The Belle and the Beard by Kate Canterbary (good book club books .txt) 📕

We stared at each other for a heavy minute. This was a mistake. A moment of playing pretend. It wasn't real. We weren't engaged, we weren't getting married. We didn't even know what next month would bring. But—but it wasn't wrong. Fuck, it wasn't wrong in the slightest and Jasper knew it. She knew it as well as I did.

"Do you think they confused us with Ash and Zelda?" she asked.

"I don't usually get confused for Ash."

"They only got engaged a few months ago, right?"

"Yeah, end of the summer." I tucked the envelope in my pocket. "We're keeping the gift card."

"We're totally keeping the gift card," she said.

"That's my girl," I said, leading her across the room. "Come on. We've done enough chatting. I want you all to myself and it seems like the only way I'm getting that is on the dance floor."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a dancer."

"Babe, you haven't pegged me at all."

"Not yet," she said with a wicked laugh. "Forget the dance floor. I'm sure there's a locker room or two around here. A lady golfer lounge or something like that. Maybe an extra cloak room or a deserted office."

I loved this girl. I did, I loved her. "Now you're talking."

We slipped out the side door and down the hallway past the entry and the huge stone fireplace there. It was quiet out here, the party barely a murmur in the distance, and it seemed certain we'd find a place to be alone.

Until we ran into Ash and Zelda.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked.

"What are we doing here?" he asked, his arm tight around Zelda's waist. "I could ask you the same question."

"But I asked you first."

"Boys," Zelda said firmly.

With an exaggerated sigh and an equally unnecessary eyeroll, Ash leaned toward me, angling himself away from Zelda. "There's a room back there."

"I figured as much," I said, my voice low.

"Make sure you lock the door," he murmured. "Uncle Bart got lost on his way to the bathroom and…well, thankfully he has no idea what's going on at any moment ever but make sure you lock it."

"What are you, seventeen? Of course I'll lock the fucking door." Matching his eyeroll, I said, "You better get back out there. People are starting to think I'm you and congratulating us on the engagement."

"So? Only a matter of time, isn't it?"

"Get your girl a scarf or something. You left beard rash all over her neck." He glanced back at Zelda as I muttered, "Amateur."

He patted my lapels, saying, "Lock the door. All right?"

We parted, Ash and Zelda heading back to the ballroom as Jasper and I located the door in need of locking. I paid no attention to the room, didn't even look around before popping the lock and shoving Jasper back against the solid panel.

"We have to make this quick," she whispered against my lips. "Anyone could walk in at any moment."

She said this though it didn't stop her from palming my cock over my trousers or edging me closer to her with a leg hooked around my hip.

I groaned into her neck when her rhythm intensified. I pressed my teeth to her skin, not enough to mark but just enough to taste her, to feel the thrum of her pulse beneath her skin. "Then you should hurry, Peach."

"What should I do?" she asked, her hips bucking against mine. "If I have to be quick, what should I do to you?"

"Anything you want." I wanted to tear that dress right off her. If we weren't obligated to rejoin this party at some point, I would. "Anything, Jas."

Her head thunked back against the door as her body arched toward mine. "You're going to get me all wrinkled," she said, her words breathy. "We can't have that."

"Don't see why not," I said, licking a line up her neck. "We can get away with it. We're madly in love and getting married. Of course I'd drag you into the nearest corner to ravish you."

The amount of risk involved in saying those words out loud…fuck. It could all go up in flames right now.

"It seems that we are," she said, laughing. "But I think I'd rather be the one doing the ravishing tonight."

Jasper slid down the door, working my zipper as she went, and before I could grumble about her slipping out of my hold, she was on her knees with my cock in her mouth. No teasing, no prelude. Just my cock on her tongue and her lips tight around me. I couldn't see, couldn't think. The only sounds were my own gasps and the pulse pounding in my head. I braced my forearms on the door because I couldn't fuck up her hair, even if I wanted to pull it so fucking bad. Without thought, my hips surged forward and an angry, near-vicious growl rattled up from the depths of my chest.

I'd wanted to hold back a bit. I'd wanted her to set the pace. That was what I'd intended. I didn't succeed. Not when my body was twisting with need like no other, just boiling. I didn't care whether this lasted two minutes or two hours. It was mind-blowing and perfect, and most importantly, I loved her.

"Peach," I rasped, my hand settling on her shoulder. It was the only part of her I could touch. "Jasper, I'm—oh, fuck, I'm—ah, fuuuuck."

She hummed around me and that was the ballgame. That was it. She dug her nails into my thighs, my ass, and every last inch of me vibrated. My hips snapped against her face in fast, almost frantic thrusts. Her tongue worked the underside of my shaft in the most amazing way. There was pale pink lipstick all over me and, for reasons I didn't understand at all, that pushed me over the edge.

A snarling roar came loose from inside as I rode out the bone-shaking spasms and I kept that hand steady on her, my fingers rubbing small circles into her shoulder while she swallowed me down.