Chapter Thirteen

Jon pulled up outside Erin’s townhouse a short time later, parking and jumping out in two seconds flat. Erin didn’t give him time to open her door; instead, she hopped out and led him up the walk to the front door without saying a word.

They fell into her bed a few minutes later, hungrily taking as much from each other as they would give, tangled in pure physical desire and lust. Their movements were quick and smooth, their breathing in tandem. After a sweaty thirty minutes, their exhaustion got the best of them and they fell into a deep sleep, entwined in each other’s arms.

The next morning dawned cold and gray and Erin awoke early. Gently slipping from Jon’s strong arms, she rose and padded to the bathroom. She flicked on the mirror lights and winced at her disheveled appearance in the glass. Her hair was matted, her cheeks flushed, her lips slightly bruised, and she distinctly smelled the musky scent of sex all over her naked body.

She shook her head once again at the irony of the situation in which she found herself: despite her guilt, she continued to act against her better judgment. The words of a song written by the man in the next room, in her bed, came floating across her wary mind:

Knowing what we’re doing’s wrong
But better left unsaid

Erin sighed and stepped over to the shower, twisting the faucet on and allowing the water that poured out to heat up before she stepped inside.

Goosebumps rose on her skin as the hot water rained down on her body, seeming to add to the intensity of her thoughts. She flipped the top of a green bottle open and squirted some of the gel onto her pouf, filling the steamy air with the scent of apples.

As she lathered up and began to smooth the sudsy mesh over her body, she decided she had to stop being so irresponsible. Tawna had been right last night – she needed to stop leading Jon on and reign herself in, no matter how much the man teased her emotions and hormones. He was as sexy as anything and the fantasy of a million women, and Erin had to admit that she’d much prefer to keep him all to herself – and damn, the fact that he wanted her too made her pulse quicken at the very thought.

But it was wrong. She was a taken woman, dating another man, and she was disgusted with herself every time she realized that despite every way she thought of to sugarcoat it, the fact remained that she was cheating. There was only one way to remedy that: pick a side.

Erin knew which side she wanted. It came in the form of blonde, muscled, and tan, with a voice that sent shivers up her spine and eyes that made her knees buckle with one gaze upon her. Max just simply did not, and could not, compare. While it seemed shallow to pick sides based on which man gave her better sex, the truth was that Erin was done with Max. She’d never really seen a future with him, and his clingy possessive nature was becoming more and more annoying. He was a nice guy, and he really hadn’t done anything wrong, which led Erin back to the guilt trip. But sometimes relationships just didn’t work out. It was trial and error…and Max had ended in error.

Erin reached for the bottle of shampoo on the caddy rack and frowned when it produced barely enough shampoo to work up a lather. Sighing rather huffily, she pulled back the curtain to retrieve a new bottle from under the sink. She was met by the sight of Jon, standing fully bare, in the doorway, and she started.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Hi, I had no idea you were there.” She shrank slightly behind the curtain and looked at him expectantly. “Did you just wake up?”

Jon nodded, looking ridiculously cute to Erin with his tousled hair and sleepy eyes. “Yeah. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I heard the water running and the thought of you in here naked by yourself was too good to pass up.” He grinned and closed the door behind him. “Mind if I join you?”

Erin hesitated, her train of thought entirely thrown off by the sight of him standing there. Her blood began to race again and she mentally smacked herself around a bit, lecturing herself fiercely before the devil in her took over and decided that she’d have a bit more fun before it was time to be responsible. “I, uh, sure…I mean, of course…” she smiled, and recomposed quickly. “But first you need to get me some more shampoo – it’s under the sink.”

Jon retrieved the bottle and Erin stepped aside to let him in. Setting the bottle down on the tiled floor, he shivered delightfully at the hot water raining down on his back, and immediately reached out for her. Wrapping his arms around her, he snaked a hand up her back and behind her head to pull her face closer to his.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he smiled against her lips before he kissed them fully. Erin melted against their softness; after the intensity of their passion, the simplest of kisses was luxuriously decadent.

“So have you already washed up, or do I get the pleasure of doing it for you?” Jon’s eyes sparkled, and Erin nearly lied outright just for the sake of feeling his hands over her wet body. Instead, she nodded slyly.

“Sorry, Slick, but I’ve already had the pleasure. I was about to wash my hair when you so rudely interrupted my private time.” She tried not to smile, but failed. Forever the tease, she kneeled down to pick up the shampoo bottle and took her time rising up again, enjoying the view of the full length of his body as she did so.

Jon watched her with amusement: such a playful, beautiful and naughty thing she was. When she was face level with him again, he wordlessly reached for the shampoo and squirted some into his hand. “Turn around,” he instructed.

Erin did as told and closed her eyes when she felt his fingers gently massaging her scalp. He worked the lather through her hair to the roots and trailed down to the ends where they clung to her back, his fingertips on her skin sending shivers up her spine. The scent of oranges filled the steamy room, reminding Erin of the first time Jon had stayed until morning.

She allowed him to take his time as he finished the job, lovingly sifting through her thick blonde tresses as he rinsed them with the cascading stream of water. Finally she turned around and grabbed the shampoo, “My turn.”

She returned the simple favor, gently lathering and rinsing his beautiful hair as he sighed contentedly. She found an odd and deep satisfaction in the ability to give him such comforting pleasure: it was one thing to blow his mind in bed, but to be able to touch upon this sensitive, sensual side was almost more rewarding.

They continued in this vein for some time, allowing the room to grow heavy with steam before their play turned serious. As desire overtook them both again, Jon pressed Erin against the shower wall and crushed his mouth down on hers, his tongue begging entry. She accepted him willingly, and they kissed forcefully for a minute or so before Jon lifted her into his arms. In mimicry of their tryst in the clubroom, she wrapped her legs around his waist as he entered her, immediately setting off her labored breathing.

He drove into her until she cried out his name, shuddering between his body and the hard wall behind her. He held her more tightly, trembling as his own climax overtook him and he joined her in ecstasy, moaning her name in her ear. “God, Erin,” he breathed. “You’re incredible…”

Erin ignored the gnawing feeling at the back of her mind and wrapped her arms around his shoulders more tightly, kissing the soft skin.

They stood for a bit before detangling themselves from each other and relaxing their tensed bodies. Erin shut off the water and they took turns drying each other off with the soft towel she retrieved from the linen closet, continuing their play from before.

When they were dry, Jon dressed in his clothes from the night prior, and Erin wrapped herself in a plush robe hanging off the back of the door before disappearing into her closet to find something to wear.

Realizing that she hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon, she called from the depths of her clothes, “Hungry?”

“Hell yeah," Jon replied. "You worked up an appetite in me, woman."

“Good,” she replied, emerging from the closet with her outfit of choice and throwing it on the bed. “Because I’m starved.”

“If you tell me where the breakfast fixin’s are, I’ll whip something delicious up,” Jon tempted.

“God, sexy and knows how to cook? Where have you been hiding all my life?”

Jon grinned. “Too far from where you were hiding from mine,” he replied, kissing her lightly and leaving the room. “I’ll find something and surprise you.”

“Thanks!” Erin called after him. She stood for a moment, watching his retreating figure. A mixed emotion of guilt and pleasure burned in her gut, and she sighed heavily before reaching for her clothes.

Twenty minutes later, the smell of eggs and bacon frying wafted up to Erin’s bedroom and her stomach gurgled again. Following the delicious smell downstairs, she found Jon at her stove, flipping bacon strips and eggs in a pan.

He looked up as she walked in and his eyes widened slightly. She had chosen a black turtleneck that hugged her curves and clung to her flat abdomen, setting off the long blonde hair that cascaded down her back freely. Her jeans showed off her hips and butt, and ended in socked feet that made her look comfortably casual and sexy at the same time. Jon whistled.

“You look beautiful.”

Erin smiled, “Thanks. This smells incredible!”

Jon flipped off the gas stove. “You’re just in time, too,” he said as he plated the food and brought it over to the table. “Breakfast is served.”

“Thank God, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last.” Erin teased as she hungrily started on the steaming bacon.

They ate until they had their fill, talking and laughing with each other like the first time. The time passed easily, neither of them paying attention until Jon reluctantly voiced that he had to get going. “I’ve got a meeting with Richie this afternoon, and he’ll kill me if I’m late. I should really get home and catch up on some work beforehand.”

Erin nodded. “It’s okay, I understand. Duty calls,” she winked.

Jon bent and kissed her deeply before reaching for his coat and keys. “Thanks again, baby. I’ll call you, okay?”

Erin smiled. “You better.”

She walked him to the door and closed it behind him, smiling to herself, before returning to the dining room to clear the breakfast dishes.

She jerked her head toward the window a minute later, however, when she heard his strangled yell. Hurrying outside, she saw him staring at something on the driver’s side of the car, cursing in disbelief. “What the fuck?!”

“What’s the matter?” Erin rounded the hood of the Aston Martin and stopped dead, her eyes widening in horror. She clapped her hand to her mouth and sucked in a breath at the awful sight that met her: both tires on the beautiful car had been slashed flat, and from hood to bumper, long, jagged scratches were etched into the sleek black paint.

Sunday, February 15, 2009