by Karen Renee
“This is a two-way street, Clumsy. You better ride me, and make it damn good like I’m pretty sure you can.”
Looking down at him, I had a hard time holding back the devilish grin threatening me. I loved having him beneath me. The vision of him on a bed under me, yet inside of me etched itself into my mind’s eye. There was no telling if this would be a one-and-done situation, but I couldn’t give any thought to that right now. I not only needed to commit the moments to memory, I needed to ride this moment to a completion that was certain to rock my world.
Up and down I rocked on top of him, and his eyes on my breasts was its own reward. I wasn’t that well endowed, but I had enough to satisfy most men. Yet watching him watch my breasts made me feel a pride I’d never felt before.
I kept bouncing, and his thumb continued to work me. Thrilling feelings trilled down my spine, gathering low, and pressure built. My mouth opened, and I couldn’t control my words.
“Oh my God! So close! So close!” I cried on a moan and it skirted the edge of whiny.
My orgasm hit and the release was so good and hit me so hard tears welled in my eyes. It boggled my mind that I had so much tension to be released. I flopped to my back, not even realizing I’d lost him. But Beast grabbed my leg, jerked it up and entered me again. His savage thrusts shot heat to my breasts because watching him started building it in me again.
He held my leg up by my thigh, and his hand moved to my knee, his thumb encouraging me to bend my knee. Seeing my lower leg hanging over his arm sent curls of lust through me, which made me move faster with him. His blazing eyes locked with mine, his other hand came down on the pillow next to my head and he lowered his head to kiss me.
He broke the kiss, his breathing becoming ragged, and with a sudden stop, he groaned with his eyes closed. All of that told me he had reached his climax, but feeling him twitch inside me was immensely satisfying.
When his breathing stabilized he released my leg and kissed my cheek softly. “Don’t want to sound full of myself, but I gotta know, baby. That your first orgasm?”
Ice water dumped on me would have been more welcome than his question.
“No. Why?”
“Never seen a woman with tears after she comes. But more important, ‘So close! So close!’ The way you yelled that and went totally fuckin’ wild after; I figure it was your first. Or your man never cared if you were taken care of first.”
‘Or ever’ was more like it, but I didn’t want to share that.
“It wasn’t my first. It was...I guess I had a lot more tension to release than I realized.”
“That wasn’t just too much tension. Hell, you whining as if you might not get there nearly made me stop, but you were writhing like a woman on fire and it made me even harder.”
I sighed. “Let’s just say the quality of my prior orgasms were not equal to the quality of what you gave me.”
He shook his head. “When I say I can’t understand how that can be, believe me, I mean it. You went fuckin’ crazy, so not to bring him into this, but if your ex didn’t get you that worked up, he’s more of a dumb-ass than I realized.”
CHAPTER 17
Janie
SITTING UP ON THE BED, I watched Beast saunter out of the bathroom naked, and he shook his head at me. He put a knee next to my hip and crowded me, forcing my back to the bed. Grabbing me under the arms, I found myself with my head on a pillow and he settled beside me, whipping the sheet over us.
“Beast, what–”
“Shh.” he said low next to my ear.
He kissed me long, slow, and languorous. I wouldn’t have believed he had this in him, but clearly there were many things I was wrong about where he was concerned.
Pulling away from me, his eyes held mine and then they roved my face as if he was inspecting me. His finger came up and traced the bridge of my nose.
“Tell me about the events you’ve had to attend over the years.”
I gave him a confused look. “Really? You want to know about the political functions?”
He nodded once. I took in his serious eyes and fought laughter. Then I spoke the truth.
“They’re all full of bombastic gasbags.”
“Tell me how you really feel,” Beast said, tucking my hair behind my ear.
I tsked, realizing I sounded judgy. “I mean, no real change comes from political meetings. Half the time they’re giving into other factions, lobbyists, or building up someone else’s campaign coffers. The meetings, rallies, and all are just people letting out hot air.”
“My Clumsy’s cynical.”
I forced myself to turn my head so he might miss my big eyes and me biting my lip. I wished I could be his. Though I wasn’t that clumsy, so I wanted him to drop the nickname.
I looked back to him. “Okay, take note, I’m using a gentle tone when I point this out–”
His arm slid up the bed lowering his body fully on his side while he chuckled. “A gentle tone?”
I turned on my side so I could hold his eyes without straining my neck. It was really sweet laying in bed with him like this, but I had to keep myself focused. “Yes. I’m not being bitchy or anything, but, I feel it should be pointed out that I have not been the least bit clumsy since that first day we met. Stumbling or tripping just once does not make me clumsy. So, I don’t think I fully deserve that nickname.”
His grin was sly and knowing. “Andi’s your best friend, right?”
“Yes,” I said dubiously.
“You been to her massage place more than once before that day, right?”
I sighed. “Right.”
“No way that uneven piece of sidewalk shoulda forced you to stumble to the point you nearly plowed into me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I didn’t nearly plow into you. You caught me. Because you’ve got decent manners that way.”
He barked out a short laugh. “Janie, I got decent manners when I feel like usin’ ‘em. But I didn’t catch you to be decent. I caught you or we’d have both gone down to the ground that day.”
I smacked his bare shoulder. “You are so full of it!”
His eyes twinkled. “Call Liar, he’ll tell you. He mentioned something about it when you were in your car not a minute later.”
I looked to the wall, muttering, “Whatever.”
His thick strong arms moved. Both wrapped around me, which was a feat since one of them had to snake under me in the bed. “Don’t ‘whatever’ me, Clumsy. Frankly, I love that you were trippin’, ‘cause otherwise, I might’ve ignored you after you walked away.”
I stiffened, and his hands began to knead my ribs and for once a man had a comforting touch. It made me relax a touch. “What do you mean, you ‘might’ve ignored’ me?”
Now he looked past me for a second. When his eyes met mine again, they were as earnest as I’d ever seen them. “Liar went inside to see to Andrea—”
“After he said I could’ve plowed you down, apparently, not that I believe you,” I deadpanned.
Both his hands squeezed me and since they were near my ribs, it tickled so I yelped as quietly as I could. He grinned. “Ticklish. Think I like that, but anyway. Liar went inside, and I looked back to see your car was runnin’ and your hands movin’ in a very exaggerated way.”
I cast my mind back to that afternoon, and I realized I had been really handsy while speaking to Trent.
He continued. “I knew something was up with you, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, and most of me didn’t want to try either. Problem was, your high-class ass intrigued me, so I couldn’t help but watch you until you practically peeled out of the lot.”
I stared at him for while, but his lips quirked. “By the way, you get another sporty car like that again, I’m gonna teach your ass how to drive it right.”
I fought rolling my eyes at him by staring hard at his beautiful shoulder. Looking back to him, the playfulness in his eyes made my belly melt. “I know how to drive a sporty vehicle, David.”
The playful l
eft his eyes, but he held my gaze all the same. “Andi or Jim?” he asked.
I couldn’t hold back the flare of surprise in my eyes. I smirked. “I’m not telling.”
His fingers moved infinitesimally, and I squirmed while crossing my legs. He returned my smirk. “Which one, babe?”
“Stop it,” I demanded.
“Which one?” he asked, tickling me in earnest.
I laughed, and finally wrenched myself out of his grip saying, “Liar, okay? It was Liar.”
He dragged me back beneath him, and settled his weight on me with his thick forearms framing my head. “You sure it wasn’t Andrea?” he asked, one of his eyes almost squinting at me.
I chuckled quietly. “No. In fact, Liar must underestimate my intelligence because he seriously wanted me to call you Davy. Even I knew that wasn’t going fly with you.”
His lips quirked and I could see his eyes working out what his response would be, but then the muffled crunching of rocks could be heard right outside the bedroom windows. Beast knifed off me, tugged on his jeans, grabbed his t-shirt and speared me with his eyes.
“You stay here, but grab the phone. I’m not back in five minutes or you hear somethin’ that’s wrong, call 9-1-1.”
“What?” I breathed, and I scrambled off the bed.
His eyes went hard. “Stay. Here, Janie. Probably just a raccoon or some shit out there, but hell if I’m having you accompany me out there.”
I watched him shove his feet into flip-flops and marveled at how beautiful his damn feet were. Then I heard the door click shut, and my mind raced. There was no doubt it was not a damned raccoon out there, and in my mind there was power in numbers. My duffel bag was laying open on the floor and I saw a navy blue t-shirt dress on the top of the stack of clothes. With speed I didn’t know I had, I threw it over my head, shoving my arms where they needed to be, and toed into my flip-flops.
Tip-toeing around the corner of the corridor, so my flip-flops wouldn’t slap my feet, I heard heated male voices.
“I don’t want any trouble, man,” someone who wasn’t Beast said, but in an odd way the voice sounded familiar.
“Don’t give a flyin’ fuck what you ‘want,’ man. I asked your preppy-ass a question. What the fuck are you doin’ here?”
I don’t know if it was the familiarity of the voice or Beast calling the man a ‘preppy-ass’ but I stepped further on the open sidewalk to get a better look at them. I gasped, which was not good, since it caught the attention of both Beast and Paul, Trent’s campaign manager.
Seeing me seemed to infuse Paul with a confidence he didn’t have before. “Janie. Knew somethin’ wasn’t right when Trent said you were down here in a condo Andrea’s boyfriend co-owned, but your rental car is still sitting pretty at the Club Continental.”
Normally I knew what tipped my temper into the red zone, but this was one of those rare instances where I really didn’t know what came over me. I just knew I was mad as all hell and Paul deserved the brunt of it and far more.
“What the hell business is it of yours, Paul, where I am and where a rental car is parked? Actually, don’t answer that. What fucking difference does it make where I am to you, period? You’re Trent’s lackey. No way do you need to be keeping tabs on me.”
Okay, if my lawyer had been a little angel sitting on my shoulder, he’d have said, ‘Don’t say anything, Janie.’ I realized all too late that I had fucked up when Paul’s head tipped a little to the side and his look went condescending in the worst way.
“I’m the person who’s going to get Trent into the next office. And then the U.S. House, if not the Senate. So, no, I’m not Trent’s lackey. I’m really Trent’s puppet-master. He just hasn’t realized it yet because I don’t want him to realize it yet. Thing about that is, you’re one of the many moving pieces surrounding Trent, like a poorly-orbiting moon, except this divorce business has the potential to cast a pall on the campaign.”
He paused and Beast stepped toward him, but Paul side-stepped him and moved closer to me. “No way, I’m letting something as small as you and your neediness for a family derail the campaign, Jane. I do like how that rhymes. Shame I’m gonna have to drag your name through the mud to make sure Trent comes out the victor.”
My heart sank to unknown extremes. I had to wonder if Paul was the reason behind Trent’s insistence I abort our unexpected pregnancy, and then I realized it was certain Paul would support anything that kept Trent focused on campaigning. Trent and Paul were coworkers who were stuck together in a way I had never seen before. My gut told me Paul was a huge driver of Trent’s ambition over the past three years.
I was trying to think of a retort, when I noticed Beast had edged into Paul’s personal space.
“Leave him alone.” I paused as I debated using Beast’s real name or MC name, but finally said, “Beast. Clearly, he’s done all he can do. He’s found me, and he’ll be reporting back to Trent.”
Paul heard my snide tone and reciprocated it. “Actually, I think me reporting to Trent is the least of your concerns, Janie.”
I tilted my head and gave him my big eyes. “That so, Paul? Are you genuinely aware of the grind Trent’s been under lately? Has he told you about it? In detail, that grind, I mean? If not, you might think again about what the ‘least’ of my concerns happen to be.”
Even though I hated being so damn fake, I pointed one hell of a false smile at Paul and looked to Beast who was hanging his head with either defeat or humor, I couldn’t tell which.
“Let’s go, Beast. Paul doesn’t get his ass in gear, we can always report him for trespassing.”
Beast
When he heard the sound of the rocks outside the bedroom, Beast’s gut sank to his feet. Knowing that Trent was tracking Janie through her phone was one thing, but disabling it and taking her to get a different phone had been a risk that could reap dire consequences. He would hate to prove that asshole right, that Janie had cheated on him, but with Beast rather than Liar.
Fury coursed through his veins when he heard that uptight fucker threatening to drag Janie’s name through the mud. This asshole deserved a total ass-kicking, but hearing Janie refer to Grind and the blackmailing without saying it explicitly sent his fury higher. She was trying to be sneaky with her words, but that shit could blowback on her and she did not need that.
Her order of ‘Let’s go,’ jerked him out of his thoughts. He speared her with his eyes, thinking of just how he was going to punish her for not obeying his earlier order to stay inside.
“No, Jane. I’m not going anywhere until I see this asshole to his vehicle.”
The lackey looked at him. “That really won’t be necessary, Beast.”
Holding the man’s gaze, Beast let his fury show in his eyes. He knew this asshole was going to report in to Trent, and he also knew the asshole would be looking into him even further than they already had. Not what he needed right now.
It wasn’t likely, but a political-type might be able to fuck with his petition before a Mississippi judge. That made his gut twist for two reasons. One, he needed the shit with Brianne to be done. Two, he realized if those assholes knew that, they could use it to force him to stop being with Janie, and the fuck of it was, he might not fight if it came down to that.
Paul sauntered away, but he didn’t approach any vehicles in the lot. He kept walking out of the lot, pausing to cross the street and headed to the shopping center parking lot. That was a smart move on the asshole’s part, and Beast knew this was just the beginning.
Janie’s soft hand touched his bicep. “Let’s go Beast.”
He looked down to her green eyes. “You, missy, need to listen to me.”
She pursed her lips, but then said, “Don’t call me ‘missy!’ It’s demeaning and condescending. Neither are attractive, mister.”
His brows rose. “But you can call me ‘mister,’ have I got that right?”
Her eyes rolled. “Fine. I apologize, Beast. Can we go back inside now? Please?”
<
br /> That was when he noticed she was wearing a shapeless dress. The only thing it had going for it was that he could remove it fast. He slid his hand around her waist and guided her back toward the condo because he had every intention of getting that thing off her.
Liar may have told him on the phone not to haul ass back to Jacksonville, but the bottom line was that he was getting her back to her place first thing in the morning. His gut told him he had to make the most of his time tonight because it was damn likely nothing would be the same afterward.
He locked the door behind them. Turning around, he was startled to find Janie practically in his space and barring entry to the kitchen at the same time. The unit was small so anytime anyone stood in the middle of the hallway it was a good chance they were blocking the way.
Before he could put his hands to Janie’s hips, she spoke, but the gleam in her eye concerned him.
She looked into the kitchen and back at him. “You know, I’ve been meaning to say something about this all day. I’m surprised you can dance and cook at the same time.”
He chuckled because he did not think that was where she was headed. “If the tunes are right, babe, there is never a bad time to dance. You grow up near New Orleans, dancing’s just what you do. I also used to run a nightclub. I didn’t get into that shit just to fuck up my sleep. Gettin’ my groove on is enjoyable, and it made workin’ till four in the morning much more tolerable.”
She lowered her head and plucked at her dress. “So, I’m sorry that happened.”
That made two of them, but he hated seeing her with her head hung low. Putting two fingers to her chin he raised her face. “Don’t be. Nothing either one of us could have done to stop that, and frankly I’m mad at myself for not thinking about it sooner. Knew we were playin’ a dangerous game when we disabled the GPS and got you a different phone on your own plan, but I didn’t think about how connected Trent might be. So, I’m sorry I didn’t think to get us the fuck out of here instead.”