3. Ivy Thompson
IVY THOMPSON
I hate to admit that I can’t remember the last time I laughed this much.
The hyena type of laughing.
With my non-date.
JJ is charming, and he knows it. But not in an arrogant way, in a charismatic way. He’s asking me questions, automatically raising him in my good books, which is absolutely pathetic because if this is my bare minimum, I need to get a grip.
Somehow, it’s gone from being a horrific night to one I wouldn’t look back on as a total disaster.
We ordered more cocktails and a pitcher of water. My mind is swaying a little, but I know I’m still in control. What I didn’t expect was for the security guards to tell us the bar was closing up for the night.
Had we really spent all night talking?
JJ sneakily pays for the bill when I’m gathering my stuff, and I scowl at him across the table. All he does is smile back in response with a wink. Instead of fighting him, I thank him, and we make our way outside.
We stand on the edge of the curb, and I cling onto JJ’s arm to balance myself. I’ll be throwing away these stupid heels the second I get home. I stare up into his blue eyes and feel my heart stupidly quiver—I’m blaming the alcohol.
I have no idea how this man—who is totally out of my league—spent the night with me in a bar. But I choose to ignore that thought. I had a good night—better than good. I shouldn’t complain.
My ankle twists suddenly, and I’m falling back on my broken heel. A yelp escapes my throat, but before I tumble to the ground, JJ wraps an arm around my waist and hoists me into his warm, hard chest.
A flush of heat coats my cheeks as his body hunches over mine. He doesn’t release me, he remains close. Our faces are merely inches apart. His eyes flick between mine, then down to my parted lips that are still trying to inhale oxygen.
There goes my heart again. Thump. Thump. Thump.
JJ leans closer, the tip of his nose grazing mine. I draw in a sudden breath, my entire body bursting into flames at the gentle action. Goddamn those sambuca shots because I can’t take my eyes off him.
My head is telling me to go home, to call a cab, to end this night now. But I can’t. Something is stopping me from moving. Instead, I lick my lips and tremble in his hold as he spreads his fingers wide against my back.
I almost lose myself to the sensation.
JJ inhales, his eyes slightly hooded. “Come home with me,” he rasps. “Let me show you how much of a gentleman I can be.”
My eyes flutter shut for a brief second, and I step into his hold, his warmth surrounding me like a soft hug.
I am well and truly screwed.
When I open my eyes, he’s staring down at me with an unexpected tenderness. Oh god. That handsome face.
“If by gentleman you mean you’ll make me a good cup of tea to cure this hangover for tomorrow,” I say with a stroke of confidence. “Then I’m all for it.”
A playful smirk flashes across his lips. “I make a fucking great cup of tea.”
For a moment, I expect him to drop my waist, but he doesn’t. He draws me in impossibly closer until I’m throbbing all over.
“Do you have oat milk?”
“No,” he admits with a small chuckle. “But there is a twenty-four-hour shop beside my apartment. I can grab you some on the way.”
I slowly remove myself from his grip, but his fingers remain resting against my hip to stabilise me on my heel. “Fine,” I say as I fold my arms over my chest. “You’ve sold me.”
JJ fishes his phone out of his pocket and orders a cab to his apartment, which is on the other side of town. When it arrives, he guides me over to it before helping me into the car.
I’m trying my damn hardest to keep my breathing quiet because I am being anything but cool right now, and I don’t need JJ to see how badly this situation is affecting me.
We arrive at JJ’s apartment, and he guides me up to the second floor before I slip off my shoes and carry them the rest of the way. I don’t bother asking who he lives with, I doubt he’d be bringing me back to his parents’ house after what he told me tonight.
He shows me inside. It’s clean and simple and smells like fresh laundry and thick aftershave, but mixed together, it’s not too prominent.
The door shuts behind me with a soft click, and I turn to him with wide eyes. “We forgot the oat milk,” I blurt.
JJ’s delicious mouth twists into another soft smirk. “What a shame,” he murmurs before sliding his hand across my cheek delicately. He takes a step towards me, and I flutter my lashes up at him. “But I don’t really think you came for the tea.”
His voice is soft like silk and seductive like sin; it makes me want to close my eyes and submit. He’s right, of course I didn’t come for the tea.
It’s been a while. I deserve pleasure as much as the next person. And from someone devastatingly handsome? Yes, please.
“Did you, Ivy ?”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. His eyes have me stuck in a trance, and his lips curl like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
His lips drop to the other side of my jaw, brushing my skin softly. “Tell me or I won’t touch you any more than this.”
I tilt my head, looking up at his tall stature as he straightens his spine for a brief second. Only now without my heels do I notice how damn tall he is, and it’s doing absolutely nothing for my pounding core.
“No,” I whisper. “I didn’t come for the tea.”
JJ smirks against my jaw, and I despise how wobbly my voice came out. He’s got me wrapped around his finger, and I don’t even think I hate it, he can have me.
All of me.
For tonight, anyway.
“That’s what I thought,” he grumbles deeply.
For a moment, he pulls back, and both of our eyes are thick with desire. We know what’s about to go down, and suddenly my knees are shaking at the thought. It might have been a while, but I’m willing to let myself go.
JJ takes my cheek with his other hand and presses his lips to mine. At first, the kiss is soft, delicate. It takes me a moment to feel the shape of his gorgeous mouth. His fingers slide into the back of my hair, tilting my head to the perfect angle so he can deepen the kiss.
I release a slow exhale as his tongue slips across my bottom lip. I’m gasping when he brushes it against my own. My head twists and he steps forward, guiding me further into his apartment.
After a few seconds, his hands drop from my face, and he glides them over my shoulders and down my back until he reaches my ass and parts my thighs. My legs wrap around his waist with ease as he draws me into his arms as if I weigh nothing.
My fingers graze his buzzed hair, and I kiss him deeper, holding my arms tightly around his neck as he continues to walk. He kicks the door open, and then shut once we’re inside.
JJ drops me to the bed but slides across me, our lips barely parting for a second. His fingers bunch at my sides, but he doesn’t race to take off my dress, which is weirdly a relief. He’s taking his time, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Instead, we explore each other through our kisses, the feel of our bodies with our clothes on. I understand that one-night stands are one-night stands for a reason, but it’s nice to feel wanted and not used.
JJ parts from my lips and kisses over my jaw, down my neck, and over my collarbone. I stare up at his ceiling, trying to keep my breathing under control. He can probably hear a hurricane going off inside my chest, but his lips feel so damn divine, I don’t care.
He raises up and looks down at me with dilated eyes and swollen lips. His heated gaze trails my face as he blows out a low breath.
JJ slowly flicks his fingers inside the straps of my dress. “Can I take this off?”
My breathing hitches, and the intensity of our gazes feels like a nuclear explosion. The thought of him seeing me naked is incredibly unnerving.
For a moment, I pause.
I’ve had a difficult relationship with my body for the past few years, ever since the accident. This body hasn’t felt like mine, regardless of the scars—physical and invisible.
My therapist tried so hard to get me to understand my thoughts, but I guess it’s been psychologically imprinted into me. A mental block. The fear of being vulnerable for someone else to see all my cracks and flaws.
“We don’t have to,” JJ says, sensing my hesitation.
But his words slash into me.
I thought I’d be running at the idea of a one-night stand, but I don’t want to. I want to stay. I want to push away these insecurities that have been crowding my mind for years. I want to be the woman I’ve always wanted to be. Brave.
A wave of confidence steams through me, I don’t overthink it—I take it.
It’s the first time I’ve felt empowered and comfortable in years.
“Take it off,” I say boldly.
“You sure?” he asks, searching my eyes.
I nod adamantly. “Yes. Take it off.”
He lowers to kiss the corner of my mouth gently. Then he flicks the straps off my dress and pulls it down my chest and legs until I am in nothing but my underwear. Suddenly, the cool air has me feeling more than exposed. I didn’t wear a bra tonight because it didn’t go with my dress.
But JJ’s eyes soften as he looks down at my naked body. He takes his sweet time to analyse every inch of me. His gaze gravitates to the centre of my chest, right where my healed scar is. Beside my heart.
He blinks once, and then twice, but his expression doesn’t give anything away.
Once upon a time, it was ugly and prominent, but now it’s mostly red and flat.
His eyes dart to mine, and I bite down on my bottom lip with apprehension.
I try not to overthink. Not now.
He doesn’t react with a look of disgust or shock, instead he lowers his head and kisses along the mark gently—like I’m made of glass.
Featherlight kisses.
As if he’s trying not to hurt me, even though it’s already healed.
“You are gorgeous, Ivy,” he says before returning to my neck.
His words feel like they’re being etched into my skin with his talented lips and perfectly placed hands.
I close my eyes and relax into his bed, taking a moment for myself before looking at him again. He kneels again and undoes his shirt, button by button. A sliver of flesh catches my attention before he shoves the material over his broad shoulders.
Tattoos litter his arms. Patchwork. Pretty. Unbelievably attractive.
But the sight of his toned stomach, beautiful smooth skin, and muscles over muscles takes my breath away.
Everything inside me tightens.
JJ takes my hand and places it against his rock-hard stomach. I tremble at the heat beneath my palm. “Oh, god,” I rasp.
He tilts his head and lowers down, caging me between his two large biceps. “Oh, god… what?” His breath tickles the shell of my ear.
I swallow down my pride. “I haven’t done this in a while,” I admit.
JJ’s head twists and catches my eye. “Do you want to stop? It’s okay if you want to stop.”
“No.” I let out a strangled cry of desperation. That’s the last thing I want. “I just wanted you to know.”
He hums softly and presses a caress of a kiss to my pulse, and then my lips, leaving me breathless. “You are in control,” he whispers against me. “We stop when you want to stop. But if you want to carry on, I want to make you feel good, Ivy. So please let me.”
I raise my chest into his, grazing my nipples against his hardened torso. He claims my mouth once more, this time hungrier. He covers my body as I sink further into his mattress, into literal heaven.
My hand wraps around the back of his head, holding him to my lips as I kiss him deeper. “Please, make me feel good.”