Ink Lust (4 page)

Jamie put space between their bodies and simply looked at her for a moment.

“Let me show you something,” he said, getting off the bed.

He took her hand, helping her as she stood, and turned her to face the wide full-length mirror hanging on her bedroom wall. She looked so small and fair with him looming tall, broad and dark behind her.

“Look at yourself.”

She did. Her hair was a tangled rat’s nest, there were bright-red splotches on her cheeks and her swollen bottom lip looked as though she’d been punched in the mouth.

“Now see what I see. Silky blonde hair, blue eyes a guy could absolutely drown in, a mouth wet dreams are made of.” He smiled when she rolled her eyes at him.

He stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her. The sight of his arm and the stark contrast of all those vivid waves of color against the white of her skin had her nipples pulling tight again.

“You are absolutely perfect,” he said, his eyes on hers in the mirror.

He ran a hand over her shoulder, fingers spread out over her collarbone, trailed just the tips up her neck to cradle her jaw and lift her chin high, as if she was proud. Heat surged through every part of her as their eyes met in the reflective glass. He turned just his head as he held her gaze and touched his mouth to her earlobe.

“Watch me touching you, Leni,” he whispered, releasing the hold he had on her chin, his fingers dawdling in the hollow at the base of her throat for a minute before heading for one of her breasts. “Look at how absolutely amazing you are.”

She couldn’t have looked away if she’d wanted to, even if she didn’t exactly agree with his adjectives. She was mesmerized by the novelty of watching what was happening to her body, by his hand, while it was happening.

He tightened the hold he had on her ribs, pulling her against his chest and pressing the long, hard line of his cock against her ass. His fingers brushed lightly over her nipple as though he was aware of how overly sensitive they were after he’d been a little rough with her earlier. The shock went straight to her sex. A little groan escaped her when he licked the tip of his finger and her head fell back against his shoulder when he circled her nipple with it.

She pulled her legs together and tightened the muscles in her thighs, needing to put pressure on her pussy as it filled with heat, burned to be touched.

A smile spread over his face.

“You like that?” he asked, arching a dark eyebrow at her.

His hand left her breast and moved between their bodies. She groaned when his cock slid between her legs. He was hard as hell again. The wet tip bumped against the hooded front of her sex and she gasped.

“Look what you do to me, sweetheart,” he murmured against her neck.

That fucking piercing rubbed against her clit and she nearly came on the spot as she watched the reflection of the head of his glorious cock push through her soaking wet folds. He used the fingers of one of his hands to gently toy with one of her nipples while the other pushed against the mound of her flesh over her pubic bone, increasing the pressure of his cock rubbing against her.

She couldn’t watch, tried to turn her head as her eyes grew wild, heat spread in furious red splotches over her chest and neck and her hips began to rock back against him. But the hand on her breast left, planted between her shoulder blades and pushed so she had to quickly brace herself against the wall or fall forward.

“Watch me make you come,” he insisted, his voice rough as he wrapped the length of her hair around his hand and jerked just hard enough to get her attention.

Her eyes met his in the mirror again.

“Watch,” he repeated, using one leg to spread hers open wide.

She watched.

He buried his fingers deeper between her legs and pressed them against her clit as he slid his cock back, found the entrance to her sex and plunged deep. Leni’s back arched, her mouth fell open and she cried out long and loud as the first wave of her orgasm rocked her. She cried out again when he plunged deep a second time, the combination of his thick, long cock filling her up with a delicious pain that wasn’t quite pain and his fingers sliding over her clit, driving her body at a breakneck speed.

“More,” she heard him grind out as he thrust again. “Let me hear you.”

She didn’t have any choice but to oblige. Long, agonized sounding cries poured out of her throat as he pumped hard and fast. The heels of her hands banged against the wall, rattling the mirror. The weight of her body jewelry tugged on her nipples with every thrust, causing a sensation the likes of which she’d never felt before. She didn’t care how much noise they were making or who heard them making it as pleasure overtook every last bit of self-control she had.

She came up on her toes as he slammed into her one last time and buried himself deeper than she thought would be possible, his groan tearing through her body as he dug his fingertips into her hips to the point of pain and he came inside her.

She thought she was going to fall when he eventually pulled out of her on a hot rush of come mixed with her own wet. How he had the strength to pick her up after that, she didn’t know, but she was glad he did. She was pretty sure it was going to be a long time before her legs worked properly again.

He carried her the three steps to the bed and she pulled back the covers before he laid her on the mattress, crawled over her and flopped down beside her.

“Jesus.” He slid an arm under her neck and moved in close, facing her on his side.

“My thoughts exactly,” she whispered, kissing him as she turned toward him.

She wrapped her free arm around him as he pulled her even closer, moved so he could slide one of his legs between hers and tucked her head under his chin. She knew she was going to wake up chilled in the middle of the night, but she didn’t have the strength to keep her eyes open let alone reach for the blankets to cover them. She took in a deep breath of Jamie, of his salty scent mixed with the heady smell of sex their bodies made together, and blinked out of consciousness.

* * * * *

Leni’s room was filled with sunshine and the sound of kids playing in the courtyard behind her building when she woke up.

And she was alone.

She lay listening for any sign that Jamie might still be in the apartment, then got up and headed straight for the shower when she didn’t hear him.

Not sure what she’d expected, she swallowed the disappointment that threatened to well up inside her as she shampooed and conditioned the knots out of her hair. Had she thought he’d stick around after he’d gotten his way? Aaron never had, even after they’d supposedly been in a relationship for a while. And when it came right down to it, weren’t all bad boys the same?

But was Jamie really a bad boy?

Two monogamous relationships, he’s said. He hadn’t even curled his lip in disgust on the word monogamous like most men she knew did when they said it. Come to think of it, she’d never once heard anything in their small circle of mutual friends that he’d ever been anything but faithful to Amber.

And the way he’d smiled when he’d said he wanted kids, well, it made her sigh wistfully, and she was not the kind of girl who sighed wistfully very often.

She braced her hand on the wall and turned her face into the shower spray as the bottom dropped out of her stomach again. How many times had it done that since she’d stepped into the shop for her appointment yesterday? How many times had it done that in the weeks since she’d made her appointment, or during the hours she’d sat holding Jo’s hand, talking to him while he worked on her sister?

“Stop being ridiculous,” she scolded herself, snatching up the bottle of shower gel and grabbing her scrubbie off its hook.

She finished showering quickly, reluctant to wash his smell off of her skin, but not exactly wanting to advertise she was back on the old sex horse, especially not to her sister just yet. Not that Jo wasn’t going to know the second she saw her later that day.

As she turned off the water and reached for a towel, she realized there was another smell in the air besides the coconut of her body wash—bacon.

She looked around the bathroom, wide awake now, and saw the evidence she’d missed when she’d come into the room half asleep. The second toothbrush from the two-pack she’d just bought was standing next to hers in the holder and the empty package was in the garbage. A damp towel hung on the hook she never used on the back of the bathroom door and, sure enough, the bottle of Dr. Bronner’s—the least girlie-smelling soap she had—was back in its place in the caddy hanging from the shower head.

She wrapped her hair in a towel and her body in a bath sheet, stuck her glasses on her face and headed for the kitchen.

“Morning.” Jamie, shirtless and barefoot in jeans, smiled at her. “I hope you’re hungry. There’s bacon in the oven and I started pancakes. I figured they were a safe bet since you have three kinds of syrup in the cupboard and two more in the fridge.”

Have mercy, he was breathtaking. Even his feet were gorgeous. And when he turned his back toward her for a moment she caught her first glimpse of the words “Life is Beautiful” scripted from shoulder to shoulder above a Diego Rivera-like mural that covered the entire expanse of his back to below his waist.

“I didn’t realize you were still here,” she said stupidly.

“I was reading while I waited for you go wake up. You were sleeping so soundly I didn’t want to disturb you. Although,” the positively wicked look he gave her made her stomach flip again, “keeping my hands off you after last night was no easy feat.”

He put the bowl down, pulled her close and kissed her softly.

She realized as she melted into him that she didn’t have a fighting chance at not falling for him if he kept treating her this way. Hell, knowing her experience with men, she didn’t stand a chance even if he didn’t keep treating her this way.

“I like this look on you.” He unwound the towel from her hair and let it fall to the floor. “Maybe we could put breakfast off a little longer,” he suggested, one hand cradling the back of her head as he kissed her neck.

Her whole body came raging back to life as he pulled her tighter against him. She spread her hands out over his chest, loving the feel of his skin under her fingers, her palms, the feel of his soft, masculine mouth as he worked his way up to her earlobe.

Then, as if on cue, her stomach growled.

“Oh Lord,” she groaned, dropping her hands.

“All right, fine.” He sighed, kissed her softly again and released her. “We’ll wait until after breakfast. Are you free to spend the day with me?”

She just blinked at him again for a long moment, then snapped to attention when he raised his eyebrows at her.

“I promised Jo I’d sit with Frankie for a little while today.” She glanced at the clock hanging above the sink. It was already close to noon. “And I’m supposed to be at her house in an hour.”

“But you have time to eat?” he asked, pouring batter on the hot skillet.

“Yes.” Even if she had to risk a speeding ticket by racing the three miles to Jo’s house, she wasn’t missing a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, her absolute favorites, made for her by Jamie Rodriguez. “Just give me a minute to get dressed.”

“Only if you have to,” he called after her as she disappeared down the hall.

A bra wasn’t an option with her side as tender as it was. She applied the barest amount of ointment to her side and layered two tank tops under a t-shirt to put a couple of extra layers of fabric between her piercings and the general public’s eye. Thank goodness for small breasts, she thought, not for the first time in her life. She didn’t have to worry about bobbing about when she walked down the street, drawing unnecessary attention to herself. She pushed her chest out, making sure no one would be able to see the piercings, and when she was satisfied, found her favorite denim capris.

She knew she should wait until after breakfast to brush her teeth, but she did it anyway. It was the least she could do to lose the dragon breath just in case he kissed her again before she finished eating. She combed the last of the tangles out of her hair, clenched and unclenched her fingers a couple of times to try to stop them from shaking and gave herself a stern look in the mirror.

“You can do this,” she told herself, only slightly convinced she was right. “Even if he’s only being nice because he got in your pants last night, just fucking relax and enjoy it while it lasts.”

He’d made two plates and the door to the balcony was open by the time she joined him in the kitchen again. She could see he’d already set the little outdoor bistro table with silverware, napkins, glasses of ice water already starting to sweat in the midsummer warmth, the butter dish from her refrigerator and all five bottles of syrup.

“I thought we could eat outside since it’s not too hot yet,” he said, kissing her again as he handed her the glasses of orange juice he’d poured. “What do you think?”

“I think I feel a little spoiled,” she answered.

Her heart rattled out a dangerous, erratic beat at the smile that earned her.

“Good,” he said, and kissed her again before handing her the glasses of orange juice he’d poured for them.

“What were you reading while you waited,” she asked, following him outside.

“Anansi Boys.” He put the plates on the table and sat across from her. “I read it years ago, but I couldn’t resist picking it up again when I saw it on your shelf. You’re going to need a library of your own for all the books you have.”

“I’d love a house with a big formal library.” She bit into a piece of bacon and her eyes rolled shut. She didn’t realize exactly how ravenous she was until that moment.

“In one of those huge Victorians in the Old West End,” he added.

Her eyes popped open. Despite it being smack in the middle of some of the worst crime areas, she loved Toledo’s Old West End. It was the cultural art center of the city, home to artists of all types, musicians, writers. It was close to the museum, some of the city’s best dining and nightclubs, the Mudhen’s stadium and her job at the library’s historical main branch.