Road to Redemption (10 page)

“Are you sure?” Jack asked for the second time since they climbed into his truck. He had just pulled into the driveway of her apartment.

“Yes.  No more thinking.  Just us. Just tonight.”

He shut the truck off and came around to help her out.  She hadn’t been able to step into the truck the last time he gave her a ride and she had been wearing jeans. This time with her fitted dress, he had to lift her up and bring her down completely.  He held her arm as she walked in her high heels on the cold night. Just in case there was any ice on the ground—at least that was the excuse he gave her.

Shutting the front door behind her, she pulled off her jacket and dropped it on the back of the chair.  Jack hesitated, shrugged, and did the same.  She leaned up and put her hands on his face, pulling him closer, then whispered, “Finally,” before her lips touched his.

The kiss turn carnal fast, she seemed to be feeling more urgency than him.  It occurred to him that all this dancing around and flirting for weeks had finally gotten to her as well. He was here now, in her house, and she wasn’t acting like she was going take it slow. Of course from what he had seen of her, she did nothing at a slow pace.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down closer to her level while his tongue explored even more. A groan that he thought was his, maybe it was hers, escaped and she started to back him up toward her bedroom.  His hands had moved down her body to rest on her hips, pressing her against him. Surely she could feel the extent of his desire.

Finally, with panting breaths, she broke the kiss, grabbed his hand and led him all the way into her room.  He looked into her deep green eyes, several shades darker now and filled with as much passion as his own. She pushed his black suit jacket off his shoulders.  Her eyes never left his as she loosened his tie and pulled it off, then tossed it to the floor next to the jacket.

She smirked. “You looked very sexy in your suit tonight. But I’m betting you’re going to be even sexier out of it.”

He only grunted in response.  It seemed to be the only thing he was able to do. She needed to take the reins at the moment, and he was more than happy to let her take charge. For now. He would get his chance soon enough. He would make sure of it.

One by one she unbuttoned his dark gray shirt, until that too followed the same path as his tie and jacket.  “Wow. Oh wow, look at your chest,” she said in awe, running her hands up and down his torso.  “I never imagined anything like this.”

Leaning forward, she placed one kiss then another across his chest.  When she heard his intake of breath, she smiled and spread her fingers wide, touching as much of him as she could. Moving them across his chest, she caressed his skin. He was burning up at her touch.

Dropping her hands to his waistband, she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, then slipped her tiny hands inside. She ran them along his back, then the front and around back again, teasing him endlessly. “Please tell me you have a condom with you.”

“Yeah,” he breathed out, then reached into his back pocket and pulled one out of his wallet.  Placing both his wallet and condom on the bedside table, he watched as she slid her hands inside his pants and pushed them to the floor.  “Step out of them,” she ordered roughly.

He made quick work of his pants, shoes and socks.  She wanted to look at him for the moment, standing there, towering over her in his boxer briefs. He wanted to look at her naked. After a moment, he threaded his hands through her hair and leaned down to kiss her. Long and deep, trying to slow her down.

His hands made their way from her hair to the zipper at the back of her dress, then eased it down slowly, his lips never leaving hers.  She slipped her arms through the sleeves and let the dress drop to the floor on autopilot.

It was Jack’s turn to step back and look. “Shit,” he whispered. It was a good thing he had no idea what she had under that dress during the wedding, or they would have ended up booking a room at the hotel rather than driving back to her place.

A black lace demi bra pushed her breasts up, making them look plumper than usual. Matching black lace panties adorned her hips, barely covering her. But it wasn’t the bra and panties. It was the black stockings that ended at mid-thigh, also adorned with lace around the top edge. He knew she saw the look of appreciation in his eyes as they roamed up and down her body, and made no attempt to hide her smile.

“You are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” His eyes took in her red hair tousling from his hands. She was clothed in nothing more than her bra, panties, stockings and the heels with the bow across the top. “I will never look at a bow the same again.  It will always conjure up images of this night,” he murmured.

His words did something to her, he knew. Words she most likely never thought she would hear come of his mouth.

“Sorry,” she said suddenly, “I can’t wait any longer.”  She grabbed his head and kissed him hard, then ran her hands down his body, pushing his underwear off. She kicked off her own shoes, lowering her four inches.  His hands made quick work of her bra when she pushed her own panties down. Before he could reach for her stockings, she stepped back, grabbed the condom and rolled it onto him without missing a beat.

Nudging him down on the bed, leaving him sitting on the edge with his feet on the floor, she straddled his hips and wrapped her silk-covered legs around his waist. Then eased down on him, her body stretching to accommodate him.

Grabbing his head, she feasted her mouth on his, then started to ride him fast and furious. He fought to hold off. “Slow down. I’m not ready for this night to end yet,” he said with a groan.  But she was determined to rush it.  He grabbed her hips and held her still.

“No,” she demanded, arching her back, refusing to let him control the pace.  He pulled her forward and placed his mouth on a tightened nipple. She groaned, held his head in place and increased her speed even more.  Within moments she was squeezing him hard, her inner muscles constricting around him as she moaned out her release. 

He held her until her breathing slowed and she stopped moving altogether.  Then he pulled her off of him with unsteady hands and laid her on the bed. “My turn,” he said triumphantly.

She lay there dazed and confused for a moment until his mouth moved over her breast. Then she wasn’t so confused. He pulled her nipple into his mouth, ran his tongue around the tip, then gently bit her. His mouth found the other breast, moving back and forth between them until her back was rising off the bed, a need building within her once more. “Jack,” she said with another moan.

Slowly he moved his mouth down her waist and hips, teasing her, nibbling, licking and biting in turn, making her feel a burn that was consuming him. He stopped between her legs and placed his mouth over her, tasting there as well. She about shot off the bed—her hips rose, and her back arched. She moaned and begged for more. “Oh God, Jack. Don’t stop.”

Placing her hands in his hair, she held him there as he went to work, loving her until she couldn’t take another minute of the torture. “Please, Jack. Now,” she begged and tried to pull his body up, letting him know what she really wanted.  He spread her legs wider with his hands, continuing to taste until she screamed out her pleasure. 

As her body lay relaxed for the second time, he made his way up her torso with his lips, causing involuntary jerks where he touched. He finally stopped at her breasts, feasting on them like a starving man going back for more. He couldn’t get enough of her tonight, didn’t want to stop touching and tasting her, but he had reached the limit of his restraint. “I need to be inside of you.” Tearing his mouth away from her breast, he covered her lips with his, easily sliding inside of her. 

She squeezed him tight again, her warmth surrounding him. He brought her right to the edge and then stopped.  He knew she was rising to the top of the mountain for a third time and he wanted to take that jump off with her.

She wrapped her legs around him, forcing him down to his forearms, and bringing him closer to her as her arms wound around his neck. Her hips rose up faster and faster, meeting him thrust for thrust.

The minute Jack felt those silk stockings wrap around him, he knew this was it.  This was what he had been waiting for.  He could feel her starting to tense under him and wanted to send her over the top with him.  Wanted to feel her squeezing him, milking him as he came.  He pushed into her harder, her moans mingling with his until finally she shouted, pulling him in even deeper, sending him over the mountain with her.

Several moments later, once his breath was less labored, he started to roll off her. “I need to take care of the condom,” he said when she tightened the hold around him with her legs.

“Oh,” she said, dropping both her legs on the bed quickly.

He got up and took care of what he needed to, then came back to stand next to the bed, unsure of his next move. Looking down at her, he couldn’t help but think she looked like a snow angel. Arms spread wide, legs still slightly apart from where they dropped moments ago, and a satisfied smile on her face. A sexy snow angel.

She opened one eye and looked at him standing there naked watching her. “Wow. A new record for me,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. She laughed and pulled him back to the bed. “Come here, big boy,” she said, laughing and flopping on top of his chest.

“Record, huh?” he asked around a smile.

“Yep.” She smiled into his chest. “I’ve never had three in a row like that before. Or three in a night, for that matter.”

“Well, to be honest, you did all the work for the first one.” He ran his hand down her hair, causing her to rub against his chest.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Thanks for being my boy toy tonight.” She grinned, pressing a small kiss on his chest.

He laughed, felt lighter than he had in a long time and he continued to run his hand up and down her back.

***

Two hours later he was still lying in Cori’s bed, staring at her loose red curls spread across his chest. The same position she had been in when she flopped down and called him her boy toy. 

He had never been called anything remotely close to that before in his life. Nor did he ever expect to be called anything like that.  He had all he could do not to be offended. But in the end her smile reminded him she was teasing.

There was definitely something to be said for that kind of open honesty in bed.  He should have expected that her hyper little body would be so lithe and uninhibited.  Plain and simple, she blew his mind tonight. 

He had hoped by now she would have rolled off him or let go of him at some point. But he had a feeling she had no intention of letting go physically, or figuratively, anytime soon.

Tenderly brushing her hair away from her eyes, he smiled down at her relaxed face.  She was sleeping so deeply that he felt free at the moment to stroke her without her knowledge. 

What was he going to do about her? He didn’t know how she warmed her way into his life, slowly filling one open wound at a time. But she was there and it didn’t even seem to bother him at the moment.

With a sigh of regret, he knew he had to leave.  He made sure never to spend the night at anyone’s house. He knew Cori was different than anyone he had been with before, all the more reason to safeguard himself first and foremost.

Gently he pried her hand away from his waist that she seemed to be holding onto for dear life. Once he was free of her hand, he slowly slid out from underneath her, sat up and placed his feet on the floor. The minute he started to stand he heard her sleepy voice command, “Don’t go.”

Reaching over, she loosely grabbed his hand. “Cold, keep me warm,” she mumbled, pleading with one sleepy eye open, still on her stomach where she had fallen when he slid out from under her.

He could easily pull out of her grasp. Belatedly he thought of Roxy home alone, but knew she was fine. He couldn’t seem to come up with any other valid reason to leave and he refused to admit the real reason. She terrified him. 

In the end, he let her pull him back to bed as she snuggled up against his side.  Surprisingly, he fell right to sleep.

Jack’s internal clock went off at six the next morning.  Blinking his eyes, he took in his surroundings. Cori’s bedroom. He glanced down and found her still fast asleep, her butt snug up against his groin.  He started to move, but she rubbed back against him more.  His body started to stir in response. Geez, even in her sleep she turned him on.

With more willpower than he had last night, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.  This time Cori didn’t pull him back. 

He looked over and saw her propped on one elbow, watching him pull his clothes back on. “Do you really need to get up this early? Come back to bed and sleep a bit more.  Then I’ll let you take me to breakfast.” She grinned. “Or I can fix you coffee and a bowl of Fruit Loops. That’s the extent of my talents. In the kitchen that is.” She winked and giggled.

He blushed. “As appetizing as that sounds, I really need to get home to my dog,” he said lamely.

“What?” She sat up fast. “You left a dog home alone, all night. What if it was hungry, or needed to go out?” She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of father are you?”

His lips twitched as he buttoned his dark gray shirt.  “I believe you’re the one who begged me to stay and keep you warm last night when I tried to leave.” He finished with the last button and tucked the shirttail into his open black trousers.

She pouted. “Well, I was cold. And you were warm.  Actually you’re hot,” she said with another giggle. “But last night your body was warming me up. And you could have told me then why you were leaving. I thought you were trying to sneak out on me,” she said, narrowing her eyes some more and tilting her head.

He thought better than address her last statement.  “Yeah, well, I should get home and make sure everything is in one piece.” He hesitated a second, saw her point to her lips with her finger, waiting for him to lean down and give her a kiss. After he complied she flopped back down and closed her eyes.

***

A short time later, he was letting himself in the front door of his house.  He expected Roxy to greet him. When she didn’t, he had a bad feeling. 

The house was quiet, nothing unusual there. But for some unknown reason, dread started to creep in. He tried to reassure himself that she was home alone all night last week and everything was fine when he returned then.

He made his way to the kitchen and saw everything looked to be in order there.  He glanced from room to room as he made his way back to the front of the house and then up the stairs. Still no sign of her, and his panic was setting in. Ever since he found her on his bed a while back, he had been shutting his bedroom door when he left for the day.

Rounding the corner he saw his door slightly ajar.  He crept forward and pushed it open all the way. His jaw dropped. There lay Roxy—like a queen in the center of his bed—surrounded by feathers.  There were feathers everywhere. All over the bed, on the floor, and on top of her head. She lifted her head up sharply when she saw him, guilt written all over her wrinkly mug.  If expressions had words, he bet she said a very nasty four-lettered one.

“Roxy!” he yelled. “What did you do?” Not that he couldn’t tell by the feathers everywhere. Or the remains of his pillows torn to shreds on the floor.

She actually had the nerve to growl at him, with eyes that seemed to narrow, shooting laser beams in his direction. Then a second low dog growl came with sad eyes. Sad guilty eyes, like she was blaming
him
for
something. She looked at him longingly, most likely hoping he would remember how much he adored her. But when he continued to scowl at her, she blew out a big breath sending feathers flying all over the place. 

“Down. Now!”

She had the gall to slowly stand up on all four legs, place her paws in front of her, and take her time as she arched her back, lifting her butt toward the ceiling.  Once she was done with her morning stretch, she shook off any remaining feathers, sending them scattering through the air. Several that were lying on the bed now floated around the room. Then she finally jumped down. 

Trotting over to him, she stopped for a moment while he stood there with his hands on his hips scowling at her. She gave him a glare right back as if accusing
him
for lying to her and not coming home when he said. Then she proceeded to trot out of the room, head held high, leaving him to pick up the vindictive mess she had so much fun making.

***

“Come on, Brooke, please?” Cori begged. “I want to send him a message. I know Lucas has his number.”

“I don’t know, Cori,” Brooke said, hedging. “He didn’t give it to you. It doesn’t feel right to give you his number without his permission.”

“After what he did to me last night I don’t think I need to worry about getting permission for his number,” she said with a giggle.

“I don’t want to know,” Brooke warned. Cori had a bad habit of sharing way too much. The last thing Brooke wanted was details of how she and Jack spent their night together.

“I want to see if his dog is OK. Did you know he had a dog?” she asked, but continued before Brooke could answer. “I didn’t know he had one. I wonder what kind it is. Boy or girl? I bet he has a big manly German Shepard. I can totally see him with a big scruffy mean Shepard.”

Brooke waited until she was sure Cori was finally done talking. “No, I didn’t know he had a dog, but I still don’t feel right giving you his number.”

“Anyway, so last night,” Cori started again. “He set a new record—”

“Fine, hang on,” Brooke said in a huff, then heard Cori’s laughter through the phone.

***

After Jack had finished cleaning up the feather mess—which was one of the worst things he’d ever had to do—he once again scowled at the dog, who had been watching him with interest.  She even had the nerve to jump around and try to play with the feathers when they were flying through the air.

Who knew feathers would be so hard to pick up? Or that there were so many in one pillow, let alone two.  The vacuum cleaner threw around as many as it sucked up, and sweeping proved to be as futile.

In the end he had to use one of the hose attachments and walk around the room sucking them out of the air, or from the floor as they landed.  If he had his way he would have sucked Roxy through the hose at the same time. 

He was finally finished and proceeded to carry the garbage bag of feathers he did manage to sweep up, along with the remains of his pillows, outside to the garbage bin.  Now he had to go out and buy new pillows, which was the last thing he wanted to do today.

First thing he needed to do was take a shower, though. 

As he was walking back to his bedroom he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. 
Hope your dog was ok last night. Thanks for keeping me warm,
and she ended it with a smiley face.

Should he respond? He didn’t want to encourage her, but he felt he should say something.  He was clueless at this point.  “Roxy, what do I say?” The dog looked at him like he had grown two heads. “What am I asking you for? I’m definitely losing my mind,” he mumbled to himself.

He quickly typed back.
She’s fine.
It wasn’t a lie, he told himself. She
was
fine. He couldn’t say the same for his pillows. Did he end with
you’re welcome
? Should he say
no problem
? Why did it have to be so hard? In the end he added.
Luckily
.   Maybe Cori would feel a bit guilty for pulling him back into bed when he tried to leave.

A second later another smiley face appeared on his phone.  Nope. No chance of her feeling guilty.