by Josie Leigh
“Fine!” she screeched, starting to walk through the door and headed for the stairs when Jason called her back. “What?” her eyes looked at him, obviously hopeful he was about to change his mind.
“The key to my house please?” he said, holding his hand palm out towards his mother. She just growled as she ripped the key from the ring and slapped it into his hand, turning so swiftly her blonde ponytail slapped her across the face. Her only reaction was a slight pause to collect herself before continuing her march away from him.
“Don’t cry to me when she shows what a worthless bitch she is, Jason! I tried to warn you!” her mother called from the stairwell as she walked toward her car.
Rubbing the back of his head out of frustration, he walked back into his condo and threw himself on the couch. He didn’t know what to make of his mother’s reaction and what might come of it. The only thing he knew for sure is that he probably needed to keep one eye on her from now on, but he didn’t know where he’d find the time. As if on cue, he heard his phone start to ring from the kitchen.
“Hello?” he answered without looking at the caller ID.
“Hey,” a still hung over voice came from the phone. “I just wanted to say thanks for your help last night, seriously.”
“You’ve told me, Sammy, like six times already?” he laughed, not being able to stop the grin now on his face, the ugliness he’d experienced with his mom already a distant memory.
“I know, but I also needed to ask you a favor,” her voice slightly softer now.
“Is that so?” he prodded, still amused.
“So, I just got a call that a ceiling fan I’ve had on back order since we moved in is finally being shipped,” she said, uncertain. “I was hoping you could help me install it in the downstairs guest room when it gets here in ten to fourteen business days?”
“Did you really even need to ask? Of course, Sammy,” he agreed, rolling his eyes.
“Well, I did want to thank you again, too,” she said, something indecipherable in her voice. “I mean, you being there last night, it meant more than you know.”
“You told me,” he said, not wanting to give away how she begged him not to leave her last night. If she didn’t remember, that was better for her, but it didn’t mean that he’d ever forget.
“So I’ll see you bright and early on Tuesday?” she confirmed.
“Absolutely,” his voice came out more breathless than he’d intended. “And Sammy?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re more than welcome. I’ll always be there for you.”
“I know,” she answered, simply, before the call was disconnected. Two simple words, but confidence in her inflection had him wanting to dance in victory that she’d really let him back into her life.
Chapter 9
“God, I want you,” Samantha told him, stalking into the room like a jungle cat. She’d watched from the doorway as he worked on hooking up the ceiling fan. “I never knew just how much your body had changed since we were last together until that day you changed my tire,” she groaned at the memory. “You don’t have the body of a boy anymore, do you, Jason?” she let her eyes look her fill of his taut stomach and pecs, down to where the V of his abdominals disappeared below a pair of green cargo pants.
“No, I guess I don’t,” he responded, watching her devour him with her eyes as he took in the short black lace teddy she’d put on before starting her journey through the house to seduce him. “Your body’s changed, too,” he approached her, cautiously, his eyes dark with need. “Your breasts and hips—they’re,” he cleared his throat. “They’re incredible.”
“Having a baby will do that to you,” she whispered, not wanting to admit that she was self conscious of the way her body was different from the last time they’d been together. Slowly, they made their way into each other’s personal space, as if being pulled by some unseen force. His hand, instinctively, rose to run through her hair and came to rest on the nape of her neck.
“I want to see if you taste different, too,” his voice rasping through his shallow breath, not breaking eye contact.
“I want to run my tongue over your abs and feel them ripple under my touch,” she told him, inching her face closer to his. Her words sent him over the edge as he yanked her to close the distance between them. Their lips collided, roughly, mashing together with a desperation she’d never experienced before. His scent overwhelmed her and as she felt her knees buckle, suddenly, he was carrying her up the stairs to her bedroom, as if she were floating there on her own. Throughout the trip, he never halted their frantic kisses.
As she felt the softness of her bed, suddenly, their clothes started to disappear, and her hands were exploring the new muscles and ridges of his chest and back as his mouth moved down her neck to her breasts. He flicked his tongue over one as his hand massaged the other. A guttural groan tore through her body at the contact of his skin on hers. She felt his hand slide lower between them and glide between her already slippery folds. Almost instantly, she felt the spasms of orgasm galloping through her body.
“JASON!” she screamed as she shot forward in her bed, her lower body still convulsing in the aftershocks of an orgasm. As her eyes adjusted, she found she was alone in her bedroom. She, immediately, felt both bereft and relieved to find it was only a dream. It was unbelievably vivid, though, and the star of this particular dream rocked her to her very core. Since the morning after her wedding anniversary, Jason had invaded her dreams. This was the first time they’d crossed the line from innocent to something else, something much more dangerous and seductive.
Samantha frowned to herself. As thoughts of the dream took over, she flooded into complete consciousness of the effects it had on her body. Without warning, the door to her bedroom flung open as the star of her wet dream ran into the room, his eyes frantic.
“Are you okay?” he asked, coming to her side.
“Yeah, um, sorry,” she said, not able to look him in the eye.
“Did you have another nightmare? Another flashback?” his words coming out stilted now that he was trying to catch his breath.
“Yeah,” she lied, and she let him pull her into his arms and massage her for a second before realizing that his actions were causing those familiar feelings from the dream to pool in her belly. As she registered the desire and surrender she was feeling at his touch, she jumped up, separating herself from him again. “It’s okay, I overreacted,” she shrugged, throwing her legs off the bed and heading toward her master bathroom.
“Okay,” he answered, confused, but still out of breath.
“You should use your inhaler before you pass out,” she told him. “I mean, you still use it, right?”
“Yeah,” he admitted, pulling it from his pocket.
“You didn’t have to come rushing like that. I’d hate for you to hurt yourself on my account,” she finished, before disappearing behind the bathroom door. Unfortunately, because his scent had permeated the air, leaving Jason’s arms did nothing to calm her arousal. Leaning her head against the door, she attempted to catch her own stilted breath. ‘It’s normal to have sexual desires,’ she told herself. ‘The dream was only because Jason is always around,’ she tried to rationalize with herself. After nodding at thoughts in the mirror, she turned on the shower to finish getting ready for the day.
**
“What the fuck was that about?” Jason wondered aloud as he watched Sammy slip into her bathroom. Now that he’d assessed that she was okay, he started to think about the way she’d screamed his name.
Hearing the shower come to life in her bathroom, he couldn’t help but think about how she was undressing behind that door right now, and how much he wanted to slip into the shower behind her and pull her into his arms. He tried not to let himself delve into the fantasy of running his hands all over her naked skin under the warm, pulsating water. Thinking about watching her head lull back against the gray tile wall as he caressed her hair, her breasts, her thighs, he felt his pant
s tighten.
Shaking his head at the direction of his thoughts, he chalked the extreme fantasy up to a severe lack of sleep. Having forgotten what it was like to wake up beside her in the morning, he’d barely slept a wink since her wedding anniversary. He’d thought of almost nothing but being with her for the last two weeks. Well, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about it prior to that, but her drunken confessions had made his desire for her much more prevalent.
Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. Her scream hadn’t been panicked, like she’d woken up from a nightmare. It had been primal and erotic. He recognized the way she’d screamed his name, instantly, hadn’t he? She’d screamed his name that way more times than he could count over their years together.
His mouth popped open in shock as he looked, again, at her closed bathroom door. “Did Sammy just have a sex dream about me?” he laughed to himself as he stood from his seat on her bed, still astonished at the interesting turn the morning had just taken. A slow grin settled on his face that there was hope for him, after all. He just hoped that she’d continue along this train of thought, and wouldn’t get freaked out about what it all could mean. He hoped that as she continued to heal, this meant he had a chance to make up for their past.
**
Across town, Jamie tore out of the parking lot of Jason’s condo complex as she saw he wasn’t home, again! ‘How dare he think he can avoid me!’ she huffed to herself as she picked up her cell phone and hit her speed dial. She cursed when she heard the voicemail pick up and ended the call. After driving a few more miles closer to home, she picked up the phone again, trying, at least, four more times before she turned onto her tree-lined suburban street.
“Missy?” Jamie confirmed when she finally heard something other than voicemail on the other end of her phone as she pulled up to her house. Slamming the door to her green Volkswagon, she stalked into her house with her cell phone glued to her ear. She’d attempted to reason with Jason, for the sixth time in two weeks and all for nothing. He wasn’t answering the door for her, nor was he taking her phone calls. Today, he wasn’t even there. All because of that bitch! She finally decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Yeah? What’s up, Mrs. Wright?” she asked, sounding as sweet as pie. If she weren’t already furious, it would have warmed her heart to hear Missy sounding so pliant. After all, Missy’s cooperation was exactly what she needed today. Instead, Jamie threw her keys across her living room upon entering the white one story ranch, two doors down from the pink two-story craftsman she saw in her nightmares.
“I caught him coming home from spending the night with her two weeks ago! I’ve been trying to reach you,” Jamie spat in to the receiver, walking to the wet bar on the boundary between the living room and kitchen and poured herself a shot of whiskey. She knew names weren’t necessary, Missy always understood exactly what she was trying to say. “I need to stop this before it gets out of control! I let it get too far last time and I can’t let that happen again,” she said, pouring and downing a second and third shot, before sinking into the cracked powder blue leather couch with the rest of the bottle.
“What do you think would work?” Missy asked, before letting out a slight yawn. “Cause I don’t think he’ll let me get close enough to him this time,” Missy said, reminding Jamie that Jason’s precious Sammy would do everything in her power to keep the petite blonde as far away as possible after what happened last time. “He seems determined this time to not let anything ruin his perceived second chance.” Jamie could almost hear Missy rolling her eyes at the thought of them reconnecting.
“I don’t understand why he thinks she walks on water. She’s not perfect, you know?” she growled, taking another swig from her bottle, letting the warmth wash over her.
“I know! I don’t understand either! I’m so much better than that uptight prude. He’d be so much happier with me. Can you imagine how beautiful our children would be?” Missy said, growing wistful at the end of the thought.
“You would!” Jamie lamented, setting the whiskey on the pink art deco coffee table and walking back to the bar. “You are both blonde, with blue eyes! So beautiful!” she sighed, deeply and pulled a stick of patchouli incense from the drawer under the single sink, before adding, “Now, how are we going to get rid of this bitch again? I can’t believe we even have to go through this again! Doesn’t she see how much she’s hurting my baby?” Lighting the incense, she inhaled, looking for the strength Sven said it would bring and finding only agitation at how far she had to go to cleanse her family of the Castle family. How was she the only one who saw how poisonous they were?
“Are you sure they spent the night together? Are you sure he wasn’t just babysitting over night? Maybe it’ll be easier this time. She doesn’t seem all that interested in anything more than friendship with him,” Missy said, absently.
“Oh, that’s just what she wants us and him to think,” Jamie let out a sarcastic laugh. “But I know she can’t wait to get her hooks back into him again! After all, she needs a new daddy for that little brat of hers,” she nodded in agreement with her words, clutching the bar to keep from throwing something. “I don’t think they are sleeping together…yet. But believe me, she was mourning last night and Jason just had to be there for her, it is coming, and soon,” Jamie snarled. “She knows exactly what to say to make it seem like it’s all his choice, too.”
“Okay, whatever you say, Mrs. Wright. You’d know him better than anyone,” the blonde conceded, sweetly. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I think it’ll be easier to get to him after she goes back to work and they aren’t together all the time anymore. Kelly told Mrs. Franklin that Samantha can drive on her own now, so she doesn’t need him to chauffeur her around, either,” she barked Sammy’s mothers name, kicking off her hemp sandals and pacing the carpet in the living room. Kelly, now that was another Castle woman who didn’t deserve the husband she’d had, it was any wonder she eventually drove him away. She was never home when he needed her to be there for him, and that’s why after thirty years, Jamie was still married and Kelly wasn’t.
“Okay?”
“He’s been hinting about a movie he wants to see with his sisters in a couple weeks,” she continued, moving down the hall toward the office to look up the chick flick he was trying to convince his sisters to see with him. “Once I find out when they are going, I’ll let you know,” Jamie lowered her voice as she passed her bedroom, knowing her husband would never approve of her plan. Luckily, he’d worked a graveyard shift and if she were quiet, she knew he’d be asleep for another two hours, at least. “Then you can run into him in the theatre. I’m sure whichever sister goes with him will tell Sammy and she’ll get mad all over again.”
“Um, and if that doesn’t work?” Missy asked, unsure.
“That’s just phase one, honey. Have you lost your faith in me?” Jamie said, surprised that Missy didn’t grasp the many facets needed to keep Jason from Samantha. “It gets a little tricky after that, though. He took my key to his house…or he thinks he has.”
“Oh?” Missy sounded taken aback at the confession.
“You think I’d give that up without having a copy in my back pocket?” she cackled, softly. “I just have to make sure that none of his neighbors catch me coming and going or he’ll have his locks changed, and we’ll be back to square one.” Jamie let herself pout at the fact that her son still chose that bitch over his own mother.
“I like the way you think, Mrs. Wright,” Missy laughed.
“I can’t wait until you are my daughter in law, honey,” Jamie said, pulling up a blank word processor document to catalog what she had planned so she didn’t miss a single point.
“Me either! My divorce’ll be final next month,” the blonde squealed into the receiver. “Plus, Chester’s friend is starting to bore me now, too.”
“I thought that was a misunderstanding,” Jamie said, disapproving.
“Oh, it wa
s, but I figured if he thought I was already screwing his best friend,” Missy chuckled. “Well, there’s no harm in turning fiction into fact. I mean, the damage had already been done, right?” The slight bitterness in her voice gave Jamie the impression Missy had really cared about Chester and was nursing a broken heart with his best friend. Poor girl! She deserved better!
“Yeah, I can’t believe he was so inconsiderate to force you into that situation in the first place. It’s a good thing it didn’t work out, honey. You deserve better!” Jamie said, trying to comfort her.
“You are so sweet!” Missy said. “What’s the next step? Tell me everything! I can’t wait!”
As she started to detail the tiers of the plan to drive a wedge between Samantha and Jason, again, Jamie was grateful to have someone in her corner on this. Someone who saw that green-eyed temptress for what she was! Even her daughters wanted Samantha and her baby boy back together! How could her entire family not see how wrong she was for him? Why was she always the one left to clean up the mess?
Chapter 10
“So, Sammy, who’s asked you to Homecoming?” Missy asked, sitting with her legs crossed in front of her on the green comforter set covering Samantha’s twin bed, popping a piece of her trademark pink bubble gum.
“Um, Garrett and Joel,” she sighed, leaning back in her black leather computer chair. “But Jason said we could go together, if I didn’t want to go with either of them,” she finished answering before starting to type her English paper again. “Can you believe Mr. Johnson assigned us a ten page research paper in the first two months of school?” she asked, trying to change the subject.