A Beauty Dark & Deadly (A Dark & Deadly Series Book 1) (23 page)

He shook his head. "You talk a lot," he said in his mumbly voice. "I like it."

She gave him a flirty smile. "Oh yeah?" she asked, perking her brow.

He took a step toward her. "Oh, yeah," he said. When he was close to her, he placed his hands and her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Can I tell you a secret?" he asked, tilting her chin up so he could caress her jawline with his lips.

She sighed in contentment at the feeling, her eyes fluttering shut. She was gorgeous, an angel.

She couldn't speak, so she nodded her assent, swallowing as his lips descended to her throat. She had no idea how he was able to know her body so well already but he did. He knew exactly how to touch her. He knew exactly how to kiss her - and where. She wanted him, again. She was almost embarrassed by the fact that she wasn't satisfied with him, that she wanted more and more and more. He felt like home, like this was where she was meant to be live the rest of her life. She needed to feel him inside of her in order to feel complete. She needed him now, she needed him all the time.

"I hate that Cody guy," he told her. He nipped her neck almost as a punishment. She gasped at the feeling, finding that she enjoyed it. Probably too much. "I don't even know him but I hate him because I hate the way he looks at you, like you're his, like you had something, some past of yours that I don't give a shit about and don't want to be reminded of." His fingers started playing with the hemline of her shirt. "You're mine, Em. You're mine and no one else's and I wanted to let Cody know, I want him to know that you belong to me and he isn't welcome here. If he ever touched you, I'll beat him to a bloody pulp. And that's a goddamn promise, you hear me?"

His lips vibrated across her skin, making her body respond but her lips unable to. Instead, she nodded but all she cared about was feeling him inside of her again.

He took her arms in his grasp - not too tight but with enough firmness for her to know that he was in charge and she was going to do whatever he wanted her to. His mouth found hers and he kissed her with a hunger she didn't know existed. Her head got light. She thought she might faint. She knew her lips would bruise - there was no doubt about that, not with the way he was working a number on her mouth, her tongue, her teeth.

She had never been kissed this way before. Didn't know what it was like to be wanted so badly. She loved it. She craved it. Now that she had it, she couldn't live without it.

When he backed her into the arm of the chair, he tugged the button of her jeans free and proceeded to pull down her pants. She had to help due to how tight they were but the pause in passion wasn't awkward. Jason kneeled on the floor to help peel the denim off of her legs and she used him to steady her balance. Suddenly, the air sizzled with promise, crackled with desire. When her jeans were off, Jason reached up from his position on the floor and with his two hands, ripped the slip of underwear she wore so he didn't have to go through the hassle of taking those off as well.

Emmy made a grunt of protest and he glanced up at her with a smirk. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll buy you five more."

Emmy's look didn't fade, but when Jason eased her down on the arm of the couch and spread her legs wide open, any protests she might have had died on her lips. Her eyes were wide and she couldn't help but watch him, stare at him, drink him in. She watched with utter fascination as he picked his bottom lips and then pressed his face against her mound.

"Oh my God," she gasped.

She knew what was going to happen. She knew what he was going to do. She wanted him to do it. No one had ever done it to her before. She didn't want them to. It was too much, too intimate. She hadn't trusted anyone that much to allow them the privilege of doing something so personal to her.

But Jason was different. God, he was different. He was perfect. She wanted this so badly. She didn’t realize just how much she wanted it, truth be told. But now that she knew, she didn't want to stop until she got it. Until she felt this and understood and -

"Fuck."

She didn't normally swear but when his tongue was on her this way, she couldn't help it.

He looked up at her with his blue eyes - they looked so dark she almost believed they were black - as he moved back and forth with his tongue against her clit. She had no idea how it was possible, but somehow, he knew exactly what type of pressure to put on it and what direction his tongue needed to go and how fast. Guys usually had no idea what they were doing, if they were willing to do this at all. Most guys wouldn't. But Jason wasn't most guys. Jason was his own level of perfection.

Emmy dropped her hands to her breasts and began to tug her nipples. She loved the sensation of any and everything on her nipples as long as it wasn't too rough. She didn't mind an occasional nibble but she was extra sensitive so even the lightest touch would do the job.

"That's right, baby," he said against her. The vibrations rippled across her slick mound, only pushing her closer and closer to her brink. "Touch yourself."

She did. Fuck, she did. Her head was thrown back - she didn't know if she did that on her own or if it just sort of happened - and she felt herself start to grind against his face, helping herself along.

And then, without warning, Jason slid his index finger into her cunt and curled it. She gasped, her eyes snapping open and her hips rolling in time to meet his thrust. He continued to fuck her with his hand, never losing time with his tongue. Her fingers caressed her nipples faster. Her eyes rolled back. She was so close, so close...

And then, there it was. The free fall. The release. It was like she stepped off a cliff, right before gravity pulled her to earth. She came around his finger, the muscles squeezing him tightly, rocking against him like her whole body was the San Andreas and this was the big quake everyone kept talking about.

When she finished, she had to push his face away from her because it was too much. She was too sensitive and it was too much for her to handle. He remained on his knees, staring up at her, but she couldn't move. She couldn't even hold her eyes open to stare at him. The only thing she could do was smile. So that was what she did. She smiled as her bones turned to jelly and oozed throughout her body. She had no idea how she was still able to function, how she wasn't in a pile on the floor.

Finally - it could have been hours, it could have been seconds - she picked her head up and met his eyes. Her lips curled into a small smirk. "Your turn," she announced in a way that left no room for argument.

Jason's mouth dropped open. He shouldn't have been surprised. Emmy was more sexual than he expected her to be in the best way. She dropped to her knees, completely naked. He was already good to go but just the sight of her caused his cock to throb with desire. It was almost a painful feeling that, if he didn't get it taken care of soon, he was going to explode.

But Emmy wasted no time. She took her hand and trailed her fingertips up and down his length. She was teasing him, he knew. She was teasing him and he loved it. Fuck, he loved it. He watched her with dark, hungry desperate eyes and was surprised when her own eyes found his. She wasn't shy with who she was, with her body, with the pleasure she bestowed upon him. With her eyes firmly stuck on his, she put her lips - her full, soft, slightly bruised lips - on the tip of his cock and flicked her tongue to moisten it.

"Oh, shit." His knees buckled underneath him. Literally. He had to sit on the arm of the chair or else he would have lost his balance and fell. And that would have been so embarrassing but it would have been so worth it.

Emmy grinned - the minx fucking grinned up at him like she knew what she was doing to him (she probably did) - and slid down his length, getting it wet and -

"Oh my God." He wanted to keep watching her. He wanted that image seared into his mind so he could remember it the moment before he died. A slice of Heaven he experienced while on earth. But he couldn't keep his eyes open. They rolled to the back of his head and stayed there.

With the absence of one sense, the other four were heightened, especially his sense of touch. Oh, Christ, his sense of touch was heightened. She started to move up and down his cock, as far down as she could go, at least, but she was skilled in getting him moist and wet by using her hand and following her mouth up and down. Her fingers were tight without being suffocating and they had a grip on his cock that rivaled his during his loneliest nights. The difference was, her hands were small and soft and touched him with this warmth he had never felt before. The fact that she used both her mouth and her hand to jerk him off made no sense to him but was absolutely perfect and there was no way in hell he’d be able to put into words.

And then, she did something no one had ever done to him before. Never. She moaned. His eyes snapped open and he stared at her. He found her eyes looking at him with that coy grin on her face and he lost it. He wanted to last longer. He wanted to hold on and enjoy. But the vibrations of her moans on his most sensitive area, the way she was looking at him, grinning at him, touching him, tasting him...

He couldn't do it. No way. She was a real-life fantasy.

"I'm going to" -

He wanted to give her a warning. He wanted her to be able to use her hands the rest of the time if she wanted to. He couldn't get the words out to let her know except what he already managed on top of quick breathing and grunting.

But she kept going. She didn't remove her mouth from his cock. In fact, she took her hand and started twisting it as she moved up and down, and with her other, she began to fondle his balls and -

Oh shit.

He was gone. He was done. He felt his orgasm behind his knees, charging through the bones of his fingers all the way to the tips of his toes. He was done.

But he wasn't because instead of Emmy removing her mouth and finishing him up with her hand like every other woman before Emmy, she kept going and when he released himself into her mouth, she lapped him up like a puppy lapped up water on a hot day. He couldn't contain the moan, he was certain his face was contorted into some kind of grimace mixed with utter and helpless pleasure.

She took all of him. She didn't let one drop go to waste. When he thought he was done, she kept squeezing more out of him, just in case, until he couldn't take it anymore and had to get a grip on her shoulder and squeeze. It was too much. He was too sensitive.

When she finished, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand, staring up at him with a devious grin. "I don't," she began, sliding up to stand over him. He looked at her with helpless, hooded eyes. "I don't know if I like it. The taste. I'll have to try it again."

"Fuck," Jason said.

There was no before Emmy. Before didn't matter to him. Before was going through the motions. Letting life happen to him. Now, he was alive. He was living. Emmy made him feel alive. The spark that started his fire. No one mattered before her. It was a blur, not worth remembering.

There were no words to describe her. No words that would adequately paint a picture of her. Instead, he remained silent, comforted by the peace and stability she brought to his otherwise lonely life. Now that he had this, now that he had her, he couldn't give her up. No way, no how, no nothing.

He positioned himself on the couch so he was comfortable and she crawled over to him, slipping next to him, practically on top of him, so she was comfortable. He wrapped his arm around her waist, locking her securely to him. It wasn't long before he could feel her steady breathing. It wasn't long before he joined her into a blissful slumber.

Chapter 13

Emmy woke a few hours later to darkness and her phone vibrating.  She furrowed her brow, surprised there was even cell service.

“Hello?” she asked, slipping out of Jason’s grasp and heading to the dining room.  She didn’t want to wake him up.

“Yes, may I speak to a Ms. Emmy Atler?” a woman with a pleasant voice said on the other end.

“Speaking.”  Her eyes flickered to the cabinet.  Jason still owed her pancakes.

“Yes, hello.  My name is Nurse Belle Pritchett.  I’m here to talk to you regarding your grandfather, Oral Brown.  He’s just been admitted” -

Emmy did not realize she had dropped her phone until it landed just next to her foot.  She heard the crunch – she could still hear the crunch hours after it happened – and blinked once.  Then, twice.  The crunch was more than the phone hitting the floor, it was a crack.  A break.  It was the screen on her phone, she realized.  She had cracked the screen on her smartphone, something she had never done before. 

How clumsy of her.  This was unlike her.

She blinked once more, and then a garbled sound caught her attention.  Someone on the other end of the phone was still speaking to her.  With shaking fingers, she knelt down and grabbed the phone.  She dropped it again.

“Wait!” she exclaimed to the phone, still on the wooden floor beneath her feet.  “Wait.”  Her voice cracked.  It came across as shaky as her fingers, and she curled them up into tight balls where her nails left crescent marks in the palms of her hands.  Even the pain did not steady her.  She needed to breathe, to control herself, but she could not.  She could not seem to do anything.

“Hello?”

Her eyes looked up from her hands, still shaking, and saw Jason on her phone.  His eyes were on her and the concern pooling from the depths of the blue              was her undoing.  The tears started flowing the same way water sputtered from a broken sprinkler with no signs of stopping in the near future.  He was speaking to the nurse.  Bless him, he was speaking to the nurse on her behalf because she couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, the news has put her in shock.  Can I give her a message?”

She heard the nurse – Emmy suddenly felt sorry for nurses who had to make these terrible phone calls, who were indirectly responsible for ruining lives.  Who could want a job such as this?  Why would anyone do this? – speak something to Jason.  She saw Jason nod twice and then remember that the nurse could not see him.

“Yes, I’ll let her know,” he said.  “Thank you for the call.”

And there was Jason, thanking this nurse for the terrible phone call she made, and Emmy was certain she could hear the nurse suck out a breath of relief that she did not have to deal with anger or sadness.  He reached out, handing her back her phone, unsure of how to handle her emotions, worried that if he touched her she might shatter.  And she very well might.  She did not know what would happen in the next breath, in the next blink of an eye.  She did not know anything anymore.  She needed              something to help her refocus.  She needed to be strong, but she did not know how to do that.  The only thing she could do was breathe.  In.  Out.  In.  Out.  So she did.

When she caught her breath, she reached out and accepted the phone.  It felt like a deadweight in her hand, and her arm dropped to her side.  She blinked once. Was this real? Again. It had to be. People didn't lie about things like this. She looked up and saw that Jason was speaking to her, but she couldn't hear him over the blood rushing to her ears. Was it weird that it sounded like the ocean?

She shook her head. She needed to focus.

"What?" she asked.

Jason stopped speaking, then reached out to comfort her. For some reason, instead of letting himself touch her, he dropped his hands to his sides, as though he thought better of it.

"He's okay," Jason said. "He's passing a kidney stone.  He might need surgery but he’ll be fine. He's sleeping now. But the nurse says you can come visit when you want since you're his only kin."

"I want to go now." Her eyes were wide and her voice was firm. She hoped she didn't come across as rude, but right now, she didn't care. Couldn't care. She needed to get to Papa. That was all that mattered.

He nodded once, his blue eyes dark with thought. "I figured you'd say that," he said. He nodded his head to the front door. "Come on. I'll drive."

Emmy's eyes widened and she continued to stare at him. "But they won't let you in to see him," she said. "You'd have to wait. Either in the lobby or your car, but you couldn't go in." She was babbling now, but she couldn't stop. Words were pooling out of her mouth too quick for her to stop, and she had to physically put her hands over her mouth to restrain herself. She knew she looked ridiculous, and perhaps even a bit immature, but she didn't care right now. She couldn't.

"I know." He gave her a small smile. "Grab your stuff. I'll drive."

"But you normally don't go out." She sounded stupid. She knew it. It was just, she couldn't comprehend any of this.

Thank God Jason was so patient with her.

"You're right," Jason agreed. "Because I didn't want to deal with the looks, the whispers, the rumors. I realized, though, that by working for me, by being with me, you deal with it. It's not fair for you to deal with it alone." He shrugged, suddenly getting a pinched look on his face, revealing his discomfort. "Plus, we're together now. And we make sacrifices for the people we care about." Emmy felt herself blush at his words, but before she could think too much on it, he nodded to the door. "Now let's get going before I change my mind."

The two headed to the car without further incident. Emmy was so consumed in her thoughts that Jason had to reach over and buckle her seatbelt for her. She turned to him and gave him a quick smile before looking out the window. It was dark - she couldn't make out the trees in the woods surrounding Jason's cabin. She couldn't tell where darkness began and where shadows ended. Even the sky reflected her mood. The moon was new - almost black - and the bright stars that shined so brightly were blotted out by the tops of the trees. Everything looked dark. Everything looked bleak. Her hands shook, so she took them and pressed them flat against her seat before placing her thighs over them, hoping that would inspire them to stop.

It didn't.

Her head was so filled with thoughts, she couldn't distinguish between what she wanted to focus on and what she didn't, so she chose not to focus on anything. She didn't bother trying to sleep - the hospital was a good hour away without traffic, so she knew she was in for at least a sixty-minute drive - she wouldn't be able to quiet her mind, and she definitely didn't want to talk. She was glad Jason wasn't trying to talk to her either. Emmy didn't understand friends who wanted to distract someone from their circumstances. That was what movies and tv and music and books were for. Friends were supposed to sit with you during the bad times so you didn't have to sit through them alone, not pretend they didn't exist. Even though Jason was silent, he was here with her. He was risking ridicule and harassment by going out in public, but it didn't matter. He was still here, his priority Emmy and being there for her in whatever way she needed him.

Her heart swelled. She could love this man.

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes immediately sought out Jason, almost as if he could read her mind, afraid he'd be able to hear her thoughts, but his eyes were focused in front of him, keeping steady on the road. She clenched her jaw and looked away, not wanting to give him any indication that such a thought crossed her mind. She gulped and rested her forehead on the glass window. She hoped the cold window would shock some sense into her thoughts, but nothing shifted, as of yet.

It made her feel guilty, to be honest. She should be focused on her grandfather. She should be worried about him and trying to think of -

Trying to think of what? There was nothing she could do. He was at the hospital and she wouldn't get any other information besides that until she got there. For now, she would have to wait. She wouldn't think about Jason, either. She didn't want to make any decisions based on her emotions during this time. It wouldn't be right, either. So she cleared her mind and stared out the window, trying not to think of anything.

"When they called me about Stacey," Jason began, his voice as tight as a guitar string, "I didn't know how to react. So I didn't react at all."

Emmy remained silent, her ears tickling with meaning. This was important, probably the most important thing he might ever tell her. Except, possibly, that he was in love with her. If he was in love with her. If it ever got to the point.

"I didn't feel anything," he said, keeping his eyes focused in front of him, not exactly sure where he was going with this. However, Emmy hoped he knew he needed this confession just as much as she needed to hear it. "Like I said, once I found out about her, I didn't care about her. I didn't care about us. There was nothing she could do to get me back because I didn't want her. Couldn't look at her the same way. Once you commit to someone, you commit and that's it. If you're unhappy in a relationship, talk about it. It's not that difficult."

Emmy rubbed her lips together. She was afraid to breathe lest the noise distract him from himself. She was at full attention, even though her posture left a lot for wanting, but she could hear every word that came out of his mouth no matter how mumbled, no matter how indecipherable.

"People took my lack of reaction however they wanted." He shrugged his shoulders and quickly glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "I don't care what people think so it didn't bother me. We all handle death, loss, and things of that nature differently. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that however you choose to handle this with your grandfather, whatever this turns out to be, I'm here for you. No matter what."

Emmy pressed her lips together but she couldn't stop the smile from eclipsing her face. It felt weird, to smile under these circumstances, like it was the first time she smiled ever, but she didn't think too much on it. Instead, she let his words wrap them self around her body, coating her in his warmth. She couldn't stop herself from reaching out and taking his hand in hers, before placing it back in her lap. She could swear she saw a flicker of a smile tease the corner of his lips, but he kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead and she didn't press.

Her heart burst at the seams, spilling out confetti and rainbows and red velvet cupcakes.  She didn’t know why his words made her so happy.  It probably had to do with the fact that she shared something personal, something intimate, with her of his own volition.  

“Thank you,” she said, because she hadn’t yet, and she wanted to.  He needed to know it meant a lot to her, that it meant a lot to have his support in whatever way he could give it.

“No need to thank me,” he said, casting another look in her direction.  It was quick, and his eyes refocused on the road in front of him.  “I’m yours.  You’re mine.  It’s what we’re supposed to do for each other.”

---

"I don't like hospitals," Emmy blurted out. They were a couple of miles from the one her grandfather was in and the silence was deafening. She needed to fill it with something. Anything. She needed a distraction.

"Me either," Jason said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "I don't know anyone who does."

"My parents," Emmy said, staring straight ahead of her. The only lights came from the headlights of Jason's Honda. It didn't make sense how good he was at seeing in the dark. It didn't make sense how much Emmy trusted him already. "When my grandmother was in the hospital, my parents tried to make visiting her fun. She had pneumonia and it was a slow death. She was in and out of there for about a year before she finally got over it and decided to die at home. My grandfather hated being there but he practically lived there. He didn't want to go home but he wouldn't let my parents pretend hospitals were a fun place. He always said she had the good sense to die at home. When my parents died in a car crash, I had to go to the hospital to see..." Her voice hitched, surprising her. She told this story numerous times before; she should be used to it. "My dad died instantly. He was the driver. My mom, my mom was still breathing. They rushed her into surgery but she didn't." Emmy stopped, looked down in her lap. Her eyes filled with tears and she didn't know if it was because of her parents or because of her grandfather. It didn't matter. "I hate hospitals. I don't want my grandfather to die there. He wouldn't, either."