by Ava Claire
The room was quiet after my awkward chuckle. I got my wish—it was just as silent as it had been the last time we were together in a bedroom. I refused to acknowledge the truth, which was while there was no audible sound, the room was filled with tension. And it was all on me.
I felt the clink in my bones when she lowered the glass to the counter.
"Did something change in the time since we saw each other at the club and now?"
I manned up and finally faced her. I expected to see anger scrawled all over her face. Hand on her hip. The closed off glare from before things got complicated. I wasn't prepared for genuine sadness. That maybe she'd seen something, some potential, that I was dashing before her very eyes. My little fighter was showing a weakness and revealing one of my own.
I couldn't stand to see her hurting.
Against my better judgment, I reached out and caressed her cheek. My fingertips brushed her skin lightly, but I felt a jolt deep inside me. She shivered, like she felt it too.
“I think something changed the minute I realized I've never met anyone like you,” I confessed.
The sadness flew from her face and was quickly replaced by worry.
She crept backward, her eyes hooded and cautious. "Look, Jackson, I don't know what you're looking for-"
Since I'd already made a fool of myself, I decided to do more than just throw out the rulebook. I set it on fire.
I moved toward her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back to me. The gasp of surprise that fell from her lips made my cock pulse. I waited until she caught her breath before I pressed my body into hers. Her eyes glazed with lust when she felt my desire stiffen against her.
"You. I'm looking for you, Sadie."
~
"Me, huh?" Her wild eyes glittered as she painted a trail down to my crotch and slowly worked her way back up. "Certain parts of me, clearly."
That cautious part of me finally clocked off, content that my romantic slip was being put aside for the very real, very hard physical display of what I wanted.
I let my hands wander, cupping her ass, soft and the perfect fit for my palms. Her eyelids fluttered shut as I massaged the globes, rocking into her more subtly than I liked. “Parts like this?" When she didn't answer immediately, I one-handed the delicious curve and used the other to smack her bottom. Her eyes flew open in surprise and her other cheeks, the ones on her beautiful face, darkened. That wasn't enough though. I didn't release the breath I was holding until I saw excitement flash in those emerald opals.
Her lips parted and she let out the tiniest, "Yes."
Satisfied and still in need, I continued to the other parts of Sadie that I craved. As much as I wanted to dive back into the warmth and wetness between her thighs, making her wait, making her beg for it, offered delights that I longed to explore. I was in no hurry tonight. I wanted her to be dripping, writhing by the time I moved inside her.
There was no space between us, her naked skin teasing me behind the whispery fabric of her lingerie. Even though it was only a moment of separation, an ache radiated through me when I released her. From the brief pout that danced across her lips, she was aching too.
“I'm not going anywhere, Red,” I assured her, my voice thick and husky.
She bit her bottom lip, consumed by some combination of embarrassment, annoyance, and arousal. "If anyone else called me that, they'd get an earful."
I swept my thumb across her top lip. "Does that mean I'm special?"
She didn't answer. Not out loud anyway. Her tongue lashed out, licking my finger, and that was answer enough. I had other parts of her I wanted to touch.
Tease.
Taste.
All of that was irrelevant, secondary to an urge to right a wrong that was officially unacceptable.
I had to kiss her.
I combed my fingers through her red and gold hair and gripped her neck, pulling her close. There was no halfway, no waiting for her to make the final move. She lifted on her toes and crushed her mouth against me. This wasn't a kiss about romance or warm and fuzzy shit. Hunger made our teeth clang together, our tongues frenzying around each other. Listening to the rhythm of our lust and tasting the forbidden fruit, I suddenly understood why it was forbidden. I couldn't go back. I was tumbling down this rabbit hole, headfirst, and damn if I wasn't enjoying every moment.
I broke off the kiss, reluctantly, but she didn't move an inch, her eyes still squeezed shut.
"Holy shit," she whispered, her shoulders rising and falling as erratically as the heart that pounded in my chest.
I smirked and hooked a finger in the spaghetti strap of her sexy little outfit. Her nipples pressed through the paper-thin chiffon, hard as rocks. As hard as a very swollen part of me.
"Such a dirty little mouth," I murmured, wetting my lips when she opened her eyes, giving me a look that told me I had no idea just how dirty.
She winked at me and lowered herself to the floor, trailing her hands down my chest, gripping my belt when her knees hit the Persian rug. "Let me show you."
She unbuckled my belt, jerking it loose with a growl that came from the back of her throat. It was a hungry sound that made me squeeze my eyes shut. I didn't want to hold her reins, tell her how I liked it. It was crazy, impossible since we'd barely known each other for twenty-four hours, but I knew she knew exactly how I liked it before she even took me in her mouth.
Pleasure rippled over me when her tongue swirled around the tip, her hand holding the base of me. She teased my mushroom head with licks and lashes that made me throw my head back and beg for more.
“Christ, that feels good," I groaned, tightening my grip on her hair but not guiding her. I wanted her to take me where she wanted me to go, which was right to the edge so she could pull me back.
Her hand slipped up and down my shaft in time with her lips. I’d never been a man who couldn't control himself, regulate my pleasure until I was ready to explode. This was different. It took every breathing exercise I knew to steady myself. To wait, and be patient, because my climax was unnecessary. Hers, however, was my top priority.
I enjoyed her touch for a few more moments, then gathered the will to pull her back to her feet. Her face was aglow with desire, with a need that I felt, too.
"You want me to fuck you, don't you?” I asked her, knowing the answer.
She balled the hem of her negligee in her fists, nodding emphatically. "Yes."
It was my turn to drop to my knees. In heels, her breasts were right where they needed to be. Her nipples pebbled against lace, arching toward my lips.
She brought her hands to her straps, ready to tear off the wrapping like Christmas morning, but I wasn't done teasing. I took her wrists in my hands and held them at her side, smirking when I saw the fight dancing in her narrowed eyes.
"I just wanted to-"
"Shh," I murmured, giving her wrists a playful squeeze and letting go when she stopped struggling. "I know what you want." I cupped her breasts in my hand, need rippling through my body and possessing my fingers. I tugged at her hardened nipples until she crooned with uncaged lust. The sound of her surrender.
I eased forward, teasing the fabric with my tongue, the barrier between her nipples and my touch heightening my need. It ripped through my body like a lightning bolt and when I clutched her peak between my teeth, we moaned in unison.
Her fingers brushed my scalp as I devoured her breasts like they were my last meal. I couldn't get enough, but I would be damned if I wouldn't try.
I rose up, a man on a mission. I was tempted to tear off my shirt, but she stopped me with a clucking of her tongue.
"I know you can afford to ruin your shirt, but let me help you anyway," she winked. When she placed both palms on my chest and gazed into my eyes with such clarity, such delicious purpose, I knew she wasn't planning on helping as much as torturing me like I'd tortured her.
She dragged her fingertips up and down my chest, plinking the buttons like keys on a piano. She paused on t
he bottom one and flashed me a devilish grin. "Do you want to fuck me?"
Too impatient, too on fire, I took her hand and guided it toward my answer. My thick, bulging, “hell yes.”
She gripped me tight, massaging my balls with her other hand before she let go and returned to my buttons. The flush in her cheeks gave her away, even if her voice was steady, laced with lust. "Tell me how you want me." She skipped up three buttons. "Make love to me with your words." Her voice dropped a note, becoming a husky whisper that made the impossible happen. She turned a phrase that should have made me run for the hills into the sexiest thing I'd ever heard. "Then make good on your promise." She finished unbuttoning while I caught my breath, only to end up back at square one when her fingers danced across my chest and she peeled my shirt off, tossing it aside.
I gazed at her luminescence, like something naughty and soft and all mine, and the words flowed from my lips.
"I'm going to lift you in my arms. Not like we're in some sweeping romance with tender kisses and sweet nothings. I'm going to grab your ass and pull you against my body so you can feel what you do to me. I’m gonna hold you tight so later, you'll feel the whispers of my touch on your skin. I'm going to take you to the bed and throw you down like a man who can't wait one more minute to have you. And as badly as I want to tear that hot little number you're wearing to shreds, I don't even have time to do that. I want to hike it up and snatch your G-string to the side. I want to thrust into your wetness without warning." I took a step toward her, drinking in her hooded eyes, the way she couldn't stop biting her lip. Riveted. "And after I make you come, screaming my name, I'm going to flip you over and take you from behind. When I feel you quaking, ready to explode again, then I'll let go." She stepped closer and I went the rest of the way, roping her thick locks in my fist and tugging until her head fell back. I made her intense emeralds glow with anticipation. "I don't want to make love to you, Red. I want to fuck you." I let go of her hair and clutched her buttocks. "I'm going to fuck you."
There was no sign of fear, no part of her hidden. The only thing I saw reflected in her eyes was the same dare she'd given back at the bar. Do it. I dare you.
Words were forgotten, discarded in favor of action, and I lifted her from the floor. She gave as good as she got, wrapping her legs around my waist and nipping my shoulder as I carried her to the bed. I made good on my promise, tossing her onto the mattress. She was panting in time with my jagged breaths, our hearts pounding in sync as I climbed onto the bed after her. The naughty little thing had been prepared, and I quickly tore open the gold-colored condom package and rolled it over my solid length.
Her legs were spread and just to put her spin on my story, she slid a hand down her stomach and spread her bare lips and dipped a finger inside her wetness. She pulled it out and almost put it in her mouth, but I lunged forward and took it in mine instead. She was as sweet as I remembered, her scent, her arousal pushing me toward bliss. This wasn’t her story, or my story. It was our story.
She slipped another finger in my mouth, gritting her teeth as she writhed beneath me. "Do it," she begged. "Please, Jackson!"
Hearing my name on her tongue was the breaking point and I drove inside her in a single, righteous thrust. All the muscles inside her seized my cock, working me as I worked her. I watched her face contort, her eyes squeezed shut as she lost herself in the passion. I couldn't close my eyes. Wouldn’t. I wanted to remember her like this.
Open.
Free.
Insatiable.
I knew she was close, I could feel it in her body. The way she pulled me deeper, raking her nails down my back. The noises she made, pleading, delirious with pleasure. Her whole body shook and I rocked with her climax. The warmth intensified, wrapping me in her release. I kept pumping, relishing the way she rocked like this orgasm was going to kill her and it would be worth it.
And we weren't even done yet.
"On your hands and knees," I growled, and I didn't wait for her to comply. I did what I said I would, flipping her over on her stomach. I scooped my arm under and around her waist, and she rose on her hands and knees. I forced her forward, her chest against the mattress, her ass in the air. The soft fabric of her lingerie spilled to her waist and I groaned with approval at my view. The slip of pink fabric was sopping wet, and I yanked it to the side a second time and slipped my finger inside her. She was so wet. So ready for more.
I gripped her hips and went back where I belonged, so deep that I couldn't help but close my eyes. The room fell away. The world fell away. The only thing that remained was the pulsing. The building pleasure that made holding on, holding back, impossible.
"You're gonna make me come again," she panted, balling the sheets in her fist as she let out a moan. A single note that shattered me.
She came.
I came.
We came.
Hard.
I collapsed against the mattress, still trying to remember to breathe. To not focus on the fact that I hadn't been with anyone like that...well, ever.
When she snuggled up beside me, panting, still shuddering, I ignored the part of me that wanted to pull her close. To kiss the crown of her head.
"I've gotta go," I lied, pushing off the bed. I discarded the memory of the good and reminded myself that this was just pretend. A transaction.
I pretended it didn't sting when she didn't say a word as I tugged my clothing back on. When we'd seen each other at The Red Room, her thrill at seeing me again hit me squarely in the chest. I turned back to her before I left, ready to make some joke to cover my contradictory behavior, but she gave me a look that punched a hole through my chest.
"Don't request me again."
There was no anger in her voice. No hurt.
There was nothing at all.
And the weight of that, and not seeing her again, was everything.
Chapter Four: Sadie
I balanced an angry manager on one side of town with family drama on the other, and a rental car counter clerk who looked just as pissed as Gail sounded.
She pointedly cleared her throat. “I’m sorry Miss, but we don’t allow cell phone use-”
“Who was that in the background?” Gail barked. The reception wasn’t the best, but her suspicion came through clear as a bell. “Where are you?”
I held up an apologetic finger for the clerk, who looked ready to call the police because I’d broken their rule. I knew I was being that person. The jerk who was blathering on their phone nonstop, like the person standing in front of them was invisible. She wasn’t invisible. In fact, I was glad that she, and Hefty Rental, existed. I’d been banned from Zipcar and every other rental car company in the city thanks to my mother. It took two car thefts, three fender benders, and the woman literally setting a car on fire for me to learn my lesson and not put her rental in my name. At least I’d been smart enough to say ‘yes’ to the insurance. And until my little sister Rose walked across that stage and put all this drama behind her, I’d have to keep saying ‘yes’ to my mother.
“Hello?!” Gail snapped impatiently. “Are you still there? What’s going on?”
‘My mother texted me 911 which is rarely a bluff’ would not have gotten me out of my shift at The Red Room. Any other manager would have sighed when I called in sick and gone about the business of finding coverage for my shift. Gail preferred to run through my entire medical history so she could diagnose my illness over the phone. In her warped imagination, she probably thought she was being helpful, but from over here, it felt like she was trying to catch me in a lie.
“What time did you go to bed last night?” she grilled me. “Were you feeling sick last night? Maybe that’s why you dropped the tray and wasted hundreds of dollars in liquor. That’s coming out of your check, by the way.”
Now my stomach really was hurting. I could feel every dollar being deducted from the little amount I took home in the first place. I knew for a fact that she could let it slide. I’d seen her let lots of things
slide with other employees who kissed her ass and wanted to remind her that even Javier would raise an eyebrow at such blatant favoritism. Instead, I reminded myself that I had to choose my battles and fix the problem in front of me, which was selling my illness.
“I’m sorry about the drinks,” I apologized. For the hundredth time. I pivoted away from the lasers the rental counter clerk fired with her eyes. “I’d come in, but I don’t think Javier would want me to risk getting other people sick. Or the customers. And I-”
“Alright, alright,” Gail cut in, like she wasn’t the one forcing me to beg her. She released a sigh that was filled with the weight of the world, and now, thanks to me, it just got a little heavier. “I’ll find someone to take your shift.”
I exhaled and turned back to the counter. “Thank you, Gail.”
“Mmhm.” She sounded so disgusted that she’d given in to me that she could barely stand it. “Actually, maybe I’ll swing by and check on you. Since you’re so sick.”
Panic flared in my chest, but I doubted she would do anything that would require actual effort on her part or would be misconstrued as actual concern. “That’s so sweet. If you could bring a couple of things when you come, I’d really appreciate it.” It was a ballsy move, one that could easily blow up in my face, but I was betting on her indifference about the real state of my health.
“What was that? You’re breaking up. Feel better soon!”
The line went dead and I slipped my phone back in my purse, ready to apologize profusely to the rental clerk for holding her up.
“My manager’s a pain in the ass too,” she shared empathetically, waving away any need to apologize. “Let’s get you squared away.”
The rest of the process went off without a hitch. She even upgraded me from Economy to Full-Size for free. It was going the extra mile, kindness for the sake of being kind, and I almost hugged her neck because of it. Since I left The Tower last night, things had gone to Hell in a wastebasket. I’d left my shift at The Red Room without any further catastrophe or trays dropping. In fact, after I told Jackson to meet me at The Tower after work, my feet never touched the ground. I’m pretty sure I even smiled, really smiled, a couple of times.
