Accidents Make the Heart Grow Fonder

by Tara Mills

  “It couldn’t be the tequila, because you barely had a third of your drink before you pushed it away.”

  Sabrina was upset that she was making such a spectacle of herself. She turned away from all the people staring while Jackson checked her over, touching her forehead and rubbing her hands between his. Ugh, it was too much, way too embarrassing. “I’m fine, really.”

  “Well, your color is coming back,” he said grudgingly, though it didn’t explain what had just happened to her. Then it hit him. She was uncomfortable with him and avoiding his eyes. Maybe she regretted having sex with him and didn’t know how to deal with it now. “This is about my question isn’t it…about what happened between us yesterday?”

  “Maybe,” she mumbled.

  He took a deep breath, bracing for the hard truth. “Well, let me have it, then, right between the eyes.”

  Her head whipped up and she stared at him. “What?”

  “If this is as far as you want to go and I’m getting my walking papers, just get it over with, okay? I’m not going to blow up or cause a scene.”

  “But I thought you…”

  He grinned and touched his hand to his chest. “You thought I was going to…?”

  “I did,” she said, with a helpless shrug. “I was afraid I came on too strong yesterday and pushed you in a direction you didn’t want to go. I thought you were going to reestablish the boundaries.”

  “Hell, no. I liked it. I like it.” Jackson shook his head and chuckled. “Man, what the hell is wrong with us?”

  “Like I know. I’ve been flying solo so long I think my relationship radar needs to be recalibrated.”

  He smiled at her, a smile so deep it crinkled the corners of his eyes. Taking her by the shoulders, he squeezed gently. “Listen up, because I’m only saying this once, got it?”

  She saluted him. “Got it.”

  “I really like you. I can’t seem to help it. I enjoyed being with you yesterday, in every sense of the word, and I was hoping you’d be open to seeing more of me. How do you feel?”

  “You can’t help it? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He threw up his hands. “Obviously because no matter what you do to me I keep coming back for more, even if it means potential bloodshed.”

  “I see your point.”

  “Now will you answer my question?”

  Sabrina smiled. “I kinda like you too. If you’re willing to risk it, I have no objections.”

  She could actually see the tension drain out of his body at her answer, and it relieved her mind considerably.

  Jackson dipped down and kissed her lightly. “Think you can handle the walk now?”

  “Yep, the ground isn’t shaking anymore.”

  He laughed and moved back, drawing her hand out to pull her to her feet. “Come on.”

  He kept hold of her hand as they walked, giving it a squeeze now and then to communicate something to her or get her attention—sometimes just to remind her he was there.

  They both moved toward a bookstore automatically, laughing when they noticed their single-minded purpose. As they stood in front of the window and Sabrina read the titles on display, Jackson watched her reflection instead, silently waiting for her to notice. Then their eyes connected and she smiled. His reflection smiled back.

  “Here’s the thing,” he said, picking up the conversation where they left off. “If I take the GM job, I’m going to be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks with my transition, training my replacement, and still doing my job. I doubt there’s going to be much chance to work you into the schedule. However, after I make the move to the new office, my nights will finally open up. It just means we’ll have to be patient a bit longer.”

  “So today is probably it?”

  “For the time being. I’m going to take the job in the morning.”

  Sabrina beamed. “I think that’s great.”

  He tipped his head to one side and raised his eyebrows. His voice, however, dropped discreetly. “Tell me now if I’m being too forward, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said curiously.

  “Would you consider going back to my place for a little celebration and send-off?”

  She bit her lip, but the smile came anyway. “As long as it’s just a send-off and not a kiss-off, then no, I don’t think you’re being too forward.”

  He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss on the temple. “No way. You’ll definitely be hearing from me.” He turned them around and led her back down the sidewalk. “We can come back for your car later.”

  ****

  They would have attacked each other in the elevator if not for the elderly couple sharing the ride with them. It was close to impossible to keep their hands to themselves. Jackson reined back his impatience, though he wondered if the older couple could feel all the sexual tension surging around them. He glanced over and caught Sabrina’s eye and almost groaned in frustration, because she was practically vibrating with electricity too. It was frightening to contemplate what would happen when they unleashed it.

  Jackson pulled Sabrina in front of him at his apartment door. His lips were on her neck, then her shoulder, and his free hand stroked her torso as he closed out any space between them. She pushed back against him and groaned when the lock gave under his key. He spun her in his arms and twirled her through the door, kicking it closed behind them.

  “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered, his hands flowing over her ears and cupping the back of her head.

  Sabrina’s heart skipped at the look in his eyes. He slowly tipped her head back and brought her chin up. A ghost of a smile was all she saw before he took possession of her lips. The waves were back and she was swaying in his arms all over again. What he wanted she gave him, gladly, eagerly. There was nothing she wanted more than to feel his naked body against her again. That thought coupled with the deepening kiss made her knees quake.

  He caught her around the waist and laughed. “Don’t give out on me yet. We’re just getting started.” He eased her purse down her arm and swung it by the strap onto the couch. “You still good?”

  “Silly question,” she said with a luscious rosy smile. She wore his kisses well.

  Sabrina’s hand stroked down his arm and she laced her fingers with his. Stepping away, she turned and towed him toward the bedroom, wondering the entire way where this newly discovered boldness had been hiding all these years.

  She stopped at the side of the bed and faced him, her hands going to his waist. They embraced, holding each other for a full minute, swaying silently together. Jackson pulled back first, but just enough to kiss her brow, her nose, and finally her lips again. Still feeling daring, Sabrina surprised Jackson by slipping him a little tongue but he was game, and she ended up losing the point and her unraveling calm when he demonstrated what he could do with it.

  Sabrina fumbled blindly at his pants. She had to pull back to see what she was doing. “Do you always wear a belt?”

  “Yes.” He leaned in, his hands on her hips, and nuzzled into her neck, his kisses accompanied by low rumbles of pleasure.

  She sighed gratefully as the belt released, allowing access to the trousers underneath. She caught the tab and ziiiip.

  “Mmm, Jackson,” she purred with delight. “I think you’ve sprung a leak.” Her eyes were glued to the royal blue silk boxers growing out of his open fly.

  “Your fault,” he whispered, sucking on her earlobe and giving her little earring a flick or two with his tongue.

  Steady, girl. Sabrina’s vision was already beginning to blur when she yanked his polo shirt out of his pants and hauled it up and over his head. Oh, boy, the man was built. Her palms flattened out on his chest, and she took a thrilling excursion over his warm form. She smiled as his nipples tightened before her eyes. She needed those, had to have them. Sabrina leaned in and circled one with her tongue.

  Jackson’s eyes rolled back and closed. He groaned. “Remember the rule.”


  Sabrina smiled. “You mean this one?” She licked her way over to his other nipple.

  “That’s the one. Tell me something. Are you always this assertive?”

  “In the bedroom—never.” Sabrina slowly sank to her knees, kissing her way down his lean stomach. She made a soft “ha” sound when she breathed her warm breath across his navel. He looked down at her and chuckled, and she smiled back before dipping the tip of her tongue into the center.

  He stroked her hair and swayed. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “It’s the truth,” she said, drawing back. “This is uncharted territory, so to speak.”

  Pleased to hear it, his eyes softened on her as she drew his pants and boxers down his legs in one smooth motion.

  “There it is,” she said with delight, her ceaseless preoccupation finally satisfied. “Does he have a name?”

  “Tippy Longstocking.”

  Sabrina burst out laughing. “Perfect.” She was still shaking with giggles when her mouth closed over him.

  Jackson’s fingers wove through her hair and he caressed her head gently, brushing her long bangs out of her eyes and knowing that whatever he could offer her at that moment was completely inadequate by comparison. The act, her gift, stunned him.

  Silk, Sabrina thought. He was silky to the touch, his taste delicate on her tongue. He had a clean scent, a light scent. She liked that too. Scooping him from underneath with her right hand and latching onto his delicious derrière with her left, she tucked in and actually enjoyed this activity for the first time in her life.

  Jackson was utterly drained when he finally drew Sabrina back to her feet. Even his mouth was dry. He pulled her in and held her close, needing to touch her almost as much as he needed her support. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  Sabrina rubbed her cheek against his chest and smiled. “I know, but I wanted to. It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted to do it.”

  “Are you serious? Wow. I don’t know what to say to that. Thank you.” After a beat, he said, “I’m incredibly thirsty now. I could really use some juice or something. How about you?”

  “I’d love some juice.” She moved away from him, but he tugged her back and gave her a grateful kiss.

  “Well, you set the bar pretty high, but I’m sure I’m up to the challenge.”

  ****

  It was strange to be standing in Jackson’s kitchen completely dressed while he was entirely naked and just as comfortable without his clothes as with them, apparently. She’d never understood men’s cavalier attitude about nudity. It didn’t seem to faze them. Another conversation for the girls, she supposed. This nonchalance about stripping down in front of each other and letting it all swing free or taking a public piss in front of complete strangers was absolutely foreign to her. She couldn’t even pee with someone in the next stall.

  ****

  Jackson started undressing her in the kitchen. Her soft tee fluttered to the floor beside the table, her bra fell in the hall outside the second bedroom, and her pants didn’t make it to the bed.

  He pressed her gently back on the mattress and tugged her panties down her legs. She laughed when he brought them to his face and took a long deep sniff before dropping them with a grin.

  “Tell me something,” he said softly. “Do you mind if I do this?”

  He dropped to his knees and kissed the soft roundness of her belly, the part of herself she hated the most because even when her pelvic bones stood out from her concave belly, that little swell in the center remained.

  “Sort of,” she admitted.

  “You do?” he asked, not expecting that answer. “Why?”

  She blushed as he licked her sensitive navel. “Self conscious, I guess.”

  “About this?” He laid his hand over her stomach. “No way.”

  “But it’s just there and I can’t do anything about it.”

  “It’s perfectly normal. You know that, don’t you?”

  “It’s not the body image I grew up with.”

  “And you think you’re fat.”

  “Doesn’t every woman?”

  He sighed. “Look at me.” Sabrina met his impatient eyes. “You’re beautiful. This,” he caressed that little swell, “is something every woman has. Every woman, Sabrina. It’s there to protect and insulate your womb and eventually your babies when you carry them. That’s beautiful, too. Believe me, guys don’t mind it. It’s just more softness to enjoy.”

  Sabrina smiled. “You honestly don’t mind it?”

  “I mind it about as much as I mind these,” he said rising over her to kiss and nuzzle her breasts. She moaned with pleasure when he cupped one and began to knead. He suckled for a long minute, then moved up to the hollow at her throat. “I mind it about as much as I mind this here,” he murmured, planting a damp kiss over the indentation and blowing it dry. It brought her out in goose bumps.

  “Need me to go on?” he asked with a roguish smile.

  Sabrina nodded, trying not to smile herself.

  He crawled up her body and dropped down to steal a kiss, then another. “I don’t mind that at all.”

  Sabrina laughed and he kissed her once more before sliding back down.

  “Let me tell you what I really don’t mind,” he said, leaving the bed and kneeling at its side. He silently kissed his way along her inner thighs, parting her legs wider as needed. Then there was nothing. No words, no movement, nothing. Sabrina’s head came off the mattress and she looked down to find him studying her intimately, a look of pure, unabashed admiration in his eyes. “I have no problem with this whatsoever.”

  With that, he lowered his mouth and sent her to the stars. She was still shuddering when he finally slipped inside her, hooking her knee back in the process to gain all the ground she had. The newly discovered Sabrina was back, boldly stroking his body, straining to kiss everything and anything she could reach while he brought her slowly and steadily back up to the pinnacle, and there they hovered because he stopped, completely buried, and nosed her sweet spot with unrelenting persistence until she gasped and seized beneath him. Her violent thrashing catapulted him into high gear and Jackson rode her body to his own exhausted finish.

  Then they slept tangled together, too tired to move. Jackson woke an hour later because his arm was completely numb under Sabrina’s head. He shifted her carefully to the pillow and massaged his limb back to life, silently fighting the needles when they hit.

  In no hurry to wake her, he simply watched her sleep after that. She must have been tired. She’d said she was. Let her sleep, he thought. He didn’t think he could keep her here once she woke and noticed the time, but who knew when they’d be able to get together again?

  This imposed separation was going to clarify things for him, hopefully, and not just in the professional arena. By being away from Sabrina he should be able to gauge the growing complications between them. He was uncomfortable with the amount of time he spent thinking about her, wishing he could see her, planning how he could see her. This would be a test for him. Could he put her out of his mind for so many hours of the day? Could he put off seeing her for that long? Or was he totally screwed and already a dependent pussy slave? Not a question to ask at the moment, when he was already thinking of pleasant ways to wake her and bring her to climax again. Tomorrow would be here soon enough.

  Completely forgetting his decision to let her rest, Jackson kissed Sabrina’s shoulder and reached over to take the weight of her breast in his hand. “Honey,” he whispered, “let me make you sing again.”

  Sabrina rolled to her back and gave him a lazy smile. “Maestro.”

  ****

  Sprawled on top of Jackson with her chin resting on her hands, Sabrina studied him thoughtfully. “How is it that you aren’t already involved with someone? I don’t get it. You’re quite a catch.”

  He chuckled and wound a lock of her hair around his finger, stroking it with his thumb. “Thank you, but I might ask you the same thing.”

  “Y
ou might, but I beat you to it,” she said with a bewitching smile.

  “My erratic schedule, for starters. It’s pretty tough to work in a social life when the only women I come in regular contact with are under my supervision and out of the question. I have to be careful I never cross a line that could be misconstrued.” He drew his finger free and started the winding over again.

  “Sounds familiar. Work takes up a good chunk of my day, and when I’m done all I want to do is go home, wash the restaurant grime off my skin, and relax. When I do go out with friends, and they’re all from the restaurant these days, I’m the only single in the bunch—well, until yesterday, anyway.” She laughed softly and shook her head. “All three of my brothers have tried to pair me off with friends of theirs at one time or another, but that’s just too awkward and uncomfortable.”

  “So basically we’ve both been on a social hiatus.”

  “Sounds like it.” She kissed his chest and sat up, straddling his hips. “If I asked, would you turn on the shower for me?”

  He scooped up her breasts and squeezed gently. “You want a shower, hmm?”

  “Yes,” she moaned, leaning into his hands.

  “Okay.”

  He grinned at the lustful way she looked at the shower when they went into the bathroom, but when Sabrina stroked her hand and cheek along the glass and purred, “Baby, I’m back,” he broke out laughing.

  “That’s it,” he said chuckling. “I can’t leave you two alone together, and I refuse to be out-performed by my shower fixtures.”

  She turned and raised an interested eyebrow. “Are you suggesting a threesome?”

  “You aren’t even going to notice my competition,” he said confidently, stepping into the enclosure and adjusting all the sprays. He reached around the door and tugged her inside, backing Sabrina against the smooth wall.

  His kiss was assertive, demanding, and she wanted to be taken. Jackson caught her left leg behind the knee and lifted, opening her up and fluttering his fingers lightly over her slit.

  Her head rolled back and her throat arched against his teeth and lips. “Okay, you’ve got my attention,” she said with a low moan and grabbed his ass.