“I thought maybe if you weren’t working,” I said, this time with a bit more confidence in my voice, “You might want to come over for a bit? I know it’s late and you really don’t have to but –”
“I’d love to. What’s your address? I’ll be over in half an hour,” Jack said.
My heart raced and I almost backed out, but then I remembered that morning and how good it felt when he’d touched me. I wanted that again. I wanted more, and I was going to go for it.
After giving my information to him, I hung up and headed for the bus stop. It was the fastest way home, and I had to get changed. I didn’t want to be in my club makeup and after work outfit when Jack showed up, I wanted him to see the real me. And soon enough, he would.
Forty minutes later there was a knock at my door. I took a deep breath, opening it with a smile.
“Wine?” he asked, holding up a bottle of red.
“Wow,” I said in surprise. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I like to relax with a glass after work, figured you might, too,” he said.
I wanted to cry. He wasn’t treating me like most people did. He was treating me as if I were a normal woman with a normal job who came home and needed a glass of wine to destress from her day. It was the kindest thing anyone had done for me in a long time.
“You’re very thoughtful,” I said. “Come in.”
I stepped back so he could come into the apartment, and I showed him the kitchen and living room. “It’s nothing fancy, but it’s home.”
“I like it,” he smiled. “Glasses in the kitchen? I’ll get them.”
“Top shelf on the left,” I nodded. He headed to fill the glasses, and I went into the living room to put on some music.
He came back in with two a glass in each hand and handed me one before settling on the opposite end of the couch from where I had sat with me feet tucked up under me. It was obvious by his posture that he wanted to be closer to me but was trying to be respectful.
Again, like no man I’d really ever known. Most of them wanted to paw at me whether I wanted them to or not. I nearly laughed at the irony that the one who’s hands I wanted on me was the one who was the most hesitant to put them there.
“I’m really glad you called,” Jack said, finally breaking the silence. “After our meeting this morning I wasn’t sure that I’d hear from you again.”
I nodded and took a sip of wine to fortify my nerve. “Yeah, I’m sorry I ran out like that. It’s just –”
He held up his hand to stop me. “No, I get it. You’re in a really tough spot and I pushed too far. And I need to apologize for implying that you needed someone to take care of you. Obviously you can take care of yourself,” he said, motioning to the place around him.
It wasn’t a palace by any means, but my place was tidy, clean, and decorated as nicely as I could afford it to be. I took a lot of pride in making my home a sanctuary of sorts.
“Thank you for saying that. And you’re right, I am in a tough spot. Rocco isn’t a good man and I’ve been wanting to get out for a long time. Dancing at the club wasn’t exactly my childhood dream,” I told him. “But shit happens, you know?”
He nodded and took a sip from his glass. “I really was serious that I wanted to help you,” he said. “And not just so that you’d help me,” he was quick to add. “When I saw Rocco with his hands around your throat that day in the alley, it was all I could do not to end him right then. I was practically praying for him to give me a reason to pull my gun.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Wow. I kind of wish he had too,” I admitted.
We spent the next hour talking about nothing in particular. He told me a little bit about being a cop, I told him about some of the things I liked to do when I wasn’t working. We got more and more comfortable just being around one another and without realizing it, had gravitated toward one another on the couch until we were both in the middle, our legs touching.
I leaned forward to put my empty wine glass on the coffee table and when I sat back up, Jack’s eyes were firmly on mine. I swallowed, taking in his chiseled jaw and perfect Roman nose. His broad shoulders turned ever so slightly toward me and I felt a tingle run through my body. I leaned forward just a fraction before he closed the space between us and touched his lips to mine. The kiss was tentative at first, but then evolved into something deeper. As I opened my mouth to invite his tongue to pass through my lips to mingle with my own, a moan escaped from low in his chest. Heat immediately pooled between my legs and my panties were ruined.
Breaking the kiss, Jack sat back and ran a hand through his hair. “Would you like another glass?” he said, standing.
I bit back a smile as he tried to discreetly adjust the bulge in his jeans and nodded my head. “Yes please.”
He walked into the kitchen to pour us each another glass of wine. Suddenly couldn’t help myself. I stood up from the couch and pulled off my t shirt and jeans, then my bra. I left my panties on and waited for him to come back.
When he did, he stopped short. “What are you doing?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do since that first night in the club,” I told him.
There was a slight smile on his face as he walked over, his eyes searching my body. But I didn’t feel violated; I felt sexy. Wanted. One glance at the way his erection pushed at his zipper and my mouth nearly watered.
He handed me the wine. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I want to.” I didn’t bother taking a sip. Setting the glass on the table, I knelt in front of him on the couch and unzipped his pants, pulling them and his boxers down. He was long and thick and a shiver went through him when I took him in my hand and pumped.
“Fuck,” he whispered, and I smiled up at him before wrapping my mouth around his girth.
I worked my tongue around the head of his cock, running my hands over his ass and up his chest as I sucked him off. He shuddered at my touch, moaning slightly. I brought him to the brink of release, then pulled back, releasing him with a pop. “Jack, I want you inside of me. Right now. Please.”
With a look of primal need, Jack pulled off his shirt. I pulled down my panties, letting them drop to the floor and laying back on the couch as he knelt down and dove between my legs. I closed my eyes, moaning and writhing on the couch as his hot breath and soft tongue swirled around my clit.
“I want you inside me,” I whispered again. “Please, I need you. I need to feel all of you.”
I was begging and I didn’t even care. Jack was a craving and I had to have him before I exploded. He crawled up on the couch over me, kissing my body the whole way up. He stopped at my breasts, teasing them and sucking on first one nipple and then the other before reaching my neck.
He took his cock in his hand and pressed it to the slit of my pussy. I could feel him dripping wet, eager to be inside me. I was just as aroused, wanting him there. I didn’t know how to express my want more. His face was just inches from mine, his mouth so close.
“Are you sure you want this?” he asked. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do, or anything you think you have to.”
My heart fluttered at his words. He was so kind and giving. I knew he cared, but I couldn’t find the words to answer him. I didn’t want to ruin the moment with my emotion, so I just acted out of passion.
As an answer, I took my hands and put them on either side of his face, pulling him toward me, kissing him hard. He pushed his cock inside me, causing me to moan as our mouths were locked together. He, too, let out a little moan of pleasure, his rock-hard dick seated fully in my pussy.
He held himself there for a moment, as deep as he could go. Then, he started thrusting himself in and out of me. His cock was ribbed, the head of it huge. Each time he pushed himself inside, I felt another sensation run through me. This wasn’t just sex. This wasn’t like the times I’d hooked up with guys because I wanted something from them before.
This was so much better, so much more. I fel
t connected to Jack. I felt like he understood me, and there wasn’t an ounce of judgment in his body. He pushed into me, pulling almost all the way out before pushing all the way in again, his cock gliding easily.
I moved on the couch with him, matching the same rhythm of his body with my own. It was impossible to tell where one of us started and the other ended. Our motions were fluid as I wrapped my legs around his waist and dug my heels into his ass to pull him deeper within me.
He obliged, giving me every thick inch of him until I was fully stretched and filled like I’d never been. My head lolled back, and my jaw went slack as he kissed my neck and pounded into me over and over again.
It didn’t take long for him to bring me to climax. His body was so perfect over mine. His muscles huge, his body lean. He had a tattoo on each arm, then another on one of his pecs. He was sexier than anything I could imagine, and I couldn’t get enough of him.
Harder and faster we moved on the couch. His breathing told me he was almost ready to come as well, and I let him know how much pleasure I was feeling with my nails dragged down his back. He gasped, pressing his lips to mine, his tongue teasing me for just a moment.
It was more than I could take. The tension that had been growing with me burst, and my climax rocked through me, causing my pussy to clamp down on his cock. I let out a loud cry. I didn’t care if I woke up the whole damn building. I couldn’t contain the electricity rushing to every part of me.
At the same time, Jack pushed into me deeply one last time, holding himself there as his cock began to pump into me. I held onto him, feeling him fill me up with endless spurts of hot cum. It was better than anything I could have asked for; better than anything I’d ever imagined.
We were a single being, connected for this one moment in time. I didn’t know what the next day would bring, or what, if anything, it would lead to in the future. But at that moment, it didn’t matter.
All that mattered was Jack inside me, and the two of us satisfied and panting in one another’s arms.
For the first time in a long time, I was truly and genuinely happy.
13
Jack
The next day, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe I’d had sex with Sky the night before. It didn’t seem real. I hadn’t gone over to her place with the intent of having sex, and I was shocked when I walked back into the living room from the kitchen and she was practically naked.
I did my best to make sure that it was what she truly wanted before going through with the act. I never wanted her to feel as though she had to do anything like that to get my attention.
I didn’t want her to think I was just using her to get information on her boss. I wanted her to know that I wanted her. Plain and simple. Her body was so perfect, with curves everywhere a real woman should have them. Her breasts were large, and her nipples had tasted slightly salty on my tongue. And her pussy. Good God, she’d been so gloriously tight I’d almost come the minute I’d pushed inside of her. I still didn’t know how I’d managed to last as long as I had.
I hadn’t left right away. It would have been a total dick move and I could tell that Sky wanted me to stick around for a bit. Shit, if she had asked me to spend the night, I would have.
Afterward, we had put our clothes back on and sat back down on the couch. Sky put a show on the TV for background noise, and we talked some more.
I didn’t ask her for any more information about Rocco. It didn’t seem like a good time. With the way she reacted to me every time I brought him up, I didn’t want to ruin the mood after the mind-blowing sex we’d just had.
Besides that, I was able to learn far more about her personal life if she just talked without me interrogating her. I didn’t have to lead the conversation, I didn’t have to be the one to dig into her secrets.
It didn’t take long before I learned more about her than I ever thought I would.
“My mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was twenty years old,” she’d told me. “We needed money for her treatments, and a lot of it. Since she was too poor for insurance, she’d never had any, and by the time she needed it, it was too late. With a pre-existing condition, they wouldn’t take her even if she had a million dollars.”
“I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you,” I said, trying my best not to make her feel like I felt sorry for her. “I really can’t.”
“Well, I knew I was going to have to get some sort of money for treatment and get it fast. I was working at a coffee shop, but that barely paid my own bills, let alone the bills that were coming in for her chemo and doctors’ appointments. So I quit and started working for Rocco. It was the easiest way to make decent money fast.. You know, I wanted to be a vet,” she said.
“A veterinarian?” I asked in surprise. “Don’t they make decent money?”
“I suppose so. But I didn’t have the money to go to college on a barista’s wages. And I really didn’t have the money to go after my mother got sick. I knew Rocco liked me. He’d liked me since the day I walked through the door. Disgusting creep,” she shook her head.
“He didn’t leave a good impression on me, that’s for sure,” I admitted.
She gave a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think he leaves anyone with a good impression,” she said.
“How is your mom now? Did the treatments help her?” I asked.
She shook her head. “She passed when I was twenty-one. I’d done my best, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to quit the club then, but by then Rocco had been so enthralled with me, there wasn’t any way in hell he’d let me go. He started threatening me, and I’m pretty sure he’s with the mob or something considering the men who come to see him and how shady they all are.”
It all made sense now. And I was glad to know I was right. It was also comforting to know she wasn’t holding anything back from me when it came to him. She likely was kept in the dark with most of the things he did.
“I’m sorry to hear that your mom’s gone,” I told her. “Do you have any other family?”
She shook her head again, telling me she’d never known her father, and she was an only child. She and her mother had always been just the two of them against the world, and that had been okay with her. Until now, when she was on her own under the control of a ruthless asshole like Rocco.
“So anyway, that’s my sob story,” she said with a shrug.
“I’m glad you told me,” I said as I put my hand over hers.
I spent the next hour giving her the details of my life. A normal childhood, normal parents, wanting to be a policeman since I was a kid, and how I got onto the force. It didn’t seem like anything compared to the life she’d lived, but she watched me with wide eyes the entire time I told her my story.
“That’s incredible,” she said. “I’m glad you get to live your dream.”
Sky didn’t mean anything by it, I knew, but I still felt guilty. It didn’t seem fair to me that I was the one who got to live my life the way I wanted, and she was trapped. But I was going to change that.
It wasn’t until two in the morning that I left. I knew I’d be dead tired at work and that would make things hard, but I was okay with that. It was worth it to learn what I had about Sky.
Hell, it would have been worth it just getting to hang out with her.
“You’re in a good mood,” Welsh said when I walked into the station. I liked my job, but it was rare for me to be in a good mood when I showed up in the morning.
“I think we’re making progress on this case,” I informed him.
“Oh yeah?” he asked. “Did anything else happen?”
I’d told him yesterday afternoon that I’d seen Sky that morning. I gave him most of the details of what she’d said, but I left out the fact that I’d gotten her name. I told her she could trust me, and I wanted her to believe it fully. She didn’t have to give me her real name, and I wasn’t going to spread that information without her permission.
Of course, I trusted Welsh with my life. But it wa
sn’t my news to share, and I’d hold out on that until I had something worth saying.
“No,” I replied. I also didn’t have any intention of telling him that I’d slept with her. Though he was fine sharing his exploits with me, it didn’t feel like anything I had the right to share. She had really opened up to me the night before, and I didn’t want to abuse that.
“It’s just a feeling I have,” I told him.
“I hope you’re right. I hate to think of men like that running the streets,” he said with a snake of his head. “We need to get him locked up before he has the chance to hurt anyone else.”
“Agreed,” I nodded. “Listen, there’s something I need to check on the computer for a minute. If you want to grab coffee or something you have time.”
“Are you implying you want me to go get us some Starbucks before we head out?” he asked with a grin.
“It’s better than the shit they’ve got here,” I said with a shake of my head. “Really.”
“Couldn’t agree more. Deichman needs to learn how to make a pot of coffee,” Welsh turned his nose up at the cup in his hand, then he took off toward the garage. It would give me a few minutes to check on something I wanted without too many questions arising on his end.
There were strict rules on the force. We weren’t allowed to date anyone with a criminal history. No felonies, anyway. It was case by case with misdemeanors. I didn’t want to entertain the thought that I might get the chance to date Sky, but I still wanted to see if it was even a possibility with my profession.
Now that I had her full name, I could put it in the database and see if anything came up.
My heart raced the entire time the search engine loaded. Our computer was older than it should have been, and it took longer doing things than I would have liked. I silently prayed the entire time she hadn’t done anything too bad in her past, and relief flooded through my veins when her name came up clean.
Well, mostly. Shoplifting when she was in her late teens? That wasn’t anything that would stop us. I closed the window with a grin and headed to the garage, getting there just in time to meet Welsh.
Men in Charge: A Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 66