November 29
Little Rock, Arkansas
The closer they got to Georgia, the more anxious she became.
Kevin had thought that they’d spend more time in Oklahoma, but they were already in another state.
A few weeks ago all he wanted was to get to Florida as soon as possible and now he didn’t want this trip to end.
Georgia marked the end of their time together and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that just yet.
But she seemed hell-bent on putting mile after mile behind her.
Sightseeing was of little interest to her.
She was more preoccupied with what might happen more than what was happening.
She’d talked about meeting her mother a lot during the drive to Arkansas.
They’d stopped at a small restaurant for a late lunch and met a couple, Frank and Meredith, who’d also recognized her from the talk show she was on.
There was something about her that seemed to draw people in.
He’d seen it throughout the trip. Frank and Meredith were completely fascinated by her and had joined them not just for lunch but for sightseeing as well.
They’d toured the town with them for no more than an hour before Jasmin made an excuse to cut it short.
After saying goodbye, she promptly looked for a hotel where they could spend the rest of the afternoon.
It wasn’t about touring anymore. She wanted to reach her destination, but her booking into a hotel also showed that she wanted them to be alone for these last few days and he wasn’t going to complain about that.
“So nine is easy,” Jasmin said as they followed the bellboy down the long corridor.
She reached into her purse and as soon as he saw a notepad and a pen, he knew that shit just got real.
Their conversation with Frank and Meredith had sparked some of his own questions and he’d asked how she did those crazy equations in her head.
She explained that every number had a pattern, then went on to explain the pattern of two through to eight in the car ride to the hotel.
She was currently busy explaining nine. She got so excited talking about numbers that he sort of regretted asking.
“When you multiply a number by nine, you actually should just multiply it by ten and then subtract that number. So if you say eight hundred and fourteen times nine, you multiply it by ten, giving you eight thousand, one hundred and forty and then subtract eight-fourteen and you get seven thousand, three hundred and twenty-six. See? Easy.”
“Yeah, it sounds easy,” Kevin argued. “But I can’t even do that basic subtraction in my head in two seconds.”
“It just takes practice.” She started scribbling something down as they got into the elevator. “I’m not gonna even deal with ten. Everybody is so obsessed with ten. It’s so round, the perfect ten, but no one gives eleven the recognition it deserves.”
“It’s a travesty.”
She ignored the comment and the subtle grunt of the bellboy and carried on.
“The pattern of eleven is my personal favorite. If you multiply any number by eleven, all you do is add it to itself but one away. For instance, if you say eleven multiplied by twenty-three. You add twenty-three to twenty-three, but one away.”
This conversation was already making his head hurt, but he said nothing when she showed him her notepad.
“See? Two-fifty three. It’s basic addition instead of multiplication. It’s nothing new from what they teach in school. It’s just a short cut, and once you see the pattern, it becomes easy to do it in your head. And the pattern stays the same even if you use bigger numbers.”
The doors opened and the bellboy pushed out the trolley carrying their bags first with them following behind him.
“Like, if you say eleven times…one thousand and twenty-four.” She started scribbling again as they walked down the narrow corridor and turned the notepad to him again when they reached their room.
“Do you see how beautiful eleven is?”
That got another snort from the bellboy and Kevin held back a smile. “I see.”
“All the numbers from eleven to nineteen follow a similar pattern. Now if we move on to twelve…”
The bellboy unloaded their bags, pushed the trolley out of the room and Kevin closed the door behind him.
The second they were alone he was on her, pushing her up against the door, his mouth immediately closing over the tender spot at the base of her neck.
She let out a little sound, somewhere between a moan and a gasp.
He stripped off his sweatshirt, then unzipped her jacket.
She always wore layers upon layers of clothing, but he could get her naked in a matter of seconds.
Her hoodie came off next as he moved up from her neck, but before he could kiss her, she placed her finger on his lips.
“Kevin,” she said, sounding equally breathless and annoyed, “I was…I was kinda talking first.”
“That’s the problem. You’re always talking. And I’ve realized that I’m only vaguely interested in about…eighty percent of what you say.”
She giggled. “That can’t be right. I’m sure it’s about…eighty-three point two percent.”
“I’ll be generous and round that up to eighty-four. But this conversation falls into the other sixteen percent and I could put those sexy lips of yours to much better use.”
“I really want to tell you about twelve.”
“And I really want you hot, naked and on top of me.”
“You’re so uncompromising,” she said with a small pout.
“Jeez!” He rolled his eyes. “You went there? Fine. You want compromise? I’m gonna give one minute to say whatever the hell you want and then afterwards, the only words I wanna hear from you are Give me more…
” His tongue traced over her lower lip. “Fuck me harder, and Oh, God, Kevin, I’m coming. Okay?”
She flushed a little, heat flickering in her Jasmin eyes, and for a second he thought she might give up on talking all together, but twelve apparently meant a lot to her. “Two minutes,” she countered.
“One minute, Jasmin.” He took out his cell phone and set the timer. “Start talking.”
“Okay,” she began with an apprehensive smile.
“I feel a little pressured now, but…anyway. Twelve follows the same pattern, but instead of adding the number to itself, you double it and then add it on, but one away.” She lifted the notepad again.
“So, let’s say…twelve times a hundred and thirty-three would be one five nine six. See?”
One minute was actually a really long time, and considering that his time with her was running out, he wasn’t willing to wait.
“Thirteen is the same, but then you triple the number and…so on and so forth…”
He grinded up against her, slipping his hand beneath her shirt, her breast feeling firm and heavy in his palm.
“That’s not fair.” The notepad and pen fell from her hands. “You know I can’t think straight when you do that.”
His mouth moved to her neck again. “You know you just wasted precious time telling me something I already know.”
He tugged the drawstrings and slid his hand beneath the waistband of her sweatpants. She was wet and ready and all he could think about was burying his cock inside her. Damn, a minute was a really long time.
“And what’s…and what’s cool about it… is that you just use the same pattern…
for…bigger numbers.” She moaned when his fingers pushed inside her, one hand gripping his hair and the other scratching his shoulders.
“Like if you multiply a number by…ninety-nine…oh, God…you’d use a combination pattern of nine and eleven. Anyone can do it.”
“I disagree. Let’s just be happy someone invented the calculator.”
Her head fell back and he trapped her against the door, finger-fucking her until she was breathless.
She didn’t wait for the timer to beep. “Screw it. You win.”
In one fluid motion, she stripped off her shirt, shoving him back a few steps until he fell onto the bed.
She climbed on top of him and her hand was already unbuttoning his cargo pants.
A deep groan rumbled in his throat when her hand moved beneath his boxers to rub his cock.
There was nothing sexier than her taking charge.
A slight grin formed on his lips. “I distinctly remember telling you that I wanted you naked.”
She stood up and he used the opportunity to kick off his pants. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he waited, watching as she slowly pulled down her sweatpants, but when her fingers hooked onto the edges of her black thong, he stopped her. “Turn around.”
There wasn’t even a hint of shyness as she turned. It was a seductive strip tease as she bent over and dragged her underwear down her legs. He groaned when his eyes caught sight of her pussy—wet, glistening and begging for his attention.
“I love this ass.” He grabbed her hips and tugged her back, his teeth sinking into her left cheek. “Thank you, Alfred.”
She half turned to look at him. “Who’s Alfred?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Using his knees, he spread her legs further apart and placed his hand on her back to keep her bent over.
A loud moan burst from her lips when his tongue stroked over her clit.
He licked her up and down and back up again.
She was panting and he was so turned on he was ready to explode.
He wrapped his fingers around his cock, pumping it just to get some relief.
“Kevin,” she whispered breathlessly. “I don’t think I can stand anymore.”
“Then sit on me.”