Skin Deep

by Evans, Anna J.

  “Yeah, breakfast sounds good,” Nicky said, ignoring the tightness in her chest.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She smiled, determined not to get her precious little feelings hurt by the fact that Jackson wanted to erase the evidence of their past. She’d known that’s what he wanted to do since last night. Why should it bother her so much more this morning?

  Because now you know you still love him, never stopped loving him.

  “I’m starving. Let’s eat.” She tried to bolt from the bed, but a rock-hard arm closed around her waist and pulled her back onto the covers.

  “I haven’t forgotten my promise,” Jackson said, his hand wandering down to her bare thigh, caressing her with a gentle insistence that had her body waking up faster than downing a double shot of espresso. “I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t starving you to death. You can’t live on love alone and all that.”

  “Lust alone, you mean.” Nicky strove to make the words casual, but the joke fell flat, and if she wasn’t mistaken Jackson looked a little hurt by the correction.

  Could he be feeling the same way she did? Did he more than “care” for her? Could he still feel the way he had when they were so young and stupid, but so very, very in love?

  The thought should have been exhilarating. Isn’t that what she’d hoped for? Less than eight hours ago she’d sworn to do whatever it took to make Jackson start falling for her again, and then use his feelings to make this weekend end the way she wanted it to end. But now . . . the thought of Jackson loving her just hurt. Badly.

  “Babe, don’t cry. What’s wrong?” Jackson pulled his hand away from her thigh, moving both arms to surround her and pull her close to his chest. He was so much bigger and stronger than he’d been when they were younger, but the feeling of safety she’d always felt when he held her was the same.

  God, why had she ever left him? No matter how bad things had been at her foster home, she should have stayed and found a way to wait for him. How had she ever thought she’d be okay without Jack?

  Of course, at sixteen, she hadn’t realized how precious he was. She’d known there weren’t a lot of good guys out there, but she’d assumed she would find another, move on from her first love. But she hadn’t, not even when things were still good with Derrick. She’d never loved her husband the way she loved this man. And on those nights she’d cried herself to sleep when her marriage had soured, it wasn’t Derrick’s arms she imagined holding her close, making her feel safe and loved.

  It was Jackson. It had always been Jackson. And probably always would be.

  Still, that didn’t change anything. Jackson didn’t want her, not really. If he did, he wouldn’t have written asking her to change her tattoo. He would have written asking to see her again, to see if they could reconnect in some way. He hadn’t known she was married. She’d kept her maiden name instead of taking Derrick’s. Nicky Remington certainly sounded a lot more glamorous and lingerie-model-esque than Nicky Sakapatatis, and not even Derrick’s wrath could convince her to take that trip down to the Social Security office.

  No, what Jackson really wanted was his freedom. Whatever it was he was feeling, he wanted those feelings gone, and he thought modifying her tattoo was the way to get that accomplished. Who knew? Maybe it was. Maybe the connection between them would finally be severed when they no longer sported matching ink.

  “I’m okay.” She sniffed, wishing she had a Kleenex. Seconds later, Jack reached out and plucked one from the bedside table and pressed it into her hand. That small act of compassion was nearly enough to get her tears going again.

  “Listen, I meant what I said, Nick. I don’t want to hurt you, and I really don’t want to make you cry.”

  “You look scared.” Nicky sniffed and wiped her nose.

  “Well, a crying woman is a pretty scary thing.” He smiled as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Especially you. I can count the times I’ve seen you cry on one finger.”

  “Really? I never . . . No, I guess I never did.” She laughed, remembering the tough little nut she used to be. Of course, most of it had been an act, a front to hide how scared and sad she was sometimes—well, just about all the time when she wasn’t with Jackson. “It’s all right. Now, I cry all the time. It’s no big thing.”

  “Sounds like a big thing to me.” His smile faded and he started to look like scary Jackson again. “What’s been making you cry? Your ex? If so, I’m sure I could arrange for him to have a visit from some people who would make him think twice about—”

  “Let’s not talk about my ex,” Nicky said, tossing her Kleenex to the floor behind her. “In fact, let’s not talk at all.”

  Before Jack could say a word, she’d wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. And then another kiss, and another, until he moaned into her mouth and rolled on top of her, crushing her into the mattress with his weight, all concerns about who or what might have been making her cry clearly vanishing in the wake of the heat that never failed to flare between them.

  Nicky wrapped her legs around his hips, a moan bursting from her own lips when she felt how hard he was beneath those blue-and-white-striped pajama bottoms. “What time is it?” she asked in between nibbles at his bottom lip.

  “Nearly noon.” He took his turn capturing her bottom lip, tugging it between his teeth before he let it go.

  Damn, she’d never realized she enjoyed being bitten so much. But then, she enjoyed everything Jackson did to her, even the stuff she was sure she hated. Like it or not, he’d been right to make her wait. She was even more eager to have him now than she’d been last night, and knew when she finally came it was going to blow her mind. And probably her heart, too, but she wasn’t going to think about that now. She wasn’t going to think about anything except how amazing he made her feel.

  “That’s horrible. I can’t believe we’re still in our pajamas at noon,” she said, reaching down to run her fingers under the waistband of his pants. “I think it’s time we both got out of them. Don’t you think?”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” His laugh rumbled against her lips, making them tingle.

  Then they were pulling at each other’s clothes, laughing as shirts and pants flew, sighing as bodies came back together with nothing to separate skin from skin. And for a moment, as her breasts pressed against Jackson’s hard, lightly furred chest and her lips met his—teeth bumping together as they kissed through their matching grins—Nicky was happy. As happy as she’d been in longer than she could remember.

  Chapter Eight

  Jackson pulled away from Nicky, looking down at her sprawled naked beneath him, her hair glowing gold in the light. She’d washed off the makeup she’d had on last night and looked the way she had eight years ago. Even the look in her eyes was the same, that vulnerable expression that had always made him feel like the focus of her entire world—at least for the moment.

  It would have been enough to make his heart break if he’d let it. But he couldn’t dwell on past losses or betrayals now, not when she looked so beautiful. Not when, strangely, he was the happiest he’d been in years.

  “I want to eat my pussy,” Jack said, running his hands up and down the thighs she had hooked around his hips.

  “You do?” She wiggled her hips, grinding her center against his erection. “Are you sure you don’t want to save that until after breakfast? You could fuck me now and have your pussy for dessert.”

  “I’d rather have my pussy as an appetizer.” He dipped his hand down between them, capturing a bit of her wetness on his fingertips and then bringing them to his lips. She tasted as amazing as she ever had—sweet and salty, with that hint of feminine musk. To him, the taste of Nicky was the taste of pure desire.

  It made him even harder, thicker. With his cock pressed tight to where she was so wet, it was tempting to forget the preliminaries and drive straight into where he’d been dying to be since he’d left her last night. But she’d proven she could keep he
r promises. Now he was going to prove he could keep his.

  Besides, he was dying to eat his pussy, to see if Nicky was as responsive as she had been the last time he’d lowered his head between her legs. And, of course, to show her he’d learned a thing or two about giving a woman pleasure since his eighteenth birthday.

  “Open your legs. Spread them wide for me,” he commanded, his breath coming faster as he watched Nicky obey. She reached down, grabbing the inside of her thighs, pulling them apart, baring her slit to his gaze.

  His cock started to leak again as he took in what was probably the most gorgeous pussy in the world. The delicate lips were a deep pink, and plumped with the force of her desire. Just above, her clit stood firm and erect, and between her folds, her entrance glistened, already dripping wet. She was hot and ready for him, and he was past ready to have another taste of his girl.

  “Wider.” He grunted his approval as she moved her hands behind her knees, tugging them up and out, bearing every inch of her sex from clit to ass. She concealed nothing from him. Instead she offered up everything, without hesitation or fear. It was enough to snap the last of his control.

  With a groan he lowered his face between her legs, forcing himself to start slowly, to trace the swollen folds of her pussy, to tease her to an even greater state of arousal. He ran his tongue up one side of her entrance and down the other, intensifying his pressure until she moaned and arched closer to his eager mouth.

  Only then did he drive slowly inside her, once, twice, her addictive flavor coating his stiff tongue, making his hands shake as he brought them to her hips. His fingers dug into the full flesh there as he began to fuck her with his mouth in earnest. In and out, in and out, he penetrated her with his swift strokes, coaxing even more cream from her body.

  “God, Jackson.” Nicky’s breath came faster and her hands dropped to his head, her fingernails tunneling through his short hair and digging into his scalp.

  Jackson moaned, humming against her swollen flesh, making her cry out as he moved his thumb to her nub. He circled her clit with a slow, insistent pressure even as the thrusts of his tongue grew faster, deeper. Nicky’s pussy tightened around where he worked inside her and her thighs began to tremble. A glance up the landscape of her body showed her nipples were drawn into tight points, her head thrown back in prelude to ecstasy.

  She was close, so close, but he wasn’t finished with her just yet.

  Without missing a beat, Jackson moved his mouth from her entrance to her clit, swirling his tongue around and around the erect bud. Two fingers took up the rhythm inside her pussy, while his thumb found the puckered ring of her ass. She was already slick from her own juices, so there was little resistance as he penetrated her, easing his thumb inside the tight hole.

  “Jackson!” Nicky gasped his name and spread her thighs even wider, giving him unimpeded access to every inch of the paradise between her legs.

  She obviously didn’t have a problem with having his fingers fill her anywhere and everywhere. It was enough to make him wonder how she’d feel about having his cock in her ass. He’d never had anal sex before, and had never been particularly inclined to try it, but for some reason the thought of shoving his cock into Nicky’s second hole made him impossibly harder. It wasn’t a newly discovered kink, it was simply that he wanted to do everything to Nicky, with Nicky. He wanted to explore every inch of her body, claim her mouth, her pussy, her ass, make it clear her body belonged to him, would always belong to him.

  “Oh god, oh god.” Nicky panted above him, eager sounds issuing from the back of her throat. “Can I come? Jackson, can I—”

  “Come for me, babe. Come on my mouth,” he mumbled against her aroused flesh, then returned his attention to her clit, flicking his tongue across the hard nub as Nicky came with a wild cry.

  She bucked beneath him, heels digging into the mattress, pelvis lifted into the air. Jackson moved his hands back to her hips, holding her still as he softly lapped up every last bit of her cream. Only when her breath began to slow and some of the tension left her muscles did he increase the pressure of his strokes once more, playing through her folds with his tongue, teasing her clit with the barest touches here and there.

  Within a few minutes, her hands fisted in the sheets and her pussy gushed fresh cream, her arousal so great the slick heat leaked down the sides of her thighs. Finally the sight and smell of her was too much to resist.

  Jackson surged over her in one swift motion, shoving his engorged length into where she was so hot, and so very wet. “Fuck, Nicky.” He groaned the words into her mouth, meeting her eager lips with his own, slipping his tongue between her teeth and letting her taste her own salty heat.

  “Yes, fuck Nicky. That’s exactly what you should do.” She wrapped her legs around his hips and squeezed, urging him even deeper insider her welcoming sheath.

  The head of his cock bumped against the end of her and his balls fit snugly in the crack of her ass, but still Nicky flexed her muscles and tilted her hips, as if she could never have him deep enough. Jackson knew exactly how she felt. It wasn’t physically possible to get as close as he’d like to be to her. He couldn’t crawl inside her and share her skin, couldn’t pull her so close their separate bodies fused into one mass of pulsing, aroused flesh.

  But fucking her was pretty close.

  With a sound closer to a growl than anything human, Jackson pulled back and then slammed home, burying himself to the hilt in Nicky. Slow thrusts all too quickly became swift and desperate as the last of his control vanished in the heat they generated whenever they were together. He rode her, shoving in and out of her slick sheath, setting a brutal rhythm Nicky matched with eager lifts of her hips.

  “God, Jackson. Yes!” She came without warning this time, her pussy clamping down on where he moved inside her, triggering his own release so quickly he barely had time to realize he wasn’t wearing a condom.

  “Shit.” He cursed as he pulled out of her tight heat, his cock pulsing against her belly seconds later, spilling thick, sticky cum across her stomach. He groaned as his release rocketed through him, sending waves of pure bliss flowing out to every inch of his body, the pleasure at complete odds with the voice inside his head that was screaming he was a fucking idiot for forgetting protection.

  Jackson collapsed on top of Nicky a few seconds later, breath still coming faster as he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Don’t worry,” she panted, a smile on her face, though she looked a little confused. “I like feeling you come on me.” She kissed him again, her arms wrapping around him, fingertips tracing patterns on his sweat-dampened back. “I might even be into letting you come on my tits like you were talking about last night. After some breakfast.”

  He smiled. “No, I meant sorry for forgetting a condom.”

  “Oh,” she said, comprehension dawning. “Well, I’m on the pill and clean. I . . . haven’t had much sexual activity for the past few years. So you don’t have to worry about my end of things.”

  “I’m clean, too. I was tested a couple of months ago and I never forget to wear a rubber,” he said, not realizing how true the words were until they were out of his mouth. He had truly never forgotten to use protection. Not a single time in his life.

  Shit, no wonder he’d come so fast. He wasn’t used to the bliss of being inside a woman without a latex barrier, especially this woman. “This was the first time that has happened. Ever. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I was just—”

  “Overcome by how hot it was to eat my pussy?” she asked, a wicked gleam in her eye.

  “I’d imagine that had something to do with it,” he said with a laugh. “It’s an extremely hot little pussy.”

  “Hmm, well. Some dom you are, losing control like that. I think you ought to be punished this time.”

  “I think you’re right. How about I serve you waffles on my hands and knees like a good little slave?” he asked, unable to resist dropping soft kis
ses along her bare shoulder as he spoke. It was impossible to keep from kissing her when she was this close.

  “I was thinking you could grab a towel from the bathroom and clean me up, but the hands and knees stuff sounds good, too.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Your wish is my command.” Jackson leapt from the bed, taking a second to wash his hands and run warm water on a washcloth before returning to Nick with the cloth and a towel. “I have returned, Mistress.”

  Nicky laughed. “Do you switch? I mean, I can’t imagine it but I have to ask.”

  “No, never. Do you?”

  “No. I like being a submissive, no matter what you think,” she said, obviously a little offended. Jackson remembered his words from the night before and felt guilty.

  “You know, maybe I was a little too quick to judge with the whole pushy bottom thing. How can you really know something like that about a person unless you spend significant time together?”

  “A dom admitting he was wrong?” Her eyes grew comically large. “Gasp! The world must be coming to an end.”

  “I don’t know what kind of ‘doms’ you’ve been dealing with, but I admit I’m wrong all the time. I’m only human,” he said, then added with a grin, “Though an exceptionally sexy and masterful human who should be obeyed with humble submissiveness.”

  “Right. Is that even a word? Submissivissism—I can’t even say it.” She giggled. “But yes, sir, you are totally sexy and masterful.”

  “And don’t you forget it.” He sat down on the bed and scooted close to where she still lay stretched out on her back, looking so satisfied he couldn’t help but feel a surge of satisfaction for being the one to pleasure her so completely. “Now let me get this nasty cum off your gorgeous belly.”