by Marika Ray
I squeezed her hands. “Listen, I know you don’t trust me and I don’t blame you. I don’t want a relationship, but I have to admit. When I walked into Bain’s house today and saw his arm around Lucy, and Roxy clutched between them, a happy family unit…well, it hit me hard. Lucy didn’t even question me on her doorstep, just trusted Bain’s judgement implicitly and I wondered what that would be like. To connect with another human is what we all want, right?”
“So, that’s what changed your mind? One look at a happy family and you wanted…what exactly?”
Nora asked tough questions. Ones I didn’t have answers to yet.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Bain made some comment that standing there holding my son, I looked just like he remembered Dad did when we were young. I know I haven’t talked about my parents, but they’re not nice people. They’re callous and cold and self-centered. I guess it hit me like a ton of bricks that I’ve been so closed off for a while now, I’m in danger of turning into them.”
Nora nodded slowly. “You want to connect with someone—me—but not get into an actual relationship. Am I hearing you right?”
I cringed inwardly, knowing that was a shit deal to offer a girl, yet it was an accurate statement of what I wanted.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”
Nora stared me down, the wheels turning in her head, while I waited on pins and needles for her verdict. She finally leaned in closer, a twinkle in her brown eyes that boded well for me.
“Can you promise me some orgasms that’ll knock my socks off?”
My heart stopped in my chest. I glanced down and tried to talk over the adrenaline pumping through my veins that wanted more action, fewer words. “You’re not wearing any, sweetheart. But even without socks I can guarantee you’ll scream my name.”
She waggled her eyebrows. “Let’s take my car.”
She pushed off my chest and ran around to the driver’s side and climbed in. By the time I got myself inside, she had the engine running and threw it into gear.
“You hungry?” I asked, thinking that even if I was being an asshole by wanting to take her to bed without the potential for a relationship, the least I could do was feed her first.
She laughed out loud. “Oh hell no, we aren’t going out to eat. If you need food, I’ll stop to grab something to go while you stay hidden in the car. You like tamales?”
I got more whiplash from our conversation than her driving. She hit the roundabout without tapping the brakes and I grabbed the handle above the window. The woman must really want to have sex with me, and why wouldn’t she? I puffed up my chest and felt like a twenty-eight-year-old instead of a single dad trying to keep the spit-up off his shoulder.
“Yeah, love tamales. But I can go get them.”
She didn’t answer until she pulled onto Main Street and found a parking space in front of a closed pharmacy. “I will only say this once: get down!”
She leaned over and pushed my head down to my knees. Violently, I might add. Thankfully I was flexible due to my increased workout schedule since I sold the business. Otherwise, our plans for the evening would have been severely derailed by the intense stretch going on in my hamstrings at the moment.
“What is your deal?” I asked, the words muffled by my lips pressed to my jeans.
Her hand left my head, but I stayed down, fearing what she’d do if I popped back up. I was starting to have second thoughts about this sex date and even my idea to move to Hell. Crazy seemed to be in abundance once you crossed the city limits.
“Listen, this is a small town. People know everybody’s business. And unless you want everyone to know we’re out on a date and have us engaged by next week, you’ll keep your head down and let me go get the food in peace.”
I grunted, not liking the sound of being engaged, and she got out of the car. Without lifting my head, I reached over and rolled down the window. Funny, I didn’t think they made cars anymore with hand window cranks. A nice breeze came through even as a slow ache crept up my spine. She better hurry or I’d have to get out and stretch, rumor mill be damned.
“Got three minutes left, Lenora Murphy.” A woman’s nasal voice drifted through the cracked window.
“Oh good, just enough time to get in my car and head home. Thanks for keeping an eye on things, Penny. I really feel better knowing you’re out here personally watching over my car.” Nora sounded snarkier than I’d ever heard her. “Ready for that hug yet?”
I stayed tucked in a ball, knowing this Penny woman was right outside. She sounded like just the type to spread a vicious rumor.
“I’ll catch you one day, Murphy,” the woman spat.
“Leave her be, you pesky meter maid. Why don’t you go find a man to occupy your time and leave us alone, huh?” said another woman’s voice.
“Thanks, Poppy,” Lenora replied.
The driver’s door opened and Lenora got in, bringing her familiar sweet scent of apples and something else that made my stomach growl: spicy tamales. She put the tamales in the back seat and started the car. I stayed put until I felt her take the aggressive turn that had to be the roundabout.
Popping up, I cracked my back dramatically. “Penny’s a big fan of yours, huh?”
I could practically feel the eye roll. “She’s such a pain in the ass. Always trying to write up tickets for the slightest thing. It’s like she got a shiny badge and it went straight to her head. At least Poppy stood up for me.”
“Who’s Poppy?” I might as well start learning names now so I knew who to watch out for when I moved here officially.
“The biggest busybody this side of the Mississippi, that’s who. I swear she only became a mail carrier so she’d have an excuse to talk to everyone daily. That and catch all sorts of things when she sneaks up to your house. She’s a mail bomber. Silent with the mail, but deadly when she catches a whiff of gossip. Nice enough, but watch yourself.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, the craziness of this town distracting me from the delights that awaited me tonight.
“I’ve never felt like a dirty secret before. Let me guess, I’ll have to sneak into the hotel too?”
Nora huffed. “No. I’ll have to sneak in. My best friend is the manager and nothing gets by her. Here’s the plan: I’ll drive you to the front, you check in and go to your room. I’ll pull the car out onto the street on the side road and then walk over when it’s clear. Leave the door unlocked and text me which room is yours.”
I gaped at her. “Seriously?”
She shook her head ruefully, her lips tipped downward. “You got a lot to learn before you move here next week.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face and forced myself to focus on what really mattered: getting Lenora naked in my bed.
“Fine.”
We pulled into the hotel parking lot and she dropped me off, pretending to help me with my bag and waving as she drove off.
I took a moment to look up at the stars visible in the night sky. Couldn’t see that in Los Angeles. The sight reminded me that moving here was a good idea.
“These people are crazy,” I told the sky. I could have sworn I saw one star wink, just a flutter of light, like the universe understood my frustration.
“At least we don’t have conversations with the sky.”
The sarcastic voice came from the doorway of the hotel where light spilled out and ruined my stargazing.
Great. Amelia. The manager who gave me the evil eye every time I visited and was apparently Lenora’s best friend.
“Ha. Good one. Just communing with nature,” I answered lamely.
She held the door open for me. I went inside and checked in, trying to act as natural as possible. Amelia glanced from my credit card to my face several times.
“Huh. Jayden Sutter, not Jay Jones. No more paying with cash like a criminal on the run?”
She was a feisty one. I’d have to watch her. I’d bet Red’s paternity, she of all people could sniff out a lie. Last thing I wanted was
to be in the rumor mill sexing up her best friend when I hadn’t even moved here yet.
“Yep, Bain’s brother. You like Bain, right?” I leaned my elbows on the counter and tried on a grin that always seemed to smooth the female waters in LA. Had to work here too.
She shrugged, unaffected, and clacked some keys on the keyboard. “He’s all right. Lucille likes him well enough. Doesn’t mean you’re a good apple simply by association.”
My smile deflated and I tried a new tactic: silence.
We finished the rest of the check-in in a conversation truce. I grabbed my keys and beat a hasty retreat the first second I could. My room looked just like the other ones I’d rented on my visits; bland, out of date, but at least clean. I threw my bag in the corner and dug out my phone to text Nora.
Jayden: Room 207. Amelia is scary.
Lenora: lol She’s a kitten.
Jayden: Yeah, kittens are mean with their sharp claws and ability to pounce out of nowhere.
She didn’t text me back, so I figured she was sneaking over here and I should let her focus.
I raced around the room, making sure the curtains were fully across the windows, turned on a lamp so I could see everything Nora had going on under those short shorts, put a string of condoms in the nightstand while patting myself on the back for still having some habits from my pre-Alfred days, and fired up a playlist on my phone. The same one I listened to after I put Red down for the night and enjoyed a beer out on my patio to unwind.
A loud thump on my door had me jumping. I rushed over and swung the door open, Nora tumbling into the room before I slammed it shut. I helped her off the floor as soon as I could get a hand on her. Who knew what lived on the carpet of an old hotel room?
“What happened?”
She was breathing hard, the deep pull of air into her lungs pushing her breasts out like a total tease. I clenched my hands into fists to keep from grabbing her like an animal who couldn’t control himself. She deserved better than that.
“Damn Amelia. She’s a better watch dog than a professional security team.” Nora’s hand rubbed her chest. “I wasn’t sure I’d make it into your room before she turned the corner and saw me. That was a close one.”
“You like to live on the edge of danger, Nora?” The sight of her breathing hard, the pink in her cheeks, and the sparkle in her eyes drew me in and I was a goner. I needed her.
She froze for a second and then picked up the heavy breathing for a different reason this time. Her brown eyes went hazy and I couldn’t deny the pull. I wanted her to keep looking at me like that. Like I was worth getting caught by her friends. Like I could take her any which way I wanted and she’d beg for more.
My hand lifted, needing to close the gap between us. I didn’t reach for any of the delectable skin before me or the breasts I ached to weigh in my hands. I reached for her neck, my fingers sliding underneath her hair until I had a good hold on her. Her heartbeat beneath my thumb belted out a frantic rhythm. Gentle, but forceful, I yanked her against my body and claimed her mouth on her gasp. She let me in, my tongue invading, drawn by the heady taste of her.
She melted against me, every single curve that had driven me wild for over a month now mine for the taking. My other hand trailed up her bare leg, over her barely there shorts, and up her rib cage. Just below the swell of her breast, I paused. I pulled my lips away from hers and stared at my hand moving up to cup her breast. Perfect in my palm.
Nora stared with me, entranced with the movement of my hand holding her breast and flicking a thumb across the peak. She sucked in a breath and trembled. I grinned, some thought about being the luckiest bastard alive flitting across my brain.
I wanted to do so many things to her body. Catalog all the ways she responded to my touch. What she liked. What drove her wild. What made her scream my name.
“Do you trust me, Nora?” I whispered.
Her gaze flew up to my face and she blinked. She nodded.
“Say it,” I demanded.
“Y-yes.”
“Good girl,” I murmured, brushing kisses across her lips, her nose, her cheek, and her eyelids. My pants grew unbelievably tight. I needed all these clothes off now.
I let go of her neck and reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and off her body to reveal a black satin bra. I liked it, but it had to go. Now.
The front clasp came apart easily and with a quick shove, Nora’s breasts were bared to me. Her intake of breath was shaky, but the moan that came from her mouth when I traced a finger along the lower curve and up over her nipple told me she liked it.
Gritting my teeth with the effort, I forced my hands to dip farther south, unbuttoning her jean shorts. Before I could take them off, I indulged my baser needs by shoving a hand inside, parting her and diving in to find her soaking wet.
“Mmm,” I groaned. “You want this as much as I do, don’t you?” A quick flick of my finger had her knees buckling.
Nora nodded, her hands clasping my upper arms in a death grip. Her body was talking to me, but she wasn’t giving me the words. I’d have to find out what would make Nora talk.
I pulled my hand out and shoved her shorts and panties down, helping her step out of them. She stood still before me, her arms at her sides, completely naked.
She was gorgeous.
Stunning.
Strong calves led up to shapely thighs, the juncture of her legs shadowed by a neat landing strip, a stomach with indentations running up the sides telling me she was athletic, a long neck I’d already had my hand around and wanted to again. And finally, her face. Those exquisite brown eyes staring at me with trust even as her teeth nipped at her bottom lip, displaying her nerves.
“You’re beautiful, Nora,” I whispered, meaning it more than I’d ever meant anything.
The blush that crept along her cheekbones and the crinkle around her eyes, ran counterpart to the guilt that crept up my spine. She was gorgeous and fun and good. Why would she open herself to me when I already told her I had nothing to offer her?
“Are you sure about this?” I asked, needing to give her an out like a good man would. Needing her to run out of here before I lost control and took what I wanted without my conscience blaring she deserved better than me.
At my question, she hesitated, her gaze scanning my face. Then down lower, where my obvious desire for her strained against the zipper of my pants. She took a step closer, her breasts just inches from brushing my chest. I could smell her perfume, smell her desire in this cramped hotel room.
A transformation occurred as I stared. Reserved and quiet Nora stood taller, her shoulders pulled back and her eyes focused. An air of confidence exuded from every pore. I’d underestimated her. If I thought she was gorgeous before…
“I told you. I just want orgasms. Can you give me that, Jayden?”
She licked her lips and the blood roared from my head to my cock, the guilt gone in an instant.
“Hell yes, I can.”
9
Lenora
If this man doesn’t take his goddamn clothes off in the next two seconds, I might just find that baby goat from the airplane and have it lick him to death.
Strange thought to have in the middle of what was looking to be my best sex experience ever. Not that it was hard to beat my one and only previous experience with that guy who most certainly had the medical definition of a micro penis. That experience had left me bored and…sticky. I just didn’t think that level of sweating was necessary for ninety seconds of effort. When I’d gotten dressed and left the room, I didn’t give him my number. I gave him the number to my doctor.
But seriously, why was I the only naked person at this party?
My hands fumbled with his belt, ripping it out of the loops and tossing it to the floor with a decided smack.
“In a hurry, are we?” Jayden grumbled, that velvet voice raising goose bumps on my skin.
I lifted a shoulder. “You get to see me. I think it’s time I saw you. Equal rights and all
.”
He batted my hands away and ripped his Henley over his head, revealing more muscles than I’d seen that day in his undershirt while fixing my car. A hard chest rippled as he unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down, leaving him fully displayed for my eyes only.
There wasn’t enough oxygen in this stuffy room. I didn’t know where to look first. The muscled thighs with a dusting of dark hair, the abs of steel I could see clearly even in the dim room, the hooded gray eyes that threatened to sear me just from a look, or…holy shit.
Jayden did not have a micro penis, of that I was sure. The opposite of that, whatever medical definition that would be. I’d have to ask Lucille later. She’d know.
I swallowed hard, working through the logistics of this. Maybe I should have taken my friends’ advice and gotten a bit more experience over the years since adulthood. You know, like maybe warmed up to this one first. Zero to sixty was for cars, not vaginas.
“Get on the bed,” Jayden demanded.
Another thrill ran through me. I liked him bossy like that. A little edgy, a little dangerous. Who knew I’d be so turned on by that sort of thing?
I took a step toward the bed, but stopped just shy of climbing on. No way was I going to get on that bedspread. Amelia told me horror stories of what she’d find on those bedspreads. The sheets? Now those were clean. Amelia was a stickler for bleaching linens within an inch of their lives.
“Get on—”
“Hold up. I can’t get on that thing.” I shuddered. “The germs!”
A long-suffering sigh came from behind me, but he didn’t say another word. I got the bed turned down and then hopped on, not sure how he wanted me, but pretty sure sitting crisscross applesauce was not going to be my sexiest look.
I shouldn’t have worried about it because the second my backside hit the bed, Jayden was crawling above me, the rasp of his skin lighting me up everywhere he touched. His body flattened me down, his weight pinning me to the lumpy mattress. He felt like heaven, giving me the same sense of calm a weighted blanket would.