by Quinn, Cari
“Are you here by yourself?” His knuckles slid under her chin, tipping it up. This close, she could taste the hops on his breath. He’d been drinking too, but he wasn’t like Toby. His hands weren’t grasping and groping at her clothes. She’d finally shoved him away and started to dance, and he’d laughed, wanting to see her show.
Everyone expected her to perform, as the pretty little doll who wasn’t supposed to cause a fuss or as the blue-haired freak who played through her pain. Either way, she had a script.
She’d always sucked at not blowing her lines.
“Jazz. Look at me.”
She struggled to focus on him. Why did Gray have four eyes? Four gorgeous gray eyes, but still, that was creepy as fuck.
“Jesus, baby, what are you on?” He drew her toward the nearest couch and pushed someone aside so he had room to sit. Then she was on his lap, and his thumb was on her lower lip, carefully stroking. “Tell me what you remember.”
She tipped her head toward his, accidentally banging their foreheads together. A giggle erupted at the flash of pain before she angled her nose lower, lining her lips up with his. He exhaled and for an instant, the fog in her brain cleared away. He’d blown through the cobwebs just by enfolding her in his strong arms and offering her his air when she couldn’t figure out how to inhale on her own anymore.
“I remember you,” she murmured before everything went black.
Eighteen
Now
Gray lifted his hands to her face, spanning her cheeks with his fingers. She could’ve been made of glass, he took so much care in tilting her closer. He brushed his lips over her mouth, tasting smoke and toothpaste. A lick of his tongue against the seam and her lips fell open, her breath escaping on a moan. His hands trembled as he drove them into her hair, driving her backward into the hot tub. She let out a startled squeak.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, rubbing her back where she’d made contact with the frame.
Then they were kissing again, and he couldn’t focus on all the textures of her. Warm lips, slick tongue, rising and falling breasts. He cupped one in each hand, feathering his thumbs over the puckered tips, and lifted his thigh to force hers open. He hoped she was as ready for this as he was, because damn them both, he doubted he could wait.
He’d been waiting for eight years.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. Oh, that feels good.”
“It better because I can’t spare a hand right now.” He caught her laughter in his mouth and swallowed it down, desperate to get drunk on all the sounds she could make. It might take a lifetime to tease all of them out of her.
“I can.” Lightly, she dragged her nails down his stomach before undoing his zipper. He groaned as she curled around him, groaned again as she tightened her grip. “This time you’re not coming on my back,” she said fiercely, pulling his lower lip between her teeth while her hand shuttled up and down his length.
Some part of him was shocked his pretty, perfect, innocent Jazz could be saying such things. Another part reveled in the dirty light in her eyes. He palmed her cheek, angling her head back so he could lick a pathway along her jaw to her ear. Hoops and dangles crowded the lobe, jangling together as he sucked the pliant flesh into his mouth. “Where do you want me to come?”
“Anywhere.” She fumbled her small hand farther into his jeans and squeezed the base of his cock, making him hiss. “Everywhere.”
“Jesus.” Reluctantly, he let go of her breasts and bent to grab her dress. “Let’s go inside before Nick comes back and sees you.”
“He’s seen it all before.” He sent her a dark look over his shoulder and she flushed, clearly realizing what she’d just said. “Uh, I mean—so would this be a bad time to tell you I dropped your joint and it rolled away?”
He laughed and pulled her close again. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“I am. So lucky,” she said, glancing up at him as if he’d just presented her with a bucketful of stars.
“Don’t try to sweet talk me now. I’m supposed to be annoyed, remember?”
Her eyes twinkled up at him. “You can’t be. Just like I can’t be mad at you. It’s our curse.”
“Uh-huh.” He dragged the sill higher and patted her very fine ass. The door was right there, but he couldn’t deny he wanted a view of her from behind. “In you go.”
“I thought that was your line. I mean, in you go in me. Oh shit. I’m high.” She giggled and climbed in the window.
Gray smiled and shook his head. He couldn’t even be annoyed at himself right now for letting her have some of the joint because she seemed so loose and relaxed. How could he ever wish that away?
He’d no sooner climbed inside and tossed her dress on a chair than she threw her booted foot up on the bed and yanked down the tiny side zipper. A dozen foil packets tumbled out.
“Wow.” He cleared his throat. “Looks like you have plans for me.”
“Oh, I do.” She grabbed one between her teeth and used both hands to shovel the rest onto the floor. She unzipped her other boot and unearthed her cell phone, setting it on the nightstand, then toed off both boots and climbed up on the platform bed.
Something about her efficiency made him laugh in spite of the serious hard-on he was sporting. “Good thing I’ve been saving up.”
A shadow passed over her face, a brief cloud in the midst of all the sunshine. “Have you? Really?”
“Really. I haven’t been with anyone in months.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s even been a while since I’ve been with myself.”
Instantly the sun sliced through the momentary darkness in her expression. She flashed him a dazzling smile. “Me either.” Invitingly, she spread her legs, revealing her swollen pink pussy. No hair to speak of, anywhere. “So. Where were we?”
“Christ almighty.” He didn’t smoke pot often enough to know what it normally did for sex, but with every passing second, his cock thickened more. He felt harder than the exposed beams overhead. Even walking to his bedroom door to lock it presented a frigging challenge, but he did it because he wouldn’t risk Nick interrupting them—again. “Warn a guy before you do that, would you?”
“No. Because I don’t want you to have control around me. I want you on the edge, like I am.”
“No worries there.”
He turned back and drank down the sight of her, all tumbling hair, hungry eyes and puffy lips. Without lowering his gaze, he shoved down his jeans and boxers. He stalked forward and leaned across the bed, banding his hand around her thigh to drag her closer. The simple movement made his head swim as if he’d downed a few six-packs. He had a light buzz going from the few pulls on the joint he’d managed before her appearance, but that wasn’t the cause of his dizziness. He could smell her now, sweeter than springtime, more alluring than the most seductive drug.
Smiling at him, she picked up the remote he’d tossed on the pillow earlier and aimed it at the small speakers on the dresser. “Ripcord” from their EP flowed out. He’d been trying to write earlier—on his own, since Nick had taken off hours ago and hadn’t returned—so he’d turned on Oblivion’s music in the hopes of luring out the muse. That hadn’t worked, so he’d turned to weed.
Now he would turn to Jazz.
He nipped her lower belly, causing her to drop the remote and lean up on her elbows. He learned her flesh from touch rather than sight, because he couldn’t bear to look away from her eyes. That lust-soaked blue dragged him on a path straight into the heart of her, her lashes fluttering while his tongue parted her swollen folds. The pink crystals on her hood piercing nearly made him beg. Seeing that delicate flesh pinched and ready for his kisses made him want to send up a few thousand prayers of gratitude.
Unable to wait a second more, he shoved her legs open wide. He held her gaze as he licked her from her clit to her entrance and back again, but he couldn’t maintain it when he pushed a finger inside and she trembled around him, her body yielding to his invasion. She moaned and flexed around him, inviting him ins
ide her just as she’d done on the deck by licking her lips.
God. He wasn’t going to survive this. He wouldn’t survive without seeing her come, either.
He flicked her piercing, eliciting her high, thin cry, then focused on her clit. A rainbow of colors exploded in his mind. He swore he could hear her heartbeat, that wild, unsteady thud, and his own drummed in response, an endless beat that sped up at even the smallest movement. Razoring his teeth over the piercing and the plump bundle of nerves, he slid another finger inside her, pulling upward, coaxing that same melodic response from her throat, a delirious mixture of sigh and moan, more breath than actual sound.
In the background, his guitar solo dominated the song before her drums came crashing through, breaking apart the rhythm and making it something all new. Something all theirs.
Then a new sound, a new instrument to add complexity to the composition. Her sighing his name, over and over. She drew it out until it vibrated like the strings in his guitar. “Gray.”
He closed his eyes and savored, losing himself in the overwhelming pulse of their song, of her swollen, wet flesh around his pumping fingers, of her heart throbbing against his mouth. Tasting her pleasure as he created it felt more like making music than he’d ever known before.
Her body rose up, her full breasts lifting, her dusky nipples pointing skyward. Red from his fingers and her desire. He licked up the evidence of it between her legs, desperate to take it all, to fulfill every want she had before she found the voice to ask. Offering her bliss in small, steady doses until she quivered, her breasts shimmying, her muscles growing taut.
She gripped him relentlessly, pushing back against him with every thrust of his fingers. Her hips pumped, her heels dragging up the comforter, her head thrashing over the pristine bedding. Those rustling noises joined the rest, becoming a cacophony of need that surged blood into his cock and tore a groan from his throat. He wanted to hear only her, to know exactly that instant that she lost herself, but he couldn’t stop the helpless convulsing of his hips.
“Fuck. Fuck. Jazz.” He tried to apologize but he couldn’t find the words within the unfolding spiral of warmth. She was everywhere. On his tongue, behind his eyes, in his hands. In his ears every time her drums cut through their songs to make them hers.
And then she was coming too, her hands driving forward to embed in his hair as she pulled him against her, her legs winding around him to bring him more fully into her clenching heat. His own release spun out, wringing him dry. He gripped her thigh and pressed his cheek to her belly, wondering if the floor was really trembling or if that was just him.
“Oh my God, the earth actually moved. That’s an actual thing. Holy fuck.” Her dazed laughter made him raise his head to give her a smile. At least he hoped it was a smile. His muscles felt like they’d gone numb.
“Guess so.” He hauled in a breath and eased back enough to look down at the mess he’d caused. Technically, she’d caused it.
Though he hadn’t used for all that long, he’d heard plenty of jokes about the side effects. Jere had regaled him with them the other night. Not being able to get hard, not being able to get off. But if tonight was any indication, Jazz could combat any substance.
He hadn’t come on his lap without being touched since…ever. He’d never come that fast before, even back in high school.
“Yeah, this is fucking embarrassing.” He shook his head in disgust. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Noticing the direction of his glance, she scrambled up and peered over the side of the bed. She let out a laugh. “Oh, oops.”
“Yeah. Oops. All your fault.” He yanked on her hair, dragging her closer for a hard kiss. Instead of shying away from her taste, she chased his tongue, drawing it into her mouth with a long, slow suck that made his spent cock give a halfhearted salute. “Jesus. You’re going to kill me.”
“Let me make it all better first.” Smacking her lips together, she slid to the floor in such a sensual move that he had to grab his dick again. “Uh-uh,” she chided. “That’s mine.”
She licked her way up his thigh, catching every stray drop before treating the other one to the same treatment. By the time she finished, his balls were in knots again and the head of his cock had swelled painfully. She swiped her tongue over the tip, making an appreciative hum that might’ve rolled his eyes back had he not been fixated on her as if his life depended on it.
He wouldn’t miss a minute of this.
She rolled her tongue down the side, traveling down to take teasing swipes over his sac. Her lashes dipped as she drew one of his balls into her mouth, sucking lightly while he fisted his hands in his hair and tried not to force her to take his length inside. She would get there. He might die first, but he’d let her find her own rhythm.
Her nails scraped up the outside of his leg and she applied the barest suction to his balls, one then the other, before she curled her super-strong fingers around the base of his dick and lapped at the head like she was in a champion ice cream eating contest.
Holy hell.
Her hair fell down around her face, hiding her features except for her reddened lips and smoky eyes. She could’ve been anyone. A sultry anonymous blonde. From this angle, she didn’t look like his bright best friend. This woman had seduction down to an art. Then she smiled up at him, and the jagged puzzle pieces inside him shifted into place.
This was Jazz. His Jazz.
Unable to wait another second, he grabbed her elbows and pulled her up, clamping his mouth on hers. “I need you.”
“Yes, yes. Please.” Her tongue whipped over his, heightening his urgency. “Condom’s too far.”
“Fuck them. I want you like this.”
He waited for her to balk. This was stupid. So stupid. She’d been on the Pill forever—when you lived with someone, you discovered those details about them whether or not you wanted to—but that didn’t mean they should take risks. Right now he couldn’t remember exactly why. His head felt deliciously light, and all the reasons for not doing what the hell he wanted seemed insignificant.
“Yeah. Me too.” She panted into his mouth. “Have to have you now.”
She straddled his lap, digging her knees into the carpet on either side of his thighs. Without another word, she impaled herself on him, sinking down to the root in a long, slow glide.
“God, yes,” he groaned, losing his breath at the feel of her vising around him. Slick and hot, her pussy gloved his cock, enfolding him in a blast of heat that scalded him from his feet to the top of his head. Her piercing scraped him, adding a zing of pleasure that traveled straight through to the base of his spine. Something this amazing couldn’t last long.
Neither would he.
Fluid and sleek, she rose above him, hands fisting in his hair as her mouth ghosted over his. “God, Gray. So fucking good,” she gasped.
“Can’t wait. Need more.” He wound his arms around her, slamming her breasts into his chest, and still it wasn’t close enough. He hauled her up in his arms and jockeyed her in his hold, stopping beside the bed to take her mouth. Her panting breaths echoed his, an unforgettable symphony.
Finally, they were together. All the way together.
She rode him wantonly, taking him deep as he rocketed upward. Goddamn, that piercing. She weighed next to nothing and with only a few adjustments, he managed to lock his arms under her thighs so he could surge into her again and again, rubbing over the crystals with each thrust. She took every bit of him, her sweet pink flesh swallowing his cock.
Riveted to the view between her legs, he tipped her backward, desperate to see more. She cried out and dropped her head back, exposing the long line of her throat for him to bite and kiss. Perspiration clung to her flushed skin, adding a faint sheen of dampness that he ached to taste. He couldn’t kiss enough places. He wanted to be everywhere at once. Licking her, fucking her, touching each inch of her flawless skin.
More than anything, he wanted to own her the same way she’d owned him since
he was sixteen.
Her pussy clamped around him, so wet and tight he couldn’t see through the haze of his hunger, and he bent her backward, dangling her in the air while he hammered into her hard and fast. She held on for all she was worth, her moans escaping her along with her breath. As she started to spasm, he turned and dropped her onto the bed, climbing over her to drag her leg over his shoulder. He rubbed her clit and stroked into her, sinking in and holding while he slanted his mouth over hers. He whispered her name, the mystery and beauty of it, unable to hear anything anymore but the relentless beat of her heartbeat matching his.
That was the only music he needed. The only one that still made sense.
He linked his fingers with hers, gripping her hand next to her head on the bed. Swiveling his hips, he found a new spot inside her, sliding over it until she gasped and bowed up, her eyes going wide as she came undone. Her hot wetness gushed over him and he groaned and buried his face in her hair, his thumb still a blur on her clit, his hips still pounding. The song in his head wouldn’t stop. All Jazz.
“Gray,” she gasped, digging her nails into his back. “Oh God. It’s too much. I’m so dizzy.”
“Close your eyes. Feel.” He nudged her chin up and kissed his way down her throat, pressing his lips to the wild throb of her pulse caged in by her delicate collarbone. “Feel me.”
“I do. I can’t stop.” She clenched his hand and matched him stroke for stroke, her pelvis slapping against his with the force of his thrusts. Her slick heat spurred him on, driving him to fuck her so violently that his balls collided with her ass on every pass. And he still needed more.
“I can’t get deep enough. Jesus. Get on top of me.”
He switched their positions, pulling her over him, and latched his teeth on her swollen nipple, tugging on it without finesse. Crying out, she braced her fists on either side of his head and grinded on his cock, torturing them both with her piercing as she circled her hips in a frantic figure-eight. Goddamn, she was soaked. She bit her lip and moved faster, pushing more of her breast in his mouth. He grabbed her ass, yanking her down on him so powerfully that she whimpered. Such a delicious sound. He did it again, adding a twist of his hips, offering the counterpoint to her circling, and her whimpers increased.
