Fun With Rick and Jade (19 page)

***

“Should I sleep on the sofa?” Rick asked Jade.

“Don’t be obtuse, Rick.” She appreciated his offer, but dreaded the day they’d separate. She’d thought that day had come, until Dave and Trudy showed up. Tomorrow they’d leave and she and Rick would part. One more night together. “But I’m way too tired to fuck.”

“Got it,” he said. “Didn’t even think that was on the table.”

She slipped under the covers, turning her back to him. It was a comfort to know he was there. She hadn’t slept well after he’d stormed out the previous night, despite her claim that he caused her insomnia.

“You want me to sleep on top of the covers?”

“Rick,” she whined, too exhausted to play games with him. “Get. In. Bed.”

He climbed in bed next to her. Fatigued as she was, Jade lay awake listening to his breathing and his occasional sigh. His restlessness spread across the bed, affecting her adversely. He tossed and turned, adjusting himself, readjusting himself. Spooning her, he finally settled into stillness. Hot breath blew against her neck. Warm body heat thawed her resolve. He draped his arm over her body above the covers.

“Rick?”

He inhaled deeply. “Yeah.”

“You know I can’t sleep with you sprawled all over me.” Who was she kidding? She couldn’t sleep with him so close in proximity but so far away emotionally. And she had no one to blame but herself for keeping him at arm’s length.

“I wonder why that is,” he mumbled, sounding half-asleep.

She snorted a laugh. “Not enough hugs as a child.” Or as an adult.

He stroked the length of her form, the blanket acting as a buffer between his hand and her skin. But her limbs tingled nonetheless. “You joke, but I’m sure there’s some truth to your words.”

“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Rick.” She picked up his hand and tossed his affection away. Again. Jade didn’t want an inevitable replay of the previous night’s fight because of her inability to love anyone other than Coral. She often had doubts about expressing an adequate amount of love and affection to keep her daughter off the stripper pole or street corner. She’d never before verbalized the accusation that her mother’s coldness somehow caused her own. Or that daddy issues possibly turned her to a life of prostitution. “You’re not qualified.”

“My childhood was a little light on hugs, too,” he admitted. Like a boomerang, his hand returned, this time he tenderly caressed her beneath the covers. His body connected with hers in several key areas. His feet rubbed her feet. Their thighs connected from hip to knee. Rick’s chest pressed against her back.

“So why are you always at the ready with a hug?” she inquired.

“I can’t explain it. I’ll bet I can cure you, though.” His words tickled her ear.

She scoffed.

“You need to be held, hugged, and caressed often, starting now.” Rick pulled her closer, holding her tightly. His legs wound around hers, immobilizing her.

Jade struggled against his body touching hers from head to toe. Her heart pounded. A flash of terrifying heat flared through her being. If she’d been pressed to describe the sensation, she’d liken the tightening in her chest and labored breathing to a panic attack.

“Relax,” he said. “Trust me.”

Letting go, she loosened her tense muscles and softened against his embrace. Jade rested her head against his chest, breathing in his manly scent, which acted like some sort of tranquility aromatherapy. Her heart quieted.

“Close your eyes,” he said in a soothing voice. “That’s better.”

“You’re so warm,” she murmured.

He kissed her temple. “And you’re so soft.”

Jade turned her face up for a kiss that didn’t come. Instead he finger-combed her hair. His knuckles skimmed along the length of her arm. Rick cupped her face, his thumb tracing the fullness of her lower lip. He touched her in so many ways, not the least of which was her heart. But he couldn’t cure her coldness with a hug, of that she was sure.

Jade indulged him anyhow, waiting for his fingers to slip between her legs for more fun and games. He kept his feathery strokes away from her erogenous zones. His erection pressed against her hip. It was only a matter of time, she predicted, before he’d nudge her toward another round of hot sex. And she’d willingly go there. But he didn’t. His caresses waned before stopping entirely. A light snore blew against her cheek.

Jade considered uncoiling herself from his embrace but didn’t want to wake him. She’d never sleep, bound to him the way she was. And yet, the grip of his full-body embrace wasn’t altogether unpleasant. His scent was pleasing, his skin warm, and Jade took comfort in his slow and steady breathing.

“Love you, babe,” he muttered.

“Love you too,” she whispered. Or more accurately, she loved him as much as she could, which inevitably would never be enough.

“Where to?” Rick asked Jade as he backed the SUV out of the driveway. “Museum? Movie? The mall?”

She waved her hand. “I don’t care. I’d be happy spending the day in my jammies watching TV and eating dry cereal right from the box by the fistful.”

He had let her sleep in but knew with some certainty she’d been up in the night with Coral. For how long, he didn’t know. There was no doubt he was a heavier sleeper than she was. Once up and dressed in the empty house, he’d made her breakfast, including doing the dishes.

He had to hand it to Trudy. She’d nailed it. Jade needed some pampering.

“As fun as that sounds, I’d vote for a movie.” He wondered if they had similar taste in cinema. Probably not. He’d suffer through whatever film she desired.

“I do not want to sit in a dark room with a bunch of strangers,” she said firmly.

The combination of
dark room
and
stranger
made him recall her former life as an escort. He found himself forgetting for long stretches of time. How long was long enough though? “No?”
Shopping? Spa day? Fancy lunch?
He had no idea what a woman wanted. Needed.

“Do you think I should call Candy?” she asked.

“Absolutely not.” If Jade heard Coral crying in the background, they’d find themselves at the golf-and-country club rescuing the kid from the clutches of Trudy and Candy. The kid was resilient. She’d be fine. “I have an idea.”
Might be a bad idea. Possibly the worst idea I’ve ever had
. “What if I could wrangle a theater for two? No dark. No strangers.”

“What’s playing?” she asked, a trace of amusement in her voice.

“A variety of DVDs for you to choose from.”

What the fuck was I thinking?
he asked himself a few minutes later. He took her hand and lightly pulled her along behind him up the stairs to his apartment. It was way too late for regret. He was committed.

Rick jammed the key in the lock and turned. “Welcome to the cave.”

“Oh my God,” she muttered, squinting into the darkness after too long in the bright sunshine.

He had blinds and blackout curtains for optimal video-game playing. Shutting the door behind them, he switched on a lamp. He flopped onto the leather couch and pushed a button near the floor. The footrest flipped up. “Nice, right?”

“Uhm.” She lowered herself in the center of the couch, arms folded across her chest.

He pushed her button so her footrest popped up, and she flinched. “Impressive, don’t you think?”

“Very,” she agreed. “Why such a big television?”

“Video games,” he replied.
Why not admit it?
She had him pegged as a bit of a geek from the start. A geek who could make her quake from pleasure, but a geek nonetheless.

“What a shocker.”

With the remote, he powered everything up and scrolled through some pay-per-view movies. Nothing sparked her interest. She checked her cell phone and the clock on the wall. He was losing her.

Jade fanned herself with her hand. “Why is it so stiflingly hot in here?”

“The place has been shut up for a few days.”
While I married you
. “I’ll open a couple windows. Get some cross-ventilation going.”

Rick opened the blinds, letting in a little light, and cracked a window in the front and the back, hoping for some airflow. She got up and slowly meandered about his apartment, scrutinizing his meager belongings.

“You live in a dump.”

“I know.” He shrugged. “It suits me fine.”

Jade rubbed her breasts, a pained look etched on her face.

“How
are
your nipples?” He had a keen interest in her breast health. Or anything that affected her disposition.

“They itch when they’re not hurting.” She peeled her T-shirt away, tossed it on a bar stool, and opened the refrigerator. “For the love of God, Rick, get some air-conditioning.”

“Sorry.” He was leaning toward this being a bad idea, except his cock thickened at the sight of her low-slung jeans riding her hips. And all her underwear, including the bra she wore now, were awesome. “We can go if you want.”
Please, God, no
.

Jade reached for a soda. She touched the can to her neck and rolled it along her clavicle. “No.” Popping the top of the can, she took a long drink. “Ah. Sugary, carbonated soft drinks, oh how I’ve missed you.” She kissed the can.

Rick opened a cabinet and reached for a glass. He checked it for cleanliness and filled it full of ice from the automatic dispenser.

“Here.” She handed him the soda. “Finish this. I only needed a drink, but I’ll take a glass of tap water, since I don’t see any bottled.”

“Sure.” He felt like he was hosting the queen of England. She hated everything about his dwelling, from the furnishings to the tap water. He filled her glass with water. “Can I see your…nipples?”

One of her eyebrows rose above the other as she gave him her evil eye.

“For purely medical reasons,” he assured her. “Hop up on the bar stool and let me take a look.”

Doing as he suggested, she unhooked the clasp and sucked some air between her teeth when she let her breasts loose. “They’re feeling a little heavy. And sore.”

“Ow.” He cringed at the sight. Rick fished a cube out of her glass. “Brace yourself.”

“For?”

Jade gasped and recoiled a bit when he skimmed the ice around her areola. Her nipple sprang to life. He continued circling her nipple, followed by blowing on her breast. The ice stung his fingertips, so he switched to the other hand and her other breast, bringing the opposite nipple to a hard peak.

She thrust her chest out. “Blow on
it
too.”

Rick complied. She inhaled sharply. He continued alternating between her right and left breast. He palmed the ice, gliding it along her chest and abdomen until the cube vanished.

“Do you have any condoms here?”

“Uh. Yeah. Sure.” His erection pressed tight against his jeans. It hadn’t been his intention to make love to her. He’d sort of resigned himself to working on her emotions and leaving her body out of the equation for now. But damn, she looked hot. And it was her idea. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be right here.”

Rick hoped he could find the box of condoms. He hadn’t used them in a while. Finding them in his medicine cabinet, he stuffed one in his back pocket. He grabbed a second one just in case. “Got it!”

“So come back already.”

She’d peeled her jeans away in his absence. “I wanted to do that,” he said with a grin.

She winked at him. “I left the panties for you.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you
. “I appreciate it.” He noticed her bra resting on the kitchen counter.

“I’m still hot,” she complained, looping her hair in her hand, holding the tresses to her head. She fanned her neck with the other hand.

He patted the surface of the kitchen table. “Hop up and let’s see what we can do to remedy that.”

She scooted onto the surface and reclined, arching her back. Crossing her ankles, she shot her feet straight up in the air, reminding him of a stripper move he’d seen once at a bachelor party. He admired the white of the lingerie covering her cunt. Jade spread her legs in a wide vee, stroking her thighs to entice him.
I’m already there
.

He pulled a kitchen chair closer and took a seat. He caressed the thin strip of fabric between her legs.

“Yes,” she said. Her ankles came together and apart again. With her thighs spread, she bent at the knees.

Rick kissed one thigh while stroking the other. His lips found their way to her panties as if on autopilot. He kissed her pussy through the fabric, nipping playfully with his lips, teasing her. Working his finger under the fabric, he dragged his knuckle along her folds.

“You’re so wet already,” he murmured against her underwear.

“Take them off,” she begged breathlessly, straightening her legs so he could do as she asked.

Rick stood and peeled away her panties, tossing them aside. He took his seat and eased her thighs farther apart. This time, admiring the beauty of her cunt, his breath caught. He wanted to tantalize her with soft kisses on her thighs, maybe make her beg for his cock. Instead he placed his lips over her opening and worked his tongue into her opening.

She grabbed at the edge of the table and pressed her spine into the surface, pushing her sex at his mouth. Jade arched her back, pulling away from him. She planted her feet on the edge of the tabletop for leverage. Rick got into the rhythm of her movements, lapping at her clit when she’d pull away, driving his tongue into channel when she’d thrust her crotch at him.

Her soft mews and mutterings fueled him to continue. Stopping for a second, he reached for the glass of water while she protested his pause.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” He swiped his tongue at her clit. “I’m not done. I’m just getting started.” He fished a frozen cube from the glass.

Jade gasped and moaned when he palmed the ice and caressed her thigh. “Oh, yes.”

He skated it along the crease of her leg. “Cooling down?”

“You’re making me hotter.” Placing her hand over his, she took control of the cube, dragging it along her torso to her neck, leaving a trail of wet.