Wrapped Around My Finger

by Kristen Strassel

  Oh. It stung, no matter what direction it came from. And I didn’t expect Jagger’s camp to have anything in common with mine. “My daughter and my best friend have given me every reason why I shouldn’t be with you, too. It hurts when the people who are closest to you are waiting for you to fail, doesn’t it?”

  In a perfect world, I would’ve waited to put my helmet back on before the tears fell. And I’d have no reason to cry. Jagger pressed me against his chest, rocking me slightly. “We’ll prove them wrong.”

  “I hate that someone has to be right or wrong.” I wiped my tears away, letting the anger replace them. “If they love us they should support us, no matter what we do. Unless we become serial killers, of course.”

  Jagger pressed his lips to my forehead. We stayed like that on the busy sidewalk so long I thought time stopped. He tipped my chin up to meet his gaze. We’d already proven them wrong. No matter how this ended or when, right now, we were meant to be together. “I’ve never been into blood and guts,” he said.

  “Like I said, I make things pretty. You can’t get that stuff out of the upholstery.” I handed Jagger his helmet.

  I insisted he take me to the supermarket. This was extreme adventures in food shopping—I searched my phone for the snapper recipe that had the fewest ingredients. It would’ve been much easier to go out, but I wanted him all to myself. His attention solely on me, the way it was when he captured me through the lens of his camera. I wasn’t being selfish, I planned on giving it as good as I got it.

  Jagger called Zach, and he agreed to meet us for a drink before we headed to the airport. We didn’t have a lot of times to choose from, but I hoped I wouldn’t be leaving Miami with a sour taste in my mouth.

  “What do you eat?” I’d put Jagger to work cutting the zucchini, squash, and onions. I made the herb butter. He had this beautiful, open kitchen that some of my clients would sacrifice their firstborn for and his refrigerator had nothing but protein powder and a carton of eggs in it.

  “Lots of eggs. Chicken.” He grinned when I made a face. I’d vowed to never cook chicken again after making it every night for fourteen years. “Vegetables. Rice. Basic stuff. I hate cooking for myself. It’s so depressing. All this build up and then I sit down in front of TMZ and it’s gone in five minutes.”

  “I don’t think that’s true. I pour a glass of wine, put on a movie, and consider it a treat. If I can’t enjoy my own company, who can?” It sure beat making a sandwich and staring at my computer while I ate, which I did more often than I wanted to.

  He shifted on his stool. I was making Jagger uncomfortable again. He saw beauty in everything but himself. It broke my heart. I wanted to ask him, what the hell happened to you, but he was making baby steps, letting me in, and I didn’t want him to slam the door shut. This time, he might lock it and throw away the key.

  Relationships were hard. No wonder I’d hired him, and he’d escorted for so long. It was so much easier to go into the night with no expectations. He had trouble letting me in, and I was terrified I was perfecting bad behavior, making the same mistakes as last time.

  “I’m having a great time,” I said before I put everything into the skillets. I set the timer, even though it was only four minutes before I had to flip the fish, time had a way of getting away from me when I was Jagger. He was grinning when I turned back to him. “I really love it here.”

  “I thought you and Miami would get along.” He brought the veggies he’d chopped over the other burner and put them in the empty pan. Once he was done, he put his arms around me. “You know, Raven’s going to college in the fall—“

  “Don’t remind me.”

  He cocked his head in confusion. “Why?”

  “Because nothing reminds me I’m old like my baby girl moving out.” I turned away, pushing the vegetables around so they wouldn’t burn.

  “Bullshit. You were smart to have her young. Now you have the means to enjoy your life and you don’t have to scramble for a babysitter. You won’t stop being her mom, no matter how old she is. That’s how I would’ve done it.”

  “Do you want kids?” I never considered asking him before. Shit, we had a lot to talk about.

  His smile was sad. He didn’t answer right away. “If it’s in the cards for me to be a dad, I’d like that. If not, that’s cool, too. I’ve lived a full life. As long as I have someone to hang out with when I’m an old man, I’ll be happy.”

  “I couldn’t imagine not having Raven. But that’s not what you were trying to say.”

  Some of the light returned to his eyes. The timer buzzed, and I flipped the fish and made sure I didn’t burn the vegetables beyond recognition. Another four minutes would do it.

  “You’ll be free to come down here more, and stay longer.” He put his finger over my lips, knowing I was about to protest. “You can fly to New York in three hours, and there’s plenty of celebrities in this city with tacky houses begging for your touch.”

  “But my life is in Washington.” I didn’t sound convincing. “My clients, and my production company is centered there.” More lame bullshit.

  Jagger held on tighter. “Branch out, expand your business and have an office here.”

  “It’s a lot to consider.” I’d already taken on a new show, so another office was more than I could even think about. But I had to do something because I could feel Jagger slipping through my fingers as we stood in his kitchen.

  “One of us has to compromise, Leah. We can’t stay separate, but together forever. I want more than that.”

  “Work for me.” It was time to lay it on the line. “I know you think it’s a cop-out, or taking the easy route. But what you need to understand is I fought hard to get to where I am, because I know what it’s like not to be happy with what I’m doing. You’ve told me a million times you felt the same way. I wouldn’t add anyone or anything to my team that I didn’t think had value. We need you. No one on my team has the experience with abandoned properties that you do. There are so many things we’re probably overlooking, and it pisses me off that we’re not giving the project the treatment we should be.”

  Now it was his turn to protest, but I wasn’t going to let him. “If you could do anything in the world and get paid for it, what would you do?” I asked.

  “Take you to bed, but I’ve already done that.” He grinned. “Since I happily do that for free, you know the answer is photography and urban exploration.”

  “That’s what I’m offering you!” I stomped, barely missing his foot. The fish was done, so I had to turn away to get everything plated. “Who else would give you the creative control that I would? No one. Yeah, the producers get involved and rain on everyone’s parade, but they go to bat for me when the idea is right. And maybe it will be weird to work together. But I wouldn’t be your boss—you’d be a consultant, working on your own projects. What I’m trying to say is you have something I don’t, and I need it.”

  I couldn’t put it any plainer than that.

  “I’m thinking about it, but I can’t think straight when you’re here.” He kissed me. “Want to eat outside?”

  This place was paradise. He probably thought I was as crazy for hesitating to spend more time down here as I did about him not taking me up on my job offer. If he worked for me, I’d have to come down here more often. It was a win-win situation.

  The air turned crisp once the sun went down. We’d finished eating and I leaned against the balcony when Jagger brought the plates inside. Lights twinkled along the curve of the shore, and even fifteen floors above the ocean, the sound of the waves lapping against the sand soothed me. Almost as much as Jagger’s warm, hard body behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and his hair caught in the breeze, the ends whipping against my cheek.

  “Have you ever had sex in public?” he asked quietly.

  That was the last thing I expected him to say. I turned back to gauge his expression but caught him grinning when he saw mine. “How public are you talking about?


  “With other people watching.”

  “Not unless you count Raven when she was in her bassinette as a newborn. Have you?” I asked. He nodded. It did something unexpected to my lady parts. I may not have wrapped my brain around it yet, but my body was definitely on board. ”Doesn’t it freak you out, to have people watching everything you do? I’d think it would add a weird dynamic.”

  He slipped my shirt off my shoulder and kissed the bare skin. “It does. But they’re watching because it turns them on. Instead of one person to get off, you have two, or ten, or whatever. But they can do the same for you.”

  “Kinda like being on TV.” I laughed, capturing his hair at the nape of his neck so I could see his face. A shadow fell across his cheek, and it made him look mysterious. “Do they ever join in?”

  I could never, ever just watch Jagger fuck someone else. Besides the fact I’d burn to ashes from sheer jealousy, seeing him wouldn’t be enough after I’d had him seduce every one of my senses.

  His lips trailed up the side of my neck and met mine. I’d turned into him, my back against the balcony rail. If this thing wasn’t sturdy we were so screwed.

  “Sometimes, if that’s the arrangement. Here’s the thing. Sex is power. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s more powerful than any currency because you’re offering something money can’t buy. Satisfaction. If you’re lucky, a spiritual connection. I made a lot of money off people who were looking for those things. And when I found it, I didn’t want to fuck for money anymore.”

  “But you still did.” The paradox of Jagger. He saw everything so clearly, but he saw nothing when it came to himself.

  “I had to survive.”

  “All that stuff you told me yesterday over lunch didn’t sound like you were satisfied.” I couldn’t hold back. We on the edge in so many ways, and if we were going to jump, we had to know where we’d land. It didn’t matter what happened after that, but we had to start at the same place.

  His chest rose before he sighed. “What we have is better than any of that. I probably shouldn’t have said anything. It was me being stupid with too much time away from you. The minute I touch you, all that stuff goes away. I don’t need to rely on what I used to call Plan A or anything thing else that’s way fucking out there to get me off. Your body dictates every move I make, and I get lost in you. No other woman has ever had that kind of power over me. You’ve made my life better because you’ve shown me how to feel again. That’s something I haven’t let myself do in a very long time. I expressed myself through sex. But by doing those things I used to express myself with, maybe I can show you something you didn’t know about yourself, too. I want to give you what you’ve given me.”

  Thankfully he held my waist because I’d melted. Without his touch, I’d be dripping off the edge of the balcony. “It’s totally different when you explain it that way.”

  One more kiss and it wasn’t enough. “”You’re talented and funny, beautiful and kind, but at the root of it all—you’re sexy as fuck. And you don’t even realize it. If you learned to harness that,” he shook his head, “you’d be unstoppable.”

  My cheeks burned. “I think that’s only for you.”

  “No, it’s not. I watch you on TV every morning. It’s different, but it’s there. That country singer—the one you made over the studio for—the way he was looking at you—“ He shook his head again, his mouth in a tight, angry line—“I’d punch that guy in the face if I saw him in person. I kept yelling at the TV, ‘she’s mine, you asshole.’”

  “That’s so hot.” I grasped Jagger’s shirt, pulling him into me. The fabric resisted, and I hadn’t realized how bad I needed him. Right now. I did everything I could to get the shirt over his head, but it wasn’t easy; his hands were everywhere, and his mouth was just as busy. I finally succeeded and tossed it on the table. My own top followed. I couldn’t believe I was standing outside in my bra. And I was wearing too much.

  “Careful.” Jagger reached down and took his shoe off. He put it on top of our clothes. “It gets breezy up here.”

  I looked over my shoulder at the tiny people who dotted the beach. “Can they see us?”

  “As much as you can see them.” Cool air hit my back when Jagger unhooked my bra. I stood motionless, concentrating on the people below us, but I couldn’t make out anything, especially in the dark. Or maybe I just convinced myself of that as Jagger slipped the straps down my arms, catching the bra before it fluttered to the sand like a discarded feather. I didn’t have to cover myself, because his hands were on my nipples, his thumbs moving back and forth against them quickly. Everything inside me pulsed in time. His lips were against my ear. “But I’ll make sure they hear you.”

  Holy shit.

  “I can do the same.” I caught him off-guard and turned us so his back was to the railing. I knelt in front of him, unzipping his jeans and sliding them down his thighs. I didn’t bother taking them all the way off, I had everything I needed in front of me. I grabbed Jagger’s bare ass, running my hands over the curve. He made a noise that sounded like a growl when I circled a spot I’d never played with before. I didn’t dare go inside. It was the kind of sound that made me forget to breathe. “You like that?”

  He nodded, eyes closed. “Yeah.” He flicked his gaze down to me. “Do you?”

  Like Rich ever did any backdoor dealings. “We’ll see.”

  Jagger raised his eyebrows but didn’t say a word. His cock was in my mouth. I took my time—this was a good place for me to start. If anyone could tell his ass was sticking through the railing, they probably couldn’t tell what we were doing. At that point I was so blind with need I wouldn’t have cared if my camera crew came out on the deck.

  His hips moved in time with my mouth. I loved it when he did that, like he couldn’t control his body. I looked up at him, my lips lingering on the tip of his shaft. I moved it out of the way, concentrating on his balls. Jagger groaned.

  “Louder,” I commanded.

  He looked down at me with a smirk. “Make it happen.”

  I rubbed my thumb over his tip. It was already wet from my mouth, but that wasn’t all me. He liked that, a lot, but he loved it when I paid attention to his balls. I flicked my gaze up, watching for the tell-tale signs he was coming undone. I didn’t want to get him there, yet. But his stomach rose and fell with rapid breaths. I reached back, clutching his cheek before running my fingers down his ass crack.

  Jagger’s hips bucked forward violently, and his howl pierced the night. He had me off my knees so fast I wasn’t sure how he did it. His erection bumped against my belly as he crashed into me, kissing me like it was his only chance of survival. I’d gone numb, and I clutched his shoulders for dear life. It would leave marks.

  Well, more marks.

  He struggled with my jeans. I would’ve helped him if I could have, but that kiss left me stupid. He shoved them down to my knees and gave up, pulling my panties until they snapped. The ruined lace fluttered away from us in the gust of wind.

  I had to concentrate. Still clutching Jagger, I got the jeans off. And because they fit me perfectly, I put them under the shoe on the table, so they wouldn’t suffer the same fate as my panties. I pushed against his chest.

  He didn’t move. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and tried to contain his smirk.

  “What?” I did it again, more playful this time, but this man was a wall of muscle and he wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I had no idea there was a wild woman trapped in here.” His gaze fell to my hands, which were still flat on his chest. “I had to talk you out of fucking at the amphitheater and now you’re trying to push me around like a sack of potatoes.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You make me crazy.”

  “Good. I like you crazy. A lot.” He kissed me, and I think he meant for it to be quick. But like everything else that night, it got out of control quickly. It didn’t stop until we were both breathless. “What were you trying to do?”

  “Sit down.” I pulle
d the chair away from the table.

  Jagger did as he was told. I straddled his lap and hovered over his cock. He reached for it, but I pushed his hand away. I wanted to do this myself. I ran it along the length of my slit. I was so ready for him, but the slow motion was driving us both crazy. Jagger writhed underneath me.

  “Leah,” he grunted between gritted teeth, and I knew we were running out of time.

  I loved being on top, so much. I slid Jagger’s cock deep inside me. He ran his fingers under my chin, so unexpectedly sweet, before he kissed me. I was so lost in him. My fingers tangled in his hair, tightening my grip as he guided my hips, back and forth. Jagger did all the work, moving my body much more easily than I did to him. I cried out, hardly breaking the kiss. He was still buried all the way in when he grasped my cheeks, pulling them apart. Holy shit, my inner muscles were going crazy, pulsing against his cock. He slowly circled my opening, the same way I’d done to him, and electricity danced on the surface of my skin. I yanked his hair so hard I was shocked when it didn’t come out in a clump.

  “Can I?” His voice was husky. My heart stopped, but I nodded.

  Jagger stopped to slide the pile of discarded clothing over to us. He rifled through until he found what he was looking for.

  “What are you doing?” I wriggled in his lap.

  “Getting lube. It’s like you read my mind. I planned on asking you about this tonight, and you were thinking the same exact thing.” His fingers were cold and wet when he touched me again. He slipped his finger inside me, passing the tight outer circle slowly, carefully. “How does that feel?” he asked.

  It took everything I had to form words. Jagger had completely possessed me, body, mind, and soul. “Incredible.”

  He nodded and added another finger, thrusting inside me. It was a totally different sensation than his shaft still buried deep inside me. I clenched his cock, losing control of everything. I concentrated on the rhythm of his fingers, but it drew me to a place I’d never been.

  My scream bounced off the ocean waves, coming back to us. Hell, everyone in Miami was probably aware of how hard I came.