The Mistress Mistake (7 page)

Jessica held his eyes for as long as she
could, and then she moved her gaze to the stop light and watched it
go from red to green. Knowing he was still watching her, she shook
her head softly, until he looked away and began driving once
again.

They continued on in silence until they
pulled into the apartment building where she knew she'd probably be
living for at least the summer and fall semester. It was beautiful,
prettier than anywhere she'd ever lived, but she couldn't help the
tight feeling in the pit of her stomach that made it seem more like
a prison.

Evidently, she had a parking space right at
her front door, and as she didn't have a car, she knew which
vehicle would be parked there most often. Connor walked her inside,
and she perked up somewhat when she looked around. The complex was
newish, and the interior was furnished beautifully. It had only one
bedroom and one small bathroom, but she didn't need anything more
and had never, in fact, had this much space all to herself before.
It also contained a living room, a galley kitchen, and what pleased
her the most, a tiny closet with a stackable washer and dryer. The
thought of not having to lug her clothes all the way to the
washateria was almost heavenly.

Maybe if she didn't think about him at all,
except when he was here, then she could just pretend the situation
didn't exist. She strolled to the large window in the living room
that was actually a set of French doors that opened up to a very
small, private courtyard. It overlooked a beautiful swimming pool
with a huge spa and she felt her spirits lift even more. She could
well imagine herself spending many pleasant hours outside tanning
and just chilling.

When she turned back around, Connor was
watching her. "It's nice," she said.

He nodded his head and walked toward her.
Pulling his wallet out of his pocket, he took out a large quantity
of bills and set them on the table next to the sofa. Catching her
eyes with his, he made no mention of the money. "I'm going to bring
in your stuff. You can start putting it away." As he turned to go,
Jessica experienced the worst trepidation she'd felt so far in all
of this. She looked at the stack of money and a feeling of being
stuck, being committed to this, pierced through her veins and
settled like congealed sludge in her belly.

As he brought in one box after the next, he
quickly finished his part of the work while hers lagged behind. She
wanted to take time and organize all her stuff the way she wanted
it, but he began hovering near her and her panic began
increasing.

It was the middle of the day, she had no clue
what he did for a living, and she didn't know how long he could
stay gone. But she did know one thing. She had a roof over her head
now, thanks to him, and he was probably expecting payment even
now.

There was a lovely queen-size bed in the
bedroom, but there were no sheets or pillows on it. There was no
bedding of any kind. And other than one ragged pillow and a small
throw with the university's name emblazoned on it, she didn't own
anything that could even remotely work.

She wasn't going to ask him to buy anything
for it, either. Shaking out the throw, she put it length-wise over
the bed and tossed her one small pillow at the top.

Connor stood in the bedroom doorway, watching
her with a dark and predatory look. Nervously, she attempted to
ignore him. There were boxes at his feet, and as she slid close by
to lift one, he stalled her movements by placing his hand on her
wrist until she stopped in front of him and lifted her face to his.
He didn't speak, just shook his head at her and a million
butterflies went crazy in her stomach, trying to get loose. She
felt afraid, she felt panic, and she quietly admitted to herself,
she felt a tiny hint of arousal slide down her spine and land in a
heated pool between her thighs.

He'd already bolted the front door; she'd
heard the loud clicking noise in the silence of the apartment. Now
he turned and locked the bedroom door as well, and true fear slid
through her as she felt powerless, totally under his control.

When he turned back around to face her, he
leaned negligently against the door and crossed his arms over his
chest. His nostrils flared, and red tinged his cheekbones as he
said nothing but tilted his head toward the bed in a gesture she
couldn't fail to interpret.

Her muscles tensed. "Can I," she sucked in a
shuddering breath, "use the bathroom first, please?"

"Make it quick."

She didn't wait around. She locked the door
and while she shimmied out of her jeans, she took out her
toothbrush and the toothpaste she'd already put in a drawer. She
washed her teeth quickly, took care of her business and washed her
hands. Looking at herself in the mirror, she flicked a brush
through her hair and said goodbye to the self she'd always
known.

She left her jeans off, and walked back out
in nothing but her panties, bra, and t-shirt. It took every bit of
bravado she could dredge up from her doomed soul to do so. When she
saw him, she stopped in her tracks. He was barefoot, and shirtless.
He was still wearing jeans, but they were unbuttoned and unzipped.
Her brain short-circuited as she looked at his tanned, hard muscles
and the dark brown, almost black bunny trail that disappeared into
his jeans. His musculature was impressive; he didn't have so much
as an ounce of fat anywhere that she could see. His features were
pulled into a frown, and once again, as before, he motioned with
his head for her to get on the bed.

Jessica crawled on the bed, on top of her
coverlet, and looked up at the pretty ceiling fan and the crown
molding at the top of the walls. Attempting to focus on anything
but what was happening to her, she sat on her butt in the middle of
the bed and wrapped her hands around her knees as she pulled them
up to her chin. She tried to breathe evenly and control the blood
pumping so furiously that it almost scared her.

He walked over to the bedside table, and
dropped his keys, wallet and three condoms down. The knot in her
stomach grew larger.

"On your stomach," he said in a deep,
gravelly voice that she hardly recognized.

Panic infiltrated every centimeter of
Jessica's body. "What?"

"Turn over. Lie down on your stomach."

"But--"

He interrupted her with a hiss. "What'd I
tell you? I told you loud and clear. It's fucking. It's not making
love, it's not me having to seduce you." He paused and then pushed
out more words between gritted teeth that were somehow supposed to
soothe her but missed by a mile. "I'm not going to hurt you,
Jessica. It won't hurt . . . now turn over."

Jessica said a swift prayer and then turned
over and lay flat on her stomach, as he had instructed. She knew in
her heart that it was hopeless to pray. Why would God do her a
favor when she was committing this sin?

Hearing the rasp of his blue jeans coming off
his legs and hitting the floor, she shut her eyes. Fear of the
unknown was even worse in the position she was in. Was it a monster
or a man coming up behind her? Her blood pounded in her ears as she
heard the crinkle of plastic and imagined him even now rolling a
condom down his length.

She felt one of his knees and then the other
making an indent in the mattress as he climbed on the bed. He
grabbed the panties at her hips and pulled them off until her lower
half was completely naked.

She tried again to pray.
Please God,
please God, please God
.

With her eyes tightly closed, she felt him
wrap a brawny arm around her waist and lift her, pushing her face
into the mattress and forcing her onto her knees with her butt in
the air.

Before she had time to panic even more, he
was moving directly behind her and pushing her legs apart until he
was levered between them. With the blood pounding a vicious tattoo
through her veins, she felt the broadness of what had to be his
erection pushing against her . . .
there
.

He began to push in but stopped and pulled
out again. "You're dry. You're not ready."

His voice sounded pissed and impatient and
all she could think to do was apologize. "I'm sorry."

He didn't bother to answer her, he just moved
his hand under her and up until he was touching a small spot at the
top of her sex that almost made her squirm. But he kept at it, and
within ten seconds, she wasn't squirming, she was lying completely
still and panting, as a hard spiral of pleasure hit her when she
least expected it. She moaned and he took his hand away.

He moved his penis back to her opening and
grabbed her by the hips, his fingers biting into her flesh. He must
have found what he was looking for because he grunted in approval
and began to push in. As he adjusted his knees on the bed, the
small pleasure she was feeling disappeared as he pulled back out
and began to push back in. She sucked in a startled breath as his
short thrusts quickly became painful and she held her breath and
waited for it to happen.

Breathing hard, he held her by the hips and
when he pulled back and then pushed forward with one long, hard
thrust, bottoming out inside of her, she moaned in agonized
pain.

He stilled completely and she let out a
tear-filled whimper she couldn't begin to control.

Connor stiffened and began cussing.
"Goddammit. Son-of-a-mother-fucking-bitch."
Jessica's face
was still pressed into the mattress as he pulled all the way out
and with one forceful movement, flipped her from her stomach to her
back and adjusted her position with a move that left her legs
spread and his torso between her thighs. She didn't open her eyes.
She was afraid to open her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he hissed through
clenched teeth.

Jessica couldn't answer through her
tears.

The last thing she expected to feel was his
finger landing on that spot where he had tantalized her before. She
knew she was close to shock and her body craved human warmth, even
if his warmth was all she could get. He touched her again softly,
and began caressing her, up and down, over and around until her
tears stopped and she held very still, stunned at the immediate
reaction of her body. He rubbed her clit a few seconds longer until
her whimpers became moans, and then his intimate hold disappeared
long enough to lift her t-shirt over her head and divest her of her
bra. Now she lay underneath him, completely naked to him, both
physically and emotionally.

She reached down, deep inside and found the
courage she needed. She opened her eyes, and saw that he watched
her intently. His hand slid up to her face and he wiped the trail
of tears off her cheek. "You should have told me."

"I was too afraid you'd find someone else . .
. someone who knows what they're doing."

"You don't know what you're doing?" As he
asked her that question in what was by far the gentlest tone she'd
heard from him, his hand left her cheek and slid down her body
until he pressed his thumb against that spot once again.

She gasped and whispered miserably, "I don't
have a clue."

"Do you still want to go through with
it?"

Her eyes flared in panic. "Don't you?"

His gaze took on a gleam she didn't
understand and his voice roughened even more as he answered, "The
damage is already done. It won't be any worse that it just
was."

"Is that a yes?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're thanking me?"

"I don't know what I'll do if this doesn't
work out."

"It's all good, Jessica." His eyes dropped
down her body and he frowned. "Every girl deserves a first time to
remember. I've already fucked that up for you. But I'll try to be
gentle, try to fix what I screwed up. But you have to understand,
it's only going to be this once. I don't want intimacy with you or
anyone else. I want sex the way I described to you before, and
after tonight, that's the way it'll have to be, okay?"

She licked her lips and nodded her head.

At her tentative agreement, he groaned deep
in his chest and his mouth landed on hers. He pulled her bottom lip
into his mouth and when she moaned, he slipped his tongue inside
and really began kissing her.

It was the first time he'd kissed her, and
Jessica forgot everything as a kaleidoscope of stars exploded in
her head. He tasted so good, he smelled so awesome and her hands
landed on his shoulders, gripping him to her. She'd been so worried
about the actual deed, she hadn't thought about the excitement of
just kissing. They kissed endlessly, her heartbeat going wild as he
swirled his tongue around hers. He lifted his head and moved his
lips to her ear as he ran his hand between them to land on her
sweet spot once again.

The feeling was so indescribable that she
moved frantically underneath him, lifting her hips against him. He
groaned as his teeth bit into her earlobe and she felt his
roughened breathing in her ear. "I'm sorry I hurt you. It was never
my intention to hurt you."

He kissed his way back to her lips, going
slowly over her cheekbones, and across her cheek until his mouth
hovered over hers. They panted together. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yes," she whispered, utterly amazed and
shocked to her core at the turn their encounter had taken.

His tongue plundered her mouth again, and his
hips rocked against her. Jessica felt the power of his erection,
moving against her body, shifting restlessly against her. His hand
slid from her clit down to her soft opening and he swirled his
finger against her. He opened the lips of her sex, and ran his
finger slowly up and down. Over and again. He pushed inside a tiny
bit and the feeling was incredible. She moaned into his mouth and
his lips released hers.