by Tabatha Kiss
“Oh, congratulations!” the woman coos. “You’re such an adorable couple!”
“Thank you,” Jovie replies, latching even tighter onto my arm. “I never grow tired of hearing that. Right, sweetie?”
I flinch as she pokes my chest. “Would you excuse us for a minute?”
The woman nods and says something in reply but I don’t hear it as I yank Jovie back out into the hallway to get out of earshot.
“Jovie, what are you doing?”
Her grin vanishes as she pulls her elbow free, bringing forth the sinister machinations hidden on her face. “I’m getting on that damn party planning committee.”
“And what part of that requires a marriage license?”
“Sara thinks she’s being so clever by telling me that her little group is for residents only but I figured out a way to get one step ahead of that.” She points between us. “We’re getting married.”
“Okay…” I pinch the bridge of my nose as spots take over my vision. “I think I just had a tiny stroke.”
“Obviously, what she’s doing is discrimination based on marriage status but this is Clover. It’s much easier to play the game than it is to discuss the rules.”
“No, no, it’s not,” I say. “We’re not getting married just so you can hang some balloons in the high school gym!”
“We’re not really getting married, Will.” She lowers her voice. “I just need the paperwork to rattle her cage. Get under her skin. If we’re legally engaged, then she has no grounds to reject me from the committee, by her own admission. She has to let me in. The thing expires in six months anyway. We’ll just let it lapse. No harm done.”
“No,” I answer.
She pouts. “Why not?”
“Because it’s crazy, that’s why!”
“It is not crazy.”
“Yes, it is. Jovie, I know what they said about you was wrong and you want to get back at them for it but there are other ways to get involved in Clover.”
She bites her lip. “But I want to do this.”
“No.” I take a step back. “I’m out.”
“By refusing to side with me, you’re directly supporting them.”
“No, I’m not.” I point a finger. “I support logic and rational thinking and none of you seem to have a firm grasp on either of those right now.”
“Will, come on. Please,” she begs. “This could be my only shot at redeeming myself to these people. We both know that I can’t do jack shit to help the knitting club or the little league but what can Jovie Ross do better than anyone else? Throw a freakin’ party, that’s what.”
“Jove, you don’t think this is going a tad bit too far?”
“No.”
I roll my eyes. “Unbelievable.”
“And besides…” she gazes up at me with those big, doe eyes, “if you do this, I might be compelled — as your new fiancée — to let you do that thing to me that you always wanted to do…”
I lean away from her. “Oh, that’s just low.”
Her brows bounce. “What do you say, Will?” She waits for a reply as I stare her down. “You can do it whenever you want to. Maybe even tonight…”
My head falls in defeat. As I raise it again, she gives me that smile made up of equal parts affection and possession.
Jovie Ross owns me.
“It better be tight,” I say.
She shrugs. “No reason why it shouldn’t be.”
I nod.
We step back into the office and Jovie wraps her arms around my elbow again as we glide closer to the counter.
I force a smile. “We would like one marriage license, please.”
The woman behind the counter giggles again, shaking the blonde curls around her head as she turns to grab a form from the stack by her computer.
I look down at Jovie’s beaming face. My Jovie, as I’ve always said.
For better or worse, apparently.
Chapter 25
Jovie
Stupid three-day waiting period.
I wanted to have the thing in my hands today so I could rub it in Sara’s face as soon as possible but I guess I’ll have to wait on that. That’s fine. A little delayed gratification never hurt anybody.
And it’s not like I don’t have a new fake fiancé to keep myself busy with.
“Hello!” I announce as I push open his front door. “Will?”
“In here!” he shouts from his room.
I follow his voice, sliding my jacket off while keeping a grip on the plastic bag latched to the tip of my fingers. “First, sorry I’m late. Some kid messed up the dinosaur display tonight so I stayed late to fix it. I would not have been able to sleep with the allosaurus mashed between the brachiosaurus and the carnotaurus, you know?”
I reach his room to find him lounging on his bed with a book in his hands.
“Hello there,” I say.
“Hey,” he greets me. “You know, I never thought to ask this before but what is the deal with you and dinosaurs?”
“They ruled the world before us, Will,” I joke. “They deserve our respect.”
“Oh. Of course. Silly me.”
I walk over and set the plastic bag down on the edge of the bed beside me. “Whatcha doing?” I ask.
“Reading,” he answers.
“Well, I see that. Anything good?”
“Not really.”
I lean down to unlace my boots, chuckling quietly to myself. “We’re fake engaged less than one day and we’re already that couple.”
“What couple?”
“The kind that turns in at nine at night to read books they hate.”
“Well, luckily,” he says, closing the book, “we’re fake engaged, so we can be fake that couple, too.”
“Ah. I like the way you think, Myers.” I slide my boots off onto the floor.
“Speaking of fake engaged, I have something for you.”
I smirk. “Does it start with a D?”
“No.” He hops up and wanders over to his dresser before pausing. “Actually, yeah. It does.”
“Is it big, too?”
“It’s big enough,” he answers as he roots through his sock drawer.
“Well, that’s an interesting answer.”
Will walks back over and extends his hand, making my breath catch in my throat. A small velvet box rests in his fingers, one that I never thought I’d ever see again.
“If you start telling people we’re engaged, they’re gonna wanna see a ring, right?” he asks.
I blink, realizing the obvious. “Oh, yeah. Right…”
He moves an inch closer, daring me to take it. I hesitate before forcing myself to pick it up. My fingertips sink into the soft velvet exterior and I take a moment to experience it before opening it.
The ring sits inside. A square diamond in a band of white gold.
“I can’t believe you kept it,” I say.
“Couldn’t bring myself to take it back,” he says, shrugging once. “Never felt like mine to return anyway.”
I pinch it between two fingers and slide it free from the box. Four years its been sitting here, locked away in his sock drawer. It still looks brand new. Not a scratch or smudge on it.
“You know, Will,” I say, catching my breath, “I never got the chance to tell you this before, but… you kind of nailed it.”
He nods. “It was like a movie, honestly. Just knew it was the one the second I saw it.”
“It’s really beautiful.”
“Thanks.” He pauses. “Listen, Jovie, I’ll support you in this but I don’t like it.”
I look up at him, my insides twisting.
“When I asked you to marry me before, it meant something,” he says. “It wasn’t a whim and I sure as hell didn’t do it to please anyone else. I did it because I loved you and I wanted to make you happy. I guess if this fake engagement serves the same purpose, then go ahead, but don’t expect me to agree with it.”
My heart skips a few beats and I feel a quick rush of blood to my he
ad as I stand up to look him in the eyes.
“Will…” My voice falls.
“What?” he asks, staring down at me.
I push onto my toes to kiss him once. His lips purse slightly out of habit, non-committal and chaste.
“I loved you, too,” I say.
Will studies my face, his eyes shifting from my lips to my cheeks. I wait, standing on needles to see how he’ll respond but he says nothing.
I feel his hand tracing down my arm, traveling slowly to my left wrist. He turns it over to reveal the ring resting in my hand.
I give it to him and he slides it onto my finger. It easily pushes over the knuckles to fit perfectly at its base. Shimmering and sparkling, just like any other ring would, but no other piece of jewelry has ever made my heart beat like this before.
Will holds my finger and stares at the ring. A sadness takes his eyes, one of wasted time and painful memories. He wanted this before. I was too stupid to admit that I did, too.
But that’s not all we lost back then.
He lays a hand beneath my chin and turns my face up as he leans in for a soft kiss. I let it wash over me, closing my eyes as his touch glides down my neck.
I part my lips, letting his tongue push inside, warm and uninhibited. He flicks the buttons free on my blouse to gain access to my skin. I let him have me, enjoying his touch as he feels beneath the blouse and over my bra.
Will leans over to cup my rear and picks me up. I shake from a dizzy spell, somehow grounded by the constant urge of his kiss as he carries me to his bed and lays me down.
I lie back on the pillows and smile as he towers over me on his strong arms.
“So…” he says, his lips hovering an inch away from mine, “I recall you mentioning something about you being compelled to do something for me…”
I flash a teasing wink. “You mean as your new fiancée?”
He kisses me. “Yes.”
I scratch my nails beneath his shirt and he lets me pull it over his head. I admire his tempting physique, feeling a deep throb take hold of me.
“I may have been compelled to stop by the gas station on the way home…” I say, glancing over his shoulder at the plastic bag still resting on the bed’s edge.
Will squints as he leans back to take hold of it. I sit up on my elbows to catch his reaction as he reveals the red bottle of lubricant stashed inside.
He smirks and rolls it across the bed to rest near my arm. “Well, if there’s one thing Jovie Ross is always prepared for…”
“Considering what’s going to be on the receiving end, you’re damn right I came prepared.”
He laughs. “You sure you want to?”
I lie back down. “Sure, why not? There’s a first time for everything.”
His eyes fall to the space between us.
“What?” I ask.
“Just never thought that I’d be your first time for anything,” he says.
I grin. “You were my first for some things, Will.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Like what?”
I think back, biting my lip at the pleasant memories. “Sixty-nine,” I say.
He raises a brow as he shifts forward within reach. I watch him pop the button free on my jeans and he takes hold of my zipper.
“What else?” he asks.
I swallow through a shiver. “Uhh…” I chuckle. “You were the first to go down on me and not complain about it.”
He laughs. “Oh, that I already knew.”
“You were always so eager to please.”
He hooks my jeans and pulls them down to my ankles. “Eager to learn,” he adds. “I wanted to be that guy who could make a woman faint with one caress of my hand… In the end, I just wanted to do that for you. Only you.”
He runs a fingertip along my inner thigh, stopping a few inches short of my underwear and my core clenches.
“You certainly did,” I say, taking a cool breath. “You were the first man to ever care about what I wanted or how I felt.”
Will pauses, his eyes slowly gliding from my ankles and up. “Jove,” he exhales, “were you with anyone else? While you were gone, I mean.”
“Wow…” I say. “Don’t think I expected you to ask that anytime soon.”
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” he says, “and I’ve mentally prepared myself for any possible answer you could tell me. I’m just curious.”
“No.”
He smirks. “No, you won’t answer? Or no, you weren’t with anyone?”
I sit up onto my knees to look him in the eyes. “No,” I say again. “I wasn’t with anyone else.”
He tilts his head. “Really?”
“I wanted to,” I continue, choosing words slowly. “Or, I thought I wanted to but… I didn’t want to make any mistakes more, so… No.”
I breathe out until my lungs weigh heavy on me, avoiding Will’s eyes as much as possible. I feel him staring down at me, reading me, picking every word apart for lies or falsehoods but there aren’t any.
“Thank you,” he says.
I nod, forcing myself to look at him again. He’s still smiling with a slight hint of giddiness behind it and I furrow my brow. “What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he says, lips twitching up. “Just the thought of you staying celibate for four years.”
I shove at his thick chest. “Shut up.”
“No wonder you pounced on my dick so fast.”
My jaw drops and he laughs harder. “You know, I can leave.”
“You’re free to try.”
I set one toe on the floor and Will grabs me, pulling me back onto his bed with him. A giggle escapes my throat as I squirm in his grasp.
“Let go!”
Will pins me onto my back. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I promise I won’t tease. I don’t exactly have much room to talk…”
“Exactly.”
“But…” he looks down my body, “I do love the idea of you lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and thinking about me.”
I scoff. “Oh, please. Who said I was thinking about you?”
“Weren’t you?” I don’t answer and his smirk deepens. “Admit it, Jovie.” He releases me and sits back as he undoes his belt. “You came back because you wanted this again.”
I bite my inner cheek, my eyes falling to his groin. His erection stands on end, firmly tenting his inner seam.
“No,” I say, swallowing to wet my dry throat. “That’s not the only reason why I came back.”
“It’s not the only reason,” he repeats, “but it’s one of them, isn’t it?”
Heat rushes through me as he exposes himself.
“Yes,” I answer, salivating.
Will slides closer to me on the bed and I see subtle droplets of precum on his tip.
I hold my breath. “Would you be jealous?” I ask. “If the answer was yes and I’d been with other men?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” he lays a hand on the back of my neck, “it’s my cock you’re sucking tonight.”
I shudder as a blitz of heated pleasure invades my core. With parted lips, I lean forward to kiss his tip, tasting the sweetness as he gazes down at me. I keep my eyes on him, enjoying his reaction. His cheeks turn pinker. He inhales sharply. I open wider to slide more of him between my lips and he lets out the slightest moan. I straighten up taller to work him at a better angle and the pleasure on his breath turns me on even more.
I close my eyes, bobbing slowly, and he tightens his fingers on the back of my neck. He wants more but he doesn’t force it. He never has. He lets me guide it myself and I’m once again reminded of the mistake I made leaving him back then.
Will bends at the waist and slides a hand down my belly. I spread my thighs, still throbbing like crazy he fishes into my panties. He cradles my clit with his fingers, knowing exactly how to rub me off.
I moan around his shaft, sending v
ibrations through his loins and his muscles jerk beneath his skin. I stiffen as warm sparks travel through my clit and up my spine. He rubs a little faster, a little harder, and I increase the suction on his cock.
Will flexes his entire body, holding back his passion as he rewards me with a finger. He slides it downward and plunges it into my dripping slit.
My jaw drops but I keep his tip nestled between my lips, refusing to stop pleasing him as he pleases me. He strokes my insides, putting firm pressure along the inner wall and I can’t stop my thighs from twisting around his wrist.
I tighten on his fingers and suck harder, feeling my blood and desire boiling at both ends. If I could scream, I would, but I can only moan on his shaft. His own body reacts, his chest heaving and his hips bucking.
He pulls his finger out of me and I breathe a hard sigh of blissful frustration as he moves downward to use his mouth on me instead. I spread my legs wider and we both shift onto our sides as a unit to continue pleasing each other. I feel his lips clamp down around my sensitive clit and I pull his cock free to keep from hurting him as I thrash from the intense pleasure radiating my teeth.
Will sticks his finger back inside me as he laps and sucks my folds, sending tremors through my bones. I grip his hardness to stroke him but I can barely concentrate with his face dominating me like this.
He withdraws his dripping digit and slides it along my tight anus. I stiffen again but he lays his other hand on my hip to relax me as he teases my hidden nerves.
I give up, releasing his cock and he shifts closer to gain a better view of my backside.
“Turn over,” he whispers.
I obey weakly, succumbing to the perfect pleasure still trembling my knee caps. I turn onto my belly, fighting against my own strength to balance on my knees beneath me.
Will keeps a finger pressed against my entrance with one hand and reaches for the bottle of lubricant with the other.
“I’ll go slow,” he says.
I nod, unable to speak.
He leans over me to kiss my neck from behind. I crane around to meet his lips and he smiles as I quiver against him. His cock slips between my legs, tempting him but he doesn’t take me. He bites at me as he kisses down my back. I laugh at the tickles along my spine. He nips my cheek and I flinch but the pain vanishes as his tongue touches my wide-open crack.