by Cynthia Dane
“Is that what it is? Feels like babysitting a bunch of suits and struggling to keep my investors and shareholders happy.” He pulled away at the end of the song. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit…”
He stopped, eyes looking above Jasmine’s head and across the dance floor. When she turned, Jasmine caught a well-to-do woman in a beige sheath dress looking back at Ethan.
“Adrienne…” he said softly, before the woman pulled herself away from the dance floor. “No… can’t be…”
“Ethan?”
He snapped out of his trance and went back to the banquet table. Jasmine followed, not sure what was going on.
The wedding wound down after that. The few reporters allowed there had a field day from both the festivities and Monica’s surprise announcement. Jasmine heard the headlines ready to run on the next edition. “New Mrs. Warren Announces Coming Of Newer Baby Warren.” “Extra-marital Or Extra-Adorable?” Jasmine had one more duty to perform, and that was helping Monica get to the main foyer of the manor, where guests gathered to watch the tossing of the bouquet from the staircase.
A hundred single women huddled at the bottom of the stairs. They were all too well brought up to fight over the bouquet – in fact, quite a few, including Eva and Kathryn, made a mad exodus so that thing wouldn’t come anywhere near them – but the expectation on their faces said that, whether they had boyfriends or not, they better be married by the next year.
Jasmine pushed into the front of the crowd. Not because she expected anything, but because she feared for Monica being able to stand on those stairs in those shoes.
She definitely did not expect a bouquet of roses to land right in her arms.
Women around her tsked and walked away, pretending that they didn’t care. Jasmine stood, in horror, in shock, looking between the bouquet and Monica’s hopeful demeanor a few stairs above her.
“Just toss it right into her hands, why don’t you?” Charlotte muttered beside Jasmine. “Like throwing a bone to her ex-boyfriend…”
A photographer jumped in and flashed a bulb in Jasmine’s face. Blinded, she stepped back, right into Charlotte.
“Give it three months at the most,” Monica quipped on her way by Jasmine. “You’re welcome. Farewell!” She was off to a limousine with Henry, ready to hop a private plane to Europe for their honeymoon.
There wasn’t much to wait for after that. Once it was established the wedding was over, Ethan swept in to collect his girlfriend and usher her to their own limo so they could start the long drive home.
“I can finally relax,” Jasmine said, slipping out of her shoes again. Ethan rolled up all the windows, including the divider between them and the driver. “I’m so glad that’s over.” She wouldn’t dare bring up the bouquet. “Will be even more glad to get home.”
She leaned against the back of the seat, eyes closing as she felt the gentle motions of the limousine take them away from the Warren Estate, which could now say it had a new lady of the house since Henry’s parents lived out west. It wasn’t a terrible drive back home, but if Jasmine focused on it now she could get a sizable nap in. Dreading how my feet will feel when I step out of here. Might need to have Ethan carry me inside.
Ethan sucked in his breath and pulled out his phone. “A million messages. Just what I was afraid of.”
Jasmine put her hand on his wrist. “You can deal with them when we get home.”
“Some of these are really important.”
“For work?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Is it that your business is booming more than usual? Or…”
“It’s the or. I don’t have a partner to share the burden anymore.” Ethan’s sigh shook the limo. “Instead, I am dealing with everything. I never realized how much that man really did before I bought out his shares after…”
“Don’t you dare bring it up today.”
“I won’t.” Ethan put his phone back in his pocket. “Anyway, he did most of the schmoozing. I am not a natural charmer.”
“You don’t say.”
“Don’t make me come over there.”
Jasmine huffed in her seat. So much for that nap. “I’m glad she was really happy today.”
Ethan didn’t have to ask whom she meant. “She deserves every bit of it.” He chuckled. “I don’t envy her, though. Becoming the wife of a billionaire, running a multi-million dollar business that skirts every law in the book, and becoming a mother? You’d never guess looking at her, but she’s an overachiever.”
“I think she’s catching up on ten years lost,” Jasmine said, referring to the length of Monica’s previous relationship to Ethan’s ex-business partner. “Although I don’t think she planned a baby.”
“Hell no. She probably had the biggest panic of her life when she found out, and not because she doesn’t want kids. Just, you know, why did it have to be early?” Ethan was terrible at impressions. In fact, he tried so little, that Jasmine bristled to hear him attempt Monica’s mannerisms. He makes her sound so snooty. He would, too. If Monica weren’t so refined and socially adept, people would think she was the snottiest bitch to grace the social circles. I can think of a few others who can wear that crown. Those women were born rich, and may or may not have been at the recent bridal festivities.
Ethan scooted closer to his girlfriend and put his hand on her leg. Inoffensive. A romantic gesture more than anything. Jasmine eased into it, her own hand slipping between his thighs and taking comfort in his body warmth. Now I really can fall asleep.
Naturally, Ethan had other ideas.
“Excuse you,” Jasmine said, feeling him come over her in the back of that limo. We have yet to totally fool around in a moving vehicle, and I intend to keep it that way. It was weird. Their driver was in the front seat, with only the tinted window separating them. Not that such a driver would ever say or do anything to risk his job, but what if he found out? What a nightmare! “What do you think you are doing, Mr. Cole?”
His hand pushed between her thighs, much deeper than her own hand had gone between his. Guy is this close to hitting second base. “I can’t stand you in this dress. It’s much too sexual to be seen on you. Don’t you know what it does to a guy like me? You in this shade of red?”
Guess Monica was right. Ethan could never say no to his girlfriend in any shade of red. “Apparently it turns you into an ape.”
He didn’t give her any words. Instead, he kissed her throat, his other hand wrapping around her torso and touching her breast through her dress. Such a man. She loved it. There was a reason she was still with him after all this time, and it wasn’t just because of the money. Although that helped her put up with his antics when he suddenly decided he needed sex right here and right now. That used to happen a lot. Sometimes it now felt like a faraway memory of the first few months of their relationship. Jasmine told herself it was because Ethan was so busy lately, but it was hard to not take it personally when her boyfriend showed about as much interest in her as a cat with a new toy.
He’s certainly cat like now. Jasmine had always thought that. Ethan was quiet, cool, and could appear brooding if people didn’t know him like she did. Men didn’t get criticized for “resting bitch face” like women did, which worked in Ethan’s favor. In fact, it probably made his business boom more, because other businessman had a habit of thinking the guy in a suit and a permanent frown was the best use of money.
Now here Jasmine was, feeling him press her against the seat, his tuxedo wrinkling as he pawed at her fancy dress he bought her for his ex-girlfriend’s wedding.
“I don’t know…” Jasmine put a hand on his chest in a half-assed attempt to push him away. “I’m not sure we should right here. Plus, I’m kinda tired.” She forced a laugh. “Can you wait until we get home?” Her on their bed, lying down. Ah, that sounded good. Let him do all the work. He wasn’t on his feet all day wearing these ridiculous heels.
Ethan tilted her chin up so he looked right into her eyes. “No.”
“No.” He kissed her, making his intentions clear.
Usually Ethan was game for almost anything, anywhere. Except for lately, and Jasmine would have never guessed he would go full speed after a long wedding. I should have. He’s a romantic deep inside. It took some serious mining to find that romantic side, but once Jasmine unearthed it, she had a difficult time putting it back. Ethan was not a man who could easily be told no right now. Oh, if Jasmine really wanted him to stop, she could say their safe word. Ethan had always honored her true desire to have no desires at all. But when he got like this? It was difficult for Jasmine to say no – simply because he quickly got her going too.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” He inhaled her throat, pressing her hard against the car while his hands disappeared between her thighs. Pretty soon he would be so dangerously close to her slit that Jasmine would have no choice but to either completely give in or make her disdain clear. At this point, that last option sounded like madness, no matter how exhausted she was. “It took every bit of socializing I’ve ever had in my life to not tear this dress off you in the middle of a fucking wedding.”
Jasmine had to laugh, although Ethan did not join her mirth. “That would definitely put us on Page 6.”
“Fuck Page 6. I only want to be on you.”
He practically mounted her when Jasmine slipped down the seat and let her boyfriend consume the delicate flesh of her throat and shoulders. Every time their lips met, Jasmine felt like she was being devoured by a monster. The same monster who used to have his way with her this way, that way, upside down and backward in both his office and in his home. Those were certainly thrilling times. Now was an equally thrilling moment, because Jasmine had never made love like this in a moving vehicle before. She didn’t doubt that Ethan had, depending on the proclivities of his exes. My exes could barely be bothered to fuck in bed. Being with Ethan had certainly been enlightening when it came to embracing her sexuality.
“If I had known weddings get you hot, I would suggest we hit up every one in the area.” That was the last joke Jasmine was able to make before Ethan untied her halter straps and pulled down the front of her dress. He lost it when he discovered the black bra she bought in Miami.
Well, this is happening. Jasmine stared at the limo ceiling as the motions of the car rolled beneath her – and as Ethan rolled on her. The more he put his strong hands on her, the more Jasmine began to crave everything else he offered her.
“You were the most beautiful woman there,” he growled into her ear. “I kept thinking… this is my girlfriend. Nobody else gets to touch her. Everyone can look at her, but only I get to touch her.”
Jasmine smiled against his kiss. “Everyone gets to look at me, huh? You mean with my clothes on, right?” She was fully aware that her breasts were falling out of her dress. Thank goodness they weren’t at the wedding. Jasmine didn’t need that level of wardrobe malfunction to follow her around for the rest of her life. This isn’t a malfunction. This is my boyfriend intending to destroy me. Thinking that made her giddier. Jasmine wrapped her arms around his shoulders and threw herself into a kiss.
He spoke upon her lips, tongue curling around hers. “Hopefully not.” Ethan’s mouth moved to her breasts, kissing her mounds, exploring the depths within, and biting the bra until it came down low enough to let him suck her nipple.
Well. She was gone.
“Ethan…” Jasmine braced herself against the seat and window, wondering more and more if she was really in a car and not in their bedroom. “Can we really do it in here?”
His fingers pinched her where his mouth once was before he bit her ear. “We can do it anywhere, my flower.”
Oh, she loved it when he called her by that pet name. It had been too long since she last heard it.
Whatever made Ethan so ornery needed to be commemorated, because Jasmine could not remember the last time he threw her down and had his way with her until she couldn’t walk anymore. Not that she could right now anyway… but that was a different matter.
“How about that?” he whispered, one finger pushing beneath her lingerie and indulging in one of the most intimate spots on her body. “You’re all hot for me.”
Jasmine ran her hands along the front of his tuxedo. Fingers unbuttoned a few pesky buttons, but the man wore an undershirt for the first time in forever. Not fair! Didn’t he know how badly she needed to feel his skin? His chest? Ethan had a nice, hard chest she liked to rub herself all over whenever they made love. This wasn’t conducive to such things – and yet he got to rip off her dress? “I am. What are you going to do about it?”
“Mm-hmm.” Ethan kissed her the moment his finger slipped into her. The sound he emitted next was the one he always made whenever he first felt the silky warmth of her body. It was animalistic. It was virile. It was everything Jasmine needed to welcome him into her and escape into absolute bliss. “Good hell. I am going to fuck you until you’re screaming back here.”
Jasmine didn’t know if she was into it, but she would find out.
“What about you?” she asked, her legs opening around him. “You gonna make me be the only one who’s loud back here?”
“Absolutely not.” He groaned against her skin, another finger making its way inside, searching for the one spot that would make her come the fastest.
“Ethan!”
“I love it when you say my name like that.”
He thrust his fingers into her, Jasmine’s head hitting the back of her seat as the rest of her sank deep into the leather. The limo was winding down the road, the driver hopefully oblivious to what his employer was doing with the little woman who ran around the house in short-shorts and pink terrycloth robes. Jasmine didn’t care now. She was being owned by Ethan, the hottest man who knew what he was about – and that was all that mattered right now.
“You’re so wet,” he continued to growl, fingers thrusting harder, faster, as Jasmine’s breasts shook on top of her bra. “And so damned tight.”
Jasmine’s moans stopped long enough for her to reply. “You should put something else in there.”
“I should, but not before you come for me.”
“Oh…”
“That’s it. Come for me.”
Jasmine closed her eyes and threw herself into it, her body not only owned, but possessed by the man who loved her. And the man I love in turn. Jasmine could still hardly believe it most days. What had she ever done to deserve a guy like this? She could spend half her life searching for another man like Ethan and never come close. I don’t have to anyway.
Her stomach tightened. Her toes curled against the leather seat. Her mouth fell open, back arching as an orgasm suddenly flooded her. Feeling Ethan’s body heat, smelling his cologne so close to her almost outweighed the sensation of his fingers working inside her.
“Are you doing it? Are you coming for me, Jasmine?”
“Yes!” Her hands clutched his shoulders as her hips uncontrollably thrust to meet his fingers. “Holy shit!”
It was a brief orgasm, but intense, trembling through her body in ways she never anticipated when she got in the limo fifteen minutes ago. This man is always making me come undone. A special skill of his, to be sure, but Jasmine was always enthralled by it. Who knew he could keep introducing her to new things after so long?
When her climax subsided, Ethan pulled his fingers out, letting them tickle the inside of her thigh as he laughed at her expression, pleased. “That was easy.”
Jasmine came back to Earth long enough to give him a stern expression. “Like you’re not easy too?”
Ethan raised one eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
Jasmine pushed against him, watching as he slouched against the back of his seat while she straddled his lap, head scraping gently against the top of the limo. His hands instantly went to her ass, squeezing her and making her hips come closer to his. “I mean you’re just as hard as I am wet.” She brushed her hand against the erection i
n his pants to prove her point.
“Isn’t that what we want? Makes certain things a lot easier, that’s for sure.” He pulled down her lingerie, far enough to help it yank them aside altogether. Jasmine took the hint and unzipped his trousers, hand disappearing within to draw out his cock. Didn’t think I’d see this guy until tonight at the earliest. That was if they took a shower together, which didn’t happen often because of their schedules.
“It is definitely what I want.” Jasmine sank into his lap, feeling him fill her in ways his fingers could not. Her eyes fluttered, her stomach lurching with a turn of the limo. It would take what concentration Ethan had left to keep her from falling. Good thing I trust him. “I’m going to make you come as quickly as possible.”
“Is that so?” Ethan was already breathless. This would be easy, indeed.
“Uh huh.” Jasmine started slow, making sure her legs were secure against the seat and her body prepared to receive whatever Ethan decided to give her out of the great blue beyond. No matter what plans she made, he had a habit of jumping in with his own ideas. Not that she minded. “You and I aren’t so different in that regard.”
“Unlike you, though, my flower,” Ethan began, grasping her hips with great strength. “I save myself for quality instead of quantity.”
“Shut the fuck up.” She kissed him, body slamming down into his lap.
Oh my God. Ethan often showed her little mercy, and now it was Jasmine’s turn to be merciless on his cock. She knew his body. She knew what she had to do to make him come as fast and as hard as possible. And she would do it, to prove her point. Sometimes even a dominant man like Ethan Cole had to be put back in his place. Something something feminism something something equality.
Fuck all that noise. Jasmine was busy.
She gripped the back of the seat with both hands, thrusting her pelvis down in his lap and riding him. She moaned in his ear, taking the time here and there to nibble it and even twirl her tongue within. She pushed her breasts against his throat and face, reminding him that she owned these, but was willing to let him enjoy them.