NINETEEN
Without thinking, I planted my lips on Jason’s and kissed him. It was a small kiss at first and then another, more urgent, my tongue creeping into his mouth. I couldn’t help the overwhelming need to be in his arms. Nothing else mattered anymore. I could do the show, I could be with Jason, I could…
I pulled away in shock. What was I doing? We were supposed to be friends. I hated him. No, I loved him. I didn’t know what I felt anymore. Why was everything so overwhelmingly confusing?
“I’m so sorry, Jason. I don’t know what came over me.” My heart was beating a million miles an hour, my breath ragged. We’d just agreed to be friends. We’d just agreed that it was nothing more.
He grabbed me back, pulling me to his chest. “Don’t be sorry,” he whispered, and then his mouth was on mine kissing me back. His lips crushed mine forcefully and hungrily, matching the desire that burst through me like I was on fire.
My hands had a mind of their own, grabbing and tugging at his clothes. I reached around to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, closer still.
I swayed giddily as I leaned back, pushing my hips towards his. He responded by grabbing my leg and hoisting it up around his waist. It was as close as we could get with clothes. Clothes - I didn’t want them on anymore.
His mouth moved down my cheek, trailing tiny kisses until he reached my ear. He sucked gently and then nibbled my earlobe. Thousands of tiny shivers erupted over my neck and spread down my chest. His warm breath mixing with the coolness of where he kissed and sucked was driving me wild.
I moaned in pleasure, wanting more, wanting him.
His hand cradled my back as he led me backwards to the centre of the stage. The hard wooden floor softened as my feet stepped onto the blanket below us. He lowered me down slowly, never taking his lips from my neck.
I was on my back, he on top of me, wrapped in each other.
I fluttered my fingertips lower to glide my hand under his top. Feel his chest, his stomach. I wanted his skin against mine. He must have felt the same, as he feverishly pulled at my clothing.
My already ripped top, shredded easily as he pulled it away, exposing my bra. That was ripped off too, as if the clothes on our backs burned our flesh and we had to rid ourselves of them to feel the cooling relief of each other’s skin. I twisted underneath him and pushed my shorts down. He helped them complete their journey to the pile of clothes scattered around us.
I tugged and grabbed at his t-shirt, pulling it away and above his head. His deep eyes only left mine for a second as he yanked it overhead. Now I could touch his smooth chest, run my hands down and feel every muscle. I stopped at his abs, circling my fingers over his taut muscles.
He grabbed my hand away and held me down, devouring my mouth again like he couldn’t get enough of my taste. He only let go for a moment to remove the last of his clothing until we entwined together on stage, our skin slick with sweat and desire.
I wanted him more than I ever wanted anyone. I didn’t want to be his friend, I wanted this. Before I could tell him, his mouth was on mine again, kissing me deeply.
My legs parted, the warmth between my thighs almost unbearable. I throbbed, ached, begged for him to be inside me, but I also didn’t want to rush this. His mouth was too delicious to want to stop kissing.
His hardness brushed against my thigh and I groaned and arched my back. With my breasts thrust high, the invitation must have been too hard to refuse, as he took one nipple and then the other in his mouth, tasting and sucking on both as if trying to decide which one he favored. I grabbed his hair, his beautiful dark hair, pressing him further to me, languishing the sensations that radiated from my breasts, out across my chest and warmed me lower, lower.
I couldn’t stand it much longer, I needed him inside me, wanted him to make love to me.
“Is it safe?” he whispered to me breathlessly.
“I’m protected,” I said, but before I could finish the sentence, his hardness was already inside me, slipping into my wetness, into my desire.
Oh god. Oh god, yes.
Jason moved inside of me, every thrust bringing delirious pleasure. I gasped, slow tiny gasps that sounded like a kitten mewing. I lifted my legs so he could go deeper. I wanted all of him.
He was breathing heavily above me.
Our eyes locked as he increased his pace. His beautiful blue eyes glazed with hunger and lust. At that moment, I was lost to him. I didn’t want this moment to end.
His own pleasure was building to match the intensity of his movements, I could see it in his eyes, I could feel his need to let go and explode into ecstasy.
My own ecstasy was also building, I had reached the cliff, but was not yet ready to jump over and lose myself underneath him. I wanted it though, I wanted it so bad.
His hand slipped lower and grazed against my hardened nub. That was enough, all it took. Sensations erupted and with one last thrust we screamed out together. I shook underneath him, overcome with the waves of orgasm as it rippled through my sex, to my stomach, my fingertips, my toes, my everywhere. The intensity was overwhelming, I pulled him to me again. His mouth on mine, our kisses still feverish even now.
Eventually the waves subsided and our kisses became softer. He fell to my side, panting.
“Jeez,” he said.
“I know, right.”
For a while neither of us spoke. We lay side by side, looking up at the stage ceiling, at the rafters, the lights, the ropes. I tried my hardest to stare at the light above me, dangling on a chain. It was switched off now, but tomorrow during the show would be shining on us. If I thought about the show, I didn’t have to think about what we’d done.
He took my hand in his, entwining our fingers together. His thumb caressed the back of my hand, before he bought my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. I didn’t know what this meant now, but surely it didn’t mean we were only friends. I couldn’t ask. I couldn’t ruin the moment. It had to be him that told me what he wanted. He was the one that said we should be friends.
I glanced a look at him. Why had I become shy all of a sudden? We were lying naked after amazing sex and now I was too unsure to say anything? I turned my attention back to the ceiling, trying to concentrate on the lights above.
Jason rolled onto his side and curled a strand of my hair away from my cheek, tucking it behind my ear. “You have a delicious neck,” he said. “I want to taste it again.”
“Ahh, see they say vampires always come out at night. Have you checked your reflection lately. You wouldn’t want to be turning sparkly.”
“I don’t think there’s any chance of that. It’s your scent that’s intoxicating, not your blood.”
“Werewolf then, perhaps?”
He growled and leaned in to nuzzle my neck. I giggled.
I rolled onto my side, tracing my finger around the blanket. “So you think I’ll be okay tomorrow?”
He looked at his watch. “You mean today.”
I sat up. “What time is it?”
He grinned. “After two. Guess we kind of lost track of time.”
“But, we have to be back here in nine hours.”
“Maybe we could stay here?” He pulled me back down on top of him, nuzzling his face between my breasts. “I don’t need sleep, all I need is you.”
His breath against my skin sent tingles up my spine and I could feel my wanting for him build again. “I really do need sleep, though. I need to be sharp, focused.”
“We could be quick,” he said paying more attention to caressing my ass than trying to stop. He wiggled me down so I was straddling him. I could feel his desire harden underneath me. “You don’t even have to move.”
“You don’t want me to move?” I asked. “What about if I do this?” I wriggled in my seat, feeling him grow harder below me.
He groaned. “Oh yeah, do that. You can move all you want.” He grabbed my hips trying to position me so he could slide inside me again.
I wanted to, I rea
lly did. The simmering desire, which still lingered from our lovemaking, began to bubble again. I could have let him take me again and again. Part of me wanted to do that more than anything else.
Instead, I got up searching for my clothes.
“Now that is an awesome view,” he said, as I bent over picking up my underwear. “Do it again.”
I turned to face him, holding my clothes over myself to cover my nakedness. “I really need sleep. You don’t understand how dull my head gets if I don’t get enough.”
“Arrgh, you’re killing me.”
I handed him his clothes, and proceeded to get dressed. “There’ll be plenty of other times.” I looked away. Oh crap, why did I say that?
“Oh there will? How many other times? How many is plenty? Two? Five? Three hundred?”
“Three hundred! You’re insatiable.”
“You make me ravenous.” He tried to grab me again.
I grinned and finished putting on what was left of my top. “I guess this is done for.”
“I like it. You should wear it more often.”
“So you can rip it off me again.”
“Yeah. That was hot.”
“Come on.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, admiring his body as he did. He was still hard and it took every ounce of control not to rip my top back off myself.
“Fine. You win.” He dressed in a hurry and we searched for anything we might have left behind. The coast was clear and he held my hand as we walked to his car.
I leaned into him. “You’ll have to hypnotize me, more often. That was amazing.” I smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back. A flash of hurt crossed his face.
“You think I hypnotized you into sleeping with me?”
“No, I didn’t mean that. I was joking.”
“You really think I would do that?”
“Of course not. I just made the joke because we were friends, and then you put me in a trance and all of a sudden I was confident and wonderful and naked and…”
“Jeez Scarlett. You’ll never trust me, will you?”
“You’ve got it wrong. Come on.”
He opened the car door for me and walked around to his side without waiting for me to get in. I slipped inside and shut the door, buckling up. His face was steely, his gaze straight ahead.
“You’re taking this the wrong way.”
“Am I?” He started the car and the engine purred, vibrating through the floor and up my feet.
“No, stop.” I placed my hand on the steering wheel, grabbing it so he couldn’t turn it or drive. “You are not going to act this way. I - was - joking. Don’t you dare make this into something else?”
“You don’t think I hypnotized you for any other reason than to give you self confidence? Are you sure? You said yourself that you can’t remember what I said when you were under.”
I let go of the steering wheel. “No. I don’t believe you’d do that.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. How could he do that? Again, he made such a wonderful night and turned it into an argument. I couldn’t believe I’d even considered thinking about a relationship with him. I refused to look at him the entire way home.
It was dark when we arrived. My grandmother would still be at the hospital with my grandfather. I fumbled for my keys.
“Everything alright?”
“Yes. It’s just dark. No lights.”
He hit his fist onto the steering wheel.
“What did you do that for?” I asked.
“You want me to walk you to the door. Is that it?”
“Oh no. Do not make this out to be something else again. I can make my own way in the dark.” I opened the car door, got out and slammed it behind me. I held the key in my hand and used what little light shone from the stars to navigate my way around the back of the house.
Jason followed me.
“See, I’m perfectly capable of getting into my own house, thanks very much.”
“Jeez, I’m an idiot.”
“Got that right.” I placed the key in the lock, opened the door and felt around for the lights. “Well, as you can see, I’m safe and sound. You’ve been a perfect gentleman, so why don’t you go.”
“I’m sorry, Scarlett. I’m an idiot for jumping to conclusions, that’s what I meant.”
I pointed to his chest. “You are the one that’s supposed to be strong and stable. I’m the one that flies off and makes wild assumptions. When did we switch places? Is there some magic potion that causes temporary insanity that we’ve taken?”
A smile started to curl on his lip. “Probably.”
I yawned. “I really need to…”
“Of course.” He kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll pick you up?”
“It’s okay, I can get there myself. I want to head to the hospital first anyway. I’ll see you there.”
“Cool. Well…”
I grinned. “Goodbye Jason.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
TWENTY
An alarm infiltrated my dreams, the beeping of the clock on my bedside table mingled inside a complicated drama that played out in my head, full of lust, despair, and chasing swords that tried to slice off body parts. I opened one eye and hit my fist onto the snooze button. I wanted five more minutes, just five more.
My stomach protested at staying in bed with a low grumble, and I knew that I’d have to satisfy that myself, as there would be no breakfast already laid out waiting for me like there usually was. I’d have to make it myself and time was something I didn’t have today. Not even five minutes.
I dragged myself out of bed and into a warm shower, letting the water wake me up. The warmth of the water did nothing for my sleepiness and I found myself inching the cold water on to see if I could handle it. Little by little I acclimatized to the temperature as it gradually got colder and colder until I gave up being nice to myself and turned the hot tap off altogether.
I gasped as the cold water assaulted my neck and sent icy shivers down my back. Jumping out I shivered before grinning. Yep, that worked.
I picked up some clothes from the floor, which ended up being an old t-shirt and shorts that did not match, and frankly needed a good wash. Normally I would not care about that, but today was different. There was no way I’d let Jason see me, or smell me, in anything less that gorgeous.
I texted Lacey to bring me something appropriate and meet me at the hospital. She’d no doubt wonder why I’d care about my appearance today - out of costume, anyway. Of course I’d tell her. Eventually.
A quick cup of weak tea and dry toast, and I stepped out into the sunshine hoping the sudden brightness would waken me further.
The drive to the hospital was, thankfully, uneventful and I was driving into the parking lot in record time. Visiting hours hadn’t started yet, but they’d still let me in, at least they better.
Lacey stood by the entrance looking fresh and gorgeous as usual. She rocked mornings much better than I did. The only exception to that rule was when she’d spent the night with her latest boyfriend, but even then, she could pull off cool and put together better than anyone I knew.
“You gave me no time, so I can’t guarantee they’ll look any good,” she said. She held a small tan overnight bag with her that I guessed held at least three different options for me to choose from.
“I’m sure whatever you’ve grabbed will be great.”
“Well I would think so.” She looked me up and down with a concerned look. “You do know you are walking into a hospital don’t you? With sick people?”
I frowned. “I’m well aware of that.” I walked up to the sliding doors and walked inside.
She followed me. “Yeah, sorry. Bad timing. How is Thomas doing?”
“Better than expected. The doctor said he was lucky. He’ll walk although he might have a limp. I think I overreacted a bit when it first happened.”
“A bit? When have you ever reacted sanely to anyt
hing? It’s the story of you.”
“Yeah, well I was pretty sane last night. Jason was the one who freaked out, not me.” I pressed the lift button, counting down to the moment she shook all the information out of me that she could. I wanted to draw this out as much as possible and have some fun.
“You were with Jason last night?”
“Uhuh.”
“What happened to just being friends, or never wanting anything to do with him again?”
I shrugged. “Stuff happens.”
“I bet it did. Are you going to tell me exactly what did happen?”
The lift doors opened.
“Maybe.”
“There will be no maybe, no uhuh’s, and no sure whatever’s. I want details, and I want them in crisp Technicolor detail.”
“Sure whatever,” I said.
I headed to my grandfather’s room, and put my hand on the door handle.
“You’re going to leave me hanging. Aren’t you?” she asked.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything that happened. But not right now. Okay?”
She threw her head back and lifted one arm. “Way to drag the tension out.”
I opened the door and walked in to see how my grandfather was doing.
He was much chirpier this morning, and was sitting upright with three pillows behind him for support. A fourth was at the end of the bed, which his bandaged leg rested on.
“There’s my beautiful girls,” he said. “We’re all here.”
I kissed him on the forehead and Lacey took his hand and asked him how he was.
“I’m better than a grasshopper on a toadstool,” he said.
Lacey chuckled. “I’m so glad to hear it. You should see what they are saying online about it. One reporter said that your leg was chopped clean off and another said you were stabbed by a real ninja.”
“A real ninja, hey? That’s a new one. Maybe I’ll tell them that one is true.” He winked, which made her laugh.
Trance Page 15
