High Stakes, Hard Sell Ch. 02

He gazed at her hungrily. "Touch yourself."

"But..."

"I said touch yourself," he repeated in quiet, firm voice.

He wanted a show, it seemed, and she couldn't refuse.

Cheeks burning, she closed her eyes again and switched hands, holding the sweat-top out of the way with her left and finding her clit with the fingers of her right hand. In just a few quick strokes the arousal flared again and she bent her knees and rocked her hips forward to give herself a better angle.

"Open your eyes, Jane. Look at me," he said.

She did as he told her and looked down at him on the couch, sprawled haphazardly, right hand idly stroking his erection through his pants. His eyes were on her and she felt intensely self-conscious at first, then suddenly wild and uninhibited. She met his eyes and could read lust and a reckless, cocky confidence. He was in command, for now at least, and it suited him well.

"So close," she gasped as her fingers rubbed skillfully and her knees strained against the waistband of her pants. It was hard to stay quiet but she didn't want to have to stop now.

Mike was loving the wanton display; she could see it in his expression. Incredibly, she found she loved it too – it was new. It was dirty. It was over-the-top sexy and it felt really damn good! Having his gorgeous eyes on her made it so much better.

"Show me, Jane. Come," he whispered. He continued to rub himself absently, engrossed in her display.

And she did. The orgasm came over her in a rush and she felt the muscles of her core grip tight and then spasm as she stared into Mike's eyes. She grunted and slowed her fingers as the ecstasy rippled through her for several delicious seconds before fading away into warm, pleasant aftershocks. Jane stood, panting heavily, yoga pants still at mid-thigh, her right hand wet and sticky with her juices.

Mike stood, took her right wrist and raised it to his mouth. His expression was playful as he licked each of her fingers in turn as she fought for breath.

"Even better-tasting than I remember," he said.

She gave an exhausted smile, blushing at the realization of how she'd performed for him, of how far out of control she'd been. She'd never acted with such abandon before.

She'd loved it. And that worried her a little.

Mike had something she needed, and once she got it she'd be moving on. Strong feelings would only make it harder. It was fine to enjoy the sex, to give him what he needed to rebuild his trust, but it could never go further than that. She knew from experience love would lead to ruin.

"Regrets?" he asked, and she realized she'd allowed her expression to reflect her thoughts. She cursed herself for the amateur mistake.

"Just embarrassed," she replied. "Can I...uh," she gestured to her state of semi-dress.

"It does look a little untidy," he teased. "Maybe you could wear a nice short skirt from now on."

"Of course. I'd be happy to wear a short skirt and no panties in February," she said with more irritation in her sarcasm than she intended. "I'd hate to look untidy during thirteen hours of housework." It had been a long day.

He caught the tone and looked at her for a moment, then walked to the kitchenette and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. He held one out for her.

"Sounds like a complaint."

She almost denied it, then remembered his requirement for honesty. Ugh. She hiked up her yoga pants, very aware of her sticky legs and still-soaked pussy, then grabbed the bottle from him.

"Yes, it was a complaint. Sorry about that...I'm just kind of tired." Why was she apologizing? She never promised not to complain.

He looked at her for a few more moments, then shrugged. "Fine. I guess the skirt idea was kind of stupid. If you want, you can..."

"If it's what you want then I'll do it," Jane said, looking into his eyes. She didn't want him thinking the terms of the deal weren't binding – on her as well as on him.

He paused and seemed to be considering it, then flashed a wolfish smile. "You know what? I think it's what I want," he said. "But only after Nessa is in bed. During the day you can dress warm".

His smile was so wicked and so welcome that she couldn't help smiling back. It was the first genuine smile she'd coaxed out of him, even if it had been at her expense.

"I shouldn't have said anything," she said ruefully.

"The deal was your idea, if I remember," he countered. "And speaking of the deal, I guess there's counseling stuff now?" His expression turned sober.

She stepped in close, not willing to abandon the warmth of the moment quite yet. "Aren't we forgetting something?" Her hands dropped to the bulge in his pants and gripped gently.

"Thought you were tired."

"Never too tired for this," she said with a wink.

He glanced quickly at the bedroom door, then grabbed a throw pillow from the couch, stepped over to the counter in the kitchenette and beckoned to Jane with one finger.

"Kneel here," he said, tossing the pillow on the floor behind the counter.

"Such a sweet talker," she said with a brief eye-roll. She knelt on the pillow and could see the reason he'd picked this spot – she was almost totally concealed from the doorway of Nessa's bedroom. If they got interrupted, all Jane would have to do was stay where she was and let Mike handle everything. Apparently, being a single dad meant a lot of strategic thinking.

"Tsk tsk. So catty! Now you have to say 'please'," he said, not trying to suppress a smug grin.

"Are you serious?"

His amused expression was her only reply.

She delivered her most put-upon sigh. "Please?"

"Please what?"

"Please give me your cock, you arrogant bastard," she growled quietly.

"We'll have to work on your delivery," he said, but lowered his track pants and navy briefs.

He was already hard; her lewd display a few minutes ago had seen to that. It was a lovely cock. His second-best feature, aside from his eyes. Hair close-cropped. A perfect length and thickness, impressively framed by rock-hard abs and a sculpted groin and thighs.

She stroked it lightly with the fingers on her right hand and it twitched in response.

"Mmm. Take your top off," he whispered.

"Yes master," she said, in an overdone voice. She pulled the shirt up and over her head and set it beside her, freeing her breasts. He was getting a little too comfortable giving commands. All part of the deal, she supposed. If nothing else, they were bantering again – that had to be a promising sign for the future.

"That's the spirit," he chuckled.

She stroked his shaft gently with one hand and looked up at him impatiently. "Is there anything else, or can I get started?"

"Mmm, you look amazing, Janey," he said, his eyes roaming over her face and breasts. Compliments, too! Things were looking better and better.

"Keep talking like that," she said, then leaned forward to engulf his cock.

He felt smooth and hard and warm against her tongue and his deep groan as she sucked him was gratifying. His scent, his sounds and the feel of him inside her were familiar and strangely reassuring. Although he'd changed in the time they'd been apart, Mike was still, in many ways, the man she had known. The thought buoyed her.

Soon he began rolling his hips forward and she took him deeper into her mouth and began a faster pace. She kept her left hand on his oak-solid thigh to keep him from thrusting too deep, and slid her right hand between his legs, caressing his scrotum with her fingertips. His breath came in uneven gasps as she sucked and licked and stroked.

She pulled back slowly and looked up at him while slowly licking is cock head. He was looking down at her with mixed lust, gratitude and urgency. She winked up at him, then resumed her steady, deep strokes, determined to fill him with pleasure and banish any trace of unpleasantness.

She felt his hand rest lightly on the top of her head and knew he was close. She went deeper still, sealing her lips around his shaft, making each thrust tighter, deeper, wetter. His thrusting became more insistent and she allowed him deeper, holding his balls lightly in her palm and scratching them lightly with her fingernails.

She could feel his orgasm; his testicles lifted, shaft thickened, thrusting became more forceful and erratic. She heard it in his ragged breathing. His hand on her head became insistent, pushing her onto his cock more assertively. She felt his muscles rippling and quivering under her left hand. The mildly bitter taste of his cum as she swallowed. All of it struck a familiar chord in her. She'd always enjoyed his pleasure, always welcomed the chances to please him. It gave her a warm feeling to have done it once again.

Mike held his hand out to her and helped her stand, then retrieved her top from the floor and handed it to her, leering at her naked boobs in the process.

"See something you like?" she teased. "I suppose I could let the girls stay out a little longer." She wiggled her shoulders, giving her breasts an enticing bounce. His warm hands on her flesh would feel heavenly, as well as putting him in a very receptive state of mind. Win-win.

He gave an appreciative groan but his eyes flicked to the time display on the microwave. "It's getting kind of late," he said. "If you want your hour, we should get started."

Decision time. Settle for what had become a lovely evening, or push for even greater gains? Settling wasn't her style. She had just over two months to make things right, and not a moment to waste.

"Would you set up the chairs like last time?" she asked, then put her top on and went to her purse to retrieve her notes.

Mike set two chairs in the middle of the room facing one another and settled into one of them. She sat opposite him and took a deep breath. This had the potential to get ugly.

"What we're doing tonight is confessions," she said, careful to speak in a low voice. "Each of us will confess to how we hurt the other one. When one of us is speaking, the other one can't interrupt and has to just listen quietly."

He shook his head and she felt the mood sour quickly. "What for? We both know what happened. What's the point in dragging it all out again now?"

"Also, this isn't the time for apologies or excuses. That comes later. Confessions only," she finished, ignoring his objection.

"I still don't get what this will prove."

"It's to clear the air. We get everything out on the table so we can start to deal with it."

He sighed, clearly unhappy with the idea. "Fine. Who goes first?"

"I will," she said. The counseling website had advised her to go for full honesty. After all, there was only one chance to come clean; sugar-coating or evading would only ruin the effects of confessing when the truth inevitably came out later.

Baring her soul wasn't really in her nature, so she'd have to push out of her comfort zone. She'd practiced what she wanted to say, even rehearsed it in front of the mirror. But somehow, sitting across from him and seeing his expression made it harder, and she lost a bit of her enthusiasm. This was going to hurt him.

She took another deep breath, then met his eyes.

"I cheated," she said. He looked away, lips pursed.

She felt a welling inside her. Guilt? Sorrow? Impossible. It had been five years, and she'd moved on since then. Still, seeing how much it bothered him even now made her feel bad. She pressed on.

"I cheated. I had sex with Rob Dax, even though I knew you'd find out..." She stopped herself, then backtracked. "No...I had sex with Rob because I wanted you to find out."

"What?" He looked at her incredulously, clearly outraged. She started to feel worse. Her gut was telling her this was a bad idea. But the counseling website hadn't let her down so far...

"I knew you loved me. I knew you were going to propose – I found the ring in your underwear drawer. I knew you were a great guy and that cheating on you would break your heart and ruin the..."

She stopped when she realized, to her amazement, that she was going to cry. Real tears. What was happening to her? She sniffed and waited a moment to regain her composure. When she started again, she was shaking and couldn't meet his eyes.

"I knew it would break your heart and ruin the best relationship you...we...ever had. I knew it and...I was counting on it. So I went to Rob when he was in the gym by himself and we fucked. I sucked him and then he fucked me. And I hated it...every moment of it...and then I left and slept with you in your bed that night and waited for everything to blow up. I knew he'd spread the word around that he'd fucked me..."

The tears came then and it took a few minutes to clear them. He glared at her the whole time, lips pursed.

"It was the worst thing I ever did. And I did it on purpose. I'm so..." she cut herself off. No apologies, that was the rule.

"And then I made you hit me. You found out about Rob and your were furious and yelling at me and I knew exactly what to say to get you to..."

"No," he said in a hard voice.

"You're not supposed to interrupt," she said miserably.

"Fuck that. You don't get to take the blame for that part," he snarled.

She took a breath and let it out slowly.

"Okay, I'm done anyway. Your turn?" she whispered.

He was quiet for more than five minutes, arms folded, jaw set, staring at the wall.

"I loved you. I really did. I mean, I was all in. When I heard Rob running his mouth I didn't believe him but when I told you what he was saying and you confirmed it..." Mike lapsed into silence for several long minutes and it almost seemed like he'd decided not to continue. Finally he resumed.

"I lost control. One minute I'm yelling at you and the next thing I know you're on the floor and there's blood and you're not moving. And then they're loading you into the ambulance and I'm in handcuffs in the back of a cruiser...and I'm praying to God that some car runs a red light and t-bones the cruiser and kills me. My life was over at that point anyway. In that one moment I hurt you bad, put you in the hospital, scared you enough that you threatened to get a restraining order..."

"That was my sister's idea. She said..."

"Only a fucking coward beats up a woman, that's the bottom line. A guy who hits a woman deserves everything that happens to him," he said in a harsh voice.

Jane was stunned by his outburst. Stunned and worried that things had gone too far, that instead of clearing the air they had poisoned it. She fought through her own misery to try to think of a way to talk Mike down, to salvage some scrap of the welcome warmth she'd felt earlier in the evening.

"Mike, that's..."

"So yeah. I ruined everything in that one moment. I lost you, embarrassed my family, killed my self-respect. Almost got a criminal record. Fucked my career. But it was me who did that, not you. It was my fist. MY fault. I shouldn't have hit you." He was silent then, staring off at the wall, teeth clenched.

Jane struggled to think of the words that would end the session on a positive note. The goal of getting Mike's trust seemed further away than ever, if it not impossible. Even the tepid progress she'd make earlier that evening had been obliterated by a river of toxic emotion.

"I don't blame you," she said, but it sounded weak even to her.

He didn't respond immediately, remaining stone-silent for several more minutes.

"So, is the air clear enough now? Everything nicely laid out on the table?" he asked caustically. "You deliberately trashed our relationship for no reason. I hurt you bad and ruined my own life. Two good reasons why we should stay the hell away from one another. In fact, I think..."

"Daddy?"

Jane turned and saw Nessa in her pink pajamas peering hesitantly through the crack in her bedroom doorway. She turned back in time to see the change in Mike – the anger in his expression drained away and his voice became light and reassuring.

"Sorry, champ – was I being too loud?" He stood and set the chair back at the table.

Nessa nodded but stayed in the doorway.

"Jump in bed and I'll bring some water, okay?" The kid nodded again and disappeared into the dark room.

Mike filled a green, plastic cup half-full of water, then regarded Jane with a suddenly weary expression.

"Get out," he said softly, then walked past her towards the bedroom. The note of finality in his voice filled her with dread.

"It wasn't for no reason," Jane said in a quiet, firm tone.

"What?"

"I didn't trash our relationship for no reason. I loved you. I did it to protect you."

His laugh was mocking. "Yeah? Well I don't need that kind of protection, and neither does Nessa. Goodbye." With that he went to attend to his daughter, closing the bedroom door most of the way behind him.

Shaken, distraught and disappointed, Jane left. In the end, the whole evening had been a failure and had put her even further behind than where she'd started. She sighed. It was time to bring out the big guns...

**