Chapter 24 Mask Her Confusion
MASK HER CONFUSION
Complication seemed to be the word of the day a week later when Jocelyn showed up at Chance’s apartment on Sunday. He’d gotten out of work at seven that morning, slept until one and told her to arrive at two.
It was a nice apartment complex not too far from her place or his job at the firehouse. The pub was a few miles farther.
“Hi,” he said, opening the door.
Things were back on track. Somewhat.
The underlying conversation they’d had prior was lingering worse than microwave fish in a small office.
“Shoes on or off?” she said.
He shrugged. “I’m fine either way.”
She slid them off since he had nothing on his feet. “Show me around.”
If he seemed uncomfortable that she was here, she was shoving it back into her closet of insecurity. She was going to remind herself of Rhea’s words. To give Chance time.
The question was how much time she had.
“Not much to see,” he said. “Much smaller than your place. Two bedrooms, one bathroom.”
She looked at his living room that went into a small eating area, and she assumed the kitchen was on the other side of the living room but opened toward that table. She moved in that direction and saw she was right. Just a wide galley style.
“Not much on decor, are you?” Even his furniture was pretty basic in gray, no throw pillows or blankets on the back.
He snorted. “I save it all up for the pub,” he said. “I actually had some pictures that are there here, but moved them when I got my inspiration.”
“Can I see where all the action happens?”
“You want to see my bathroom?” he asked, his face serious, his eyes anything but. “That’s a first.”
She gave him a nudge with her hand and he pulled her close to his chest, his mouth covering hers.
It wasn’t hard and fast. There was an underlying emotion she couldn’t touch down on but was going to savor it while she could and mask her confusion.
“Your comment was kind of gross,” she said when he lifted his head.
“You didn’t think I’d be polite, did you?”
“You normally are. In your way.”
“I rarely have guests,” he said. “Not in years.”
“Oh. Why is that?”
“No time,” he said. “And it’s easier.”
“Easier for you to leave when you want?” she asked. Might as well put it out there. When he didn’t answer, she poked him in the side. “It’s an honest question.”
“Yes,” he said. “Once I got the pub it was easier. I don’t need anyone to know where I live.”
Which meant women he might have gone home with that night.
She’d never had a one-night stand in her life but knew going in with Chance it was more than a possibility.
“Got it.”
“Don’t be that way,” he said, giving her a fast kiss on the lips. “I don’t ask too much about all those fancy guys you’ve been in relationships with.”
“True. I’d tell you if you did. Maybe.”
She sashayed away and left him there with a muddled look on his face. She did so love getting in the last word.
She moved down his small hall, then turned to look in his bathroom. Pretty standard. Across was a small room with a desk in front of a window, a bench press, and some other weights on the other side.
The room was bigger than he had let on.
He picked her up and had her over his shoulder, then marched to the room at the end where she found herself on her back on his bed and laughing.
“This is what you wanted to see,” he said. “Look around.”
She did. The room was white, a few posters on the wall of vintage muscle cars, a dresser with a TV on it, and nothing else.
The room was fairly bare, the apartment minimal even in furniture.
His living room had a chair and a couch, one corner end table.
She had more furnishings in her living room than his entire house.
“Not much into possessions, are you?”
“I don’t need a lot,” he said. “Does that bother you?”
“No,” she said. “More for me.”
He appeared frugal with most things but never with her. Not once had he let her pay for anything when they went out. She’d tried too.
The most she could do was cook their dinner.
“You like more,” he said, his hand sliding up her shirt and cupping her breast.
“I do,” she said.
She turned her body, had him shifting and rolled on top of him, her knees on his sides, her hands slapping down on each side of his shoulders.
“What do you want?” he asked when her mouth was hovering over his.
“You should know by now,” she said.
Her hands went for the bottom of his shirt and yanked it up, his defined abs and chest exposed.
He had one hell of a body on him and now she saw where he got it from. He wasn’t the type to go to a gym. Once a loner, always a loner.
She had to remember that too.
His shirt was off, his hand going to the bottom of her sweater and discarding it just as quickly.
A finger hooked into the center of her bra and tugged her closer to him, her cleavage almost in his face.
She thought for sure he was going to put his mouth on her through the material, but his hands went around back and unhooked her bra, her breasts popping free and dangling down.
He swiftly removed her bra, her nipple suspended above his mouth where he latched on.
She was still balancing on her hands while he got his fill and made her body come alive.
Being told no one had been here in years gave her hope that he put her in another category.
That in giving him time, he was trying.
His hands were moving over her ass, to the front and undoing her jeans, parting them and sliding them down as best as he could.
“Where are your condoms?” she asked. It’s not like she carried one in her pocket. Though she had one in her purse, which was in the other room.
He turned his head and reached for the drawer on the one bedside table.
She crawled over him to get it first, him jerking her jeans and almost yanking her away from her goal.
A giggle escaped and he did it again.
When she finally could get to the knob on the drawer, she was laughing so hard she might cry soon.
Chance’s laughter had joined in. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard that noise from him before. Not this loud. Not this long.
They ditched the rest of their clothing, Jocelyn opening the condom wrapper, getting back on top, her thighs around his hips. The skin on her inner thighs felt the heat his body gave off.
“I’ve always had this idea in my head about putting the condom in my mouth and rolling it down that way. Cheesy, huh?”
“Do it,” he said. “Never hold back with me.”
Her eyes shifted to his. They were darker than normal. Not being aggressive like he had been in the beginning. Nor was he being funny either.
It was something more. Something tangled between humor and hunger.
That something had her doing exactly what she’d never had the courage to do with another man.
The condom went into her mouth flat, she leaned down, put it over him with her lips, closed them slightly, the taste of latex not as offensive as she might have thought, then rolled it with the help of her tongue.
He jerked up at the same time she was trying to do it, to help her down, causing a slight gasp until she reared back.
His fist wrapped in her hair, tugging it up so that she lifted toward his mouth.
She lined up with his cock and sat down hard, rose and repeated.
Chance wasn’t kissing her. He wasn’t doing anything else other than peering into her eyes.
The electricity and tension between their gazes were off the charts.
Not something she could maintain while she was working because it felt heavenly enough that she wanted to relish in the moment.
He didn’t let her. “Open your eyes, Jocelyn. I want to watch you come as you fuck me.”
Oh boy.
His words continually touched a craving in her core to act like she’d never thought she’d feel or want to achieve.
“It’s hard,” she said.
“You’re strong. You can do it. You know you want to,” he whispered, then bit her lower lip, sucking it in his mouth before he released it. “You want someone to tell you what to do and how to do it.”
He had no idea. And maybe that was why she was so free with Chance. Because it wasn’t part of a game to him. It was who he was.
What he was.
He said what he meant. What he felt. What he wanted to give to her.
She forced her eyes to stay open and rode him hard. She rode him fast.
Like he was her muscle car and she was controlling the speed and their destination.
“That’s it,” he said. “Just like that. Fuck me harder.”
She did as she was told because it was exactly what she had planned without the encouragement.
There was sweat building on her back, her wrists were aching from holding her weight, but Chance’s fingers in her hair weren’t letting up and she didn’t want them to.
He brought thoughts and emotions out of her that every woman fantasized but might not have the voice to speak.
Her abs were burning, her hips were thrusting, even her thighs were quivering. This was a CrossFit workout and it’d be worth every ache when she was done.
She felt her inner muscles tensing, the building up almost at its peak. She hoped he was close because there was no holding back for her.
“Don’t close your eyes,” he ordered.
She locked them on him, her body pulsing as she rode. He stayed still. He wasn’t coming, but she’d keep moving for him... once she caught her breath.
Her body gave out and landed on top of him.
“I need a minute. That was intense.”
“You can get a minute on your back,” he said, shifting his body so that they’d switched positions before she could count to two. “Now you can watch me ram into you just like you did to me.”
Her eyes were wide on his, her legs opening more, his hips slamming into her, possessing her as she’d done to him.
Somehow her orgasm found a small spark that was fanning out and came back to life, her body arching and accepting all as he grunted out a few times, then collapsed on her with the same exhaustion as she’d exhibited moments before.
“You closed your eyes at the end,” she said. “You lost.”
He let out what she thought was a snort. Maybe it was a laugh, but rolled again so she was on him.
He kissed her tenderly on the forehead. Something he hadn’t done before.
A swarm of butterflies gathered in her belly, making their way up her chest.
“I think we were both victorious in that round.”