And that laugh. It’s hot smoke. All velvet and curling and deep.
Rusty from disuse.
Jack swallows and pushes off the bed, scanning the room. He leaves me for a few moments, returning with a short glass of something amber colored. “It’s not tequila, but it’ll do the trick.” He holds it to my lips. “Knock it back fast. No one likes the taste at first.”
“Okay.”
His eyes remain on mine as I open my mouth, tip my head back and let him pour the liquor down my throat. It burns, but I let the slide of fire continue until the glass is empty. My eyes water when I swallow, but I manage not to cough.
“Good girl,” Jack rasps, setting the glass down on one of the tables positioned in between the armchairs. “You did that like a pro.”
The liquor tastes terrible, but I have to admit it helped. An enjoyable warmth is walking through my limbs, ridding them of the most jagged peaks of tension. Also, I’m suddenly holding myself to a less strict standard when it comes to ogling his body. I can’t seem to stop tracing those lines that create a V at his hips. What are those called? Am I staring?
“Maisy.” Jack tips my chin up. “Not that I don’t love your eyes on me, but there’s something important we need to get out of the way. Before we’re not alone anymore.”
Gulp. Had I actually forgotten about the upcoming show for a second? “What is it?”
He unhooks his belt and slides it out of the loops, dropping it to the floor. “Before they get here, I want you to get comfortable with my touch. My kiss. I don’t want us having…” His jaw ticks for a few seconds. “I don’t want you having all of your firsts in front of an audience.”
I don’t immediately discard the idea. In fact, I consider it.
Is it possible I’m…not going to mind him touching me so much?
Does that make me shameful?
Sitting on this huge bed in my slip dress with this big, beautiful man in front of me, knowing he paid ten million dollars to sleep with me…I know, I know I shouldn’t have a quickening tickle between my thighs. I know it shouldn’t turn me on to be desired so much, but I’m shocked to find…I’m getting there. In a life of toiling and labor, I’m suddenly a commodity. An object of lust. And it’s a little bit of a rush.
“That makes sense,” I whisper. “Getting used to you…before.”
His expression doesn’t change, but the pulse at the base of his neck starts to fly. “Good, Maisy,” he says thickly, reaching up to slowly trail a fingertip along the slope of my shoulder. “You’ve never had a man touch any part of you before. Have you?”
I swallow. “No.”
Lust brightens his blue eyes to a different shade, tightens the lines around his mouth.
He flicks the strap of my dress off, sending it slinking down my shoulder. And then his open mouth follows the path his finger took, the tip of his tongue searing me, making me gasp. When he reaches my neck, he stops, hissing a breath against my skin. “Fuck. I knew you were going to be delicious, but this is criminal. The innocence is dripping off of you.” His hands slide under my knees. Pulls me to the edge of the bed and steps between my thighs. “Is it dripping out of you, too, angel?”
I can’t answer that.
I’m not experienced enough to feel comfortable giving my secrets, not with words, but my body seems intent on informing Jack that yes, there’s a warm glide of liquid traveling through the folds of my sex. My back arches gently and I bite my lip, allowing my knees to spread just a touch wider. Jack’s breath stutters in response, his hands dragging up my thighs, taking the hem of my dress higher, up to my hips. Digging his fingertips into me there.
“Jesus, you’re a ripe little virgin, aren’t you? Ready to get plucked.” His hot mouth travels up my neck, bathing my ear in labored breaths. “Know you need something but no idea what that something is. Isn’t that right, Maisy?”
“Yes,” I admit, before I can stop myself.
My admission makes him shudder. “Fuck. Me.”
There’s a low pulse between my legs now that I’ve encountered while listening to the steamy scenes of a romance novel, but I’ve never explored it. Never tried to figure out where it could lead in real life. That pulse beats faster when Jack’s hands glide up my ribcage and clutch my breasts, his thumbs strumming my nipples roughly through the thin silk of my dress.
“That feels so good, doesn’t it?” he asks, raking his teeth over my pulse. “Tits like these need a firm hand. They’re teasing little things and we can’t let them think they’re in charge, can we, angel?” He bares his teeth against my ear, his grip tightening hard. “Can’t let them know they make my dick so hard, I could come all over your thighs just thinking about them.”
I moan at those words. Those forbidden, filthy words. They’re not romantic or flowery, like I thought I liked. They’re base and honest and they make my head swim. Make my face turn towards Jack’s, seeking a kiss, even though I don’t know what I’m doing. He meets me halfway, though, as if he’s attuned to me. As if he was just waiting for me to reach the point that I needed the kiss as an outlet for what he’s making me feel with his hands, his lips, his speech.
“Maisy,” he whispers unevenly, breathing hard against my mouth, condensation making our lips slide together sensuously, the slick friction making me think of sex. Of bodies joining, moving together desperately, mating. And that’s how our tongues move. They lap at each other like greedy things, his fingers burying in my hair to tip my head sideways, devouring me with a breathless slant of his lips. “Dear God, this fucking mouth—”
Approaching voices interrupt whatever Jack is going to say.
Jack grits a curse, pressing our foreheads together, his eyes squeezed shut.
It’s the second time he’s made me forget what’s about to happen, but there is no way I can put off the fear any longer. All those men, all of their gluttonous eyes are going to be on me. How am I going to stand it?
“Hey. Look at me.” He tilts my face up. “It’s just you and me the whole time. You and me. There’s no one else here. Okay?”
“I don’t think I can pretend like that.”
“Yes, you can.” He keeps nodding until I nod with him. I can’t look away from his eyes, they’re so intense. So beautiful. They’re courting my trust and I have no option but to hand it over. There’s no alternative if I want to get through this with my emotions intact. “I’m going to touch you in ways that will force you to focus on me. Only me and what we’re doing. I’m going to be right up in your beautiful face the whole time. You’re not going to see anyone else.”
His voice is rife with confidence and I can’t help but believe him.
Jack is going to make it okay.
“Just…” I hear leather groan as men begin to take their seats around the bed. Material is shifted and zippers are brought down. Time’s up. Oh God, I can’t believe what I have to tell him first. What I have to say out loud. “I-I just started on the pill. My mother insisted when I turned eighteen. But it’s only been five days. It’s not effective until a week has passed,” I whisper in Jack’s ear. “Can you…can you make sure you don’t…”