The Blue Dress
Chapter Twenty Two: The Little Box with the Red Bow

Raven's eyes widened and she swallowed hard as she opened the door, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her baggy, faded sweatpants and tanktop. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, fighting the sudden barrage of emotions coursing through her veins and trying to keep Atticus from pushing past her to slobber and rub all over Jason's designer jeans. What in the world was he doing here? And on a Saturday night?

Jason lifted an eyebrow and leaned against her doorframe, his arms filled with files as a brown paper bag teetered precariously on top. "Are you going to ask me in?"

"Y-yes…" She pulled open the door open and lead him in, watching as he placed files and the paper bag on the kitchen counter. Raven took a step back and stared him for a long moment as he arranged things on her counter, not sure of what to say. A few seconds ticked by in silence before Raven finally managed to find her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"The report for Monday's meeting…?" He lifted an eyebrow at her, his hands stilling in the paper bag. "Remember? We talked about getting it completed this weekend, because we were both too busy this week. I had some free time tonight, and I thought maybe we could get it out of the way, but if you don't want to-"

"No!" Raven blushed as she realized how forceful her words had sounded, and she pushed at her hair. "No, we should work on it. I just… I completely forgot."

"Perfect Miss Roth forgot an appointment? I think that's a first."Jason laughed and leaned back on his heels, his eyes practically sparkling at her. "Someone better call the presses."

Raven could feel her heart jump into her throat as he looked at her and she shifted her weight again, pushing at her hair. What in the world was he doing to her? She shouldn't be this desperate to see him, could she? That thought made her just a little uneasy.

After what had happened in her office on Monday, she had barely seen him all week, and something about that longing had secretly bothered her, but of course she would never admit that to him. There were a few heated stares cast her way, but he was usually pulled into another meeting or down the hall, and his dark gazes suddenly turned apologetic, as if he would rather be undressing her with his eyes. Of course, she wouldn't mind letting him undress her with his eyes… or his hands.

Raven chewed on her lower lip and fought another blush. "You don't have to make fun of me."

"Of course I do. You're just so easy to tease." He opened the paper bag and reached inside, pulling out a few tupperware containers and placing them on the counter with a smile. "Don't be too mad at me, Raven, after all… I cooked for us."

Even if Raven tried, she didn't think she'd be able to stop the excitement from showing in her eyes, and she felt her hands reach out to grab one of the tupperware containers before she managed to find her self control. Last weekend had been the best dinner she had ever had in her life, and Raven could have sworn that she had dreams about his cooking. It was one of his best features. Right up there next to his smile, his laugh, his gorgeous chest, and his-

Raven watched him roll up the sleeves of his black button-up, revealing his toned forearms and tattoo. She swallowed hard and felt her eyes widen, rolling her tongue in her mouth as she unabashedly checked him out. In her head she played a silent scene of her running her fingers over the black lines on his skin, tracing them up his arm and to his chest. Heat pooled low in her stomach and she had to fight off a low hum of appreciation.

"Oh!" He snapped his fingers, yanking her from her daydream, and pulled out a ham bone from the bottom of the bag. "And I brought a treat for the little guy."

Atticus practically pushed him to the ground with excitement, but Jason seemed to hold his own against her dog. He laughed and scratched him behind the left ear, and Atticus fell to the floor happily munching on the bone as his tail thrashed wildly around.

"You didn't have to do that."

Jason shrugged and continued to scratch Atticus for a bit before standing up. "It's not a big deal, It was left over from cooking anyway, and I figured it wouldn't go to waste." He smiled and moved closer to her, his eyes darkening just a little bit as that sinful smirk reappeared. "Besides, I've got to butter up the kid if I'm going to try and get his mother to like me, right?"

Raven swallowed. "Is that what you're doing?"

"Among other things." His hand tightened next to his side as he stopped his footsteps towards her. "But first, dinner. And then files." He turned back around and began opening the containers to pop them in her microwave.

Raven watched him for a long moment, feeling the quest scratch relentlessly at her subconscious. What was he doing here? Why was he flirting and making her food and helping her with the report after hours? This didn't feel like him, but then again, Raven barely knew him beyond the dark touches and sinful persuasion. She swallowed hard and lifted her eyes to his own.

"What is this about…?"

Jason turned and looked at her with a shrug, completely unreadable. "What do you think it's about, Raven?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I."

There was a heavy silence that surrounded them and Raven realized that Jason was still staring at her, his expression both soft, but heated. It was as if he was confused, like he wanted to both protect her and care for her, but he also wanted to hoist her up on the counter and fuck her wildly. He wasn't sure what this relationship entailed and Raven wasn't either. It was both hot and heady, but there were small moments of tenderness woven into it, and neither of them knew which part was their real relationship, or even if it mattered.

The microwave dinged behind him and Jason tore his eyes away from her face, turning around to grab their dinner. There was another long, slow minute between them as they both weighed the conversation, until Jason finally spoke.

"I don't want what this is to matter right now, Raven." He plated their meal with a surprising amount of care and turned around to face her again, holding out her dinner. "What I want is for us to give it a try. I want us to try something other than two co-workers armed with an arsenal of keen observations and harsh words… occasionally peppered with kisses."

"Among other things," she purposefully repeated his words.

Jason smiled, but said nothing, and he certainly did not apologize.

Raven chewed on her lower lip and nodded, taking the plate from him. "Alright."

His expression softened again, and he moved closer again, his smile spreading across his lips. "Good… now, let's eat, so we can get the report done."

Three hours later they found themselves putting the finishing touches on the report as her TV played some bad kung fu movie in the background. She looked up from her laptop occasionally to see him focused on the report, notes in hand. He looked almost…sexy like that. His eyes glued to the screen of his computer, his hair a bit of a mess, and a dot of blue highlighter on his cheek. Raven watched him for a moment longer before his voice interrupted her thoughts.

"… and done. For now at least." Jason stood up and stretched his back before gathering their empty dishes and taking them to the kitchen to put them in the sink. "I don't know what Mr. Wilson is going to throw at us when he gets back next week, but for now we're at least prepared and ready to take on the client on Monday. The rest, we'll worry about later, right?"

"Right. Thanks." Raven followed him into the kitchen, stretching out her writing hand. "I'm glad you were here to help. Otherwise I feel like I would have been at that all weekend."

"It's fine, Raven. I'm just glad it's done." He started to pack up the rest of the containers and paused when he looked in the bag, his eyes widening just a little. "Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about dessert."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Dessert?"

"Yeah." Jason pulled a few chocolate covered strawberries from the bag and placed them on the counter, his innocent smile transforming into something dark and sensual. His white teeth suddenly looked predatory, like fangs as he caught her stare with a low chuckle.

He opened the container and pulled out a berry, holding it at eye-level. "Open your mouth, Raven."

Color filled her face and she took a half-step back, her heart suddenly starting pounding like a drum against her ribs. "You can'tpossibly be serious, Jason."

He just smiled and moved closer to her, pinning her back against the island counter, with darkness curling at the edges of his stare. His nose nudged against her own and he gave a one-shouldered shrug, chuckling. "Well, it seems like such a waste of good food, don't you think?"

Raven's eyes flicked from the berry in his hand to his face and back again. Biting back her embarrassment, and knowing she was giving into him, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth. A second ticked by before her tastebuds were flooded with fine chocolate and fresh strawberry. She could feel juice run down the edges of her lips and she felt another wave of embarrassment hit her before-

Jason's lips pushed against her own, his hands going up into her hair and tugging at the fine, silken strands with determination, as if to pull her even closer to him. He nudged her mouth open and dipped his tongue inside, humming just a little at the back of his throat, but the vibration curled down Raven's spine and pooled in her stomach again. She writhed against him, trying to hold onto the last bits of herself.

Reservation. She needed to find reservation and self control and-

Oh, fuck it.

Growling to herself, Raven brought her hands up to tighten in the folds of his black button-up and she pulled him closer, meeting him kiss-for-kiss, tasting every inch of him that she could. He grunted and pushed against her, her hips knocking against his and feeling his reaction to her. The jolt of electricity that raced through her nearly brought her to her knees, and threatened to make her body give into his own without much work. Raven groaned and pulled away, her head falling back on her shoulders as he lifted her to the counter and stepped between her legs, his lips finding hers again.

He reached up into her hair again and pulled it free of her ponytail, his lips insistent against her skin. Raven couldn't help but move closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and rubbing her hips along the delicious bulge that pressed against her thigh. The electricity grew sharper and more desperate, and her kisses changed as well. Oh, how she wanted him. He was cursing under his breath between kisses, his eyes never leaving her own as he fervently searched her body over and over again, trying to find something that might help him hold onto his sanity, but he couldn't. No, he was doomed to burn with her, and Raven could see the complete surrender in his eyes, he wanted to give in to everything she offered.

His hands crept under the hem of her tanktop, stroking the skin along her stomach before teasing the waistband at her hips, all the while never letting his lips leave her own. No, he continued to flood her soul and senses with this kiss that burned all the way through her. Jason grunted and dipped two fingertips below her waistband, playing with her panties.

Memories of Monday came rushing back to her, and it was all Raven could do to not strip herself naked and tell him to take her, but he was slow. He was moving so deliciously slow that Raven was certain she would go up in flames before he gave into her.

"Raven…" He kissed down her neck, scratching against her pulse with his teeth. "Jesus, Raven…"

BARK.

Raven and Jason pulled away from each other like two teenagers being caught by their parents and stared down at Atticus. He grinned up at them before jumping on his hind legs and wedging his nose between their bodies, nudging Jason's hand with playful licks.

Jason looked annoyed for a moment, but his expression melted into helpless humor and he lifted his stare to hers. "It's getting late."

Raven nodded and pushed Atticus down off the counter. "Yeah… I guess… I'll see you on Monday?"

"Yeah…" Jason began picking everything up and started for the door. He paused as his hand touched the handle, and he pulled out one more thing, placing it on the kitchen counter. His eyes met hers in a teasing look, and he smirked. "This is for you."

Raven looked at the small package on the counter, it was wrapped in black paper and covered with a red bow. "Okay… what is it?"

"It's a gift."

"W-what kind of gift?"

He smiled and opened the door, not quite meeting her curious stare. "Oh, Raven… you honestly don't think I've forgotten about the game have you?"

With those foreboding words, he stepped out, leaving Raven to stare at the package for another few minutes. Should she open it? Did she trust him…? Swallowing hard, she pushed her reservations to the back of her mind and opened the box, peering inside. Her heart dropped into her stomach and her breath caught in her lungs.

This was…

Raven, wear these on Monday. - J

This was…

She pulled out the gift and held them at eye level.

Vibrator panties!?