Page 57 of A Dark Fall
I hear tapping on the keyboard. “Mrs. Kavanagh at 2:00 p.m.,” she says.
“Okay, thanks, Anna.” I hang up. I’m really doing this.
I walk back to him, shaking my head in disbelief. It feels completely wild. I feel completely wild.
“Okay, meet me at my house? I keep a key under the white plant pot by the door,” I tell him. He frowns at that. “I’ll leave in ten minutes. I don’t want it to look too obvious.”
He leans in to kiss me again, soft and slow, licking at my mouth in that way that’s become familiar.“Leave in five minutes. It already looks obvious.” He gestures down to his crotch again, and my cheeks flame. “See you soon, Doctor,” he says with a lick of his lips before exiting.
Oh, god. Anna and Katie are going to know. They’ll see him and then me, and then they’ll know. They probably already know. I’m really glad Sam is on calls today.
I pace the office for seven minutes wondering what the hell has become of me. Leaving work in the afternoon for sex with a man I’ve known for a fortnight ... Just as I begin to have a modicum of self-doubt, I recall the sight of his naked, muscular, tattooed body, how he felt moving inside me, and the sounds he made when he—
I moan aloud before grabbing my bag and rushing out of the office. I try not to run past the reception desk, but I’m certain I notice a flicker of a smile from Anna as I pass.
As I drive to my house, I continue to rationalize my behavior. Or, to be more precise, overanalyze it. I certainly don’t recognize myself these past few weeks, but I’m also not about to deny myself thisbecauseit feels out of character. I’m sure bungee jumping and skydiving feel completely out of character too, but people still do it. These are the kinds of experiences that warm you on a deathbed or chill you in their absence. Regret over something not done is the worst thing imaginable. I don’t want Jake to be a regret chilling me on my deathbed; I want memories of him to warm me later on.
I glance at the clock on the dash as I pull up to my house. 12:23 p.m. The sight of his car parked in my driveway sends a small thrill through me, joining all the other thrilling feelings inside me right now. I like knowing that he’s in my house, that he’s there waiting for me. Glancing into the living room first to check he’s not sitting watching TV or something, I tiptoe tentatively upstairs. An image of him naked on my bed, dealing with his erection while he waits for me, floods into my mind, overwhelming me. I swallow.
The bedroom door is ajar, no sound at all coming from inside as I push it open gently. My heart feels as if it’s about to beat through my chest, and so I take a few deep breaths to try and slow it. I feel ridiculously turned on already.
The room is warm, the soft yellow sunlight spilling through the sheer curtains giving it a sort of dreamlike quality. Jake’s scent is heavy in the air, and it unsettles me how recognizable it is to me now. I’m only a few steps into the room when I feel him behind me, hands skimming up the bare skin of my arms, heat pressed against my back.
“What took you so fucking long?” he breathes against my ear.
I turn to face him, but he stops me, holding me in place facing away from him as his mouth ghosts over my neck.
“Don’t move,” he whispers before reaching up to unclip my hair so it tumbles down. His fingers sift softly through the lengths for a moment before I feel him press his mouth against it and inhale.
I close my eyes in bliss, dropping my head back onto his shoulder as he moves his mouth down the column of my neck. Through my dress, I feel the outline of his erection, and it only turns me on more. Knowing I’ve done this to him. Knowing he wants me this much. It’s heady. Powerful.
“We don’t have a lot of time, Jake. I need to get back to work soon,” I whisper as he continues to kiss, nip, and lick my throat. I think he could make me climax from this alone. As I reach behind me, my hands connect with bare flesh, and I know then that he’s completely naked. He’s naked, and I’m fully clothed, and the idea of it is almost too much.
“Shh,” he says, voice low and hoarse. “Let me enjoy this for a bit, yeah?”
When I push my butt back into him, teasing him a little, I feel him groan against my neck. He uses a hand on my hips to do it again, grinding me into him, groaning low on each thrust. The sound causes a tingle to travel along my spine, between my thighs, the need building with every touch. He skims a hand over my butt and slips it through the slit of my dress, between my legs, fingers grazing the outside of my knickers.
“So hot and wet already, baby ...” he groans.
I inch my legs farther apart, not much, but enough for him to confirm what he already knows. I want to turn around. To see his eyes and kiss his mouth. But now, the feeling of him stroking me gently is too nice for me to interrupt.
“Were you wet in your office thinking about me?” he asks, low.
I feel my fingers curl with need into the taut muscle of his thigh.
“Were you wet in the car?” He moves his other hand up to the zip of my dress, tugging softly. “Were you?”
The heat of the room, of him, and the gauzy, dreamlike sheen over everything makes something bold overcome me.“Yes,” I whisper.
He makes a low, desperate sound, which I feel between my legs.“Christ, baby, I can’t stop fucking thinking about you.” His voice is rough, a touch frustrated perhaps, his accent peppering every syllable. The zip of my dress is open, but he hasn’t made a move to take it off me yet, and it drives me insane. “I hated how we left things last night. Dropping you off and driving home alone. I wanted you so fucking much,” he says as he places open-mouthed kisses at the top of my spine. “Do you know what I had to do when I got home?”
I sway against him as his fingers dance between my legs and his mouth moves over my neck.
“Do you?”
“What?” I whisper.
“Guess. It involves my hand and an image in my head of you, naked.” He groans low in his throat again, and something snaps inside me.