Julian spoke up. “I’ve got your back, whatever happens. Whatever you need, man. I’ll be there.”
“Same here,” Drew offered.
“Me too,” Doug said before he resumed his snoring.
Sharing a laugh, we tossed some beer on Doug and dropped the subject before we spent the rest of the night bullshitting until the sun peaked on the horizon. Drunk and exhausted, I showered off the sand and climbed into bed with Koti, on my side.
“Have fun?” Koti asked as I pulled her to me and kissed her neck.
“Mmm,” I answered, shifting her leg to rest on my thigh and stretching her ready pussy with my fingers. Cupping her perfect tit, my cock grew unbearably harder as I brushed over her nipple with my thumb.
“You must be exhausted.” Reaching back, she ran her fingers through my hair. Her soothing touch a balm to cure the ache of needing her. “Aren’t you worn out?”
“Not yet,” I promised, placing tongue-filled kisses on her neck before biting into her shoulder.
“Ian,” she rasped out, as I pressed into her wet heat sliding in nice and slow in an attempt to save her from any more pain. “God, you feel so good.”
“So do you, beauty,” I whispered before I tilted her face back toward me with my finger and kissed her.
She felt too good, too right, but I was done dwelling on it. I had her now, I had her until I couldn’t have her and that had to be enough.
I gently fucked her, our eyes remained fixed on the other. Memorizing every gasp, every moan, I kept us connected, until I couldn’t take another second and spilled into her. After we’d both come down, I pulled her closer to me as I drifted to sleep.
THAT MORNING I WOKE UP to the feel of Ian’s arms around me. Deciding it was dangerous to bask in the sensation of being surrounded by him, I opted for a shower. By the time I tiptoed back into the bedroom, he was awake and sitting at the edge of the bed. Wordlessly I walked over to him when he stood, his eyes covering every inch of my exposed skin before they met mine. He gently pushed the wet hair away from my shoulder.
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I don’t want to.”
“What do you want from me, Ian?”
He paused, his thick brown hair a mess, his eyes etched with concern and tenderness.
“For the moment, it’s simple. You. And I want that to be okay. So, you tell me, is that okay?”
I’d already decided to roll the dice with Ian. There was no decision to make. He was worth it and so I nodded, giving him permission to break my heart. He kissed me long and hard before I pulled away. “You need a toothbrush, crocky.”
He chuckled before he tossed me onto the bed, his hard-on proudly displayed an inch from my face when I sat up. “Jeesh, you’re like a teenager with a new toy.” I motioned toward his erection.
“I know,” he said, waggling his brows. “But I have no time to be your pleasure prince this morning. We’re going deep sea fishing today. Want to come?”
“My pleasure prince?”
“Yep,” he said, leaning down to ruffle my hair like he did when we were kids because he knew I hated it.
“Your ego gets bigger and bigger every day.”
“Hey, I’m only gloating based on your screaming reviews. So, would you like to join us?”
“Join you out in the deep sea with only a life preserver if shit goes south? Uh, no thanks, but have fun.”
“You’ll be heavily guarded by four Marines.”
I scoffed. “Four ex-Marines way past their prime.”
“Ouch.” He scowled at me from where he stood and then looked down at his stiff cock. “Hear that, buddy? She’s trying to shoot us down. We’re not having that are we?” He made his way towards the bathroom, his perfect bare ass on display before he shut the door. He ticked my every box both intellectually and sexually. He was attentive and warm and had a huge capacity for love, which he proudly displayed whenever he spoke to his beautiful little girl. He was the perfect man to steal my heart, and I had zero doubts once he was done with it, it would never be the same.
Breakfast had been served by the time I got to the table. Everyone was munching down on freshly made eggs and crisp bacon, but when I went to grab a plate, I noticed Jasmine was missing.
Julian’s eyes met mine. “She’s taken the dog out.”
I walked out onto the porch as Jasmine jumped out of the hammock wiping at her eyes.
She dropped Disco on the porch who came running toward me. I picked her up and gave her a kiss. “Morning, baby.” Dispensing the puppy in the house, I moved to where Jasmine stood.
“Why are you crying? Did Julian do something?”
She shook her head adamantly and then smiled, which quickly turned into a grimace that had my heart splintering when she started crying again.
“Jasmine, please tell me what’s wrong. It’s physically hurting me to see you like this.”
“I just can’t stop doing this. I need to stop. I’m stopping.”
“Stopping what?”
“Being a slut, that’s what! I don’t know that man,” she said, pointing toward the house. “I don’t know these men I’m sleeping with. I don’t know why I can’t stop doing this or why I even started. Before Steven, I’d only slept with four men. I’m almost forty-one!”
“I thought you were thirty-nine?”
“See, I’m a liar too.” She cried harder and I couldn’t help my laugh.
“Babe, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not fun anymore. It hasn’t been for a while. If my prince charming is out there, he missed the map.”
“Are you sure this isn’t about Julian? Did he hurt you?”
“No, if anything he saved me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean for the first time in forever, I got an inkling. Like ‘maybe if he didn’t live in fucking Iowa, I may have a shot at something real and amicable’ type inkling.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, except I’m not moving to Iowa to test chemistry. I mean, who the hell chooses to live in Iowa?”
“Hey, Midwesterners are the best kind of people and our nicest clients.”
“True,” she sniffed, while tying her hair up on top of her head.
“So, you’re done and you’re going to hold out now, good for you. It will happen, Jasmine, and at least you know it’s possible.”
“Also true.”
“Okay then. No more tears.” I pulled her back down into the hammock with me and we started swinging.
“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she said with a sigh.
“You think you really like Julian?”
“Not to that extent.”
“Maybe you’re lonely and you’re admitting it to yourself now.”
“Probably.”
“Well, you don’t have to be lonely. You can come over anytime. And at least now you know what you don’t want.”
“I’ll still be a pervert.”
“Just a pervert who isn’t getting any,” I said, nudging her.
“That’s probably going to worsen my condition.”
“I can live with that.”
“Here I am crying, and you’re the one with real penis problems. God, I love him for you already. He could not keep his eyes off you all night. I swear it was so beautiful to see the way he looked at you. Maybe that’s what has me crying. Maybe I’m jealous.”
“That’s a good thing—not you being jealous—but wanting it for yourself. Though I really don’t think you have a reason to be.”
“Well, you were too busy cleaning to see it. So, I’m guessing you two had it out?”
“Oh, we had it out.” I grinned.
“Sounded like it,” she grinned back. I threaded her fingers with mine.
“You are the best, you know that? I couldn’t have ever gotten my shit together without you. You will too, you know. You’ll get there.”
“I think I’m there. And maybe I’m crying because the party is over.”
“Julian’s the last one, huh?”
“Tonight’s my last night. And I’m glad it’s with him. Nothing’s going to top that ass for a while. I’m cutting my losses.”
“Really?”
“God, yes. He was so good, he knocked me out.”
“Damn.”
She pressed her lips together to hide a guilty smile.
“What?” I prompted.
“He’s just turned thirty-one.”
My eyes bulged. “I didn’t realize he was that much younger than the rest of them.”
“Me neither, he’s seems more mature. I’m officially a cougar.”