Page 5 of Ember (Royal Harlots: Yonkers, NY Chapter #1)

Honestly, she had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t ever go back to Florida—not with Marco still sending her threatening texts.

She had blocked his number, but he always seemed to have a new one to send her messages from.

She didn’t tell Jack about the messages because there was nothing he’d be able to do besides worrying alongside her.

She didn’t want that. His work was already stressful enough, and she didn’t want to add to that stress.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Jack said, standing in the doorway to her bedroom.

When she first moved into his place, she shut and locked her door, afraid of what Jack might do if given the chance.

But lately, she left her bedroom door open, hoping that he’d wander in for some reason.

She liked how familiar he had become with her and the way that he was constantly touching her.

He had held back for two weeks, giving her time to adjust, but now, she liked him crowding her space.

“Is it about Hurricane’s offer? Because he likes to get ahead of himself,” Jack said.

“Not just the offer,” she admitted. “I’m thinking about sticking around Yonkers. I just need to figure out how to do that. I’m a hair stylist, so I can hopefully find work in the city. I’m betting that there is always a need for a stylist.”

“Yeah, there is,” he agreed. “It’s a big industry here, and you can probably do well for yourself.”

“Right,” she said, “but it’s going to take me some time to save up before I can find my own place. I just don’t want to overstay my welcome here.” Jack walked into her room and sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

“That won’t happen,” Jack insisted. “I like having you here, Ember,” he admitted. “I’m good with you staying as long as you’d like.”

Hearing him say that gave her hope that she had no right to feel. “You’ll let me know if I get to be too much?” she asked.

He chuckled and nodded, “Sure,” he agreed. Jack reached down and took her hand into his own. “Can we talk about something that I’ve been thinking about?” he asked.

Ember felt her tummy do a little flip-flop as she nodded. “Of Course,” she agreed.

“I’d like to be more than just roommates or friends, Ember.

I think I have feelings for you and living under the same roof and not acting on my feelings is getting harder and harder to do.

” She had feelings for him, too, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him.

She didn’t do relationships for very good reasons, but if he was willing to keep things casual, she’d be fine with that.

Marco was the only real relationship that she had been in, and that ended in disaster.

“If you’re asking me for a relationship, the answer is no. I’ve only done that with one man—Marco, and you know how that ended,” she said.

“I see,” he whispered. Jack tried to pull his hand free, and she tugged it back to her lap.

“You don’t see, Jack,” she insisted. “I grew up in a very dysfunctional family, and that’s me being generous.

My father was a drunk, and when he was around, my life was chaotic.

And when he was home, I worried about what he was going to do next.

He was a loose cannon, and my mother was no better.

She couldn’t stand being married to a drunk, so she started going out all the time.

She liked to tell me that she was going to ‘Fill her tank’, and then she’d come home and be fresh and ready to have fun with me.

That never happened, though. Most of the time, when she came home, she’d pack some of her things and head back out.

She told me that she just couldn’t deal with my father but leaving that responsibility to me wasn’t fair either. I was just a little kid.”

“That is a lot of responsibility for a kid to have,” Jack agreed.

“After my parents’ divorce, I lived with my mom for a bit.

I was always ashamed of living in a single wide—until I met you.

” Ember squeezed his hand, and he smiled at her.

“I stuck around for a while, until I graduated from high school, and then, my friend offered me a job in Sarasota, Florida, and I jumped at the chance to get away from that trailer park. Now, I barely speak to my mother, and my father and I are estranged.”

“Did you meet Marco right away when you moved to Florida?” Jack asked.

“No,” she said, “for a long time, I just stuck with work and going back to my apartment. It was my first place, so I wanted to spend as much time there as possible.

“That’s how I felt when I bought this place,” he admitted. “I grew up with nothing, and when I bought my house, I felt as though I had finally made it, as crazy as that sounds.”

She shook her head, “It doesn’t sound crazy at all, Jack. We have that in common.”

“Well, that and having deadbeats for fathers,” he said. He didn’t want to give her a chance to ask about his dad, so he asked her another question. “When did you meet your ex?” he asked. She let go of his hand and snuggled into his side, needing the comfort.

“Is this still okay?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he breathed, kissing the top of her head. “It’s more than okay.”

“I met Marco one night when a few of the girls from the salon went out to the local dive bar. If I could go back in time and tell them no, like I was planning to, none of this would be happening now.”

Jack wrapped a protective arm around her, and she snuggled closer against him. “I’m glad that time travel doesn’t exist then, honey,” he said. “Because I’m actually glad about this happening.”

“Me too,” she breathed. “I started hanging out with the band members,” she said.

“And when Marco asked me out, I felt as though I had hit the lottery. He was good-looking, and all the other girls at the bar wanted to date him, but he chose me. Some luck, right?” She wasn’t sure how much more he’d want to know about her relationship with her ex.

Most guys didn’t want to even talk about a girl’s ex, or at least, that’s what she assumed to be true.

“When did he start to hurt you?” Jack asked.

“Not at first,” she breathed. “He was sweet when we first started dating. It was the accident that changed him. He had a traumatic brain injury, and well, he was never the same afterwards.” She hesitated before asking her next question. “Can I ask you something?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said. He was running his big hand up and down her arm, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to maintain her train of thought much longer.

“What happens between the two of us now?” she asked.

“Whatever you want to happen,” he quickly said. “I know that you’ve been through a lot, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you, Ember.”

“I don’t want a relationship, Jack. But I want to be with you, too. Can you do casual?” She knew that she was setting herself up for heartbreak, but she didn’t care right now. She could think about that all later, when she had to leave Jack to move on with her life.

“What are you asking me for, exactly, honey?” he asked.

“Um, I’m asking for you to give me a night, and we can see how things go. If we both are good with it, then maybe you and I can promise each other another night. But beyond that, I’m not sure how much I can promise you, Jack.”

“Honey, I’ll take you any way I can get you—night by night, hour by hour, minute by minute. It doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re on the same page.”

“Well, I’m on the page where you take me upstairs to your room, and we see where the night takes us, Jack,” Ember said.

“Yep, we’re on the same page,” he said, standing from the sofa and pulling her up with him. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing.

“Jack,” she squealed.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, honey.

You’ve been driving me crazy by wearing my T-shirts to bed.

Just go with it and let me have my fun.” She stopped fighting him and relaxed against his body as he carried her up to his bedroom.

Ember just hoped that her heart was on the same page as her brain, but the more time she spent with Jack, the more she worried that wasn’t the case.

Ember loved the way Jack looked at her as she stripped out of her clothes. She knew that teasing him wasn’t playing fair, but she didn’t care. “I can help,” he offered.

“I think that I like torturing you, Jack,” she said.

“Yeah, I think that you do, and you’re damn good at it.” He stood from the side of the bed and crossed the bedroom to where she stood, giving him a show.

“My turn,” he growled. Jack grabbed the hem of her shirt and tugged it up over her head. She had already shimmied out of her jeans and tossed them to the floor, and Jack did the same with her T-shirt.

She stood in front of him in just her bra and panties as he took her in.

“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Turn around.” He was even more bossy in the bedroom than he was in their daily lives, and Ember had to admit that she liked it.

She’d never have to guess what Jack was thinking or what he wanted because he told her.

He spun her around and wrapped an arm around her waist from behind as he worked on getting her bra unhooked. As soon as he freed her breasts, his hands were everywhere—plucking and teasing until she needed more from him.

“Jack,” she whimpered.

“See, getting teased isn’t fun, is it, honey?” he asked.

“No,” she whispered.

He snaked his hands into the back of her panties, palming her ass as she shamelessly rubbed on him. She needed to find her release, but if Jack was playing with her, that might take some time. It was time that she took back some of his control, and she knew just how to do that.