Chaser Page 20

  "Mm."

  "Also, if Mal didn't like you, no way would he have been stirring shit like that," I said. "Playing matchmaker with us. Or whatever the hell he thought he was doing."

  The whites of her eyes seemed huge. "That's what he does to people he likes?"

  "You don't even want to know how he is with people he hates." I laughed quietly. "He pretty much harasses them into an early grave."

  "Yikes."

  "I'm sorry if it caused any friction between you and Nell. It's not fair for you to get judged on the basis of her opinion of me. That's all on me. Not you."

  "Eric." Jean put her hands sternly to her hips. "You're my best friend. And that's what I told Nell. End of story." My heart gave a sudden squeeze in pleasure at her words. Jean sighed and shook her head. "Besides, I've got enough other things going on in my life to care less about her tick of approval."

  I frowned. "Other things?"

  She blinked, and then smiled. "Right," she agreed, moving over to me. "Other things." She linked her arms around my neck and leaned in. "If the whole world has to know that we are friends with benefits, then I want my benefits." My hands went to her hips, and her neck arched, granting me better access to it. Warm skin and the scent of my woman. "That's nice. Don't stop."

  Hands slipping beneath her top, I couldn't help but smile. "Jean, between you and me, there's no chance I'll stop until you tell me to. Not today, not tomorrow, not even the day after."

  "I'm going to hold you to that."

  Her fingers dug into my shoulders. And whatever the hell we were, right then, it didn't feel the least bit fucking casual. Not after her standing up for me with Nell. And pressing her body into me now.

  I really did need to work on the girlfriend speech and deliver it sometime soon. Just to make sure things were sorted between us.

  My attention turned to her mouth, kissing her senseless. My tongue slipping between her lips and making itself right at home, tracing her teeth before rubbing against her tongue. She moaned and I swallowed the sound, burying it deep within me. Kissing this woman easily topped my list of favorite things to do.

  "Now, about third base," I whispered, dealing with the button and zip on her jeans, sliding them down over her hips.

  "What about it?"

  "Nice red panties." I knelt before her, slipping off her shoes, socks, and all the rest. Steadily but surely getting her naked from the waist down.

  She had such a pretty pussy. The tuft of curly dark hair and pink lips. As much as I liked talking dirty to the woman, words failed me. Sure as hell, there were far better uses for my mouth right then. I peppered her thighs and belly with kisses, pushing aside her hand when she tried to cover the scar from Ada's birth. The small noise of distress from her throat faded fast when I kissed her mound and her musky scent made my mouth water.

  "Hands on the counter," I ordered.

  Once she'd complied, I slipped her leg over my shoulder, opening her up to me. Good access was everything when it came to doing this right. With one hand wrapped around her thigh and the other teasing her labia, I got busy eating her. Long licks of her sweet lips before teasing her clit with the tip of my tongue. The woman was gratifyingly wet in no time at all. I opened her up with my fingers, all the better to get at her. No part of her pussy missing out on my attentions. Her moans got louder as the muscles in her legs quivered.

  "Shh. Jean, you've got to be quiet or you'll wake up Ada."

  "Oh, god," she muttered. "You're really good at this."

  "I know." I grinned. "Now it's up to you to keep me in practice. You realize that, right?"

  "Stop talking." Her hand slid into my hair, pulling just a little. My sex general. So demanding.

  I fucked her entrance with my tongue, pressing the wet pad of my thumb against her asshole just for fun. Her breath stuttered, body shivering, and yes, she liked it. She liked it a lot. Hips pressed to my mouth, every muscle in her seemed to be drawn taut. I could have happily kept eating her for hours. But there'd be other occasions. It was time to finish her off. With my thumb embedded in her ass, I zeroed in on her clit, sucking and licking. Giving it all of my focus. Strangled little sounds came from the back of her throat, her pelvis rocking against my lips, tongue, and teeth.

  So beautiful; the woman rode my mouth like she was made for it.

  On a choked sob, she came. Her body trembled, knees shaking, while I held her firm. All in all, a perfect outcome. She'd even managed to stay relatively quiet. I made a mental note to high-five Jean for her efforts later. While keeping the volume down during sex had never been a concern for me before, it'd fast become a priority. Kind of made me wonder what things might be like at some future date when we could be loud. More out of control.

  Sweet baby Jesus, it would be fun.

  "Your turn," said Jean, still breathing heavily.

  "I'm way ahead of you." I wiped off my mouth with my hand, then whisked her top off. Same went for the bra. Going, going, gone. Ah, breasts. So great. "You know, Jean, these counters are the perfect height."

  "Are they now?"

  "Absolutely," I said. "But um, let's test them to be sure."

  She undid my button-down shirt, pushing it off over my arms. Then for some unknown reason she started putting it on herself.

  "But I just did such a good job getting you naked."

  "I'll leave the buttons undone."

  "Hang on a sec," I said, putting my hand beneath her chin. "Sweetheart, is this about you worrying about your belly? Noticed you tried to cover the scar. You don't need to do that, you know?"

  She kind of half shrugged, then paused. "I like the shirt because it smells like you too."

  "Look, it's really hard for me to form words while my dick's this hard. But..."

  Her gaze dropped to my pants. "That is impressive."

  "You get that I think you're fucking perfect, right?" Damn, her eyes were so pretty. Her tits were even prettier, but I did my best to focus.

  "I'm not," she said. "Appreciate you saying that, though."

  Crazy woman. I took her mouth in a slow kiss while she fumbled with my belt buckle and the rest. Happily, I'd thought to slip a condom into my back pocket just in case. Shows she wasn't the only person who could be organized. When it came to getting sex with Jean, I'd be happy to itemize and micromanage with the best of them. I ripped open the wrapper, right on time actually. My boxer briefs were shoved down and delicate hands started petting and stroking my already hard dick.

  "You're a bit wider than normal," she said, staring at me.

  "Am I?"

  "Mm. I like it." She leaned in to give me a kiss. "You know, I think about this sometimes. You and me ... naked."

  "I think about your pussy constantly."

  She laughed. Such a nice sound.

  I widened my stance a bit so she could cup my balls. Oh man, was she good with her hands. Lots of massaging and rolling my balls between her fingers. All surefire fucking winners in the feel-good department. The muscles in my ass tensed and I thrust into her hands, unable and unwilling to stop myself.

  "Jean."

  "Want me to go down on you?"

  "Let's save that for later." I eased her eager hands off of me, rolling on the condom. "Right now, we've got a date with this countertop."

  Damn the shirt she had on. It would be sad, but I just might have to throw out every one I owned if the woman was going to start insisting on wearing them during sex. Still, the way its open front fluttered around her breasts was the stuff of dreams. Wet ones, obviously. Letting her nipples play some wildly tantalizing game of hide-and-seek, one moment hidden, the next peeking out at me.

  Hands on her waist, I lifted her up and she shuffled her butt along the edge, getting into position. Then her legs were around me and I was pushing into her and I'm pretty sure I saw God. Fucking Jean definitely rated right up there with heaven. I was so hard and she so soft. Her pussy hot and wet as she took me in deep. With her hands on the counter behind her and her head ba
ck, the shirt front fell fully open and the maddening game of hide-and-seek was over. Because when I started thrusting into her, there was the most awesome view of her gorgeous tits bouncing.

  Also, I'd been right about the counter. Absolutely spot-on perfect fucking height. I needed to buy my brother the builder a bottle of something special as a thank-you gift. Not that he could have possibly known at the time. But still.

  "Eric, harder," she said and I did.

  Every time I pulled out her hot sweet cunt clutched at me. Then when I thrust back in, the woman made the most amazing groaning sound. It hit me straight in the balls. I swore up a storm. Dammit. Normally being too quick was not a problem. I prided myself on being able to keep going all night. But all that easy control seemed to go out the window with Jean. I cast around in desperation for some distraction to keep things under control. Needless to say, it wasn't easy. What I needed was a topic of thought boring enough to quench my excitement a little, important enough that I could actually focus on it despite the ecstatic sensations screaming at me from every nerve ending, but not so stressful or off-putting that my performance would actually suffer. Like I said, not an easy task. I seized upon the latest budget numbers for the bar. Sales had been up for the top-shelf cocktails, and some high-end restocking would have to be done.

  Jean groaned again, louder this time. The nipples on her bouncing breasts had gone dark and hard. Crap. All sanity-inducing thoughts of budgets and booze vaporized in an instant. "Not sure this is going to last long."

  My reputation was in ashes.

  "Next time, I promise," I panted. "Much longer."

  "Mmhmm. Don't hold back."

  Only she was so close, there was sweat on her skin and a flush on her chest. Her legs gripped me tight, but her body gripped me tighter. Skin slapped against skin as I worked us up. But so soon after her last orgasm, she needed a little more help. I wet my other thumb, sliding it in the slick juices covering the lips of her sex. Jean's clit just might be every bit as pretty as her nipples, all small, round, and hard. I dug my fingers into her hips, hard enough to leave marks. All the better to keep her in place for the good hard fucking we both wanted.

  Honestly, I never knew kitchens could be this useful.

  My whole body felt electric. Toes curled and muscles tensed. Just a little longer. Her mouth opened and she gasped, coming around me. And all of the pressure in my balls and gut burst free. I slammed my dick into her, once, twice, and it was all over. I'd never come so hard in my life.

  World? Gone. Body? Gone too.

  It was like there was just me and Jean. Our essences floating around the cosmos or something. Don't get me wrong, never in my life had I been the least bit fucking spiritual. But sex with Jean seemed to take me to a whole other level. Heaven. Nirvana. Call it what you like.

  I came to with my face pressed against her bare belly. At some point, I must have pulled out of her. It was all a blur.

  She sighed happily. "That was..."

  I lifted my head, meeting her still slightly dazed eyes. "What was it, sweetheart?"

  "Definitely eleven."

  "Yeah?"

  "Oh yeah."

  My turn to sigh. All was well. All was positively eleven.

  *

  "She said my name!" I grinned, beyond fucking delighted. "Did you all hear that?"

  Jean had brought her folks back to the Dive Bar the next day. The lunch rush had finished and I was about to have my break and grab something to eat. I had moseyed on over to them all when Ada squealed my name.

  Jean frowned. "She said 'ew.' Your name isn't 'ew.'" Her parents also looked pretty skeptical.

  "It was an e sound, for Eric," I demanded, undeterred. They were all just jealous. "Obviously, she's trying to say my name."

  Jean held Ada's little fist. "Mom-mom-mom-mom."

  "Stop trying to brainwash the child," I said. "She knows who she loves best."

  "You're full of it." Jean smacked me on the ass of my jeans, making me laugh. We were so on for PDAs. Awesome.

  "E for Eric," I said. "That's right, Ada. What a clever baby you are. Total infant genius."

  "You wouldn't say smelly old Eric's name first, would you?" Jean kissed her chubby cheek. "Of course not. You're Momma's girl."

  All of the carrying on made Ada smile.

  "We're off to the airport soon," said Leah.

  "Heading home?" I asked, trying to avoid Ada's little fist. The baby was in a feisty mood.

  "That's right," said Will. "It's been a good trip."

  "Cold time of the year to look around." I nodded. "But the snow is beautiful."

  Jean slid out of the booth, giving my forearm a squeeze. "Eric, I'll just visit the bathroom while you've got her."

  "Sure thing."

  She smiled, her hand trailing across my back, keeping contact until she finally stepped out of reach. The temptation to pull her back at the last was strong. But shenanigans in front of her folks might be a bad idea. Like, a definitely bad idea.

  Last night, I hadn't wound up going home. I'd meant to, but Jean had asked me to stay. Happy to report she wasn't too bad of a cover hog though the woman did have a bad habit of pressing her cold feet against my skin. Also, I'd have slept like a baby if only the baby hadn't woken up for a bottle at two in the morning. I normally wasn't too big on sleepovers. Once the fun stuff was finished, why bother?

  But the usual rules didn't work with Jean. They never had.

  "Won't you join us?" asked Leah.

  "Ah, thanks." I perched on the edge of the seat. Just in case an emergency exit was needed. "So..."

  "Jean's told us quite a lot about you since we met," said Leah.

  "She has?"

  Ada let out a wail then attacked my shirt, attempting to sink her baby teeth in. Fortunately, she was easily enough diverted with the trusty old teething ring. I'd been slightly covered in baby spit, but whatever. Biting and whacking things really seemed to be the kid's specialties. Sure as hell, they made her happy.

  Will crossed his arms over his lean chest. "It's lucky she has friends like you and Nell to help her."

  I gave a halfhearted smile, not sure where this was heading.

  "But raising a child is a lot of work," said Leah. "It's lovely to see how well you get along with Ada."

  I kept my mouth shut.

  "I'm not sure exactly what your relationship is with my daughter, but she's coming to depend on you quite a lot." Leah straightened the coaster her drink sat on. Wine spritzer. About what I would have guessed for her. "We just don't want to see her get hurt again."

  Then they both just stared at me.

  "Wait a minute," I said. "Are you asking what my intentions are toward your daughter?"

  Neither of them spoke for a moment.

  "No, no," soothed Jean's mother. "From what I understand your relationship is in its early stages and maybe that's for the best."

  For all the talking Jean and I did, I wasn't even sure myself exactly where things were heading. The last damn thing I'd be doing was discussing it with someone else. Pretty sure I'd rather be waterboarded than be sitting here having this awkward chat with her folks.

  "What we're trying to say, here," said Will with a sigh, "is that we want Jean back in Florida."

  "And Ada," said Leah.

  "Of course." Will shrugged. "We want them both back home."

  "You asked her to leave, to move back there?" My head emptied. Panic hit me hard. "Christ, I ... you know, Jean hasn't even mentioned any of this to me. I'm not discussing it with you when I haven't even talked to her about it first."

  Her mom raised her hand. "We were hoping you could..."

  "What? Talk her into it?" I asked, scowling. "Are you kidding me? You want me to talk her into leaving her home? Leaving me?"

  "Family is important, Eric. I'm sure you understand that."

  I shook my head, bewildered. "It was family that made her want to leave in the first place."

  "We've made mistakes," said Leah
. "We accept that. But Ada is ... she's wonderful. I'm sure you know that. We want to be a part of our daughter and granddaughter's life. We want to be there for them."

  "Pretty damn sure that going around behind Jean's back talking to me like this isn't the way to earn back her trust."

  "We're not going behind her back. It was more that we thought..." She broke off, and her eyes flitted briefly to her husband. "Well, I thought that you seemed like a very decent young man, who cared about doing what's right for Jean and Ada in the long term. Because you might be enjoying being part of their life now, but do you really think that's going to last? There's a lot of years between now and when Ada leaves for college," she said. "They need constants in their life, people who can stick with them for the long haul. Babies are cute, but do you really want to be dealing with toddler tantrums?"

  I said nothing.

  "We just want what's best for them, Eric." Leah gave me a patient look, making me even more pissed off.

  I rose, holding Ada carefully against my chest. "Excuse me."

  Their faces fell and I did not give a single shit. Time to get out of here. So I turned my back on them and headed for the front desk where Lydia and oh shit ... Nell. Awesome. This day was the worst. It had gone from the triumph of me being Ada's first word to the ninth layer of hell in about four minutes.

  "What's wrong?" asked the ginger monster, holding her hands out for Ada.

  I gave her the baby, but not much of an answer. "Nothing."

  "Then why do you look like someone just peed in your favorite bottle of single malt?" asked Lydia, blond head cocked.

  "God," I said. "What a horrible thought. Where the hell do you come up with this stuff?"

  Ada babbled at Nell. Guess it was important girl talk, because I didn't understand a word of it. And I could feel Leah's and Will's gazes burning holes into my back. If I never spoke another word to those people, life would be great. All of their talk about babies growing up and tantrums and shit. Of course I realized Jean and Ada needed people who wouldn't let them down and weren't going anywhere. Like I had plans to hit the road or something and do a runner. But did I really need to decide right here and now if I was starting a college fund for Ada?

  Fucking ridiculous.

  My experience with actual relationships with women might be minimal. I was, however, pretty sure you didn't just meet someone and start planning your lives together on the same day. This sort of shit took time, getting to know one another, figuring out if you could even live together. I'd spent a total of one whole night in Jean's bed, the other having been spent on the floor. We had time to figure things out. Surely. The last thing either of us needed was her parents pushing their own agenda yet again.