Cruel Temptation

by Callahan, Kelli

  “Why?” Brian asked him. “Why would you do this? You don’t like me, and I don’t like you.”

  “Well, considering you’re never going to admit what I want you to, I want to at least get something out of this shit show,” Jaxon said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Brian seemed honest as he blinked up at Jaxon. He didn’t seem like a liar in this moment, but again, I had no idea what to believe.

  Jaxon walked toward the mirror, and he stared at me, his eyes trying to convey a message I wasn’t able to understand.

  All I knew what Brian wanted the money. He would have killed me for it. Jaxon told the truth.

  I ran out of the room; my bare feet slapped against the floor, and tears clouded my vision as I stared ahead where the elevator was.

  The last ten years of my life had been a lie.

  What other lies were buried in this past decade?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jaxon

  I knew getting him to admit he wanted the money would be easier than him getting to admit that he killed Tracy. Now that Quinn knew one truth, maybe the acceptance of my innocence would come easier.

  I walked out of the room, and Brian shouted, “Don’t turn your back on me. We must plan! Get me out of here. Jaxon! Jaxon!”

  I ignored him, not giving a damn about his cries for freedom. I knew Quinn needed me. Regardless of the kind of man Brian is, spending a decade of your life with someone, only to find out they weren’t who they said they were, was hard.

  Me on the other hand, I was relieved. I was one step closer to making Quinn mine again. It didn’t look like I had to wait ten years. I didn’t have to take Brian’s toes to convince her, well, I might now for a different reason, but things were looking up for me.

  Just how I wanted— selfishly.

  Selflessly, I didn’t want to hurt Quinn in the process. Pain was inevitable right now, but it would get better. If she allowed me to make it better for her. For us.

  I closed the door behind me and pressed the button the wall that silenced the intercom between the rooms. “Quinn?” I called out for her and searched the dark room for her petite frame, but I couldn’t see her. “Quinn?” I started to worry when she didn’t answer. She always had something to say, even if she refused to speak, I saw her eyes and they spoke loud enough for her. “Quinn.” I ran out of the door and took a left down the hall. I still didn’t see her. I slowly started to pick up the pace when I saw nothing ahead but the elevator. The soles of my shoes clicked against the floor, and by the time I got to the elevator, I had been sprinting. My hand hit the button on the wall with the remaining momentum flowing through my body, helping me to stop in my tracks.

  She had taken the elevator up and, with the size of the place, probably got lost. “Come on, come one!” I said with impatience since the elevator liked taking its time. Once it dinged, I hoped when the doors slid apart that Quinn would be standing in front of me, but the square space was empty. The only thing that lingered was her scent. She always smelled like a cool spring day with a hint of citrus. Spring was my favorite time of year, and it only made sense for the woman I loved to smell like something that brought me peace.

  I hurried inside and pushed the button to the main floor, shoved my hands in my pockets, and waited to lift. I had five floors to think about what to do and how to handle this delicate situation, and I had no idea where to begin.

  Quinn was a different woman these days. There were parts of her that were the same, parts of her that were so unique and unknown; it was like I had never met her before. She was fire and ice all rolled into one, and both sides of her burned me. She tested me like no other had tested me, which said a lot since I spent ten years in prison and got into countless fights.

  Quinn wasn’t brute strength she didn’t have an ego to prove; she was logic and intelligence manifested into a beautiful woman. It was the most dangerous combination I had seen. She could take down anyone, and that included a man like me.

  The elevator stopped, and the hallway revealed itself when the doors opened. I ran down the hall again only for Sebastian to meet me halfway. He seemed to be in a hurry too. “Where is she?” I asked. “Have you seen her?”

  He nodded. “I was coming to get you. She’s at the infinity pool.”

  “Is she okay?”

  His stone-cold eyes swirled into a deeper shade of blue as he thought. “I don’t know. She’s crying. I’d assume not. I haven’t seen a woman cry in a long time.” His hand landed on my shoulder. “Go to her. She needs you.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Sebastian. She never needs anyone.” I almost admitted that I’d been the one who always needed her, but I had a feeling it didn’t need to be said. Sebastian knew. We were cellmates. He knew everything about Quinn, things I never told anyone before. I confided in him with the love I held for her. He wasn’t just a best friend; he was my brother.

  “I think you’re wrong. Everyone always needs someone, even if they don’t want to admit it.” Sebastian gave a tight, short squeeze to my shoulder and let go before turning around and marching back down the hall to the common area. He had a few minutes of walking to do; the house was gigantic.

  As he vanished into the distance, I continued my search for Quinn. Instead of following Sebastian, I took a door that led out to a walkway that surrounded the cliff. It was safe, reinforced with strong metal rails. As I stepped outside, the wind blew the ocean’s salt across my face and I inhaled. This was why I decided to build my home inside a cliff because the view was one in a million. I could jump off the rail into the depths of the water, that was how close we were to danger and beauty.

  Speaking of danger and beauty, I had my woman to find. Yeah, mine. Quinn had always been mine, whether she liked it or not, we were star-crossed. She might not like it, but I wasn’t going anywhere unless the damn devil dragged me down himself

  My hand grazed the rail of the walkway along the side of the cliff, heart pounding with adrenaline from being so high up. When I looked down, the waves beat the rocks, and I thought of the poor driver I pushed over the cliff. I hoped he had a quick death. I didn’t like loose ends, and he had become one that needed to be clipped.

  The path dipped down into stairs, natural steps the cliff had made, and the area fanned out to the infinity pool. Quinn had her arms on the side where the water gave the mirage of falling over the edge, and she stared at the Pacific, how never-ending it seemed.

  She didn’t have on any clothes. They were in a pile on a lounge wicker chair, and I moved them under an umbrella since it looked like it was going to rain. This was the second day we were supposed to go shopping for her and we haven’t. Life had interfered like it always did.

  Quinn hadn’t noticed me yet. She gave me her back, all smooth and wet, glistening even though the sun wasn’t out. I slid off my shoes and started to unbutton my shirt, tossing it onto the pile Quinn already created with her own clothes.

  And since she was naked, it was only fair I got naked too.

  I pulled the waistband of my briefs down, and my cock bobbed free. I was already half-hard since I could see the round curve of her ass under the water. The wind blew cold air, and my skin reacted, pebbling to the burst of the breeze. Thunder rolled above as the grey clouds started to fold in on themselves, building into large domes that held gallons of rain.

  The pool was heated, so when I stepped in, it was almost like stepping inside of a jacuzzi. It felt good after feeling the wind brush against my skin. She still hadn’t heard me, or if she did, she didn’t acknowledge me. The water slipped and rippled as I walked through it, and when I stood behind her, I caged her in with each arm until my chest pressed against her back.

  “What are you doing?” she sniffled, and I laid my chin on her shoulder, hating how bad she was hurting, hating that I was the cause of it, and hating that Brian was part of the cause too.

  “I came to check on you,” I said.

  “Well, I’m not okay, but I w
ill be. You can go now,” she replied, never once trying to look over her shoulder at me. She kept her eyes forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw droplets escaping out of the corner of her eye.

  I didn’t doubt for one second that she wouldn’t be okay, but I didn’t want her to have to go through it alone. “I’m not going anywhere, Quinn. I was away for ten years. I’m not going away again.” Feeling bold, I pressed my lips against her shoulder, giving her a soft kiss. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” she asked, even if she knew what I was sorry for, she wanted me to say it.

  “For causing you pain. For Brian causing you pain. For your confusion.”

  “I don’t really want to talk about it,” she said, her voice low and covered by the wind, making it hard to hear. “I’m processing. I’m thinking. I can’t do that with you behind me.”

  “Why not?” I pushed, needing to hear the words.

  “You know why,” she said, gripping the edge tighter. “You know exactly why I can’t think.”

  I closed the distance between her ass and my pelvis, and I pressed her against the side of the pool until my cock settled between her cheeks. I was rock-solid as lust pulsed through my system for her.

  “Jaxon,” she shook her head as my name fell from her lips with a small moan. “We can’t. I don’t know how I feel about you, yet,” she said, as her arm reached around my neck and pulled me closer, contradicting herself. “I don’t trust you.”

  “Yes, you do,” I said, mouthing her shoulder with my teeth. “You just don’t want to trust me.”

  “I don’t know what to believe,” she groaned when my hands cupped her breasts, lifting and squeezing the perfect sized mounds. They were soft, and her nipples were hard and elongated from my touch and the wind blowing against her wet skin.

  My lips made their way to her neck, a spot I remembered she loved for me to kiss, just here. I kissed the skin below her ear, flattening my tongue over her pulse, then sucked. She whimpered, bowing her back. The simple lick had her skyrocketing, wanting to fly right out of my arms.

  I spun her around by turning her hips with my hands. The water splashed around us, and I leaned in, bumping her nose with mine. “I think you do know. Your heart knows.” I skimmed my hand up her stomach and laid it above her breasts, right where her heart pounded like a drum.

  “My heart as steered me wrong before, I don’t want it to again.”

  “Then let me be in control. Let me guide you,” I managed to say through graveled gulps of air when her nipples scraped against my chest. I lowered my lips to her slowly, giving her time to move away. “Let me steer you in the right direction, Quinn. Let me show you that not one minute of those ten years that we were apart, that I ever stopped loving you.”

  “Jaxon.” She licked her lips, moved her head left and right, but didn’t try to get away from me. “I don’t know…” her eyes fell to my lips, her cinnamon sugar eyes watched as I prowled for her mouth, wanting to ravish it with mine.

  “You know,” I growled, burying my hand in the soft waves of her blonde hair. “You’ve always known.” I enmeshed our lips together, at last, her velvet flesh giving from the rough, desperate intent mine gave. I groaned into her mouth, rejoiced that I was here with her again, claiming the woman that was always meant to be mine. “Quinn,” I murmured, taking in much needed air before she dove for my lips again, tightening her arms around my neck.

  She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I held us up with one arm against the ledge, while my other hand gripped her jaw, controlling the kiss that changed everything.

  Quinn enraptured my soul.

  If there was any good in me left, it was only because of her existence.

  My cock laid against her pussy, nestled in the trimmed blonde bush she kept. I wanted nothing more than to slide in, to feel her walls around me once more. Her tongue pushed between my lips, and I sucked the appendage into my mouth like it was my favorite candy. She let out a high-pitched whimper, and when I let go, her teeth clamped down on my lower lip. Quinn sucked the abused flesh into her mouth, and my head tilted back, my eyes closed as a guttural moan vibrated my ribcage.

  Her nails dug into my back at the same time thunder coiled in the sky, then lightning cracked, flashing close to us as it veined across the blackened clouds. The ocean was a violent trap, sloshing so hard, the foam of the waves could be felt on our skin.

  We were the storm, the violence, and the beauty. We were a threat, but we couldn’t go against our nature.

  She was the rain, I was the cloud, and the world couldn’t have one without the other.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Quinn

  He felt too good like he was fate or destiny as he gave me what I always thought was true love’s kiss. Sheets of rain pierced the water like bullets shot from a gun. They drenched us as we kissed, his tongue was silk, and he tasted better than he had ten years ago. Maybe it was because so much time had gone by, I didn’t know, but what I did know was my heart was soaring for the first time in a decade, and I never wanted to come down from the height he took me too.

  “I never want to let you go again,” he yelled over the veil of rain, breaking the kiss, which sucked me out of the trance his lips had put me in. His hands cupped my jaw, and it was hard to look at him when the rain hit my lashes. “You hear me, Quinn? I’m never going to let you go. You were mine then, and you’re mine now,” he shouted.

  I bit my swollen bottom lip into my mouth and pushed him away. “The only person I belong to is myself. I’ve been a pawn to a man for too long. I need time!” a hurricane forced wind blew the rain sideways, and it stung my skin. “It’s all happening too fast,” I said, pushing off the ledge. I swam to the steps that led out of the pool, but Jaxon stopped me by grabbing my wrist.

  “Why won’t you listen to yourself? Why is it so hard for you to believe in me and what I am and am not capable of? Why can’t you admit you love me still, huh? Was your love for me that weak that taking a chance on me is that fucking hard, Quinn?”

  “This is anything but easy. My entire life just changed again! Leading me right back to you after a man I thought loved me just wanted to kill me and take all my money.” I splashed water on him, slinging it against his face as hard as I could. “So I’m sorry if I’m not jumping into bed with you so you can get your dick wet. I’m sure that was all you really wanted anyway.” I turned around again to get away from him, but he wrapped his arms tight around my midsection.

  “You have it twisted, Quinn,” his voice snuggled against my ear as he spoke, drowning out the rain and almost putting me in a trance again from how soothing the tone was. “You are convincing yourself not to try this thing between us, and I don’t understand why. You were never just a hole to fill, a body to use, you were more, so much more than any other woman has ever meant to me. You fucking know that. You know you made my world go round, so don’t think for one minute I’m the bad guy here. Remember, you left me. You left me picking up the pieces of my goddamn heart because you weren’t there when I needed you, and here I am, telling you that still doesn’t change how I feel, yet you still make me out to be a monster.” He gave my hips a slight shove, and he floated away from me, nearly blurring from how hard the rain fell. Jaxon yelled, “Did you ever think that the monster in this situation, was you?” Jaxon flipped around and hoisted himself up over the ledge of the pool. His entire body was for a woman that wasn’t afraid of getting manhandled.

  He had more muscle than he did all those years ago, tattoos everywhere, even his plump, firm ass was tattooed. There wasn’t a free spot on him. His cock swung, even flaccid it was big, slapping against his thigh as he walked. Jaxon paused at a cabinet under an awning and opened it to grab a towel. The fluffy white material wrapped around his waist and hung low, below the carved lines of his hips. The outline of his shaft pressed against it, and memories of my first time having sex with him rushed forward. He felt so big as he took my virginity, and I was sure that feeling of being full a
nd stretched by him hadn’t changed, even if I wasn’t a virgin.

  I still haven’t had sex with anyone else besides Jaxon. Not from the lack of effort on my end, Brian just didn’t want to have sex with me. It made sense now. He probably had sex with other women over the years while I remained this naïve woman who thought her fiancé was waiting until marriage.

  I was so stupid.

  Jaxon gave me one last look before turning around and going back inside to get out of the rain and away from me. I couldn’t stop thinking about the last thing he said.

  “Did you ever think the monster in this situation, was you?”

  No, I hadn’t thought like that because I was so used to blaming Jaxon over the years. Blaming a man in prison for killing his own sister was easier than looking for fault with me. He was right. I never gave him a chance to explain. I was a coward, and I turned my back on him too easily because of the pressure.

  The pressure to maintain my reputation as a Taylor, fear for him going to prison, fear that he killed Tracy, and doubt did cloud my mind. I knew deep down, he couldn’t have done it, but it was so hard believing that when all things pointed to him being guilty. I could have visited him, wrote him those letters, believed in him like he wanted and maybe this situation would have never happened.

  Did that mean I thought Brian killed Tracy? Every day that passed by, I was leaning more and more toward yes. If he wanted to kill me to get money, then why wouldn’t he kill Tracy, so she didn’t have the baby?

  My teeth chattered, clicking together from the cold and the rain, and let’s not forget the rollercoaster of emotion inside me right now. Jaxon was right.

  I was the monster.

  I wrapped my arms around my chest, covering my breasts as I ran, as best I could, through the water and climbed up the steps. Swimming naked was a bad idea. Now, I was freezing since I wasn’t in the heated pool, and my clothes were soaked from the wind blowing every which way. I ran to the black cabinet where Jaxon got his towel and opened it, pulled out a tan beach towel, and wrapped it around me, tucking the edge under my arm. I was grateful that the towel was long enough to fall to my knees, but I was still nude underneath, and I had to walk through a house full of men, rough, no-bullshit, kind of men.