by Meghan Quinn
She planted a huge kiss on his lips. “I missed you!” she said, while leading him toward the living room. “Do you want something to drink? Did you have dinner?”
“I had something at work. Hey.” He stopped her and pulled her into his chest, breathing in her intoxicating scent. “I missed you too, darlin’.”
“Mmm, my southern man.”
Her hands slid up under his shirt and caressed his abs. The feel of her fingers against his flesh felt like heaven. He didn’t know how long he would last if she kept touching him like that. She slowly moved her hands south and played with the elastic on his boxer briefs, slowly slipping her fingers in and out of the edge, causing his cock to jump to attention. Slow down buddy, he told himself. Easy does it.
He looked down at her, as a mischievous grin spread across her face.
“What are you up to, beautiful?”
“I think you know,” she said, while pulling his shirt off, exposing his bare chest. Jax counted to ten, trying to reign in the blood that was pumping south, but it was hard…no pun intended, with her wearing tiny boy shorts and a tank top that must have been two sizes too small.
“Come on.” She guided him into her bedroom while slipping off her shirt, exposing a brilliant yellow lace bra with a tiny bow in the middle. It was sweet and sexy, just like Piper.
“Hold on,” Jax said, surprisingly. “I need to talk to you for a second.
She gripped his head with both her hands. “Jax, it’s okay. I want to do this. I have been dying to do this.”
“Dying?” he asked with a grin.
She nodded and started unbuckling his pants. Leaving them open, she pulled off her shorts so she was only wearing the lingerie she talked about. She did a quick turn to give him a full view of what she had to offer and his mouth went completely dry. How did he get so lucky?
“You like what you see?” Jax could only nod. “Come here.” She pulled him toward her, but he didn’t budge. “What’s wrong?” He saw insecurity flash through her face while she looked around the room. She spotted a blanket and covered herself up. “I’m sorry. I thought we both wanted this.”
Jax felt like an ass. He instantly scooped her up in his arms and brought her to a big chair she had in the corner of her room. He sat down and sat her down on his lap.
“Darlin’, I want this more than anything, but I need to tell you something first.”
“Oh God, you have a disease or something, don’t you?”
Jax chuckled and shook his head no. “Not even close.” Alright, here it goes, he thought. “I lost my wife a year ago and I haven’t been with anyone in a while. I might be a little…rusty and quick on the draw, if you know what I mean.”
Piper looked stunned. “You were married?” she asked in a small voice, while looking down at her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Good question. “I didn’t want pity, I guess. I used to tell people and they would always give me that look. That says, ‘oh poor you.’ I didn’t want that. I wanted someone to like me, not pity me.”
“I wouldn’t have pitied you.”
“I know that now. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“How did she die?”
This was not the conversation Jax wanted to be having at the moment, but if it meant he could lift this weight off his chest and move forward with his life, then he would tell her with a massive erection poking her in the bottom.
“Drunk driver. She was killed on impact.”
Piper brought her hand to his face and rubbed it. “Oh Jax…”
He pulled away and stood up. She was giving him pity. He saw it in her eyes. He couldn’t take pity, not from Piper. That was what he wanted to avoid. He walked toward her living room and grabbed his shirt, quickly throwing it on and buttoning up his pants. He heard Piper stumble after him.
“Where are you going?”
“I can’t Piper. I can’t take your pity.”
“I wasn’t pitying you, Jax.”
He turned around and took in the sight before him. Piper’s hair cascaded down her creamy delicate shoulders and her breasts were pressed up against her chest from her bra. It took everything in him not to throw his body at hers.
“I saw it in your eyes. This is why I didn’t tell you. I don’t want it to affect what we have. I can’t take pity from another person, especially you.”
“I wasn’t fucking pitying you!” Piper spat out, nearly shocking the hell out of him. “It’s called being concerned, feeling for the person you are falling for, feeling their pain.”
Falling for? Was she falling for him like he was for her?
“You’re falling for me?”
Piper threw her hands up in defeat. “That’s what you got out of that? Men!” she shouted and turned around. Jax jogged after her and spun her around.
“Pipe, you’re falling for me?” He made her look him in the eyes.
“How could I not?” Water formed at the rim of her silver pools. He did not want to be the one that made her cry. So, he took her in his arms and gently placed his lips on hers.
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
“You’re just saying that to get into my bed,” she said teasingly.
“Nah, that’s a sure thing. I’m saying that because I’m falling head over heels for you.”
She giggled into his neck and smiled up at him. He took that moment to direct her back to her bedroom. He was out of his clothes in two seconds flat once they were in her bedroom. The only clothing separating them was a pair of boxer briefs and her thin lingerie, still it felt like a stack of winter clothes.
Jax swallowed hard and reached behind her back to unlatch her bra. Before he let go, he asked, “Are you sure about this?”
“I have never been surer in my life.”
That was all Jax needed. He released her bra and watched the fabric fall to the floor. When he looked up, he was rewarded with two of the most perfect breasts he had ever seen in his life. Sweet Lord, he was a goner. This night might very well be the death of him.
He lowered her to the bed and slid her panties off as quickly as he could. She was perfect, from her painted pink toenails to her curly unruly hair. He had never seen anything more damn perfect in his life. He lowered his mouth to hers and started to take control. Most of the time, he liked to make a relationship with a woman a fifty-fifty split, but in the bedroom, he liked to take charge.
He stroked her tongue with his and lost all ability to think. As he moved his hand up her stomach to just below her breast, she moaned in his mouth, sending another bolt of desire through his body. If he was going to pleasure this woman, he needed to take it slower, so he focused on kissing rather than the end goal of their passion for each other.
“Please,” she moaned in his mouth. “I need you.”
“I’m right here darlin’.”
She reached down and grabbed his erection with her dainty little hand.
“No, I need you.” She gave him a squeeze, almost making him lose everything in his boxer briefs. Jesus, self-control.
“I can’t go that fast, I want you to enjoy yourself.”
“Damn it, Jax.” Piper flipped Jax on his back, ripped his briefs off, strapped a condom on, wherever the hell that came from, and lowered herself down onto him, shooting him to a dark oblivion.
“Motherfucker!” Jax let out. God, she felt beyond good. He didn’t think he could last two seconds as he watched her throw her head back and moan. She moved her head forward and her hair fell over her face and breasts, giving him one of the most erotic views he had ever seen. With her hands on his chest, she started rocking on him.
“Fuck. I’m not going to last long,” Jax said through gritted teeth.
“Oh Jax,” Piper said in between pants. “Fuck me, neither am I.”
Jax didn’t want her doing all the work, so he grabbed her hips and rolled them over so she was on bottom. She wrapped her legs around his hips so he could plunge deeper into her.
His toes started to tingle and a numbing feeling started to overtake his body. Hold off a couple of more minutes he thought to himself, but once Piper shouted his name at the top of her lungs and her inner walls contracted around his hard member, he lost all control and drove relentlessly into her until every last drop of passion escaped him.
They both lay still on the bed and caught their breath. Jax didn’t think he would be able to move for a week after the power Piper just took from him. She removed every last ounce of ambition from him. All he wanted to do was lie in her bed, soak up the essence of Piper and never see the light of day again. He was a goner.
She flung her arm over his chest and nuzzled into his neck. “Mmm, my pussy has never felt so good.”
Jax chuckled. “Oh, is that right?” She nodded. “Well I’m glad I could be of assistance.”
Piper looked at Jax and met his eyes. “I like you a lot.”
“I like you a lot too, darlin’.”
“I mean a lot, a lot.”
Jax smiled. “Feeling’s mutual, sugar.”
Jax pulled her in closer and got ready for round two because there was no way in hell he was going to sleep next to Piper without at least giving her six more orgasms before they closed their eyes for the night. No, he was going to pleasure his woman until she was completely sedated from his cock. He wanted to make sure the girl in his arms remembered who she belonged to. From now on, Piper was his; he had marked her and he was going to make sure it stayed that way.
***
Piper felt like she was floating on clouds. The last two nights she had spent on and off in Jax’s arms, once he was done with work. They made love, watched movies, talked and shared their most intimate details. She had never felt so enamored with a man before. Jax was a man she never thought she would be able to find and now that she had, she didn’t want to let him go; but it was time to get back to the real world and go back to work.
She was tying her apron around her waist when Hannah came up from behind her and wrapped her arms around her.
“Ooo, I missed you,” Hannah said, while squeezing Piper tightly.
“I’ve missed you too! How was the symphony?” Piper knew Todd took Hannah to the symphony, a date they had planned a while ago.
Piper turned around and saw Hannah grinning from ear to ear. “Pipe, it was glorious. I have never felt more loved and romanced in my life. I think Todd felt bad for the way he reacted the other night and really made it up to me. He told me how much he loved me, how he wanted to be married to me one day and father my children. We even talked about baby names. I feel like he was a completely different man. I feel like there is actually a future in sight. I might not have to work here much longer after all.”
“You know you don’t have to work here now.” Todd had offered to pay for Hannah a long time ago, but Hannah refused until they were at least engaged.
“You know how I feel about that.”
“I know, but you two are practically engaged, might as well take the man up on his offer. You know he has money.”
Hannah just shrugged. “But then, we wouldn’t be having these conversations.”
Hannah walked behind the bar and donned her apron while looking around the room. “Looks like the regulars are taken care of, so tell me the reason why I haven’t heard from you in two days.”
Piper couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “Jax and I finally sealed the deal.”
Hannah cheered and hugged Piper. “Oh that’s great. Without getting too graphic, how was it?”
Piper smiled at her prude of a friend. “It was amazing. We really connected.”
“Well, I would hope so.”
Piper waved off her friend’s horrible attempt at a joke. “I think this might be it for me.”
“Really?” Hannah said with a questionable eyebrow. “What about Mason?”
The mention of his name brought Piper’s high down a notch. She completely forgot about the man that consumed her thoughts before she and Jax slept together. Maybe he didn’t really matter to Piper after all, if she was able to forget about him so quickly.
“What about him?”
“I thought…you know, there might be something there. The way you two stare at each other could start a fire and grill up some burgers for the regulars around here.”
“Oh please, we don’t look at each other like that. If there are any sparks, they’re angry sparks. The man is infuriating and pretty much the biggest ass I have ever met. Jax, on the other hand,” she sighed, “He’s magnificent.”
Hannah smiled at Piper. “Well, I’m just warning you. I don’t think Mason is done with you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Wendy told me yesterday that he’s been here every night since you’ve been gone, asking for you.”
Mason looking for her? That was new information. Why would he be looking for her? Maybe to give her more tips on how to pluck her eyebrows? Throw more jabs at her, as if she was his personal punching bag?
“The man is deranged. He’s been hit too many times on the field.”
Hannah shrugged and went to go tend to the couple of patrons that just walked in. Piper didn’t question her friend any further and went to work. She filled bowls with nuts, restocked the glasses and prepared for the busy Friday night she was expecting, trying not to think about Jax and his love making.
As Piper was placing some napkins on the bar, a strong hand pressed against her lower back.
“Good evening gorgeous, do you mind if we find our own seats?” A deep baritone voice spoke close to her ear, sending shivers of delight through her body.
She looked up and came face to face with chocolate-brown eyes and a scruffy face.
Mason.
Piper gulped, pushing down the thought of why the hell this man was affecting her like this when she had another man pining for her, she nodded yes to Mason.
He winked at her and walked toward the booth he’d sat in last time he and Ryker were at the bar. What the hell was that all about? Why did he just call her gorgeous and why did she still feel the imprint of his hand on her back?
Shaking off the weird and bothersome feeling Mason left her with, she tended to the bar. When she saw that Hannah was knee-deep in hysterics with the old men playing poker, she realized she would have to take Ryker and Mason’s orders.
She could do this. She was letting Hannah get to her head with all her Mason talk. Mason wanted nothing to do with Piper. He was most likely trying to get her back for what she did to him on the beach. That was it. He was trying to butter her up so he could return the favor.
Mason looked up at her and pure joy spread across his face when they made eye contact. Shit. That wasn’t the face of a man who wanted revenge.
“What can I get you?” she said in a calm voice, trying not to show how Mason’s smoldering eyes affected her.
“I’ll take a shot of Hannah if you’re handing them out.” Thank God for Ryker, he eased the tension that was escalating at an alarming rate between her and Mason.
“Sorry, we’re all out.”
Ryker slapped the table and shouted. “Damn it all to hell. When are you ever going to restock? I’ve been craving some Hannah ever since I left here last.”
Piper looked over at sweet Hannah who was patting one of the older men on the head. “Sorry, I don’t believe she’ll ever come back on the market.”
“That’s crap. She doesn’t know the kind of investor I am.”
Dropping the act, Piper said, “Ryker, she’s not the girl for you. Give it up.”
“Never,” he said, while keeping his eyes on Hannah.
Piper turned to Mason and felt her breath hitch in her throat. Damn the man, but he was gorgeous. It was kind of illegal how good looking he was. She loved how Jax was so clean cut and a southern gentleman, but Mason was the bad boy with the sleeve tattoos, unshaven face and eyes that could cut through a girl’s soul.
“We’ll just take two beers on tap.” He sque
ezed her hand while rubbing her knuckles with his thumbs and then dropped her hand, just as quickly as he’d picked it up. “Thank you, Piper.”
Piper felt like her legs were trapped in cement; she needed to move, but the commands coming from her brain were not reaching her legs. She just stood there and stared at Mason. Why did his touch render her completely immobile and why was he doing this to her?
They both kept eye contact and didn’t move. Ryker finally took his eyes off of Hannah to see what Piper and Mason were up to.
“Uh, this is fucking weird. Should I go get the beers myself?”
Piper shook her head and stepped away. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll go get them right now.”
As Piper walked away, she saw Mason punch Ryker in the arm from across the table and yell at him. “Dude!”
Piper smirked while she got their beers. This was not good, not good at all. Mason was supposed to be acting like an ass, not breaking down her walls and ripping open her soul with just his eyes.
With her heart beating at a rapid pace and her mind going a mile a minute, she dropped the beers off at the boys’ table without making eye contact and spent the reminder of the night avoiding their table. She felt bad that she made Hannah deal with Ryker’s persistent flirting, but she couldn’t go over there. Not with the way Mason cut through her and the contradicting thoughts that were floating through her head.
Piper watched the patrons slowly trickle out of the bar, but the boys stayed put. Their presence was starting to infuriate her more now than anything. Why did they have to pick her bar to come to and why the hell were the fans not bothering them? Did the guys pay them off or something? The whole situation made her want to throw a mug at someone’s head.
“Hey, I think we’re about wrapped up for the night. Did everyone close their tabs?” Hannah asked.
“Everyone but Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum,” Piper said, nodding toward Mason and Ryker.
“They’re really not that bad, quite entertaining actually.”
“I bet.”
“Well, I’ll go close them out. Do you mind if I take off early? I’ll owe you, big time.”
“Sure, I got you covered.” Hannah squealed and gave Piper a quick hug before grabbing the guys’ money and tossing it her way. Piper watched the guys get up and Ryker followed Hannah out the door, but Mason took a seat at the bar. Just great.