Jacqueline

Vince and I spend the day at the art fair drinking expensive beer in plastic cups and walking around the shops. He’s as laid back and casual as he’s ever been, and I am too, come to think of it. I’m not sure what he’s teaching me about dating, because since we had sex on his stairs, shared a bed, and spent the day together, I’m pretty sure these fall under his “do not attempt” category.

It’s a topic I bring up over a dinner of fish and chips at a local pub. I’ve switched to water because day drinking made me sleepy. Vince palms his beer bottle and answers me succinctly.

“That’s the best part, Butler.” He picks up a fry and points at me with it. “We don’t have to have rules. We can fumble, fall down, and make mistakes.”

“Because this is pretend?”

He eats the fry and watches me. “You want to know if this is pretend?”

We’re at a small two-top table in the back of the restaurant. It’s loud in here, but where we’re sitting I can talk at a normal level and I don’t have to shout. “I want to define this going in, because I didn’t define things with J.T. and look where that got me.”

Vince smiles and my heart thuds heavily against my breastbone. He lays his hand on mine. “I coach. You learn. Define it however you want.”

“So tonight when you take me home…” I trail off just shy of asking him if he’s going to push me up against the front door for a long, long make-out session, or if I should invite him in.

“You’re ruining our dinner date. You’re supposed to be mysterious and I’m supposed to be charming and then we’re supposed to agonize over what happens next during the drive.”

“I’m not going to be the only one wondering,” I inform him. “You can try your moves, but I might not cave.”

“A challenge, then.” His eyes light as he welcomes that idea.

“Do you have what it takes?” I ask, playing it up, because seeing him like this makes me bold.

“I guess we’ll soon find out.”

“I guess so.”

Vince

Here we are. In front of Jackie’s house after dinner. It reminds me of the first night I dropped her off, minus a generic bouquet in the mailbox. Last night she came to me, upset and hurting because Jaundice shot her down a few feet from where I’m standing. His loss is my gain, but the hurt in Jackie’s eyes tells me she’s still smarting from his rejection.

Lex the Ex left her for another woman, so it’s a tender topic for my friend. I’m trying not to be a complete jerk and put my feelings before hers. But if I’m being honest? After the night we had and the day we had, I’m pissed she’s thinking of that asshole runner at all.

My big plan when I woke this morning was to let this play out. Give her a safe space to do whatever she wants with me. I sure as hell didn’t want her changing her mind after the sex on the stairs. Sex notwithstanding, the day we spent together was fantastic. Easy. Comfortable. Fun. Basically like every other day I’ve spent with Jackie, only now touching her was encouraged.

At the moment, however, I’m feeling the way she did last night: like I’ll be rejected altogether.

I’m going to play through with confidence.

“We’re at the scene of the refusal,” I say. Her eyes snap to mine, then float over my shoulder toward J.T.’s window. Still he has her attention. That stings. My voice louder than before, I continue. “Next lesson. Overcoming rejection with the following date. Some guys don’t get it, Butler. You have to pull yourself up by the proverbial bootstraps and try, try again in this messy world of coupledom.”

“Whatever you say, Coach.”

My plan is working in that she’s not suspicious of my intentions. We can play this out in my role as coach and her role as coachee. “Let’s practice this the way it should go. Invite me in.”

“Just…what, ask you if you want to come in?”

“Put some effort into it.” I cross my arms like I might tell her no. There’s no way in hell I’ll tell her no.

“Did the girls you dated always invite you in, Vince?” A spark of worry highlights her eyes.

“No. More importantly, I didn’t always want to come in. Sometimes I left.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

She chews on her bottom lip in thought.

“Butler.” I decide to put her out of her misery and pitch her a softball. “What are your plans for this evening?”

She tips her head, her soft brown hair framing her face and her eventual smile. Watching it spread her lips could turn into one of my favorite hobbies. Jackie happy is a specific kind of drug. One I’m not immune to.

“I’m planning on going inside and slipping into something a lot less comfortable.”

“Damn,” I mutter. “You don’t need to be coached. You need to be kissed.”

I grasp her jaw and tip those inviting lips to mine, kissing her and relieving the desire thrumming in my bloodstream. She pushes up on her toes and the last glimpse I have of her is her eyes closing as mine do the same. She ends the kiss by dropping to her heels.

“Would you like to come in?” she purrs up at me.

“Hell, yeah.” I follow her to the door, eager. Even though I don’t intend to, I peer over my shoulder at the building across the street, hoping J.T. saw every second of that kiss—and me walking through her door.

“How am I doing?” Jackie whispers as I close her front door behind me and flip the deadbolt. “Do you have any pointers now that I’ve successfully lured a man into my house?”

“Yes, but every one of them involves you stripping naked while I watch, which is probably less about my coaching and more about my boner.”

She tosses her head back and laughs. I grin. I was hoping to elicit that response. “I never knew you were so…adorable.”

I’m not adorable. Puppies are adorable. But if that makes Jackie feel better about letting me in, I’ll allow it.

“Give me sixty seconds and then walk down the hall.” She trails her fingers along my T-shirt before she leaves me alone in her living room, my heart pounding to beat all.

Sixty seconds. Leslie would have asked for twenty minutes. Whatever Jackie has planned, I’m in. I count, inserting “Mississippi” between the numbers but then getting impatient and using “Ohio” instead. Somewhere around forty-two, I head down the hall toward the closed door at the end of it.

I rap lightly. “I’m early.”

“Good,” comes her slightly muffled response.

I open the door to find Jackie, arms overhead, wiggling around in a red lace…something. Sort of looks like a tangle of bungee cords.

She peeks through the material, which is looped over her nose and mouth. Her brown eyes are wide. “Help?”

I’m not going to laugh, because she’s in a fragile state. Her simple cotton panties are turning me on, despite her upper half being strangled by lace and Lycra.

I take the sides of the material in hand and spot her bra discarded on the floor, so what I’m about to uncover are those perfect breasts. I lift the garment, covering her face and trapping her arms overhead. I intended to free her from her siren wear, honest, but instead get towed in by two perfect nipples and the fact that she’s rendered helpless. Wrapping my arms around her back, I lower my lips to one breast and tease her with my tongue. I hear the moan, feel her relax against me. I move to the other breast, swirling circles and suckling, and Jackie’s next moan is louder.

Hell.

Yes.

I tug the lingerie from her arms and toss it aside. My girl has a major case of bedhead and hunger in her eyes. I’m not making either of us wait.

“Lesson number whatever-we’re-on,” I say, my voice tight with lust. “Lingerie is sexy, but you naked is sexier.” Fingers along the edge of her panties, I slip my hand inside and lower my mouth to her breast again. I’m slipping through her wet folds a second later, loving the way her hands rake through my hair—backward and up, sending chills down my arms and legs.

This woman.

“Vince.”

“I love when you say my name,” I growl, kissing her firmly as I wheel her onto the bed in the corner.

“Is that a good go-to, Coach?” she asks.

The question pulls me out of the moment, and for a split second I can’t tell if she’s sincerely asking for guidance or if we’re now both aware that there’s a game. It’s a safe one, though, and it’s fucking fun, so I play along.

“Always, Butler. Always say the guy’s name. Especially when you come.”

“Do you prefer Carson? Or Vince?”

“I prefer ‘Don’t ever stop, Vince’ as well as ‘I’ve never seen anything so massive in my life.’ ” That earns me another rich laugh. I kiss it off her lips before sliding my tongue along her throat to her collarbone. She’s arching beneath me and clawing at my shirt. I let her tear it off me and throw it aside, but I don’t let her inhibit my descent. I’m headed full speed ahead for the Promised Land.

Fists on either side of her panties, I roll them down partway and sense a moment of hesitation when I lay a kiss below her belly button. Her eyes hint at a question I’m not sure she’ll ask. Going down on her is a deeper commitment than sex. My mouth on her most private and sensitive parts. Her trusting me to bring her to orgasm with only my tongue and undying devotion to her pleasure.

She knows. I know. And that palpable moment hangs in the balance.

What she doesn’t know is that this is about more than getting her off so I can get off immediately following—though here’s hoping it works out that way. For me this is about unwinding the coil in Jackie’s spine and letting her liquefy beneath my tongue and hands. Tasting her unique flavor and bingeing on it until she vibrates beneath me.

The moment when she surrenders.

That’s what I want more than anything.

“You’re sure?” Her question is a breathy whisper. It cuts me to see her uncertain because I know this isn’t stemming from her. This worry was gifted to her by another guy who did her wrong. Maybe Lex, maybe someone else. Or maybe no guy has ever revered her in a way that she deserves. Time for that to change.

“Honey, I’m dying to taste every inch of you.”

Her smile is humbling and, without waiting for a response, I trail my tongue along the edge of her panties before sliding the material to one side and stealing a lick. She reacts like paper touched by a lit match. She gasps, her hips jutting greedily toward my lips. I’m going to need more room to maneuver. I prop myself on my elbows, roll her underwear down her legs, and throw them over my shoulder. She stiffens, her thighs closing slightly, but I can tell what she wants. I can feel what she wants.

And I know how to give it to her.

Nestled between her thighs, I open her to me and tenderly swipe my tongue along her folds. The writhing starts immediately—this isn’t going to take long at all. Unless she’s into multiples, in which case I’m settling in and counting. Like I noticed before in our shared shower, she’s trimmed but not shaved bare. I lave her, roughly then softly. Rough rewards me with a pinched moan, her fingers in my hair, so rough it is. Shortly thereafter, her breaths shorten into heated pants. I swirl the tip of my tongue and locate her clit. I know I’ve found it because the second I roll over her, she emits a sharp yip of approval.

“Next lesson,” I say, taking the briefest break from my work. “Don’t you dare hold back.”

I dive in, knowing I’ve got her balanced on the edge. Her legs open, her heels hit my shoulders, and the sounds she’s making now are starting to qualify as shouts. I grind my erection into the bedding as I reach up and give her nipples a tweak. I go for firm and fast, and a second later she’s throwing her arms wide and tearing the sheets from the bed. I mentally pat myself on the back as her orgasm comes in waves that shake her legs, and then her entire body. I take her in—her scent, her shouts—gently guiding my tongue along her until her hands come up to push my face way.

“Vince, please. I can’t. No more.”

Another shudder takes her and I decide not to stop. To prove to her she can take one more—and this one will be better than the last. Hands wrapped tightly around her thighs, I renew my efforts, and soon enough she’s learning that there are more—two more—one riding a wave in followed by another. Her pleas are borderline incoherent and her grip on my hair is weak.

Just what I was going for.

Carefully climbing up her body, I trail my mouth from her hip to her ribs. Unable to bypass her nipple without saying hello, I place a reverent kiss on the tip. Next is her mouth, and when I get there, she’s winding down from her intense release.

“Don’t move.”

“Don’t worry.” She grins, her eyelids opening lazily to take me in. “I don’t think I can.”

I ease off the bed, strip off my jeans—leaving them inside out because I’m impatient—and return to her in an instant. I maneuver my hips between her legs, propping myself on my elbows, my eyes on hers. One tilt and I’m sliding deep. No barrier, no fuss.

We glide.

Wet and warm and smooth. No hurry on her end, but her eyebrows pinch as another climax sneaks up on her. She’s going to sleep well tonight, and I’ll sleep well knowing her mind is freed from worry and wonder because I took her to the peak of pleasure.

We move together and then she’s bearing down, clutching me from within to give my cock the best hug on the planet. A few more deep pounds and I’m the one who’s about to black out with no worry or wonder. I kiss her, deep and frantic as I continue moving. Her legs wrap around my ass and draw me closer and when she clutches again—I’m gone.

A guttural, primal sound exits my throat as I bury my face in her neck and come hard. She’s there with me, her mewls of pleasure saturating the air and cloaking me.

Seconds pass. Or maybe minutes. I’m not sure.

Finally I raise my head to kiss her tenderly. Jackie either can’t or won’t open her eyes.

“Mmm.”

“I concur,” I say.

“You’re a good teacher.”

“You’re a good student.”

We smile at each other like idiots and then I’m facing what I’ve been ignoring the entire day—what I’ve been shutting out since this morning.

I’m going to have to go home.