by Bree Verity
Desiree snorted a laugh. She had forgotten about her brother’s serial absences from school.
“So, is a good mother one who can buy her kids everything they want, but who is never there? Is that a good mother? Or is it more about the time she spends with her kids? Cos if that’s the case, I was the shittiest mother ever, but only because I had to work to look after you kids. Did that make me a bad mum?”
Desiree shook her head. “No. But surely there has to be some, I don’t know, happy medium, where you know you’re being a good mum and not spoiling the crap out of them?”
“Nope.” Her mum shook her head. “All you can do is whatever you think is right and if your kids come out the other end pretty well adjusted, you can tell yourself you did a good job.”
“So this second guessing myself about everything is going to continue until any kids I have are grown up?”
“That’s how it goes, Des. Welcome to being a mum.”
“Well, shit.”
“I know right.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.
“And when I left she hugged me. She actually hugged me back.”
Jack was happy, of course, that Desiree had gone to see her mother, and that it seemed they had reconnected on a more solid basis than they had in years. She had told him about the photo album, and the memories, and how she had worried about leaving Trudy in the front yard. It was the first time he had seen her so animated, and he realised that connecting with her mother was a big thing for Desiree, so he sat quiet and attentive until she had exhausted all her conversation. Then, a wide smile crossed his face.
“What?” Desiree seemed defensive, but the ghost of a smile crossed her face as well.
“Come here you.” Jack grabbed Desiree’s hand and brought her over to the couch he was seated on, encircling her in his arms as she let out a deep sigh. He kissed her hair and said, “It’s been a fairly momentous day for you then?”
She nodded. “Very. And I’m so glad now that I went, even though I was terrified she’d just chuck me off the porch and I’d go away with my tail between my legs.”
“I couldn’t imagine that happenin’. Not my proud and defiant Desiree.”
“Believe me, when my mother gets going, she’s me, but on acid.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, believe it. Terrifying.”
He kissed her hair again, breathing in her scent of warm, light spice. His kisses then made their way a little south, to her ear and jaw, and her body tensed for a moment, then relaxed. He heard her breathe his name, “Jack.”
Instantly, he was surrounded by a cloud of desire. He held her close in his arms, trapping her slender frame in his embrace as he deepened his kisses, working his way down her throat. He let his mouth drop to hers, trapping her lips in a deep, strong kiss. He placed a firm hand along her jaw as she surrendered to him, her body limp in his arms. He worked her lips, relishing in the smooth sensuality of them, and when their tongues danced, her flavor filled his senses as well.
“Where are the kids?” she murmured, and Jack chuckled softly.
“Why? Don’t you want them to catch us?”
“Not particularly, no.”
“They’re sleepin’ over at their grandma’s tonight. And before you ask, Maureen went out to a show at the Regal.”
She stopped his attentions with a hand on his arm. “Did you plan this?”
Jack colored a little. “Perhaps, maybe, I reckoned we might spend some quality time together tonight, but even if you’d said no, I figured we could use some ‘us’ time.”
Desiree’s amazing green eyes sparkled. “I’m almost tempted to go out somewhere with the girls.”
“Don’t you dare,” Jack breathed, returning his lips to her neck. “I’m fixin’ to explode here.”
“Then let’s explode together.”
Desiree suddenly stood and reached a hand out to Jack. Mesmerized by the sudden intensity in her gaze, he took it, and they made their way to the bedroom.
Jack’s room was spacious and probably the only room in the entire house that looked like it hadn’t been professionally decorated. There was no bed head, just a queen sized bed with a dark blue doona and two pillows on the bed. A comfortable chair in the corner was covered in clothes that Jack had removed and just thrown there. It was very much a man’s room.
She made him sit on the bed, standing between his slightly open knees. One hand rested slightly on his shoulder, the other cupped his face. He pulled her close, pillowing his head between her delicious breasts. He took a sharp breath in as she ran her hands through his hair, her nails scraping along his scalp. She pulled his head up, and kissed him fiercely. Then she took a step back, and for a moment, Jack was bereft, until he realised what her purpose was in moving.
Not losing eye contact, Desiree slowly started to undo the buttons of her shirt in an exquisite, torturous striptease. The garment hung open, giving Jack tantalising glimpses of her cleavage and flat stomach.
He groaned. “You’re killin’ me, ma’am.” Her only response was the slightest turn up of one side of her mouth, as she slipped the shirt off one shoulder, then the other, letting it pool on the floor.
Jack’s senses were in overdrive. He stood and yanked Desiree toward him, where she started working on his shirt buttons as well. “I want to feel your skin against me,” she murmured. Jack had no problem at all with that. As she pushed his shirt off his broad shoulders, he pulled her close again, his hands circling her warm, firm waist, his lips feasting on her decolletage.
She let her head fall back and Jack heard a sound issue deep from her throat, a kind of moan, that led him into a frenzy of kisses along her breasts. He drew his hands up her torso, resting them under her breasts for just a moment before he gently placed one over the delicate flesh. Desiree covered his hand with hers, and helped him to massage her sensitive flesh for a moment before impatiently pushing his hand away. To his surprise, she removed her bra in one swift movement, then pulled his hand back.
He could feel her pebbled nipple under his palm, the soft flesh yielding to his touch. Desiree’s breathing became louder and interspersed with whispers. “Yes, Jack. Yes.” Her voice broke through the last of his resolve, and he spun the pair of them around and pushed her backwards on to the bed, crawling on top of her.
Spearing his hands in her dark hair, he kissed every place he could find on her face and throat, whispering as he did, “Des, you drive me wild.” She wriggled beneath him, pushing her hips into his. He sat back on his knees, and looked at her. She looked amazing, tousled hair, sparkling eyes and ruddy lips mixing to create a sexy, sensual, desirable woman that he had to possess.
Undoing the button on her jeans, he slowly brought the zip down and put his hand on her lower stomach. He bent and placed a kiss at the very lowest place he could and she shivered in anticipation, lifting her hips so he could slide her jeans down.
He had to stand up to get them off all the way, and while he was there, he removed her socks. Then, starting from her ankle, he kissed his way up the inside of her leg. When he reached her knee, Desiree started to shiver. “Keep going, baby,” she groaned softly, and Jack, his erection rock hard, worked his way up to the very edge of her underwear. He breathed out on her apex, letting the warm air of his breath intensify the scent of her arousal. Hooking one finger under the leg of her panties and let his finger follow the contour of her down between her thighs until he found her moist, ready opening. She gave a small, choking mewl, a sound that made Jack’s erection twitch uncomfortably.
He stood back up, chuckling at Desiree’s disappointed murmur, removing his own jeans and underwear, allowing his penis to spring free.
He crawled back on to the bed, stopping just long enough to retrieve a silver foil packet from his bedside drawer, which he flipped on to the bed, and then pinioned Desiree to the bed, his form laying all the way along her.
Only her panties lay between them. He quickly pulled off her tiny thong, strangely aroused by
knowing that she wore such skimpy underwear, then reached down to touch her in the most intimate of places.
She was slick, hot and ready. Still, he swirled his finger around her nub, spreading her goodness across her entire opening, and on to his own member. He concentrated his fingers on her most sensitive spot, and was rewarded with a start from her, and a nervous giggle, followed by a moan. Her eyes were closed, her face clear, but with a tiny crease between her brows, and a sheen of perspiration covered her body.
“Jack, I want you inside me.”
“Soon,” he promised, his voice deep and husky. He wanted to make sure she was satisfied in every way, totally satiated by their shared experience, and so he worked her clit, first circling then rubbing over the area, bringing her to the brink of tossing, heaving orgasm, only to ease off again.
“What do you want from me baby?” Jack growled gently, the smell of her arousal driving him crazy. “Tell me what you want.” He used his thumb to stroke her nub, while invading her wetness with two of his fingers. He thrust inside her with the digits, reaching for the spot he instinctively knew would drive her over the edge.
She gave a long, keening moan, saying again, “I want you inside me, Jack.”
Jack removed his fingers, replacing them with the tip of his erection, which he swirled over her clit while he fumbled for the condom. Tearing the packet open, he withdrew just enough to place the thin rubber over his length, before he pressed the head of his erection against her opening. It gave way easily, and with two short thrusts, Jack was completely inside her.
His head swam at the sensation. She was open and willing, still her passage was tight and hot. He breathed deeply, knowing that if he didn’t pace himself, he would come inside her before they even had a chance to know each other. He stilled, letting himself and Desiree get comfortable with the intimacy. Then, he slowly drew himself out.
Desiree breathed out in time with his withdrawal. He kept his strokes long and slow, his powerful arms holding his torso above her, so their pelvises would grind as close as anyone could get. He knew the movement was still stimulating her clit, and he twisted his hips a little as he thrust, to increase the stimulation. Her moans became louder and higher pitched with each stroke. Jack increased the tempo, feeling the blood rush through his body, bringing him to a fever pitch of anticipation.
All too soon, Desiree stilled, then a moan exited her body as she shuddered through a strong, long orgasm. Inside her, Jack felt the contraction of her muscles squeezing him from tip to base, pushing him over the edge, and his own orgasm exploded in a riot of colour behind his eyes and a rush of sound in his head. He heard himself gasp and then groan, but it was as if the sounds came from far away. He gloried in emptying himself into Desiree, feeling her fingers playing on his shoulders and her heavy breath on his neck.
For a moment, he let himself slump over Desiree’s prone body, but he soon moved off her, and lay beside her. She curled into him, their bodies fitting perfectly together. He wriggled so he could dislodge the discarded doona from under his arse, and he threw it over both of them. He heard Desiree’s breath grow softer and then regular, and he realised she was asleep. He kissed her temple and, in minutes, he too had drifted off.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.
In the early hours of the following morning, Desiree awoke to find herself engulfed in the heat and scent of Jack. For a moment, her foggy brain wondered about the feeling of bliss that enshrouded her, then she remembered the intimacy they had finally shared. A slow smile spread across her face, and she snuggled back against her lover. Jack mumbled something in his sleep, and threw an arm over her hip.
She reached behind her butt to where his cock was nestled. Now was not the time to sleep.
It only took a few moments for him to respond, and for him to mutter, “Desiree? Jesus that feels good.”
She slid her hand up and down his long, hardening penis, before he whispered harshly in her ear, “If you want any of this, you’d better stop before I come in your hand.”
“Oh, I want it,” she said.
His response was to push her on to her stomach and pull up her hips. She lay with her cheek on the pillow and her arse in the air, listening to Jack find and tear open another condom.
This time, he pushed into her from behind hard and fast, holding her around the waist. He sat back on his knees, pulling Desiree up with him. He slid her forward and backward on his cock, and she shoved her arse back as far as she could, grinding it against his rocking pelvis. They came up to their knees, and Desiree leaned forward, supporting herself on her arms and feeling the slap of Jack’s body against her as he slammed into her again and again.
Their lovemaking this time was raw and primal. Desiree’s juices came fast and fluid, lubricating the movement between them. He reached around between the front of her legs and tried to stimulate her clitoris, but the movement of the rest of his body made that impossible. Desiree put all of her weight on one arm, and took his hand with the other, making it into a fist and using it to massage herself to shattering, screaming orgasm, with was quickly followed by Jack choking and shouting out his own release.
They collapsed back on the bed in a tangle of limbs and perspiration, both of them breathing heavily. Desiree let her eyes droop as her heart slowed and the numbing calmness of sleep began to surround her again.
Suddenly, she heard a click, and her eyes flicked open. Jack’s had as well.
What the fuck was that?
There was a swish, the quiet closing of a door, and what sounded like the soft padding of feet across the tiled floor. Desiree strained to see in the pitch darkness, her heart thumping. Then, realisation hit her.
“It’s probably just Maureen,” whispered Jack. “Thank goodness she didn’t come home fifteen minutes ago. God knows what she might have heard!”
Chuckling gently, she settled back down, when an almighty scream had the pair of them flinging themselves out of bed.
“Stay here,” commanded Jack as he pulled on a pair of pyjama bottoms and wrenched open the bedroom door to run out.
“Fuck that.” Desiree threw on her pyjamas, and hurried after him, skidding to a stop outside of Maureen’s bedroom where Maureen and another woman were engaged in a shouting match. It seemed as if they knew each other, and from the dazed expression on Jack’s face, he did as well.
“I wouldn’t have come in if I knew you were here.” The stranger appeared to be trying to placate Maureen, who was having none of it.
“Why do you even have a key for this house? You know you’re not welcome here.”
“It my house, Maureen. I live here.”
“No, no you don’t. You gave up livin’ here and deserted your babies and moved to Sydney, remember?”
With a start, Desiree realised this must be Jack’s ex-wife, Susan. Her brows drew together. What the fuck was she doing in Jack’s house in the middle of the night?
“This is still my home. My children live here. My husband.”
“Ex-husband.”
With that, they seemed to notice Jack and, since she was right beside him, Desiree. She lifted an eyebrow and watched as Susan’s face paled, but the woman quickly regained her composure, stepping up to Jack and kissing him on the cheek. “Hello Jack.”
“Susan.” Jack seemed to be trying to keep himself under control. Desiree could feel the heat of his anger radiating off him. “Why are you here? And why in the middle of the night?”
“Darling, it’s 4:30, hardly the middle of the night. I took the redeye flight.” She flicked her gaze over Desiree her expression souring, but continued with what she was saying. “I’ve come home. I’m here to stay.”
“The hell you are.” In Jack’s carefully controlled voice, Desiree could hear fury and loathing. “You don’t get to just barge in here at any time of the day or night and say that.”
“But I just did, Jack. I’ve thrown in the job in Sydney. I missed my babies. And you.” She came in to give Jack a hug, and Desiree could
smell expensive perfume, something spicy and oriental. There seemed to be not a hair out of place on the woman, which made Desiree dislike her all the more, her own sex-and-bed hair probably looking like a cockatoo’s crest.
Jack did not return Susan’s hug, and Maureen spoke up bitterly. “That’s just like you, Susan. Now that we’ve all moved on, you have to come and ruin everyone’s lives again. What happened? Did you hear a rumor that Jack had someone new in his life?”
Susan eyeballed Desiree again. “Is that who you are? The new woman? Oh, and here I was thinking you were the nanny.”
Desiree put a warning hand on Jack’s arm as he took a threatening step in Susan’s direction. “I’m warnin’ you, Susan. Get out of here. Maureen is right. You’re not welcome.”
Susan’s face hardened. “I’m not going anywhere until I see my babies. Where are they?” She moved to walk down the passageway toward their bedrooms. Jack and Maureen physically stepped into her path. Desiree finally found her voice, and said with a note of satisfaction, “They’re staying at their grandmother’s tonight.”
“Oh, really? Is that so you and Jack can have some time alone? I’m impressed Jack.” She turned her attention back to Jack, who was shaking now with anger. “The last time he slept with the nanny, he did it while the children were there.”
Maureen gasped, and Desiree suddenly lost the ability to move.
“Out. Now.” There was none of Jack’s kindness or gentleness in his tone, as he frog-marched his ex-wife out the door. She laughed and flung over her shoulder to Desiree, “He didn’t tell you that, did he? He always makes out like I was the one who ruined our marriage. He won’t be faithful to you. He doesn’t have the ability.”
Desiree heard the door slam, heard Jack’s bare feet slap against the tiles as he bolted back to where she was.
