Blackout: A Romance Anthology

by Stephanie St. Klaire

  “Do you have your own?”

  I felt Jacob’s eyes on me as Sarah rounded an island in the kitchen, asking Darren something.

  “Not right now. I love fostering, although the hardest part is I want to keep them all. But if I did that, then I wouldn’t be able to keep doing it,” I said with a shrug, reaching out to rub my knuckles under Janice’s chin again. She let out another contented sigh and closed her eyes.

  Dee smiled down at her. “We’re going to keep Janice, but we can’t keep them all either.” She turned, carrying Janice over to a dog bed sitting on the windowsill in a patch of sun. It was clearly there for this reason. Dee carefully set Janice down in the bed. She opened her eyes long enough to turn in a circle and settled into the sunshine. It was a perfect napping spot.

  Over the next hour or so, Sarah cooked everyone breakfast, making scrambled eggs with bacon and hash browns. The meal, simple though it was, felt quite decadent given that most of the city was without power.

  Darren pulled up his laptop and contacted Aidan through a secured messaging system. I let Aidan know I was fine and asked him if he knew anything. All he could tell me was they suspected a hack of the grid, and he was worried. He assured me if this didn’t resolve soon, we could drive out of Las Vegas and fly out another way.

  It was strange because while Las Vegas was humming, it felt as if you were in the center of a unique universe that snapped and crackled with energy and electricity. With the heartbeat of Vegas without power, it felt much quieter.

  After breakfast, I found myself sitting on the couch with Jacob’s arm curled around my shoulders. The weight of it was comforting and strong. His presence was quiet and steady, and such a turn on, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  In a way, I had taken this trip to Las Vegas almost out of spite. I had the plane ticket, and it was nonrefundable. I should have known Wayne would decide to take Cheryl. Despite my efforts not to dwell on him and Cheryl, it was impossible not to know they were still together. I felt petty for hoping he would screw Cheryl over just the way he screwed me over.

  I was luckier than I could’ve imagined having Jacob stumble across us in the casino. If that hadn’t happened, my mortification would’ve run even deeper. I would’ve moved out of the room that had been reserved on Wayne’s credit card, making the whole situation sting even more.

  Somehow none of that seemed to matter anymore. My mind flashed to last night—the shadowy darkness, the feel of Jacob filling me, the spinning intensity of my climax rushing over me and leaving me boneless and sated. Then, this morning in the thin light of dawn, his hands and fingers once again sending me flying.

  Of all the things I had expected from this trip, last night was definitely not one of them—the hottest night of my life in the arms of an incredibly sexy and inscrutable billionaire. Just thinking about it made me flush straight through.

  It was clear Sarah and Darren were treating us as a couple. Jacob interacted with me comfortably, his affection light and easy. I didn’t know how to read it, but I didn’t know him well enough to interpret much of anything.

  My mind kept turning over last night and this morning. I was rather shocked at how comfortable I felt with him. While the attraction was undeniable, when I decided to snatch a hold of it and see it through, I had expected to feel a sense of nervousness.

  Yet, with Jacob, the sheer force of need roaring through my body overtook everything. There was something raw and honest between us. I had no idea what to think of it and resolved not to read too much into it. Last night was one night—out of time and place, and completely removed from my regular life. The power would come back on, and I would fly home soon.

  CHAPTER 13

  Jacob

  Later that morning, the power came back on. Ellie and I remained at Darren’s for the rest of the day if only to avoid the rush of activity returning to the Strip. Their home was large and comfortable. Darren and I fiddled around, attempting to chase down possibilities that caused the power outage with Aidan and a few of our respective security contacts scattered across the country. Everyone had hypotheses, but in the end, no one knew who had caused the complete power outage and knocked out the cell communications on the Strip in Las Vegas.

  Ellie had spent most of the day chatting with Sarah and Dee. She clearly had a soft spot for the dogs. Chocolate curled up on the couch with her in the afternoon while she and Dee played cards.

  As the day wore on, I realized I could get used to this with her. Aidan had asked me to look out for Ellie when we were messaging back and forth. My conscience snapped at me. I imagined he didn’t include me fucking her brains out twice in a twelve-hour span as part of “looking out for her.”

  My jaded, cynical mind was getting some serious pushback from my heart, which certainly had an opinion about all kinds of things. Well, not all kinds of things. Just Ellie. My heart kept telling me she was worth it. That just because my sister died didn’t mean I needed to be alone for the rest of my life. That I could use Ellie’s unwavering hopefulness in life. Not to mention my raging need for her.

  More than anything, I knew what I felt with her last night and again this morning was more rare than a fucking unicorn. If there was such a thing as unicorn sex, I had it last night with Ellie.

  Unicorn sex turned out to be the hottest sex of my life. If today hadn’t had its unique circumstances, I was quite certain I would still be tangled up skin-to-skin with her. I honestly didn’t know if I could get enough of her. Ever.

  A small part of me was disappointed when the power came back on. Although my rational, reasonable brain definitely wanted things back to normal, there was a tiny corner of my mind that had enjoyed the quiet last night. Without it, I doubted if I would have allowed myself the opportunity to tumble into my night with Ellie.

  Later in the afternoon, Ellie and I prepared to return back to the penthouse with a plan to stop by Darren’s offices to fetch my laptop. Ellie was sitting on the couch with Chocolate half on her lap as she idly stroked his ears, smiling at something Dee said.

  Looking at her, my heart clenched, the sensation unfamiliar. She was too good for me, or that’s what I needed to keep telling myself. Darren paused at my side where I was leaning in the archway, looking at Ellie.

  “You got it bad,” he said with a low laugh.

  I tore my gaze from Ellie to look at him. “Excuse me?”

  Darren’s lips quirked with a smile. “You’re usually cool, calm, never paying attention to the women clamoring for your attention. I don’t really know what’s up with you and Ellie, but don’t even try to tell me you don’t have a thing for her.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, abruptly deciding I didn’t care to lie. “Okay, I won’t then. Aidan would fucking kick my ass.”

  Darren glanced to Ellie, his gaze considering. Meanwhile, she lifted a hand, tucking a lock of her glossy hair behind her ear. I suddenly remembered the soft scent of her along the downy skin of her neck. I vividly recalled the feel of her skin prickling under my lips.

  Darren’s gaze flicked back to me. “Maybe he will. But the way you look at her, it’s more than just some kind of casual fling. There’s nothing wrong with settling down, you know?”

  My eyes widened, unable to hide my shock. “Look, I might like her, but I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

  Darren’s smile was knowing. He held my gaze as Sarah called his name. “I don’t think so, man.”

  ***

  The sound of ice clinking in a glass reached me. A few hours ago, we had returned to our hotel suite. It said something that I was now thinking of it as ours.

  Ellie had announced she wanted a long shower to ground her once we got here. Then, she had a call with Aidan.

  Meanwhile, I had hopped onto my various networks, unable to resist poking around in the nether regions of the online world to see if I could chase down the source of the power outage. Curiosity was my longtime companion.

  At the sound o
f the ice settling, I glanced up from where I was sitting on the couch, my eyes landing on Ellie. She was so damn beautiful she took my breath away. She wore another one of those stretchy skirts that hugged her hips and flared out around her knees. Her hair was down, the glossy fall masking her face from my view as she looked down and poured what I presumed to be whiskey into the glass tumbler.

  I instantly lost interest in what I was doing and found myself standing and striding across the room. I reached her just as she began to turn. She must not have heard me approaching because her mouth dropped open, her breath coming out in a small gasp. My cock had started to swell the moment I noticed her. Now, it ached. For her.

  “Hey,” I said softly, resting my hands on either side of her hips and curling my fingers around the curved edge of the bar.

  The scent of her wound around me like smoke, catching me, the flames threatening to engulf us both. I felt a fine tremor run through her, and she lifted the tumbler to sip her whiskey. Her lips glistened as she lowered the glass, her tongue darting out and sliding across her plump bottom lip.

  Lust struck me so hard it was like a bolt of lightning. The air around us hummed to life. Ellie’s kaleidoscope eyes darkened as she stared at me. “Hey,” she replied belatedly, her voice raspy and catching at my heart.

  My need for her was intoxicating. Yet somehow, the emotions she stirred up were even more so. I felt off-balance. The ground under my feet, usually firm and predictably stable, was shaking.

  Ellie was my only anchor. I uncurled one hand from the bar, reaching between us to take the whiskey from her and sip the cool liquor. It was so quiet in the room, I could’ve heard a spider lift one of its legs and set it on the floor. The subtle burn of the whiskey seemed fitting. Being near Ellie was like playing with fire.

  I sucked one of the small ice cubes into my mouth and set the tumbler down on the bar behind us, sliding it back out of the way. Then, I dipped my head, savoring her slight gasp.

  Still holding the ice under my tongue, I pressed my cool lips against her. A hum of satisfaction came from my throat when she arched into me. Goose bumps rose on her skin under my lips as I made my way down, tracing over her collarbone before dipping into the valley between her breasts.

  Conveniently, the blouse she wore this evening had a deep V. The sheer fabric did little to disguise the hard peaks of her nipples pressing against it. The ice was melting, and I let it slip out where it slid down between her breasts. Ellie sucked in a breath, her hand curling over the collar of my T-shirt.

  Fuck me. I’d never paid much attention at all to the sounds women made. With Ellie, each sound was a light lash of a whip, driving my desire to churn faster and faster inside of me.

  “Jacob,” she whispered, the sound skating over my skin.

  I leaned forward, catching that last sliver of ice with my tongue and dragging it out as it melted against her skin. Somewhere along the way, I had lifted a hand to cup one of her breasts, and I felt her nipple pebble more tightly under my thumb.

  I was nearly out of my mind with need for her, but I clung to my control. Lifting my head, I met her gaze. Her pupils were dilated, her eyes wide, and her skin flushed. “Yes?”

  “I thought last night was just a one-time thing,” she said, her voice just barely above a whisper.

  She had every right to point out that little detail. I didn’t remember if I had said it would be just once. But then, even if I had, I couldn’t have anticipated how it would affect me. Instead of slaking my need for her, the opposite had occurred.

  I held her gaze, searching her eyes. Although I saw vulnerability and uncertainty flickering in the depths, I also saw that raw, pure need reflected back at me, that search for connection that had taken us both by surprise.

  I didn’t know what I wanted, not beyond this moment. I sensed Ellie was wandering in the same mix of confusion and need. I preferred not to think about the future. Once you see someone’s future snuffed out, as I had with my sister, it cuts the cord you cling to. You learn to try to make the best of the moment because that’s all there really is when the rest falls away.

  I didn’t mean that in a spiritual way, more in a practical, brutally realistic way.

  Just now, here in this burning hot, electric moment, all I wanted was Ellie. I didn’t want to contemplate anything else. Or perhaps I did.

  “What do you want tonight?” I asked, my voice taut with the lust that gripped me.

  I could feel the heat of her skin through the thin silk of her blouse and the soft, rapid beat of her heart. Her pulse fluttered wildly along her neck, a flush staining her skin everywhere and making me want to tear her clothes off and see all of her bare.

  As intoxicating as last night had been in the darkness, I desperately wanted to see her fly apart with my eyes wide open and her in bright color.

  “You,” she said her word coming out forcefully.

  With that, she tightened her grip on the collar of my shirt, tugging me to her. The moment her lips met mine, it was as if a match was thrown into the banked embers between us. Flames caught and licked around us.

  Although there was that wholesome sultriness to Ellie, she wasn’t innocent, and she was so damn responsive. Everything she did was like a straight shot into the vein of my need.

  Her hand uncurled from my collar, and she flexed against me, sliding it up to cup the nape of my neck and kiss me as if her life depended on it. I was so ready, riding the edge of my control in a way I never had before.

  I tugged at her blouse, careless with the buttons, barely registering the sound of one pinging against the floor somewhere. As soon as her blouse fell open, I tore my lips from hers and dipped my head, sucking at her nipple right through the silk of her bra. I growled, a surge of satisfaction rushing through me when she cried out and arched forward, offering up her fucking perfect breasts for the taking.

  She yanked at my shirt, impatient enough to swear when I stayed busy teasing her nipples and flicking open the clasp between her breasts, drawing back slightly just so I could see them. They tumbled loose, round and plump, the skin flushed pink like I knew she would be once I got her naked.

  “Get this off,” she murmured, shoving her hands up under my shirt, the feel of her palms sliding against my skin sending a shot of blood straight to my groin.

  Stepping back, I reached behind my neck and yanked my shirt off, tossing it to the floor. Ellie’s hands traveled over my chest, her lips stringing kisses in the wake of her touch. Just when I meant to take control, she ripped it right out of my hands. She made quick work of the buttons on my fly, flicking them open and sliding her hand down into my briefs.

  The feel of her lightly stroking my cock nearly pushed me beyond the edge. “Ellie,” I growled, meaning to say something, anything, to get my bearings again.

  She murmured something just as her lips dusted more kisses along my abs, and she tore the buttons open on my fly, freeing my cock. Before I could catch my breath, I felt the warmth of her lips closing around the tip of my cock, the vibration of her humming nearly unleashing my release instantly.

  My hand tangled in her hair as I held on. With a subtle push, she rotated us so my hips were pressed against the bar, and she shimmied to her knees. When I glanced down to see her blouse falling open and her pretty pink nipples, she looked up with a sly smile. Her tongue darted out to swipe a drop of precum rolling off the tip of my cock, and my hand tightened in her hair.

  Her tongue swirled around the head, and I couldn’t look away. She was so fucking hot and sexy. I’d had plenty of women suck me off. But no one did it like Ellie. She nearly made my knees buckle when she dragged her tongue along the underside of my cock, her fist lightly gripping at the base right before she sucked me deeply into the warm suction of her mouth.

  I barely recognized the rough groan coming from me. I felt as if I were hanging on for dear life, one hand curled over the bar and the other in her hair. She worked me with her mouth, her tongue swirling as she sucked me in again b
efore drawing back, her fist sliding up and down along the slick moisture she left behind.

  She teased me, taking me to the edge again and again. I meant to tell her I didn’t want to come inside her mouth, that I didn’t want to let go until I was buried as deeply inside of her as I could get.

  But she gave me no choice. At the sight of her lips, swollen and glistening as she swirled her tongue around the head of my cock again before she drew me in and sucked just hard enough to pull my orgasm from me, whether I wanted it or not. My balls tightened, and heat twisted at the base of my spine, lightning jolting through me as I poured my release into her mouth.

  She took every drop before pulling back slowly, her tongue swirling around her lips. So damn sexy. I was hard again before she even fully straightened.

  CHAPTER 14

  Ellie

  I rose to my feet, feeling the heat of Jacob’s gaze on me. Dear God. The man was obscenely handsome. He stood there, his jeans half-open, and his cock hardening again right before my eyes. His hand fell from my hair when I straightened.

  His chest was a glorious wall of muscle, the soft lighting casting shadows across his bronzed skin. Everything between us felt like hot lava. I felt as if I were diving into it, yet it didn’t burn. The sensation held me in its fire, burning everything else in my awareness to ashes.

  Jacob’s eyes took on a gleam, the wicked look sending my belly into a flip and tingles spinning through my veins. I felt so alive when I was with him, my nerves sparking everywhere.

  My panties were soaked, and I shifted my thighs to relieve the ache building there. I sensed when he noticed, and his lips kicked up slightly at one corner. He pushed away from the bar, closing the few inches between us, and lifted his hands to slide my blouse and bra off my shoulders. I barely heard the fabric rumple to the floor. His hands traced down my sides into the dip of my waist, his subtle touch eliciting a whimper.

  This intensity with him came so easily. When I was in the midst of it, everything felt like a slow, sensual dance, and as if we were the only two people in the world.