Ink Spots (8 page)

Then Jackie had called and revealed that she thought Mandi might have a little crush on him, that she didn’t have plans for her upcoming birthday, and Jaz jumped on it. All bets were off. He was going after her and the timing, though he hadn’t given it much thought at the time, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect than a birthday.

Jackie agreed and the plan was set in motion.

Except, instead of one night, he wanted to keep her.

His heart thumped hard at the notion, but he didn’t take it as panic or uncertainty or fear. It was excitement.

Oh yeah, it was so on.

Jaz flipped back the sheet and slid his legs over the side of the bed. He stood, stretched again and padded naked into the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged and considered pulling his jeans on but decided against it and went in search of his woman.

Possession. His. The thought thrilled him. He just had to contain his thrill long enough to let her catch up.

She stood at the kitchen counter. Or rather she was bent over at the kitchen counter.

Her arms were crossed over one another on the tile with her head resting on them. One foot was crossed over the other and she was naked.

She wanted to have sex face-to-face, but how in the hell did she expect him to live up to his end of that bargain when she looked so delectable in her current position?

He couldn’t decide if he should clear his throat to alert her to his being there or perhaps say hello quietly so as not to startle her. What he wanted to do was slide up behind her, run his hands up her sides and under her to cup her perfect, heavy tits in 59

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his palms. He wanted to urge her to turn around so he could put her on top of the counter and slip his cock inside her while they waited for the coffee to finish.

And then he heard the snore. She’d fallen asleep. He held the chuckle inside and walked over to her. A light hand to her back and she didn’t even alter her breathing.

He’d never seen anything so cute.

He bent and picked her up in his arms, and she purred, curling into his chest. The coffee would have to wait. After laying her in bed, he pulled the sheet up over her and went to take a shower. He was one of those who once awake he was awake for a while.

Mandi evidently wasn’t and he’d worn her out.

The shower went further toward waking him up fully, and by the time he got out, he was hoping she was awake, but one look out the door… She hadn’t moved a muscle.

He needed a change of clothes and to throw the towels in the wash. There were more than enough towels at the shop, and the load he had in his car wouldn’t be needed for another couple of days, but he was also a bit anal, which usually drove everyone around him nuts. Why wait until the last minute when it could be done now?

He got that part from his foster parents and part from jail. When either one said jump, they meant right then, not when he felt like it.

His jeans and t-shirt on, he hunted down his shoes in the mess of clothes at the foot of the bed. He didn’t bother putting them on, just grabbed them up and went in search of a piece of paper and a pen. In a basket by the fridge, he found both. Jotting a note to Mandi, he made sure to tell her he’d be back after he ran home and then to Katz to pick up her car. It’d been sitting there all night and he didn’t want to leave it the rest of the day.

He checked on her one more time to see if she was still sleeping, and sure enough, she was. Her face was pillowed under her hand, and that little snore curled warm and deep in the pit of his stomach. Unable to resist, he walked over and kissed her softly on her temple, brushed back her hair and simply stared at her. One night with her had flipped him inside out and he had to have more…

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He grabbed the keys he’d seen her hang on the little hook by the door this morning and made a quick exit of her little house before he decided to strip and climb on top of her. The inside of the car smelled like her, like sex, like her sex, and his cock protested leaving the warm and very willing woman alone. The sooner he left, the sooner he’d be back.

Backing out of her drive, his first stop was his own place. It took less than ten minutes to get there, and not much more to change into some other clothes and brush his teeth, shave. On his way back out, he grabbed his bag of drumsticks from the spare room. He would need them later.

Next stop was the shop. He needed to check in and remind them he wouldn’t be working today. He might own the place, but usually when the door was unlocked, he was there. Not today. Once he was sure everything was going well and that he’d not left anything out or unattended or disturbed when he and Mandi left earlier in the morning, he told his people he’d see them on Monday.

His last stop before heading back to Mandi’s was Katz. He’d asked Dallon to meet him there to pick up Mandi’s car and drive his back. Dallon’s place wasn’t too far from Katz and he had agreed to help out.

When Jaz pulled into the employee parking area, only two vehicles were sitting there. One was Dallon’s truck, which no one could mistake around town with its flames of hell painted all over the tailgate. The other one though… “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Dallon asked, coming up beside him.

“She didn’t say she drove a classic too.”

“It’s pretty.”

Mandi’s classic was a Ford Torino, ’69 or ’70, maybe even ’71. Man, he hadn’t seen one in such pristine condition in years. Her brothers must have done the work. If so, they’d done an amazing job. Light blue that it was almost white body with a midnight blue roof.

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He pulled the keys he’d picked up from his pocket and unlocked the car. The unblemished interior was dark blue with wood accents, and the newest thing in the vintage car was the stereo system, though it appeared they’d found a faceplate that fit in with the rest of the retro dash.

He reached in to slide the seat back and then got behind the wheel. Damn. He was tempted to pop the hood to take a look under it, but he’d do that later. At the moment, he was more tempted to get back to the owner of the car.

“You sure you don’t want me to drive her car back to her place?”

“Yeah. I’ll trust you not to kill mine on the way.”

“I have excellent driving skills.”

“Uh-huh. Remind me to ask Mac about that.”

“Screw you.”

“Not on your life. Your girl over there, on the other hand…”

“No way. Don’t even let her hear you suggest such a thing or she’ll be begging me to take her someplace she can watch men get it on. No thanks.”

“She still wearing you out?”

“Hell. Every chance she gets. Can’t get her off me. She’s turned into a damn nympho.”

“Don’t sound like you’re tired of it either.”

“Fuck no.”

Dallon walked away, grinning like the cat that ate the canary, and Jaz closed the car door, cranking the engine, which hummed to life. He pulled on the old-time gearshift and put the Torino in reverse. It only took a little gas to get it moving, and once he pulled it out onto the street, it drove like a wet dream.

Then he heard the screeching tires behind him. “Shit.”

* * * * *

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Mandi stretched and rolled over. She slid her hand to the other side of the bed, only to come up empty. She opened her eyes, held herself really still and listened for any movement, any sound at all, any indication that Jaz hadn’t left. She heard nothing.

Lifting her head, she moved the pillow he’d slept on out of the way and looked at the clock. Crap. No wonder he’d left. It was well after three in the afternoon. She’d slept the damn day away.

With a grumpy sigh, she crawled across the mattress, winced and got out of bed. A hot shower would ease the aches in all the places she wasn’t used to having aches.

She’d not had an all-night sex session in more years than she cared to think about, and the lovers she’d had prior to working at Katz and moving to the little town weren’t the

“let’s go all night and sleep all day” kind. No, they were fun and some were quite creative, but they were usually asleep hours and hours before dawn. And… Wait. She looked down at the bed. How had she gotten there? She turned around in a circle, taking in the room, trying to jog her memory.

She’d gotten out of bed and gone to make coffee earlier. She didn’t remember drinking the coffee or going back to sleep, so how…

“Dammit.” She stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door in frustration.

Jaz must have put her back in bed. She’d fallen asleep at the friggin’ counter. What a delightful date she was turning out to be. Give her the best sex of her life all night, a sweet tattoo that she was already in love with, and how did she thank her amazing birthday present of a guy? She slept all day.

She turned on the water, and while she waited for it to heat up, she turned her back to the mirror and looked over her shoulder at the ink. The candle was so perfect, so very pretty and delicate. He’d added a swirl design, and the fancy script the date and his name were in was just so…

She was gonna fall so hard for him. There was no way to avoid it. He’d turned out to be even more awesome than she’d ever dreamed.

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Stepping over the edge of the bathtub, she was careful not to get the tattoo wet, gingerly washing and rinsing every other part of her body. She’d have to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. After she was all clean and shiny and fresh, she would need to try to find Jaz. She owed him an apology for being so lazy when he’d planned to spend the entire day with her. If he could suck up being exhausted, so could she. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t find ways to keep herself occupied.

She shut the water off and pulled the curtain back. “Coffee,” she groaned. She took a deep breath. It was close, fresh and… She stepped out, grabbed a towel to hold in front of her body and left the bathroom. She came to stop with a smile crossing her lips.

Jaz sat on the edge of her bed, holding a cup of her very best friend in the world save for Jackie…coffee.

“I don’t know how you take it,” he said, nodding to the cup.

“Two tablespoons of creamer. It’s in the door of the refrigerator.” She stepped closer to him. “Jaz, I am so sorry I fell back asleep. I didn’t mean to. I just… I’m surprised you’re still here.”

He set the cup down on the nightstand and took the towel from her fisted hands.

He stood, dragging the soft fluffiness across her body, drying her skin, turning her on, making her feel more special than she probably deserved at the moment.

“Don’t worry about it. You were tired. How long had you been up?”

“By the time we got into bed this morning, close to twenty-four hours.”

“Yeah, no wonder you were so beat. Anyone would be without all the extracurricular activities we were busy with.” He punctuated his words with a kiss to her neck, leading to more kisses down her spine until he was kneeling behind her, drying her legs and feet. He slid the towel up the backs of her thighs. “Bend over and spread your legs.”

“Jaz…”

“Go on. Bend over and open your legs. Let me in.”

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She did as he said and then his mouth was there, licking up the inside of her thighs, teasing her by not touching her pussy. Her hands fisted in the sheet when that wicked tongue drove up inside her, slid out and tickled her clit, only to dive back inside. Back and forth between her clit and the entrance to her body he ate at her, sucked at the juices he inspired, and gave her the most exquisite, quick-to-flare-up orgasm she’d ever had.

With him, she was learning it didn’t take much. All he had to do was touch her, speak to her, hell, even just look at her and she was more than halfway ready to come.

He laved the tingling button of her clit until she stopped quivering and sank to her knees. He pulled her back against him and simply held her for a few minutes.

“I went and got your car from Katz.”

“You did? When?”

“While you were sleeping. I left you a note in the kitchen next to the coffeepot in case you woke up while I was gone. I didn’t want you to think I’d left without intending to come back.”

“How did you know where to find the keys?”

“I saw you hang them up this morning.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” She tilted her head up and looked in his face. “So you know what I drive now.”

“I do. Man, she’s a sweet car. I haven’t seen one like her in such great condition in ages.”

“My brothers did a fantastic job. My grandmother used to have one and when I saw this one, I bought it and my brothers fixed it up for me. It was my birthday present a few years ago.”

“You seem to get big-ticket items for your birthday.”

She lifted an eyebrow in query. “Are you a big-ticket item?”

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“Have you failed to notice just how big I am? And no, I’m not talking about my dick, though it’s nothing small either.”

He tweaked her nose and then kissed the tip. The gesture was affectionate, sweet, tender, and it made her chest ache.

“Come on, get up, lazy bones.”

“But I like it right here.”

“Tough. I need to put some lotion on your tat.”

She sighed and used the edge of the mattress to pull herself up. “I need to wash my hair anyway.”

“Where? Weren’t you just in the shower?”

“Yes, but I didn’t think I was supposed to get the tattoo wet. I figured I’d wash it in the kitchen sink.”

“Okay then. Let’s go wash your hair.”

“You don’t have to help.”

“Oh I know, but maybe I’d like to.” He got down in her face until they were nose to nose. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I really like touching you and I’ll use any excuse I have to.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

“Okay, well, let me get dressed and you can help me wash my hair.”

“You can do it naked.”

“You’re not naked.”

“I’m not washing my hair.”

“Perv.” Mandi laughed, completely at ease with her nudity, his being fully clothed, and their light, teasing banter. There was no gonna fall because she was already so far gone for him. If she hadn’t had a crush on him before, she certainly would have one by now. He made it so simple to like him, to want to be with him.