“Yes, yes, I see,” he mumbled, and she felt his hands against her shins, rubbing up and down. “Cold water baths are much more relaxing. Why haven't I done this before?”
“Stop,” she laughed while he reached behind him and opened the hot water tap. “I'm ridiculous, and I know it. You already know it. I can only apologize for it so many times.”
“Never apologize for it, Cass,” he said, his voice going serious. “Your ridiculousness is one of the things I like best about you.”
“Oh yeah,” she snorted. “Sure. I'm a car crash in high heels, Josh. I've done nothing but make things awful. Why did you come here? Why do you still like me?”
“Your pretty eyes?” he offered, and she splashed water at him. She was glad he'd started filling it again, the warmth felt good against her skin.
“Shut up. You know you shouldn't like me.”
“Maybe not,” he nodded. “Doesn't change the fact that I do.”
“Why?” Cass moaned, moving so her forehead was against her knees. Steam was finally starting to rise around them, the water hot again, so Josh turned off the faucet.
“Honestly ...” he sighed. “I really didn't want to, when you told me about Micah. That felt pretty shitty, Cass. You should've been straight up about who the other guy was, told me it was someone I know. I felt like an asshole.”
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
“But I mean ... I also know that technically who you sleep with isn't any of my business. I mean, we haven't even slept together, so what right do I have to tell you who you can or can't sleep with? If a piece of shit guitar player is what you're into, who am I to judge? I married a control freak who basically strong armed me into marriage.”
“I knew she couldn't be as perfect as she looked,” Cass managed a weak laugh as she lifted her head. Josh was staring at her, his arms stretched out along either side of the tub.
“And you're witty,” he continued. “You're fun to be around. You're smart. Gorgeous. You ... you make me feel ... I don't know. Like I'm a different kind of man. Like maybe I still have time to be the kind of man I always wanted to be.”
Cassie sucked in a sharp breath of air. Jesus. She'd had no idea she had that kind of effect on him.
“No pressure,” she breathed, and he snorted.
“Don't worry – fuck a couple more losers, and I won't feel that way anymore.”
She gasped, startled at his words. But when she looked at him again, he was grinning broadly. Teasing her. She made a face and shoved a wall of water at him.
“You're a jerk. No kicking me when I'm down,” she laughed.
“Are you joking? I found out that after chasing you forever and getting virtually nowhere, I'd been slinging back beers with the guy who'd already caught you. I should kick you even harder,” Josh countered, and she shrieked when she felt his toe digging into her hip. She burst out laughing and splashed him some more.
“Stop! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry,” she gasped for air.
“There's that smile!” he exclaimed, and he surged forward, tickling behind her knees and along her ribs, trying to get under her arms. She squealed and shrieked and tried to keep her arms tight across her breasts. “You drive me fucking crazy, Cassie, but I think I could live quite happily on your smiles alone.”
He stopped tickling her, both their chuckles dying down. They were also both breathing hard, both smiling at each other, and she suddenly realized what he'd been doing. Distracting her. Making her feel better.
Making her happy.
“You're a wonder, Josh Cavitt,” she sighed.
“Like the Taj Mahal, baby.”
“ ... what?”
“I don't know, just trying to make you laugh again,” he shrugged.
Cassie barked out a laugh. Stared at him incredulously. Let her gaze bounce over his eyes and his sexy mouth and his strong jaw.
Fuck it.
She launched herself at him so abruptly, they lost their balance and he fell backwards. In the soapy water, his butt slid along the bottom of the tub, sending them both falling under the water. As her lips pressed against his, he managed to stop the fall. Gripped the edge of the tub with one strong arm, then yanked them back out of the water.
“I'm sorry,” she breathed, her lips still against his. “I'm sorry, I know it's too soon, I just had to -”
“Jesus, Cass,” Josh interrupted with a growl. “Don't fucking stop now ...”
The Kane Series
Degradation
by Stylo Fantome
Available now
“You started these games,” Jameson pointed out. Tate hiked up her dress a little and lifted her knee to his desk.
“I didn't realize they'd go on for this long,” she replied, then she bent forward and crawled across the desk towards him. He didn't move.
“They're going to go on for a lot longer,” he warned her. She reached out, putting her hand on his knee.
“For how long?” she asked, her voice husky as she slid her hand up his thigh, moving as slowly as possible.
“However long it takes for you to realize who the winner will always be,” Jameson replied.
Before she could respond, there was a loud knock at the door. She didn't move, kept her eyes locked to his, her hand an inch away from his crotch. He stared back, a smile spreading across his face. He looked like the devil.
She suddenly got nervous.
Oh no.
“Who is that?” she asked when there was another knock.
“I forgot, a business associate is stopping by, just to go over some stuff,” Jameson explained. His voice was too soft, too easy going. Tate leaned back, sitting on her heels.
“Oh. Okay. Want me to leave?” she offered, confused. He shook his head.
“No, you can stay in here. In fact, I have a wonderful idea,” he started.
Now she was really nervous.
“Oh god. What?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the door.
“You have to prove to me that you're worth my time,” he said.
“I thought we were doing that,” she pointed out.
“Too easy! Now you've got me worried. A hand job in my library? Don't I even get Arby's?” he joked. She smacked him on the chest.
“Shut up,” she growled. He lurched forward in his chair, his face a couple inches away from her own.
“Mr. Greene is going to walk in here, in about two minutes. We are going to go over some property info – he's buying my farm in Vermont. If you can make me come, before he leaves the room, I will agree to anything you want,” Jameson offered.
She stared at him. A little shocked. A little surprised. A lot intrigued. Make him come? While another man was in the room? How was she going to do that? How had they gone from drinks and light banter, to acts of sexual indecency in front of a virtual stranger?
“You want me to jack you off in front of some dude,” Tate clarified. Jameson roared with laughter.
“God, no, I have long since out grown any sort of voyeuristic phase. You have about one minute,” he warned her just as there was another knock at the door.
Her breathing picked up. The look on his face said he thought she couldn't do it. She wanted to wipe it off his face. She smirked at him and moved, swinging her legs towards him. He had to roll his chair away as she scooted to the edge of the desk and hopped off, standing in the V of his legs. Jameson raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as she lowered herself to her knees. She backed herself under the desk – it was huge, with enough space for her to almost fully kneel under it. She grabbed his knees, dug her fingernails in, and urged him forward. He rolled towards her.
“There has to be rules. You can't purposefully stop me, no hair pulling,” she stated, staring up at him while she undid his belt buckle.
“You'd like it if I pulled your hair,” he retorted. Tate rolled her eyes, wiggling her hand through the zipper of his pants.
“You know what I mean.”
There was a loud knock
, then she heard the door sweep open. Jameson rolled forward, and she was left in the dark, just a little glow from the fire making its way under the desk. She yanked and pulled at the waist of his jeans, listening as another man came in the room, greeted Jameson, and sat down across from the desk.
Their only time together had been so long ago, and Tate hadn't gotten to see, or even really feel, his dick. It had just been inside of her. So much inside of her. He was larger than she remembered. She had slept with quite a few men since him, and he still managed to be the most impressive, in almost every way.
She ran her hand up and down his shaft, resting her other hand against his thigh. She was hoping to feel tense skin, maybe a muscle tick. Something to show he was struggling. But his legs were relaxed, and even though she was jerking him off, his voice sounded completely normal as he spoke. Almost bored sounding.
We can change that.
Tate hadn't been lying, blowjobs were a kind of specialty of hers. She loved the act. Having so much power over a man, but at the same time, being completely subjugated by him. An illusion of control. She loved it, and doing it in public? If Jameson didn't wanna have sex after she was done, she was going to take care of herself, right on his desk.
She licked him from top to bottom, taking her time at first. When she wrapped her lips around his head, she finally felt a muscle in his thigh tense. She almost smiled, bobbing her head up and down a little. Getting a feel for him. She removed her hand from his leg, wrapped it around the base of his dick, then worked it up and down to cover the distance. She didn't know how long his meeting would last. It almost sounded more like a social call, with a smattering of property talk. She would love to draw it out for him, have him panting and sweating, but she didn't want to lose the game.
Taking a deep breath through her nose, she went for gold and lowered her mouth all the way down on him. When his tip hit the back of her mouth and started to slide down her throat, she finally heard his voice hitch. Victory. She slowly worked her mouth off of him, then plunged right back again. He coughed to cover up a stutter. With him fully sheathed in her mouth, she ran one hand up between his legs, rolling her fingers around his sack. He coughed again and she backed off.
Finish this.
She began pumping away, working her hand and mouth up and down his dick. Every up sweep, she swirled her tongue around his head. Every down sweep, she squeezed his testicles. Then she would switch it up. Take a couple deep throats. Then back to bobbing and sucking.
Tate could hear it in his voice, he was having trouble. She felt a hand on the back of her head, and his fingers worked their way into her hair. Twisted and pulled. Not enough to pull her away, but enough for her to feel him. She let out a small, breathy moan, dug her fingernails into his thighs.
“Well, John, it's kinda late, and I have some work I need to do upstairs,” she heard Jameson say in a loud voice.
Cheating! He can't ask him to leave! Cheater!
Tate redoubled her efforts, pulled all her tricks out of the bag. Unsheathed her teeth, skimmed them against his skin. She heard him hiss at that one. Took him on the inside of her cheek, running the sensitive tip against the sides of her molars. He gave a full body shudder then. Then she ran her tongue over every inch of his nuts.
His voice was getting strained, his muscles were all tensing. He wasn't going to last much longer. She could hear Jameson trying to get the guy to leave. She ran her free hand up his leg, over his waist, and started up his stomach. When her fingertips were visible over the desk, his hand let go of her hair and grabbed at her fingers. Pressed his hand flat over them, against his stomach. She dug her claws in and raked the hand back down. More tension in his legs. He was breathing heavy, and through his t-shirt, she could feel sweat.
I'm going to win. I'm going to win. I'm going to -,
“It's almost eleven o'clock at night, John. Go the fuck home so I can go to bed,” Jameson suddenly barked out.
She was enraged. The cheating bastard. Tate went to pull away, but his hand was back in her hair, forcing her head down on him. She moaned, loudly this time, then both his hands were in her hair, holding her in place. She braced her hands against either side of the dresser, taking shaky breaths through her nose.
When the door to the library banged shut, he let go of her. She all but spit him out, pushing at his knees and forcing him backwards. She quickly climbed to her feet and glared down at him, but he just grinned up at her.
“Goddamn, Tate, you weren't fucking around. You do that like it's your job,” Jameson laughed, sounding proud of her. She put her hands on her hips.
“You cheated!” she snapped at him. He ignored her and climbed to his feet, tucking his hard on back into his pants.
“It wasn't ever actually your job, was it? Walking tours with a happy ending?” he joked.
“You cheated. You made him leave. I had you, and you cheated,” Tate repeated herself. He stepped up close to her.
“I said you had to do it before he left the room. I didn't say when or how that was going to happen. Should've worked harder for it,” he told her.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she growled. He ran a finger down her cheek.
“Think of how much better it will be when I'm an active participant,” he said. She shook her head.
“You'll be lucky if there ever is a next time.”
ALSO FROM THE AUTHOR
Penny Sixsmith is bestselling erotic romance author Stylo Fantome
writing contemporary romance under a new pen name
THE KANE SERIES
"... thanks to Stylo for getting me lost, breaking the rules, and "going there". This was fresh and dark ..." - Penelope Douglas, NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Fall Away series and Corrupt
Degradation
Separation
Reparation
Completion
Reception
STANDALONES
"I could not fault one moment of this story, I devoured every word and every beautiful depraved page. Days later I am still thinking about it and I know that it will be one of those books that will be etched into my soul, I honestly loved it that much." - I Love Book Love blog
The Bad Ones
My Time in the Affair
Just a Little Junk
Muscle Memory
While I Was Away
Slow Dancing
CHURCH. duet
Church., Book One
Preach., Book Two
DAY TO NIGHT SERIES
What We Do in the Night
What We Do in the Light
THE MERCENARIES
Best Laid Plans
Out of Plans
The Mercenaries: Boxset
TWIN ESTATES NOVELS
"... only one author I know continues to blow my ever-loving mind with the sheer gutsiness and uniqueness of her stories ... Stylo Fantôme continues to write with such intelligence and verve ... once again, she delivers with a book that is hot sexy escapism at its finest." - Natasha is a Book Junkie
Neighbors
The Neighborhood
Block Party
Neighborhood Watch
Boy #1: The Wannabe Rockstar (Oh, Those Boys) Page 17
