The Hang Up (First Impressions)

by Tawna Fenske

  “You already paid me in lasagna,” Miriam said. “Besides, it sounds like you’ve already got most of it set up. What are you selling?”

  Ellie glanced down the hall toward Henry’s bedroom door, which was closed tight. The grown-ups had already doled out hugs and kisses, and Jason noticed Miriam had earned an extra pair from the little boy. At Henry’s urging, she’d even taken a turn reading a page from his favorite bedtime story about dinosaurs and underpants, and it had taken every ounce of self-control Jason possessed not to let his libido surge each time she spoke the word “underpants.”

  Watching his nephew throw his arms around Miriam’s neck had left Jason feeling warm all over. It was almost a shame they’d agreed not to let things get too serious between them.

  You don’t have the bandwidth for that.

  He shook his head and tipped his chair back on two legs, trying to focus on the conversation between his sister and Ellie. It was nice seeing how quickly the two had clicked. Ellie hadn’t gotten the chance to make many friends since they’d moved, and he knew she’d been eager for some girl time.

  His sister was still talking, and he realized he’d missed part of the conversation.

  “…and they have the largest selection of vibrators in the entire—”

  “Wait, what?” Jason felt the legs of his chair hit the floor. “How’d you end up talking about sex toys?”

  Ellie rolled her eyes at him. “Because that’s what I’m selling, Jason. Haven’t you been listening?”

  “Apparently not,” he said, not sure how he felt about his baby sister peddling dildos. Okay, fine. She wasn’t exactly a baby, and had in fact welcomed her own baby a couple years before she turned thirty. Still.

  “Sex toys,” Miriam said, giving Ellie a nod of approval as she kicked Jason under the table. “Terrific choice for a home-based business. Very high demand.”

  Jason frowned. “Wait, when you told me you were starting an online business, I figured it was candles or Tupperware or something.”

  “You figured wrong,” Ellie said. “This is much more fun.”

  “But what about Henry?”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. “What about Henry? I’m not having him upload images of nipple clamps or take inventory of dildos. I do all my work when he’s napping or after he’s gone to bed.”

  “Sensible,” Miriam said, giving Jason a look. It either translated as, shut up and be supportive or maybe you have spinach in your teeth. Women were hard to read.

  “I’ve been very discreet,” Ellie assured them. “Everything’s set up under a pseudonym, so they can’t trace anything back to my big brother the CEO.”

  Jason knew he was probably being an overprotective dumbass, but he still found himself glancing around the room, half expecting to see a paddle sticking out from under the couch. Not the canoeing kind, either.

  “You don’t have the sex toys here, do you? Where Henry can find them, I mean?”

  “Of course not,” Ellie said. “Not that there’d be anything wrong with it if I did. Why are you being such a prude all of a sudden?”

  “I’m not,” he insisted, trying not to look at Miriam while talking with his sister about sex toys. “I’m just worried about Henry.”

  “Henry sounds like he’s more familiar with human anatomy than most grown-ups,” Miriam pointed out. “I doubt he’d be too traumatized by the sight of a rubber penis.”

  “Which he won’t see because there aren’t any here anyway,” Ellie said. “They’re all in the storage area at your place.”

  “My place?” Jason said. “You stuffed my closet with dildos?”

  “And lube. And vibrators. And—”

  “Wait, what’s the difference between a dildo and a vibrator?” Jason asked, not sure he wanted the answer.

  Miriam gave him a knowing look before exchanging a smirk with Ellie. “I see your brother has a lot to learn.”

  “And I’m quite certain you’d be a good woman to teach him.”

  Miriam laughed and clinked her wineglass against Ellie’s water glass, and Jason felt an odd sort of warmth in his chest. Which was ridiculous, really. Did he really want his sister and Miriam bonding over sex toys?

  “Come on,” Miriam said as she stood up. “Jason can work on the dishes while you show me this website of yours. We’ll worry about educating your brother later.”

  “Deal,” Ellie said. She stood up, too, and began leading the way to the office.

  Jason watched Miriam follow, admiring the sway of her hips, the curve of her ass, pretty sure this wasn’t supposed to be turning him on.

  …

  Four hours later, Jason lay sleepless in bed. He wasn’t really upset about Ellie’s sex business or Miriam’s eagerness to help out.

  But he was upset.

  Or maybe “upset” wasn’t the right word. “Disturbed” was more like it. Shaken up by the fact that Miriam had gotten under his skin beyond the physical chemistry between them. He loved spending time with her, loved the way she meshed with Henry and Ellie and his whole life.

  She’d asked that they keep things casual between them, and that’s what he wanted, too, dammit.

  Wasn’t it?

  Aw, hell. Fine, he could admit it. Seeing her with his family had unraveled him a little. He loved the way she interacted with Henry and Ellie. He loved the way she threw her head back when she laughed. He loved how she could be a prim and proper city girl one minute and a sex goddess on the dining room table the next. He loved how passionate she was about her career.

  But he didn’t love her, right? It wouldn’t do him any good to confuse the two.

  And even if he did love her, there was no sense in doing anything about it. Not with Henry still recovering and Ellie still fragile and both of them still needing his full attention and protection and love and—

  The creak of a door made him roll over in bed. He’d left his bedside lamp on, intent on reading the latest issue of Mountain magazine to keep his mind off Miriam.

  But as he heard someone tiptoeing down the hallway toward his room, his libido surged. He knew the sound of her footsteps like he knew the beat of his own heart. She was here, in his apartment, and he knew what she was coming for.

  He sat up in bed as she stopped in the doorway. Her hair was loose and wild around her shoulders, and her breasts were full and round over the cups of her lacy bra. She wore thong panties and a salacious smile that sent all the blood rushing from Jason’s brain straight to his cock.

  “I hear you have a closet full of sex toys,” she murmured, then licked her lips. “I just earned myself a hundred-dollar store credit. I was wondering if you might like to test out some of the merchandise.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Miriam stepped into Jason’s bedroom, heart thudding in her ears. Part of her was nervous about waltzing scantily clad into his private domain while he lay there in bed wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a bemused expression.

  But most of her just wanted him. Badly.

  From the look of things, he felt the same.

  “Hello, there,” he said as his gaze traveled the length of her body, starting with the scalloped edge of her lacy yellow bra and moving down her abdomen, across her hips, and over the matching thong panty. He shifted a little on the bed and the sheet slipped off his hips, revealing the impressive bulge in his boxers. “I take it you’ve finished helping my sister?”

  “Yes,” Miriam breathed, then took a step into the room and drew two small boxes out from behind her back. “And now I’m here to help you.”

  Jason’s gaze dropped to the packages in her hands, then back up to meet her eyes again. He quirked one eyebrow. “Help me what?”

  He sounded intrigued, so Miriam took a few more steps into the room. She was grateful for the flattering hue of dim lamplight, grateful that even though she’d spent the day wearing practical clothing and footwear, she’d worn totally impractical underwear. As she approached the bed, she ordered herself to stand up straight, to
suck in her stomach, to look sexy as hell.

  But the heated look in Jason’s eyes told her none of that mattered. One way or another, she was going to end up naked and sprawled on that bed in a matter of minutes.

  She’d almost reached the bed. “I’m here to help you become more educated about the adult products offered by Madam Butterfly,” she said, shivering a little at the hunger in his gaze.

  He started to reach for her, but she was just out of his range. Good. She wanted to savor this feeling a few moments longer, the sensation of having his eyes devour her.

  “Madam Butterfly?” he asked.

  “That’s your sister’s company.”

  “I think we need to stop talking about my sister now. It’s kinda distracting with you standing there in your underwear looking hot enough to set my headboard on fire.”

  Miriam laughed and set one of the boxes on the nightstand. The other she opened carefully, keeping her eyes locked with Jason’s as she lowered herself onto the bed beside him. He was the first to drop his gaze, taking in the package in her lap.

  “What is it?” he asked, voice tinged with intrigue.

  “This is the Super Sex Sleeve.” She pulled the soft rubbery object out of the box and held it up so he could see, giving it a squeeze in demonstration. “It’s designed to enhance a gentleman’s pleasure during a solo session.” She grinned as he reached out to touch it, letting him squeeze it a few times to see how soft it was. She leaned closer so she could murmur in his ear. “But from what I understand, it’s even better when you have a little help.”

  “I see,” he said, then drew back to look at her. His eyes were molten, and that bulge in his boxers wasn’t getting any smaller. He dropped his hand from the Super Sex Sleeve and trailed it along her body, stroking from the edge of her breast and over the curve of her hip before skimming the edge of her panties. Miriam shivered with anticipation and desire.

  “Sounds intriguing,” he said. “But I might need a little product demonstration. Maybe you could show me how it works?”

  She laughed as the liquid heat pooled between her thighs. “My pleasure.” She reached for the front of his boxers, her hands eager as she stroked him through the thin fabric. “Or yours.”

  He groaned as Miriam eased the boxers down over his hips, skimming her fingertips lightly over his cock. She pushed him onto his back, and Jason went willingly, propping himself up on his elbows to watch her.

  Gripping the Super Sex Sleeve in one hand, she leaned down and grazed him with her lips. He made a soft hiss in the back of his throat, which made her smile. With aching slowness, she teased him with her breath, her hair, the tops of her breasts. She took her time, moving over him, grazing him with her nails, breathing him in, letting the anticipation build.

  Then she drew back, smiling as she held up the Super Sex Sleeve. “Shall we give this a try?”

  Before he could answer, she slid the sheath over him, gripping his shaft through the latex as she eased it all the way down. The head of his cock slid out the open end, and Miriam leaned down to lick the tip.

  “Oh my God.” He gripped the curve of her waist. “What’s in that thing?”

  “More than five hundred soft tickler nubs and Madame Butterfly’s warming lube in passionfruit flavor.” She swirled her tongue over him again as she held her grip firm around the base of shaft. “It’s delicious.”

  “So are you,” he groaned as Miriam gripped him harder, squeezing the sleeve around the base of him as she flicked her tongue along the sensitive groove at the head of his cock.

  With her hand still gripping him through the sleeve, she drew him deeper into her mouth, sucking, squeezing, releasing, clenching again, using her hands and mouth and breath and belly and breasts to make him mindless with the mix of sensations.

  At least, that’s what she was aiming for.

  “Holy Christ.” He threaded his fingers into her hair. “That’s unreal.”

  She smiled with her mouth still around him, drunk with the thrill of delivering the kind of gratification that could make a big, burly mountain man curl his toes into the bedsheet. She skimmed the tops of his thighs with her breasts, letting her hair trail over his belly. She squeezed, released, squeezed again, sucking him in deep as she built to a frenzied pace that left him gasping.

  “You’d better stop,” he groaned. “I can’t take much more of that.”

  Miriam grinned and drew back. “We don’t want that,” she said, sitting up a little. “There’s still plenty of merchandise to play with.”

  “Oh yeah?” Looking dazed, he angled himself up to peer at the other box she’d left on his nightstand. “What else did you bring?”

  Before she could answer, one muscular arm snaked out and his large hand closed around the box. He drew it back, holding it up to the desk lamp to read the words.

  “Triple Ripple Pleasure Vibe,” he read, grinning as he opened it up. “Batteries included, but not instructions.”

  Miriam sat back on her heels, a little breathless. “I guess you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.”

  “I have a few ideas.”

  “Oh?” The gravel in his voice sent her squirming again.

  “Yep.” He pulled the toy out of the box, then tossed the packaging aside. Flashing a grin, he grabbed her by the waist and flipped her onto her back.

  “Oh,” she gasped, writhing beneath him as he used his impressive bulk to pin her back on the mattress. His cock was still hard as granite, but somehow he’d managed to slide the sheath off somewhere in the tangle of sheets. She tried to reach for him, but he pushed her hand aside.

  “Uh-uh,” he said. “It’s your turn.”

  Miriam wriggled beneath him, gasping as his hand moved over her breast and his mouth claimed hers. He kissed her hard and deep, rolling to the side so his hands had better access. He dragged down the straps of her bra and laid a trail of kisses over her newly bared flesh. Her breasts popped free and he claimed them one at a time, his tongue swirling over each nipple.

  God, the man had a magical mouth.

  He slid one hand down and grabbed the waistband of her panties, then tugged them over her hips. His left hand still clutched the Triple Ripple whatever the hell it was called, but he shifted it to the right hand and gave her a devilish grin.

  She licked her lips as he flicked a switch on the bottom of the gadget, laughing as it began to buzz.

  “I think I used something like this to sharpen the edges of my skis once.”

  “I can’t speak for your skis, but I’m about to melt.”

  He grinned and drew a finger through the wetness between her legs, making her shudder with pleasure. “You certainly are.”

  He pushed her onto her back again, nudging her legs apart with his hand. Then he moved between them, his head dropping low so she could feel his breath warm and soft at the apex of her thighs. His hair tickled her hip, and the stubble on his chin grazed the heat between her legs.

  “Hmmm,” he said, and the resonance of that single syllable sent shock waves of pleasure through her as his mouth made contact with her clit. He drew the vibrator up, teasing her opening with it as he licked into her with slow, languid strokes. “How shall I use this?”

  Miriam cried out as his tongue made soft, lazy circles. He probed her opening with the toy and Miriam felt her whole body arch to meet it. She wanted more. Needed more.

  He was happy to oblige.

  “You want this inside you, baby?”

  She nodded, then gasped as he slid the first inch of it in. The vibrations chattered all the way up her spine, sending pulses of pleasure to every nerve ending in her body. As his tongue continued to probe, it dawned on her that she’d never felt anything so exquisite, so deliciously fulfilling, in her entire life.

  “More,” she gasped.

  His tongue moved over her, teasing her as he slid the gently buzzing shaft in and out. His mouth moved in perfect harmony with the toy, the contrast of delicious softness and hard heat making
her dizzy with sensation. Hard, soft, hard, soft—the two things melded together until she couldn’t tell where one stopped and the other started. The gentle pressure of his tongue, the solid thrusts of the toy, the heat of his breath, the rasp of stubble on her thigh, the soft suction of his mouth—

  “Oh God!” she cried, gripping his hair with one hand. The other hand snatched a pillow and drew it to her mouth. She bit down hard, conscious of the need to be quiet, of the shared wall and the tremors racking her body like nothing she’d ever felt before.

  Jason drove into her again, his tongue still sweeping over her as her whole body arched beneath him, trailing hot ribbons of lava through her veins. She cried out again, surging beneath the pounding of the vibrator and the feathery strokes of his tongue.

  Her orgasm had barely ebbed before she felt him switch off the toy and plant a kiss on her hip. She opened her eyes to see him pulling a condom from the nightstand. She grinned, amazed by her body’s desire for him. The thought of having him inside her made everything clench tight with need, and she spread her legs wider in anticipation.

  “Need a break?” He stroked a hand down her side, making her shiver.

  “No way,” she said as she reached for the condom. “I want you.”

  He grinned and angled himself into the space between her thighs as Miriam slid the condom on. “How do you want me?”

  “Deep. Hard.”

  He laughed and obeyed, nudging her opening with the tip of his cock. “Anything else?”

  “Now!”

  She dug her heels into the back of his thighs to pull him inside her. He groaned as Miriam closed her eyes and arched up to meet him. They moved together like that, thrusting, withdrawing, giving, taking, building to the brink all over again. He was bigger than the toy, that was for damn sure, and her whole body hummed with greedy need.

  His back was ridged with hard muscle and she spurred him with her nails to feel him buck. He drove into her again, hard and slick, and something began to pound in the back of her brain.

  “I’m close,” she gasped, surprised again by the hunger of her own body. She’d always been quick to come, but this was insane. It was like some kind of porn flick, but all too real.