Chapter 22
JAKE
Noah greeted me at the door.
After a hug and twenty questions on my whereabouts, I left him playing in his room and went in search of Ellie. I hadn’t expected her to be waiting in bed for me, so the disappointment at finding her in the kitchen fully clothed made no sense at all.
What would we be doing if I never left?
Maybe I would’ve woken her up with my tongue. Grabbed her by the throat and kissed her breath away. Pressed myself against her ass and slipped my fingers inside her, or maybe one of her toys, wringing out another orgasm or two before Noah woke up demanding breakfast.
Pointless wondering about that now.
“Hey.”
“Oh.” Ellie startled and straightened all at once. “Hi.”
“Hey,” I repeated awkwardly, dumping the tray of coffees and bag of doughnuts on the counter. I’d planned some silly joke, but the wariness in Ellie’s beautiful eyes tossed that out the window. “I can’t do it. I can’t lie to you.”
She nodded in slow acceptance, shoulder slumping, and somehow her resignation hurt the most—that she expected nothing more from me, nothing more for herself either.
I could’ve kicked myself.
Why did I run this morning?
Sometimes I really am a childish idiot.
“It’s okay, Jake. You don’t have to worry about last night. It happens.”
My face crumbled with discomfort. “Don’t give me the soft voice. I don’t deserve it.”
“You—you want me to be mad at you?”
“If that’s how you feel, yes. I can take it. Do you want to punch me? Go ahead. Just avoid my nose. I like my nose.”
Ellie tipped her head to one side, a reluctant sort of amusement teasing the edges of her mouth. “You’re ridiculous. I’m not mad.”
“But?”
Her hesitation clogged the air like smoke. She fidgeted, refusing to look at me, and her arms curling around herself felt like the biggest punch of all.
“I don’t want you to read into what I’m about to say,” she said quietly.
“I won’t.”
“I guess… I was disappointed when I found you gone, and it’s not because I made assumptions about us,” she hastened to add. “It’s because you’re my friend and that means something to me.”
“I know. I fucked up and I’m sorry.” I clasped her shoulders, losing my train of thought.
Everything about her smelled incredible, but I had a new awareness now.
The smell of her skin as I licked her neck.
The scent of her cunt as I sucked her clit.
The fading notes of her sweet perfume dotted behind her ear as I buried myself inside her.
Fuck.
“I’m glad you told me,” I carried on, like I wasn’t getting hard at the memory of those things. “I love knowing what goes on in that brain of yours.”
“You sure about that? It’s wild in here.”
Wild wasn’t the word I would’ve used. Fascinating maybe. Ellie thought about things that never crossed my mind, and there was something so intriguing about that. I couldn’t explain it. She baffled me in the best possible way.
She might’ve loved puzzles, but she was the only one I ever wanted to solve.
“I’m sure. Last night was incredible. I don’t want you worrying about that, or doubting how amazing you were—you are. But when I saw you this morning, all naked and sexy and freshly fucked.” Her eyes widened at my bluntness, but now wasn’t the time for subtlety.
“I panicked, and I don’t typically do that.
But you and me, whatever this is, it’s not typical, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you.
I went to Leo for advice, and Grace suggested I grab coffee and pretend that’s what I was doing, but I don’t want to lie to you.
I can’t, because you’re my friend and that means something to me too. ”
Ellie brightened, her wariness lifting like a veil. “Thank you. But you don’t owe me perfection.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tell me if you’re freaking out, or if you need space, or if you think we made a mistake. I don’t need protecting. I’m a big girl. I know you think I’m some innocent little thing—”
“The way you sat on my cock last night… Innocent is the last descriptive I’d use.”
“Jake!”
“What? Is that not what happened?”
“Yes, but hearing it out loud like that is so…”
“Fucking hot,” I said gruffly.
“That’s…” Ellie glanced away in a fluster, mouthing oh my god as if I wasn’t standing right there.
She was so fucking precious. I wanted to drag her into my arms and shower her with kisses, warm my mouth with the embarrassment staining her cheeks.
“Next time just be honest with me,” she settled on.
My pulse kicked up a gear.
“Next time?”
“I—I’m just saying I’d rather know than be left wondering,” Ellie admitted. “Bad things happen in my brain when I’m left wondering about things. If you think you have to come up with a way of letting me down gently, there’s no need. I’d rather know. The not knowing is worse for me.”
I ran my knuckles along the red stippling her cheek, our first touch since this morning, when I’d woken in a panic then spent five minutes in awe of her, soft and lush and bare for me. I hadn’t given any consideration to how big a deal that was, or maybe I had. Maybe that’s what sent me running.
I wasn’t sure anymore.
“I promise to never leave you wondering again,” I told her. “I don’t want to let you down gently either, but I’m not the kind of guy who does serious relationships.”
“It’s funny you think I don’t know that already.”
“That obvious, huh?”
“Just a bit,” she replied, a shred of distance between her finger and thumb. “Besides, who said I’m after anything serious?”
“Come on, Ellie.”
“What? You know me. You know I feel like I’ve missed out. I’m so tired of letting life pass me by.” She straightened, like the extra height bolstered her resolve. “I’m up for having some more fun, and last night was really fun.”
The image of Ellie sinking on my cock flashed through my mind again. I could still feel the way she shifted side to side to get used to the size of me, and the memory of her tits bouncing as she rode me to oblivion would stay with me forever.
“So much fun,” I echoed huskily.
“And really hot.”
My reply was a throaty rumble, too mesmerised by her mouth still swollen from my kiss. I’d sunk my teeth into that bottom lip more than a few times, and the lingering redness fired up my need for her in truly palpable ways. I shifted closer until Ellie had to crane her neck to look at me.
Her ragged inhale played in the air between us.
“I like you,” she managed to add. “And I trust you.”
“You do?”
“Do you really think I’d let you look after my son if I didn’t trust you?”
“Probably not. It’s weird to hear, that’s all. I don’t hear that often.” I had to think about it for a second. “Actually, I don’t hear that ever.”
Ellie clasped my face, something sure and solid about the action. “I trust you, Jake. I trust you with my son, and I trust you with my body.”
What about your heart?
I dismissed that quickly. I didn’t do hearts. But I also didn’t do casual relationships with close friends, so this whole situation was foreign and unexpected to say the least.
“So, to be clear, you want to be friends with benefits?”
“I don’t know if it needs a label. Just that if we want and while you’re here, we have some fun. Maybe… maybe you could teach me a few things.”
Fuck. I liked that sound of that.
The lessons I could give…
“Teach you, huh?”
She nodded slowly, distracted by my mouth now. “I’m a good student.”
Fucking hell.
“No strings?” I asked, toying with the drawstring on her joggers.
“Zero strings. In fact, I don’t know what strings are.”
A grin broke free. She was so fucking adorable sometimes. “And this ends when I leave in August?”
“An end date seems sensible to me.”
“You’ll tell me if you change your mind though?”
“Of course. Honesty goes both ways, I promise.”
I searched for signs of uncertainty, but found none. Ellie Brooks was definitely a strings kind of person, but right now she wanted nothing to do with them.
Good enough for me.
“How long do you think we have before Noah stops playing?” I had no idea why I asked. Knowing Noah we had twenty minutes, tops. But that would have to do.
“He only had breakfast about twenty minutes ago. Why?”
“Because I want you to fuck my mouth until you scream.”
“Oh! That sounds…”
“Too much for you?”
“No, no.” Her chest heaved, and my cock swelled at the memory of those tits filling my hands, bigger than expected, with honey-coloured nipples as sweet as they looked.
“I want that too.”
I groaned, my body heating with desire, excitement… the tingly anticipation of things to come. Now that we’d agreed the fun didn’t have to end, every dirty thing I’d imagined doing to Ellie would be happening as soon as possible, and I had a long fucking list.
But first…
“If I don’t feel you coming on my tongue in the next ten minutes, I’m gonna break something.”
“Oh.” Ellie’s gaze darted in desperation, searching for the best place to use my face like a damn chair, then— “The bathroom has a lock on it.”
It was hard not to grin in triumph, so I spun her in the right direction, and whispered against her ear. “It’ll be a tight fit, but I’ll make it work.”
A shudder rippled through her, followed by a breathy laugh as I patted her ass, sending her on her way. Only a few steps behind, I locked the front door and checked on Noah, happily chatting to his teddies and dolls—school was in session—before racing into the bathroom.
Urgency pumped my veins with liquid fire. I didn’t know where I found the composure to slow down, staring at Ellie with a scorching kind of intensity while I shut the door and pointedly turned the lock.
We’re alone now, baby.
Exactly where I wanted her.
“Take those off.” I gestured to the loose pair of purple joggers, grabbed the hem of her t-shirt and whipped it over her head.
Ellie barely had a second to process before I’d wrenched off her underwear too. Good. The less time she had to think, the better. I wanted her attention solely on me and the things I had planned.
Lots of dirty, dirty things…