Leap (4 page)

“Did I ever tell you how jealous I am of your hair?” she asked. They had a similar shade of light brown, although hers had more blonde highlights than his. David’s was just so much fuller, waves tumbling over one another as it fell around his clean-shaven face. Hers was straight and fine, and she was happy when she got it to curve slightly as it arced down her chin, like tonight. Ponytails and buns were her friends.

“But I love your hair. I think it’s really sexy.”

Sarah could feel a night’s worth of wine and rich food coursing through her. She’d stopped them at two bottles—well beyond her limit, but not so much that she couldn’t recover.

“Do you know what today is?” She could feel her veins swell as her heart pumped faster and stronger.

“Wednesday?”

“I mean, what holiday it is?”

David shook his head, his heavy brow furrowing as he rubbed his fingers across it. “International Texting a Former Coworker Who You Have a Crush On Day?”

Sarah laughed. “I think that’s just a national holiday. And I have a crush on you, eh?”

“Hm... Apparently it’s also International Live In Denial Day.”

“Today is Leap Day.”

David agreed. “Yes it is. But I’m not sure I’m following you.”

Big breath. After this point, there was no going back. She felt a little silly rattling off Jack’s idea of the day, but when she was done, all David did was nod and say, “Interesting.”

The next few moments felt disembodied. Sarah saw herself open her mouth to speak—she even remembered composing the words in her head—but it didn’t feel like she was in control when she asked, “Want to get out of here?”

“Sure.”

Like that, she snapped back into her body, rushing and delirious. She giggled.

“Did you have anywhere in mind?” His voice cracked in his enthusiasm. ”It’s still early.” It was 9. In married-with-children terms, that was far from early, but for Sarah at that moment, it felt like the break of dawn.

“Actually, I did.” She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. “Want to say goodbye to the office?”

The way David’s brows rose made her shift. She rubbed her thighs together. Things were starting to get slippery. “I mean, it’s not too far, and I think that neither of us should drive.”

“Always the practical one.” She squeezed her legs together until she felt the heated skin of her inner thighs kiss. “Let’s get out of here.”

It was a nice night, despite it being February. Perfect for walking. For letting nerves burn off. Sarah was right; they were both a bit wobbly to drive. The half-mile walk would be good. Sobering. Maybe sanity would return and this would be just another stroll down memory lane.

“You sure about this?” David asked, halfway through their quiet walk.

Sarah’s heart raced and her scalp burned like the head of a match, but she wasn’t going back now. She slid her hand into David’s and pulled him to a stop. He looked back at her, chiseled and handsome in the lamplight. She liked the apprehension that pulled at his brow. It spoke of good character.

“I’m sure.” She dragged him to her. He turned. She caught his face in her hands, so smooth, so different than Jack’s perpetual scruff.
Don’t think. Don’t question. Don’t fret. This is happening. This is real.

David’s kiss unfolded like a riddle: how can something so satisfying not even begin to satisfy? She pushed her tongue past his lips. Tilted her head. Went deeper. She dug her hands into the warmth beneath his coat and closed fists into his shirt, clutching him against her. Closer. Harder. Tighter. And still she wanted more.

Chapter 4

Jack followed them at a distance. At first, it was easy due to the heavy traffic of restaurant row. It got trickier as they turned into the ghost town of the post-workday neighborhood. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his coat and held his head down, hoping they wouldn’t look back.

When he saw them stop in the shadow of a darkened building’s awning, he kept going. To stop now, in the middle of no man’s land, would have drawn too much attention. Watching their silhouettes melt into one another was like watching a spark hit gunpowder. His ears rang with its enormity. His legs kept carrying him closer and closer, caught in the gravity of it all. He pulled his collar around his neck with trembling hands. He felt David’s eyes flicker up to him as he passed and for a moment, Jack wondered if Sarah’s coworker would recognize him. It made him feel self-destructive. Jack grinned, one man to the other. “Evening.” There was no recognition in David’s eyes. The man returned the nod with a little bashfulness, which pleased Jack.

“Come on, let’s keep moving.” Sarah’s voice was thick, a whisper grown loud.

“I was just getting used to it here,” David replied.

Jack wanted to look back, but resisted. He slowed as much as he could without being obvious. He caught his wife’s reply, just at the edge of hearing: “If you like this, then just wait.” Jack adjusted himself. Her words were as much for him as they were for David.

Jack ducked his head down and walked on.

Like all the other offices in the historic neighborhood, Sarah’s was in a converted brownstone. While the building had a charm that the steel and glass boxes of downtown lacked, it was an old building and came with its own set of problems—security was one of the biggest. A key card entry system had recently been installed in the front of the building, but the back was still locked by a more conventional set of keys. Jack had taken Sarah’s key so that he could sneak in the rear, while she and David came in the front. Getting ahead of the couple let him settle in without fear of being spotted. And he knew exactly where they were headed.

Sarah nearly collapsed when Jack had passed them on the street. She’d been lost in David, alone in their world. Jack’s voice had snapped her out of it. She looked up and down the street. Others were about, not just her husband.

As good as it was to be in David’s arms, his thumbs stroking her hips, tracing the edge of her tiny thong, she couldn’t wait to get him alone.

They walked the rest of the way linked arm-in-arm. David’s cologne was muted, yet strong when close. She liked keeping him close. And soon, she’d have him closer. Have his shirt off. Have her hand run along his abs. Down to the buckle of his belt.

The double doors of her office building were glass-paned monstrosities that creaked and slammed as they passed through them.

Sarah winced. It suddenly occurred to her that someone might be working late. How would she explain this? She started formulating a story when David’s hand laced into hers and all thought went out of her head.

“I’m going to miss this place,” David said, studying the shadows as they crossed the polished floor to the empty receptionist desk. While the exterior was old and historic, the firm had transformed the interior into something sleek and modern.

The main corridor, which had kept its granite floor, paneled walls, and crown molding, yielded to soft bamboo, frosted glass, and rich birch. When she closed her eyes, she could imagine the halls buzzing with people, flitting from room to room, up and down the glass steps, talking on hands-free headsets as they gesticulated wildly. But now, it was dark and empty, filled with nothing but its sweet, musty smell—the smell of history that no renovation could mask.

Echoing her thoughts, David mumbled, “So many memories, I can almost feel them.”

Sarah thought about saying something coy—“Let’s add to them” or “I have something else you can feel”—but held her tongue. Instead, she asked a question that had been on her mind as they walked here. “Did you and Jaime ever...” Her modesty was back—the alcohol must be wearing off. “...in the office?”

She felt David’s eyes on her but didn’t look. “Still thinking about that?”

“No... Well, maybe a little.” Could her face get any redder?

“We talked about it a few times—usually when there was drinking involved—but never did.” Sarah led them through the labyrinthine corridors of the old building, lit only by the emergency lighting. “But like I said, it’s not like we were a regular thing.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that, David. I’m a big girl.” She was still a little jealous but not like before. “Although if I were Jaime, I would have dragged you into the board room and...”

David looked beyond her, where the glassed in boardroom loomed dark and empty. He laughed. “And?”

“And I should probably just show you.” Shouldering open the door, she led a grinning David into the room and flipped the lights up to a warm glow.

The long, executive table was glossy mahogany and ringed with high-backed leather chairs. The room itself was on the interior of the building, so the architects had designed it with floor-to-ceiling glass walls to make it feel more open. With the lights on in an otherwise dark office, those walls acted like a two-way mirror. Sarah and David would be on the reflective side; Jack on the windowed.

Sarah tried to be casual, even as her heart climbed up into her throat and she could barely hear a thing over the womp-womp roar of adrenaline in her ears. Her nipples screamed through the combined material of bra and dress. What was she doing? Why was she still here, trying to pretend to be cool?

She tossed her clutch purse onto the table, turned, and leaned back. Her knuckles turned white where they gripped the edges. She barely breathed.

David closed the distance. There was nowhere else to go. Nothing else to delay the moment. Nothing to stop him as he pressed against her. One hand rested on her hip, inside her coat. The other cradled her face. She tilted her head against his hand, her lashes fluttering, but not closing.

“You are so beautiful.” His lips covered her mouth, soft and gentle. Despite the sexual fever that threatened to burn them alive, the kiss was slower than the kiss they’d exchanged outside. David pulled back; Sarah’s lips followed. “Anything goes?” he asked.

The question scared her. Her breathless answer scared her even more. “Yes.”

“I’m going to enjoy this.” Their lips crashed together and the sweetness was gone. Their tongues found one another in the maelstrom, thrashing and fighting. David pushed her coat off and lifted her onto the table. She set a booted heel on one of the board chairs and opened her legs as he stepped between them.

David slid his hand up the outside of her leg as he kissed her, pushing under the dress. She felt him hum as his hand found the top of her thigh-highs. She pulled back and shook her bangs from her face. “Do all men like stockings?”

“We like legs. Bare. In stockings. Hell, I don’t even mind pantyhose if the woman has the legs to wear them.”

“And you think I do?”

“Now you’re just fishing for a compliment.”

“And?”

David ran his hands higher, fingering the lacy edge of the stocking band. He moved to kiss her again, diverting at the last moment to draw his lips right up against her ear. “I have always thought you had the best legs in the office.”

Sarah had a weak spot behind her ear. When David kissed her there with soft, puckered lips, she groaned, tilting her head to give him greater access. She offered a silent thanks to fortune that she’d pinned her hair off her neck. David accepted the offering, teasing her until everything faded but his lips. Well, his lips and his cock, stiff and warm where it pushed between her legs. She rocked her hips forward on the table, grinding her panty-clad mound against him. Her breath came in stuttering gasps, running up the length of her throat before escaping her parted lips.

David didn’t stop nuzzling her ear or neck and she didn’t want him to. She clasped a hand at the base of his neck, steadying herself and holding him there as they humped through their clothes. If things hadn’t gone hazy and feverish, Sarah would have laughed. She hadn’t done this since high school.

But things were hazy and her mind was definitely feverish. All she could focus on was the soft lips on her skin and the hard mass pressing between her thighs. She opened her legs wider. The chair wheeled away from her. She felt herself slipping at the edge of the table and tightened her hand on David’s neck. She could feel his muscles ripple beneath her hand.

Time ebbed and flowed as their clothes left their bodies. David’s shirt went first, their fingers hurrying down the buttons as their tongues danced. He wore a sleeveless undershirt beneath and she couldn’t stop herself. She touched him gingerly, running her fingers from elbow to shoulder, tracing the dips and rises of hard muscle. The black ink of a tattoo escaped the edge of his undershirt, just at his left shoulder. Something sharp and graphic. Sarah’s breath caught as she touched it. She didn’t know he had a tattoo. That wasn’t really her style, but she liked the thought.

“Want to see?”

Sarah nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Time flowed freely again. His tight tee came away, revealing the stony slopes of his pecs and the ripple across his stomach. Their lips found one another again. One hand was trapped between them, thumb tracing along the trail of hair that disappeared into his pants. The other rested on the bulge of his shoulder, where she realized she still hadn’t seen the entirety of his tattoo.

Sarah wrapped her legs around David. Flesh met flesh at last, hot and smooth. David went back for her neck and when she sighed away, he covered her bra-encased breast with a hand. She gave herself to him more, tightening one leg and spreading the other out and away.

David slid his hand under the cup of the bra and found her light brown nipple hard and waiting. She gasped. His mouth soon followed. She scooted back on the mahogany, resting on her arms, and raked her fingers through the mop of his hair.

Sarah’s body couldn’t keep up under the onslaught. She couldn’t breathe enough. Couldn’t think fast enough. Her heart couldn’t hammer hard enough. She pulled him against her with her leg. His cock was there again, pressing against her mound.

“Don’t hold back, baby,” Sarah hissed. David’s response was immediate. His teeth nipped at her nipples and pain crackled straight to her sex. He gathered her tits in his hands and mashed them together. Her flimsy bra was no more than a shelf for them to sit on and squeeze. He switched nipples, feasting on her, teeth gnashing. She squeezed her fingers into his hair to offset the pain.

“Fuck, Sarah,” David groaned, yanking his head away. She tried to pull him back but he was as immobile as a boulder. “Is that how we’re playing?”

She should have cringed under that hungry stare, ringed in red. His jaw was set. His white teeth were clenched. Here was a man tired of playing games.

David grasped her lacy little thong and yanked it off her legs. For a moment, she held her knees together, salvaging modesty as the final line drew near. David surveyed her. She felt it as surely as she would if he’d touched her physically. It felt like hot wax being dribbled across her neck, her nipples, the plunge of her cleavage. She opened her legs for him as his focus skittered across her belly, coming to rest on her glistening cunt.

“So fucking beautiful.” The harsh clasp of metal on metal made her stomach squirm, but she embraced it. He opened his trousers and shimmied out of pants and briefs together. Her heart seized. She was alone in a room with a naked man, his beautiful cock erect for her.

Their mouths found each other in a fiery kiss. They sucked air through flaring nostrils as their hands once again explored—this time without restriction. Sarah curled her hand around David’s cock. It wasn’t as large as Jack’s, but curved upward like a scimitar and her pussy was already imagining what that would feel like. She slid her hands lower, where his balls hung, swollen and shaved. Jack never did that, either, for all his demands that she groom. He felt good like that. Raw and wrong.

David pulled back, shifting over her. Lining his cock with her well-primed pussy. Their eyes met in one last question.
You sure?

In the other room, sitting in an armchair, Jack was stunned. He couldn’t breath. Emotion writhed in his gut. Jealousy. Excitement. Even betrayal were all there. Whatever had gotten them here, to this moment, Sarah wasn’t doing this just for him. She wanted to fuck David as much as he wanted to watch, and the profound epiphany stung.

He could see everything in that conference room as clear as a lighted fishbowl. Doubt seized him for one weak moment. He imagined himself storming into the room and yanking David off—imagined beating a lesson into the younger man’s face.

Then the cathartic fantasy passed. Jack wanted this. He could hear his breath huff in the darkness as he watched. He was so keyed up that he didn’t trust himself to do more than stroke his cock slowly, and even that was almost too much. Was this happening? Was he dreaming? Was Sarah, the sweet woman he’d married so long ago, willingly opening her legs for another man?

He shook his head—tried to clear it. At the end of the night, Sarah would be his again. She’d be a wife, a mother, and an upstanding citizen. But tonight, right now, he wanted to see her as David did: a woman open to anything.

Jack watched Sarah’s face, memorizing the carnality of her lust. God, he loved seeing her like that: heavy lidded; mouth parted in a frozen gasp.

She reached up, clutching the base of David’s neck, and yanked his head against her shoulder. Jack sucked in a breath without releasing his last. His heart hammered in his chest.

Jack pulled his hand from his hard-on as Sarah’s cry split the air. He almost lost it. Almost went premature for the first time since adolescence. He gripped the armrests of his chair, forcing air through his nose and out his mouth, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off the scene before him. He watched the muscles of David’s back shift. Sarah curled a leg around David’s back and shuddered. He couldn’t see the penetration because of the angle, but he didn’t need to.