chapter 5
Of all the mistakes he'd ever made in his life that had to be the dumbest one. Kissing Jessica Jones. Because now there was no way he was ever getting the taste of her out of his system. Jonas followed behind JJ, watching her ass sashay back and forth as she headed straight for her room. Aching all over, he went straight for the conference room. He’d left his laptop and needed to collect a few things before he headed home.
What had he been thinking? The problem was that now that he’d tasted her, it was all he could think about. Even before the sweet, scorching slide of her lips over his, he’d already been a little too obsessed with her. Because while she might seem innocuous, she was sly, working her way under his skin for the sheer pleasure of torturing him to death.
Fuck, he was losing it. He needed to get his shit and then to put some distance between the two of them. He just had to put her out of his mind. It would be fine. He was a master of control.
Not with her you’re not.
Under penalty of death, he would never admit just how often he thought about JJ. That would only stroke her ego … amongst other things. His perverted mind had all kinds of ideas about what the hell else of hers he could stroke.
No. Not gonna go there.
He’d lost count of how many times he’d had a little shower workout just thinking about her lips. Or that sexy smile, or the way her ass filled out her jeans.
Nope. Not going to happen. Ever. And it wasn’t that he was obsessed with her exactly, it was more that she challenged him. Irritated him. Sometimes he just wanted to kiss that smug smile right off her face.
Well, how did that feel?
Fucking incredible. The best tasting chocolate ice cream of his life topped with something even more decadent. JJ’s lips topped his Never Touch list.
He shook his head. Why did he do it?
You really want to answer that?
He ignored that thought. He didn't even like her. She was bossy, irritating, loud … Fuck, was she fucking loud.
Well, lucky for you, you now have a way to shut her up.
And did he ever. He just kept thinking of the way she’d stared at him. Lips parted on a gasp, looking soft and mussed, right before he'd slipped his hand in her hair, anchored her head, and then deepened the kiss. Now her taste haunted him as it followed him around like a wraith.
Shit.
This wasn't helping. Because, what do you know, he was getting a boner. Fan-fucking-tastic. He stormed into the conference room and slammed the door behind him, even though the door didn't exactly slam since it was on soft hinges.
He dropped his ass into one of the cushioned seats and scowled at his laptop. He quickly checked his emails while he willed his dick to lay down.
Damn it.
She was not supposed to affect him like this. Where was some of that infamous control?
Oh yeah? That control you displayed with Mira the other night? How about the control you displayed with Clint?
Shit. Lately it was like he was walking on a tightrope and any little thing would set him on edge. Send him over.
Kissing JJ certainly had him teetering and clamoring to get himself back on steady footing.
They could forget this. Pretend it never happened. Pretend that she didn't taste like sin and sex and temptation all rolled into one. He could forget. It was fine. Everything was just fucking fine. All he had to do was completely forget that soft moaning sound she made when he slid his tongue into her mouth. It was easy.
Dick, still hard. “Little note, asshole, you are not doing me any favors right now,” he mumbled to his dick. The damn thing didn't care. It just continued to twitch in his pants as if to say, “I know she's over here somewhere; why don’t we go finish that kiss?”
The hell he was going to do that. He was never touching her again.
"So, how was it?"
Jonas snapped his head up and met gazes with Oskar Mueller. After Matthias, Oskar was the most senior member of Blake Security. He and Noah had crossed paths in Noah’s old life as an assassin. When he started Blake Security, he called Oskar. The German was one of the best forensic accountants in the business. And also a general badass with a penchant for knocking skulls.
Jonas’s first thought was to say ‘fucking incredible. She tastes like you think she would taste.’ But no, he wasn’t an idiot. Oskar liked to gossip more than any high school girl Jonas had ever seen. So instead, Jonas frowned and asked for clarification. "What do you mean?"
Oskar shrugged. "Blondie rolled in on a tear. Obviously she's pissed about something. Gotta tell you, I'm sorry I missed that fight. You two bickering is often the highlight of my day."
"You're an asshole."
"Yep, doesn't change the fact I’d like to see that fight. One of these days, I'm telling you it's gonna go all Mayweather and Pacquiao and I want a ringside seat."
"It was fine. She was JJ, as usual."
Oskar shook his head. "What the hell was she doing walking on her own anyway?"
Jonas buried the flare of anger at what could have happened to her. "I have no idea why that woman does anything. She's a complete mystery. She makes no flipping sense. Makes her even more infuriating."
"Tell me about it. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she does some of the stuff she does so we’ll notice and come along and save her. But that also doesn't jive because she doesn't have a martyr complex. That chick is tough as nails and scares me a little."
Jonas snorted. "As she should. You never know what arsenal of weapons she's hiding." Except now Jonas sort of had an idea. Her lips needed to be classified as certified lethal weapons. And he had a feeling that sooner or later, she'd be using them to take him out.
The first stop JJ made was the nursery, because she knew that’s exactly where she would find Lucia. And after the crazy that had just happened in the car with Jonas, she needed her best friend, pronto.
Lucia looked up with a smile. "Hey, I was just feeding the baby. Wanna hold her when I'm done?"
JJ nodded absently and sank down into the soft lounger that had been placed in the corner of the nursery, and Lucia raised a brow. "What's the matter?"
How was she supposed to answer that exactly?
Jonas Castillo just made my toes curl with a simple kiss?
That was the core of what was bothering her. It wasn’t like he busted out any magic tricks or anything like that. It had been a simple kiss, but it had rocked her to her core.
Her whole damn body felt like it was vibrating. This was Jonas. She didn't like Jonas. Moreover, Jonas didn't like her.
So why did that kiss just rock your world?
JJ groaned and covered her face with her hands. "So, you know how sometimes we make a stupid choice, and then have to pay the consequences?”
Lucia laughed. "Did you accidentally set Jonas’s closet on fire?" Lucia used the word accidentally with air quotes.
"No. I didn't. But I should've. Now you're giving me ideas."
Her friend laughed. "Oh no. Just don't tell him I gave you that one. You know how that man is about his clothes and shoes."
"You know, I can’t even get excited about that right now I'm so upset."
Lucia sat forward. "What's wrong? Do we need to get —"
JJ held up a hand. She knew exactly what Lucia was going to say. Get Noah in here; get the whole squad to go beat down whoever the hell had pissed her off. While JJ did like having an ass-kicking team behind her, they were very unlikely to kick the ass of one of their own. "No. This doesn't need to involve Noah or anyone else for that matter."
Her bestie frowned. "What's going on?"
"What's going on is Jonas kissed me." JJ sat back and waited for Lucia to process that bombshell.
But nothing.
Her best friend didn’t even raise a brow, purse a lip, or let her mouth hang open. None of that. "Did you not hear me? Jonas kissed me. I mean, yes I kissed him first but that was just to shut him up. I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me back.”
Lucia shrugged. "Well, it's about time. My only concern is somehow you don’t look at all happy about it, or satisfied." She leaned forward. "Oh my God, is he bad at it?"
JJ just blinked at her. "Are you serious right now? I'm telling you this catastrophic event happened and you're sitting there like you expected it to?"
Lucia shrugged. "Yeah. Because you two have been snapping around each other for ages. It's time you guys finally got the ball rolling. So if it wasn't bad, then what's your problem?"
"This is Jonas. My nemesis, remember."
Lucia giggled. "He's hardly your nemesis. He just likes to push your buttons and vice versa." Isabella stopped nursing and whacked her mother's breast with a tiny fist to let her know that she was done. When Lucia adjusted her clothing, she held the little tiny bundle out to JJ. "You want to hold her?"
That was hardly fair. Lucia was plying her with adorable baby mojo. Still though, JJ rose and took her little niece. "Hi, Angel. Maybe you'll be appropriately horrified by the fact that Jonas and I kissed."
But apparently Isabella was just as big a traitor as her mother was. She just gave JJ a happy baby smile and burped.
"Well, fat lot of good you are for advice."
Lucia laughed. "What did you expect? She’s a baby. Okay, let me get my bestie hat on." Lucia took several deep breaths and closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she slapped her cheeks. "Oh my God, you and Jonas kissed? What happened?"
JJ couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips. "Now that is the appropriate reaction." JJ eased down on the couch, holding Isabella as she started to fall asleep. "Okay, so I was leaving work and I decided I wanted to walk."
Already Lucia was frowning. JJ rushed to explain. "I know. I should've just taken a taxi. But you know, I've been feeling like I've been locked up in this penthouse. And I just needed a night, hell, even like thirty minutes, to myself. Is that so wrong? And before you answer that, just think about how you would feel if you were me."
Lucia opened her mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut. JJ continued. "I don't know how he found out, but before I knew it, Jonas was there, yelling at me, insisting I get in the car. Can you imagine? I’m a grown woman. I can walk if I want to."
"But it's not safe, JJ," Lucia said.
“Sometimes don’t you think the security protocols are a little too much? You, of all people, should understand that."
Lucia sighed. "Okay, you have a point. So what happened then?"
"So, we’re doing the usual thing, you know, fighting. Me threatening to relieve him of his balls."
"Yeah, pretty much like any other day."
JJ had gone over that span of five minutes in the car a dozen times already. Like a reel in her head over, and over, and over again, she could pinpoint when something had changed, when the need shifted.
That moment when all she could concentrate on was the feel of Jonas’s firm lips on hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth. The way his hand fisted in her hair, and the way he moaned when she whimpered. Like she was the best tasting ice cream on a hot summer’s day.
"I don't know what happened. But once again I was shouting at him and explaining to him how I could take care of myself. The next thing I know we’re kissing. And the worst thing is, it was like a toe-curling, slap-your-last-boyfriend-for-kissing-you-shitty kind of kiss. I mean, the man knows what he's doing. If you ever tell him that, I will kill you."
Baby Isabella just gurgled and kicked her feet, and then sighed before promptly closing her eyes. Oh yeah. Real helpful.
Lucia shook her head. "That doesn't even sound like Jonas. I mean, were you goading him?"
JJ laughed. "This is me. I'm always goading him. So how was this time any different from any other time?"
"Maybe it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. And you guys have been circling each other forever. Maybe he snapped."
"Maybe. What does this mean? Because as quickly as it started, it was over all too soon. I mean, how is the man gonna just give me a taste? It’s like he knows it’s been too long since I’ve been laid, and he’s devised a new way to torture me. I don't know what to do. Help me."
"You're asking me, but you’re not going to like my answer," Lucia said. "But maybe you just talk to him. For once, try not to snap at each other. For once, just acknowledge that you two have the hots and move from there."
JJ frowned. “You're right. I don't like that answer."
Lucia laughed. "So what are you going to do? It’s not like you can avoid him. It's not like you can pretend this didn't happen. Or that you didn't like it."
And therein lay the rub. She had liked it. A lot. Matter-of-fact, she liked it so much she wanted to rub her whole body all over him. Hell, she’d arched into that kiss, practically begging him to keep touching her. And she had no idea what she was going to do about that.
Because no way in hell could she do it again.