26. Chapter 26 Margot
Chapter twenty-six
If my mother says “the Christmas feeling” one more time, I’m tying her up with garland in the attic and not releasing her until Valentine’s Day.
She’s been so excited to have me home from school that she’s continued her madness the week after Christmas, and we’ve been having so much mother-daughter time that I really haven’t seen Jack.
Mom and I have been too busy crafting, baking, watching holiday movies, and planning next year’s decorations that I’ve barely had time to breathe.
I know it’s been a week of getting back to work for him with a huge party coming up tomorrow at the club on New Year’s Eve, but still, he’s been distant.
We had a great time as a family opening presents all together, and it made me realize what I’ve known for a while now—we’re meant to be.
He’s family, and everyone loves him, so we could easily and seamlessly transition into a romantic relationship without missing a beat.
No need for all the getting-to-know-you awkwardness of dating, or worrying about whether our families will vibe.
I’m sure he’s just busy. Plus, even if he had come around, Mom has been monopolizing my time.
Maybe he realizes that, and that’s why he’s stayed away.
Finally, after a long-ass week, Mom informs me she’s leaving for a girls’ New Year’s trip with her pickleball team, and before I can so much as chastise her for the short notice, she’s out the door.
Well, okay then. Monopolize my visit home, then leave, why don’t you?
Typical Blanche, though, so I’m not even that surprised.
I am a little surprised when Jack finally texts me.
He was sporadically available earlier in the week, but as NYE has grown closer, the club has had every ounce of his attention.
The club. His mysterious, highly successful endeavor with Ledger, Rendezvous, has become increasingly Jack’s responsibility since Ledger has been busy with his new full-time job, Sloane.
Not that I’ve ever been allowed to even cross the threshold of said club.
Some sort of older brother bullshit has led me to be on the no-entry list since it opened even though I’m of age.
Whatever. I can have plenty of hot sex on my own without needing a club to do it.
And maybe it’s better this way, since I really have no idea what Jack gets up to when he’s there.
He texts again, and this time, the chime pulls me from my thoughts.
Jack:
Happy New Year’s Eve Eve, Princess.
What are you and Blanche up to tonight?
Me:
Well, well, look who finally resurfaces and deigns to give attention to us mere mortals.
Jack:
…
Me:
You’re no fun. Mom is gone on a trip with her pickleball team, so I’m just going to order food and binge-watch something new, I think.
Jack:
She left knowing you’d be there alone?
Me:
I’m a big girl now, Jack. I can handle staying in big houses at night alone now, no problems.
Jack:
That’s bullshit. I know it, and you know it.
Jack:
Order my usual pad Thai, and I want double spring rolls.
I’ll be there at 8.
It’s the house settling, Margot. That’s all it is.
It’s a big historic home, and they always settle at night.
Or maybe it’s just the wind. Either way, the creaking is perfectly natural and for sure normal and not some terrifying murderer coming in here to get you and kidnap you and torture you.
There are fences and cameras and alarms and codes.
And one good hacker like in your books could override all that in one second and slowly creep in here to… *creak*
That’s it. That’s the creak that does it.
Before I can even question myself, I’m out of my room like a shot and frantically scrambling across the hall into Jack’s.
I’m so glad he stayed tonight. Even if he was a gentleman and kept to his side of the couch despite me making it clear I was ready to take advantage of the fact that Mom was gone, we had a great night eating too much and talking about nothing.
And now, as I throw open his door and launch myself at him, practically shaking from the way I’ve managed to work myself up over an intruder, I’m really glad he’s here.
“Oof…wha…” he mumbles, and I realize I’ve knocked the wind out of him by landing on him like an overexcited puppy. Oops.
I burrow myself all the way under his covers until his arms are around me and my face is pressed against his chest before I let myself breathe and feel safe again.
Oh God, he’s shirtless. My face is pressed against a warm, muscled chest that’s covered in the perfect amount of soft hair, and he smells so damn good.
A little like his soap, a little like his cologne, and a little bit that’s just his natural Jack smell because he hasn’t showered since this morning.
I feel something against my cheek and realize it’s a chain he has on with a small charm, but before I can reach for it to see what it is, his arms tighten around me, and he buries his face in my neck.
“Fuck, Princess, next time warn a man before you launch yourself into his gut while he’s sleeping,” he rasps in a sleepy voice that sounds like pure sin. Immediately, I forget all about my fears, feeling safe and warm in his arms. I’m also more than a little turned on.
I sigh as he pulls back from my neck to look at me in the soft moonlight filtering through the window. “Did you have a nightmare? I thought they mostly stopped when you got older?”
Smiling, I shake my head. “Not a nightmare, just me freaking myself out being in this big old house at night. I kept hearing little creaks and psyched myself out. I don't know why my parents couldn't have gotten a new build when they decided to move closer to the city.”
“Well, I’m glad you remembered you can always come to me,” he says as he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “You were always so damn cute when you would scamper into my room at night, scared of whatever horrors had befallen Sprinkles in your dreams.”
“Hey! Some of those were extremely traumatizing, I’ll have you know!”
Laughing at me, he leans a little farther back, giving me some space which I really don’t want. “I’m sure they were. Now, if you’re staying, get comfy so we can go to sleep. It’ll be a long day tomorrow with the party at the club.”
I huff, but roll over onto my preferred side, basically making me Jack’s little spoon.
Except, he leaves the space between us. Screw that.
I shimmy my way backward until I meet his hard body and tuck myself exactly where I want to be.
I give a little extra shake of my hips just to fuck with him, when…
oh. Oh God. It’s his dick. I’ve only let myself daydream about it a little bit lately, because my obsession was getting out of hand.
But fuck me. It’s huge, hard, and tucked up against my ass.
I give another experimental roll of my hips, and the added pressure causes Jack to let out a low, pained groan behind me.
“Margot, we need to sleep, baby. It really is a long, important day tomorrow.”
“Take me with you.”
He sighs and tries to stop my teasing, but I’m getting something out of this little trap I’ve managed to set for him, dammit. If he was going to fuck me, he wouldn’t have come to sleep in his own bedroom, but I’m leaving here with something.
“I want to see the club! I’m grown, Jack. Please. ”
“Ledger will kill us both if he finds you there. I can’t.” He sighs, and he sounds so sleepy and desperate I almost take pity on him and give up my bargaining. Then I think of something I want to see even more than the club.
“Take me to your place, then. I have to have some fun tomorrow night, and if I can’t have it with you, then…”
He snaps and pulls me back into him hard, bringing me closer than I have been all night. If I lifted my leg, his cock could slide right between my legs, and I know it wouldn’t meet any resistance at all, I’m so turned on.
“You’re not doing anything with anyone else tomorrow night.
You’re going to be a good girl, and go the fuck to sleep, and tomorrow night, I’ll figure out how to do my very important job and also appease your curiosity regarding my living situation.
Deal? Please say deal and stop. Rubbing.
Your. Perfect. Ass. On. My. Dick,” he says, punctuating each word with a mini thrust and leaving me whimpering.
“Deal,” I say, when all I want to say is please, please fuck me right now.
He releases me with a grunt and backs up, separating our bodies but leaving one hand against my lower back, like he can’t not touch me. “Get some sleep.”
I don’t think there’s any way I’m sleeping tonight, not this close to him and with the promise of seeing his home tomorrow. If I fall asleep, tomorrow will be here faster , I think, and I drift off, hoping to dream of the man beside me.