That meant so much, I kissed his nipple, slid up and kissed his chest, up and I kissed the base of his throat and up where I kissed his jaw before I moved my lips to his.
That was when I stroked with my right hand.
“Jesus,” he grunted, his eyes closing, his hips bucking under my hand.
“I want to give you everything,” I told him quietly on another stroke.
His eyes opened and captured mine.
“You’re doin’ a pretty good job of that, Slick,” he told me, his hand in my hair sliding out, down my neck, in over my chest and then down where it cupped my breast.
My lips against his parted and I stroked him again.
“You gonna let me give you everything too?” he asked.
I was.
Absolutely.
“Yes,” I breathed.
His thumb slid across my nipple over the silk of my nightie. I stroked him again and pressed my hips into my hand working between us.
His hand moved down, in my nightie and up and I had it back at my breast, cupping it, his thumb abrading my nipple.
Oh yes.
I stroked again and rubbed against him.
“How hot are you from workin’ me?” he asked, his lips moving against mine.
I stroked again, my breathing escalated, and didn’t answer.
“How hot are you, baby?” he pressed.
“Very,” I breathed.
“Very?” he queried.
“Yes.”
As I stroked him again, his arm that was around me moved down so his hand could delve back into my panties were it cupped my bottom just as his hand slid away from my breast, down, in the front of my panties and straight in. His rough finger glided tight over my clit then slid right inside me.
My breath hitched then I bit my lip, biting his as it was right there and he made another low noise that rumbled up his chest as his finger started moving in and out.
“You’re right,” he said, his voice now hoarse. “You’re very hot.”
My hand started stroking faster, my fist tighter, the only pauses being when I reached the top and circled his silken head with my thumb before pumping him again. I slid my nose down his and panted as I rocked my hips into his hand.
“You gonna kiss me or just tease me with that mouth?” Jake asked.
“I don’t…” I stroked faster as my hips rocked harder when his thumb hit my clit. “I don’t think I can kiss you, darling.”
His hand moved, his finger going out, two fingers going in and his thumb pressed in and circled.
A sharp noise escaped my lips and I stroked harder as his hand at my behind gripped tight.
“Much as I like it, you’re gonna have to quit, Josie. What you’re doin’ is magic but this is gonna be over way fuckin’ soon if you don’t.”
I most assuredly didn’t want it to be over so I slid my hand up and rolled the head with my thumb as he kept at me with his fingers and I rocked into it.
I loved what he was giving me, I loved having him right there with me, but suddenly I needed more.
“I want you inside me.”
Jake moved his hand out of the back of my panties, up my spine and curled his fingers around my neck, trapping my hair under them, his thumb firm at my jaw before he said, “Gonna take you there with my fingers.”
All right, well…that sounded good too.
“Okay,” I panted.
“Then gonna eat you and take you there again.”
Oh my.
That sounded better.
“Okay,” I repeated on a shallow breath.
“Then you’re gonna suck me.”
Oh my.
Oh yes.
Oh God.
That sounded the best.
“Okay,” I gasped, rocking fast as his thumb pressed deeper and circled harder.
“Then I’m gonna fuck you.”
“Jake.” I was still gasping because I was close. Oh so close. So tremendously, astounding, amazingly close.
“That okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” I managed to breathe out and then my head would have shot back if his hand wasn’t at my neck, keeping me where he could see me as I cried out, grinding into his hand, tightening mine around his cock. Everything ceased to exist but my body straddling Jake’s big one, his hand between my legs, his lips brushing mine, his fingers curled around my neck, and the sensations he gave me washing through me.
When it left me, he let me rest my forehead in his neck as he kept his hand at jaw, took the pressure off my clit and his fingers glided gently through the wet folds between my legs.
“You good?” he asked softly.
“Oh yes,” I answered quietly, remembering what my hand was curled around and again circling the head with my thumb.
He slid his hand from between my legs, over my hip so it could again cup my behind.
“You want some coffee before I go down on you?”
He knew I needed coffee.
So thoughtful.
So wonderful.
However.
“If you leave this bed, I’ll be very put out.”
His body shook under mine and I heard the humor in his voice when he said, “Unlatch, baby, and roll. Woke up with a taste for my woman’s pussy, now it’s ready for me, I’m hungry.”
I shivered at his words and “unlatched,” sliding my hand away from his shaft and lifting my head to look down at him.
I wanted to say something, I knew not what. Thank you for being all that’s you. Or you mean a great deal to me. Or you make me happy and I haven’t been happy in decades. Or I’m delighted this is real.
I didn’t get a chance to say any of that. He put pressure on my neck, which meant he could get my mouth to his.
Then he took it as he rolled us.
After that, he set about proving that he did indeed wake up for a taste of me, but more, he was hungry.
Very.
In the end, however, it was me who was slaked.
* * * * *
I was naked, sated, on my belly and alone in the bed.
This was because Jake was down the hall in the bathroom dealing with the condom.
I didn’t like him that far away from me.
But I’d just climaxed three times, all of them extraordinary, the one when Jake’s mouth was between my legs being mind-altering, I didn’t have it in me to lament this. Especially since he was coming back shortly.
I sensed movement at the door and turned my eyes there to watch him walk naked down the hall, right past my door.
I blinked.
Where was he going?
Or a more pressing question, where was he going naked?
With some effort, my body much preferring to be fully reclining, I lifted up on my forearm in the bed, about to call out to Jake when something caught at the corner of my eye.
I looked to the nightstand and saw the bent, ripped foil wrapper of the condom Jake had just used.
I also saw his wallet opened and resting there.
And last, spilling out of his wallet, I saw a streamer of condoms.
I reached out and tugged at it. It came loose and I counted.
The streamer consisted of five condoms.
The used one made it six.
I grinned and stayed where I was, hoping whatever he was doing wouldn’t take long (at the same time hoping it had something to do with a caffeinated hot beverage) and was pleased when Jake’s large frame appeared in the doorway.
When it did, I lifted up the streamer of condoms.
His eyes dropped to it, his lips twitched and he made it to me. Tugging the condoms from between my fingers, he tossed them back to the nightstand then did something wondrous.
He entered the bed but he accomplished this at the same time he gathered me close to his big, strong body and pulled the covers over us. Only when he had us cozy, warm and settled, him on his back, me on him but also partly down his side, did I speak.
“How many hours do we have?”
<
br /> He grinned at me. “Sucks but not that many. Leavin’ that stash in your nightstand.”
“Ah,” I murmured then pressed closer and shared, “I do take birth control, Jake, and I’m healthy.”
His face got soft and he replied, “Good to know, baby. But I haven’t had a checkup in seven months and I haven’t abstained. Except for you in the locker room, I’m all about protection and never go ungloved. Since it’s gonna be just you and me, you’re down with ungloved, okay. But you want me to move up my annual physical, I’m okay with that too.”
Just you and me.
I loved that.
I lifted a hand to his jaw and told him, “You’re really very wonderful.”
That was when his eyes got warm and he rolled into me so we were both on our sides, Jake’s thigh between my legs and he said, “You’re pretty fuckin’ wonderful too.”
“You thinking that makes me happy,” I shared.
“You bein’ happy makes me happy,” he returned and I pressed even deeper.
Yes, he was so…very…wonderful.
Jake took the cue and bent his head so he could kiss me. It was light and short but it was still sweet.
He lifted away an inch and said, “Coffee’s on.”
“Excellent,” I murmured then noted, “That’s what you did when you walked by the room.”
“Yep.”
“So you walked through Gran’s house naked.”
He grinned and his arms got tight. “Yeah. I also walked through your house naked.”
He did indeed.
My house. Jake naked.
I licked my lips.
His arms got tighter but his face got more serious.
“I take it your shit for brains boss didn’t fuck with you last night.”
I shook my head. “I’ve heard nothing from him. And I’m not contacting him until I know what I intend to say.”
“Which way you leaning?” he asked.
“I quit?” I asked back as answer.
He grinned but the grin died and he queried, “You in the position to do that?”
I nodded. “I have to meet an accountant but Gran’s estate was somewhat substantial. I also have a goodly amount in savings and investments. I’ll need to pay taxes on the inheritance but I believe I’ll still be comfortable after that.” My eyes drifted to his throat when I finished, “It’s just that I don’t fancy not being employed. I like to be busy. “
“And on the go,” Jake stated and I lifted my gaze back to him.
“Pardon?”
“And on the go,” he repeated. “Out and about. Flyin’ everywhere. Rome. Paris.”
“That, not so much,” I murmured.
His brows drew together. “Come again?”
I held his gaze and shared, “This feels good, being at Lavender House. Being in Magdalene. There’s a break, like a holiday, where you enjoy not being in your routine and you relax into another one. But in the end, you nearly always want to go back to your life. Your home. Your normal schedule. I’ve been here some time now, Jake, and even before Henry’s ignoble visit yesterday, I knew I was going to ask him if I could do much of my job from here because it occurred to me I am home and want to stay.”
“So you were gonna slow down anyway,” he replied.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
His arms got even tighter, his face softer and his eyes warmer. “Good news, Slick.”
I smiled at his apparent deep satisfaction at this news and repeated, “Yes.”
“You’ll find something to do,” he assured me.
“Yes,” I said yet again.
“Now, what the fuck does ignoble mean?”
I giggled, leaned up to kiss him in the middle of it and settled back to see him smiling.
“Not honorable. Shameful,” I explained.
“A lotta good things about you, honey. One of them is that Ethan’s pickin’ up your vocabulary. Swear to Christ, before Conner took him to school today, he said he was vexed about something and if I got it right, he used it right seein’ as he was annoyed.”
“He used it correctly,” I confirmed, but his words troubled me. “Conner takes Ethan to school?”
“Sometimes, yeah,” Jake replied. “I open the gym early so guys can get their workouts in before goin’ to work. If I can’t get back, Conner or Amber take him to school seein’ as they both have cars.”
It was then it occurred to me that he did have to open the gym. He also said last night he had to get to the club and he was going to do it when the kids were asleep.
“Do you often go to the club when the children are asleep?” I asked.
“Nearly every night,” he answered. “Gym’s runnin’ in the black but barely. Wouldn’t if I had to have an employee on the books so it’s gotta be me who opens and closes. Con helps out with that when he has time, but he doesn’t have much of it since he’s got another job, I lean on him a lot already at the house and with his brother and any time he’s got in between, he needs to be at his books, training or able to have some fun. Got a guy who helps me with the club but shit can go down there. It’s a decent place but you gotta work at that. Can’t help but attract a sleazy element no matter what you do. Shit can’t happen if they know I’m comin’ in and don’t know when. I could be there all night if the kids are cool to be home with Eath. I can show when the night’s done. They never know except for the fact that they know I’ll show so if anyone wants to get up to shit, they think again.”
“So, essentially, you have the same life you had before you owned the strip club, except you make more money and don’t have a wife to look after your kids,” I noted.
“Yeah, babe, but I got kids old enough to look after themselves and their little brother. We do all right.”
“When did you go to the club last night?” I asked.
“Just after eleven.”
“And when did you get home?”
“Around two.”
“And then up to open the gym by seven?”
He rolled further into me so I was on my back and he was on me but also partly down my side and he dipped his face very close.
“We’re cool,” he told me.
“I can tell you’re cool,” I replied. “Outside of normal teenage stuff, your children are happy. They’re healthy. They have a nice house. Rooms they like. They’re fed. They clearly love you very deeply. You make certain to be available to them and spend time with them often. They know you care. You’re a strict dad when you have to be but still approachable. All that is lovely. Beautiful, actually. And you don’t act it, which is nice for them so they won’t feel it, but it has to run you ragged.”
“So what’re you sayin’?” he asked, his head tipping to the side. “That I should dump the gym? ’Cause I can’t dump the club. That keeps my kids in rooms they like.”
“No, I’m saying that you should sleep in or feel free to get Ethan to school and I can open up the gym and sit in the office until you get in just in case someone needs something. All you have to do is show me around.”
Jake said nothing.
So I did.
“It can’t be hard. While I’m there, if you don’t have a bookkeeper, I can do your books. I did Henry’s for him. I don’t have a degree or anything but I took some classes early on when I was with Henry so I could handle that for him and have answers at the ready to any questions he might have about his finances.”
Jake remained silent.
Alas, I did not.
“Or I could go to the club in the evenings. I’m not a commanding presence like you but if it’s known that you and I are together, they’d know I can easily report to you if something is awry or causes me concern and it might deter them from doing it. At the very least, you’d know about it and you could deter them. I’m a night owl anyway. I’d have no problem spending time in the club to keep an eye on things.”
Jake continued his silence and when he did, I became concerned.
The reason why I became concer
ned was that he was definitely a man. A commanding man. He was confident in everything he did, including being a father.
With that, it occurred to me all I was saying might communicate that I questioned his ability to handle his enterprises, his home and his children.
So I rushed on.
“I’m not saying that you can’t—”
He interrupted me with, “Quiet, Slick.”
I shut my mouth.
Jake stared down at me.
He did this for some time. So much of it, I was about to squirm. Instead of squirming, I opened my mouth.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. That wasn’t my inten—”
His hand came to my jaw, his thumb sliding out over my lips, effectively silencing me. When his thumb had made its pass, his head dropped and he brushed his mouth against mine.
That wasn’t an angry reaction, thank goodness.
When he lifted away, he whispered, “Momma bear lookin’ after my kids. Good woman lookin’ after her man.”
“Pardon?” I whispered back but I knew what he was saying and I liked it a great deal. And I knew he did too from his soft kiss.
Jake didn’t answer my question.
He told me a story.
“Three, four years ago, Junior got laid off. Had trouble findin’ work because the economy was in the tank and there was no work to find. Alyssa was havin’ trouble too. Easy not to get your hair or nails done when disposable income has dried up. Still, she kept her shop open later and opened on days it was normally closed to give clients more opportunities to come in and see her. She didn’t make a big deal about workin’ that hard. She still kept their house. Cooked for them seein’ as Junior was on odd jobs that had odd hours, takin’ whatever work he could get to do his bit. Or he was out for interviews all over the fuckin’ state. She never complained. She never rode his ass. He was outta work for nearly three years and you saw them together, you would think they were flyin’ high. Sun rises in him for her. It sets in him for her too. Every morning. Every night. And she shows him that every day. He loves her for it. He’d take a bullet for her. Say her name with his last breath. ‘Cause she’s a good woman lookin’ after her man.”
When he was done talking, I had tears in my eyes.