Wicked Payback

by Daisy Dexter Dobbs

  “I remember every luscious nook and cranny of your body,” he said. “Each sensuous curve. Each hill and valley.” His hand stroked up her back and sank into her hair. “And more than anything, baby, I remember eating your sweet little pussy. Licking that juicy all-woman taste of yours and holding you as you shattered with a wild, screaming orgasm.” He assaulted her mouth with an expectant kiss and Meredith felt preliminary tingles rippling to her clit.

  Oh yesss… She longed for just one last delectable, passionate romp. One final joining of their perfectly matched bodies. One last magical trip to paradise together. Meredith licked Jack’s lips with a purr of excitement and he groaned low in his throat, the vibrating sound thrilling her. She’d keep it casual…not allow her heart to get involved this time…

  Jack grabbed her ass cheeks, kneading and bearing her down determinedly against his cock. He knew just what to do, just how to position their bodies so that his cock pressed against her in just the right way, just the perfect position to—

  “Oh Jack!” She squirmed against him shamelessly. God, Karyn was right. She was easy…but she really didn’t want to clutter her mind with chastising thoughts at the moment. All she wanted was to give in to the spiraling current centered at her clitoris.

  “Yeah. That’s what I want to see, baby.” He slid his hand between their bodies, resting it next to his cock and using his knuckles to rub firmly against that special spot between her legs. His hand labored at her pussy, moving in hypnotic little circles until she wanted to scream. “Come for me, Meredith. Let me feel you shatter in my arms again. It’s been so long, sweetheart. So very long…”

  Her body was obedient if nothing else. With both of them fully clothed, Meredith felt the familiar tightening between her thighs as the first waves of pleasure blissfully assaulted her clit. Stiffening as he braced her, Meredith clawed at Jack’s arms and chest. And then, gazing deep into his eyes, her world exploded.

  Before the last delicious wave of pleasure subsided, there was a knock at the door and Meredith gasped.

  “Shit!” Jack spewed as she rolled off his body and they both sat up. “That must be room service,” he growled, rising from the bed to answer the door.

  “Room service? We just had dinner,” Meredith said. She felt limp, sated and groggy. And she definitely didn’t want to think about what she’d just allowed to happen.

  She soon discovered the next step in Jack’s ongoing quest to win her over, and she had to admit it was brilliant strategy on his part. Appealing to her deepest gustatory desires he’d pre-ordered two each of the fabulous desserts on the menu to be sent up to his suite. And now the luscious-looking desserts beckoned to her from silver trays and triple-tiered crystal plates. As an accompaniment, he’d selected a bottle of their finest aged cognac, which probably cost more than Meredith’s new dress, undies and stiletto heels lumped together. Yup, Jack certainly hadn’t forgotten that the best way to get to her heart was through her stomach.

  “I suppose I’m glad this was delivered.” Jack scratched his head and sucked in a deep breath. “Because I’d never be able to finish what I want to say to you with us on the bed together, happily fucking ourselves silly. You’re just too damned alluring, Meredith.” After brushing his lips across hers, he winked and led her to one of the plush brocade-covered armchairs in the living room, motioning for her to sit as he seated himself in the other chair. “First we’ll have some dessert and cognac while we talk and then,” his expression became devilish, “we’ll finish what we started on that bed in there.” He flashed his most winning smile, the one that had had never failed to make her melt, and she felt herself blush. “We’ve got all night, baby…and I want to spend it pleasuring you until you beg for mercy.”

  Oh yes…that sounded heavenly, simply divine— No! No, she couldn’t allow herself to get sucked in again. A whimper escaped her lips as Meredith’s emotions warred within. The intensity of his smile, his gaze and the lure of his sensual words had begun to thaw her heart while her brain labored to pack it in ice again.

  There certainly wasn’t any problem indulging in an evening of hot, casual sex, was there? No, of course not. As long as she kept her heart strictly out of it. Otherwise she’d be sunk—taken in by Jack’s considerable charms for the umpteenth time. And she simply couldn’t allow that to happen. She’d worked too long and hard to get over him, only to let Jack stomp back into her fragile heart again. Nope. Uh-uh.

  “I know what a devoted chocoholic you are,” Jack said, sinking Meredith’s dessert spoon into the velvety chocolate mousse and then feeding it to her, smiling as she murmured her pleasure.

  Chocolate. The magic word. Damn. He knew her far too well.

  Chuckling as he watched her fully succumb to the overt delights of the dessert, Jack added, “Some things never change, sweetheart. That’s why I thought a private little chocolate buffet would be a perfect complement to our celebration of your thirty-ninth birthday.”

  “Fortieth,” she countered, rolling her tongue around inside her mouth and relishing the sumptuous taste of the sinfully rich mousse.

  “You’ll never be a day over thirty-nine to me, sweetheart.” He scooped another bit of mousse onto her spoon and slipped it between her parted lips. “Remember years ago when you told me you couldn’t picture yourself ever being forty? You thought it was ancient.”

  “Hell yes. I still do!” Meredith said.

  “Nonsense.” Jack laughed. “You’re as fresh and youthful and beautiful today as you were when you were just a girl. Only better, because you’re all woman now. Saucy, seasoned, scintillating and sexy as hell.”

  Oh, lordy. With the expert turn of a phrase, the mere butting together of a few simple words, the man was an absolute wizard at making a woman feel special, attractive, desirable. No doubt about it, Jack McKenna’s magical tongue could mesmerize…in more ways than one. Oh, damn. Why oh why did she have to think about his tongue in that way now?

  Jack dropped another bit of mousse onto Meredith’s tongue, smiling as she savored it. And then she paused in her enjoyment a moment, struggling to remind herself why she was really here with Jack on her birthday. Little by little she could hear Karyn’s adamant warnings hammering in the far recesses of her brain. And, damn it, Karyn was right. She’d be insane to let Jack back into her heart. She closed her eyes for a moment and heaved a sigh.

  “So, Jack,” she said, licking her lips and then clinking her glass of cognac against the one he presented, “exactly what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” She sipped the liquid in her glass, enjoying the smoky silk sensation of the expensive liquor sliding down her throat.

  Jack swallowed a forkful of raspberry-swirl cheesecake and then reached for Meredith’s hand, clasping it in both of his. “I never stopped loving you, Meredith. While we were apart you were never far from my thoughts. You need to believe that because, as God is my witness, it’s the truth.” He rubbed his thumb along her wrist. “You have so much more to offer than any other woman I’ve ever known. Beauty, brains, class… There’s an ever-present ache lodged deep in the pit of my soul when I’m without you, Meredith. You complete me.”

  Take me. Just take me now, she was temped to cry.

  Doing her best to quiet her dancing libido as her tongue slid along the back of her teeth, capturing any lingering chocolate, Meredith studied him. What if Karyn was wrong? What if Jack had really changed this time after all? He certainly seemed different. Contrite. Sincere. Anything is possible…right? It would be hugely unfair to exact retribution on a man who’s repented and changed his ways…wouldn’t it?

  “When we first met, you were a diamond in the rough,” Jack continued. “My sweet, wonderful, adorable, naïve little goody-two-shoes.” He chuckled and Meredith smiled, knowing he was certainly accurate about her youthful personality. “You were like a lump of clay ready for me to mold. A freshly erased blackboard ready for my chalk. A computer’s blank hard drive waiting for my formatting.”

  Mered
ith wasn’t smiling anymore.

  “And through the years under my guidance and mentoring,” Jack continued, “you’ve developed into a multifaceted polished gem, sweetheart. Since applying the self-help techniques I developed, you’ve matured…ripened into an incredible woman, level-headed, practical, intelligent and determined enough to build and operate a successful thrift shop for indigent fat women, entirely on your own.”

  The lenient, forgiving mental discourse that had been pleasantly floating inside Meredith’s head abruptly took a nose dive and her face fell. Jack’s compliment contained so many assumptions, inaccuracies and false statements that she didn’t know which to attack first. But she had to keep her cool, couldn’t risk blowing up at him now—not until her task was complete. She took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten before she spoke.

  “What gave you the idea that our clientele is indigent, Jack?” She hoped her smile didn’t appear too strained.

  Jack shifted in his seat, lightly chuckling. “Well, after all, Meredith, it is used clothing. Who else would be interested?” She realized her expression must have darkened when he sat forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together and then gifting her with one of his magnanimous Dr. Jack smiles. “Sweetheart, I’m not attacking your business. I know what a fondness you and Karyn have always had for digging through trash and going to yard sales and such. The natural progression would, of course, be to open your own little junk shop so you could sell all your special finds. And it was certainly brilliant of you to create a special niche by catering solely to fat women.” He graced her with a smile that said he was perfectly pleased with his carefully chosen response.

  Meredith cleared her throat. “Um…I think there’s a bit of a misconception here, Jack.” She felt her cheeks growing hot and calmly smoothed the hair away from her face, ensuring in the process that steam wasn’t venting from her ears. That would be a dead giveaway. “First of all, Abundant Finds offers upscale vintage clothing, mostly designer wear, and we cater primarily to middle-class plus-sized women, not the poor or the homeless. There are a number of fine, charitable organizations and shops that serve that need. That is not our focus, however. Secondly, being plus-sized women ourselves, Karyn and I patently avoid the term fat in reference to us or our customers because of its negative connotation. We much prefer thinking of ourselves and our customers as BBW, which stands for Big Beautiful Women. Of course, I’ve told you this repeatedly over the years, but obviously you didn’t pay attention.”

  “Now I’ve done it.” Jack’s head dropped. “I’ve gone and hurt your feelings when that’s the last thing I wanted to do. Sweetheart, you know I’ve never thought of you as fat. On the contrary, I love all of your plush, womanly curves. You truly are the quintessential big beautiful woman, Meredith.”

  Right. That’s why each time you cheated on me it was with a twig. “Thank you.” Meredith wasn’t finished bristling yet. “Since my success is largely a result of your tutelage, I guess that makes me indebted to you.” Meredith awaited his telltale response with bated breath.

  First came that slow patronizing smile of his as Jack patted her hand. Caught up in all of his charm and magnetism earlier, she’d almost forgotten that particularly annoying look. “Indebted? Absolutely not, sweetheart. There’s no thanks necessary, Meredith. Just seeing you happy in your BBW venture,” he hung invisible quote marks around the term with his fingers, “a direct product of my counsel, is thanks enough for me.”

  Meredith’s eyes widened. That arrogant bastard! Oh, Karyn would love hearing this. She’d eviscerate him right where he sat. Jack had never shown a lick of interest in Abundant Finds, and he sure as hell had zip, zero, nada to do with the shop’s success and popularity.

  “I know how hard you’ve worked and how dedicated you and Karyn are to your shop. And if I asked you to give it all up and move with me back to Chicago, I doubt that you’d even consider it. Am I right?”

  “You’re right,” she answered without hesitation.

  “And I would never ask you to do that because I care too much about you. As I told you over dinner, Meredith, I was weak and immature when I succumbed to the lure of those other women. I’ve learned a lot about myself since we’ve been apart and I’m happy to say that I’ve finally matured. I’m a weak man when it comes to women and probably always will be. That’s why I need someone like you, Meredith, a woman who’s strong and understanding. Stronger than I am. A woman who will be my steadfast rock.”

  Meredith’s brow furrowed and she shook her head. “I don’t really understand what it is you’re saying, Jack.” She was used to Jack coming right to the point and now it seemed as if he were talking in circles.

  His shoulders slumping, Jack breathed a weighty sigh. “Sure, I may be relatively famous but I’m not really all that different from most men. We’re inherently weak, Meredith. Women possess the strength and resolve to be on their own, all alone, while men need…companionship.” He gave her a doe-eyed look. “That’s our aggregate defect, our greatest weakness. Our heads and hearts tell us one thing while our insatiable cocks are singing an entirely different tune.”

  “That’s obvious.” Meredith crossed one knee over the other and popped a tiny chocolate meringue cookie into her mouth.

  Jack swirled the cognac in his glass and sipped from it. “When I got involved with Becky while on that cross-country speaking tour it was because I was so lonely. She just happened to be there when I needed a woman most.” He shrugged. “I mistook my need to have a warm body next to mine for more than it was. There was never any real emotional connection there. I never should have married her, or Lisa for that matter. I should have realized that all I really needed to get me through those times was simply a brief affair. A mindless, meaningless interlude, after which I would come home to you—the woman I love—and we could have gone on with our lives together just the way we’d always planned.”

  What?! The little cookie caught in Meredith’s throat and she hacked a choking cough. No…Jack couldn’t possibly be saying what I think he is…could he?

  “Are you all right, sweetheart?” Jack said, rising from his chair.

  Meredith waved him back to his seat and nodded. “Fine. Cookie just went down the wrong way.” She coughed again and then took a fortifying sip of cognac.

  Jack polished off the rest of the cognac in his glass and gazed at Meredith expectantly. “So what do you think? It’s a perfect solution, honey.”

  “Uh-huh,” Meredith interjected with a slow nod because Jack was clearly waiting for some kind of response. “I think I understand. Do tell me more, Jack, darling.” Folding her arms across her chest and forcing a smile, she gave him her undivided attention.

  He sat forward in his seat with an eager smile. “This way, whenever I have to be away for an extended period you’ll understand that no matter what brief, meaningless interlude might occur, I’ll always come back to you, my sweet, beloved wife. You see, Meredith? I would never, ever be foolish enough to leave you again.” Expelling a deep breath, Jack shot his cuffs, rolled his shoulders and moved his head to the left and right until his neck cracked. It was an automatic tension-relieving sequence of his that she’d often witnessed in the past.

  Meredith sat back against the chair and pressed her lips together as she blindly surveyed the room. No, no, no, no, no. Uh-uh. Even Jack couldn’t be that crass, that self-centered, selfish and egotistical. That much of a conniving, opportunistic bastard, that much of a rat-faced sonuvabitch… No, her thoughts had been so heavily focused on romping around naked in that gigantic bed with her well-hung ex-husband that she probably hadn’t paid close enough attention to what he was saying, that’s all. She plucked an ornate chocolate-robed petit fours from a small triple-tiered plate and popped it into her mouth, chewing while she slanted Jack a thoughtful look. This time she’d really pay attention. “So, Jack, if I understand you correctly, you’re proposing that you and I get married again and—”

  �
��Yes.” Bright-eyed, Jack nodded eagerly. “As soon as we possibly can, darling, so I can make passionate love to you all night, every night for the rest of our lives. Oh, Meredith, sweetheart, I can’t wait to finally make you my wife again.”

  “For the third time,” Meredith noted.

  “The last time, honey. That’s what counts. This time we make it permanent.”

  “Okay,” Meredith held her index finger aloft, “just give me a minute to sort this out before you interrupt again.” She smiled sweetly and Jack nodded. “I’d be making a home for the two of us here in Portland and continue to operate the shop and play the happy homemaker—cook, clean, darn your socks and so on—while you jet around the globe, making VIP appearances and tending to your TV show, etcetera.” She waved her hand. “And then you’ll come back home again where we’ll be happily engaged in matrimonial bliss. Hmm? Do I have it right so far?” With a mouthful of mixed berry tart, Jack smiled and nodded as if the scenario Meredith described had been as enticing as a crème-filled chocolate cupcake.

  Sonuvabitch.

  “Good.” Meredith swallowed a bite of flourless triple chocolate fudge cake and used her spoon to gesture toward Jack. “And because you’re weak and flawed and simply can’t bear to be without a warm body at your side while you’re away,” Meredith sipped from her cognac and swallowed, “you would engage in a series of meaningless, trivial trysts.” She gave a dismissive flick of her wrist. “And then, because you love me with every fiber of your being,” Meredith paused to fix Jack with a wide smile and fluttering eyelashes, “you’d fly back to my arms as soon as you could so that we could screw like happy, horny little bunny rabbits—until your next trip.”

  Meredith dropped a tiny nut-studded, pastel-frosted cookie into her mouth and with a satisfied little hum washed it down with the remaining cognac in her glass, which Jack quickly refilled. Brushing a few crumbs from her dress, she sat forward, reaching for Jack’s hand and enveloping it in her fingers as she met his gaze and smiled warmly. “So, Jack, dear, is that about it in a nutshell?”