by Cat Johnson
“So basically you lied to him about that last part.”
“No. Shut up.” Jace felt her relax and smiled, deciding a lighter topic of conversation was in order. “So, I’m kind of afraid to ask this, but here goes. Did Cassie put the idea for this—what we did tonight—into your head?”
Tara smiled. “Nope, I thought of it all myself.”
“Well, thank God for that.” He didn’t need any more crap in his brain than he already had regarding Dillon and Cassie’s sex life.
“I read on the Internet that we needed lube so I got some.”
Tara was reading about anal sex on the Internet.
“Great.” With a sigh, Jace settled in lower against the pillow. He’d had enough talk. It was all too disturbing. “Let’s get some sleep.”
“You want me to sleep here? In your bed?”
Jace wanted to say yes, please stay. Wanted to tell her he hadn’t slept well since he’d gotten his own place and had started sleeping alone over a year ago. What he said was, “Sure. If you want to.”
“What do you want?” She twisted her neck to glance up at him. “It might be more comfortable for your stiff muscles if I went to my own bed and gave you more room.”
“I want you to stay.” Jace didn’t miss how that bit of honesty slipped out of him a little too easily.
Truth was, he missed having someone else in the bed. That wasn’t to say that he missed Jacqueline. Not at all. He just hadn’t gotten used to sleeping alone again after seven years of sleeping with a warm body next to him. That seemed as good a reason as any for why he couldn’t sleep for shit. Most nights it took a nice big shot of whiskey before bed to get him to fall into a sleep that he’d wake from before dawn, anyway.
“Okay, I’ll stay here.” Her voice sounded soft. Peaceful. Not at all Tara-like. It was kind of soothing and nice.
“Good.” Jace closed his eyes, then thought of one last thing. “Oh, and I’m never opposed to being woken up with a blowjob. Just an FYI.”
She let out a short laugh. “In your dreams.”
With her pressed up next to him after all they’d done? Probably. He smiled, pulled her a bit closer, and then felt himself start to drift off.
Chapter Twenty-one
Tara woke to the sunlight creeping through the crack between the curtains, and a hard, warm body pressed against her back. One part in particular felt harder than the rest as it nudged against her rear while she lay on her side. Somebody was awake.
“Good morning to you, too.” She laughed.
“Hmm?” Jace’s arm tightened around her waist as he sounded more asleep than awake.
“Your morning hard-on is poking me in the butt.”
“Mmm.” His low rumbling groan vibrated through her back where they were pressed together. “That’s because it, like me, has remembered how much we both used to enjoy morning sex.”
He pulled her tighter against him and kissed the side of her face. Nothing sexual. It felt more like a good morning kind of peck—or it would have if his cock wasn’t still making the tiniest little thrusts against her flesh. Almost as if Jace, or the erection with a mind of its own, hoped she wouldn’t notice . . . if the movements were small enough.
“The lube is right there if you wanted to, you know, do again what we did last night.”
Jace and his morning wood went dead still. “You’re not too sore?”
“I think it’ll be okay.” Honestly, Tara had no idea if she was sore down there or not.
She hadn’t moved more than her mouth to talk since becoming conscious, but even her mention of the lube had Jace breathing a little faster. That he wanted her so much his body reacted to just the thought of having her was a huge turn-on. After all the nights of fighting his damn honor code or guilty conscience, she wasn’t about to pass up doing more with him when he was finally willing. Enthusiastic, even.
Jace’s weight crushed her into the mattress as he reached past her and grabbed the lube from the table on her side of the bed. He rolled on his back and flipped open the lid. As she glanced over her shoulder, she saw him yank off his shorts. He drizzled a long stream of lubricant over his length, then spread it with his fingers.
She’d had him in her hand last night and had marveled at how he was hard as steel but covered with skin as soft as velvet. She’d never thought much about the mechanics of the male penis, but it truly was a pretty amazing instrument.
Tara pulled her T-shirt off and dropped it to the floor and moved to roll over, figuring she’d straddle him like she’d done last night.
“No. Stay like that. On your side.”
“Really? That will work?” She rolled back to her original position.
Jace ran one slick finger between the cheeks of her ass, pressing just the tip inside. “Mmm, hmm. It’ll work fine. Trust me. Bend your top knee, darlin’.”
When he spoke, low and close to her ear like that, it never failed to have her insides clenching with need. Outside of bed, Jace telling her what to do gave her hives. But in bed, with his giving her instructions she knew would bring them so much pleasure, she had no problem following his orders. None at all.
“This okay?” He pushed deeper and rotated his finger.
A tremor ran through her from the combination of his words near her ear and his finger moving inside her. “Yes.”
He slid out and then back in with what felt like two fingers. He pushed deep and then held still, making her feel stretched and full as her body adjusted to the new addition. “How about now?”
“Fine.” She heard the lube snap open again. His fingers disappeared, then she felt breached with something wider.
“Still just my fingers. Three this time.” Jace moved slowly and gently, letting her body adjust.
She nodded. His talking her through it was hot as hell. So was the way he took such care with her body. His behavior with her, and his concern, was far from that of the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am player she’d assumed him to be.
He pulled his fingers out and she had a hunch what would be next, even before he lined up the blunt tip of his erection with her entrance. “This is me now. Okay?”
She heard the tension in his voice and felt it as he held his breath and pressed against her. “Okay.”
He snapped open the lid on the lube one more time and a cool drizzle hit her butt, then she felt the wide, flared head of the penis she’d become so familiar with recently push inside, breaching her. She hissed in a breath. Maybe she was a little sore from last night, after all.
Jace swallowed hard enough for her to hear it. “I know this first part hurts, but it’ll be better as soon as I push past it.”
She nodded and he pressed deeper. She drew in another sharp breath. He eased back a bit and brushed a kiss against her ear. “Listen. When I push inside again, try and use your muscles to push me out.”
“Why?” Tara frowned even though, uncomfortably stretched to her limit, pushing him out sounded like a pretty good idea.
“Trust me. Do it.”
“Okay.” She did trust him, and did as he’d said, bearing down when he pushed forward one more time. Inexplicably, it worked and what felt like it wouldn’t fit before, slid inside.
“That’s my girl.” He held still while breathing heavier than before.
So was she.
Last night hadn’t seemed so difficult. Then again, last night she’d been so excited he hadn’t refused her, she couldn’t have cared how tight the fit was. And damn, it was a tight fit.
Jace slid a hand beneath her knee and pulled her top leg over his hip, spreading her wide so he had complete access to her, which he took full advantage of by finding her clit. He began rubbing her, hard and fast, waking up nerve endings that really enjoyed the attention he gave them.
That was another difference she hadn’t thought of. Last night she’d been coming when he entered her. If he kept this up, she’d be coming again soon.
Her muscles bore down around him. He felt it and pressed deeper
with a hissed, “Yes.”
His entire body felt tense, as if he was holding back. She didn’t want him to hold back. “You can move, Jace. I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. It’s better now.”
That was obviously all the permission he needed. He plunged deep, before pulling almost all of the way out and then thrusting inside again. The motion was slow, but firm, forging through the tight space between muscles that were hell bent on keeping him out. At the same time, he worked her harder, circling her clit with the rough pad of his finger.
He moved inside her faster, harder compared to the gentleness of last night when he’d lain almost totally still while she did all the moving. He’d seemed to hold himself in check. Totally in control. Not so this morning. She’d never seen him let go except maybe on that night he’d given in and first kissed her.
His breath was loud and fast. His left arm kept a tight hold around her, anchoring him as he rocked into her. His fingers on her clit seemed to have one purpose, to push her over the edge as quickly as possible.
Tara might have been afraid of the change in him, of the speed and intensity with which he took her, if he didn’t already have her so close to orgasm. Every thrust seemed to push her nearer to the edge. She knew he’d slow down, or even stop if she needed him to, but she didn’t ask.
As foreign as the invasion to that part of her body felt, she loved having him inside her. Loved how he lost himself in her. She let him take her how he needed to and trusted that he’d know what she needed, as well.
Jace pressed two fingers inside her, filling her virgin channel as his palm pressed hard against her clit. He stroked her with his fingers while continuing to plunge his cock into her ass. Her body clenched around him and he groaned, long and low. The sound pushed her one step closer to completion.
She turned her head on the pillow and caught sight of his expression. His eyes were squeezed shut and a frown creased his bruised and battered forehead.
He sensed her watching him and opened his eyes, but the lids remained heavy as he gazed at her with an expression so intense she’d never seen it on him before.
He hauled her tighter against him with the arm she’d been lying on and crashed his mouth into hers. Jace kissed her hard, plunging his tongue into her mouth with as much enthusiasm as he used to plunge his cock inside her.
The knowledge that he filled her overwhelmed Tara. Between tongue, fingers and cock, Jace, the man she’d spent half of her life hating, or at least really disliking, possessed her completely. The thought gripped her, sending her over the edge. She came harder than she had the night before.
He became more frenzied as Tara rode out the waves of the climax that seemed as if it would go on for as long as he did. Ridiculously long and incredibly hard, the orgasm had her making sounds she didn’t recognize as her own. His name might have even escaped her lips once between the keening that sounded barely human.
His speed built until he came loud with one deep, hard thrust. She held still and felt his release throbbing.
Not moving, they stayed just as they were, panting, still connected, their limbs intertwined. She felt him semi-hard inside her. He didn’t make any move to pull out. He didn’t move his hand, either. He still cupped her. His fingers, hooked inside, idly pressed against a spot that enjoyed the attention. The motion had her muscles clenching. A bit more and he’d have her coiling for another release even though less than a minute ago she’d come harder than she ever had in her life.
“Thank you, Tara.” His breathy thanks surprised her.
“For what? The morning butt sex?” She craned her neck on the pillow to see his face.
“You have such a way with words, but yeah, I guess as ridiculous as it sounds, that is what I’m thanking you for. That and your insane orgasm therapy.” A crooked smile tipped up one corner of his mouth. “I can’t believe we’re making this work. This crazy traveling partners with benefits thing you came up with.”
“I told you it would work. Both the traveling partners with benefits thing and the orgasm therapy.” She’d faced head-on the Jacqueline tattoo over his heart—an indelible reminder of exactly how much he needed what they were doing. They both needed it to get over the past and to move forward.
“Yeah, I know you did, but I didn’t believe you.” He moved his left hand over her belly and up to her chest, where he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, shooting a bolt of pleasure straight from her breast to between her legs.
Curiosity got the best of her and she asked, “Did you used to do this with her?”
He let out a short laugh. “Do what? Have anal sex with Jacqueline?”
“Yeah.” Now that he said it, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“No. Tried to once. It ended badly. I made the attempt again maybe twice over the years, but she was too scared of it by then. Cried, yelled, accused me of being selfish and wanting to hurt her. I never tried again after that.” Jace shrugged as if it didn’t matter.
Tara had a feeling it mattered very much. Not so much the missing out on the butt sex, but the fact she’d accused him of wanting to hurt her. “You didn’t hurt me. Maybe it was a little uncomfortable in the beginning, but once we got going, it was fine. For not having done it, you’re pretty good at it.”
“Uh, thanks.” He laughed. “But I never said I’d never done it. Your question was did I used to do it with her.”
“Oh. Yeah. You’re right.” Tara felt silly for making that assumption out loud.
Of course he’d done it before. He’d probably had all sorts of kinky sex with a hundred women before dating Jacqueline. For some reason, the thought of Jace burying himself inside some buckle bunny’s ass bothered Tara. More than it should considering the last time he’d been with anyone other than his ex for any kind of sex at all had to have been like eight years ago.
It was crazy, but she’d hoped it would be their thing. Something only they had done together. A lot to ask, she supposed, since Jace was a thirty-year-old man, not some inexperienced kid. No, Jace was definitely not that.
He was still inside her, no longer hard, but definitely not soft. He tipped his hips forward, pressing deeper and holding there as he leaned down and brushed his lips against her neck.
“You think you have one more orgasm in you this morning?” The warmth of his breath against her throat sent a tingle down her spine, as his finger strummed her clit. “I promise I’ll leave you alone after that. I’m just not ready to pull out quite yet. You feel too good.”
“I’ll give another orgasm a try. You know, for the good of our travel partnership, and all.” She smiled as she felt him laugh behind her.
“Thanks, Tara. You’re really taking one for the team.” Then there was no more laughing as Jace’s left palm held her breast, and he circled her already sensitive bundle of nerves with his right.
She tightened her muscles around his length and felt him move, growing inside her. “Amazing.”
“What is?”
“I can feel you inside me.” She squeezed him one more time.
He groaned in response. “I certainly hope so.”
Jace latched on to her earlobe with his teeth. The wet heat of his mouth on her ear sent another thrill through her as he worked her clit harder. She could definitely come again if he kept it up.
“Gonna stop at the next sex shop and buy you a vibrator.” He spoke low. His voice, a deep rumble against her ear, sounded full of need and desire.
“Why?” Tara didn’t want a piece of plastic inside her. She wanted him.
“So I can work you with it while I’m inside your ass.”
That thought had her clenching tighter around him.
He reacted. His breath caught in his throat. Hard again, he started to stroke inside her as her body gripped his. “I can feel you squeezing me.”
“I certainly hope so.” She turned his own words back on him.
He groaned just as her cell
phone started to vibrate on the bedside table. Breathless, Jace held her tighter. “Ignore it.”
She had no intention of doing anything else as his thrusts grew more frenzied and he grunted with every frantic stroke.
Jace plunged his tongue into her ear and that was it. Tara tipped over the edge and cried out with the orgasm that gripped her. Behind her, he thrust deep and held there. His whole body stiffened as he groaned, deep and long.
Tara couldn’t keep herself from thinking, even as the waves of pleasure wracked her body, how he was already planning their next time together after a visit to the sex shop. The idea seemed to double the intensity of her orgasm, before it finally slowed. A stray aftershock twitched inside her as Jace pulled his hand away and pressed his palm to her stomach, holding her tight against him.
With his head resting on the pillow behind hers, he said, “Remember how last night you asked me if this was what having actual sex was like? And I said no.”
His cock went slack and slipped out of her. The demands of his morning hard-on had been satisfied, she guessed. Not that she was complaining. Waking up with multiple orgasms every morning wouldn’t exactly be a hardship. He made no move to loosen his arms, wrapped tightly around her and she wasn’t about to ask him to.
“Yeah, I remember.”
“This time, it was. At least, it seemed pretty damn close.”
She’d felt it too, the difference. It was as if a part of Jace she’d never seen before had been exposed. Bared to her. Like he’d opened up and shown her a piece of his soul. And as if he’d touched something deep inside of her, too.
“Thanks for telling me.” Tara swallowed hard, feeling the enormity of the feelings hurtling through her. “I think I’m going to jump in the shower.”
“Okay.” Jace rolled off her and she escaped to the bathroom.
Needing a little time alone, she indulged in a longer than usual shower. After she started to feel guilty for hogging the bathroom, she went back out so Jace could get in there.