Perv (7 page)

He leaned on the counter, brushed his teeth, and stumbled toward his bed as though drunk.

“Holy hell,” he said aloud into the silence. “What has that woman done to me?” He wiped a hand down his face and relaxed into the mattress.

He was fucked. Sure, technically he hadn’t taken his pants off, but there was no way in hell he could keep a straight face in front of her at the wedding. She’d rearranged his brain cells in one day and left them scattered. It would be a wonder if he could make complete sentences by tomorrow. If he looked her in the eye, he would never be able to hold his composure. All he would see would be her mussed hair and glazed expression as she came for him. Hell, she came at his command.

She hadn’t just come, she’d stripped for him and followed every direction he’d given her.

He groaned and turned over, trying to get comfortable.

He hadn’t done anything so vanilla for years, though he was certain she would describe the experience as anything but vanilla. For him it had been. Other than directing her verbally to do his bidding, he hadn’t used any sort of restraint or toy on her body at any point. He hadn’t swatted her skin anywhere. He’d enjoyed the redness brought on by her embarrassed flush, and that had been enough for him. For the first time in years, he hadn’t needed that extra edge to get a woman off or raise his own ardor.

“I’m so fucked,” he muttered into the pillow.

He’d been involved in BDSM for over five years. At thirty it was a way of life for him. He’d had many willing partners at the club he belonged to, some he’d even had exclusive relationships with on occasion. He’d never brought someone home. Actually, he realized, it had been a while since he’d fucked a woman.

Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he’d been so bulldozed by Jenna because he hadn’t gotten laid in some time.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that
.

Half the time when he was with a woman at the club, they didn’t end up having intercourse. His passion was domination. That didn’t always equate to sex. His rocks got hard when he controlled a woman, but he didn’t always fuck her in the end. Sometime he handled it himself at home later, and sometimes his dick went down by then and he let it go.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted to fuck a woman as bad as he’d wanted Jenna tonight. No, that wasn’t entirely correct. He’d wanted to make love to her.

And behind his lust, one thought niggled in the back of his mind.
“She has baggage. A lot of baggage,”
Rafe had said.

He groaned again into his pillow.
So, so fucked.

•●•

Jenna awoke to an incessant buzzing sound that wouldn’t stop. She pulled her pillow over her head and tried to block out the noise.

It didn’t work.

She flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
Phone
. The idea registered slowly.
Wedding. Shit
. Jenna scrambled out of bed and then paused when her feet hit the ground. Her entire body ached. She groaned as she took a step toward the bathroom. When she stopped in front of the mirror, she was shocked.

She looked…awful. “Just fucked” wasn’t a good look on her. Judging by the dim light coming in the window, it was early. She’d slept hard with no memory of moving since… Her eyes shot open wider. Mason had tucked her into bed and left her there—totally not fucked.

Tousled hair and sleepy eyes weren’t on the menu for the day.

Jenna flipped on the shower and padded toward the living room totally naked to grab her purse and retrieve her phone.

She smiled when she saw the missed call from Katy and hit redial.

“You’re up,” Katy declared as though this were the greatest thing she’d ever learned.

“Apparently.”

“Well, get over here. I can’t do anything without you. I’m wandering around picking things up and setting them back down at random. My mind won’t work.”

Jenna laughed. “I’m on it. Mocha latte?”

“Yum. You’re the best. See you soon.” Katy hung up.

Jenna jumped in the shower and was dressed and ready to go within fifteen minutes. She didn’t need to do her hair or makeup this early. They had appointments for everything throughout the day.

She grabbed the hanging bag with her dress in it, the box with her shoes, and her makeup kit and was on the road before she could deliberate over what had happened last night in her kitchen.

In fact, she avoided that room altogether. She’d pick up muffins with their coffee. There was no rule that said breakfast had to come from anywhere near that island in the kitchen. Just glancing at it made her flinch.

How had Mason managed to totally debase her in her own home without taking off his shirt?
Ugh
.

A half hour later, Jenna precariously balanced everything in her arms, using her chin to support the coffee as she stepped up to the front door of the house Katy had lived in with Rafe for five months. Rafe wouldn’t be there. He’d stayed with one of the groomsmen last night to support Katy’s sense of tradition.

The door flung open, and Katy beamed at Jenna before she could reach for the knocker. Good thing too, since Jenna couldn’t quite picture with what part of her body she was going to knock. “You’re here.”

Apparently
. The woman was overly chipper. It was her wedding day, however, so she deserved to smile broad and giggle a lot. Jenna needed about another hour and this steaming cup of coffee before she could catch up. Mornings were not her friend.

As soon as she set everything down on the kitchen table, hooking the dress bag over a chair, she turned toward Katy and smiled. “So what’s first? After the coffee I mean.”

Katy ran off a list of the morning’s exciting lineup. Nails, hair, makeup, flowers. “What time do you have to be at Ribbons and Bows?”

“My employees will handle most of it, so I can be with you. But I’ll need to stop by later this morning and make sure they have everything under control. And I’ll pop into the church when they’re setting up to supervise.” Jenna’s hand shook as she reached for her coffee. She was yammering about flowers, but her mind was fixated on one thing—Mason.

Katy narrowed her gaze at Jenna and stepped closer. “Oh. My. God.” She circled Jenna, her gaze roving up and down Jenna’s body.

Jenna glanced down and smoothed her T-shirt over her favorite comfy jeans. It wasn’t like they needed to be dressed to the nines this morning. What was the matter? “What?”

“You totally fucked him, didn’t you?” Katy put her hands on her hips and lifted her gaze to Jenna’s. “You
did
. I can’t believe it.”

Jenna shook her head in denial, but her face heated to explosive territory.

“Don’t try to deny it. It’s written all over your face, and you haven’t made eye contact with me since you entered the house.”

Jenna did so now. She landed her gaze directly on Katy’s and tried not to squirm under her best friend’s scrutiny. How had she ever thought to get away with so much as touching that man?

“Why? I told you to keep your hands to yourself. Mason isn’t your type. He’s going to hurt you.” She shook her head in disappointment.

“I didn’t—”

“Don’t try to lie about it. I know you like a twin knows her sister. Fess up.” She cocked one hip out to the side and tipped her head, narrowing her gaze.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like, exactly?” Katy held up a hand. “On second thought, no details please.”

Jenna chuckled, but it sounded strained. “He was a perfect gentleman.”
If by gentleman you mean a man who manages to hypnotize his impromptu date and lures her down a path of debauchery. All while keeping his clothes on…

“Right.” Now Katy laughed, hard. “The day Mason is allowed that noun in the same sentence with his first name is the day I peel my clothes off and run down the street stark naked and raving mad.”

He could probably convince you to do so, actually
. “What I mean is,” Jenna nibbled her lower lip, “he didn’t fuck me, at least not with his cock.”

Katy leaned in. “Pardon?”

“Do we have to discuss this now? It’s your wedding day. Let’s make it all about you and leave my weird evening for another time. Huh?”

Katy shook her head. “No way. Spill. Explain yourself.” She pulled out a chair, sat, and grabbed her coffee, leaning back to enjoy the saga.

Reluctantly Jenna did the same opposite her friend, kicking herself for being such an open book. “Don’t get me wrong. I wanted him to. By the time we got to my apartment, I was a ball of need, and I couldn’t have cared less who warned me off him. I wanted that man between my legs more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

Katy grinned. She was losing her anger. “So what happened?”

“So he…cast a spell on me, I guess. There’s no other way I can possibly describe how he managed to get me to strip for him.”

“You did a strip tease?” Katy leaned forward on her elbows, intrigued.

“No. Nothing like that.”
Or maybe, yes, everything like that
. “He’s very—controlling, demanding. Ya know?”

Katy rolled her eyes. “Do I ever.” She didn’t elaborate, and Jenna let it go.

“I guess I did…sort of. I stripped anyway, and he scrambled my brains with his intense stare, his commanding words, and his talented fingers.” Jenna closed her eyes at the memory.

“Oh God. This is bad. You have a hard-on for him, don’t you?”

Jenna laughed. “A hard-on? Me?” She shook her head. “Never. Hey,” she stiffened and looked Katy in the eye, “please don’t mention my family situation to him, okay?”

Katy nodded. “Of course. You know I would never do that, anyway. You don’t even have to ask. And Rafe would never say a word, either.”

“Thank you. I just want to be perceived as a normal, regular human living a normal, regular life.”

Katy took her arm. “I know, and you’ve worked hard to earn that right. I would never do anything to jeopardize what you’ve built for yourself. Nevertheless, you need to listen to me. This thing…with Mason… It’s a train wreck waiting to happen, I tell you. Mason has secrets too.”

“What secrets?”

“Hey, I’m no more at liberty to divulge Mason’s past than I am yours.” She lifted her hands in the air. “But I need you to hear me.” Katy stood. She bounced her way toward the sink and grabbed two paper towels from the holder. When she returned and took her seat once again, she grabbed for the muffins and set about peeling hers out of the wrapper. She didn’t look at Jenna’s face again as she spoke. “Please, just… God, Jenna.” She lifted her gaze. “Can’t you trust me on this one?”

“Sure,” Jenna agreed. She reached for the other muffin, but she never tasted it. She concentrated on Katy’s warning for several minutes while she examined the pastry.

•●•