by Jo Iles
‘Oh. So I was a sullen and surly arse, but you still really wanted to fuck me,’ he said, repeating her words as he walked slowly towards her.
‘Oh God, I said that, didn’t I?’ Jessie said, blushing to her roots. She hid her face behind her hands.
‘I thought it was sexy,’ he replied, softly pulling her hands away, looking intently at her.
‘And just imagine how you’ll feel about me when I’m charming and charismatic instead of sullen and surly,’ Jack said assuredly, his voice full of suggestion, still matching her brown eye for brown eye.
Jessie slowly retrieved her hands and took another sip of wine. He did the same, giving her a long look which told her he was thinking about certain shared escapades from that wedding day that had nothing to do with Nick and Natalie’s nuptials. Just then, a pot started to boil over. Thank crap for that, Jessie thought—saved by the pasta, or whatever it was he was cooking.
It was pasta. He’d made her pasta with a spicy sausage and tomato sauce thing which was really delicious. How he’d managed this with the contents of her larder, she didn’t know. This was quite something. Jessie couldn’t remember the last time anyone, other than her mother, had cooked for her, let alone a man. Tom couldn’t cook. Jessie found herself wondering if Charlie would ever cook for her whilst she tucked into her pasta. Jessie didn’t realise just how hungry she was until she looked up to see that he’d only had a few mouthfuls while her own plate was practically demolished.
‘This is… was lovely, thank you,’ she said, embarrassed by her less-than-polite table manners. Gobbling was not attractive on anyone.
‘Glad you liked it. I enjoyed making it for you,’ he said plainly, with no hint of sarcasm or insincerity.
‘Would you like to stay and watch a film…help me finish off the wine?’ The offer was out of her mouth before she’d thought it through.
‘That’d be good,’ was his reply.
Great. Now she had to stay awake and entertain him, when all she really wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep on her full stomach. He was nice company and everything, but she felt more than a little awkward around him. She felt like he was waiting for an explanation for the way she’d acted. That was a conversation she didn’t want to be having anytime this century. Plus, she didn’t have one. An explanation, that is.
Chapter 17
Jack found himself unable to stop looking over towards the other end of the sofa every couple of minutes or so,. Jessie was curled up in what looked like an uncomfortable ball-like position, blatantly avoiding touching him whilst struggling to keep her eyes open. They were watching The Lord of the Rings, which he felt was more for his benefit than hers.
‘Stretch out your legs,’ he said, ‘it’s your sofa.’ She seemed to resist at first, before her weary body seemed to give in and she stretched out just a little, eventually lying her calves and feet over his lap. His hands just rested on her ankles. She let out a tiny contented sigh and closed her eyes more tightly. Jack could see she couldn’t fight the urge to sleep any longer.
He knew he should have gone home, but something was encouraging him to stay. In her own way, Jessie had encouraged him to stay by letting him cook for her and suggesting a film. Plus, he was over the legal drink-drive limit—so being the responsible driver that he was, he couldn’t possibly drive home, and getting a taxi this time of night would be practically impossible. No, better to stay right where he was, as long as it was alright with Jessie.
Jack turned to look at her in the dim light of the film. He really looked at her this time. She was completely conked out. And beautiful. When he’d driven over this evening, he’d been totally ready for a row if she was angry to see him. He hadn’t really been sure how things would pan out, but when he saw her sleep-deprived face and tired frame, he just wanted to take care of her. He wondered how many people Jessie had in her life who really ever bothered to take care of her. From what he’d seen and heard, it was always Jessie taking care of everyone else. He could only imagine how hard his brother was making her work. But her innate desire to help other people, and probably also her feelings for Charlie, pushed her onward to always add more to her plate and never say no.
Jack liked her. He liked her attitude, he liked her sense of humor, he liked her looks. He already knew he liked her body. And tonight had proven to him that he also really liked her companionship.
Chapter 18
Jessie woke up around 2.30am to the credits of some film she didn’t even recall putting on. She opened her eyes wider and looked down towards the other end of the sofa. So, he hadn’t scampered off then.
Jessie was uncomfortable. Seriously uncomfortable: laid out the full length of the sofa, half on top of him. Therefore, he must have been ridiculously uncomfortable. He was fast asleep in an upright position, one hand on her feet, the other gently clasping the remote control to his chest. So, the truth was finally out: Jack was a remote-control hogger.
There was something niggling her. Something which she’d neglected to ask earlier, on account of her sleep-deprived and wine-addled mind.
‘Oi!’ she called out firmly. When sleeping beauty didn’t stir, she repeated it more loudly, and gave him a nudge with her foot for good measure. It did the trick. He slowly opened his eyes.
‘How did you know where I lived? I don’t think Charlie even knows,’ she said in a tone more accusatory than she had meant it to be.
‘Well, hello to you too. To answer your question, I have enormous telepathic abilities. Did I forget to mention that bit?’ he replied flippantly, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Jessie stared at him, waiting for her explanation.
‘The truth is, I felt like stalking you for a bit, and you’re in the phone book, Jessica Slaymaker. You weren’t too hard to find,’ he finished matter-of-factly. Jessie looked at him, perplexed. She wondered why Charlie had never done the same thing in order to come and find her. Jack misread her expression.
‘Don’t worry, Charlie doesn’t know I came to see you. I won’t tell him we spent the night together,’ he added playfully.
‘We have not spent the night together,’ Jessie said incredulously. ‘And we’re not even in bed.’
‘Exactly. Now that you bring it up, your sofa is killing me, so I think bed is the best place for us. I would have tried to carry you there earlier, but your deadweight feet have had my groin pinned to the sofa. I’ve been trapped here these past few hours. Thank God you’ve finally woken up. Let’s go to bed then.’
Jessie sat up and looked at him, removing her leaden feet and legs from his lap. She was definitely more awake now. She could see from the light thrown off by the television that he was staring at her. She didn’t think he was joking either. This man wanted to go to bed with her. For sleep or for other stuff, she wasn’t exactly certain.
Jessie didn’t know whether she should be angry or excited. She was angry, because she hated his turn of phrase and flippancy on the subject of spending the night together. If anyone found out he’d been here for hours there’d be explaining to do—and not just to Doreen, her nosy neighbour from across the road. Essentially it all came down to Charlie. She didn’t want him to know she’d been fooling around with his brother.
But she was also excited. Excited by the prospect of sharing her bed. Excited at the thought of sharing her bed not with just anyone, but Jack. Charlie was still just a fantasy in her head, but she knew exactly how Jack could make her feel.
Jessie decided she wouldn’t rise to the bait he’d so obviously laid out for her. She simply got up, gave him a look she hoped he would interpret as one of indifference, and went off to her bedroom alone.
The sight of her gorgeous, big, and outrageously comfortable bed made her so happy that she wondered why she’d ever even bothered with the sofa. She also realised just how tired she was and how little quality sleep she’d had recently. At that second she didn’t really care whether Jack followed her in or not. She just wanted to sleep. Tiredness trumps horniness. Jessie toddled
off to her ensuite, brushed her teeth, and washed her face quickly before going back to her bedroom. No Jack. Oh well, she thought to herself. Maybe she’d scared him off with her scary look of indifference. She peeled off her mooching clothes, slid into her favourite checked pajamas, and snuggled down under the bedclothes.
Chapter 19
By the time Jack came to bed, Jessie was sound asleep and dead to the world. That was why he’d intentionally waited ten minutes before following her. The girl seriously needed some rest, he’d conceded nobly, if reluctantly. As quietly as he could, so as not to disturb her, he undressed down to his boxers and slid into bed beside her. He gently touched her shoulder, but she didn’t stir. She was wearing too many clothes for his liking, but that was something that could be easily rectified in the morning. He snuggled down beside her and drifted soundly off to sleep.
Chapter 20
Jessie felt like she was being watched. She slowly opened her eyes, and found a pair of dark brown eyes staring sleepily back at her.
‘Morning,’ he said. ‘Your bed is way too comfortable. I haven’t slept this well in years.’
‘Hmm,’ was all she managed. How he could have a full-blown conversation when he’d just woken up, she didn’t know.
‘And you are aware that you snore like an express train, aren’t you?’
‘Only when strange men are in my bed. Puts them off getting up to any funny business or trying to rape me when I need my rest,’ she replied as she got up to go to the bathroom.
When she caught a look at herself in the mirror she nearly had a heart attack. She looked horrendous. She didn’t normally look this bad in the morning. Her hair was a greasy bird’s nest; her skin was dull and grey. She looked and felt about as sexy as a week-old salad forgotten about in the recesses of the fridge. Without a moment’s hesitation or worry about her guest, she dived in the shower and promptly began to scour, scrub and shave every square inch of her body. She then lathered on lotions and potions to soften her skin and make her smell nice. Now all she needed was a bit of tinted moisturiser for her face, and she would just leave her hair to air dry. Oh yes, and some clothes. She needed some clothes. And underwear. She didn’t feel brave enough to go back into her room wearing only her towel, so she settled for putting her pajama top back on whilst she ran for the wardrobe. He’d seen it all before, she silently told herself. Plus, there was no danger of him jumping her while she was wearing flannel pajamas now, was there? Even so, her heart was inexplicably loud.
‘Oh, you’re still here,’ she said with as much indifference as she could muster, as she marched back into her bedroom and headed towards her wardrobe. She didn’t fail to notice that he was sitting up, checking his phone, and that she could see lots of naked torso. An acre of smooth, toned, naked torso. Jessie quickly averted her eyes and kept on walking. She really had to fulfill her mission and find some clothes quickly.
‘Where else would I be?’ he asked in that plain tone of his.
‘Oh, I don’t know. I thought you might have run away already, seeing as you woke up next to a monster this morning,’ she replied, trying to sound jokey while she rummaged through a drawer. Even to her own ears her voice was strained. She willed herself to calm down and relax. She’d had a man in her bed before. She couldn’t exactly remember when, but it had happened on a number of previous occasions, so there was absolutely no excuse for her to be so immature and girlish about it now.
‘I thought you looked cute,’ he said simply. She turned briefly to look at him and caught his eye as he looked up from his phone. Yep, still plenty of naked torso on show. Jessie started to think about what was below the sheet that she couldn’t see. She smiled shyly at him and then distracted herself with more drawer-rummaging. What she was looking for, she wouldn’t have been able to say. There was a reason why she normally had alcohol nearby when she was in a confined space with semi-naked men. Sober, and she got all flustered and found it impossible to concentrate on even the simplest of tasks.
‘Are you wearing knickers?’ came the question which stopped her in her tracks. She turned slowly around to look at him.
After a pause while she considered what to say and do, she replied,
‘No, are you?’ She couldn’t help smiling. She wasn’t normally this brazen with men she hardly knew—or with men she actually did know, for that matter. Well, she had been once, at the wedding two weeks earlier, but that was an exception. A large part of her hoped he wasn’t wearing anything under the covers. The brazenness had just full-out pervaded her that morning.
‘I can’t remember. Why don’t you come over here and find out?’ Jessie smiled and let the cheesy line slide just this once. Her attention, although still noticing the smooth naked torso, was also aware of something else in her field of vision. Something around his pelvic region which seemed to be lifting up her bedsheets.
She unconsciously licked her lips and walked almost involuntarily to the side of the bed within reach of him. She went to touch his chest. They both noticed her hand was trembling slightly. He took her hand and slowly pulled her into the bed with him. Jack held her body close and ran his hand over her nightshirt until he reached the skin on her leg. He then continued running his hand up her body against her bare skin.
‘No knickers,’ he said as he leaned in to kiss her deeply. She broke away and felt along the length of his body, checking for any sign of his own underwear. Her hand brushed against his bare hard cock.
‘No knickers,’ she repeated, kissing him hungrily.
Chapter 21
Jack began expertly undoing the buttons on her nightshirt before peeling it off her in double-quick time. He’d never seen her totally naked before, and he took a moment to let his eyes rove over the soft fullness of her breasts and her hard nipples, before casting his eyes lower down her smooth flat stomach and towards the place he really wanted to go.
He effortlessly scooped her onto her back and rested her against the pillows. He then lay the length of his lean body against her and kissed her again on the mouth before moving slowly onto her neck. When he felt her neck had been kissed enough, he moved, in turn, to each of her beautiful breasts—cupping each one in his hand while he sucked her nipples to an even greater state of erectness.
She moaned softly, and writhed seductively beneath him, her body telling him she was enjoying herself. He loved the feel of her skin against his. Jack could feel his own hardness growing against her stomach, and he wanted nothing more than to enter her right then. He ignored his own impatient urges and continued working his way south, down her body. When he’d finished with her breasts, he traced his tongue down her abdomen before he slid himself farther down the bed and gently pushed her legs apart.
He gently began to lick her, tasting her and smelling her unique aroma. Her moans became louder, and he could feel her grinding her pelvis into him. He held her thighs wider apart and pushed his tongue deeper inside her. He could feel her vibrations intensify as she came.
Jack found himself so turned on, turning her on like this; he was surprised by this discovery. He hadn’t enjoyed pleasuring a woman in this way for a long time. Sex had been a selfish endeavour from his point of view since he’d been in China. The women he’d been with hadn’t been overly comfortable with his attempts to concentrate on them, and he’d quickly given up on that side of sex. With Jessie, he’d rediscovered how sexy it was to see a woman getting off without the full act of intercourse. He remembered that he liked to play. He definitely liked to play with Jessie anyway, and she seemed to be a willing partner.
When she’d come, she sank back into her pillows and sighed a thank-you. Jack moved up the bed, returning to her side, and licked her juices from his mouth. He waited patiently for Jessie to make the next move. Either she would order him to go and brush his teeth, or continue their playfest. He didn’t have to wait long. She half sat up, letting her hair and breasts cascade onto his chest, as she drove her tongue into his mouth, tasting herself deeply on him.
‘Fuck, I could come like this,’ he groaned.
‘Then come,’ she said simply. ‘On me.’
‘Fuck,’ he groaned more loudly, trying to control himself.
‘If you don’t want to come yet, then you’d better get in me,’ she commanded, as she rolled off him and went up onto all fours. Jack didn’t need inviting twice.
He got a condom on and was behind her quickly. He fingered her for a moment, releasing her wetness again, and slowly slid inside her. From this angle she was so tight. So sexy. Fucking sexy. He thrust in and out of her rhythmically, feeling his climax build.
‘I need to come,’ he exclaimed, rubbing her clitoris with his fingers again. He felt her tighten on him again as her own climax got closer.
‘I’m coming,’ she gasped. ‘Come in me now,’ she almost ordered him, prompting him to be a good boy and release himself inside her.
They collapsed back onto the bed, a mass of tangled limbs and sweat. Satisfied. What a great weekend so far, Jack thought to himself. He wondered what Sunday would have in store for them.
Chapter 22
Jessie was in shock. In shock from some amazing Sunday-morning orgasms. In shock because the man who had given them to her had made her eggs and coffee. She was starving, having worked up a larger-than-normal appetite.
They were both sat at her kitchen counter chowing down on their breakfast, taking it in turns to ask each other questions about their lives.
