All Messed Up: Windy City Kink, Book 2 (19 page)

“Your mouth feels so damn good on my dick,” he groaned. “Yeah…do that again…fuck yeah.”

Oh yeah, he was good at the dirty talk.

She explored his balls and the root of his cock with her tongue, kissed his hard thigh muscles and then the tender skin at his hip bones. She tipped her head back and looked up at him, met his eyes that were blazing down at her watching her pleasure him.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” he rasped out. “Hold still, Mal.” One hand cupped her chin. “Wanna fuck your mouth.” And he took control of it, sliding his cock into her mouth.

She went very still. Giving up control in a vulnerable position like this was intimidating. But she trusted Joe. God, she had to trust him, after everything they’d done. And when she looked up at him and saw the expression on his face, the wonder and tenderness and holy hell, he was exited too, she felt less vulnerability and more power. She was powerful.

The weight of his cock on her tongue felt so good and she opened wide to take him, keeping her gaze fastened on his. He began to move, sliding in deeper, then out, and deeper still until he bumped the back of her throat. She fought not to gag, breathed through her nose, loving the intense look on his face as he held her head still and, yes, fucked her mouth.

Yeah, it was hot. She loved it.

She had to break eye contact it was so intense, closing her eyes, which were damp with tears. His cock swelled even larger in her mouth and emotion expanded in her chest, along with the liquid heat that gathered between her legs, the feeling of pressure inside her.

But she opened her eyes to look at him again, watching his eyelids lower, his jaw tighten, his beautiful lips part into a near-snarl. “So close…gonna come…” He thrust faster, still taking care with her, his hands firm but gentle on her head. She got lost in the sensation, mesmerized by his gaze, her world narrowing to them, right there, that most intimate connection between them, his pleasure…there. His cock swelled again and he thrust deep and then filled her mouth. His chin tipped up, his fingers tightened on her jaw and he let out a long, rough groan that filled her head with pleasure.

“Fuck, Mallory. Holy fuck.”

She let him withdraw slowly, sucking gently, then held him in her hands and licked him all over with lush, reverent strokes of her tongue, swallowing his essence and memorizing his taste.

Wow.

Chapter Twenty

Joe stayed over that night. Of course. As if she could kick him out. She was weak even though she knew this wasn’t a good idea.

They had a lazy morning in bed, eating streusel-topped blueberry muffins from Trader Joe’s. She might even have been thinking about Joe when she was at Trader Joe’s. Not just because of the same name. She was just thinking about Joe a lot.

He left around noon to go home and then he was going to a friend’s place to watch football—Kevin, the roommate of Sasha who she sort of knew from hip hop class. He asked if she wanted to go with them, but she said no, because first of all it was him and his buddies, and second of all she still hadn’t heard from Paige, and she was heading over to her place to see if she was there and give her a piece of her mind. A big, sharp piece.

So Joe said he’d call her later and maybe she could join them or they could go out for dinner and she agreed.

Paige didn’t live that far from her, which made sense since the place they went to hip hop classes was close by both of them. Her apartment was nothing like Mallory’s though—it was tiny and a bit shabby. Mallory could tell the first time she ever went there that Paige was uncomfortable and that was before Paige had ever visited Mallory’s condo, but as Mallory got to know her better and know her story, she knew this was a big step down from what she’d been used to in New York with her husband. They’d both had successful careers, Paige as Public Relations and Social Media Director at Chatelaine Cosmetics, her ex as a hedge fund trader. She had beautiful clothes and shoes and in fact, that was what had prompted her to start her own business, Bisou Style. With her business background and her love of fashion, she figured this was a good thing for her to do, and she had a unique concept that seemed to be taking off.

Mallory buzzed at the entrance to the building. Waited. No answer. Buzzed again. Fuck! Where the hell was she?

Then Paige answered.

“Paige! It’s me, Mallory.”

Silence. “Mallory. Oh.” More silence.

Jesus Christ. “Let me in, hon.”

After a couple of seconds Paige buzzed her in. She swept in and hurried to the elevator, then impatiently tapped her foot as she waited for it to rise to the sixth floor where she lived.

She rapped on her door and Paige must have been waiting because it opened right away. She stepped back to open the door and Mallory cruised in. “Paige. Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you since yesterday. And why the hell didn’t you pick me up at the airport?”

Mallory paused and turned to look at her friend. She was closing the door and had her back to her, and she paused there.

“Paige?”

Still she didn’t turn.

“What’s wrong?” Mallory’s insides clenched hard and her heart started racing. “Paige.”

She turned then, slowly, and Mallory saw the bruise on her right cheekbone. And the cut at the corner of her mouth. But most horrifying of all, she saw the pain and anguish in her eyes.

Mallory sucked in a breath, blinked, then rocketed toward Paige. She took hold of her upper arms and held her, studying her face. “Paige. Oh my God. What happened to you?”

She closed her eyes and her pretty mouth tightened. “Mallory.”

“What? What?” Mallory’s mind was a jumble of thoughts and then all she could think to do was wrap her friend in her arms and hug her. “God, Paige. Are you okay?”

She gave a nod, buried her face on Mallory’s shoulder, and Mallory felt her body tremble. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay. Clearly. Why did I even ask such a stupid question? God. God. Paige.”

Mallory could not figure this out. Had she been attacked on the street? Mugged? Oh God…worse?

“Let’s sit down,” Mallory said, leading Paige into her small living room. They sat on the couch, side by side. “Tell me. What happened?”

“Yesterday…Delmer showed up.”

Mallory blinked rapidly. Delmer was her ex-husband. In New York. “Yeah?”

Paige bent her head and clasped her hands on her knees in front of her. She was dressed in gray yoga pants and a baggy gray T-shirt. “He…um…I didn’t want him to know where I am. Where I live. I don’t know how he found me.”

Mallory frowned. Her insides got even tighter and her heart beat faster. This didn’t sound good. She knew Paige wasn’t exactly fond of Delmer anymore—duh, they were divorced—but she didn’t know this.

“How did he find you? Why did he find you?” Shit. She should be asking one question at a time. Slow. Careful. Paige was obviously having a hard time with this. And something bad had happened.

“I don’t know how he found me, but he has his ways.” Paige’s voice took on a bitter age. “As for why, he says he wants me back.”

“But you’re divorced.”

“Actually, we’re not.”

Mallory’s eyebrows drew down. “What? I thought you were.”

“He never signed the papers. I tell everyone I’m divorced, because I am, because I feel like I am. I will be. I don’t want to be married to him.” These last words came out in a fierce rush.

“I know. I know.” Mallory rubbed a hand up and down her back, feeling confused and helpless. “Okay, so he found you, he wants you back. Did he…hurt you?”

She lifted her hands to cover her face, bending over. “Yes.”

Terror seized Mallory in a tight grip, making breathing difficult. She didn’t even want to ask the next question. “Why? What happened, hon?”
Fuck! One question at a time, idiot!

“He came here in the morning just when I was supposed to leave to pick you up at the airport. I tried to tell him I had to go. He didn’t listen. He wanted to ‘talk’.” She shook her head, still in her hands. “He wouldn’t let me leave. He was begging me to come back to him. Spouting all this bullshit about how much he needs me. Christ.”

She stopped and Mallory felt the trembling of her body intensify. She slid her arm right around her friend and leaned her chin on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay. I’m here. You’re okay.”

She nodded in jerky movements. “You don’t know…everything. About him. About my marriage.”

Clearly. Mallory sucked in another burning breath.

Paige didn’t continue right away. Then she said, “Delmer likes to be in control. He wanted to control me. He wanted to do things to me…that I didn’t like.”

Mallory closed her eyes. Her throat constricted.

“Things got worse and worse. That’s why I left him. He was doing things that hurt me…and I didn’t want it. At first…” She stopped. Mallory felt the tension vibrating through her slender body. “Well. I didn’t want it. It was too much. I wanted out. He wouldn’t accept that.”

“Is that why you moved here?” Mallory whispered.

“Yes. I had to get away from him. Far away. Yesterday he wanted to talk. He tried to convince me to come back. He’s very charming and good looking. He can be so nice at times. I told him I didn’t want to talk, but he wouldn’t let me leave. I’m sorry I didn’t pick you up.”

Mallory gave her head a little shake, and shame filled her at how annoyed she’d been. Fuck! “That’s okay,” she whispered. “No big deal. I got home.”

“So he kept talking, kept trying to convince me to go back to New York with him. I kept saying no, we were done, I was staying here. He got angrier and angrier…he got physical.”

This wasn’t a surprise given the way her face looked. But still, it made Mallory’s stomach churn. Her arm tightened around Paige. “Oh God.”

For some stupid reason she thought of Joe at that moment. He was so big and masculine and strong, and he could be rough—but only in a way she loved, and even then he was always respectful and generous. She thought about the fact that he was a police officer. Would he know what to do? What to say?

But he wasn’t there, and she was, and she had to deal with it. Her heart felt like a knife was slicing through it for Paige. They hadn’t been friends for long, but she was the best friend she had in Chicago and Mallory loved her.

“Did you call the police?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Paige sighed. “What are they going to do about it? Arrest him? Not likely.”

Mallory bit her lip. “But they need to know. What if he comes back? You should get a restraining order or something.”

“He’s gone,” Paige said wearily. “Hopefully I convinced him that we’re not getting back together.”

If Mallory ever got near that douchebag, she’d have to restrain herself from ripping his dick and balls off and feeding them to him.

Wow. Big talk from a girl who’d never in her life laid a hand on another person.

“Okay,” Mallory finally said. “What can I do for you?”

Paige sighed. “I’m going to have to move.”

Mallory gazed sadly at her. “Really?”

“I don’t want him to find me again.”

He’d found her once and according to her he had his ways, but yeah, she needed to move. “You can stay with me until you find a new place.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. Pack some things. We’ll go back to my place and have some lunch.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat. Come on. I’ll help you pack.”

They went into Paige’s room and she got out a small suitcase. She seemed to have a hard time deciding what to pack, standing in front of her dresser looking down at the makeup there. Mallory picked up a cosmetic bag and began dropping things in—BB cream, blush, mascara. Paige added a few more things then moved to her closet.

“I need something to wear to work tomorrow,” she murmured, standing there again undecided.

“Do you have any meetings?”

“I’m not sure.” She paused. “No. I just need some jeans.”

They picked out a pair of jeans, a sweater and boots. Underwear.

Paige obediently picked out the things Mallory stated then went to the bathroom to grab shampoo.

They locked up her apartment and drove to Mallory’s place, where they put together a salad with stuff in her fridge, basically a salad Niçoise, with hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes and olives and a can of tuna from the cupboard. She had some rolls from Trader Joe’s so warmed up two in the oven until they were crusty.

Neither of them had much appetite, but they sat at Mallory’s small dining table to eat. Paige asked how Mallory’s trip was and she told her about it. Some of it. For some reason, she didn’t want to mention Joe and how incredible he was and what had happened between them and that she was supposed to see him later. This didn’t seem like good timing.

“Now what do you want to do?” Mallory asked after lunch.

“I don’t know.” Paige seemed tired and defeated.

“How about a bubble bath and a glass of wine?”

She smiled. “That sounds nice.”

“Come on,” Mallory once more urged her. She started the tub running and tossed in a generous handful of some honeysuckle-scented Chatelaine bath salts Paige had given her. She brought Paige a glass of wine and a magazine and left her there to soak. “Call if you need me.”

Mallory busied herself preparing her guest room for Paige, making the bed with clean sheets, unpacking a few of her things, remembering last night with Joe and trying not to think about that. Standing in front of her big living room window, she closed her eyes. How had she let him convince her to do things like that in her own home? It was bad enough that they did crazy things in an airport full of strangers, but right in front of her open living room window? Dear God.

Partway through all this, she gave a soft knock at the bathroom door. “Paige? Need anything?”

“No. I’m good.”

Satisfied that she was okay, she continued puttering around until Paige emerged from the bathroom, her hair washed and tousled, her face pink and shiny.

“Let me dry your hair,” Mallory said. “Then you can get dressed and we can go for a walk. It’s nice today. Not like yesterday. That was a rude shock coming back from sunny California.”

Paige allowed Mallory to blow dry her short blonde hair, which didn’t take long, but said she didn’t feel like going for a walk.

“I think we should,” Mallory coaxed. “We’ll go to the park. I read somewhere that when you’re depressed, being in an open space where you can see the sky is good for you.” She had no idea where she’d read that, but she’d actually tried it herself a few times when things at work were getting to her. And it did help. A little.

So Paige got dressed and they went for a walk to a nearby park. Today was one of those spectacular fall days with the leaves turning, the sky a perfect clear blue, the air fresh and crisp. They sat on a bench and looked out over an expanse of green grass and some fiery shrubs glowing in the sunlight.

“I’m not going to ask any more questions,” Mallory told Paige. “But I want you to know that if you want to talk about anything…I’m here.”

Paige nodded. But she didn’t say much. And that was okay.

Mallory had stuff to think about too. Joe. What was happening with them. Work. What she was going to do about that.

And even though she was sitting in such a beautiful, peaceful place, everything seemed to rise up and smack her in the face.

All she wanted was to be good. She wanted her life to be safe and responsible. She tried to do the right things. She made her parents proud of her by doing this, by working hard at her job, working her way up, trying to make it up to them for the problems she’d caused in her youth when she’d been out of control.

And here she was with her life a huge fucking mess. A guy she really didn’t even know who made her do crazy, kinky things with him. A situation at work that was about to blow up in her face in probably a very public way, that was going to embarrass her parents yet again, no matter what she did. And a best friend who’d just been assaulted by her ex-husband, a guy Mallory wanted to kill with her bare hands.

An intense feeling of pressure rose up inside her, swelling huge and cutting off her breathing. She closed her eyes and tried to settle it but felt her heart start to race, and she began to feel a little dizzy.

Goddammit! This was one of those stupid panic attacks coming on! Not now! Her best friend had just been beaten, she needed to be there for her, not wallowing in her own damn anxiety issues.

She tried to breathe. It wasn’t working so well. Paige hadn’t seemed to notice her agitation as they sat there on the bench, lost in her own thoughts.