Full Moon (14 page)
Soon his hips moved faster, harder, driving deeper. Josie’s fingers dug into his shoulders, her nails scraping the skin. She was marking him, making sure that tomorrow he’d feel the effects of this night as well. She had no doubt she would. She was stretched, full. Happy.
Josie had just adjusted to the new rhythm when Jake reached between her legs and notched the vibrator to high.
To hell with coming together. Josie was a goner. Luckily, the vibrator wasn’t claiming only one victim.
Jake yelled out. “God dammit. That feels so fucking good.”
Josie’s pussy clenched tightly. Words wouldn’t come. Hell, she wasn’t even sure of her name at that moment. All she knew in the world was him. This moment. This orgasm.
They came in a flurry of moans, last-second thrusts and powerful shudders. Jake dropped to his elbows and their chests played out the last chorus as the two of them struggled for air.
Josie wasn’t sure how long they lay there, a frozen tableau of a man lying atop a woman, both of them mindless, carried away by bliss. Finally, Jake pushed off, falling to her side.
They laughed when they realized the buzzing noise, disrupting the silence, was coming from the vibrator, still rumbling inside her pleasantly numb body. Jake turned it off and removed it. He carried it to the bathroom and she listened as he washed up.
When he returned, he put the now-clean vibrator back on the nightstand. He hesitated and she realized what was holding him back.
She lifted her arms in invitation. “Sleep with me.”
He crawled back into bed. “What about Tommy?”
“He’s spending the night with Shelly. So long as you leave before he gets back, we’ll be fine. I want to stay in bed with you. All night.”
He kissed her softly. “I’ve wanted that since January.”
She smiled at his sweet admission. “Goodnight, Jake.”
“’Night, Josie.”
Josie heard a noise and opened her eyes, feeling drowsy and warm. The sun shone brightly through the window. Jake’s chest provided a comfortable pillow. He’d woken her twice in the night and they’d made love. With the gentle way he’d moved inside her, his soft touches and long deep kisses, it simply couldn’t be called fucking. It had been too special for that.
She let her eyes drift closed again, wondering briefly what had woken her in the first place, then she heard a voice.
“Mommy?” Tommy called.
“Josie?” Shelly’s voice followed.
Josie leapt out of bed, rushing to close and lock the bedroom door before her son ventured upstairs.
Mercifully, Jake didn’t need any explanation. She glanced toward the bed and saw he was quietly putting on his pants. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to stay so late.”
She waved him off. It wasn’t his fault. Well, unless she considered the fact he’d fucked her into a coma. Then he was definitely to blame.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” Josie yelled through the door.
She heard Shelly laughing, hollering up the stairs. “Man, that’s a heck of a sleep in. You’re usually up with the birds. I wondered why you hadn’t called to get your little man back already.”
“This isn’t exactly how I wanted to introduce you to my son.”
Jake had finished dressing. He walked over and pulled her to him, his hands on her waist. “It’ll be okay. If there’s an opening, I could always try to sneak out without him seeing me.”
She shook her head. No. She was finished hiding her relationship with Jake from her son. Problem was she’d never brought a man home before so she wasn’t sure how Tommy would react. Especially so soon after Tony’s departure from the house.
“I want you to meet him.”
Jake smiled and she could tell her answer pleased him. “Good. I can’t wait to see him.”
Jake returned to the nightstand and tucked her toys inside the drawer, out of sight. The action was so Jake. His continual thoughtfulness caused her chest to constrict. Was this what pangs of love felt like?
Josie quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, finger-combing her hair and silently hoping for the best. She unlocked the door and the two of them walked downstairs together.
Shelly and Tommy had turned on the TV and were sitting next to each other on the couch.
Shelly’s eyes widened when she spotted Jake behind Josie. “Oh. Sorry,” she mouthed over Tommy’s head.
Tommy hadn’t unglued himself from SpongeBob yet to notice there was someone else in the house. Josie walked to the coffee table, picked up the remote and turned the TV off.
“Hey!” Tommy said. His forehead crinkled in confusion when he saw Jake.
Jake nodded at Shelly. “Hi, Shelly. Man. What have you been doing to yourself? You look amazing.”
Shelly gave him a cheeky grin. “Kick-boxing. Among other things.”
Josie rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what other things Shelly was alluding to. Her best friend had lost her virginity with a vengeance, as well as at least sixty pounds since she started her diet in early December.
Tommy stirred, taking a step closer to Josie. She placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping to put him at ease. “Tommy. I’d like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Jake Stewart. Jake, this is my son.”
Jake stepped forward and put his hand out. Her little gentleman accepted it. “Nice to meet you, Tommy.”
Her son didn’t reply at first. Instead, he looked at her. “Where’s Daddy?”
“He moved out yesterday. Remember? I told you he was going to live in his new apartment from now on.”
Tommy scowled. “Did you and Jake have a sleepover?” His tone matched his expression. He was not pleased.
Josie tried to decide whether or not it was best to lie or tell the truth. Then she recalled the mornings she’d woken up to find her mother sitting on the couch bright and early with some new boyfriend, claiming he’d just arrived and would be joining them for breakfast. Josie had never bought the lie. Not once.
“Yes. We did. We stayed up late talking and then we sort of fell asleep.” Still not the total truth, but closer.
“Does Daddy know Jake was here?”
Josie sighed. The timing on this mistake was going to cost her. Big time. Even so, Jake was going to be a part of her life. Their life. Somehow she needed to set them on the right track. “Your daddy knows about Jake. But even if he didn’t, you understand that Mommy can be friends with anybody she wants to.”
“Is he your boyfriend?”
God, leave it to a child to ask the hard questions. “Well,” she paused, uncertain how to answer. She and Jake were dating and he’d told her she was the only woman he was seeing. Did that make him her boyfriend?
Jake knelt in front of Tommy. “You love your mom, don’t you, Tommy?”
Tommy nodded.
Jake grinned. “Yeah. She’s pretty cool. I like her a lot. Do you think you could give me a chance? Maybe we could hang out a bit, get to know each other. I hear there’s a new play land opening up next week with a ball pit and laser tag. Your mom and I could take you out for pizza and we could play a round or two if you wanted.”
So many times, Jake had offered to shoulder some of her load, to take some of the weight from her, and she’d denied him. Watching him with Tommy, she realized she’d been wrong to refuse.
Tommy didn’t reply right away. Though he was still confused by the sleepover and angry on his father’s behalf, the appeal of laser tag was definitely helping. “I guess.” The answer was offered begrudgingly. “Are you going to sleep over here all the time?”
Josie and Jake both shook their heads.
“Nope,” Jake replied. “Your mom’s right. We didn’t mean to fall asleep last night. I have my own apartment and that’s where I’ll be come bedtime.”
The answer seemed to soothe Tommy somewhat. “Okay.”
Jake stood up and gave Josie an encouraging smile. “I guess I should head out.”
“I’ll walk you to the door.” Josie was relieved when Tommy hung back with Shelly, though she could feel his eyes burning holes through her back.
“Give him some time to sort through it. He didn’t know I existed five minutes ago.”
Jake was right. They just needed time.
“I’ll call you later,” she said.
She was equal parts disappointed and grateful when Jake didn’t kiss her goodbye. Clearly he knew Tommy was still watching them. He walked to his car, turning before he climbed into the driver’s side. He gave her a wink, then drove away.
She grinned when she recalled Jake’s solution to everything. Maybe time was the answer. And maybe patience was a virtue.
But what happened when your thoughts were less than virtuous all the time?
Chapter Seven
Josie’s Howl List—July
1. Sex with a stranger2. Sex in public3. Anal4. Bondage5. Spanking6. Double Penetration- 7. Sex on the beach
Josie leaned back, letting the sun warm her face. She loved summer. The sound of kids playing, splashing water, and someone’s radio blasting classic rock surrounded her.
Loud squeals of laughter caught her attention. She glanced toward the lake. Jake and Tommy were in the middle of a major splash war with a big group of kids. She smiled proudly. Her guys were outnumbered, but still winning. A quiet giggle escaped her lips when Jake lifted Tommy up onto his shoulders and the two of them started chasing the other kids, roaring like monsters.
Jake claimed more and more of her heart each day. He’d accepted not only her with all her craziness into his life, but he’d offered real friendship to her son. Jake had held true to his promise of laser tag. The three of them had actually gone back twice since the first trip because it was so much fun.
Then Jake had declared Mondays pizza night. He’d bring over a large pizza and the three of them would devour it in front of some movie or while playing a board game.
She dropped her sunglasses over her eyes once more and lay back, trying to remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed and comfortable in her own skin. She could get used to this feeling.
“Have I mentioned how much I love women who wear bikinis?”
She squinted one eye open, keeping the other closed against the bright sunlight, and found Jake staring at her. “I thought you said you’d watch Tommy while I sunbathed for a little while.”
Jake gave her a shit-eating grin as he dropped onto the towel next to her. “I’m doing both. Besides, there are three lifeguards on duty and he’s not in any deeper than his knees.”
Josie glanced toward the lake and saw Tommy filling a bucket with water with another girl about his age. They appeared to be building a sandcastle. “Oh, I see.”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to cramp his style while he was putting the moves on a hot little beach bunny.”
She rolled her eyes at Jake’s jest. “He’s six.”
“A guy’s never too young to start practicing pick-up lines. Tommy started off with a gem. Looked at the girl and said ‘Hey. Are you using that bucket?’”
“Wow. Impressive. I can see why she stuck around.”
“Yep. He’s going to be a heartbreaker.”
Josie sat up, drawing patterns in the sand next to her. The wine girls had organized a picnic at this local lakeside beach to celebrate Kristen’s fortieth birthday. While her actual birthday was next Thursday, Kristen had forbidden them from throwing a real party, claiming she was perfectly happy to turn forty in Laura’s living room with a glass of wine in her hand. It seemed this wasn’t exactly a milestone their friend was looking forward to. Kristen hadn’t found the marriage mart as favorable as she’d expected.
Of course, Georgie and Laura couldn’t stand letting the birthday pass with so little fanfare, so they’d thrown today’s festivities together, declaring it a joint celebration. In addition to Kristen’s birthday, they were rejoicing over the fact Zoey had been given a clean bill of health—the cancer was in remission.
Josie spotted Kristen sitting in a beach chair near the water’s edge talking to Zoey and Laura, while Rob, Georgie, Shelly and a few other friends stood waist-deep in the water batting a beach ball around. As far as parties went, Josie could think of much worse ways to celebrate an unwanted birthday.
The sky was clear with only a few fluffy white clouds breaking up the vivid blue. The sun was shining brightly, but it wasn’t too humid, as a pleasant breeze kept most of the real heat away.
In another hour or so, they’d move the party from the lake to one of the big covered pavilions for a picnic supper, wine and cake.
“I realize it’s broad daylight and the full moon is still a week or so away, but I can’t help but think we should make hay while the sun shines.”
Josie looked at Jake, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Jake shook his head. “I think I know your Howl List better than you do. July’s fantasy was sex on the beach.”
Since she and Jake had embarked on a full-fledged relationship, she’d thought less and less about her list. She supposed it was because she’d written those fantasies down at a time when she was horny, single and sick of her vibrator. Now that she was having fantastic sex on a semi-regular basis, she didn’t feel the same drive toward accomplishing every goal.
Jake, however, was nothing if not committed to seeing a task through to the end.
Josie glanced around. The place was packed. “I didn’t write anything on that list about outright exhibitionism. And my son is here. I’m not sure this is exactly the right time.”
“Have you ever been to this lake before?”
Josie frowned. There was nothing he could say that would convince her to take such a chance with so many people around. “I used to come here years ago with my mom. I sort of forgot about it for a while.” She’d been too busy keeping her head above water after the divorce to remember how to have fun. It was just one of the amazing things Jake had brought back into her life, along with sex and laughter and relaxation.
“I come here a lot. There are a few trails through these surrounding woods that I’ve explored some. You think you could convince your friends to watch Tommy for a little while? I want to show you something.”
