He reached for the dials. “What settings do you like?”
“Hot and fast.”
“Are we talking about laundry or the laundry fees?”
“Both.”
He withdrew his hand.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I know enough women who’ve yelled about how I do my laundry to know that’s not actually how laundry is supposed to be done.”
“Okay, but I don’t want to take the time to separate laundry and do multiple loads. I get a lot of really gross stuff on my clothes so I feel like hot water is best for that, and if my clothes fade or shrink, I get more. I pretty much wear denim and t-shirts all the time.”
Zeke had never paid this much attention to laundry in his life. “You weren’t kidding when you said you like things simple.”
“It’s super easy to replace my wardrobe at any point. And it’s super easy to get dressed in the morning.”
“I’ve never met a woman like you. And I live on the bayou. The women down here aren’t exactly frilly and girly, but…”
“They’re more interesting?”
“That was definitely not what I was going to say. They’re more complicated,” he said. “Generally, anyway. You’re a lot more like my grandma. She wears jeans and t-shirts every day. Her t-shirt collection is a little more eclectic. Tourists send her t-shirts from their home states when they get home after visiting Autre. But she braids her hair every morning, puts on a t-shirt and jeans, and heads to the bar where she spends the day doing the same thing she’s done for fifty years with the same people she’s known for fifty years.” He paused. “And she loves it. It’s her passion. And it probably doesn’t seem like she’s making the world a better place, but I think she is. That bar and that food are comforting for people around here. And it helps them all go out and do their thing—whether it’s teaching little kids or taking care of animals or showing off the bayou or being a spouse or a parent—knowing they have a place to come to where they can reconnect and be cheered on and supported no matter what they’re going through. She’s got a part in everyone’s stories and successes.”
Jill was watching him with a strange expression.
“What?” he asked.
“I don’t remember the last time I did laundry with a guy. I’m not sure I ever have. But I am sure I’ve never stood entirely naked in front of a guy and had him get sentimental about his grandmother.”
Zeke huffed out a breath. “Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before either.”
“It’s clear that you think your grandmother’s a pretty amazing woman, so I’m going to take all of that as a compliment. If it’s not, I need you to not tell me. And if it any point in the next few minutes, you start thinking about her again, I’m going to need you to stop everything and walk out of this house, and never speak of this again.”
His mind and body shifted almost immediately. “Walk out of my own house?”
“Yeah. Because I don’t have any dry clothes at the moment, so I can’t be the one to leave.”
He laughed. “Okay. What are you gonna do?”
“I’m going to have you lift me up onto this washing machine and take your first laundromat fee.”
Zeke couldn’t have told anyone what they had been talking about thirty seconds before she said those words.
He clasped her hips in his hands and lifted her up onto the machine.
She readily spread her knees so that he could step forward between them. He held her hips in his hands as he leaned in to kiss her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed close, opening her mouth and sighing happily.
He ran his hands up and down her back, then around to her sides again to cup her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples.
Her hands went to his hair and pulled on the tie that was holding his hair back from his face. She dropped it to the floor behind them and ran her fingers through his hair, loosening the strands.
He dipped his knees to take a nipple in his mouth, sucking gently for only a second before sucking hard and giving her a little bite the way he learned she loved that first night.
She gave a little moan and her fingers tightened in his hair. He moved one hand from her back to her thigh and lifted her leg to set her heel on the edge of the machine. The position tipped her back slightly, and she leaned, propping her elbows on the top of the console where the dials and buttons were. Zeke moved her propped leg open, spreading her thighs.
“So fucking pretty,” he said, gruffly.
She took his hand and led it to her hot center. “Touch me.”
Gladly. He ran the pad of his middle finger up and down her slick slit, circling her clit and loving the way her head fell back and her eyes closed. He reached for one breast, plucking at the nipple as he slid first one finger, then a second into her pussy.
Her sweet heat welcomed him, and he dragged his fingers in and out leisurely, loving the feel of her tight body clinging to him.
Her breathing sped up and a flush started to climb from her chest to her neck to her cheeks.
“Yes, Zeke. Deeper. Harder.”
He picked up the pace, loving the way she felt free to direct him to what she wanted.
“More.”
“Suck on me. I want your mouth too,” she said.
“Where?” He’d put his mouth anywhere she wanted.
Her eyes fluttered open.
“Here.” One hand slid down her stomach until she reached her clit. She circled it with her own finger as he continued to pump in and out of her.
“Fuck. Anything you want.” He lowered his head and replaced her finger with his tongue. He licked, circled, then sucked.
She tangled her fingers in his hair, lifting her hips closer to his mouth.
“Yes. I’m so close.”
“Come like this. I never want to do laundry without getting hard again,” he told her.
The machine was rocking under her and he kept his mouth against her as he fucked her with two fingers.
It only took a few more seconds for her to clamp down around his fingers and cry out his name.
Zeke straightened immediately, pulling his fingers from her body and lifting them to his mouth. He sucked them clean as he fumbled with his fly with one hand.
She reached to help him, freeing his cock in seconds, pushing his jeans to his knees. He grasped her hips and pulled her so her ass was just hanging off the edge of the machine.
“Take your shirt off,” she coaxed. “I love your ink.”
He reached behind him and grabbed the cotton between his shoulders, yanking it up and over his head. He tossed it to the floor then fisted his cock,
She licked her lips as she watched. “Fuck, you’re so pretty,” she told him, repeating his words with a half smile on her lips.
“The stars you’re about to see are gonna be pretty,” he growled.
He held his cock with one hand and gripped under her ass with the other, lining them up. Then he thrust forward.
He sank deep into the tight heat that took his breath.
“Yes, Zeke!”
She was perfect. He didn’t know if she was seeing stars but he sure as fuck was. Rainbow stars. Rainbow stars that sparkled and twinkled and formed the word forever.