End With A Bang (Slap/Bang Duet #2)

6. Only With You

CHAPTER SIX

Only With You

If she thought seeing Sever again would make her blushy grin go away, or that leaving him would make the random giggles stop, she was oh so mistaken.

Before he let her go, he whispered in her ear, “I can’t wait to make you gush like that again.”

That led to a whole new giggle/blush/grin rotation—from the hotel, across five city blocks, to her building’s lobby, the elevator, and down the long hallway to her apartment door.

The gush had happened in the hotel shower. She’d never gushed before; he must have unlocked something when he set her free from her earlier suspended-animation climax. In the shower, he instructed her to grasp a well-placed bar while he stood behind her, cock pulsing in her oiled rectum, thumb massaging her g-spot, her legs butterflied around his back. Lesson one, he’d called it.

Breathe with me. Hold it. Stay. Don’t let go yet.

She stayed. She held it. She breathed. He wouldn’t let her move or speak. But god, she couldn’t stop trembling and whimpering. She wanted to come. So. Hard. His cock was throbbing in her ass; all he had to do was move his thumb...

After what felt like an eternity, he held her close and depressed his thumb, commanding, “Come for Daddy,” and when he pulled his hand away? An uncontrollable cascade of come, spurting out of her in a way she’d never seen or felt or even knew was possible.

Ahhhhhhhhhoh my GOD! Ohhhhhhhhhoh oh oh my ? —

“Ivy.”

Husband? Home? Before her? What? “Hi.”

“Where’ve you been?”

—good girl, gush for your Daddy, you hot little fucktoy ? —

“Gym,” she said, showing him her bag and hanging it on the coat rack. “Power yoga.”

“Oh. Didn’t get my message, huh?”

“No.” Mouth suddenly dry, she shrugged off her jacket. “What’d it say?”

“Well, the first part said I’m sorry.”

Ivy looked down at her shoes and stepped out of them, pulled the rubber band out of her still-damp hair.

—Daddy’s little dolly, my obedient little slut ? —

“You should probably listen to it.” Jason put his hands in his pockets. “But yeah, that was the gist...”

Trying to prepare herself, she said, “And the second part?”

“We won. The case.” That’s when she noticed the bouquet of flowers on the dining table, the champagne flutes. “ I won.”

“Oh. Wow. Congratulations. That’s... I’m proud of you.”

“Look...” He took a tentative step forward. “I know what I did is unforgivable. I laid my hands on you, I... scared you, and I feel like shit for it?—”

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, touching her earlobe.

“What? Apologize? What do you want me to—” He stopped short when he saw what was on her wrist.

Oh. Shit. Shit shit shit.

“So, you’re wearing that now? To the gym?”

“This?” Ivy covered the Cartier watch, shrugged. What was she thinking, putting it on again? Some silent way of telling Sever that he was right? They needed better modes of communication. “I blame the Jesus choir. I tried it on again, then forgot...” She unclasped it. “If it bothers you, I?—”

“I thought it bothered you .”

Was he... reading her?

“It does, I shouldn’t have worn it.” She dropped it in the key tray. “There, it’s off.”

“That’s not—” He reeled himself in. “I don’t want to fight, babe. I’m trying to patch things up, here.”

“Well, you’re... failing.”

Exhaling a chuckle, he scratched his head and said, “I noticed. Can I start over?”

“You don’t have to,” she said, but found a spot on the couch, next to Huey, who was voraciously gnawing at a giant bone. Ivy tried to pet him, but he jumped away to chew in peace. She tried not to take it personally. “Look, I get it. You reacted because I forced a confession out of you, I made you relive your trauma, and I’m so sorry. You don’t have to share everything with me.”

“But I want to.” He sat next to her. “I want to be the kind of guy who can.”

She gave him a tight smile. “It’s okay if you’re not.”

“I’m scared I’m becoming my father.”

She fixed her gaze on his knees. “You’re in control of who you become, you know.” And yet, here she was, becoming her father. Where was I? The gym. Why am I wearing this? No reason.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s why I’m dropping the case against him.”

Her heart panged. “You are?”

“I don’t like what it’s doing to me,” he said. “To us.” He took her left hand in his, touched her wedding ring. Just the way Sever had earlier that night.

This was so wrong.

“I, um...” He inhaled shakily, breathed out. Kept touching her ring. “I love you....”

That hurt more than his thumbs digging into her throat.

“I don’t want to lose you; you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. But I wouldn’t blame you, if...” He trailed off. He was convinced he’d done something so awful to her when she’d allowed so much more from Sever. In comparison to her sin, it was a peccadillo. She wished she could put him out of his misery.

You think yours is bad? I’m having an affair with your father.

A reckless urge jolted her: She could tell him. She could say it right now. He would be hurt, and they would be over, and things would be hard for a while, but the pain of being duplicitous would end . All she had to do was open her mouth, and?—

“I slept with Kara.”

Ivy closed her mouth.

“I didn’t want to. I swear I didn’t. But the other night, I just...” Jason rubbed a hand down his face. “I lost it. She was taunting me... and the things she was saying ...”

She stared at him, trying to make sense of everything he’d just said.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. For that, for any of it. I just want you to know how fucking sorry I am. And I swear to you it is never happening again.”

In a state of shock, she stood up, walked to the bedroom and shut the door.

She froze at the bedside, staring at the bed. Was she angry? Was she jealous? Was she sad? Was she scared? She couldn’t pinpoint it.

There was a knock at the door, and Jason said, “I’m going to Sound Bar. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”

After he left, it dawned on her: she was relieved.

Phone in hand, she went out to the balcony and made a call.

“So soon? I am good. ...Or not good enough.” Not getting an immediate reply, Sever got serious. “Everything okay?”

Smiling at the moon, Ivy took a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”

“Bloody right let’s do it!” Another pause. “What are we?—”

“Catalina. Sunset sail. This weekend.”

“Hang on. Pinching myself. Yeah, I’m awake.” Then he said, “What changed your mind?”

A vacation from guilt, probably. “Isn’t it enough that I’m ready and willing?”

“Absolutely it is. Saturday morning, ten o’clock. That work for you?”

“Perfectly.”

“There’s just one thing I need to know,” he said, and she steeled herself. “Have you got a pink bikini? A little one with the slidey triangle tops?”

She grinned, blushed. “No. It’s more of a multicolored halter thing?—”

“Expect a package tomorrow. Wear it underneath.”

Yes, sir, Dominant Power Guy. She said it aloud: “Yes, sir.”

She heard an aroused, rumbling growl, and with a smile, she hung up.