Swirl

I’m not going to get my hopes up at all, not even if we get to the long-term point.

  I knew in my heart I’d go on a murderous rampage if things turned out the same way my last engagement did. Stephan left me high and dry before marrying another woman a couple of months after he abandoned me. I guess none of that mattered because it was too soon to start worrying about all of that anyway.

  My plate was cleared but Jayce was only halfway finished because he wouldn’t stop talking long enough to eat. I grabbed his hand and slid it high enough for him to notice I wasn’t wearing panties. He stopped mid-sentence and looked directly at me.

  “You’re food is getting cold. Do you want me to wrap it up so you can eat the rest at home?” I asked sweetly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” said Mom. “I’m sitting here running my mouth and you should be eating your food.”

  “Don’t worry,” he replied. “I’ll definitely eat later.” He wiggled his fingers and I smiled at the double meaning.

  “We’ll go into the living room and let the two of you have some privacy,” she said.

  He waited until they were gone before turning toward me. “You’re a big tease,” he whispered, bringing his lips to meet mine.

  “Let’s go,” I urged. “I can wrap your food up and we can leave.”

  “You know we don’t have to have sex,” he said, cutting his eyes to the living room.

  “What will we be having then?” I asked.

  “We can cuddle on the couch and watch TV,” he said. “I don’t want you to think we need to have sex every time we’re alone.”

  I smiled and pressed myself against his hand, which was still planted between my legs. “I’m a Scorpio, sex is a part of my being. We’re also very passionate and deeply rooted in our emotions,” I explained.

  He arched his eyebrow up and looked at me suspiciously. “Quoting your daily horoscope now? You’re horny … just say you’re horny.”

  “Okay, I’m a horny Scorpio, and you’re getting your food to go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  We made it to Jayce’s house in six minutes instead of the usual fifteen. Keon was still out canoodling with Kirsten so the house was nice and quiet.

  “I’m just going to put my plate in the fridge,” said Jayce, going past me into the kitchen. “Go on and find us a good movie to watch.”

  I carefully walked into the darkened living room. My toes didn’t need any more run-ins with any gym equipment laying around. I turned on the lamp next to the couch and flipped on the TV. After channel surfing for a bit, I tossed the remote to the side. An idea crossed my mind and I searched around the living room for a good starting point. The coat closet was a perfect hiding place. I tiptoed inside and quietly closed the door the behind me. The light from my cell phone illuminated the small space and I prayed Jayce couldn’t see the glow from under the door.

  Brianna: You can have me … if you find me.

  Seconds later I heard him come into the living room. “Bri?” he called.

  He moved a few things around and mumbled under his breath. My hands flew up to my mouth to stifle my laughter.

  “You have no idea what’s going to happen when I find you!” he yelled.

  I held my breath and waited, but the sound of him rummaging around was a lot more distant.

  Maybe he’s checking the bedroom?

  I cracked the door to peek out, but ended up toppling over as Jayce snatched the door completely open. His arm shot out to catch me before I hit the floor, and he hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I kicked my feet and squealed as he playfully grabbed my ass.

  “You should have never opened the door,” he grumbled.

  He tossed me onto the couch and got on top to pin me down. “Give up?”

  “The people of the republic will never surrender,” I said.

  He’s either going to get it or he’s going to think I’m crazy.

  “Oh really? You’ll surrender or face the consequences,” he muttered.

  Yes! Yes! Yes! He gets it!

  I pursed my lips and closed my eyes defiantly.

  “I can last a lot longer than you can,” he said. “I’ll come out victorious in the end.”

  He was supporting his own weight before, but he suddenly collapsed down and forced all of the air out of my lungs.

  “Jayce … I can’t breathe and you’re hurting my legs,” I wheezed.

  “Open them so I can readjust myself.”

  I tried to move around but my stupid dress was wrapped around my legs. “My dress is in the way,” I whined.

  As soon as he reached down to help me, I tried to wiggle out from under him. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head.

  “I tried to give you an opportunity to do the right thing,” he growled, reaching down to pull my dress up with his other hand. He pushed my legs apart with his knees and buried his hand between my thighs. His fingers found me wet, swollen, and ready. First one finger slipped inside and then another. My hips jacked up off the couch and the sensation took my breath away.

  This man has magic fingers dipped in gold.

  My inner thoughts were quieted by the outer moan I could no longer contain. I twisted and squirmed, trying to get away from the pleasure overload, but I was still pinned down.

  “Open your eyes, Bri,” he ordered.

  I opened my eyes just as he changed his rhythm and dove deeper inside. The change took me by surprise, I bit my lip and turned my head to the side.

  “Keep your eyes open and look at me. I want to see your face,” he growled.

  My eyes locked with his again. He released my hands and pulled down the front of my dress to free my breasts. I buried my hands in his hair as he flicked his tongue over my nipple. His fingers built momentum and stroked places I didn’t know existed. Every nerve ending was on fire and just as I was about to finish, Jayce’s head snapped up. The instant he met my glazed over eyes, I was pushed over the edge. My breath froze in my chest, and the orgasm washed over me like rolling waves. Each stroke brought the intensity level higher. I exhaled one last time and slowed my breathing until my chest barely moved at all.

  Dear God, I hope I wasn’t making ugly faces when I finished.

  “Do the people of the republic surrender now?” he whispered.

  “Is what just happened punishment for not giving in to your demands?”

  The playful exchange was funny and a huge turn on for me. I was just happy he didn’t think I was a nut job.

  “Yes, but it will be worse next time,” he muttered.

  “Well in that case, we’ll never, ever surrender,” I laughed.

  “How about we negotiate?”

  “Okay, shoot,” I said.

  He somehow managed to shimmy his jeans and boxers down. He thrust his hips forward and released a hiss of air into my ear. “Oh my God, you feel so good,” he murmured. “So warm and wet.”

  “What happened to negotiating?” I moaned.

  He reached down and slipped his hand under my thigh, opening my legs wider.

  “I prefer a hostile takeover,” he grunted.

  Despite the punishing thrusts of his hips, his mouth was gentle and warm against the crook of my neck. I tilted my pelvis upward to allow him more room because my goal was to get him deeper inside of me. He succeeded and slammed into my walls seemingly unable to push any further. Pleasure and pain mingled together as I bit down on my bottom lip. He growled into the side of my neck and pushed himself deeper and deeper. I heard the jingling of keys at the door but I couldn’t stop him, we were too close to just stop.

  The door flung open and I heard Keon curse loudly as he quickly slammed the door. Jayce didn’t slow his rhythm at all, in fact his movements became more hurried. His breath came in short ragged bursts as his hands dug deeper into my thigh.

  “Fuck,” he moaned with one final thrust.

  His body relaxed and I braced myself to accept his deadweight. He loomed over me, supporting himself as he tried to catc
h his breath.

  “We need to get out of the living room,” I mumbled. “Keon is waiting outside.”

  “Yeah,” he muttered. “Give me a second.”

  I ran my tongue up the center of his throat right over his Adam’s apple. The guttural response he gave made me smile.

  “If you keep it up Keon will end up spending the night out there,” he whispered. “Go on into the bathroom and get cleaned up.”

  Jayce shifted his weight and made himself decent enough to answer the door just as I power walked down the hall.

  “Damn, cousin, not on the couch,” teased Keon. “Now my lady and I have to sit in a wet spot.”

  “Shut up, there’s no wet spot,” replied Jayce.

  “Sorry, Keon!” I shouted.

  There was a knock on the door and I cracked it just a bit to peek out. Kirsten stood there with a devious smirk.

  “You horny little toad,” she whispered.

  I pulled the door open further and yanked her inside. “You’re supposed to be gone,” I hissed.

  She rolled her eyes and jumped up to sit on the counter. “I have plenty of time to get to my appointment in the morning. That’s enough about me, let’s talk about you getting it on in the living room.”

  “It just sort of happened,” I muttered.

  “Bri got caught doing the nasty with her man. From what I could see, it looked like he was really working,” she laughed. “He really had his back into it.”

  “Oh my goodness, Kirsten, shut up!” I yelled, covering my face.

  “You know I love you, Ms. McNasty. I’m happy one of us is getting more than kissing and heavy petting. Keon refuses to take our relationship there just yet. Which is understandable considering we haven’t known each other long. I’m horny and frustrated, but I actually like the fact he wants to wait,” she said. “But the next time I come home, I’m expecting my ankles to be pushed up behind my head … kind of like how yours were.”

  I shook my head while she covered her mouth to stifle another stomach-shaking chuckle.

  “Did the party move in here?” asked Keon through the door.

  I opened the door and he stood there with a knowing grin on his face.

  “Hey, Bri, now I can greet you properly. I’d like to say hello to your face and not your legs,” he said with a wink over to Kirsten.

  “Ha ha, shut up,” I mumbled. Today had turned out to be a rather embarrassing one. First I scarred Gram-Gram for life and now this.

  I brushed past them and found Jayce leaning against the door of his bedroom with the smug look of satisfaction on his face.

  “Let’s go in the room so we can have some privacy,” he said.

  “Yeah … so you can finish where you left off,” joked Keon.

  “We did finish,” I shot back.

  Jayce closed the door on the hooting and hollering behind us and stripped down to his boxers.

  Damn, at this rate I’m going to end up walking funny.

  “Do you want a T-shirt to sleep in?” he asked.

  Sleep? I’m staying the night?

  “Um … yeah that’s fine,” I said.

  He handed me one of his shirts and helped pull my dress over my head. I slipped it on and followed him to the bed. He pulled the sheets back and motioned for me to get in. We got comfortable and Jayce turned the TV on.

  “I’m glad we’re spending this time together,” he mumbled into my hair. “I didn’t think I would feel this way again with another person. Everything feels so comfortable.”

  “It feels a little surreal to be in this situation right now. I’m just waiting to see where it all leads. But even if things don’t work out, I’m okay with it,” I lied.

  Actually, I would not be okay at all … I’ll probably have a mental meltdown and shave all the hair off of my head.

  “Everything will work out just fine,” he said. “Like I said, I feel like I know you. I even know when you’re about to climax just based on how your body responds to me.”

  “Yeah right,” I scoffed. “How do you know I’m not faking it?”

  “Oh I know,” he said. “You stop breathing just before it happens and I can feel your body tighten. So I know for a fact you’re not just moaning for no reason.”

  “I hope I’m not making weird faces or anything.”

  “You do have one face you make that reminds me of a zombie. Your mouth opens and you looked zoned out for a while,” he chuckled.

  “Shut up,” I said, hitting his chest. “All of my faces are cute.”

  “It’s cute if you like zombies,” he teased.

  Somewhere between the laughing and cuddling, I fell asleep in his arms.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I’d been walking on cloud nine for the past month. I rarely spent any time away from Jayce at all. If we were not at the coffee shop together, we were at his house or having dinner with Mom and Gram-Gram. The day I “met” his parents, who were vacationing in Samoa, was one to remember. The video call lasted well over two hours and I had a blast.

  I hardly ever saw my bestie anymore because she was just as busy with Keon as I was with Jayce. Everything was perfect, I finally found my knight in shining armor and I certainly didn’t want to let him go.

  My eyes followed his body as he maneuvered around the cash register. He turned around and caught me staring.

  “See something you like?” he teased, wiggling his hips a little.

  “Absolutely,” I murmured.

  He walked over and leaned down. The front door chimed and he stopped before our lips had time to meet.

  “Welcome to Drip Drop,” he said turning around to face the customer.

  I sidestepped him so I could help complete the customer’s order. Vivianne’s eyes zeroed in on me the instant I came into view.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Jayce barked.

  This chick has horrible timing.

  While he was questioning her, I took the time to really take in her appearance. The normally overly-groomed Vivianne looked like something the cat coughed up. Her hair was in a lopsided bun on top of her head and she had dark smudges around her eyes.

  Either that’s mascara or this bitch has gotten into a fight and lost.

  “Can I talk to you?” she sniffled. “Privately? It won’t take long … I swear.”

  Jayce shifted his attention around to me. “Do you mind?” he asked.

  “Why are you asking her?” she huffed.

  His head whipped around like it wasn’t attached to his spine. “Because she’s my girlfriend and if she’s says no, you’re going to get your ass out of here,” he snarled.

  Her eyes darted over to mine in surprise.

  Hell, I’m just as shocked as you are. Girlfriend? When did that happen? We haven’t discussed labels yet.

  I wanted to break into a little dance. There was something exciting about having that label because it made me feel … wanted, but most importantly, it made me feel superior to Vivianne.

  My chin jutted up a little, empowered with a sense of authority. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

  Jayce jerked his head toward the office and fell in step behind Vivianne. She glared at me with a hatred that chilled my blood.

  I’m doing you a favor you hateful cow.

  The lunch rush started and ended with no sign of Jayce or Vivianne. Keon came into the shop with his eyes narrowed and searching.

  “Hey, Keon, I thought you were off today?” I said.

  “So did I,” he muttered. “What the hell is going on? Jayce called me and said to get down here immediately. I thought the building was on fire or something.”

  My lips pulled into a tight line and my brow furrowed. “Vivianne showed up and they went into the back to talk. I haven’t seen either one of them for quite some time.”

  “Oh God,” he groaned. “I should have known. Every emergency he’s ever had has her name written all over it.”

  After another twenty minutes of waiting, the door to th
e office finally opened. I didn’t bother to scramble away from the hallway and look busy as Vivianne sashayed her way past me. Obviously she’s in a better mood. She batted her lashes and flashed her teeth as she headed out the door without uttering a single word.

  What the hell just happened?

  Keon and I glanced at each other and then back down the hall. Jayce stepped out of the office and looked positively sick. He was pale and fidgeting all over the place.

  “What’s wrong, hun?” I asked, stepping in front of him. My hands cupped his face to get his attention. It was easy to tell his mind was somewhere else. It took a few moments for him to finally acknowledge me.

  My heart thudded loudly and my body tingled with nervous anticipation. “Jayce?”

  His eyes lowered and he offered a weak smile. He brought his hands up to rest on top of mine. “I need to leave for a little while. Keon is here to help out until closing time,” he muttered.

  “What’s wrong, Jayce? You’re scaring me,” I said, unable to keep the shaking out of my voice.

  He leaned down to kiss my forehead. “I’ll explain everything a little later. I just need to clear my head first,” he replied.

  He gave a slight nod toward Keon and walked out the door.

  “What the hell was that about?” I asked.

  Keon shook his head and looked equally as worried. “I’ve never seen him look like that before. But I know one thing … it can’t be good.”

  The rest of the day was slow and uneventful. I was on imaginary pins and needles to get away from the shop and over to Jayce’s house. We pulled up into the driveway and exchanged baffled glances.

  “I thought he would be here,” Keon muttered. “If you hear from him first, give me a call and I’ll do the same.”

  I nodded and waited for him to get out of the car. My eyes roamed the streets as I headed home with more questions in my head than answers.

  What the hell went on in that office? Queen crazy bitch looked quite satisfied with herself when she came out. Or did he give her a reason to be satisfied? No … don’t go there, Bri. Jayce is a better man than that.

  After several deep breaths, I wiped my damp hands on my pants. I made it home, parked, and pulled out my cell phone. There was no missed call or text message. The inner stalker in me wanted to throw the car in reverse and cruise past Vivianne’s mom’s house. An internal tug-o-war began in my head.