Expect Me (Rivers Edge Book 3) (2 page)

“Oh, no! You’re bleeding,” she exclaims as she makes a grab for my arm. Sure enough, my white dress shirt has a tear and bright red blood on it. Josselyn immediately starts to unbutton the cuff of my shirt and gently sliding it up. Her gently touch sends more electricity coursing up my arm and straight down to my pants.

“It’s okay,” I tell her. “It doesn’t hurt.” I look down at my exposed forearm and watch silently as Josselyn runs a clean white rag over the small cut on my arm. It really is small, nothing for her to fuss over, but I’m enjoying the hell out of her taking care of it. So I keep my mouth shut.

Around us, the staff is busy clearing the broken glass, my brothers are finishing putting away the chairs, and Erin has the rest of the table thingies boxed up.

“You need to get this cleaned up. Do you live far?” Josselyn asks with a look of worry on her beautiful heart-shaped face.

“I’m a few minutes away. My brother was my ride so as soon as he’s done, I’ll head home and throw something on this.”

“I think you should do it now. I have my car out back. You can ride with me.”

I look deep into her hazel eyes which are more of a dark brown now. The concern and worry laced in her voice is enough to stop my heart. I get cuts and scrapes all the time. Hell, when you work outside in construction, you have a new injury almost daily. But the fact that this beautiful woman wants to take care of me, is having anxiety over my little injury, makes me want to throw her over my shoulder - caveman style - and take her home with me.

“You don’t have to do that,” I say because it feels like the right thing to actually say. But my gut - or more accurately, my groin - is yelling its protest the entire time the words are coming from my lips.

“I want to,” she replies with a small smile.

“Okay.” It’s all I can say. I watch as her smile grows into a happier, knowing smile.

“I’ll grab my stuff and meet you out back,” she says as she slowly releases my arm and walks away.

I watch her go, noticing the gentle sway of her hips and the way her long, brown ponytail bobs from side to side as she walks.

From behind, I hear, “I win. You owe me fifty.”

I turn as a very grumpy Nate is whipping out his wallet and produces a crisp fifty dollar bill. He hands it to Jake who stands there with a huge, shit-eating grin on his face.

“Really, dude? I told you that
you
had to make the first move! Now you cost me fifty bucks,” Nate throws at me with a shake of his head.

I make my way towards the table where my tuxedo jacket is laying and throw it over my arm. Before I can get to the entrance to make my exit, Jake and Nate head me off at the door. Jake is smiling at me like the Cheshire cat while Nate throws a strip of condoms in my hand.

“Here. Looks like you’re going to need these tonight more than I am,” he says with a laugh.

“Suit up, little brother. I don’t want you procreating anytime soon,” Jake adds with his own laugh.

“Grab those back, Jake. We probably have to show him how they work,” Nate says through his laughter.

“Mature. Thanks, dicks,” I say as I head out the door, throwing the strip of condoms in my pants pocket. As embarrassing as that exchange with them was, there was no way I was giving them back the condoms. Their laughter is the last thing I hear as I step out into the cold March night.

Josselyn is waiting in the back parking lot next to an older Toyota Camry. She’s anxiously pacing around by the car as I walk towards her. There’s a little pick-up in my step when I catch sight of her standing there, waiting for me.

“Hey,” I say - because frankly, I don’t know what to say. Words just don’t seem to come easily when I’m around her.

“Hi,” she says as she looks up at me. “Are you ready?”

“Yep,” I say as I slide into the passenger seat of her Camry. She’s inside quickly with the keys in the ignition, starting the car and cranking up the heat.

As she pulls out of the parking lot, she looks at me expectantly. “Which way?”

“Left. At the stop light, make another left,” I tell her. She’s focusing on the road so I take the opportunity to study her features. Small button nose, long, dark eyelashes, and soft, plump lips perfect for kissing. Lips I want to kiss more than anything right now.

“So, what is your last name?” I ask breaking the awkward silence in the small car.

“McCray.”

“The caterers are from St. Charles. Is that where you live?”

“For now,” she says with a deep exhale and a solemn look on her face.

Before I can question her comment, I realize we have a few more turns to make to get us to my place. Once we’re pulling into the quiet parking lot of my apartment complex, I slide my large body out of the little car and head towards my building. Josselyn is a few steps behind me as we head inside the building and straight towards the elevator.

Once inside, I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants before pressing the button for the fourth floor. I glance over at Josselyn and notice she’s biting down a little on her plump bottom lip. I swallow a moan.

When the elevator arrives on the fourth floor, I hold the door open for her to step out ahead of me. Then I lead her down the short hallway to four oh eight. I throw my key in the lock and slowly open the door for her. She hesitates but only for a moment, looks up at me, and steps inside the apartment.

I’ve lived in the apartment since I graduated college five years ago. This is my home until I build my own place on the piece of land I purchased last year. It sits on four acres of timber and open grass, perfect for a house. My hopes are to break ground on the house this coming summer, and I plan to do as much as I possibly can myself after work and on weekends. It may take longer, but nothing would bring me more joy than building my own place from the ground up.

The kitchen is off to the left as we walk in, and I’m glad I left the light above the sink on. I take a quick glance around the room to see what kind of shape the place is in. A handful of dishes in the sink, some floor plans magazines spread out on the coffee table, and probably a pile of towels and dirty clothes on the closet floor in the bedroom. Considering my bachelor state, it’s not too bad if I do say so myself.

I turn my attention back to Josselyn who is setting her purse down on the kitchen table. “Do you have a first aid kit?” she asks as she takes in the kitchen around us.

“Yeah, in the bathroom,” I reply and head down the short hall. Once inside the small room, I reach under the sink and pull the little white metal box out. Josselyn is next to me a second later and takes the box from my hand. Her hand grazes mine in the slightest of touches, but it’s enough to make the room shrink in size and my breathing become shallow.

Josselyn sets the kit on the bathroom sink and digs inside, pulling out some antibacterial ointment and a bandage. “You should take your shirt off,” she says with a small but firm voice. The statement goes straight below my belt, causing my dick to swell instantly.

“What?” I ask, swallowing over the lump that instantly appears in my throat.

“So we don’t get any more blood on your dress shirt. You should take it off,” she replies as her hazel eyes remain locked on mine.

I reach down and pull the shirt out of my tuxedo pants, slowly unbuttoning all the little white buttons. When I get to the last one, I push the shirt off my shoulders and slowly lower it down my arms, mindful of the cut on my left arm.

Once my shirt is dropped on my bathroom floor, I return my gaze to the beauty standing in front of me in the small confines of my bathroom.

Josselyn takes a washcloth and runs warm water over it. Once it’s soaked, she turns her attention back to my arm. She grabs a hold of my left arm and brings it up to take a closer look at the cut. The soft skin on her fingers brushing against my arm, holding my arm, ensures that the half hard on I have been sporting for the past five minutes is now a full fledge, raging hard on. I itch to touch her body.

She gently takes the wet washrag and washes the dried blood from around the cut. Once she has it cleaned up pretty well, she leans forward and lightly blows on the wet skin. My cock painfully jumps in my pants. I fist my hand at my side to keep myself from reaching for her. My arm that she’s holding twitches against her hot breath on my hotter skin.

“Does that hurt?” she questions with concern.

“No.”

She turns and grabs the ointment and very delicately wipes a glob of the goop on the small open wound. She seems to be taking her time, working very diligently at the task at hand. I want her to keep touching me, but know that the longer she does it, the harder it is for me to hang on to my control. I seriously feel my control slipping with each passing second.

Josselyn places a bandage over the cut and gently rubs the tape, securing it to my arm. “All done,” she says with a small smile.

Her eyes clash with mine again, and I can see her breath catch in her throat. Her hands still on my arm as we both stare at each other, fixed on each other, enveloped in our own trance. Her beautiful mouth - the one that I’ve been thinking about since we met in the alley - forms the most perfect little ‘o’, and that’s it. My control breaks like a twig underneath my work boot. I’m completely gone.

I grab ahold of her and slam my lips down on hers. She tastes like absolute heaven, all minty and sweet. My hands both grab the sides of her head, holding her tightly in place as if to make sure she goes nowhere anytime soon.

Josselyn moans into my kiss, opening her mouth for me to ravish with my lips, my tongue. I explore every crevice of her mouth with my tongue, tasting her, drinking her in. I feel Josselyn’s hands snake under my undershirt. The feel of her hands exploring my bare chest is almost my undoing. My abs, my pecs all jump under her incredibly soft touch.

I rip my undershirt up and over my head and return my mouth to her neck. I can smell the faint scent of her perfume mixed with a little sweat. The combination only turns me on further. I run my tongue up her neck towards her ear and am rewarded with a gasp and an uncontrollable shudder.

My fingers try to make quick work of her white button down shirt, but my desire for her causes them to fumble every last one of those damn little buttons. My blood is pumping so fast through my veins, my heart is beating like a steel drum, and my hands are shaking enough you’d think this was my first time.

I can’t take the delay any longer. I need to see her, touch her, feel her skin against mine. I rip the shirt open with one fast, forceful motion, raining little white buttons all over my cheap linoleum floor. She’s standing there, panting, with her white lace bra peeking out from underneath the now destroyed white dress shirt.

Josselyn gasps as her eyes find mine again. That’s when I see it. Lust. Desire. Urgency. All of the exact same things coursing through my overheated body. I slam my lips back down onto hers as my hands reach down to her ass, picking her up against my hard body. My chest feels the soft white lace and the heat of her breasts pressed firmly against it. She wraps her legs around my waist as I walk her across the hall and into my bedroom.

I lay her down on my unmade bed and am glued to her body in an instant. My hands roam her body from head to toe, taking in her supple curves and soft flesh. The desire to explore what’s concealed under that white lace is too much. I pull back and look down into her beautiful face. Her hair is wild against my comforter, her breathing is labored, and the tender skin of her neck and shoulders are reddened where my slight five o-clock shadow has been rubbing.

She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I want to stay right here, right now in this moment for as long as humanly possible. I devour her with my eyes, committing to memory every curve, every facial expression. But when she smiles up at me, my resolve snaps completely and my need to bury myself inside of her is too great.

My hands are touching her lace covered mounds in a second, tweaking the pink nipples I see straining against the thin material. My mouth is covering one small nipple an instant later, and Josselyn moans and withers underneath me as I suck her erect peak into my warm, wet mouth.

My other hand continues to squeeze and play with the other breast while I show her a little attention with my mouth. After a few minutes, when there’s no hiding how incredibly turned on she is, I show the same attention to the other, sucking and licking through the lace.

“Travis. Please,” she whispers.

I look up at her stunning face and can tell how close she is to losing control, too. “Please, what?” I ask.

“I need you,” she whispers, eyes firmly locked on my own. I see the fire blazing within those hazel eyes like an inferno of desire. I know that this moment – the look on her beautiful face – will be with me for the rest of my life.

I sit up and start to unbutton her black slacks. I reach down and remove her flats, throwing them somewhere into the recesses of my darkened bedroom. I return to her pants and quickly lower her zipper. Josselyn is wearing brightly colored cotton panties and as I lower the pants around her hips, I can see just how affected she is right now by the wetness of the material at the apex of her legs.

I stand up, making quick work of removing her pants the rest of the way, and making even quicker work of removing my own. I’ve never felt this hurried before, this overwhelming desire to get naked with anyone before in my life. I want to take my time with her, really I do, but I just can’t. I’m obsessive. Possessed.