by Bellus, HJ
“Dickface,” Dax greets him.
“’Sup?”
“Just hanging, and you?”
“Same.”
Cole sits across from the couple and notices how relaxed Birdy is, and the same about Dax. His heart is genuinely happy for his troubled brother who had shown no hope of ever being settled in life.
“Who invited everyone?”
“Kam,” Birdy says. “We caught him having sex with my friend, Jett, and then made them go to dinner with us. She left, then he got pissed and threw a party.”
Cole scans the room for signs of his brother and doesn’t find him.
“He’s in his room with some chicks.”
As if Dax read his mind.
“Jett, as in the waitress he was being a dick to a couple weeks ago?”
“Yep, we were shocked as well.”
“Said it was a one-time thing.”
Puzzle pieces slowly float together; so she’s the reason his brother has been MIA.
Before he can respond, Crystal and Lex are both perched in his lap and groping at every possible body part. One of them covers his cock with their hand.
“Cole, time to play.”
The other leans over and whispers, “Dalton’s here too, and wants the three of us again.”
He looks to where her gaze is directed and sees him leaning against a wall. He finds it hard to believe Dalton wants to be with him again, after giving him the cold shoulder. Crystal keeps stroking his cock through his khaki trousers.
“What’s wrong, Cole? You’re not even hard.”
“Not tonight, ladies.”
“C’mon,” they whine in unison.
Cole motions to the security guard standing by the elevator.
“Please escort both of these women out. They’re not allowed back in.”
When Cole tries to return to conversation, Birdy’s face is deep crimson from embarrassment.
“Sorry about that.”
“What the fuck was that all about? You never turn down a three or foursome,” Dax asks.
“I’m just exhausted from running the fucking business alone.”
“Hey, we have the bar going,” Birdy says defensively. “And I have all the final decorations up around the club.”
“You’re right.” Cole chuckles lightly. “You two have been working your asses off as well. Without you, we’d never be able to open on time.”
Cole stands. “I’m going to shower and try to get some sleep.”
He pats his brother’s shoulder and leans in and places a kiss on Birdy’s forehead. Dax has already made Cole promise to take care of her if anything were to happen to him. Just one more thing on his plate of responsibilities.
Cole successfully makes it to his room without making eye contact with anyone else in the penthouse. He lets the hot shower wash away some worries, but finds his cock hardening with thoughts of Jax and their adventures last night. When he steps from the shower, a voice startles him. Dalton is standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Sent the girls packing?”
Cole ignores him, trying to dry himself, not sure what to say or even if he should respond.
“I see you’re ready for me.”
Dalton drops his jeans and steps forward, grabbing Cole’s cock and beginning to stroke it. When Cole doesn’t return the favor, Dalton begins stroking his own cock.
Cole tries several times to tell him he’s not in the mood and to leave, but then he’s hit with the thought of having Jax and Dalton at the same time. Watching another man fuck her while he slams into his ass. The thought is poison and he knows it, but can’t stop it from playing out in his mind. Soon Dalton drops to his knees and starts sucking him while still stroking himself. It’s one of Cole’s favorite views when being with a man.
Soon he’s bucking his hips into Dalton’s mouth, nailing him in the back of the throat.
“I can’t,” Cole finally gasps.
“Fuck me,” Dalton says around his cock.
He’s not in a relationship with Jax and only promised no other girls. Visions of her riding his cock and her perfect breasts fill his mind as he pumps harder and faster into Dalton’s mouth, and before he knows what he’s done he’s spilling into him.
Dalton rises, wipes his mouth, and grins back at Cole. “Now, I get to fuck you.”
“I don’t think so,” Cole says.
“Fair is fair.”
“There’s no fair between us. Get out of my room, and stay out of the penthouse. You’re not welcome back.”
Cole’s words come out harsh, and he winces at them. It’s not Dalton’s fault he’s so angry with himself. Jax is right; he’s just a player. When he hears his bedroom door shut, he walks over and locks it, then sinks down on the bed naked and pissed off. The view of Dalton sucking him off was hot, and the excitement of fucking him was just that—exciting, but none of it compared to the way Jax made him feel, and he just fucked it all up.
His phone beeps, drawing him from his thoughts.
Jax: Sorry, not going to make it tonight.
He can’t even bring himself to text her back. He’ll just lie the next time he sees her and tell her he fell asleep. Cole fucked up and knows it, and now it’s evident he’ll never be worthy to be with a person like her.
“Cole.”
He cringes, thinking he’d made a clean escape from the hospital without running into Jax. He turns to see her sitting on the bench waiting for the bus. His heart sinks when he sees the state she’s in. Thick black lines sit below her eyes, her skin is pale, and her hair’s a mess.
“Hey.”
“Avoiding me, huh?”
“No, Jax, no,” he lies, thinking he needs to avoid her because she deserves so much better. “I was asleep when you texted me, and then it’s been emergency after emergency at the club.”
“With woman after woman, right?”
“No, I haven’t been with another woman since you, Jax.” And he isn’t lying about that. In fact, after Dalton, he’s done nothing but himself.
He holds his hand out to her and is surprised when she takes it.
“I just want a ride home and am too tired to wait on the damn bus.”
Jax’s stomach growls a few times on the way to her house. Using his hands-free cellphone, he orders Chinese. Jax watches him from the corner of her eye, even nodding off a couple of times. After a few blocks of fighting her sleep, Jax gives in. Cole parks the car and pets her cheek, realizing how much he’s missed their banter and her touch in just a day and a half.
She doesn’t flinch when he gets from the car and opens her door. Cole scoops her up in his arms, and she stirs a bit but nestles into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I like you, Cole.”
I like you, too, Doc.” He kisses the top of her head as he walks to her front door.
“I like the way you make me feel. Just give me one more night.”
Her voice is full of sleep, and he wonders if she even realizes what she’s rambling on about.
“What if I said I want you more than once, but if you really knew me, you would never want me again?”
“Cole, just be with me one time.”
He doesn’t respond, scared by her proposition, and wonders if she’s even fully conscious. He feels Jax’s heavy breathing on his neck and knows for sure that she’s passed out.
He reaches around in her pockets to find the key ring without dropping her. He finally finds it and unlocks the door, and it’s not an easy task. He lays her on the couch and then heads straight for the door. He knows he should leave and doesn’t deserve another minute with her, but then who would pay for the Chinese? Cole jogs out to his car for his bag with all of his work stuff in it, and then heads back up.
Being the greedy bastard he is, he props Jax’s head on his thigh, balances his laptop on the arm of the couch, and starts going through unread emails. After hundreds of deleted junk emails and responding to various vendors, he final
ly shuts the lid to his laptop and checks his watch. It’s been over an hour since he called in the food, and he begins to get pissed because as soon as Jax wakes she’s sure to be starving.
As if she can read his thoughts, she begins to stir around on the couch. He lifts his MacBook to sit on the coffee table, and she bolts straight up, crashing into it.
“Cole,” she screams, grabbing her forehead.
“Doc, I’m right here.”
She jumps into his lap and straddles him while still holding her forehead.
“I know you’re a player, Cole, but you asshole, you made me want you, and I know you don’t settle, and all I thought about during the longest shift of my life was you.”
He makes her face him. “Jax, I wasn’t with another girl, and yes, I may be a player, but I want to be better with you. You’re right, I was ignoring you.” He places a soft kiss on her lips. “I’m not good enough for you, and I don’t want to break your heart.”
There’s a knocking at the door, but neither of them moves.
“It’s not your choice if I put myself in a situation to have my heart broken or not.”
A louder knocking invades the small apartment, and Jax’s stomach growls again.
“The food’s here, Doc.”
“Coming,” she yells loudly. “It’s my choice, and I want you, Cole Sterling.”
She raises from his lap. Cole stands up with her and seizes her by the waist before she goes for the door.
“You have to promise not to judge me on my past.”
“I’m in, Cole.”
He feels like a bastard for cornering her, but then again she made her point that she’s a big girl and gets to choose whether or not to be with him. He goes to the door and settles up the bill for the Chinese and turns to see Jax readying the table.
“That little nap did you well. Your color is even back in your cheeks.”
“I do feel better.”
“Crazy night?” Cole sits and begins taking the food from the bags.
“Insane, and it didn’t help that I was on shift with Dr. Fuckface and was running on low fumes to begin with.”
“Why low fumes?” He arches an eyebrow.
“Well, a couple nights ago this steamy man made passionate love to me.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Want to practice?”
“No, you need to eat.”
“Then you’ll fuck me.”
“Oh, I’ll do something to you, Jax.”
***
He rolls over and lets go of her for the first time since he fell asleep. Cole peers up at the alarm clock and is shocked to see that he actually slept in until seven a.m. He checks his sleeping beauty lying next to him, and she’s completely out. He places several kisses along her neckline before he gets up to relieve himself. No matter what happens between the two of them, whether they last weeks or months, he’ll never forget the look on her face when he went down on her.
She nearly kicked his front teeth from shock, but then after he reassured her, Jax finally let her legs relax. He checks the mirror for the missing patch of hair on his scalp. Her screams and legs squeezing his face and her taste lingering in his mouth are things he’ll never forget.
“Cole.”
Her voice is panicked and makes him feel guilty.
“Bathroom, Doc.”
He hears her body thud back against the mattress, and he hurries to get back to her.
“Hey, sleepyhead.”
“Hi.” Jax grins back at him. “Thanks for not leaving in the middle of night.”
“You’re stuck with me.”
“I’ll take you.” Jax holds her arms up, and Cole climbs up the bed and runs his face along her legs then her torso, stopping at her neck and kissing her, and then moving up to her face and settling between her legs.
“I missed you, Doc.”
He rubs against her core, ready for her again.
“I missed you, too.”
He reaches over to the nightstand and grabs his last condom, and then kisses Jax.
“Morning sex is my favorite.” Cole relaxes back on his heels, rolling the condom on.
“Another first for me.”
Sinking into Jax will never get old, and that thought scares the living shit out of him. She’s his new addiction. Jax moans, arching her back as he fills her to the brim. In most situations, he can last several minutes. Hell, he’s be known to fuck for an hour, but Jax sets him off like a time bomb.
He tries focusing on ugly, nasty thoughts, but the feel of her warm center pulsing around him doesn’t help. Then she moans and he feels himself tipping over the edge. He struggles to hold, but when she yells out her release he follows, unable to resist her any longer. Cole collapses on top of Jax, sated and breathing heavily.
“Just one more time.” Jax smiles against his shoulder.
Cole chuckles at her request, and then he hears his phone. Rolling off of Jax, he answers it.
“Hello.”
He listens to Dax and club business while Jax traces the tattoos on his chest.
“Okay, I’ll see you at the club.”
He hangs up the phone, grabbing Jax by the hips and setting her on him.
“Do you work today?”
“No.”
“Want to spend it with me?”
Jax cranes her neck to the side, thinking over his question. Cole reaches up and plucks her raised nipple.
“Stop.”
“C’mon, can’t be that hard of a decision.”
“Fine, but...”
“You do know your wagers got us in the situation.”
“You complaining, boy?”
“Not at all, and I’ll do whatever you have in mind.”
Jax curls her top lip. “I have the bi-annual dinner with my sister and her modelesque hubs.”
“I’m in.”
“Two Fridays away.” Jax reaches down and kisses Cole’s forehead.
“I’m in. Shower and breakfast?”
“No.” Jax smiles. “Shower, sex, that thing where you go down on me, breakfast, and then more sex.
“There’s my naughty nurse.”
“Does being with a Sterling scare the shit out of you, Birdy?” Jax runs her finger around the rim of her glass.
“Naw, Dax is my home, and Cole is like a big brother.”
It’s been almost two weeks, and she’s spent every free moment with Cole. Granted, between their work schedules there’s not a lot of time, but when they are together there’s nothing but hot lovemaking.
“I heard Chloe gets to go home.” Birdy downs her red drink. “And that she’s having a girl.”
“Yeah. It’s very exciting, and the baby is doing well. I guess they’re moving into a new apartment.”
“I heard that. I still think they should live at the penthouse.”
“Birdy, a hotel isn’t a home.”
“It’s mine.” She giggles.
“What are you drinking?”
“Oh dear baby Jesus, Cole hasn’t got you one. It’s the Signature Sinner. The bar is kind of Dax’s project.”
Jax has heard Cole talk about the club on several occasions but never really paid attention to who did what, since she figured club life was not her thing, but after spending a couple afternoons here with Birdy she has come to enjoy it. And it’s mostly because of Birdy; she’s easy to love, and shoots it straight. Jax has never told Cole, but Birdy has actually confirmed several times when Cole has turned down women in the penthouse.
“Do you want one?” Birdy asks.
“Yeah.”
Birdy bounds up to the bar and comes back with several red drinks.
“Dax would shit if he saw me drinking this much, but they’re delicious.”
“I’m not really a drinker, Birdy.”
“Me either, but if you think sex with a Sterling is good sober, try it drunk.”
She laughs at Birdy’s admission and can only imagine. Several drinks later, the two girls have convince
d Creed to turn on some jams for them to dance to. Birdy, who’s innocent, doesn’t play into the game of taunting the boys behind the bar with titties, but Jax does. She hikes down her shirt, squeezes her arms together, and pushes her girls up on the bar. After several minutes, Creed finally cranks the music for them, and serves them another drink.
“You’re Cole’s girl?” Creed asks, grabbing Jax’s hand before she can take a drink.
“Well, I’m not really…”
“Yes, she is,” Birdy pipes up. “Cole talks about her in his sleep. It’s the cutest thing ever. Dax has never seen the man in love.”
Jax watches Creed’s jaw tense up, and then she replays the word love over and over in her mind. They’ve maintained their playful banter, nicknames, and role-playing. She even had Cole dressed up as policeman the other night.
“I don’t know about the L-word.”
Music begins to blare and Birdy drags Jax onto the dance floor.
“I love this club,” she screams, waving her arms around. “But I know I won’t when they officially open. Dax plays music for me while he’s working, and I dance.”
Jax watches Birdy sway her hips to the rhythm of the music and instantly feels out of place. The song is catchy as fuck, and she recognizes Justin Timberlake’s voice, but she still feels like an outsider. Everything seems fine when it’s just her and Cole in their few spare moments at home under the sheets, but when club or hospital life is thrown into the mix, everything seems a bit off for her. But that’s the story of her life.
A slight grin breaks across her face as she watches Birdy bust out all sorts of dance moves. She tries to move her hips, but just feels all sorts of awkward.
“Let me help you, Doc.”
Arms wrap around her middle and her favorite scent invades her nostrils. Cole begins to sway to the song, and it reminds her of a steady beat that he usually pounds into her. Jax wards off any naughty thoughts and the tingling sensation developing between her thighs.
Dax joins Birdy, and it’s clear the two have had practice dirty dancing, grinding, or bumping whatevers, because they look like pros on the dance floor. Their carefree spirits cause her to loosen up a bit, following Cole’s dance moves. He spins her around and guides her arms to hook around his neck. His hands snake around her waist then land on her ass cheeks. His lips press against her and go in for a taste.
