by Gemma Hart
The echo of such familiar words from so long ago made Kat shiver. Not in fear or regret but in something akin to…anticipation.
And looking up at Jason’s dark green eyes, she could see that he had felt it too.
Chapter Nineteen
“I’ll give Dave the go ahead then,” Jason said as he finished the last of the meatloaf. He cleaned his plate and then looked up curiously. “Who made this? Did Malcolm make this before he left?”
They were alone in the empty diner.
Kat leaned across from him on the counter, a hand under her chin as she gave him a lazily confident smile. “No,” she said. “I made it.”
Jason raised a brow. “I thought you only baked.”
“You know what they say about making assumptions,” she replied in a singsong voice.
Jason chuckled as he leaned back in his seat, thoroughly well fed and content.
They had done a careful walkthrough of the plans and Kat couldn’t be happier with the work that Jason had done. She knew that Doughy Pop’s was going to look better than ever in no time.
“Have you always been interested in construction?” Kat asked.
Jason pursed his lips as he shrugged. “It’s not so much interest as it is something that I’ve always done. Been working with my hands since I was six.”
“Six?” Kat grinned. “Like making birdhouses?” How cute would a little Jason be making popsicle houses?
Jason shook his head. “No, my pop owned a construction firm for a few years. I worked with him until he lost the business.”
Kat looked up, quiet. She had noticed he rarely ever talked of his own family. She remembered his short words about his parents two years ago—mom drank, dad hit.
“How’d he lose the business?” she asked softly.
Jason gave another expansive shrug. “Oh you know, a lot of ways really but mainly from gambling debts. His business was destroyed from always borrowing company money to pay off loan sharks.”
“It must’ve been hard to lose the family business,” she said. She could imagine the stress that put the family under.
Jason gave a soft snort. “I couldn’t have been happier,” he said in a detached voice. “I never did like how many 2x4s were so handy for my dad.”
A chill ran down Kat’s spine.
She watched Jason as a tension began to build up around his shoulders. Wanting to relieve him of his burdens, she suddenly swung up onto the counter and turned towards him, letting her legs dangle between his.
Jason leaned back in surprise but then smiled as she swung her legs casually in front of him.
“Isn’t it weird,” Kat started out, as if talking to herself. “I used to think when I was older, when I was a grown up, I’d become more…whole. I’d understand the world better, I’d have less questions, more answers, and overall, just have a better handle on life.” She tilted her head to one shoulder. “But it’s been the opposite. If anything, I feel more useless and inept the older I get. I think it’s because I keep comparing myself to who I thought I would be by now.”
Jason looked at her, his smile disappearing for a more meaningful gaze. “You’re not useless,” he said in a quiet and firm voice. It was such a solid answer, full of confidence.
Kat gave a small smile. “And you’re not tainted,” she replied. “You’re not the sum of all your damages.”
Jason stared at her a long time. She couldn’t tell if he actually believed her or not.
Finally he sat up and then leaned forward, resting his head against her breasts. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. Kat wrapped her arms around him as well, feeling his spicy masculine scent surround her.
“You know what I think?” Jason asked, his head still buried against her.
“What?” she asked, her pulse rising from his nearness.
Jason looked up, capturing her with his arresting eyes.
“I think it was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me—coming into this diner two years ago,” he said. And before she could reply, he scooted her off the counter and onto his lap so she sat straddling him.
His lips soon fell on hers. And Kat closed her eyes, wanting his touch.
His lips this time were neither rough or bruising. Instead they were insistent and thorough, as if wanting to memorize the taste of her. His arms were like steel bands around her back, pressing her breasts against him.
She could feel his hardness rising beneath her. She sat right above his cock as it grew and lengthened. With instinctive movements, she swayed in his lap, undulating her hips back and forth.
That somehow snapped Jason awake. His hold tightened on her, squeezing out her breath. His lips grew forceful and his tongue more demanding. Kat was left breathless in the wake of his touches.
Breaking apart simultaneously, Jason pulled off her shirt, unhooking her bra with an expert ease. Her creamy full breasts came tumbling free in the dim diner.
Jason pulled a nipple into his mouth, laving the sensitive bud with his tongue. Kat threw back her head as the sensations of pure ecstasy rolled through her.
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
Jason’s hand found the other nipple, giving it a quick hard pinch that shot straight to her pussy.
Jason then stood her up, unzipping her jeans and pulling her out of them. Turning her around so she sat on his lap with her back against his chest, his fingers plunged down to her wetness with no pretense.
Kat’s back arched sharply as his fingers stroked hard against her throbbing pussy. His fingers, rough with work, made a quick circles around her engorged clit, brushing against the sensitive nub every few strokes to egg her arousal on further.
His hot breath tickled against her ear as he bit her earlobe.
Kat groaned, feeling assaulted with pleasure from all angles. “Oh god,” she cried out as he suddenly plunged two fingers into her wet warmth. Her whole body tightened as she cried out in release, feeling her insides throb around his invading fingers.
“Good girl,” he murmured against her ear. “Good girl.” He pulled out his fingers, flicking them against her clit again, making her shudder and moan.
As senses slowly returned to her, Kat turned and kissed Jason before sliding off his lap and onto her knees. She unbuckled his jeans, freeing his impressive cock.
“Fair is fair, right?” she said breathlessly as she looked up with a light in her eyes.
Jason’s eyes darkened in pleasure. “I’m never one to speak out against equality,” he said huskily before Kat’s mouth descended on his cock, enveloping it in the hot warmth of her mouth.
Jason closed his eyes and gave a guttural groan of pleasure as Kat tongued the hard member, teasing him around his sensitive head. Kat luxuriated in the sounds of his pleasure as she bobbed on his cock, trying to take as much of the hardness as possible.
“Oh fuck,” Jason muttered, clearly in the grips of undeniable pleasure. He thrust into her mouth in rhythm. Grabbing the back of her head, he held her head prisoner as he plunged deeper and deeper into her. Kat loosened her jaw to take more of him.
Then abruptly, he pulled out, leaving Kat gasping but hungry for more.
“Get up, baby,” he said, pulling her up to her feet.
He stole another kiss before bending her over the counter, her heated breasts touching the cool countertops.
She was wet. She was ready.
She had wanted him for a long time. And it was clear the feeling was mutual.
With one powerful thrust, Jason sheathed his thick cock within her. Kat threw her head back and cried out at the sheer satisfaction of being so filled by him.
Hands on either side of her head, Jason leaned over as he steadily pumped in and out of her. “God, baby, you feel so good,” he groaned as he thrust his cock in again, all the way to the root.
Kat moaned. She could feel every inch of him passing into her and the sheer size of him stretched her in a deliciously painful way. She widened her stance and raised her hips,
allowing him better access to her.
Jason brushed away the hair covering her face then gripped it tight, pulling her head up a bit. He leaned down, giving her earlobe a good nip. “You feel so good, sweetheart,” he murmured, letting his cock bury itself within her.
Kat turned her head, wanting to feel his lips against hers. Jason immediately captured her lips, kissing her thoroughly as their bodies melted into one rhythmic and passionate coupling.
Together, they felt their bodies rising with each wave of crashing desire. Meltingly hot arousal coursed through their veins. Kat gloried in every hard thrust that pushed her body further and further.
Jason’s grunts became deeper as he felt his coming release. Reaching between her legs, Jason swirled his fingers around her swollen clit, making Kat gasp in surprise.
“Come with me,” he groaned. “Come with me, baby.” And with that, he pinched her clit, sending a blinding sheet of painful ecstasy rip through her just as his cock found its release deep inside her.
Jason groaned loudly as his body melted and Kat cried out lustily, feeling every nerve ending firing with crackling ecstasy.
Together, they huddled over the counter, exhausted from such sudden and passionate coupling. Jason gently kissed Kat’s shoulders. He slowly pulled Kat into his arms. In each others arms, they slid down to the floor till they were both comfortably leaning against the bottom of the counter.
Jason gathered her to him. Holding her close, he kissed her forehead.
“Babe,” he said, quietly.
“Hmm?” Kat answered, feeling as if her bones were made of jelly.
“I think you’re the sweetest thing on the menu,” he murmured quietly before they both fell asleep.
***
It was as if they were in their own little world. Neither had any intentions of going home that night. Twice more Jason took her in the diner. Once on the floor and once again on the counter, but this time with her back on the counter and her legs wrapped around his hips.
They explored each other’s bodies hungrily. For too long they had been keeping each other at an arm’s distance away, afraid to get too close. Their doubts had kept them safe and chaste, even though their bodies had been crying out for more.
Now they devoured each other as if they were two famished people finally having been rescued. Kat wanted to feel every contour of Jason’s hard body. She wanted to luxuriate in his masculinity and strength.
And Jason seemed no less interested in her. He teased and taunted her with his body till she was writhing and begging for release. He wanted to find every button of hers that caused her pleasure and release. Without rest or hurry, Jason would linger over her, tease her, and make her feel as if they had all the time in the world.
So morning caught them by surprise. Using their rolled up clothes as pillows, they had fallen asleep behind the counter. And they would have stayed deeply asleep had a high pitched melody not woken them up.
“…wuzthat?” Kat murmured sleepily as she squinted awake. She looked around, confused by the settings and momentarily unsure where she was.
She felt Jason’s large hand against her lower back. “Hmmm…?” he said, his eyes still closed.
Kat suddenly remembered the night before and felt a blush run all the way down her back. Her body was deliciously sore and thoroughly used and she couldn’t be happier.
The ringing continued.
“I think it’s my phone,” Kat said trying to get her wits about her. “Or yours.”
Jason opened an eye. “That’s not mine,” he said after listening to the ringtone.
Kat looked around the floor till she found her phone flung near a booth. It must’ve fallen out in the undressing from last night. Kat bit her lip in wicked delight thinking about what had come after all the undressing.
Quickly she picked up the phone and looked at the screen.
Malcolm.
Probably wondering what the heck she was thinking, not coming home the night before.
Preparing herself for his nagging, Kat swiped to answer the call.
“Hey Malc—”
“Kat! Kat!” Malcolm’s frantic voice interrupted her.
Immediately all the sleep from her eyes vanished. She sat alert and awake on the diner floor. “What’s wrong, Malcolm?”
“I just got a call!” Malcolm cried out. She could tell how panicked he was by his shaking voice. “I got a call from Dr. Saunders at the hospital! Dillon fell into a coma!”
Chapter Twenty
“WHAT!” Kat cried out, immediately feeling her blood turned cold.
A shadow fell over her as a naked Jason kneeled down beside her, a concerned expression on his face. He put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
“They said his fever spiked suddenly last night and then this morning, he fell into a coma,” Malcolm said, his voice breaking. She could hear him swallowing his tears. “W-We are supposed to hurry over as soon as we can.”
Kat looked up at Jason, feeling her world crumbling around her as she frantically tried to grasp at the fraying ends.
Keeping her eyes locked on the one thing keeping her feel grounded and steady, she said quietly, “Malcolm, I’m going to head to the hospital right now. Don’t worry. I need you to come to the diner and open it for the construction crew. We’re starting the dining renovations today and someone should be present.”
“But Kat!” Malcolm cried. “If…If Dill…If Dill dies—”
“No!” Kat shouted. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. Having Malcolm at the hospital too was too much like a family’s final farewell. He needed to be here, maintain some form of normalcy so he wouldn’t fall apart. She didn’t want him to see Dillon comatose.
“No,” she said again more calmly. “No. Come to the diner. Dillon is going to be fine. I promise.” She swallowed. She forced herself to believe she wasn’t lying. “You know how much he’d hate all of us fussing over him.” She swallowed her own growing tears. “Dillon is going to be fine.”
“Kat,” Malcolm said, his voice strained with fear and pain.
“Malcolm,” Kat said, hoping at least a note of reassurance was coming through. “He’s going to be fine. I promise. So come to the diner.”
Malcolm’s heavy breaths crackled through the line before he finally replied, “Okay.”
***
“It’s a bad infection. A real bad one,” Dr. Saunders said as he walked with them in a hurried pace towards Dillon’s bed. They rushed past the other beds in the ICU ward.
“His fever was going up and down and we thought it would break soon,” he continued. “But it shot up suddenly last night and we immediately transferred him to the ICU before he slipped into the coma.” The doctor turned to Kat. “It’s kind of the body’s defense mechanism. It was helping to protect him from the harm of the infection.”
They stopped at the last bed in the ward.
Kat felt all the breath in her lungs evaporate in an instant.
There in the bed was her skinny, gangly, sick brother.
“Oh Dillon,” she whispered. “Dill.”
She collapsed into the chair next to the bed. She took hold of his hand, bony and frail. She kissed his sharp knuckles. “Dilly, I’m here,” she said, her voice tight and harsh with unshed tears. Her eyes stung fiercely as she held onto his hand. She watched his slow and steady breathing as his chest rose and fell.
“Dillon,” she whispered before traitorous hot tears finally own her cheeks unheedingly.
Even through her grief, she felt Jason’s presence. He stood solidly at the end of Dillon’s bed, gripping the rails. Deep lines of worry were etched into his face. She could tell he knew exactly what it felt like to watch someone you loved be hurt or sick or…dying.
No! No, she screamed at herself quietly. She would not let such thoughts come into her head.
“Doctor,” Jason said, his deep voice rich and somehow soothing in the stingingly clean hospital. “Will this hospital have the right resou
rces to treat Dillon?”
Dr. Saunders’ brows raised in surprise. “Well, that was exactly what I wanted to talk to you about today, Miss Ryans,” he said. “With Dillon’s chemotherapy treatments and the treatments necessary to battle such a severe infection, we feel that he would be better treated in a larger hospital with more specialists. He is in a very delicate condition and needs more help than I can provide.” The doctor looked down humbly.
Kat sniffed, unsure what to ask next. Her mind was completely scattered. A tornado of fear and worry was tearing through her brain and she was standing clean in its way, feeling every sharp cut and brush of its winds.
