by J. D. Chase
‘I’m sorry,’ she blurted. ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to.’
He waved his hand dismissively. ‘It could have been a good idea, although she wouldn’t have told me. She’s still insisting that it’s mine.’
Isla gasped.
‘She’s furious about me filing for divorce since, in her mind, I’m the one who’s been cheating on her and she says I have no proof that the baby isn’t mine and that I never can have, because it is definitely 100 per cent mine. All she’s thinking about is getting the settlement sorted so she can try to get her hands on as much of my cash as she can. Now there’s a whiff of another hotel in the air, she’ll be like a bloodhound until she sniffs out the truth so she can get her hands on it in a divorce settlement.’
‘But the hotel’s in my name so how can she get past that?’
He laughed. ‘Oh she knows that it’s in your name. What she doesn’t know is exactly what’s going on with you and me and how my lover is the new owner of another hotel. She isn’t stupid where money’s concerned. Well, unless you count spending it on stupidly expensive designer objects.’
‘So all the effort you went to, trying to secrete money into Rouge Passion was a waste of time? She’s going to get it anyway.’
His expression and his tone were ferocious when he sneered, ‘Over my dead body.’ He took a deep breath. ‘So it wasn’t you?’
She shook her head and they both stood there as the adrenaline receded.
‘Fuck,’ muttered Isla as the implications began to sink in.
‘I’d like to but I don’t think it would be appropriate,’ he muttered absent-mindedly.
Isla rolled her eyes. ‘What are you going to do?’
He shrugged. ‘Nothing. I’m done playing games. I’ll see her in court and see whether she’s managed to get any proof of my involvement with the hotel. She’ll have the best legal team that her money can buy . . . although, under the circumstances, I took the precaution of reducing the balance of our bank and building society accounts. She’s left with one account that has fifty thousand in it so she can’t accuse me of leaving her with nothing. Let’s see how she prioritises . . . food, health and beauty for her, designer clothes and equipment for the baby, or legal fees to get her claws into the rest of my cash.’
‘Fifty thousand? I could live off that for months and months . . . at least,’ Isla said, her eyes like saucers.
He smiled. ‘That’s just one of the things I love about you. You’re so different from Janine when it comes to money. You’re proud and independent and you’re willing to work for what you need. You two couldn’t be more different.’
‘Well, I was tempted to take your hotel, but that was only while I was furious with you and even then, I kept wobbling. I’d already decided earlier when you told me the whole sordid tale that I’d hand it back to you without quibbling, once you’re in a position to take it over. It isn’t mine and whatever you’d done to me, well it wouldn’t make it right.’
Smiling, Xander nodded. ‘I knew your pride and morals wouldn’t allow you to keep it. Not that I wouldn’t have deserved it. I didn’t lie in wait outside to get in and take it back from you. I was waiting to see you, to try to get you back. I know now that’s pointless. Anyway, what brings you to my room at this hour? You’re supposed to be thinking things over.’ The smile disappeared from his face as he spoke.
‘I have. I used Derek to distance myself and once I put some distance between me and the situation by trying to think what I’d say if this had happened to someone else, I could make sense of it.’
‘Huh? What’s Derek got to do with all of this? I’m lost.’
‘Nothing. Oh it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re right. If I threw everything away over a principle, I’d be a fool. Nobody can ever know for sure that their partner won’t cheat on them in the right circumstances, and, just this once, I’m willing to accept that there can be a grey area when it comes to cheating. You were trapped in an impossible situation and, quite frankly, I don’t know how you managed to stay until she gave birth . . . you deserve a medal. And it’s that behaviour that shows me the kind of man you are. Principled and honest. You didn’t lie to me and, looking back, I can see how you tried to fight it and keep your distance from me. And part of me loves being the one that you ran to when you needed to. I loved being your salvation when you turned up at my door. Of course, I thought it was financial problems that were driving you half insane . . .’
‘I know, I know. I should have told you.’
He took a step closer to her. ‘Are you telling me that you forgive me?’
She took a step too, closing the gap between them. ‘I do. Just promise me that you’ll never keep anything from me again.’
Letting out a long breath, he bent his head so that his forehead rested on hers. ‘I promise. Does that mean that you feel you can trust me?’
She paused, wanting to be absolutely certain and he tensed visibly. ‘Implicitly,’ she whispered.
He swept her into his arms, a strangled groan emitting from his throat. ‘Thank God. Oh Red, I thought I’d lost you.’
‘I thought you’d lost me too,’ she whispered.
His mouth sought hers. It was as needy as the first time he’d kissed her. Before she surrendered to his kiss, she briefly wondered whether she’d know if, at any time in the future, things changed and weren’t so good between them. Jamie had never kissed her like Xander did and his kisses had become cursory and perfunctory. This kiss was an all-consuming, knee-weakening affair as all Xander’s kisses were. Yeah, she was sure she’d know. Then she dropped the duvet in order to cling to him as her knees threatened to give way.
When Xander realised she was naked before him, he pulled his head back and looked down at her bare breasts which were squashed against his chest. ‘I see you came prepared to make up.’
She smirked. ‘I did.’ Although her only thought at the time had been to find him and tell him that she forgave him.
He disentangled his arms and stepped back. His eyes roamed over her body, taking in every glorious inch of her. The heat from his stare made her cheeks flush. ‘Fuck me, you’re gorgeous. Eminently fuckable. And mine.’
She smiled bashfully. ‘And you’re gorgeous. Exceptionally fuckable. And mine – all mine.’
His eyebrow hitched fractionally at her not so subtle jibe. ‘Careful.’
‘I wonder if it will feel any different when you fuck me,’ she taunted. ‘Now you’re truly mine.’
Again, his brow twitched. ‘Oh, I’ll make sure it will. You’re making my palm itch, Red. I’m not sure how much greater intensity you can take but if that’s a risk you’re willing to take, you just keep running that smart mouth of yours. Let’s see whether you regret it when I take it out on your body. Hmm, now where to begin . . .’
Casting her eyes to his crotch, she smirked. ‘If I were you, I’d do something about the constriction in your trousers – your pudendal artery must have diverted all of your oxygenated blood looking at the size of that bulge. It’s a wonder you’re not feeling faint.’
Lips twitching, he slowly traced his eyes down her body to rest between her legs and once there, he began to rub his palm slowly back and forth against his bulging erection.
How can his gaze make me feel even more naked than I am? And seeing his caress himself so casually . . . does he have any idea what that does to me?
Apparently he did.
‘I think your own pudendal artery is having a work out, right about now. I’m right, aren’t I? Is it making your delicate little clit tingle yet? Shall I make it swell until it throbs? Until it begs for release before it drives you insane? Hmm?’
Squeezing her thighs together as her pussy clenched involuntarily, she breathed, ‘Yes please.’
He laughed as he stepped up to her. ‘Careful what you wish for, my greedy little sex kitten. After the fright you’ve given me in the last thirty six hours, I’ve got quite a lot of pent-up frustr
ation and tension. Are you sure you want me to unleash that?’
She huffed indignantly. ‘A fright which you brought upon yourself.’
Another twitch of that eyebrow. ‘So feisty. So fuckable. So infallible.’
Feigning irritation, she scowled, ‘So infinitely infuriating.’
That eyebrow raised before he grabbed her and pulled her to him as he sat back on the bed. ‘I’ll infinitely infuriate your arse, if you don’t keep that mouth in check.’
‘So impudent and improper.’
He manhandled her across his lap. ‘So fiery and fanciful – unlike your arse, that’s fiery and fanciable.’
‘My arse isn’t fiery!’
Slap! His palm landed heavily across one of her cheeks. Slap!
He massaged where he’d spanked. ‘Now it’s fiery and fanciable. Or at least it’s getting that way.’
Slap, slap! A double hit. Slap, slap! And another.
Isla absorbed the spanking through gritted teeth. She resolved to not give him the satisfaction of making a sound, not when he’d caused the whole fiasco. If she’d given him a fright, then he’d given her a heart attack. It should be her spanking him. But she knew there was no way in hell that would ever happen. So she chose to deny him a response but, as the spanking continued, it became apparent that her body was determined to give him a response; albeit a non-verbal one but it didn’t escape his attention.
‘Hmm Red, you’re squirming and I can smell your scent. You aren’t supposed to be enjoying this, but you are, aren’t you? You just can’t help yourself. Your body responds to me taking you in hand. Your pussy is very wet, Red. Isn’t it?’
Yes. ‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘Hmm. I have a choice. I can either up the spanking until you admit it or I can see for myself. Now what’s it to be?’
‘I’d rather you just fucked me.’
She heard him spit and it was all she could do not to tense up. Not only would she be giving him a conscious response but if he was about to do what she suspected, tensing would only make it worse for her.
‘I’m not sure whether it’s just because you can’t keep that smart mouth in check or whether it’s because you love it. You love being taken in hand and being at my mercy. Go on, admit it. If you don’t, I’ll stop, just when you’re enjoying it most.’
Bastard! I don’t want you to stop. But you’ll just have to stop because I’ll never admit it.
She felt him parting her soft cheeks and she knew she’d guessed correctly. His moist fingertip began to push gently against her anus. As it slid inside, a slight, guttural groan escaped her lips but if he heard it, he chose to ignore it. Isla chastised herself silently and began to breathe deeply through her nostrils.
Slap! Slap! Slap! A slight pause. Slap! Slap! Slap!
This time, there was no caressing from gentle hands. Instead, she felt a stretch as he slid another finger inside her arse. Isla had to bite her tongue – literally – to stop herself crying out.
‘Fuck, that’s tight,’ he muttered, his voice sounding full of praise.
You’re fucking telling me. It might feel tight on your fingers but you have no freaking idea how overwhelmingly tight it feels when your fingers are stretching me like that!
He began to fuck her with his fingers. She had to force herself to keep still until her body acclimatised. She desperately needed some clitoral stimulation but there was no way she was going to tell him. She was tempted to reach for it herself but she’d vowed to show no signs of enjoyment since she didn’t believe that she should be the one being chastised. She’d done nothing wrong but she suspected that wasn’t how Xander operated. He was punishing her for making him think he’d lost her – for what, in his eyes, she’d put him through.
‘Oh, you’re good. I’ll give you that. Just how far are you willing to take your little game, I wonder? Just what will I have to do to you before you crack and show some response?’
She didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.
‘I’m not playing games. You’re the one smacking my arse as if I’m a naughty little schoolgirl so I wonder who it is that’s playing games . . . you’ll be asking me to dress up in a white blouse, a kilted skirt and little white socks next.’
‘Oh Red, don’t tease.’ His tone was mocking. ‘And are you telling me that your headmaster used to do this to you when you were given a detention? No wonder you’re such a naughty girl.’
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but I think that must have just been your perverted headmaster. No wonder you’re such a deviant.’
‘I should take you up the arse right now until you’re so stretched and filled that you think you’re going to burst but I won’t, not unless you admit how much being spanked is turning you on.’
Isla was not going to admit it, much as she yearned for a thorough arse fucking so she pouted, safe in the knowledge that he couldn’t see her face.
‘Oh don’t sulk, Red. All you have to do is admit that you enjoy being chastised. Stop being so stubborn.’ He was taunting her now. She opened her eyes and spotted the mirror on the wall opposite. She could see him grinning at her so she stuck out her tongue.
Fucking mirrors.
‘You just keep fighting it, Red. Fight me. It just makes me more determined. You put the fear of God into me. I thought I’d lost you forever. You need to learn never to do that again. You need to tame that stubborn streak.’
‘I don’t need to learn anything. Don’t give me cause to walk away and I won’t.’
‘You couldn’t anyway. Walk away from the best sex you’ve ever had? I don’t think so.’
She laughed. ‘If you’re such a confident fucker, why do you feel it necessary to bend me over your knee to teach me a lesson?’
He caught her eye in the mirror and grinned in that cocky fashion that both infuriated and aroused her. ‘Because I can, Red. Because I can.’
Slap! Slap!
‘Oh, your arse is very fiery now, Red. Fiery and fuckable, just like the rest of you.’
‘So just fuck it then!’
‘How’s that going to teach you a lesson exactly? That’s giving you what you want. I’m not going to fuck you until I know you’ve learned your lesson.’
She felt him slid his fingers partially out and then shuddered when she felt the stretch increase substantially. It was almost more than she could take.
‘That arse is hungry, Red. That’s three fingers lazily tickling your arse . . . feel it gripping them tight. It wants my cock. Are you going to deny it?’
Isla was incapable of speech. She was a mass of sensation. She felt hot; she felt overwhelmed. She was ready to admit to anything . . . if only she were allowed to come.
‘Stand up,’ Xander instructed suddenly.
‘Um . . . what?’
‘Stand up.’
You must be fucking joking. There’s no way I can move . . . not while you’re doing that.
She felt his fingers slowly slide out of her so she put her feet to the floor and stood up on shaky legs.
Xander quickly unfastened his belt and tugged down his trousers and boxers.
‘On all fours, I want to see that beautiful, glowing arse spread for me.’ His voice was low and husky.
She didn’t need telling twice. She did as he asked and waited not so patiently, thinking that he was going to relent and abandon his stupid quest. She should have known better.
He stepped out of his clothes and knelt behind her before putting his hand flat on her back. She knew what he wanted so she pressed her breasts into the carpet and clasped her hands behind her back. She heard him gasp as her new position afforded him an unobscured view of her pussy and her arse. She would never cease to feel that utter thrill of knowing what effect her body had on him. Smiling like the cat who’d got the cream, she deftly slid her knees apart, just a little, so that her slit opened before him.
Hearing his throaty growl of approval, she knew she was tempting him to give her what she wanted. She cl
enched her pussy and waited for him to succumb.
Slap! Slap!
She almost cried out at the unexpected spanking of both cheeks but she managed to suppress it. She wasn’t so fortunate when he raked his fingernails down her tender red cheeks. She squealed at the unexpected sensation but he just laughed and then spanked her again, making her curse loudly. She was ready for his fingernails that time but he only used one hand. She felt skin against her slit and hoped he was going to end this madness and slam inside her but no, when searing pain shot through her making her cry out and collapse on the floor, she knew that he’d pinched her clit. Hard.
‘Get up,’ he muttered.
She could tell from his tone that he was enjoying seeing her struggle. Finally, he was getting some payback for the scare that she’d given him. It mattered not that he’d caused it. She was tempted to tell him to fuck off but she knew he’d just up the ante. Besides, the warm throbbing of her clit was beginning to drive her insane with desire. But he didn’t need to know that.
She huffed as though he was being completely unreasonable and pulled her knees back under her, making sure to push back her arse into his groin as she did so. She kept her hands out in front of her, to help prevent her collapsing again.
‘Cock-hungry minx,’ he muttered.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she purred, bracing herself for a spanking that never came. She told herself that she was relieved but her pussy told her otherwise.
Hearing him spit, she knew her arsehole was in the firing line but she didn’t know what from. She shivered in anticipation when she felt a gentle pressure but again, she didn’t know what he was holding against her.
The pressure increased but the stretch wasn’t too intense.
A finger. It’s just a finger. Oh . . .
He toyed with her for a while. Her soaked pussy, her pulsing clit and even her darkest hole needed more. But it seemed that Xander was in no rush. She felt a feather-light touch on her labia as the fingers of his other hand began to softly skate along her skin. Unhurriedly, they roamed along her parting and up across her clit. His touch was so light, his fingers seemed to be hovering a micrometre away from her making it feel as though the faintest whisper was reaching her skin. The effect was spectacular; everywhere he went, her skin became hypersensitive, wanting more . . . needing more. Her pussy clenched involuntarily as if trying to draw him inside. She tried to stop it but it was her quivering skin that triggered it and she was powerless to intervene.