17. Modulation #2
She leans across the dryer and pushes a button. A loud, high-pitched chime sounds and then the motor kicks on, the loud vibrations of the dryer echoing around the room.
“Better?” She brings her hand back to her waist, running it over the V of silk, rubbing in soft, gentle strokes.
All I manage is a grunt.
“Am I going to play with my cookie all by myself?” Her knowing smirk gets bigger. “Or are you gonna help a girl out?”
There’s really no question about what’s about to happen, which Jules knows, as evidenced by the pole I’m sporting that’s trying to pierce through my jeans. But I can’t give in that easily. Jules likes a challenge.
“I think I’ll help... myself.” My belt buckle jingles as I unhook it, barely audible with the knocking of the dryer.
Jules’ hands freeze on her body as she watches me push my jeans down, just enough for my dick to spring free. “Hearts.”
“Hmm?” I follow her gaze to where my white boxers with pink hearts are visible, tucked under my dick. They aren’t the most masculine, but the heat in Jules’ eyes tells me they get her hot all the same.
I grab myself, my hand tightening as I pump once, twice. Jules, still in a stupor, watches me, eyes glued to my hand.
“I thought you wanted to play with your cookie?”
Not moving her eyes from my hand, Jules slides one of hers under the edge of her panties, a strip of dark, springy curls now visible.
I can tell when she hits her spot, as her eyes flutter and she fights to keep them open on me.
I act like I’m teasing her, with slow, easy pumps, but really I’m trying to pace myself.
Her other hand snakes back under her tank, the motions making it evident that she isn’t just fondling her breast, she’s pinching her nipple.
The moan that escapes her this time is even louder than the one before.
It echoes over the noise of the dryer, but I don’t care anymore.
Sunlight streams through the window, paper rustles in the fan’s breeze and construction workers are only steps away, but nothing matters except this woman in front of me.
“Holt.” On my name her fingers move faster beneath her panties and her eyes finally close. I grab my dick harder, almost painfully so, reminding myself not to lose control.
“Faster, space cadet.”
“Ahhh, fuck…” I’m not sure if it’s my command that sets her off, or if she was already close, but her body locks, the hand at her breast squeezes, the one at her pussy moving in slower, jerky motions as she rides out her climax.
The soft sob she makes as she crests the peak and crashes has me closing the distance between us, placing one foot on the jeans around her legs and lifting her up under her arms. Her ankles, now free from the denim, wrap around me and I propel us both to the dryer.
“I’m going to fuck you so hard.”
“Please, please, please…” She’s still riding her pleasure, her eyes closed.
In a move that surprises even myself, I rip the thong off her body, jolting Jules’ eyes open. “Holt?—”
I thrust inside.
“Fuck!” Jules screams, head thrown back.
I don’t wait for her to adjust or catch up. I pound.
Each hand grips a fistful of her delectable heart-shaped ass and I hold her to the vibrations beneath her while I unleash a need I never knew I was capable of.
“Oh. My. God.” Each word is punctuated by a thrust. Jules’ hands dig into my shoulders, trying to find purchase. “Oh. My. Fuck. Ing. God.”
I’m lost, unable to speak, just emitting grunts and forcing myself to go harder and harder.
I pull slightly, spreading her ass cheeks, finding more room to pound into.
The motion must also settle her more fully against the vibrating metal because all of a sudden Jules locks down on me, her inner muscles like a vise holding me in place as she comes, drawing my own orgasm to its head.
“FUUUUUCK!” My roar tears from my throat as pleasure pulses under my skin, warmth spreading down my spine. But I can’t stop moving. My hips swivel once, twice, three times until the pleasure borders on pain, my dick over-sensitized and spent.
Three more chimes ring out and the dryer stops. All that’s left is the small buzz of the fan and our heavy breaths. The smell of sex is sharp and my dick continues to twitch inside her.
Jules, draped languidly over me, murmurs incoherently, and every so often she shivers with a climax aftershock.
In the window, I catch a partial reflection of myself—still dressed, fully seated inside a woman, while the workday whiles on.
And it isn’t just any woman. From the moment I saw Jules floating through space all those months ago, my life has changed in ways I never thought it could. Never thought I’d want.
Change is what my mother wanted. Always something new. Always something different. Always more.
A list flutters off the wall, sailing past Jules’ shoulder. I catch it.
Jules’ handwriting is just like her—bold, in all caps. “Wedding Shit 101.” A long, numbered list follows under it, each one crossed off in red ink.
“Hmmm?” Jules lifts her head, her normally wild curls that much crazier. Her heavy eyes land on the list in my hands. “Oh. Those are just basic things I researched about weddings in general before centralizing my attention on more Jackie-specific wedding information.”
“At the risk of annoying you once again—Jackie-specific?”
She smiles lazily. I think I like this smile of hers the best. It’s pleasure-drunk and focused solely on me.
“Viable options for barn weddings.” She points to another list, this one still hanging on the wall.
“That one is a list of all cleaning products that can be used that won’t harm the animals once they are relocated back into their stalls.
” She points lower. “That one lists viable rustic elements usually found in barn weddings that will not be used in Jackie’s.
” Her look gets serious. “FYI, we will not be using hay bales as any type of seating during this wedding. People have allergies out the ass, and according to my research on bridesmaid dresses, I’m pretty sure stiff spikes of hay will tear any of those girlie contraptions to shreds. ”
All I can do is blink at her. “You researched all of that?”
“Well duh, I’m the maid of honor. It’s my job.”
I’m about to question that statement when we’re interrupted by the sound of my loud and either very shocked or very pissed-off brother slamming open the front door.
“Holy shit!”
One of Jules’ eyebrows lift. “I think it’s safe to say Flynn’s here.”
I sigh. My brother has the worst timing.
The thud of footsteps gets closer. “What the hell is going on here?”
“How many times do I have to tell him to take off his dang boots?”
Jules bites her lip, like she’s trying not to laugh. “Um, didn’t you tell him about the reno?”
“Uh, no. Must have slipped my mind.” Truthfully, I’d been too busy thinking about the astronaut in front of me and not much else.
“Holt!” Flynn sounds much closer.
Regrettably, I pull out and help Jules down off the dryer. A lighter, more feminine voice can be heard mumbling in between my brother’s exclamations.
Jules stills. “Jackie.” Now she looks panicked. She jumps off the dryer and snags her jeans off the floor.
I grab a hand towel from the small linen closet and hand it to her.
“Thanks.” Not missing a beat, she cleans up and shoves the towel into the bottom of the dirty cloths hamper before tugging on her pants.
In seconds we both look presentable. Somewhat.
Jules holds out her torn thong.
“Thanks to you, looks like I’ll be going commando.”
“What?” I whisper. “There are workers out there.”
She shoves the shredded lingerie in my front pocket. “So?”
“So you’re just going to walk around without panties?”
“Calm your tits, it’s not like any of them have x-ray vision. You’re the only one who’s going to know.” The smirk she throws me is downright evil. “Think you can handle that, cowboy?”
“Holt! Where are you?” From the sound, Flynn must be in the kitchen.
Jules puts her finger to her lips.
Now she wants to be quiet.
“You go out and herd them back to the dining room,” she whispers. “I’ll sneak out the back to the barn.”
“Sneak out?”
Jules rolls her eyes at me before cracking open the door to peek out. “Okay, coast is clear. Go.” When I don’t move, she grabs my arm and pulls me through.
Her blowing me a kiss is the last thing I see before the door closes.
“Holy shit.”
I walk into the kitchen to see Flynn standing in the newly trimmed-out archway between the dining room and the kitchen, head swiveling around. “Holy fucking shit.”
Sigh. “Yes, you’ve said that.” It’s like my siblings curse around me on purpose.
He runs a hand over the trim work, mouth open. “I’m in the right house, aren’t I?”
Flynn’s reaction to the ongoing construction is enough to help me shake off my sudden irritation toward Jules.
Sort of.
I’m mean, she doesn’t care if construction workers hear her come, but Flynn and Jackie seeing us come out of the laundry room together is too much?
Trying to shake off the storm of emotions inside, I force a smile at my baby brother.
“Don’t tell me you don’t like it, ’cause I’ll kick your butt.
” Reaching over, I clap him on the shoulder.
Maybe a little harder than I should. “Couldn’t have your wedding against a nineteen eighties backdrop, now could we? ”
Flynn blinks at me. “You did all this…” — his head swivels around once more — “for me?”
“No, you moron. I did it for Jackie.” I push him back into the dining room. “Couldn’t let the girl have a reason to cut and run. Lord knows you probably give her enough.”
“Hey, now.” The surprised look on his face is gone, replaced by a cocky grin.
I peek back over my shoulder, looking for Jackie. “Speaking of, where is your much better half?”
Looking out the front windows, Flynn thumbs in the direction of the barn. “Jackie is out there with the wedding planner.”
That catches my attention. “Wedding planner? You mean Jules?”
“Uh, no.” My younger brother’s puzzled expression makes me wary. “Why would you think Jules is the wedding planner?”
I think of the flash drive, the phone calls, the endless lists hanging in my laundry room and cringe. “Maybe because Jules thinks she is the wedding planner?”
Flynn looks at me blankly.
I stare hard. “Isn’t that what Jackie told her?”
“No,” he says slowly. “I thought Jackie told her she was the maid of honor.”
“Well, yeah, but then she gave Jules that thumb drive with all the pictures and stuff on it.”
“Yeah, she gave one to me too, and one to the wedding planner she booked.”
We stand there blinking at each other, neither one of us liking the conclusion we’re drawing.
“You boys are fucked.”
Flynn and I start at Ray’s interjection. He wasn’t there when I came out to find Flynn, and I assumed he went home. But the knowing smirk on his face when he looks at me tells me he may just have stepped out once Jules and I became louder than the dryer.
He shakes his head, his socked feet skimming the newly laid floors.
“I do not want to be around when you tell that little lady that she ain’t in charge no more.
” I don’t know whether to be amused or impressed that he dared call Jules a little lady again.
“Uh, uh. No way.” He tucks his clip board under his arm and pockets his tape measure.
“Good luck with that .” He emphasizes the last bit in my direction.
I pull at the hair on top of my head. “Fuck.”
Flynn steps back like I struck him. “Did you just say fuck?”