Page 21

CHAPTER 21

JAX

I want to hate him for making me want him so much, but that’d be a bitch move.

I want to hate him for knowing just how to touch me to drive me crazy, but that’d be wholly unfair. Neither of us is a virgin. It’s just easier not to think about it.

With the feel of his fingers fucking into me and his tongue pile-driving my asshole, I can’t think of much, anyway. My head is fuzzy, so is my judgement. All I can do is feel . Feel and react.

“Just fuck me already, dammit.”

Pharo gives a satisfied, wicked little chuckle, like he’s enjoying my surrender way too much. I can’t blame him. I would, too, if I were him. Seeing how badly he wants me is definitely giving me a heady rush.

“In a hurry to get it over with that quick, huh?”

Yes and no. I could go all night, but tomorrow I’ll hate myself for every minute I enjoyed with him. Like self-flagellation.

Pharo straightens to his full height. “You have condoms?”

Please, like he didn’t bring any, hoping to score tonight. I call bullshit. “Nope. Just lube. You?” The satisfaction of seeing him reach for his pants is a small victory worth savoring.

Pharo pulls a foil packet from his pocket and tosses the pants back to the floor. “Skip to, boy. Grab that lube, unless you want me to fuck you dry?”

Motherfucker. Taunting me like that. I can’t decide if I want to kiss him or stab him. When I return with the bottle, I toss it to him, and Pharo catches it easily. “Come lean over the back of this couch.”

Fine. Perfect. No touching, cuddling, or kissing. Because I can’t do this if I have to gaze into his stupid citrine eyes like some love-struck lover.

Nope. Not happening.

Resuming the same stance I had earlier, I brace my hands on the back of the couch and spread my legs apart, ass pushed out and waiting. Over my shoulder, I glance at Pharo, stroking lube over the rubber stretched over his cock. Of-fucking-course he’s eight inches of thick, uncut perfection. Why would he be anything else?

I fucking hate him.

And if he doesn’t shove his cock in my ass soon, I’ll have another reason to hate him.

Pharo lines the tip of his cock up with my hole and leans over me, grabbing onto the couch beside my hands. He thrusts his hips, slowly pushing into me like he’s savoring the tight squeeze.

What was I thinking, asking him to hurry? Fuck, it’s not like I bottom regularly. My ass burns, but I know the pain is fleeting. So I grit my teeth and bear down, taking him deeper. He looks amused by the pain my grimace reveals.

“Feel good?” he taunts, knowing it doesn't. Yet .

“Fucking incredible,” I lie. Saying I’ve had bigger would just be juvenile, and I have no doubt he’d torture me by ramming me.

His chuckle tickles my ear. The full-body shiver makes me arch into him further, so that I’m practically impaled on his stupid horse cock. “It will soon, I promise.”

Aww, he cares. Kinda.

Thankfully, he keeps his pace slow until I’ve adjusted, and his shaft slides in and out with more ease. The drag of the latex along my inner walls makes my toes curl. It’s this weird combination of pleasure and pain, a tug-of-war that’s got me caught in the middle.

He buries himself balls deep and pauses, his cock kicking inside me. I squeeze back, and he nips my ear. “You ready?” he growls.

That means shit’s about to get started. The slow, easy fucking is over.

I push back against him in answer. Pharo straightens and grabs my hips, and slams into me hard, pushing me into the couch with a grunt. I know he’s watching my ass take his cock. I bet it looks incredible.

“Goddamn, son,” he breathes in awe. I can hear the pleasure in his voice.

Like any good bottom, I feel the undeniable urge to please him, to drive him wild until he’s singing songs about the perfection of my tight ass. Even if I hate him when his clothes are on.

I meet each of his thrusts with my own, fucking myself on his cock while stroking my shaft. Only the sound of our harsh breaths and his skin slapping against mine punctuates the silence. Maybe I moan a few times, but whatever.

Pharo switches one hand to my shoulder so he can really dig in and fuck me hard. The change in his angle rubs my spot just right, and my balls swell and tighten with my load, begging to spill.

The heat in my belly spreads as I jack my cock faster. “Yeah, like that,” I urge, slamming back on his dick.

He hasn’t said much, and I’m taking it as a good sign. Like, he’s so overcome with lust he’s speechless? Yeah, that.

“Waited too long for this,” he pants. “It’s too good.” Pharo slams into me again and cum pulses from my slit in an arc, staining the back of my couch.

Good thing it’s leather.

“Don’t wanna,” one more hard thrust, and he unleashes within me. “Coming,” he hisses, digging his fingers deep into my skin.

That’s gonna bruise tomorrow.

Then he collapses over my back, sweaty and breathless, while he recovers. Already coming down from the lust-nado of hormones swirling in my bloodstream, I’m starting to feel caged in and skittish. I need him off me, like now .

I manage to shake him off. Pharo slips out of me with a soft pop and plants a kiss between my shoulder blades. As he saunters into my bathroom to clean up, I shamelessly ogle his tight ass. Fucking perfection.

By the time he emerges from the bathroom, I’m dressed and looking relaxed on the couch. I feel boneless, like every molecule in my body got a deep-tissue massage.

Pharo leans over the back of the couch and stares at me, appearing unsure. “I don’t know what to do here, Jax. I don’t want to push you too far, but if you want me to stay, I will.” He bends down to grab his pants, pulling them on as I think of what to say.

Do I want him to leave? Yes.

Do I want him to stay? Yes.

Fuck, this is what I wanted to avoid, and yet, here we are. Caught smack dab in post-coital weirdness.

If I had any common sense, I’d tell him to leave. Then again, if common sense were lard, most people wouldn’t be able to grease a pan. Including me.

“It’s getting late,” I answer casually, trying to hide the knot tightening in my chest. My mind’s a mess of conflicting thoughts, but I don’t let it show.

But the way he gazes at me, that heat still in his eyes—it’s clear neither of us is ready for this to be over. I can feel the pull between us like a force of nature, impossible to ignore.

“Then I’ll go.”

Damn, he actually looks disappointed! I wasn’t expecting that. I stand to walk him out, feeling my steps slow the closer I get to the door. Just as I reach for it, two things happen at once. My phone dings, and someone knocks.

“It's a little late for a social call,” Pharo says.

“I’m not expecting anyone.” Ignoring my phone, I pull the door open to find a goth sprite standing there, grinning and holding a file folder.

“Am I being served?” What else could it be?

“Sorry, I know it’s late. I texted first, though!”

She’s talking to me, but her dark eyes are on Pharo, sizing him up like a prime cut of meat on sale.

“Hi,” she says to him. “I’m Joey, Jax’s friend.”

“Jax has friends?” Pharo asks skeptically.

“Joey?” I take in her five-foot frame, her short, dark hair pulled into a ponytail high on her head, and her ripped-to-shit concert tee and cargo pants. “You’re a girl?”

“Yeah, what’d you think?” She returns her attention to Pharo with a smirk. “He’s a sharp one, huh?”

Joey practically dances into my apartment, and Pharo seems intrigued and amused. I get the feeling neither of them is leaving too soon. “What are you doing here?”

“I have some… uh…” She gives Pharo an assessing look and finishes, “confidential information I wanted to give you in person.”

Nothing makes sense, and I’m starting to get dizzy from trying to piece the puzzle together. “The fuck did you come from? And how’d you find out where I live?” It’s not listed publicly.

Joey shoots me a disbelieving look. “Are you serious? Come on, Jaxy. It’s me you’re talking to. And for your info, I don’t live far. Just past Asheville.”

“Jaxy,” Pharo echoes, trying the name on for size with a grin.

“No,” I warn him. “Double fucking no. In fact, weren't you just leaving?”

“I’m just dropping this off, if you wanna join me for a late snack somewhere,” Joey offers him.

Un-fucking-believeable! She’s been here two minutes and she’s already hitting on my man! I mean, he’s not mine, per se, but he sure as shit isn’t hers!

“Pharo, goodnight. Joey, you’re staying. We need to talk.”

Pharo still looks amused, but he nods and catches my chin in his grip. “Goodnight, Jaxy.”

Fucker. He appears to be debating whether he should kiss me or not, but fuck that. Not with an audience. And not a last-kiss-goodbye like I’m some first date he’s dropping off at his parents’ doorstep. Fuck no to both.

Pulling out of his grasp, I practically shoved him out the door. “Thanks for stopping by,” I call out as he makes his way down the hall, his laugh echoing off the walls.

Shutting the door a bit harder than necessary, I turn my attention to the stalker. “This better be good if you tracked me down. We’re supposed to have an understanding. No home addresses, no personal details, and no meet and greets!”

“Funny, I don’t remember signing that contract.” Her voice drips with sarcasm, but there’s a smugness to it, like she’s enjoying pushing my buttons.

I take a step closer, crossing my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up at my door uninvited.”

“I figured you wouldn’t mind.” She takes a deliberate step forward, not intimidated by my glare. “Wait till you see what I’ve got. It’s good ,” she stresses, baiting me.

“Spill,” I say, holding out my hand for the manila folder.

“First, let’s discuss your guest.” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively. “Was that King Tut, the suspect in question?”

Damn her for spying on my desktop remotely. “Yeah, that was him.”

“Annnnd, I’m guessing he stopped by for some late-night entertainment ?” Joey clicks her tongue. “Sleeping with the enemy, Jaxy?”

“He’s not the enemy.” Anymore . “And I’m not Jaxy !”

“Man, I wouldn’t mind cracking his password,” she says as she cracks her knuckles loudly. “I’d infiltrate his hard drive and encrypt his files in a heartbeat.”

Ew, she makes that sound fucking gross. “Good luck getting past his firewall.”

“Yeah, well, King Tut just accepted a job offer for that supersecret spy-ops outfit he works for. Did he tell you that? We’re talking a big promotion, here. Like higher ups, expense account, in so deep you can’t get out kinda stuff.”

Motherfucker! My ass burns and not because Pharo just fucked me. He’s a goddamn liar! Which I already knew, but still. I thought…

What, Jax? You thought just because he fucked you, he was going to come clean about everything and do a total one-eighty? Not fucking likely.

“Let me see that file.” Joey hands it over, and I scan the documents. She could have gotten busted big time for this info. “How’d you find this?”

“I set an alert on his name, and it dinged today. Luck of the Irish.”

I glance at her, sizing her up. “Are you Irish?”

“No,” she says cheekily, “But I am lucky.”

The contract states that he was offered a position as head of transportation and flight training. The six-figure salary is on the higher end. I don’t see his signature on it, but that might just be a formality because of the distance. Only a fool would turn down an offer like this.

Only a fool would fuck a guy he doesn’t trust after holding out for six years.

“Well, thanks for stopping by. It’s getting late. Next time, just send a message. No need to come all the way over here.”

She tilts her head slightly, a slow, deliberate grin curling her lips. “Maybe I just wanted to see you. Not everything has to be a transaction, you know.”

Great, just what I need. Another friend.

“By the way, Pharo is off limits, so don’t go snooping or plan on paying him a visit like this.”

Joey gives me a superior, all-knowing look as she brushes past me. “You mean he’s already taken? Message received, Jaxy.”