L'Affaire

Ally turned to focus on Jack, who was setting his laptop aside and getting up from his seat on the couch. After the shower he changed into flannel pajama pants and a worn T-shirt advertising UC Davis School of Law. He'd done nothing with his hair out of the shower and it had dried into a wavy mop. He looked incredible and Ally wanted to shout to the world that he was hers—all hers—but he wasn't hers. She smiled through the familiar stab of hurt. "Are you being protective? That's adorable." Her voice was teasing but his eyes were serious, green pools of intensity drilling into her.

He quickly made his way to her and grabbed her by the waistband of her jeans, pulling her close. "Not protective, babe. Jealous. You should really start to recognize when your man is jealous, it's a good skill to have."

"You're kidding right? You? Jealous?" She worked at stilling her heart. Ally turned to focus on Jack, who was setting his laptop aside and getting up from his seat on the couch. After the shower he changed into flannel pajama pants and a worn T-shirt advertising UC Davis School of Law. He'd done nothing with his hair out of the shower and it had dried into a wavy mop. He looked incredible and Ally wanted to shout to the world that he was hers—all hers—but he wasn't hers. She smiled through the familiar stab of hurt. "Are you being protective? That's adorable." Her voice was teasing but his eyes were serious, green pools of intensity drilling into her.

He quickly made his way to her and grabbed her by the waistband of her jeans, pulling her close. "Not protective, babe. Jealous. You should really start to recognize when your man is jealous, it's a good skill to have."

"You're kidding right? You? Jealous?" She worked at stilling her heart. Your man. A figure of speech, that's all it was. She was in his bed, that was enough.

His hands were under her sweater, tugging it up. She instinctively lifted her arms as he pulled it over her head. "You're not wearing that shirt." His eyes fell to her chest and the lacy pink bra she wore. "Why are you wearing that bra? That bra is for me. I don't need you prancing around a bar with that flimsy thing under your clothes. What panties are you wearing?"

Ally laughed out loud and Jack gave her a dark look. He reached for the front of her jeans again and Ally stepped back, scooping her sweater off the floor and turning it right side out. "Are you kidding me? What is going on with you?"

He moved like a cat, his hand shooting out and making contact with her waistband. Before she knew what was happening Jack had the button open and the zipper down, exposing a swatch of pink lace. "The thong?" He was incredulous. "No. You're not leaving until you're wearing something appropriate."

Ally's hands lid up under his T-shirt, feeling hot, smooth skin that immediately made her want to kiss her way down his chest. "No one is going to see. And I wear these all the time."

"I'll know. I won't get any work done if you're out in your sex bra. And sure you wear them but not out drinking at whatever meat-market Nicki drags you to tonight."

She slid her hands along his waist and up his back, stepping closer to him. She could feel him hard against her stomach and smiled when she heard him emit a soft groan. "Don't you trust me?" She stood on her toes and pressed her hips to his, letting her lips brush the smooth line of his jaw. He was freshly shaved.

Jack pushed her jeans down her hips, cupping the bare skin of her ass in his hands. Squeezing, he said, "This. Is. Mine."

"I wasn't planning on giving it away."

His fingers found their way along the lace of her thong, tracing the line if her ass, pausing and putting slightly more pressure on her tight little hole before making his way further, where her pussy waited for his touch. Ally let her head fall back as first one, then two fingers slid inside her, unable to concentrate on anything other than the sensations, the feel of him inside her. She couldn't remember what they'd been talking about, didn't care. Jack's fingers had found a rhythm and she was cooing and rocking her hips into his hand, trying to give him better access.

"And this is mine," he said huskily, increasing his speed and probing deeper. "And you're not leaving this house dressed for picking up men."

Ally heard the words but couldn't put them together in a way that made sense. The only thing that made sense was the way his fingers pushed into her, the movements getting faster. Harder.

"Harder."

Jack obliged. "You have a man." Another finger swept over her clit and a chill went through her. Her whole body trembled and she let out a soft cry, as if from pain.

"Don't you?" he asked. His voice was intoxicating in her ear. He'd slowed his pace, lightened the pressure and suddenly she could think again.

"Don't stop."

"You have a man. Don't you?" Jack pulled his fingers out of her pussy and started tracing lazy circles around her clit, never quite making contact.

Ally's knees buckled but somewhere in all this he'd snaked his hand around her waist and she was able to lean against him, dig her nails into the skin of his back as she tried to hold on. "Yes." Her voice was throaty and hoarse. She wanted to melt into him, to fuse their bodies where they stood and stay like this, trapped in time.

Jack broke contact, pushing her away from him. Ally's eyes followed him as he backed away toward the couch. He sat and crooked a finger for her to follow. She went. He leaned back into the couch and opened his legs, making room for her in between them. Ally kneeled in front of him and looked up at him. She saw desire, but she saw something else, too--something hiding behind it, as if embarrassed to be seen. Need?

The flannel pajama bottoms opened the way boxers did, and she didn't have to pull them down to expose his erection. His hand cupped her cheek, and she could feel where his fingers were still damp, could smell herself on him. "Ally."

She bent down, into his lap, letting the head of his cock rest on her lips. She moved her face back and forth to spread his pre-cum as if she were putting on lip-gloss and Jack watched, entranced. Her tongue darted out and he felt his body react to the sight of her, on her knees in front of him. His dick throbbed. She was beautiful. Who knew they came this beautiful? And every day she came home to him. The knowledge of it thrilled him. There'd never been a woman with this much pull on him, this much power over him. He thought about her all the time; while driving, on business lunches, in conference rooms, sitting in his office staring at his computer screen just thinking of her. Ally.

But she held herself at a distance and it perplexed and infuriated him. He'd spent every night for three weeks before she'd relented and given him a key and some space in her closet. And she still refused to tell her friends they were together. Why? Was it so embarrassing, being with him? Was it so shameful? He had a good job. A nice car. A house (true, it was barely furnished, but it was still a house). Did she just hate lawyers? She was like no other woman he'd ever dated but everything he'd tried to stay away from.

He needed to focus on his career. He needed to be dating blond social-climbers who got pedicures, not feisty red-heads who give pedicures. He shouldn't be so involved, so wrapped up in someone. But here she was, his angel, with her mouth around his cock.

Her lips closed around him and Jack lost his train of thought. She sucked at him while her tongue slid up and down his cock, adding to the sensations and sending heat flooding to his crotch. He lifted his hips, rocking back and forth slightly while she sucked him deeper into his mouth. He felt the roof of her mouth, way in the back, as his cock started to meet resistance. Her cheeks were sunken and her nostrils flared as she tried to keep filling her lungs. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

She pulled away and smiled up at him, teasingly dragging her tongue up the length of his cock from base to tip as their eyes met and held.

"Tonight, Ally," he said, suddenly sure. "I want you to tell her about us. I want you to do it tonight."

Ally froze, her eyes suddenly wide, and frightened, a deer caught in headlights. He saw her throat move as she swallowed and searched her face for signs of a positive reaction underneath the negative. Ally leaned back on her heels, away from him. Her hair was disheveled, her lipstick worn away, probably smeared all over his groin. She shook her head.

"Ally—"

"No!" It came out as a strangled sob, and she quickly fought the surge of emotion and steadied herself. "Not tonight," she said, more calmly now. "Please, Jack, not tonight. I just need more time before I—"

"What is so wrong about us, Ally, that you can't even tell your best friend?" He was angry now, and they both saw it, recognized the path they were traveling. Ally dipped her head to pull him into her mouth again and started bobbing up and down, so far down his dick hit the back of her mouth and started the journey into her throat. She'd never throated him before and it was heaven. He didn't want the feeling to stop but he pulled her head up and off of him.

"Not tonight. Just—just not tonight. Let me make it up to you, I just can't say anything tonight."

"Make it up to me? And how do you want to make it up to me? You wanna keep sucking my cock and pretend that I'm not asking you for more?" Ally winced. She'd never seen him act like this, lash out like this. The silence that passed while he waited for an answer was filled with tension.

"What?" Ally said, a pleading in her voice that she wished didn't betray her feelings. "What do you want?"

Jack motioned to his lap. "Go ahead. Make it up to me." His voice was like ice, like he was a different person, and Ally felt panic rise in her chest. She didn't want to lose him, not like this. She didn't want them to end on a bad note.

"Jack," Ally whispered. She ached to hold him, to make things right again, but she didn't know how.

Jack reached out to her, grabbing the back of her head and leading her face down to his lap. "Is this what you want? Just sex? Then get to work."

With his other hand he grabbed his dick and put it between her lips, pushing down on the back of her head until he filled her mouth. Ally was frozen, not sure of what to do, how to react. Is this what he would be satisfied with? Being able to order her around as if she were a prostitute in exchange for his silence?

He closed a fist around a handful of hair and Ally winced in pain. Jack noticed and immediately loosened his grip, but his voice didn't warm. "Suck my cock and pretend you aren't embarrassed to be fucking me." She froze, tried to pull away, but he held her head down. Is that what he thought? That she was embarrassed? It was such a ridiculous notion that it never occurred to her that that's what he might believe. What other reason would she possibly have for keeping their relationship a secret from her friends? She wasn't sure if it was her heart in her throat or just his dick as he held her in place.

"Suck it!" he suddenly shouted and Ally complied, she didn't know how else to react and couldn't lift her head anyway. Her heart was racing and she thought it might burst if she didn't tell him soon. She couldn't bare the thought of him thinking she was ashamed to be with him. Why would he think that? Is he insane? Did he not realize he was the perfect man?

She resumed bobbing up and down over his erection and Jack released his grip on her head, but let his hand rest on top of her head. In case she changed her mind? Ally couldn't very well tell him she had fallen stupidly in love with him but she could at least show him she wanted to please him. She closed her mouth around the tip of his cock and lapped at his head with her tongue, letting the tip of her tongue linger over the tiny hole, trying to get an advance taste of him. He strained into her. "That's right," Jack muttered, letting his head fall back against the cushions. "That's it."

Ally increased her suction and started feeding him, inch by inch, deeper into her mouth until she thought she would gag. The way he groaned in response made her push onward, slowly taking more of him on, her breathing ragged. Surely people weren't expected to breathe through their noses, she couldn't get enough air. She pressed forward, as if she had something to prove. Jack's hips bucked in response and his hands settled on either side of her head.

Jack worked at controlling himself. He was angry and he knew it showed. He didn't want to hurt her but her throat felt so tight and hot around him that he couldn't resist rocking into her face, as if fucking her mouth. She was struggling for air and he knew he had to finish soon or she'd pass off. He let out a grunt as his groin exploded and he felt cum gush from cock to spill down her throat. He shook and bucked as wave after wave of his orgasm lapped at him and he was just coming back to earth when he heard a knock on the door.

Jack released her head and his softening cock slipped from her lips, which looked puffy and red and generally like she'd just been fucked in the mouth. "I thought you told her to park outside and honk. Why risk letting her know you're hiding the hunchback of Notre Dame in the apartment?"

Jack stood and stepped over her as if she were just a piece of furniture in the way and her throat swelled as her eyes filled with tears. "Jack," she said softly, scrambling to her feet. He kept walking. "Jack." This time she said it loudly, loudly enough for someone standing on the other side of the door to hear. He stopped walking but didn't turn around. Ally was shakey on her feet. Her knees were protesting the extended time on the hard-wood floor in the living room and she felt short of breath in general.

"I'm not embarrassed. I—I just don't want her pity when you find someone else, someone your type. She's my best friend and I don't want to be uncomfortable around her when you move on." It was a relief to put it into words, to let him know her biggest insecurity. As the silence stretched between them she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. She'd said too much. She'd scared him away.

Suddenly he was a like cat again, had turned and was stalking toward her swiftly, a fierce pained look on his face. "What the fuck are you babbling about, Ally? Someone more my type? And just what is my type?"

The doorbell rang. Ally swallowed hard. She wasn't going to cry. "Look, we both know I'm not exactly destined to be a lawyer's wife. We both know we can't play house indefinitely."

Jack looked genuinely perplexed, and, what was it this time? Sad? God, she didn't want his pity.

"You're right, Ally. You're not exactly destined to be the lawyer's wife." Great. Why didn't he just punch her in the stomach? The doorbell rang and she heard Nicki pound on the door. "Al?" Nicki yelled, still banging. Jack had her face in his hands now and he was forcing her to look into his eyes. He looked so sincere. "You're destined to be my wife."

Ally held her breath. Had he just said—

"I've never been with anyone like you Ally, I know that if you look at the women I've been with something doesn't quite fit. But it's not you that doesn't fit, Ally. It's them. They were wrong all along."

"Don't make me get the super to wake your ass up!" Nicki's voice came through the wall. Jack gave the door a sour look. "Jesus, she's still a pest."

Ally stepped out of his arms, reached for the button on her jeans and pulled the zipper up. Jack watched in interest as she pulled the tight pink cashmere top over her head and worked at straightening her hair. Jack's heart felt like it would burst as she walked toward the door. She was going to open it. She was going to tell Nicki about them.

Ally threw one last glance over her shoulder and the look of hope and pride on Jack's face made her want to dance. She was his, because he wanted her to be. She swung the door open and revealed Nicki, who stood waiting in a black suede pants and a white button down blouse. Once again, Ally had lost the best-friends-outdressing-one-another competition, but she didn't care. Nicki narrowed her eyes and looked suspiciously at Ally, as if she were afraid to come in.

"What?" Nicki asked. "What is if? What's with the goofy grin? And what the hell happened to your make-up."

"I'm in love with your brother," Ally said simply.

Nicki rolled her eyes and walked past her into the apartment, throwing a rueful glance at Jack. "Uh, yeah. What? Am I retarded? Like it's a coincidence every time I come to pick her up there's a black Porsche Carrera parked down the block?"