And a bolt of hot lust pumped through his dick. “That’s tempting, darlin’, but what I’m trying to tell you is there’s only one place I want to come right now. Inside you. So I’ll need you to grab a condom and climb on top again.”
She did what he said, stretching the condom over his aching erection before settling herself on top of him again. But then she asked, “Is this really how you want to do this, or are you just not wanting to tell me I wasn’t doing it right?”
He affectionately rubbed his hands over her thighs. “When have I ever been the one to spare your feelings?”
“Never,” she grumbled.
“That’s right, never. And I’m not going to start now. I’m telling it to you straight. I want to be inside of you.”
Without warning, he flipped her over, and entered her in one swift move. To his delight, her tunnel was slick and wet, even without foreplay. “And from the feel of it, you want me inside of you, too.”
Her only answer to that was to wrap her legs around his waist, effectively clamping him to her as he lifted up and started moving inside of her with long, exploratory strokes. He’d wanted to tease her like this for while, but then she started in with her pretty little moans. And soon he was ramming himself inside of her just to hear the sound of her crying out for more.
He spun a fantasy around them then, imagining he still had his sight, that Josie had voluntarily come to his bed, that they had future together. In the end, they came at the same time, their arms wrapped around each other in a rictus of pleasure.
He rolled off of her, and she snuggled into his side, laying her head on his chest. “I hope you feel better,” she said, nuzzling him with her nose.
He did feel better. A lot better, and it was all because of Josie.
That was when he made a solemn vow to himself: Every single thing he’d fantasized about while they were making love would eventually come to pass, because he would be keeping Josie even after their agreed upon time was up.
He didn’t know how yet, but he’d find a way.
He fell into a deep sleep then, dreaming of a wedding on a football field, him dressed in his Suns uniform, a bride beside him as they listened to the head coach of his football team say, “You may now kiss the bride.” He lifted the bride’s veil, and there was Josie smiling up at him, her happy eyes like a magnet pulling him down to kiss her—
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The dream flickered out and was replaced with the absence of any image at all when he opened his eyes. But the sound of knocking on the door remained. Why would Josie be knocking on the door?
“Who is it?” he called.
“It’s Mac, Mr. Prescott.”
He sat up. Josie. He groped around the bed, but it was empty. Where was she?
“Is it okay if I come in?” Mac asked outside the door.
“What are you doing here?” Beau asked back. “Is it morning already?”
The door opened and he heard the click of a light switch being flipped. “Sorry for not waiting for permission, but it seemed like it would be easier to talk without the door. You hungry yet? Got some of Josie’s chili simmering downstairs if you want it.”
“Is that where Josie is? Downstairs? And you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“Josie was afraid this might happen. That’s why she called me in, so you wouldn’t be confused.”
He shook his head. “If she called you in to keep me from being confused, it’s not working, because I’m still not understanding what’s going on here.”
“According to Josie, you fell asleep and she didn’t want to wake you because she thought you needed it after getting that news today.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, signaling for Mac to get on with the story.
“But she told me to wake you by eight, because you hadn’t eaten lunch and she wanted me to make sure you got some dinner in you.”
He shook his head. “I’m still not understanding why you’re here telling me this and not her.”
Mac’s next words hit him like a punch in the gut. “Oh, because Josie left out of here a couple of hours ago. She said something about it being her night off. She also said not to wait up for her, because she’s going to be back real late, so she’ll… er…. just sleep in her own room tonight.”
Beau sat there feeling like a fool. While he’d been dreaming of weddings on football fields, Josie had been stealing away to meet up with Sam. And she hadn’t even respected him enough to tell him in person that she was leaving.
“Mr. Prescott?” came Mac’s voice again. “You all right?”
CHAPTER 14
IT WAS HER NIGHT OFF. She was allowed to leave the house. Beau couldn’t keep her from living her own life in her off hours.
At least that was what Josie told herself. But guilt plagued her as she went about her business at the shelter. As busy as Ruth’s House was, with the usual stack of paperwork, piles of linens that needing washing, and two new intakes, one of a willowy blonde with two big-eyed children in tow, thoughts of Beau Prescott dogged her as she helped Sam put out one fire after another.
Coming here had seemed like a great idea earlier in the day. She’d let her Saturday duties go the week before, and she knew Sam could more than use the extra pair of hands.
But really it was Beau’s command that she come right back after going to the grocery store that had made the decision for her.
She had adjusted surprisingly fast to being someone’s sex partner for money. But the way Beau tried to keep her from leaving the house made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Not just because of the presumption of it all, but also because it reminded her of Wayne who by the last year of their marriage, didn’t let her go anywhere but the grocery store unaccompanied.
At first, he, too, had said things like he wanted her there when he got home. He couldn’t stand to be apart from her for as long as it would take for her to have a girls’ night with a kind neighbor who had invited her over for a book club and drinks. At first it had been romantic.
But then it had turned into something else. Commands to stay in when he was at work. Threats about what he would do if he found out she was visiting her mother without him. “You want her to go back to being some white family’s maid?” he asked her. “Because I can make that happen. But I hope she’s got some retirement savings, because I don’t know anybody looking to hire a middle-aged live-in maid.”