you wanted to do that, she was learning. You wanted them to feel what you were feeling.
“So I was okay?” she asked him when they were lying in bed now, her head on his chest, his hand running up and down her back.
“The curse words that flew out of my mouth weren’t enough to tell you how good it was. Or the fact that I almost drowned with the water going in my mouth shouting.”
“Only good?”
“Great,” he said, laughing. “Really. It was wonderful. I hope you didn’t feel pressured to do that.”
“Why do you always worry about me feeling pressured?” she asked, trying not to get annoyed. Sometimes it was like he was afraid she’d break and she didn’t know why, and didn’t know how to bring it up to him either. Guess now seemed the right time.
“I know this is all new to you.”
“Not anymore though. I’m just going with what I feel. What you make me feel. I thought we said we weren’t going to hide anything from each other. So tell me why you always worry. I can see it in your eyes when you’d rather I didn’t.”
She held her breath, hoping he told her, but wasn’t sure. He did. “I don’t want to be a stepping stone for you.”
She sat up fast. “What? What does that mean?”
“That came out completely wrong.”
“I hope so because it doesn’t make me look good.”
Or feel good. She knew she was narrowing her eyes at him. She was completely insulted right now. Maybe she shouldn’t have done what she did in the shower. Maybe he thought differently of her now.
“I’m older than you. I’m your first everything. I’ve experienced more,” he said. “I know what I want and you’re just learning what you like, let alone what you might want.”
She angled her head. “I’m pretty smart, Mason. I know what I want.”
“What’s that?”
“You. I don’t care about age. I don’t care about experience. I’m not stressing over the fact that you have a ton of experience and that maybe you’re comparing me to them. So why would I think anything about the fact that I don’t have a lot of experience and worry about our relationship?”
He pulled her head back to his chest. “You’re right. And you’re smarter than me. I never thought I’d feel insecure or uneasy about being in a relationship, but I am.”
“And I’m not,” she said. “Imagine that.”
He snorted. “Nothing at all? You’re not insecure? I don’t believe that.”
“Well. Not much anymore,” she admitted.
“I guess I need to listen to my own words more often about hiding things.”
“Yes, you do,” she said.
She snuggled in more, her eyes starting to drift off when she remembered something. “Mason, did you have a small shipment today picked up or delivered?”
“No, why? Just the big one earlier in the day.”
“No reason.” She didn’t want to start anything. She could be wrong. Maybe she was, but part of her didn’t think so.
“You wouldn’t have brought it up if there wasn’t a reason.”
“When I’m doing the tours in the warehouse I always make comments about the quantity in there. I never specifically say what the quantity is, but I always kind of do the math in my head. Just count the rows and such of the different labels.”
He sat up and pulled her up with him. “And?”
“There was a row yesterday that was lower than the other ones. I thought maybe someone was just rearranging things and didn’t think much of it. Then today there was one row less after I thought the shipment was loaded on the truck. Again, maybe it was just moved.” There was so much beer in the warehouse, but Mason was really organized too.
“Nothing should be moved without my knowledge. Everything is always accounted for.”
“Sorry. Maybe I’m wrong.”
“Or maybe not.” He was silent for a second and she wasn’t sure what she should do. Say something or let it drop, but he finally said, “Do you mind going in earlier before anyone gets there? I want to look. I need to check on some things and I can’t do that if others are there seeing me.”
“Not a problem. I’ll help you. Just show me what you want me to do.”
“Right now I want us to get some sleep.”
“I can do that, only if you hold me because I sleep the best when your arms are around me.” She was shocked she’d admitted that, but thrilled when he slid down and wrapped her up tight.
Distract You
Mason barely slept last night, but he tried as hard as he could not to toss and turn and get out of bed and boot up his computer, wanting to sign into the network at the brewery. It wouldn’t do him any good if he wasn’t there to physically look at things though.
At four he couldn’t lie there any longer and got out of bed to shower. When he came out of the bathroom, his bedroom light was on and Jessica was nowhere to be found. Though he did smell coffee. God bless her.
He walked downstairs and saw her in the kitchen at the stove. “Good morning. I’m surprised you slept this long,” she said, smiling at him and yawning.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wak
e you.”
“You didn’t. Or not really. I know you’re bothered and I really hope it’s nothing. I already feel bad that I probably stressed you out last night. I figured the least I could do was have some food for you.”
“I appreciate it more than I can express.”
“A kiss will do for now,” she said, walking up and puckering her lips.
He could gladly do that and did. Then when she walked by he smacked her ass and had her yelping. “Wow, that hurt.”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t think there would be that much force behind it.”
She smiled, her eyes telling him she didn’t mind and might enjoy it again. Interesting. “I’d swat you back, but I’m afraid I’d hurt myself.”
“You’re so good for me,” he said, yanking her forward and into his arms, her carefree laughter just making him smile. “I’m not sure what stars crossed in the night that had you landing this job, but I’m extremely thankful for it.”
There was a look in her eyes now he couldn’t decipher, but it wasn’t a bad look. Maybe one more of hope. “I’ll go get ready now and then we can leave.”
“Thanks,” he said, then watched her walk away. There were scrambled eggs on a plate at his seat.
“I already ate,” she yelled down the stairs. Odd how he was wondering that as if she read his mind. The worst part, it wasn’t even a scary thought anymore.
“I’m ready,” she said fifteen minutes later. He liked that about her. That she got ready almost as fast as him.
Unlike Ella, who took forever to just decide what pair of shoes she was going to wear. He often wondered if she did that on purpose to just annoy him and his brothers by always making them wait. But as far as he knew, Ella still did it, so it must be just her.
Not Jessica though. She was dressed for work, her hair still slightly damp and pulled back in a ponytail. He’d cleaned up the rest of breakfast, then grabbed his keys and they left.
They were unlocking the door of the brewery and letting themselves in a little after five. No one else would be in until seven, but Mac normally got there early, just like Mason always did.
“Let me run up to my office and get my tablet. I want to see what the shipment was supposed to be for and how much was loaded yesterday.”
“Why was it loaded so late in the day?” she asked. “I saw Dale finishing up before my last tour. I thought shipments were loaded earlier in the day.”
“It normally is, but it was a last minute order. It’s out of state and when that happens, the delivery will be done through the night so it’s there when they open.”
“I didn’t realize you delivered like that last minute and on a Saturday.”
“We will for a price. I had to call someone in. Anyway, so that’s the answer to your question. Dale should have been cleaning up the floors where the cases were during the last tour.”
“He was. Or it looked like he was cleaning up. But like I said, it seemed more was gone from when he finished that order to when I finished my tour. I’m not making sense. It looked like he was done and should have been cleaning up, but when the next tour came through even more were gone.”
He swiped his card by his office door, walked in and grabbed what he needed. Then the two of them made their way to the warehouse. “It’s kind of eerie in here like this with no one else around.”
“I’m used to it,” he said, flipping lights as he went. He loved walking through and seeing everything nice and neat. All clean and sparkling. The smell of the yeast and other ingredients still lingering in the air. He’d never grow tired of it. Ever.
The lights flickered a few times and then lit the warehouse right up. “Where did you notice an aisle of something missing?”
She pointed it out and then he pulled up the order. It looked like the right beers were loaded on by sight alone. The question was, was it too much? The delivery truck would be back later this afternoon, but it’d be empty. He’d double-check to make sure the buyers got what they wanted, but he knew he’d hear from them if they didn’t sooner than the return of the truck.
“Let’s start counting. I know what we had before and what was scanned to be delivered.”
“Then why are we counting?” she asked.
“Because every case is scanned into the computer when it’s placed in here. Then every one is scanned when it’s delivered somewhere. Whether it’s put out for staff on payday, brought into the shop or loaded on a truck. Everything is accounted for.”
“What about the kegs?” she asked. He saw her looking around where they were lined up against the wall.
“Same thing. There is a barcode on them and everything is logged. Even when we reuse a keg, you see a clear path of in and out. Anyway. If someone took extra, they wouldn’t scan them. I just looked at the order and what was ordered was scanned out. The only way to know for certain is to manually count, which will be faster than scanning each one to see if it matches in the system. We’ll start with Fierce Five, as that is what was stored here and what we have the most of.”
“If someone was going to take any, they’d go for what might not be so easily noticed,” Jessica agreed. “Too bad I’ve got a bad habit of counting things.”
“It’s not a bad habit.” Especially when he had to admit an hour later she’d been right. “Twenty cases missing. I’m almost afraid to check the others.”
“I’m sorry, Mason,” she said. “Has this ever happened before?”
“Nope.”
“Mason!” They turned to see Mac walking through the door. “What’s up? It’s early for you to be in the warehouse.”
Mason debated saying something and decided to hold back. “Just doing a manual inventory count.”
“You should have told me. I would have helped. Nothing better than looking around and counting all this gold in here.” Mac laughed. “I swear when I walk in here I feel like the king entering his vault.”
It was a good description and Mason was wondering if someone might have decided to get sticky fingers. “I know the feeling. We’re about done now though. I’ll be back soon. I’m just going to make a few calls and bring the kegs to the bar.”
Mac nodded and walked back through. “Why didn’t he ask more?” Jessica asked. “And are we going to count the rest?”
“Because he’s used to me coming and going at all times. Even delivering to the bar this early. There’s nothing odd about it. And no, I’ll do a full inventory another time after we close, but right now we need to get to the offices.”
“Do you normally take a manual inventory count?”
“I haven’t in awhile. We put this system in place for that reason, but now I’m thinking I might need to.”
“Or have more security and just look at the tapes. That might be faster.”
“That’s why we’re going over to the office now. I’m getting Ella out of bed and over there right now.”
“You’re lucky I was already up,” Ella said less than an hour later.
“Why were you up?” Mason asked. She didn’t look to have a hair out of place.
“I was working out. I always get up and work out before anything else each morning.”
“You always were the most disciplined of us,” he said, grinning.
“Don’t try to compliment me. What’s going on?”
He explained it all and they pulled up the cameras. “Looks to me he’s just loading stuff,” Ella said when Dale was on camera with the forklift truck. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“Do you think it was just an honest mistake?” Jessica asked.
“Could be,” Ella said, “but why not scan it then? Nope, I’m not buying it. And how will we find out, because it’s hard to count the number of cases on each load he takes out, but it doesn’t look like he took an extra trip, does it?”
“No. I was counting the trips too. But you’re right. It’s easy enough to add one to two extra cases per trip and not look suspicious. What are you doing?” Mason asked, when El
la pulled up another screen, then another. Views of the back and not just the bay doors, but twenty feet in both directions. “When did those cameras get installed? And where are they?” He didn’t remember seeing any additional cameras back there.
“If you guys bothered to let me show you the quote a few weeks ago you’d know, but you all think you know everything, so I didn’t waste my breath.”
“God, I love you, Ella.”
“And you always will. You guys would be lost without me. And here we are,” she said after clicking around. “Guess I should get Cade’s butt out of bed.”
“I’ll call,” Mason said.
“Do you want me to leave?” Jessica asked.
He’d felt bad she was just sitting there and that he got her out of bed so early. Now she was just watching the show.
“You’re good. There’s no reason for you to go back to the brewery this early. Not unless you want to get your car and go home. It’s still quite a bit of time left before your shift actually starts.”
“No, I’m okay. I can walk over if things are running late. I’d rather stay than hang out there without you, and there is no reason for me to go home.”
Cade came marching in forty minutes later. “This better be important,” he said. “I was up late last night.”
Mason snorted. “I don’t care about you being out on a date.”
“I wasn’t on a date. I was working.”
“You went to some club last night,” Ella said. “I heard you telling someone in the office.”
Cade turned to her and smiled. “Working. I was checking out a band to bring in.”
“Whatever,” Ella said. “We’ve got a situation.”
They explained it all to Cade, then showed the video footage. “If you weren’t so concerned about your dick, then you would have been there last night when this was going on,” he said smirking.
Mason had Cade against the wall and lifted in the air so fast that Cade’s eyes almost popped out of his head. He was actually a little green and might have gotten some motion sickness from that move. “Watch your mouth,” he growled.
“Enough, Mason,” Ella said, coming over and putting her hand on his shoulder. “Drop him down before he pukes on you. His eyes are all crossed over a move you’ve never done before.”
