Chapter 13

Gwen usually didn’t mind living on an island. Sure, you couldn’t get some things as quickly as you could in a bigger city. It took sometimes up to two weeks to get packages from online retailers, depending on the weather.

But today, Gwen wished she lived in a bigger city. Even a decent-sized town would suffice. But here on Hazel Island, she had nowhere to go to buy new lingerie for her upcoming night with Jack.

At the general store, Gwen perused the pathetically bare racks of oversized nightgowns. Most of them either had fish on them or the Seattle Seahawks logo. Hardly the sexy type of stuff she wanted to buy. Just the thought of her opening the door to Jack, while she wore a huge nightgown with a gaping salmon on it, made her giggle.

The store had a few packs of underwear that Gwen couldn’t tell if they were for men or women. Maybe they were unisex. Sighing, she gave up looking, only nearly to run into Helen.

“Watch where you’re going! Oh, it’s you.” Helen pursed her mouth. “You nearly ran me over, you know.”

“Sorry. I was just distracted.”

“Hmm. That seems to be a theme with you lately. Yesterday I saw you stepping into your car, and you didn’t even hear me call your name. Or maybe you were just ignoring an annoying old lady.”

Gwen felt her face heat. “I wasn’t ignoring you.”

Helen didn’t seem convinced. She glanced over at the packs of underwear, picking up one of them.

“I appreciate that this place just has the essentials. Small, to the point. But a shame they don’t have more vegan things. When I asked an employee if they had vegan cheese, she looked like her head was about to explode.”

Gwen had to restrain herself from tapping her foot. Normally, she didn’t mind having these short chats with guests and island residents. It was simply the nature of where she lived.

But now, she needed to figure out what the hell she was going to wear tomorrow night when Jack came over. Did she have time to take the ferry down to one of the suburbs outside of Seattle? Or would she need to go into the city itself? She needed to figure out what she was looking for...

“Now I know you’re ignoring me.” Helen clucked her tongue. “Did you hear a word I just said?”

Gwen considered lying. Instead, she admitted sheepishly, “No, I didn’t. I just have a lot going on.”

Before Gwen could make her exit, who should appear but Jack Benson himself? He didn’t see Gwen or Helen, as his attention was on something in the next aisle over. But Gwen would recognize that dark hair and broad shoulders anywhere.

Helen looked over to where Gwen was staring. She raised her eyebrows. “He is quite a snack. I don’t blame you there.”

Reaching over to the rack of nightgowns, Helen pulled out a white one with lace edging. It looked like it had come straight out of an episode of ~Little House on the Prairie. ~The cherry on top, though, was the huge fish plastered on the front with the slogan Gone Fishin’ below it.~

Helen held the nightgown up, assessing how Gwen would look wearing it.

“You need something to get that man’s attention. Go over to his place wearing this, and he’ll lose his mind,” said Helen sagely.

Gwen struggled to contain her laughter. When Jack turned and spotted her, Helen still holding up the nightgown, he raised an eyebrow in question.

Gwen took the nightgown from Helen, stuffing it into her basket, blushing to the roots of her hair. The last thing she needed was Jack to think she was going to wear something as unsexy as this stupid nightgown!

“I have to go,” said Gwen. She waved at Jack as she passed, not wanting to have a chat with him. He just gave her another confused look and waved back, frowning.

Gwen was too nice to stuff the nightgown in some random spot for an employee to find later. Sighing internally, she paid for the monstrous thing while ignoring the smirk on the teenage cashier’s face.

* * *

The universe seemed intent on not allowing Gwen to buy pretty lingerie. One thing after another snagged her attention, and by Saturday morning, she knew she didn’t have time to go buy something.

She’d just have to make do with her boring cotton bra and panties. Jack hadn’t seemed to mind them when she’d come to his before. Then again, that night she hadn’t been thinking about something as mundane as her underwear.

By the time seven o’clock rolled around, she knew she’d probably gone overboard. She had stew in the crockpot along with an assortment of bread, cheeses, meats, and fruits. She had three different kinds of wine. She’d even bought an entire cheesecake that was defrosting in the fridge. Even a guy like Jack would struggle to eat all this food.

She’d done her hair and her makeup, vacillating between a glamorous look or something more natural. She realized as she was trying to tame her curls that she didn’t know what Jack himself preferred.

She was touching up her eye makeup when the doorbell rang. Her heart pounding, Gwen hurried to open the door, forcing herself to pause a moment to take a deep breath.

Jack held a bouquet of flowers and was wearing a button-up shirt. Gwen didn’t know if she’d ever seen him wear a shirt like that. She would’ve assumed he didn’t own one.

By the time Jack was sitting on her couch, Gwen moved the platters of bread and cheese to the living room. “Do you want anything to drink? Do you want a bowl of stew? I wasn’t sure if you were going to eat before you came over—”

As Gwen was setting down a bowl of grapes, Jack said, “Gwen. Sit.”

She sat down.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

Considering she was about to tear her skirt in half, she had to stop from laughing hysterically. “How can you tell?”

“You haven’t stopped moving since I got here, for one.” He moved so his knee was touching hers. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. We can take this as slowly as you want. If you still want it.”

Gwen’s head shot up. “I do. I really do. I just get too inside my head. I’m also worried it’ll be a repeat of last time.”

Jack snagged the glass of wine and handed it to her before picking up his own. “Don’t think about the what-ifs. Just enjoy what’s happening right now.”

Gwen nodded. He was right. She needed to stop spiraling inside her head. If she weren’t careful, she’d scare Jack away. It was a miracle that she hadn’t done that already.

The wine soon made her nerves less jangled. Warmth spread through her limbs. She ate a little bit, but by the second glass of wine, Gwen was feeling like all her worries had faded into the background.

Jack smiled at her. “Your face is flushed,” he said.

“Is it? Oh, it’s warm. Wine does that to me. It’s annoying.”

“It’s cute.”

He brushed his fingers across her cheek, making her shiver. Soon, he’d entwined his hand with hers, and then he was kissing her.

Her heart nearly burst at the touch of his lips. Why was it that each time they kissed, it felt like the first time? It was like he had some magician’s spell that enthralled her. Or maybe it was simply that Jack Benson was a hell of a kisser.

He seduced her with his lips, his tongue, even his teeth. His hands wandered down her back, but always above her clothes. He kept kissing her at a steady pace, like he would be content kissing her for the entire night.

Gwen, though, wanted more. Squirming, she climbed into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. In this position, she couldn’t deny the hardness pressing against her ass.

Jack’s eyes were stormy. “Keep wiggling like that and this night will be over soon.”

She giggled. Giggled! She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed during sex. She realized that she’d never thought of sex as something fun.

“I want you to touch me,” she breathed.

“I am touching you.”

“No. I want more.”

Jack kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re in control of this, baby. If you want something, you have to say it.”

“I want you to touch me under my shirt.”

He smiled, lifting the hem of her blouse and tracing a finger down her spine. “Like this?”

“More. Higher.”

He just chuckled, which made her want to grab his hands and put them where she ached the most. Her breasts; her core. Even her skin felt like it was ablaze wherever he touched her.

Gwen soon found the courage to ask him to touch her breasts. He teased her nipples through her bra. Then she was unhooking her bra herself and taking her shirt off completely.

“Touch me. Here.” She lifted his hands to her breasts. “Like you did that night at your place. Do you remember?”

“How could I ever forget?”

He played with her breasts until Gwen was mindless with pleasure. She barely noticed how she was pressing herself against his hardness, or how his grip had tightened on her hair as he sucked on her nipples.

“I want to kiss you,” he said, raspy.

“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”

He slanted her a look. He cupped her center. “Here. Will you let me?”

Gwen trembled. Did she dare? She’d never enjoyed oral with Tim. Then again, Tim hadn’t really given her oral more than three times in total. It had always been an awkward, lackluster experience.

Jack traced her furrowed brow. “Stop thinking. Just feel.”

Gwen forced back her doubts. “Okay.”

“What’s the safe word?”

That question made her laugh because it reminded her of the ugly nightgown she’d been forced to buy. “Salmon.”

“Good girl.”

Soon enough, Gwen was lying down on the couch while Jack stripped her out of her jeans and panties. She’d already forgotten about how boring her panties were. All she cared about was Jack and the way he made her feel.

She closed her eyes when she felt his heated breath against her pelvis. When he gently parted her folds, she wanted to squirm away, but she knew that was her anxiety talking. She was tired of it wanting to control the show.

For once, Gwen wanted to enjoy sex without fear.

“Doing okay?” Jack asked.

She nodded. “Keep going.”

Jack didn’t need to be told twice. He was gentle, almost too gentle, as he kissed and licked her. When she responded to one stroke more than another, Jack made sure to repeat the movement.

Gwen could feel her sheath tightening around Jack’s fingers. When he fastened his lips around her clit, the breath whooshed out of her. Her toes curling, her body bowing, it was only a few more moments before she burst into flames.

She barely heard herself scream as her orgasm crashed like a wave into her. It surprised her with its strength. It seemed to go on and on until Gwen opened her eyes and saw Jack just looking at her with heavy lids.

“Oh my God,” she croaked.

His smile was lazy. “My thoughts exactly.”