Shut Off (Just This Once #3) (7 page)

“No shit! You’re actually living with cookie over there?”

“Keep it down, man,” I slapped at his chest with the back of my hand. “Lara found out where she lived, got her put on probation at work. Let’s just say I’m not the only one in her crosshairs now.”

“Fuck. You sure know how to pick ‘
em
. The most I’ve ever had was a series of angry texts. What the fuck did you do to that chick?”

“I don’t know. I don’t do crazy, but apparently I’m good at making it.”

“Well, keep your crazy stick from this one. She’s…” he didn’t finish his sentence, but just looked at Blaire and licked his lips. I punched him hard enough for him to get the point, but not enough to leave him completely winded.

“
Urgh
,” he grunted.

“Listening was never your strong suit, so I’ll let my fists do the talking. Stay away, you.” I pointed at his chest, watching him as he backed away with a huge grin, showing those fucking dimples and his hands raised in innocence.

It could have been the rush of testosterone running through my veins or the immediate need to claim her, but when I looked over to where she sat, I couldn’t stop myself from making my way over to her. I watched those little hands wrapped around the bar, pulling with every muscle of her body, and all I could think about was her slipping those little fingers around my dick and pumping with the same enthusiasm. The thought had my cock stirring beneath my shorts, and I knew I couldn’t wait another minute.

Chapter Six

Blaire

I pulled the bar harder, working out my anxieties with every rush of air that whipped past me as I hurdled forward on the machine.

Joel caught me off guard when he showed up early from work. Thankfully, I was already back from my investigative mission. I didn’t want to have to explain where I was or what I was doing. He was already dealing with enough, which was clearly written on his face, despite the smile he flashed me whenever he caught me watching him. It was his pensive eyes and sour mouth that expressed the real depth of his worry.

As I thought about the man he was only a couple weeks ago, I realized I wasn’t just doing all of this to make things right; I was doing it because I wanted that man back. I wanted to see him smile with the same ease he did when we first met. When the only language he seemed to really understand was flirty banter.

Just then, a set of hands grasped my shoulders, breaking my stride. I nearly fell off the machine with fright, but those same hands pressed down harder, holding me in place. When I looked back to see what was going on, Joel was standing over me. He looked like one of those guys from the covers of fitness magazines, except that was real sweat dripping from his chest hairs, making their slow decent across the grooves of his abs. I was at waist level, with a direct sight of what really drew him over to me. His legs were shoulder-width apart, making room for his erection that swayed like a heavy branch in a blustering storm.
I peered up, looking directly into those green eyes that always took ahold of me. His overpowering lust swept through me, and
goosebumps
broke out across my skin at the intensity of his gaze.

His hands didn’t move far from my shoulders, but grasped harder as if he were physically restraining himself from taking me right then and there in front of the few people still working out, unbeknownst of the sexual storm that was brewing between us.

Joel looked around the room briefly before clasping his hands around my waist and lifting me from the machine. Once my feet were on solid ground, he took my hand, dragging me to the right corner of the warehouse—the area he pointed out as the shower rooms. He opened the door and shoved me inside before following me in. The room was quiet and cold with very little lighting—two of which I was sure would evaporate in the two minutes it would take him to lock the door and shove me against the lockers.

The sound of the door locking echoed down my spine like a whisper of fingers sending a cascade of signals to the rest of my extremities, warning them of their future
bonelessness
. He turned to me, his muscles rippling with tension as he stalked closer. I closed my eyes and breathed in the restless energy coursing through the room, and when I opened them again, he was upon me.

“Need,” he growled like a Neanderthal right before his mouth descended on my neck and his hands began grappling at my clothes. His mouth separated from my skin only to rip my shirt over my head and my pants to the floor, leaving me completely naked.

“I’m sorry, I can’t wait another minute. I have to have you now, Blaire. Should’ve fucked you at home.”

“I know,” I whispered, cautious of the way our words seemed to bounce off the tiled walls. He slipped out of his shorts, and even in the dim light, I could see his bulging thickness throbbing with the racing of his pulse. The lowlight seemed to shine a spotlight on the barbell that he liked to run across my clit, ramping up my need with every pass of metal across my sensitive flesh.

He grabbed my thighs and lifted me up, slamming my back into the metal lockers behind me. I was already hot and sweaty between my thighs, and with just one look, I was damp for a whole other reason. He removed a condom from his shorts, slipped it over his erection, and pushed straight into me, without any resistance. My core was already primed and ready for his assault.

“
Ahhh
,” he breathed like I was a masseuse working an especially tense knot. “Right there.” He rolled his hips, and my back chafed against the lockers, splintering around the metal divots, but all I could focus on was the way his body pressed
into mine and the little sounds he made when he drove in especially deep
.

It wasn’t a traditional means of relieving anxiety, but with every stretch of my muscles working in tandem with his, I felt a little more at ease. His tongue licked my bottom lip before pulling me into his kiss. He kissed me with the same edgy need that had him racing to get me in the shower room, but I kept up. My fingers wound in his silky brown hair, pulling him closer where I could suck at his mouth. With my breasts crushed beneath his weight, I could feel his heart stampeding through his chest.

“Bear down on me, pretty bird. Clutch me harder. Fuck. Just…like…that,” he said with a euphoric expression.

“And to think you were playing hard to get only a week ago. You had to know I couldn’t let this go. Do you feel that? Feel how fucking good that is when I slide my dick just right.” He drew himself out and crept in slowly, and just when I thought he would stop, he kept going, tunneling into me so deep, the tip of his cock knocked against my cervix.

“Ugh.” I groaned as he nudged harder.

“That’s it. Right there.”

He continued sliding into me slow and steady, with no sign of letting up. My back slid against the lockers, and when I took stock of the room, I noticed we’d somehow moved deeper into the room, closer to the showers at the back.

Joel held me tight as he spun us around until his back was against the lockers and I was bouncing freely on his cock. My eyes felt huge like I was on an amusement park ride that was about to free-fall into a drop. Joel held my waist and spun me around before I could even register what he was doing. My fingertips brushed the ground and my ass was in the air. I was in a downward dog position with Joel still firmly lodged within my channel, barreling into me so fast, my hands and hair zigzagged across the floor.

“Oh. My. God.” The words vibrated from my mouth, the sound akin to speaking through spinning blades of a fan.

I heard a faint laugh before I felt Joel’s legs spread wider, leaving me to only feel the thrust of him working deeper and the intense slap of his balls against my clit. Our bodies swayed together.
The sound of our grunts and bodies slapping together the only sound that could be heard.
It was hot and erotic and the most reckless thing I’d ever done (not including going home with a stranger for a one-night stand).

“I can’t hold back any longer, Blaire. I’m about to come, but I need to see you. I need to look into those big brown eyes. I want you to watch me shoot my load inside you.”

We moved again, this time to the showers. As soon as his foot touched the blackened tiles, a flood of water burst from the showerheads.

“Ah,” I screamed, surprised by the flood of water that poured over us.

“Oops,” Joel said as he repositioned me until once again I was straddling his legs.

“Keep your eyes up here,” he said when I looked down to watch the union of our bodies moving in sync. I could feel his stare light something inside of me. Every nerve ending of my body sparking to life as if those green eyes sent a jolt of electricity circling through my central nervous system. My belly grew tight, and I prepared for my decimation as I held onto him with eyes still locked on his.

It felt like time slowed as his face froze into a shocked expression of the ultimate pleasure. Hips thrusting, I felt him burst as my name poured from his lips.

“Blaire!
Fuuuck
!” he said as he continued to spurt inside me. The way he lost control seemed to signal for my body to respond in kind, and I felt my orgasm coil within my core before the explosion rocked through my whole body.

I yelled my own profanities at the force of my orgasm. My muscles felt weak, like a rubber band stretched too far, and Joel held me tighter as my atoms seemed to morph me into silly putty within his arms. The room seemed to dim darker as my pulse raced and my heartbeat thudded heavily in my ears.

Water fell from his eyelashes, dripping down his cheeks and over the fullness of his lips, and I kissed him, smothering the water between the
brush
of our lips. I leaned back and let my lips hover above his, and when my eyes met Joel’s, he smiled. A smile that stretched from ear to ear before a burst of laughter rang out from between those lips that were so soft and moldable, I just wanted to brush my fingers across their velvety texture.

His laughter was infectious, and soon we were both laughing. It could have been at the absurdity of us having sex right there in his gym, or that we continued despite the water pouring all over us, or just that we were deliriously happy. Hands brushed water from my face, and we stood gazing into each other’s eyes.

We got cleaned up and left, with me sheepishly waving to his friends as I hightailed it out of there. The whole ride home when I wasn’t staring at Joel like some lovesick pup, I was putting a plan into place. His court date was Tuesday, so I only had this weekend to pull something together. I was running out of time and whatever happened on Tuesday I wasn’t sure I wanted this to end. Something told me he didn’t either.

***

When we got back to the house, a large moving truck was pulled up outside, and men were moving to and from the truck with boxes in hand. I looked from the men to Joel, who seemed to be going out of his way to avoid looking in their direction.

“Joel?” I said shaking his forearm still resting above the center console.

“What?” he asked as he moved to get out of the car.

“Oh no, you don’t. That’s my stuff they’re moving. It was just supposed to be a few things. What is all this?” I looked into the back of the truck that was to the left side of the house, packed with pretty much everything but my bed and couch.

“You wanted your stuff, right? Well, I got it for you. You can say thank you anytime. I’m in no rush.”

“You want me to thank you for moving me out of my house? This was just supposed to be temporary, and what am I going to do after your court date? Then I have to move all of this stuff back. It’s not like your house is an empty storage unit. I don’t want to clutter your home with my stuff.”

“I’d build another house for you, pretty bird. Now, don’t worry. You didn’t want anything to happen to your stuff, and now nothing will. That kind of makes me your white knight, doesn’t it?”

“Not exactly,” I said, rolling my eyes as we both got out of the car. I could see that they were loading up most of my things in the garage. But I wasn’t exaggerating, most of my house was there sitting in his garage.

“Who packed all of this?”

“They did. Now, come on, I’m starving.” He looked back at me and licked his lips as if food wouldn’t be the only thing he’d be eating that night. “Make sure I can actually eat whatever you’re cooking,” I chastised him while taking a seat at the kitchen island that was becoming a bit of a congregation area while I was there.
The first day we found out about the storm, we cooked together in my kitchen, yet my first day at his house, he acted like he didn’t know the difference between a pot and a pan.

“Who says I can’t cook?”

“Well, it was pretty obvious you didn’t know what you were doing last week.”

“Ah, but maybe that was just my way of getting you to cook for me,” he said with a smirk as he moved about the kitchen. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched the assuredness of his movements as he pulled steak and spices, potatoes and broccoli onto the island.

“You jackass. You totally made me think you didn’t know what you were doing.” I threw a piece of broccoli at him that he’d just chopped. He jerked his head to the side, with an open mouth to try and catch the piece. He looked like he was balancing books on his head as he wobbled back and forth as the piece smacked the side of his cheek and fell to the floor.

“We both ate, didn’t we? That was kind of the point. Plus, I think you’re never truly comfortable in someone’s home until you cook in
their
kitchen. Am I right?”