Tart

by Lauren Dane

  Gideon rumbled his approval.

  “I’m going to make you come while Gideon fucks you.” Cal’s mouth, so beautiful, curved up into a naughty smile.

  She nodded and barely resisted yelling out “Yay!”

  And when he touched her clit she jumped a little.

  “Sensitive?” He nuzzled her neck and gentled his touch.

  She swallowed and let it wash over her. The inexorable thrust and retreat from behind and the featherlight touch on her clit. She closed her eyes and just felt, let them take her where they knew she needed to be.

  And she splintered. Flying apart as Gideon held her, as Cal stroked her and soothed, kissing her mouth, swallowing her cries.

  14

  Gideon stirred as the light was a faint hope on the horizon. Jules stretched and opened her eyes when he started to get up. “Where you goin’?”

  Damn, she was beautiful. He had no idea how he ended up so lucky.

  Gideon bent to kiss her and she pulled him back into bed. “I need to go home for a bit. I’ll see you later this afternoon. Go back to sleep.”

  Cal laughed sleepily. “Baby, she’s not going back to sleep. Our girl has been waking up at four for so long I’m not sure she knows what it means to sleep in.”

  “Sorry to wake you.” Gideon leaned over to kiss Cal as well.

  Jules liked that Cal used pet names with not only her but Gideon too. She’d been concerned that the week before when she’d brought up that small fear it would ruin things between the two men, which really wasn’t what she wanted in any way.

  Fortunately, Gideon understood her well and hadn’t changed his demeanor with Cal. There was an easy affection between them, they’d been friends a long time anyway. Only now there was a sexual and romantic side.

  Each time they were all three together it got easier to see and the fear got smaller and smaller.

  “Unlike Jules, I’m just fine napping later. In fact, come back to us, Gideon, and we’ll fuck and then sleep.”

  She propped herself on Gideon’s chest as he sifted his fingers through her hair. He was warm and smelled all yummy and male. “Or we can fuck now and then you can go and come back and we’ll do it again.”

  Gideon’s mouth canted up slightly. “I mightily enjoy the way you’re always ready for sex.”

  Cal did as well. There had always been a sense of needing more before he’d ended up with them. Of not quite being sated when he’d been with other people. Oh, the sex had been great and all, but he’d never been truly satisfied. Until Jules and Gideon.

  Now his muscles weren’t tight. His appetites were quenched. If he wanted to come, he did. And she wanted it as much as he did. Add Gideon to the mix and the sexual energy between them was electric.

  Gideon kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ve got to run just now so all I’d have time for is a quickie. And I like my sex in the long, slow ride category.”

  She laughed and moved back, allowing him to get out of bed.

  Cal held her as they watched Gideon at the bathroom sink, brushing his teeth before he came back into the bedroom to get dressed.

  “I’ll be back in a few hours. Cal, keep her out of trouble.”

  Jules got up, naked and gorgeous, and hugged Gideon. “Let me walk you out.” She grabbed her robe and the scent of her skin, the almond lotion she used, teased Cal’s senses.

  “Deal.”

  Cal got up too, he was awake after all, and once Gideon left he had plans for all that naked Jules had on under the robe.

  “We’ll both walk you out.”

  Gideon grinned as Cal joined them.

  After a kiss for the two of them, Gideon jogged to his truck and was gone.

  “Now, we’re awake. Whatever shall we do to spend our time?” Cal spoke as he stalked her back up to his bedroom.

  Her answer was to drop the robe and head into his bathroom. “I’m dirty. Want to help me get clean?”

  Shower sex with Jules? Yes, that would do just fine.

  “I love your shower. Really, it’s like a fantasy come to life.”

  He struggled to follow what she was saying, which was difficult given how she looked bent over to turn the taps on.

  She stepped in and groaned as the water hit her from all sides. “Damn, this is almost as good as whatever you’re going to do to me when you stop staring and get in here.”

  He snapped out of it and moved quickly, grabbing some towels and then joining her. “It’s like I knew I’d be nailing you in here.”

  She laughed. “You’re so fancy and genteel with your love talk.”

  He needed her to understand. “What you make me feel, each time I look at you, isn’t genteel. It’s feral. I want to eat you up in one bite. I want to touch every single inch of you, lick and kiss, nip and lap away the sting.”

  “Wow, that was . . .” She shivered. “I’m all yours to eat up. Any way you like.”

  He slid his body against hers a moment because he wanted to and as she’d said, she was his. “I plan to, gorgeous.”

  “Me first though.” And then she sat on the bench just behind where she’d been standing and took his cock into her mouth, sucking the air from his lungs.

  He watched, rapt, as she licked his cock, straight down the line of him where she kissed his balls. Christ, that was good. She sat back a moment, squeezing some soap into her palms and making a lather. She took him in again as she caressed his balls with soapy hands, dancing her fingers back to his asshole and pressing just right, setting all sorts of nerves alight.

  “Yes,” he rasped, spreading his feet a little to give her more access.

  As she gave the crown and that spot just beneath kisses and licks, one of her fingers pressed in to that first ring of muscle. She took her time, stretching him slowly until she got in deeper and added another finger.

  His muscles burned as he locked his thighs and fisted his hands to keep from yanking on her hair and fucking her face. She filled him with so much raw need it was a challenge to his control not to ravish her at all turns.

  And then her fingertips found his sweet spot and stroked, fucking him that way as she sucked his cock.

  She broke down his control. Tore his intention to take things slow to shreds and he went with it. Let her suck him deep, fuck his ass, whatever it was, he’d give it to her because it was so good.

  Each draw of her mouth, each stroke of her fingertip against his sweet spot drew him closer and closer to the edge. A sound, deep and raw, broke from his lips and he wasn’t sure where it came from.

  He wanted to draw it out, but she was too much. It felt too good with her and he couldn’t resist her long. When he came and she pulled back, she licked her lips and his cock began thinking about fucking her. So damned soon. Every time.

  She stood and began to soap him up as he recovered, pausing to tiptoe up to kiss him here and there. She took care of him in ways no one else ever had. He hadn’t needed it, he’d thought. He was capable of course. But she ministered to him and it soothed him.

  “I love how you touch me.” He kissed her again and held her tight. Her nipples brushed against his chest and reminded him he had some tasting to do.

  “Now, it’s my turn.”

  He dropped to his knees and spread her open. She gasped and the sound echoed all around them as he sucked her clit.

  Cal loved eating pussy. Oh, he knew a lot of straight men didn’t. But they were wrong. There was little he found sexier than a desire-swollen cunt, just waiting for his mouth. Like this one was. Slick with desire, her clit was hard, nearly begging against the flat of his tongue as he slid it across.

  Her fingers caught in his hair and held him to her.

  That was another thing he loved. The way Jules took what she wanted. Demanded it if she didn’t think it was happening fast enough.

  He slid two fingers up into her gate and her inner walls hugged him.

  She rocked her hips, brushing herself against his mouth, setting her own pace. Her upper body was pro
pped against the tiles behind her, the water cascading all around them. It was steamy and warm and all he cared about was the woman there with him. All he wanted was to bring her pleasure.

  “Yes.”

  A whisper.

  He gave her more, increasing the pressure against her clit and she came hard and fast, her fingers tangled in his hair, urging him up to kiss her. He wallowed in her taste, in the feel of her body against hers.

  He liked his shower a whole lot too.

  After he broke the kiss he stepped out and grabbed her a towel. “Let’s dry off. I’ll make you coffee if you make me pancakes.”

  She licked her lips as her desire-blurred gaze focused on him. “Yes, all right. After a blow job like that, I’ll make bacon too.”

  • • •

  “This is my favorite way to spend a Sunday, ever.” Cal grinned at her as she puttered around his living room, picking things up, folding his tossed-aside sweaters and jackets. “The cleaning goddess will be here tomorrow, you know.”

  She smiled up at him. “Yes, yes, I know.” She wore her hair in two braids. A T-shirt and jeans looked simple enough, but she looked like a princess in them anyway.

  He went back to watching, pretending to read occasionally. His business line had rung several times because he often did work on Sundays, but he let the calls go to voice mail. If it was really important, they’d call his cell phone. But only a few people had that number, thank God.

  On the surface it wasn’t that different than the hundreds of other times he’d spent with her. But it was different. He could look his fill without the longing he’d had before. She was his. If he wanted to touch her, he could. If he wanted to kiss her, he could. It was no longer a fantasy—he knew what she looked like when she came. Knew what her skin tasted like. He’d known her pretty much their entire lives, but he knew her in a way that made those dreams he’d had before pale.

  “What should we do later today?”

  She gave him a look over her shoulder and he laughed.

  “Well, that’s a given. I pretty much want to sex you up every waking moment. But around our vigorous fucking schedule, we should do something else.”

  He liked having her all to himself for a little while. He and Gideon had convinced her to take off Sunday mornings and this was her first one. She’d called Tart twice and her assistant had told her everything was fine and hung up.

  “We could go for a hike. It’s a pretty day.”

  “That’s not a bad idea.”

  “Let’s see what Gideon thinks. If he’s spent the whole day digging post holes or something like that he may want to choose a more sedate activity.” She joined him, cradling her coffee in her hands.

  “I’m clearly going to need to up my coffee purchases now that you’re here more often.”

  Her smile was wry. “I’m a fiend, I know. I’ll bring some from Tart.”

  She was, indeed a caffeine fiend, drinking four or five cups a day. Then again, now that he got woken up at four thirty in the morning a few days a week, he understood the need. Still, she was chipper in the mornings. Getting up easily before she got off to work. He admired that, not being anything near chipper.

  Her phone rang and she answered. “Hey, Mom.”

  It’d been years since Cal had seen Jules’s mother. She rarely came back to Washington and when she did, it seemed she was just around briefly before she left again.

  Jules looked up at him before ducking her head down and Cal’s interest sharpened. They’d been friends so long, he knew when she was hiding something. But the glimpse he got was filled with sadness.

  He knew things had become strained between them in the years since her parents’ divorce. The more her mother traveled, the less she came back. She’d often joked about how Cal and Mary’s mother was more of a mother to her than her own.

  And now, looking at her expression, he wondered just how much of a joke it was.

  Jules moved from the room to hear better and to take the call in private. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

  “Darling, we’re in Tahiti!”

  “A great stop on your way here. I can’t wait to see the pictures.” Her mother had taken up photography as a hobby and was really good at it. She had a great eye.

  Her mother paused, and Jules had been right.

  “About that . . . We’re going to Italy instead. Connor won’t remember it one way or the other and some friends we met a few months ago have offered their home for us. A house-sitting sort of thing.”

  Anger made Jules’s head hurt. She reined it in, wanting to see if she could guilt her mother into coming home before she headed off to Italy. Her nephew would start remembering his grandmother wasn’t around much on his big days. “He’s not a baby anymore. He remembers all sorts of things. Why not come back for a few days before you head off to Italy? That way you can see the kids and Ethan and me too. I miss you.” Please, please come.

  “I’ve sent him something fun. It’ll get there before his birthday. I’ll be back at the end of summer. I’ll spend some time with Ethan then.”

  Jules hesitated, weighing her words, hating that she second-guessed herself so much with her mother. “You said that four months ago. About being back here for the birthday party weekend. Connor is four. He notices more than you think. And even if he doesn’t, Ethan will. You’re going to disappoint him if you don’t come. Especially once he knows you’re off to Italy instead. He misses you, Mom. I miss you. They only have one Nana, you know?”

  “You’re too sensitive, Julie. Ethan has a wife and kids. I did that already. You’re both grown. You can’t let other people’s shit get in your way. Or you’ll end up old and having wasted your life.”

  Well. That hurt. Also, her father had called her Julie. Her mother had always stuck with Juliet. It was like she just tossed it out there to fill space. Like it didn’t matter that Jules was her daughter anymore. Jules felt a hell of a lot like a dependent and that sucked.

  Jules tried to make herself cold, to ignore the hurt feelings and stick to anger. It was easier. “I’m sorry you feel like raising a family was a waste of your life. I’m busy just now; were you just calling me to tell me you’re going to Italy?”

  “Can you tell Ethan, please? It’s hard to get phone signals here sometimes.”

  Then the anger wasn’t so hard to keep. “No. You know he gets upset when you don’t come to his kids’ stuff. I’m not playing your messenger here because you know he’ll be mad.”

  “Really, I had no idea you’d grow up to be so difficult. I’m sure your father won’t be there. But as usual there’s a double standard.”

  “I can’t imagine why you’d want us to feel about you the way we do about him.” Jules hadn’t meant to snap, but it happened anyway and she despaired at the loss of the close mother/daughter connection they once had.

  “I have to go. Tell Ethan, please, and let Connor know I love him.” And she did hang up. Just like that.

  Jules stood there, the phone in her hand. Wondering what the hell she was going to do.

  “Hey. Everything all right?” Cal came into the room shortly after that.

  Shame washed over her. Cal had great parents. His mother and father were involved and appeared to want to be so. How could she begin to explain what this thing with her mother was? Hell, Jules didn’t even know what it was. Which only made her feel worse.

  “I have to call Ethan to tell him my mother is going to Italy instead of Connor’s birthday next weekend.”

  “Italy? And why are you doing it instead of her?”

  Her mouth tightened a little and Cal homed in. He knew human nature and he most especially knew Jules. She was upset. “Yes. All I can hope is that she’s at the very least sent something like she claimed. I want the day to be good for Connor.”

  Goddamnit, what the fuck was it with her parents anyway?

  “And you’re doing it why?” He needed to repeat that.

  Jules sucked in a breath. “She sa
ys she has a hard time getting a signal.”

  “Really? But she called you.”

  “Look, I know. Okay?” He could see the strain on her face. She was holding it together. Every protective instinct he had rose in defense.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Her normal open, beautiful smile shut down as she shook her head. “I have to call Ethan. I’ll be done in a few.”

  He didn’t leave the room though, instead settling in on the love seat near where she’d been standing. He had a feeling she’d be needing him when this was over.

  Jules eyed him. He had that look. The one he got in court sometimes, or when Mary was pissing him off. He wasn’t going anywhere and she got the feeling he’d be wanting more information about the whole thing with her mother.

  She couldn’t deal with that just then. And maybe part of her needed that. Needed to know he cared.

  She dialed Ethan’s place and her sister-in-law answered.

  “Hey, Marci.”

  Her sister-in-law was good for Ethan. She was also a damned good mother. She’d never been anything but warm and welcoming to Jules, insisting Jules stay with them when she visited. Invited her to all major holiday celebrations. She was pretty sure it was Marci who’d been pushing her brother to keep in contact with Jules over the years.

  “Heya, Jules. You looking for Ethan? He’s out back with the boys.”

  “Yeah, if I’m not interrupting.”

  Marci laughed. “Of course not. Though you know you have to talk to both boys because they’ll hear your name and go wild if they don’t.”

  A burst of love broke through her. Her nephews were very important in her life.

  “I just did FaceTime with H. Jack a few days ago.” H. Jack was two-year-old Henry’s nickname. His maternal grandfather’s name was Jack so his full name was Henry Jack and it’d morphed into H. Jack.

  “Thank you for that. I know they love being able to see you when they talk to you.” In the background she heard Marci slide the patio door open and then the swell of noise from her brother playing with his sons. Laughter and squeals of joy made Jules wish fiercely that she’d told her mother off better.