Chapter 42 Back to the Grind
forty-two
Back to the Grind
Irouse to the sensation of the deep, delicious ache of a good fucking.
There’s heat behind me and I wiggle, sneaking closer to him.
His arm tightens across my stomach and he cups me between the legs.
I gasp as he pulls my ass firmly against his groin.
He groans into my hair, a sleepy thing that doesn’t sound quite conscious.
“What time is it?” I murmur.
“Too early,” he replies.
“Too early for this?” I ask, wiggling against him.
His other arm wraps across my chest and cups my naked breast under the blanket, and suddenly I realize we’re in my room.
“When did we get here?”
“You mumbled something about opening the shop in the morning, so I thought it best we sleep in your realm.”
His fingers skate across my nipple lazily, bringing it to a stiff peak. I sigh and grind myself back against his lap. The weight of his hand on my sore pussy provides the kind of pressure I need. I rotate back and forth, rubbing my ass against his cock and then grinding down onto his hand.
“We have to be quiet,” I whisper.
He nips my ear. “An impossible feat for you, I’m sure.”
I glance over my shoulder. “Challenge accepted. But no edging.”
He smirks. “Fine, I’ll make you come first.”
If I want to win that challenge, I’ll need my mouth.
“Get on your knees for me,” I say, then add a, “Please,” because I don’t need a punishment on top of it.
His eyes smolder like low coals, and then he scoots his way up to kneeling beside me. His leans into his right arm, keeping his hold on me while I come up to my elbow. My mouth waters at the outline under his briefs. I’ve never done this, but I’m going to make him come so fast his head will spin.
He spreads my legs and teases my opening with the tip of his tail while his fingers work my sensitive clit.
“You’re cheating, starting first,” I murmur, looking up at him as I pull on the waist of his briefs.
His right hand goes still, as does his tail. He hooks his thumb in the other side and helps me pull them down. His cock stands stiffly between us, the nodes of pleasure on each side pulsing with his heartbeat.
“Are you ready now?” he asks, a hint of playful frustration in his voice.
I lick my lips with a flat swipe of my tongue, getting them wet. His mouth drops open and he huffs out a lusty breath. I circle them again, slower, as I maintain eye contact.
“Now you’re cheating,” he says.
“I’m not touching you yet,” I say innocently.
“No, but you’re teasing me.”
I pout my lower lip. “Poor baby getting hot and bothered by the sight of my tongue?”
He grabs my hair, and I pant softly.
“On the count of three,” he says.
“Whoever comes first owes the other a favor.”
He chuffs. “Agreed. Whoever is the loudest will get a spanking.”
I imagine getting to take Rhazan over my knee and paddle his ass. The vision is a little funny because of our size difference, but I like it all the same. A little payback for my pink cheeks.
“You’re on,” I whisper.
“One.”
I put my hand on his thigh.
“Two.”
The anticipation lights a giddy fire in me.
“Three.”
I grab him at the base and lick a wet line up the bottom of his cock. He sighs, sliding his tail over my opening to coat it with slickness. When I reach the tip, I suck him all the way into my mouth.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispers, his hand tensing in my hair.
He’s being so slow and gentle, but the pressure on my clit and my sore opening is just enough to start easing me into a frenzy without hurting me.
I get a little more than halfway down his shaft and hit the back of my throat.
I groan softly to relax my muscles and push him deeper.
He sighs a curse and pushes his tail into me, keeping the pressure just at the first few inches.
It’s more than enough to get me climbing when he circles my clit in time with his tail.
I have to work harder if I’m going to win.
I move my tongue over his shaft as I massage his head with my throat, fighting the urge to gag as I suck harder. He loses his rhythm and his breathing sharpens. I pull back and gasp for air, then force myself right back down to the base of him.
“Jiahui, fuck, wait,” he grunts, trying to pull on my hair.
I groan and suck, cupping his heavy balls in my left hand. His hips pulse forward and he fucks the back of my throat.
“If you’re going to make me lose, I’m going to make you swallow,” he growls, fisting my hair hard.
I whimper as the pleasure in my lower belly spirals, getting out of my control from his filthy words.
“But I think you’re going to lose, Firecracker,” he murmurs. “I think you’re so close.”
Saliva runs down my chin and over my knuckles. I massage his balls, sliding over them and up his shaft. My hand takes the place of my mouth so I can take a much needed breath. I’m at the edge, holding off from orgasming with sheer determination.
I bob down his cock and twist my hand in time, synchronizing the movements. His breaths go ragged, punctuated by grunts at the end.
“Fuck, I’m there,” he groans. “Show me what a good girl you can be and swallow every drop.”
The first spill coats the back of my throat in earthy cinnamon. Against all the instinct that tells me not to, I swallow instead of gagging. He comes, and comes, groaning low under his breath.
A sharp pinch on my clit brings my attention right back to the orgasm he left me on the precipice of. He strokes me twice and pinches again, pushing me over the edge. I swallow the last of him and whimper quietly against his shaft as my body tenses and curls inward.
He grabs the back of my neck and pulls me off the bedding, cradling me as he claims my mouth. When I’m thoroughly wrung out, he slows and finally stills his movements.
He rests his forehead against mine and pants. “Only for you, Firecracker.”
“Only for me what?” I ask?
“Will I endure a spanking,” he says. “But not right now.”
He maneuvers us gently until we’re curled together under the blanket.
“You have somewhere to be?” I ask, tracing the lines of power on his chest.
“In fact, I do. The IBMA are coming to my bar to release the imprisonment wards,” he says.
I frown. “If they had wards to keep you in, how did your magic get out? I mean, I definitely felt you when I was fighting the overlord.”
He tucks my hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead.
“No magic can stop me from getting to you.”
I smirk and cozy into him. “You could get out this whole time, couldn’t you?”
He hums in confirmation. “I used my own magic as a barrier, just in case.”
“Is that why it always burned when I tried to leave in astral form?”
“Indeed, it was my magic fighting my own magic back down. A precaution. I didn’t want to accidentally break parole, especially when I was so close.”
“But you broke it for me,” I whisper.
“And I would again,” he says. “But this is why you’re never leaving my side again, so I don’t have to.”
Suddenly, a barrage of questions pummels my quiet mind. Are we going back to Boston? When will I see my parents again? What’s the plan with Zhao?
Too many unanswered questions.
“I sense that you have things to take care of, too,” he says.
“Yeah, first up is a shower,” I say, looking at the black smudges across my arms.
He chuckles. “I would join you, but I’m not certain I would fit.”
“We’ll have to get a bigger shower,” I say, looking up at him.
“I’ll make one for us in the bar.”
He kisses me slowly and I sigh into the bliss that is his love.
“I’ll see you later?” he asks.
“I’m sure you’ll see me before I do,” I say.
He smirks. “Undoubtedly.”
I kiss him one more time, relishing the sensation of his heat, and his adoration. I pull back, and embers swallow him up, disappearing him to the other side of the veil.
I flop across my bedroll and sigh. I’ll need to wash all these sheets, too. They’re a mess like me. I check the time and see it’s only five-thirty, so I have more than enough time for a luxurious shower.
I wash off all the sweat and Halloween paint, taking my time to exfoliate and clean between every crevasse. My butt is still a bit tender, and while it definitely intensified the orgasm, I think it’s a special occasion kind of play.
Nai Nai makes an almost American breakfast of fried pork belly and eggs with rice. We eat in quiet peace, and at six-thirty, I go down to the shop and flip the sign.
The rubber plant has moved back down to the café with me since the Zhaos’ capture means it’s safe here. I pad over to the plant and sprinkle some of the used espresso grounds in its pot, then give it some water.
“You should get better with your messaging. That warning was confusing.”
The plant shivers and I feel it cursing at me.
I chuff and give it a little more water.
“Thanks, though. You’re not so bad.”
The praise goes straight to the plant’s head—or soul? How does this thing work?—and it gives off a haughty lifting of its chin. It knows it’s a good plant.
I start up the espresso machine and get all my tools laid out. Within minutes, the first customer strides in, someone I’ve never seen before. They buy a pumpkin caramel latte and tip me a dollar.
Ace speeds down the stairs and pulls up to the bar with a smile.
“Got a latte for your bro?” he asks.
I hum. “Got five dollars for the cash register?”
His face screws up. “I’ll do the dishes tonight.”
“Deal,” I say with a nod, and get to work on his special coffee.
I wasn’t really going to charge him, but dishes in exchange for a coffee? Yes, please.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t win that bed and breakfast by the lake in Michigan,” Ace muses as he fiddles with a little plastic straw.
I scowl as I heat the milk. “I thought you’d hacked the contest.”
He scoffs, playfully offended. “I would never…”
I cock out a hip and a sly grin spreads over his lips.
“I would never while on probation.”
I drop the specialty coffee down in front of him. “So then what, we just got lucky?”
He blows a raspberry. “I guess.”
“You’re lying. How did you do it?” I demand.
He takes a sip and hums. “You’re getting really good at this.”
“Stop deflecting,” I say, putting a lid on his to-go cup.
He shrugs. “I played the numbers game. I used a script to extract all the contests I could scrape off Facepost, Instaframe, etcetera, and then used another to auto-apply Nai Nai’s information on all of them.
It was about eight thousand in total, and we only won fourteen.
Mostly smaller stuff. And I’m still waiting on that lifetime supply of instant noodles. I think that one may have been a scam.”
I snort-laugh. This kid is too smart.
“Well, thanks. I’m glad we won this place, too.”
“Are we going to stay?” he asks as he hikes up his backpack.
“What do you want?”
“I like it here.” His brow ruffles. “But I miss my Bostonians, so if we could visit for winter break maybe?”
I smile, a sweet relief washing through me. “Yeah, buddy. Whatever you want.”
He grins. “That scooter?”
I groan. “Go to school.”
“For my Christmas birthday present?” he asks.
“We don’t celebrate Christmas, and your birthday present is a new floppy disk drive or whatever.”
He rolls his eyes. “A solid-state drive.”
“Go to school, and we’ll talk about saving up for the scooter if you help more around the café.”
He beams at me. “Thanks, jiejie. See you tonight!”
I wave him off and start my own coffee. While the espresso drips, I text Amherst.
Jade: What’s going to happen to my parents after the trial?
Armhurts: Good morning to you too. I’ll be there for coffee and paperwork in twenty minutes.
I huff at not getting an answer but keep myself busy until she arrives. I serve a few customers as she comes in, and then Nai Nai takes over, tottering behind the bar with her sweets display while the detective and I chat.
“Since their passports expired while they were being detained, there are going to be some hoops to jump through, but we’re starting the process now,” she says, then takes a sip of her black drip coffee.
“Is there anything I can do?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Not right now, but if you can find their citizenship paperwork, it’ll go faster once we get to that step.”
I pull out my phone and make a note.
“Okay, so I’ve got some stuff here for you to sign that just says you’re not going to discuss magical activities with people whom you know are not already familiar with the paranormal, etcetera, etcetera,” she says, holding out a tablet to me.
The contract is a million freaking pages. Okay, it’s one hundred and three, but might as well be.
“I need to read all this,” I say.
She nods. “I wouldn’t expect otherwise. I’ll leave that with you, but if you could try to get it done this week, that would be helpful. I don’t want to move my flight.”
“You’re leaving Saturday?” I ask.
She nods. “Back to the grind.”
I tuck the tablet against my side and sit back. “So do you do, like, normal human police work, too?”
She pulls a face. “As if there’s time. I’m strictly in the paranormal unit.”
“Are there a lot of magic-sensitive cops?”
“Just me and my partner in Boston. Our chief is aware of the situation, but he’s the only one,” she says. “Thinking about joining the force?”
I bark a laugh. “With my track record? Yeah, right. Plus, I think maybe we’re going to stay here a while, at least until Ace is done with school.”
She nods. “That sounds like a good plan. It’s a nice café. Nice town.”
“It is, but the living situation leaves a bit to be desired. I might move my room to the other side, if you know what I mean.”
She chuffs. “You guys are pretty involved then?”
“We’re mates,” I say, smiling at the idea that I was made for him, and he for me.
“Sounds serious,” she says. “Nai Nai approves?”
I glance at my grandma. “Excessively approves. But my parents, I don’t know.”
“Well, all in good time,” she says as she stands. “You read over that, let me know if you spot anything you don’t like. Not as if we can change it, but we can at least talk it through.”
I grimace. “Great, no choice, I see.”
“Not really,” she says. “But there’s nothing nefarious in there, I promise.”
“I’ll find that out for myself later tonight,” I say, waving the tablet.
“You do that,” she says with a smile, and then pauses, looking at me intently. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
The words make me feel gooey and embarrassed.
“Thanks.” I chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck. “Me too.”
“Best of luck, Jiahui.”
She turns for the door, sipping on her coffee as she goes.
I stand, pulling down a deep breath of caffeinated air. I think I’ve already had all the luck I need. Now, I just need my family and this cute café. I tuck the tablet under my arm and get back to work behind the bar, loving every moment of the life I’ve made for myself.