Chapter 2 - Lip Service
Bella woke with the bright sun warming up the room Carlisle had guided her to the night before. She'd been too exhausted to notice her accommodations last night, so as she sat up, she took in her surroundings. She decided if she had to write a review of the room, she'd say 'luxurious but not ostentatious'.
As she became more alert, Bella felt like maybe she'd made a mistake letting Carlisle touch her the way he had, even though it would be her favorite mistake for the foreseeable future. She'd always imagined herself as a person who needed to be in a relationship to feel comfortable having someone touch her that way, but Carlisle had brought to the fore a part of her that wanted to simply experience her sexuality. She didn't know what to do with that part of herself. Well, that was a lie; she knew what to do, she just wasn't sure she could do it without feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable in her own skin. And what kind of woman was she if she let these men meet her desires without giving any consideration to their wants? Even the thought of staying and enjoying the experiences Alice had paid for left her jittery. If she left now, she could save herself a heap of future anxiety and spend the rest of her vacation trying to forget the best thing that had happened to her since… well, since forever.
As she turned to get out of bed, she noticed a silver tray with a domed food cover and a glass of orange juice sitting on her nightstand. A piece of heavy cardstock with beautiful, masculine handwriting leaned up against the dome. She picked it up to read it.
"Bella – I woke with a great feeling of contentment reflecting on the pleasure we shared yesterday. Thank you."
Shit. Even his thank-you notes were sexy.
"Think of what you desire out of your time here. Please write down your thoughts on the back of this page so that I can help you reach your goals. I'd be honored if you would join me for a late lunch. I can retrieve the card then.
Jasper will be dropping by to pick up your tray around 10 a.m. He is also available to spend time with you, if you desire. If you've changed your mind about staying, let him know and he'll help you find your way to the front lobby and arrange transportation back to your car.
Appreciate all, regret nothing.
Carlisle"
Bella's hand began to shake. The good girl inside her–the one that took care of her parents, followed all the rules, and did what she was supposed to do when she was supposed to do it–thought she really should pack her bag and get the hell out of here. The one that left college to help Alice, the one that could keep Alice on schedule and at the same time outwit hordes of paparazzi—the Bella that knew there was more inside her than she had ever really let out—really wanted to stay. What would she want to get out of the week if she stayed? Stress release? Lessons in advanced sex techniques? An understanding of how men think? The ability to tap into her own sexual power?
Bella began to pace, her mind whirling. She didn't like the nebulous descriptions Carlisle seemed to be fond of. "Spend some time" seemed too generic. Was Carlisle offering to set her up on a date? Surely not. He must mean that this Jasper was to be her first arranged sexual partner.
Are they called "johns"' if I'm receiving the service instead of giving it?
Looking at the domed cover, Bella knew she wouldn't be able to eat. What she needed to do was take a shower. Then she needed to pack and get the hell out of this insanity and back home to the insanity of Hollywood.
Hearing the fast knocks on her door caused Bella's heart to speed up to match. Frantically throwing her mostly-closed toiletry bag into her suitcase to join her wadded-up clothes, she called, "It's open."
Out of her peripheral vision, she watched the door opened slowly. Eventually, an extremely tall, lanky cowboy was revealed; white hat, pearl-snap shirt with the sleeves rolled up, well-worn jeans, boots and all. Damn, he's gorgeous. And I can "spend time" with him right now? Change your mind immediately, Swan. Seize this moment. Without looking directly at him, she called out, "It's Jasper, right?"
Removing his hat as he nodded, Bella noticed that he smelled like sunshine and fresh-cut grass. Turning to face him, she saw his eyes were the blue of the sky on a clear, sunny day, and they seemed to jump out from his sun-kissed skin. He had chin-length dark blond hair pushed behind his ears, and she could see that when not forced flat under the hat, it would be curly. Why did he have to be so good looking? Didn't he know that made it harder for her to say no to this whole idea?
Eyeing her full suitcase, he asked quietly, "Do I need to make arrangements for you to return to Peaceful Canyon?"
"I think so. I don't think I can go through with this." Bella crossed her arms.
"Why not? Don't you deserve to get what you want?"
"Deserving it and paying someone to give me what I want—and then wondering if it's anything close to what they want—are two different things." Bella zipped up her suitcase, tugged it off the bed, and began rolling it toward the door.
"I see, so you don't go out to eat, then."
"What?" Bella stopped. "Of course I do."
"Do you pay to have them bring you what you want in a restaurant, or do you just let them decide what to bring to you? It costs less to get a set menu, but you might not like what you get."
"Are you really comparing this place to a restaurant?"
"Why not? They both involve using your senses. Your sense of sight, smell, touch, taste… they create a desire and then fulfill the desire they create. And there, just like here, you can choose exactly what it is you'll… experience. "
Bella's eyebrows rose. "I think that's the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard."
Jasper smirked at her, then walked over to the couch and sat down. "I like it here because there are no games. It's just two people getting together for pleasure. The women who visit are usually quite honest with me. They tell me what they want, and I do my best to give it to them, because I like pleasing them. But something tells me you honestly don't want to ask for what you want. Why is that?"
Bella simply stood where she was and stared at him, wondering if he was some sort of psychology major in a former life.
"Do you go out on dates?" he continued.
"I do, of course I do." Not any time recently, but you don't need to know that…
"What happens?"
"What do you mean? The normal stuff happens."
"Normal stuff, such as a guy takes you out, pays for a meal and some sort of entertainment, engages in a possibly painful attempt at conversation, then takes you home and tries to see just how far the money he spent will get him before deciding whether or not to call you again? "
"Well, that's not how I would describe…"
"Whether or not you would, that's what's going on. If you'd like to go back to that, taking a shot in the dark and hoping to hit what you want, I'll arrange for the helicopter to come pick you up."
Bella began to think that was the last thing she really wanted. So if she didn't want to go, did that mean she wanted to stay? She delayed thinking about it for a minute. "If you don't mind my asking, how long have you been here?"
"Ask me anything you want," Jasper said, motioning her over to sit beside him. "I've been here for five years. I've just taken over managing the horse ranch on the property, so I'll be spending less time with our guests, unfortunately."
Bella walked over to the couch and sat on the opposite end from Jasper, facing him. "How did you find out about this place?"
"My dad is a local politician back home in Texas. I started cattin' around in high school, and word got back to my dad that I was being less than a gentleman. It ticked off my dad's constituents, which in turn ticked off my dad. He complained to Carlisle, who was one of his college buddies. Soon after that, Carlisle came to visit and pulled me aside to offer me a job here on his ranch. He sweetened the offer by telling me he had access to all the women I could ever dream of if I was willing to listen to him about how to treat them. It seemed like a good offer for a teenage boy with more testosterone than sense."
Jasper adjusted his seating on the couch so he could face her more fully. "I was a mess when I got here. I was out to get mine, and while I like to think I was pleasing the girls I was with back home, I'm not sure now that I was. Carlisle requires all of us to take classes in all sorts of things; psychology, non-verbal communication, human sexuality, sexual methodology…."
Bella felt her breathing change, deepen.
Piercing her with his gaze, Jasper continued. "Basically, he turns us into men who know how to listen to a woman – what she says and what she doesn't say – so that we can bring her the highest pleasure possible."
I think I may be ready to see what you learned from Carlisle, cowboy.
Scooting closer to her, Jasper stretched his arm along the back of the couch and wrapped a piece of her hair around one of his fingers. Keeping his eyes on her, he pulled the lock of hair gently toward him, rubbed it across his lips, and then kissed it. "You're so beautiful."
"You're paid to say that," Bella snapped as she blushed. "Don't give me compliments you don't mean."
"What on earth makes you think I'd say something I didn't mean?" Jasper asked as he rubbed the finger wrapped in Bella's hair from the corner of his mouth to his chin and back. "I could have said anything; 'you have pretty hair', or 'I really like that pretty dress', or any number of things if I didn't want to say anything about your looks. But I felt compelled to say you're beautiful because you are."
"How many women have you done this with? What if they ask you to do something you don't want to do? What if I don't know what I want, but I really want you to start doing it right the fuck now?" After she asked this last question, Bella's hand flew up to cover her mouth, as if it had escaped without her permission.
Jasper grinned. "Your mind is just all over the place, isn't it? Why don't you let me rub your feet and see if I can help you relax? Would that be all right?"
Taking a deep breath, Bella nodded. Jasper untwisted her hair from his finger and slid off the couch onto the floor, running his hands from her knees to her feet. Oh lord, there was a man kneeling at her feet!
"I'm so glad you wore a dress this morning. It makes things so much easier."
As Bella watched, he picked up her left foot and placed it in his lap. "You have pretty feet, too. Look at these beautiful high arches." Pressing his thumbs into the bottom of her foot caused Bella to jump. "You must be on your feet a lot to have them be so tender. Do you stand a lot for work?"
Bella shook her head. "I do a lot of running around. They're sore a lot."
Jasper hummed in response and then began massaging her foot in earnest. After several minutes, Bella could feel the low-level pain in her foot recede and closed her eyes to relax into the feeling. Switching feet, Jasper began the same ministrations on her right foot.
After another few minutes, Bella's tension was all but gone. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "That feels so much better."
Bella heard Jasper reply, "I'm so glad." Then she felt him raise her foot. She didn't think anything of it until she felt something warm and moist pressing against her arch. Her eyes flew open to see Jasper's lips against her foot and his eyes trained on her to see her reaction.
Holy crow, what the hell is he doing? She tried to pull her foot away from him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm kissing your foot."
Bella blushed furiously and asked, "Why in the world would you do that?"
"Because I like kissing beautiful feet. Next I'm going to kiss your ankle. You've been warned."
As he did what he warned her he'd do, Bella squirmed at the sensation.
"Are you squirming because you're ticklish, or because you think you should be embarrassed?" Bella didn't answer. "I'm not doing this out of a sense of obligation, you know," Jasper said as he gave a small lick to her ankle, his eyes still trained on hers. "Since you didn't know what you wanted, I started doing what I like. I'm enjoying the hell out of this, and I hope you are, too." When Bella still didn't respond, he continued. "You're not complaining, and you've stopped squirming, so I'm going to keep going."
With that, Jasper placed her heel on his shoulder, then moved one hand up that leg to her knee and moved his mouth up the inside of Bella's calf, while his other hand massaged her other ankle. She grabbed the couch cushions next to her hips and tried to stop the room from moving.
When his mouth reached her knee, Bella flinched when he kissed the very prominent scar there. "Accident?" he asked.
"Bike. Ten stitches."
"Were you a daredevil?"
"No, just accident-prone. Still am, actually."
As Jasper's mouth moved to the inside of her knee and his tongue darted out to lick the back of it, Bella felt the simmering heat in her middle spread out all over her body. Her gasp caught Jasper's attention, and he returned his eyes to her. Her eyes flitted away from his. "You like that spot, hm? Do you like it on the other side just as much?" Turning his head to sample her other knee, his hair brushed the inside of her thigh. Bella's hips shifted involuntarily. If he keeps that up, I'm going to grab onto his hair and…. She couldn't decide if she wanted him to go higher or return in the direction he came from.
Skimming down her left leg, Jasper's mouth found its way to her foot. Bella tried not to let her disappointment show on her face. Jasper chuckled at her reaction. "Don't be sad. I'll be heading back that way soon. I'm going to see if you like something else first though, beautiful. Lay your head back and close your eyes for me."
Bella looked at him through heavy-lidded eyes, then leaned her head back against the couch and closed them, unable to watch. She heard rustling and a row of click-pops that signified snaps being undone and figured out that he was removing his shirt. She could barely get her thoughts together enough to wonder just what he was going to…
Her mind fell completely silent as she felt Jasper's hot breath on the bottom of her foot, right at the line where her toes joined her foot. Just as she started to process the inappropriateness of that action, she felt his mouth close around her small toes and his tongue run across the undersides. Bella moaned loudly.
Jasper released her toes and nuzzled against the crease under her big toe. "You make the sexiest sounds, darlin'. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." As he took her big toe into his mouth, making flicking motions between her big and small toes with his tongue, her back arched off the couch. As soon as she regained control of her body, she dragged her head forward, wanting to watch what Jasper was doing. The planes of his chest kept distracting her, and the disconcerting newness of having his mouth caress her toes made it difficult for her to look at him directly. When her eyes finally made contact with his, she could tell by his expression just how turned on he was getting. He really is enjoying this – almost as much as I am.
Jasper sat back. "Are you wanting to see what you do to me, beautiful? I'd be happy to show you." With that, he lowered her foot to the zipper of his jeans and groaned raggedly as he dragged her foot across his rigid flesh. As he turned his attention to her other foot, Bella's eyes stayed frozen to the sight of her foot resting on a man's hard cock. Okay, maybe he's enjoying this just as much as I am.
"You have a lovely blush, Bella," Jasper teased as his mouth returned to her ankle. "What dirty little thing were you thinking to make you blush like that?"
I was thinking I didn't know my clit was connected to my feet, cowboy. "N… nothing."
Jasper's eyes raked up her legs, watching his hands as he pushed her skirt high up on her thighs. Bella noticed that her chest was heaving as she gasped for air. She glanced up to see Jasper licking his lips, moving his eyes from her plain cotton panties to her face. "Well, now, isn't that the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard?"
She huffed a laugh at his re-use of her words, and then lost all her breath as he lowered his face to place a kiss right in the center of her damp panties. She could feel his hot breath against her, causing her hips to tilt forward. His hands moved under her knees and pulled her hips closer to him, nearer to the edge of the couch. The sudden movement caused her to yelp and grab onto the nearest objects for balance. One hand landed on the couch. The other landed in his hair.
"Oh, yeah, you grab right on. Hold tight, beautiful."
Bella blushed as Jasper's hands grabbed on to either side of her underwear and began pulling them down her legs. The embarrassment she expected to feel at being bared to him was mitigated by the embarrassment she felt at being unable to figure out how to move her legs to make the removal of her panties easier. After a tiny struggle, causing her to let go of her grip on his hair and steady herself against the couch, Jasper finally got her underwear where he wanted them, off of her and on the floor. Moving back to her, he ran his hands down her arms to her palms, picked up her hands, and moved them to the sides of his head.
"When I said 'hold on', I meant it." He smirked, moving his mouth back where it had been before the whole panty removal debacle began.
It would probably be rude to say "Giddyup, cowboy" right now.
As his tongue touched her, her head fell back and her hands flexed, gripping his hair and pulling him in. His deep moan in response caused her body to shake in return, spreading her knees open slightly. Feeling her movement, Jasper put his hands just under her knees and pushed them up and back, causing her legs to spread wide open and her feet to land on his arms and slide down to the crook of his elbows. Eyes closed, she could feel his thumbs stroking the inside of her thighs, moving closer to the crease of her legs, as his tongue continued its exploration of her clit. She couldn't distinguish any particular actions, she just felt wetness and warm and texture and movement and… and…
Oh god, oh yes, oh right there, yes yes yes…
Just as Bella felt she might shake apart, he stopped. Her eyes flew to his, and she grabbed his hair and tried to pull him back into action. His responding chuckle irritated her. He looked up at her, eyes dancing, and his chin rubbed against her as he spoke.
"Don't fret, Bella, I'm just making sure you absolutely enjoy our time together."
With that, he placed her legs over his shoulders and wrapped his fingers around the front of her thighs, bringing her calves into intimate contact with his naked back, and returned his mouth to her. Her hips began to buck, trying to get his mouth right where she wanted it so that she could finish.
"Patience, sweet thing, settle down."
She growled in frustration, pulling his beautiful blond curls again, and the resulting deep moan from the man between her legs caused her to groan in response. When she felt his tongue press against her entrance, her groan changed to a shout. His eyes locked on hers as one of his hands drifted up under her sundress to rest on her naked stomach and the other skimmed up over her arm to cup her clothed breast. She watched, panting heavily, as his tongue continued to transfer its heat into her. She could hear a higher-pitched sound, somewhere between a moan and a shout. It took her a minute to realize it was coming from her, as she'd never heard herself make that sound before.
Maybe that's because I've never had a man's mouth on me there before.
Bella realized she was extremely close when the shaking that started in her legs began moving up to her stomach and arms and her abdomen started to contract rhythmically. Unable to hold her head up any longer, she flopped it back against the couch cushions and just felt.
The silk of his hair.
The wet of his mouth.
The heat of his body.
His hands moved then, one thumb raking over her nipple and the other stroking her clit. In seconds, he'd caused the earth to move, shaking her apart. Her back arched as she screamed out in pleasure.
Coming back to awareness, Bella realized that Jasper was still between her thighs, stroking her gently with his tongue. Raising her head to look at him, she unclenched her hands from his hair and rubbed her thumbs over his temples. He opened his glittering sky-blue eyes and looked up at her as he kissed her clit one last time before kissing her thighs and then pulling her legs from his shoulders and leaning back.
"God, darlin', that was amazing." Stroking her legs, he asked, "Can you move?"
Bella couldn't even think of how to move her legs, much less actually do it. She also couldn't hold her head upright or open her eyes all the way. She felt drunk. She felt wired. Her clit knew his mouth was still close and pulsed with want.
She stared at his mouth and groaned as he licked his lips. She knew he could taste her on his skin. She wanted… god, would he… ?
"Do you want me to kiss you, Bella?"
Her eyes slowly dragged up to his. "God, yes," she panted.
Taking her hands in his and placing them against his stomach, he ran her hands up his chest to his shoulders, then placed his hands on the couch by her hips and leaned his naked torso over her. Running her hands up his neck and into his hair, she grabbed tightly and pulled his face forcefully to hers, trying to communicate her pleasure and thankfulness to him through the intensity of her kiss. She could smell the musky scent of her orgasm on him, even though she couldn't discern any unusual flavor in his mouth. She moved her mouth all over his, trying to see if she could find it, experience something she never had before. When she didn't find anything, her disappointment caused her exhaustion to hit her hard, and her head and hands collapsed back to the couch.
"Oh, sweet thing, if I'd known you wanted to taste it, I would have saved some for you," Jasper mumbled. "Maybe next time." Taking a deep breath, he stood and pushed his hair back behind his ears. "You're tired. I'll get you into bed so you can rest." Effortlessly picking her up, he carried her to the bed and laid her gently on it. Curving a corner of his mouth up, he asked, "Should I call the helicopter to come pick you up? Let you go back to the land of the men who are only out for what they want, and not what will please you?"
Bella indicated "no" as quickly as she could with a shake of her head.
"That's good news, Bella. I'm glad you're staying." Lowering his mouth to hers again, he gave her a long, wet kiss. "Remember Carlisle wants to have lunch with you, beautiful. Just pick up the phone when you wake up, and he'll arrange everything, okay?"
Bella nodded.
His fingers pushed her hair back from the side of her face, and he placed a kiss on her cheek. Standing, he then returned to the couch, threw on his shirt but didn't close it, and picked up his hat. She barely noticed, as she was staring at the very large bulge straining the front of his already-tight jeans.
How the hell was he walking with his cock that hard and bound up that way? And why didn't I take the chance to see it when I had the opportunity?
Bella's eyes followed him as he moved to the door. After opening it, he stopped to look at her. "Rest well, Bella." He smiled, bowed slightly, and placed his hat back on his head as he left the room. Sleep followed soon after.
Sitting down at the table with Carlisle, Bella blushed and placed her notes to the side of her plate.
"Bella, thank you so much for joining me. How was your morning?"
If it were possible, her blush would have gone from severe to thermonuclear. As it was, she could barely squeak out a response. "Amazing." She grabbed the water in front of her and began gulping it down.
"I'm glad you were treated so well. Jasper informs me you'll be staying with us for the week. Is that true?"
Bella put her glass back down and nodded. "Can I ask you something?"
Leaning forward, he said, "Of course."
"Are you the only brothel in Nevada where people don't have sex?"
Carlisle leaned back in his chair and laughed for what seemed to Bella like a full minute. "Of course not, Bella. This is, however, the only place where we make sure you want what you've asked for. You seemed… tentative… about staying, so I chose an experience that would bring you pleasure, but still allow you a clear conscience regarding paying for sex if you decided staying here was not for you." Here he paused, thinking before he continued. "And considering Jasper told me you wanted to leave first thing this morning, it seems I read you correctly. May I ask what changed your mind?"
Bella shrugged. "I decided it was time I experienced a five-star restaurant."
