by I. T. Lucas
Slowly, he extended his tongue and licked around one, then the other, then went back to the first one and sucked it carefully into his mouth, making sure not to nick it with his fangs.
On a moan, Tessa arched her back, stretched her arms behind her and put her hands on his knees to brace herself. There was nothing timid or unsure about the blatant invitation, and it made Jackson’s heart swell with gratitude.
His Tessa was healing.
With a hand between her shoulder blades, he held her to him firmly as he licked and sucked until she was squirming in his lap, her little mewls getting louder and more demanding.
His kitten needed more.
With his hands still on her back, he lifted her off his lap and laid her on the bed. “Ready to take these off?” He tugged on her leggings.
“Yes.” No hesitation.
He hooked his thumbs in the elastic band and pulled down. Pulling off her panties and leggings slowly, one inch at a time, Jackson gave her every opportunity to stop him the moment she felt uncomfortable.
As Tessa lifted her butt off the bed, making it easier for him to continue, Jackson pulled a little faster, hungry for his first glimpse of her fully naked.
His breath caught.
She was completely bare.
Tessa hadn’t been the last time he’d touched her under her panties.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“I fucking love it. When did you do it?”
“Today. I wanted to look pretty for you.”
He caressed her moist bare folds with the tip of his finger. “So smooth. Did you wax?” The thought made him cringe. She shook her head. “It was on the spur of a moment, so it’s only a close shave. Next time I’ll wax.”
“Don’t. I heard it hurts like hell.” Just thinking about someone pulling on her soft and delicate tissues made him wince.
“But you like it, don’t you?”
“I do, but not if it causes you pain.” He smoothed the tips of two fingers down her center. “If you allow me, I’ll gladly shave you here anytime you want.” As far as he knew, immortal females had no body hair. But he didn’t know if a grown Dormant lost it after her transition. He wasn’t going to ask Syssi or Nathalie such intimate question. As former humans, they might've still held onto human sensibilities. Besides, their mates were not going to be happy about him sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. But he could ask Bridget.
Tessa moaned, her eyelids fluttering shut as an outpour of moisture coated his exploring fingertips. The idea excited her.
“I’d like that,” she husked.
Chapter 17: Tessa
Tessa would’ve never expected Jackson’s offer to give her such a delicious thrill. As someone with major intimacy issues, the idea of being exposed and vulnerable to him while he glided a razor blade over the most sensitive place on her body should have terrified her, but it didn’t.
It was the sexiest thing ever.
She would be embarrassed, no doubt about it. Nevertheless, when it was time for the next shave, she would let Jackson do it. The ultimate gesture of trust would be the perfect gift for his patience and selflessness.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t freak out. In her mind and in her heart she was more than ready, but her subconscious, which still bore the scars of her past, might interfere.
The bed dipped as Jackson climbed on and stretched on his side next to her.
For a moment, his eyes roamed her body, the hunger in them making her feel beautiful, desired. Under his gaze, Tessa didn’t feel too small, or too skinny. She didn’t feel like a scared little girl. Jackson’s burning desire brought out the woman in her.
The one she was born to be—confident and strong.
“I’ll never get my fill of looking at you,” he said, his fingertips tracing the line from her shoulder down to her arm.
As he reached the inside of her elbow, the sensation part ticklish, part arousing, she shivered in anticipation. Tessa wished for his knuckles to brush against the side of her breast, and then for his warm palms to cover her wet, hard nipples. But he’d done none of that, leaving her aching with need.
Was it deliberate?
A way to ramp up her desire by depriving her of touch?
She arched her back a little, hoping he’d get the message.
Jackson chuckled. “Not very patient, are you?” He dipped his head and took the nipple closest to him between his lips, his fingers closing around the other.
Fire shot from the twin points of pleasure straight to the juncture of her thighs, her butt lifting involuntarily off the bed.
His breathing got heavier, and after a moment his hand abandoned her breast to scorch an excruciatingly slow path down her belly, skimming her hip and sliding around to her inner thigh.
God, would he touch her there already?
As his hand moved up in what seemed like increments of a fraction of an inch, her breathing got more and more ragged.
Jackson hadn’t been kidding about going slow, or how good it would feel.
A most exquisite torture.
Tessa felt needy and achy, but there was something to be said for savoring every little touch, every sensation, for being acutely aware of the coil inside her tightening with growing want. The buildup of anticipation.
Instinctively, she knew that the slower he’d make the climb up to the steep edge of the cliff, the higher and longer she would soar when she leaped off.
When his fingertips finally reached her wet folds, Tessa’s hips jerked up and her eyes popped open, straight into the twin pools of light Jackson’s emitted.
“So beautiful.” She cupped his cheek.
Drawing lazy circles around and around, he steered clear of her most needy place. “Would you allow me to kiss you there?” he asked.
Kiss her there?
It was something she’d only heard about. Did men actually do it for women? It wasn’t another urban legend?
Tessa wondered if Jackson was the one in a million who was willing to pleasure a woman orally, or was it as common as women pleasuring men that way.
In the world of Internet pornography and open talk about sex, she was the anomaly. Ignorant though not innocent. Outside the safe bubble Jackson provided, anything sexual repulsed her.
Tessa didn’t read about it and she didn’t talk about it.
The downside was that she knew next to nothing about the different ways a woman could be pleasured. She was an expert on the reverse. Tessa knew all about the many ways men derived pleasure from using women with no regard for their pleasure or pain.
Not all men, she reminded herself. Not her Jackson.
“Am I going to like it?”
“I’ll make sure you do.”
“Then yes,” she whispered.
Jackson kneeled on the bed at her feet and put a hand on either knee, applying light pressure to push them apart. “Don’t be afraid. You’re going to love it.” He kissed each knee.
Quivering, her excitement tinged with a little apprehension, Tessa allowed her legs to part.
With a gentle push, Jackson spread them further and lowered his face, kissing the inside of one thigh, then the other.
As he kissed and nipped, working his way down, the tension inside Tessa coiled tighter and tighter, until she was sure she’d explode the moment he arrived at his final destination.
She was ready to scream when his mouth hovered ever so close over her quivering folds, pushing up to meet it, but he clamped his hands on her thighs and held her in place.
“Patience, kitten.” He blew air on her overheated flesh, cooling it down a little before flicking the tip of his tongue to tease her folds, setting them on fire again.
The repeated cooling and heating was the most exquisite torture imaginable. Tessa was torn between begging Jackson to stop and begging him to continue.
It was hard to think when every nerve ending in her body tingled with sensation.
“Please,” she begged for something, anything.
/>
The next lick was followed by another and then another, delving between her folds and teasing them gently until suddenly his tongue drove inside her, catching her by surprise.
Tessa’s hands fisted the bed sheet. “Oh, God, Jackson… yes…”
She was close. One flick of his tongue over the right spot and she would go off like a rocket.
As his tongue thrust in and out of her sheath, Tessa bucked and writhed as much as his gentle hold on her thighs allowed. The small part of her brain that still functioned realized that he was guiding her rather than restraining her movements and that she should follow his guidance because he knew what he was doing.
She whimpered as he withdrew his tongue, but then as he pressed the flat of it over that most sensitive bundle of nerves, her lower body surged up and she had to bite down on her lip to stifle the scream that built up in her throat.
Not moving his tongue, Jackson let her ride out the initial jolt of finally being touched there, waiting for the tremors to subside before replacing his tongue with his lips and delivering the gentlest of kisses.
So sweet, so loving, and so not what she wanted at that moment.
Or did she?
As she was discovering, Jackson was more attuned to her needs than she was.
The loving touch had brought the intensity level a notch down but provided priceless reassurance and a powerful sense of being cared for.
She probably needed this as much as climaxing, if not more.
His hands on her inner thighs moved to caress the muscles she hadn’t known were tensed, and she relaxed even further, letting her buttocks unclench and rest fully on the bed.
The reprieve didn’t last long, though. Apparently, Jackson’s intention was to move her away from the brink so that he could bring her there again.
Closing his lips around her clit, he sucked gently and pushed a finger inside her. Her opening, which the swollen inner walls had made impossibly tight, stretched, and then he added another one.
Jackson’s fingers working in tandem with his gentle sucking, he brought her back to the precipice and held her hovering above it for long moments.
Panting, head thrashing, sweat dripping between her breasts, Tessa was mindless with pleasure and the need to catapult over that edge. Once she did, she was going to shatter into million pieces.
“Jackson…” she pleaded.
“I’ve got you, kitten.”
He sucked harder and curled his fingers inside her, touching a sensitive spot she didn’t know existed, bringing the pleasure to the point of no return.
Tessa erupted with a brilliant explosion of light behind her closed eyelids. It shimmered for a moment then flicked out of existence, and all she saw was darkness.
Later, when she came to, Jackson’s lips were trailing a path from the hollow of her throat up to her mouth.
His kiss was gentle, appreciative. “Thank you,” he whispered.
She cupped his cheek. “Why are you thanking me? I should be the one thanking you. It was indescribable. I didn’t even feel your bite.”
He touched her inner thigh. “I bit you there.”
“But I climaxed like an exploding volcano before that. You’re amazing.”
Jackson couldn’t have looked prouder if she handed him a Nobel Prize. “Thank you for the gift of your pleasure. For me, there is nothing more precious. Except for your love, that is.”
“Oh, Jackson,” she whispered, tears stinging the back of her eyes. “I love you. More than anything.”
Chapter 18: Callie
Yesterday, as she’d planned today’s escape while keeping her mask firmly in place, must have been one of the toughest days in Callie’s life, topped only by the day she’d lost her baby.
Keeping calm and pretending like nothing was going on had been so difficult. She’d pulled out the best acting of her life, but Shawn had been suspicious nonetheless.
The thing was, he was always suspicious, and with how nervous she’d been, Callie couldn’t ascertain if he was acting more suspicious than usual or just the same.
She’d been relieved beyond measure when he’d left for work and had told her he would be late because they had a sales meeting after closing. Not trusting him, she’d called the dealership and talked to Shawn’s manager. She’d asked him how long he thought the meeting would last because she was planning a surprise for her husband and needed to know when he’d be back.
That way she’d verified that there actually was a meeting, and made sure the manager wouldn’t tell Shawn she’d called. Even if he did, it would be no big deal. Her excuse was good enough to fool Shawn too.
Callie chuckled.
He was in for a surprise all right. Just not a pleasant one.
As she packed her suitcase, it was quite shocking to see how little really mattered to her. She still remembered the care with which she’d chosen the perfect place setting and best bedding she could afford. None of that meant anything to her. In fact, other than the photo albums containing her childhood memories, she could’ve walked out in the clothes on her back and not missed a thing.
Callie hadn’t taken much, packing only the newest and most useful articles of clothing, all of her photo albums, the books she’d purchased for her classes that had cost a bundle, her laptop, the little jewelry she owned, and miscellaneous toiletries.
She regretted not thinking ahead and scanning all those old photographs and storing them on a flash drive. Her suitcase would’ve been so much lighter.
Now all that remained was to call her dad and Dawn.
The question was which phone to use. It might have been paranoia, but she feared using the house phone or her cell. If Shawn was using her phone to track her location, it was possible that he was somehow tracking her calls as well.
A better idea was to wait and call from the restaurant’s landline.
Taking one last glance at the home she’d shared with Shawn for close to two years, she felt nothing but relief as she stepped out the front door and locked it.
At the bank, she took out the seven thousand, one hundred and thirty-two dollars that represented half of their savings. Stuffing the cash inside an old makeup bag she’d brought with her just for that purpose, she put it all the way at the bottom of her oversized satchel, then covered it with whatever else was there. Not much of a protection, but it was the best she could do.
Once Brundar picked her up, it would no longer be a concern. Her personal bodyguard was formidable enough to protect her and her money.
Arriving at the restaurant earlier than planned, Callie stashed the satchel inside her locker in the employee lounge.
“Hey, Callie. You’re early.” Suzan plunked her butt in one of the chairs.
“So are you.”
Callie had arranged with Kati to take over her shift, but had asked her not to tell anyone. As far as everybody at the restaurant was concerned, Callie was working her shift as usual.
Paranoid or not, she refused to let seemingly unimportant details give her away.
Suzan stretched her arms. “Yeah. My mom got there early to babysit my kids, and I grabbed the opportunity to have a few quiet moments for myself, put my feet up, and read a raunchy romance.” She pulled out her reader and propped it against the napkin dispenser on the table.
“Sounds like a plan. Enjoy.”
Crap. Callie was hoping to have the lounge to herself when she called her father and Dawn with the news. Then an idea struck her.
“Suzan, can I borrow your cellphone? Mine is low on power.”
“Sure thing. Just don’t call China. My plan doesn’t cover whatever is beyond the Great Wall.” She winked as she pulled her new Nebula phone out of her purse and handed it to Callie. “Be careful with my baby.”
“I will.”
Now, where to call from?
The bathrooms were too public, and there were always a few tables occupied out on the patio, especially on a hot day like this one. She could either find a shaded spot out in the
parking lot, or hide in the storage room.
Given the hundred-degree heatwave, the storage room seemed like a better choice.
Ducking inside, she went all the way to the back and sat on the floor in the little corner niche between the two tall shelving units housing the restaurant’s miscellaneous cleaning and paper supplies.
She called her father first.
Huffing like she’d run the marathon, Iris answered. “Callie, how are you? Is everything all right? We haven’t heard from you in way too long.”
That was Iris’s usual line of questioning. It had nothing to do with a sixth sense or anything resembling one.
“I’m fine. What about you? Did you run to the phone?” She didn’t want to tell Iris her story and send a nine-months-pregnant woman into hysterics. Her father could relay the news later.
Iris snorted. “Me? Running? I get winded from climbing the stairs. And I’m talking about the five steps leading up to the front door, not the ones going up to the second floor. I regret buying a two-story house.”
“Cheer up. Only a little bit longer, and then you’re going to be a mommy.”
“I know. You should see my ankles, though.”
“What about them?”
“It looks like I don’t have any. Anyway, I’m sure you didn’t call to hear me kvetch. I’ll put Donald on the line.”
“Thank you.”
“Hi, cupcake. How is the world treating my girl? Did you hear back from UCLA?”
Damn, it was going to be hard.
“I got in.”
“She got in, Iris!” Donald called out.
“Yay!!” She heard Iris clap her hands. Her father’s young wife wasn’t best friend material, but she was a good person.
“When do you start?”
“I don’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“Why? Is it a money problem?”
“That’s what student loans are for, dad. It’s a Shawn problem.”
Her father had never been thrilled about her marrying Shawn, but he hadn’t been too distraught over it either. Donald had no idea how bad it had become for her. Not his fault, though. She didn’t share her mistakes and failures with others.
