TWENTY-FIVE
LUCY
When I went to the last party at Mr. B's house, I was woefully unprepared. In my defense, I had no idea where Jace was taking me, but I was dressed like I was going to work for the day. I don't make the same mistake this time. Sipping on a cocktail while I lounge on Jamie's pillow-happy bed, I watch as she searches for the perfect outfit in the dresses I brought over.
“I can't believe you're going back to that place.” She drags her hands through her curly hair and lets out a nervous laugh. “Is it horrible to say that I'm jealous?”
I freeze halfway into bringing my drink up to my mouth. “You're jealous I'm going to a party where everybody else is having sex?”
She gives me a sheepish look and shrugs her shoulder. “I mean, I'm not saying I want to join in and rub a bunch of guys off,” she explains, “but I think everyone secretly wants to go to a sex party just to see what all the fuss is about at least once in their life.”
“Who are you and what the hell did you do to my best friend? Next thing I know, you’ll be wanting me to personally introduce you to Mr. B.”
“He’s the suit, right? The one who was in Exley’s office that day I brought Chinese?” When I bob my head, she nibbles on her bottom lip. I can tell she wants to say something—her expression is the same it was when she and Mr. B made eye contact that afternoon. Then, shaking her head, she releases a sigh and turns her focus to the dresses hanging on her closet door. “The closest I've ever come to one is walking in on my sister and two guys when I was in nursing school and Mom and Dad were out of town.”
She glances at me over her shoulder just in time to see me wrinkle my nose. “Thanks for the daily dose of TMI.”
“How do you think I felt? It took me years to get the image of my sister getting daisy-chained out of my head.”
The scary thing is, I know the exact position she’s talking about. Realizing that makes me aware of just how much my perception of sex has changed since I started working at EXtreme in January. Because Bella’s face is the exact same as Jamie’s, I blush when the image pops into my head.
“Yeah, well, thanks for that wonderful picture,” I say dryly and Jamie tells me I’m welcome.
She takes a step back and examines the emerald green sheath dress with narrowed eyes. “Oh, by the way, remember when Jace told us he partied with Bells once? I finally got a chance to ask her about it.” She goes silent for several moments, and I hold my breath as I wait for her to finish. Jace isn’t mine. I know that, even if it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep my emotions at bay. Still, I pray Jamie won’t reveal that he has slept with her sister—my friend.
“You’re killing me, woman.” I give her an impatient look, encouraging her to finish, and an apologetic smile breaks her features.
“She dropped him off at some girl’s place one night after he got too drunk and he passed out in the back of her car. It was like nine years ago, but you know Bella remembers everything.” Though I try to suppress it, the sigh that escapes my lips is loud enough to snap Jamie’s dark gaze in my direction. Her grin widens. “Don’t worry, by the way. I didn’t tell her you’re fucking him.”
I flinch. Glancing away from her, I stare at the cocktail on her nightstand for a long time. “To work with small children,” I start, grabbing my drink and turning it to my lips, “you really do have a filthy way of wording things.”
“The children I work with weigh less than a gallon of milk, so I think I’m safe.” Flicking my hazel eyes on her, I take in the sight of her hands on her hips and her white-gold hoop earrings skimming her shoulders as she shrugs. “How exactly did you want me to word it, Luce? You’re the one who’s claimed all along that you and Exley are nothing but a casual thing.”
God, I hate it when Jamie uses my words against me. And I hate that my chest burns when she points out what I said.
After a few moments of silence, she moves from her closet holding a red dress. Tossing it on the bed, she takes a few hesitant steps toward me. “Have things changed?” she probes.
Yes, I want to tell her. Things have changed—at least for me they have. I want to say that whenever I look at Jace now, the flutters of desire have melted away to something else that’s so soft it leaves me breathless. That, over the last several days, whenever he touches me, there's a new gentleness radiating from his fingertips that has me questioning our arrangement. That Jace is a man that I can see myself falling in love with.
I’ve been in love before.
And since the last couple of weeks on my life have been a miserable mess because of Tom’s retaliation, I’m scared out of my mind of falling again.
Especially for Jace, who’s made it clear that he’s not looking for more.
Catching a glimpse of Jamie's wrinkled brow out of the corner of my eye, I place my cocktail on the coaster on her nightstand and lean over to rub my fingertips over the red dress she’s chosen. “You know, I expected you to go for the black.”
She snorts. “Evasive maneuvers, Lucy?”
“It’s hard to sleep with him and not get a little attached.” And by a little attached, I mean that thoughts of Jace are constantly on my mind brain for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I carve my hands through my hair and move my head into a gesture that’s caught between a nod and a shake. “Please, let's just leave it at that.” I’ve so much bad luck with relationships, especially after what happened with Tom, and I'm just scared that voicing my feelings aloud will jinx what I do have with Jace.
She ponders my request for a moment, working her full lips back and forth together, and finally she leaned back on the balls of her feet and nods. “Fine, but the second there's a change in whatever you and Jace are, I want to know.” She plops down on the bed beside me, knocking several pillows to the floor. “You know I'm always rooting for you.”
“I know that.”
“Okay, Cinderella. Enough talk, now it's time to get you ready for your filthy ball with Prince Kinky.”
Clutching the silky red number she wants me to wear to B’s party, I throw my head back and laugh. “Prince Kinky? Hmm … I'll have to tell him you said that.”
Thinning her brown eyes into slits, she playfully punches me in the arm. When I wince, she twists her lips to the side. “Yeah, well, if you do, I'm boob punching your ass next time.”
Jace tells me multiple times on the way to Mr. B's house that I look good enough to eat, and my core tightens each time he murmurs those words. I’m still getting used to being so blatantly open about sex. The fact that he’s never had an issue letting me know every filthy thought on his mind has always been a little mind-blowing, but I accept his last round of praise with a slight smile.
“Thanks.” I dart my focus to a road sign we pass. “You look … nice, too.”
“I should pull over, love,” he says roughly, reaching over to brush his knuckles down my bare arm. I gasp when his touch skims beneath my red dress, nudging the swell of my breast. “We wouldn’t even need to climb into the back seat for me to get a good taste of you. I’ve got ways of licking your pussy without you moving an inch.”
God, he has the ability to drive me absolutely insane with mere words. No wonder I explode every time our skin collides. As if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, he lays a possessive hand over my thigh, spreading his fingertips apart until my skin warms to his touch.
“You’re shivering,” he points out, his voice a low seductive growl. He pulls up to the gate in front of Mr. B’s sprawling house and turns to me. “Am I making you nervous?”
“I'm not nervous, I'm just—” He immediately cuts me off by giving my thigh a sharp slap that reverberates through me, sending a tight pulse to the juncture of my thighs.
“That, Lucy,” he says with a cocky grin, “feels like a shiver to me. But if you’d like, I’ll be happy to test my theory that I can make you come from right where you’re sitting before we go inside. And I promise you, you won’t be able to pretend you’re not shivering by the time I’m through with you.”
I’m sure I won’t, and that’s the worst part about it. There’s a part of me that’s willing to spread my legs open for him right here, right now, and I wouldn’t give a damn who saw. While he announces our presence in the intercom by the gate, I take the opportunity to catch my breath. Flipping down the visor to examine myself in the mirror, I press my palms to my pink cheeks in the hope that my flush will disappear before we go inside.
“You’re very, very quiet,” Jace points out as the gate swings open.
“And you’re dirty.” He moves his dark head up and down in agreement. “Actually, you’re just plain nasty.”
“I’m not denying a fucking thing and neither should you because you like it.” His fingers stroke a path along my skin as they trail up my thigh. He doesn’t stop until he’s a centimeter from the center of my panties. He makes a strangled noise. “Your cunt is so warm. So ready. I want to see you come.”
“You should focus on seeing the driveway before you mow down a car.” Tsking at me, he skims his knuckles over the scrap of lace covering my sex. I can’t help but feel a little smug when it affects him, and he sucks in a breath through his straight white teeth.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he breathes. “There's barely anything there.” As he guides his Challenger up the driveway to Mr. B’s mansion, I allow a smile touch my lips.
“It’s better than going commando.” He looks at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes, and I swallow hard. Shit, what the hell have I just wiggled myself into?
“Not at all,” he drawls, and his voice takes me to paradise. I swear I can listen to this man speak all day and he would never lose my attention. Parking his car, he extends his free hand toward me and crooks his long fingers. “Give me your panties, Lucy.”
I clench my knees together. It doesn’t do much to help because he’s already laid claim to what’s right between them. He drums his fingers impatiently against the outside of the lace.
“Why?” I demand. Intense blue-gray eyes clash with mine, and when I don’t budge to oblige him, he shoves my panties to the side and circles his middle and index fingers roughly around my clit. My head falls back against the headrest behind it, and I arch my back, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip to hold back my moan.
“So that whenever I look at you tonight,” he starts, and steals the breath from my lungs when he gives my sex a stinging slap with his fingertips, “I can imagine you coming, screaming my name, looking at me the same way you're doing right now.”
“And how is that?” I demand between pants as his fingers pick up speed. He doesn’t even try to slip them inside of me, but then again, he doesn’t have to. He has me right where he wants me, and it’s exhilarating and breathtaking and just a little scary.
I grip the center console and the door handle, my toes curling inside of my black satin pumps. A few feet away from where Jace is teasing my body into a state of pure bliss, a couple walks up the steps to B’s front door. For a moment, I startle, terrified that they might see us. Might see my head thrashing from side to side and the flush of my skin.
But as I try to pull away, Jace stills me. He dips his mouth to my ear and growls, “They’re not paying you a goddamn bit of attention, Lucy, so let go.” Then, lightly brushing the tip of his thumb nail across my clit, he takes away my ability to fear, to overthink. The orgasm hits me rough and hard, leaving me unable to form a coherent sentence.
Jace gazes down at me and shakes his head incredulously. “You do that so fast, love,” he murmurs.
“You do that so fast, love.” Even though I know his statement about how quickly I climax isn’t an insult, my thoughts instantly ping to my ex’s parting words about my future with a man like Jace. And shame pours through me because Tom had pointed out how lacking I am in bed. Now, I’m wondering if Jace thinks the same. Because I want to please the man sitting next to me, I want him to close his eyes and think of me as the woman who rocked his world, the one he can’t get enough of.
Not the fuck buddy who gets off in five minutes flat.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he demands, thinning his slate blue eyes.
“I … come in literally seconds,” I admit. I run my tongue over my lips and shift uncomfortably in my seat. “You've been with women who can probably last all night, and you wear me out after a couple rounds.”
He arches an eyebrow, his expression hovering between amused and utterly confused. “Are you giving me shit for fucking you well, love?”
“No. Ugh, yes. It’s just something my ex-husband said when he showed up to my mother’s house.” His features darken at the mention of Tom. “It’s … it’s nothing.” I scrub my hands over my face, but he catches them in his, turning my palms up towards his mouth. He kisses the inside of each wrist, his lips soft and unhurried.
A jolt of electricity speeds through me, leaving me dizzy.
“Your ex-husband deserves to have his cock handed to him. If I were unhappy with you, if you didn't satisfy me in every way imaginable—and I do mean every way—do you think I'd be here with you right now demanding to slip your panties in my pocket?”
I let those words sink into my head for a few moments before I avert my stare to the dials on the AC, embarrassed of myself for admitting my insecurities. What happened with Tom had left me feeling inadequate—like I'm not enough to satisfy anyone—and the words he tossed my way before he left haven’t stopped bothering me. In my head, I know it’s an archaic way of thinking, that I shouldn’t care about satisfying anyone but myself, but my heart is a different matter.
It’s so fragile. So easily manipulated.
I release a tremulous sigh, and Jace moves his lips slowly along the insides of my wrists again. “I want you, Lucy. So goddamn much there's a part of me that's considering starting this car, taking you home, and spending the night telling you just how incredible you are.” He lifts his gaze until we’re eye to eye. “I don’t think just right when I’m near you, but I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop.”
Nobody has ever said anything like this to me before, and for a moment, I feel that hopeful throb deep in my chest as heat spreads through every angle of my body.
“I know we can’t leave,” he says. “Because even though my Lucy is an absolute beast, the old Lucy’s in there too. The one who rode my ass for shirking my responsibilities when we were kids.”
“I should have kept my nose in my own business.”
Releasing my wrists, he frames my warm cheeks between his large hands and bends his head to scorch my lips with his. “We’re here only for a few minutes,” he promises. “Only to watch B show off the new table to his guests. After that, your ass is mine, so be ready.”
Hell, after what he did just moments ago, I'm already tingling in anticipation. I reach to open my door, but his rough fingertips close around my wrist. I look over my shoulder to see him shaking his head. “Panties first, love,” he orders.
I roll my eyes toward the ceiling of his Challenger as I lift my hips slightly to shimmy the lace down my legs. Once they're balled up in his fist, I give him a look of feigned surprise. “What, you're not going to sniff them?” I tease. But my throat goes dry when he thumbs the center.
He slides the lace into the front pocket of his jeans. “Sniffing knickers is for thirteen-year-old boys. I just like knowing there’s nothing beneath that red dress, so that at any time, I can make you come again. I like knowing that I have your panties in my pocket and no other man in that house can say the same. No other man can say they own your body.”
“So you're claiming my body for your own now?” My voice, thick with emotion and lust, doesn’t even sound like my own.
He rubs his palm over his stubble. When he lowers his hand from his mouth, my pulse jumps at his smirk. “You’ve been mine since that very first night.” He turns off the ignition and lets out a frustrated sound. “Let's get this the fuck over with so we can get on with the real fun.”