Chapter 16

"No..." That's all that came out of her mouth before she burst into tears, feeling John pull her into his strong arms and couldn't believe how this date had changed...all because of her emotions. "I'm sorry, it's not you John." Jasina sniffled, pulling away and accepted the tissue he handed her, wiping her eyes. "My-My boyfriend passed away around five months ago and...This restaurant...it's just a memory. He surprised me with dinner at my old apartment one night and...This is the food. I thought he cooked it, but apparently he got take-out from this place..." It was definitely coincidental; Jasina suddenly wasn't hungry anymore and she looked up into his kind blue eyes. "I ruined our date, I'm sorry, John..."

Her boyfriend had gotten her takeout and managed to pass it off as a home-cooked meal. That was slick and John felt appreciation for that stunt. Then he felt bad because the guy was also dead. Surprisingly enough, John wasn't upset or discouraged by this sudden turn of events, his heart going out to Jasina for her loss.

"You didn't ruin our date." He told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and guiding her outside, figuring some fresh air would do them both good.

"Sir...Are you coming back in?" The hostess asked, interrupting them. "Because you have to pay for the meal still."

"Oh, yeah. My bad."

John whipped out his wallet, still staring down at Jasina. Jasina managed to crack a weak smile, wiping a few stray tears away and waited for the waitress to return with his card along with two boxes of their food, John thanking her. John guided her over to a nearby bench and Jasina sat down, crossing her ankles and kept her eyes lowered, trying to get her emotions under control.

"Thank you for understanding, John." She whispered, feeling him lift her chin with his strong hand and his lips brushed against her forehead, accepting another hug from him. "Randy's gone and I need to get over it, but this really took me by surprise."

"You don't have to get over anything, it's obvious you loved, Randy was it? That's my buddy's name." John smiled slightly, but it was a sad smile. He was sad, felt sad for her because how much she still hurt was obvious. "I bet he loved you more then you knew..."

Buying take-out and passing it off as home-cooking. The guy either had no shame at all or was trying desperately to do something nice and romantic. Given the type of food and the type of woman Jasina seemed to be, John was going to go with the latter.

"I hope he did." Jasina whispered, looking up at the starry night sky, one of the things she enjoyed about Houston.

For some reason, the fact that John's friend Randy had the same name didn't make her question whether or not it was her Randy he was searching for. Her dead Randy. There was a lot of Randys in the world, even a few in Houston that she'd come across, so she wasn't about to bring up her dead boyfriend possibly knowing John. Granted, he was out of town, but that was just a coincidence and she wasn't about to ask him either.

"I did love him and I always will, but...he's gone and I have to move on." She slowly looked up into John's blue eyes, swallowing hard. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but you are the first guy I've dated since Randy's death."

It never even crossed John's mind to ask her about her Randy, figuring the guy was probably from Houston like she was. Randy was a rather common name, so was John. Jasina definitely was not though, he had never heard that one before.

"I am the first guy you dated since he died..." John echoed, his eyes wide. "I'm not entirely sure if that's a good or bad thing. I'm glad I'm the first, but...now I feel pressured to not blow this and I already have." He had taken her to the restaurant her dead boyfriend had used.

He was such an ass.

"You didn't blow anything, John." Jasina assured him with a soft smile, knowing he was only in town for a short amount of time and decided to just let everything flow as it should. "I just don't want you to think I'm using you to get over him or something like that. Honestly, I had no idea that he got food from this place. It was a surprise dinner that I honestly thought he cooked and you had no idea." She moved to sit on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him. "You're a sweet guy, I'm sorry to have dumped this all on you. So don't feel pressured or anything because you did everything right. I just got emotional because...I didn't know he came here for the food. It hit me harder than I thought..."

"Oh hey, I'm not...you're not dumping anything on me, except yourself, which I so do not mind." He gently looped his arms around her waist, giving her plenty of room to squirm away or punch him if she wanted too. "I don't mind, Jasina, if you want to talk about him." He said quietly, seriously. John wondered if she had actually spoken to anyone about Randy, really talked about him.

"I bet you don't." Jasina smirked, sitting sideways on his lap and actually felt comfortable doing so, the fresh air doing her a lot of good. "I don't want to talk about Randy anymore. It's time for me to let him go and move on, like I said before." She knew she probably sounded like a broken record and John was very sweet to offer to let her talk about him, but Jasina wanted to enjoy life instead of mourning her dead boyfriend. "I'm over him, I really am." She meant it, Randy was gone and she accepted it awhile back, smiling when John's dimples showed. "The food just caught me off guard is all. Why don't we just go somewhere else or maybe go somewhere to talk?" She suggested, standing up from John's lap, extending her hands to him. "I don't want to end our date yet."

"I would, um, invite you back to my hotel, but that would seem like I'm trying to get into your pants, which I would love nothing more than to happen, but I'm also not the type of guy to push a woman into something she isn't ready for." He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "What other places do you like to go to?" He wasn't about to suggest they go wherever she was currently staying, remembering that she had seen a realtor earlier in the day at Emerald City, so obviously she didn't have her own place.

"We could go back to your hotel room, I don't mind."

Her fingers slowly slid down his shirt covered chest, before going back up to wrap around his thick muscled up neck, teal eyes locking with his. She hadn't had sex in nearly half a year. Jasina was going to go out of her mind if she made herself celibate much longer.

"Whatever happens, happens. We could simply talk and have a couple of beers or watch a movie cuddling. Whatever you want to do, John. I don't think you're getting in my panties though, I wouldn't have agreed to this date if I knew those were your intentions. You're too sweet for those type of intentions."

She wasn't however.

John stared at her in silence, knowing an invitation when he heard one, though she had dressed it up and given other options, but the invitation was still there. "Alright, we can do that." He said slowly, feeling her fingers playing with the back of his neck, trying not to shiver as he stared into her eyes, knowing his were probably darkening. "Though...if you keep playing with my neck, we're never going to leave this bench." He was a bit...sensitive back there.

She giggled softly, stopping what she was doing and watched him stand up to tower over her, wondering what it was about tall men that were attractive and downright sexy. "I'll follow you?" She said suggestively, not waiting for his reply and walked away toward her car, feeling the butterflies suddenly erupt in her stomach.

What if they did have sex and she was terrible at it?

It'd been at least six months since a man last touched her, besides the kisses Mark had given her recently. She didn't consider kissing to be sexual, not even when it came to her ex-husband. Jasina pushed those negatives thoughts out of her mind and followed John out of the restaurant parking lot, glad he'd remembered to take their leftovers. She would be hungry after this, she simply knew it. Jasina checked her makeup in the mirror at a red light and hoped she was doing the right thing, though her libido was overriding her rational thinking.

John was giving himself a pep talk.

He was really, really hoping she meant what she said about really being over her dead boyfriend, Randy, and not just using him to forget. He scratched that, forced it out of his mind. She probably was lonely, though given how beautiful and friendly she was, he found it hard to believe there wasn't a line of men waiting on her.

He wanted her. She wanted him. It was simple as that.

"You got this." John told himself, squishing the nerves down, not about to make a total fool of himself.

Jasina was doing the exact same thing John was, reminding herself she was single and could have sex if she wanted. Randy was dead and she wasn't cheating. Becoming celibate definitely was a mistake, one that Jasina planned on rectifying, honestly not caring if John thought she was a whore or not.

If they ended up having sex on the first date, well...it would only be the second time in Jasina's life that it happened. The only other man she'd slept with on a first date was her ex-husband, Mark. Jasina pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and checked herself in the mirror one final time before stepping out, following John inside to his room.

John ignored the arched eyebrow the girl at the front desk shot his way, looping his arm around Jasina as they headed for the elevator. Keeping a distance from her would have made it look like he was trying to hide something and he wasn't. He was an adult, with no strings attached to him.

He could do whatever and whomever he wanted, though he generally tried not to have sex on the first date. Generally it did happen, he was a guy after all. Once at his hotel room door, he turned to stare down at her, bending down to brush his lips gently against hers.

"If you've changed your mind, now would be a good time to tell me." John said, giving her an out.

One he hoped she didn't take.

Jasina responded by reaching up and began unbuttoning his shirt, her darkened turquoise eyes boring into him, letting him know she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. She could see it in his darkened blue orbs that swam with pure lust, gasping when he suddenly pressed her against the door to kiss her again, this time a little more passionate. Jasina instantly reciprocated, her fingers massaging the back of his neck and felt the door open and close, her back once again pressed against the door, only this time they weren't out in the open. John lifted her up and Jasina instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing the shirt off of him while he worked on removing her dress, carting both of them over to the bed, stumbling slightly.

It really was a beautiful dress. Though at the moment, it was more trouble than it was worth and John had to fight to keep himself from just ripping it off. Finally depositing her on the bed, John finished tugging it away from her.

It was getting dark and he wasn't liking that, so he reached out to flick on the light near the bed, dimming it down. Just enough to see her, a low murmur of appreciation escaping his lips. Her undergarments and high heels...now that was sexy. He moved so he was hovering over her, trailing kisses along her collar bone.

No words were spoken, just the sounds of a sexual nature echoed throughout the hotel as Jasina finally remembered how much she used to enjoy sex. She'd been so deep in mourning over Randy that she hadn't even realized what she was missing out on. John took his time with her and reintroduced her to a world she thought was long forgotten.

Every part of her body trembled with new life and Jasina actually saw stars explode before her eyes when she came with John. He definitely was a stallion in bed and had a lot of stamina, which she was used to because both Mark and Randy definitely were not one minute men. From the foreplay, to teasing and tormenting her body, to finally getting down to business...Jasina enjoyed every single second of it, letting John know it.

She wasn't shy anymore.

John had noticed a bit of...trepidation, like she was afraid she had forgotten the basics and realized he was probably her first time back in the saddle so to speak since her boyfriend's death. No pressure there. Once she had gotten over that issue...mind-blowing was the best way to accurately describe the experience between them and he knew he was pleasing her just as much as she pleased him. He hadn't been lying about the dancing and bedroom thing and he was proving it to her. If the moans, soft sighs and gasps she made, along with the scratches she had left on his shoulders and back, were any indication, her return to sex was explosive.

They had sex for hours in all positions they could come up with, Jasina fully satisfied by the time they were finally done. She collapsed on top of him, having finished their fifth bout by being on top and felt his hands run up and down her back while she buried her face in the crook of his neck. Their bodies were caked with sweat and it felt amazing, Jasina knew she would definitely be sore tomorrow, already feeling the delicious ache between her thighs.

She hadn't had sex like this since Mark, Randy couldn't go more than twice in a night, though she wasn't complaining. Jasina made it clear to John not to leave any marks on her neck or arms. Only places where only she would see them, Jasina knew had quite a few on her inner thighs, chest and stomach, snuggling further against his rock hard body.

John didn't mind not being able to leave marks on her, not visible to the public ones any way. That wouldn't have looked very professional in the workplace, but he had definitely left...marks in places not generally displayed to the public eye. He definitely did not like being marked himself, it would be definite proof that this wasn't the most realistic, kinkiest dream he had ever had.

"Damn..." John murmured, clearing his dry throat and kissed the top of her head before dropping his back onto the pillow, wondering if his heart was about to leap out of his chest with the way it was pounding.

"I second that." Jasina chuckled softly, not having the strength to roll off of him and smiled when he just tightened his arms around her.

For the first time in six months, Jasina wasn't sleeping alone and it felt wonderful. Her bed had been cold for too long and as much as she loved Randy, she also knew he wanted her to be happy, to live her life. Her cell phone had an automatic alarm set for when she had to get up in the morning for work and Jasina couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, falling asleep against John, barely whispering 'good night' before the darkness consumed her.

The fact that she was obviously going to spend the night made John feel a lot better. It meant she hadn't been using him to forget, because if she had been, she probably would have just had a guilt overload and bolted. He murmured a good night back and fumbled for the sheet, drawing it up over them. While the night would be warm, eventually they were going to feel a slight chill from their bodies cooling down and the sweat factor.

He was asleep almost as quickly as she was with a smile on his face.