by Melody Anne
“You seem upset, Jewell. Is everything okay?”
“I’m just fine,” she told Ms. Beaumont. Why not? There was nothing the woman could do to make her feel better.
“I don’t believe that, Jewell, but I won’t pry. I value my privacy too much to invade someone else’s.”
“I appreciate it,” Jewell replied. Then she couldn’t take the suspense any longer. “Why are you here?” To any other person the words might have sounded rude, but Ms. Beaumont, Jewell knew, preferred it when people got right to the point.
“I have the first half of your payment,” Ms. Beaumont said, and held out a check.
Jewell’s heart raced, but she tried not to seem too eager to snatch the check up. “Why only half?” is what she asked instead.
“You will get the other half in thirty days.”
“And what if he’s not willing to let me go in thirty days?”
There was a very long pause, and Jewell could see that McKenzie knew more than she wanted to tell, but she also knew the woman would speak if she was given time.
“He only paid for thirty days, Jewell,” McKenzie finally said.
“That wasn’t my question,” Jewell pointed out.
McKenzie sighed before looking Jewell in the eye. “Ultimately, the choice is yours at the end of your time,” she began before giving Jewell a sad but sympathetic smile. “But, as you know, men like Blake hold a lot of power, and they tend to get what they want.”
“I’m only too aware of that,” Jewell responded. “Just tell me what he’s said to you.”
“He told me that he might not ever let you go.”
Chapter Nine
What the hell was she doing? Jewell stared at the front door of Blake’s penthouse. She’d stayed there for a week only, and that was months ago, yet the doorman had remembered her, and he’d allowed her up without hesitation.
That meant that Blake was either expecting her or he’d never told them she was no longer allowed in. She didn’t know which would be better for her right now. But at the moment she couldn’t think, she was so filled with worry and rage. Would she come off as stark staring mad? Probably. And maybe being hauled off to jail or a mental hospital was exactly what she needed. Then she could say she’d done everything she could for Justin, but it was now out of her hands.
No. She wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t one to give up, not without one hell of a fight. Still, she didn’t know what this visit was going to accomplish. All she knew was that she was furious right now, and the person she wanted to take her anger out on was Blake.
When she heard the knock on his door, she jumped, then was surprised to see her fist raised. She had been the one to knock. It almost felt as if she were a separate person, or a disembodied brain, watching this bizarre scene unfold.
What was wrong with her? Maybe a person really could snap. One too many kicks backward on the path of life and you just couldn’t take it anymore.
When the door opened and she saw Blake right in front of her, she froze. If she’d worked out a script for what she’d do or say, she couldn’t remember it now. He stood there in all his incredible glory, wearing a low-slung pair of gray sweats but no shirt, and with his strong fingers gripping the towel hanging around his neck. He waited for her to say the first words.
She nearly stumbled backward and wasn’t sure how she’d mustered the strength to keep from falling on her ass. She hated how breathtaking this man was, hated how he made her heart skip a beat even when she considered him the enemy, even when she knew he was the one in control of her life — at least for the next thirty days.
Without saying a word, he took a step back and beckoned, an invitation for her to come inside. All she could think of was the line “‘Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly.” Not good.
Still, amid the oppressive silence, she found her feet moving, found herself being drawn forward into his web. She knew she might regret this later, but right now she was running on pure emotion, and even knowing that he was somehow controlling this game, she half considered herself the one in control, because she was here of her own free will — though her actions were fueled by rage and hopelessness.
He finally spoke. “I thought it would take longer for you to come to your senses and see that you need me,” he told her with a smirk.
“You may have all the power, Blake, but I am my own woman and I will leave you when my jail sentence is over,” she snapped.
“You think you will,” he replied smugly, but the fire burning in his eyes said he was anything but calm.
“You can’t keep me, Blake.”
“I can keep whatever I choose, Jewell, including you,” he informed her, and edged closer.
All the agony of the past six months came to a head, and because he was the one standing before her, he would be the one to feel her wrath.
She never got the chance to unload on him.
With a growl of satisfaction, he gripped her hair and pulled her forward, no gentleness in his touch as he showed her exactly who was in control. She knew she should stop this, knew she was giving him exactly what he wanted by being in his apartment, but she couldn’t pull away from him mentally any more than she could physically.
His lips took hers as he ground his hips against her, and she felt how hard he already was. Oh yes, Blake liked it rough, and he liked it kinky. Plain vanilla wasn’t in his sexual vocabulary. And she hated herself for it, but she liked it the way he did.
Somehow she’d known this was exactly where the two of them were headed — even in all her fury she had known it. From the moment he’d made his magical reappearance in her world, the two of them had no other option but to end up right here.
He released her lips, and she gasped for air, but nothing seemed to be tamping down this hunger, this passion, this raw craving that was rushing through her blood. This wasn’t about sex; it was about need, the need to feel anything other than hopelessness.
Blake ran his hand down her back and pressed her against his bare chest, making her cry out as the thin material of her bra almost scratched her hardened nipples. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus, couldn’t figure out what she needed most.
“Quit thinking, Jewell. Do nothing but feel,” he ordered her before tugging on her hair again and fusing their lips together once more.
And she did exactly as he commanded, letting her mind go blank as her body focused on the flood of feelings flowing through it. This man, only this man, knew how to make her forget the world, how to take her to the highest reaches of pleasure. It didn’t matter if she hated herself for it. Whatever she did right now, she’d despise herself afterward. So why not take what pleasure she could in his arms? Why not push the pain away for a moment in time?
She whimpered in submission as he smoothed his hands down her back and cupped her sweet rear, pulling her into his hardness. He grasped her bottom lip with his teeth and bit down just enough to send a flash of pain through her before his tongue soothed the spot and flooded her with desire.
Time stopped having meaning as his hands and lips created a perfect storm of desire all through her body, leaving her wet, needy and hungry for more.
When his lips released hers and he stepped back, she moaned despairingly, but he didn’t leave her alone for long. He threw the towel off his neck, then pushed her back against the wall, ripped her shirt and bra from her body and pinned her hands above her head.
Jewell hardly noticed when Blake stripped off her pants and her panties, and she was standing with him, his naked chest pressed into hers, her nipples rubbing against his smooth, solid skin, his hands squeezing the flesh of her behind, his mouth owning hers.
When she thought she couldn’t possibly take any more without crumpling at his feet, his lips skimmed down her neck, then over her heaving breasts, and he took each nipple into his mouth just long enough to make them bead out in wet pleasure. And then he was dropping to his knees and nuzzling her stomach with his mouth.
&
nbsp; “Blake…,” she cried out, digging her fingers into his hair. She didn’t know what she was asking of him, but he certainly did.
Moving lower, he worshipped the sensitive skin right above her heated core, caressing her skin with his tongue, and then his fingers opened her up to his demanding mouth.
Her internal temperature soared as he sucked her swollen bud while his tongue swiped against it, once…twice…a third time, and then she lost count. Suddenly she felt the explosion rip through her, her core tightening around the fingers he was using to stroke her G-spot, and her legs threatening to buckle as wave after wave of release overtook her.
Before the last of her tremors died away, he surged to his feet and caught her hips in his strong hands, lifting her against the wall and swinging her legs around him. His manhood was ready for action, and he simply pulled her down his length, coating himself with her pleasure, before lifting her back up and then pushing her down hard around him. Her eyes widened and a gasp of pleasure escaped, and she found herself meeting his desire-filled gaze.
“You are so tight, so perfect, my Jewell,” he groaned as he kept withdrawing and then plunging back inside her.
He lost every shred of control. He dug his fingers tightly into her hips as he thrust in and out of her, the friction and franticness of their lovemaking sending her rapidly toward an even more explosive finish than the last.
Jewell grasped his shoulders, leaned her head against his neck, and bit the salty skin of his shoulder while he continued pumping in and out with such force that she wasn’t sure how the wall behind her remained standing.
“Oh, please, Blake, please…” She had to beg him for release — the intensity of their union was just too much to bear for even a minute longer.
With a few more thrusts, he gave her exactly what she needed, and this time she saw fireworks behind her tightly closed eyes as her body contracted and pulsed around him and she screamed her ecstasy into the flesh of his now bruised shoulder.
It took a moment before she realized he too was shaking as he cried out in his own intense release and sent his ejaculation shuddering through her, her womb growing even hotter as his seed coated her insides.
When it was all over, she slumped against him, her legs frozen to his back — the only thing that kept her from falling. Her body felt like a mass of jelly, and if he released her, she feared she’d slide down the wall into a boneless heap, never able to get up again.
“I need more,” he groaned against the top of her head.
How? There was nothing else she could possibly give, nothing else he could give either. Their joining had been soul - and body-shattering, and if they attempted to continue as they’d begun, neither of them might make it out alive.
She was beginning to drift out of consciousness when she was jarred awake by some sort of movement. Was it them, or had an earthquake hit? She lacked the strength to open her eyes to find out. But then his arms released her and she felt herself falling backward.
Her eyes opened with a start when she landed against the coolness of his sheets, his scent instantly flooding her and unbelievably setting off another rumble of need low in her belly.
He’d only pushed his sweatpants out of the way when he made love to her before; she watched now as he shed them, and now he was on top of her, his eyes staring intently into hers as he spread her legs with his knees, and poised his arousal — still hard! — above her core.
“What? We can’t…,” she cried as he slipped the tip of his manhood inside her swollen folds.
“Not only can we, Jewell, but we will.” He thrust inside and wrenched a moan of pleasure from deep within her.
He lay full against her now, gripping the back of her thigh with one hand and pulling her leg up, opening her to him so he could slide all the way in, up to the hilt.
Soon he was thrusting his tongue in and out of her mouth in perfect rhythm with his body, making her stomach quiver as the pleasure rose almost unbearably higher.
As he moved his hips skillfully, his hardness filling her in ways only he could fill her — and only he had —she convulsed around him countless times, exploding in immeasurable pleasure. She didn’t want this night to end, and didn’t want the pleasure to ever stop.
Now slowing, and now speeding back up, Blake made love to her in a way he never had before in their times together. Yes, there was desperation, and yes, there was urgency, but there were also moments of tenderness, and of passion beyond anything she could imagine.
His tongue traced her swollen lips, his words washed over her skin, his body fit perfectly against hers, and she begged him to never stop. When he finally pulled from her, he trailed his lips down her neck, took her peaked nipples into his mouth and made them ache. Then he moved downward and tasted their passion on his tongue before climbing back up to the top of the bed and allowing her to taste it too.
And now he was over her again, slipping back inside her swollen core and commanding her to look at him. “Open your eyes, Jewell. I want to see the explosion in them. Do not close them under any circumstance!”
She tried, but he bit her lip lightly, causing her to gasp, but she was too weak to fight him. Her eyes were almost slits, but they stayed open as he moved faster and faster, building up the pressure within her once again.
And then she came apart. As the climax tore savagely through her, taking every last bit of energy she had left, she gazed into his nearly black eyes and watched their depths sparkle with satisfaction. She and Blake went up in a blaze of pleasure and their voices rang out together in perfect harmony.
And Jewell could take no more. She gave in gladly to the compelling darkness.
Chapter Ten
Blake was still lying on top of Jewell, and he knew the second she lost consciousness. She obviously needed to rest, to be left alone, as the passion had drained her¸ but the thought of leaving her caused him physical pain — the need churning up his insides seemed insatiable. He’d spent three months thinking of no other woman but her, and during that time he had felt…bereft. That was the only word that captured it. He suspected he’d be feeling the effects of that loss for a long time to come.
Why? How? He had no idea. No woman had ever lodged herself so deeply and firmly inside him. Not even close. He’d never allowed such a thing to happen. What made Jewell different? Why did it seem that he’d never get enough of her?
He tried to reason it away, tried to tell himself it was nothing but raw hunger, but wouldn’t hunger eventually fade away with repeated satiation? So maybe what the two of them had would fade, but for now, it was all-consuming and he couldn’t say that he didn’t love every minute of it.
This woman had barreled into his life and in a minuscule amount of time had shaken him to the core. Blake hadn’t thought that was possible. He’d thought he was so hardened by the traumas of his past that no one would be able to make him feel.
Wrong.
Rolling gently off Jewell, he lay at her side and watched his hand trail down her body. He’d taken her for what seemed like hours, had released twice inside of her heat, but only now was he feeling even a modicum of relief. But as he continued to touch her soft skin with light fingers, he felt himself begin stirring again.
As he watched Jewell’s eyelashes flutter, he knew for certain he couldn’t let her go, not any time in the near future, at least. And he held the power to keep her beside him. He knew her primary weakness, and she needed him to cater to it. Did he feel at all guilty that he was using her brother to get her loyalty? Nope. He wanted her and he was going to have her any way that he possibly could. And damn the consequences, damn the cost to himself or to anyone else.
His heart had stopped its frantic thudding, and his breathing had slowed, but he knew both would go back into overdrive the moment he sank back inside of her glorious heat. When would he ever have enough? Never was impossible, but he knew too well what “they” said about saying never.
Her eyes floated open, and she looked dazed and sat
ed. For one moment her guard was down. Maybe that was the key. He would simply keep her in his bed, where he could look into her depths when she was too defenseless to hold him at bay.
As appealing as that thought was, he knew he wasn’t going to go that route. Blake wasn’t a weak man — he didn’t back down from a challenge. And Jewell Weston was most definitely a challenge. He wanted her obedience, and he wanted her pleasure. They belonged to him. But he also wanted them to come from her of her own free will, not because they were forced upon her.
Though he could be ready to take her in moments, he also felt a perverse need to talk to her, to connect in a way that he hadn’t ever before connected with another human. Yes, he loved his brothers, but there was a limit to how far he let even them in, but he didn’t find he was setting such a limit with Jewell. He’d have to fight against this dangerous impulse.
He leaned over her and spoke. “You know that this is just the beginning, Jewell. I missed you. My body missed you, and I feel as if I can’t get enough of you. I’m not sure right now whether I ever will.”
He took the utmost delight in the widening of her eyes, in her shocked intake of breath. Then he looked down at her hardening nipples and felt pride in knowing he could turn her on with nothing but words.
He caressed her nipples with his palm, felt them harden even more under his touch. “You are mine. You have to know that. I’m the only one who’s ever brought you this pleasure, and I’m the only one who can.” He lowered his head, and when his mouth took the place of his hand, her exquisite flavor made his taste buds explode. She gasped as he moved his hand down her stomach and ran his fingers along the outside of her core.
“No. I…uh…I have to leave…,” she gasped, shutting her legs weakly and trapping his hand.
He knew how easily he could pry her legs back open, and how quickly he could have her begging him to take her, but that’s not what he wanted. He wanted her to initiate this too, wanted her to need him as much as he needed her. He wanted her to give herself freely, without any coercion on his part. He didn’t want to remind her that he’d bought her and he didn’t have to let her go. What in the world was wrong with him?