New Sensations Read online

  He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my small knuckles softly.

  When he was done, he signaled to the bar tender, who showed up without too much delay. It seemed as though this part of the state grew their men tall. I was yet to spy one who was less than an inch over six foot, and Jackson and the bartender, as well as every other guy in this place, were all included in that number. The bar keep, Harry was the name that Jackson greeted him by when the man arrived to where we sat, was probably in his late forties, with a thick jet black mustache, the ends curled up at each end, and a thick shadow of hair across his cheeks. Long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of the back of his neck.

  “What can I get for you and your lady friend, boss?” Harry croaked low. His accent was thicker and the distinctive scent of a cigar hovered around him.

  Jackson’s sly blue eyes made their way back in my direction.

  “So, what’ll it be, sweet Janay?”

  I wanted to wring my hands as both sets of eyes shrewdly awaited me to voice my decision. As much as I wanted to carry out that action, Jackson was holding my hands beneath his. When he felt me fidget under his palms, he smiled and started to slowly stroke my fingers.

  “Oh, no thank you. I’m fine. I don’t really drink alcohol.” When I finally spoke, my words didn’t quite sound like they had completely escaped my throat.

  Harry smirked and his squinty dark eyes went back to Jackson.

  “Well, now, Jackson, what fine young lady do we have here?” A gargled laughter broke from deep out of his belly. “In all my years tending this bar, this has got to be the very first time that a woman has sat on one of those stools and flat out refused an alcoholic beverage of any kind.”

  Jackson’s squeezed my hands tighter and his eyes gleamed with delight.

  “I know, Harry, isn’t she the sweetest woman you ever saw?”

  I saw Harry give him a look of amusement and bewilderment. That expression made me wonder if Jackson offered this same serenade to every out of town woman that walked through those doors. Was he here giving me these sugary compliments because he saw that Rita had expressed no interest in him?

  “While we wait for Jackson here to snap back to the here and now, miss, let me introduce myself.”

  Harry stuck out his hand and slipped one of mine from under Jackson’s hold. Jackson immediately twisted his features in disapproval.

  “Harold Blackbird,” he said as he held my hand at the fingertips and dipped his head slightly.

  When Harry caught sight of the agitation on Jackson’s face, he took the gesture to new heights. He pressed his heavy mustache to my brown skin but didn’t hold his lips there any longer than to graze slightly over my hand. Having successfully stolen my attention away for the moment, the older man seemed to be playing on his younger counterparts sudden flare of machismo, and the act was working well. There was the slightest hint of jealously working its way across Jackson’s face, and I noticed a slight twitch in his strong jaw. Perhaps his interest in me was genuine after all or perhaps this was still all part of his intricate game of how to seduce a yuppie.

  “Easy there, boss, I was only givin’ your new friend here a warm Crystal Springs welcome.”

  Harry chuckled to himself and placed my hand gently back onto the counter and Jackson quickly replaced it within his own grasp.

  “Well how about you go a little easier with the welcome wagon? This here is Janay Parker and I’m here to make sure she gets all the good hostin’ that she’s gonna’ need during her visit.”

  Jackson’s tone was lighter and more toward the amused side when he gave his snappy reply to Harry. These two men were obviously good friends and were able to read one another’s personalities well, hence their very amusing exchange.

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Bryant,” Harry cocked up a half grin at Jackson and then turned his attention back to give me a quick and playful wink.

  Jackson smiled big and then pointed back at Harry with an sneaky expression on his face.

  “I think my lady here just may find one of your Lemon Drop Surprises mighty tasty, Harry.”

  Harry’s half smile blossomed into a full grin.

  “Will do. One Lemon Drop Surprise comin’ right up,” he said and turned to head toward the further end of his station behind the bar.

  “And get me another draft while you’re back there.”

  The other man seemed to be out of earshot when Jackson yelled the second half of his order over his shoulder, but Jackson didn’t seem to be concerned with whether or not Harry had heard him call for a fresh beer.

  “What’s a Lemon Drop Surprise?”

  I admit that I had no clue what to expect. I had never taken a shot of hard liquor in my life and could barely handle a mixed drink, so I was very curious about the selection that Jackson had made for me.

  “I can’t go givin’ away Harry’s secret recipes,” he replied with a bright twinkle dancing around in those blue orbs. “You’ll just have to test it for yourself.”

  Apprehension reared up again and I made another slight attempt at freeing my hands. Yet, as quickly as I tried to pull away, Jackson was quicker to stand up and encircle me with his heavy arms again. The feel of him holding me tight put me at ease as I slowly settled back into his embrace. I think a small sigh of relief slipped through my parted lips. I don’t think any man had offered me a hug that was anywhere near as seductive as the one that I was contentedly bound up in now.

  Warm breath worked its way over my senses as Jackson crooned into my ear.

  “Janay, I give you my promise that I would never purposefully offer you anything that I thought would harm you. Do you believe me?”

  I wanted to believe the sincerity in his words.

  “Will you give me a little of your trust…please?” The last whispered plea melted my defenses and I knew that I would somehow – before this night ended – become his for the taking.

  I decided to go with my carnal instincts and do away with my reservation and let go – for once. I bobbed my head slowly in agreement.

  Jackson stroked his face, rough from a day’s growth of bristly hairs, against my cheek and the friction was like a stimulating current.

  A renewed current of tingles went down the slope of my neck when he swept his lips there.

  “Thank you,” Jackson whispered against my skin before reclaiming his seat.

  “Okay…one draft for the boss here…and one Lemon Drop Surprise for the lady,” Harry spoke as he placed each drink in front of the appropriate person.

  I smiled uncertainly and thanked him for his service.

  “Anytime, Miss Janay. If you need anything else…or if you need me to come back and give this guy a nice pop,” Harry nodded toward Jackson and then motioned his fingers so that he made a light pluck against his head, “you just give me a holler.”

  I laughed again and so did Jackson.

  After Harry had moved away to attend to other customers at crowded counter, I sat unmoving and unblinking while I studied the colorful concoction placed in front of me on the dark stained bar top. The drink was contained in a martini-style glass, wide at the head, slim at the stem, and then flattening out at the base. A panorama of shades of yellow danced around in the glass that was topped off with a cherry sliced down the center and attached to the rim. At the very bottom center of the glass, the liquid turned clear and viscous. All in all, the drink appeared harmless enough and my hesitation to take at least a tiny taste was wavering.

  Jackson raised the brown tinted bottle in his left hand and tipped it forward as if to make a toast. I swallowed back my nerves and picked up my own glass and clanked the neck of his bottle hard. So hard, in fact, that some of my fruity-looking drink splashed onto the countertop.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t get any on you, did I?”

  My hands went to feel around his shirt. When I realized what I was doing I stopped mid-action, palms flat against his chest. I could almost make out the faint beating of his hear
t through the thick cloth material against my fingertips. Slowly, I raised my hand to draw back but Jackson held my small fingers in place and pressed them down harder to the left side of his shirt. The pulse that I felt there strengthened and the rhythm increased by a few beats per minute.

  “Janay,” he smiled at me, “you don’t have to do so much apologizin’ with me. I know you’re a gentle soul and weren’t tryin’ to do me any foul.” With my hand still firmly planted beneath his, Jackson patted his around the wide arc of his chest and down to the hard thighs of his jean covered legs. “See, I’m still in one whole piece.”

  I looked down at where he had stopped our hands, and it was dangerously close to where his groin would be. I wondered if he had done that on purpose. Before I could decide whether or not he had, I heard the unmistakable clinking of glass against glass. Jackson had touched our drinks together once more and was waiting for me to pick up mine again, which I did, hurriedly using the hand that just been laying on his thigh.

  “Bottoms up,” he said and placed the draft to his mouth to take a long gulp.

  I lifted my drink to my lips and allowed a splash of liquid to slide down my throat. There was a definite hint of the tanginess of pineapple and the sour tartness of lemon present; however, there was also a spicy aftertaste that I could not name offhand. There was no doubt that the Lemon Drop was quite tasty and, before I realized what I was doing, I had abandoned my sipping and was now taking whole gulps of the sweet and sour liquid between my lips at one time. From behind the cover of the glass, my eyes followed Jackson’s Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down with each swallow of his beer. I followed every motion of the protrusion and as a warm sensation started to fill the expanse of upper body and filtered down to the center of my stomach, I was suddenly overcome with the drive to take a taste of the man sitting so calmly before me. I wanted to know how his skin there would feel on my lips and how much teasing of my tongue it would take to make him shiver in his seat. I wanted to experience the rush of brushing my perky breasts against the heavy material of his shirt or – just maybe – against the hot skin that was hidden beneath the shirt.

  Wait. Was I actually thinking these thoughts about a complete stranger who was trying to feed me drinks at a bar? It was then that it occurred to me that Jackson didn’t seem like a stranger at all. Even from the second I stepped through that door earlier tonight, I had the sense that he was familiar to me; my mind was already so comfortable and at ease in his presence. It was the level of comfort that it would take an average couple any number of first round dates to achieve but Jackson and I had managed to develop this connection in less than an hour.

  By the time I had finished the drink – every drop no less – and placed the glass down, I noticed that I had become aware of sounds that had been otherwise mute to me only a nanosecond beforehand. I heard the clack of pool balls in the rear, the ruckus of disbelief over the winning hand of a card game somewhere behind me and to my right, the scrape of chairs as footsteps pounded on the wood toward the center dance floor, and quick snatches of Rita’s laughter floated in too. Most of all, I heard the music again. The genre was the same, heavy strings and a silky and heartbroken voice – male this time – was singing of a harrowing romance for the ages. The tempo was much slower and I noticed several couples had started to sway slowly and sensuously to the tune.

  The stool next to me creaked and Jackson stood. His right hand was bent around his back and he extended an open left palm to me.

  “Care to go a round with me, sweet lady?”

  I didn’t know how to, nor did I ever want to, refuse the excitement in his voice or the look of passion on his face. I placed my hand in his and Jackson swept me off of the bar seat and into his waiting and wanting arms.

  4

  When my feet landed on the ground, Jackson extended my arm up and twirled me around once. I felt the rush of wind gathering under my dress as it flurried outward; and when I stopped, I was completely enfolded in his strong embrace.

  My head was tucked neatly beneath Jackson’s chin. His big hands were planted firmly on both of my curved hips and his fingertips started to embed themselves there. It was almost as if he were trying to push right through the cotton fabric and feel my soft skin beneath the pads of his fingers. All the while, and true to his word to remain a gentleman, he made sure to keep a slim space of distance between our bodies as we swayed slowly in time with the overhead music.

  The sudden rush of deep emotions from the singer and the power of the strings surged down from the ceiling, up through the floorboards, and I suddenly experienced the surprise portion of my Lemon Drop drink. An upwelling of fire burst into a spontaneous and engulfing flame in my chest as the moist center between my thick brown thighs gushed to life. On instinct, I pulled Jackson as close to my body as I could without pushing right through him, eliminating any micrometer of space between us. If he were content to remain a gentleman, I had become eager to push him into a frenzy and force him to break his oath. I freed my arms so that I could reach up and wrap my limbs around his neck. I wanted to be secure in the knowledge that he was completely mine for the small amount of time that we had together. If we never met again, at least I would know that he was my man, right here and right now.

  As if waiting for my cue, Jackson leaned down lower and hugged me tighter. His stubbled chin pressed down hard on my bare shoulder and his hands moved with patient ease down to my round ass. I felt their heavy print meticulously massaging the generous plumpness there. He rotated from tracing wide circles on my rear to moving rough hands up my exposed back and then dragging long fingertips back down the center again. I heard his intake of air as he inhaled my scent and breathed it in deep. I pushed closer still against him until I could clearly hear the strumming of his strong heartbeat. I could feel the bulge of his manhood pressing into my stomach. My hands clasped onto his shoulders and I turned my face so that I could use my teeth to take nips at his chest through the checkered material of his shirt. How I wished that I could be taking playful bites at his beautifully tanned skin without the cloth covering that separated us. During my exploration of the broad area of his chest, I chanced upon the feeling of his erect nipple and I bit done firmly at the spot. When I felt a shiver run through his body and his hardness lengthen against my belly, I knew what would happen next and I couldn’t wait for the event to begin.

  “Tell me you’ll be mine tonight, Janay. Tell me that I can have you…please, baby.”

  His whispered request – raspy and desperate – prompted me to draw back, but only enough so that we could face one another.

  If I were going to go through with this lustful deed, I needed to know that he really want me and not just any random woman. I needed to know that I was his woman for tonight and that no one else here, not Rita or any other female within fifty feet or more, would have been able to take my place in his arms.

  “What do you want from me?” I asked, almost afraid to hear his reply.

  My heart pounded in my chest as the ice blue of Jackson’s eyes caressed me softly.

  His hands locked into my waistline and he bent forward and kissed me hard, his tongue sweeping through my mouth as I opened up more and more to his demanding gesture. As he withdrew, Jackson sucked at my lower lip and left it feeling plump and naked, ready and eager for a repeat of his adoring treatment. Before he spoke again, a final kiss was gently placed at the center of my brow.

  “Janay, I don’t want for anything, but I do know that I need you. Right now.”

  I had been anxious to hear those words. I was the only one that had the power to fulfill his need. It was me that he desired to make into his lover for tonight.

  I placed my head on his chest and gathered a patch of cloth from the back of his shirt in my hand. I held on to him like a woman feeling as though she would faint away.

  “Yes…I need you too, Jackson,” I whispered and gave up my last bit of strength to him.

  With his mighty brawn, he easily lifte
d my heels from the floor and cradled me flat against his hard torso. The whole world dropped away as he exited the dance floor with me still protectively wrapped in his arms. With stealth movement, Jackson crossed the wooden floor and moved around the area of the bar and back toward the rear of the building. The rush of lights and the blur of colors and faces faded away into the distance as we entered a secluded corner, devoid of all but a slight filter of light from the head of the building, where the evening crowd remained behind continuing on with the hype of their evening.

  Once we were away from prying eyes, Jackson carefully set me down and his wide frame moved me back into an alcove. While pinned against the wall of the cut out, I noticed a door to my left. The black letters on the smoked windowpane read General Manager/Owner.

  A slight panic crept up into my mind. What if the owner, or whoever was behind that door, decided to open it and found us here entangled in such lewd behavior?

  “Jackson, maybe we shouldn’t be back here?” I questioned.

  He pushed me further against the hard surface of the wall by pressing his heavy frame flat on me.

  “No need to worry,” his voice a low and hoarse whisper, “I know the owner and he’s definitely not in that room and he definitely won’t mind that we’re back here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  My face turned back to the closed door.

  A fingertip coaxed me back in Jackson’s direction and his wet lips covered mine once again. When he released me from the kiss, I was hungry for more and tried to lean forward to capture his mouth again. Before I could catch a taste of him, he used his moist rose pink lips to trace a slow trail down the curve of my neck. When he stopped at the juncture between my neck and shoulder, he sucked at the skin there causing an erotic effect on me. My hips bucked forward and Jackson pushed his massive hardness to meet my sizzling center.

  He dipped his face further down and ran a lazy tongue across the center of my upper chest and dragged the back of his fat tongue down and over the top of my heaving breasts, now fully plumped in anticipation of the feel of his hot mouth. With a quick movement, faster than my mind could perceive, Jackson dropped his body down low and wrapped his burly hands around the back of my thighs and lifted me off the floor and high into the air so that we were at eye level. My legs instinctively engulfed him between them and yanked him up to my dripping center. The juices gathering there had started to leak through the tiny pair of black bikini panties with the thin hip straps that I was wearing. At any moment, my wetness threatened to burst through and start a slow descent down my thighs. I was helpless to stop the process. I knew there was no going back now and, in all honesty, I wouldn’t dare try to.