Her head thunked back against the door as her body arched toward mine. "You're going to get me all wrinkled," she said, her words breathy. "We can't have that."
"Don't see why not," I said, licking a line up her neck. "We can get away with it. We're madly in love and getting married. Of course I'd drag you into the nearest corner to ravish you."
The amount of risk involved in saying those words out loud…fuck. It could all go up in flames right now.
"It seems that we are," she said, laughing. "But I think I'd rather be the one doing the ravishing tonight."
Jasper slid down the door, working my zipper as she went, and before I could grumble about her slipping out of my hold, she was on her knees with my cock in her mouth. No teasing, no prelude. Just my cock on her tongue and her lips tight around me. I couldn't see, couldn't think. The only sounds were my own gasps and the pulse pounding in my head. I braced my forearms on the door because I couldn't fuck up her hair, even if I wanted to pull itso fucking bad. Without thought, my hips surged forward and an angry, near-vicious growl rattled up from the depths of my chest.
I'd wanted to hold back a bit. I'd wanted her to set the pace. That was what I'd intended. I didn't succeed. Not when my body was twisting with need like no other, just boiling. I didn't care whether this lasted two minutes or two hours. It was mind-blowing and perfect, and most importantly,I loved her.
"Peach," I rasped, my hand settling on her shoulder. It was the only part of her I could touch. "Jasper, I'm—oh, fuck, I'm—ah,fuuuuck."
She hummed around me and that was the ballgame. That was it. She dug her nails into my thighs, my ass, and every last inch of me vibrated. My hips snapped against her face in fast, almost frantic thrusts. Her tongue worked the underside of my shaft in the most amazing way. There was pale pink lipstick all over me and, for reasons I didn't understand at all, that pushed me over the edge.
A snarling roar came loose from inside as I rode out the bone-shaking spasms and I kept that hand steady on her, my fingers rubbing small circles into her shoulder while she swallowed me down. A shudder moved through me as I continued jerking and pulsing on her tongue. It seemed endless, as if orgasms achieved in moments like these were that much longer.
When it was over, Jasper took my shaft in hand, still thick and heavy and throbbing for more, and dusted light kisses over my skin before tucking me back into my pants. I cupped her chin, tipped her face up, and stroked my thumb over her lips.I loved her.
For a moment, we stayed right there, Jasper in a pool of barely-yellow sunlight and me looming over her. I wanted to tell her—to tell her everything—but there were no words for this moment. And they didn't belong here, not really. This wasn't the place for those confessions. Not the right time.
"Here's what's going to happen now," I said, my thumb still tracing her lips. They were pink and swollen, and I bet they tasted like me. "I'm going to help you to your feet and I'm going to give you a minute to fix your face before we go back out there. Then, we're saying our goodbyes. Don't you dare think about chatting anyone up. If you do, you're the one who will suffer. It's an hour between here and home and I like watching you squirm so I won't be the one to make you feel better until you're stripped bare and flat on our bed. Understand, Peach?"
A rebellious breath burst from her lips and she arched her brows up. "Maybe I'll be the one to make myself feel better."
I held out my hand. There was a second where it seemed like she wasn't interested in taking it but she did. She also ran her tits along my chest as she stood so we were even. "You can try but you won't get what you need."
"Mmhmm." She raked a glance over me, saying, "Seems like we should be on our way then."
25
Jasper
This bathroom gavenew meaning to vintage. It was the sort of throwback that wasalmostold enough to be in fashion again but in an antique, historical way. Unlike the rest of Midge's house, this room wasn't falling apart or the site of any unfortunate bat nesting. It was justreallyold.
Sitting on the lip of the tub, I ran a hand down the mint green tiles that covered the walls and the border of shiny black tiles capped off the art deco look. The problem was, all of this minty splendor seemed to be in decent condition. It wasn't moldy or cracked or even faded. It was just…old. That, and I knew nothing about fixing up bathrooms, which left me with nothing to do in here.
If I didn't have a week or two of work in the bathroom, I had to put my energy into Midge's room instead. There was nothing else for me to do. It was the bathroom or the only other room I'd avoided. I didn't make the rules.
"All right. I guess I'm ripping out some tile," I said to the empty space.
Before I could lift my trusty crowbar to the mint chip, my phone vibrated across the floor, a number I didn't recognize flashing on the screen.
I knew better than to answer calls from unknown numbers but— "Hello?"
"Hey! Is this Jasper-Anne Cleary?"
Immediately, I went on high alert. I should not have answered. It was a bad idea to take calls fromanyone. I didn't need to fumble my way through a "no comment" with another reporter.
"Yes," I said, though it came out like a question.
"Okay, great, cool. This is Dino Thatcher-Wheelwright with the NCVC."
He paused and I had to believe that pause was meant for me to respond with something like "Oh, the NCVC, of course, how's Marsha doing these days? She still with you guys or what?" but I had no idea. It could be the North Carolina Veterans' Coalition or the Nevada Commission on Visitor Commerce or—
"Northern California Voters Count," he said, chuckling just enough to forgive me for not knowing. "I bet you see your share of acronyms, huh?"
"Show me someone in this business who hasn't." My words sounded rusty, like I hadn't spoken out loud in days.
