Jace (9 page)

Chapter 8

Inside Aphrodite’s Love, Bob, the
gruff but loveable secretary, gave her a strange look. She hadn’t thought this
far ahead into this ordeal. How did she explain to people that she needed a
bodyguard because her psycho ex wanted to kill her?

“You’re late. Sherry’s roaring
mad and looking for you,” Bob said.

“I know, I know. I’m going to
go find her right now.”

Mara found Tia in her office.
She was typing at her computer. Tia looked up. “You know you’re late, right? I
was almost, just a little worried from your safety. That’s only because your
abusive ex is looking for you.” Tia glared daggers.

“God, I’m so sorry. You
wouldn’t believe everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours.”
Mara closed the door and took a seat, or more like collapsed into the office
chair.

“Tell momma Tia all your
problems, girl. Let me hear it. I see you got that boy with you still.”

Mara sighed. “He’s not a boy
but yet he’s still here.”

“I take it he won that argument
then.”

“He absolutely did not. The man
is a bully who has to strong arm me into doing things I really don’t want to
do,” Mara said, crossing her arms. “I need your support on this.”

“He seems real genuine,” Tia
said, arching one brow. “I wouldn’t have left you with him if I didn’t think
that.”

“You saw what he did to that
guy, right? I’m not just imagining the violence I saw. You and he keep acting
like that doesn’t matter when it means everything to me.”

Tia folded back into her chair,
sighing. “I know and that’s got you worried. I’d be worried to, but not every
man is violent. Some men would never ever hurt a woman even if she hit him
first. I think he’s like that.”

Mara shook her head. “How could
you know that?

“Just one of momma Tia’s
special feelings.”

“You know the other side to that
coin, right? The side where I get into the relationship with him and he does
turn out to be like Corey. Then I’m just another woman with the wrong taste for
men. Like a bad stereotype. Well, Tia, I don’t want to be that woman. One
terrible man is enough for me.”

“I say get to know him then
make your decision, but forgetting him when you don’t know him yet seems pretty
shortsighted,” Tia said.

Mara paced the room, unable to
keep still any longer. “Sounds so easy when you say it like that. I have to
tell you something.”

Tia tensed. “What is it? Did
something happen?”

Mara nodded. “Yeah. Last night
I had sex with Jace on my living room floor with most of his clothes still on.
Afterward he made me go to his house because he didn’t feel my house was safe.
The sex was the best I ever had. He kisses like a dream. We went back to my
house today only to find it completely ransacked. There was a knife stabbed
through a picture of me and Corey together. And I’m completely confused about
Jace.”

Tia tossed her head back
laughing. “You finally got some! It’s about time. I knew the plumbing needed a
vigorous pumping down there.”

“Please tell me you did not
just say that,” Mara muttered.

Tia clapped, bouncing in her
seat with excitement. “Tell me how big he was. Was he thick and long? Oh! Oh!
Wait, don’t tell me yet. Hold on, hold on, hold on. First,” she squirmed in her
seat, “first tell me if you came.” She held one finger pointed in the air like
she was about to do a count.

Mara blushed and stomped her
foot. “What does this have to do with anything important?”

Tia only stared. Her finger was
still poised sharply in the air.

They went into a staring
contest, neither willing to break. Mara could only hold out one minute. “Fine!
Yes, all right? Yes, I did.”

Tia smiled approvingly. “I knew
a fine man like that knew how to take care of a woman right.”

Boy was she onto something
there, Mara thought. “I really don’t want to talk about this. Can we just stop,
like now?”

Tia laughed really hard. “Like
hell we can. Tell me everything.”

Sighing, Mara sat back down,
pouting. “I came, he came. End of story.”

Tia took a seat, her eyes lost
in calculating thought. “Have you asked him why he is the way he is?”

“What are you talking about
now?” Mara asked.

“I mean, have you asked him why
he went crazy on that guy and beat the crap out of him?” When Mara didn’t
answer Tia snorted with derision. “I knew it. You need to ask him about it.”

“Why would I do anything to get
to know him better, Tia?”

Tia smiled knowingly. “Because
you really like him.”

Mara hung her head between her
knees. “God. I really do.”

“Talk to him and give it a
little time. Things will work out if you want them to.”

Yeah, Mara wanted things to
work out, bad. It’d be nice to have a good man in her life. But did she know if
she could trust Jace or not?

Tia went to the window and
pulled a blind down to peer out. She made a choking sound.

“What is it?” Mara asked.

“I can’t believe it. What the
hell does he think he’s doing here?”

“Who is it?” Mara asked,
excited. Anyone who made Tia mad got what was coming to them.

“It’s that chauvinistic,
Italian, son of a bitch from the coffee shop.”

“Dante’s Coffee?” The greatest
coffee shop in all the land, according to Tia.

“That’s the one. He’s the one I
was telling you about. You probably weren’t even listening.”

Mara squeezed herself next to
the window and pulled down the blind. “I always listen. That’s him? Wow, from
the way you always talked about him I pictured him as fat, greasy, and ugly. I
think you left out mention of him being tall, dark, and sexy.”

Tia scoffed. “I’ll tell you
what I do know about him. He’s a sexist asshole and I’d rather punch his stupid
face than…”

“Than what?”

“I don’t know, okay!” Tia said.
“What is creepy coffee guy doing here anyway?”

Good point. Mara exited the
office and found herself staring straight into her boss’s gently wrinkled neck.
Sherry was a sixty-two-year-old redhead who wore gold-rimmed tortoise shell
glasses, red flower patterned dresses, and scuffed up black heels every single
day to work. It washed her complexion out using so much bright color but she
compensated by piling on layers of black eyeliner and mascara until it clumped.
She’d probably have a cigarette clamped between her lips if the higher-ups
hadn’t banned smoking from the workplace.

“Are you gonna explain to me
why I have two football players taking up office space?”

Jace stood in the back corner
next to a brown filing cabinet. His co-worker had a black bag slung over his
shoulder standing nearby. And while he looked at ease, Mara could see the
stiffness in Jace’s muscles that said he was ready to move at a moment’s
notice.

“Sherry, you know me better
than that. I don’t know any football players.”

Sherry stared down at Mara with
a stoic frown.

Mara couldn’t help but feel
like she’d disappointed a parent. Sherry always had that effect on her.
“Listen, let’s go into my office.”

“You don’t have an office,”
Sherry said.

“That’s right but you do and
it’s nice and big so let’s go in there.”

They talked in Sherry’s office.

“I’m having a problem with an
old boyfriend of mine so I’ve hired Superior Protective Services to help me.
The buff hunk with the scruffy beard is Jace Mathews. He’s my personal
bodyguard.” She couldn’t say that without feeling like a princess even if his
services were not wanted (very much). “I don’t know who the other one is. Maybe
he works with Jace.”

Sherry blinked behind her
gold-rimmed glasses. Her voice was scratchy from years of cigarette smoke. “I
don’t give a damn about the Italian fella’. Now I want you to cut the shit and
get straight with me, little girl. I ain’t no pushover like that man you got
out there. What’s going on with you and are you safe?”

Mara’s smile crumbled. Even her
heart quaked in her chest. “Yes, I’m safe. I think my ex wants to hurt me.
That’s what Jace is here for.”

Sherry’s metal chair squeaked
along the floor as she stood. “You gonna take some vacation off and let that
man clean the old cave out?”

Red flooded Mara’s cheeks. “What
is with people thinking my vagina is a cave? Tia said almost the same thing.”

“All us women got caves, honey.
I hired you to use yours, so you should know.”

This is what Mara was familiar
with. The back and forth banter that made her job ten times greater than if she
didn’t have it.

“By why would my cave be old?
Thirty-two is not old,” Mara said.

“You know, I’ve had these shoes
for about thirty-two years. I wore these to Jeffrey’s graduation back in…1981.”

“Don’t you dare rope me into
another conversation about Jeff.”

“All I’m saying is if you’d
have given him a chance you two could have been a cute couple. I heard the
ladies say he’s great in the sack,” Sherry said, smirking.

“Ew. That is gross on so many
levels. He’s your son,” Mara said.

Sherry pulled a cigarette out
from her desk and lit it. “He might be my son, but I hear girls talk when
they’re around.”

“Enough about Jeff, yuck.
Listen, I’m going to take a week of vacation.”

Slowly, Sherry started shaking
her head. When she smiled her yellowing teeth flashed. Sherry managed to make
the expression look charming and scary at the same time. “Not until you finish
your queue. You know the rules. You have four products left to test and
review.”

Mara’s jaw dropped. “No way.
Can’t they wait until I get back?”

Sherry smiled. “No, that’s why
those ones are top in queue right now. I need them tested, stat.”

Mara couldn’t help feeling
down, like she was a kid back in school again who just learned that there will
be school today instead of being canceled.

“Darn it. Fine, but after I
finish my report on the projects I’m out of here.”

“Good, and Mara?”

Mara paused at the door.
“Yeah?”

Sherry turned serious. “You be
careful now. I can’t be losing my best employee.”

Mara wanted to say some funny
quip but found the words tangling in her throat. She’d known Sherry for ten
years. In that time, they’d hated each other, loved each other, and wanted to
kill each other. Mara knew there wasn’t another boss in the world like Sherry.
She was something special.

“Will do, Sherry.”

Mara found Jace and informed
him of the update. The change in plan didn’t faze him.

“That’s fine. Show me the room
you’ll be in.”

Mara led him down the hall that
led away from the front of the building. The hallway connected to another which
had the testing rooms. There were only two of them, a female and male testing
room which could only be occupied one at a time. A light outside the door was
lit up green if the room was unoccupied. If the room was occupied the light
turned red.

Mara opened the door. “This’s
it. Nothing special.”

There was a television in the
room with a bookshelf of pornographic DVDs, erotic novels on another bookshelf,
a computer open to a porn website, and a radio. They offered anything they
could to help the testers to use the products. After all, they wanted to
replicate the environment in which the average woman might use a sex toy. There
was a hospital bed that had parchment paper which was switched whenever a new
tester used the room. Everything was sanitized afterward.

Jace inspected the room. There
were no other doors, no cameras, and no windows.

“This works perfectly. I’ll be
outside the door. Gio’s going to get to work setting taps on your phone and
getting the place cleaned up. We just need your boss’s signature to do it.
Hey,” he said, his voice turning soft.

Mara’s wide eyes flew to his.
“Yes?”

He crooked his finger,
beckoning her. She took a step forward, then another until their bodies barely
touched. For a moment she forgot she was supposed to hate him. That’s also the
moment she learned Jace wasn’t going to take it easy on her. He wanted her and
he wasn’t above showing her.

He pressed his finger against
her lips; they parted around him with a slight pucker. Heat permeated her belly
at the thought of something harder and longer replacing his finger. It was like
that’s what he wanted to put in her head. He rocked his finger ever so slightly
before taking it away.

“Have a nice day at work.”

He backed away and closed the
door after him.

Chapter
9

“How’s it looking?” Jace asked.

Gio shrugged. “Good.”

“You’ve been awfully
tight-mouthed since you got here. Does it have something to do with the woman
who happens to have a heart-shaped ass and legs that go all the way up? The one
glaring at you like she wants our balls on a stick?”

Gio ground his jaw. “Why don’t
you shut the fuck up and mind your own business?”

Jace laughed. “This is too
good. It must be her. The only time you get pissed is when it’s about a woman.
You can’t handle the stress of a woman being mad at you. Your mother did that
to you.”

Gio flipped him off. “Like you
know anything about me or my ma.”

“I know I’m right.”

“Stupido
idiota
,”
Gio muttered. “Listen, you may have nothing but wall sits to do all day but I
got a tap to set up.”

“And an angry woman to deal
with.”

“Ah hell, that’s it. I’m going
to go take care of this right now.”

Gio strolled across the floor
to Tia’s office. Tia stiffened from the ends of her hair down to her fingers.
Even her jaw dropped open.

“I knew it was you!” she
accused when he neared. She stood, pointing a fiery red fingernail at Gio’s
chest. There was something about seeing a woman go off on a man that made Jace
cringe and happy at the same time. Happy that he wasn’t the one being yelled
at.

“You got me, lady. What do you
want, a medal?” asked Gio.

Jace shook his head. Bad move,
he wanted to warn his friend.

Tia heaved like she was about
to burst. “Do you really think it’s socially acceptable to make lewd comments
about my ass every morning when I get coffee?”

Gio leaned against the door
frame like he argued with women all the time and was settling in for it.

A soft moan tickled Jace’s
senses. He turned away from the Gio and Tia’s conversation to listen. He didn’t
have to wait long. The teasing sound came again. Instantly his cock twitched.
He recognized that sound. That was Mara’s moan. The sound she’d made as he’d
entered her.

Now was not the time to think
of last night or what toy she might be using on herself.

It took focus and determination,
but he pushed the erotic images away from his mind. He kept his back to the
door, his eyes on the surroundings, and his ears on Gio’s conversation.

“If you don’t like what I’m
saying about it then why do you keep coming to the same coffee shop over and
over, lady? You know why? Because I do.”

“No, please enlighten me,” she
said sarcastically. “It can’t possibly be because they have the best coffee
near my job.”

“Nah, you go there because you
know I go there. You go there wearing your hot little pants and tight little
dresses because of me. Baby, you’re begging for someone to notice your perfect
body and I did. So I’m just letting you know my feelings. I’m not afraid to say
what I want.”

Tia stepped up close, invading
Gio’s privacy. Gio stiffened and stood up straighter. “Why you…egotistical,
misogynistic—” Tia began.

Gio leaned down to her level.
He lowered his voice. “You’re telling me you don’t like it when a man tells you
how gorgeous your ass is or how sexy your legs are?”

There were several seconds
before Tia responded. Her voice wavered when she spoke. “You have some flawed
logic there, Ceasar.”

He interrupted angrily, “My
name is Giorgio or Gio. Not Ceasar---”

“Anyway, as I was saying before
you interrupted me with your nonsense, a real woman does not like to be told
what to do like she’s a dog who needs a master. A real woman takes charge and
meets a man on equal grounds.”

Gio leaned ever closer. Jace
was sure that at any moment they’d kiss; the energy was burning so hotly
between them. “Oh yeah? I’d say a real woman knows when to submit to a man and
take a pounding from him like a good little girl.”

They were both breathing hard,
faces bright with color, tension radiating off their shoulders in waves. The
sexual undertones ripping through the room made Jace wish he didn’t have to see
any of this. Though a part of him didn’t want to miss this for a second.

Tia spoke between clenched
teeth, “Like a good little girl?”

The way she asked him to repeat
that last part sounded like he might regret what he said when she was through
with him.

But did Gio fess up to talking
a big game or goading her or any number of other, smarter choices he could have
done? No. Not at all.

Instead he said, “If you’re a
good little girl, maybe I’ll let you come.”

Tia’s jaw slowly dropped as a
sound much like a growl came from her. Gio actually took a step backward and
good thing he did too, because she slammed her office door shut with a
resounding bang that would have broken Gio’s face had he not moved.

Gio was slow to walk away. Jace
fought the urge to egg his friend on to find out what that was all about, but
he’d have time to do that later when he wasn’t on the job.

The door unlocked behind him
and swung open. Mara came out, looking low-lidded and sexy as hell. She looked like
she’d just came. Her hair was fuzzy around her head from laying on it and her
cheeks still looked pink.

Jace’s cock saluted her at full
attention. Even his balls ached.

“One test done.” She filed passed
him while holding a file to her chest. She set it on a desk, gave him a small
smile, then disappeared back inside. The lock clicked. His dick took forever to
go back down.

It took that long for him
because without Gio and Tia entertaining him he could hear Mara much more
clearly. A soft buzzing sound came from the other side of the door and every
now and then he’d catch a moan or sigh. He began waiting for those erotic
little sounds, wishing for more of them. After about thirty minutes of torture,
Mara opened the door again. This time she looked more bright-eyed. She marched
the file to the desk.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Was
that one a no go?” He fought a smile because she might take it the wrong way.

She nodded. “How’d you know?”
Before going back inside, she stopped to hear his answer.

“I would have heard it.”

A blush stole over her. “Oh
really? Well maybe you’ll hear the next one if I have one. I know what I’ll be
thinking of.” What a tease. Jace still had no idea if he was on the ins or the
outs with his woman. He knew where he wanted to be

Don’t ask, Jace.

“What’s that?” she asked.

She eyed him like some
delicious piece of meat she wanted to mount and ride. Mara leaned forward,
wisps of blonde hair falling over her shoulder. The wicked gleam in her eyes
set his pulse to race. “Sucking your cock.”

Stunned, Jace didn’t utter a
single word as she smiled and went back to work.

This time she was louder.
Noticeably louder. Jace also couldn’t do anything to stop the sweat from
beading down his temple.

Whatever product she was
testing made a buzzing whirr like pencil sharpener. Her softs sighs soon became
cries.

“Oh! Oh! Ah! Ah! Yes!”

Every little word, every shaky
breath made him want to pick that lock, throw away the toy that made her feel
that good, and fill her with his cock instead. That’s what she needed—him. His
touch making her feel good, not some toy.

The cries grew louder. He heard
her sucking in frantic breaths as her orgasm neared. His cock was full and
hard, balls snug against his body needing release. His whole package needed to
be let free to cool off but he’d just have to save that for later.

The crazy woman. If she was
trying to drive him mad then it was working. The tease. She said she didn’t want
him but then she teased him about sucking his cock. Jace didn’t know what to
make of it.

A few minutes later the door
unlocked. She came back out wearing only a robe this time. Her hair was even
more fuzzy and she could barely hold her eyes open. She shuffled to the desk,
set down the folder, then shuffled back.

Dang, he didn’t know if he
could take a round four. Just as she was passing him, she grabbed his hand.
Soft fingers curled around his. He was a smart enough man to follow her; his
cock ached for her touch.

She pulled him inside the room.
It smelled musky and erotic like her soft pussy.

He was on the job. “Whatever
you’re doing it’s a really bad idea.” That was all he managed before she locked
the door, pressed him against it, then dropped the robe.

He grunted at what he saw. She
was completely naked underneath. Perky breasts beckoning him to squeeze and
touch. He wanted to fill them with his hands, suck on them, fuck them.

“I want you,” she said, her
voice a whisper.

When she reached beneath his
shirt to scrape her fingernails down his stomach he knew he couldn’t resist
her. How could he when his willpower had already fled?

Instead, he cupped her breasts,
plucking her softly pointed nipples. He hadn’t really enjoyed her body like he
wanted to yet. Last night had been a rushed experience that exploded because of
the chemistry between them.

She had a small waist and
slender body with pale skin. Her sex had a thin patch of hair covering it. The
sight was so hot his mouth watered. He wanted to taste her there, suck on her
clit until she came.

She pushed his shirt up and
placed a kiss upon his abs. When she opened his jeans and started to push them
down, he found himself helping her. The ache in his cock and balls grew heavier
for each second that passed. He tried to be patient, to just be thankful she
was even sliding to her knees, but the need was so great inside him, he found
himself fisting his cock, grabbing the back of her head and placing the tip of
him against her lips.

 “Open up, sweetheart, please.”

Eyes that were sleepy from
orgasms and arousal, slid closed as she opened her lips. He pushed in. The
moist heat of her mouth teased the tip of him. Gradually her mouth opened to
allow him inside; he pushed deeper then deeper. When he was seated full inside
her, he could still grab the base of his shaft with his fist. She had a lovely,
small mouth and the sight of her pink lips wrapped around him was something
he’d never forget.

Mara pushed his hand away and wrapped
her much smaller fist around his cock. The sight stirred him.

“Mmmff,” she moaned around his
girth.

She stripped his soul bare with
her touch, had him standing before her with raw emotion blazing in his eyes.
God, he liked her. Not only for her spontaneity, but her openness with herself
and him. He’d never known a woman who was so free.

“Please, Mara,” he said,
needing her mouth to move. It sounded more like an order, but he was actually
begging.

She obeyed. It was the most
exquisite wish he’d ever been granted.

Her mouth performed a wicked
suckling. Up and down she moved over him, pumping her fist, naked body swaying
before him.

Someone wearing high heels
walked by on the other side of the door. Jace tensed but Mara’s head kept
working him, sucking on his shaft.

“God, I want you inside me,”
she breathed. She kissed the top of him before swallowing him deep.

The sensations were too much.
Each little suck and pull was just begging him to shoot his body to spend. And
when his thighs started to quake he knew he was almost in for it.

Her hand slid between her legs
and fluttered quickly around her clit. She was going to rub herself to orgasm
while sucking his cock.

“I never could be a vegetarian
for long.”

Jace shook his head. “Huh?” Did
he just hear that correctly? Was she talking about being a vegetarian?

She wrapped her hands around
his cock and pointed it up so she could lick underneath like a lollipop. Their
eyes met. “I always did like meat too much.”

He didn’t know whether to burst
out laughing or burst someplace else. He ended up choking until he got his
throat cleared. “You’re too much, woman.”

“I know,” she said sweetly.
“Now why don’t you let me take care of this?”

Mara pushed his hips and he
fell back against the door like she wanted him to.

“Very nice,” she said, almost
purring. His dick twitched in her hands as she gasped in delight. “So healthy
and hard. I love it.”

“It loves you too.”

Chuckling, she twirled her
tongue around him for a playful moment. Her fist was pumping. She made muffled sounds
each time she bobbed down on him. In no time at all, he had her shoulders
clenched in his hands like he was holding on for dear life—and he really was—as
she sucked him like a damn pro. His belly tingled, balls pulled up tight, and
when his cock twitched with spurts of release in one bodily explosion of
ecstasy, she drank it all down with delighted sounds. She cleaned him up with
gentle motions. It gave his heart a minute to calm back down to normal levels.
She nuzzled his softening cock and he cupped her cheek, something breaking
inside him.