Blaze: Men of Inked Heatwave #4

by Bliss, Chelle

  The one thing I know—I don’t want to let her go.

  If she were to bring another man home, I don’t think I could handle listening to them, even if they were just watching television. I want her little moments, her small laughs, her sweet smiles. I’ll do anything I have to in order to make them mine and mine alone.

  I close the door behind me, leaving my keys in the bowl Lily put near the door so we would always know where we left them. I kick off my shoes and take the stairs two at a time, heading right toward her bedroom.

  The door’s cracked open, soft light streaming into the hallway from her bedroom. I walk slowly toward her door, reaching for the handle, and stopping when I see her.

  Jesus Christ.

  She’s a vision.

  Every man’s wet dream.

  My fuckin’ wet dream come to life.

  I can’t move.

  My hand is on the doorknob, my eyes glued to her breasts, to her fingers working her nipples. Her eyes are closed, mouth open, her lower body covered by a blanket, but her hand’s moving underneath the material.

  I know I shouldn’t be watching. I know it’s an invasion of privacy. But goddamn it, I can’t stop myself.

  But then her eyes open and meet mine, widening, and I know I’ve been caught.

  I stumble backward, the liquor coursing through my veins, making my movements neither smooth nor quiet. Stepping on my sock, I tumble back, twisting my body the wrong fucking way. I howl as my jeans bunch up, wrapping around my dick.

  I gasp, turning on my side, gripping my junk with tears in my eyes.

  “Oh my God.” Lily runs into the hallway, fastening her robe around her body. “Are you okay?” she asks, kneeling next to me.

  “I’m. Fine,” I grit out, barely able to breathe or speak, rocking back and forth. Sweat is dotting my brow as the pain radiates from my groin, balling in my stomach.

  She slides her hands under me, lifting my head to her lap. “Jesus, Jett. You’re almost as clumsy as me.”

  “Lily,” I whisper, unable to talk any louder. Not only am I in an unbelievable amount of pain, everything’s made worse by being this close to her pussy.

  She smells of sex.

  “Shh,” she tells me, stroking my cheek with the fingers she just had on her clit.

  I inhale, deep and long, memorizing the deliciousness of her scent as she pets me. This is probably the closest I’ll ever get, especially after being a creep and watching her play with herself.

  She smiles sweetly, leaning over me, exposing her cleavage. “Do you want me to get you some ice?”

  This is payment for all the bad shit I’ve done. Taunt me with the most beautiful, purest creature, knowing I can never have her. Make me fuck up so badly, I’ll never have a chance.

  “No,” I tell her, letting her rub my face as I study her expression.

  She doesn’t look mad. She doesn’t seem embarrassed. But I know she saw me watching her, and I’d have no excuse if she asked me why either.

  I close my eyes, losing myself in her softness. “I’m sorry,” I tell her, holding my dick, still curled on my side. “So, so sorry.”

  “Are you drunk?” she asks.

  Then it hits me. “Yes. So, so drunk,” I slur, playing it up because this is my out and the only thing that’s going to save me.

  “I should be mad at you, but I think God already gave you your punishment.”

  I open one eye, not moving my cheek away from her lap. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

  “If your penis wasn’t broken before, it sure as heck is now.” She snorts, enjoying my agony. “Come on, big guy. Let’s get you to bed. Hopefully tomorrow, this won’t even be a memory.”

  I don’t care if I had an entire bottle of whiskey, I’ll never forget what I saw.

  13

  Lily

  I avoid Jett in the morning, rushing out the door for work without even grabbing a cup of coffee first. I am a mix of angry, embarrassed, and more than a little curious. Angry because he watched me, embarrassed because he saw me, and curious because he only stopped when I caught him.

  “How was last night?” Gigi asks, finally having some free time between her clients.

  I busy myself with paperwork, unable to meet her eyes. “Good. Fine. Nothing exciting.”

  “Did you see Jett after he came home from the bar?”

  I look up, surprised she knew where he was last night. “Were you with him?”

  She leans over the front desk, arms resting on the counter, smirking. “Yep, and we had a very interesting conversation.”

  “That’s nice,” I tell her, pretending to read over the schedule for today, even though I have it memorized. I’ve been trying to get Jett off my mind all day—failing, of course—and now she wants to talk.

  When I don’t say anything else, she sighs. “Don’t you want to know what we talked about?”

  “No. I’m good. Super busy,” I answer, speaking quickly. I don’t look up, knowing exactly what I’ll see. She’s judging me, gawking at me like I have two heads.

  “He has it bad for you,” she tells me, not giving two shits that I said I didn’t want to talk about him.

  I snap my head up, eyes wide, and stop moving. Hell, I almost stop breathing too. “Shut up. He does not.”

  “He so does,” she says in a singsong voice, resting her chin in her palm, batting her eyelashes. “Like crazy, super bad.”

  “He was drunk last night,” I whisper, knowing he probably wasn’t all with it when they had their conversation.

  “I know. I was there. The man wouldn’t stop going on about you. Lily this. Lily that. Lily. Lily. Lily.” She rolls her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve seen him so hung up and scared about anyone in his life.”

  “Scared?” I giggle. “The man didn’t look scared as he creeped on me outside my bedroom.”

  Her eyes widen as she peels her chin away from her hand and stands up straight. “Creeped on you outside your bedroom?”

  God, this is so embarrassing. I’ve never talked to anyone about pleasuring myself. It’s not something I’ve ever been comfortable discussing, unlike my cousins, who talk about everything sex, including self-pleasure. “I may have been…you know…” I glance down, waggling my eyebrows, unable to say the words.

  “Oh. My. God.” She covers her mouth and gasps. “And?”

  “And he saw me,” I groan, covering my eyes with my hands as my face heats. “So freaking embarrassing.”

  She slaps her hand down on the desk, eyes sparkling, no doubt. “Girl…”

  “Yeah,” I mutter into my palms.

  “No.” She touches my hands, prying them away from my face. “Don’t you remember what we said about watching a guy touching himself?”

  “That it was hot?”

  “One of the hottest things ever.” She nods, a smirk playing on her lips. “It’s the same for a guy when he watches you.”

  Even if it is hot, I didn’t invite him to watch. I wasn’t engaging in some kinky foreplay with the man. I thought I was alone, and I was enjoying my evening, fantasizing about Jett while doing it. But that’s beside the point. “Should I be pissed at him, Gigi?”

  She shrugs, picking at her fingernails like we’re talking about the weather. “Eh,” she mumbles. “When did he stop watching you?”

  “When I caught him.”

  Her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open. “He saw you watching him, watching you?”

  I nod slowly, almost ready to cry.

  “Then what happened?” She’s smiling like she’s enjoying my misery, and a small part of me hates her.

  “Then he fell down and hurt himself. I had to go into the hallway and help him because he was almost in tears.”

  She barks out a laugh, tipping her head back, almost hysterical. “Wait.” She gasps, putting her hand up. “He fell down?”

  I smirk. “He deserved the pain. It’s what he gets for watching me without permission.”

  Her laughter does
n’t die as she shakes her head, gasping for air. “What did you do?”

  “Well…” I lick my lips, remembering how nice it felt to have his head in my lap even if I wanted to punch him. “I sat with him for a minute so he could catch his breath.”

  “Was he lying on the floor?”

  “Curled into a ball, holding himself, almost in tears.”

  She laughs louder. “And you helped him? After he invaded your privacy?”

  “Well, duh. I couldn’t just leave him in the hallway like a wounded animal.”

  “You so like him.” She points at me, and I bat her hand away.

  “I do not.”

  She narrows her eyes, twisting her lips, knowing me just as well as I know myself.

  “Okay. Okay.” I throw my hands up. “Maybe a little.”

  She blinks, face frozen, calling my bullshit.

  “Fine. I like him. Happy?”

  Her smile is immediate. “Now let’s talk about how you’re going to make him pay and finally land the guy of your dreams.”

  “He’s not the man of my dreams,” I argue.

  “Lily.” She places her hand over mine, leveling me with her beautiful blue eyes. “You’ve been pining over the man for most of your life. I think you can finally admit, at least to me, he’s the one you’ve been saving yourself for.”

  “He is not. We’d never work.”

  “Yeah, he is, and you’d be perfect together.”

  “I’m saving myself for my husband, and I don’t think Jett’s ever going to settle down.”

  The corners of her mouth lift. “Every man changes.”

  “I’m not marrying Jett Michaels, Gigi. We haven’t even kissed, and he’s never been a one-woman man.”

  “Because he’s been waiting for the right one, Lily, and that is you.”

  I wave her off, knowing she’s full of shit.

  “I’m being serious,” she says as she grabs my hand, forcing my arm down. “I’ve never seen him so in knots. If that’s not a man in love, I don’t know what is.”

  “Jett does not love me.”

  “Do you believe the lies you tell yourself?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

  I shrug, yanking my hand away from her. “I’m not lying. The man may want me, I’ll admit that. He’s curious and wants to take a walk on the nerd side. But love…” I chuckle sardonically. “You’re way off base.”

  “Do you want to lose your V-card?”

  I hold my breath, filling my cheeks with air. Am I ready to lose my V-card? I think so. I always told myself I would save my first time for the man I’d spend the rest of my life with. But with each passing year, I know it’s probably a childish notion. Most likely, any man I marry will have had more than a handful of partners and be light-years ahead of me in the experience department. Am I cheating myself by waiting? The older I get, the more I think I am. “I don’t know, Gigi. I honestly don’t know.”

  “I wish I’d given mine to a friend or at least to someone who knew what the hell they were doing.”

  “But you were in college and older.”

  “He was an awful lay. Seriously bad.”

  “But you didn’t know that at the time,” I say, remembering how excited and happy she was after they finally did it. I was almost jealous of her. She didn’t have her virginity hanging over her. At some point, it’s no longer a badge of honor, but more of a scarlet letter, especially in today’s sexually free society.

  She goes back to resting her chin in her hand, elbow propped on the desk. “I know it now, though.” She sighs, her shoulders sagging. “After being with Pike, knowing real pleasure and a selfless partner, I now know how shitty of a fuck Erik really was. Do you want to go through life never knowing how good it’s supposed to be? Imagine if I’d married Erik.” Gigi blanches, shaking her head as she fake gags. “I mean, how depressing is that to think about?”

  “So depressing,” I mumble, but my situation is more depressing than hers ever was.

  At least she had a long-term boyfriend in college, someone she decided to give her virginity to because she thought they were in love.

  But me? I was too busy with my head buried in my books, knee-deep in lecture notes. I didn’t have time to date. Not with my hectic and full schedule for the three years I attended college. I had a full-ride scholarship, and in order to keep it, I had to maintain my grades. I knew if I had a boyfriend, someone I wanted to spend all my time with, I’d screw everything up.

  Now, I have all the time in the world. There are no exams hanging over my head. I’m free as a bird, with nothing but time on my hands.

  “How long until his dick is healed?” she asks me, snapping me out of my woe-is-me spiral.

  “A few more weeks.”

  She smirks, shifting on her feet. “Then we have time to make a plan. First, we’re going to have a little fun. But in the end…we’ll have him eating out of your hand, begging to be your first.”

  I cover my face, shaking my head. “I can’t do that, Gigi.”

  “You want to make him suffer for watching? Make him pant with need? You’ll have him wound so tight. He’s going to rock your fuckin’ world. You’re going to need to wear a hard hat to protect your head from the headboard.” She giggles.

  “You doing construction?” my dad asks, stalking out of the back room like he’s a ninja.

  I jump, grabbing at my chest. “Shit. I didn’t even hear you. You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Fuck, Uncle Mike. Make some noise when you move. A man as big as you should sound like an earthquake coming.”

  “Hire more women,” he mutters. “It’s just what the shop needs.” He scrubs his big hand down his face, talking to himself. “Bunch of lies.”

  “We were talking about some work Lily needs to get done.”

  He drops his hand, raising an eyebrow. “I’m more than willing to get my hands dirty.”

  I give Gigi the side-eye, and she’s laughing her ass off, trying to hide her face in her palm, staring down at the front desk. I swallow, trying not to die of embarrassment as I look at my father. “No, Dad. I got this.”

  “Jett’s there, and I’m sure he’s more than happy to lend Lily a hand, Uncle Mike.”

  I glare at my cousin, wanting to wring her neck or smack her smile right off her beautiful face. “Shut up,” I mouth, wishing I could disappear.

  Dad places his hand on my shoulder and leans over, kissing the top of my head. “Whatever you want, sweetheart. I’m sure Jett’s more than capable.” His voice is strained as if even the mention of Jett’s name is painful to him. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t ask dear old dad for some help when you need it.”

  “You’re the best, Daddy,” I tell him, curling into his massive chest, still glaring at Gigi because she’s eating this shit up. “Have I told you that lately?”

  He wraps his arms around me, hugging me tight. “I know, baby. I know,” he says, still full of himself after all these years.

  “We’ll talk later,” Gigi tells me. “We have plans to make.” She winks at me even as I shoo her away.

  Dad pulls back, gazing down at me. “Everything okay at home?”

  “Perfect.” I smile. “Couldn’t be better, in fact.”

  “You watch out for that boy,” he tells me, studying my face, always able to read me. “You hear me? He’s no good.”

  “Dad,” I groan, shaking my head. “Jett’s fine. He’s been nothing but a gentleman.” I’m lying, but hell, I know my dad would straight up murder Jett if he knew what happened, and my uncles would have no problem helping him hide his body either. “And anyway, Jett is a good guy.”

  “He’s a womanizer.”

  “Um.” I giggle, tilting my head at my father’s serious face. “I’m pretty sure Mom says the same thing about you before you met her.”

  “I love your mother. She changed me. Made me a better man.”

  “See?” I say, touching his chest again. “Everyone has the ability to change.”
/>   “Lily,” he warns, his tone dark and dangerous. “If he so much as…”

  “I’m grown, Daddy, and if he does something wrong, I’ll use that one move you taught me. You know the one?” I smirk. “And right now, I’m pretty sure it would lead to him losing the ability to make babies for the rest of his life.”

  “It’s a good move. Use it if you need to because if you don’t and I find out he touched you, I will.”

  “Don’t you have something you need to do?” I ask him, totally uncomfortable with this conversation, especially with him.

  He nods, brushing his warm lips against my temple. “I have a few things to do in the office. Call me when my next appointment gets here.”

  “I’ll do it,” I tell him, glancing down at the appointment book again, seeing Cherise written next to the word “hood.” Yippee. Nothing like having someone spread-eagled on my table before lunch to get the day started right. “She’ll probably be more comfortable with me doing it anyway.”

  “Call me if you run into trouble.”

  I nod, pushing him out of the waiting room. “Now, go. I’ve got this covered.”

  He smiles down at me, looking every bit the proud papa. “I’m so happy you’re here, baby. Never thought I’d see the day you’d work at Inked, but walking in here, seeing your pretty face every afternoon, makes me excited to come to work.”

  “I love you, Daddy,” I tell him as my nose tickles, the big lug always saying things to give me all the feels.

  “Love you too, sweetheart.”

  The phone on the desk rings, breaking up the sweetness of the moment.

  “Holler if you need me,” he says, walking away as I turn toward the phone, lifting the receiver to my ear.

  “Inked. This is Lily. How can I help you?”

  “God, I thought he was never going to leave,” Gigi says on the other end of the call. “I figured out what we’re going to do.”

  I turn around, making sure I’m really alone. “We’re going to do?” I whisper, glancing in the back but not seeing Gigi. “Where the hell are you?”

  “Out back, so no one can hear me,” she whispers, the sound of traffic in the background.