Yeah.
It’s dark when we wake up, and my stomach is growling.
“Did we miss dinner?” I ask when Jana rubs her hand over my abs.
She makes a sleepy shrug. “Let’s call it fashionably late. Do you want some coffee?”
“God, yes.”
I follow her into the kitchen, where she hands me a stack of takeout menus before getting started on the coffee.
“What do you like?”
“They’re all good.” She moves closer and I wrap my arm around her hips, holding her tight. She flips through until she finds a menu for a diner. “This one does everything. Burgers, gyros, perogies. They’ll even send along chocolate cake or pie if we want dessert.”
The cats all stroll in on cue. Maybe talk of chocolate cake is their dinner bell. Jana shoos me out of the way so she can feed them, and I go in search of my bag. I told everyone I would be away for the night, but I should probably check my email.
I grab my tablet and settle on Jana’s couch.
The kitten jumps up on my chest. I give her my knuckle to sniff, and when she hunkers down, I smooth my hand over her back, then scratch behind her ears. She starts purring.
Jana walks in at that moment and starts laughing as she sets down one of two coffees beside me. “Of course you’ve got her purring.”
“She likes me.”
Jana sits beside me and takes a sip of her own coffee. Her eyes dance as she watches me over the rim of the mug.
“Are you laughing at me?”
She shakes her head slowly. “I like you, too.”
“Good.” My tablet dings, signaling an incoming message. I lift it up and swipe in, and Jana turns away. She could be nosy, I wouldn’t care.
Toby: Are you around? I’m flying in on the red eye. Want to grab breakfast?
Jake: Sorry, out of the city. How long will you be in New York?
Toby: Just for the day. Next time. I’ll see what Ben is doing instead.
I glance sideways at Jana. I find myself wanting to tell Toby where I am, and why.
“What is it?” she asks.
“My friend Toby. He’s going to be in the city tomorrow.”
“Do you want to go back?” She says it carefully, guarded.
“Hell no.” I laugh. “No. Not at all. But I didn’t tell him where I am.”
She shrugs. “And?”
And nothing. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Okay.” She smiles. “So Toby doesn’t live in New York?”
I find myself telling her all about him. How we were two misfits our freshman year at MIT. How he was a genius and I was smart enough to get him to work with me on a couple of group projects, and how we’ve been best friends ever since, even though he lives in California now and is a distracted jackass who never gives me any heads up that he’s coming to town.
She laughs when I call him a jackass. “That’s loving.”
I snort. “Our other friend, Ben, is a total dick.”
“Can’t wait to meet them,” she says dryly.
She meant it as a joke, but yeah, I can’t wait, either. “Ben will hit on you. Toby will want to know everything about your job. I’ll hate them both a little bit.”
“Jealous?” Her voice is light, teasing.
I’m totally serious. “Yeah. But I want to show you off, too.”
Her eyebrows pull together. “You want me to meet your friends. For real.”
“I do. Is that going too fast?”
She shrugs. “No, I guess not.” She leans in and gives me a light kiss. “I’d love to meet your friends. And make you crazy jealous.” The kitten meows, and Jana turns to nuzzle her face into the kitten’s fur. “I know, baby,” she whispers. “He has no idea.”
“No idea of what?”
Jana gives me a disbelieving look. “Oh, Jake. If anyone is going to be crazy jealous at some point in our relationship, it’s going to be me. How many supermodel ex-girlfriends do you have?”
Two? I can’t remember. “That doesn’t matter.”
“It always matters. There will be some super awkward meeting at the Met Gala. I’ve seen how it goes on TMZ.”
“I’ve never been to the Met Gala.” I always turn down the invitation. “Do you want to go? Ben goes every year. As far as I can tell it’s a pretentious bore.”
“Maybe I’ll go with Ben.” She winks at me as I snake my arm around her. “Is he hot?”
I pull her tight against my side. The kitten protests, but I’ve got enough affection for both of them. “He’s a dick. I thought I was clear on that point.”
“Can’t wait to meet him,” she breathes against my mouth as I move in for a kiss. Nothing sweet or light about it, either. I kiss her possessively. I claim her.
And I begin to plan.
20
Jana
When I went to Daisy’s house for New Year’s Eve, I’d been deliberately vague about Jake. I didn’t use his name, and I didn’t tell my friends that he’d come to Vermont.
I did tell them we’d started dating—me and a hot delivery driver, nameless and definitely not a secret billionaire—but he’d had to move away for work, and now we were doing a causal long distance thing.
It doesn’t feel casual, though.
And I’m staying at his place for two nights, a fact I need to fess up to Nina when she texts me as soon as I get on the train.
Nina: Have you left yet?
Jana: Just pulled out of Penn Station. Should be there in two hours.
Nina: Early dinner? Or drinks and late dinner?
Jana: Drinks. But I have dinner plans, sorry.
Nina: You bitch! With who?
Jana: Delivery Guy.
Nina: He’s here?
Jana: Yeah. He lives in the city.
Nina: That’s new information.
Jana: Only because you’re nosy.
Nina: I am not. What’s his name?
I press my phone to my chest and groan. I’m pretty sure Nina walks past the Aston Corp headquarters every day on her way to work.
Jana: Still a secret.
Nina: Why?
Jana: Because I don’t want you Googling him.
Nina: Have you?
I don’t need to. The morning news tells me everything I need to know about my boyfriend.
Jana: Yeah, sure.
Nina: I want all the details over drinks. Brace yourself.
She’s waiting for me in the main hall of the other Penn Station, this one in New York City. A mile and a half south of Jake’s building. Just thinking of him makes my heart race, and my best friend reads me like a book.
“Look at you,” she chides as she pulls me in for a hug. “So you’ve found love with the delivery driver, huh?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” I say, my cheeks flaming again. I give her a quick squeeze. “Let’s go find that drink you promised.”
It’s unseasonably warm, so we walk instead of trying to catch a cab. We go to a bar she likes on the ground floor of a boutique hotel, and after the bartender makes us drinks called Lavender Is the New Black, she gives me an expectant look. “Dish.”
“I need you to promise you won’t freak out first.”
“Is he an ex-convict? What was he in for?” She’s grinning, so I think she’s kidding.
“He doesn’t have a criminal record.”
She shrugs. “Damn. I’ve been binge watching Sons of Anarchy. I could go for a bad boy if he had a wild history like that. And an MBA.”
I choke on the sip I’d just taken. “Well,” I wheeze. “Jake isn’t…uhh, a criminal and he doesn’t ride a motorcycle, I don’t think. But he does have an MBA.”
“Is he one of those artsy types who turn their back on their straight-laced background? Drives a delivery truck because it frees his mind to write haikus? I’d have to do a lot of squinting to think that’s hot.”
I giggle and take a more controlled sip of my drink. “No. He uses his MBA every day. And stop trying to decide i
f he’s hot enough for you to bang. He’s mine.”
She frowns and gives me a curious look. “So spill.”
“Secret for now, okay? Don’t tell Daisy.”
She nods. “For now.”
“Jake actually owns a delivery company. He was driving for them as an on-the-job thing.”
“Is it a regional thing? Baltimore to New York?”
I shake my head. “It’s SwiftEx.”
“Your boyfriend owns SwiftEx.”
I nod.
Her frown deepens. “Weren’t they just bought out by Aston Corp?”
“Yeah.” I lift my drink and wait for her to fit the pieces together.
Her head twists to the side, pointing in the general direction of the Aston Corp headquarters. “Aston. Like…Jake Aston.”
Another nod. “Yeah.”
“You’re dating a billionaire.”
“I’m dating a guy named Jake.”
Her gaze re-centers on me. One blink, then she lifts her glass and downs the entire thing. “Right.” She sets the empty glass on the bar and waves for the bartender. “I’ll need another of these.”
“It’s kind of weird. But mostly wonderful,” I say, my words running together. I want to normalize this as fast as possible.
“All those packages we sent you…” She starts laughing. “Wait, the crotchless panties. Please tell me you opened them in front of him.”
“No. I quickly caught on to your ridiculous scheme.”
“Damn it. That would be the best story.” Her giggles fade and she grins at me. “So he’s being good to you?”
“Very.”
“Well, damn, bitch.” She throws her arms around me and squeezes me tight, narrowly missing the new drink the bartender sets in front of us. “I’m thrilled.”
“Mum is the word, though. We’re still figuring out how we do this.”
“Wow. Okay. So you’re staying with him. What time should I come over for dinner tomorrow.”
“No.”
She winks. “Yes.”
“No!” I laugh. “Next visit. He’s talked about introducing me to his friends, too, but…one thing at a time. You can meet him as soon as I tell Daisy.”
She makes a disappointed noise, but accepts my answer—for now. I’ll need to warn Jake that the nosiest attorney in all of New York City now has him in her are-you-good-enough-for-Jana sights.
We finish our drinks slowly, talking about her job, my job, shoes, food, and finally, back to Jake.
“What time are you meeting him?”
I shrug. “Whenever. He told me to come to his office.”
“Can I—”
“No.”
“Fine. Walk me back to work, it’s on the way.”
Me seeing myself to the Aston Corp building had been a compromise. Jake wanted to have me picked up by a driver, but I knew I needed to meet Nina first, and a driver would have just complicated that conversation further.
So I’m not surprised when the security guard knows who I am, and shows me personally to a special elevator at the back of the lobby that goes straight to the top floor. I take off my gloves and tuck them into my bag as I watch the numbers light up. Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two…
When the doors open, Jake is waiting for me.
He’s in a suit and tie, and he looks good enough to eat.
“Hey,” I breathe as I step forward.
“I’ve missed you,” he growls, pulling me into his arms. His hands slide under my coat and around my waist. My small suitcase rolls away, but I don’t care, because Jake’s kissing me.
It’s official—a week is way too long to be apart.
He cups my face, then strokes his hands down my arms and tangles his fingers in mine. “I’ve got a conference call in a few minutes, but you can hang out in my office as I take it.”
Hang out in his office turns out to be code for sit in his lap. He’s got his phone on mute, and he does his best multi-tasking show off by both making out with me and actually listening to the conversation at the same time.
“You don’t mind?” he asks after pausing at second base so he could ask his South American distributor a question.
I shake my head and point to the phone. “You do what you’ve gotta do. It’s sexy to see you in your element.”
He laughs. “No. Sexy is…” He pats his desk. “Here. Sit your ass right here.”
I gasp and say his name, but we both know my protest is weak. I want whatever he’s going to do right now.
He puts his index finger against his lips. Shhhh.
Then he takes his phone off mute at the same time as he pushes my skirt up to my hips. He grins. “Can you repeat that last item, Neil? I missed the particulars.”
21
Jake
From the second Jana stepped off that elevator, three little words have rocketed around in my head. I love her.
It’s too soon, too much, too hasty.
So I distract us both with my hands and mouth, and then—to prove a point, that I’m in control—I tell her to be quiet as I slide her dress up to her hips.
Except when I get the soft gray fabric all the way up her strong, curvy legs, I groan out loud, because she’s wearing socks.
Thigh-high, cable-knit, gotcha-sucker-these-aren’t-tights socks.
“What was that?” someone asks over the phone.
I shove my fist into my mouth as Jana shakes with silent laughter and presses her finger to her mouth. Shhh indeed.
“I just realized I’m double-booked,” I manage to grind out. I glance at the clock. Thirty-seven minutes after the hour. Nobody is going to buy that, but what does it fucking matter when I’m the boss? “Continue. This is great stuff. Email me a summary of the rest of the conversation.”
Jana lets her laugh go when I hang up the phone, but it fades into a breathy moan when I loam over her. She blinks up at me. “What was that all about?”
“I like your socks,” I admit. “A lot.”
She spreads her thighs and brings her legs up, squeezing them around me. “And they like you.”
“I was expecting tights or something.”
“I could tell.” She giggles again as I kiss her. “If you’re done with your call, does that mean we can head back to your place?”
Soon. I’ll have her in my bed as soon as we’re through the door. She’ll leave her mark forever on my space. But unless I take the edge off here, it’s going to be a repeat of the last time we were together.
I shake my head and trail my fingers down the front of her dress, to where her skirt is curled obscenely around her waist. “I told you to be quiet for a reason. We’re not done here.”
“Oh!” Her eyes go wide, and she presses her lips together.
I take my seat again, and lean in.
There’s just an inch of soft, delicate skin showing between the top of her socks and the black cotton booty shorts she’s wearing. I press a kiss there, breathing her in. She shivers under my touch, but doesn’t make a sound. Excellent. I trace the edge of her panties with my tongue, then slide to the other leg, teasing her until she’s squirming.
By the time I tug her underwear to the side, she’s slick and swollen for me. I lick her pussy with the tip of my tongue, stroking along one outer lip, then the other. And when she rocks her hips up, seeking more, I cover her bare flesh with my mouth and give her the dirtiest kiss I can. I suck and pull on her bare flesh, then fuck my tongue into her entrance. She tastes musky and sweet, and her essence on my face is the sexiest thing I can imagine.
I grip her thighs with my hands, pressing her as wide open as possible. She whines under her breath when I suck on her clit, so I keep that up—because whining is good. Whining is needy and desperate and hot as fuck. I suck on her until she’s humping my face and her legs are closing in around my ears, even though I’m trying to hold her down, and then I slide one finger, then two, into her clutching, eager, hot little cunt.
She comes with a gasp and a cry, unable to be
completely quiet as I devour her. I suck and lick until she’s begging me to stop. “So good,” she breathes.
I carefully cover her up, then push my chair back and palm my erection through my dress pants.
Her eyes go wide and she scrambles to her knees in front of me.
Wordlessly, I unzip and she takes me in hand, licking first around the thick tip, then slowly bobbing her way down my raging length.
Oh, sweet fuck. This is better than I’d imagined.
I let my eyelids droop as I watch her mouth stretch wide around my cock. Her hair is mussed up and her cheeks are bright red from the orgasm.
She’s gorgeous.
It doesn’t take me long to get there, and when I do, she swallows every drop. Well, almost every drop. As she eases off me, I spurt one last time and a bit of my come lands on her lip.
Fucking hell, that’s hot, too.
She giggles as I wipe it off, then she pulls my thumb into her mouth and damn if that doesn’t make me just want to go again.
Instead, I tuck myself away and watch heatedly as she rights herself.
Her thigh-high not-really-tights are still perfectly in place, which I remark on. “Your socks are magic. They didn’t even move.”
Her eyes sparkle. “They’re glued down.”
My mouth drops open. “That sounds barbaric.”
She lifts her skirt all the way to her hip and carefully unsticks the top of one sock from her skin. “Not in the least. It’s a soluble adhesive. No marks, and it washes off the socks, too.”
“Damn, that’s genius. I’m investing in that company. What else can it hold on to your body?”
She winks. “All sorts of things.”
I wrap my arm around her waist and nuzzle into her neck. “That’s going to be fun come Hallowe’en.”
“Hallowe’en?”
“We can do matching costumes. I bet your friends do a party, right?” I nip at her skin. Maybe I should have taken her on my desk.
“They do…”
“Is it okay that I’m already thinking about Hallowe’en?”
“Sure. I mean, it’s not like you’re suggesting how we split up the holidays between our respective folks.”
Take Me to Bed: A Collection of Naughty Bedtime Stories Page 56