Read Listen to Me Page 10


  “Because I’m not exactly shower-fresh,” I reply honestly.

  “You smell amazing,” he replies. His nose brushes over my smooth pubis. “And I love that you wax this clean.”

  He blows on my skin, making my back arch. His hands glide up the back of my thighs, to my ass, and he tilts my hips so I’m on display for him, like his own private buffet.

  “Your pussy is so pink,” he whispers as he lowers his face and gently swipes the flat of his tongue from my opening, over my lips, to my clit.

  “Oh God.”

  “And you smell like you can’t wait for me to fuck you.”

  “It’s accurate then,” I reply breathlessly. My hands have found their way into his hair, gripping tightly as he continues to lick me. He’s not applying any pressure; he’s just lazily brushing that amazing tongue up and down my folds, making me freaking crazy.

  “Jake,” I breathe.

  “Right here?” he asks, and tickles my lips with the tip of his tongue. “Does that feel good?”

  “So good.”

  “What about this?” He pulls one hand from my ass and circles my clit with his fingertip, then pushes it inside me, making me clench down on him hard.

  “Fuck!”

  “I’m going to assume that means you like it.”

  He’s such a smart-ass.

  “You’re amazing, Addie. Every fucking inch of you makes me crazy.”

  “I want every inch of you to make me crazy too,” I reply between pants. He chuckles and bites the inside of my thigh, making me moan.

  “You like it when I bite you?”

  “I like it all,” I reply truthfully. “As long as you’re the one doing it.”

  “Fucking right,” he growls, and kisses his way up my body, pausing to pay special attention to my breasts. He bites each nipple, tugs it, then laves it with the flat of his tongue, making me squirm like crazy beneath him.

  “Jake, please sink inside me now.”

  “Oh God,” he mutters and clenches his eyes shut. “Addie, I don’t have any condoms with me.”

  “I’m going to assume you were never a Boy Scout,” I complain.

  “No,” he replies and shakes his head in disgust. “God, baby, I’m so sorry.”

  “I have an IUD,” I say as I drag my fingertips up his arm, tracing the ink there. “And I’m healthy.”

  “I haven’t been with anyone since before my last checkup,” he admits and smiles slowly. “So does that mean that you still want me inside you?”

  “Let me think about it.”

  But before I can, he settles between my legs, and rubs the head of his cock over my folds, up over my clit, and then pushes slowly inside me, making me gasp loudly.

  “Hurting you?” he whispers.

  “In the best way,” I confirm. He stops cold, and when he would pull out, I stop him. “You’re a big man, Jake, but I’m fine. Just give me a second to adjust.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispers and brushes a strand of hair off my cheek. “I never want to hurt you.”

  “This is the best hurt there is,” I reply, circling my hips. He clenches his eyes shut and curses under his breath.

  “Addie, if you keep that up, I won’t be able to stay still. God, you’re fucking wet.”

  “Just looking at your hard body makes me wet. But add your mouth on me in the mix, and I’m dripping wet.”

  “God, baby.” His hips begin to move now, slowly, in and out, and it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever felt. “Your pussy hugs my cock perfectly.”

  I grin and clench down, delighted when his eyes cross.

  “I kind of love turning you on,” I gasp.

  “I’m past turned on,” he growls, and lays his lips against mine, kissing me deep and slow as his body makes love to me. He’s sped up, his hips rocking against mine, his pubis hitting my clit with every thrust.

  “God, Jake, I’m gonna come.”

  “Good.” He grins against my mouth. His eyes are open and watching me. “Come, Addison.”

  I can only watch him as he picks up the speed again, thrusting in earnest. Every nerve in my body is on high alert, and I feel the explosion building at the base of my spine, until I can’t hold it back anymore. I arch my back, curling my toes, digging my nails into the skin of his arms, as I fall apart.

  “So goddamn amazing,” he growls and pushes twice more before stopping, balls deep, and comes hard, groaning in my ear.

  We are an exhausted, panting, sweaty mess as he rolls away, but he keeps me with him, still inside me, pulling me on top of him.

  “I’m too heavy to stay on top of you, and I want to stay inside you,” he says and hugs me tight. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” I frown up at him.

  “I’m inside you. And I’m grateful.”

  I smile and kiss his chin, then push up against his chest so I can kiss his lips thoroughly. I can’t help but circle my hips at the same time, and smile widely as I feel him begin to stiffen inside me again.

  “Round two,” I mutter and slide back and forth. He grips my hips tightly in his hands, most likely leaving little fingertip-size bruises, and that makes me almost giddy.

  I can’t wait to see them later.

  “You have a naughty smile on that gorgeous face,” he says, then moans when I reach down and circle my clit as I ride him.

  “I’m a naughty girl,” I reply before biting my lip.

  “So noted.”

  Chapter Eight

  Jake

  I reach for her, but where she should be tucked up against me is cold. She’s been out of bed for a while, thwarting my intentions to fuck her into the mattress this morning.

  Which is fine. I’ll just find her and carry her back here. I lie still and listen, hoping to hear her in the shower. Some playtime in the water could also be fun, but the condo is quiet.

  And then it occurs to me: I smell food.

  She’s making breakfast.

  I’m going to marry her. Today.

  I slide from the bed and pull on my boxer briefs, then pad out of the bedroom to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

  And then I come to a complete stop, staring in wonder at the gorgeous woman in the kitchen. Her back is to me. She’s piled her hair on top of her head, with messy, loose tendrils falling out of it. She’s in my T-shirt from last night, which hangs only low enough to cover the majority of her ass, but the very bottom of it where her ass and thighs meet, and her black panties, show, making my morning semi an official hard-on.

  She’s swaying her hips side to side as she mixes something in a bowl. A waffle iron is set up next to her, heating.

  And she’s humming.

  Completely off-key.

  God, she’s adorable.

  She turns toward the sink that sits in the island separating us, her lip sunk between her perfect teeth, then yelps when she sees me standing here.

  “Didn’t mean to startle you,” I say quietly, all of my emotions suddenly a jumbled mess. Her face is clean of any makeup, that blond hair a halo around her face. My T-shirt looks amazing on her.

  And she’s cooking for me. I don’t remember a woman I’ve been intimate with ever cooking for me. Certainly not breakfast, because I’m sure to rush out as soon as I can. But seeing this woman, cooking for me, makes my heart ache in the sweetest way.

  God, I’ve become such a softie. Max would have a field day if he heard my thoughts.

  “It’s okay, I was deep in thought.” She sighs, washes her hands, and offers me a sweet smile. “I hope you’re hungry ’cause I’m making waffles.”

  “I’m starving.” For you. I want her under me, over me, any way I can get her right now, as long as I’m inside her.

  But I sit on a stool at the breakfast bar and watch her bustle about the kitchen.

  “Bacon too?” I ask in surprise as she lays strips of the meat on a cookie sheet.

  “Of course. Isn’t it illegal to have breakfast without bacon?”
r />   “Watch out, you’ll make me feel special.”

  She snorts and shakes her head, returning to her bowl of waffle mix.

  “What time do you have to work today?” I ask.

  “I’ve been trying to take Sundays off. I have an idea!” She spins, her blue eyes round with excitement. “Let’s stay in bed all day and trade sexual favors for trips to the fridge.”

  My lips tilt up into a smile. “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in years. But, I can’t. I have to work today.”

  “Oh.” Her shoulders sag as her lower lip sticks out in a cute pout, then she turns to pour mix into the waffle iron.

  “I’d like to bring you with me.”

  “What?” She leans her hips against the counter and crosses her arms. “Where? To work?”

  I nod.

  “I’ll just be in the way.”

  “No you won’t.”

  “What will you be doing?” She tilts her head to the side, and I want to bury my face in her neck and kiss her there.

  “Max and I have some work to finish up today,” I reply, purposefully evading. I don’t want to tell her who will be in the studio with us today. She might get nervous and decide she doesn’t want to go.

  And for reasons I’m not entirely sure of right now, I don’t just want her there today. I need her.

  “I want to show you my studio.”

  A naughty, slow grin spreads over her face. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

  I smirk and let my eyes noticeably travel up and down her body, fucking her with my eyes. When my gaze finds hers again, she’s breathing harder, and her right hand is white-knuckled on the granite. Her eyes are a little glassy.

  I want her. The several bouts of lovemaking through the night did nothing to assuage that.

  But I also want to show her my life. Because I have a feeling she’s about to become a very big part of it, and as new and confusing as that is, it also feels really good.

  “Come with me today,” I say simply.

  “Okay.” She smiles softly before plating a waffle and passing it to me, along with butter and syrup. “But first, we eat.”

  “I’m going to eat this,” I begin, stuffing a bite in my mouth and groaning in ecstasy. Jesus, she can cook. “And then I’m going to put you in the shower, clean you up, then take you back to the bed and eat you.”

  Her eyes whip up to mine. Her nipples are puckered against my shirt.

  “And you didn’t ask to borrow that.”

  “My bad.”

  I grin. “It’s okay. I’ll take it back after breakfast.”

  She grins in return, then simply pulls it over her head, folds the shirt, and passes it to me. She’s left standing there in nothing but little black panties.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  “No need to wait,” she replies sweetly and takes a bite of her waffle. “It’s a soft shirt.”

  “I’ve had it awhile.” God, is that my voice? I sound like an adolescent, only making her smile widen.

  She sets her plate down and stretches her arms high about her head, then bends and touches her toes, giving me a prime view of that amazing body, and I can’t stand it anymore. I march around the island, put her over my shoulder, and head for her bathroom.

  “What’s happening?” She’s giggling now, making me smile too.

  “I know what you were doing, and it worked, sweetness. You have my undivided attention, and you’re about to have much more than that.”

  “Promises, promises,” she replies, only laughing more when I slap her ass.

  “We might be a little late for work.”

  “SO THAT’S THE house,” I say as I lead Addie around to the back of it. “I’ll give you the grand tour later. This is better.”

  “Better than the house?” she asks. “Because the house is pretty great from the outside.”

  “The back is better,” I assure her, and grin when the pool comes into view. “This is what sold me on the place.”

  “The pool?”

  I nod. “I like to swim.”

  “Makes sense,” she says with a nod. “You have a swimmer’s body.”

  I grin down at her. “You love my body.”

  “I said you have a swimmer’s body. There was no mention of how I feel about it.” She quirks an eyebrow.

  “You can’t get enough of me,” I reply confidently, remembering how crazy I made her after our shower this morning.

  So crazy we needed another shower.

  I cup her face in my hands and kiss her silly, until she melts against me and grips my shirt at my hips, in that way that makes me silly.

  “I still have to show you the best part,” I murmur against her lips.

  “I thought the pool was the best part.”

  I nuzzle her nose with mine, then back away. “Nope. It’s this.” I gesture to the guesthouse turned studio and grin. “Welcome to Knox Productions.”

  “This is the studio?”

  “Yep.” I lead her inside and close the door quietly behind me, in case someone is already recording, but Max and Steve are sitting at the piano, bickering.

  “You decided to show up,” Max says with a frown, then his eyes brighten when he sees Addie. “Well hi there.”

  “Hi,” she says calmly. There’s a music legend sitting in this room, and she’s cool as a cucumber.

  Good girl.

  “You’ve met Addie,” I say to Max, then hug Steve as he stands. “It’s good to see you, Steve.”

  “You too, mate,” he says, his English accent thick. “Who is this magnificent woman?” he asks, his sunglass-covered gaze raking up and down her body. She’s in khaki shorts and a white button-down, tied at the waist.

  Her legs go on for days.

  “Steve, this is Addison. Addie, I’d like to introduce you to Steve.”

  “Hello,” she replies, holding her hand out for his. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. I had the honor of meeting you a couple of years ago when my ex-boyfriend’s band, Philadelphia Story, performed at the Grammys.”

  “I remember.” He lifts her hand to his mouth and kisses her knuckles, one by one, making me raise a brow. Steve’s known to be a womanizer. “You were with Craig Parker then.”

  Addie nods and shifts her eyes to me uncertainly. I’ve met Craig Parker before. He’s not a bad guy.

  We’ll talk about this later.

  “If your voice is half as amazing as your face, you’ll be a mega-superstar, love.”

  “I’m not a singer,” Addie replies with a chuckle.

  “Addie owns a restaurant in Portland,” I inform him. My jaw clenches as he tucks Addie’s hand into the crook of his arm and escorts her back to the piano.

  “Please tell me you’ll be here while I record today. I could use a beautiful muse.”

  “Oh my goodness, Mr. Jennings.” She chuckles again and pats his shoulder. “You are absolutely charming, and it truly is an honor to see you again.” Her blue gaze catches mine for just a moment before she continues. “I grew up listening to your music. My parents are big fans.”

  “I have a few talents you’d be a fan of, darling.”

  Okay. He’s just taken it too far, but before I can step in, Addie laughs, pats his cheek, and says, “You’re so funny.”

  “Funny?” Steve repeats as Addie crosses to me. “Times sure have changed. Used to be, a beautiful woman never would have called me funny. Charming maybe, but not funny.”

  Addie grins and simply links her fingers with mine. “Where can I sit that I’ll be out of the way?”

  “You’re not in my way,” I reply and kiss her cheek, then whisper in her ear. “Well done.”

  “Tiffany’s on her way with lunch,” Max says as he noodles the keys.

  “Tiffany?” Addie asks curiously. “You mean, I don’t have to be the only woman in the middle of all this testosterone today?”

  “Tiff is my girlfriend,” Max says.

  “And he’s lucky to have me,” Tiffa
ny says as she closes the door behind her. She’s carrying bags of sandwiches and drinks from a local deli. “You must be Addie.”

  “The one and only,” Addie confirms with a grin and joins Tiffany. “Let me help.”

  “We’re going the simple route today,” Tiffany says. “Sandwiches, salads, and drinks. We’ll just set up on Jake’s desk.”

  “Perfect,” Addie replies and begins asking Tiffany a wide range of questions, pulling the other woman into an easy conversation. I join Steve and Max at the piano.

  “I like her,” Steve says quietly.

  “I couldn’t tell,” I reply sarcastically. “I didn’t know that she dated Craig.”

  “You and I both know that was a test,” he says with a smile. “I love you. I want to know that the woman you’ve chosen to bring into your life, whether it be for a week or twenty years, isn’t a—”

  “She isn’t,” I interrupt.

  “No,” Steve agrees. “She isn’t. Craig is a lot of things, but he loved her. He said good things about her. Shame that he fucked around and lost her.”

  Typical.

  “Can we stop talking about women now and get down to business?” Max asks. “We have four songs to record today.”

  “I thought we were recording three,” I reply, and smile at Addie as she hands me a sandwich.

  “I found a fourth,” Steve says, all business now. “It’s brilliant, and could even be the first single from the album.”

  “Let’s hear it,” I reply. Max cues the demo up and plays it as we munch our lunches. Steve’s right, the song is amazing, and perfect for his voice. It’s hip, but has a vintage edge to it, which will appeal to his older fan base. “I love it. Play it again.”

  By the time we’ve all finished our lunches, we’ve heard the new song five times, and I’ve memorized the lyrics.

  “We already have music tracks laid for the other three,” Max says. “This new song will have to be done from scratch.”

  “So, let’s go ahead and record those three, then we’ll see where we’re sitting for time. I can have studio musicians in here tomorrow to record this new one.”

  “Perfect,” Steve says with a grin. “I’ll stay in Portland one more day. Maybe your girlfriend will come to her senses and decide that I’m the better man after all.”