The Midnight Club

by Love, Michelle

  She answered on the third ring.

  ‘Theodore Storm, where the hell have you been?’

  Theo let a long breath and cleared his throat.

  ‘Hi, Mom, how have you been?’

  At almost five, Molly knocked on her door again. Jess blinked, trying to get her head out of the file she was looking at. Molly was frowning.

  ‘Jess, there’s a guy here who says he’s your family lawyer. William Corcoran?’

  Jess’s eyebrows shot up and she got up and walked into the outer office. ‘William?’

  The older man smiled kindly at her and she embraced him, ushering him into her office. They sat together on one of the long couches. William looked around approvingly. ‘This is very impressive, Jessica, your parents would be proud.’

  Jess grinned wryly. ‘You mean they wouldn’t believe I slept my way to the top?’

  William frowned, shaking his head. ‘No one who matters would believe that. Does believe that.’

  Jess thanked him. ‘Why are you here, William? Not that isn’t always lovely to see you.’

  ‘Sweet girl. Well, I come bearing gifts, though I hardly believe it myself. Julien has released your inheritance. The board has agreed and I have the paperwork here.’

  Jess was speechless for a long moment. ‘What’s the catch?’

  William looked at her, understanding in his old eyes. ‘None that I can see.’

  Another long pause then Jess shook her head. ‘I don’t understand. After all this time, Jules would just give in. I don’t trust it, I don’t trust him.’

  ‘I understand, Jessica, believe me, I do. But, legally, as far as the transfer is concerned, it’s all above board.’

  No, no. There was something very wrong here. Jules wouldn’t just give up his only way to control her, not this easily. She sat back, running through every eventuality in her mind. Did Theo or Max have something to do with this? Did they find evidence of Jules’ involvement in Camilla and Josh’s deaths? If they did, she would insist they go to the police, not use it to blackmail Jules into releasing her. No, that couldn’t be it. No matter how loyal Max was, he’d never let Josh’s killer go free to protect Theo, to protect her. Nor would she. Theo…she wasn’t sure. He loved her more than life, she knew that. She would have to talk to him.

  ‘Jessica? Jess?’ William was speaking to her and it took a moment before she responded, so lost in thought was she. She smiled at him. He patted her hand.

  ‘Congratulations.’ He nodded towards her engagement ring and she smiled.

  ‘We haven’t announced it, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. We just kept it low key.’

  ‘I understand.’

  The elderly man stood and kissed her cheek. ‘Jessica, marry Storm, he is a good man. It doesn’t take much to see that. Julien is nothing more than a spoilt little brat. I think this is his way of admitting defeat.’

  Jess wished more than anything she could believe him.

  Theo let himself into Max’s apartment a little after one a.m. He glanced at the bottom of Max’s bedroom door and saw his light was out. Pushing the door of the guest bedroom open, he stopped in the doorway and just watched her sleep. She lay on her stomach, naked under the sheet, her face turned toward the bedside lamp so the soft glow fell across her honey-colored skin. Her dark hair clouded around her on the pillow, her long dark lashes swept down onto the faintly flushed cheeks. So beautiful. Theo closed the bedroom door and stripped quickly, dropping his clothes onto the floor then slipped under the sheet. Jess murmured and smiled as he pressed his lips to hers. Her body was so warm next to his and he sighed as she reached down for his cock, cupping it in her warm hand. She smiled sleepily at him.

  ‘Hey baby…’

  She moved slowly down the bed, tracing a line down his body with her tongue, grazing his nipples with her teeth. Theo stroked her hair with his big hands gently pulling the soft silky strands through his fingers. As he felt her soft lush mouth envelop his cock, he felt it respond, blood rushing to fill it, her tongue tracing the pulsating veins. He grew harder as she sucked at him, her fingers tracing a line between his balls and his anus, pressing the sweet spot there. Theo’s breathing was coming in ragged gasps now as she worked on him, his cock quivering and swelling under her touch.

  ‘Christ… .Jessie, I’m going to cum…’

  He felt her lips curve up in a smile and then as he shot into her mouth. She swallowed his seed, again and again, massaging his balls, prolonging his pleasure. As soon as he shuddered to a halt, he pulled her up into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly they were both breathless by the time they broke away from it. He hitched her legs around his hips and plunged his titanium-hard cock into her, gratified at the gasp she gave. He molded his hands over her soft breasts, teasing her nipples with his thumbs until they were hard and quivered under his touch. As he thrust, he enjoyed the undulation of her soft belly, the way she flung her head back as she neared her orgasm, the scarlet blush of her skin. He caught her waist with hands and thrust harder, driving her onward. God, he wanted to consume every part of her, bury himself inside her and his head spun as he shot thick creamy semen into her. She tensed and shivered through orgasm after orgasm and eventually, as they collapsed back on the bed, he traced a line between her breasts down to her navel, rimming the deep hollow and making Jess moan with pleasure. He caught her mouth with his, tasting her sweetness alongside his own salty tang.

  ‘Hello, beautiful…’

  She smiled up at him, awake now, her hands tracing a pattern on his chest. ‘Hey, you. I missed you so much.’

  He pulled into the cocoon of his arms. ‘A second would be too long without you, lovely one.’

  She stroked his face. ‘You look exhausted.’ He leaned his face into her palm.

  ‘I admit I am…but in a good way.’

  ‘You’re home, handsome, sleep.’ She pulled his head down to her chest and curled her arms around him. ‘Sleep…’

  Theo woke to an empty bed and the sound of laughter. Pulling on his jeans, he wandered out into the kitchen to find Jess and Max demolishing a stack of blueberry pancakes. His body relaxed at the sight of his two favorite people. Max still looked drawn and thin but at least some of his color had returned and the dark circles under his eyes were starting to fade. Jess was good for him, for them, Theo realized now. For all her dark past, the woman he loved was a light in their lives, someone from whom love shone and warmed everything she touched. She looked up and her face lit up at the sight of him.

  ‘Hey, sleepy boy is up.’ She hopped off the bar stool and came to him, sliding her arms around his waist, tipping her face up for a kiss. Theo, grinning and obliged until Max protested and they broke off, chuckling at Max’s mock-horror. Theo nodded at the remnants of their breakfast. ‘Saved any of that for me? I’m starving.’

  ‘Of course…,’ Max faked annoyance, ‘…as if I’d deprive you of my famous pancakes.’ He pulled out a stack that he’d kept warming in the oven. Jess grinned at Theo.

  ‘If I’d known those were in there, I would have totally deprived you.’

  Theo mussed her hair. ‘Food demon.’

  Max leaned on the breakfast bar. ‘Saturday with my homies,’ he said softly. ‘Almost perfect.’

  Jess squeezed his hand. ‘There’ll always be four of us here, Maxie. Always.’

  Max looked at her gratefully. ‘I know.’ He was silent for a moment then shook himself. ‘I like having you both here. If it doesn’t cramp your style.’

  Theo and Jess looked at each other, then Theo patted Max on the shoulder. ‘We’d be happy to stay as long as you want.’

  ‘Seconded.’ Jess grinned at him, nodding her ascent. Max visibly relaxed.

  ‘Thanks, dudes. I appreciate it. I also appreciate that the walls are so thick,’ he grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  ‘You should be,’ Jess dead-panned. ‘I’m quite the screamer.’

  Theo nearly choked on his coffee as Max laughed out loud.<
br />
  Later, they had decamped to their favorite coffee house and Jess told them both about William Corcoran’s visit and Jules’ seeming relinquishment of his financial control of her. Both Theo and Max were as skeptical as she was.

  ‘It makes no sense,’ Theo was scowling, ‘Why trash you in the press to just give up like that? I don’t trust this.’

  ‘Me either.’ Jess looked at Max who nodded his agreement.

  ‘It’s a trick, sweetheart. He’s an evil motherfucker. If he thought he was losing an inch of control over you…’

  ‘He’s fooling himself thinking he has any control over me anyways. Not now, not ever again. As far as I’m concerned he can drop dead. I wish he would.’

  The three of them sat for a while, quiet, a silent assessment and the same question on each of their minds. Could I kill another person? When Jess met both their gazes, she knew the answer. Yes, if that person was Jules. They each had reason to end Julien Gachet.

  A part of her wanted Jules’ gesture to be genuine contrition so that none of them would have to consider taking drastic action but…

  ‘What are you thinking, Jess?’ Theo’s voice was low, full of pain and she turned to look at him. His green eyes were troubled. She smiled at him, touched his face.

  ‘Nothing worth saying out loud.’ She turned to Max. ‘Hey, you, I wanted to ask you something. I’ve talked to Theo about this and we wanted to run something past you.’

  Max sipped his coffee. ‘Hit me with it.’

  Jess and Theo exchanged a glance. ‘Well, it’s about our wedding. You’re Theo’s best man, of course, but we, well, I was, wondering…’ She stopped and cleared her throat, feeling tears prickle in her eyes. Theo’s arm tightened around her shoulders and he gave her a reassuring nod. Max looked bemused.

  ‘What is it, Jess?’

  Jess drew in a breath. ‘Max, I wondered if you would mind double-duty. I wonder if you would please walk me down the aisle?’

  Max’s eyebrows shot up and Jess was amazed to see tears in his eyes. ‘Jess, I would be honored. Truly honored.’ He stood and pulled Jess into a hug. ‘Thank you,’ he murmured into her ear, ‘thank you.’

  Outside, Jules watched them through the blacked out windows of his car. They looked more relaxed than he’d expected. Good. He wanted them to be as unprepared as possible for his next move.

  Jess peeked into Max’s room to see him passed out on his bed with an adoring Stan and Monty curled up next to him. The dogs looked up as Jess made a face at them. ‘Doggy sluts,’ she muttered and blew them a kiss. She pulled the door to and wandered out into the living room. Theo was flicking through the t.v. channels, not even looking up as she curled into his side. His arm looped automatically around her shoulders, pulling her close. She watched the t.v. with him for a few moments before turning her head to kiss his cheek.

  ‘I know this is a weird thing to say, given everything that’s happened, but right here, right now, I feel happy. Safe.’

  Theo pressed his lips against her temple. ‘Damn right you’re safe. Always with me, Jessie. Always.’ He clicked the television off and pulled her onto her lap, smoothing the hair away from her face, studying it with such a look of love she felt her insides melt. He kissed her, quick, soft as if he was a shy teenager and she smiled.

  ‘Mushy,’ she whispered and he grinned – a definitely unshy grin. He maneuvered her onto the floor and lay above her, his fingers knotting in her dark, soft hair.

  ‘Mrs. Storm…’

  She grinned but pretended to frown at him. ‘Not yet, big boy, don’t get cocky.’

  Theo snorted with laughter and ground his hips against hers so she would feel the hard length of him. She grinned and lightly nipped his earlobe with her teeth. ‘That would be so much better off inside me…’

  Theo was already pushing up her dress, his long fingers sliding into her panties and pulling them down. She moaned softly as his tongue found her clit, flicking around it until she was half crazed.

  Suddenly he stopped and looked up. ‘Shit, my mom.’

  For a beat, Jess looked down at him askance. ‘If your mom’s in my crotch, I think I’d know about it.’

  They both lost it. Jess buried her face in her hands to hush her laughter, Theo pressed his face into her belly, his whole body shaking with mirth.

  ‘Sssh, sssshhhhh,’ Jess waved her hands towards Max’s open bedroom door. She pushed him off of her and hitched her underwear up. ‘Moment’s over, chuckles.’ She pulled him to his feet. ‘Let’s go get pizza before we wake the kids.’

  In the restaurant, they shared pizza and beers. ‘So, what about your mom?’ Jess teased him. ’When she’s not hanging out in my groin, that is.’

  Theo snorted. ‘That’s just wrong. She called me. Actually, she stalked me via phone when the news stories came out.’

  All trace of humor left Jess’s face. ‘I see.’

  Theo leaned over to touch her cheek. ‘Hey, it’s okay. She wants to meet you, is all.’

  Jess didn’t relax and she pushed her pizza away, rubbing her forehead to ease the sudden tension. ‘So the fact that she reached out after her son’s girlfriend was outed as a nympho gold-digger shouldn’t bother me?’

  Theo gave her a wry grin. ‘Well, when you put it like that…’

  ‘God, Theo.’

  ‘Hey, listen. She and I talked, I told her what a bunch of crap it was. I’m her son, she believes me over some damn tabloid assholes. It is fine, she just thought it was about time she met the love of my life.’

  Jess smiled then, stroked his face. ‘What did she say when you told her we were engaged?’

  Theo’s expression gave him away. ‘Um…’

  ‘Theo!’ The tension was back. ‘You didn’t tell her?’

  He shrugged good-naturedly. ‘I thought we were keeping it low key.’

  ‘Not from your family. Jeez.’

  ‘He rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to relax her. ‘We’ll tell her together. This weekend.’

  She gaped at him and he gave her a cheesy grin. ‘Sorry. I meant to tell you earlier.’

  Jess sighed and her head slumped onto the table. ‘Kill me now.’

  Theo winced and she was sorry. Suddenly she realized – meeting her fiancé’s mother was nothing to what they had been going through lately. She sat up and kissed him. ‘It’s okay. It is about time I met your family.’

  He nodded and she could see he was happy. ‘I do have another motive,’ he said, ‘-and it’s one you’ll like. A few years ago, I bought a house out on Whidbey Island, mostly as an investment. It was far too big for just me so I’ve been renting it out as a holiday let for the past few years. But now, it’s perfect for a family home, Jessie. It’s secluded but not isolated and has its own private beach. I want to take you there, see what you think. If you don’t like it – or you think it’s too close to Mom – then fine, we’ll find something else.’

  Jess listened to him and couldn’t help feeling excited. She suppressed a grin. ‘Just how close is your Mom?’

  Theo smiled widely. ‘Way over on the other side of the island, and it’s a big ass island.’

  She laughed. ‘Then, I can’t wait.’

  Theo kissed her. ‘We can go over on Sunday.’

  ‘We’re staying at your mom’s all weekend?’

  Theo grinned nonchalantly and she swiped his shoulder with her hand. ‘There’s no way you’re getting laid tonight.’

  He leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. ‘Yes, I am,’ he murmured, his green eyes glittering, sliding one hand onto the nape of her neck and the other to her stomach. Jess sank into his embrace and nodded her assent.

  ‘Yeah, you so are…’

  Theo glanced over at her as they stood on the deck of the ferry out to the island. Jess was dressed in a simple white cotton dress that the breeze from the Sound was whipping up, showing a tempting amount of honey-skinned thigh. Her long hair was pulled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck, and her face,
touched by the lightest makeup, was beautiful but a little tense.

  Strike that, Theo corrected himself, a lot tense. He wrapped his arms around her, felt her lean back into him. ‘Stop worrying, it’s just my mom and maybe a couple of my irritating kid brothers. Nothing to worry about, I promise.’

  Jess smiled at that. Theo had one older sister, Milly, married and living in Portland, and three much younger brothers who adored their older brother. One of them, Alex, was at Harvard, the younger two, Seb and Tom, were identical twins. Theo’s mom, Amelia, she didn’t know much about, telling Theo that she’d rather not build up a picture of a formidable woman. Theo had rolled his eyes.

  ‘She’s just my mom, Jessie.’

  But he knew that Jess’s own family situation had been tainted so much by Jules that she couldn’t reconcile family as being happy with her own experience. He kissed her temple.

  ‘I know a way you could relax…’

  She turned in his arms and studied his face, a small smile playing around her lips. ‘Do you indeed,’ she raised her eyebrows at him. ‘This is a public place, you know.’

  His eyes were dancing. ‘All the better.’

  He took her hand and led her along the ferries’ deck until they came to a small alcove, hidden away from the sight of the other passengers and the crew. Theo pushed her against the cool steel of the ferry, his gaze intense, burning. He slid his hands under her dress and she gasped at the shock of him yanking her panties from her, ripping the delicate material easily. Theo ground his mouth down onto hers as she reached for his zipper, easing her hand into his pants to free his diamond-hard cock. Theo lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him, perfect trust in him, as he entered her, thrusting with deep, even strokes, kissing her lush mouth as he fucked her. Jess’s lips were at his ear, telling him how much she loved him and when he came, so turned on he couldn’t wait, he felt the violent furious spasm of his cock inside her, filling her as she buried her head in his shoulder and muffled her cry of ecstasy. They caught their breath, staring at the other, completely oblivious to the cool breeze, the roiling of the dark waters of the Sound, the possibility of being caught. Neither said a word, neither needed to say what they were feeling; it was in the sensation skin-on-skin, the deep, abiding understanding in their eyes. Theo lowered her gently to her feet and straightened out her dress while she ran her hand through his dark curls, tidied him up. Their fingers entwined, they walked slowly back to the passenger lounge, never taking their eyes from each other.