by Chelsea Roy
“I can’t think with you so close to me.” She muttered. It took every ounce of his self control, but Jack backed away and gave Ellie the space she needed.
“Please El.” He said, uncomfortably aware that he was near to begging her. He knew if she said no, he’d end up moving into her condo until he could persuade her otherwise but he really didn’t want to do that. He wanted something that was theirs, that they built together.
“How will I feel like an equal partner?” She asked him. “And I don’t mean to sound like a bitch, I truly don’t. I just don’t have near the money that you do.” Ellie sounded honestly worried about this and Jack could have kicked himself for not thinking about this aspect of his proposal. He never considered that Ellie might be concerned over whose money purchased what.
“It’ll be ours, Ellie. You’re my equal in every way possible. Just because your bank account doesn’t match mine doesn’t mean shit to me.” Jack frantically thought of things he could say to her to make her understand his point of view. He kept coming up with blanks. If money was a deal-breaker for her, there wasn’t much he could do. Even if he quit the band tomorrow, money would keep rolling in. He was happy to pay for every single thing if she would let him, but he knew she never would.
“One condition.” She said, with her eyes downcast. He was stunned nearly speechless by her easy capitulation but was uneasy about the condition she wanted. Ellie rotated her body away from him and wouldn’t look him in the eye. He didn’t like her posture and hated to see her look so closed off to him. Whatever she was coming up with was clearly important to her but it was obvious it pained her at the same time.
“Name it and it’s yours.” He said, his voice raspy with the emotions that were rolling through him in waves. He wanted this settled and would agree to give her the moon if that’s what she was asking for.
“Just like that?” She asked him softly. “No hesitation at all?”
“Just like that.” Jack told her solemnly. He watched as she took a deep breath and slowly faced him, lifting pained eyes to him.
“If there is ever a point when you want out, where it’s not working for you anymore, just tell me. I’ll go. I just need you to promise me you won’t say shitty things or tear me down or screw other women to get me to leave. Just tell me we’re done and I’ll go.” As Ellie spoke the words to her one condition, her voice was trembling. Jack felt her words like a blow to his gut. Whether it was their past driving her to request this condition or his status as a rocker, he didn’t know. He did know he hated her insecurities and would do anything to ease them. He strove with everything inside of him to keep his voice even when he responded to her.
“I promise you that if I ever get tired of you I will tell you immediately.” He told her. “That’s an easy promise for me to make because I know there is no fucking chance in hell it would ever happen.” He watched her shoulders relax and her head bob in agreement.
“Okay, Jack. I’ll move in with you,” she told him. He crossed the room swiftly and finally took her in his arms. Even though Ellie was a little reluctant, she had agreed with him and they were moving forward. Together.
NINETEEN
Shopping for a home with Jack was a hugely eye-opening experience for Ellie. Their first real fight as a couple came over the proposed price range of said future home. Ellie wanted to stay within a budget where she could actually feel like she was contributing toward the purchase of the home. Jack leaned more toward multi-million dollar estates which were well within his budget but so far out of her own the difference was laughable. Ellie knew she had agreed the home would be theirs and that money didn’t matter, but she still felt compelled to contribute. She knew Jack was beyond frustrated with her vetoes.
“You’re being completely unreasonable!” He growled when she nixed the fifth house that night. Jack had his laptop open and was scrolling through homes.
“And you’re not listening to me! I want to feel like it’s our home, not your palatial estate,” she quickly returned back at him. They’d been bickering while looking at homes over dinner.
“I refuse to live in a tiny ‘cottage’,” he made air quotes, “just so you can pay half!”
“At least meet me somewhere in the middle!” She couldn’t help her voice from sounding completely exasperated with him.
“I will if you could stop being an unreasonable mule!” Jack’s own face was wearing a mulish expression and Ellie couldn’t help but giggle. His hair was standing on end from having been abused by his fists and she knew he was grinding his teeth in an attempt to keep a lid on his infamous temper.
“No palatial estates. How about that. I’m open to anything else,” she conceded. Jack grudgingly smiled at her.
“And no shacks by the sea.” He agreed. Ellie grinned at him. It was hard to stay angry at him when she knew he was just trying to find somewhere nice for them to live. And despite their differences of opinion while shopping for a home, Jack was keeping his word and sleeping in her bed every single night. He had quickly established a pattern of curling his big, warm, tattooed body around hers and holding her tightly against him as they both fell asleep. Ellie shamelessly took advantage of the warmth he offered and loved cuddling close to him.
Because of the miscarriage, the doctor had taken her off work for a week. She returned to work during Jack’s second week with her. She knew her return to work meant their rhythms would change slightly and hoped it didn’t cause a big ripple. Jack had never asked her not to work, and she didn’t think he would. He knew how much she valued her independence.
She wasn’t quite sure what Jack did with his time during the day but he was always there for her at night when she came home. And every night, and sometimes in the mornings too, Jack would work his magical fingers against Ellie and hold her close while she shuddered and came against him. He never once let her return the favor for him, taking care of business himself with her looking on. Jack had more than proved he could take care of her without asking for anything in return and she was ready to start proving some things of her own. Ellie was nearly out of her mind with the desire to touch and taste Jack but no matter what she did, she couldn’t talk him into it. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so sexually frustrated.
It took more than a week and several intense orgasms for Ellie to agree to Jack’s version of a compromise. She knew she was weak when it came to Jack’s demands, but it was hard to say no when he was doing something so nice. One night after a particularly intense orgasm that left Ellie feeling as boneless as jelly, Jack suggested listing out things that were important to both of them. Ellie was all for it and Jack sprung up from the bed to grab a pad of paper and a pen. Ellie’s eyes had narrowed at their convenient location in the bedroom. She was sure he had strategized this attack. But, when the list was said and done, they had more in common than they realized. For example, they both agreed they wanted to be close to the beach. And they both thought four bedrooms was the perfect size. They also both wanted a pool. These requirements helped narrow the search for them and Ellie finally agreed Jack could contact a realtor to look for a home with those specifications. She promised to ignore the price of the home as long as it fell within the specifications they agreed on.
Jack promptly hired a realtor based on a recommendation from Dan the tattoo artist. Ellie knew it made her a somewhat of a snob, but she hadn’t thought Dan would be in the know about home shopping. Apparently, though, he had a beautiful little bungalow in an area called Ocean Beach that Jack had partied at a time or two. He’d been a very picky home shopper and had found a very patient realtor who he promised would take good care of them.
It took the realtor a week after being hired to get back to them with what she considered to be an acceptable list of homes for Jack and Ellie to view. Jack scheduled an appointment to see the first slate of homes on the list immediately. Ellie was happy to leave this part of the home-buying process in Jack’s hands because between working a full-time and fee
ling out boundaries with Jack, Ellie was worn out.
The day she and Jack planned to meet with the realtor was also the day Ellie had her follow up appointment with her OB/GYN. Ellie felt like the last three weeks had been an exercise in restraint on her part and she was done waiting to be with Jack. Once the first few days of the miscarriage were behind her, she had felt so much better both mentally and physically that she wasn’t sure why she had to wait to have intercourse. She had a strong desire to be close with Jack in every way possible and all of those wicked things he’d done to pleasure her ramped up her desire to unmanageable levels. Ellie was so aroused from sleeping with Jack she felt like a rocket, ready to go off with just the slightest urging.
Ellie wasn’t sure what to expect at a follow up visit for a D&C. Fortunately, though, the nurse practitioner provided her with a clean bill of health and gave her green light to resume sexual activity. Ellie felt like a teenager planning her first time. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect, and she was determined that she and Jack would be together that night. She had a strong suspicion he wouldn’t be adverse to some sexytimes, but he had been treating her like a china doll for the past several weeks. Starting tonight, Ellie resolved the fragile treatment was going to stop. She wasn’t breakable and she wanted the man who challenged her sexually back. One of the best memories Ellie had of Jack was a night they’d gone at each other hard and fast. He hadn’t treated her as breakable that night.
Ellie walked into Jack’s plush hotel room and tossed her suit jacket onto the wet bar. Jack had made sure a key card was waiting for her at the front desk so she could go straight into his room. She’d driven from her office in San Diego to the swank Los Angeles hotel where Jack and the band were staying. The tour Jack was on had taken the band as close to her as Los Angeles but they wouldn’t be returning to San Diego this time. Ellie hadn’t seen Jack in several months and her body was trembling with anticipation. She hadn’t even bothered to stop at home and change, she’d been too eager to see Jack. She started to kick off her pumps when she was grabbed from behind.
“Leave them on.” Jack growled in her ear. His hands slid around her hips to where her blouse was tucked into her slim fitting skirt and began tugging it upwards. She leaned her head back into Jack’s shoulder and looked up at him. His eyes were dark and glittering with lust. She pressed an open-mouthed kiss against his strong jaw and rubbed her bottom back against his arousal. Her arms reached behind her and twined around his neck.
Jack’s hands slid under the sheer blouse and tank that Ellie wore and pushed them up and over her head. They dropped soundlessly to the floor. He deftly unsnapped her bra and lowered her arms, sliding her bra out of the way. His lean and talented fingers found her nipples and tweaked them lightly. A soft moan left her mouth. Ellie watched as a smile kicked up the corner of his lips.
“Hi Jack.” Ellie said breathlessly. One of his hands slid down the front of her skirt and through her panties, finding her core. She was slick for him and could no more stop herself from pressing up against him than the sun could stop itself from rising.
“You’re fuckin’ wet for me aren’t you Ellie?” He growled in her ear. She nodded breathlessly, moving against the hand that continued to caress her. Without warning, Jack withdrew his hands from her body and Ellie cried out in protest. He usually made her come on his fingers or with his mouth first before driving her to a second climax with him inside. She groaned in anticipation as his hands landed on her hips and he guided her over to the wet bar. With one hand, he pulled out a high-backed barstool and swung the back of it up against the bar. He took Ellie’s hands and positioned them against the slats of the stool, his warm fingers wrapping hers over them. The position left her ass in the air and her breasts pressed against the pad of the stool. Jack released her fingers and she heard, rather than saw, Jack unzip his jeans. The sound seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet room. She felt the cool air wash over her legs as her skirt was raised and her panties were ripped off. Ellie’s body was drenched in anticipation at what was to come. With no warning or further preparation, Jack plunged into her and she cried out at the exquisite sensation.
“You feel so damn good!” She panted harshly. “So good!” She repeated it over and over as Jack took her roughly. His thick length rubbed her insides and hit her at an excruciatingly pleasurable angle. She felt his balls slap against the back of her legs and she was close to falling off the edge. Her legs shook as she neared her climax and she could hear him making low moaning noises behind her. His sounds tipped her over and she clenched around him with a low, keening cry. Her muscles gripped him over and over again and she felt his seed begin to spill inside of her. He slowed his thrusts until he stopped altogether and was leaned over her on the stool, both of them breathing heavily.
“You’re going to be the fucking death of me Ellie,” he told her, so quietly that she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. But she didn’t have time to think about his statement because he disengaged their bodies, picked her up, and carried her to the bedroom where he made her come twice more.
Recalling that night made Ellie impatient to get the home viewing over with so she could move onto more important things, like ravaging Jack’s body. In the spirit of being expedient, Ellie met Jack at the realtor’s office in Mission Valley. There were five houses on the list that Jack and the realtor wanted to see that night. One was in Point Loma, a gorgeous area of San Diego that looked like a transplant of the south complete with Spanish moss and lush gardens. Two were in La Jolla, just north of San Diego and in an area with a somewhat mediterranean feel to it. The last two were outside of the city entirely, one in Del Mar and the other in Encinitas, two tiny ocean towns just north of the city. Privately Ellie hoped that they didn’t end up in La Jolla because she found the area to be pretentious. With all Jack’s tattoos and barely-leashed temper, she didn’t think it would be the best fit for them. She couldn’t discount the homes in that area, though. Many of them were beautiful and had exactly the qualities they were looking for. Ellie knew they were in for a long night given the geographical span of the home locations and reigned in her impatience.
They took the realtor’s car, which was fine. It was a plush luxury SUV and Ellie was certain the realtor made plenty of money in commission. Ellie was impatient to be alone with Jack to share her green-light news but she also wanted to give each home the attention it deserved. They started with the home in Point Loma. It was gorgeous but Ellie didn’t know how she felt about the traffic getting into and out of the area. It seemed really bottle-necked to her and since she would be driving it every day, she was worried it would drive her crazy. The feel of the home also seemed a little cold to her. It didn’t seem like a place where kids would play and where a family could grow and that was important to her.
The two homes in La Jolla were also beautiful. They were both mediterranean style but because the way La Jolla was situated, they were on somewhat busy streets and on a hill. There wasn’t much of a yard to speak of and even though Ellie really liked one of the homes, she just didn’t think it would work. She and Jack both vetoed the La Jolla homes and Ellie began to feel dispirited. Although the three houses they’d seen were beautiful, none were just right for them. She could tell Jack felt the way she did because he’d worn the same stoic, blank expression at each of the homes and then had ultimately just given the realtor a shake of his beautiful head.
The home in Del Mar was tempting. It was only a few blocks from the ocean and had a decent yard. It had a gorgeous infinity pool and six rooms. Ellie’s only complaint with it was its enormous size, which Jack actually preferred, and that literally everything was white. She knew colors could be changed, but seriously, white marble? White carpet? White walls? White everything! The home was one of the more costly ones on the list and to go into it knowing so much would have to be renovated because of color preference didn’t sit well with Ellie.
It wasn’t until they hit the home in Encinitas that Ellie felt li
ke she was in the right place. The home was obviously owned by a family. There was a large playset in the backyard that was enough to make any little kid green with envy and toys stacked away neatly in bins in an office. The color scheme of the home was warm and inviting. The decorator’s taste ran along the lines of Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. Ellie had no problem with that because it matched her own tastes. She could imagine her things in the home, and could envision the purchases she and Jack would make together. Standing in the kitchen, Ellie ran her hand over the cool granite countertops. They were a tan color shot with dark brownish rust colored threads and they were gorgeous. She lifted her eyes to Jack’s and found his gaze hot on hers. She was jolted from her musings by the pure lust she saw in Jack’s eyes.
“Have you seen the master bath?” He asked her gruffly. She shook her head, her core flooding with heat. She hadn’t made it out of the living spaces yet but apparently Jack had and liked what he saw. He grabbed her hand and led her down the hall into the master suite. She gasped when she entered the room. There were distant views of the ocean from the master bedroom windows. At Jack’s insistent urging, she continued into the master bath. She turned slowly in a full circle, taking in each luxurious inch of the room. A giant, jetted tub sat in the corner of the room and looked out over hilltops at the ocean. There were his and her sinks and closets. A shower built for three or four. Everything looked ultra-modern and exactly as it would if she’d designed her dream bathroom.
“Jack, this is perfect!” She breathed. She loved it immediately and felt like she was home.
“Ellie, you are what’s perfect.” Jack told her in his deep voice. Ellie suddenly became aware of the low flush on Jack’s cheeks. She looked him over slowly, taking in his obvious erection. She was so in love with this man and wanted nothing more than to be close to him again. Her breathing became erratic as she watched in the mirror while Jack stepped up behind her. The hoop in his eyebrow and the stud in his nose hinted at the recklessness existing within him. Ellie had never been a big fan of piercings, but she loved Jack’s and found them compellingly sexy. His ridiculously handsome face dipped down to her neck and he nipped at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. Ellie’s nipples immediately tightened and she gave a soft groan. He knew her body well after spending years making it hum.