Stroke of Midnight

by Bonnie Edwards

  “What do you want, Jaye? Really want?” he said quietly, near her ear. “To fill your life with nothing but other people’s needs? To fill your life with work? Not even your own work, but theirs?”

  His comment brought her up short. “I’m not a workaholic if that’s what you mean.” Acknowledging that she sometimes put a lot of herself into her business was eye-opening. And uncomfortable. She chose to ignore the whole idea. “Let’s head for that meadow you showed me last week. It was pretty there.”

  He shook his head and laughed. “When we do what I want to do in that meadow, I want all of your attention, not just part of it.” He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Here, call them.”

  After she’d checked that Hayden had made it home safe and sound and was staying with her mom she’d immersed herself in her Alex-fueled fantasy. A guilty pleasure, but now it was time to think of someone besides herself.

  “You’re so sweet to let me call.” The phone looked like a life preserver thrown off a ship deck to her. She took it with greedy hands and dialed.

  Alex watched her avid expression of delight. He stretched out with his hands cradling his head as he watched her animated and happy to talk to people she cared for. Her eyes lit, her face broke into smiles as each client answered her rapid fire questions. She was much more than a simple bookkeeper. She was a mentor, a guide, a helping hand and it made him proud of her in a way he hadn’t expected.

  “You’re very good with them,” he commented when the spate of phone calls ended and she handed back his phone

  She smiled with surprise. “You think?” But she looked pleased at his comment.

  He got to his feet and helped her to hers. “I think. I shouldn’t have said you were too involved. It’s clear that you love your job.”

  A flush rose from her chest to her hairline.

  They mounted the four wheeler, helmets on. When he started it, he felt her arms wrap around his chest for the ride. Her warmth at his back warmed his heart and got his own engine running.

  They reached the meadow in record time. “We’ve got two days left,” he said when he slid his helmet off. Again, she shook out her glorious hair while he enjoyed the sight.

  “Forty-six hours,” she corrected, turning toward the picnic gear she’d stowed on the back.

  “But I want more,” he snapped. “You’ve just answered a slew of questions from your clients. That should buy me time.”

  She looked appalled and wagged a finger in the air. “You can’t buy time. I didn’t agree to that. Besides pay checks don’t wait, neither do bill collectors.” She bit her lip in. He’d hit a nerve. The wobble in her voice confirmed it.

  “I’ve noticed something about you.” He wanted her to know he’d learned a lot more about her than she realized. That he’d paid attention.

  She gave him a sharp glance as she lifted out a blanket and fluffed it open on the ground. She kept her back to him while she busied herself with the rest of the picnic gear. Ignoring him only made him understand he was on to her.

  “The more unsure you become of yourself the more you move. You shuffle, rise from your seat, look out windows, go to the ladies’ room, unpin your hair, pin up your hair and dig through your purse.”

  Her chin firmed in a warning. “So?”

  “But my favorite is the way you distract me with sex. Your blowjobs are particularly good.” She’d used them many times when he’d wanted to open a discussion she’d rather avoid. Not that he was complaining. What man would?

  “Jeez, Alex, what is it you’re after? Why are you doing this?” She raised and dropped her arms, dug into her pockets, then fluffed out her hair again. He was hard pressed not to point out her every move. “Arrgh!”

  She presented her back to him, and looked across the slice of heaven he called Pine Meadow. Her taut ass encased in the low rise jeans she favored enticed him, made him want to take back what he’d said and get down to business, as she liked to call lovemaking. But he only had two more days with her. He checked his watch. Correction, forty-five hours and fifty minutes. Damn!

  “I want more time, Jaye. If I call Jeffries and allow him free rein with the stables, would you give me another week? We’ll go back to England where you could keep an eye on the business with the horses.”

  “Jeffries is more than capable of setting up the boarding stables. Besides, he’s already got a man in mind for that. He doesn’t need me and neither do you.” The last words were definitely wobbly. He took heart and dropped the subject. She cared and that was enough for now.

  He uncorked the wine for her and she poured two flutes.

  “Why don’t we just make love?” she asked. “Isn’t that why I’m here? Isn’t this all about sex?” Her chin tilted up.

  “It started out that way—”

  She cut him off. “Then let it end the same way, Alex. It’s the only way I can handle saying goodbye.”

  Her grass green eyes filled with tears. Telling her his plans would just seem like a ploy to get more time, so he kept his mouth shut.

  She’d won again. For now.

  Damn.

  But the war wasn’t over. He gathered his forces for the next attack and raised his wine flute in a toast. “To good sex and better friends.”

  Her eyes danced with relief. “Friends. That’s good. Yes, we’ll be friends. Always.”

  She had no idea his assault had just begun.

  He allowed her to drink her wine slowly, sipping and tantalizing him with her tongue as it rimmed the flute. The sparkle in her eyes underscored the sparkle on his lips.

  When the wine bottle was half gone, he dug into his pocket. She perked up and, watched his hand with fascination.

  He hid the bottle he’d brought in his palm until she caved in. “What’s that?”

  He opened his hand.

  “Delectable Delights lubricant in Spicy Cherry.”

  “Ooh, spicy.”

  “It warms the skin.”

  She ran her hand across his crotch, cupped his balls in a gentle squeeze. “You do that all by yourself,” she said. “I’m already wet. We don’t need lubricant.”

  “We need what I say we need,” he said. “Take off your clothes. Slowly.”

  He propped himself on his elbows to watch.

  She eyed him warily. “Aren’t you going to help?”

  “No.”

  “You want me to strip. Out here in the middle of this meadow.”

  “This is where we are, Jaye. This is what I want. Do it.”

  She looked about to argue so he raised an eyebrow. She was a strong woman, used to being in the lead in her life. She mentored and coached and taught. This time, she’d have to acquiesce. She’d have to learn that sometimes Alex demanded the upper hand.

  “Okay,” she said. “But I don’t have to like it.”

  “Something tells me you will.”

  Alex watched and controlled a chuckle as Jaye tossed her head, sending tendrils of hair to fly about her face in the hot, dry breeze. She glared at him, her eyes mutinous, her chin firmed.

  Her hands tugged at the tails of her thin cotton shirt and pulled them out of her jeans. He caught a glimpse of her smooth belly when the material flew free of the denim.

  She undid her top button exposing an inch of luscious full cleavage. Jaye had great cleavage. The shadowed line between her breasts enticed and made him want to slide his cock into that valley over and over.

  Another button popped open and he saw the front clasp of her bra. She bent over in front of him and pushed the sides of her breasts together, creating a deeper crevice between them.

  He firmed his lips, refusing to let her see the effect just the sight of her breasts had on him.

  Instead of undoing the next button down, she moved to the bottom two and undid them quickly, splaying them wide to give him a peek at her smooth flat belly. He loved her navel and she knew it.

  She palmed her own flesh and slid one fingertip into her waistband in a
tease that surprised him. “You want this?” she asked. “You want to see me touch myself?”

  “Take off the clothes, Jaye.” The witch knew he wanted to see her get herself off, but he had to keep control of the situation or she’d never learn.

  Her lips pursed into a moue and he bit back a smile. She eased her finger out of her waistband then undid the rest of the buttons on her blouse. She flapped the edges of the blouse open and closed, allowing brief, provocative glimpses of her belly and breasts. He wanted to touch the tab opening of her bra to release her tits to his view, but couldn’t. It would ruin his chances to keep the upper hand if he touched any part of her.

  She wet her lips with her tongue then slid her forefinger into her mouth, pulling it out again with a quiet pop. The wet finger slid inside her bra cup and circled her nipple. She closed her eyes and smiled. Her hips swayed with each circle of her finger across her nipple.

  He made a quick adjustment to his jeans to allow for his expanding cock while her eyes were closed. It wouldn’t do for her to know that he was already rock hard.

  The games had just begun.

  She popped open the front tab of her bra herself then did the same thing she’d done with her blouse. She flashed him her breasts then covered them again, but not before he saw her nipples, red and rosy and standing at attention.

  His mouth watered.

  Jaye’s eyes lit with sensuous fun and she turned away, spread her feet wide on the blanket and bent over at the waist, presenting him with a delicious sight. Her ass and crotch swayed and waved in front of him, the seam between her legs a poor substitute for the crease of her pussy.

  He made another adjustment to his jeans and opened his top tab, hoping she wouldn’t notice when she turned around again.

  She toed off her shoes and faced him. She too, had taken the time to undo her jeans. The zipper was spread wide, exposing the top of her g-string. He caught the glitter of a rhinestone just above her mons.

  He licked his lips in anticipation of tasting her there.

  “Your pussy wet yet?”

  “You know it is. Wet and pulsing for you.”

  “Only for me.”

  “Yes.”

  She bent at the waist and tugged her jeans to her ankles. Stepped out of them. Her breasts jiggled and bounced while she moved. She lifted her head to watch him watching her and the electricity he’d felt at first sight of her flashed through him again.

  He’d known then that he had to have her. He knew now that he could never let her go.

  “Show me,” he said.

  “My pussy?”

  “Yes.”

  Her blouse hung to the top of her thighs. She pushed the edges behind her waist, exposing the g-string’s glittering line of rhinestones that traced her hips around to her backside.

  “You’re so beauti—” he said before he could stop himself. He didn’t want her to know how weak she made him. How easily she could take control.

  She widened her stance on the blanket and tilted her hips to expose herself. The g-string was damp, the string that ran deep into her crease darkened with her juices. He couldn’t remember seeing a prettier sight.

  His cock throbbed until he opened his zipper and released himself. Her gaze flared heat at the sight of his cock and he scored himself a point. She was as hot for him as he was for her. The past two weeks had only increased their appetites for each other.

  How she could think of leaving him, he didn’t know.

  She moistened her lips again, keeping her eyes trained on his crotch. The hot, hot fire in her eyes turned him on to the point of ache. She moved as if in thrall toward him.

  “No. Stay there. You still haven’t done what I told you to do.” It killed him to keep up the pretense, but he had to win, had to prove he was stronger, harder, more than what she thought he was.

  She stopped short, pulled out of her sensuous haze by the sharp tone of his voice. “Okay, you asked for it.”

  The challenge she tossed him made him want to laugh out loud with the sheer joy it brought to his heart. “Bring it on.”

  Chapter Ten

  Something had changed with Alex. He was more in control than Jaye had ever seen him. He was fighting a battle with her he had no hope of winning.

  “Why does it matter to you who’s in charge here? There’s nothing to win, Alex. Whatever happens here today, I’ll go back to my clients, my business, my college classes and my dreams.”

  “Take off your clothes.”

  “Oh, jeez, what’s the point of this? Just love me. The way we’ve been doing. Let’s keep it fun, keep it light.” Don’t break my heart. Don’t make me love you.

  “Do it.” The demand in his voice was steel and it chased a thrill through her belly and down deep into her center heat.

  “Fine.” But the heat between her legs called to her and she knew what he really wanted. She wanted it too. She slid her finger into her mouth, wetted it with long licks of her tongue.

  His gaze narrowed, focused on her.

  She twined the rhinestone g-string around her finger and tugged it down her legs. The delicious pull of the string as it left her pussy caused a heated friction she liked. “Feels good,” she said.

  He nodded.

  She stood on her tiptoes and spread her feet wide so he could see her pussy from his reclined position.

  She’d never done anything like this before, but the fun of it tickled her. Alex made her feel like his princess, his whore, his lover and his friend all at once. She loved him more than she ever thought possible.

  And it would hurt like hell when she left him. But sex and fun were not love and with the losses he’d had, she doubted Alex could ever commit the way she needed. If she gave herself completely that commitment would have to be just as deep from him. Since he’d lost his family, he hadn’t committed to anything but light amusement. Love between two people had to be strong enough to survive the tough times.

  With tremendous effort of will, she dredged up every bit of emotional strength she had and forced those thoughts away.

  She couldn’t afford to think of love, of loss, of yearning. All she could do was keep this moment alive in her heart, to store the memories away for later.

  She pulled herself back from the brink of tears and slid her finger to her clit. Massaging and tugging with two fingers, her tension built.

  She let her head fall back as waves of desire rolled over her. Moaning deep in her throat, she closed her eyes against the tide of arousal.

  She would do this for him. Her Alex. Her love.

  Faster and faster she rubbed the blood thickened nub. Her pussy streamed juice, sticky and heavy with scent.

  “Jesus,” Alex cried.

  “Oh, I…I…” She rocked and boiled to her own rhythm, different from his, lighter, not as rambunctious and infinitely lonelier.

  “Don’t come,” he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. “Not without me.”

  She looked at him, watched his avid expression as he lunged for her. His hands slid up the backs of her thighs as he held her ass still.

  His mouth, lips and tongue sucked and licked and pulled at her until she imploded on him. She sagged but he held her upright as wave crashed over wave of release. She cried, tears streamed down her face as release and truth pulled from the depths of her heart, washed over her. “I love you! Alex, what have you done?”

  “Oh, what have you done?” she cried again.

  At midnight, Jaye tapped on Carl’s bedroom door and waited while she heard him stumble to open it. She dashed a track of tears from her cheeks as the door creaked open.

  “Carl, take me home, please.”

  “Where’s Alex?” he asked, tugging his robe closed. He belted it and stepped into the hallway to face her.

  “He’s asleep.”

  He tipped his forefinger under her chin and tilted her face up. “Crying?”

  “Pathetic isn’t it?” she scrubbed at her cheeks once more, determined to hold onto her pride.r />
  “Love can make us that way, yes.”

  She thought she’d hidden her feelings so well. Until that terrible blunder in the meadow, she’d convinced herself she could leave and go back to her old life with her heart intact. “You know?” she asked.

  “From the moment I saw you with him. I’ve seen that look before, on his mother’s face when she saw my brother. You don’t forget something like that.”

  She clutched his forearm. “Then take me home. Please, Carl.”

  “Would it help to know he looks at you the same way?”

  “For now, maybe. But when the novelty wears off for him, I’ll be devastated.” She couldn’t believe in forever with a man like Alex. She wouldn’t believe it.

  “Novelty? If you think that little of the man, it is best that you leave.”

  The sharp retort shook her, but she held on to her conviction. Jaye Sinns married to Alex Carmichael would never work, no matter how much she wished for it. Dreams like that never came true. It hurt even more that that he’d cried out the L word too. But he’d said it in the heat of passion. And once the rush had gone she realized it had only been a new ploy in his bed to keep her with him a while longer. Alex couldn’t feel the forever kind of love. It was in-the-moment love. The easiest kind. The kind that didn’t hurt. The kind everyone enjoyed, but no one really counted on.

  He couldn’t dream of forever with her. Could he?

  Two weeks later, her tears finally dried, Jaye walked into her mother’s beauty salon and strode through to the back office. None of the dryers stopped, no one spoke, but every head turned to watch her as she went past.

  Every last one of her mother’s customers cared. Mrs. Healey brought her cookies. Old Miss Branch brought her home-made wine while Mrs. Stander let fly with epithets against stupid men. None of it mattered, none of it touched her. All she thought about, day and night, was Alex.

  She’d had no word from him. It was for the best. A clean break and all that.

  She wished Alex well, she reminded herself. Hoped he found a woman he could let into his heart. The thought crept in more often than she liked. Some other woman could find the deeper man beneath the playboy.