Chapter 17

By the end of the week Jasmine was beginning to feel like her old self again, and it seemed that she had never been away from work, with the creativity still flowing and the amount of mixing and editing she needed to do increasing on a daily basis.

Early on Wednesday afternoon after being treated to another of Dorothea’s gigantic lunches, Jasmine sat behind the sound board with Obie, watching and listening to Jon record his vocals for the second to last track from the planned list. 

“Not much longer Jasmine, then we’ll finish. You look whacked,” Obie said as he reset some buttons and Jon began to sing again.

“I’m fine. It takes as long as it takes.” Jasmine replied trying to suppress a yawn.

“Then why are you yawning so wide I can see your tonsils?”

Jasmine laughed, “Because you mentioned being sleepy. When anyone mentions sleepy then I yawn. It’s like when someone else yawns then invariably I will too within a few seconds, or like when someone mentions head lice and everyone else starts itching.”

“You’re ranting Jasmine, you’re definitely tired.”

Before she could complain Obie had told Jon that he was sending her home to get some rest. Richie overheard the exchange and was by her side with her bag within seconds.

“Your carriage awaits darlin’, time to rest up.” He said, hauling her out of her chair, handing her jacket to her and offering his arm for support.

“I’m not sick Rich, you can quit with the nurse routine now.”

“You heard the doc, you have to take it easy. He’s a scary man, I’m not going to piss him off by letting you over do it, now let’s go.”

Richie led her out of the door and up the drive to the car. As soon as they were out of sight of the studio and far enough away from the house, Richie slid his arm around Jasmine’s waist and pulled her closer so that she molded into his side. Jasmine reciprocated and wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her hand at the top of his jeans pocket. Feeling brave and sure that they were out of the sight of prying eyes Richie kissed the top of Jasmine’s head and pulled her closer.

“You’re living dangerously, are you trying to get me fired?” Jasmine asked, only half jokingly.

Richie looked at her to gauge the seriousness of her comment and when he saw that there was a slight look of trepidation in her eyes as well as in her voice, he winced. 

“Of course not! Quite honestly I didn’t even think about that. All I was thinking about was having you closer to me because I missed you today. The only thing I want is to hold you all the time.”

“Very smooth Sambora, but you really do need to bear in mind that we can’t let anyone know until I don’t work for you anymore. Is this why you were so eager to get me home tonight?”

Richie grinned like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, knowing that he was far from being able to pull the wool over Jasmine’s eyes.

“Ya got me darlin’, you mad?”

“Not at all but let’s just wait until we get home and away from anyone who may see us.”

Jasmine said the words before she thought about them, but the meaning was not lost on Richie. At the sound of her calling his place ‘home’ his heart swelled. His house had felt more like a home in the week that Jasmine had been staying than it had ever done, despite the women who had stayed there previously. Secretly he was hoping that she would never leave but knew that it was not realistic and within a week or two she would begin to think about moving back home. He was frantically trying to think of ways to make her stay but couldn’t think of anything that didn’t make him sound desperate or controlling, or both.

Back home Richie carried Jasmine to bed despite her protests and made her have a nap whilst he made dinner. If the fans could only see me now, domestic God Sambora! He chuckled to himself as he prepared the pasta.

An hour and a half later the dishes were piled in the sink and Jasmine was curled around Richie on the sofa watching the news. Richie reached for her subconsciously and she snuggled in more tightly. It wasn’t long before Jasmine’s breathing fell into a rhythm and Richie realized that she had fallen asleep.

“Damn woman, you drive me insane just by breathing then you fall asleep before I get to do anything about it.” He admonished her jovially as he carefully lifted her up and took her to bed.

He quickly and quietly removed his clothes before he carefully began to remove her clothes; first her jeans, which proved more difficult than he thought. At the sight of her long toned legs appearing from their confines, leading to the uncovering of her underwear, Richie could feel the familiar stirring in his pants. He then lifted her arms and slipped her sweater over her head in one movement. Lowering her arms his hand briefly skimmed across her bra covered breast and the stirring in his pants became more pronounced. He breathed deeply trying to centre himself in order to be able to continue undressing Jasmine without waking her. He expertly removed her bra, avoiding all eye contact with the nipples that had puckered as soon as they were exposed to the air. 

Richie took a sharp intake of breath when his hand once again brushed Jasmine’s skin, and pulled back his hand as if her skin had burnt him. 

“Mmm,” Jasmine sighed. The warmth of his fingers against her skin had brought her out of her deep sleep and into semi consciousness. She didn’t open her eyes but reached her arms out in Richie’s direction. He didn’t miss a beat and had her wrapped in his arms almost immediately, kissing the top of her head then making his way across her cheek, briefly brushing her lips before nuzzling into her neck, which caused her nipples to stand on end once again and the skin on her arms turn into goose flesh.

Jasmine held securely onto Richie’s muscular arms, and enjoyed the feeling of them holding her to him. She moved slightly and his arms flexed to keep her with him.

“You fell asleep.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you. I just figured you wouldn’t want to sleep in your clothes so I tried my best to undress you.”

“So I see. You did a good job,” Jasmine muttered sleepily and barely audibly.

“Not that good of a job honey, you’re awake and talking to me.”

“I’m not really awake, it’s all a dream, a deliciously dreamy dream,”

Richie pulled the covers back and gestured for Jasmine to get in. Getting in after her he rolled on his side and pulled her to him so they were spooning; he kissed her gently on her head, smoothed down her hair and tucked a stray strand behind her ears. 

Jasmine was acutely aware of Richie’s body behind her. She could feel his hard chest resting against her back and her hands stroked his forearms absentmindedly, but it was the part of him that was resting against her lower back that had her heart beating. 

She scooted back and rubbed herself against him,

“Uh, don’t do that unless you want me to act on it darlin’, I’m barely holding on to my sanity as it is,” Richie said, his voice dark with lust.

Jasmine continued to rub against Richie, eliciting a groan from behind her. She tilted her head so that they were looking at each other and could see the burning in his eyes.

“Jas?”

She replied with a nod and reached up to kiss him. Richie responded and pushed her gently so that she was on her back. 

“Do you know how much I love your neck? The way your shoulders raise when I kiss it is hot. I like seeing the effect I can have on your body,” He said as he placed small butterfly kisses across her neck. He carried on over her breasts, taking each pert bud in his mouth, lavishing his attention on them so that they stood to attention for the third time in as many minutes.

Jasmine moaned with pleasure as Richie reached the middle of her stomach; she knew where he was headed and that just served to make her want him more, and sooner. She knew she was ready for him, she could feel the moisture between her legs and her heart was starting to beat just a little bit faster than was technically accepted as normal.

“Stop! Come here.” She beckoned,

“But…” Richie began to protest but lost the power of speech when Jasmine reached out and grabbed him, stroking down his length.

“Now.” She sighed, not demanding, but on the verge of begging. Richie obliged by nudging her thighs apart and settling himself in between them. Holding himself above her, he pushed and waited for a second before pulling out and entering her again. Jasmine’s eyes were open, looking up at the beautiful look of concentration on Richie’s face; his brown eyes shimmered with the consistency of melted chocolate and were focused on a spot just above Jasmine’s head. His arm muscles flexed with the pressure of holding himself up. Jasmine hooked her legs behind his back and angled herself so that he got a better position inside of her. 

“Look at me. I want to see your face,” she demanded this time with no sign of begging.

Richie leant down and kissed her deeply, his tongue probing her mouth until it relented and allowed their tongues to meet. He kept his pace slow and steady, rubbing himself against her raging warmth; it was hard for him to keep concentrating on remaining slow and steady, when all he wanted to do was to lose control and pound into her until he hit the very core of her. Luckily for Jasmine, he was aware that her body was still healing from the beating it received only a week before and he had no intention of extending her recuperation period. He stared hard into her sapphire eyes, which were swirling with a cobalt tint, locking them together as he rocked them both to their end. 

Jasmine’s legs squeezed as her world went black for a few seconds of heaven, then slackened as she rolled over and promptly fell back asleep.

By the time Richie had recovered his breathing and scooted back up the bed, Jasmine was fast asleep on her side. He pulled the covers over them and settled in his previous position behind her with his arms wrapped securely around her middle.

“I love you,” he whispered in her ear, safe in the knowledge that she was unconscious and couldn’t hear him. He liked the sound of it and it felt right to say it. He just had to find the right time to tell her when he had her full attention.