Ignite: Book 2 (The Heat Series 1)

by MJ Masucci

  “You’re big; I like big,” she said as she took him in her mouth.

  She took him deep into her throat. So much so that he thought he felt her tonsils. She sucked at him hard crushing his cock between her tongue and the roof of her mouth. She gently used her teeth sliding over the smooth skin of his length. The more aggressive she became, the more he wanted. He grasped the back of her head, taking a handful of her hair and moving his hips, face fucking her. She squeezed his balls running her nails over the soft sac. Then she encircled his cock at the base and held her fingers tight around his girth.

  He ran his fingers over her cheek, and she looked up at him seductively.

  “I’m going to come soon and if you don’t want to swallow it, take your mouth off me now.”

  She made no move to remove her mouth, so he moved his hips even harder, and when he came, he shoved his cock deep until he finished his release. He let go of her hair and leaned back against the counter with his cock still in her mouth. She let his cock slip from her mouth with a pop and proceeded to lick it clean as he continued to lean against the counter catching his breath.

  “That was so fucking hot. I haven’t had a blowjob like that in a long time.”

  She stood up, and he kissed her. Kaycee took him by the hand to an upstairs bedroom and proceeded to remove her bikini. She lay naked on the bed waiting for him to decide what he wanted to do. They spent the next two hours in bed with lunch long forgotten.

  She was showering in the en suite when he started to feel horrible. Why the hell am I feeling this way? He could easily answer his own question. He still loved Ava. No matter how much blame and guilt she piled on him, he still loved her. She was never going to want him again, so this was good for him. He needed someone else to make him forget. But would he be able to forget? Time would only tell.

  After the Labor Day weekend, he started seeing Kaycee on a more regular basis. He enjoyed her company, and she seemed to enjoy his. It wasn’t merely physical, but they had several common interests. She loved New York and had been there many times. They both loved going out on the water, and she was teaching him how to surf. She loved sports and could hold her own in a conversation. She was intelligent and beautiful with a great sense of humor.

  He had gotten his hair cut, and it was now short and back to the style he had years ago. His father had shipped him several of the suits he left back in New York. They all fit well and were still in style. His friend from Duke had gotten him an interview with a large advertising company. They were looking to fill a position for in-house counsel. It was the easiest way for him to be an attorney without having to take the California Bar Examination. But, Xander wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to stay in California.

  He loved the weather here and was overjoyed to be spending so much time with Lidia and Brett, but he missed the seasons. He missed the fall time that was taking place in New York at this time. He wanted to walk through the area parks and see the changing of the leaves, feel the crisp chill in the air as fall passed into winter. He missed his parents and the vacation house in Lake George. Most of all he missed Ava, even if she hated him and never wanted to be with him ever again. He knew his initial reaction to her email was out of anger, but as he adjusted to the news, he realized he was never going to be over her.

  As the third week of September started, he settled into his new job at the advertising company. Everyone was very welcoming, but the work was boring corporate stuff. He liked meeting new clients and with this position that didn’t happen. His responsibilities were oriented around company policy, contracts, and liability. But the pay was good and eventually he would be able to move out of Lidia’s into his own place.

  Brett had started driving right after he got his cast off and Lidia was mobile again. She was eating regular food now that they had taken off the wiring on her jaw. Fortunately, no other surgeries were required for either of them. Lidia needed physical therapy on her leg, but it was coming along well so far. She was able to help bring in more graphics design business, and they had plenty to keep them busy.

  Xander paid Lidia rent, but she insisted that it only be two hundred dollars since he had been so helpful when they were both incapacitated. That left him with plenty of expendable income to take Kaycee out and to save for his own place.

  The work week was not going well. It was Thursday afternoon, and Victoria had already yelled at Ava more than once this week. Her hangover had followed her into Tuesday before it became dull and nagging. Maybe it was time to switch back to wine? She didn’t care about work and wanted to go home. She grabbed her purse and left promptly at 1:00 PM hoping she could take a long nap.

  She was on the subway when her phone chirped with an email. It was from Michael and she had just enough connection to open it.

  Button,

  Congratulations! You are now an Aunt, again. Alicia just gave birth a little while ago to your new nephew, Jackson Andrew Keene. Yeah I know, his initials spell JAK, but we wanted to name him after Alicia’s father. I just wanted to send you a quick email with a picture attached. Call me when you get a chance. It would be great if you could come for a visit to see him and us. Elizabeth and Mikey miss you (not to mention everyone else, too).

  Love,

  Michael

  Ava opened up the picture attached and saw a baby that looked very much like her niece and nephew when they were born four years back. The last thing she wanted to do was go down to Georgia. Being in her father’s house would be the worst thing, especially if she kept drinking the way she had been. She would have to make an excuse to get out of it somehow.

  She went home, stripped naked, turned the air conditioning on high and snuggled under the covers. Three hours later, she woke up feeling refreshed and ready to… to do what? What exactly did she have to do? Her apartment was relatively clean except for the mound of dishes that she let pile up. Luca was busy working out of town for the next few days. She wasn’t in the mood for Tim and his passes at her, and everyone else seemed to be busy. Well, she could work out. Then she laughed to herself because she hadn’t worked out in over two weeks. Her endurance was probably shot from drinking.

  She got out of bed and noticed that she looked a little paunchy. She padded down to the bathroom and pulled the scale out of the drawer. She wasn’t surprised that she had gained four pounds. Her recently steady diet of junk food, Ben and Jerry’s and alcohol was taking their toll on her body.

  She went to her bedroom and pulled on some clothing. She had an idea, something that she had wanted to do for a long time but never had the nerve. Xander had told her it was a mistake, but she was going to do it anyway. She checked her phone and found a shop with good reviews on Yelp.

  When she got to the place, she went in and described to the artist exactly what she wanted and pointed to her hip. He assigned one of his female artists to draw her a picture for her approval. It was tiny, no bigger than a thumbnail but it was what she wanted. It hurt, but when it was finished, she looked in the mirror and smiled. No matter what, he would always be with her. The woman instructed her how to care for the tattoo as she applied disinfectant and a bandage.

  At home that night, she couldn’t take her eyes off it. She squinted to see if she could notice the initials woven into the lavender rose. There they were, on one petal were his, ARW and on another were hers, AEK. The skin was red around the edges of the tattoo, but it didn’t hurt. She applied some moisturizer before she went to bed. The next morning the tattoo had oozed some, but it looked okay. She was careful not to mess with it too much when she was in the shower.

  She made sure to wear a loose fitting skirt with no underwear since the tattoo near her pubic area needed to breathe. A couple of hours into work and she went into the bathroom to clean it and apply more moisturizer. When she got back to her desk, there was an email from her uncle. All it said was

  Come to my office immediately.

  She went to his office expecting him to congratulate her on becoming an aunt again. Wh
en she entered his face had a stern look, and he asked her to shut the door. Shit, this can’t be good.

  “Ava, can you tell me what this is?” He held a couple of contracts in his hand that he handed to her. She looked at them, and they were ones she had drawn up that very morning and given to Victoria.

  “They’re contracts that I drew up for Victoria this morning. They look fine.”

  “Do they? Look closer, please.”

  She perused them and then she spotted the mistake which caused her to giggle.

  “You think this is a joke? We have high-end clients that would not find this amusing at all. How would it look when Mr. Van Stodden came in to sign the contracts and found his name as Van Snootington? Look at the second contract please.”

  She did and noticed the mistake immediately. Why hadn’t she noticed before that she had typed Gingerbread House Lane instead of Ginger Lane?

  “Victoria has asked me to reassign you to another attorney. She said for the past few weeks your work has been declining. We have all noticed changes in you, and they aren’t good. I want you to take a leave of absence for a month to get your head together.”

  She started to protest, but he told her it was either that or he would have to terminate her. She knew he wasn’t kidding.

  “Your father called me to let me know that I have a new grandnephew. Why don’t you visit the family in Georgia? I think you need a break.”

  She felt mortified. But she knew he was right. She needed to get out of New York to get her head together not that she was interested in doing that. Why didn’t everyone just leave her alone?

  “Okay, I’ll go visit my family. You’re right; I need a vacation.”

  “Please work out whatever is on your mind. You know we are all here for you if you need to talk. Maybe you need to talk to a professional.”

  She didn’t wait for him to continue. She rose from her chair and exited his office before he launched into her needing to talk to Dr. Newman. She wasn’t going to do that again; she was fine.

  That night she prepared to go out to meet Gino at Ember. She texted him to make sure they were still getting together, and he let her know he would be there. She had had two small glasses of vodka while she was getting dressed. When she arrived, the line was even longer than it had been last week but when she gave the bouncer her name, he waved her through. She hunted for Gino and found him waiting for her near the entrance. She took him up to the VIP lounge, and they ordered drinks.

  She downed her vodka and cranberry quickly and pulled him to dance with her. On the dance floor, she rubbed up and pressed herself against him. She could feel his excitement through her clothes. Several minutes on the dance floor and she were ready for another drink. They made their way through the crowd and went up to the lounge. She was surprised to see Dani, Roger and two of their friends there. They sat down with them after introductions.

  Ava took notice of one of the men that was a friend of Roger’s. She thought he was very sexy, and she started to joke around with him. Gino was sitting on the other side of her looking helpless. Dani tried to intervene, and Ava pushed her away taking a long swig out of the champagne bottle that was sitting on their table. She then asked the man, who was named Jimmy, to come down and dance with her. The dance floor was very crowded, and after bumping into several people, probably more so because she was drunk, she pulled Jimmy to the general lounge area.

  She plopped down on one of the leather couches near the bathroom and pulled him down with her. She began kissing him and ran her hands through his hair. Then she reached for his crotch and rubbed his balls. He followed suit by slipping his hands up her skirt where he found her to be without panties. He stroked her clit with his thumb while she rubbed his growing length through his pants.

  When Ava didn’t come back, and she lost view of her on the dance floor, Dani tried to text Jimmy. She got no response and spoke with one of the security men in the lounge asking if Nico was around. Nico had them escorted to his office where she told him that Ava was missing and very drunk. He sent several of his bouncers to find her and contacted Samantha who had just arrived with Robert for an evening out.

  Sam began looking for Ava herself and found her in the throes of an orgasm in the very public lounge area. She screamed at Jimmy, and one of the bouncers pulled him away. She shook Ava who looked up at her with half lidded eyes.

  “Why did you do that? I was enjoying myself.”

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Sam started yelling, and not because the music was loud. “I don’t see you for weeks, and now here you are getting diddled by some guy you don’t even know? Why would you do this?”

  “I don’t need you to lecture me. Especially you with your fucking drawer full of condoms. You had your fun; I never did, and now I want it.”

  “Not like this you’re not. Let’s go,” as Sam began pulling her up by her arm, but she wouldn’t move.

  “Either you come with me, or I tell Robert what I just saw.”

  “Don’t you dare. He will tell everyone in the family, and my father will find out.”

  “Maybe that’s what you need because hell if you’re listening to anyone else. Now let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?” But her question was met with silence.

  The next morning Ava woke up alone in bed. It took her a minute to realize where she was, Sam’s loft. Sam was not in bed next to her, but it was apparent that she had been recently.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Sam said as she entered the room.

  “What time is it?”

  “Time to face the music. You need to tell me what the fuck is going on with you, because this Ava here,” Sam said as she waved her finger toward her friend, “I don’t know.”

  “It’s nothing. I am just getting it out of my system before I take the bar exam and start my career.”

  “Really? Do you remember what happened last night?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “Let me tell you. You made out with a guy you don’t know, and you let him finger you in the lounge area of Ember. I found you having an orgasm with his hand still up your skirt.”

  Ava felt sick to her stomach. Even though Sam had told her the details, they remained out of the reach of her memory. It must be true because Sam wouldn’t lie to her. She put her hands over her face and shook her head. Sam sat on the bed next to her.

  “Do you want to tell me about it? Why?”

  “Where do I begin?”

  “Start from the very beginning.”

  Ava took a deep breath and told her what Sam had suspected all these years. She started with the incident at Cameron University, the one that brought her to New York. Then Ava told her about the suitcase in the hall closet when she came back four years ago after her accident. The letter she found in her old sweater pocket, the rose painting at camp, the weekend in Saratoga and California. Finally, she told Sam about the devastating email that Xander had sent her breaking it off permanently. She called it up from her saved emails on her phone and showed it to her.

  Sam whistled loudly after she read it.

  “I’m sorry, but I find it hard to believe that someone who was so passionate about you, risked his life for you, saved your life, would ever write something so vicious. There has to be something more to this.”

  “I doubt it. I haven’t heard from him since he wrote the email. I feel like such a fool waiting all those years for him to come back. I thought my prayers had been answered when I found him. I feel so used. He never cared about me, he just saw me as a piece of ass.”

  “I don’t believe that. I saw the way that man looked at you. At the time I wished Justin looked at me that way. Now I know what it’s like because Robert gives me that look. Is this why you have been doing all this? The screwing around, the drinking, messing up at work? Are you trying to prove something to yourself?”

  “I thought if I acted like I didn’t care then the pain would go away. It just made it worse, and I feel horrible for what
I’ve been doing.”

  She lay back in bed and looked at the ceiling. Sam pushed the t-shirt she had changed Ava into the night before, up her belly.

  “When did you get this?” Sam said referring to the tattoo.

  Ava pulled the t-shirt back down. “Last week. Wait, two days ago.”

  “I saw it last night when I was helping you get changed. I examined it when you passed out last night. I know you have his initials, and yours woven into the lines. You need to look closely, but they are there.”

  “How did I fuck everything up so much?”

  Sam stroked her arm. “You’re lost. You need to find your way back. I want the old Ava, not this one. Please find your way back.”

  “Please don’t tell Robert.”

  “I won’t. They’re your secrets, and you need to be the one to tell them.”

  Ava sat up to hug her best friend. Sam had always been there for her and brought her out of her shell. She was a great friend.

  She told her that she was going to take some time to visit her family and new nephew down in Georgia. She needed to get her head together. She needed to find her way home.

  Chapter 20

  Ava was in her walk-in closet deciding what to take on her trip down south. Of her month suspension, she decided to take a full week there thinking about how she was going to get back on track. She was hopeful that no one had told her family about what was happening in New York. If her father found out, he would be very disappointed.

  Her flight was scheduled for 3:20 that afternoon. She finished packing, left instructions and a gift for Gage as a thank you for again taking care of the cats, and went to the entryway closet to take a jacket with her. Though it was still fairly hot in Georgia during the day, the nights could be chilly. She almost tripped over the case that Xander had left for her. She went to move it out of the way, and her hand brushed the plate that had his initials: ARW. She ran her thumb over them. Then she pushed the case in the corner and backed out of the closet. No use stirring up emotions.