Along for the Ride

by Mimi Grace

  “Okay, I think we’ve diverted an utter disaster. I’ll have to send a few emails tomorrow and actually watch the video, but I’m feeling less panicked about the situation.” She turned from her position across the room to face him.

  And within a few seconds she must have remembered her state of undress. Maybe his intense look jogged her awareness. “God, of course I’d be flashing my nipples.” She clutched her arms around herself, but that made the hem of the T-shirt rise higher than it had before.

  He groaned inwardly. “Don’t talk about your nipples, Jolene.” His voice sounded gruff even to his own ears.

  He saw the spark in her eye. Tonight, she wanted to play with fire. Obviously temporarily averting her work crisis had inspired her feisty side, and he could bet it was dangerous when added to her usual defiant character.

  “Why not?” she asked as she let a small smile form.

  “I’m barely hanging on here.” He shocked himself and her with his honesty.

  “Wh-what if I want you to let go?” she whispered.

  She didn’t know if he’d answer. What was she doing? She smothered the urge to say something funny to diffuse the tension and get back to sleeping. But in the face of clear evidence of his attraction to her—the way he looked at her and the bulge he did a poor job of hiding—all the reasons she fought her own attraction to Jason seemed ridiculous. So what if they weren’t each other’s favorite people? They were two adults who were physically attracted to each other. Surely they could act on those feelings without needing to complicate anything else.

  “We don’t even like each other,” he said.

  A counterpoint that, at best, sounded dubious when said out loud. He obviously thought the same thing because he got up from his place on the bed. His gaze trained on her lips.

  “What does that matter? We won’t see each other often after this trip.” She drew closer to him through movement she didn’t consciously make. Her hands were itching to touch his shoulders and feel the muscles underneath his shirt again. “We can go back to how things were,” she said.

  He smiled. “Well, I’d hope it would be a little more cordial.”

  Abruptly, as if finally making up his mind, he made a detour toward the desk and grabbed his phone. He plucked away at it. Jolene squirmed in the silence, trying not to stare at the way his dick pressed against his pajama bottoms. Eventually he looked up from his phone. The intensity of the moment had not abated.

  He placed the shining mobile device in front of her face. “My current STI test results.”

  She studied the report, and everything was in order. She quickly pulled up hers, fumbling with the login information as the WiFi made things take longer than she appreciated. With each passing moment, however, she could feel the imaginary dial on her anticipation tick higher. She similarly placed her phone in front of him. He gave her a nod when he finished reading.

  The desire between them moved in uninterrupted waves. Pulsing and flowing in a way that made her feel lightheaded. And just as she got ready to do something to alleviate the buildup and ease the palpable tension, Jason eliminated the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers.

  Their first kiss had come unexpectedly, and had been initially tentative, explorative. But this one was bolder and insistent. His firm lips pried hers open. There wasn’t any teasing this time just urgent clashing of lips and tongues. His hands cupped her face, and she clutched his trim waist, feeling the solid muscle underneath. He pressed his body into hers, and she felt his erection up against her. Her body responded to it with the beginning of a low thrum all over.

  “Jolene,” he moaned her name against her mouth and it honestly sounded like a prayer, a benediction, and she wanted to be all that and more for him.

  His hands travelled down her body without breaking the kiss. She desperately wanted to feel his touch without the T-shirt hindering the experience. His hands found a home on both of her breasts, and he gave them an appreciative squeeze before he broke their kiss.

  He played with the weight of her breasts, filling his hands with them, gently teasing and toying with her nipples through the shirt, drawing them to aching buds. She bit her lip so she wouldn’t shout out, but then he lowered his head and took one T-shirt-covered nipple into his mouth, the combination of his hot mouth and the abrasive fabric of her shirt took her to an edge she’d never gone before with just nipple play. She needed him inside her. He played with the nipple till the fabric became completely soaked then gently blew on it. He did the same with the other nipple then finally released her.

  “Take your shirt off,” he said, his voice rough.

  The desire she saw in the depths of his brown eyes took all the air from her lungs, and with shaky hands, she removed her T-shirt. His harsh intake of breath turned the pulse that had begun in her core the minute he kissed her into an ache that needed to be taken care of.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. His voice had morphed into something unrecognizable.

  And his words, even spoken through a lustful haze, made a home in the back of her mind. He dipped his head and caught one of her already hard, wet nipples in his mouth and rolled the other between his fingers.

  “Please, Jason,” she whimpered. Wetness had already built up between her legs and she throbbed.

  He released her nipple with a pop. “What do you want, Jolene?” he asked and moved to her other nipple, giving it a tender bite.

  “I want you inside me,” she said boldly.

  “Which part?” Jason asked as he sucked harder on her nipple.

  The new pressure made her throw her head back, submitting to the sensation.

  “Which part?” he repeated. And with the back of his hand, he caressed her mound.

  “You know which part,” she said, breathy and frustrated.

  “I want to hear you say it.”

  God, they would not have a fight now. Unable to resist, she defiantly said, “Your steel rod.”

  He let go of her nipple for a moment and stood to his full height. He looked down at her, and she saw the smile that tried to press past his lips.

  “Or…your dick or cock if that’s the filthy language you prefer,” she said flippantly.

  He did smile, then, a crooked and devilish smile, and he followed it up with deliciously painful tugs on her nipples. He lowered his mouth to her ear. “I suspect,” he said, guiding her hand to his dick where it strained against his pants, “you’d have no problem screaming for my dick when it’s buried inside your tight, little pussy.”

  Dear God. Hearing those words come out of Jason’s mouth had Jolene battling a wave of dizziness. This couldn’t be real. But it had to be, because he continued to lazily move her hand up and down his length. The thick vein running on the underside of his dick pulsed, seemingly intent on drawing every last particle of air from Jolene’s lungs.

  “But unfortunately”—he removed her hand from him—“tonight I won’t get to hear you beg for it. We don’t have any condoms.”

  She desperately clutched at his biceps then and tempered a wail of disappointment. She must have been some sort of ruthless mercenary in a past life. What other explanation could there be? The universe had decided to punish her by denying her an orgasm she knew in her gut would be one of the best she ever had. He couldn’t leave her like this: needing, so desperately needing.

  He gave her collarbone kisses and chuckled against her skin. “Don’t worry. I’m still going to make you come. It just won’t be with my cock,” he said. “That will have to come later.”

  Later?

  He gently guided her to the open door of the bathroom and pushed her up against the doorjamb. She almost made a tepid joke about them not using the perfectly good bed, but then he removed his shirt. Words evaded Jolene as her hands automatically skimmed the slabs of muscle on Jason’s arms, and she briefly traced his tattoo.

  He dropped to his knees. “Spread your legs.”

  Any obstinacy she had previously wanted to
display fled away at the command. She did what he said, and a harsh sound escaped Jason. He moved his fingers along her folds. Those damn fingers worked her wetness up and down.

  They lightly teased her clit till she deliriously moaned his name. “Jason.”

  “Is your pretty pussy wet for me, Jojo?”

  Soft airy sounds escaped Jolene’s mouth before Jason hooked her right leg over his left shoulder and pushed her other leg to the side. She couldn’t hide here. She was completely and utterly exposed to his gaze, his touch, and she shivered with anticipation as he breathed on her just before his mouth finally pressed onto her sex. She almost collapsed, but his hands held her fast.

  His tongue parted her lips and twirled around her clit, lapping her wetness. He moved his tongue in and out of her opening before he finally took a hold of the sensitive button and covered it with his entire mouth, sucking and toying with it. Jolene held onto the doorframe and focused on her body falling apart. That was all she could do.

  She was thrown, however, when she caught the image of them in the cheap, full-length mirror that hung against the front door on the opposite side of the room. She barely recognized the desire she saw on her own face, so blatant and raw. Jason kneeled at her feet and did the things he did to her, and at some point along the way he had also released his erection from his pants and now jerked himself off with long, lazy strokes. Energy coursed through her, and when he added a new dynamic by sliding a finger inside of her, it pushed her dangerously close to the edge.

  “Come for me,” he moaned against her as he added another finger.

  The simple prompt did it for her. Jolene screamed and grabbed his hair as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of her until she was hurled into an orgasm that was all light. Her body shook, but he refused to let go of her clit. The two fingers that were inside of her continued to move, and before she could recover from her first orgasm another one came calling. He released her clit once she came for the second time, gently blowing on and caressing her as she recovered.

  “I—” she said, trying to formulate words after an orgasm that she was sure shifted the tectonic plates of the earth.

  Only after a couple breaths did she notice that Jason still stroked himself. But this time faster and harder. He stood, bracing himself against the doorjamb behind her, caging her in as he buried his face in the crook of her neck and moaned inarticulate words. She didn’t want to disrupt his rhythm by attempting to take over, so she rolled his nipples between her fingers and ran her fingernails down his back.

  He hissed as she made contact. “Just like that, baby,” he said.

  He went still as she increased the pressure with which she touched him.

  “Fuck. Fuck, Jolene. I’m coming.”

  He quickly snatched up the pajama bottoms that had pooled around his ankles and released against the fabric, and Jolene pouted, somewhat disappointed that he hadn’t finished somewhere on her body. But she wasn’t about to complain about something like that after what she’d just experienced. Jason hunched over for a few moments before he straightened and looked at her and smiled.

  Her breath caught.

  She assured herself it was the residuals of her orgasm and watching him come.

  “That was great,” he said. A shiver passed through his body as Jolene continued to lightly skim his back with her fingertips.

  Jolene could only muster a weak laugh.

  “You’re tired.” He stared into her face.

  “I don’t stay up late often, and it’s three a.m. and you just—” She gestured with her hand.

  He raised his eyebrows and gave her a cocky grin. “Made you come really hard?”

  She rolled her eyes and averted her gaze. She wasn’t embarrassed, but that high had left her exposed and vulnerable. Her brain currently tried to connect the dots she had thrown at it. A day ago, she would’ve gladly avoided him if she’d bumped into him at a grocery store.

  He picked up his T-shirt, since hers had the two wets spots where her nipples would be, and pressed it into her hands. “Go to bed. I’m just going to clean up.”

  She quickly put the T-shirt on, and got into their bed. She didn’t relax, however, until Jason climbed into the bed as well. She actively fought against the expectation that formed in her mind that Jason would wrap his arms around her. She actually preferred it this way. No confusion of what they had just done. Besides, why would anyone want to be burdened with a body clambering all over them throughout a hot, spring night?

  “Can I hold you?” Jason asked shyly.

  She almost turned into dust at the request. Of course, 1000 percent yes. She would give up tiramisu for the chance.

  “Yes, but I can’t promise you I won’t drool on you.”

  He hauled her to him, and her back pressed firmly against his chest. He now wore swimming shorts that rubbed roughly against her skin, but he, mercifully, didn’t have a shirt on. His one arm and leg circled around her, pulling her farther into his space.

  “I literally can still taste you on my lips. I think I’ll be fine.”

  She made a choking sound.

  He laughed. “Good night, Jojo.”

  “Good night.”

  A good night, indeed. One of the best sleeps she ever had.

  Chapter 9

  Jason and Jolene were in the laundry room attached to the motel, picking up the clothes they’d washed and dried first thing in the morning. They’d been awake since six a.m., and they’d made calls to their respective workplaces and visited the police station. The lead investigator on their case had nothing new to report but reiterated that once the thieves sold the stolen items, locating them would become more difficult.

  Jolene threw their dry clothes and underwear into a canvas bag, frustration over their bad luck evident in her movements. Jason’s eye caught sight of the T-shirt that Jolene had worn to sleep last night. The image of her stretching in bed early that morning as the sunlight caressed her skin sprang into his mind. They’d acted pleasantly toward one another, and there was no tension or embarrassment between them. However, the little itch of disappointment he experienced over seeing no expectations behind her eyes surprised him.

  He told himself it was a good thing. They both knew last night happened because they needed to exorcise the tension that had built up between them. And though he’d promised there would be another time for them to explore their sexual chemistry, he no longer knew if that was a good idea. What happened in Gregory Lake stayed in Gregory Lake, and they had to leave today. So, any desire he had to pick up a pack of condoms didn’t matter.

  “I can’t believe we’re just leaving,” Jolene said.

  “We have no choice.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m missing work and volunteering today. I can’t miss tomorrow. I have patients who’re expecting me.”

  “God, I know. I know.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “There’s only so much I can do when I’m out of the office.”

  She joined him on the tiny bench he sat on. “I have to let Nicky and Ty know what’s going on.”

  A hint of sadness came through in her voice, and she stared blankly at the gyrating washing machine in front of her that cleaned someone else’s clothes.

  “We’ll tell them together. Maybe after lunch,” he said.

  She turned to him, then. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten you owe me a lobster.”

  “I don’t think the Hive Diner sells lobster.”

  “Hmm. We can always go somewhere—”

  “They might have some canned tuna, though.”

  The gloom in her was gone now, and her big laugh filled the small space. The sound curled around him.

  “You cheap bastard.”

  With all the drama they had to contend with, Jolene wasn’t feeling all that hungry when she and Jason arrived at the Hive Diner, but she wanted to cash in on her winnings. He wasn’t going to get off that easy.

  “I’m going to miss this place,” she said once they were seated. She loo
ked around the restaurant.

  “We’ve only been here three times,” Jason said.

  She ignored him and pointed to a particularly quirky painting of a cowboy astride a horse. “A masterpiece I’ve just now noticed.”

  Jason peered at the painting over his shoulder and curled his lips in distaste. “Your judgement is questionable.”

  Rowena arrived at their table with a smile on her face. It wasn’t one that reached her eyes or anything, but it encouraged Jolene to divulge the dare she’d won last night at the pub. She made a big show of ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, a seventeen-dollar baked lasagna with extra garlic bread on the side.

  “We’re also heading out today,” Jolene said after Rowena collected their menus.

  “Did you end up figuring out what happened to your things?”

  “No leads, unfortunately,” Jolene said.

  “Hmm. Sorry about that.”

  “But the authorities will be in contact with any developments,” Jason added.

  Jolene frowned at Jason. He’d given Jolene such a hard time about talking about “their business,” and now he did the same thing.

  “Okay,” Rowena replied. “Well, I hope they find the rest of your belongings.”

  “Thanks—”

  “Why would you say, ‘the rest of your belongings’?” Jason asked.

  “What?”

  Jolene gave him a confused look as well.

  “You said you hoped we find the rest of our belongings, implying that we have some of them. But why did you assume the thieves didn’t take everything?”