Rude Awakening

by Veronica Chadwick

  The recording indicator light told him Jaimee was on the phone. Hurriedly he retrieved the headset and pulled it on. The call Lucas had been expecting and halfway dreading was underway. Maxine was home from her business trip.

  “…surprised?” Jaimee’s voice held a hint of annoyance.

  “No, girl, hell no. This is a good thing.” Maxine, on the other hand, sounded ecstatic.

  “I don’t know, Max. Is it really a good thing? I mean, I don’t know anything about him.”

  Lucas gritted his teeth. Her constant insistence that she didn’t know him was seriously pissing him off. She knew her asshole husband for seven years and yet she didn’t know a damn thing. But then he reminded himself that she was right, she didn’t know the truth about him either. He pinched the bridge of his nose. God, this was going to hurt both of them so much.

  “I’m thinkin’ you know him pretty well…”

  “I’m not talking about that. I mean, I don’t know the important, serious stuff like where he was born. I don’t know how he was raised, what he believes in, if his parents are even still alive…”

  He furrowed his brow trying to remember the last time he’d seen his parents. His father understood why he had all but cut ties, his mother was another story. What would his parents think of Jaimee? What would she think of them? It mattered to him. He did what he had to do at the time and all but turned his back on his family years ago to keep them safe. He had to try and make a difference. Organized crime wasn’t anything like the glitzy Italian godfathers they portrayed in film, nor was there anything respectable or redeemable about those connected to it. They were corrupt, sinister power gluttons who preyed on the innocent and the weak. They came in all shapes and sizes, all nationalities and stations of life.

  During his few years as a cop he’d seen it all, the crack whores and the gang bangers. But it was the children, the forsaken defenseless ones. It was the broken and hopeless with hollow eyes. Their innocence had been stripped away and replaced with greed, fear, fury and even addiction. He rapidly grew tired of cleaning up the mess left in the wake of depraved criminals. He wanted to get at the source, bring the predatory, power-hungry bastards to their knees and make them pay.

  Maybe it was selfish of him that he left his life, never looking back, never considering his family’s feelings or how he would feel without them. He never believed he had the ability to care. Not until Jaimee.

  “Yeah but—”

  “Hell, I don’t even know how old he is—”

  “Wait, just shut up a minute and listen to me.”

  “Oh great, here comes the speech about me needing hot, nasty sex.” She sighed.

  “Hey, you know what I’m thinking? That’s just fine with me, sweet thing. Why waste my breath? I’ll just talk to you later when you got less attitude.”

  Jaimee sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way, Max, don’t hang up.”

  “I’m hanging up now. Good day.”

  “Don’t you dare hang up. I’ll just call you back.”

  “I said good day!”

  Lucas couldn’t help but smile.

  “Grrrr! Maxine! Sheesh, okay I’m sorry. Tell me what you were gonna say, I’m listening.”

  There was a long pause and Lucas would have thought Maxine had actually hung up if he didn’t know better. He was really starting to like her a lot.

  “Max. Seriously, I need your help. I’m in way over my head here.”

  “Why do you think you’re in over your head?”

  “Because, he’s… It’s like he stepped out of a romance novel. He’s gorgeous, painfully sexy, but sweet, considerate, protective, big…”

  “Big? Hmmm—”

  “Max-ine!”

  Maxine snickered. “Okay, okay. So did he just get up and leave after or something?”

  “No. He spent the night with me last night but he left before I woke up.”

  “And he didn’t leave money on the nightstand?”

  “No!” Jaimee laughed.

  “Okay so did he say he wanted to see you again?”

  “Yeah, he does.” She said it with such incredulity and wonder it made him want to shake her.

  “I’m waiting for the bad part.” Lucas found himself grinning at Max’s sarcastic snort.

  “The bad part is nothing that good is real. And…” Lucas braced himself. “I don’t know him…” He rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to growl “…and I didn’t hesitate to have sex with him…many, many times.” She did hesitate. He had played hardball and she had been vulnerable, but then she probably didn’t see it that way. “Now, I feel guilty.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, Max, you know how I believe. I don’t love him.”

  Lucas tensed at the disappointment her denial caused in him. It didn’t matter that it was irrational to expect her to love him. He’d had more time with her than she’d had with him. Still it didn’t set well with him, not in the least. She may not love him but she cared or she wouldn’t have had sex with him. She didn’t do a damn thing she didn’t want to do. They had a connection from the beginning even if it was chemical. Didn’t matter.

  “You sure about that?”

  A long pause stretched out for what seemed like forever until finally on a deep sigh Jaimee nearly whispered. “I don’t know…”

  He fought the urge to storm her house and show her just how much she cared.

  “I like him. He’s intelligent, funny, like I said, considerate. But probably mostly just because it was the most incredible sex I’ve ever had.”

  “Feelings mutual, babe,” he murmured to himself. It was pretty fan-fucking-tastic and it was only gonna get better.

  “Yeah and you are the quintessential connoisseur of sex too, aren’t you? You dirty slut.”

  Jaimee and Max laughed.

  “I’m thinking this was pretty noteworthy sex, Max.”

  “He went downtown, didn’t he?”

  Oh yeah. His favorite part of the night. The memory of Jaimee’s pretty pussy, all rosy and slick with her cream, had his erection thickening all the more. He’d thought of little else over the past week. He’d never get enough. She’d become an addiction.

  “Yes,” she said softly, as if she’d read his mind and responded to his need.

  “And? No, wait, start from the beginning and tell me everything!”

  Jaimee recounted the events of the past couple of days to Maxine with the kind of description only an English teacher would know how to use. Lucas listened with growing hunger. Then she told Maxine about the steam room escapade. God, it really had been incredible.

  “Hot damn.” Maxine nearly whispered the words.

  “Yeah, I know. It was better than I expected. I never imagined sex in a steam room. I wasn’t even sure that was healthy.”

  “Damn! And he spanked you!?”

  “Well I’m not sure I’d say he spanked me. He smacked my butt and damn if it didn’t feel amazing…”

  “I told you!” Maxine laughed.

  “But that’s not the most shocking part, Max.”

  “Spill!”

  “I sorta kinda asked him to… See… Okay let me back up. During sex he fondled my back door area.”

  “Your asshole?”

  “Ugh! Yes!”

  “And?”

  “I really liked it. I mean…it feels really intense, sorta magnified everything.” She drew out the “reallys” for emphasis. Lucas smiled and adjusted his pants.

  “Okay so?”

  “So, as I was saying, I asked him to, well more like encouraged…”

  “Just spit it out, James,” Maxine drawled.

  “I want to try boo-fooin’.” The words came out so fast they almost ran together.

  “Cool. And you told him you wanted to?” Her smile was clear in her voice and a hint of pride that made him shake his head and chuckle.

  “Yeah, in a roundabout way.”

  “Elaborate.”

  “Exactly! I told him he could e
laborate on it if he wanted to.”

  Maxine sighed in exasperation. “And his response.”

  “He said anything I wanted, anytime I wanted it.”

  “Damn girl. He got a brother?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you! I don’t know! I’m ready to have butt sex with a man and I don’t even know if he has siblings.”

  “Well hell, Jaimee, knowing a dude’s family facts is not a prerequisite.”

  Lucas couldn’t stop grinning.

  “Don’t sweat it, babe, I’ll fill you in on everything you need to know. We’re still on for Saturday, right?”

  “You know what? Yeah! I think I’m really up for that.

  “We gotta show you off after we get you made over.”

  Jaimee snorted. “Oh great.”

  “Be ready to head out early. You have an appointment with my stylist at eight thirty Saturday morning.”

  “Damn, Max, that’s early for Saturday.”

  “We got a lot of work to do. Oh hey, I forgot to ask you one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Did you go down on him?”

  “No, I thought about it. I swear, Max, I didn’t get the chance to try. He kept me so overwhelmed and over-stimulated my brain shorted out or something. I couldn’t think straight.” Lucas could hear the smile in her voice; it made him feel fiercely proud that he’d put it there. “I want to though. I really do. But I’m sort of afraid.”

  “Nothin’ to be afraid of, just make sure you have a towel close you so you can spit it out without him even knowing.”

  Lucas froze and tried to remember if any woman had ever done that with him. Most of the time he didn’t come in their mouths anyway and the few times he did, he really didn’t pay attention. Damn, he really had been an ass. There hadn’t been a special woman in his life since high school. He’d dated, but never seriously. He hadn’t cared about any of the women he slept with. Well, except for Candice Snyder, his very first. She was a senior and he was a freshman. To him she had been a goddess. He’d learned a whole hell of a lot from Candi. After that, fucking wasn’t much more than a hobby.

  Some of the women he’d been with he’d treated pretty callously. Usually because the sex had been for an ulterior purpose, not pleasure. Still, a pang of remorse needled him . They were human beings after all and he’d used them. Jaimee’s deep sigh brought his mind back to the phone conversation.

  “No, it’s not that. I don’t think I’d mind swallowing. It’s just that I’ve never done it. You know Lucas has had a ton of blow jobs, what if I screw up and don’t do it right?” she asked softly.

  Her voice had lowered to a sultry tone. Was she thinking about it? Was she aroused, hot, creamy? Lucas remembered her wet lips sliding down that damn popsicle a few days ago. The idea of those juicy lips of hers wrapped around his cock, stroking, sucking him had him hissing through his teeth.

  “Hell, girl, don’t worry about that. Men love BJs so much it won’t matter how good you are at it. They’re just grateful for it.”

  “Fuckin’ A.” Lucas shifted in his seat again.

  “Just remember, if you’re going to use your teeth, be very, very careful…and gentle.”

  “Mmm… If I get another chance, I might get up the nerve to try.”

  Damn her, she was going to get another chance, as soon as possible. And when he was done there would be no doubt as to what he was to her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Thursdays were just a tease. Fridays were too long and tiring, this one especially. Since that sickening scene with her mom she hadn’t heard from Lucas. Jaimee sighed as she stirred the melting caramel. Making caramel apples was supposed to distract her from worrying about it. She sighed again and squeezed her eyes shut, denying the thought that crawled through her mind that her mom was right. Even though she was half tempted to set the whole mess aside and take her horny self down the street and beg him to do his thing. Damn. She really was out of control.

  Thankfully no work was looming over her this weekend and she was so looking forward to it. Hanging with Maxine would be good for her. She blew her hair out of her face and turned on the radio mounted above the cabinet before moving on to the apples. The DJ enthusiastically announced the next song was “Kiss You All Over” by Exile.

  Jaimee snickered and shook her head. “How apropos,” she murmured to herself as she pushed the wooden sticks into the top of the apples. “So show me, show me everything you do…” she sang along, swaying with the music as she lifted the double boiler to move it to the island to work on dipping the apples. “’Cause baby no one does it quite like you… Love you…need you…oh baby…I wanna kiss you all over…”

  “Here I am, knock yourself out.”

  Startled, Jaimee jumped, nearly upending the double boiler filled with hot caramel and burning her thumb in the process.

  “Ow shit! Damn it! You’re a menace, do you know that?” she snapped and sucked on her thumb. A strange mixture of annoyance and delight washed over her at same time. Good Lord the man had her all messed up.

  Lucas leaned casually against the doorframe, his hair tied back, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching her. The white shirt he wore open at the throat, sleeves rolled up, looked incredible against his dark skin and his black pants fit snug over his hips and thighs. All he needed was a sword at his hip to complete the look…and maybe an eye patch.

  How long had he been there? She involuntarily took a step back as her gaze clashed with his. His eyes were dark, his mouth set and the muscle in his jaw twitched as his gaze traveled from her bare feet to her baggy, lime terry cloth shorts and lingered at her chest.

  Damn, she wasn’t wearing a bra, which meant her uninhibited breasts were swaying freely underneath her oversized yellow T-shirt with every breath, every move she made. On top of that, thanks to Mr. Sexy and her previous train of thought, her nipples were standing at full and eager attention. Too irritated to be embarrassed at how ridiculous she looked, she went to the sink to cool her burnt thumb under cold water.

  “I could have been your worst nightmare,” he said lazily. There was power in that voice. Dark, wicked power that captured her attention and sent heated shivers dancing over her already sensitive body.

  Gathering her resolve, she gave him a snotty look. “Who says you aren’t?”

  Who the hell did he think he was anyway? Just barging in without knocking or alerting her of his presence. Did he think because she’d slept with him he had a right to come and go as he pleased? Well, dammit, he had another think coming.

  That realization had heat crawling up her throat to burn her cheeks. Oh great, now she was red faced. He had a bad habit of just doing whatever he pleased, whenever. The man had no manners whatsoever. He tilted his head, stepping toward her. It was disconcerting and kind of rude. Okay, fine, it was seriously sexy, but it made her damned uncomfortable. It seemed as though he was analyzing her, seeing deep inside, much more than she wanted him to see.

  “Would you rather it have been Ronald Marshall who just walked through your unlocked door?” He wasn’t smiling; as a matter of fact he looked slightly pissed off. He walked purposefully toward her, ignoring the fact that, with every step, she retreated.

  “No.” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Or worse?” He reached out to shut off the faucet with a quick twist of his wrist.

  Did he just growl? She gasped as she found herself backed up against the counter. That sounded like a growl, the vibrations rumbled through her, awakening every cell of her body.

  “Let me see.”

  “It’s fine.” She ignored the hand he held out to her.

  If he touched her she’d go up in flames. Spontaneously combust from the restrained lust she kept trying to tamp down since he imposed himself into her sedate, boring life. With an exasperated sigh his fingers wrapped around her wrist, tugged her closer and lifted her hand to examine her burn. The burn he caused. Damn him. She concentrated on keeping her breathing e
ven as his thumb brushed over her pulse point. His gaze held hers, his eyes smoldering with temper and maybe something more.

  “Do you always have to be so damn bullheaded?” his voice rumbled, setting off little tremors in her tummy as he lowered his gaze to study the burn.

  “Do you always have to be so…so…” She forgot what she was saying as he blew on her damp thumb. Holy crap.

  He lifted his eyes from the small red welt rising on her thumb to watch her, his brow lifting slowly. “Right?”

  “No.” She wrinkled her nose at him again and tugged her hand, trying to free herself. “I was thinking overbearing, dogmatic, aggressive, arrogant…bossy.”

  He smelled so good she wanted to whimper. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, press her body against him, rest her head on his solid chest and absorb the feel of him, his scent, his security.

  “Yes, I am. Isn’t that what you want, James?”

  Before she had a chance to respond he wound her ponytail around his hand and pulled her head back so she had no choice but to look up at him. The action was savage but she wasn’t afraid. Instead, her body reacted with ferocity and instinctively she pressed her breasts against him, her lips parting on a shaky gasp. His lips brushed against hers as he spoke, just as his words seem to brush against her womb.

  “A badass, tough, rugged…forceful?”

  Her “yes” was somewhere between a groan and a whisper. It sounded animalistic and needy but God help her, this was what she wanted. It was what she’d been craving for years, someone stronger than her, someone with an all-consuming passion and need for her. A man who didn’t wait on her to initiate every damn thing but took control and dominated.

  He reached and dipped a finger in the cooling caramel and tasted it. “It’s good. Sweet.” A slow smile curved his lips as he dipped his finger in again and held it to her lips. Jaimee watched his eyes darken as she took his warm caramel-coated finger into her mouth. She let her desire lead her and wrapped her tongue around it, sucking gently.

  Slowly he withdrew his finger and lowered his head. He let his tongue trace the ridge of her lower lip, sending fire sparking through every cell of her body. When his teeth grazed over the fuller part of her lip, need gripped her body like a living thing. Sparks of sensation rained over her body. A rush of heat infused her, spearing straight to her core. Her breasts ached for his touch.