I’m flying high in Palm Springs, now that everything with the McClintocks is settled. After the eleventh hour investor debacle, I’m finally back on track. Once again, I can see the plans for my business empire falling into place. The next few weeks will be frantic as I try to get everything perfect before launch. But tonight? I’m celebrating.
With Jenn…
I replay our night together all day long, still in a state of dazed and horny disbelief. Our chemistry was even better than my imagination, and I never figured that was possible, given how much I thought about touching her… Tasting her. On a day-to-day basis, Jenn seems friendly but a little reserved. An efficient girl-next-door kind of vibe. But in the bedroom?
Fuck. She’s a certified sex goddess. Wild. Passionate. Teasing.
I could have spent a week exploring her lush curves and the way her moans turn high-pitched right before she comes.
And I will now, you can bet on it.
“Hey, stranger.” Jenn’s voice behind me makes me startle, and then I turn around, and my jaw pretty much hits the floor.
“Dear God,” I blurt. After last night, I know exactly what Jenn’s body looks like under that fabric. But that only makes me want to peel the dress off more.
“It’s not too much?” she asks, looking self-conscious.
“Yes,” I say, with pretend seriousness. “Way too much fabric. Might needs to lose some.”
I pull her closer and claim her mouth in a kiss.
“We have to go to the party,” she protests, laughing. “None of that here.”
“A little of that?” I suggest, brushing my hands over her shoulders and toying with the straps. Fuck, they’re tied up. Which means they can be so easily untied…
“A lot of that,” Jenn smiles. “Later.”
We drive over to the festival grounds, which are lit-up, neon and swirling. The eclectic, daytime vibe remains, but now there’s a surreal element after-hours—circus performers, even wilder outfits. We pass a man in a cape with tiny LED lights, a woman with glow-in-the-dark makeup. There are shiny purple wigs, bodies doused in glitter, and the general feeling that we are tripping without having done a single drug.
“Once again, I’m feeling underdressed,” Jenn remarks.
“You’re perfect,” I tell her. Then, gesturing to my own outfit, “And look at me! I look like someone’s dad.”
She laughs. God, I love her laugh. “Maybe undo another button,” she suggests. “That’ll help.”
“Help who?” I tease.
She smirks innocently, but I do as she says. “There.” She grins, smoothing down my shirt. “Now we just need some necklaces or a temporary tattoo peeking out from your chest.”
I chuckle. “Don’t tell me, you’re secretly into tattoos.”
Jenn takes my hand. “I’m into you.”
Damn, I love the sound of that.
I’m trying to play it cool here, but who am I kidding? I’ve been hot for this woman since the moment I met her. And sure, I’ve been pushing the feeling down, trying to be professional, but finally getting to be out in the open, at least a little? It feels great.
We’re approaching Mac and Lanie’s event now.
“Austin!” a voice calls. Lanie’s waving me over to the group of people circled around her. Showtime.
“Here we go,” I say, turning to Jenn. “OK if I schmooze for a bit?”
“Of course,” she grins. “I’m sure I can chat Househusbands with basically everyone here. And work in my excitement about the spa brand, of course,” she adds, eyes sparkling.
“Cool.” I nod, trying not to feel nervous. I’m way out of my element with Lanie and Mac, and this whole scene, and there’s still so much riding on this partnership.
Jenn must sense my tension, because she tugs on my hand. “Hey. Look at me.”
Happily. I look down at her beautiful face, staring back at me with total confidence.
“You’re good at this,” she reminds me. “Charming people, asking good questions, putting everyone at ease… When you’re not second-guessing every move, that is.”
I exhale. She’s right. I’ve got this.
“Now, go get ‘em,” she says. When I turn to enter the fray, Jenn slaps my ass. I whirl back in surprise. She grins, mischievous. “That’s a baseball thing, right?”
I laugh. “Yes ma’am. I’ll give you a lesson… Later.”
“Promises, promises…”
Jenn walks away, laughing, and I turn back, getting my game face on. “Lanie, you’re a vision,” I greet her, joining the circle, and soon enough, she’s making introductions to a blur of people, and I’m running my spa schtick like it’s second nature. An hour passes like it’s nothing, but I know, my energy reserves are flagging. I need a moment to recharge.
“Be right back,” I tell Lanie, excusing myself from the DJ-slash-environmentalist and venture capital bro she’s talking with. I look around for a place to catch my breath—
Correction: I look around to find Jenn.
She’s over with Mac and some girls, laughing happily.
Damn, she’s a sight for sore eyes. I can’t resist swooping in and stealing her away. “Just some marketing strategy talk,” I tell the others. “Wouldn’t want to bore you!”
I pull her out of sight in the crowd, and then claim the kiss I’ve been waiting for.
She sighs happily, melting into my arms. “How are you holding up?” she asks. “Because I now know all kinds of things about user generated content and influencer rates!”
I chuckle, feeling better already with her in my arms. Did I say I was flagging? Just one kiss from this woman and I could go all night.
“It’s… a lot. Lanie is an acquired taste, that’s for sure. But she knows her shit. She’s already talking about how we can use her social media following to promote the spa.”
Jenn lights up. “Great! I’ve already been thinking about strategies,” she confides, “But I wanted to wait until she suggested it.”
My smile spreads. Her mind is always working overtime, just another thing we have in common.
I look around. “Come on,” I say, tugging her deeper into the crowd.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
I lead us to the massive Ferris wheel, which is lit up in neon, and surrounded by people snapping selfies. I maneuver us to the head of the line and slip the attendant a twenty.
“Right this way,” he says, showing us to a car.
“Ladies first.” I help Jenn into the seat, then pull
the metal bar over our laps, locking us in. The car ratchets upward, and Jenn lets out a squeak.
“I thought you weren’t afraid of heights,” I check, putting my arm around her. For safety, obviously.
“I’m not. I just haven’t been on one of these since I was kid,” she says.
I smile. “Me either. No, wait, it was after college graduation. We went to London and made Seb do all the touristy shit he pretends to hate.”
“The British one, right?” Jenn asks.
I nod. “You’ll have to come to the bar sometime and meet everyone properly.”
The invitation slips out so easily, I don’t realize the implication until I see the blush color on Jenn’s cheeks.
“Oh, look: You can see Lanie’s logo from here!” she points as the wheel slowly moves us higher.
From up here, the festival is just pulsing sound and color, people receding into the crowds below.
I wonder, did she just change the subject on purpose?
But it’s not like we’ve talked about, well, us. We had better, sexier things to do last night. So what if she thinks this is just a one-time deal?
“Listen, Jenn…” I say.
Fuck, am I really doing this now? I guess so. “I don’t want to play games,” I begin. “Especially after getting cheated on last year, I’m all about honesty. Just laying your cards on the table, you know? No secrets, or bullshit lies.”
Jenn makes a strangled murmur. She’s looking mildly horrified, like I might propose marriage while she’s trapped on a Ferris wheel with me.
“Look, Austin—” she starts, but I interrupt.
“I’d like to see you once we’re back in the city,” I blurt out, before she gets the wrong idea. “Date you, I mean. This isn’t a ‘what happens in Palm Springs’ thing for me, or some random fling. I think this could… Be something.”
Be something? I try not to wince. Way to be vague, Banks.
Jenn is still looking at me, wide-eyed, like she’s about to say something.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I add, before she can speak.
“You… do?” she blinks.
“You’re thinking that it’s complicated, because we work together. And I’m your boss.”
“Right.” She swallows. “There’s that.”
“But it doesn’t have to be weird,” I promise her. “I will totally respect your boundaries. Whatever you want, this can move at your pace. I just know, this feels… real to me. I want to get to know you, the real you.” I pause, bringing my hand to stroke her cheek as I gaze into her eyes. “Is that something you might want, too?”
“Yes!” Jenn blurts. “Of course. I mean…” she laughs, blushing. “This is something. It’s definitely something.”
Yes. Yes. I refrain from punching the air. “Good,” I say instead, but she still looks uncertain, like there’s something on her mind.
“We can start slow, if you want?” I offer, even as it goes against every lustful bone in my body.
And one in particular.
“We can—I don’t know—just date, to begin with.” I continue. “We can even take sex off the table, if you want.”
She jolts up at me with a horrified look. “What? No! Sex stays.”
I laugh. “Thank God. I mean, not that I wouldn’t be a gentleman if you wanted to hit pause,” I add. “But… That would be a waste of some mind-blowing chemistry.”
“And you want to get blown?” she smirks.
I choke. “I… uh… No comment?” I manage, pulse pounding at the flood of filthy images she just put in my mind.
Jenn, on her knees. Eyes gazing up at me. Lush mouth opening to—
I wheeze a breath—and then realize Jenn is giggling at me. “You can’t say things like that to a man,” I recover, laughing. “Not unless you want to send him to an early grave.”
“Aww, we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” Jenn squeezes my thigh.
I lean in to kiss her, and fuck, it’s hot as hell. “I may have misjudged this whole Ferris wheel thing,” I say, drawing back. We’re still only half-way through the ride, trapped at the top of the wheel.
“Why’s that?” Jenn asks, nestling closer.
“Because I can’t strip you naked and make you scream up here.”
Her cheeks flush rosy, but I can tell from the spark of excitement in her eyes, she loves it when I talk this way. “True…” she agrees, tracing circles on my inseam. “But you could make me sigh… Maybe even moan a little. Quietly.”
Fuck.
“That sounds like a challenge, to me,” I growl, yanking her into my lap.
“Well, you are competitive, by nature,” she beams back at me.
“You’re damn right, I am.”
I kiss her again, this time slow and deep, letting my hands slide over her body, loving the way her breath hitches to my touch. I skim over the hem of her dress, moving to kiss her neck and bare shoulders.
“Did I tell you how hot you look in this dress?” I murmur, fighting the urge to untie those straps.
She shakes her head.
“So. Fucking. Hot.” I punctuate every word with kisses… And graze my fingers over the fabric between her legs.
Jenn gasps, and I check her expression, but she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she gives me a blushing nod of permission.
Double-fuck.
I glance around. We’re on the slow descent now, but the way the cars are staggered, nobody really has a view into our car. And with Jenn pressed against me…
No-one can see my fingers move again, pressing gently, circling at the apex of her thighs.
“Austin…” her voice is shivery. Sexy as hell.
“There’s the sigh,” I note, finding her clit beneath the thin fabric of her dress and panties, and stroking again, more focused. “Now, let’s see about the moan.”
Jenn gives a little pant, wild-eyed, like she can’t believe this is happening. And hell, neither can I. But there’s something about this woman that makes me lose my mind a little.
Correction: a lot.
I nip lightly at her neck, sliding my hand under her skirt now and up her bare thighs to find her panties pulled tight and—fuck—already damp for me.
I stroke again, right on target.
“Look at all the people down there,” I murmur, getting a hunch and running with it. “They have no idea what a dirty girl you are, bucking against my fingers right here for anyone to see.”
Jenn makes a whimpering noise at the dirty talk, her breath coming faster.
Bingo.
“Yeah, that’s it.” I lick up to her ear, my fingers still working her bud in tight circles. “Makes you wet, doesn’t it? Being a bad girl for once, doing what feels good.”
“Austin,” she gasps softly, wriggling against my hand. “Oh my God…”
“Now here’s the thing,” I continue, speeding up my pace. “I’d say we’ve got another minute before people start to notice you getting all worked up. So that means, you’re going to have to come for me.”
Jenn inhales in a rush. “But… I…”
“I know.” My mouth is hot against her ear, she’s writhing against my hand making little whimpering noises, and fuck it, I haven’t been this turned on in my life.
Well, since the last time I was inside her, all of fifteen hours ago.
“You can do it, baby,” I urge her on. “Come all over my fingers, get that sweet pussy off right here in front of everyone.”
She clutches my shoulders, her whole body tensing. I kiss her mouth, swallowing the moan that erupts as I stroke her once, twice more, and then she suddenly shudders against me. I feel the rush of damp in her panties, and fuck, she’s not the only one who’s going to have to hide her reaction, because I swear, I’m so hard, I could keep up the whole damn festival tent.
I barely have time to remove my hand and smooth out her dress before we’re swinging back down to the ground.
“How was the ride, folks?” the attendant unlocks the security bar.
“Surprisingly fun,” I reply, stepping down, and turning to help Jenn.
Goddamn, this woman is gorgeous. She’s staring at me breathless and wide-eyed, with flushed cheeks and a glaze of pleasure on her face.
The attendant sees her and does a double-take.
Yup. That woman has ‘I just orgasmed’ written all over her face.
“Time to go,” I say, grabbing Jenn’s hand and dragging her away from the ride. “Hotel?”
“Uh uh,” she murmurs. And that’s all the invitation I need. Because there’s no way in hell we’re going back to the party now. I need her alone. Naked.
ASAP.
We tumble into a car and drive back to the hotel before practically sprinting in the direction of my villa. But we take a wrong turn on the dark paths, and somehow wind up at the pool area instead. It’s deserted, with the lights glowing eerie blue.
“Noo!” Jenn looks around. “I think it’s back this way. Past the hammocks, right?”
I pause. Something about Jenn makes me want to surprise her. She always talks about herself as if she’s boring and predictable. I know that’s not true, and I want her to see it, too.
So, I turn to her with a grin. “The water looks good. And I know you need to cool off.”
I waggle my eyebrows at her.
Jenn gasps. “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s closed.”
“Is it?” I pop the latch on the gate. “Seems open to me.”
Then, before she can protest, I grab her by the waist, haul her over my shoulder, and take a running leap into the deep end.
SPLASH!
The cold water breaks over our heads, perfect and refreshing after the desert heat. Jenn breaks away, and we surface, gasping.
“I can’t believe you did that!” she cries, but she’s laughing in the same breath. She slicks back her hair, and ducks under again, coming up a few feet away. “Oh my god, you’re right, the water’s amazing!”
She splashes at me, and I grab her, pulling her in close for a kiss. We’re both fully clothed and soaked through, but I couldn’t care less as she wraps her legs around my waist, her arms twining around my neck.
I’m hard already, and she slides against me. The sensation is overwhelming—water circling us, Jenn’s teeth against my lip. I pull her back against the pool ladder, keeping us both above water as she kisses me hard.
Goddamn, this woman… I clutch her ass, already ducking my head to lick a path over her damp chest. Those flimsy straps get pushed aside as I feast on her breasts, circling each nipple in turn until they’re stiff between my lips and Jenn is panting, grinding at me—
“Hey! You two!” a voice calls.
Jenn lets out a shriek of surprise. Instinctively, I turn us, so I’m shielding her from view. Someone in a hotel uniform is standing in the dim light, shining a torch. “Pool’s closed,” he says, looking amused. “Take it back to your room.”
I clear my throat. “Will do. Sorry.”
“Sure you are.”
He strolls off, grumbling about ‘damn kids’. I help Jenn out of the pool and grab a towel to wrap around her shoulders.
“I can’t believe we just got busted fooling around!” she groans, laughing.
“Worth it.” I vow.
This time, we manage to make it back to my villa without any more detours. We burst into my room, and Jenn turns, still glowing from our little rule-breaking tryst. She skims her eyes down me, past the now-see-through linen of my shirt and right to where I’m obviously hard for her. The way she looks at me, so blatantly turned on, makes me even harder. I need to finish what we started out in the pool.
But first, I’m going to get her out of those wet clothes.
“Bathroom, now.” I order, and her eyes flash.
“Yes, sir,” she teases, scooting back into the palatial marble room. She reaches to peel off her dress, but I stop her.
This part, I want to do myself.
I turn on the shower, getting the place nice and steamy, and then finally untie those damn straps.
“All night, these little bows have been taunting me,” I tell her, my voice rough and growly. I peel the dress lower, over her bare chest, and down to those lace panties.
“Wet,” I smirk, rolling them down, too.
“Your fault,” she says, still flirty, and I laugh.
“Damn right it is. I’ll get you wet anytime you like, baby, all you’ve got to do is say the word.”
“Which word?” Jenn playfully reaches for me, unbuttoning my pants and shucking them down to the floor. She closes her fist around my cock, and squeezes.
Fuck. I groan. “Please.”
“Is that a request or an order?”
“It’s whatever you goddamn like,” I manage, barely holding it together at the sight of her small hand working on my thick girth.
Jenn grins, backing into the shower stall, so I have no choice but to follow. The hot water sprays against her chilled skin, and I imagine her in the shower each morning before work, soaping up this gorgeous body. Does she ever touch herself, still lost in dreams from the night before?
She will after tonight, if I have anything to say about it.
I press her up against the wall, kissing her hard as my hands try and get their fill. Her ass… Her breasts… The slope of her stomach and that spot right by her hip that makes her giggle. It’s incredible. And all the while, her quick hands are working my cock, pumping faster, making it hard to focus. Fuck, hard to breathe.
Then she drops to her knees.
“Baby...” I groan, not sure if I’m begging or praying.
Jenn glances up at me, water still pouring over her naked body. Eyes glazed with excitement. “That was a gasp,” she teases, echoing my own words from earlier. “Now let’s see about that moan.”
Wet mouth opening wider, as she leans in and swirls her tongue around the head of my cock.
“Fuck.” I gasp a hoarse plea, hands slamming flat against the tile to keep me standing.
Jenn grins, and licks up my shaft, teasing me for a moment before she takes me into her mouth.
And then I have no fucking words left, only the rush of pleasure, and the certain knowledge that this woman is a goddamn miracle.
And I want her to be mine.