by Jodi Redford
“For starters, he and I didn’t bump nasties in a public restroom.” Jane shifted her attention to Marissa. “As for you. I can’t believe you lied to me about all of this. And after I was nice enough to loan you that dress.” She stacked her arms over her chest, her gaze wounded and petulant. “Might as well keep it now. No way I’m touching it with a ten foot pole since it’s tainted with just-banged-your-brother-in-the-bathroom cooties.”
He felt the need to jump to Marissa’s defense. After all, she’d kept her mouth shut because of him. He wouldn’t let her go down as the bad guy. “Don’t hassle her. She didn’t even want to hire me at first.”
Jane froze. “Hire you?”
A heavy silence descended on them. After a moment Marissa cleared her throat. “Yes. We already went over this.”
“Wait a minute.” Jane rubbed her temples and took a shuffling step backward. “You were telling the truth about hiring an escort?”
“Well...yeah.” Obvious confusion laced Marissa’s tone. “Isn’t that what you’re upset about? Me hiring Trig and not telling you?”
“No, I was hurt because I thought you came up with that lame story to cover you hooking up with my brother.” Jane dropped her hands and shook her head furiously before glaring at Trig. “You’re a fucking gigolo?”
Well aware of the massive crap fest this conversation was destined for, he wrapped his arm around Marissa and offered Jane the calmest look he could muster. “This isn’t the time to discuss this. I’m sure Marissa would like to get back to her party.”
“Oh sure.” His sister slashed her hand through the air. “After all, she’s paying you by the fucking hour.”
“Jane,” he growled warningly.
“Don’t go Cujo on me, you lying dipshit!”
“What have I lied to you about? I chose not to tell you about the escorting gig because I knew you’d be judgmental about it. Thanks for proving me right, by the way.” He chafed Marissa’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Marissa chewed her lip and stared apprehensively at Jane. “Maybe we should—”
“No, my sister and I will hash this out later. Trust me.” A muscle twitching in his jaw, he prodded Marissa down the corridor.
Once they were alone in the stairwell, she glanced up at him, obvious worry etched into her features. “The party could have waited. I don’t like you two ending things on bad terms.”
Her concern for him melted a fraction of the tension balled tight within him. Pulling her closer, he smooched her forehead. “Have I told you lately that you’re the sweetest woman I’ve ever known?”
She blushed. “Thank you. I think.”
“It’s definitely a good thing.” He rubbed noses with her. “I’m lucky to have you for a friend.”
She dropped her gaze to the concrete landing, her shoulders slumping slightly. He frowned at the top of her head. “Did I say something wrong?” It wouldn’t be unheard of. Shit, he tended to have a PHD in sticking his foot in his mouth. Then again, look at who he was related to, for cripe’s sake.
Aw fuck. That’s probably why she was upset. “Jane’s damn well lucky to have you for a friend too. Not many people would put up with her like you and Sidney do. She’ll eventually get the stick out of her ass regarding all of this. If not, it’ll sure as hell be her loss. Not yours.”
Marissa peered up at him again, something in her soft blue eyes stirring an odd sensation in his gut. She opened her mouth but then quickly shut it and stared at some focal point beyond the stair rail. Slipping his knuckle beneath her chin, he tipped her face toward him. “Hey, I mean it. Don’t let this BS with Jane ruin the rest of your night, capiche?”
She smiled weakly. “I won’t.”
He guided Marissa downstairs, his desire to make up for the last several minutes outweighing all else—even the temptation to throttle his sister.
The remainder of the evening flew by in a blessedly uneventful blur. Although Marissa wore a blindingly cheerful expression the entire time, he knew that she was still troubled by the scene with Jane. The last thing he wanted was for her to dwell on the tensions between him and his sister. And he sure as hell didn’t want it to impact what he and Marissa had going on.
Though truthfully, what exactly did they have going on? The sex was hotter than anything conjured from his wildest fantasies. But he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that it was starting to feel like more than just sex to him. And he had a bad feeling that Marissa felt the same way. Which presented a big ass complication.
They were supposed to keep this light and fun. No strings attached. It was the way it had to be. He didn’t want to hurt her. She deserved someone who could commit to her and do the whole relationship dance and one day marry her and give her a bunch of babies. How the hell could he do that if he made a living by dating other women?
Whoa. Not that he was even suitable for settling down with in the first place. His mile long booty call list was living proof that he didn’t know the first thing about devoting himself to one person.
And does an endless supply of different pussy every night sound remotely like something that’d make you happy? He frowned at the intuitive voice in his head. Once upon a time that’d been the case. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say it was that long ago, either. But before Marissa, he hadn’t questioned his player tendencies. He’d never been with a woman who made him want to change his ways.
The fact that he could visualize himself coming home every night to Marissa? Well, it kind of felt good, and right. That was the upside. The downside was that the image didn’t gel with reality. Not his anyway. Initially they might fool themselves into thinking they could somehow work a relationship around his escorting. But sooner or later the doubts and mistrust would creep in. And he would never put Marissa through that. It wouldn’t be fair to her.
Marissa collected her coat and he absently helped her into it. They made their way out to the parking lot and she squeezed his hand. “Everything okay? You’ve been awfully quiet for the last few minutes.”
He cuddled her to his side. “Yeah. Just mentally preparing for my inevitable battle with Jane,” he lied.
“Oh.”
He could have kicked his own ass for bringing up that touchy subject. “It’ll be fine. So was there anywhere else you wanted to go tonight?” He clicked the auto locks and opened the passenger door. She climbed in, buckled her seat belt and smothered a yawn. He chuckled. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“Am I a party pooper for saying I’d really like to go home and snuggle on the couch?”
The wise thing would be to nip this in the bud before they got in any deeper. But right then what he wanted more than anything was to hold her in his arms and pretend for a while longer that she was his. Tomorrow he could deal with the real world. Tonight he’d enjoy every second with her. “That sounds like a fantastic plan.”
She gave him one of her sweet smiles and he leaned down to kiss her before shutting the door and crossing to the driver’s side.
Once they arrived at her place, Marissa slipped off her high heels and sighed in bliss. He grinned at her. “Better?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“How about you change into something more comfortable and I’ll give you a foot rub?”
“Deal.” She hustled down the hall, leaving him to chuckle at her exuberant enthusiasm.
He lowered his overnight bag onto the tiled entry floor and removed his suit jacket. A quick scan inside the closet produced a hanger. After kicking off his own shoes, he rolled up his shirt sleeves and rearranged the pillows on the couch so she’d have a comfortable headrest. He took the liberty of lighting the vanilla-scented pillar candle sitting on the coffee table just as Marissa reappeared. Pinching the flimsy end of the smoldering match between his fingertips, he raked her with his gaze, appreciating the delectable picture she made in her two-piece teddy.
Hugging her arms to her chest, she stepped toward him. “I was going to wear this last night, but I seem t
o have a tough time keeping clothes on when we’re alone together.”
“I’m sure not complaining.” He traced the lace trim edging the top of the camisole. “Though I hate to break it to ya—you probably won’t be wearing this for much longer either. Not if I have my way.”
“Oh, and what way would that be? Your wicked one?”
He dipped his head to kiss her collarbone. “Like I have any other.” Crooking his arm under her butt, he tipped her into his arms and carried her to the couch.
She pillowed her cheek against his chest. “I could get used to this.”
So could he, if he wasn’t careful. He got her situated and then claimed his own spot on the couch and tucked her feet in his lap. He massaged the delicate rise of her arch and worked his way upward. Another wispy exhale floated from her when he began rubbing her toes.
She propped her head up higher on the couch cushion and watched his progress. “You must be the most popular escort at Hunks for Hire if you do this for all of your clients.”
“You’re the first.”
She blinked at him. “Really?”
“Yep. Guess that makes you special.” He’d said it as a tease, but there was a world of truth to it too. No matter that he might try to convince himself otherwise, she was so much more than a client to him.
The pensiveness that’d clouded her expression earlier returned. Shifting her head on the cushion, she fixed her stare on the flickering candle. The tension that settled over her was a tangible presence. He could almost hear the wheels grinding in her brain and the unspoken desire to pick apart the meaning behind his statement. He prayed to God she wouldn’t push the issue, even while he battled with the reckless compulsion to give voice to all of the tangled feelings and impossible yearnings caged within his heart.
Yeah, that’d be a bastard move. He wouldn’t give her false hope when he didn’t have a fucking clue where any of this was going. Instead he banded his fingers around her ankles and towed her onto his lap without warning. As he’d hoped it would, the unexpected maneuver snapped her from her quiet reflectiveness. She gaped at him. “What—” The remainder of the word broke off with a fluttery moan when he slid his hand inside the teddy’s silk bikini bottom.
“I thought maybe you might be in need of some TLC elsewhere.” He cupped her mound and with sinful deliberation, rubbed the heel of his palm across her clit. “Oh yeah. I’m definitely detecting too much tension here, baby. We better do something about that.”
She licked her lips. “What do you suggest?”
“Only one thing is gonna relieve this pressure.” He coasted along the slippery folds of her slit. Spreading her labia, he gently prodded the entrance to her pussy with his middle finger, teasing and playing to his heart’s content until she was whimpering and undulating her hips in wanton invitation. He eased inside her the tiniest increment and her slick channel clenched around him. “Mm, I do believe I’ve located where your tension is residing.”
Her chest rose and fell with her strained breaths. “W-what brought you to that conclusion?”
“Well see, you’re incredibly tight.” His own dirty game snaring him by the short hairs, he thickened behind his fly at the snug clasp of her sheath. “Only hope for properly relaxing you is with a nice...deep...tissue massage.” He glided in another inch and tormented her—and ultimately himself—by slowly circling her G spot. She trembled, her inner muscles clamping him like they refused to ever let go. “Baby, you’re tensing up on me again. Think we’ll have to try a different approach.”
Tuning out her murmurs of protest when he retreated from her pussy, he trailed his hand higher and used her silky liquid essence to lubricate her clit. Not that it was necessary, judging from its already sopping wet condition. She wiggled frantically, alternatively rubbing against him and trying to escape his teasing at the same time.
He pinned her with a mock look of stern warning. “If you don’t stop that you’re gonna suffer the consequences.”
“Why? W-what are you going to do?”
“Try me and find out.”
Excitement flushing her cheeks, she held his gaze and shifted her weight slightly. He mentally licked his chops in anticipation of her next move. This was going to be fun.
With a sudden burst of energy, she scrambled from his lap. He allowed her to get an arm’s length away before shoving up from the couch and catching her with a triumphant growl. His grip firm on her squirming body, he draped her over the edge of the couch’s rolled arm and swatted her fanny. He had a good inkling she was enjoying the hell out of it from the blatant way she butted up against his hand like a purring pussy cat. He leaned over her and bit her neck. Hiking his hand underneath her camisole, he squeezed her breast, pinching her nipple and deliberately grinding his erection into her pussy. “I should fuck you right now. Just like this.”
She reached behind her to tunnel her fingers through his hair. “Yes, please.”
“No, I’ve got a better idea.” After gifting her ass with another stinging love tap, he crossed to his bag and unzipped it. He located the pair of restraints and the red and white striped vibrator and tossed both onto the couch.
Marissa inspected the vibrator, amusement sparkling in her eyes. “You really do have a thing for candy canes, don’t you?”
“It was the only one available in the size I needed.”
“In case you didn’t notice, I have a small arsenal of vibrators in my drawer.”
“Yeah, and it also didn’t pass my attention that you’re a size whore. All of yours would have been way too big for what I’ve got planned.”
A hint of worry crept over her face. He stroked her spine reassuringly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” At least not when it came to this. All he could do was try his damnedest to be equally diligent in his efforts when it came to her heart.
He helped her to straighten from her awkward angle on the couch’s arm and pointed to the middle cushion. She obeyed the silent command and he unbuttoned his shirt. Her gaze ate him alive as he discarded the garment and unbuckled his belt. He made a leisurely, provocative show of stepping out of his pants and hooked his thumbs into his boxer briefs. Tugging the jersey slightly forward to clear the engorged head of his shaft, he pulled the fabric down. Marissa’s rapt focus remained fused to his stiff-as-a-board cock while he peeled off his socks.
Hunger consuming every cell in his body, he planted a hand on either side of her head, hemming her in. Unable to resist, he claimed her mouth, capturing her shaky sigh when his tongue glided along hers. He retreated with a slow, sucking pull of her bottom lip between his teeth. By the time he came up for air they were both breathing heavily. He stared into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded with zero hesitation. Knowing she put that much faith in him? Damn. Talk about a heady and powerful responsibility. One he would never take advantage of. But that sure as hell didn’t mean he wasn’t going to enjoy it and make sure she did too. He plucked the restraints from the cushion and instructed her to lean forward and clasp her hands behind her. After slipping the cuffs on her wrists, he secured the Velcro closures and positioned her so that she arched far enough away from the sofa’s back that she wasn’t sitting on her hands. “Tell me if your arms get numb or anything, okay?”
“All right.”
He yanked her panties down and she gasped at the pseudo rough treatment. Spreading her legs wide, he offered her a wicked smile and caressed her slit. “This pussy is mine to do with as I please. Understood?”
She swallowed hard. “Y-yes.”
“If I want to eat it, I will. If I want to spank it, I will. And if I want to fuck it until you scream my name and beg me to let you come, I absofuckinglutely will.”
Her glassy stare and the way she melted into the cushions when he sheathed his cock and knelt in front of her more than hinted that she was enjoying his domination play as much as he was. Holding the head of her clit back with his thumb, he relentlessly tormented the swollen nerve center with th
e tip of his tongue. When her hips grew restless he pinned them down and devoured her until her wetness glossed his jaw and chin. And still that wasn’t nearly enough of her to sate his carnal appetites. He brought her over the peak, luxuriating in her broken moans and the fierce beats pulsing through her clit.
Licking his lips, he pushed up from the carpet and lifted Marissa enough so that he could settle in front of her on the couch. He clicked the vibrator on and buzzed it over her clit, steadily working her into a writhing, panting mess. Satisfied she was as primed as she’d ever be, he shut off the dildo and slid it inside her. She gave him an uncertain look that turned into wide-eyed apprehension when he aligned the knob of his cock with the protruding base of the device. “I-I don’t think that’s going to—”
Not giving her another second to doubt the physics of his intensions, he eased past her snug opening, slowly stretching her impossibly tight pussy until she hugged every inch of his cock and the vibrator’s silicone shaft. He gauged her expression the entire time, careful to test her limits but not push her into the zone of discomfort. She glanced down at the twin dicks lodged deep inside her and shivered, her nipples visibly hardening beneath the silk of her teddy. He scrunched the top up over her breasts so he could better enjoy the view. Tweaking the ripe berries between his fingers, he tugged just enough to earn her gasp and a corresponding ripple of her pussy. “Mm, forgot to mention that I own these luscious treats tonight too.”
“Is there any part of me that doesn’t belong to you? My big toe, perhaps?”
“Sassy girl. Time to remind you who’s boss here.” He flipped on the vibe to the middle setting. Even that was no weak slouch.
Marissa jolted, her kneecaps digging into his ribcage. “Ohmygodddddd.”
Encouraged by that response, he slid his hands to her hips and bobbed her up and down. The cramped fit didn’t allow much room for thrusting. Not that it mattered. The sheer ecstasy riding her face verified that between his cock and the buzzing candy cane vibe, she was well on her way to one humdinger of a holy O. But the moment she came, he’d be a goner. No way he’d be able to last. Yeah, it was selfish of him to prolong it, but denying her orgasm would also make it more mind-blowing in the end.
