by Zoey Parker
“Not sure that stalking usually works that way, El.” Jack shook his head. “I always thought it had more to do with obsession, like psychotic love or something. Which, gotta give it to him, he’s got good taste. You are hot. You’re beautiful. You’re smart. I see the logic.”
He gave me a light squeeze around the shoulders, then poked me in the ribs and chuckled. I jumped and yelped at the surprise tickle, and he cracked up. The jerk.
“This isn’t funny! Stop it!”
“Come on, you gotta laugh a little, babe…But maybe you’re right, maybe there’s also a fantasy about the money tied in with it, too. Makes you that much more attractive—a future with you plus full bank accounts. Yeah, I could see that. No wonder he’s holding on like a dog with a bone.”
“It’s so reassuring that you see logic in his madness. Thanks, Jack. You make me feel so much better.” If looks could kill, he’d have his arm in a sling, at least.
“Aw, come on. I’m on your side, you know that. I’m just trying to make sense of this asswipe.”
“Okay, fine. So now you know. That’s pretty much the background on Brian.”
I was lying. There was another part, but it hurt, and it would hurt Jack, and I really didn’t want to go there yet. It was too much.
“Gotta ask, Ellie. When do you turn twenty-eight? When is this cut-off date?”
This was the crux of why I was here, now. What Jack was asking now gutted me. This was my shame. But I had to tell him, and needed to tell him, because desperate times called for desperate measures. And I was desperate.
I freaking hated being desperate.
“My birthday’s April second. In about two weeks.”
“Two weeks. Two weeks? This year? Are you telling me you have two weeks to get married, or all this money is gone?”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m telling you.”
“Wow.” He was looking at me, but I don’t think he was seeing me. He went up in his head somewhere. I let him go. It was a lot to sink in.
After several moments, I put my hands on his knees and shook them slightly. “Jack, you okay? Lost you there for a few.”
He gave me a tiny self-deprecating smile and shook his head as if getting rid of the cobwebs, and chuckled without mirth. “Yeah. I’m back. I’m with you…So, got any ideas, what you want to do?” He peered at me inquisitively.
I couldn’t hold his gaze. Today had turned all my hopes upside down, and I didn’t feel like I could ask him to be our more-permanent-but-still-temporary savior. I couldn’t answer.
“Ellie, come on. Ask me.”
My eyes shot to his. Was he saying…?
“Ask me, Ellie. I’m going to say yes. Just ask me.”
“Why would you do that? Knowing that there’s a crazy man who throws rocks through your window and is armed and dangerous, with you in his target sights?”
He laughed. “You don’t know me very well yet, baby. I am not intimidated by that motherfucker. I look forward to giving him what he’s got coming. Don’t you worry about that. Ask. Me.” He pulled me to my feet in front of him, caging me closely in his arms.
“I know it’s a huge ask, Jack. But we can treat it like a business deal, if that seems better to you. A temporary agreement, just until the money comes through. And then, of course, we can do it so you get a fair portion when we end it, to make it worth the trouble for you. I only need to have enough so I can try to cover what I’ll need for Peter, coming up. Okay? We can even draw up a pre-nup to make sure it’s fair and we’re both covered for when it’s over, all right?”
His eyes had been narrowing through my roll-out of ideas, and his face got hard. “Fuckin’ ask me, Ellie.” For some reason, he seemed pissed off now. I wasn’t really sure why, but I could read the emotion with ease.
“What did I say? Why are you mad?”
“You talking about wedding and divorce in the same breath? Nice. Real nice work, Ellie. Business deal. Fuck.” He wasn’t looking me in the eye now, just staring a hole into the wall over my head.
“How can you be surprised? What is this, Jack? A romance? What the hell? I don’t get why you’re upset with me now…you can’t tell me you thought when you woke up this morning, that we’d be talking about getting married tonight. Since when did you become a traditionalist?”
He turned away from me, rubbing his face then pulling his hands through his hair. Then he laughed.
“I just...yeah, okay.” Oh, I love a man who can apologize. Are they all incapable of it, or just the ones I’m lucky enough to know?
Still, it was a big score for me that he bumped me the point. I mentally puffed on my nails and shined them on my chest.
He got his head back together apparently, because he came back to face me again, standing close. “Okay, you want to get papers, work it out, I can be down with that. And I’m not looking for a payday out of this; I need you to know that. I take care of myself, and I take care of my own. I don’t want your money. But you need it. That’s what matters, and that’s what this is about. So. Ask. Me.”
“Will you marry me, Jack? For Peter? And just for six months?”
He flinched a little, but he didn’t get mad again, and he didn’t turn away. He held my eyes, and he said, “Yeah, Ellie. Let’s get married.”
Chapter 9
Jack
I dove in. I couldn’t help it.
I’d been thinking about her mouth and her lips and her taste almost non-stop ever since that night—it seemed so long ago—when she first moved in. Damn, that was the day we’d first met, too. It was actually only nine days ago. I had forced myself then to keep it light, to back off fast, since there was too much at stake to fuck it all up with sex right off the bat.
But hell, we’d just agreed to get married. I knew a shot when I saw one, and my patience was at an end where she was concerned. So what, if the marriage was only so she could get her money? I wanted her—badly—and I knew, from all of her many blushes and the way her body always seemed to lean into mine, that she wanted me, too. Why prolong agony? We could take what we wanted. No harm, no foul.
She didn’t resist. Not even a little bit. I swooped down on her, and she arched into me, and opened her mouth wider to accept my tongue. She tasted like honey beer and heaven, and her scent filled my nose, and it was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of.
Our tongues played together, getting to know one another and then pulling back and forth, acting out what out lower bodies were craving. There were grunts and moans. My hands started wandering over her body, finally able to be filled with all her curves and softness.
Fuck, but she was amazing. I needed more. I was hard as a rock, and I pressed into her belly so she could feel me, and know how badly I wanted her.
She gave right back, her arms clinging to me, her pelvis digging up, and I gave her a thigh to straddle, to help her along. Damn, she was hot. I could feel her damp heat already through two pair of jeans. Fuck. We needed to lose the clothes, ASAP.
I nudged her backward toward the couch and grabbed her tight in my arms, then lowered us both down to horizontal. She pushed my MC kutte off my shoulders and I shrugged it away. I stripped her top over her head and tossed it somewhere, then went right back in for more of her mouth.
Our teeth crashed and we both laughed, but we couldn’t stop or slow down. We were wildfire. I felt both high and more sober than I’d ever been, aware of her on every level, with every one of my senses tuned in.
Piece by piece, we managed to strip down to underwear—well, hers, really. I got rid of my boxers with my jeans. I didn’t see the point in doubling the effort. But I wanted to enjoy the reveal of her body.
She was gorgeous. Her breasts—what I could see of them—were just as amazing as I had imagined: full, round, and soft. Her belly was soft and curvy, her hips full, her thighs tapered, and her ass filled my hands phenomenally. I didn’t think I’d ever been this hard before in my life, and I was grateful to my core for finally getting the opportunity t
o be with her. I wanted to worship her with my body and mouth. And I was prepared to do just that.
I kissed my way from her neck down her chest, my hands playing with her breasts through her bra. It wasn’t a very sexy bra, but I didn’t care. She was a nursing mama, she wore what she needed to. I found the front latch and snapped it open, then peeled it off of her.
Her breasts were fucking beautiful, her nipples a deep pink and distended, hard, surrounded by pink areolas. I kissed them all over, as much as I could, and nipped her a few times in my excitement. I wasn’t sure how she would feel about me taking her nipples into my mouth, considering that’s how she fed her baby boy, and I wasn’t sure about whether or not it would be weird, but I couldn’t resist her, either. So when my mouth closed over a nipple and I gave her some flicks and rolls with my tongue, she moaned and strained against me. Seemed she liked it. I smiled and carried on.
This was heaven. I loved hearing her, tasting her, feeling her writhe and undulate below me.
A sudden thought entered my brain, and I needed to know the answer before I could allow myself to carry on, so I released her nipple, kissed both of her breasts again, and pulled back up so I could be level with her face.
“How long has it been?”
Her face fell, and she turned away from me, blushing again. This woman. So beautiful. But I didn’t want her feeling embarrassed or less-than—not now. I just needed to know the answer.
“Come on, baby. I just need to know how to take care of you. Tell me how long it’s been.”
“Since last year. I had a …”
“Shhh…Okay, babe. That’s all I needed. You’re on fire, you know that? I’m gonna take care of you.” And I kissed her mouth again before retracing my path to her breasts, this time giving the other one the individual attention of my mouth. My hand did its best to keep the other one happy.
She began seriously moaning and bucking under me, and I figured she was ready for more, so I slipped farther down her body, kissing her gorgeous stomach, her hip bones, around her belly button, and that sensitive V on either side where her legs met her torso. I gave her a few nibbles here and there, too. I couldn’t help it.
Finally, I focused on what she wanted. Still leaving her panties in place, I ran two fingers along her center, from front to back, giving her enough pressure to push into. I could smell her desire, that incredibly sexy scent of woman and honey and dew, and I wanted her juices in my mouth.
But I wanted her desperate for me, and I knew she was getting there. Her hips shoved up and her panties were nearly soaked through. I fucking loved that. I shoved my mouth over where I knew her clit would be, and I bit down and sucked as much as I could, panties and all. She almost yelled out, and her hands were alternately flailing around and gripping my hair.
I toyed with her a minute, my fingers pressing on her entrance with interference play of the cotton, but finally I figured we’d both had enough torture, and I dragged the damn panties down her body, revealing her pink luscious center to my eyes, my nose, my mouth. She was dripping wet, and she was open, waiting for me, dying for me.
I didn’t make her wait anymore. I held her lips open with my hands on either side and lowered my mouth to lap up her honeyed juice in a long lick with the flat of my tongue, then sucked hard on her clit.
She was alternately panting, mewling, writhing, grabbing, arching towards me and away. I just kept at it, flicking my tongue, circling, sucking, kissing, licking. I added my fingers to the game, stroking her lips on the sides, up the center, dipping into her core, moving further behind, spreading her juices even to her ass. She liked that.
She liked it all. So did I. Damn, she tasted amazing, and she was so responsive that I almost came, just watching her get there.
And get there, she did. With my mouth suckling her clit and two fingers inside her, sometimes curving to tap and circle that sensitive spot behind her clit, alternately powering in and out of her entrance, I watched her unravel completely, until her whole body shook and she arched back and up, and I knew she had exploded. Her face, her body, her whole being flushed, intense with energy and satisfaction. She was phenomenal.
I gave her a few moments to return to me, stroking her a little more gently, kissing my way back up her body. Man, those breasts. I couldn’t stop myself from giving them both a few extra kisses, nips, and squeezes. So beautiful.
By the time I made it to her neck, she was regaining awareness, and was observing me with some humor. I grinned at her. She beamed back at me.
“You okay, baby?” I asked, wanting to be sure we were on the same page.
“I’m fabulous.”
“Yes, you are.” And she laughed. I did it right. I kissed her quickly on the lips, felt around for my jeans, dug in for a condom, and made quick work of putting it on.
She made a sound like a pout and I looked up to find her—yep, pouting. “What?”
“I wanted to take care of you, too. Your turn. I didn’t even get to…”
“Ellie, I just want to be inside you. So badly. Let me.” That was about the limit of my ability to string words together at this point. I knew she wanted to get to know me, to play with me, but I really had run out of patience. I desperately needed in.
“Come here, Jack. I want you in me. Come inside me.” Thank Christ.
I reached for a condom from my wallet and put it on. I was big, bigger than most. I knew this. But I also knew she was ready, and that she’d be able to take me, no question. Hell, she had carried a four-pound baby just a few months ago. She could definitely take me.
Still, I didn’t know if she was still healing, or had any lingering issues, although she had never said anything, and she seemed perfectly fine with everything so far. “Stop me if I hurt you, okay?”
“Just…come…here.” She took hold of my cock and guided me in, breathing in as I sank deeply into her. Damn, she felt amazing. Despite having given birth, she was still tight around me, wet and hot, like a stream of silk.
I groaned. She panted.
We kissed, our tongues entwining and dancing together again. I braced myself on either side of her with my elbows digging into the couch, holding her so she wouldn’t go flying north with my movements. I began with the intention to go slowly and smoothly for a while, to let her get the feel of me, to draw it out, even though my cock was screaming at me for release. A part of me wanted to be here forever, she felt so good.
But she urged me to go faster, with her hands, her sounds, her hips, and her mouth. I went faster. I went deeper. I went harder.
She was getting close again, too. I could feel her body arching back, could see it in her face.
“Yeah, come for me, baby,” I urged her. I slipped a hand between us, giving her the tips of my fingers to ride her clit. That was what she needed, and she took full advantage. She went wild, and it took her only moments before she cried out and came hard, shuddering and contracting around me.
I raced to catch up with her, losing the even rhythm and just pounding hard to reach my own finish. It came in an overwhelming crash, and I’m pretty sure I called out in a deep gust of air, then collapsed on top of her, cradled on her perfect softness, my face buried in the scent of her neck.
Chapter 10
Ellie
I felt like I’d had a complete body workout and massage, inside and out—which was not far from the truth. Sex with Jack was out of this world, even better than I had imagined it might be.
After I returned to myself and woke the massive beast up to get him to roll off of me so I could breathe—there’s only so long that it’s okay for a huge man to sleep on top of a significantly smaller woman—he seemed annoyingly ready to bolt away from me, but I didn’t let him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and wouldn’t let go, and told him, “Dude, I let you sleep on me. You gotta let me snuggle. Fair’s fair.”
He seemed surprised at my rationale, but he didn’t argue, and he even relaxed into it, supporting his weight over me on his elbows. After sev
eral moments, he said, “We had that coming for a while.”
“Yeah. We did.” I grinned, and he gave it right back.
Another minute or two more, then he gave me a quick, tight squeeze and said, “You good now?”
“Yeah. I am.” I was a post-coital wordsmith. Not.
“Good. I gotta get up, get rid of this thing.” I loosened my hold on him, he eased his way out of me, kissed my lips, and got up to toss out the condom. I collected my clothes and began re-dressing; he just pulled his jeans back on and left it at that.
