"Jax," I whisper into his shoulder. "I'm so close."
He levels back on his feet and pulls my hips closer into him. "I have to watch you come. I want to see it on your beautiful face."
I stare into his eyes as the pleasure falls through me. I call out his name as I feel him buck even harder.
"Christ, Ivy. Yes." He moans loudly as he pumps himself into me.
He pushes me back and pulls his body over mine. I feel his hand cupping my ass as he pushes deeper into me. I accommodate and push back up, pulling my sex around his cock.
I'm gifted with a low, guttural moan as he feels me gripping him tightly. "It's so good," he growls. He fucks me harder, pushing my ass up to meet each of his thrusts. I can't control my need to come again.
"Ivy, come." Two words, the rawness in them unmistakable. The need within his voice is palpable.
I scream his name as I feel him pump himself inside of me. The deep thrusts filling me with his desire. My nails clawing into his skin as I hold on tightly, knowing that I can never get enough of this man.
Chapter 4
"Did you find out what Moore wanted?" Jax places a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice down on the bathroom counter as he stares at my reflection in the mirror.
"I was too busy last night to call him and ask." I wink and see a sly smile glide over his perfect lips.
"Too busy making me come," he says in a breathless whisper. His hands pull the towel away from my body.
"It's cold in here," I shriek as I reach to pick it up from where it fell on the floor.
He takes off out the door in a flash and I hear him call back down the hallway, "I'm getting your robe, then you're going to eat the breakfast I made you."
My stomach turns at the mere mention of food. Today is the day I'm going to deal with Mark and that has to begin with me telling Jax that my former fiancé is essentially harassing me. I haven't spoken to Mark in months. After finding out about his affair with Liz, and how he had manipulated control of the company he owned with Jax, I wanted nothing to do with the man anymore.
"Brighton's coming back to town tomorrow." Jax is back, covering my naked body with a plush white robe. "I'm going to have lunch with him later in the week. He'd like to see you too."
I smile at the mention of Jax's older brother. Since Brighton has been away showing his art in Europe the past few months, they've gotten a lot closer. I know my insistence that he work on his relationship with his brother has had some impact but I also know that Jax has come to realize that holding a grudge against Brighton wasn't helping either of them.
"I'd love that." I pull my hand across his cheek. "I've missed seeing him."
"Me too, beautiful." He cups my hand in his as he kisses my palm. "I'll let you know what day it is."
I nod as I turn back around to finish straightening my long, blonde hair. I watch Jax's reflection through the corner of my eye as he scans his smartphone. I want to ask him what he's going to do today but I'm fearful that he'll retreat back into the brooding and quiet part of himself that he is whenever I bring up the possibility of him going back to the helm of Intersect Investments. His father's company meant the world to him until he felt he was losing me. He gave it up and now I feel a slight hint of resentment coursing through the air between us whenever either of us mentions it.
"Ivy." The word escapes his lips in a hushed tone. "Ivy, sit down."
I turn to face him, the hairbrush still clutched firmly in my grasp. "Why? You want me to suck you off right now?" I tease. "I have to get to work."
"Ivy, sit." His tone matches the glare in his eyes. "Sit."
I reach to grab hold of the edge of the counter and lower myself onto the closed toilet seat. "Jax?" I mumble his name. "What?"
He runs his hand along the back of his neck before he glances at his phone again. "Ivy, it's…"
The loud hum of my own phone breaks the moment. I stand to retrieve it from the bedroom. He blocks my path. He leans against the doorway, his large frame making it impossible for me to escape.
"I should get that." I press my hand against his solid chest. "It may be about something at the store."
"It's not, beautiful." His hand covers mine pushing it into his skin. "Ivy, I don't know how to tell you this."
"Tell me what?" I feel panic rushing through me. The expression on his face is unlike anything I've seen before. "Jax? What's happened?"
"It's Mark." His tone is even and calm. "Ivy. Mark is dead."
Chapter 5
"It was a car accident. Liz was in the car too. They said he didn't stand a chance."
The words echo through me and I'm remotely aware that it's Jax's voice reciting them. I can sense him in the distance. I can feel his hands around me but it's as if an abyss has swallowed me whole. Mark is gone. Liz is hurt. Everything in the world is different. It's never going to be the same again.
"He called me," I say the words into Jax's chest, my lips running along his skin. "He kept calling me."
"What?" He leans back slightly. "Ivy, what?"
I shake my head slightly. I can't tell him now. I need to go. I need to go somewhere and do something.
Jax jumps at the sound of my phone ringing again. "We'll stay here today. You can't go to work."
I need to go to work. I have a custom piece that I have to complete before the weekend. "I have to go." I yank back from his embrace and try to push him out of my way. His body is too large. He doesn’t move an inch.
"Ivy." I feel his hands cupping my face. "Please. Stay with me."
I pull my gaze to his face and it's covered in concern. He pushes my hair back behind my ear, his finger lingering to trace a path down my cheek.
"Jax," I whimper as I look up at him. "Mark."
"I know." He pulls me back into his chest and I wind my arms around his waist. "He's gone."
He's gone. The words reverberate throughout me. Mark is gone and I may never know what he wanted to talk to me about.
***
"There's some concern about her family." A middle-aged nurse pats me on the shoulder to get my attention. "No one has come to see her."
I keep staring through the cloudy glass at Liz laying still in the ICU. Her body is motionless. Her thin frame attached to countless tubes and wires.
"I called them," I offer. I had called them. I spoke to Liz's father who said he wanted an update whenever I could provide one but his schedule 'didn't allow' him to get away right now. It took all the strength I could muster in that moment not to scream at him.
"She's in bad shape." She points absentmindedly at the glass. "She's got a long road to recovery."
I can only nod in response. Judging by what Liz's doctor shared with me earlier combined with what I'm seeing with my own two eyes, Liz's life may never be the same again. Both her legs had been crushed on impact when Mark's car had slammed into a guardrail on the West Side Highway. She'd suffered a severe concussion and countless cuts and bruises to her face and torso. She was barely recognizable.
I watch the nurse walk silently down the hallway as I gaze through the glass. She promised me she wouldn't see him again. She swore it was over. Now, her relationship with Mark had changed her life in a way she never could have predicted.
"Ivy?" Jax's voice is in my ear the moment I feel his hand pressing on the small of my back. "Are you ready to go?"
I turn and smile at him noticing that his eyes never leave my face. He hasn't asked about Liz's condition and his only interest was in driving me to the hospital today so I wouldn't be alone. He's never forgiven her for cheating with Mark and for hurting me that day she pushed me in my apartment. That was the day I fled into his arms and realized just how much I needed and wanted him.
"I need to go see June." I drop my gaze to the floor. Bringing up Mark's mother isn't easy but I promised her I'd stop by today to help her deal with some of his funeral arrangements.
"I'll take you." He reaches to take my hand in his. "We'll go see her now."
"You don't have to do that." I want my words to sound lighthearted. I don't want to drag Jax down into this pit of depression and confusion that I'm wallowing in. Even though I've been over Mark for a long time, his death is haunting me in a way I never could have predicted. It's also showing me that Mark had very few people in his life that cared enough about him to even mourn his passing.
"It wasn't an offer, beautiful." He brushes his lips across my hand. "We're doing this together."
I reach to grab his arm as I lean in to him. "Thank you, Jax."
Chapter 6
"How was the funeral?" It's a misplaced question and I can tell from the expression on Nathan's face that it's not one that he wants to be asking.
I plop myself down in a chair in front of his expansive desk. "Horrible. There weren't even ten people there. His mother was distraught. I couldn’t wait for it to be over."
He brushes his lips across my forehead and squeezes my shoulder through the plain black dress before he sits next to me. "We need to talk."
"Jax said you came by the night before Mark died." I realize that was more than a week ago and I should have put some effort into getting in touch with Nathan before now.
"I came by to tell you he was dead." The words are direct and without emotion. Even though he's now my attorney, and an old friend, Nathan hasn't ever asked anything about Mark. He's never been overly curious about why I ended my engagement to him. His interest in that relationship has always been limited to my financial interest in Mark's company.
"You didn't tell Jax, did you?" I cringe when the question leaves my lips. I want to believe that Jax didn't find out about Mark's death until the moment he told me, but I've had lingering doubts all week. After we'd made love that night, he'd gotten out of bed and had spent hours on the phone.
He chuckles softly before he answers." He told me to go to hell in no uncertain terms, Ivy. I couldn't get two words in."
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "He has issues with you."
"I've wondered about that. What's that about?"
I close my eyes as he leans closer and his breath caresses my cheek. "Nothing. It's nothing." I can't confess to him that I told my boyfriend that I used to masturbate to thoughts of Nathan's naked body intertwined with mine.
"You're blushing." His finger grazes my cheek and I instinctively pull back. I have to focus.
"I'm not." I smile sheepishly. "Why did you want me to come by?"
He studies my face with his piercing blue eyes before he stands to walk behind his desk. "I can't believe I'm going to say this but it may be best if Jax was here for this."
"Jax?" I can't temper the surprise in my tone. "Why would he need to be here?"
"It may just be easier for him to hear it coming from me than from you."
"What?" I feel my stomach drop with the question. This has to do with Mark. It must. I haven't consulted with Nathan in any official legal sense since Mark was arrested. The deal for Jax to buy my shares of the company had been put on hold while the board wrestled with what to do when wind of the scandal hit the papers. The fact that both Jax and I still retained shares in the company was a subject neither of us ever brought up. We both viewed it as a mute until Mark had sorted through his next step.
"Do you want to call him and ask him to come down?" It's a genuine question but it's laced with a challenging undercurrent. Nathan doesn't believe I can handle whatever he's going to share with me. That's because he still views me as the young girl who chased him when we were children.
"Just tell me already, Nate." I grip the arms of the wooden chair trying desperately to temper both my rising anxiety and my anger. I don't have to involve Jax in everything I do. I can handle whatever this is alone.
"Mark left everything to you." He says each word slowly, carefully and loudly.
"Mark what?" I heard him just fine. I desperately want him to repeat it back so I'm certain that there's been no misunderstanding.
"His attorney called me. They read the will. He left everything to you."
"That can't be right." I stand and immediately feel my knees buckle. I reach for the edge of his desk just as I feel his hands grab my waist. "No. Mark wouldn't do that, Nate. He wouldn't do that."
Chapter 7
"Ivy, beautiful." His voice is barely more than a breathless whisper as he leans back on the couch. "This is so good. So good."
I smile up at him as I circle the head of his cock with my tongue. I couldn't wait to take him when I came home from work. I couldn't wait to claim him. I had to taste him. I needed to give him pleasure before…
"Christ. Yes." He bites the words out with a guttural moan. His hands lock in my hair, pulling it free of the ponytail I neatly tucked it into this morning. "You're so good."
I moan in response. My tongue licking the length as I slide both hands up and down his shaft. He's so hard, he's so ready. We both needed this so much.
"I want this to last." He pulls on my hair to try and slow my rhythm but I can't. I want this as much as he does. I want him to see how much he means to me.
I moan around his cock and his body tenses at the sensation. He's getting so close. I can feel it.
He twists my hair within his fingers as he rocks his hips off the couch. "Fuck, Ivy." The words are harsh and come from a place deep within.
I look up and his eyes are closed, his head rolls back onto the couch, his breathing is labored.
I twist my tongue once again around the head and I'm gifted with a drop of cum. I eagerly lap it up. "Come, Jax," I coax softly around his throbbing cock.
He pushes his head back more and his body angles up as the first thick burst hits the back of my throat. I swallow hungrily, squeezing his cock softly to get all that he has to offer me. I lap greedily at the tip, cleaning him with my tongue before I rest my head against his strong thigh.
"Beautiful." He's hands are pulling on me, motioning for me to sit up next to him.
I do and he tugs me into his lap. I can feel that he's still semi-erect as he rests against my thigh.
"I love you so much," I whisper into his neck. "You know that, don't you?"
He nuzzles his face into mine. "I feel it in here." His hand jumps to his chest and I cover it with my own.
"I would do anything for you, Jax." My voice trembles with the words. The raw truth within them is so profound. I would do anything for this man. This is the man that I love more than life itself.
"You can do that again in about an hour." He pinches my side and I feel a sigh of relief at the small reprieve form the intensity that has been swirling around me since I left Nathan's office just an hour ago.
"Maybe you can return the favor in an hour," I tease. My body aches at the mere thought of Jax's head between my legs. His skillful tongue can pull a climax to the surface so quickly. It seems almost effortless but it's his intimate knowledge of my body that makes it so intense.
"I can right now." His hands snake their way up to the hem of the grey wraparound dress I'm wearing.
"Not now." I inch forward so my chest is touching his. "Now I need to talk to you about something."
"Anything." He pulls me closer.
"Not like this," I say the words although I don't mean them. I want to hold onto him like this forever. I want to cling to his body for dear life. I don't want the words that I'm about to say to him to change anything but I know that they will.
"Why?" I feel him retreat and I know he's waiting to meet my gaze. I can't look up at him just yet.
"You need to put your clothes back on." My breath skirts across his bare chest. My eyes clinging to the strong muscles of his well-toned arms.
His hands grasp my face and he pulls my head up so it's level with his. "What's this about? Nathan? You saw him today, didn't you?"
I slide my body off of his to allow him access to the clothes I pulled off him the moment I got through the door.
"I did." I don't want to do this. I can't stand the thought of Jax knowing that Mark left everything he own
ed to me including controlling interest in the company he shared with Jax.
"Is that why you ravaged me?" There's a playful glint in his eye as he pulls his jeans and blue sweater back on. "You were thinking about Moore?"
I laugh. "No. Of course not. I couldn't wait to get home to you."
He leans down and pulls his lips slowly across mine. I sigh at the intimacy of the gesture. I love kissing him. I could kiss him for hours and never tire of it.
"What's it about then?" He walks past me to the kitchen and I curse inwardly. I just want him to sit back down so I can tell him this without any more thought. I can't keep playing the possible scenarios of how he's going to react over and over again in my mind.
"Can you come sit down?"
There's absolutely no response. Only the sound of dishes moving and drawers being opened and closed greets me. I sit in utter silence, not moving for what feels like an eternity.
"Here's some fruit." Jax reappears with a small plate piled high with sliced apples, strawberries, bananas and oranges. "Eat and drink this." He pushes a bottle of water towards me.
"I'm not hungry." I sigh. "I just want to talk."
"You've lost weight." He pushes a piece of apple between my lips. "That dress has never been that loose on you."
I smile at the concern in his voice. "I'm fine. I just haven't been hungry." How could I have an appetite when I've been dealing with the non-stop stress of Jax working for me and now Mark's death? It's a wonder I can get one meal a day down.
"Eat, beautiful." He tempts me with a piece of strawberry. "I'm worried about you."
I nod and take the fruit between my lips. I eat a quarter of the fruit on the plate and take a long sip of water before I raise a brow. "Is that enough, Mr. Walker?"
"It's a start." He kisses me gently. "I just want to take care of you."
"You do." I stroke his brow with my hand while I stare into his eyes. "You take such good care of me."
Still Obsessed Page 2