by Jules Dixon
“Guess I should have mentioned that I have a dog. Are you allergic?”
“Nope, love dogs, but don’t have the time for one.” I squatted. “And what’s your name?”
Kai squatted across from me. “This is Waffles.”
“Oh, my God, that name is perfect. She—”
“He.”
I drew my head back. “Sorry, Waffles. That name is perfect for him.”
“He’s one of a kind.”
I’d already made friends with him.
“Glass of wine?” Kai asked.
“Please.”
I kicked off my heels, sat on the sofa, and the very well behaved Waffles lay at my feet. Kai sank into the sofa, her body never seeming totally relaxed, but better.
“I only have red.” She handed over the glass.
“Thanks.”
I stared at the pink chair as if it were going to jump up and run to us. My anxiety ratcheted about ten notches. I swirled the wine.
I love the bright color so why the freak-out?
After a few minutes of silence, Kai sighed. “You’re not feeling this, are you?” She set her glass on the table.
“Feeling what?”
She waved quickly between us. “This. You and me.”
I gazed into eyes that made me lose my concentration. “Kai, I—”
Shaking her head, she stood. “You know, don’t worry about it. You did your nice thing and hung out for a while. I’ll go to the bathroom and you can let yourself out so I can keep my dignity.” She turned before I could stop her.
Well … shit.
Chapter Four
Kai
Mistake.
Fucking mistakes.
I rushed down the hallway and into the bathroom, backing against the door on the inside. Why do I do this to myself? She wasn’t going to be the last woman to be polite to me just because, and she wasn’t the first who wasn’t interested but had pretended to be, to be nice.
Maybe I want a connection that doesn’t exist?
I waited for about five minutes, enough time for Jace to leave without me having to do the whole, “Well, thanks anyway” awkward thing. I washed my face and took off my clothes, slipping into my yoga pants and t-shirt from the hook on the back of the door.
I pushed the heels behind the door, where they’d probably live until the next wedding or funeral. I was a barefoot-on-the-beach kind of girl anyway.
I opened the door, and Waffles was sitting by the door, his ears drooping.
“It’s okay, Waffles. That kind of pretty isn’t in my league, but I’ve still got you. That’s all that matters.”
I stopped before I hit the living room as the TV turned on. What the hell?
“Jace?”
“Yes. I’m still here, and thanks for calling me pretty, but you’re wrong about your league.”
“Maybe you should go?” I offered backing down the hall with embarrassment heating my face. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall.
Thuds pounded on the wood down the hallway. For her 5’2” stature she sounded like a 300-pound linebacker. The sound stopped. I opened my eyes to find her right in front of me.
“Here’s the deal, I’m a freak, Kai. I’m a certifiable, undeniable, stand up in church and scream it out, incurable, and total … mess. I clean constantly. My house. My car. My office. Like nonstop, every surface, every inch, and not because it needs it, but because I can’t stop. I wiped your coffee table off with a tissue, not because it needed it but because my brain said to do it. I would’ve rearranged those flowers for probably another dozen times, if you hadn’t distracted me. And I’m way less than perfect.” She reached inside and pulled out a small pad for stuffing in her bra.
Waffles cocked his head like he was examining a toy. I shooed him away and heard him doing his normal I-can-hide-in-small-spaces thing that I didn’t understand, but Waffles was just Waffles.
She continued, “When I run, I look like an old troll crossed with a baby flamingo. I work crazy long hours, and when I’m not working, I’m always thinking about what I’ll be working on when I’m working. So the package might be pretty, but I’m chaos inside. And honestly, you deserve to be first in my head, not in a long line of nonsense.”
I glanced to her chest.
Not perfect, but damn close.
“You’re still beautiful without the padding.”
She leaned back against the other side of the hallway. “I like you, Kai. Like really like you, but I don’t want to hurt you or disappoint you.”
I could understand that. I’d been hurt a couple of times, and each time the pain seemed worse because I thought I’d made a better choice.
“Okay, maybe we should just be friends, then?” I pushed off the wall.
She met me in the middle of the hall. “With … benefits?”
Friends with benefits?
I’d never done the FWB. thing. Sounded complicated. And I wasn’t sure I was the person who could have casual sex like that. I kept my gaze sealed to the ceiling, avoiding her hopeful stare as I moved back against the wall.
“Kai, are you okay?”
I brought my head down. “I like you, too.”
Her blue eyes brightened with her smile. “Is that a yes?”
“It’s not a no.” I walked back into the family room and turned the TV off to think. “So, just sex?”
Jace stayed standing, almost ready to bolt if it didn’t go the way she wanted. “I’m attracted to you, but I can’t commit to a relationship. If we do this, I need you to know that it would only be physical. No promises and no future.”
I reached down and petted Waffles. His silky hair almost always calmed me. But not right now. I scanned my eyes up her body. The dress hugged her elegant curves and exposed décolleté. My eyes trailed up her long neck, scanning her face with bright pink lips and pleading eyes.
Her hand brushed through my hair and spikes of tiny bristles burst down my neck. “Doesn’t have to be tonight, but I’d really like to be with you.”
“Okay.” I breathed out the word, but a squeak ended the word.
She leaned down and tipped my head up. Her delicate mouth pressed to mine. The touch tangled my brain with twists and turns similar to the wildest roller coasters I’d ever been on.
She parted from me. “Want to meet up for dinner tomorrow night?”
“No.”
Her back straightened. “No?”
I stood and grabbed her hand. If this was our path, I’d take it, but I wasn’t waiting. Any woman … or hell, any man, would be beyond happy to be with Jaclyn Zelensky, morning, noon or night.
She pulled on my hand until I stopped and turned. “Kai, are you sure?”
“I’m never 100 percent sure of anything, but I’m positive that I don’t want to question this. I want to live a little for once in my life.”
Jace allowed me to lead her to my bedroom. I inhaled a deep breath before opening the door. It wasn’t quite as crazy as the living room, but there were still punches of color. They weren’t sofa sized, thankfully. I collected small pieces of sea glass displayed in clear jars, a rainbow of colors on top of my dresser.
“These are beautiful.” Her fingers traced the outsides of the jars.
“Most are from Florida. My parents live there on a beach for their retirement. I take morning runs and walk my way back and pick up pieces. But some are from places I’ve visited, like Belize, Australia, Jamaica, and Hawaii. Deep purple is one of the most unusual colors. I have several pieces, probably more than my fair share.”
She turned and a blush heated her chest. “Is there anything you want to know about me before we do this?”
“Clean?”
Her face contorted quickly, and I reviewed what I’d said.
I held up a hand. “I mean disease-wise. I’m not looking for you to take a shower and I don’t want to give you a sponge bath.”
She giggled, and I smiled.
“I’m clean, tested in March aft
er Taylor left. You?”
“I’m clean. No partners since I left the army.”
Her sculpted brows dipped inward. “I thought you left two years ago?”
“I did.”
The drought had been self-inflicted. I’d tried to find someone, but I’d never felt that internal butterflies, never that pounding heart, and certainly never cried when they’d said it was over. Because most of the time, I was ready for it to be over. In a cowardly way, I didn’t want to be the one to pull the plug.
I crossed the small room to her, only a few steps separating us. “I concentrated on getting my personal training career up and running. The hours can be crazy with split shifts and Saturdays, and occasionally even a Sunday, when a good client needs to reschedule. I kind of let my job be my passion.”
Her blue eyes flickered, the blonde lashes sparkling in the dim lamps. “Sometimes I think I’m married to my job, so I know how that feels.”
“Then let’s make this a night to feel something more.” I reached for her hand and she entwined our fingers. “Fair?”
“Sounds about perfect.”
I leaned down to her, our height difference fully evident now that her fuck-me heels were off. I stopped right before my lips met hers, delaying the touch to take in the moment. She rose to her tiptoes and finished the distance, wrapping an arm around my neck and sealing us to each other. Our bonded hand tingled up my arm as she brought it to her chest and held it close.
I wanted to be the first to make the next move, but the only thing I could think about was how her lips tasted like vanilla and how her free hand snaked into my hair, gripping the strands, stirring my body to warm from the inside in a way I’d never experienced. I tickled her lips with my tongue and she met me in the middle of our lips. Her tongue was like her—soft, sweet.
And almost sneaky.
She teased.
She tortured.
And I really, really liked it.
Her tiny hand released mine and found its way under my t-shirt, wandering up to my chest. I drifted my lips to her ear. Her smooth skin tantalized my lips. She moaned like I’d hit her sweet spot as I flicked her earlobe in and out of my mouth. My tongue caressed along the smoothness of her neck.
“Shit. Kai … don’t stop.” Her body writhed, brushing her perky chest into me.
I bent down and lifted her skirt to her waist, then dipped my knees and boosted her into my arms effortlessly. Her legs snaked around my body, tugging me toward her. I carried her to the bed and sat on the edge. Unbuttoning my shirt, she frantically pushed it down my arms, before her thin fingers worked at my bra clasp. The white-tipped nails tapped against my skin, playing a little melody that sounded familiar but also a new tune that I liked.
“Jace?”
She succeeded at getting my bra off and her hands cupped my breasts. But she stilled hearing my voice, her chest rising and falling like the waves that lapped up on St. Pete’s Beach in Florida during a tropical storm.
“Jace, are you okay?”
Her dilated pupils took up most of her iris, leaving a small rim of blue. “I find you so damn sexy. You’ve done so much in your life. Explored places. Traveled like I could only dream. The passion for your career. The fact you take that commitment seriously. Plus, come on, no one I’ve ever been with has had a rockin’ body like this.” Her hand trailed down my stomach. “I mean, those aren’t abs, Kai, they’re boulders of muscle.”
I chuckled and a flush of happiness crossed through me. “Thanks. But, maybe a little slower?”
She nodded. “I’ll try but I don’t know if I can. I swear I’m going to be a blowing up with a hair-trigger of a massive orgasm any moment.”
“Wow, now that’s a marketing slogan for a vibrator if I ever heard one, and I can’t wait to see that.”
“Not sure we have any sex toy accounts at Wattier and Buchman, but I’ll find out ‘cause you’re right.” She pushed on my shoulders, and I lay back on the bed. “Now, let me take care of you.”
I’d like that.
Chapter Five
Jace
If she hadn’t stopped the action, I would’ve detonated without a single touch. Hard to tell what had thrown me into a tailspin of lust. The creative room? Her rocking body? Her agreeing to this crazy idea that just sex could work?
All of it.
I shimmied off of her and stood, taking a moment to pause and hold her gaze as I slid the side zipper on my dress down slowly, the teeth clicking open like little explosions of anticipation. I let the dress fall to the floor, puddling into a red flower at my feet. I stepped forward while reaching for the front clasp of my strapless bra. My fingers brushed over the swell of my breasts, teasing both of us. I flicked the clasp and the red silk descended to the bright colored rug.
Slipping my fingers into my black thong waistband, I pulled one side down my hip, then the other.
Kai’s eyes widened. “Jace, you’re so fucking gorgeous.”
My heart pounded and my stomach clenched as I reached to the button on her dress pants, taking a moment to be deliberately slow. More for her, ‘cause I’d definitely rip those suckers off if I could. She lifted her hips, and I slid the fabric down. Her formfitting, hot pink boy shorts were the sexiest underwear I’d ever seen on a woman. Her body was compact, not with bulky muscles, but sculpted beauty. My eyes caught on a scar on her upper thigh. I trailed my fingers along the jagged line.
“Ran into a barbed wire fence being chased by a rooster on my grandparents’ farm in western Iowa when I was eleven. That’s eight stitches and now I’m stuck with a lasting reminder that there are things scarier than falling down and getting back up.” She shivered. “Like that freaking rooster.”
I laughed. “I can only imagine. Bet it hurt.”
“The pain isn’t the lasting memory, but that angry rooster flying at my head is.”
I loved her humor. It lightened the mood and made this much like “friends with benefits,” because anything more wasn’t in me. My fingers traced her abs, those firm, almost bar-of-soap-sized muscles tightened and trembled under the brush of a fingernail across the soft skin. I trailed down until I hit the top of her underwear, skimming a finger under the waistband, but not dragging them off like I wanted to.
She was right. Slow tortured me, too, but a fucking sweet kind of torture. The building, all-consuming kind, where I could feel my body heating low and hot, slick and wet. I brushed my hand over her mound and feathered over the area between her legs through her underwear. The heat pulsed from her body.
“Jace, please.” Her eyes softened and her voice weakened.
My voice turned all husky and raw. “You wanted it slow, so you’ll get slow. I want you to remember everything, and after two years, you deserve to feel everything.”
She gasped and rocked her head into the mattress as I snuck a finger under the waistband of the briefs and skimmed along her soft folds. My knees weakened as her body’s juices trickled down my fingers. I slipped her underwear down, and she kicked them off with urgency.
I leaned over her and sucked one of her light brown quarter-sized nipples into my mouth, still teasing her petal-like softness with a deft stroke of my touch. She bucked on the bed, her chest pressing into my face. I slipped a finger inside of her body, and without hesitation she pumped her hips against my hand. Trailing my lips down her body, I slowed as I neared her glorious mound while she still rocked along my finger.
Tight. Hot. And dripping.
For me.
I covered her clit with my lips, drawing the small peak into my lips and rolling it slowly.
“Fuck!” Her body cracked with the first warning of an imminent eruption. “Jace, I’m almost…” Her body rocked with another strike of pre-release. “Holy shit!”
I lowered my head and licked slowly from my finger to that hardened point of pleasure. Again slowly. Her breathing became shallow and fast. Again slowly. Then I sucked the point into my mouth, and she screamed out her crash in a way that wa
s as vibrant as she was.
Watching her fall over the edge, I continued my attention until she was lying with her arms spread wide and her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling quickly.
I lay next to her, not saying a word. Seemed words would wreck the moment that made me question what I was really doing in her bed. My eyes closed, and I leaned into her warm body, listening to the beat of her heart. Fast and frantic. And I loved knowing I made it pound like that.
I did that to her. For her.
Chapter Six
Kai
My body still buzzed, but I wanted to watch her get to that point of extreme satisfaction, too. I’d seen the brightest colors behind my clamped eyes, almost a neon rainbow shooting out of me.
My gaze skimmed over her body. She had contours and softness, and yet I could tell she spent some time exercising by the lean muscles. Maybe swimming?
I rolled to her left side and traced a finger from her neck, over those beautiful collarbones, down her chest, skimming across to each nipple watching it pebble tightly under the delicate touch. I brushed the hard nub until she squirmed.
“How’d you get this body, Jace?”
“Well, my dad had some sperm, and my mom had this egg and…”
I laughed. “I meant after the genetics and conception portion. Do you play a sport or workout?”
“I take yoga at least four times a week and private Pilates training twice a week.”
“At Triple R?” That was where I worked, the Run-Ride-Rock Gym. But I was sure I’d never seen her there before.
I’d remember you.
“Yeah. I’ve seen you there are few times, but I badge in at the self-service kiosk outside of the yoga room and leave out the side door. My day is planned down to the second, so no time for hanging out at the gym.”
“Well, it’s done a great job of creating a long, lean muscle tone.” I trailed my hand down her flat stomach to her waxed mound. Supple and trimmed to a clever paisley shaped design. Almost a teardrop. “Quite the artistic pubic hair you have.”