Tainted Love: A Lovestruck Novella, Book 1 (10 page)

“God, no. Only morons find that show entertaining,” he answers with a frown.

The light we’ve been sitting at for what feels like forever turns green, and I put on my right turn signal, swerving cautiously across the other two lanes of traffic.

“What are you doing? You still drive like a maniac,” he says with contempt.

“Where’s your car?” I ask.

“In the Greene Street parking deck, why?” he asks.

“Because I’m taking you to it. I had a moment of temporary insanity, but I’m all better now,” I tell him, hoping that Lawson forgives me for blowing him off. If not, I know a few tricks to convince him.

“What do you mean? I thought we were going to dinner,” Bryan whines, reminding me of just how annoying he is, even when he’s not cheating on me.

I pull up to the curb outside the parking deck, not bothering to ride around and around the levels looking for his car. One that’s probably brand new because he doesn’t appreciate the classics like me and Lawson.

“Out,” I say, gesturing with my hand that he should go. That one word feels so good to say, like I’m finally getting the closure I’ve needed for three years. After he cheated on me, I wouldn’t see him or answer his calls. I ignored him until he went back to his home in Virginia and I was left here. All this time, maybe
this
is what I needed, to find an incredible man like Lawson to show me what a dick Bryan is once and for all, so I can forget about him and move on. Now, I’m actually happy that he cheated on me, because I found someone even better.

“Come on, Josie,” Bryan, who still hasn’t budged from the passenger seat, pleads. “I’ve missed you and want to catch up. I thought that’s what you wanted too just seconds ago.”

“I did, or I thought I did, but Reagan is right. There were a few screws loose in my head, but it’s all good now. So, get out, and good riddance.”

“Josie, wait,” he says, and when I turn to yell at him more sternly, he catches me off guard, hitting me with a slobbery kiss. I’m all pursed lips, trying to prevent his wet tongue from breaching the gates, while my hands push with all my might against his chest. Getting the hint, he eventually pulls away. And when he does, I slap the shit out of his face with a very loud, satisfying smack that leaves my hand stinging but was so worth it.

“Get out of my car!” I yell.

With a curse, he opens the door and steps out. The door barely closes again before I gun the accelerator to Lawson’s garage. When I see his blue truck still sitting out front, I do a happy dance and park in front of it.

Unfortunately, the front door of the shop is locked. Refusing to give up, I bang on the wood with both fists.

“Lawson?” I yell in between knocks. “Lawson!”

The door pulls open so swiftly that I nearly topple forward on my face, but then Lawson’s there in the door frame, catching me. His arms go around my waist, pulling me against the safety of his hard body, and it feels so right and perfect. I can’t believe I ever doubted him for a second.

“Quick, what do you want for dinner?” I look up and ask, holding my breath.

“Um,” he says in thought, an adorable crease forming between his eyebrows. “I could really go for a steak burrito from
Moe’s
.”

“Yes!” I shout with a slap to his chest, like he just proposed. “Yes, yes, yes!” My arms wind around his neck as I hug him, thankful that he’s so damn perfect.

“Keep that up, and I’ll be eating you for dinner,” he murmurs against my ear as one of his hands move down to grab my ass. “Who was that dick in the suit?” he asks so seriously that I slide down his body and pull away to explain.

“That was Bryan, my ex-boyfriend,” I say.

“The one who cheated on you?”

“Yeah,” I answer on a sigh. “He was an asshole, but this naïve part of me always thought that we belonged together for some stupid reason. Within five minutes of being near him, I realized how wrong I was and couldn’t get rid of him fast enough.”

“Good,” Lawson says, leaning in for a kiss to my cheek. “I didn’t like seeing you with him.”

“So, does that mean that you don’t want me to date anyone else?” I bat my lashes and ask with a coy smile.

“Yes,” is his instant response.

“And you’re not gonna see anyone else?” I clarify.

“No, just me and you, okay?” he asks, his expression so sincere that I believe him.

“I guess I can agree to those terms,” I reply before he kisses my lips again.

“Good, now can we call in an order and get our food to go so I can take you home?”

“Yes,” I quickly agree. “Make it two steak burritos, no pico on mine and don’t forget the queso.”

“Done. You wanna go home and get your things while I go grab the food?” he asks.

“Sure,” I say, my tummy doing backflips at the thought of finally being with him. I’m nervous and worried it’ll be awkward like most first times, trying to figure out how he likes it, fast or slow, on top or bottom. The possibilities are endless, and now I’m freaking out even more.

“Hey, you okay?” Lawson asks, reaching for my hand to give it a squeeze. “You know it’s gonna be really good, right?”

My eyes lift to his, trying to figure out if he’s referring to what I think he is. But of course he is; he’s a mind reader.

“What if it’s not?” I ask.

“You’re right,” he says on an exhale. “It probably won’t be good. It’s gonna be fucking amazing, because I’m not capable of anything less.”

A giggle escapes without my permission. “Not cocky at all, are you?” I ask.

“It’s not arrogance if I can back it up,” he says with a smile, followed by his lips brushing mine. “Now, stop wasting time.”

“Yes, sir,” I say.

“Meet me at my complex, and then I want you to tell me all about your bad day too, okay?”

“Okay. See you soon,” I tell him before I practically float over to climb into my car, driving home while my hands shake with nervousness.

Lawson

Food? Check. Condoms? Double check. They were buy one get one half off, so, yeah, lots of those. Am I nervous about fucking Josie for the first time? Maybe a little, and not because I doubt my mad bedroom skills, but because I don’t know how high her expectations are, so I don’t wanna be a letdown. Knowing Josie, though, she’s probably just stressing about if it’ll be good for me or not, which I have no doubts about. Not a single one.

Just seeing her car parked in my complex makes my cock grow heavy in my boxer briefs. It seems like we’ve waited forever even though it’s only been what? A day? Two? Goddamn, this woman makes me lose my mind.

After I climb out of my truck, she gets out of her car and meets me on the front sidewalk.

“Hey,” she says with my approach. Her killer scent,
Moroccan My Shine
, hits me like a sledgehammer, making my mouth water for a taste.

“Quick shower?” I ask.

“Ah, yeah. How did you know?” she asks.

“Because you smell delicious, and now I want to eat you instead of my burrito,” I tell her.

“Oh, well, you could save the burrito for later,” she suggests.

“Fuck, yeah.” Grabbing her hand, I pull her up the stairs to my apartment, and nearly drop my keys in my haste to unlock the door.

As soon as the door shuts behind her, I toss the bag of food and condoms over to the nearby kitchen counter and attack her. My mouth crashes down on top of hers, and then my hands are on her ass, lifting her up on the door, causing her purse to fall with a thud to the floor…

“
Ahem
,” a masculine throat clears behind me, followed by, “Uncle Law!”

“Shit,” I mutter against Josie’s lips.

“Language,” my brother’s voice warns.

“Hi,” Josie says in greeting from where she’s still pinned to the door. I lower her legs to the ground and reluctantly let her go to turn around and face my guests.

“You could’ve called or texted to let me know you were still here,” I tell Abe with a huff.

“Ollie wanted to surprise you,” he says with a grin, and then my anger fades when my little nephew is wrapping his arms around my knees.

“Supise!” he says in his cute three-year-old accent as he looks up at me with a grin identical to my brother’s.

“Hey, big man. How’s it going?” I ask, scooping him up in my arms to settle him on my hip.

“
Kaboommm
,” Josie mutters softly from behind me. “Sorry, my ovaries just exploded.”

“What are ovaries?” Ollie asks.

My brother’s chuckle echoes mine when he stands up from the sofa and heads over to us. “I like her already,” he says, holding out his palm. “Abe Andrews.”

“Josie Carter,” she replies, stepping up beside me to shake his hand.

“And you must be Oliver,” she turns and says to the little guy in my arms, offering him her hand, which he quickly accepts.

“You can just call me Ollie,” he tells Josie, making her laugh.

“Oh my God. He’s too adorable,” she says. I try to ignore the achy warmth in my chest at how glad I am that on a first impression, Josie seems to like my family and vice versa.

Not wanting to dwell on the new sensation, I glance around the apartment to see if all my shit is still here and all of the bitch’s gone. “Everything’s out?” I look up and ask Abe. My brother is about two inches taller than me and twenty pounds heavier. Fucker.

“Looks like it. She was packing up the last of it when we got here. No wonder you never brought her home to meet us. What a…not very nice lady,” he says with a bark of laughter. “She asked if I wanted her number now that she’s single.”

“She didn’t,” I grumble, shaking my head in disgust.

“But then she saw Ollie and said,
Ugh,
never mind
.”

“What a bi-g witch,” Josie says, barely catching her curse.

“Amen,” I agree. “Thank God the wicked witch is gone. And thanks for waiting around for the new mattress,” I tell Abe. “They haul off the hold one?”

“Yeah, you’re good to go,” he says with a knowing smile. “And I guess Ollie and I should go round up some dinner and get home since it’s getting late.”

“Probably so,” I agree. “Next time, we’ll go to the park or see a movie,” I tell Ollie.

“Yay!” he says, throwing his arms around my neck.

“Tell Uncle Law and his friend Josie bye, Ollie,” Abe prompts.

“Bye, Uncle Law. Bye, Josie,” he says with a pout.

“Aw, he’s too cute. I hope to see you again, Ollie,” Josie tells him while ruffling his blond hair.

“Nice to meet you, Josie. Thanks for saving my brother from the evil forces that plagued him for way too long,” Abe says with a wink as I hand over Ollie to him.

“Nice to meet you both, too,” she says with a smile so warm it could melt polar icecaps as they leave and I lock up.

“So, is it just me, or does it feel like the universe is conspiring against us?” I ask her, pressing her body against the door again with mine. I grab her ass with both hands so she can wrap her legs around my waist, trying to recreate the moment when we came in.

“It definitely feels that way,” she agrees, reaching up to run her fingers through the back of my hair. “But now I think we’re in the clear.”

“God, I hope so,” I tell her, brushing my lips over her jaw before moving down to her neck. Josie’s head falls back against the door as she squirms. When I suck on her salty skin, she moans softly, activating the hard-as-a-rock setting on my cock. Reaching down, I shove her dress up to her hips so that I can wedge my hips between her legs, only my clothes and her tiny panties in between us.

With a desperate tug on my hair, Josie pulls my mouth to hers again; and I swear it feels like I could drown in the depths of this lust or love between us, whatever it is. It doesn’t matter, because I refuse to fight it. I want it, her, every-fucking-thing. And the best part is, I trust her. She won’t stomp on my bruised ego or rip out my partially exposed heart. No, it’s more like she’s making me feel whole again, filling in the pieces I didn’t know were missing. I want to do the same for her, which is a little scary because I might suck at it, but I think I’m up for the job. One thing’s for sure, I know how to take care of her body while I figure out the rest.

“Josie,” I say against her lips while my hand slides down the front of her panties. Feeling their dampness on my fingertips makes me want to drive my cock deep inside and hump her like a dirty dog.

“Ye-yeah?” she asks, having to clear her throat to speak.

“I like you,” I tell her, making her blue eyes blink to try and see me through the hazy lust.

“I like you, too,” she replies with a smile before her eyes close and she screams, “
Oh God
”, when I slip my fingers underneath the thin strip of fabric covering her pussy. Fuck, my mouth goes dry as I caress her slick flesh and stroke knuckle deep inside her silky walls. There’s only one thing to quench my thirst.

Placing Josie’s feet back on the ground, I jerk her panties down her legs as I fall to my knees in front of her. She steps out of one side of her lacy thong, and that’s good enough for me. My hands grip her thighs, prying them apart as I bury my face between her legs.

“Mmm,” I groan against her wet heat, swirling my tongue inside her tight pussy and lapping up her sweetness. Her hands come down to cradle my head tighter against her body at the same time she goes up on her tiptoes, making me chuckle. “You wanna ride my face, baby?” I ask her.

“Yes,” she says, her fingers pulling two handfuls of my hair. “While I suck you off.”

“Holy fuck, yes,” I tell her. That’s the best offer I’ve ever had in my life.  A second later, I’m on my feet, Josie’s over my shoulder, the bag of condoms are in my hand and I’m striding into my bedroom. Sure enough, there’s a brand new mattress, no sheets, sitting on the frame. There’s no time to cover it with sheets now, and there’s no better way to christen a bed than with what we’re about to do.

Sitting Josie on the side of the bed next to our rubber friends, I lift her dress over her head, and then hold up each of her feet to take off her shoes. While she watches me, I reach behind me to tug my shirt over my head. And then her hands beat mine to my belt, undoing it, and pushing my jeans and boxer briefs down for me to remove the rest of my clothes.

Once we’re both gloriously naked, I climb on the bed, stretching out and hauling Josie up my body until she’s straddling my chest.

“Does, um, being here remind you of her?” she asks so randomly that with all the blood racing down to my erection it takes me a minute to figure out who she means.

“I don’t even remember what she looks like,” I tell her honestly, and, yeah, I’m staring at Josie’s tits as I say this because they’re swaying temptingly right in front of my face.

“Whatever,” she says with a scoff. “She had boobs out to, like, here,” Josie says, using her palms to demonstrate in front of her chest, making me laugh.

“Yeah, she had boobs. And an ass. That’s about all I remember about her.”

“Uh-huh,” she says in disbelief.

“But even when you’re not around, I remember how your soft, golden curls feel between my fingertips,” I tell her, reaching for one of the locks dangling over me to twirl it around my finger. “And I remember the way you look at your car like it has feelings, the sound of your moan when you put something delicious in your mouth, your amazing smell,
Moroccan My Shine
. And I can’t forget the way your beautiful blue eyes look at me we with an admiration I don’t think I deserve.”

“That’s probably the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” she says, blinking away the moisture in her eyes.

“It’s true,” I tell her. “That afternoon you walked into my garage, I forgot my girlfriend’s name. It completely escaped my mind when I saw you.”

“Really?” she asks with a smile.

“Really,” I reply. “Now sit on my face so I can lick your pussy.”

Josie laughs and shakes her head. “But I thought –”

“I’m tired of waiting to be inside you, so I’m gonna make you come on my tongue, and then I’m gonna fuck you.” Without waiting for her to move, I haul her up my body until she’s straddling my face, close enough for me to lick right up the seam of her flesh.

“Oh God, Lawson,” she moans above me as I tease her clit, her body undulating in a rhythm that matches her quick panting breaths. Her back is arched, her hands braced behind her on my chest, so fucking beautiful as she cries out her release, her body shaking with pleasure.

I keep lapping at her wetness until my cock can’t take another second. Flipping our positions, I put Josie on her back and reach over to grab a condom from the box. She watches me silently as I tear the wrapper open and roll the latex over my thick length. Her arms are splayed over her head in surrender, her ivory cheeks flushed with her arousal, blonde hair fanned out around her.

“You’re breathtaking,” I tell her, as I stretch out on top of her, lining our bodies up. Josie doesn’t wrap her legs around my waist. Instead, she winds those beauties over my own legs, interlocking us together for a flawless fit.  When she reaches for my shoulders to bring me against her, I go willingly.

And after what feels like a lifetime of waiting, I fuse our lips together and ease my way deep inside of her. She’s so fucking tight that I groan against her mouth in wonder and joy and pure male satisfaction because I know that I’m the only man she’s given herself to in a long time. The arrogant fucker in my head is pumping his fists in the air because, for some reason, she picked me. It’s like winning the fucking lottery.

Instead of humping her like a horny animal, I actually take my time, savoring every slow stroke in and out of her as her nails dig into my shoulders and our tongues tangle around our panting breaths.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!”

I swallow her muffled moans, greedy for more, as I try to bury myself deeper in her warmth. My hips buck faster, bumping her pelvis on each thrust until I feel her walls start to spasm, holding my cock inside of her as she comes on a scream that would’ve had me coming all on its own.

“Lawson! Lawson, don’t stop!” Josie exclaims, her nails moving down to my ass cheeks, holding me deep inside her while she writhes underneath me. “
Ohmygodimcoming
,” she says in a rush, sounding surprised, but then my release hits me like a runaway Mack truck going down a mountain without brakes. I gasp against Josie’s neck through the tremors, more intense than anything I’ve ever felt before. The usual post-nut blissfulness is instantaneous, but it’s also accompanied by the urge to wrap my arms around Josie and never let her go. Like we’re conjoined twins that share hearts and lungs and all the other important organs, so there’s no possibility of us ever separating. It’s almost overwhelming enough to be scary. At the same time, it’s nice and reassuring to know she’s here and not going anywhere anytime soon. Or is she? What was it she said earlier? She may have to move to find a job? There’s an almost urgency that wraps around my neck, choking me with the need to make sure she stays with me.

“You’ve got to find another job?” I ask her, realizing that my semi-hard cock is still inside her.