by Lynn LaFleur
Zach waited until he’d pulled out of the garage before speaking. “You’re quiet.”
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About?”
She turned her head toward him. “About all those men who asked me to dance. I’ve never been the belle of the ball. Maybe I should wear low-cut gowns more often.”
He could hear the humor in her voice. Zach grinned. “Well, I’ll vote for that.”
“Breanna talked me into buying this dress. I usually wear gowns that are more…well, I call them sedate. Breanna calls them boring.”
“I think I like your daughter.”
“There aren’t many people who don’t like Breanna.”
“Like mother, like daughter. I’ll bet you were very popular in school.”
“I had a lot of friends.”
“And boyfriends?”
“A few. But I lost all interest in any other boys when I started dating Carl.”
“Is that your ex-husband?”
“Yes.”
When she didn’t continue, Zach prompted, “Do you still have feelings for him?”
“I’ll always care about Carl because he’s Breanna’s father. He was the only man in my life for twenty years. But I don’t love him. That died when he walked out on me.” She groaned softly. “I can’t believe I told you that.”
Zach reached over and laid his hand over hers. “You can tell me anything, Jade. I’ll listen, and I promise I won’t judge.”
Perhaps he should have moved his hand, but he didn’t want to. He left it covering hers, his thumb making small circles on her fingers.
“Surely we can find other things to talk about than my ex-husband.”
“Agreed. So, do you think the Cowboys will make it to the Super Bowl next year?”
Jade burst out laughing. Zach smiled at the light, feminine sound. He loved to hear a woman laugh.
He’d love to hear Jade moan in ecstasy even more.
She shifted in her seat and faced him. “Are you a football fan?” she asked.
“Guilty as charged. My brother and I watch the games together.”
“Your brother?”
“Brent. I also have a sister, Michelle. I’m the oldest.”
“I have one brother, Paul.”
“The one on the fishing trip?”
“Yes.”
Zach glanced at her. “Are you sorry your brother was out of town so your daughter had to hire me?”
“No,” she said softly. “I’ve had a wonderful time tonight.”
He squeezed her hand. “So have I.”
All too soon, Zach pulled into the circular drive in front of Jade’s house. He waited for her to say something, to invite him inside, but she remained silent, simply looking at him.
Their evening ended now. He’d walk her to her door, give her a soft kiss on the cheek, and leave. A heaviness formed inside his stomach at that thought. He could ask her out again…not as an escort, but as a man interested in a woman. Perhaps she’d say no, but he could at least try.
Zach climbed out of the car, rounded the hood, and opened Jade’s door for her. Taking her hand, he helped her from the car, then slowly walked with her to the front door. He didn’t want the evening to end, yet he had no choice. If Jade didn’t invite him in, if she didn’t want him, he’d leave with no complaint.
No outward complaint, anyway. Inside, he’d be crushed.
A sensor light came on when they reached her porch. Zach waited while she unlocked her door and dropped the keys back in her purse. She looked at him and smiled.
“Thank you for tonight. I had a good time.”
“You’re very welcome. It was my pleasure.”
She shifted her small clutch from one hand to the other. Zach remained silent, sensing she wanted to say something else.
“Forgive me if I don’t say this right, but am I supposed to tip you?”
It wasn’t a stupid question. Women often tipped him, and quite generously, after an evening of sex. He didn’t want money from Jade. He wanted time with her—something much more valuable than money.
“No, you aren’t supposed to tip me.”
“Oh.”
She continued to look at him, but said nothing else. Invite me in, Jade. I don’t want our evening to end.
“Good night,” she said softly.
His heart dropped down to his feet. Leaning forward, he gently kissed her cheek. “Good night.”
Zach watched her step inside her house and close the door. He remained on her porch for several moments, disappointment curling inside him. After releasing a deep breath, he headed for his car.
Chapter Seven
Jade leaned her forehead against her front door and closed her eyes. It’d been so hard to say goodnight to Zach instead of inviting him into her home. He was so thoroughly charming and gracious. She’d had to tell herself over and over that it was his job to be charming and gracious.
Yet it hadn’t seemed phony or practiced. The erection he’d pressed against her on the dance floor had certainly been real.
He’s a paid escort. He can probably get hard by simple wishing it. You can’t have sex with him.
Jade had been the sexual aggressor in her marriage. While Carl often initiated their lovemaking and never said no when she initiated it, it was Jade who wanted to try new things, new positions. She’d been the one who’d wanted to spice up their sex life with toys. The suggestion of playing around with a dildo had been a blow to Carl’s ego, as if she thought he wasn’t enough to satisfy her.
She’d bet Zach had used every kind of sex toy ever invented. Her pussy clenched at the thought of trying out some of the more daring toys with him.
You’re a mature woman, a woman who’s been alone for two years. What’s wrong with having sex with Zach this one time? What’s wrong with using him for your pleasure?
Nothing, that’s what.
Jade opened her door and scanned the driveway. Zach had started his car, but hadn’t backed out yet. “Zach!”
He lowered his window. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I was just wondering…” She swallowed to build up her courage. “We didn’t get the chance to dance together very much.”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Would you like to come in and dance with me now?”
He didn’t answer her with words. Instead, he raised his window and turned off the motor.
The woman who had invited Zach inside to dance with her was a total stranger to Jade. She’d never been so forward with a man. She’d never had the chance to be so forward since she’d been married over half her life. Although she’d dated several men in the two years since her divorce, none of them had made her heart pound or her palms sweat.
Zach did that to her, and so much more.
She had a spacious living room, yet it seemed smaller with Zach standing in it. He was just so…male. Good looking, yes. Sexy, definitely. Also considerate, kind, and a wonderful dancer.
She refused to believe all the sweet things he’d said to her tonight were practiced lines of seduction. He hadn’t been a rent-a-stud when he’d held her in his arms on the dance floor—he’d been a man who desired a woman. And she desired him just as fiercely.
So what if he happened to be ten years her junior? She wasn’t going to marry him. She only wanted to touch him, have him touch her. Jade hadn’t experienced that closeness with a man for two years.
She wanted that closeness with Zach…tonight.
“Do you have a preference?” Jade asked as she studied her rack of CDs. “Music or vocals?”
“Whatever you like will be fine.”
She picked a CD of soft instrumental music that she particularly enjoyed. After placing it in the CD player, she faced Zach again. He stood with his arms at his sides, studying her intently. God, she loved his eyes. Such a striking blue, made even more blue by his tan skin. The tan probably covered a lot of him since he worked in construction.
The thought
of finding out exactly how much of his body was covered by that tan made moisture dampen her thong.
Zach held out one hand to her. “May I have this dance, Ms. Talmage?”
With a tiny curtsy, Jade accepted his hand and moved into his arms. It amazed her how well they fit together. He held her close to him, yet loose enough so she could easily pull away if she desired.
She didn’t want to leave his arms all night.
“I still think you were lying to me,” Zach said softly.
Jade turned her head so she could see his face. “About what?”
“Stepping on my feet. You haven’t stumbled once with me.”
Say it, Jade. This is a one-time thing. Be completely honest with him. “Maybe I never had the right partner.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. His hand swept up and down her spine in a slow, lazy caress. Jade sighed softly, content to follow his lead around her living room. To be touched, to be held, had never felt so good.
When the song ended and he tipped up her chin, she was more than ready for his kiss.
Velvety lips, his warm breath on her cheek, the barest flick of his tongue on her bottom lip. Jade experienced it all, and craved more. She whimpered when he cradled her cheek in his hand, tilted his head, and deepened the kiss. Clutching the back of his jacket, she parted her lips and accepted the gentle thrust of his tongue. Zach’s free hand drifted down to her hip. He pulled her tighter against his groin. His cock felt hard and thick against her softness.
She wanted him inside her more than she wanted to see tomorrow.
A lingering caress of his thumb over her bottom lip stole Jade’s breath. The corners of his mouth rose in a small smile.
“Very nice.”
“Very,” she whispered.
He drew her back into his arms and continued to dance when the next song began. He had to know she wanted him from her reaction to his kiss, yet he didn’t hurry to get her naked. Instead, he held her, caressed her back, while leading her in the slow dance.
Jade didn’t think it fair to compare men, but Zach was so very different from Carl. Carl had wanted sex, not lovemaking, when they started dating. He’d become more patient the longer they were together, but he’d never turned down an opportunity for sex. If he were here instead of Zach, she’d already be flat on her back with her legs spread.
What a wonderful difference. And an arousing one. Zach’s consideration made Jade want him more.
Feeling bolder the longer they danced, she reached up and tugged on one end of his tie. Zach’s steps faltered briefly, then continued. Slowly, she pulled the tie from around his neck and tossed it to the floor. Next came the onyx collar stud. She slipped it from the hole and parted his collar enough to press her lips against his throat. She smiled when she felt him swallow.
The next stud she removed gave her a tiny glimpse of his hair-dusted chest. She touched that spot with two fingertips. His skin felt damp.
“Are you hot?” she asked, looking up into his eyes.
“Yeah,” he rasped.
“Why don’t I take off your jacket?”
Zach released her and dropped his arms to his sides. Jade slid her hands up his chest to his shoulders, enjoying the firmness of his muscles on the journey. Gathering the jacket in her hands, she tugged it down his arms and let it fall to the floor behind him. She slid off his suspenders and let them hang at his hips. Slowly, oh so slowly, she began to release the rest of the studs on his shirt. A bit more of his skin came into view. Brown hair swirled over his chest and tapered down his flat stomach.
Jade couldn’t stop a whimpering sigh. She loved hair on a man’s chest.
Zach placed his hands back on her waist. Jade reached around him and unhooked his cummerbund. He dipped his head and pressed a kiss on her neck as she tugged his shirt from the waistband of his trousers. His lips moved up her neck, dropping kisses along the way. His tongue darted into her ear, then he suckled her earlobe.
Jade never knew her earlobe was an erogenous zone.
Her nipples beaded, her pussy wept. She wanted to draw out their lovemaking, make it last for a long time, but she didn’t know if she could. She wanted him so much now, she didn’t think it would be possible for her to wait much longer.
The shirt had to go. Longing to see his naked chest and arms, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms, only to have it catch at his wrists.
Zach chuckled softly. “I think you forgot some of the studs.”
“I think I did, too.” She ran her fingertips down his chest to his waist and back up again. What a magnificent body. “Although I think I like you helpless like this.”
His mouth quirked. “I never would have believed you’d be into bondage.”
“I’m not. Or at least…” She slid one hand past his waistband. “…I wasn’t until now.”
He hitched in a breath when she touched his cock. Jade traced his shaft with her fingers, learning his shape and impressive size through the layers of cloth covering it. Her gaze shifted back and forth between his eyes and her hand. “There’s something very…exciting about having control over you.”
His breathing became deeper, heavier, as she caressed him. When she slipped one hand beneath his balls and squeezed, his eyes blazed.
“Get this damn shirt off me, Jade,” he growled, “before I tear it off.”
She smirked. His little temptress actually smirked. She was enjoying her power over him way too much. “I mean it, Jade.”
“It’s a beautiful shirt. Surely you don’t really want to tear it.”
Zach didn’t give a damn about his shirt. He had a half-dozen shirts at home in his closet just like this one. The only clothing he cared about covered Jade’s body. He’d tried to be patient. He’d danced with her, kissed her tenderly, held her close to him, when he wanted her naked and writhing beneath him. Patience could only go so far.
He’d reached his limit when she’d squeezed his balls. He wanted her clothes off now. “Unfasten the studs, Jade.”
She did, although she took her time doing it. She’d barely had time to let the studs fall from her hand when Zach jerked off his shirt. He slipped one arm around her back, one under her knees, and lifted her.
“Where’s your bedroom?”
“The end of the hall,” she said, her voice breathless.
His strides ate up the distance in only seconds. Luckily, she’d left her bedroom door ajar, so he didn’t have to release Jade to open it. He didn’t want to let go of her until she lay on her bed.
Placing one knee on the bed, he lowered her to the thick comforter before reclining next to her. He cradled her face in one hand and kissed her thoroughly, the way he’d longed to kiss her ever since the first time he’d seen her. He used his lips, teeth, and tongue to make love to her mouth…sipping, stroking, nipping.
Her soft moan made his balls tighten.
He hated to leave that luscious mouth, but he had other places to explore. He led the way with his fingertips, followed closely by his lips. Her jaw received his attention, then the soft skin beneath her chin. He nibbled on her throat and soothed the small bites with his tongue. He dropped kisses on her collarbone, her chest, the top of one breast.
His last kiss earned him another moan.
Zach palmed her right breast as he slid his tongue into her cleavage. Locating her nipple with his thumb, he rubbed it until it became as hard as a pebble. He longed to have that nipple inside his mouth, beneath his tongue…
He longed to have his mouth on every part of her.
Zach continued to caress her breast while he rose up on one elbow. “I want to see you. Is the switch on the lamp or the wall?”
“The lamp,” she whispered.
After one more deep kiss, Zach rose from the bed. He turned on the lamp, then faced Jade again. She looked beautiful lying on the earth-toned comforter. He didn’t think his cock could get any harder. Watching her breasts rise and fall with her deep breathing, knowing she desired him
as much as he desired her, made more blood surge into his shaft.
Zach unfastened his trousers and lowered the zipper. He was about to slide them over his hips when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A box sat on top of Jade’s pillows, wrapped in green paper with a white bow. He frowned slightly. Who would’ve left a gift on Jade’s bed?
“You have a present.”
“What?” Jade turned her head when he gestured toward the box. Confusion filled her eyes. She sat up and reached for the box. “I don’t understand.”
Zach sat by her again and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Maybe there’s a card.”
After searching beneath the large white bow, Jade pulled out a small envelope. Zach looked over her shoulder as she withdrew the card and read it aloud.
“‘To Mom and Zach. Have fun tonight. Bre.’”
Zach chuckled, both at Breanna’s card and at Jade’s blush. “Your daughter has quite a sense of humor.”
“My daughter deserves to be spanked.” She lifted the box onto her lap. “I’m afraid to open it.”
“Would you like me to? It’s addressed to both of us.”
“I’m even more afraid for you to open it.”
“Go ahead. It can’t be that bad.”
“You don’t know my daughter.”
Untying the bow, Jade raised the lid and pulled apart the bright green tissue paper. Several sex toys lay in the box. She gasped.
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe she did this!”
She started to push the tissue paper back over the contents, but Zach held her hand to stop her. “Wait. Let’s see what she bought.”
“I am going to kill her, after I beat her.”
Chuckling, Zach dug through the box, lifting the different items as he came to them. “Cock ring. Chocolate body paint. Stay-hard gel.” He looked into Jade’s eyes. “I don’t think I’ll need that tonight.”
Her cheeks turned a deep pink. He dropped a kiss on her lips before beginning to explore again. “Anal beads. Ben-Wa balls. Fur-lined handcuffs. Nipple clamps. Lemon-flavored nipple cream.” His gaze dipped to her breasts. “Interesting.”
