Hooked

by Christine Manzari

  “I already saw that one,” I said straight-faced. “Jay made me watch it last weekend.”

  Cat couldn’t contain the laughter any longer. “Please tell me you’re serious.”

  “No. But he did try. I think he actually watched it on his own, because for two days he insisted I call him Dallas and he kept calling me Mike. And then there was the whole police uniform thing.”

  “What?” Cat was laughing hard. Actually, more like giggling, which wasn’t like her at all. “Are you making this up?”

  “Hard to say. I’ve been hanging out a lot with Jay. You need to come around more.”

  The giggling subsided and I hated myself for whatever I said that sobered her up. “We can find some action flick with car chases and gun fights for you,” she said, changing the subject. “On-demand always has something like that and Jay doesn’t really care. Is that okay?”

  Was that okay? Cat was inviting me to her apartment. It wasn’t just okay, it was a damn miracle.

  “As long as you feed me, I’ll watch anything you want.”

  “I’ll get Jay to make something for us,” she promised, smiling. “You don’t want to eat my cooking, remember?”

  “I haven’t actually had your cooking, yet.”

  “Consider yourself lucky.”

  I parked my car and then followed her up the stairs, silently thanking whoever it was that designed the pants she was wearing. They hugged her ass just right, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her bent over the side of that lime green Barracuda again.

  We were barely through the door of her apartment when her cat was wrapped around my ankles in a flurry of warm fur and loud purrs.

  “Nice to see you, too, Spook,” she said to the cat, who was actively ignoring her. “He’s such a dick,” she muttered, walking past me to toss her jacket and messenger bag on the kitchen counter. “Jay?” she called, walking back toward his bedroom.

  I bent over to pet Spooky, and Cat came back down the hallway, looking confused. “He’s not here,” she said. “I just texted him ten minutes ago.”

  “There’s something on the counter,” I said, pointing to a sheet of paper that was stuck halfway under her bag.

  Cat read it and then balled it up and tossed it into the trash can. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “What?”

  “When I texted him on the way home, Jay suggested that I invite you to a movie tonight. But his note says that he went out on a date and won’t be home until tomorrow. Why do I feel like he’s setting us up?”

  “You know him better than I do.”

  “I’m not so sure that’s true anymore.” Cat rubbed the back of her neck and I expected her next words to be a request for me to leave. Instead, she said, “Takeout menus are in that drawer to the left of the fridge. Want to order something for dinner while I change?”

  “Yeah, no problem.” There was no need for her to tell me where the menus were. I hung out with Jay two or three nights a week. Sometimes he cooked, but usually we ordered food. I was now very familiar with the best delivery places around. I placed an order and when Cat still hadn’t come out of her room, I started searching through the DVDs on the shelf underneath the television.

  Twenty minutes later, she still hadn’t come out, and I started to wonder if she’d changed her mind and decided to hide out in her room all night. I went to her bedroom door and heard the shower running. Knowing she was wet and naked in the shower was just as torturous now as it was when she left me on the ugly chair the first time I was in her apartment.

  The doorbell rang just as I was about to ask if she needed help scrubbing her back. I paid the delivery guy, got plates out of the cupboard, and took all of the little white boxes out of the brown paper bag.

  Cat’s door opened. “Is that Chinese food I smell?”

  “I was wondering if you were going to come out.”

  Soon she was by my side at the counter, her hair wet and slick down her back and her business suit swapped out for a pair of dark pajama pants and a well-worn tank top. Her skin was pink from her hot shower, and she smelled like coconut. I passed her the food I’d ordered for her, taking the chance to let my eyes roam over her freshly scrubbed skin as she opened up her boxes and looked inside.

  “How did you know I liked chicken and broccoli?” Her smile was wide and genuine.

  “Jay might have mentioned it last time we ordered from this place.”

  “He thinks it’s boring,” Cat said.

  “Says the guy that gets General Tso’s chicken every single time.”

  “That’s what I said! He never orders anything else.” She laughed, grabbing a set of chopsticks from the silverware drawer before taking her dinner over to the couch and sinking into the corner. Cat switched on the television and navigated her way to the on-demand listings. “What do you want to see?”

  “What about this one?” I tossed a DVD onto her lap.

  She glanced down to look at it. “You’ve Got Mail?”

  “You don’t like that movie?”

  “I love this movie, I’m just surprised you want to watch it. It’s old.”

  “There’s a lot about me that would surprise you.”

  “All right,” she said, warily, tossing the box back to me. “Go ahead and put it in.”

  “That’s what she said.” The words were out of my mouth before I even had a chance to consider what I was saying. Luckily, I ducked before the pillow Cat threw at me could make contact.

  “You’re disgusting.”

  “You’re just mad you didn’t say it first.”

  Cat’s mouth was a flimsy barricade for the smile that was battling to take control of her face. “Behave yourself, Stone.”

  “I always do.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, but the smile that had finally won its place on her lips kept all the sincerity out of her command. I started the DVD and sat down on the other side of the couch as we fell into a comfortable silence. I had a hard time concentrating on the movie. All I could think about was how close her body was to mine, how I’d like to pull her between my legs so she could lean against me, how I would wrap my arms around her, how easy it would be to lean over and kiss her, how she’d probably yell at me for doing it—and how it would be worth it anyway.

  “I totally agree,” Cat said, confusing me.

  “What?”

  “Fall makes me want to buy school supplies. I love fall,” she said, referring to the scene in the movie where Tom Hanks was waxing poetic about how much he loves fall in New York.

  “But you live in California,” I pointed out. “You’ve never had fall like it’s meant to be experienced.”

  “True, but I still love it. And I always liked buying school supplies.”

  “Maybe I’ll send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils,” I said, reciting Tom Hanks’ sentiment from the movie.

  Cat’s smile was infectious, claiming her entire face. “As long as they’re not all boring, yellow, number twos.”

  There was another shared smile between us and then our empty plates were set on the coffee table and our postures relaxed, our legs seeming to reach out to each other even though the rest of our bodies still hadn’t committed to anything more. My feet were resting on the table in front of me and Cat’s were stretched on the couch, the tips of her painted toes inches from my thigh.

  After a few more scenes of the movie, which I still hadn’t managed to pay attention to, I grabbed Cat’s ankles and yanked her toward me. I pulled her feet into my lap, causing her to end up lying on the couch, her head resting on the throw pillow behind her. As my thumbs started to push into the underside of her left foot, I expected her to tell me to stop, to warn me with a sharp use of my name, or to pull away. But she didn’t. She seemed to melt into the cushions as she allowed me, for once, to take control. I kept rubbing the sides and bottom of her foot, forcing soft moans of satisfaction out of her. I hoped she wouldn’t make me stop.

  God. I was a masochist, wanting something I w
asn’t sure I could ever truly claim.

  “That feels so good.” Cat purred the words and her eyes fluttered shut and my fingers slid up under the hem of her pajama pants as I continued to massage her foot and lower leg. After the first foot was fully rubbed down, I grabbed the other one.

  Cat sat up suddenly, pulling her feet from my lap.

  This is it. This is where she tells me we shouldn’t be doing this. I was already preparing my argument.

  She got up on her knees next to me and stared into my face with a look that was almost panicked.

  “Would you hate me if I told you how much I want you right now?” she asked. “Because honestly, I kind of hate myself. But I can’t help it. I can’t even watch this stupid fucking movie. All I can think about is that you’re sitting on my couch and I want you naked.”

  Brutally honest Cat who wasn’t afraid to demand what she wanted. This was the Cat I met months ago. This was the Cat I’d been trying to find again. She hadn’t touched me, but I could tell by the way her hands twitched nervously that she wanted to.

  “All you had to do was ask, Maverick.” I leaned back into the pillows, reaching my arm over the back of the couch, an invitation for her to do whatever she wanted.

  Cat’s hands were immediately on my shoulders and her left leg was slung over me as she settled onto my lap. If she hadn’t known how badly I wanted her before, she certainly knew now. A small movement of her hips as she ground onto me was followed by my sharp intake of breath and a shuddering gasp from her.

  “I shouldn’t want you like this. It’s not healthy.” She framed my face with her hands as she stared at me, conflict warring in her eyes. “I should stay away,” she continued. But that observation was followed by the press of her lips to mine and a kiss that threatened to strip me raw. Cat’s fingers slipped into my hair, her nails weaving trails across my scalp as her lips continued to meet mine with a certain bit of madness. She kissed me hard, as if there was a time limit, and she had to take as much from me as she could. I allowed her to take control, allowed her lips to punish mine, allowed myself to give in to her needs.

  My hands were on Cat’s hips, anchoring her to me. I let them slide across the swell of her ass, rocking her into my lap, slow and steady. Each gentle sway forward brought our bodies closer together and her tongue plunging more desperately into my mouth. I pushed my hips up into her and her mouth opened, a groan escaping between us.

  With a frustrated sound, she pushed away from me and stood up.

  Shit. I pushed it too far. She was going to kick me out.

  “Let’s go, Stone. It would be just like Jay to come home early and catch us like this.” She leaned over and grabbed the end of my tie, giving it a sharp little tug to urge me to my feet. I easily complied, and as she led me down the hall like a chained animal, I was glad I hadn’t bothered to lose the tie when I took off my jacket earlier.

  Cat led me into her bedroom, kicking the door shut before Spooky could sneak in behind us. With achingly slow movements, she began to loosen my tie, finally pulling the end free and sliding it from underneath my collar. She let the silk fall to the floor and her fingers started on the buttons of my shirt. After freeing a button from its hole, she tilted her head to kiss me with teasing licks. Just as the kiss started to get heated, she pulled back and undid another button. At this rate, it’d be morning before we got to the main attraction, but there was no way in hell I was going to complain about the fact that she was finally letting me in. If kissing was all we managed tonight, it would be a step in the right direction.

  After my shirt joined my tie on the floor, I lifted the edges of Cat’s tank top, bringing it up and over her head and tossing it into the far corner of her room. Christ. She wasn’t wearing a bra. My hands cupped her breasts and I ran my thumbs over her nipples, causing her to shudder as a quiet murmur of my name escaped her lips. I bent over to lick the tightness under my thumb and when I brought it into my mouth, her hand dropped to her waistband and pulled the drawstring, causing her pajama pants to drop to the floor in a puddle of dark fabric. My mouth continued to worship her body and her hips rolled against me in time with each flick of my tongue.

  This was worth the wait. Every time Cat had pushed me away or snapped at me in the last few weeks, it had all been worth it to have her here like this. Cat’s hands moved to my waist, deftly unhooking my belt before she made quick work of the button and zipper. She pushed my pants down to the ground and I stepped out of them. With a gentle push, she walked me back to the bed, forcing me to sit on the edge.

  “Do you have any idea what you do to me, Huck?”

  Did she have any idea what she did to me when she said my name like that? I had a feeling she did.

  “Show me,” I said. She was standing in front of me so I reached forward and grabbed the edges of her lacy panties, starting to ease them down her legs. Cat’s hands covered the backs of my fists, her fingers weaving between mine, and I thought for a moment she was going to help me undress her. But with our fingers entwined, she jerked our hands to the side, ripping her lacy panties off.

  Fuck. I couldn’t decide if I was jealous she’d helped me or if I wanted to throw her on the bed and fuck her senseless in gratitude. I guess it was a little of both. Her fingers trailed along my arm, over my shoulder, and across my chest as she turned and sat on my lap with her back to me. Her legs were spread wide to either side of my thighs.

  She brought my hands to her chest and said, “Watch what you do to me, Huck.”

  I glanced over her shoulder and up at her face and noticed she was staring across the room at a full length mirror that was mounted on the wall beside her bathroom door. We were both visible in the mirror, but mostly I could just see her, on display—for me. I watched as she reached between her legs, dragging two of her fingers up through her center before circling them around. She took me in her other hand and lifted her body up slightly before coming back down, forcing me inside her in a deliciously slow descent. Wrapped tightly in the heat of her, I kissed the part of her neck that met her shoulder, my eyes never leaving the mirror as Cat began to move up and down. Her hands reached behind her, holding on to my thighs. With each slow, controlled movement, she took what she wanted and gave me what I needed. Her. All of her.

  My hips were soon rising up to meet hers, each thrust forcing my name out of her mouth.

  “Don’t look away, Huck,” she ordered, her eyes fixed on mine.

  The reflection of Cat in the mirror was a strange mix of vulnerability and strength. She was in control, but exposed in every way possible. I knew she was giving me a gift. A really fucking, sexy gift. I had thought having sex out on the beach that night without a condom had ruined me for any other woman. I was wrong. This moment now, this was breaking down every barrier between us. This was what I wanted. Not sex in the mirror, although that was . . . damn. It was hot. No. What I really wanted was the real Cat, the one who could give herself to me—without limits. Without keeping secrets.

  “Don’t stop saying my name,” I commanded. I don’t know why I loved the sound of my name coming from her mouth, but I was addicted. The way her breaths caressed the letters was almost as good as her actually touching me.

  “Tell me you’re close,” she said, staring at me in the mirror, her eyes pleading with me to join her.

  I never took my eyes off hers as I reached down between her legs and let my fingers help push her over the edge. Her moans caused her head to fall back, and I reached up with my other hand to guide her chin back down. Her gaze met mine in the mirror and when I bit gently at the curve of her neck, my name exploded from her mouth. I held tight to her, following her over the edge with a final thrust.

  “Cat,” I groaned.

  We stared at each other in the mirror, our bodies a tangle of sweaty limbs and heavy breaths. My fingers entwined with hers, and I folded my arms across her stomach, kissing her shoulders with soft touches of my lips as she sat in my lap.

  “See what you do to me?
” she repeated in a quiet voice, almost embarrassed.

  “I see what we do to each other.”

  The walls were gone. Cat had let me in and I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t let her kick me out again.

  — CAT —

  25. GALA

  How had I lived without Huck like this for all these weeks? Maybe I hadn’t really been living. Or maybe I was weak and I’d regret this later, but right now our bodies were so twisted together, I wasn’t sure how we’d ever get untangled. Huck was sprawled out on my mattress, and I was tucked into his side, my legs and arms draped over him, his legs woven between mine. For once, being this mixed up with him didn’t make me panic. His fingers were tickling a path up and down the back of my arm and mine were tracing the ridges of his chest and stomach, lazily looping up and down like I had all the time in the world.

  Vaguely, I was aware that my sick mother was in another state and still dying, her health tumbling through the hourglass of life like tiny grains of sand. But there was also a sense of relief at not being responsible for a little while. She’d made the decision to go without me and in a way, I was paroled from my grief. I knew I should feel guilty that I was allowing myself these hours with Huck. I knew I should feel humiliated that I’d broken my own rules and had sex with my boss. Again. But it was hard to feel any of those things when at the moment, I was feeling like everything was right with the world. At least the world contained in the four walls of my bedroom.

  “I know I’m going to hate myself for asking this,” Huck said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over us.

  “Then shut up and don’t ask it,” I suggested.

  “Why did you invite me to come up for the movie last night?” he asked, ignoring my warning.

  I shrugged. “Jay told me to invite you.”

  His fingers skimmed my jaw and reverently traced the outline of my lips. “Yeah, but why would you agree?”