The Mistress Mistake (12 page)

Picking up the remote, she flipped through
the channels and almost had a heart attack when she saw the move,
Titanic
, just beginning on one of the older movie channels.
It was absolutely one of her favorite films of all times, and she
hadn't seen it in years. Knowing good and well it was about four
hours long, she quickly calculated the time and knew she'd have
plenty of time before Connor got to her apartment that evening.

She slipped her shoes off, pulled her cell
phone from her pocket and put it on her small stack of books, and
sank into the couch, thankful as hell she'd found a more than
decent way to pass the dreary, lonely afternoon.

****

Jessica heard her cell phone ringing as if
through a long tunnel. She was groggy, and she sat up too quickly.
As her head swam, she realized she'd fallen asleep. She cleared her
throat and tried to shake the fog from her mind. "Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" Connor's voice
thundered across the line.

"I'm in the clubhouse. I fell asleep. Give me
a minute and I'll be there." She didn't wait for his answer, just
cut the call and rose to her feet. Pocketing her phone, she grabbed
her hoodie and the books she'd chosen, and left the room, closing
the door behind her.

The rain was gone, but it was still dark and
dreary. Night hadn't fallen yet, but the rays of the sun had
difficulty penetrating through the thick density of the clouds. She
picked her way back to her apartment, large water puddles
everywhere. It looked like they must have received several inches
of rain, and she had somehow managed to sleep through it all.

She let herself into the apartment, and found
Connor standing in front of the French doors, holding himself
rigidly as he stared out. She bolted the door and he turned to face
her.

"You fell asleep in the clubhouse?" Anger and
something else colored his tone and put Jessica's back up.

"Yes, I'm sorry." She didn't want this to
escalate into a fight, especially not after the night before that
they'd shared.

"How?"

"How, what?" she asked.

"How and why would you fall asleep in the
clubhouse?"

"Um, I was watching a movie and the couch was
comfortable--"

He cut off her explanation. "You were there
because it has a television?"

"Yes."

"Was anyone with you?" His eyes pierced into
hers, refusing to allow her to look away, even if she'd wanted
to.

"No, I was alone the entire time."

Her answer didn't seem to soothe him. "You
fell asleep in a room where any number of people could have just
walked in on you?"

"I--I guess. But nobody ever goes there. It's
always empty."

"You've watched television there before?"

"No, but I go there and borrow paperback
books. It's kind of like the honor system. You read one and then
return it."

"It's not safe. I don't want you in there
anymore. Any fucking nut job could corner you there and hurt you."
He motioned to the front door. "There's a goddamn reason I'm so
meticulous about the deadbolt. You need to wake up from whatever
fucking dream world you've been living in and start taking better
care."

Her spine stiffened. She
had
to be
able to go there. She had nothing to do in her apartment, nothing.
"But--"

He cut her off. "Let's go."

She swallowed and her head began to spin at
the sudden change of subject. "Go where?"

He didn't give her the answer she'd asked
for, only demanded, "Get your bag. Hurry up."

Jessica sucked in a sustaining breath and
went to retrieve her bag from the bedroom. She followed him out of
the apartment and stood next to him while he locked up. "Where are
we going?"

"It should be obvious. You need a fucking
TV."

"Oh, no, it's okay. I don't want to spend any
. . . " she lowered her voice an octave, " . . . of the money on a
television. I can make do."

The look he gave her was glaring. He didn't
answer her, only grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the
passenger door of his Escalade and put her into the vehicle.

She busied herself buckling up as he pulled
away. She was quiet as he drove about fifteen minutes away to a
large, upscale strip center that contained a huge electronics
store.

She followed him in without a word.

He picked out a flat screen television and
all the peripherals that went with it in under five minutes. Then
he led her over to the e-readers. "Pick one."

She felt her eyes get big as she looked at
the expensive electronics. She was speechless, and began shaking
her head. "Jessica. Choose one. You like to read. You're stuck at
the apartment all day. You need books. This stuff is my treat. My
gift to you."

"No, I--"

"Fine. Have it your way." Impatient, he
walked over to the top row where the highest dollar components were
displayed and chose the most expensive one. He reached below it,
and snagged a cover and an extra power cord.

He began leading her away but stopped short
and turned to look down at her as if something had suddenly
occurred to him. "You don't have a laptop, do you?"

Jessica was too floored to answer. If she
told him the truth, he'd buy one of those as well. He must have
read her silence to mean she didn't, because he turned and briskly
walked to the computer section. Within minutes, he had someone
helping them and he'd picked out everything she needed.

Jessica had never seen anyone spend so much
money in so little time. She was completely stunned as within
minutes, he'd paid for the purchases and a young man was loading
them into his vehicle.

They were back at the apartment within an
hour of when they'd left and he began unloading the car.

He set up the television while she opened her
laptop. The apartment rent included Wi-Fi and cable, so she was
virtually good to go. After the television was set up, she flicked
through the channels as he opened the box that contained the
e-reader. "Give me your e-mail address."

She did and he pulled out his wallet and
removed a credit card.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting up an account so you can buy
books."

"You can't pay for my books."

Connor looked up and his eyes gleamed like
molten lava into hers. "I can pay for whatever the fuck I
want."

She swallowed her argument and let him
continue doing what he was doing. Just because he set up an account
for her, that didn't mean she had to actually purchase
anything.

When he was finished, he tossed the e-reader
on the coffee table and turned to face her. Putting his hands on
her shoulders, he began walking her backward towards the wall. "You
think you've got enough toys to keep you busy for awhile now?
Enough entertainment to keep your little ass safe in this apartment
where I don't have to worry about you?"

Her back hit the wall. "I didn't ask you to
buy me anything."

"No, I know you didn't." He gripped her chin
between his fingers and thumb and lifted her face to his. "It's not
safe for you to be in that clubhouse by yourself. I feel like shit
for not realizing you needed this crap before. Promise me you won't
put yourself in danger like that again."

There was something in his voice, something
in his eyes, as he looked down into hers that told Jessica his
concern for her was real. It sent a spiral of heady delight through
her veins that saturated her senses. His torso was pressed against
hers, and she could feel his erection growing where it was pressed
against her stomach. She remembered her orgasm from the night
before, and her breath hitched.

He reached down with his free hand and it
landed between her thighs, on the part of her that wanted him the
most. He gripped her in the palm of his hand as if he owned her.
When he spoke, his voice was deeper than usual. "Promise me."

His hand was hot on her body and sudden and
immediate need clouded her thought process but she had just enough
snap to push out an answer, even though she couldn't remember the
exact question. "I promise."

Her mind was gone and he must have known it.
"What are you promising me, Jessica?"

She stared into his beautiful eyes, her mind
drawing a blank as rivers of arousal flowed down her spine and
landed in a pool of tingling dampness between her thighs. "I don't
know."

Connor smiled down at her, and for the first
time since she'd known him, it was a real smile. And at the sight
of it, any functioning brain cells Jessica might have had left just
totally shut down. He picked her up and carried her to the bed.
Within moments, he was completely stripped and her shorts and
panties were off. He began to raise her shirt over her head, but
Jessica still wasn't ready for that, and she clutched the hem to
her sides to prevent her t-shirt from moving.

"No?" he asked, his voice no more than a
gentle whisper.

She shook her head back and forth.

He frowned, his gaze momentarily dropping
down to her chest rising and falling in agitation beneath the soft
cotton of her shirt, but he leaned in and kissed her on the
forehead. "Okay, baby."

The sound of the husky endearment sent heat
and confusion through her. She tried to twist over to her stomach,
expecting he'd want to revert back to that, but he had other plans.
He lifted her bodily, using his upper-arm strength, and when he
flipped over to his back, Jessica found herself on top and
straddling him. She sucked in a breath as she felt the hardness of
his shaft behind her, pushing into the cheeks of her butt, her
feminine softness open, spread across his lower torso.

The feeling was electric and her eyes flared.
His stare was hot on hers. "You'll like it like this, okay?" he
asked.

Jessica propped herself over him with her
hands on his shoulders. "Yes," she answered as she balanced on one
hand and pushed her hair behind her ear.

He reached up and slid his fingers through
her hair, from the roots to the ends. "Leave it alone. I like your
hair in my face." With his hand behind her neck, he gently pulled
her down and began kissing her. His lips latched onto hers, his
tongue delved deeply into her mouth, and the groan he made pulled
an answering moan from her throat.

As they kissed, her body began to ache for
the fullness he could give her, and with a will of their own, her
hips began to rock against him. Reaching between their bodies with
one hand, he began to rub on her clit, and at his touch, Jessica
felt a surge of excitement she couldn't control.

Their kiss went wild, his intimate hold on
her became harder and stronger and he began to coax her closer to
losing all control.

He pulled his mouth from hers. "Are you
close?"

"Yes."

"Sit on me, baby." Jessica didn't have time
to answer; Connor was lifting her and holding her balanced over him
until she felt the head of his penis at her entrance.

The feeling was incredible. She couldn't
stand it anymore and began pushing down over him, sinking slowly
until she couldn't take anymore of him. He adjusted his hold on her
by lifting her from the hips and when she sank down again, she
found him even deeper than before.

He lifted her up and down three times, and
then he let her take over. Indescribable pleasure slammed down her
spine. She heard whimpers that in the back of her mind she knew
were coming from her own throat, but she couldn't care, she
couldn't be embarrassed.

Connor was breathing harshly underneath her,
and quickly, too quickly because she didn't want it to happen so
soon, she was exploding and coming hard on top of him. He held her
close, his arms tightening on her, and gave her a moment to milk
her orgasm.

And then he growled low in his throat, pulled
her hips into a forceful grip, and began jerking her up and down
over him.

It only took about five thrusts, and he was
coming too. He roared from the back of his throat, and when it was
over, he pulled her over him until her body settled over his and
her head fell to his shoulder.

It was a long, long time before her heartbeat
came down.

He was completely still beneath her, and when
she lifted her head, she found him sound asleep.

She crawled off him as carefully as she could
manage, and went to the bathroom to clean up. As she stared at
herself in the mirror, she knew something had changed.

Maybe not with him, but definitely, something
within herself had changed. There was no doubt in her mind that her
feelings for him had shifted. She cautioned herself to be careful,
but she couldn't deny the need she felt to crawl back in bed with
him and sleep with him so near.

****

Connor woke in the middle of the night with
Jessica's back buried against his chest and his arm wrapped around
her waist, with his hand cupping her breast.

When he realized that the softness he held in
the palm of his hand was her breast, he was very careful not to
wake her. He felt the blood pool to his cock, felt the surge of
testosterone that hardened him fully, but for the moment, his cock
wasn't what concerned him.

He had her breast in his hand.
And it
was an awesome feeling. He moved his fingers just a small amount,
trying to feel and memorize the weight of her. He'd seen them
naked, but he'd never touched them. They weren't naked now, but
this was as close as he'd gotten to their soft weight in his hands.
When he'd first met her, when he'd first started having sex with
her, he'd wanted to touch them, but wouldn't allow himself to feed
the need, because it was a craving for intimacy he knew he
shouldn't feel. And since then, for a reason known only to her, she
wouldn't let him and it had been driving him crazy. He hadn't
wanted
to want it before, but since he'd found out he
couldn't have them, it had been driving him berserk. He almost felt
guilty, holding her now in the palm of his hand, like he was
committing a huge sin against her, doing something to her that
she'd never allow if she were awake.