The intercom buzzed. I breathed in. I was wearing the leather all-in-one Jack had bought me. I pressed the talk button. ‘Hi, Jack.’
‘Hi. You ready?’
‘Yes, I’ll come down.’
‘No, wait. I’ll come up to you. I want to tell you something first.’
I let him in the door downstairs and I could hear him running upstairs when he got near. I opened the door before he reached it. He was in his leather all-in-one too, carrying his helmet. He looked sexy like that, edgy.
‘What is it?’
‘Go into your room and sit down a minute.’
‘Why?’
‘If you go in and sit down, I’ll tell you.’
I backed up and let him in, standing in the small kitchen area.
‘Sit, Ivy.’
I did, but. ‘Why?’
‘I had a conversation with my lawyer before I left work. Sharon claims she hasn’t had anyone tailing either of us.’ He leaned a shoulder against the wall. ‘I think she’s lying. I still think it’s her. But there’s always the outside chance it really is some random guy stalking you. I just… I wanted to tell you to be careful.’
‘You said that the other day.’
‘I know. But I’m worried about you.’
So was I; I didn’t need him spooking me more. I stood up. ‘Okay. Can we go now?’
He smiled as his arm came up, then his fingers gently held the back of my neck and gave it a comforting squeeze. ‘Yes.’ His hand was still on my neck as I walked downstairs, with him walking two steps behind me.
When we got down to the hall, Greg was there. He looked at me as I came down the last flight of stairs, then looked behind me at Jack. But he must have seen Jack arrive and known I’d let him in. I swear Greg spent hours looking out of the window watching everyone come and go. ‘Nice bike,’ he said to Jack.
‘Thanks,’ Jack answered, his hand letting go of my neck as we both walked into the hall.
Annoyingly, Greg stood directly in front of us, preventing us from walking out.
He looked at me. ‘You riding pillion, Ivy?’
‘That’s the plan,’ Jack gave another short snappy answer, that really said, fuck off and get out of the way.
‘Have you had any more ideas about who that man was?’ Greg asked me.
He’d been asking every night when I got in if I’d heard anything from my friend who’d come round. ‘No.’
‘And we’re just on our way out,’ Jack pushed.
Greg looked at him. ‘Okay, mate.’ There was, a no need to get annoyed pitch in his words. ‘Have a good time,’ he said, looking at me. Then he stepped out of the way.
Jack clasped my arm and led me past Greg.
When the door shut behind us, he said, ‘Your landlord creeps me out.’
‘I think he is harmless, just annoying.’
I looked along the street both ways about six times as Jack got on the bike and lifted it off the stand. I didn’t see anyone odd. I put my helmet on.
I was suddenly very glad I lived in an attic flat – at least I needn’t worry about anyone looking through my windows.
I climbed onto the back of his bike. It was the first time I’d been on a proper, big, bike with him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding on.
‘Hold me nice and tight,’ he said through his helmet.
‘Uh huh.’
‘I won’t go fast until you’re used to it. Okay?’
‘Yeah.’
I wasn’t ready at all. I was terrified. I turned my head sideways so my helmet pressed against his shoulder. He started the engine and revved it. My stomach lurched when he pulled away. But as he rode out of the street, my mind was on trying to spot my stalker as much as thinking about the bike. I didn’t see any big guy standing around looking out of place. But maybe he didn’t stalk me every day…
And maybe it wasn’t him who had called at the flats – maybe that was a different man. Maybe that had been the person investigating Jack. I’d had that sense of being followed for weeks – when I was having nothing to do with Jack and no one had called at the flats then – but they had got in and taken my post.
Jack drove out to Windsor and we ate venison in a pub there. He had a thin long-sleeved top on under his leathers and he stripped his suit off to his waist while we ate. Half the women in the pub stared at him all the time we were in there because, with the tight top hugging his chest and his midriff, and his leathers gripping his legs, he looked like the fittest man alive. If we were going to keep seeing each other I’d have to get used to other women staring at him.
But I hadn’t worn anything under my leather onesie thing except a bra. So while all the women ogled him, I sat there eating in my biker gear, despite Jack continually telling me to unzip the front at least, ‘It won’t matter, it’s just like a bikini.’
‘In March…’
He had changed since Christmas – he was more relaxed. But he still had a dirty, dark humour; after every other mouthful, I was given a look and then there was a comment. ‘Go on pull the zip down just a little bit, for me…’ ‘What colour bra do you have on under there, anyway.’ ‘I bet the guys in here would pay you just to pull the zip down seven inches.’
I silenced him in the end with a smack on the arm. ‘Shut up.’
He laughed.
What I didn’t tell him was that his persistent teasing was making me horny, although it was partly to do with the fact I’d been ogling him as much as the rest of the women in the pub. All I wanted to do was get him home and strip the leathers off his bottom half.
We went for a walk along the riverside after we’d eaten. The Thames wasn’t as wide as it was in London or so built up. We walked through a park, gripping our helmets in one hand and holding each other’s with the other.
The whole evening was good. But we had work tomorrow, so we didn’t drag it out.
When we got back to mine Jack walked inside with me and followed me upstairs.
I glanced back at him. ‘I’m not going to get attacked on the stairs.’ As soon as we’d ridden back into London my mind had been on whoever was watching me again.
‘I’m not thinking about any of that right now – my mind is on other things.’ His eyes told me what other things.
I slid the key in the lock and opened the door, my heart skipping at the idea that he’d stop over.
When we got in there he pushed the door shut behind us, then dropped his helmet and took mine and dropped that down too. ‘Now I get to see.’
He gripped the end of the zip and yanked it right down, so the leather parted, revealing my fluorescent-green lacy bra and nothing else but skin.
‘Wow. You do have a beautiful body. I hope you know that and I hope you know what it does to me…’
‘I think I worked that out.’
He kissed my collarbone as his hand snuck inside the leather running about my waist, just feeling my skin. ‘Silk.’ He breathed against my neck, then he started sucking and biting my skin there gently.
My head fell back against the wall and my body floated into sensation. One of his hands lifted and cupped my breast. The other slid around beneath the leather to grip my bottom, so I had no choice – I had to arch into his grip as his kiss lifted to my mouth.
He made me feel beautiful. The way he craved and hungered for me. I could feel it in his hands and his mouth all the time.
His hand pulled my bra down to one side so that he had access to my breast and then his mouth left mine and instead absorbed my nipple, tugging on it with a hard suck as his hand found my thong instead and slid into the front of it. His other hand was still at the back gripping my bottom.
He carried on sucking my breast as his middle finger slipped into me. I felt like the queen of sex with him. I laughed at the use of one of his favourite sayings and I rocked against his invasion, getting sweaty as his hand on my arse urged me to follow the rhythm he wanted to control.
I guess he’d wound himself up into a horny volcano in the pub too.
When I came, he sighed, looking down like he wanted to get at it with his tongue, but with my leather suit still on he couldn’t. He sucked his fingers, then stripped the leathers off me, pulling off my boots and his boots.
‘On the bed, on all-fours,’ he ordered. The old-style Jack.
‘Control freak,’ I said.
He growled in answer.
I didn’t care. This was a part of the old-style Jack I wanted to keep. It was just who he was. He couldn’t change who he was. I didn’t want him to.
I crawled on to the bed, the last orgasm humming through my nerves. I had my bright-green thong and lacy bra on, and a breast protruding from one cup. He unzipped his leathers and stripped them off the top of his body down to his thighs, and pushed down his boxers, then climbed on the bed behind me.
He was going to do it like that; with his leather suit hanging loose but coating his thighs, and his top still on, and his boxers wrapped around his thighs. He gripped his erection, stroked it in his hand, then rubbed it up against me. ‘Ready to begin?’ I smiled. He was giving me a little bit of control back, proving again that he had changed a little.
I love you. ‘No. Take your top off…’ I think the words I spoke disguised the words I was shocked to hear in my head. But they were true. I loved him. Shit… That was a crazy thing to do. To fall in love with him.
He smiled and conceded. My head turned, straining to look back, as he pulled my thong aside and held it aside with a thumb, which pressed into my bottom, then pushed into me. I watched the muscles across his abdomen move beneath his skin. I love you. My heart raced, kick-started by adrenaline. Since Christmas Eve Jack had led me into loads of risky things. But falling in love with him was by far the biggest risk.
He looked up and smiled. He was wow. Really wow.
I shut my eyes and drew on all the sensations as his fingers gripped my hips and controlled my movement until I came and then I broke his rhythm because nature had me pushing against him so hard, and paralysed with pleasure. When it died back he had me moving again, and I think it took me three orgasms to finally bring him to his. He came with a low, gravelly sounding shout like a cry of victory.
When he withdrew, he tumbled on to my bed and we ended up in a tangle of limbs, Jack still half- clothed. But he didn’t move to get up and dress, or undress – he just lay there. His head turned so he looked at me as I looked at him.
I love you, Jack.