Hurt Like HELL (new adult contemporary romance) (16 page)

When he tried to move away, I shook my head.

“No, please no,” I begged.  “I’m... I’m...
finishing,
Jack...”

I really was.

My finger was tight around his belt loop and his hand held me tight moving with my stomach as it fluttered up and down, up and down, up and down.

My body pulsed from the intensity of the pleasure and the way Jack looked at me.  He looked surprised but in control.  He started to smile when he understood what I was telling him and watched the way I reacted to it.  If I had to admit it, it had been a very long time since the last time I
finished
. 

It was the first time with a man.

I continued to shudder.  I lifted myself because my body wanted more.  I became greedy for Jack.  I wanted to grab Jack and pull him in for a kiss but I couldn’t.  My left hand held me up.  My right hand couldn’t let go of Jack’s pants.  I couldn’t let him move. 

“Tessa,” Jack said, “are you okay?”

I let my head fall back and I started to laugh.  Of course I was oaky.  I was better than okay.  I was...

“Amazing.  Jack.  Amazing.”

As I started to lift my head, I felt Jack nuzzle my neck.  His nose pressed against my skin, inhaling my morning scent.  A mix of sleep, desire, and lust.  Oh, the lust.  He touched his lips to my neck but he didn’t kiss me.  He just ran them along my neck to my chin. I slowly lifted my head but again, we didn’t kiss. 

“I can’t,” he whispered.  “Not like this, Tessa.”

I felt my needs deflating and I let his pants go.  I touched his leg, squeezing it once, thinking about exploring elsewhere.

But Jack was shaking his head.

“I swear to you,” he said, “I will.  Soon.”

“I want...”

“I know what you want, Tessa, trust me, I know.  I can feel you, more than you realize.”

I took a deep breath, wanting to know everything.

My stomach growled, loud enough that Jack felt it.

He looked down and said, “I agree.”

“No, we don’t have to do anything...”

Jack kissed me and climbed to his feet.  I remained on the floor, satisfied and frustrated.  It was a strange combination.

My stomach growled again.

Oh, I was hungry too.

“Come on,” Jack said and put his hand out.

I took it and he helped me to stand.

“You have to promise you’ll tell me...”

Jack wouldn’t look into my eyes then.  He looked beyond me.  It worried me.  I could feel the mood in the room starting to dim, so I slipped by Jack, going to my bedroom.

“Hey, Tessa?” he called.

“Yeah?”

“I know a place we can go.  Small place.  You’ll love it.”

I looked at myself in the mirror, frantically trying to fix my hair.

Love it?
I thought. 
How about I tell you, Jack, that I love you?

~6~

I should have known where he was going to take me, and I should have known he’d be driving a small, black two door speedster, a car that fit his untamed personality and sexual undertones that never seemed to end.

I didn’t ask about the car because all that mattered was that I sat in the front seat next to him.  The car smelled of him, his own warm smell.  It teased my senses, but as he parked in Thorns small parking lot, I didn’t want to get out.

“I heard this place is good,” he said, smiling.

“Yeah.  The one barista is really cool.  You’d like her.”

“Is she working today?”

I shook my head.  “No.  She’s out... with... a...”

“That’s good,” Jack said, disregarding my attempt to label us.  What was the big deal, right?  I wanted a label for us.  Was that wrong? 

Maybe.

We had met, at least in the present, just yesterday.  I would be presenting him to the world as a stranger but the way I felt and the way we looked at each other, it would be obvious that there were secrets behind Jack.

Oh well.  Let people guess... let them wonder...

“You know why it’s good?” Jack asked.

“No.  Why?”

“If she was working, I’d probably spend the day flirting with her.”

“You’re an animal,” I said.

Jack took my hand and nibbled it.  Then he kissed it.

“Tessa, you haven’t seen a thing... yet...”

He let my hand go, and it suspended in the air, with my heart and emotions.

We walked into Thorns and the place was a little busier than most mornings.  I then realized it was Saturday.  I saw many of the regulars, a few uncommon faces, and Gabrielle standing behind the counter.

The bitch.

Sorry, but it was true.

Gabrielle was the bitch of the café.

She was somehow affiliated or related to Jerry, whatever it was, I didn’t care.

The first day I met her, I made the horrible mistake of calling her Gabby and ever since then she flat out hated me.  If I was there and took an order, she’d mess it up on purpose just to watch a customer get pissed at me.  If I cleaned something, she’d dirty it.  No matter what I did - or anyone did really - she would go against it.  Even with Brett, dare I say his name.  She tried to flirt with him but it was such a sad attempt.  Then again, she was probably lucky in that situation, considering what happened.

I stopped and turned, looking up at Jack.  His eyes scanned the café like a vicious predator ready to attack.  He was on the search for something.  My angry stomach demanded food. 

“Here, sit here,” Jack said.

He pulled out a chair.  It scraped against the floor, calling for all eyes to look at Tessa and her guy.  That included Gabrielle, who looked shocked.  Shocked to see me with a guy.  Shocked to see me with such a hot guy.

Take that, bitch.

I smiled and waved to Gabrielle.

She gave the quick head nod thing and looked away.

I sat and Jack walked to the counter to get us food.  He didn’t ask me what I wanted but something told me he already knew.

When he came back holding two coffees, I could have lunged from the table at him.  It was the only time I lost the urge to lunge at Jack. 

We drank coffee in silence, Jack looking very comfortable in the café. 

Like he knew the place.

Like he had been here plenty of times.

“Was it the first time?” I asked.

I noticed from the corner of my eye Gabrielle watching us.  I slowly slid my hand to touch Jack’s.  He looked at my hand but didn’t do anything.

Damn.

“First time what?”

“With the newspaper.  The article.  Was that the first time you were in here?”

“If I said yes would you believe me?”

“Not for a second.”

“Then you have your answer.”

Right on time, a middle aged woman named Annie brought our food to us.  Thorns didn’t have a huge menu, but their egg and cheese sandwiches were amazing.  Jack had ordered me the sandwich on a croissant.  Exactly what I would have wanted.

He was really good.

We ate but I wasn’t dropping the current subject.

“Tell me, when were you in here?”

“I protect you, Tessa, always.”

That’s when I really had my answer.  The answer to a question I didn’t ask yet. 

I finished my last bite and drank the last little bit of my coffee.  Jack did the same and when he looked at me, he could tell I knew something.

“What?” he asked.

“You hit him, didn’t you?”

“Hit who?”

“Can I see your hands?”

Jack put his hands on the table, fingers spread.  When I looked at his hands, I thought about the places they explored earlier that morning.  My body gushed but I had to stay focused.

Sure enough, when I looked hard enough I noticed a small cut on the middle knuckle of his left hand.  The kind of cut that could happen from punching someone in the mouth.

“You did,” I whispered.  “You saved me from him.”

"From who?"

"Don't play games.  Tell me, Jack.  Right now."

Jack didn't have to tell me a thing, but he did.  I had been on edge for so long.  Between him showing up and our intimate moments, I needed something else from him. 

"I had to do something," he said.  "Normally, I let you handle yourself, but sometimes you get yourself into situations..."

"I do?" I asked, instantly taking offense.  "I caused what happened?"

"You unlocked the door."

Damn, he was right.

"Brett was..."

Just saying his name made Jack's nostrils flare.  His eyes became beady and violent.  He looked ready to kill, for me.  It was oddly romantic.

I shouldn't have said Brett's name, that much I knew now.

Jack pushed back from the table and my hand closed around his wrist.  If he wanted to get away he could have, I'm no where near that strong. 

He stopped moving and just stared.

"I unlocked the door," I said, "which I regret."

"Good to know you regret it now.  If I hadn't been there..."

"You were."

"It wasn't my job then.  Tessa, there's... there's things that happen when I'm not supposed to be involved."

"Like what?"

Jack scanned the café.  The rumbling sound of voices, coffee gurgling, and the gentle clanking of plates and cups took over all sound around us.

Not here, I thought.

"Not here," Jack said.  "In fact, I have something I need to do."

"Today?"

"Right now.  Sorry."

He stood up.  He walked to the counter and took care of the bill while Gabrielle attempted to flirt with him.  It made my blood boil.  I wanted to attack her, but I reminded myself of what I had been able to do with Jack so far... much more than Gabrielle could ever attempt to have.

Jack took care of Annie, tipping her and smiling.  Annie was flushed, thinking a young man had interest in her.  That was just the kind of power Jack seemed to have.

Powerful.  Sexy.

When he came back to the table, I expected him to take my hand and lead me away.

He didn't.

"Can you get back home?"

"You can't take me?"

Jack shook his head.  "I have something to take care of, Tessa.  Now."

Jack looked fidgety.   Maybe nervous, but not the kind of nervous I would normally feel.  He looked nervous and excited, he really had to get somewhere.  I didn't understand where the sudden change came from.

Was it because I talked about Brett?  I meant nothing by it.  Maybe Jack had heard conversations I had about Brett.  But even then, none of the conversations were bad.  I never spoke sexually about Brett. 

After what Brett did...

"Be safe," Jack said.

He sounded cold, uncaring.

Hurt.

He walked from the table without even touching me.  I didn't answer his question about a ride home and I wouldn't have the chance.

I glanced to the counter and saw Gabrielle staring at me, now with a smile on her face.

She must have seen Jack leave without kissing me.

What a bitch.

~7~

“You’re a whore!”

I laughed until I saw the seriousness in Bridget’s face. 

She had been my only option to call and I knew she’d come get me.  She couldn’t resist Thorns’ coffee, so when she saw me standing on the curb holding a large coffee - extra sugar, little cream - she almost opened the passenger door for me.

“I’m not a whore,” I said.  I paused and then asked, “Wait, why would you say that?”

“Don’t think I don’t know... why were you at Thorns?”

Shit.

Why was I at Thorns?

Could I tell Bridget about Jack?  I mean, sure, I could tell her... but what would I tell her?  My mind hadn’t traveled that far forward.  I was still trying to grasp the reality of my life right then.

I had no story for Jack.

I would need something concrete because Bridget knew everyone in town. 

I could tell her I met him online.  But she would then spout statistics of meeting people online and how dangerous it was. 

I could tell her I met him...

“On a date?  Holding hands.”

“What?”

“I heard he might be hot.”

“What are you talking about, Bridget?”

“Don’t play with me,” she said, “I’m annoyed you didn’t tell me.”

“Tell you what?”