The Call: A Psychic Paranormal Romantic Comedy Read online

  "You didn't answer my question," she said. “How many have you inspired?”

  "Hmm. Not many. I have never loved anyone the way I love you,” he said. There was no hesitation. Maybe the raw truth would help her understand.

  “With other women, their pleasure was in the periphery to mine. I tried to make sure things went well, but whatever happened was fine. I think maybe a couple; I didn’t count. Anyway, we'll crush that number easily."

  "So confident?"

  "Well, tell me how this feels." She was completely unprepared for him to gently drag his thumb around and across her clit.

  "Ahahaha," she gasped while her hips moved against his finger.

  "Hmm. Closer," Jake said.

  And then a finger was in her, looking for the right spot. It found it. She was very close to coming again.

  "Jake… " Two fingers stretched her as his thumb still rubbed slowly.

  "Jake, please… "

  "Please... I want… I need faster." Her eyes were closed. She was panting hard.

  Just a little more, love… He wanted it to build just a little more. His thumb slowed.

  "Well, that's not it either. Close, but not frantic enough."

  "JAKE!" she yelled in frustration as his thumb stopped stroking all together.

  She exploded as his tongue replaced his thumb.

  Watching her roll through her orgasm was fuck all hot, but feeling her clench around his fingers and tasting her on his tongue made his dick painfully hard.

  Fun time was definitely going to get rushed.

  He stopped to wait for her to wind down. Just as she caught her breath, he put her knees over his shoulders and lifted her sex to his mouth.

  Matilda bucked hard against him. She came quickly as he tweaked her nipples and licked the right places.

  When she slowed down again, she threw her legs wide and sat up, reaching for Jake's pants. His dick was so swollen, it was difficult to unzip the fly. "OFF!" She demanded.

  Jake chuckled as he stood to remove pants and underwear. Before he could get the pants off his legs, her mouth and hand were around him.

  My mother's birthday is on July 1st. My little sister is 23. My grandmother liked lilies. 64 times 3 is…

  "Matilda, I need to be fucking you. Right now. Fun time is over." He was biting his inner lip for control.

  And then she was spread before him, legs dangling off the bed while he stood there with his damn pants around his ankles.

  He tried to go slow. She was wet, but also tiny and tight. But then she came on the second stroke. And the third.

  She grabbed his arms to leverage herself up, then kissed him as she came down from cloud 9. Or cloud 4.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and said: "If you're not going to go faster, lay down and let me drive."

  Jake laughed. With her arms around his neck and legs around his waist, he stood up straight and started shifting Matilda up and down the length of his cock.

  "JACOB! OH MY GOD!"

  She was just one long rolling, nonstop orgasm now. He brought her back to the bed and slammed into her once more before letting loose.

  When he landed back in reality, he was standing, bent over her, at the edge of the bed with his pants still around his ankles.

  He laughed. He laughed so hard tears dropped from his eyes. Matilda looked confused. He pointed to his pants.

  "That's just ridiculous," he said.

  Chapter 19

  Matilda woke up to the sound of running water and an empty spot next to her. She felt like she had a particularly long, hard work out immediately after having the flu.

  The workout is true enough, she thought, but the flu makes no sense. Then she thought about the whiskey. And the crying.

  Self, you are so fucking stupid. This is going to break you. Ellie and Eric and Charlie are going to have to put you together again.

  As she shifted out of bed, she realized she had on nothing but her stupid stockings. She had no idea what time it was, but certainly, time for the stocking to come off.

  Naked as the day she was born, she peeked around the partially open bathroom door. Jake’s bare ass was bent over a bathtub built for two. He was adding something to the water that smelled fresh, and a bit like muscle balm.

  “Hi,” she said over the sound of running water.

  Jake turned and smiled at her. “Hello, love. How are you?” Eyebrows raised.

  She tried not to flinch at the endearment. “Mmm. Good, I think. Maybe a little hungover. Muscle weary - too many orgasms.”

  “No such thing. You just need more practice.”

  That grin. Ugh.

  She turned to walk down the hall.

  “Where are you going? You’re scheduled for this nice hot bath, you know.” His voice was just a bit tense.

  “Where could I be going bare-assed naked?” She called.

  “I don’t know, but I’d like to follow you. The view is magnificent.” He smiled.

  She stuck her head back into the bathroom. “I have to use the little girl’s room, and I’m not into an audience for that kind of thing. I'll go to the smaller bathroom. Then I’m going to sift through my bag to see what kind of drugs I have with me.”

  ✽✽✽

  He heard her walk down the hallway to the other bathroom.

  I’m 90% sure there’s toilet paper in there.

  He headed out to the kitchen to grab two bottles of cold water. Then he looked through the cabinets to see if he had any Advil.

  Huh. We’re going to have to order some food. All I have is beer, pickles, and peanuts.

  He heard her come into the room behind him. “I’m no use on the drug front. And we should order some food. The only fridge contents I can vouch for are beer and water. I don’t know where the pickles came from.”

  When he turned to look at her, she was wearing an obviously confused face. “I opened the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. You have more drugs than Walgreens.”

  “Huh. Well, OK. Did you find what you needed?”

  She nodded.

  He handed her a bottle of water, then walked down the hallway to the master bathroom to turn the water off and the tub heater on. Then he went into the little bathroom.

  There were indeed all kinds of Tylenol, aspirin, Advil, cold pills, allergy pills, and other assorted things in the cabinet.

  “Well, that’s good to know. I wonder if my mom did that.”

  “Jake, how could you not know what’s in your apartment?” She was laughing at him. It made him a little more hopeful for the future.

  “Eh, I don’t spend much time here. Most nights, when nothing is going on, I stay in a room at Sam’s. He does better with sleep when someone’s around.”

  “Bath?” she asked.

  “Bath! I do use the tub when I’m here. It’s like sitting in a glass of champagne.”

  She snorted and laughed. “That’s not very manly of you, Jake. You’re ruining your image.”

  “I’m perfectly fine with that.” He grinned again.

  ✽✽✽

  “This is the best bath I’ve ever taken,” Matilda said.

  “It’s not even a sexy bath. You need to take more baths,” Jacob replied.

  She had her head tipped back and her eyes closed, resting on the edge. Jacob was facing her from the other end of the tub, rubbing her feet, ankles, and calves.

  I’ve seen all the scars now, Matilda. He had kissed each one as he found them under the bathroom lights. I’m not running.

  “Why isn’t the water getting cooler?” she asked.

  “There’s a built-in heater. It’s why the tub doesn’t feel cold under your head and neck.”

  “I’m going to pack this tub in my bag and take it home with me.”

  “I’m not sure how that would work for you. Probably you should bring your home to the tub.” It was a test balloon.

  How are you, love?

  “I mean, you don’t live here,” she said. “It feels like someone should
keep the tub company. I’m going to steal your apartment. It’s much nicer than mine and incredibly underappreciated.” Her eyes were still closed, but she was smiling.

  “That sounds good. It can be your apartment, so long as I get to stay here, too.”

  Her face tensed a little bit. “Bah. You live with Sam. What did you put in the bathwater?”

  “Nope, not telling,” he said. “If you want more baths like this, I have to make them for you.”

  “Huh. Shows what you know. I don’t even have a bathtub.” He could feel her stress increasing.

  “You have this very luxurious tub we’re floating in right now.”

  Her eyes opened. She was staring at the ceiling. Her voice was flat. “This will end badly and I will be broken. If Ellie, Eric, and Charlie don’t put me together again, I will be destroyed. Can’t you see that? If you can’t see ending this for your own good, would you think of mine?”

  Well, fuck. From DefCon 2 to DefCon 5, zero warning.

  He pulled her foot toward his chest, yanking her head off the edge of the tub and into the bathwater.

  As her face went under, he yelled “FUCK! That didn’t go according to plan!” He grabbed her hand to pull her head up out of the water again.

  ✽✽✽

  Matilda emerged, snorting water and laughing hysterically. Her red curls were a mess, stuck to her face and neck. She dipped her head back into the water up to her hairline. When she pulled her head forward, her mass of wet hair was gathered behind her.

  She slapped a little water toward his face.

  “I’m sorry! That wasn’t what I was trying to do.” He was laughing, too.

  She slapped more water toward him. “What were you trying to do?”

  “I was trying to pull you closer.”

  “This is an appropriate metaphor for our relationship,” she said in a teasing tone.

  Jacob’s laughter died immediately.

  I’m so sorry, Jake. We weren’t supposed to end up here, Matilda thought.

  “In your mind, is there really no hope for us?” He asked the question quietly, but it echoed in the bathroom.

  She scooted alongside him and wound her fingers with his. “Let’s talk through a hypothetical. We’re at the holiday conference. You’re working through a competitive deal, where calm negotiation - not one of your many strengths - is needed. All your competition needs to do is get you fired up in order for you to lose the deal.

  “We can put aside the embarrassment and shame factors. For now. In the middle of a meeting, your competitor says something snarky about your disabled girl-”

  “Wife.”

  “Your competitor says something snarky. What do you do?”

  “This is a faulty hypothetical,” he declared. “I wouldn’t have to do anything. Will would fucking strangle the dude. Or Sam would extend the effort it takes to make a phone call to financially destroy the competitor’s livelihood.”

  “That’s not helping your case. Irrational responses from your entire family sound like the fucking worst-case scenario.”

  “Why? Why is that a bad thing, Matilda? Do you think their responses would be any different if we aren’t together?”

  ✽✽✽

  What the fuck with this stupid hypothetical? He wondered.

  “Let’s go with your hypothetical. But, instead of making a comment about your ‘disability’,” he spat the word in frustration, “he says something about your glorious tits. Do you think the reaction would be any less intense?

  “Let’s do another one,” he said before she could answer. “Will and I are walking down the street. We see a guy grab some woman’s ass and try to back her into an alley. We don’t know her, but you know the reaction’s going to be the same.

  “Or, maybe Sam and I are getting on the L and see someone with arm crutches going up the stairs because the elevator’s broken. Or, a mom with a kid in a stroller. Or some dude carrying a stack of boxes. Or, I don’t know, a fucking lost kid, a cop chasing down a purse snatcher. Pick a scenario, any scenario.

  “The answer doesn’t change, Matilda. We are who we are. We’re not going to look at the situation and say ‘Not my problem.’

  “The hypothetical guy doesn’t get to insult my guests, no matter who he is. The dude on the street doesn’t get to grab some lady’s ass. Someone that needs a hand, gets a hand. To do otherwise would be to change who I am.”

  Matilda gathered her legs under her and stood up to leave the tub.

  ✽✽✽

  Jacob tried to say something as she toweled off.

  “Please, Jake. Just a few minutes. Let me process things for a bit, and then we can talk more,” Matilda said.

  He left the bathroom without saying another word.

  She sat on the edge of the drained tub and cried for a solid ten minutes.

  This is not going according to plan. I don’t even know why I’m crying. Stop crying. Stop it.

  She heard Jake come to the doorway and then walk away again. She heard him talking. The sobs kept coming.

  Jake gently touched the back of her neck. She looked up at him with snot and tears running down her face.

  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?

  “It’s for you,” he said as he handed her a phone.

  “He- Hello?” she swallowed a sob.

  “Babe, what are you doing?” Ellie asked.

  ✽✽✽

  Ellie said not to push anymore right now, so he wouldn’t push.

  Ellie said to take her home and let her sleep, so he would.

  Ellie said to have patience, so he’d have patience.

  God, please let Ellie understand. Let Ellie be on my side.

  Also, when did I start praying this fucking much?

  Matilda didn’t say much after coming out of the bathroom.

  “Thank you,” as she handed him the phone back.

  He nodded while chanting I love you over and over in his head.

  “Home?” he asked.

  “Please.”

  Jake wrapped Matty in a t-shirt, loaded her in his car, and drove to her apartment. They got out of the car together, walked to her apartment, got in the front door, and then went to bed, sound asleep wrapped around each other in minutes.

  ✽✽✽

  It was raining on Saturday morning. Jake woke up to the sound of thunder outside. Matilda was next to him, warm and sleeping, at peace.

  He untangled himself from her bed and went in search of the bathroom. After that, he went in search of food. Hopefully, Matilda actually lived here and there would be food.

  Twenty minutes later, he was pulling bacon out of a frying pan as Matilda wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast bar that served as her dining room. “I was just about to wake you up,” he said.

  “Good morning,” she said quietly.

  “It is a good morning,” he replied as he put a plate of eggs, bacon, and a buttered English muffin down in front of her.

  “Wow,” she smiled up at him. “I wouldn’t have expected you to know how to do this.”

  Jacob gave a feigned gasp. “Matilda Benton, are you suggesting that Darla would raise a child that didn’t know how to make a proper breakfast?!”

  “You couldn’t account for the presence of pickles in your fridge,” she reminded him.

  “Well, ‘don’t’ and ‘can’t’ are two different things.” He sat down next to her with his own plate of food. “Eat. I’m supposed to have you at Ellie’s by 9:30 for ‘best friend shopping’ and I have no idea where Ellie lives.”

  ✽✽✽

  “Girl, you look like ten miles of bad road,” Eric said as Matilda walked in Ellie’s front door. “What is happening? Ellie is freaking the fuck out.”

  “Is she here?” Ellie yelled from the kitchen.

  “Yep!” Eric called.

  “CHARLIE!”

  Charlie beat Ellie to the room by about ten seconds. He came bounding down the stairs and then fully stopped three
steps from the bottom when he got a look at her. “Fuck.” He whispered.

  Ellie came into the room with a silver tray of teapot and settings. She flinched when she saw Matilda.

  “Sit,” Ellie directed.

  Matilda sat in a battered wingback chair they’d had since college. “What’s with the tea tray? Where’d that come from?”

  “I bought it at a garage sale a couple of months ago. It was going to be my reciprocating birthday friend gift to you this year. But now it’s mine.”

  “Oh,” Matilda said.

  Everyone stared at her. She shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “I don’t even know what the fuck is going on. Can someone give me the short version?” Eric said, the tone of annoyance clear. He hated being left out.

  “Matilda?” Ellie’s tone was clipped.

  “Eleanor?” Matty hated feeling defensive.

  Ellie sighed. “Yesterday, our girl had a torrid, sexy encounter with Prince Charming and lost her DAMN MIND.”

  Eric gasped. “Sorry, Charlie, but I’m going to need some details on this. How torrid, how sexy?”

  Charlie grunted, an unusual sound for him. “I’m going to go make some coffee.”

  Eric looked at Ellie.

  “I don’t have any details on this part,” Ellie said.

  They both looked at Matilda. “Spill,” Eric said.

  “We had a meeting with the ad agency yesterday. The creative director was a tool of epic proportions. In short, he tried to put his hand up my skirt. I stomped on his instep, got up, and turned around to leave. Jake and Sam were directly behind me and I didn’t know it.”

  “Holy fuck,” Ellie said.

  “I ended up back in Jake’s office. He and Sam told me off for not asking for help. Sam left-”

  “Talk faster!” Charlie yelled.

  “We sort of accidentally had an afternoon quickie on the damn pool table. Then we-”

  “Wait,” interrupted Eric, “Scale from one to ten?” Matilda looked up at him. “Never mind.”

  “You left for nothing, Charlie. There was no talk of dick size.” Ellie called.