Mad About You: A Box Set
Page 24
Jared
Barging into the bedroom, I was possessed with fiery rage as my eyes darted towards the bed where the cause of my darkened mood sat on the bed, seemingly in the middle of video chatting with someone.
The moment she lifted her gaze and saw my enraged state, she didn’t bother bidding goodbye. She simply shut her laptop off, guarded gray eyes scrutinizing me tentatively.
“You know.”
I unceremoniously marched towards her, grabbed her by the arm, and then yanked her off the bed so she wouldn’t dare cower behind the comforter. If she sought to anger me, she knew which buttons to push because I was beyond livid.
Eyes wild, I glowered down at her, sneering. “Your vindictiveness knows no bounds. Are you so beyond reproach that you would threaten me with a divorce?”
She squarely glared back at me, unblinking, calm as ever. “Your arrogance would see it as such. Just so we’re clear, this is not a threat. I want a divorce; that’s all. We can end this arrangement rationally. There’s no need to go ballistic on me.”
There were two things that would easily grant her request without any hindrance from me. And since she hadn’t turned thirty years old overnight, the latter would be more likely. The mere idea further fanned my spiraling rage.
Nostrils flaring, I jerked her closer to me. “You’re engaged to that cretin, aren’t you? Because that’s the only way this agreement can be nullified, and you bloody well know it!”
She let out a sharp gasp, eyes glinting as she nervously licked her lips. “You gave me your word. You said I can divorce you anytime. I’m holding you to that promise.”
My face darkened.
“Promise?” I harshly gritted out. “Have you lost your bloody mind? You, of all people, have the impudence to lecture me about keeping promises? Don’t make me laugh.”
Her frown deepened, scowling at me with pure unadulterated disdain. “Why won’t you just sign the papers? It’ll be over before you know it!”
She ignored my blatant reference to her character, making her all the guiltier in my eyes. She had chosen Wyatt Rinaldi over me. Did she think I was going to let her prance into the sunset with her prince charming? I think not.
My eyes were set ablaze as I pierced my gaze into her soul. “I am not and will not sign those papers!”
“Why the fuck not, huh?” she furiously spat back. “Does it hurt your oh so fragile ego that I’m no longer lapping at your feet? You want to know why, Jared? It’s because of you. You fucking disgust me! How can I respect and stay associated with someone who has no morals? Who only sees women’s sole purpose as sex and to be discarded once you’ve gotten bored with them? Tell me, oh so mighty one, why the fuck would I stay linked to a heartless womanizer?”
Her claws were out. Mine were locked and loaded. If she wished to play dirty, so be it. “That’s rich coming from you—a certified slut! From the time you claimed you lost your virginity, you’ve slept with three men in a short amount of time. And you have the audacity to call me heartless? Virginal, you bloody aren’t!”
“How fucking dare you!” she bellowed as her hand connected to my face, striking it.
An animalistic growl emanated from me as I savagely took hold of her hands, imprisoning them as I roughly shoved her against the wall. “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“You two-timing asshole!”
“Just to clarify, we weren’t ever together. You’ve desperately thrown yourself at me, so don’t go acting the innocent now, Gisele. It’s truly unbecoming. We both know you’re quite the brilliant actress.”
“I hate you!” She frantically struggled, earnestly trying to get away from my steel grasp, but all her efforts came to no avail. “Why don’t you just leave me alone and go back to your stupid Rose? Is that so much to ask?”
“I did. I have. I’ve had her every night since,” I stated with derision and precision, knowing each word would penetrate her wounded pride. “Well, some nights more than once. It all depends really.”
All her erratic efforts came to a full stop. Her chest gravely heaved as she gazed fixatedly at me, aghast.
A minute passed. Her shocked expression remained unmoving. It was as if she’d frozen in time. Then she swallowed with difficulty, licking her lips. Our battling eyes immediately disconnected when she lowered her gaze, conceding, withdrawing.
“Okay,” she eerily whispered, “you can let go of my hands now.”
After minutes upon minutes of mounting aggravation and hysteria, Gisele’s abrupt withdrawal left me dumbfounded. Still, my hands banded around her wrists, averse to yielding to her command just yet.
“Is this one of your performances again, Gisele?”
Her eyes stayed downcast as she shook her head. “I’m not going to fight you. It’s pointless.”
It was the most sensible thing coming out of her lips today thus far. “There’ll be no more talk of divorce!”
“Not until I’m engaged…” she delivered in a monotonous tone before finally lifting her gaze to me. “Expect to resume this conversation in a month, then.” Another calculating motive took form, one that left a foul taste in my mouth.
“Wyatt,” I bit out.
Her defiant eyes flashed, unyielding, threatening. “I’m done talking.”
Ah, Gisele…You’re really becoming such a bloody pain, a true brat inside and out. I wanted to strangle her for toying with me. And again for bombarding me with this new development of her wanton ways. How did she function being such a cold-hearted bitch, manipulating men as though they were nothing but entertainment to momentarily cure her boredom?
“May I remind you that this isn’t what your father wanted? Why are you so adamant in pursuing divorce when you’re free to do whatever you want? I’m not stopping you from anything. I’ve provided you with everything. Do you need more allowance, cars, vacations, what? Bloody tell me so I can fucking fix it!”
Her face turned scarlet as she stood her ground. “I don’t want anything.”
“Then tell me how to fix it, Gisele!” She wanted something, or this wouldn’t even be happening. So what was it?
“Divorce me. Annul it. I don’t care.”
“Anything—anything but divorce!”
“Why? I don’t understand why,” she fiercely argued. “If this is about the company, I assure you, I’m quite content you’re running it. I have no plans to go behind your back.”
Why? Bloody hell. For all sorts of damn reasons! If she wondered what those specifically were, well, I didn’t bloody know. I just knew with every fiber in me that I simply despised the very thought of it. “I don’t know why…I just don’t want a divorce. It’s that simple.”
She growled, spitting at me. “You’re insane!”
She could be right. Each time I pictured her walking down the aisle, it made me feel downright mental.
“Maybe I am.” I loosened my hold, freeing her hands. With the use of my forefinger, I tilted her chin, eager to find a solution. “So, I ask again, how can I fix this?”
“I don’t know.” Her brows furrowed, eyeing me as though I had truly lost my marbles.
Again, she could be on to something.
“What have I done to make you this way?” We’ve been at odds, but we’ve never gone past the point of no return. Did she hear from me after she betrayed her promise by choosing Rinaldi over me? No. Instead, I gave her a wide berth, granting her the boyish lover. Therefore, her spiteful defiance was mindboggling.
Her chin rose defiantly. Gray depths sparkled like hard, cold crystals. Steadfast. “As you said, there’s only one way I can achieve it. I’m taking that route.”
My patience wore thin. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, woman! Where the bloody hell is your sense!” Evidently, the past weeks had done a number on her. “Is the idea of being married to me so horrendously vile that you’re willing to divorce by marrying Wyatt then divorcing him after you’ve gotten what you wanted?”
“He’s a better choice than you!”
“Everything’s not about sex!” said the woman who willingly stripped naked whenever I was in bed with her.
“Isn’t it, Gisele?” I taunted. Clearly, my sweet wife had had a memory lapse. Perhaps jogging her memory would enlighten her vehement denial. “Where was the talk of divorce when you had my tongue in your cunt, huh? Or that time when my cock ravaged you the way you wanted to be fucked, hm?” Brusquely, my palms planted on either side of her head, caging her in, breathing her in. “This is all about sex, Gisele,” I drawled as I lowered my face to hers, merely a hairsbreadth away from her lips. “If you want me, this isn’t the way to go about it, kitten.”
Every inch of her body was strained with tension. She flushed, redness staining her cheeks. “I don’t want you. I was blinded by the thrill of being with an older man; that’s all. Now I know better. I prefer younger men like Wyatt. His stamina’s mind-blowing…unlike yours.”
A new wave of wrath viciously surged within me. It seized me whole. It gnawed at me. The raging inferno spread like wildfire, and I was a fraction away from being unhinged.
Gisele noted the sudden shift in me. She instantly trembled when met with my glacial glare.
My unnerving stare pinned her with hostility. She heaved so badly my gaze inadvertently fell towards her breasts. Hardened pink nipples were visible through her thin cotton shirt. There was no mistaking it. She was aroused even though she feared me. Her mind might disagree, but her body told a different tale.
If Wyatt Rinaldi did such a splendid job as her mind-blowing lover, then why was she reacting to me so wantonly? If I dipped my finger into her cunt, I knew it’d be met with sopping wetness.
Gisele…how she sweetly fibbed. Like the rest of her spiel, it was all riddled with lies.
Knowing how much I affected her still undoubtedly pleased me. It thrilled me grandly. Somehow, it lessened the fury incurred from her acerbic tongue.
Her quivering bosom begged for my undivided attention. The creamy, shuddering slopes appeared to have gotten bigger, firmer, seemingly as a result of her evident workouts. I salivated as I pictured closing my lips on her pebbled bud, suckling it as if my life depended on it. I’d been so consumed with rage I’d fleetingly overlooked how much I desired her, craved her to the point of agony.
This body used to sing at my touch. Would it hum again if I dared touch it…taste it? I made a hungered grunt as my rabid, fervent eyes heatedly dropped lower, passionately noting how the silk shorts pressed against her groin. Dampness marked her soaked mound, giving away her present state of arousal. My cock responded to her body’s calling. “Bloody hell, Gisele. Look at you and the dripping state of your insatiable cunt.”
She stiffened, panicked at my fervent demeanor. “Don’t you fucking dare! Lay a finger on me and I’m going to scream rape!”
Blue met gray, clashing, both stubbornly battling the temptations our bodies provoked.
I’d have tested her, too, but I was not one to cause a scene, not when we were trapped on this jet for the next ten hours. Damn her and her bloody mind games! I wanted her—unconditionally, carte blanche—at all cost.
“Name it! Bloody fucking name it!” I savagely grated out, desperate to be lodged in her snug cunt.
“No!” she denied, not bending to my will. “No, not this time!”
Her body beckoned to me. It compelled me to do its bidding. It was unfathomable to reject its summoning, not when she was a touch away for the next several days. Fine, I begrudgingly considered.
“No?” I pressed on sardonically. “Not even if I promise to renegotiate the terms?” Arching my brow, I knew full well my generous proposition would warrant she sung a different tune.
Her lips pursed, pensive. “Don’t toy with me, Jared. This is serious.”
“So am I.”
“But you just said you wouldn’t divorce me!” she viciously quipped back, roughly shoving my chest, but I remained motionless, frozen on the spot as I properly caged her in …until we could negotiate properly.
“You refused to let me touch you.” Hard, punishing eyes obliterated her stance. My thigh nudged her legs open. Situating my groin against her soaked silk, I ardently thrust against her covered mound, evoking a sharp gasp from the minx. “So here we are, my sweet wife, negotiating.” I wanted her. No holds barred. Sooner or later, she would concede. But until then, we would continue goading each other.
Her hand reached, pressing against my chest, nails digging into my skin as she heavily trembled against me. “Stop doing that. I beg you, stop rubbing it!” she implored as she closed her eyes, shaking, quivering as she fought the tumultuous response my cock did to her resolve. “And if I say yes, what conditions are you proposing?”
“I want you—all of you—at my disposal for the entire duration of this trip. When I say all of you, I mean every bloody inch of this succulent body. Every bloody curve, every damn crevice—all fucking mine to possess, kiss, fuck, however I so desire it. You’ll unreservedly submit to me at any given hour.” My thumb brushed against her bottom lip as my groin pressed farther into her parted legs. Bringing my lips against her ear, I felt her shiver when my chest crushed against her. Hot breath grazed her skin as I bided my time, waiting for the right moment to warn my conquest. “Pay heed, sweet wife. I don’t intend to go gentle.”
Her nails dug deeper into my shirt, scraping my skin as she became desperate to put some distance between us. Bringing my face close to hers once more, I found her frowning, eyes widening with surprise. The realization of what I intended for the remainder of this trip fully dawned on her.
“You want me to surrender to you like some type of sex puppet, a slave even.”
I wouldn’t describe it so crudely, but for all intents and purposes, she had gotten the gist of it.
“Yes.” This was my proposal, true…but I hadn’t fully grasped why I even proposed it to begin with. Didn’t I vehemently declare to stay away from her? Didn’t I say her lies and all they entailed were quite toxic for me? Hadn’t the past month taught me anything at all? When it came to Gisele, I had a bad habit of rejecting rational thinking. However, dwelling on such dire thoughts could be saved for a later date.
“And what do I get in return?” she unsteadily asked, breathless.
My eyes dilated. Fervent, uncontainable lust consumed me, amplified tenfold as I acutely homed in on her lips, dying for a taste of her. “We’ll discuss the conditions of our prenuptial agreement. I’ll significantly lessen the terms from eleven to five years, maybe even less…depending on how agreeable you are.” All I could envisage was Gisele underneath me for the next few days and nights to come. I yearned to devour her over and over again. Consequences be damned. It was undeniable. I’d officially lost it—hook, line, and sinker.
“When do you intend for it to start?” On cue, the enticing minx licked her lips, making me groan in outright protest.
“Now. I want you. Now.”
She blushed profusely, deliberately avoiding my impassioned gaze. “I need to think,” she said anxiously. Still contemplating her options.
I flared my nostrils, unreasonably impatient. “You have sixty seconds.”
Her mouth hung agape. “Are you serious?”
Always where she was concerned. “Quite.”
Gray eyes nervously flickered back and forth before she breathed out a long, shaky breath. “Fine,” she faintly conceded, albeit halfheartedly. “But I have some conditions of my own, too.”
This ought to be interesting. Amused at her tenacity not to fully bend to my will, I hid a smirk. “Go on.”
Stormy eyes linked with mine. A powerful force tugged at every fiber of my being, unequivocally spellbound. It held me captive, weakened by its powerful pull.
Gisele felt it, too, but she remained unyielding. “I sleep in my own bed, and I r
eally mean it, Jared…There’ll be no kissing shared between us.”
The first, I could perhaps agree with.
But the second? Over my dead body. What type of trickery was she about this time? Christ. “You’re fine letting me inside your body, but you won’t kiss me? Why the bloody not, woman!” I shot back, demanding an immediate answer.
“It’s not too much to ask,” she practically growled, unwavering.
We shall see. “Let me kiss you, then. If you prove unresponsive, then I won’t kiss you again.”
She griped as she vehemently shook her head. “Jared—”
My lips urgently caught hers, sealing her silence. I’d given her enough time. It was my turn. The moment my tongue slipped into her mouth, Gisele sagged against me, moaning as she parted her lips, surrendering to me. My body caught fire as her fingers gripped the back of my head, clinging to me as she met my fevered kisses with the same demanding ferocity.
Bloody hell.
“Gisele.” How I bloody want to possess you.
She eagerly moaned as her hands traveled south before she greedily yanked my shirt off. Letting her hands explore freely, her mouth trailed around my neck, down my torso before she brought it back to my face, sealing her fate.
While our lips locked, I rapidly undressed her. My clothes went next. And in no time, we shifted towards the bed, haphazardly falling onto it with her body underneath mine.
Situating in between her thighs, I cautiously made sure my nether region didn’t graze hers as I lowered my mouth towards her breasts, imparting kisses then capturing her hardened rosebud between my teeth.
Her upper body involuntarily arched, aching, imploring for my attentions. “More,” she deliriously moaned.
A wicked smile curved my lips, basking on her carnal appetite. “Tell me what you want, sweet wife.”
“I need you…I need to feel you inside me. Now. Please.”
As tempting as her request was, I hoped to keep her in a lengthy state of arousal just like this, begging, desperately panting for me. Her heightened stimulation would ensure I was the only man in her thoughts. Once I was fully satisfied Rinaldi had gone from her licentious mind, I would grant her wish. Besides, it was a small sacrifice to make since my manhood had ravished on another woman’s body just hours ago. I wouldn’t disrespect Gisele in that manner even though she didn’t grant the same regard to her men.