19. Jack
19
JACK
THE PANTS SITUATION
“M aybe it’s not about the alcohol and it’s something to do with the moon?” Aurora called from the kitchen where she was sanding cabinets.
“You should really be wearing a dust mask,” I hollered down from the bedroom at the top of the stairs. This fucking wallpaper was going to be the death of me, but it was a small price to pay for an evening spent bantering with her.
“I’m using it as a headband,” she shouted.
We had passed the time while we tackled items on her to-do list by hypothesizing about what the liquor bottle hidden on the balcony meant.
“I feel like that’s a leap,” I said. “ What are you supposed to do with it? Use it as a telescope? Aren’t clues supposed to be connected?”
Aurora huffed. “ Clues can be whatever they want to be.”
There was a dull thump, then silence. “ Roar ?” I called out. My heart ached as it tumbled around in my chest. I dropped the metal scraper and jogged into the kitchen.
Aurora was sprawled out on the floor.
“Hey—” I dropped to my knees and immediately pressed my fingers to the side of her neck, checking for a pulse.
Aurora swatted my hand away. “ What the hell are you doing? I’m fine.”
I huffed and sat back on my haunches. “ I thought you had passed out or something. What are you doing on the floor?”
“I give up,” she muttered, pointing at the cabinets. “ My hands hurt from sanding.”
“Wanna switch? I’ll sand and you deal with Satan’s wallpaper?”
Aurora groaned. “ Nah . I’m giving up for the day. And I want to shower.”
My dick liked the idea of Aurora in the shower. Of her wet hair sticking to her skin as her head was tossed back in the throes of ecstasy. The way her gasps and moans would echo over the spray of the water. The dig of her fingers into my skin as she clung to me while I fucked her against the . . .
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “ Uh , yep. Shower . Good call.”
Aurora smirked like a fucking devil. “ You all right there?”
“Yep.” I hopped to my feet, then immediately regretted it when my stupid dick tented my fucking shorts.
She lifted a limp arm. “ Can you drag me to the shower? My legs don’t work.”
That comment did not help my pants situation.
Instead of backing off like I knew I should, I dropped down to the floor and braced my forearms on either side of her head. Aurora sucked in a sharp breath as our lips grazed upside down. “ Listen closely, because I’m only going to say this once,” I whispered into her mouth. “ If I drag you into the shower, I’m coming in there with you.” I nipped the pout of her lower lip. “ And I guarantee you, we’ll be in there so long that the water turns to ice because I will take my fucking time with you.”
I swallowed down her velvet gasp.
“Just once. No strings?” she asked in a whisper.
I brushed the tip of her nose with mine. “ There’s always strings, baby.”
“Shower sex isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Aurora was trying to be funny, but the depth and rasp in her voice were a dead giveaway that she was clinging to the edge of her resolve, trying so desperately to stick to her guns.
“It’ll start in the shower, but I guarantee you—it won’t end there.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “ Jack . . .”
“What’s it gonna be, Roar ? And don’t say once. You and I both know one time isn’t going to be enough.”
She swallowed. “ I should shower here.”
“Fuck what you should do. What do you want ?” I countered.
I could see it in her eyes. We were in a game of chicken, and she was about to turn around and run.
“I want to be able to start over at the end of the summer without baggage. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I told you I can handle nuance. But I can’t handle you pretending like it’s going to be a hookup that doesn’t mean anything.”
“You said there’s always strings.”
The melancholy started to set in. “ Yeah . Sweetheart . There are. Because no matter what, I’ll miss you when it’s over. Sex has nothing to do with that.”
“Sex tangles those strings . . .”
“Aurora, if you’re not into this, just say it. I can handle it.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” she huffed.
“It’s not.” I pressed a kiss to her lips. With that, I eased onto my knees and offered her a hand up. “ Take your shower. I’m gonna run over to my place and rinse off. You wanna go down to Ernie’s and grab dinner?”
She gave me a suspicious look. “ Why are you not acting weird about this?”
Instead of her lips, I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “ Because I like you regardless of what you do or don’t want to get yourself into.” I peeled back and wiped the dust from her forehead off my mouth. “ Yeah . You need a shower.”
“I’m sorry, Jack .”
I cupped her cheek. “ Don’t be sorry. But if you happen to change your mind, you know where to find me.”
I slipped out the door and down the stairs as Aurora walked into her bedroom.
I needed a cold one—a drink and a shower.
My front door slammed behind me as I kicked off my shoes and grabbed one of the beers I had gotten for Aurora out of the fridge.
No.
I put it back and went to the pantry instead. There was a lone bottle of whiskey that I rarely indulged in, but today was a fucking day for it.
First, yesterday—the call at the beginning of the shift where Drew nearly got himself barbecued. And then Aurora . . .
Fuck.
I wanted her. I wanted her in ways I had never wanted anyone.
Drew was right. Smoke leads to fire. I chewed him out because I worried about losing him. Aurora might be worried about hurting me when she leaves, but I was already afraid of what would happen to me when I lost her.
She wasn’t staying . . . So why did I even let myself fucking care?
She was just another summertimer, whether I wanted to admit it or not.
Besides, she didn’t want me. But here I was. A glutton for punishment.
I took a drink from the bottle and winced as I stripped down and climbed into the shower. The frigid spray did nothing to temper the wanton need that was coursing through my veins.
A distant thump pricked my curiosity. Half of my heart still had hope that Aurora would stomp in like a hurricane. But that was delusion, not hope.
The thump echoed again.
I cut the water and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waist. The knocking grew louder as I neared the front door.
“Hold on. I’m coming,” I groused as I yanked open the door.
I could have been knocked over by a single breath.
Aurora stood on my front step, soaked, teeth chattering, and shivering in the middle of hellish summer heat. “ My water heater died,” she said as wide eyes raked up and down my shower-speckled chest.
I clung to the doorframe to keep from reaching for her. The white tank top she was in stuck to her body like a second skin. It looked like she had dressed in a hurry and hadn’t dried off before putting clothes on.
Her nipples were pale and pebbled through the soaked fabric. Aurora in cut-off jeans and a soaked white t-shirt was every wet dream I’d ever had.
“Roar . . .”
“You sure you can handle this?” she blurted in a frenzied torrent. “ Because I’m leaving at the end of the summer, whether you like it or not.”
Tension blazed and crackled between us like smoldering brush, just waiting for a light breeze to whip it up into a wildfire.
“Fuck it.” I grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her into me. “ Get in here,” I growled as I yanked the door closed behind us.
The second the door slammed, I had her up against the wall.
“I need to hear you say it,” I rumbled as I fisted her hair and yanked her head back, opening up her throat. “ Tell me exactly what you want.”
“ You ,” she whispered.
I clicked my tongue. “ Not good enough, Roar . I need enthusiastic consent.”
Her eyes darkened like an eclipse. She tugged the towel off of my hips, wrapped her hand around my cock, and squeezed. “ I want you to fuck me the way you promised. Don’t let me down, hotshot.” A devilish smile painted her lips as she eased up on her toes and pecked my lips. “ Is that enthusiastic enough for you?”
I knew right then and there that I wouldn’t survive Aurora Whitlock . She wasn’t a firecracker. She was a nuclear bomb that would rip me atom from atom.
I flicked open the button to her jeans and slid her panties to the side. “ Are you wet for me?”
Her answer was a silken whimper that wrapped around me like a caress.
I slid two fingers through her warm sex. “ I’ll take that as a yes.”
Aurora’s knees buckled and she teetered toward me. I grabbed her hips and picked her up, then braced my arm under her ass until she wrapped her legs around my waist.
“Good girl. Hold on,” I said as I carried her through the house.
Aurora wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her head against the crook of my shoulder, nipping and sucking her way up to my ear.
Her chest rose and fell against mine with each desperate inhale.
“What turns you on?” I asked as I deposited her onto the edge of the bathroom sink. We broke apart just long enough for me to turn my cold shower to scalding.
Aurora braced her hands on the edge. “ I think you should show me all these tricks you’ve been bragging about.”
I laughed. “ I haven’t been bragging about tricks.”
“In not so many words you have.”
“Fair.” I turned back and slid my hands up her thighs. “ I plan on pulling out all the stops. But I want to hear it from you.” I slid a flattened hand up her chest to her throat, shackling her in place with a firm grip. “ What makes you desperate, baby girl?” I licked across the seam of her parted lips. “ What do you crave?”
Aurora trailed her fingertips down my chest, tracing each ridge and groove. “ Treat me like I’m not going to break.”
I guided her lips to mine with my grip on her throat. “ Yes , ma’am.”
The kiss was deep and desperate. Hands clawed at bare skin, frantically drawing us closer and closer. Aurora arched her back, pressing into me as she wrapped her legs around my waist and rocked her hips. I grabbed the hem of her damp t-shirt and pulled it over her head.
“You’re so goddamn beautiful, baby.” I cupped her teardrop breasts in my hands and rolled her pebbled nipples between my fingers.
Aurora tossed her head back and gasped for air as steam began to cloud around us. “ This ,” she rasped. “ This is what I’ve been craving.”
Her heels dug into the small of my back as I tugged on her nipples, back and forth, faster and faster. The mirror rattled as her head tipped back and smacked it with a thunk.
“ Jack .” My name was a reverent prayer on her lips. Her knees widened, legs opening for me, fueled by a primal yearning.
I cupped the apex of her thighs, claiming her pussy. “ Is this where you need me?”
She tipped forward and rested her forehead on my shoulder. “ Yes .”
In one swift motion, I pulled her off the edge of the sink, spun her to face the mirror, and yanked her shorts and panties down. Her phone fell out of the pocket of her shorts with a clatter, but neither of us paid it a second of attention.
I wedged my foot between her ankles and kicked her feet apart. “ Hands on the counter.”
To my surprise, she obeyed.
Aurora when she was pissed or annoyed at me was cute. Aurora when she was focused and driven was alluring. Aurora when she didn’t think I was watching was beautiful and mesmerizing. But Aurora like this—bare and spread wide for me?
She was my demise.
I traced up the inside of her left thigh, across the swollen entrance to her cunt, and down the other thigh. She shuddered, gripping the counter even more fiercely.
“Jack—” she whined as her toes curled.
I traced the curve of her hip and ass.
“Please,” she begged. “ I need?—”
“To be patient,” I supplied for her. “ You need to be patient.” I traced featherlight circles over her clit. “ I told you that I was going to take my time with you, and I meant every fucking word.”
“I need to come.”
There was something so irresistibly sexy about hearing her demand her own pleasure. It’s also what made teasing and edging her all the more fun.
“I know you do,” I teased in a low voice as I nipped at her ear. “ But we’re just getting started, sweetheart.”
Aurora slammed her hand against the sink, rattling the open bottle of whiskey. “ Jack !”
She wanted to pretend to be annoyed, but the way her back arched, pushing her ass closer to me, was telling in itself.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her upright until her back was flush to my chest. I wedged two fingers between her lips. “ Suck .”
The hollowing of her cheeks as she teased my fingers and studied me with wide, trusting eyes, was erotic.
I grabbed the whiskey. But instead of pouring the liquor into her mouth, I tipped the bottle into mine. The whiskey burned my tongue, as I slid my fingers out of her mouth with a pop. I cupped her jaw and pressed her cheeks with my fingers until she opened her mouth, then tipped my lips toward hers and spit the whiskey down her throat.
Her graceful muscles constricted as she swallowed it down.
Heavy eyes lifted to mine. “ More .”
“Atta girl,” I said with a grin. I took another drink, but instead of spitting into her mouth, I sealed us in a kiss and let it pour between us as my tongue swept across hers.
“Please fuck me,” she whispered, resting her head on my chest as I set the bottle on the counter and stroked her soft folds. “ I have an IUD . I got tested after my breakup and the results were clear. And I haven’t been with anyone since.”
I groaned at the thought of taking her bare. “ I got tested during my last physical. I’m good.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“You gotta say it, Roar .” I slid a finger inside of her pussy. I threaded my other hand up her scalp and fisted her hair at the root. “ Tell me how you want me to fuck your tight little cunt.”
Her fingernails dug into my back. “ Bare . And I want it now. ”
Aurora shrieked as I tossed her ass-up over my shoulder, but it turned into peals of laughter. I loved hearing that kind of levity in her voice.
“What the hell!” she giggled.
“You said now.” I stepped into the walk-in shower with her still hanging over my shoulder.
She kicked her legs back and forth. “ Down , please.”
Carefully, I slid her down my chest until her feet were on the ground and those pretty eyes were on mine. With two steps I had her back against the wall, hands roaming, touching, and squeezing as we settled into exploratory kisses and soft sighs.
We were learning, tasting, and memorizing.
“Open up for me, Roar .” I cupped her pussy and squeezed. “ Let me make you feel good.”
She obeyed immediately, leaning against the wall and hooking one leg around my thigh.
“That’s my girl.” I pushed two fingers inside of her and stroked her soft inner muscles. I pressed the heel of my palm to her clit. “ Give me a little show. Ride my hand.”
Her hips started to rock, grinding against my palm.
“Does that feel good?”
“Uh-huh,” she choked out.
I tipped my head to the side and pulled her nipple between my teeth. Those inner muscles clenched tight. I scissored my fingers inside of her, slowly stretching and gently massaging her.
“Jack,” she cried out when I switched to her other breast. “ Please .”
I lowered onto the stone bench built out of the side of the shower and stroked my cock. I was ready to fucking go.
Aurora didn’t need guidance. She straddled my hips and sank down onto my shaft in one fell swoop.
“Shit,” I choked out.
“You didn’t tell me you had a shower bench.”
I let out a strangled laugh. “ Did you think I was going to fuck you standing in a slippery shower without both of us falling and busting our skulls on the tile?”
“I have been dropped in the shower before,” she said as she nibbled on my ear.
“Amateur.”
When Aurora lifted her hips, I drew back. We slid in and around each other in perfect sync.
“You feel so good,” she whispered. “ So fucking good.”
I massaged her breasts as she pleasured herself on my cock, drawing gentle cries of ecstasy from her lips.
“Jack, I’m going to come,” she whispered. “ You edged me for so long.”
“Yeah?” I bit her nipple and twisted the other. “ Well , you’ve been edging me for weeks.” I massaged her clit as she slid up and down my cock. “ Take your orgasm when you’re ready. I’ll be here to catch you.”
I could feel my release working its way through me. But instead of letting it happen, I rested against the stone wall and watched as she rode my cock.
Water spilled down her face and shoulders. Steam floated between us. It felt and looked like a fantasy.
But she was here.
She was mine.
“Jack!” That beautiful cry on her lips was the sound of Aurora unraveling. She shattered like a supernova, drowning me in her radiance.
I caught her in my arms as she crashed into me. “ There you go, baby.”
I held her as the water streamed down her back. Slowly , tense muscles relaxed into a haze of bliss.
I tipped her head to the side and kissed her. “ How was round one?”
Aurora arched an eyebrow. “ Round one?”
I laughed. “ If you think I’m done with you, you’re sorely mistaken.” Carefully , I stood and set Aurora on her feet, then grabbed the shower head off the hook and brought it to her dripping pussy.
She gasped as the pulsing jets teased her clit.
“I just came. I’m out of practice. I can’t?—”
“Shhh.” I twisted her hair around my hand and yanked her head back. “ You will. I’m going to make you come again just like this. And then I’m going to carry you into my room, lay you down on my bed, and spread you wide while I eat your sweet pussy. You wanna know what I was thinking about the morning I left you in my bed?”
She whimpered as the shower head brought her to the edge again.
“I was fantasizing about you touching yourself while you were in my bed. About coming home and being able to smell your pussy all over my sheets.” I released her hair and cupped her breast. “ This isn’t over, Roar . Not by a long shot.”
And with that, her knees buckled as the tidal wave of pleasure pulled her out to sea once again.