56 Days (Black) (13 page)

He flipped on the lights to the front showroom.  It was a simple, contemporary studio with a few pieces of furniture displayed under some stylish lighting fixtures.  There was no cash register or any place to wrap a sale.  Just eggshell-colored walls and modern silver lettering reading “Jack Conti Designs.”

“How do people check out?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I me
an, if they buy something, how do they pay for it?”

He laughed.  “Well, mostly this furniture is just for show so that people know what I do.  I have a catalog of other pieces that I have made, but since it’s all custom, they basically come in and tell me what they want.  I
sketch something out and show it to them.  If they like it, I quote a price and then they pay me personally.”

“Oh,” I
replied, trying not to show my embarrassment.  “So, where’s the chair you need?” 

“It’s in the back.  I just wanted to show you the floor.”  He flipped off the lights and guided me into another room. 

There were over fifteen pieces in that room, one more beautiful and ornate than the next.  “Holy shit, Jack.  These are awesome.”

“Thank you,” he
responded, humbled.  “I appreciate that.”

I walked over to a long
dining table and ran my hand over the top.  “Wow.  This is beautiful.  Really nice, baby,” I purred.

He came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist.  “Up on the table
.”

I turned around to face him.  “What?”

“You heard me,” he replied, his voice breathy.

I
moved backwards and lifted myself up onto the edge, my heeled feet dangling over the side.  I gave him a long look.  “Now what?”

He put his hands at my waist and unbuttoned my jeans.  I lifted up, helping him slide them down my legs.  They gathered at my heels; I quickly kicked them off, leaving
my ankle boots on.

“Lie back… close your eyes.
”

I followed his direction and l
ay flat on the table; my heels perched on the edge, eyes shut.

He tugged at my thong, snapping it at my side.  I moaned lightly, arching my back.  He pushed my tank up
to my neck, licking a line up my stomach.  He pulled my lace bra cups down, exposing my breasts.

His mouth latched onto my left breast and pulled
roughly.  I whimpered and turned my head to the side, laying my cheek on the hard, cool surface.  “God, yes,” I breathed.

He left me for a moment, but I didn’t open my eyes.  Instead, I listened.  He was back, something cold drifting up my thigh… he stopped at the strings of my thong, setting them free.  Scissors?

I parted my lips, licking them and biting down hard.

I heard the zipper of his pants and the sound of fabric rustling.  His hands drifted between my thighs and I felt a rush of warm air ignite my core. 

Was he blowing on me?
 
Holy fuck.

His tongue lightly dragged across my center, teasing me as I
lifted up instinctively.  “Patience,” he whispered, pushing down on my hips, securing me in place.  He continued to torture me, whispering in between kisses.

I want you so badly.

I need you so much.

I
’ll love you forever.

He teased me for several minutes until h
is tongue moved higher, licking along my navel.  He pulled at my belly ring with his teeth.  I could feel the press of his hands on my thighs before he drove into me, making me squeal aloud.

He grabbed me by the hips and pulled me into him over and over, my name on his lips.

I love you, Elsa.

I focused on his words
, trying not to lose it too soon.  I stretched my arms over my head, lifting my shoulders off of the table as Jack’s hands moved on my skin.  He clutched my waist, my hips, my backside… everywhere, his rapid movements unrelenting.  He moved steadily, sometimes fast… sometimes, he slowed to an agonizingly easy pace. 

He pressed his hand between my legs, setting me off like a rocket.  I bolted upright, my eyes opening.

“Jack!” I shouted, my release immediate.  I scratched down the center of his back.

Jack pulled me closer and licked down my neck, moaning loudly.  “Oh God, El.  Fuck.”

He moved faster.  Faster.  Faster
.

Closing his eyes, he stilled, looking pained.  “Ohhh,” he cried, gripping my backside almost
achingly.  “Oh, God.” 

His body slowed as he collapsed on top of me, breathing frantically.

I laughed.  “Well, I guess we know you make one hell of a table, right?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard in my life,” he replied, letting out a hard laugh.  “
Honestly.”

“So…” I drawled, “
Furniture polish, then?  Surely, whoever this is for doesn’t want my ass prints on their new table.”

“He would if he saw your ass.” 

“Come on, Jackie.  We’ve gotta go.  I’ve got to wake up in 6 hours.”

He smiled.  “No one gets to call me that except my mom.”

“I literally heard your dad call you that an hour ago.”

“Okay, my mom and my dad.”

“And me,” I replied, smiling.

He kissed me hard and pulled up his jeans, sliding the zipper back up.  “Okay… and you.”

I watched as Jack packed a weekend bag for Indianapolis.  “Do you have to go?”

“You could go with me.”

“No way.  That
asshat is going to be there.”

Jack sat on the edge of the bed, studying me.  “Elsa, will you please tell me what happened between you two?”

“Nothing.  We just made out for like two minutes.  You know the whole story right there.”

“No, I know what you told me.  So, why don’t you tell me the real
story?”

I sighed.  “There is no story.  I just feel really uncomfortable around him.  I felt like he was just too aggressive.  I don’t know… also, Rachel
really doesn’t like him and she likes everyone.”

“Really?  She’s never said anything.”

“Eh, we’re sisters.  She tells me stuff.”  I scratched the back of his neck.  “Can’t you go in the morning?  Stay with me tonight.”

“Baby,” he breathed, “the movers wi
ll be there at like 10 tomorrow and they’re on Eastern Time, so I’d have to leave even earlier.  I don’t want to drive at 6 in the morning.  Plus, I haven’t seen my brother in a while.  I miss him.”  He pulled me in for a short kiss.  “I’ll call you tonight.  I can tell you a bedtime story.” 

He slid his hand into my tank top and squeezed my breast, pulling my lips to his.  I groaned into his mouth
and slid my tongue along his bottom lip. 

“
Please…”  I straddled his lap and sucked gently on his neck.

He laughed.  “Elsa, we had sex literally one hour ago.  You’re stalling.”

“Fine.  But don’t tell Rachel about us yet, okay?  I want to talk to her.  She’ll be mad if she hears it from you.”

He
shifted me and stood, pulling a few pair of jeans from the drawer and stuffing them in his bag carefully.  “I can’t believe you haven’t told her yet.  It’s fucking ridiculous.”

“Hey,” I said, pulling at his belt loops, “I just wasn’t ready.  I want to keep you all to myself.”

“That’s not it and you know it.  You’re afraid to tell anyone.”

“Gemma knows,” I pouted.

“Yeah, El, but she is literally the only one.  You haven’t even told your mom.”

“You don’t understand my mom, Jack.  She’s a fucking anomaly, seriously.  I can’t get into this with her.  She doesn’t understand me… like at all.  She thinks I’m wasting my life
… like working at a bakery is a job for the lower class or something.”

“Okay,” Jack whispered.  “It’s fine.”

“Listen, she doesn’t even pretend to like me or Rachel.  She thinks that girls without husbands are basically worthless.  She couldn’t wait for my sister to get married to Ryan… so that she would have someone to ‘take care of her.’  Fuck, Rachel makes like eighty-five fucking thousand dollars a year.  What would she need a man for?”

“I get it, El.  You don’t have to tell her about us.”

I sighed.  “I’m sorry.  I just don’t have anyone to talk to about this.”

“You have me, honey.”  He came over and rubbed my back.  “I know you can’t talk to me about me,” he said, laughing, “But, you can tell me about anything else you want.  You know that, right?”

“You really have to go?”

“Jeremy’s going to drive the truck on the way down.  I’ll text you from the road, okay?”

“Text me or sext me?”

“Which one do you want?”

I put my hand between his legs, rubbing him through his jeans.  “Which one do you think?”

“God, you’re a mess.”

*****

An hour later, he was gone and I was bored already. 
A few minutes after I flipped on the TV, I got my first text.

Jack
:  What are you wearing?

Me
:  You know what I’m wearing.  You just saw me.

Jack
:  Go into the bedroom.

Me
:  Why?  Did you hide candy in the bedside table?

Jack
:  Pull out the pink box under the bed.

Oh fuck.  He knew about the pink box?

Me
:  There’s a pink box under the bed?  Did you buy me a present?

Jack
:  No, but I think you’ve bought yourself several presents over the years.  Open it up.

Me
:  Fine.

Jack
:  Take out the long, blue one with the rabbit ears.

Oh, God.  Should I just kill myself now or wait and write a note?

Me
:  I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Jack
:  Sure you do.  Take off your underwear.

Me
:  What now?

Jack
:  Are they off?

Me
: Yes

Jack
:  Turn it on.

Me
:  It’s hard to text with one hand.

Jack
:  Focus.

Me
:  It’s on.

Jack
:  Are you wet?

Was he fucking serious?

Me
:  Um…

Jack
:  You are.  Press it lightly at the top.

Me
:  K

Jack
:  Now slide it inside.

I moaned.  There really wasn’t any way to text
that
.

Jack
:  Ears at the top?

Me
: Y

Jack
:  I wish I was there.  I would use my tongue instead.

Another moan.

Jack
:  Still with me, honey?

Me
:  Y

Jack
:  Move it faster for me.

Oh God.

Jack
:  Are you close?

I was.

Jack
:  Take it out and put it in your mouth.  Taste yourself.

I was so turned on, I
did
.  Didn’t even question it… I just did what he asked.

Jack
:  Put it back in.  This time, flip the ears to the back.  Turn it all the way up.

Oh, God… did he want me to…?
  I slowly twisted the wand, playing out his request. 
Holy shit.

Jack
:  How close are you now?

I didn’t answer.  I just bucked my hips and cried aloud. 

Jack
:  I wish I could watch you come.  Give me a sign. 

I hit his number on my speed dial, laying the phone on the bed beside me.  He picked up immediately, staying silent on the line.  I continued to push the blue silicone in and out, gasping for breath and screaming his name.

When I finally came down, I pressed the phone to my ear.  “Talk to you tonight, Jackie
,” I replied, breathing heavily.  I pressed the end button and rolled over into a two-hour post-sex slumber.

*
****

Saturday dragged by.  I thought it would be great
.  Time to myself.  Relaxing
.  Truth was I missed Jack terribly.

Besides a few flirty texts (nothing like Friday evening), we had stayed pretty quiet.  That
night, he called.

“Hi, baby,” I crooned.

“El, I need you to do me a favor, alright?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“This is important.  Listen carefully, okay?”

He was worrying me now.
  “Yeah, whatever you want.”

“I need you to take the keys and go to my place.  There are boxes in the studio under the long table on the side.  Go to Jeremy’s room and throw all of his stuff in those boxes.  Doesn’t have to be perfect.  Just put them in there
and take them out back to the patio.”

What was going on?

He continued.  “Call Heather.  We work with a locksmith at the shop… he’s the best.  Have him meet you at the house and get the locks changed.  Better yet, I’ll call her.  He’ll meet you there in an hour.”

“Jack…”

“Can you do this?”

“Yeah, but…”

“I’ll explain everything later.  I’ll call you in an hour.  Take a cab, you’ll get there faster.  Everything’s okay, but he’s coming back there tonight and I don’t want him in the house.  I’m calling the alarm company and getting new codes assigned.  I’ll call you with yours, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Go now, El.  I love you.”

The line went dead. 
What just happened?
  I grabbed Buster’s leash and fastened it on him, dragging him out the door and hailed the next cab I saw.

I was panicking.  What if he beat me there?  What the hell happened today?  I certainly didn’t want to get into it with him. 

I called Gemma for back up.  “Can you and Dan meet me in Edgewater at Jack’s?”

“Um, why?”

“Just… can you?”

“El, you’re worrying me.”

“Well,” I replied, “Jack is worrying me.  He just called and wants me to go to his house and pack up his renter’s stuff… you know, Mr. Hickey?  Anyway, I don’t know what happened in Indianapolis with them, but he’s changing locks… alarm codes.  I don’t want to be there by myself if he shows up.”

“Yeah, sure.  Text me the address.  See you soon.”

Next, I called Jack.

“Hey,” I breathed.  “I’m in a cab on the way to the house.  You want to fill me in on what’s going on?”

“It’s really not that big a deal, El, but it’s about Rachel.  Jeremy told Vince that he slept with her.”

“What?” I screamed.

“Yeah, basically, he said that when you guys came to our place, she spent the night with him.  Vince punched him… I don’t know.  I wasn’t there, so I got the story secondhand.”

“Why would he
say that?  Because of me?  Because I wouldn’t sleep with him?”

“Fuck if I know, honey.  Anyway, Vince asked me to move his shit when I got home.  I didn’t really want to wait that long because who knows what I would come home to.  He’s pissed and has keys, you know?”

“Yeah,” I whispered.  “I feel like this is my fault.”

“How is
any of this your fault, Elsa?  That guy is mental… and I don’t want him anywhere near you.  I’ll call my dad.  He’ll help you.”

“Gem’s on her way with Dan.  I’m fine.”

“Good.  Anyway, I’ll be home in the morning, okay?”

“Call me tonight,” I whispered.

“Of course.  Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

*****

Wait… so, this guy is an asshole and I have to pack up his
crap? 
Gross.
  He lived like a total animal.  Clothes everywhere.  Used condoms… disgusting.  I literally picked them up with tissues and mixed them in with his clothing.

An hour later, Gemma and Dan arrived as I taped the last box shut.  Luckily, drifter fucking models didn’t have much.
  Dan took all of the boxes to the patio and stacked them on top of each other. 

They sat with me when the locksmith arrived.  He changed out the locks and gave me new keys to the studio and the house.  ADT called me as well, issuing new security codes and passwords.

I checked my phone frequently.  I needed to get this thing wrapped up.  If he came home, I knew I was going to have to call the fucking police.  Once everything was armed and locked, we got into Gemma’s old Volkswagen and she drove me back to Wicker Park.

I was home for an hour when there was a knock at the door.
  Buster growled lightly.

I went into sheer panic mode.  Did Jeremy know where I lived?  The knock seemed aggressive.  It had to be him.

I carefully looked through the peephole. 
Jesus Christ.
  Was this just going to be an ongoing thing now?

“What, Dave?  For fuck’s sake,” I said, opening the door a crack.

He pushed the door open and let himself in.  “Boyfriend gone for the weekend?  Or just gone?”

“Get the fuck out of here,” I screamed. 

I carefully eyed my phone on the table. 
Did I just make a run for it?
 

Dave st
umbled over to the coffee table and picked it up, sliding it in his jacket pocket.  “Don’t get any wild ideas, honey.  I know he’s not here.”