Ridge Creek (34 page)

“Because the sex you give me is the sex I’ve always wanted
which also means a whole lot.  It also means I don’t know how to repay you for
that. 
Therefore, I’m in trouble.  I’m building up a debt I don’t have a means to
repay.”

Jake’s hands soften and I watch as his lips start to twitch again. 
“So you’re saying the sex is not boring then?”

A small grunt escapes me before I manage a grin back. 
“Understatement.”

Jake’s eyes sparkle as he slowly releases his hold on me to
slide away and remove the condom.  He doesn’t appear to have any more to say.  This
is confirmed when I watch him turn silently to stride naked across the room and
disappear down the hallway.  I feel silly sitting alone and naked on his bar so
I push off and follow him.

I find him in a small bathroom towards the rear of the
building.  The bathroom has a single vanity, a white porcelain toilet and a
large shower with twin showerheads in it.  When I get there Jake already has
the water running and he is stepping inside.  His hand snakes out to grab me
and I am dragged under the water with him.

Holding me in place with one hand, he uses the other to
fiddle around with the taps for a while.  Finally happy with the water
temperature, he reaches across to grab a large bottle of shampoo from a shelf
in the tiled wall.  Squeezing a small amount onto the palm of his hand, he sets
about washing my hair.  He does this by turning me to face a wall so he can
gently scrub his fingers through my hair from behind.  I sigh as I relax and
inhale deeply enjoying the subtle fruity smell of the shampoo.  I
love
having someone play with my hair.  I love having it washed at the hairdressers.

Deciding he has cleaned it enough, he moves my head into the
stream of water and rinses it gently.  Leaning down to kiss me gently on the
shoulder he then leans over and grabs a bottle of conditioner.  It is not long
before he is gently massaging the conditioner through my hair and I am leaning
back against him enjoying his ministrations.

It is as he is slowly smoothing the conditioner through my
hair from root to tip that Jake finally speaks.  “Sex should never be
considered a payment for debt.  Whether that debt is real or perceived is
irrelevant.   Paying debts with sex equates to prostitution.  You are not, and
you never will be, a prostitute.  Are we clear on that?”

I freeze slightly as his words sink in. 

Oh my God.
 

Is that what he thought I was trying to say?  I was paying
him with sex?

I quickly turn to look up into his eyes, both hurt and
confused.  He sees my face and I watch as understanding skids across his eyes
before he continues.  “Although I agree that
thankyou
sex
is
okay
when two people are in a relationship and have feelings for each other.”

I feel myself relaxing only to suddenly jolt back stiffer
than before.

“Relationship?” I blurt confused, “Who said anything about a
relationship?”

“I did,” Jake says matter-of-factly as he reaches over to
grab a body loofah from the shelf and squirts some men’s body wash on it. 

“What do you mean by that?” I ask as I watch him move to
turn me around again so he can gently scrub my back.

“I mean, I have feelings for you, you have feelings for me
so we are now in a relationship.  Your my woman and I’m gunna be your man. 
This means there are no debts and there are no repayments.  This also means
that any fucked up ideas you may have about taking off and trying to look after
yourself are off the table.  As your man I will protect you and as my woman you
will do as you are
told.
”

Uh/
Huh?

I suddenly try to spin back to face him.  What the hell does
he mean by
do as I am told?

Jake’s hands clamp down on my shoulders to hold me in place
as he slowly presses his entire body up against my back.  His skin feels silky
and slippery against the foam of the body wash he has already spread across my
back.  I can feel the hardness of another erection pressed against my back. 
“Don’t panic, and don’t fight Ari.  There’s no point.  You don’t want to.  You
know that.”

Where the fuck did this guy come from?

Still tense, I feel my heart start to race and a spike of
fear rolls down my spine.

Maybe he’s not such a good guy?

What the fuck have I done?  Jumped from the pan into the
fire?  From Tony to this?  Oh my God.

Whispering almost imperceptibly, terrified of his response,
I ask, “What if I don’t want to do as I’m told?”
And that’s when I hear it.  Jake’s chuckle.

He’s chuckling?

Why is he chuckling when he is in the middle of laying down
some law about how I will do as I am told in a relationship that I didn’t even
know we had?  Spinning me quickly, he lifts me up and presses me against the
wall.  I find my legs wrap themselves automatically around his waist even
though right now, sex is the
last
thing on my mind.

Jake is grinning mischievously.  “Didn’t like the bit about
being told, huh?”

I blink at him confused, this does not look like the guy I
just heard telling me what I could or could not do.

“Totally skimmed over the bit about being my girlfriend
huh?”

Huh?

Sort of.  Kind of.  Well
yes.

“Ari, stop freaking out.  When I said you need to do as you
are told I meant it, but not in the way you seem to think I meant it.  If you
don’t want to do something I tell you to do, talk to me about it.  I don’t
expect you to
obey
without question.  I am not a Dom and you are not a
sub.  You are also not a dog and I am not your master.  I was joking woman,
chill out.  I was just trying to show that you belong here, with me – and
Pierre of course.”

“Oh,” I breathe the word out slowly as I feel my body
relaxing.  “Was that your version of asking me to go steady?”

“You could say that,” he grins at me as I suddenly become
very aware of his hard cock pressing against my stomach.

“And if I like that idea should I thank you for that too?” I
ask, a hint of sarcasm lacing my voice as I grin back up at him.

“Sure,” Jake growls as he swoops down to capture my mouth
with his.

And so I do.    I thank him thoroughly in the shower for a
very long time.

The Call

“He fuckin’ loves this thing,” Jake chuckles as he holds the
prize high in the air above Pierre’s head.  Pierre goes wild.  Barking and
circling, he jumps around going crazy until Jake lowers the object of his
fascination back down within reach.  At this point Pierre takes a firm grip and
starts tugging with all his might.   I hear another ripping sound and Jake
chuckles again.  “It’s really screwed now.”

“That is not funny.  Not funny at all,” I snap as I watch in
horror while the two boys play tug-of-war with my pale blue lace bra.  “That
was one of my favorites.”

“It’s one of his favorites now,” Jake mumbles softly as he
starts backing up, dragging the puppy along  the polished floorboards of his
lounge room.  “Check it out, you can do a helicopter on him and he refuses to
give in.”  I again watch in horror as Jake starts slowing spinning in circles
while my poor puppy hangs on for dear life, sliding on the floor like he’s on a
theme park ride.

“Stop that!” I growl.  “It can’t be good for his teeth,
neck, back or legs. You’re just being mean.  Just let him have it.  It’s not
his fault he thought you flung it straight to him and it was a doggie toy
gift.  Next time pay attention when you start throwing things over your
shoulder.  Especially if they are my things.”

Jake looks up at me cheekily as he lets go of the bra and it
snaps savagely towards Pierre’s face.  Pierre looks overjoyed to have won the
game and received the supreme prize.  His new favorite toy.  Lifting his head I
watch as he trots over to where Jake has settled his bed next to one of the
couches.  Climbing in, he circles a couple of times and manages to wrap the now
ripped and tattered bra around his front legs before he plops down and sighs
happily.  From what I’ve seen since last night, that will be it for him for the
next two hours.  He tires quickly and once he decides he’s going to bed, he
stays there.  He even snores.

I straighten from my position in the doorway watching Jake. 
Apart from the horror of watching Pierre further destroy one of my favorite
braziers, I have been enjoying the show.  Watching Jake, a great hulk of a man
playing happily with a very cute puppy in his lounge room has been a swoon
worthy experience.   Deliciously dressed in just a pair of sweat pants, no
shirt and no socks, it has been a particular pleasure to watch him bending
over.

My oh my.

Returning to the kitchen I start cleaning up the dishes from
our breakfast together.  It had been a very pleasant surprise to find Jake’s
refrigerator stocked with eggs, milk, vegetables and plenty of salad making
items.  This, he explained was compliments of his mother who had also stocked
the pantry when she heard I was coming to stay for a few days.

God bless you Ellen.

I have just loaded and turned on the dishwasher and am
wiping down Jake’s huge marble bench top when I hear the sound of Harley pipes
rumbling up the driveway.

Luke and Emma.

Excited to have visitors, I fling the wet cloth from my hand
into the sink.  I then sprint out of the kitchen.  As I race through the lounge
room and straight for the door to the garage, all I can think about is the look
on Emma’s face when she meets Pierre.  She is going to be beside herself.  She
loves dogs almost as much as I do.

It is because of these excited thoughts flying through my
mind that I don’t see it coming.  Over one hundred kilograms of hard, masculine
muscle hits me from the side, at speed.  With an ‘oof’, we both fly sideways
through the air and in a maneuver worthy of an action movie, Jake rolls to land
on his back, me landing almost softly on his stomach and chest. 

“What the fuck?” I grunt as we slide to a stop on the floor.

“Never, go out of any of these doors without first
confirming who is out there.  You hearing me?” Jake growls, his brows knitted
in serious furrows, his green eyes as hard as emeralds.

“Huh?” I whine.  “It’s Luke and Emma.  You told me Luke was
riding your bike over this morning.”

“That’s probably a fair assumption but until you have
actually sighted Luke and Emma, you do not open any fucking doors.  You got
me?”  Jake drills me with his eyes and I nod.  “Even better, just wait for them
to come in.  Luke and Emma have the security codes, they can let themselves
in.”

I nod again as I realize he is right.  It could have been
anyone coming along the driveway and I could have been opening the door to a
stranger.  Or even worse, someone linked to Tony and Vincent.

Stupid.

I really do have to learn to be smarter about my safety.  I
should have realized how seriously Jake was taking the current threat last
night when he refused to let me walk Pierre outside.  I was told to wait
inside, with alarms set, while Jake took Pierre to do his business.

“I’m sorry, dumb move, won’t happen again,” I murmur as I
lean down to take advantage of my man on his back, on the floor.  The second my
lips hit his neck, I feel his whole body relax and if I’m not mistaken, his
pulse speed up beneath my lips.

Pressing my lips to his jugular, my tongue sneaks out to swipe
some of the flavor from Jake’s neck before I apply some soft suction.  Jake
hisses softly just as I hear the familiar beeping of the keypad at the garage
door a few meters away.  Pulling back from Jakes neck to look towards the door,
we both watch as it whips open and Emma and Luke step through. 

Emma is first.  It takes roughly point five of a millisecond
for her eyes to lock on mine.  I watch as their stormy gray depths shine a
little brighter and then without a second glance she shifts her gaze to Jake’s
lounge room and yells, “Great place!”

I feel Jake’s chest start to vibrate beneath me as he
realizes she is not even going to acknowledge us on the floor.  He is chuckling
silently.

Luke steps through next, scans the room, sees us on the
floor and pops one of his eyebrows.  “You knew we were coming man.”  Jake’s
chest rattles again and this time I hear his chuckle.

“Hi guys!” I chirp as I climb off Jake’s chest and do my
best to ignore Luke’s raised eyebrows.  Jake remains where he is, his only movement
is to shift his hands to form a pillow for the back of his head.  He looks
relaxed and comfortable lying on the floor.  I glare at him momentarily before
turning my back and walking over to give Emma a quick hug. 

It is as we are hugging that her eyes lock on Pierre.  “Oh
my God.  That’s a baby Dogue de Bordeaux!”

“That’s my new guard dog Pierre,” I announce happily as I
unwrap her from my arms and turn to see Pierre fast asleep in his bed.  “He
sleeps a lot.”

“He’s snoring!” Emma exclaims as she moves slowly closer to
him with one ear cocked to listen to his soft snores.

“He does that a lot too,” I announce as I move to stand next
to her.  “We should probably let him be, he’s tired from playing with Jake all
morning.”

“Is that one of your bra’s he’s all trussed up in?” Emma
snorts as she realizes what Pierre has wrapped around his front legs.  “Holy
shit, he’s into bondage!  A dog after my own heart.  I love him!  He’s going to
need a studded collar and leash.  We could also get him some sort of leather
harness.  Coooool.”

We both hear a strangled noise come from behind us and turn
just in time to see Luke swallowing, his eyes focused on the roof.  Jake’s is
still lying on the floor, his face is split in two with another of his shit
eating grins.