Damaged Goods

by Dane, Cynthia

  “Everything I told you was the truth. I don’t know why I told you about Angelica and the…” Nope. Joseph couldn’t say the word “pregnancy” right now. “But it was the truth.”

  “I appreciate you reassuring me of that.” Sylvia wiped something away from her face. Tears? Hair? Sleep? “Can we start over? Clearly, something tripped your wire last night. You’ve apologized. That’s all I need.”

  “Well,” Joseph was going to regret this, wasn’t he? “Might as well tell you that you were right about something else. I was jealous. About you and Sheen.”

  “I know.” Sylvia’s snort startled Joseph halfway out of his seat. “I could hear it over the earpiece. You were stewing. Don’t worry about it, though. I get that it’s some unexplainable thing for you guys. We women aren’t much better at times.”

  “I want you to know that I don’t think of you as mine, or anything like that.” How hard was it to spit out those words? “It’s residuals from last night. We didn’t get any closure.”

  “Nope. We sure didn’t.” Sylvia turned her body toward him. “And since we’re confessing right now, I might as well add that I was aroused by that bastard tonight. It’s not something I readily admit, because it’s not like I think he’s good for any woman he comes within fifty feet of. But that’s biology, I guess.”

  I was hoping you would never admit that. Joseph had known, like she had known he was jealous. Things we can’t explain, but exist. He was jealous. She was aroused by another man she thought she would be having sex with anyway. And I was going to do what? Watch? Listen? Sheen having to unexpectedly check out to tend to his business was a blessing.

  Because Joseph was jealous enough to want her again.

  There she was, resplendent in her new makeover, dark makeup luminous even in the night of the car. Her fresh haircut was enticing enough to start threading his fingers through, if he dared. He didn’t. He wouldn’t dare unless he wanted to continue fighting with his lust, which mounted every time he looked at this young woman. Fuck, she was gorgeous, whether she wore this designer dress tailored to her body, or was naked and responsive beneath his. I want to do it again, Sylvia. You have no idea how much I want to wrap you in my arms and make love to you again. I’ll do it right this time. That’s what he wanted to say. He would mean every word, too. That was the dangerous thing.

  Joseph had to keep his hand fisted next to his leg to save his own sanity. One false look from Sylvia’s long eyelashes, and he would be making an absolute fool of himself.

  He wanted to kiss those lips.

  To touch her cheek and draw his finger across her mouth.

  To slowly undress her and explore every naked, soft inch of her body.

  To make love to her. To feel her come while he sank his tongue deep down her throat.

  “Joseph.”

  Sylvia’s voice was softer than the leather covering of Joseph’s seat. He kept his eyes on the windshield, taking in the shadowy, sleepy neighborhood full of Victorian houses and early 20th century cottages. Sylvia reached across the car and attempted to pry his fist apart with her finger. When that didn’t work, she encased his hand with her palm, squeezing until he felt nothing but the force of her life bleeding into his.

  “It’s okay to say that you want me,” she said. “I won’t be angry. I won’t be confused. I think it’s natural.” Her finger drew a long trail up his arm, nail grazing his cheek. Joseph closed his eyes, fighting off the foreign feeling of crazy desire he didn’t think he would ever experience for another woman again. “Because I know that I want you.”

  Joseph caught his breath in his throat. He didn’t want to think about what was going on between his legs.

  “I had forgotten how infectious your presence is,” Sylvia continued, like she continued to indulge in touching his facial hair. “I knew you were trouble the first time we met in that club. I didn’t care about Sebastian back then. It was always a business transaction between us. I didn’t even like him, and I lived with the man.” Her finger lowered to his throat. “When I found out I had been paired with you, I was excited. You didn’t disappoint me. I don’t think I disappointed you either.”

  Nope.

  “I’ve been thinking about you a lot recently. I’ll be thinking about you tonight, too, regardless of what happens between us. I can’t help it. You’re a dangerous kind of guy, Joseph. You make me question what I want in my life. In a good way.”

  “Don’t do this, Sylv.”

  Her hand dropped to his thigh. Dainty fingers pushed between his legs. “That’s it, Joseph. I do whatever the fuck I want. That’s the beauty of it. You think anyone tells me what to do? You’d be wrong. I follow the money, but I also follow my instincts. I don’t keep hopping in your car because you’re a free ride. It’s because I know something good might happen.”

  Sylvia’s body came closer, the car creaking beneath her redistributed weight. Something was creaking inside of Joseph too. Creaking and moaning the moment her breath hit his ear and her hand searched for his cock.

  Surprise. It was hard.

  And another surprise: Joseph wasn’t pushing her away.

  Because he wanted this, didn’t he? His willpower was weak. His ability to rationalize was losing out to his desires. It wasn’t even Sylvia’s fault. He didn’t know whose fault it was, but it wasn’t hers. Must’ve been his.

  Like it was his fault he turned his head in time to kiss her.

  The angle was awkward. The air in the car was too warm to bear. They were in public, even if it was well past bedtime. Joseph didn’t care. His hand held her head to his, their kisses heavier with every passing second. Needy. Wanting. Loud and delightfully messy.

  He moaned into her mouth when she squeezed his cock. The bastard was already hard enough to take her. The kind of hard that was agonizing when not tended to.

  “You can, you know,” Sylvia muttered on his lips. Her words almost distracted him from her fingers pulling his zipper down. They did not distract from her fingers touching his sensitive shaft. Fuck. Fuck! “You can own me. Right now. Own the shit out of me, Joseph. Take out all that guilt and jealousy on me. I’ve got some shit to work through myself. We can do it together.”

  Joseph didn’t say anything. Every time he tried to speak, his words were swallowed again. A whirlpool swirled in his stomach. It would claim any thoughts or words he conjured.

  It was also claiming Sylvia, who lowered her head to his lap and made him grab the steering wheel again with a flick of her tongue.

  “Shit,” he cursed, torn between the pleasure emanating from her mouth and the fact that they were out in the open like this. There were no people walking around the neighborhood, but the occasional car rolled past, and there was more than one light on in the surrounding houses. At any moment someone could see what Sylvia Rogers was doing to Joseph’s cock. This predicament was certainly not helped by the fact he kept slipping into ecstasy and portrayed every bit of it on his face. “You don’t have to do this.” Damn. It was like he didn’t want a beautiful woman to suck his cock.

  She responded by taking more of him into her mouth.

  This wasn’t the first time he was gifted oral pleasures from Sylvia. It was their icebreaker the first time they came together like this. She greatly impressed me then, and I’m pretty much a goner now. Sylvia could have said she was a meek virgin and given away her experience from the way she made love to him like this. Only a woman like her could push him into her throat with little difficulty. That wasn’t to mention how easily she stroked his shaft and lightly touched the rest of his groin.

  He was going to come at this rate.

  It was almost embarrassing how quickly he reached the point of no return. Between Sylvia’s tongue swirling against the head of his cock and the occasional suck to his sack, he was going down harder than she was.

  Was that what she wanted? To make him come? In her mouth?

  Maybe his body was trying to help the poor fool. They were in public, after all.
The faster this was done, the faster they could stop the threat of arrest.

  “Damnit, Sylvia.” He fisted her hair and urged his hips upward. Perfect timing, too. Words became impossible. Heat, tension hit his loins, and within another five seconds his climax smacked him across the face, making him release that pent-up, breathy groan simmering in his chest. “Damn!”

  A quick but intense orgasm took Sylvia’s throat by storm. She drank every last drop he released, her left hand rubbing his chest while her mouth worked the entire length of his cock. She was going to kill him, and she probably knew it.

  When the cyclone in his body passed, Sylvia slowly lifted her head, the scent of Joseph’s musk coming for him on those lips. Her hand remained on his still-stiff cock while they kissed. Joseph was not ashamed to taste himself all over her tongue.

  Whiplash. Fucking whiplash struck him when she pulled away and resettled in the passenger seat. Sylvia covertly wiped him from her lips and opened the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Joseph.”

  Wait. That was it? “This doesn’t seem very fair,” he admitted out loud. “Unless you’re trying to make me experience a new level of guilt.”

  “Maybe,” she said with a witty sneer. “I should send you home to think about what you’ve done to me. Make you stew some more. That way when we meet tomorrow you can be so overcome with lust for me that you can’t even do your damn job. But that would be dangerous.”

  He cleared his throat and zipped himself back up. Post-climax endorphins really, really wanted him to feel at ease, but his brain wasn’t that easily swayed. “You’re a monster, Sylv.”

  Sylvia’s grin widened. “Or I could invite you up to my room. You could make things fairer there.” She pushed her chest toward him as she swung her legs around to get out of the car. “I’ll even give you my favorite treatment. You know, before you give me mine.” She stood, bending over to continue talking to him. “My roommate’s not home. And unless you’ve changed in less than a year, I know you’ve got at least one more in you. Remember the second time we fucked? You went three times in ninety minutes. Stud.”

  The door shut. Joseph considered his options before ultimately getting out of the car. Sylvia Rogers drove one of the hardest bargains in town.

  Chapter 14

  Joseph

  Jazz music softly played from Sylvia’s record player. It sounded old. Not the melodies themselves, but the actual recordings. Joseph had half a mind to ask who was performing the sensual song, but refrained, simply because he was still trying to figure out what the fuck he was doing in her room.

  It was exactly what he expected, and yet not at all. Sylvia was a young woman of an older aesthetic. From her hair to her makeup, she harkened to a time long forgotten even by Juanita Montoya’s standards. Unframed pictures of old Hollywood stars and vintage catalog clippings decorated the cinnamon red walls. Sylvia pulled the light orange curtains closed along her humble bay window overlooking the sleepy neighborhood street. After she lit two tealight candles on top of her dresser, she crossed the room, removing her shoes and leaving them strewn by the bed.

  The whole room was cozy and well-lived in. The only thing throwing Joseph off was the age of the woman he was with. This whole time I thought the vintage look was purely for her work. Some men liked that, he guessed. But seeing Sylvia’s personal space taught him that she genuinely enjoyed the look.

  “Comfortable?” she asked from her vanity. “That’s the best chair in the house.”

  Joseph had been sitting in a plush chair from the moment he entered the room. Somewhere between the door and the chair he had removed his jacket. It’s still too warm. Not for Sylvia. While she waited for his answer, she unzipped her dress and took it off for the final time that night.

  Bedecked in nothing but that damnable lingerie, she approached him, a smile on her naughty lips.

  “You look pretty comfortable.”

  “And you’re in your underwear.”

  She shrugged. “Want something to drink? I don’t have beer or coffee up here, but there is hard cider in the mini fridge.” She pointed to the little white appliance doubling as a table in the far corner of the room. “And lemonade, but who wants lemonade this late at night?”

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  Sylvia cocked her head. The curls were slipping from her hair as the hours of the day wore on, but that big curl in her bangs remained, as seductive as the rest of her. “You’re tense again. What’s happened? Still don’t think we should be doing this?”

  “It’s not that…”

  “Good.” Sylvia knelt before him, arms folding on his lap. The expectant look on her face lulled Joseph into thoughts of kissing her. “Because that shit’s not allowed in my room. Every guy who comes in here better be okay with seeing me naked, at least.”

  “Every guy, huh?”

  “All right. Truth be told, you’re the first one in this room since I moved in. But it’s a rule I’ve followed my whole adult life. I used to work in a pleasure house. The greatest one in this greater nation. I had my own boudoir that I entertained clients in. I didn’t let them in unless they were comfortable with being there. Just because I don’t live there anymore doesn’t mean I didn’t learn some valuable career lessons.”

  Joseph rubbed his chin to hide the twist of his mouth. What in the world have I gotten myself into? “I’m not uncomfortable.”

  She smiled at him. She’s not uncomfortable either. Perhaps it was the fact he had an orgasm down in the car. Or perhaps it was something lurking deep in his heart. Either way, they were in no hurry in this mutual seduction. Joseph was okay with waiting to touch her again – although God knew his hands fisted at thoughts of caressing her bare skin – but was she okay with waiting for him?

  “So…” Sylvia stood up, the black lace of her underwear sliding along the arm of Joseph’s chair. She perched next to him, legs cast across his lap and breasts only a few inches away from his face. The sweet, floral scent of her perfume lulled him into false senses of security. “What brought a man like you into the world of law enforcement?” Her palm rubbed his chest, fingers occasionally bunching soft cotton between them. Joseph hadn’t worn his usual work clothes that day, since he knew he would be cooped up in the back of an uncomfortable van for most of the evening. Aside from his department jacket, nothing about his T-shirt or jeans screamed his position of authority. I’m not stupid. I know I’m not the usual police type. He probably looked even less like a cop in his casual clothes. “Was it because of your mother?”

  Although he knew she was making small talk, Joseph couldn’t help but resent that question. Instead of showing her complete disdain, though, he wrapped his hand around her smooth, succulent thigh with thoughts of stroking her slit. The last thing she should do was bring up his damned mother. “You could say that. She gave me the idea.”

  “Directly or indirectly?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Sylvia nuzzled her nose against his fuzzy cheek. Whatever women may have thought, men like Joseph could easily feel the difference between someone touching his freshly shaven cheek or one that hadn’t been touched in over twelve hours. Growing out a full beard would take at least two weeks, though. Not that he wanted one.

  “Did she tell you that you should do it? Or did you come up with the idea on your own?”

  “What does it matter?”

  “It doesn’t.” The circular motion of her hand on his chest and the caress of her nose on his cheek was making him hard again. Wouldn’t take much, of course, but there was something extra intoxicating about the way Sylvia Rogers touched a man. It wasn’t just her good observations and diligent practice over the years. Every stroke of her fingers and kiss of her lips screamed I love men like you. “I want to get to know you better.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re interesting. I’m not seducing you because it’s something to do or I think I’ll get something out of you.” She blew air against his ear. “Or because you’ve g
ot a nice cock. Though that helps.”

  “Thanks.”

  Her hooked finger enticed his head to turn her way. The lightest kiss to ever grace humankind danced upon his lips. “If you want, I’ll shut up, and we’ll do whatever.”

  “I don’t mind hearing you talk, but I don’t feel like talking about myself.”

  “So let’s talk about something else.” Sylvia’s lips continued to rub against his without committing to a real kiss. She lifted his shirt halfway up his abdomen and drew circles on his skin, occasionally sinking her finger into his navel and twirling the hairs of his happy trail. “Why don’t you like donuts, Agent Montoya?”

  “Thought I said I didn’t want to talk about myself.” A smirk erupted between them. “I also don’t want to be called that right now.”

  “Don’t want to be reminded of your job? Or your family? Okay. Joseph.”

  That was better. That was intimate. Joseph didn’t want to roleplay. He didn’t want to erect emotional walls between them, even if he wouldn’t address his emotions to begin with. Let me work through them one moment at a time. Right now his emotions lauded Sylvia for caressing him the way she did. Were his jeans becoming tighter? Already?

  “Do you want to fuck me, Joseph?”

  They teased each other with a flippant kiss that refused to exist. Every time Sylvia pushed her head forward, he pulled back. When he went to kiss her shoulder, she moved, giggling.

  “Answer me before you kiss me.”

  She played a damnable game. Not that Joseph could fault her for that. She wanted to make sure they were on the same page – that there wouldn’t be a repeat of the night before. I was such an ass. The best thing for him, however, was to simply shut up and enjoy their time together. He wouldn’t spend the night, but the least he could do was have a good time and maybe hang out for a bit afterward. Establish some humanity that had been missing the night before. Just because they fucked like wild animals didn’t mean he couldn’t be a man afterward.