by Laney Kay
“So what’s a fun place to go for dinner that’s Melvin-friendly?” Bella asked.
They looked it up on Bella’s phone, and it turned out there was a neighborhood pub around the corner that welcomed dogs and supposedly had amazing burgers, so they decided to walk there for an early dinner. They walked over, chatting animatedly about the neighborhood and what was going on in Atlanta, and when Jack reached out and casually took her hand, he was happy to see that Bella didn’t pull away.
When they got to the pub, they found a table in the shade on the patio, and the waiter brought all of them, including Melvin, water and Bella and Jack each ordered a Corona Light with lime. When the waiter came back with their beers, they decided to share a burger and a couple of appetizers, and they ordered Melvin a kid’s burger without the bun.
They sat on the patio, drinking beer, smiling as they watched Melvin work his charm on every person and dog who walked by. Jack’s eyes kept coming back to Bella, loving how she looked sitting there with no makeup, a tank top, a denim skirt that hit a couple of inches above her knees, a pair of flat sandals, and her sunglasses on the top of her head. Even sitting here at a restaurant, Jack wanted her. When he’d seen her standing by his bed earlier, it had taken everything he had not to pin her against the wall and kiss her senseless.
Bella caught him staring at her. “What?”
He smiled. “Nothing. Just enjoying the day and the view. This is a great way to spend a Saturday.”
Bella agreed. She was relieved that they were still so comfortable together. They finished a leisurely meal and headed back toward Jack’s house. This time, Bella had been the one who’d reached for Jack’s hand and he smiled at her and brought her knuckles to his mouth for a sweet kiss.
When they reached his house, Bella turned to Jack. She was nervous and her voice quavered a little. “Jack, you think I could come in for a little while? I’d like to talk to you, if you have some time.”
Jack’s heart started to pound. Please let this be good news. He unlocked the door and motioned her ahead of him. “Of course, Bella. Let’s go sit on the porch and we can talk about whatever you want.”
He shut the door, let Melvin off his leash, and headed toward the kitchen. As he went by the fridge, he offered Bella a drink. “Tea? Beer?” Bella asked for tea, he poured them both a glass and they walked out to the porch together. Melvin headed out the dog door to explore the back yard, leaving them alone on the porch. He put the drinks down on a small table and sat down on his glider. Bella sat in the rocking chair directly across from him. “Okay, Bella. You’ve got my attention. What do you want to talk about?”
Bella picked up one of the glasses, took a gulp of tea, and took a big breath and let it out. She looked at him with big eyes. “I want to talk about us, Jack.”
Jack tried to relax and settled back onto the glider. “Sounds good to me, Bella. So what do you want to talk about?”
She was nervous. “First, I want to apologize for the last month. Breaking things off like that, without any kind of contact, was a crappy thing to do to you, and I’m sorry. I behaved like a bratty kid and you didn’t deserve that kind of treatment.”
Jack wasn’t smiling. He wanted her to know how much her actions affected him. “It was a crappy thing to do to me. More importantly, it was a crappy thing to do to us. Bella, I need you to know that this past month was one of the worst months of my life. The only good thing was that I was so busy, I didn’t really have time to stop and think about it. Except late at night, when I was alone in my bed, then you were all I could think about.” He reached out, took the glass out of her hand and put it back on the table, and took both of her hands in his as he stared at her intently. “I missed talking to you, and texting you every day. And after the night of our reunion, I couldn’t sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I’d picture us together and then I’d realize that there was a good chance we were over. And I don’t want us to be over. I’d decided to leave you alone and give you some space until I moved back here, but then I decided I was coming after you.” He saw her eyes welling up and he let go of one hand to wipe away her tears. He leaned forward and leaned his forehead against hers. “And Bella, I accept your apology.”
She sniffled and the corners of her mouth tipped up in a small smile. “I’m glad, Jack. I never meant to hurt you. You just made me feel too much, and that made me afraid.”
He backed up so he could see her face. “And now? Are you still afraid?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Actually, I’m fairly terrified about the whole situation. But I’ve decided that’s a stupid way to live. So, if you’re interested, I’m willing to give us a shot.”
Jack leaned forward. “So, you’re saying you’re willing to give a real relationship a try?”
She took a deep breath and let it out in a big whoosh. “Yep. Let’s just go slow and see what happens.”
Jack nodded. He wanted to make sure he understood. “So, as of now, we’re a couple? That’s what you’re saying?”
Bella smiled at him. “I guess so. If you want me, I’m in.”
Jack sat there for about a second, and then he stood up, scooped her out of the chair and sat down with her straddling his lap with her skirt bunched up around her waist. Bella smiled and whipped his shirt over his head so that she could rub her hands over his chest and stomach. As she ran her hands over his body, he stared at her with a hungry focused expression, and she felt her nipples harden and her heart pound. His mouth slammed onto hers and when her mouth opened in a gasp, his tongue swept into her mouth. They clung together as they kissed, her hands wrapped in his hair, and his hands on her hips to pull him against her. She felt him, already aroused, long and hard against her stomach. He pulled back from her and whispered in her ear. “So Bella, want to help me break in my new bed?”
She laughed delightedly. “I was afraid you’d never ask.”
He stood up and she wrapped her legs around his hips so she wouldn’t fall. He strode down the hall, stopping a few times to pin her against the wall and kiss her until they were both breathless. He finally reached his room and fell onto the bed, then rolled them over so she was on top of him. She laughed and hugged him tightly, just glad to finally have him back in her arms.
She sat up, still straddling him, and she hesitated when she saw his face. Something was wrong. He stared at her, his hands on her thighs, not saying a word. Bella started to feel a little uncomfortable. “What, Jack?”
He looked stricken. “Bella, I don’t want to say anything, because I’m afraid if we stop, you’ll change your mind and leave, but, shit, I don’t have any condoms.”
Bella relaxed. Whew. She thought he was having second thoughts about them. She ran her fingers over his nipples, fascinated when they hardened into little nubs and he shivered in response. “Jack, do you have any diseases I need to worry about?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. I’d never risk you that way. I just…”
“Me neither. And the pregnancy ship sailed about three years ago, so we’re good.”
Jack let out his breath in relief and smiled at her. She kissed him and winked at him. “Enjoy, baby. That’s the advantage of having an old lady for a girlfriend. You’re living in a condom-free world from now on.”
He laughed. “Sounds like that’s my new favorite world.” He ran his hands up under her skirt and started to rub her teasingly through her panties, watching with a smile as her gaze became unfocused and her eyes partially closed. “Hey, I don’t mind telling you, you’re pretty damn hot for an old lady.” She moaned and caught her lower lip under her top teeth. With one hand, he pushed her panties aside and penetrated her with one big finger, and with the other hand, he started rubbing her in small circles with his thumb until her hips started moving in time with his strokes.
He watched her expressive face, smiling as her skin flushed and her head rolled forward as if it were too heavy to hold upright. She was starting to move faster against his hand, and he pushed
in another finger and started moving them in and out, harder and faster. It only took a few minutes of that treatment and Bella was twisting against his hand, riding his fingers, and moaning his name as she had an explosive orgasm. He raised his knees and she collapsed back against his legs, trying to catch her breath. Jack smiled at the picture she made. She was still completely dressed, although her skirt was pushed up around her waist, her panties were kind of pushed to the side and bunched up in a tangled, wet mess, and she was sweating and breathing like she’d run a mile sprint. He thought she looked beautiful.
As her breathing returned to normal, Jack put his hands back on her thighs and shook her gently until she opened her eyes. When she smiled at him, he started to laugh. “How you feeling, baby? You look pretty relaxed.”
She nodded slowly, still a little out of it. “I’m very relaxed, Jack.” She held out her hand and he took it and helped pull her upright. She swayed a little, and Jack laughed at her lack of muscle control.
“Bella, you are a hot mess.” She stuck out her tongue and he tried to grab it and she laughed when he missed. “Okay, I took the edge off for you, Bella. Now this is your show. Tell me what do you want me to do.”
She thought for a moment and then started to grin. “My show, huh? So you’ll do whatever I say?”
“Sure. You tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it. You’re the boss. But…” He waved in the general vicinity of his lap, which had some serious tenting action going on. “I hope you’re not planning on leaving me like this. That’s just cruel.”
She didn’t say a word. She sat up and stripped off her top and then reached behind her back to undo her bra. She let it drop off the side of the bed, and when Jack automatically reached for her breasts, she stopped him. “Nope. No touching, Jack. You stay right there and keep your hands to yourself until I tell you different.” She rose on her knees and climbed over him to stand by the bed. She unbuttoned her skirt and dropped it and her panties all in one motion then leaned over to give him a quick kiss. When he tried to pull her closer, she grabbed his hands and pulled them over his head and told him to hold onto the vertical slats on the headboard. “If you keep trying to touch me, I’m going to tie your hands to it.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Okay. This is interesting. No need to get all dominatrix on me. I’ll behave. So what would you like me to do now, Mistress Bella?”
That made her laugh. She reached over and unbuttoned, then carefully unzipped, his shorts and smiled when she realized he wasn’t wearing underwear. “Lift up.” He lifted his hips and she pulled his shorts down to his knees and then took them off when he relaxed back onto the bed.
She smiled at him, loving the way his long body looked stretched out on the bed, his erection laying against his belly, so hard it was throbbing with his heartbeat. She crawled back on the bed and straddled his thighs, careful not to touch him. She stretched out over his body, leaning down until her nipples barely touched his chest and teasingly rubbed them back and forth. He sucked in a breath and tried to relax, but it wasn’t working. He was so hard he felt as though he was about to explode. He gritted his teeth. “Okay, Bella, you’ve got to do something or this is going to be over before it even gets started.
She tsked. “Poor baby. You do not look happy. Let’s see if I can make you feel better.” She lowered herself until her breasts flattened against his chest, and kissed him, her tongue lightly teasing him then withdrawing as she nipped his lower lip. She lowered herself until she could feel him, hard and hot, between her legs, and she rubbed herself against him, up and down, until both of them were soaking wet.
He thrust himself against her to increase the pressure, but she instantly backed off so that she hovered over him, but was no longer touching him. “Nope, you stay there. You can’t get inside me yet.”
He groaned in frustration, and pressed his hips flat against the bed. She instantly lowered herself again and slowly began stroking him with her body, up and down. He could feel how hot and how wet she was, and it took everything he had not to grab her hips and slam himself into her, but he clenched his teeth and gripped the headboard and let her tease him into a frenzy. She finally slid down so that he was poised at her entrance and she pushed down, her body stretching to take just the tip of him into her hot body. She circled her hips slowly, then stopped and pulled back. She slid slightly more of him inside her, circled her hips, and then retreated.
With each shallow, teasing stroke, Jack felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He barely recognized his own voice, it was so low and guttural. “Bella, please, baby, you’re killing me here. Take more of me. Take me deeper.”
By that point, Bella had worked herself into a frantic state. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her skin was covered in goosebumps, and she was so wet that her moisture coated every inch of him and the inside of her thighs. The next stroke, she took him a little deeper, and, by the third stroke, her body finally relaxed enough that she worked him all the way inside her. As soon as he was fully seated, she sat up. That pushed him in so deep that she could feel every thick inch of him spearing up inside her body, and she stayed motionless until her body adjusted to his size. Jack groaned in relief. “Shit, Bella, just getting back inside you and I’m on the edge. Come on baby, move for me.”
So she did. She braced her hands on the top of the headboard, tightened her interior muscles around him, pulled herself almost completely off him, then slowly sank back down. At the end of each stroke, when he was as deep inside her as he could go and she could feel every inch of him filling her up, she moaned at the sensation. Every movement put her closer and closer to the edge, and so she slowed down even more, not ready for it to end.
Jack had almost reached his limit. The slow, even strokes were driving him crazy. She was so tight and so hot and wet that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. “Bella, baby, can you move a little faster?”
She ignored him, lost in the delicious sensation of having Jack moving deep inside her. Finally, he lost it. He let go of the headboard, grabbed her hips with his big hands, and slammed himself upwards inside her. She gasped as she instantly started coming, and he groaned and thrust harder as her muscles rhythmically clamped around him like a fist. When she finally collapsed onto his chest, too tired to move, Jack wrapped his arm around her hips, rolled her over until she was under him, and pounded into her until he finally slammed into her once, twice, and then held himself deep inside her as he exploded.
Once it was over, they lay there trying to catch their breath, stuck together, covered in sweat, and too exhausted to move. He tried to lever himself up so he could roll off her, but she objected, lifting one hand to pat his shoulder and mumbling in his ear, “No, you feel good inside me. Just stay where you are.”
He turned his head and kissed her neck, smiling as he felt a small shiver in response. He realized he was feeling relaxed and happy for the first time in a month. Finally, when he could breathe normally, he levered himself up on his elbows and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, her face was flushed, her hair was a sweaty mess, and Jack thought he never seen anything so beautiful. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. He leaned down and gently kissed her lips. “I’ve missed you, Bella.”
The corners of her mouth turned up and she looked a little misty. “I’ve missed you, too, Jack.”
He looked at her as if trying to decide what to say to her. He didn’t want to freak her out, but if they were in a real relationship, it was about time they laid all their cards on the table. “Bella, I’m going to tell you something, but I don’t want you to freak out.”
She cupped his face in her hands and smiled at him. “I love you too, Jack.”
She laughed at the look on his face. He was staring at her with his mouth open, too stunned to say a word. She pasted an innocent smile on her face. “You were going to tell me you loved me, right?”
He nodded, still gaping at her. She laughed and reached up to hug his neck. “Jack, I knew I ha
d fallen in love with you over the past year. That was the problem. Since I was already in love with you, I knew if you moved here, that was it, I would be up to my ass in a relationship and I didn’t think I wanted that. I wasn’t afraid of love, I was afraid of a relationship.”
He felt completely discombobulated. “So you love me?”
“Yes, Jack, I love you.”
He nodded, trying to absorb the fact that Bella loved him. She grabbed a handful of his chest hair and lightly pulled. “And didn’t you have something to say to me?”
He smiled. Then he grinned. “Hell, yes I do. I love you, Bella!”
Epilogue
A year later, Jack was speaking at a conference in Las Vegas on Friday, and Bella went with him so they could hang out for the rest of the weekend. Jack’s rehabilitation program was proving to be wildly successful, he’d been working long hours for months and Bella had just finished a huge fundraising event, so they were both looking forward to a weekend of fun and relaxation.
A few months ago, they had agreed that they should move in together. They spent every night and weekend together, and they both thought it was stupid to keep up two separate residences. Jack had volunteered to move into Bella’s house, but then they had both decided that they would rather buy something together that was just theirs. They found a perfect midcentury ranch right around the corner from the VA hospital, with a beautiful open floor plan, and a large wooded lot with a fenced in area for Melvin. They had hired Luke to update their kitchen and bathrooms, to add some customized bookcases with a window seat and they were planning to move in as soon as they returned from Vegas.
As far as Jack was concerned, he’d never been happier. He had a job he loved, a woman he adored, and was back in his Atlanta with his family and a group of friends he really enjoyed. The only thing that would make his life more perfect was if Bella would agree to marry him. They had casually discussed it, and in theory, he agreed with her that there was no real need to get married. It’s not like they were having a family or they had any financial concerns. Privately, in his heart, though, he was old-fashioned enough that he wanted them to be married. He wanted the legal ties. He wasn’t the jealous type, but he liked the idea of her wearing a ring that showed other guys that she was his.