Chapter 25
When Jamie got home, he poured two fingers of expensive bourbon into a glass and swallowed it in one gulp. He doubted it would silence the drumbeat of desire pounding inside him, but he took the drink anyway.
Cat had greeted him at the door. He”d seen her at the front window, waiting for his truck to return from her perch atop the sofa.
She curled around his ankles and meowed.
Scooping her into the crook of his arm, he carried her into the kitchen and went to the fridge to grab the container he”d filled earlier with homemade tuna jerky niblets.
He sat her on the island and put a few small morsels on a China plate.
”Spoiled much?” he chuckled when she attacked the treats, swishing her tail all the while.
The phone in his pocket rang. He pulled it out and smiled when he saw who was calling.
”Nora,” he answered in a happy voice. ”To what do I owe the honor of an actual call? Do you need bail money?”
”How hilarious would it be if my answer was yes?”
It was great to hear his sister”s happy laugh.
”It would make an engaging story for the family”s end-of-year newsletter,”he chuckled. ”But really, what”s up?”
”Mom and Dad”s anniversary. I”m the designated sibling, remember? This is your heads-up call. I”ve reached out to Robbie—he”s a little harder to reach.”
”Where is our wandering brother?”
”Alaska for a quickie. He”s doing a piece for the National Geographic channel.”
”Sweet,”he snorted. ”Is he keeping out of trouble?”
”Not in the least,”she laughed in reply. ”I think he”s doing his assistant.”
Hmm. Robbie”s assistant was a brash go-getter from Queens, New York, with the improbable name Pixie Dustin. Jamie remembered being introduced to her a year ago when he met the two at an airport during a layover. She was thirty-something and had an amusing fuck-you vibe—the one so typical of New Yorkers. She also did not take his brother”s shit. Watching the two lob verbal grenades at each other had been hella interesting.
”How do you know this? Did I miss a memo?”
”She answered his phone when I called. She said he was in the shower and then mumbled a bunch of nonsense about having dropped by to discuss a photo shoot. Sounded spooked to be talking to Robbie”s sister.”
”Is this what we”ve come to?”He laughed. ”Gossiping about each other”s love lives?”
”Ididn”t know that”s what we”re doing, but since you brought it up, is there something you want to tell me? Perhaps about your love life?”
Was she clairvoyant, or was he just that obvious? It was hard to know.
”Hard pass,”he grimaced. ”I have no comment at this time.”
”Interesting,”Nora murmured. ”Not a yes, and not a no.”
Hardly missing a beat, she peppered him with questions and comments.
”Do you know when her birthday is? What”s her sign? Find out, and I”ll do some charts. It”s funny that this has come up because I looked at your chart a while back—no reason—done on an impulse. Anyway, you”ve had a sun sign shift that I hadn”t noticed before. It appears as though you”re entering a new phase. I assumed the phase pointed to you settling in Bendover—maybe there”s more? God, Jamie. For your sake, I hope so. You”ve endured enough. Finding a partner—having a family—you”d make Mom and Dad so happy. Darlene”s coffin still needs a few final nails. A new Mrs. Hunter would end the tragedy she caused.”
He was used to his sister”s new-age perspective on things and had no trouble following along as she talked about phases and transits. It was all good until he heard the term, Mrs. Hunter.
”Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nora. Calm your jets, sis.”
”Save it, James,”she drawled with the sort of sarcasm only siblings can get away with. ”I”m not here for one of your no-strings-attached speeches. You got hurt—we all get it.”
”Hurt had little to do with it. I got crushed.”
”Okay. Whatever word you want to use,”Nora barked. ”It”s exhausting. Stop with the walls. That”s all any of us are saying.”
After the shit hit the fan, he threw himself into therapy. It was that or go off the deep end. There was no shame in admitting he sought to help him figure things out. One by one, his family did the same. What Darlene did had touched all of them. Many lives got fucked because she walked on the wild side. As a result of all this therapy, a lot of air cleared, truths were spoken, and tears shed.
Moving on with his life was fine, but it wasn”t enough. His family couldn”t fully heal until he did.
Unsure if he was doing the right thing, he mumbled something intended to mollify his well-meaning sister.
”I hear you, okay? I do. And I don”t want to talk about it, but I”ve done some demo—shifted or took down a wall or two.”
”I promise to leave you alone if you give me birthdates,”Nora happily replied.
He should have zipped his lips but didn”t. ”Do you want her daughter”s astro-sign as well?”
”She has a kid?”
The shouted exclamation coming through his phone was so loud he had to pull it away from his ear.
He wasn”t clueless and knew his words were significant.
”Yes. About to turn thirteen. Nice kid.”
”Well, holy crap. I did not have Pixie Dustin on Robbie”s bingo card or a single mom on yours! Damn!”she laughed. ”So where”s my Mr. Right? I feel left out.”
”It”sbeen great, sis, but I have to go. Early start tomorrow.”
”It”s Sunday.”
”And animals need care 24/7—365.”He didn”t tell her he was busy because he had a dinner to plan and shop for.
”We didn”t talk about the anniversary. I need guidance from you and Robbie. Don”t leave me holding the bag.”
”There”s time. Relax. We have until December.”
She grumbled and bitched about annoying brothers until he cut her off and ended the call.
Sliding the phone into his pocket, he scratched Cat”s head and rinsed her treat plate.
The bourbon did its job. He felt less tight and more relaxed.
He debated a second shot. His date with Rebecca turned out to be light on alcohol. They had a single glass of the house wine at a trendy Italian eatery, but that was it. More bourbon wasn”t taking things too far and wouldn”t get him drunk. He learned to be careful because he”d seen too many people lose their way after relying on booze for one thing or another. He preferred to meet life clear-eyed and on his terms. Pouring a second drink, he set the glass on the counter so he could go through his nighttime close-down ritual.
Peering into the backyard from the kitchen door and finding nothing amiss, he turned off the backlights and let the motion-sensing solar lights take over.
Kitchen cleaned, he turned off the light, picked up the tumbler of bourbon and made his way to the bedroom, turning off unnecessary lights and arming the security system along the way.
Cat shadowed him and jumped up on the bed once they were in the bedroom.
Undressing lazily, he sipped the drink, removed his boots, and pulled off his shirt.
What was Rebecca doing at this very moment? Was she undressing, too? The thought made the memory he had of her completely naked explode in his head, and just like that, his dick got hard.
As a man who appreciated the female form, he had no trouble remembering every detail—even something small like a jagged scratch marring the suntanned skin on her leg. She had curves in the right places and hips he imagined himself steering as she lay under him, screaming his name while he drove them to a shattering climax.
Did she like it rough and passionate or soft and tender?
Suddenly eager to discover her passions and what gave her pleasure, a collage of erotic scenes queued up in his head. She”d already admitted her ex-husband was a certified prick in the bedroom. He wasn”t all that surprised. During his time exploring what it means to be submissive, he learned a lot about the dismal state of today”s male population when it came to his gender having a clue. Bottom line—there was no way a clueless person—man or woman—should ever consider themselves a dominant. Paying attention to detail was part of the gig. If other men—women too, for that matter— chose to go through life on a perpetual search for mindless sex, it was fine with him. He was on a different journey, which brought his thoughts around again and put Rebecca at the forefront.
It mattered very little that she was an adult with a failed marriage and a teenage kid. From his spot in the cheap seats, the lady had a lock on the single mom thing. Where things got interesting centered on two things—how fucking hard it is to be a strong female in today”s fucked up, male-controlled world and her apparent sexual inexperience.
Marriage counted for nothing when the husband didn”t care enough to satisfy—same for any temporary liaisons she may have had.
Taken in that light, Rebecca was a novice in everything. She craved something she couldn”t explain, hence her intriguing choice of investigating things that must have been eye-opening.
She was searching but didn”t know for what—advantage him.
He snickered softly, recalling their goodbye. She had wanted so badly for him to make a move. Denying her woke his Dom instincts, and it felt damn good.
Fuck—it felt better than good. Everything with her was different. Even the throbbing in his groin signifying an erection getting harder and more insistent with each passing minute.
Throwing back the end of the bourbon, he followed the burn from the back of his throat down to his gut.
Rising, he removed his jeans and briefs.
”And look who”s entered the chat,”he drawled to his jutting cock.
Striding into the ensuite, he turned on the water and entered the shower cubicle without waiting, thanks to the no-waste benefits of hot water on demand from a tankless heat system.
Beneath the warm spray, he studied the collection of soaps and body washes lined up in the cubicle”s niche. Not for the first time, he considered the possibility of him having an over-buying issue. He couldn”t help it. Products designed for and marketed specifically to the male consumer were a billion-dollar juggernaut. His social media feed served up one ad after another for razors, beard oil, grooming shavers, body washes, and skin care lines.
”What do I want to smell like? Hmm?”he pondered aloud.
He counted woodsy, spicy, and so-called manly scents among the offerings and reached for a moisturizing one with black pepper and sandalwood notes.
Squirting a generous amount onto the palm of his hand, he stuck his head beneath the water for a few seconds and then angled his body to allow for a proper sudsing, starting with his chest and then his thighs and lower legs.
The cubicle filled with scented steam. The bourbon and warm water combined to relax his body—releasing all of the day”s tensions. All but one—his fierce and growing desire for Rebecca Tate—demonstrated in real-time by one hell of a hard-on.
Abstaining served no purpose. The demands of his body overruled any misguided attempt to act cool about the insistent throb coming from his dick.
Rubbing his hands together, he created a mound of suds that he used to wash his balls. The follow-up handful of suds he applied to his manhood, starting at the base. A couple of firm twisting motions made his dick very happy. Burnishing the tip like a brass door knob required both hands. It didn”t take but a couple of hearty squeezes, strokes, and tugs to deliver a fulsome climax.
As he rinsed off, his one thought was that he looked forward to introducing Rebecca to his cock and teaching her what he found pleasurable.
Before that, though, the lady had a few preliminary lessons to learn before they got down to the main event.
Turning off the water, he grabbed a towel off the wall warmer and dried off.
When ready for bed, he walked into the bedroom to find Cat stretched sideways on his pillows.
”Move over,”he chuckled as he sat on the edge of the mattress.
Situated against the headboard by a mound of pillows, he reached for the book on his nightstand.
Cat curled against him and went back to sleep as Jamie opened the book, removed a bookmark, and settled in for a bit of light reading.