All Messed Up: Windy City Kink, Book 2 (8 page)

He tried to gabble out an apology, he hadn’t had time to warn her, or let her pull off, and now it was too late, too late, he was shooting into her mouth in uncontrollable spasms as he came with almost painful intensity.

He hung in a suspended state of pulsing bliss for long moments, his breathing ragged. “Motherfucker,” he managed to groan. “Holy shit.”

Her mouth still moved on him, little kisses and licks, cleaning him up. She slowly withdrew the vibe. His dick almost unbearably sensitive, he reached for her to drag her up on top of him. He sought her mouth with his, still half-blind, his ears still roaring, and wrapped his arms around her. She stretched out along his body, all warm smooth skin and soft curves and hot kisses that started fast and hard and then slowed into one long, lush melding of their mouths. They breathed together.

“Wow,” he managed to say against her lips. “You took me somewhere I’ve never been.”

Her lips curved. “It’s Denver.”

A laugh rumbled in his chest as he rolled them over so he was on top. “That’s not what I mean, gorgeous, and you know it.”

“Yeah.” Their eyes met. “I know what you meant. And backatcha, handsome.”

They slept for a while, then Joe woke Mallory, moving behind her to press his erection into her ass, his hand sliding around to find her breast, his mouth nuzzling at her shoulder and neck. They stayed like that, and he slid into from behind and pushed her thigh up. Spooned together, he fucked her slow and sweet in the dark, quiet hotel room. His cock inside her and his fingers on her clit built her orgasm, and pleasure washed down through her in hard, shuddering waves of bliss.

After, lying there together, bodies still joined, Joe’s arms around her and his breath warming her shoulder, she was inexplicably filled with emotion. She felt so safe and secluded in this hotel room, with this man. She felt so far away from the massive problems that awaited her at home in Chicago. Just thinking about the way she’d tied herself up in knots over it to the point of having her first ever panic attack brought on more emotion, a sick feeling of dread in her stomach and a powerful desire to just disappear and never ever go back to her real life. To stay locked in this hotel room with Joe forever.

A soft sob escaped her and she pressed her knuckles to her mouth.

“Mallory?” Joe moved against her, his cock withdrawing from her in a disturbing slide, his body heat and strength disappearing. His hand gently tugged her shoulder, nudging her down to her back, then he touched her jaw to turn her face to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

He made a gruff noise. “Right. C’mere.” He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. God no. It’s not you. I’m just…for some reason I feel like crying.”

“That’s not really the reaction a guy wants to hear after sex.”

She choked on a small laugh. His arms felt so good, so strong and reassuring. And dammit, the fact that he was trying to comfort her and find out what was wrong instead of withdrawing and distancing himself from an emotional crying woman made her heart swell up and ache. Fuck. She did not need to like this guy. This was one night of kinky hot sex with a stranger in a hotel.

“I’m sorry. Really, it’s not you. I just realized…I’ve been under so much stress lately. And this felt so, so good. It made me…shit.” She hiccupped on another little sob. “I’m sorry. You don’t need this. This is just about having fun.”

“Well, yeah. Hang on. I gotta get rid of this.” He gestured toward his groin and disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, he left the light on in the other room, the door open, a wedge of light enough for them to see each other in velvet shadows. He pulled her back into his arms and slid his hand into her hair and massaged her scalp. “Okay. I wanted you to feel good, gorgeous. Not bad.”

“It’s not your fault,” she repeated. “I’m just being stupid.”

“Why’ve you been so stressed?”

“Oh. God.” She released a long exhalation. “It’s a really long story. And not all that interesting. I just…”

“C’mon. Talk about it.”

She didn’t want to ruin this by vomiting out all her problems. This wasn’t supposed to be deep and meaningful. This was supposed to be sexy and spontaneous and carefree. She wasn’t going to do that. She sought for the words to put this to bed. Ha. Funny.

“My career is really important to me,” she finally said. “I’ve worked so hard at my job. Long hours. I’ve taken courses. I’ve networked. I wanted to be the best at what I do.”

He went still against her, his hand cupping the back of her head. “Yeah?”

She swallowed. “There are problems at work. I won’t bore you with the details. But it’s been stressing me out. That’s why I’m taking this holiday. To go home and relax with my parents.”

“What kind of problems? Downsizing?”

“No. The company is doing really well. It’s other stuff.” She hitched a shoulder.

She sensed that he waited, that he actually wanted her to tell him more. But no way. Besides, it was all so…icky. And highly confidential. She knew the kind of trouble you could get into by spilling corporate secrets.

“So spending time with your parents will help relax you?” he finally said.

“Probably not.” Then she wished those words hadn’t escaped her so quickly. “I mean, they’re great. I love my folks. But…” Again she tried to sort through the right words. “I don’t want to disappoint them.”

And there was the story of her adult life. Not that Joe would have any idea what that was about.

“I’m sure they’re very proud of you,” he said, his voice taking on a bit of a rough edge.

“Yes, they are.” She sighed. “I want to make them proud.” She had a lot of shit to make up for, her poor parents.

“Yeah,” he said. He gave a harsh chuckle. “I get that.”

She pulled back a little to look at him, lifting a hand to touch his jaw. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t meet her eyes but the set of his mouth spoke of pain and frustration. “I spent my whole fucking life trying to make my dad proud of me. It never worked.”

Her insides went cold and tight. “Surely not.”

“It’s true.” Now he did meet her eyes and a smile tipped the corners of his mouth. “No big deal though.”

No big deal. The smirk and the careless lift of one big shoulder didn’t fool her.

“Then you know how I feel,” she said slowly.

“Did you screw something up?” he asked. “I mean, at work. Is that why you’re stressed?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I haven’t screwed up. Yet. But I might have to do something that will disappoint my parents.”

“That sucks.”

“Why don’t you think your dad is proud of you?”

Chapter Eight

“It was always pretty obvious,” Joe said slowly. He wanted to avoid her question, but he was the one who’d started sharing. “My older brothers can do no wrong in his eyes, but me… Nothing I did ever made him happy. It was as simple as the time they got to spend with him. He’d take them out to ball games and camping. I was the youngest so I was always too young to go with them. It wasn’t until I was about twelve that it clicked in that he’d been taking them to ball games and on camping trips long before they were twelve years old.”

He paused, gathering his thoughts. “All three of us are pretty athletic, and we all played sports. He’d go watch their games and cheer them on. When I played football and our team won the state championship, he wasn’t there. And when I got home all excited and proud, to him it was no big deal.”

She made a soft sound of sympathy. They lay there looking at each other in the warm lamp light. “That’s not right,” she murmured.

“I was also the only one who ever got physically punished when I did something wrong,” he said. “Something else I didn’t realize for years. One time my brothers and I were fooling around in the backyard with a ball and bat, and Mitch hit the ball into the neighbor’s yard and broke a window. I was the one who got my ass paddled.”

She drew in a sharp intake of air. “Oh no.”

He shrugged and smiled at her, reaching out to move a strand of hair off her cheek. “Don’t get too worked up about it. I survived. That was all a long time ago. I just wanted you to know that I get it,” he said softly. “The desire to please and make them proud of you.”

Her gaze dropped and she stared a spot on his chest. “Yes. I guess you do get it.”

He ran his palm over her shoulder and down her upper arm. So soft.

“So why are you going to visit your dad?” she asked softly. “If you two don’t get along.”

His insides tightened. Hell. He tried for a carefree smile. “Doing my duty.”

Their evening had taken a turn into the personal, with her getting all emotional like that, which then made him talk about stuff he’d really rather not. When she’d said how hard she’d worked, how she wanted to be the best, he knew exactly what she was talking about, because that was just how he felt.

But all for fucking nothing.

He’d been ecstatic when he’d been made lieutenant, thrilled to his core to be at that level at his age. Something he was good at. Something he was the best at. Something he loved. Only to have his accomplishment dismissed by his dad with an absent acknowledgement and abrupt change of subject.

He’d gotten really good at ignoring the pain, but that one had really stung.

“Duty,” she repeated. “Yeah, I get that.”

They both fell silent, thinking. The mood had gone from blazing lust to quiet intimacy. He felt connected to the woman in his arms in a way that had nothing to do with the red-hot sex they’d just had. Or maybe it had something to do with it, because he sensed her inner streak of kinky fun that matched his own.

He didn’t like the idea that she was so deeply unhappy. He wanted to make it better. But the only way he could think of to do that was…more sex. He wasn’t quite up for that yet though, so he just pulled her closer so their bodies were pressed together along their entire length, her soft breasts pillowed against his chest, and his hand stroked up and down her back. She sighed into his mouth as he kissed her.

Their tongues met and rubbed again, and once more heat centered in his groin. “Forget that stuff,” he murmured against her lips. “Just for tonight.”

Mallory awoke to a repetitive chiming noise. She struggled to open her eyes but saw only darkness. It took a few groggy minutes to figure out what the noise was. As Joe moved beside her and turned off the alarm on his cell phone, memories flooded back with a rush of heat. Had that really happened? God, the things they’d done to each other last night!

And now they had to get up and go to the airport and…go their separate ways. She closed her eyes against the faint ache in her chest brought on by thinking about that. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning her head to look at Joe.

He was awake, his head on the pillow beside her. The stubble on his face was even heavier now, his face dark against the white pillow, eyes shadowy in the dim room. The heavy curtains kept out almost all the light. His lips curved. “Hey.”

“Hey. I guess we have to get up.”

He sighed and stretched his big, long body, the duvet falling away from his bare chest. God, he was gorgeous, so ripped with muscle. Her pussy pulsed with renewed interest, remembering his cock. She wanted to see it again, touch it, taste it, have it inside her. Cripes, it was like an addiction, and she had to stop herself from pulling back the covers just to look.

“Didn’t get much sleep,” he yawned. “Kind of amazing how good I feel.”

She smiled. “Yeah.” Her body felt alive, sensitized, and she too stretched out her legs, the sheets sliding over her skin like a caress. Damn. She did not want to get out of that bed. She let out a long exhalation. “Okay if I shower?”

“No.”

She paused and looked at him over her shoulder. “No?”

He kicked off the covers, revealing the rest of his amazing body and bounded out of bed. “Not without me, you’re not.”

“Oh.” Her heart stuttered.

He kissed the tip of her nose. “We don’t have much time left. Let’s make the most of it.”

Happiness bubbled up inside her as she padded along after him into the bathroom. “More shower sex?”

“You can never have too much shower sex.” He turned and eyed her. “I don’t suppose you have an extra toothbrush?”

“No. Lucky I even have one toothbrush.” She pursed her lips. “I suppose I could share it with you. Seeing as you’ve had your tongue down my throat, not to mention a whole lot of other places.”

He grinned. “You rock.”

They took turns brushing their teeth and Joe cranked on the water. When she’d finished cleaning her teeth, she said, “Um. I need a minute…” She glanced at the toilet.

“Ah.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Don’t mind me.” He stepped into the shower and yanked the curtain closed. She stared open-mouthed at the white expanse of fabric.

“Seriously?” she muttered. She heard a soft laugh. Dragging in a breath, she sat on the toilet and emptied her bladder, nerves twitching at having someone else in there with her as she did so. The curtain shielded her from his view, and the pouring water drowned out the sounds, but still…it was shockingly personal and intimate.

Then she joined him in the shower and he immediately surrounded her with his wet body, strong arms and legs wrapping around her, pulling her beneath the flow of blissfully hot water. He kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth, hands cupping her ass.

“No wonder you wanted to brush your teeth,” she panted a long moment later.

“Morning breath isn’t sexy.” He rubbed his nose against hers.

“We don’t have much time.”

“True. Let’s get at ’er.” And his hand slipped down between her legs.

She was pleasantly sore there, extra sensitive, her thigh muscles aching, and it didn’t take much for him to get her off while sucking at her nipples. And then he thrust up inside her, inciting more sweet pains. Her body heated and melted around him. It felt so, so good. Her eyes drifted closed and she felt like she was floating on the steam that surrounded him. So it startled her when he suddenly pulled out.

Her eyes flew open and he grunted, “No condom.” His face tightened, chin lifting as he jacked himself the last few strokes to orgasm, coming in jets on her belly that dripped and washed away beneath the shower spray. She watched in fascination, holding his hips.

“Sorry,” he gasped.

“It’s okay.” She used birth control so she wasn’t worried about that. “I think it was okay.”

“I’m clean.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Totally. Fuck. Sorry.”

“Me too. I mean, I’m good. And I think you pulled out in time…”

“But still…”

It was a risk. She knew that. She was doing crazy, reckless things and this was just one more. But it didn’t feel scary. It felt…amazing.

Although that creeping feeling of sadness lurked in the recesses of her mind.

They washed each other more efficiently than they had the day before. Mallory spent more time drying her hair and applying what little makeup she had while Joe went down to the coffee shop, returning with two big take-out cups of coffee and bagels. Mallory gratefully ate the bagel and sipped the coffee as she dressed and packed up the few things she had. She repressed a sigh as she washed up the little vibrator and replaced it in her bag.

They carried their cups as they left the room and headed down to the lobby to find a taxi. As the door swung closed behind them, Mallory cast one more longing, regretful look at the room. They’d only been there a few hours, but it felt much longer than that, and she again wistfully wished they could stay there. Forever.

But that was silly.

Today the skies were blue and the sun glinted off the new-fallen snow that was already starting to melt. A freak little snowfall that had caused so much havoc.

They were soon at the airport and then at their gate again. “Hang on,” Joe murmured, once they’d found seats. “Give me your boarding pass.” She sat and sipped what was left of her coffee as he went up to the counter.

She watched him talking to the girl working there, who gave him a flirty smile as she typed on her computer keyboard. Then Joe returned. “I moved your seat,” he said, taking the seat beside her. She handed him his coffee. “So we’re together.”

“Oh.” She blinked, not sure what to say to that. Should she thank him?

He paused. “Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

She didn’t want this to end. But she knew it had to, and there was no point in dragging things on. But okay, another couple of hours in Joe’s company on the plane would be…nice. It was also very nice having someone looking after her—bringing her coffee, carrying her suitcase, changing her seat. He just did it, and she had no doubt that any woman in his life would be looked after. Her heart squeezed.

“Tired?” he asked.

She smiled. “Oh yeah.” Their eyes met with a little burst of heat.

“Well, let’s hope there aren’t any more delays. The weather sure shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Just bad timing,” she murmured. “That early storm.”

“Or good timing. Depending on your point of view.” He arched an eyebrow.

“True. There were some very good things about it.”

“Did you let your parents know your new arrival time?”

“Oh God. No. I totally forgot.” She set her coffee on the floor at her feet and dug into her purse for her cell phone. “What time is it we arrive?”

He told her the time and flight number and she thumbed the text message into her phone. “There. How about your dad?”

He shrugged and reached for her coffee to hand it to her. “I’ll call him when I get there.”

She studied him. “He doesn’t know you’re coming, does he?”

His eyes flew up to meet hers. One corner of his mouth deepened into a crooked smile. “Why do you say that?”

“You’ve been evasive about him every time he comes up in conversation. You said he wasn’t picking you up, but you haven’t called or texted him to let him know you’re going to be a whole day late.”

He took a big swallow of his coffee. “True. Okay, yeah, he doesn’t know.”

Curiosity tickled her insides. “You two don’t have the best relationship and you’re going to surprise him by dropping in on him?”

“Yep.” He leaned back in his seat and lifted on ankle over the other knee.

She had a million more unformed questions, but clearly he wasn’t going to say anything more. So she just nodded.

Pre-boarding for their flight was soon announced and they gave each other wry looks as people rushed the gate. “Déjà vu,” Joe murmured.

“What’s the rush?”

“It’s not as if they’re not going to get on the plane.”

“It would go a lot faster if everyone waited their turn.”

They shared a grin and waited until their boarding group was called, then filed onto the plane.

“Here we go again,” she said, settling into her seat. Joe had offered her the choice of window or aisle. Usually she took the aisle seat but she suspected he liked the extra space of the aisle seat, being such a big guy, so she sat in the window seat. Joe lifted her carry-on into the overhead compartment for her and she felt like a pampered princess.

This time nothing stopped them from taking off and they were soon airborne and heading to Los Angeles. The flight attendants served them more coffee and cookies. After the bagel earlier, she wasn’t hungry, but Joe eyed her cookie package with greedy eyes. Amused, she said, “Still hungry, big guy?”

“Yeah.”

“Here.” She gave him the cookies and he devoured all of them.

“You don’t get enough food on planes these days,” he said, crumpling the wrappers.

“True.”

Normally she’d pull out her e-reader and read a book, but she didn’t want to do that when she had such little time left with Joe. She wished he’d tell her more about his dad and some of the enigmatic comments he’d made about his family.

“So tell me about the ballet lessons,” Joe said. “You have very…uh…flexible feet.”

She gave him a slow smile. “Yes. I do. My ballet teachers used my feet to demonstrate the proper way to point your toes. I can’t do it anymore, but I used to be able to sit on the floor with my legs stretched out in front of me and touch the floor with my toes. My teachers used to push my toes all the way to the floor to increase my flexibility.”

“You’re getting me all hot,” he murmured close to her ear. “Did you pack sandals for your trip to California?”

She eyed the pointy toes of her boots. “Yeah. In my checked baggage. Which I hope is on this plane with us.” She paused. “Flip-flops.”

“Ah.” He cleared his throat. “Excellent. How long did you take ballet?”

“Long time. I started when I was about five and stopped in my junior year of high school.”

“You must have been really good.”

She shrugged. “I suppose. When I got to be a teenager, I kind of blew it off. I was doing a couple of ballet classes and a jazz class every week, plus I was in an elite dance team that entered competitions and we practiced every week. Then I kind of got into dating and partying, and the ballet fell by the wayside.” She grimaced.