Chapter 22 ZACHERY UNLOCKS THE JELLY JAR
Chapter 22
Z ACHERY U NLOCKS THE J ELLY J AR
My brain goes offline for a second.
Did I hear what I think I heard?
My hands are still warm from touching her, which was physically painful, given the intensity of emotions I’ve gone through since we stepped foot in that damn festival.
She sits in front of me in a pool of gold dress, her loose hair in wild disarray.
Kelsey. My best friend. My beautiful, sweet partner in work crime.
Her gaze doesn’t falter. She’s waiting on an answer to a question I can barely comprehend. All the possibilities lay in front of me like a chessboard of Kelseys, my fantasies about her on the same plane as this one reality.
“Just once,” she says, as if rebutting the arguments in my head. “No strings. Like your Desdemona dates. You do have sex with them at least sometimes, right?”
I nod absently, the chessboard overloaded with images of other women, ghosts of my sexual past.
“I don’t deserve you,” I manage to get out.
This breaks her gaze. “Of course you do. I know you like to drift, but think of me as one of your red-carpet girls, and we’ll never speak of it again.”
She takes my hand, and it’s startlingly warm, as if my body has gone arctic.
“We’ll be okay, Zach. It might not work. And if it doesn’t, I’ll pack up and go find a therapist. Figure things out. But when you touched me, I felt different. I think it will work. Just let me see. Maybe I’m like a jelly jar that’s been closed too long. You know how the sugar makes a seal? And it’s impossible to open it unless you warm it up under a hot tap?”
“Jelly jar?” My comprehension is miles behind her words.
“I’m a jelly jar and you’re the hot water.” She scoots closer. “We’re two consenting adults. Let’s do this.”
I’m all wrong for her. A joke. A has-been.
But when I look in her eyes, I know damn well I’m not going to turn her down. This is her leaping-off point. Tomorrow, she’ll search in earnest for what she’s looking for.
But this is tonight.
She turns around and lifts the length of her hair. “Unzip me.”
When I don’t reach for her dress, she looks over her shoulder. “Are you saying no? You won’t do this? I’m not a virgin, Zach. It’s just an act. I’m trying to figure this out with someone I trust.”
She’s right. She trusts me. I trust her. Otherwise, she’ll be afraid. She’ll try with someone who could hurt her. Or maybe she’ll stop trying at all. This might be what I’ve been seeing all this time. Her failure to try.
It’s what led me to pay that fortune teller.
This is apparently another step in my original plan.
She needs me to play the rake, the playboy, the seducer.
And I will. It’s my best role, because it’s who I am.
I am not for her, not long-term.
But I can be this.
I reach for the zipper.
A long, lean back is revealed in slow inches. I’ve seen precious little of this part of her.
As the dress separates, I take in the pale expanse of her skin, the smooth transition from neck to shoulders. The gentle ridges of her spine.
I reach out to touch them, my fingers bumping down until they reach the hook of her bra. Displeased with the interruption of my path, I quickly release it and continue the journey down.
The zipper ends below her waist, but there’s nothing else there.
That’s right. She left her panties beneath the bleachers at the festival. My anger flares at how that boy mishandled someone so exquisite.
Kelsey is perfect.
She sighs as my hands continue moving across her back, like I did before, but now on her naked skin. I forget her question. I don’t think about the wisdom of this choice, or the spotty logic of her request.
I don’t know how far I’ll take it or if it’ll even make sense.
In this moment, there’s only her skin, warm and unbroken, and new.
I scoot closer, sliding the dress off her shoulders, so I can see all of her back. The fabric falls to her waist, and I continue my exploration.
My thumbs press into the creases on either side of her spine, eliciting a groan of pleasure from Kelsey.
The sound hits my gut, spreading heat through me.
We haven’t done anything yet. We can stop here. A friendly back rub between friends.
And yet, I don’t stop. I move closer, increasing my pressure, my hands massaging the tension from her muscles.
I shift her hair to one side, and the tempting skin of her neck is right there, soft and warm. I press my lips to it.
Her breath catches. I make a line of kisses along her bare shoulder. I want to touch all of her.
There’s a point of no return, and I’m about to streak by it.
My hands continue their journey around the sides of her waist and to the front. I slip beneath her arms and flatten my palms across her belly.
Another checkpoint. Another gate.
I lean close to her ear. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” she breathes. “Very good.”
Her voice is silken, and her words speak straight to my groin. I know what to say. I’m deep in my role.
“I’m going to hold your naked breasts in my hands. Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
I take my time, sliding up her ribs, feeling her catch her breath and hold it in anticipation. Then she’s in my hands, heavy and warm.
Her head falls back on my shoulder. I can see her, exposed to me, those beautiful parts of her that have been off limits.
Now mine.
I’m doing this, to her.
She has said just one time, so I will not rush. I take in every detail, the blush across her chest. The deep swell as I press this softness high. The tight, deep-pink nipples.
I run my thumbs across them, and she sucks in another breath. Her hands hold on to the rumpled folds of her dress, bunched up on her lap.
I take my time, molding her to my palms. She rocks against me in a slow, undulating motion that sends fire licking through me.
The next gate appears, where I want to go next. “I’m going to take this dress off you,” I say. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
I let go of her breasts and tug the dress and bra down her arms. I lift her off the bed and turn her around to stand between my knees.
The dress falls in a whisper. With no panties, she has nothing left.
She watches me look at her, bare feet on the rug, all skin before me.
“You’re a vision,” I tell her, and the pink across her chest flushes deeper. I reach for her hand. “Sit on my lap.” My tone is firm. No one denies me at this stage. They don’t want to.
And Kelsey does exactly as I say, fitting her knees on either side of my thighs, which spreads her wide. I drag her closer.
“I’m going to kiss you,” I tell her. “I’ll start with your mouth, then move down your body. I have no intention of stopping anywhere. My tongue will go inside you until you orgasm. Is that what you want?”
She squirms lightly on my lap. “Yes.”
I cup her chin. Her gaze drops to my lips. She’s waiting.
I’ve never kissed Kelsey. I never thought I would.
But tonight, I’ll do that and much more.
I have a naked Kelsey on my lap, and I’m going to have her however I like.
It’s glorious and painful. This will have to be enough. Kelsey has a plan. I won’t keep her from it. She is not for me.
But tonight, she is all for me.