27. Cherry
Watching Jake speak about the charity he’s clearly so passionate about makes me think about what he’d told me about his mom and sister. My heart breaks for the young boy who’d been forced to grow up so quickly, who’d taken on more than any adult should be expected to let alone a child.
His command of the room, the way he looks out at the people gathered tonight and bleeds every emotion he feels about this charity into them, is making me feel things I know I shouldn’t.
It would be so easy to fall back into the easy love we’d shared, so simple to let my heart beat for him again. A part of me wants to just let go and see what happens, to see if we crash and burn or have what it takes to last the test of time, but I know if we crash again, I won’t be getting up and walking away this time. It will crush me in a way I’ll never recover from.
“Still have that childish pink hair, I see.”
I glance sideways at the woman who’s just insulted me and find myself staring at a second blast from the past.
“Lorelei. Still bitchy and insecure, I see.”
Lorelei looks at me like she’s chewed a wasp, her lip curling and I imagine if she could mov e any other part of her face, it would be the same.
“Still clinging onto people who don’t really want you, I see.”
I bark out a laugh, not in the least bit affected by her attempt to make me feel insecure. “You’re gonna have to do better than that, Lorelei.”
I turn to leave, not willing to spare another second of my time sparring with such an unworthy opponent, but she grabs my arm. I snatch my arm away and glare at her. “Touch me again and you won’t be needing lip filler for a month.”
Lorelei lets go, stepping back from my reach. Clearly aware I’ll happily follow through on my threat.
“How can you have such low self-respect that you’d sleep with a man who was in my bed just last week? Really, I thought after he went to all the trouble of getting you kicked out of Harvard just to get rid of you, that you’d get the hint.”
Her words sting, picking the scabs of old wounds that still haven’t healed. Jake’s past sexual exploits have no bearing on us now. We both have a past. And as much as I hate the idea of him with anyone else, I’m not an idiot. The other thing though, the thought he wanted out of our relationship and he set me up to get me out of the picture, sits uncomfortably in that spot in my brain where all my self-doubts have built a cozy little home.
I smell him before I feel his hand on my hip and see the fear morph over Lorelei’s features before she recovers her composure.
“Still peddling your bullshit, Lorelei? We both know the last time my cock was anywhere near you, I was still growing out the baby fluff on my chin.”
My snort is inelegant, but I don’t care as Jake squeezes my side and looks down at me with a conspiratorial smile and a wink that makes my belly flutter like an army of butterflies just took flight.
“Why are you with her, Jake? She’s not even in the same league as you. ”
My skin bristles at her swipe, reminding me of the deep void of wealth between Jake and me.
“You’re right, she isn’t.”
I stiffen at his words and watch as a smug smile spreads across my enemy’s face. Jake better pull something out of the bag with this or he’ll be having a painful meeting with the pointy end of my shoe.
“Cherry is so far out of my league we’re not even in the same stratosphere. I’m the luckiest bastard in the world that she chose to come here with me tonight and grace me with her time.” His body moves closer to mine and I lean in as he continues, his words like a balm over my skin, chasing away the doubts this woman has torn open and exposed.
“That I failed her by allowing someone such as you to speak to her with such disrespect is unacceptable, and I only hope she can forgive me.”
With that, Jake turns and lifts his chin at two muscular guards, who have been watching from a respectful distance.
“Please escort this woman out and ensure she doesn’t return to any future events held by, or for, Lungo.”
“Jake, what are you doing? This is a silly mistake. I didn’t know she was with you.”
Jake holds his finger up and Lorelei goes silent at the deadly coldness emanating from him towards her.
“Stop. You’re boring me. This isn’t a mistake, this was another attempt by you to try and assert power over someone for your own enjoyment. I am telling you and anyone else that even wants to think about it, Cherry Baker is off fucking limits. She’s mine, she’s the woman I love, and if you fuck with her, then you fuck with me and you do not want that.”
As the two men escort a pissed-off Lorelei from the room, I’m left reeling from all the confessions of the last few minutes. The fact he says I’m out of his league is nice and flattering but can be put down to showmanship, no matter how much I enjoyed it. But him declaring I’m the woman he loves is a lot, and I don’t know how to feel about it, or even if it is real.
“I’ve left you speechless. Not quite the way I expected it to happen, but we adapt. How about a dance?”
Jake whisks me off my feet onto the dance floor before I can process his words, and maybe that was his intention.
As the upbeat song plays, I shove the encounter to the back of my head as I let the music thrum through my body. Jake catches my hand and spins me out, before pulling back in as I laugh and let myself just feel. His hands skim over my body as we dance, and the release of the music flowing through my veins becomes something heavier, something headier.
My gaze falls to his lips, the memory of how soft they are, how much pleasure they give me, how his words hold such power over me floods through my brain. Warmth spreads through me, making my nipples pucker and my pussy ache for his touch.
The band slows things down, and I feel Jake’s heated stare on me as he snags me around the waist and hauls me against his chest. His scent is so familiar and intoxicating that it makes my head fuzzy as oxygen is stolen by his hands on me.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Blossom.”
“Thank you. I am a ten, after all.”
It’s the first time I’ve referenced our past in any way but bitterness, and I see pleasure stain his cheeks as one hand smooths over the skin of my spine, and the other moves slowly over my hip and up.
“No, baby, you’re a twelve and I’m still your humble servant.”
“You remembered!” Surprise makes me stop moving and Jake looks down at me as he holds me like I’m something precious, his eyes revealing every emotion he’s feeling.
“I remember everything about you, Blossom. I remember that you hate olives because you think they look too much like grapes, and then you’re disappointed when you eat them. I remember how it feels to have your legs wrapped around me as I fuck you. I remember you love dark romance and your belief that all men should be made to read t hem so we can understand what a woman really wants.”
I place a finger over his lips, and he stops speaking to nip my skin and press a kiss to the pad. My skin is feverish, my body tingles, and I know I’m about to take a huge risk. What is life without risk though but a rolling monotony of days until you die?
“Come with me.” Taking his hand, I wonder if he’ll follow and look back to see a bemused smile on his face as he lets me drag him from the room. I’m not thinking right now, I’m acting on instinct and my instinct is telling me to show Jake what his gesture with Lorelei means to me.
Spying the door to the restroom I know is cleaner and posher than any bathroom I’ve ever been inside, I head towards it. Once Jake is inside, I close and lock the door before turning to him and finding him watching me with a dark look of a man starved. His gaze trips over me from head to toe, and I let him.
I don’t know if it’s the dress or the way he looks at me, but I feel powerful. Like I could own this man if I choose to, but I also recognize he owns a big piece of me, too. With my eyes still on his hungry gaze, I lift the hem of my dress and sink to my knees.
His tongue comes out to lick his bottom lip and the action makes my body squirm with desire as a flood of wetness hits my panties. Reaching up, I palm the steel of his erection through the fabric of his tuxedo pants, and his hiss of appreciation makes my head spin.
This is power. Not the dress, but the way he looks at me, the way he lets me see how much I affect him. His cock flexes beneath my hand as I slide the zipper down inch by inch, our breathing growing louder as anticipation fills the room with oxygen.
I free his hard cock and saliva floods my mouth as the musky scent of him hits my nose. I know how it feels to choke on his cock. I know how it tastes, how soft the skin is, and how good it feels when he takes control, which I can see he’s on the brink of doing. There he is, the dominant man who makes me want to weep with how much pleasure he gives me. No man has ever been able to please me like Jake, and that’s becau se he was, and still is, the only one I trust to have this control.
“Are you sure about this, Blossom?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl.”
My body practically purrs at his praise and I feel myself relax for the first time in so long. Jake holds my gaze as he reaches out and presses my bottom lip open, forcing his thumb between my lips. His skin is salty as he drags it over my tongue and I moan. Not from the taste but from the action.
“Suck. Show me how much you need my cock.”
I do as he asks, forgetting everything else except his command and the feel of him taking control. When he slides his thumb out, he hums as I look up at him.
“Stand up.”
He gives me his hand as I stand, his gentle touch at odds with the dominance radiating from his body. It should be a contradiction, but Jake was always gentle with me, even when his hand was around my throat.
“Lift your dress and show me my pretty pussy.”
Walking my fingers down my thighs, I drag the hem of the dress higher until it’s above my hips. I squeeze my thighs together to ease the throb of arousal sliding through me. Jake watches me and his body tenses, his cock proud and erect as it bobs between us from his open zipper. Pre-cum slides down his length and I lick my lips, desperate to taste him.
A dark chuckle falls from him. “Such a little slut for my cock, Blossom.”
I’d argue but what is the point when it’s true? His words force an overwhelming sensation of lust to skitter through my bloodstream and though he’s hardly touched me, I can feel the first flickers of climax edging my vision.
His fingertips toy with the edge of my panties, making my head feel too heavy for my neck. Then with a flick of his wrist, he tears the silk from my skin. Bringing it to his face, he inhales like my scent is a drug and he’s starved for his next fix, his eyes falling closed as his cock throbs, bumping against my swollen clit. A whimper slips from my lips and Jake smirks as he shoves the sodden, destroyed silk in his pocket.
God, this is turning into so much more than the quick blow job I planned to give him in the cloakroom, but then I should have known it would. Jake isn’t a man to let anyone, even me, control his sexual encounters.
Without warning, his hand comes up and grips my throat as the other slides between my thighs, his fingers sliding over my sensitive flesh that is soaked for him.
“Fuck.”
Gathering the moisture from my aching pussy, he rubs the pads of his fingers over my clit, before pushing his thumb inside my needy cunt. Just like that, sensation slams into me, and I have to grip his arm as my climax hits me like an out-of-control tornado. My legs shake, my whole body spasms and Jake holds my gaze through it all. A connection that has always been between us springs to life in a way I can’t deny anymore. This is us, this indescribable understanding of each other is what I’ve missed for the last ten years.
Removing his fingers from my pussy, he slides them between his lips and sucks every drop of my climax from them, his growl of appreciation making my body eager for round two.
“You’re still my favorite dessert, Blossom.”
Familiar words, once uttered between two kids in love, now fill me with something else. Hope, fear, lust, all swimming around in a pool of confusion in my brain.
“On your knees.”
His words snap me out of my spiral and I sink to the floor of the restroom, the lace of my dress pooling around me, and look up at the man who owns me, body and soul. Even when I hated him, he was the one who could make me feel more than any other man ever has or will .
His strong fingers grip his cock as he guides the blunt end of his dick to my lips.
“Open and take what I give you, little slut.”
I should hate that he calls me that, but knowing that he also calls me his queen makes it hot in a way that I control.
I open my mouth and he paints his cock across my lips, coating my skin with his pre-cum like lip gloss.
“So pretty.”
My eyes flutter closed at his words, savoring every sensation.
“Open your eyes, Blossom.”
My eyes pop open as he gives me a look of approval that makes my shoulders lift back. Jake guides his cock between my lips, his hands gripping my cheeks.
“You gonna be a good girl and take what I give you?”
My mouth is full of his thick, veiny cock, so I nod my assent instead. Jake hums and pulls back before sliding between my lips again, his head thrown back in pleasure as he begins to fuck my mouth.
I suck and lick as best I can, but this isn’t in my control, he has it all, and I love it. He uses my mouth as tears run down my cheeks, his cock head making me gag as saliva drools down my chin.
This isn’t romantic, nor is it polite. It’s raw, base fucking and I own it. I revel in the power I’ve willingly handed over to him. His cock blocks my airway as my nose tickles against the hair of his groin. My vision flitters black at the edges and my hand slides between my legs but firm fingers stop me as he pulls back, allowing air to rush into my burning lungs.
“Did I say you could touch my pussy?”
A moan of frustration has me digging my fingers into his hard thighs as he increases his pace. His body is rigid, his movements jerky as he stills for a split second and then a roar of pleasure leaves him and thick ropes of his come hit my throat. It’s salty as I swallow every drop until he slides out from between my lips with a pop.
I sag back on my heels as he leans against the counter. Jake bends, hooking me under the arm s with his hands and lifting me so my feet dangle off the ground and his nose rubs against my neck. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and we stay wrapped in our bubble until someone bangs on the door.
“Get a fucking room. Some people need to pee.”
A burst of laughter falls from me and soon we’re both laughing like loons. As we sober, reality intrudes and Jake holds my cheek in one hand, his free arm holding up against his body.
“I meant it, Blossom, what I said tonight. Not the way I wanted to tell you, but it doesn’t make it less true. I do love you. I’ve always loved you and I always will.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
“Let me take you home and I’ll tell you everything.”
I stare into his eyes and see nothing but honesty waiting for me. I nod once, hoping I don’t end this night with my heart in tatters.