“Blue, I—”
“Do you? Do you think you can possibly work out this anger and hurt you have and let me in? Do you think you could learn to love me?”
The more she talked, the more turned on and aroused he got. Hell, the more turned on and aroused she got. She’d started undulating again the second her eyes opened after their kiss, and she hadn’t stopped. Her nipples rubbed against his chest, and her fingers flexed on his shoulders. Without actually riding him, she was, in fact, riding him.
He wanted inside her, needed to be inside her, but this thing she was asking… “Blue, honey…”
“Please, Cort…”
She whimpered the words, pleaded them from between her lips, and he thought she’d been asking for his answer. That wasn’t it at all, he realized, as she shuddered and shook in his arms, coming against his cock. She kept rocking on him, against him, prolonging the orgasm flowing through her body.
She angled closer, thrust her hips forward, hard, and lifted, rubbing her clit hood over the tip of his cock. He was done for before he’d even known it was coming. Sperm pumped through the shaft, and this time, he followed his gut and grabbed hold of her ass, pulling her into him, covering both their bellies in his semen.
Blue laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. “You don’t have to love me, Cort, but I needed you to know that I love you.”
Chapter Eight
“No, I don’t have to, but damned if I can stop myself,” he muttered into her hair.
Blue lifted her head just as suddenly as she’d laid it down. “What?”
“I do. I have since that night in Savannah. It happened before we even hit the hotel room. I knew it the second you laughed. I was a goner, and I was happy about it. If I hadn’t thought for sure you felt it too, I’d have never taken you to bed.”
Blue’s heart sank. “And then I left.”
Cort nodded. “And then you left.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?”
“Why wouldn’t you have taken me to bed?”
“One-night stands have never been my style. Even these last few years, the women… I was in relationships with them. Sex only, but we were always exclusive.”
She pressed her forehead to his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He looked up at her for a moment, long enough she wasn’t sure he was going to say anything or accept her apology. She did genuinely feel bad about leaving, and she could even put the argument out there that it had hurt her just as much to leave him as it seemed to have hurt him.
“I th—”
“Hey, B!”
Blue dropped her head down to Cort’s shoulder and groaned as the front door slammed open and shut. Neil.
“I brought your car back and thought we could—Oh my.”
“Go away, Neil,” she said without picking her head up.
“Right. Gone.”
“No, it’s all right,” Cort interjected. He nudged Blue backward a little, trying not to grimace at the stickiness of his cum as their stomachs slid apart.
She looked at him, reluctant to let the moment end, to let things go unsaid and unfinished yet again, but the resolve in his eyes told her the things between them would have to wait. She scooted off his lap, and he was up and out of the kitchen before she could say anything.
“B, I’m sorry. I didn’t think y’all would be…” Neil said from the other side of the kitchen wall.
Blue stuck her head around the corner and dragged him closer by the sleeve. “You still could have knocked. You saw his truck out there. You’re not an idiot. What was happening was exactly what all of you were hoping would happen. Only sex didn’t solve or resolve anything.”
He screwed up his face in a look of pitiful disgust. “Not as good as you remembered it being, huh?”
Blue sighed and walked around him to clear the table. She dropped the empty beer bottles in the recycle bin that was built under one of the corners of the counter, then proceeded to wash the coffee mugs and French press. A smile crossed her lips as she remembered how awful that coffee had been.
“Was better than I remembered it being,” she said softly.
The rain had stopped some time ago, and Cort’s cum was drying on her belly. She had a brief thought that she should clean it off, but something kept her from doing so. And she didn’t want him to leave because she wasn’t sure he would come back. At least not for her. He’d come back to the job, to work on the big house, but more than that, she wanted him to come back for her, to see her, to be with her.
He was in her room getting dressed, getting his bag. He’d be gone until Monday. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t see him for the rest of the weekend, and it sucked. The whole situation, from the second Neil walked in, sucked. She didn’t know how to fix it either. Did she beg Cort to stay? Let him leave?
Cort cleared his throat from the kitchen doorway, and she turned. Sure enough, he was dressed. The low on the hip, threadbare, ripped in the right knee jeans, the faded, dark blue T-shirt, the scuffed boots… God, he was her wet dream.
He held his bag over the back of his left shoulder. Now was when she needed to know what to say or do, and she didn’t have the foggiest idea what, so she stood mute. She tried to convey with her eyes what she wanted, essentially him to stay, but she didn’t know if he got the message because all he did was nod and walk way.
“Go get him, B.”
“Neil, he doesn’t want to stay.”
“The hell he doesn’t. I saw that look. I might be gay, honey, but I know what that look means, and it means he wants you. Go get him.”
“I—”
Neil walked across the kitchen, took her by the arm, and ushered her to the front door. He even opened it for her just as Cort started the engine of his truck. Blue stepped out onto the porch and locked gazes with him again. “Please don’t go. Not yet.”
The silence but for the engine was long, filled with unspoken words, unrelieved tensions, unresolved issues. Cort finally shook his head and put his truck in gear. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, his regard was steady.
“You should put some clothes on.”
Blue stood on her porch, dumbfounded that the only thing the man had to say to her before pulling out and driving down the long drive to the road was that she should put some clothes on. Aside from that, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel.
Disappointed, yes.
Sad, yes.
Frustrated, most definitely.
Hurt, a little.
Mad, a little more.
“Put some clothes on, my ass,” she muttered as she stomped back inside her house and slammed the door behind her.
“I’m sorry, B.”
“Don’t. Don’t be. If he’d wanted to stay, he’d have stayed. We all know this.”
“Doesn’t make it any easier.”
No, it didn’t. Neil was right about that. “So, what would you like to do this afternoon?”
“Well,” he said indulgently, “we could snuggle on the couch and watch movies. It’s supposed to rain the rest of the day and most of the night from what Rosie said was on the news this morning.”
“How about you help me work upstairs in the big house for a little bit; then we can cuddle in my big bed and watch movies.”
“Work? Really? Oh B, c’mon. No working. I hate working. Well, at anything other than taking pictures.”
“Tough. I have some beautiful new bed linens for two of the bedrooms and some small end tables and a few lamps I’d like to get moved upstairs. It won’t take long.”
“You really are going to turn it into a bed and breakfast, aren’t you? You’re going to do exactly what Aunt V wanted for this place.”
“You sound so surprised about that. So much work has been done on it, and Cort is one of the final pieces. A major piece, though. I need the wiring updated; then I’ll hire someone to come and clean the mess and patch any holes. I have a painting company in mind from Atlanta
. They specialize in period homes, especially antebellum homes.”
“Did V really leave you enough money for all this work?”
“There’s money in a trust for the house. There always has been. It’s old money that’s been invested and re-invested over the years. It’s old, old money.”
“Damn, girl. How much did your great-great-great grandma make selling those drunk cakes?”
Blue laughed. She’d missed her friend, and until that very moment, she hadn’t realized just how much. “Let me get dressed.”
“Why? I don’t care that you’re naked. Can I get naked too? We can play in the rain and the mud. Or rather you could play in the rain and the mud. Would make a gorgeous addition to my portfolio.”
“As if you need any more pictures of me. People are going to think I’m your only subject.”
“Not my only, darling. But most definitely my favorite.”
She loved the boost her ego got when Neil and his camera were around, but pictures wouldn’t be in the best interest of winning Cort to her side at the moment. She was better off trying to play it straight, even if a little more narrow than her free spirit liked. Though to be truthful with herself, her free spirit was taking a bit of a beating in regards to Cort.
She liked the rough sex, the demanding treatment of his hands, his harsh words, his use of her body for his pleasure. She’d always liked spankings and a little bondage play, but it had always been play. She didn’t want or need it the way Rosie did. No, she’d found her pleasure in Neil’s camera lens, in indulging herself in corsets and heels and tattoos.
And now her pleasure was in Cort, but she had a feeling with him it would be all or nothing on her doing the submitting to him in matters of sexual play. In Savannah, it had been an all-out feeding frenzy for both of them at first, but subtly he took over. A little bit of holding her down here, a little bit of forcing her there. She was consenting in it all just as she had been earlier with him.
He liked it rough, hard. She did too. She just had to figure out how to get them beyond all the shit to where he could be rough and hard with her again. For good.
…
“You’re going to do the rooms in different colors?” Neil asked from the front bedroom.
“Yes,” Blue answered from the room next to it. She picked out the items from the box in the corner that she wanted and wandered into the front room with Neil. “I’m going to do this one in orange I think. The sun sets on this side of the house, and I thought it would be really pretty.”
“It will. You’d be pretty in here too wearing a vanilla cream corset. We could do a series and call it Orange Crush.”
She had to admit the idea did appeal. She could see his line of thinking, see where his vision came from. She often thought in the same vein when she chose decoration and color and corsets. “I think if I want Cort in my life, I won’t be posing in any more series of nude or lingerie photos. At least not anytime soon.”
“Corn cob up his ass still? Damn. Kinda thought after a night with you again, he might have loosened up some, realized you weren’t quite so evil, and not without your reasons for doing what you did. Obviously not.” Neil shrugged. “Well, he could always be in them too.”
Blue stuck her tongue out at him and flipped open a beautiful, striped orange and pink and creamy white fitted sheet but smiled when Neil whistled low in appreciation.
“That’s gorgeous.”
“Yes, it is. I love these. They’re so soft, so luxurious.” She held the sheet out toward him, and he rubbed it between his fingers, his smile matching her own. “Take a corner and help me put it on.”
“You’ll have to wash all these when the painters and Cort and all are done making a mess in the house,” he said, stretching the fabric over the corner of the mattress.
“I know, but I just want to see them on, see the finished look, and with you here, you can snap a few pictures. Before and after.”
“Well now see, I do come in handy.”
Blue smoothed out the soft as sin Egyptian cotton sheet before shaking out the top sheet to cover it. The stripe was the same, in color at least but the patter was vertical instead of horizontal. She liked the contrast. It was so simple but really so effective, and she wanted to wrap herself in it and sleep. As it was, she tucked in the corners, box pleats. “The duvet is in the other room along with all the throw pillows.”
“Do you want them?”
“No, I don’t think so. I really just couldn’t wait to see what these looked like on the bed. I love the warm invitation they give.”
“They’re also very summery.”
Blue grinned. “I know. In the summer I want a certain palette on the bed. Same for spring and fall. Winter will be, well, winter scenes and Christmas.” She turned and sat on the end of the mattress. “I think I’ll just give them color names like, the orange room, the green room, you know? Rather than theme rooms.”
“Colors can be their own theme,” Neil added, sitting beside her. He rubbed the palm of his hand over the sheet and moaned softly before laying back on the sinking in pillow top coverlet beneath the fitted sheet. “God, this is delicious, B. I can only imagine what they’d feel like against naked skin.”
“I know.” And she did. She couldn’t help imagine the same thing the first time she felt them. She laid back next to Neil, and their hands automatically found each other, fingers entwined.
There was comfort between them. They were ex-lovers but maintained the closeness as though they were still lovers. They were at ease with one another, clothed or naked. It was why she hadn’t freaked earlier when he’d walked in. Well, not freaked about that. She could understand why it made Cort uncomfortable, though. He didn’t know Neil. Didn’t trust him either. Hell, she wasn’t sure she trusted any of them at the moment.
“Y’all shouldn’t have tried that whole setting us up thing.”
“Why not? Okay, well, aside from the fact that none of us knew you two had a past or history or sexual interlude, whatever you want to call it, why shouldn’t we have? He seems uptight, and you seemed the perfect one to help him with that.”
“Which I don’t understand at all.”
“Because, B,” Neil said, sounding exasperated. “You know nothing about being uptight. You’re his complete opposite.”
“As if you’d know anything about him. You just met him yesterday. Rosie just met him, for Pete’s sake.”
“True. But we do know you.”
“That’s what y’all keep telling me.”
“He is the right one for you, and I do think, given the way the two of you look at each other, you’re the right one for him. He might not know it or he might. I don’t know. Rosie doesn’t know. There’s something there, though, something that sparks between the two of you when you’re near one another. It’s worth exploring, B.”
She couldn’t argue. She’d had this same conversation with herself at least twice in the last twenty-four hours. “I know, and I think we were making some real progress before you walked in on us.”
Neil turned his head toward her. “I’m sorry. If I’d realized that y’all might be otherwise engaged, I wouldn’t have come back. I’d have waited until you called, but Rosie thought I should, just to check on you.”
“You’re going to pin this on Rosie?”
He had the good grace to look affronted before employing that grace to sliding off the bed. He stood, smoothed out his khaki shorts and polo. “As if I need anyone to take the blame for my actions. However, in this case, it is totally her fault.” He held out his hand. “Now, show me what rooms are going to be which color and then you own me rum cake.”
Blue took his hand and let him pull her up. “There is no more rum cake,” she said as she led him into the bedroom next door. It had become the catch-all room for new bed linens. She hadn’t bought a bed for the room yet either, so it was perfect for interim storage. “This is going to be in a muted yellow hue, I think. Because there’s only the two windows, and i
t’s more an interior room, I thought it would need a bit of brightening up.”
Neil stood against the doorjamb and nodded. “I agree. But not some gawdy yellow.”
“No, not that. I’m considering the yellow that’s in my living room.”
“Oh yes, B. That would be perfect. With sheers on the windows?”
“Yes. Sheers with lace eyelets. It’ll be a very feminine room. I rather think my mom would like it, the ideas I have in mind. Aunt V always said my mom was a true lady, feminine but strong.”
“I can see that. Show me more.”
They walked down the hall to a corner room at the back of the house. The floors had been redone and gleamed in the muted light of the sconces. The smell of rain filtered through the upper floor thanks to the open windows. Luckily only a slight breeze was blowing outside or she’d had to have closed them. She didn’t want rain blowing in, but she loved the smell and the sound of it.
“This room should be red,” Neil offered, looking around inside the door. “The sun sets on the back of the house. It would light up this room brilliantly.”
“Yes, it would. I was thinking that myself. I wasn’t sure about red, though. I kind of wanted to do that downstairs in the dining room.”
“You could pick different reds from the same palette, and it work just fine.”
“True,” she said thoughtfully, her gaze scanning the room complete with floor-to-ceiling windows and a set of balcony doors leading out to the wrap around veranda.
“You know what else would work just fine here too?”
“Hmmm?”
“Cort.”
Blue looked over her shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“He would look damn fine as lord of the manor here.”
“Oh?”
“Every lady needs a lord, and this fabulous old house is the epitome of a manor home.” Neil stepped out in to the hallway, more formally known as the gallery, and stretched his arms wide before turning in a circle. “God, B. I can’t wait to see what you do with grand old place.”
“I’m glad you’re excited about it. I am too. I’ve loved every stage of the renovation, of learning more and more of its history, of my family’s history here.”
Forever in Blue Jeans Page 12