The evening of dinner with Jason’s parents, I went straight to his place from work. We’d agreed earlier on the phone that he’d join me there and then we’d go to the dinner together.
I took a shower and picked out a dress from the closet. It was navy with cap sleeves, a sweetheart neckline, and a bodice that skimmed my torso and ended around my knees. My phone rang just after I slipped it on and finished my makeup.
“Ready yet?” Jason asked.
“Almost,” I replied. “Why aren’t you here yet?”
He sighed. “Impromptu meeting about a small issue that will take a few more minutes to resolve. Leonard is coming to you. You two can swing by and pick me up on your way, okay?”
“That’s fine,” I said. “Will you have resolved…whatever it is by then?”
“Yes. It’s just some clarifications on a couple of documents that require my signature. I’ll be set in about half an hour.”
I slipped on a pair of diamond studs, a gift from him, and fastened the matching pendant. “See you soon,” I said. “I’ll be ready by the time Leonard gets here.”
There was a pause on his side. “What are you wearing?”
I chuckled and swept my hair over one shoulder. “I’m not telling. You’ll see when you see me.”
“Whatever it is,” he said, his voice low, “I can’t wait to peel it off you.”
Something tightened sweetly in my belly, and I took a deep breath. “Will you peel it off or tear it off?”
He chuckled. “I’ll consider those two options and let you know.”
I sighed. “You’re making me horny.”
“I like you horny.”
“Not when we’re about to have dinner with your parents.”
“Hmm.” There was a short silence. “Don’t worry, they’ll be focused on Amy and Colin. The dinner is for them anyway.”
“If you say so.”
“Leonard is waiting downstairs,” he informed me. “He’s ready when you are.”
I dabbed some fragrance behind my ears before making my way down to where the car waited at the entrance. Leonard opened the door for me, and I smiled at him. I was growing fond of the quiet, dependable older man who barely talked. “Good evening, Leonard.”
“Good evening.” He nodded. “Looking great tonight.”
I beamed. “Thank you.”
He shut the door and went over to the driver’s seat. As we pulled into the street, I decided to ask him about Jason’s mother. I’d pushed her to the back of my mind, but I was still unsettled about the situation. I hadn’t given up on hoping there was some way to bring her and Jason together.
“Hey, Leonard,” I started.
He glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Yes?”
“I need to ask you something,” I said pensively. “In confidence.”
“Anything you need,” he said without hesitation.
“I…um…Jason’s mother make it back home okay the other day?”
There was a short pause. “I checked her into a hotel to get some rest, and then I put her on a plane myself, just as Mr. Wild instructed. There was a car waiting to take her home when the plane landed.”
“Well that was…thorough.” It was a relief that for all Jason’s anger, he had taken excellent care of his mother. He wasn’t unfeeling, just too hurt to listen to her.
Leonard didn’t say anything.
“I’d like to talk to her,” I continued. “Jason won’t like it, which is why I’m coming to you. I think she needs help, and I’ll need your assistance to find her.”
Leonard sighed. “I don’t know…I wouldn’t take anything she says to mean much, you know. She seems like she has…” He paused and gave me an apologetic glance in the rear-view mirror. “Issues.”
I remembered the crazy things she’d said to me, and I had to agree.
“I know,” I agreed. “That’s why I think she needs help.”
“I’ll give you any information you need for whenever you decide to go to LA.” He brought the car to a stop. Outside the window, I could see into the brightly lit lobby of Jason’s building. “Mr. Wild…” Leonard continued. “He’s a good guy. He deserves better than a mother who walked out on him, but anger held for too long is like poison. So, I understand what you’re doing.”
I smiled. “I’m glad you understand, and I really appreciate this.”
He nodded. “No problem.”
Moments later, I spied Jason walking toward us.
He was beautiful, this man who was completely mine. He strode like the colossus he was among people who seemed to orbit around his unrivaled presence.
I waited in my seat, so excited to see him that it almost made no sense. I knew every inch of his body. I’d seen him awake and asleep, in the most tender moments, and even in moments of erotic surrender, but he still had the power to excite me just by walking into a room.
He reached the car and opened the door, sliding into the seat beside me. I smiled at him, trying unsuccessfully to mask my excitement.
“Babe.” He leaned over and kissed me lightly, careful not to ruin my lipstick, then he gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I laughed softly as my butterflies settled, and I let my eyes rove over him. His hair was smoothed back, his suit still fresh, and his face—well, he could always knock my socks off with just a smile from that perfect mug. “You always look incredible.”
His lips quirked. “Yeah, I remember almost knocking you off your feet the first time you laid eyes on me.”
I burst into laughter. “You had to go there?”
He raised one perfect brow. “Am I wrong?”
I shook my head, capitulating. “I thought you were Amy’s date, and I felt so guilty for wanting you so bad.”
“I was blown away, too—could barely take my eyes off you. I kept telling myself I needed to get a grip because you were Amy’s roommate, but I knew it was a losing battle.”
“Me too.” I pulled in a breath, and he twined his fingers with mine, holding both our hands in his lap all the way to the restaurant.
Grant, Helen, Colin, and Amy were already at the table when we arrived.
“Here you both are.” Grant got up to greet us, and everyone else followed suit. Hugs and kisses followed.
“You look so lovely, sweetheart,” Helen said, kissing my cheek. “It’s so nice to see you again. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” I replied, lingering in her soft hug for a few extra seconds. “You look great, too.”
She waved one hand airily, though she seemed pleased. “I saw the video you made of the proposal. I’ve been watching it on repeat for days. So perfectly sweet.”
“Oh, it was! Even more so in real life.”
She put her hand on her heart. “Makes me so happy.”
A waiter brought wine and filled all our glasses. Grant raised his. “To Amy and Colin,” he toasted.
“To Amy and Colin.”
“Thank you,” Colin said, his eyes not leaving Amy’s. “We’re so excited to be doing this together.”
“And very happy.” Amy’s voice was bubbly. “We promise not to elope and deny you all the wedding of your dreams.”
Grant laughed. “The wedding of your dreams, you mean.”
She shrugged. “I have Colin—everything else is secondary.”
We all laughed. Jason squeezed my hand under the table, and I turned to look at him. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too.”
The rest of the dinner was sweet. The food was good, and Jason’s parents shared their plans for an engagement party. Amy announced that they were planning to visit Colin’s parents in England, though they hadn’t decided on a date or venue for the wedding.
After we’d eaten, I got up to go to the ladies’ room.
“I’ll come with you,” Amy offered, rising from her seat.
“So, England…” I said when we were both drying our hands in front of the beautiful marble sinks in the restroom.
“I’m looking forward to meeting his parents.”
“Do you think you’ll have the wedding over there?”
She sighed. “We haven’t decided. I think it might be fair since we’re going to live here. What do you think?”
I thought about it. “I don’t know. As long as you’re both happy with what you decide.”
“Hmm.” She shrugged. “We’re still considering it.”
“I need to tell you something,” I said.
Amy’s face clouded with worry. “What?”
“Nothing bad.” I laughed weakly. “Just…I spoke to Leonard about Jason’s mother, and he’s going to help me go to her and talk.”
“Go to her?” Amy sighed. “Why? I thought the plan was to try to convince Jason to give her a chance.”
“Yes, it is, but if I talk to her, then I can tell him what I think.”
“Have you told him that she asked you to leave him? That she threatened to harm him?”
I was silent.
“She’s crazy,” Amy insisted.
“I don’t think so.”
“Jason won’t like this.”
“He also won’t like it if they never work through this. It’s like a wound he carries inside him. He cares about her. If there’s a way for him to let go of the hurt…” I trailed off.
“I don’t think this is it,” she said stubbornly. “I think this is a bad idea.”
I sighed. “I shouldn’t have brought it up…not today of all days.”
“No…I understand how you feel about it.” She paused. “When do you plan to go?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“I’ll come with you. I don’t want you going alone.”
I chuckled. “Okay, sidekick.”
She smiled. “Next weekend, maybe? We can make it a girls trip for before the whole wedding blitz begins.” She gave me a quick hug. “Can we go back now?”
“Yes! Of course.”
Later, in the car, I lay my head on Jason’s shoulder as he stroked my back. I considered telling him about my plan to go to LA. If I kept trying to reason with him, maybe I could wear him down enough to give his mother the audience she so dearly wanted.
“What are you thinking?” Jason’s voice was low and tender. His hand moved to my hair, and I sighed when he massaged my scalp.
“I’m thinking how good it feels when you touch me.” It was only half a lie.
He chuckled. “I haven’t even started touching you yet.”
There was a promise in his voice that excited me. I lifted my head from his chest and held his gaze, my fingers playing casually with the buttons on his shirt. “You did promise to peel my dress off,” I reminded him.
His smile was so carnal I felt my insides flutter. “I haven’t forgotten.”
The car stopped outside his apartment building, and he gently eased me off his body. I smoothed my hair and said good night to Leonard as Jason went around the car and opened the door for me.
“Such a gentleman,” I teased.
“Just trying to make sure I get laid tonight.”
“You can get laid every night and day.”
He drew me into his arms, and right there in front of the entrance, he claimed my lips in a kiss I felt all the way to my toes.
I closed my eyes and sank into him, relishing the sensation of his lips on mine, the taste of his tongue, the almost aggressive way his hands molded my body to his. I pressed my hips into his thighs, the hard evidence of his erection making me ache deep in my belly.
He released my lips but kept holding me close to his body. “Careful,” he whispered in my ear. “Don’t tempt me to fuck you right here on the street.”
I laughed weakly, but the image was strangely arousing. “Would you?”
“I’d fuck you anywhere you wanted.” He smiled. “What’s a few nights in jail compared with making you come?”
I giggled. “Thankfully, you can make me come when we’re inside.”
He let out an exaggerated sigh of regret and released me. “If that’s what you want.”
I snorted, and we walked into the building, his arm around me. As we neared the elevator, he turned to me with a serious expression.
“Andre is convinced ‘Ladies first’ was invented so men could check out women’s butts.”
“Your assistant? That’s the kind of stuff you two talk about?” I wrinkled my nose in amusement. “It’s not true anyway.”
Jason pressed the call button. “Likely not.” The doors opened, and he looked at me, the corners of his lips twitching in a naughty smile. “Ladies first.”
I tried not to laugh. “Very funny.”
“Go on.” He was still smiling. “I have an ass to check out.”
I rolled my eyes and walked into the elevator ahead of him. He followed me and pressed the button to shut the doors.
“I hope you’re satisfied,” I grumbled as he took my hand and pulled me close.
“Satisfied?” He laughed and let one hand trail down to cup my ass. “Not even close.”
As soon as we were inside the apartment, he started making good on his promise to peel off my clothes. The dress went first in the living room. My bra followed in the hallway, and last was my panties inside the bedroom.
He removed his jacket and sat on the bed then held out a hand to me. “Come here, beautiful.”
I sashayed over to him, watching lust light up his eyes. His hands encircled my waist, and he covered a peaked nipple with his lips. As he flicked his tongue over the sensitive tip, the wet heat of his mouth stoked the flames of desperate need growing inside me.
“You’re perfect,” he said, his voice soft in wonder. He trailed his tongue to my other nipple and lavished attention on that one too until my need raged like wildfire.
“I need you naked,” I complained. My fingers were hungry for the feel of his skin. I tore off his shirt and waited while he unfastened his pants and pushed them down over his hips. The evidence of his arousal was a hard, thick ridge in his briefs, and I reached for him, eager to feel him, to watch him lose control under the power of my touch.
I stroked him, letting my fingers tease his cock through the soft material. He closed his eyes and lay back on the bed, a soft breath hissing through his lips. I pulled his briefs down and was rewarded with his erect cock, hard and thick and beautiful.
I climbed onto his body, straddling him, almost mesmerized by the sight of the hard muscles of his chest, his defined abs, and his perfect cock. After stroking him slowly for a few moments, I fisted him and pumped up and down, spreading the glistening bead of moisture that appeared on the tip of his arousal.
“Fuck!” His voice was harsh. His hips tensed. “Fuck, Daphne.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” I teased.
“Jesus!” He licked his lips and reached for me. “Come here.”
I smiled and kept pumping, feeling him growing even harder in my hand.
He swore and grabbed my wrists, pulling me over him and positioning me over his erection. I was dripping wet, and the thick head of his cock slid into me with ease.
I moaned and wriggled my hips, moving down over his sweet length.
He released my hands. “That’s it, baby. Take me deeper.”
I let him slide fully inside me, and he filled me completely, his flesh stretching mine so sweetly I almost couldn’t bear it. I bobbed my hips, and the friction made me gasp in pleasure.
Jason’s chest expanded, and his hands settled around my thighs. “Ride me, baby.”
I licked my lips and rode him up and down, slowly at first, then faster. I braced my hands on his chest and forgot everything, every thought but the feel of him sliding in and out of me.
My walls tightened around him, growing slicker with every delicious thrust. I heard his harsh breathing, and I bit my lip, helpless against the mad desire racing through me.
“Ride me hard, just like that,” Jason said, his encouragement like an X-rated litany in my head. My legs were shaking, my whole body straining toward climax. He gripped my hands. “Fuck me.”
I moaned helplessly, my eyes caught in his as the stark arousal and pleasure on his face drove me over the edge. I cried out as my body clenched tight around him, falling forward over his chest as my mind exploded into a million tiny pinpoints of light and pleasure.
Jason rolled over, putting me on my back, and his body covered mine. He braced one hand on the bed and fucked me as I climaxed, thrusting hard even as my body shook in his arms. My pleasure peaked and peaked again then he let out a soft groan, shuddering as he reached his release.
We lay in each other’s arms as the sounds of our lovemaking gave way to silence, and we slowly tried to catch our breath. He rolled to his side and pulled me close.
“You okay?”
I smiled lazily. “Perfect.”
He kissed my neck, and even though I was still reeling from my climax, I shuddered in pleasure.
He chuckled and nipped me gently with his teeth.
“Jason…” I started, considering telling him everything—my concerns, my desire to speak to his mother—and I almost did, but then I caught myself. “Amy is going to LA for a shoot next weekend,” I lied, cursing myself inside. “I want to go with her. We’re making a girls trip of it, you know, before all the engagement and wedding events start and nothing else matters anymore.”
“The whole weekend?”
I turned around to face him. “Two days.”
He frowned. “I’ve been taking up so much of your time she probably feels she has to steal you away to spend any time with you.”
“She’s not stealing me,” I said. “And I think this is a good idea. In a few weeks, she’ll leave for England to meet Colin’s parents. I want to spend a girls weekend with her before she takes one look at the English countryside and decides she likes it better over there.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s my baby sister.” His eyes widened in an expression that veered amusingly close to panic.
“Well, she’s Colin’s fiancée,” I reminded him, laughing.
“And Colin likes it here.”
I shrugged. “Colin likes it anywhere Amy is.”
“Jesus!” Jason laughed. “Stop scaring me. I refuse to worry about the possibility that my little sister is going to up and move to another continent.” He paused and kissed me. “I’ll arrange a plane to take you both to LA.”
“Okay.” I smiled. “That’ll be great.”
He drew me close. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”
My heart swelled. “You know you’re everything I could have ever hoped for,” I whispered softly. “You’ll never have to be without me.”
He was quiet. His hand trailed along my arm then slipped to my breast and tweaked my nipple.
“Jason,” I moaned, half aroused already as I rolled across the bed.
He came after me, laughing. “What? I didn’t say I was done with you yet.”