Chapter Eighteen
Ellie stepped out of Jack’s bathroom wrapped in a towel and found Jack lounging on the bed scrolling his phone. The casual, almost domestic vibe of it struck her. And not in a bad way. “I hope I haven’t been keeping you.”
He looked up and smiled. “I need exactly five minutes to shower and trim my beard, and another three to get dressed.”
“Show off.”
“Being a dude has some perks.”
She waved a hand. “You can keep them.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” He stood and crossed the room to her. “Do you need anything?”
She’d packed not only her outfit for the party but all the bits and bobs of female adornment she’d had little occasion to use lately, save the handful of times she’d primped for Jack. “Maybe more than eight minutes?”
Jack laughed. “We’ve got forty-five before we need to leave, and you can have all of them.”
“I promise I’m not the girl to need that many.” At least not with her clothes picked out and her shower already done.
“I like that about you.”
“You would.”
He kissed her briefly and headed to the bathroom. Ellie did her makeup and hair, taking pleasure in the process as well as in the sight of her lipstick and mascara next to Jack’s watch and the other personal items arranged on his dresser.
She slipped the dress over her head and tugged it into place. The wrap style accentuated her cleavage, and the dark teal of the fabric made her eyes look several shades darker. A pair of dangly gold earrings and her favorite, if rarely worn, black heels finished the look.
Jack didn’t have a full-length mirror, but Ellie turned one way, then the other, in front of the dresser, checking her reflection from as many angles as she could finagle. She smiled, pleased with the result.
The problem with working on a site like she was, and living out of a suitcase on top of it, was just how much she’d resorted to variations on jeans and T-shirts. It was nice to let her girly side out to play, especially now that she was getting laid on the regular.
She didn’t have to see Jack come in to know the whistle belonged to him. “Damn,” he said when she turned around and struck a pose.
“Not too much?” she asked.
“Even if it was, I’d be tempted to lie. Because, again, damn. But, no, you look perfect.”
“Good enough that you’ll take me home and have your way with me at the end of the night?”
He crossed the room and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. “Good enough that I have half a mind not to leave the house in the first place.”
“Stop.” She swatted his arm, admiring the fit of his wool blazer and loving the way it turned his own look of jeans and a button-down into a delicious concoction of casual and classy. “Clover is one of your best friends. And Sy, too.”
“And they’re both, along with Maddie and Logan, dying to meet you. If we didn’t show, they might literally turn up on the front porch.” Jack shook his head. “I’m not even kidding.”
Ellie smiled. “If Rhett didn’t already know you, she’d be the same.”
Jack made a show of rolling his eyes. “Friends. They’re as bad as family.”
“Especially the ones who fall into the chosen family category.”
Jack’s expression softened, then got serious. “Yeah.”
“Why do you look so stern?”
He shook his head, as though chasing away cobwebs. Or perhaps thoughts he’d rather not have. “I gripe, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
“Chosen family or the one you’re born with?”
“Both.” Jack chuckled. “But don’t tell any of them I said that, or they’ll give me such crap.”
From the affection in his tone, it was clear he didn’t really mean it. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Does that mean we have to go?” He didn’t pout, but it was close.
Ellie lifted a shoulder. “Yes. But it doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun before we do.”
She might as well have suggested they rob a bank given the scandalized look on his face. “What kind of fun?”
She could have given him options, or perhaps tugged off the dress she’d just pulled on.
But both those things would have wasted precious seconds.
And when she only had a few to play with, she had no intention of wasting them.
Instead, she went for a kiss. One of those long, hot, messy kisses that would have her scrambling to fix her lipstick before it was all said and done.
To his credit, Jack kissed her back without missing a beat.
She kept her mouth on his, wiggling a hand between them so she could go to work on his belt.
Jack either didn’t notice or didn’t have the wherewithal to stop her, and when she slipped her fingers into his boxer briefs, his only reaction was a groan.
She worked him slowly, enjoying the way he hardened against her hand.
Only when she broke the kiss did Jack seem to show any hint of rational thought. He blinked a few times, confusion clouding over lust. Ellie simply smiled and dropped to her knees.
Jack looked at her dumbly, then. Like he wanted what was about to happen more than anything, but any hope of forming words to that effect was futile.
He swallowed visibly, eyes fixed on hers.
Ellie held her smile as she tugged his pants and boxers down to his knees.
And then, without hesitation or buildup, she took him into her mouth.
Jack let out a moan that made her clit throb, and the muscles in his thighs tightened. Ellie sucked, bobbing her head slowly for extra effect. She wrapped her arms around Jack’s legs, sliding her hands up to grab hold of his ass.
“Fuck,” he whispered as his hips began to work forward and back.
Ellie hummed her pleasure, reveling in how powerful she felt.
She switched her rhythm—slow to fast and back to slow.
She licked and sucked, swirling her tongue up and over the length of him.
She closed her eyes and let instinct guide her.
Well, instinct and her own lust. Her own desperation to get Jack off. To make him hers.
When he threaded his fingers into her hair, she looked up. Jack’s eyes had gone dark and there was something almost dangerous in them. And yet she couldn’t remember a time she’d felt safer. Certain that he was giving himself to her as much as taking what he wanted.
It spurred her on, made her want to be everything he desired. And more. She held his gaze, even as Jack’s eyes drifted closed, then snapped open as though he was afraid of missing something. He held her head more firmly then, thrust harder.
Ellie did what she could to spur him on. Moans and little whimpers of surrender. She quickened her pace and held it, working him with everything she had and hoping the frenzied quiver in her own body translated.
Jack pushed against her, hard. Once, twice, and then a third time.
His whole body tensed, and the sound he made was primal.
Ellie stayed with him until his body sagged, as though remaining upright took all the strength he had.
She let go of his legs, eased her mouth away gently, and sat back on her heels.
He took a step back and practically staggered. “Damn, woman.”
Ellie smirked, trying to remember a time she’d felt more smug and coming up short.
Jack slumped against the edge of the bed, worried he might actually fall over without some support. His body continued to quake, even as his need to be inside Ellie surged.
Ellie stood, swiping her thumb across her bottom lip. Her satisfied smile practically begged him to fuck her back. She locked eyes with him, satisfaction dancing in her eyes. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“I think I’m the one who’s supposed to be thanking you.”
“In that case, thank you and you’re welcome.”
He hauled himself upright. “You look awfully pleased with yourself.”
“I am.” She sauntered toward the door, tossing a playful look over her shoulder. “We should probably get going. Don’t want to be late.”
The part of his rational brain that had returned knew she was right. For better or worse, it was no match for the part still fueled by adrenaline and sex endorphins.
Jack reached Ellie in the short hall at the top of the stairs, grabbed her wrist, and spun her around. He pressed her into the wall with his body, finding his own satisfaction in the small gasp that escaped her lips. “You don’t think you’re getting off that easy, do you?”
“At this rate, I’m going to get off the second you touch me, so consider yourself warned.”
Challenge? Threat? A fine line in this situation and not one he was overly concerned about. “Then I guess I’ll have to see if I can get you off twice.”
Ellie started to laugh but stopped short when Jack yanked the hem of her dress up around her hips. He thrust his hand into her panties and found her clit. “Fuck,” she said.
“I intend to.” He circled her a few times before sliding a finger into her wetness.
She clamped around him with such force he almost couldn’t move.
But even as he prepared himself to go easy, her muscles relaxed.
He added a second finger, and she tightened around him again, the sort of contract and release that seemed to draw him in deeper.
His own cock pulsed with it, despite the release only minutes before.
Ellie lifted one leg, hooking her ankle behind his thigh.
The shift gave Jack even better access, and he took advantage, angling his wrist so his thumb could graze her clit each time he plunged into her.
Ellie grabbed his shoulders tighter and thrust back, meeting him and demanding more, even without words.
When he added a third finger, Ellie cried out and he stilled. But before he could ease up or offer an apology, she leaned in close. Through her ragged breaths, she whispered in his ear. “Don’t stop.”
Relieved, aroused all over again, and with half a mind to drag her back to bed, he forged on. Curving his fingers inside her each time he pushed in, coaxing her higher. She started swearing then, encouragement laced with command. Just enough meaning for him to give her exactly what she wanted.
When the walls of her pussy started to spasm around him, she went silent. The rest of her froze, then quaked against him. She let out a shuddering moan that lit him from the inside and made him feel like he could conquer the world.
Her body went lax, so much so that he had to wrap his free arm around her for support. “Just lean into me. I’ve got you.”
Between his own efforts and the wall, she remained standing. Perched on that one gorgeous high-heeled shoe. “Mm-hmm,” she murmured eventually.
“Do you need to sit? Do you want me to pull out?”
The lolling shake of her head became a slow, exaggerated nod. He’d regained his own wits enough to make sense of it and gently eased his fingers away. Ellie brought her other foot to the ground and shifted her weight.
“You okay?”
Another slow nod. “You’re an animal.”
He tensed instinctively.
Ellie lifted a hand to his cheek. “In a good way.”
“Yeah?” He didn’t typically need reassurances about his skills, but the thought of going too far sure as hell gave him pause.
“So, so good.”
He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but she looked even more satisfied than after giving him the best surprise blow job of his life. Different sort of satisfied, though. Then, she’d been pleased with herself. Now, she was simply pleased. “You bring that out in me.”
“I like that.” Ellie smiled, a trace of that earlier smugness returning.
“We really should get going. Are you sure you don’t need to sit down for a minute?” Or maybe bail on the party after all.
“I can sit in the car.” She tipped her head back toward the bedroom. “I should probably change my underwear.”
Jack nodded. “Okay. Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”
“You’re also going to have to do something about your face.”
He rubbed at his lips with the tips of his fingers. “Do I have lipstick on me?”
“No.” Ellie smirked. “But if you walk into the party with that look on your face, everyone in the room is going to know exactly what you were doing before you got there.”
Jack laughed. Laughed because Ellie was funny, laughed because she was right. And maybe, just a little, he laughed because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a quickie on his way out the door to what was, for all intents and purposes, a family function.