by Meg Ripley
“You looked like you were having fun,” he replied and she noticed that he seemed to have had a few drinks as well. Behind them, there was a splash as the first person—brave or drunk, they couldn’t tell—jumped into the pool.
They laughed together as others followed suit. Jeremy’s arm slipped around her as she finished off the glass of water and handed it off to one of the wait staff who was promptly at their side.
“Do you want to join them?” Jeremy’s whisper tickled the back of her neck.
“No,” she said. “I want to finish what we started earlier before you put me in this dress.”
“I like that idea,” he said as he kissed her cheek, leading her around the edge of the pool to the staircase that would take them back down to the apartment.
Inside, a few guests lingered in conversation while the jazz musicians finished up for the night. A couple made plans for the remaining midnight hours as they sat at the bar and ordered a couple more drinks, their hands testing how far they could travel on each other.
As they neared the bedroom, a drunk model stumbled out of the bathroom followed by an artist Becca remembered talking to earlier in the evening. The girls paid no mind to Becca and Jeremy as they began to make out in the hallway.
Opening the bedroom door, Becca was pleased to find that no other couples had found their way here. Jeremy locked the door behind them and followed obediently as Becca pulled him over to the edge of the bed.
Becca turned around, presenting her back to him and pulled her hair around her shoulders. Jeremy kissed the back of her neck and down the top of her spine, ever so softly. Her head felt heavy from the alcohol; she wondered how much she’d actually had to drink until she felt Jeremy’s arms laced around her.
Becca leaned back so he could kiss her exposed neck, murmuring, “I kind of wanted you to get me out of this dress.”
“I’m getting there,” he promised as his hands wandered over her, stroking her throat and cupping her breasts.
Becca felt a shudder run through her as her drunken arousal sparked something inside of her that was far more aggressive than she was accustomed to. Turning around, she threw her arms around Jeremy and guided him firmly over to the bed.
As she kissed him, she began to methodically unbutton his shirt, kissing the exposed skin as she worked her way down to his pants. Once they were undone, she pushed him down onto the bed, grinning mischievously as she took a step back from him, enjoying the mixture of surprise and enjoyment on his face.
Her fingers grasped at the lacing behind her and managed to pull the knot free. Jeremy was content to lean back and enjoy the show as she loosened the top of the dress and let it dramatically fall around her feet. Becca felt empowered as she stood before him wearing nothing but her heels and panties.
She watched him as he reached in his pants to make an adjustment for his swelling cock. Locking eyes with him, she leaned forward and slid her panties down around her ankles, taking a step out of them.
“Do you want me,” she asked seductively.
“Yes.”
The word hung in the air as the moment lingered between them. It seemed as if everything darkened around the edges of Becca’s vision. She focused solely on Jeremy where he sat, breathing heavy with anticipation.
Stepping forward, she gently pushed him down to lay on the bed, pulling his pants off of him. She kissed his knees, up his thighs and around his hips to his stomach as she climbed on top of him.
Jeremy moaned as she lowered herself, their fingers locking as she balanced herself on him. She rocked her hips forward and back before lifting herself and lowering back down on him again. Becca felt a liberated sense of authority as she set the pace and watched the anguished pleasure that crossed his face.
His moans encouraged her as he took hold of her hips and thrusted hard and deep inside of her, making her gasp with pleasure. Jeremy’s hands guided her as he sat up to suck on her breasts while his hips thrust deeper and harder.
“Faster,” she commanded, her hands around his head; her fingers twisting themselves into his thick, dark hair.
Jeremy obeyed and increased the rhythm. Her back arched and he lifted her up without missing a beat before she found herself on the bed underneath him.
His moans began to take on a new pitch and she noticed the shimmer of his skin as his body quaked with pleasure, threatening to transform. She gasped in intrigue and delight as his body writhed above her, lingering in a transitional limbo.
Reaching up, she pulled him close to her and kissed him deeply. She stared into his eyes as dragon fire danced on the edges of them, fighting to hold on to her ecstasy before he took her over the edge.
“Together,” she whispered as she released him. “Now.”
Jeremy gripped her hips tightly as he grunted and pumped hard and fast. Becca’s back arched off the bed as she moaned and called out his name.
Gasping, he collapsed on top of her, holding her close as she trembled with the aftershocks of her orgasm.
“God, I love you,” he whispered, rolling over to her side and cradling her as they both fell into a deep, satisfying sleep.
CHAPTER SIX
Becca’s head was pounding when she woke up the next morning. Jeremy was in bed next to her snoring softly, still deeply asleep. On the nightstand, there was a glass of water, a glass of orange juice, and an aspirin. Smiling, she took each of them in turn before she stood up from the bed and slipped on one of the silk robes that hung from the back of the bedroom door.
Stepping out into the hallway, she was surprised to find that there wasn’t a mess of passed out guests littered throughout the apartment. Instead, she found Jadon in the kitchen preparing breakfast and stopped to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m guessing it was you who left the aspirin out for me,” she said as she climbed up on one of the bar stools next to the counter.
“Yeah,” he smiled. “Did you sleep well, Bunny?”
“Yes. Did I miss anything exciting after I left the party?”
“Just an orgy with the models,” he said with a sarcastic wink as he flipped the bacon and cracked eggs into another skillet. The hiss of the grease turned her stomach and Becca realized she was craving hangover food after all of the alcohol she had consumed the night before.
Between flipping eggs and stirring gravy, Jadon poured a cup of strong black tea with a splash of bourbon. He asked Becca to wake Jeremy and handed her the entire bottle of aspirin. She kissed his cheek and thanked him as he began to turn off the burners and fix everyone’s plates for breakfast.
Returning to the bedroom, Becca set the tea and aspirin on the nightstand and crawled over to Jeremy.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” she cooed as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her close. “Come on, get up. Jadon made us breakfast.”
“Can’t. Drunk.” Jeremy grumbled as he squeezed her tightly.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m going to eat all of the bacon,” she teased as she kissed him.
“Then I’ll eat you,” he smiled.
“Come on,” she pressed the bottle of aspirin into his hand, kissing him again. “I brought you tea, too.”
Groaning, Jeremy sat up and held Becca for a moment before kissing her and finally getting up. He took a long sip of the tea before donning a robe and followed Becca out to the dining room where Jadon was just setting the plates on the table.
“So how did it go?” Jeremy asked as he sat down and began to drown his waffle in syrup.
“It went well,” Jadon said. “I managed to get everyone either home or to a hotel room. Next time, you get to chaperone, though; it’s no fun having a bunch of wet and drunk models fresh from the pool if you can’t enjoy them.”
“Fair enough,” Jeremy agreed.
“I’ve got to go and meet with the Maltech reps today, and Alex Harmon set up a lunch with Becca tomorrow to check out her work,” Jadon said, checking his phone for the notes he
had put into his calendar. “And for you, Jeremy, Ricky and Sal are going to be coming back to work soon. Let me know if you wanted the guys to set up some sort of welcome back party.”
“Yeah,” Jeremy nodded. “I’ll set the guys up with a tab at Dave’s and tell them that the night is on me. They should enjoy that.”
Becca remembered the drivers who had been assaulted by Nate Stanley and the people he had been working with when he intercepted the Maltech weapons shipment from the Ladon brothers’ company. She was glad they had recovered fairly well, and from what she had seen and heard of them since, they were ready to get back to work.
“Sounds good,” Jadon said as he finished his breakfast and took his dish over to the sink. “I’ve got to head to that meeting now, but how about we all go out and catch a show somewhere tonight.”
“That’d be nice,” Becca said and Jeremy nodded in agreement.
“Great.” Jadon left a kiss on the top of Becca’s head on his way out the door.
As they finished their breakfast and washed the dishes together, Becca asked Jeremy to help her put her portfolio together to show to Alex.
“Just fill it with nude self-portraits.”
He winked as she laughed, “Surprisingly, I haven’t done too many of those.”
“Not many? So, you’ve done them?”
“I don’t think I’ve done any.”
“Well then, you’re welcome to draw me nude.”
They spent the remainder of the morning sorting through boxes that had yet to be unpacked before they found Becca’s physical portfolio. She had digital copies of most of her work, but they agreed that laying out the physical copies would be much easier to visualize together in a portfolio.
“I like these,” Becca said pulling out a set of fashion illustrations she had done with brush pen and watercolor.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said as he flipped through some of the patterns she had drawn. “You should also include some of these if you’re wanting to go for design work, even though I like those narrative pieces you did.”
Becca stuck out her tongue. “I don’t like narratives. I’m awful at keeping a consistent character. Besides, I enjoy making patterns.”
“Fair enough,” he said, setting aside a few of the pages he liked.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“These are really good,” Alex said as he flipped through the pages that Becca and Jeremy had spent the better portion of yesterday putting together. “So, what sort of work are you interested in? Freelance? Or do you want to work in house?”
“In house would be ideal,” she admitted as she took a bite of her salad, “but I know how hard it can be to get into a position like that.”
“True,” Alex said giving her a wink, “depending on who you know.”
“Any name brand would be huge for me since I’m fresh out of school,” she said.
“I’ll ask around,” he promised. “I’m sure someone has an opening, and your portfolio is spot on. I’ll make some calls and let you know in a day or two.”
“Thanks.” Becca felt herself blushing.
“You’re too cute,” Alex laughed. “Where did Jeremy find you?”
“He hired me as his assistant,” she told him and he burst out laughing.
“So, he decided to promote you to girlfriend and move you up here to the city?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, it’s a good thing he brought you to New York,” Alex assured her. “I think you’ll fit in just fine.”
Over the course of their meal, he entertained her with stories of his adventures in the city and made a list of all the best clubs to go to. He even showed her some of the work he was doing for Louis Vuitton.
As they got ready to leave the restaurant, Alex noticed Becca’s sketchbook peeking out of her purse and asked if she would mind if he took a look. Blushing hot with embarrassment, she handed over the sketchbook and waited as he slowly flipped through the pages.
His lips were pursed and he nodded to himself. His brow furrowed and Becca was sure that he disapproved of the drawings. She could hear her nervous pulse throbbing in her ears as she waited for Alex to proclaim a verdict about her private work.
It seemed like forever passed before he looked up and said, “This is an interesting body of work. You sure you want to work in design and not get these into a gallery?”
Becca shook her head as she grabbed her sketchbook and hid it deep in her purse. “No, it’s just some weird stuff I’ve been dreaming about. I really don’t think it’s gallery-quality—”
Alex placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Becca, I’ve seen so-called artists sell crumpled copy paper on the floor of a gallery for thousands of dollars. I think you’re work is a hell of a lot better than that.”
Becca smiled bashfully. “Thanks, Alex.”
Outside, he called them a cab and escorted her home. In the lobby of the building, he kissed her hand and promised to call as soon as he had news about a position for her.
The elevator dinged and Jeremy stepped out to shake Alex’s hand. “Find her a job,” he said cajolingly, “she’s wearing me out in the bedroom.”
They all had a good laugh and the next day Jeremy came up to the pool where Becca was attempting to get a tan to tell her the good news.
“At Louis freaking Vuitton!?!”
“Yes,” Jeremy confirmed as he caught her in his arms and swung her about while she squealed with joy.
“I’m going to be designing for Louis Vuitton!” The words seemed unreal even as they left her mouth.
“How should we celebrate?”
“Not another party,” she declared.
Jeremy smiled, “Okay, no party. Especially since he wants you to go into the office tomorrow to meet the team.”
Becca beamed with excitement. “We’ll have to find something for me to wear.”
“Well then, I believe we should go shopping,” Jeremy declared, taking her hand and leading her down from the pool to the apartment.
Becca felt giddy as she changed out of the high-waisted bikini she was wearing and into her regular street clothes. She stopped just before putting on her shirt and caught Jeremy’s eye in the mirror.
“Yes?”
“Oh nothing,” he said nonchalantly as he leaned back on his elbows.
“Nothing?” Becca held her hands on her hips and raised a suspicious eyebrow towards him.
“What? Can’t I just watch a pretty girl change her clothes?”
Becca laughed and turned back away from him to put on her shirt, but before she could get it over her head, Jeremy was behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Well, I’ll never get dressed like this,” she laughed as Jeremy began kissing her neck and nibbling on her ear.
He pulled gently on her ear with his teeth, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “I won’t complain about that.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
With the new job, time seemed to fly by for Becca. The weeks of traveling and the time she spent at Jadon’s apartment were fun, but she was grateful to have a sense of purpose again. She had been idle for too long and, despite how exciting the city was, it wasn’t entertaining when she felt like she was just existing without any direction.
Her co-workers had all accepted her as part of the team from the moment she walked through the door. They were great at brainstorming and building off of each other’s concepts as if they were all working from the same mind.
Alex was their team leader and he was always enthusiastic to have Becca’s input. She was glad to be a part of something outside of Jeremy and Jadon; she would never have told them, but she was beginning to feel a little isolated from the rest of the world. Having coworkers was a nice change of pace and it was refreshing to be invited to hang out with them after work and meet people from other departments.
“So, what’s it like living with the Ladons,” asked Rhonda, a lanky redhead who
always wore vibrant orange lipstick that was the same shade as her hair.
Becca was sitting at her desk before work drawing Jeremy and Jadon in her sketchbook, attributes of their dragon forms highlighted in ghostly outlines. Rhonda was leaning over Becca’s shoulder, watching her draw. Becca wasn’t shy about her sketchbook with her design team since they had all taken turns passing it around the first day and she had explained that it was more of a dream journal. In return, they had all been open with their own personal work. After only a few weeks of working together, she was perfectly at ease with them.
“It’s…” Becca shrugged as she searched for the words. “It’s interesting.”
Rhonda laughed. “I bet. How can you even tell the two of them apart?”
“It’s the subtle things,” Becca explained, “mostly how they behave and how they talk.”
Rhonda shrugged. “Makes sense. Is your apartment really filled with all sorts of old antiques? I heard you guys have paintings worth millions just hanging on the walls.”
“Yeah,” Becca laughed. “One of Van Gogh’s sunflowers is actually right there in the entryway.”
“Amazing,” she proclaimed. “I couldn’t imagine walking by that every morning.”
Becca chuckled, “It takes a little getting used to.”
Rhonda laughed with her. “Well, I know it’s not as fancy as the Ladons’ apartment, but Joey and I are having a little gathering at our place tonight if you want to come by. Bring Jeremy and Jadon if they’re free.”
“Of course,” Becca promised. “That sounds great.”
“Perfect,” Rhonda said, giving Becca a surprise hug and a kiss on her cheek that left a sticky orange print.
Becca rubbed at the mark with her sleeve after Rhonda left the room, but felt the residue clinging to her skin. Giving up, she texted Jeremy and Jadon about Rhonda’s invitation before turning back to her sketchbook.
She noticed that the dragon sketches had begun to migrate out of her sketchbook and onto sticky notes and scraps of paper around the edges of her desk. Some of them resembled the Ladons and some of them had begun to take on the image of her coworkers or the models that the team worked with. Alex had jokingly warned Becca the other day that if she continued, someone higher up might notice and put her in charge of designing a whole collection based on her dragons.
