Chapter Seven
The coffee woke him. He reached out and found emptiness beside him. How long had she been gone? Jaz opened his eyes. Bright sunlight streamed in through dark purple sheers. He glanced around, everything coming into focus.
The walls were a very light purple, almost the same shade as the tattoo on her shoulder. He smiled at the memory of inking her. Had it only been a few short hours ago?
There were no pictures and the furniture wasn’t too feminine, though the crystal drawer pulls and doorknobs gave him pause.
He stretched. The bed protested under his weight and his feet hung off the end. They needed to go to his place tonight to sleep.
Tonight. After 11:59 p.m. Would she want to spend the night with him? Would she want to see him after this? Because he sure as hell wanted to see her. He’d gotten a taste of his fantasy and he wasn’t ready to give her up yet. They’d fucked, they’d played and teased, they’d talked, they’d shared pancakes. And she was making coffee. It was so much like dating. Without any awkwardness. He hadn’t planned it like that. Nothing at all about the events leading up to him being in her bed had been. Everything just … happened. Being with Mandi was so smooth, so easy.
The way she walked, talked, smiled, laughed, moaned, gasped. The way she creamed so sweet and hot for him. The way she slid into comfort with her nakedness, with his. The way she fit against his body and the way she fit is cock …
The word “right” screamed and blinked in blinding neon in his mind. Part of him was hesitant to go there and part of him couldn’t help it. He wasn't searching, looking or thinking about finding a woman. His friends had found them and Jaz was happy for them, but he wasn’t in a hurry to meet anyone. Besides, Mandi had only been a fantasy.
But then, Jackie called and everything changed. She hinted that Mandi had a birthday coming up and that she had a crush on him. Jaz jumped on it. All bets were off. He was going after her and the timing, couldn’t have been more perfect than a birthday. Jackie agreed and the plan was set in motion.
Except, instead of one night, he wanted to keep her.
His heart thumped hard at the notion, but he didn’t take it as panic or uncertainty or fear. It was excitement.
Oh yeah, it was so on.
Jaz flipped back the sheet and slid his legs over the side of the bed. He stood, stretched again and padded naked into the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged and went in search of his woman. Naked.
Possession. His. The thought thrilled him. He had to contain his thrill long enough for her to catch up, though.
She stood at the kitchen counter. Or rather bent over the kitchen counter. Her head rested on her crossed arms. Her feet crossed at the ankle.
And she was naked, too.
She wanted to have sex face-to-face, but how in the hell did she expect him to live up to his end of that bargain when she looked so delectable in her current position?
He couldn’t decide if he should clear his throat to alert her or say hello softly so as not to startle her. What he wanted to do was slide up behind her, run his hands up her sides and under her to cup her perfect, heavy tits in his palms. He wanted to urge her to turn around so he could put her on top of the counter and slip his cock inside her while they waited for the coffee to finish.
And then he heard the snore. She’d fallen asleep. He held the chuckle inside and walked over to her. A light hand to her back and her breathing didn't even alter at his touch. He’d never seen anything so cute.
He picked her up in his arms, and she purred, curling into his chest. The coffee would have to wait. After laying her in bed, he pulled the sheet up over her and went to take a shower.
The shower woke him up, and by the time he got out, he was hoping she was awake, but one look out the door … She hadn’t moved a muscle.
He needed a change of clothes. And to take the load of towels in his car to his place and throw them in the wash. There were more than enough clean ones at the shop, but he was a bit anal, which drove everyone around him nuts. Why wait until the last minute when you could do it now? He got that part from his foster parents and part from jail. When either one said jump, they meant right then, not when he felt like it.
His jeans and t-shirt on, he hunted down his shoes in the mess of clothes at the foot of the bed. He didn’t bother putting them on, just grabbed them up and went in search of a piece of paper and a pen. In a basket by the fridge, he found both. Jotting a note to Mandi, he made sure to tell her he’d be back after he ran home and then to Katz to pick up her car. It’d been sitting there all night and he didn’t want to leave it the rest of the day.
He checked on her one more time. She was still asleep. Her face pillowed under her hand, and that little snore curled warm and deep in the pit of his stomach. Unable to resist, he walked over and brushed his lips against her temple. One night with her had flipped him inside out and he had to have more …
He grabbed her keys from the little hook by the door and made a quick exit before he decided to strip and climb on top of her. The inside of his car smelled like her and sex. His cock caught a whiff too and protested leaving the warm and very willing woman inside the house. The sooner he left, the sooner he’d be back.
Backing out of her drive, his first stop was his own place. It took less than ten minutes, and not much more to change into some other clothes and brush his teeth, shave. On his way back out, he grabbed his bag of drumsticks from the spare room. He would need them later.
Next stop was the shop. He needed to check in and remind them he wouldn’t be working today. He might own the place, but usually they were open, he was there. But not today.
His last stop before heading back to Mandi’s was Katz. He’d asked Dallon to meet him there to pick up Mandi’s car and drive his back. Dallon’s place wasn’t too far from Katz and he had agreed to help out.
When Jaz pulled into the employee parking area, only two vehicles were sitting there. One was Dallon’s truck. It was never mistaken for anyone else’s, what with the flames of hell painted all over the tailgate. The other one though … “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Dallon asked, coming up beside him.
“She didn’t say she drove a classic too.”
“It’s pretty.”
Mandi’s classic was a Ford Torino, ’69 or ’70. Could even be a ’71. Man, he hadn’t seen one in such pristine condition in years. She said her brothers had a restoration shop. If they did the work on her car, they’d done a fucking awesome job. Light blue that it was almost white body with a midnight blue roof.
He pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked the car. The unblemished interior matched the roof with wood accents. The retro dash gleamed and the only modern part of the car was the stereo system.
He reached in to slide the seat back, then got behind the wheel. Damn. He wanted to pop the hood to take a look, but he’d do that later. At the moment, he was more tempted to get back to the owner of the car.
“You sure you don’t want me to drive her car back to her place?”
“Yeah. I’ll trust you not to kill mine on the way.”
“I have excellent driving skills.”
“Uh-huh. Remind me to ask Mac about that.”
“Screw you.”
“Not on your life. Your girl over there, though …”
“No way. Don’t even let her hear you suggest such a thing or she’ll be begging me to take her someplace she can watch men get it on. No thanks.”
“She still wearing you out?”
“Hell. Every chance she gets. Can’t get her off me. She’s turned into a damn nympho.”
“Don’t sound like you’re tired of it either.”
“Fuck no.”
Dallon walked away, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Jaz closed the car door and cranked the engine, which hummed to life. He pulled on the old-time gearshift and put the Torino in reverse. It only took a little gas to get it moving, and once he pulled it out onto the street, it drove like a wet dream.
Then he heard the screeching tires behind him. “Shit.”
* * * * *
Mandi stretched and rolled over. She slid her hand to the other side of the bed, only to come up empty.
“Jaz?” she called out. No answer came back to her. She listened, but heard nothing. No television, no stereo. She didn’t smell food or coffee.
Lifting her head, she moved the pillow he’d slept on out of the way and looked at the clock. “Shit.” It was well after three in the afternoon. She’d slept the damn day away.
With a grumpy sigh, she crawled across the mattress, winced and got out of bed. A hot shower would ease the aches in all the places she wasn’t used to having aches. She hadn’t had an all-night sex fest in more years than she cared to think about. And her previous lovers weren’t the let's go all night and sleep all day kind, either. No, they were fun and some were quite creative, but they were usually asleep hours and hours before dawn. And … Wait. She looked down at the bed. How had she gotten there? She turned around in a circle, taking in the room, trying to jog her memory.
She’d gotten out of bed and gone to make coffee earlier. She didn’t remember drinking the coffee or going back to sleep, so how …
“Dammit.” She stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door in frustration. Jaz must have put her back in bed. She’d fallen asleep at the friggin’ counter. What a delightful date she was. Give her the best sex of her life, a sweet tattoo she was in love with, and this was how she thanked him?
She turned on the water, and as she waited for it to heat up, she turned and looked over her shoulder at the ink. The candle was so perfect, so very pretty and delicate. He’d added a swirl, and the fancy script the date and his name were in was so …
She was gonna fall so hard for him. There was no way to avoid it. He’d turned out to be even more amazing than she’d ever dreamed.
Stepping over the edge of the tub, she was careful not to get the tattoo wet as she washed the other parts of her body. She’d have to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. After she was all clean and shiny and fresh, she would need to try to find Jaz. She owed him an apology for being so lazy when he’d planned to spend the entire day with her.
She shut the water off and pulled the curtain back. “Coffee,” she groaned. She took a deep breath. It was close, fresh and … She stepped out, grabbed a towel to hold in front of her body and left the bathroom. She came to halt with a smile crossing her lips. Jaz sat on the edge of her bed, holding a cup of her very best friend in the world save for Jackie … Coffee.
“I don’t know how you take it,” he said, nodding to the cup.
“Two tablespoons of creamer. It’s in the door of the refrigerator.” She stepped closer to him. “Jaz, I am so sorry I fell back asleep. I didn’t mean to. I … I’m surprised you’re still here.”
He set the cup down on the nightstand and took the towel from her fisted hands. He stood, dragging the soft fluffiness across her body, drying her skin. He turned her on, made her feel special.
“Don’t worry about it. I know how tired you were. How long had you been up?”
“By the time we got into bed this morning, close to twenty-four hours.”
“Yeah, no wonder you were so beat. Anyone would be with or without all the extracurricular activities we were busy with.” He punctuated his words with a kiss to her neck. And that kiss led to more kisses down her spine until he was kneeling behind her. He dried her feet up to her thighs. “Bend over and spread your legs.”
“Jaz …”
“Go on. Bend over and open your legs. Let me in.”
She did as he said and then his mouth was there, licking up the inside of her thighs, teasing her by not touching her pussy. Her hands fisted in the sheet when his wicked tongue drove up inside her, slid out to tickle her clit, then dove back inside.
Back and forth, he ate at her, sucked at the juices he created, and gave her the most exquisite, quick-to-flare-up orgasm she’d ever had.
With him, it didn’t take much. All he had to do was touch her, speak to her, hell, even look at her and she was more than halfway ready to come.
He laved the tingling button of her clit until she stopped quivering and sank to her knees. He pulled her against him for a few minutes.
“I went and got your car from Katz.”
“You did? When?”
“While you were sleeping. I left you a note in the kitchen next to the coffeepot in case you woke up while I was gone. I didn’t want you to think I’d left without intending to come back.”
“How did you know where to find the keys?”
“I saw you hang them up this morning.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” She tilted her head up and looked in his face. “So you know what I drive now.”
“I do. Man, she’s a sweet car. I haven’t seen one like her in such great condition in ages.”
“Trae and Trevor did a fantastic job. My grandmother used to have one and when I saw mine, I bought it and my brothers fixed it up for me. It was my birthday present a few years ago.”
“You seem to get big ticket items for your birthday.”
She lifted an eyebrow in query. “Are you a big ticket item?”
“Have you failed to miss how big I am? And no, I’m not talking about my dick, though it’s nothing small either.”
He tweaked her nose and then kissed the tip. The gesture was affectionate, sweet, tender, and it made her chest ache.
“Come on, get up, lazy bones.”
“But I like it right here.”
“Tough. I need to put some lotion on your tat.”
She sighed and used the edge of the mattress to pull herself up. “I need to wash my hair anyway.”
“Where? Weren’t you in the shower?”
“Yes, but I thought I had to keep the tattoo dry. I figured I’d wash it in the kitchen sink.”
“Okay then. Let’s go wash your hair.”
“You don’t have to help.”
“I know, but I’d like to.” He got down in her face until they were nose to nose. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I like touching you and I’ll use any excuse I have to.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.”
“Okay, well, let me get dressed and you can help me wash my hair.”
“You can do it naked.”
“You’re not naked.”
“I’m not washing my hair.”
“Perv.” Mandi laughed. She was completely at ease with her nudity, him in clothes, and their light, teasing banter. There was no ‘gonna fall’ because she was already so far gone for him. If she hadn’t had a crush on him before, she would have one by now. He made it so simple to like him, to want to be with him.
He licked his lips and thrust his hips at her. “Every inch, baby.”