Between a Rock and a Hard Place (23 page)

His words were genuine and his eyes were apologetic.  She tried to return a smile, but the message got lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth.  She put down her fork and pushed her chair back.  “I guess the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll get back.”

She walked them to the door with Tommy’s arm around her shoulder and wished he didn’t have to go.

He stopped to kiss her and she fell hard against his chest.  She latched onto his neck and she didn’t want to let him go, but she knew he had to leave.  “Hurry back,” she whispered.

“I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

Angel’s hand ran across her upper back.  “Can I get a hug, too?”

She buried her face into the center of Angel’s chest and held him just as tight.  Saying goodbye to Angel, even though they were only leaving for a few more hours, doubled her sadness.

Angel kissed her cheek and held her in a close embrace.  “Don’t stay in the room.  Get out and enjoy the city.”

She nodded, although she didn’t feel much like going out again without them.

She watched Tommy and Angel walk down the long hallway to the bank of elevators, arm in arm.  Angel turned to Tommy.  “Shall we solve the mystery of the pigeon versus the dove?”

“Go ahead,” Tommy answered.  “The loser has to pack up the equipment tonight.”

They stopped walking while Angel scrolled through his iPad, unaware that she watched from the doorway.

“Scientifically,” Angel read from his iPad, “there is no difference between pigeons and doves.  Both belong to the dove family.  What we commonly call pigeons are actually rock doves.”  Angel turned the iPad around to show Tommy.  “It’s right here on Ask.com.”

Tommy threw his head back and laughed.  “Yes, because that site is a wealth of accurate information.”

“Don’t try to renege on our bet.  I won fair and square.  What’s the matter?  Is the college graduate afraid to admit that someone with a mere high school education has outsmarted him?”

Tommy laughed again, and they continued walking further down the hallway.  Jessi watched until she could no longer hear their playful banter.  At first, she enjoyed listening to the way they teased each other, but as they proceeded toward the elevator, arm in arm, blackness fell over her heart.  All she saw was Tommy walking away, smiling and laughing with Angel, and she wished it was her instead.  At the very least, she wished she was part of the equation.

Warm lips on her cheek made Jessi realize she had dozed off.  She knew by the pressure of his kiss that it was Angel.  He took her arm and placed it around his neck while he supported her by the waist and helped her to her feet.

“Go to bed,” he whispered.  “It’s late.”

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to focus on the time displayed on the cable box.  It was almost midnight.  She was frustrated that she fell asleep waiting for them, but it was exhausting trying to keep up with the store, create new designs and handle her duties for Falcon Records.

When she didn’t make any attempt to move from the spot where she stood, Angel tried to coax her toward the bedroom.

“Where’s Tommy?” she asked, still rooted in front of the couch.

“He’s in the shower.”

“I want to wait for him.”  She stretched her arms over her head, sat back down on the couch and looked up at Angel.  He looked tired, with dusty shadows under his lower lids.  “Are you almost done with the album?”

“Far from it, sweetheart.”  Some of the weariness left his eyes and they brightened.  “But the few songs we have are really good.  Tommy’s been helping me with the lyrics.  I didn’t know he was a talented songwriter.  I guess we’re still learning things about each other.”

She was surprised he didn’t know that Tommy wrote dozens of songs for her.  “You mean Tommy never wrote a song for you?”

“No.”  He paused.  “Why?  He writes songs for you?”

“Well, not lately, but, yeah.  He’s been writing songs for me since we first met.”

Angel furrowed his brow and his eyes drifted to the floor.  She knew he was wondering why Tommy never wrote a song for him and she felt bad for him.  She knew what it was like to feel slighted, even if it was unintentional.  Then she remembered
Without You
, the song was about the both of them.  “He wrote
Without You
,” she pointed out.  “You inspired him to write that song.”

Angel perked up.  “Yes, I remember.  It was our biggest hit.”

“So far.”  She smiled, happy to see the light return to his face.

“So what have you been doing all night?  Did you and Alyssa go out?”

“No.  I got a call from Rachel, my store manager.  More trouble at the store.”  She leaned her head back on the couch with frustration.  “I wish she would just handle it.  She’s trying her best to keep the place running smoothly, but she needs to defer a lot of decisions to me.  I guess it’s my fault, too.  I’m not ready to just hand over all the responsibility to someone I don’t know that well, and who doesn’t instinctively know how I would handle a situation.”

Angel placed his hand on her shoulder and started massaging her neck.  She relaxed under his touch.

“Why didn’t you go out after the call?  I’m sure that didn’t take all night.”

“No, but then Marissa called to go over the itinerary for the next few days and after I got off the phone with her, one of the dancers showed up with a wardrobe issue.  He was missing one of his outfits for the show.  Somehow it didn’t make it back into his case and the venue didn’t know anything about it.  It’s a good thing he’s fastidious about his wardrobe; otherwise, you would have been short one dancer tomorrow night, because he refused to do the number without it.”

Angel laughed.  “That’s Maurice.  He won’t settle for anything less than outrageous.  He’s a true diva.  That’s why I picked him for the tour.  Did you find his outfit?”

“Yeah.  It was mixed in with one of the other dancers’ wardrobe cases, but it took hours to find.  Then Maurice accused Noelle of purposely stealing it from him and hiding it in her case.  It was drama central.”

Angel stared at her for a second with that small smile that she grew to know and love.  “Why don’t we see what’s taking Tommy so long in the shower?”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

She led the way toward the sound of running water, which grew louder as they neared the bathroom.  She seamlessly stepped inside the shower without slowing her stride or shedding the old Immortal Angel T-shirt she still wore to bed every night.  She wrapped her arms around Tommy’s wet, soapy body, rested her head on his glistening chest and relished the closeness of his skin.  “I thought you’d never get home.”

His slippery hands sailed across her lower back and he placed his lips on her shoulder.  “I wish I didn’t have to go in the first place.  I’d much rather be here with you, or out exploring the city with you and Angel.”  He stared down at her T-shirt, now soaked and clinging to her naked breasts, and one hand crawled up and over them.  The other hand cupped one butt cheek and a finger pulled at the strap of her thong.

Angel drew the shower curtain back and stepped inside, behind Tommy.  He glided his hands around Tommy’s waist and pressed his naked body against Tommy’s back.

Tommy glanced at Angel over his shoulder, and then at Jessi, and held up the bar of soap.  “I’m really dirty.”

Before Jessi could take it from him, Angel snatched it for himself.  She was momentarily miffed that he was quicker than she was, even though she knew it was part of their game.

Tommy chuckled when he saw her narrowed eyes.  “I’m sure Angel needs help.”  He guided Angel’s soap-filled hand over his hip and across his abs, creating a thin sheath of lather.

Jessi scooped up the suds and worked them into a froth.  She rubbed the soapy mixture into his upper thighs using a slow, circular motion.  She teased him with the creamy liquid, massaging his legs and inching closer to his groin, but retreated before she touched his growing erection.  A long series of sighs left Tommy’s lips, and she knew she was driving him crazy with anticipation.

Angel created a similar white, foamy covering over Tommy’s shoulders, kneading them with his strong hands.

Tommy lolled his head from side to side, rolled his eyes up under their lids and sighed.

Jessi slid her hands between Tommy’s legs, gently cupped his balls and covered them with the slick, soapy paste.

Angel watched her from over Tommy’s shoulder and swiped the bar of soap across Tommy’s chest.

More sighs from Tommy echoed in the acoustics of the tiled bathroom.

Jessi stripped the wet T-shirt from her body and tossed it over the shower rod and onto the bathroom floor.  She pressed her body against Tommy’s and stole some of the soap suds.  She rubbed them into her breasts and fingered her nipples, all the while breathing in deep, gusty breaths.

Tommy leaned forward to watch, with his mouth slightly open, ready for a taste.  But she didn’t offer one.  She continued to work the soap into a wet and gooey salve that covered her breasts.

As she was fondling her own breasts, Angel was fondling Tommy’s nipples.  He was squeezing and pinching them, tugging on them forcefully and making Tommy moan.  Every few seconds Angel made another swipe with the soap, accelerating the thick lather building on Tommy’s upper body, but the spray from the shower was quickly diminishing the layer of foam Jessi had around her breasts.  She inched her hand up Tommy’s chest and captured some of the lather in her hand, but Angel snatched it back with an evil chortle.

Jessi gasped from surprise and irritation.  Both men thought it was for entertainment purposes and laughed.  It seemed like a normal progression of the game she and Angel often played, where they both competed for Tommy’s attention and possession of his body, but it didn’t feel like a game anymore.  Angel spent almost the entire day with Tommy and she wanted her turn with him.

She was ready to play dirty, but still play by the rules.

She licked her middle finger, slowly, then circled it around her nipple.  She maintained eye contact with Tommy and sighed like a porn star.  She knelt down and used the water to wash away the soap that covered his legs.  Her tongue traveled up his inner thigh, but as soon as she hit the groove between his leg and his hip, she stood up.  She took his hand and placed it between her legs so he could feel the wetness that seeped from her body.

He sighed and leaned his head back, right into Angel’s waiting hands.

Angel no longer controlled the soap.  He had something much more valuable in his cupped fingers.  It was a sensual offering of pearlescent cleanser to bathe Tommy’s precious locks.

Angel gathered Tommy’s hair between his hands and allowed the spray of the shower to drench it.  Bliss settled into Tommy’s eyes, and a smile spread across his face, as Angel gently massaged his scalp and worked his hair into a thick fluff of shampoo.  Tommy’s eyes were barely open as he looked over his shoulder at Angel.  “I love it when you wash my hair.”

Wash his hair?  She’d never seen Angel wash Tommy’s hair before.  In all the years she and Tommy were together, she had brushed his hair and braided it, trimmed it and flat ironed it, but she had never washed it.  Apparently this was something else they shared during their time together in Asia.  The simple act of washing Tommy’s hair was a tender act of intimacy.  The well-played game suddenly lost its humor and became a serious competition – at least for her it did.  Angel and Tommy still both thought it was an amusing recreational match.

She didn’t want to play the game anymore, but if Angel did, she was prepared to bring out her best moves.

She found the soap and lathered it between her hands until it was thick and bubbly.  She ran her hands over her breasts and down across her stomach.  While Tommy leaned his head back into Angel’s massaging fingertips, he watched her.  They both did.  She was putting on a show, not just for Tommy but for Angel, as well.  It excited her and she temporarily forgot that he was her rival right now.  She took a lathered hand and brought it between her legs, surprised by the tingling sensation the sleek soap offered and the readiness of her body.

Tommy’s head jerked up and his mouth hung open as he watched, never averting his eyes.

She smiled with satisfaction.

She stuck one finger deep inside her body and let out another sigh.  She lifted her foot to the edge of the tub and pulled back on her opening so Tommy could get a better view of her fondling herself.  She needed more soap to insert another finger.  The pressure made her body tingle and she shuddered as it made an entrance.  She let her head fall back and she looked into Tommy’s eyes.  Angel was still working the sudsy shampoo through Tommy’s hair but his hands took on an erotic momentum, slowly stroking Tommy’s scalp from front to back.  The exhibition was an erotic surge of energy, not just for them, but for her, too.