by Larissa Vine
"What's happening?" she asked. "Has Carl Cox gone to use the washroom?"
The man laughed.
He pulled his phone out from the back pocket of his jeans and checked the screen. "It's 2 a.m. We're lucky. He played for an hour longer than I was expecting."
"But it can't be over," Freya said.
The man laughed again. It was an attractive laugh.
“What's your name?" he asked.
"Freya Grey."
He smiled, revealing white teeth. "Jake—Jake Carter. Come on, let's hustle. If we don't leave now, we'll never get a taxi."
He held out his hand. Freya hesitated. Then she took it. She felt a buzz as their palms connected. Jake interlaced his fingers through hers. He walked ahead of her, propelling her between the party-goers, who stood chatting in groups. Some had already started to file toward the exit.
They skirted the side of the pool. Freya's feet crunched on beer bottle tops and plastic water bottles. Cellophane wrappers from cigarette packets floated in the water. Under the glare of the lights, the water was unnaturally bright. And it stank like someone had just tipped a fresh load of chlorine into it.
They stepped onto the lawn, which was damp with dew. There was too much light pollution to see the stars. Freya shivered. Her sundress was wet with sweat and it was drying cold against her skin.
Jake led her onto the street and around the block. He was keying things into his phone. He stopped on the curb next to street lamp. "The taxi should be here any second. Are you okay to share? Where are you staying?"
"Das Vogel. It's in Spigelgract." Freya was impressed that she'd remembered the district.
Soon the headlights of a cab cut through the darkness. The taxi pulled up alongside them. Jake held the back door open for her. She climbed inside. He slid in beside her and shut the door.
"Das Vogel, please," he said to the driver. "Then on to the Hyatt."
The taxi sped off.
Suddenly, the inside of the cab seemed to grow smaller. Freya was acutely aware of Jake sitting next to her. She sensed the length of his legs next to hers.
"Look, I'm sorry about the mix up at the airport,” he said. “Did you come here on you own?"
"I'm afraid so. What about you?"
“I flew here this afternoon,” he said. “I try to see Carl Cox as much as I can.”
“Are you a groupie?”
He laughed. Damn, his laugh was attractive. “If you put it like that, I guess I am.”
"I am now too,” she said. “He was brilliant. I'm going to put up posters of him all over my bedroom."
Jake grinned.
"Tell me," he said. "I'm curious. Why did you bring sex toys to a city that has wall-to-wall sex shops?"
Freya hung her head.
"I didn't think it through," she muttered.
"Sorry for harassing you at the airport."
"That's okay. I didn't get to use them anyway."
She heard the hitch of Jake's breath.
“We could use them together," he said.
Freya felt a throbbing between her legs. The air seemed to crackle with electricity. She inched away from Jake and pretended to look out of the window.
****
Sometime later, the taxi stopped. Freya opened her bag and brought out her purse.
"Don't be silly," Jake said. "I'll pay."
“Oh, thanks. And thanks for looking after me."
"Are you sure about the toys?"
She flushed. Then she leaped out of the cab like it was about to explode.
She raced across the pavement. Part of her was hoping that Jake would call her back and try to talk her around about the toys. But the other half of her didn't want him to do that. He was a stranger. She couldn't have sex with a stranger. And yet— She continued to walk across the cobbles.
She could see steps of Das Vogel. It was lit by the streetlamps although the top of the building was hidden in shadows. She could hear the cab idling. Jake was obviously waiting for her to get safely inside.
With every step she took, her feet grew heavier. Soon her legs felt like lead. The night was ending. She was never going to feel so carefree again. It was like finally, she was living life to the max.
Now she was about to go to bed, alone. Get up, alone. Then sightsee alone the next day. Then she'd have to fly back to England alone and face the mess of her breakup with Simon. Would it be really so bad if she carried on being carefree until the end of the night?
She could still hear the putter of the taxi's engine. She found herself turning and walking back to the cab.
Jake opened the back door and leaned across the seat. "Did you forget something?"
"I've changed my mind."
He gave a long, slow whistle.
In a flash, he paid the driver and leaped out of the cab.
Chapter Ten
Freya hurried up the steps to Das Vogel with Jake following. She hoped that they could slip inside and creep down the corridor without Madame Meijer noticing. She had no idea about the hotel's policy. Was it okay to bring people back to her room?
Freya came up to the iron door. She tried the handle and swore. Damn. Locked. She rang the doorbell and heard it chime inside. No-one answered.
Freya giggled. She turned to Jake, who'd joined her on the step. "I feel like I'm coming home to my parents."
“Maybe we're about to get grounded." She heard the smile in his voice.
Inside, footsteps sounded. Then came the squeal of bolts being drawn back. Then the catch of a lock. The door opened an inch. Madame Meijer called out something in Dutch.
"It's Freya," Freya said.
The door opened completely. Freya braced herself for Madame Meijer to come stumbling out in a night gown with her grizzled hair in braids and her eyes encrusted with sleep. Instead, she bounced out, still fully dressed, reeking of gin. Rembrandt rode on her shoulder.
"Come my children, come." She frogmarched Freya and Jake into the guesthouse and into the foyer.
Then, before Freya could stop her, she'd poured them both a humongous serving of gin.
She settled back at the desk with her drink. "So the party was good, no?"
Jake nodded. "It was beyond good."
"Where you stay?" she asked him. “You are such a handsome young man.”
"At the Hyatt," Jake said.
Madame Meijer made a clicking sound with her tongue. "The Hyatt pouf. Next time you come, you stay here. The Hyatt doesn't give you free drinks, no?"
Jake laughed. "No. And it doesn't have a love bird or such a welcoming host."
Madame Meijer beamed.
Jake yawned. Then he yawned again. He was clearly making a show of yawning.
"It's late,” he said. “I think I should get Freya to her room."
"Yes, to the marital suite." Madame Meijer gave such a big wink that Freya was scared that she was going to dislocate her eyelid.
****
Freya and Jake carried their drinks down the corridor toward Freya's room. She opened the door and stepped inside. Jake followed.
He paused on the carpet and looked around. "Christ. What a place? It's like a movie set for a bodice ripper." He fetched his phone from the pocket of his jeans. "Now, which music would be most suitable?"
Freya's heart thumped in her rib cage. It was so loud that she was sure that Jake could hear it. Suitable for what? For screwing her? She stared at the suitcase in the corner next to the antique armoire. Its lid was shut, so she couldn't see the sex toys. But she could feel them bursting to get out.
She gave Jake her bluetooth speaker from her carry-on bag. He set up the speaker and the phone on the bedside table. Lounge music started to play. It was cool and jazzy, definitely the sort of music that people made love to.
Jake walked over to the bed and patted the edge. "Sit down. I bet your legs are hurting. We must have danced for a good three hours."
Did her legs ache? Freya wondered. She was unable to feel anything. So much adrenaline surged th
rough her body.
She sat down. Jake took her hand and turned it so that the palm was facing upward. Then he dragged his nail along the life line. A tingle went through Freya. She'd never thought of her palm as an erogenous zone before. How could he turn her on just by touching her hand?
He shuffled closer to her and brushed his lips back and forth over hers. He was actually going to kiss her. Freya felt faint with longing. He slipped his tongue into her mouth. He tasted nice and fresh. His tongue took a trip up to the roof of her mouth then back toward her tonsils. Freya kissed him back hard. She felt drugged with lust. It had never been like this with Simon.
They seemed to finish the kiss together. It was as if they both came up for air at the same time. Jake got down from the bed and walked toward the suitcase.
“Let's see what you've brought,” he said.
Freya's pulse quickened. Oh no. She hoped that he'd forgotten about the toys.
He crouched down over the case and flipped back the lid. To her horror, he pulled out the love balls. He'd chosen the very worst things. She had no idea what to do with them.
Jake came back to the bed holding the balls.
“Stand up,” he said. “Let me see you properly.”
Shaking, she lowered herself down to the carpet. She could see the outline of his erection as it pressed through his jeans. He was huge. Was he even going to fit?
He leaned in and brushed butterflies kisses along her neck. Each kiss made her nerve endings tingle. He took the strap of her dress and pulled it down over her shoulder. He did the same to the other strap. Freya's dress fell down, crumpling onto the carpet.
She gave a cry. She was naked. Well, almost naked. She was just in her panties and the lacy wisps of her bra. She felt Jake's eyes roam her body.
“You're gorgeous,” he said.
She flushed.
He reached behind her and, without fumbling, expertly unhooked her bra.
He gave a whistle. “Christ, I could die for those tits.”
He stared at her in awe. Then he sank down onto his knees and pushed her breasts together, cupping them with his hands. He nuzzled his face over her breasts. She felt the scratch of his stubble against her skin. He rubbed his thumbs over her nipples then popped one like a cherry into his mouth.
Freya arched toward him as he sucked her nipple. He gave it a nip. She shrieked.
Jake ran his hands down her rib cage to the flare of her hips. Then he hooked his fingers under her panties and pushed them to the ground.
He eyed her pussy. “So trim. Perfect like the rest of you.”
“It's not fair,” she said.
“What's not fair, baby?”
“I want to see you too.”
Jake grinned.
He stood up and took off his t-shirt, pulling it over his head. Freya eyed the rockscape of muscles. The definition of his torso was fantastic. She could see the veins that coursed his biceps and the contours of his pecs. A vertical line ran between the wall of his stomach muscles.
He undid his jeans and eased them down over his powerful thighs. He stood in front of her in his silk boxer shorts. His erection pushed against the shorts shaping them like a tent. He pulled her toward him and ground himself into the mound of her pussy, dry humping her. Freya moaned.
“Turn around,” he said.
“Huh?”
Jake's face softened. “Trust me. I won't do anything you won't like.”
She swiveled around, her heart racing.
“Bend down,” Jake said. “And touch your toes.”
Freya hesitated. Then she remembered that he'd told her to trust him.
She bent down and touched her toes. She felt his hands go to her entrance. He pushed open the lips of her pussy. Then he slipped something cold inside her. Freya gasped. Then again. Another push. More coldness. It had to be the balls.
“Stand up,” Jake said.
Freya stood up. The second ball was about to slip out of her, so she clenched her muscles around it.
“Walk about,” Jake said. “And see how they feel. It'll give me chance to admire you.”
Freya set off with her head high and her shoulders back across the scarlet carpet. She was aware that Jake was watching her. She felt sensual in the glow of the dusty chandelier.
The balls moved inside her. It was a dull, heavy sensation. But it was good. A turn on good. Like all of the blood had moved to that part of her body.
She reached the wardrobe then turned and made her way back. Jake stood watching her. A circle of pre-cum darkened his boxer shorts. She was turning him on. This glorious man. She'd never felt so proud of her body.
Jake patted the bed. She walked back to him and carefully sat down. Before she had time to register what he was doing, he'd parted her legs. He tugged on the string of the love balls. They came out, one after the other in a rush.
Freya shrieked. Stiffened. Then came. Cum trickled down her legs. It was such a shock that she pressed her head into the tickle of Jake's chest hair and started to cry. She'd never come so hard or so much in her life.
She felt Jake's hands stroke her hair.
“What's wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I was just so—sudden.”
“But surely you knew what I was going to do?”
“No,” she said sobbing. “I don't know what to do with any of the toys. My sister made me buy them. I wish I'd never got the bloody things. So far they've brought me nothing but trouble.”
She was sure that she felt Jake smile.
“I should never have come here,” she said. “I'm a librarian. People like me don't go to the sex capital of Europe. I'm sorry. You must hate me. I brought you here on a false promise.”
“What do you mean?”
“I promised we'd use the toys.”
Jake continued to stroke her hair.
“It was never about the toys,” he said softly. “I came here for you.”
Freya looked up. His face was blurry through her tears.
“Really?” she asked.
He smiled. “Really, really. Freya Greene.”
He stood up from the bed, lifted her foot and kissed the arch. Freya's tears dried up. Wow, no one had ever kissed the instep of her foot before.
Jake knelt in front of her and popped his index finger into his mouth. He touched the inside of her leg just above her kneecap.
Freya's breath quickened. Maybe things were going to be okay after all.
With agonizing slowness, he traced his finger up the inside of her leg. His finger left a tingly trail of wet. He reached the top of her thigh. She moaned and moved her legs apart. She imagined his finger inside her. One finger. Two fingers. No the whole hand. She fantasized about the scrape of his knuckles.
But Jake did nothing. He held off. His timing was immaculate. Then, just when she could bear it no more and was about to beg him to touch her, he leaned in and blew on her slit. She groaned. He began to lick her there. His tongue rasped over the tender flesh.
She arched her back. His tongue flicked around the bead of her clit. She started to buck. He grabbed her hips and held her into place. Then he closed his lips over her clit and began to suck and hum. Freya thought that she was doing to die with pleasure.
Jake stopped sucking and pushed two fingers inside her. She gasped. He eased them then thrust them in again. In. Out. Faster and faster. A wave began to build inside her.
She didn't want to come and ruin everything. It was her turn to give him pleasure. She disentangled herself from Jake. Then she stood up and pulled down his boxer shorts. His cock twanged out. Oh my. It was ten inches long and thick, too thick for her to circle her fingers around it.
She reached out and held the base. It was heavy in her hand. Could she do it right? She was so inexperienced compared Jake and probably to the other women that he'd been with.
Nervously, she put her tongue on his shaft. Jake's cock quivered. Good, she was doing something right. She licked up the shaft toward the top stopping
at the rim of the glistening head. Jake made a moaning sound. She dragged her tongue across the head. He tasted good and salty. Then she clamped her lips around the head and swirled his tongue over it. Jake began to moan and pump into her mouth.
Suddenly, he pushed her away.
She stared up at him confused. “Sorry, was I doing it wrong?”
He smiled. “You were doing everything right, baby doll. But I want to be inside you.” He picked his jeans up from the floor, fumbled in the pocket and pulled out a silver square of foil. Then he turned around while he put on the condom. He came up to Freya who'd positioned herself on the edge of the bed.
“Wrap your legs around my shoulders,” he said.
Freya wrapped her legs around his muscular shoulders just below his neck. She felt his cock move back and forth over her slit. Cruising, cruising until she felt like screaming: Just put it in, Goddamn it.
Wham. He plunged his cock into her, so deep and so hard that she cried out. It was so big. And so thick. My God, did he fill her. Jake began to move inside her in a figure-of-eight motion that hit all of the right places.
Freya felt a wave build inside her. She tried to hold it back. But Jake didn't stop. He kept on going. The wave was getting bigger and bigger, tsunami-sized. It crested, smashing against the shore. Freya came for the second time that night.
Jake must have been holding off. He pumped faster. Then he shuddered and stiffened inside her. He collapsed onto her.
“That was so good,” he muttered into her hair.
For a second they stayed entwined. Then Jake slid out of her. He walked naked toward the bathroom. Freya guessed that he was going to deal with the condom.
She eyed the muscles down his back and his high, tight bum cheeks. Then she took in his quads. His skin was tanned to the color of butterscotch. Wow, he was beautiful. And to think that for one night this beautiful man actually belonged to her.
He disappeared into the bathroom. Suddenly, she couldn't bear to be without him. She climbed out of bed and wrapped the sheet around her like a toga. Then she followed him into the en-suite, almost tripping over the hem of the toga dress.