Phoenix Rising

by Kaitlin Maitland

  The first thing that popped into Jessa’s mind was the couple she’d seen in the shadowy back corner of the bar. His tongue had laved all around her taut pink nipple before drawing it deep into his mouth and suckling it to throbbing awareness. Jessa slid her other hand down her abdomen, tickling her belly. Her breath caught as the muscles shrank away and quivered at her tentative touch.

  Connor wouldn’t have been timid. There was nothing timid about that man. But thoughts of Connor should not have slipped into her mind. He was forbidden, even more so than what Jessa was doing.

  But really, what was so bad about self-stimulation? Why had it always made her feel dirty, as if she should be hiding beneath the covers in the dark? Shoving the jumble of questions and ideas away, Jessa focused on her body. Especially on the delicious sensations she was feeling.

  Still working her nipples between her fingertips in turn, Jessa’s other hand drifted lower. She hesitantly ran her fingers through the soft curls between her legs. A thrumming tension gathered in her legs. Jessa imagined a pair of hands lifting her legs and spreading them wide. Then a thick, hard cock ready to push into her body.

  Her hand left her breasts and slid lower to spread her pussy lips wide. The air cooled her slick folds but only served to increase the aching want. Jessa sucked in a deep breath and slid her fingers boldly over the engorged folds of her vagina. Her back arched and a rush of hot cream drenched her hand as she savored the silky softness of her tender flesh.

  The swollen entrance to Jessa’s vagina was thick with her own juices. Every heartbeat brought on a new gush of sweet cream. Her fingers were sopping, sliding wetly across her labia. Jessa spread her fingers and straddled her clitoris. When she flexed her wrist against the pubic bone, it sent her fingers sliding up and down her silky slit. It was maddening to have the friction so close to the swollen tip of her clit.

  When she couldn’t take any more, she rested two fingertips against the sensitive hood of her clit and applied gentle pressure. Her hand moved quickly. The movement combined with her creamy juices to create a wet sound that was strangely erotic.

  Eyes closed, she thought of Alex touching his lover’s pussy. Jessa wanted to feel that arousal, to smell and taste the excitement. Jessa wanted a man to fuck her like that. As if the only place he wanted to be was straining between her legs until he spilled his cum deep inside her womb.

  Reaching down, Jessa wrapped one hand around the cool smoothness of the dildo. She imagined it hot and pulsing with life, eager to push its way inside her vagina. She gently ran the crown over her slit to lubricate the dildo with the cream rushing from her pussy. Relishing the feel of it slipping over the sensitive hood of her clit, she positioned the enormous cock at the entrance to her swollen sex.

  Jessa was positively aching. Every nerve from waist to toes was in flames. Her breasts were heavy, her nipples hard as diamonds. The anticipation of feeling that firm cock slamming into her vagina released another gush of cream from deep inside her body. There was a longing inside that had never been so acute.

  Jessa closed her eyes and pushed the cock deep on the first thrust. It was thick, thicker than anything she’d ever felt inside her vagina before. Her hips bucked involuntarily to ease the insertion. The movement sent the cock further inside, bumping lightly against her cervix. Jessa had never realized how empty she was inside. The dildo’s smooth length caressed the ribbed muscles of her pussy with gentle insistence. She’d never felt so full in her life. There was a sucking noise as Jessa pulled the dildo away from her vagina to prepare for another hard thrust. As she continued this rhythm, the wet sound increased before evolving into a slapping, smacking noise that was sexier than she ever would’ve expected.

  Jessa’s sex grew swollen. Numb fingers kept the hood of her clit pinned wide open. By teasing the nub at its most sensitive point, she was rewarded with a shudder that rippled through her body. The cock slid further in. Heat pooled at the base of Jessa’s spine, dripping down the backs of her legs and making her buttocks tingle.

  A sound reverberated off the bedroom walls. It took several screams for Jessa to realize the voice was hers. A wave of tension hardened the muscles of her backside. The heat inside her pussy intensified. Another surge of cream saturated the dildo as Jessa increased the thrusts and fucked her pussy harder. She could feel the peak coming and rushed to meet it.

  Her mind spun out of control, locking briefly on images of Alex’s hard cock thrusting in and out, the Gothic Princess on the counter, the random couple screwing on the table…herself bent over the mahogany bar, Connor’s huge cock pulsating with life as it slammed in and out of her pussy. Images of Connor, dripping sweat off his clean-shaven head while grasping her hips and fucking her senseless.

  No. Connor had no place in her life. Certainly not in her sex life. And yet the image wouldn’t quit.

  Heat enveloped her body and her vagina exploded into orgasm. The undulating waves crashed, tremors seizing her body and forcing the cock to slow as her hand was soaked from a massive spurt of her own cream.

  Dazed, it took Jessa several breaths to realize that she’d ejaculated. She didn’t do that. Not with Will, not on her own. Was there something wrong with her that her body seemed to crave such things?

  The thoughts went round and round in Jessa’s head as she lay on the bed and waited for the room to stop spinning.

  Her imagination had always been quite vivid. But she’d never let go so completely. She’d never thrown all sense of propriety to the winds and let it conjure up whatever fantasies it wished.

  Connor may have been the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on. But he’s wasn’t for her. She didn’t lose control like that. It was preposterous! Other people debased themselves to rut like animals in heat. This was not Jessa Kincaid!

  Connor’s words slid unbidden through her mind. “It’s the kind of place you belong, even if you can’t admit it yet.”

  What did he know? He certainly didn’t know Jessa. He didn’t know a single thing about her. She was a boring housewife. She had chaired the Fireman’s Ball last year for goodness sake! This was all just some kind of mid-life crisis.

  She latched onto that thought almost instantly. Jessa sat up and pulled her robe closed before sliding off the bed.

  She was going through a mid-life crisis. Her husband had only just left her, and now she was preparing for a divorce. The situation was making her act a little differently than usual, that’s all.

  The idea left her feeling a little better. The dildo was still sitting on the bed. Jessa lifted it gingerly between thumb and forefinger. After washing it in the sink, she hid it away in the drawer, never to be seen or heard from again.

  As if.

  * * *

  Connor had regained his iron-fisted self-control by the time noon rolled around. He was double-checking a shipment of top shelf liquor when the front door swung open. Connor didn’t have to look to know it was Jessa.

  The tightly leashed, savage beast inside him could sense her almost immediately. It howled and snarled and rattled the bars of its cage. But years of discipline had taught Connor to ignore the ravings of his inner animal in favor of rational thought. If he ever let go of that discipline, he might well find himself humping her like a dog.

  The thought was not pleasant. During much of his growing-up years, Connor had run wild, following his primal instincts. Even as an adult he didn’t know if everyone had the same kind of animal awareness he did. Alex had once speculated that an average person wasn’t pushed into the type of situation where they needed their gut instincts. In other words, prison had unleashed Connor’s inner beast.

  Regardless of what had given rise to his tightly leashed animalistic nature, Connor exercised constant restraint. And that threadlike control didn’t need a temptation like Jessa.

  Setting the clipboard down, Connor sidestepped until he could see Jessa standing uncertainly before the mahogany bar. The soft material of her low-rise slacks caressed every curve. Her snug black-an
d-white top sported a vee neck that would give anyone who cared to look a glimpse of the cleft between breasts that would fit perfectly in the palms of Connor’s hands.

  He and Alex were going to be beating them off with sticks. And Connor was going to kill whoever looked at her longer than necessary. But he couldn’t do that. He had no right. She wasn’t his.

  Strangely enough, that just didn’t matter to Connor’s inner animal.

  Connor sucked in a huge breath and ran his hands over the stubble on his scalp. When he could finally trust himself for another look, Alex was already headed in her direction.

  “Hey, you showed up! I’m going to consider that a good sign.”

  Jessa caught a short black apron before it could smack her in the face. Alex’s welcoming tone seemed to chase away some of her unease. Connor watched Jessa tie the apron in a deft knot around her waist and give Alex a sunny grin.

  “You didn’t think I’d remember accepting the job, huh?” she teased.

  A grin kicked up the corner of Alex’s generous mouth. He stepped around the bar and handed her a towel. Jessa tucked it into the apron and spent a moment arranging it to her satisfaction.

  Connor still hadn’t managed to scrape up any of the self-control he had always prided himself on.

  “Connor and I weren’t sure if you took us seriously when we offered you the job,” Alex admitted.

  “Well, I was a little uncertain. But I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by driving down here to find out.”

  “We’re glad you did.” Connor’s voice came out deeper than he’d intended. It rolled across the room and gained him Jessa’s full attention. Her hazel eyes shyly met his and she swallowed before offering a smile.

  She didn’t say anything. And it took Connor a moment to realize that she was giving him the same once over he’d given her only minutes before. He resisted the urge to preen, wondering if she liked the burgundy color of his shirt, or if she preferred the blue from the day before.

  A blush stained her cheeks, and Connor hid a smile. Whatever she was thinking, it was apparent that she liked what she saw. Her eyes were riveted to the patch of skin at his throat. Three of his buttons were undone. He’d not thought to redo them when he’d put his shirt back on after moving the liquor. Judging by her reaction it was better that he had left the shirt undone, anyway. Jessa seemed fascinated with that tiny glimpse of his chest.

  “Jessa?” Alex was talking and neither of them had noticed. “Are you all right?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  A smile twitched on Connor’s lips. He wondered if she realized how transparent her curiosity was. He only wished he knew the exact nature of her interest. It would make things far less complicated.

  “Alex will show you around the bar. He knows what goes on there better than I do,” Connor explained without breaking eye contact. “But stop in the office before it gets busy and fill out the usual paperwork.”

  “Okay, sure.” Her gaze flickered away. “Thanks, Connor.”

  “Anytime.”

  It took every ounce of control to walk away. He wanted to hang around and watch. But that wasn’t how he usually did things. And making Alex even more suspicious wasn’t going to ease things along.

  Connor took refuge in the familiar confines of his job. He immersed himself in his computer, entering receipts and invoices with barely a glance. A neat stack of new hire paperwork sat on one corner of the desktop. He refused to look at it. Connor didn’t want to ponder the moment when Jessa would enter and some of his questions about her would be answered. It was likely that most of her answers would make his strange infatuation irrelevant.

  It should’ve been a nice thought. That something would render things normal. That he would somehow be able to go back to choosing a willing partner for an impersonal, purely physical coupling. But that wasn’t really what he wanted.

  “Are you busy back here? Alex says I probably have a few minutes before the afternoon regulars start drifting in.”

  Connor had no idea how long he’d been sitting at his desk staring into space when Jessa’s husky voice interrupted his self-recrimination.

  “Come in,” he rumbled, gesturing to an extra chair.

  She sat nervously on the edge of the chair, crossing her legs at the ankles and clasping her hands in her lap.

  Connor took a mental inventory of his expression and unconscious body language. He didn’t think he came off as too intimidating, though Alex often told him otherwise. Yet Connor sensed there was something else bothering her. Being alone with him wasn’t causing her stress. So was it the paperwork?

  “Is it the standard stuff?” Jessa asked quietly.

  Connor passed her a form, “Pretty much. I just have to make a copy of your Drivers’ License and tell my accountant how many dependents you have.”

  She stared blankly at the tax form before a wan smile crossed her features. “I guess I just claim myself, right?”

  “Got any kids?”

  “No.”

  Her reply was quiet, final. As if it were an answer she loathed giving. “What about a husband?”

  He wasn’t imagining her distress. It was so strong he could smell it. That same protective instinct hit him hard. Connor crossed his arms over his chest to physically prevent himself reaching out to comfort her.

  “My uh,” Jessa paused to find the words. “I’m getting divorced.”

  Everything clicked into place.

  “Then you just claim yourself.” Connor pointed to the form. “Put a one in that box.”

  “Thanks for giving me this job.”

  Her words surprised him. “You’re doing us a favor, really. It’s hard for Alex to handle tables when he’s behind the bar on a busy night.”

  “What happened to the last waitress?”

  “She walked off the job one night last week.”

  Jessa looked startled, as if there was some secret they hadn’t told her.

  Connor grinned. “There’s nothing horrible going on. I promise.”

  “Oh.”

  Connor didn’t know why he felt compelled to spell it out. “Selena wanted more compensation than I was willing to give her.”

  “Like a percentage?”

  Why had he opened himself up for this? “Actually, she wanted a more permanent situation.”

  There was another moment of confusion in her eyes before the light clicked on. It was strange, but Connor could sense the exact moment Jessa understood what he was getting at.

  “She wanted Alex?”

  “Actually, no.”

  “You?”

  She seemed so surprised that Connor had a hard time keeping a straight face. “What? I’m not good-looking enough to tempt someone into a relationship?”

  “No, of course not!” Jessa amended quickly before realizing what she’d just implied.

  And there was his answer. The attraction was real and it went both ways.

  Satisfied with that, Connor didn’t delve any deeper into the strange connection they seemed to share. He wasn’t ready to deal with that yet. Especially not if it interfered with his plans to seduce Jessa and get her out of his system.

  “I’m not a big believer in long term relationships.” Connor explained.

  “Me neither.”

  The naked derision in her words disturbed him more than it should have. “You shouldn’t let one bad apple ruin the whole bunch, Jessa.”

  She gave a noncommittal shrug before changing subject. “So what kind of hours do you need me to work?”

  “Pretty much any day you want to come in. We’re closed Sundays. And if you want another day off, Tuesdays tend to be a little slower.”

  “So, are the activities that went on last night…” She paused to collect her thoughts. “Is that normal around here?”

  Connor leveled his dark gaze at Jessa and willed her to understand. “Whatever they want to do, they can. Just as long as everyone involved is willing.”

  “And if they’re not?” />
  Connor leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head. “That’s why I stand up there at the door and keep an eye on everything that happens.”

  “Are there many fights?”

  “Not usually. But if anyone starts bothering you, let me or Alex know. I don’t tolerate harassment. And nobody has the right to touch you unless you tell them it’s okay. Understand?”

  She nodded. Connor knew he was acting a little fanatical. But he couldn’t help the primal rush of male dominance that swept him when he even considered standing by and letting some half-drunk moron grope Jessa’s curves.

  Nobody was going to touch her, nobody.

  Chapter Six

  Jessa had forgotten how utterly satisfying it could be to put in a hard night’s work. It wasn’t that she hadn’t gained any enjoyment from being the wife of a busy executive. But there was something about getting to the end of a long shift and being able to look back and know you’d worked your tail off. And she had.

  When she’d ducked into the bar, Jessa hadn’t paid a whit of attention to what its name was. But Connor had named his bar Phoenix Rising. After spending an entire shift working with Alex and Connor, Jessa knew it was more than just a name.

  She might have been out of circulation for almost two decades while living the life of an average housewife. But Jessa found it hard to believe that all the things going on in that bar were normal. There were plenty of power drinkers, social drinkers, partiers, depressed businessmen, searching singles and lonely ones. But there were also a number of patrons who’d come there to find a partner for a quick romp in the back corner.

  By the end of the night, she’d witnessed six women performing oral sex, two women enthusiastically fondling each other’s breasts and four different couples fornicating in every position physically possible. Not only that, but one ambitious guy had pleasured two different women with only a forty-five second break in between. No matter how odd it seemed to witness all that, she couldn’t help but be impressed.