by Natalie Ann
Linda sat back and grinned. “Big guy with a huge personality.”
“Oh boy. New Yorker though, right?”
“He moved to Texas about thirty years ago and looks and acts like he was born and raised there. I’d guess he’s in his sixties. Real sweet guy with a soft spot for his mother. I think he’s been ready to sign his name on a check from the first visit, but he likes coming and getting the attention. Just my opinion.”
And when Billie Austin walked in with his Stetson on his head and alligator boots on his feet—she’d checked some out online just in case so she’d have some reference for conversation and these looked to be a few thousand dollars—she knew she was in for a treat.
“Well hey there, little lady.”
“Mr. Austin,” Rachel said, coming forward. “I hope you received Maryann’s message. She had a family emergency and sends her apologies, but asked that I show you around and answer any questions you might have. I’m a headhunter here and do a lot of these tours to get potential high-level staff. I believe that is what you had some questions on.”
“It is. Aren’t you just a pretty little thing for my eyes on this cold day.”
She wanted to roll those ‘pretty little’ eyes, but decided it wouldn’t be smart. Linda said big personality and that was what she was going to get. “I’m sure it’s a massive change from Texas. Whereabouts are you from in Texas?” she asked.
“Just outside of Corpus Christi. When I left it was pushing seventy.”
“And it’s about forty here. This isn’t that bad of weather for New York in December. The sun is shining and there isn’t much wind, but compared to seventy, I’m sure you’d rather be back on your ranch.”
“I would,” he said, laughing, a big booming sound that had Linda chuckling behind her desk.
“What would you like to see first?” Rachel asked. “Maryann explained that you’ve been shown around the facility a few times now, but I’ll gladly take you where you’d like to go.”
“Well now,” he said, putting his hand on her lower back. “I’ve got a few hours before my pilot needs to get back to Texas. Let’s just see how much we can get accomplished.”
A few hours later she was positive she’d accomplished what Maryann wanted from her. Even if Billie took a few liberties with his hands on her back or arm. Gentlemanly moves she was sure he thought he was doing. Holding the door while he ushered her through it, his hand on her shoulder. Lightly touching her elbow when they crossed the street to another building.
She’d been able to tolerate that well enough. She didn’t care for the comment of, “What are your thoughts on dating older men?”
She’d laughed at him, not a mean sound, though it was close. But more a humorous one. “I tend to keep my dating to men closer to my own age. I don’t have a Daddy complex.”
Billie had laughed at her, that booming sound that turned heads, then he winked and replied back with, “It was worth a shot.”
“I’m sure there are plenty of women in Texas that would love your company. Any age,” she’d added.
“You’d be right there,” he’d said. As soon as he climbed back into his rented limo and left for the airport, she went to her office and grabbed her sandwich to eat quickly. She was starving but wasn’t interested in having lunch with Billie either.
When she heard knocking at her door ten minutes later, she wiped her mouth and threw her napkin in the trash to see Mitch standing there. “Got a minute?”
“Of course,” she told her boss. She’d never tell him no.
“I hear you spent your morning doing Maryann’s dirty work.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t as dirty as it could have been. Not something I’d want to do on a daily basis though.”
“How bad was the big Texan?”
“Could have been worse. I handled it fine. At the root of it he’s harmless and I think he’ll be ready to send over the money that Maryann is hoping for.”
“I’m confident he will be. So how are you doing on finding that pilot? It’s been close to a month. Have you made any progress?”
“Not as much as I’d like,” she said. She’d put a lot of time into reaching out to people, but no one seemed interested in part time. Or having that flexible of a schedule where they could be called in at any point.
“What’s the big issue?”
“Part time is one of them. Not having a set schedule is another. You’re looking for someone who has a lot of flexibility in their life and someone within a certain mile radius.”
“It’s what we need right now. Having that position set up that way. We don’t want to lose the three full timers we’ve got,” Mitch said. “When we talked to them, this was part of their request.”
“I can understand that.” She waited a few minutes, then just added, “I’ve got someone I want to talk to again. He isn’t committing and I’m not sure he will, so don’t get your hopes up. I should get a better idea of his situation by the end of the year.”
“That’s better than nothing,” Mitch said and stood up to leave.
Rachel finished up a few more things and decided that she’d had enough of working for the day, grabbed her jacket and left to go see Jake. It’d been a few days and she was missing him more than she told herself to allow.
When she pulled into his parents’ driveway, she was thrilled to see his SUV there.
After she got out, she wondered if maybe she should have called him first. Texted? Anything to let him know she was on the way.
He was probably writing. They’d gotten into the habit of only talking every few days and even then it wasn’t a lot.
Though she wanted more out of what they had, she knew it wasn’t the time to push or ask. It’d only been about three weeks of dating and sex. Lots of fabulous sex when they were together. Other than that though, he didn’t share much.
Or as much as she would have liked. She wasn’t sure who was keeping their distance more though. Him or her. Maybe her because she knew he wasn’t committing to any timeline in this area and she didn’t want to set herself up for heartache.
She took a deep breath and walked up the stairs, then knocked on the door. It didn’t take long for him to pull it open. He had a nice growth of beard on his face that she just wanted to run her hands across, his hair was in need of a trim and his eyes looked heavy.
“Bad timing?”
“Perfect,” he said, pulling her forward and crushing his mouth to hers. Yeah, this was the welcome she’d been secretly hoping for.
“Wow,” she said. “I should surprise you more often. What was that for?”
“Writer’s block. Thought maybe that would help.”
She laughed but didn’t find the statement so funny. “Didn’t I tell you not to use me that way?”
“Sorry, bad joke.”
“I get it.”
“I don’t think you do.”
“Then tell me,” she said, taking her jacket off and laying it over the chair at his table, then walking to the couch where his laptop was. She picked it up and moved it to the coffee table and patted the spot next to her.
He eyed her hard, but sat next to her. “I get stuck. Or I’m not stuck on the story, but not sure it’s complete enough. Anyway, I told you that when I’m around you I get motivated.”
“And why is that? I guess I’d like to know what it is about me that motivates you. We don’t talk about your book or writing often.”
“You don’t ask,” he said.
She hadn’t, had she? She supposed she kind of felt he’d share it on his own. Now she wondered if he was waiting for her to inquire. “So tell me about it then.”
“The whole story? Or my process?”
“Whatever you want to share with me,” she said.
“I’ve got something I’d like to share with you,” he said, reaching for her.
She scooted away. “Talk first.” Though she wouldn’t mind the physical attention either. Or the release. Maybe that was part of
the reason she came over too. After her day she just wanted to be with someone that got her.
“I told you I’m writing about crimes and mystery. That I had trouble focusing on one story, but I finally did. I think I’m done. It’s a washed up PI that was hired to find some missing jewels by an insurance company suspecting a ring of fraudulent thefts. What should have been some simple enough investigative work turned up two murders. He’s out to prove something to everyone and himself. The thrill he always wanted and was missing from his life is his driving force to find some redemption.”
“Sounds a little bit like you.”
“You think I’m washed up?” he said, looking slightly offended.
“Not at all. But I do think you are out to prove something. Or at the very least to yourself.”
“That’s true. Definitely to myself. Anyway, my process has gotten better. I guess every minute I spend with you produces more work.”
“Hmm, sounds like I’m being used again.”
“It’s not that way,” he said again.
“I need you to convince me otherwise or I can just leave and let you stew here over your book for the rest of your life.”
“You make me feel alive when for so long I’ve felt nothing but emptiness. When I’m with you I want to feel more and when I feel that way it’s an energy I can use for other things. For my writing.”
Wow, heavy words that were carrying some weight on her shoulders and a bit of a burden. Maybe she didn’t want to know what he meant because she wasn’t sure how to respond to this. Here she was thinking she was a plaything to him and she had to wonder if that was the case.
“How would you feel if I said I feel some of what you do? That though we don’t always talk much about our lives, we talk enough that I think you get me.”
“Is that why you came here today? Because you need someone to talk to? Someone who understands you?”
Now that was scary. He really did know and understand her. Where did this leave them? Was there a future when neither of them broached it yet?
“Part of the reason. The other part was I needed you to throw me on my back and make me scream out your name again.”
He moved closer to her, his body leaning over hers, then lying on top, whispering against her mouth, “So you want me to fuck you.”
She gulped. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
Take Charge
Jake wasn’t going to question this visit anymore. Not when he’d been blunt and Rachel answered him the way he’d been hoping for.
Instead he stood up and cradled her in his arms, then started to move toward his bedroom. He was one step from it when he backtracked and went to the door to lock it. No use tempting fate with an unwelcome visitor, even if it was the middle of the afternoon and everyone was at work.
She’d laughed at him when the lock clicked. “Smart move.”
“Don’t need to worry about intruders I’d have to deal with.”
“That’s right,” she said. “I want you to focus just on me.”
He liked the sound of that. Once they were in his room, he set her on her feet. “I like you dressed in a skirt. It’s the first I’ve seen you in one.”
She had a fitted brown skirt on that hit her knees with brown tights and some pretty sexy ankle boots. Her cream-color turtleneck sweater covered her completely but was slim to her body and left nothing to the imagination.
Now that he thought of it, the only skin showing was her hands and face and yet this might have been the sexiest he’d seen her.
“I like wearing skirts and dresses, but this time of year limits it if I’m going to be outside or walking around the campus.”
“I’m going to like taking it off of you,” he said, pulling the sweater up and over her head, her long brown hair falling back over her shoulders and cascading around her chest.
“I’m going to let you.”
“Sit back,” he said.
She moved to the edge of the bed and sat down while he got on his knees and unzipped her boots, then pulled them off one by one to set aside. When he stood back, he pulled her to her feet and reached for the zipper on the back of her skirt to let it pool around her ankles. She moved slightly and he assumed it was to kick it away.
His hands went to the clasp at the back of her bra, undid that and tossed it in the room. Her nipples were a light rose color and perky, just waiting for his mouth to greedily feast on them. He was hungry and had no intention of denying himself anything.
He loved that she stayed there and let him do what he wanted to her. His mouth moving from one to the other, her hands in his hair holding him in place, letting him know when she wanted more or when she wanted him to move.
He’d always loved being with a confident lover. One that wasn’t afraid to take charge to let him know what she desired.
When her hands moved out of his hair, he wasn’t sure what she wanted him to do, but realized it was to finish undressing her. He was going to help, but she pushed his hands aside and lowered her tights and underwear on her own, then nudged them to the side.
After that, her hands got busy on him, pushing his flannel shirt off his shoulders and letting it fall, pulling his T-shirt over his head.
She moved fast when she wanted to and now was no exception, attacking the button on his jeans and pushing them and his underwear to the ground. Since he was already barefoot, the two of them were on equal ground now.
He nudged her further up the bed, then followed her as she opened her arms welcoming him, his body covering hers. She turned quickly and pushed him onto his back, her climbing on top.
“I think since I came over here for this visit, that maybe I should take charge.”
“I’m game for that.” What man wouldn’t be?
“I like that you seem to be game for anything.”
She started to kiss his chest, her nails that were manicured and trimmed to the tips a light shade of pink and trailing along his skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
Her touch had a way of setting off electrodes of heat in his body like no one else had ever done before. If he listened carefully he wondered if he’d hear the snap or sizzle.
When her fingers and her mouth started to move down his body, over his waist, he sucked in a breath and held it. She’d wanted to give him a blow job that first night and he’d stopped her. She’d had ample time to do it since and hadn’t. Would she now?
He wouldn’t ask. He never did. He’d found a woman would if she wanted to and he never wanted anyone to do something they didn’t care to.
“You’re not going to stop me this time, are you?”
“No,” he said, his eyes watching her every movement.
“Do you have a fast recovery time?” She was stroking him now. He was hard and hot and the skin around his cock felt like it was stretching beyond its limit. “I mean I love when this baby is inside of me.”
“Baby?” he asked.
“A term of endearment.”
He choked out a laugh. “I guess there is only one way to find out how fast I recover.”
“No worries, I’ll get you there myself if I need to. I’m good with working a little harder.”
He was banking on it, but knew she wouldn’t need to.
She must have been through talking though, because she lowered her mouth down and took him in greedily. Deep, almost touching the back of her throat.
He’d always thought he’d had an abundance of control, but he let loose a groan like an inexperienced youth.
Her lips were sliding up and down slowly, teasing him, testing him. Making him wait and he was fine with that.
When her suction stopped he wondered if she was done. That she’d only go so far and then move on, but she didn’t stop. She only brought her hands into the mix and began to spread around the moisture from his tip and her mouth, stroking him, handling him with more care than he wanted.
Then her tongue came out, licking him, her lips closing right over the tip, her tongue swirling, he
r hands pumping. Holy shit he was close and the urge to wrap his hands in her hair and shove her down on top of him was massive enough that he reached up and held onto the headboard instead.
She stopped for a second, saw the movement of his hands and let out a wicked little laugh. “I think I’m pushing you to a limit you weren’t expecting.”
He grunted but didn’t answer. He couldn’t when her mouth covered him again, her lips moving up and down, her hand covering where her lips had retreated.
“You taste exactly as I hoped for,” she said. Again he couldn’t talk. Not with what she was doing. “Hot. Sweet. Salty. All man. All mine.”
Jesus he was going to come from her words alone if she didn’t stop it and he didn’t want that to happen.
She did stop talking though and put her mouth back to better use. Sucking harder, sucking faster and he was getting ready to blow.
“Rachel.”
She stopped and looked up. “Thanks for the warning, but I’m good.”
Glad he didn’t have to say anything else because he wasn’t sure how many words he could get past his lips.
She went to work, her hands moving in conjunction with her mouth and if he thought the skin was stretched as far as it could go before on his cock, it was nothing compared to the pressure and tightness he was feeling now.
He shut his eyes and just let his body go, the pain in his palms and his fingers pushed aside from gripping the headboard as tightly as he was.
When he thought he couldn’t take anymore, Rachel went just a bit deeper, hit the right spot and he let loose everything he had along with a few curse words. She didn’t stop, just kept sucking him dry until he wasn’t sure he could bring another breath into his lungs.
He was lying there taking inventory of his body, wondering if she was going to have to work really hard to get him back up because right now he didn’t have the energy to open his eyes let alone move another part of his body.
“Would you look at that?” she said.
He did open his eyes when he felt her hands on his him again, stroking him. Yeah, he was ready to go and not the least bit surprised. He’d been with a lot of women in his life, but not one of them had touched him the way Rachel had.
