Down to the Bone Page 6

  Maneuvering on his crutches, he went to his room. He was tired, but there was one last thing he needed to do. He got onto his computer and did a quick search. He found the website he was looking for and with it the information he needed. It was time for him to evolve.

  MID-DECEMBER

  “The position of the foramen magnum suggests Toumaï was bipedal!” Mark argued.

  “That doesn’t make it a predecessor to hominids,” Dion countered.

  That was the big debate for PAC that evening, and Liddy really didn’t much care. She sat, curled up on the leather recliner, staring at the three other anthropology students, thinking all the while about Jarrett. She’d written up a dozen e-mails and erased them before ever clicking on Send, while hypocritically checking her inbox for messages. She’d summoned up his number on her cell phone and then lost the courage to actually dial it. But she kept hoping he’d call her. He hadn’t.

  He was preoccupied, of course. A healing kneecap and finals week around the corner. Likely, however, he also had no wish to talk to her. Which she could live with so long as she knew there weren’t any bad feelings between them.

  Live with it yes, but she still felt like something inside her had been shattered to bits like all the bone fragments she studied. And she doubted there was any way of gluing it back together again.

  “If Toumaï was a hominid,” John interjected, “then either the dating on the fossil is wrong or chimps and Toumaï—”

  “And what if Toumaï was just an ape?” Dion wasn’t going to let that go.

  “Or a dead end,” Liddy murmured. The doorbell rang. Liddy didn’t feel like moving. “Mark, could you get that?”

  Mark vacated his corner on the couch. Liddy heard the door open, but kept her eyes listlessly on the coffee table. Nachos again. They really needed some variety.

  “Um, Liddy?” Mark squeaked, as if frightened, and she blinked up.

  Jarrett, wearing a heavy winter coat and balancing on crutches, was in her living room. He looked like a wounded giant. Liddy got to her feet. Everyone was gawking at him, especially Mark who looked like he was having nerd flashbacks of being beaten up in high school. There was a jock in their midst, his expression seemed to say. Should he call the police?

  “I came to join the discussion,” Jarrett said. “Hybridization, right? That’s what the website said.”

  “Jet...” Liddy said awkwardly. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk. Can we talk?”

  The PAC people didn’t even wait for her answer, they were already grabbing their stuff.

  “We’ll continue next time,” Mark said snatching up his backpack. In short order, and with no few backward glances, they were out the door.

  Liddy stared after them, then turned her attention to Jarrett. “Take your coat?”

  Jarrett allowed Liddy to help him off with his things. She settled him on the recliner, legs up.

  “How is it?” She nodded to his knee in its plastic cage.

  “Got almost my full range of motion back, and I should be able to do without the brace real soon. Thanks for asking.” Jarrett kept his tone light, but inside he was terrified...and aroused. Liddy’s lemon pie fragrance had woken up his sleeping hormones.

  “Listen—” he tried, then stopped. He’d come here prepared, as for an exam, all possible questions and answers in essay form. Gazing on her, however, he found himself mute.

  “Jet?” she asked, concerned. She was adorable, Jarrett thought, in her blue tank top and yoga pants, striped socks on her feet. He loved the way she carried her weight in her hips, the plumpness of her upper arms. He loved her elfin face and dark hair, and those playful Clark Kent glasses. And he loved that damn skull tattoo on her shoulder!

  “God, I missed you,” he croaked, and, nabbing her with one arm, brought her onto his lap. He kissed her lips and her cheeks. Removed her glasses and set them aside before kissing her again deeply. He felt her heart beating against his as he flicked his tongue to meet hers.

  She released a sigh and sunk in against him. “I missed you, too,” she whispered back.

  Her clever fingers worked open his jeans and Jarrett gasped as her small hand touched on his straining cock through the fabric of his shorts. He, in turn, tugged at her waistband. Liddy helped him get her pants off; her top followed. She wasn’t wearing a bra, which was fine with Jarrett. He went right for her nipples. As he set his mouth to one, she let out a cry, her warm behind squirming on his erection until he was close to losing it.

  Hoping to slow things down, he backed off from tonguing the nipple to nuzzle the softness of her breast. Inhaling the fragrance of her skin, however, excited him more. Next thing he knew, he was back to licking at her areolas, loving how they tightened, the sensuous texture of that smooth-roughness. She moaned and bit at his neck, making his trapped cock ache with desire.

  Tugging at her underwear, he asked. Demanded.

  “Wait,” she gasped, prying his hands away. “Wait. You are not going to rush this like last time.”

  With trembling fingers that told him she shared his excitement, she unbuttoned his flannel shirt and got him out of it. Then, shifting off his lap, helped him tug his jeans and briefs half-way down his thighs.

  “Someday, I’m going to get you completely out of your pants,” she murmured, as Jarrett felt his cock come free.

  Liddy hadn’t gotten that good a look at Jarrett’s cock the first time. Now she did. It was tall and tantalizing with a wet, spearhead crown. The balls were covered in a down of golden hair, already high and begging for release. Well, she could provide that, she thought, reaching to adjust a lever at the base of the recliner. The back went down, causing Jarrett to grunt with surprise.

  Then Liddy slipped off her underwear.

  “What are you doing?” Jarrett asked as she shifted around. He felt her hard nipples brush his belly, and then her breath on his cock. It strained and twitched to meet her.

  “Trying to keep my weight off your hurt knee,” she said, and suddenly she was straddling him, head down at his dick. He gasped, not only because she’d just taken his sensitive cockhead into her hot mouth, but because her pussy was right there, right where he could get at it.

  Fuck. Jarrett inhaled her perfume, moaning both at its fragrance and the sensation of Liddy’s lips and tongue mouthing his dick. He was salivating himself: her moist, rosy opening, her swollen pussy lips and the glistening clit were right there. Waiting. Just waiting for him. Wrapping his arms around her thighs, he leaned in for a taste.

  Liddy sucked in a breath as Jarrett’s powerful grip took hold of her, and his tongue parted her pussy lips. She shuddered as the exquisite sensation of that lick rolled through her, then sucked harder on his cock, her own tongue flicking over his slit, going after that musky pre-cum.

  Jarrett couldn’t keep his hips still, and it wasn’t just the way Liddy’s mouth was sucking and tormenting his mushroom head. Every time he lapped at her smooth, tart-sweet folds she moaned in her throat, sending vibrations through his shaft. It was almost as if he were feeling what she was feeling.

  It was almost as if she was feeling what he was feeling, Liddy groaned. The sensations of his tongue, stroking, licking, making her pussy sing and sweat, matched the thrusts and pre-cum drips of his cock in her mouth. Every twitch and pulse felt like her own clit, tingling and flaring.

  Jarrett was in agony. He didn’t want to stop adoring her pussy, but he couldn’t hold off much longer. “Liddy, Liddy please, I’m going to come—” he tugged at her and she reluctantly came off his cock. She was trembling and shaking as she turned and crawled back onto his lap. He shouted as her cunt enfolded him and she instantly started to orgasm. She throbbed around him, gripping and squeezing his cock, drawing him over the edge.

  He clutched her to his chest as he came, shooting into her. He felt as if her tight interior was sucking his seed right out of his nuts. He gave her all of it, still jerking and pumping long after he’d gone dry. She qui
vered, orgasming again and again, until she finally collapsed in sweaty exhaustion.

  “Touchdown,” she breathed into his ear, and Jarrett laughed. She joined him and they chortled weakly, holding tight to each other all the while.

  Liddy helped Jarrett pull up his briefs and pants, then got on her top and trousers for warmth. Back on his lap, she snuggled in, still reliving the ghostly waves of her orgasm. God. That had been sublime. She felt all boneless. Jarrett also seemed relaxed, but he gripped her protectively, which made her wonder and worry what he might have to say to her.

  “My brother told me,” he began hesitantly, “that the last time he saw you was at the hospital and that you probably overheard something you shouldn’t have—”

  “Oh,” she said and felt her cheeks go warm.

  “What Bobby said about your being my geek girlfriend—”

  “Doesn’t matter,” she cut him off.

  “Isn’t true,” he said at the same time.

  “It’s all right, Jet.” She gave him a hug, she couldn’t help it, he looked so forlorn, as if he’d said those things instead of Bobby.

  His hug enfolded her back, which was both wonderful and heartbreaking. There were a few things she had to say to him as well, and having his arms about her only made it harder. She didn’t want him to release her, and he probably would once she said them.

  Listen, I...” she fumbled, “I want you to know, I’d never ask you to give up sports. I know I came across that way, but I really wouldn’t. It’s in your bones, part of who you are—and I love who you are. You have to understand, though, how painful it is to even imagine you destroying your body, concussing that wonderful brain of yours, over and over again for years to come. I’m not sure I can watch that, let alone celebrate it. I know that means I can’t be with you. You—you made that very clear. And I’m all right with that. It hurts, but I get it. I just don’t want you angry at me for not being able to adapt.”

  “I’m not angry,” Jarrett tried to assure Liddy. There was such terrible pain in her expression and Jarrett couldn’t bear to think he’d caused it. “That’s who you are, and I love who you are, too. That’s why I came here tonight. To tell you that. And to tell you that I get it, too.”

  “Get it?” she echoed.

  “Survival of the fittest.” He stroked her arm, her soft, soft arm, stopping on the tattoo and tapping it. “When I first saw this,” he said, “I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It took me a while to figure out why. It looks a little like a football helmet.”

  Liddy’s brows went up and she glanced down at her shoulder, re-examining it. “You’re right. It does,” she laughed. “Though, it’s kind of a broken helmet.”

  “Skulls are nature’s football helmet,” he observed. “One of my elementary school teachers said that when he was trying to teach us about the human body.” He went somber. Here came the hard part. “You only told me the plain truth about my future. Right to the bone. Which is why I got so mad. See, football is all I’ve ever had. The thought of giving it up scared me. I’ve never even tried to put my mind to anything else...mostly because I was afraid that I’d discover I was stupid and unable to do anything else.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous!”

  She looked so outraged he hugged her again and almost laughed. God, was this all he’d needed all this time? Someone to believe in his brains as much as they believed in his athletic ability?

  “It’s what I used to think,” he went on, “now...I’m starting to value my mind, and I’m not as willing to risk it as I was, not before I know what it can really do. I especially don’t want doctors gluing my skull back together like one of your artifacts. Which is why I’ve decided that I’m not joining the NFL.”

  Liddy pushed at her glasses. “You’re not?”

  “It might well kill my father when I tell him, but I’ve had more than a few realizations this season. I’m good enough, but not even close to indispensable. And that’s in college ball. Can you imagine how much more replaceable I’d be in the leagues? Which has me wondering if the short career I’m seeing ahead of me would be worth life-long damage to my bones and brains. Putting it in your terms, I think pro football would be a dead end for me.”

  “Jet.” She was eyeing him doubtfully. “Are you sure?”

  “It wasn’t only what you said,” he assured her. “There’ve been other things. Like having Delarose there to compare myself to, the knee injury and being forced to realize that my dad has directed most of my life and my choices; he raised me to think my athletic talent was all I had going for me. But it isn’t all I’ve got, is it? I think—I think you’re the glue that put all these pieces together so I could see the whole thing and know it.

  “Doesn’t mean I’m sorry I went into sports,” he added, “I really do love playing football and anything I do will be related to it.”

  “Jarrett—”

  “And I still intend to play next season,” he warned, perhaps a little too defensively. “And maybe the one after that if I can and if I’m still wanted. I’m not done with it yet, and it is part of my contract with the college. Do you think you could come to those games and be there for me, even if you can’t cheer me on? I mean, until I graduate and find myself a profession that isn’t so hard on my bones?”

  Her dark eyes were shining now, beautiful as deep, dark waters. “Oh, yes.” She gripped him tightly. “That, I can do. But you’d better survive because I don’t want to go on without you.”

  “We’re together on that,” he said, gripping her back. “I want a future with you. That is my new goal.”

  MAY

  His father had gone all out for the Memorial Day barbecue. There were T-bones and ribs, and the weather was playing along as well. The smoke from the roasting meat wafted up into clear and sunny skies, and the green backyard held the smells and promise of summer.

  Jarrett sat under the shade of the blossoming apple tree, drinking down an orange soda and listening with half-an-ear to his father chatting up the neighbors.

  “I wasn’t too happy about it at first,” his father admitted, “but he pointed out that being a chiropractor to football players means he’ll be making steady money till he’s old and gray. And he’ll still be involved in the game. He just started taking the classes this last semester, but his teachers think he’s a natural. Getting all A’s.”

  Jarrett grinned. Things were better between him and his dad, and they’d improved with Frankie as well. His brother was working the grill, head up, his shoulders squared. Now and then, as he deposited a steak or rib on a plate, he even smiled.

  A pair of small hands appeared on Jarrett’s broad shoulders and snaked down his chest. The left one bore a modest, diamond engagement ring. A feminine cheek rested against his.

  “I shouldn’t have worn a sleeveless top,” Liddy murmured in his ear. “Everyone keeps staring at my tattoo.”

  “Just tell them you belong to a motorcycle gang,” he murmured back, and pulled her around into his lap. Her plump ass and thighs wiggled until she was comfortable and he was warmly aroused.

  “Oh, they haven’t been asking me about it,” she said. “They’ve been asking your father.”

  “Uh-oh. What’s he been saying?”

  “Actually, he’s been explaining it quite well. And he’s been boasting about Frankie’s academic awards, too. Says it looks like Frankie’s going to get his own scholarship to college.”

  “Well, that’s something the old man can boast about for sure. That he didn’t have to pay for either of us to get a higher education.”

  She laughed, her glasses flashing in the sun. “Well, you should also know he’s boasting about what a clever girl you got yourself. He seems quite as proud of that as anything.”

  “You sound surprised,” Jarrett retorted. “You shouldn’t be. All he did was evolve. Isn’t that what we Homo sapiens do best? Evolve?”

  “It’s in our bones,” Liddy agreed, removing her glasses.

  That was all
the invitation Jarrett needed. He leaned in and exchanged with her a very primal kiss.

  THIRTEEN

  To read more works by Thirteen, check out:

  Christmas Lantern

  Exchange Value

  Full Disclosure

  Garden of Earthly Delights, The

  Pretty as a Picture

  Special Occasion, A

  Valentine Prayers

  THIRTEEN

  In the Fall of 2005, Thirteen felt a desire to read some romantic erotica and went to an online website to indulge. Halfway through this indulgence, it occurred to her that she had a few erotic and romantic stories she wanted to tell. Six years, four awards—including one from a French website—and twenty-two stories later, she's still writing erotic romances. Who knew such large rewards would come from such a small indulgence? Thirteen lives in a seaside town with a cat, a strange but sexy man who says he's her husband, and a very romantic imagination.