“Your behavior certainly didn’t help.”
“I admit, I was preoccupied. Being inside this house was enough to get my blood boiling.” He placed his hand on the door, next to her face.
“You thought I knew when I had sex with you?” Jasmine asked; she couldn’t keep the sound of relief from her voice.
“Undeniable attraction,” he said gruffly and brought his face even closer to hers. She could feel his breath falling on her cheeks, and it sent goosebumps down her spine. She turned her head to look at him, and their eyes met. She bit down on her lip just as he bent his head to kiss her, this time affectionately, like she had kissed him the previous night just before she left. He drew away from her and looked into her eyes again, placing his big hands on her slight shoulders.
“Tell me you’ll stay, Jasmine,” his voice was gentle, and he was stroking the skin between her neck and her shoulders.
***
Jasmine’s mother sat at the head of the table. She had showered, changed into a different suit and combed her neat bob back, as usual. Despite her manners, she couldn’t keep the look of shock and confusion from her face as she watched in silence as Jasmine and Marvin sat beside each other on one side of the table.
“So you’re telling me that you both had a meeting last evening after I went to sleep?” she finally spoke and consciously cleared her throat. She was in complete denial of her own drunken state and Jasmine couldn’t help but smirk.
“Yes, Mom, and we realized that there has been a huge misunderstanding,” Jasmine replied, looking over to Marvin for support.
“Mrs. Kiberd, I want to assure you that the fault was entirely mine. I’m afraid I wasn’t on my best behavior last evening and it might have come across as disinterest in your property,” Marvin said, his voice smooth and reassuring as he spoke to her mother, looking her directly in the eye.
“Please don’t apologize, Mr. Byrne. If there is anybody who understands, it is me. This house has that effect on us does it not?” Camilla said and looked around the dining room, as if anticipating her father’s ghost to appear out of the dusty corners.
“It does indeed,” Marvin said and looked over to Jasmine and they exchanged smiles while her mother wasn’t looking.
“The fact is, Mrs. Kiberd, that I am interested in this house if you are interested in selling it to me,” Marvin said, and her mother gave a short sarcastic laugh.
“I’d do anything to be rid of it. What I don’t understand is why you would want to own it, Mr. Byrne. I cannot imagine that you feel sentimental towards it.”
Marvin cleared his throat and glanced at Jasmine again before looking back at her mother. He took in a deep breath.
“I want to destroy it. Burn it to the ground,” he said slowly and watched as Jasmine’s mother’s expression went from shock to satisfaction. She was smiling at him.
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it,” she said, after a minute of silence.
“He wants to use this land to build a school here,” Jasmine spoke up and looked proudly over at him.
“That is brilliant news! This place will finally come to good use, and you, of course, have experience in it,” her mother said and a wave of relief visibly flooded her body.
“And I want your daughter to help me with it,” Marvin said and Camilla’s face betrayed renewed shock.
“I accepted the offer, Mom. What can be better than running my own school in an idyllic seaside location?” Jasmine giggled, and she felt Marvin reach over and squeeze her hand under the table.
“That’s rather surprising, you’re only a kindergarten teacher, Jasmine,” Camilla said and looked from Jasmine to Marvin.
“Yes, Marvin is aware of that, but he believes I might have insight he can use,” Jasmine’s voice had changed to desperation, she didn’t want to argue with her mother in front of Marvin; God knows he didn’t need more reminders of the gap in age between them.
“Now, Mrs. Kiberd, I’ll have my lawyer send over the paperwork to you in a few days if you don’t mind, and then we can get this over and done with,” Marvin said, changing the subject. He got up from his chair and so did the others. He stretched out his arm towards Jasmine’s mother and they shook hands. She couldn’t help but notice the broad smile on her mother’s face.
“Now, how about some of that promised whiskey?” Marvin asked and Jasmine looked at her wristwatch.
“It’s only five Marvin. Too early for whiskey is it not?” she asked him while her mother happily walked out of the room and towards the drawing room.
“I thought you were on a holiday?” Marvin teased her and raised an eyebrow. Jasmine shook her head and giggled just as he reached and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and they rested their foreheads against each other’s.
“Your mother didn’t sound too pleased by the idea of your moving here,” Marvin said softly while they smiled at each other.
“She’s just taken aback by it, but we can’t help it can we? Undeniable attraction,” Jasmine said and closed her eyes for a kiss.
Chapter 9
Jasmine heard her mother’s car long before she could see it drive through the wrought-iron, front gates.
“She’s here!” Jasmine turned away from the window to face Marvin who was sitting behind his desk, signing the papers that she had placed before him a few minutes ago. He grunted in response and then looked at her over the small rectangular glasses he sometimes remembered to wear. Jasmine had now bought three extra pairs which she placed around the house so that he always had a pair handy when he needed them.
“Best of luck,” he said and smiled. That smile never failed to reassure her.
“Darling!” Camilla threw her arms around Jasmine when she greeted her mother at the front door a few minutes later. “You look older.”
“It’s only been a year, Mom!” Jasmine shook her head, but she knew what her mother meant. She felt older herself, in a good and desirable way. She still hadn’t figured out what Marvin had seen in her a year ago, to give her the responsibility of starting a school from scratch.
“But look at you!” Her mother dramatically twirled her around and admired Jasmine’s knee length black skirt and the white blouse she had tucked into it.
“You look like a lady,” her mother said and walked over hurriedly to give Marvin a hug, who had only just emerged from his study.
“Percy will show you to your room, Mom,” Jasmine said as their newly appointed butler picked up the bags that Camilla had dropped to the floor, and she followed him. Marvin had insisted on hiring a butler and a cook after Jasmine moved in; she had no idea how he lived before that.
“The last thing I want is for my mother to think I’m well-dressed. I need to change my wardrobe entirely,” Jasmine whispered to Marvin as he joined her and placed a hand on the small of her back. He laughed at that.
“Don’t let her get to you my love,” he said and Jasmine couldn’t help but feel a shiver of delight run through her body. She was his love. She looked over at him admiringly, and he looked back with a smile.
Camilla’s voice from the upstairs guest room interrupted the moment they were having. “This is beautiful Marvin! What an absolutely gorgeous bedroom,” she said as she came down the stairs.
“It looked like a dump before Jasmine worked her magic on it,” Marvin said and kept his hand steady on Jasmine’s back. Camilla’s eyes flickered in disbelief.
“Who would have known,” she said and came to a halt before them. Jasmine tried her best to not roll her eyes.
“So when do I get a tour of this school I’ve been hearing so much about?” Camilla asked and turned her attention to admiring the layout of the vestibule.
“It’s still underway mom. At least six more months of construction, and then we’ll be good to go,” Jasmine said and exchanged happy looks with Marvin.
“Jasmine has been very helpful with marketing and getting the word out,” Marvin said
just as Percy joined them to announce that he had served tea in the drawing room.
“I’m sure you didn’t need much marketing Marvin. Mornmouth House is enough marketing is it not?” Camilla said with a laugh and followed Percy. Jasmine could see her mother’s awe at the grandeur of the house. If she knew her mother at all, she was certain Camilla was wondering why Marvin’s mother would ever leave all of this and run away with a married man.
“It’s a very competitive world out there, Mrs. Kiberd. An old private school name isn’t good enough any longer. This one has to stand on its own merit,” Marvin said, a serious tone had entered his voice, and Jasmine immediately regretted inviting her mother. She didn’t want the next few days to be about Marvin defending Jasmine.
They drank their tea while making small talk. Marvin and Jasmine sat very close together, her bare legs grazing Marvin’s pants. She could see Camilla notice the times Marvin reached out to squeeze her hand.
“I’m happy to see you both so well settled,” Camilla said after Percy had cleared the teacups away. Jasmine felt relieved instantly. The fact that her mother was saying this was enough.
“We are, Mrs. Kiberd,” Marvin said and stood up from the sofa. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.” He bent down to kiss Jasmine on the top of her head and then walked out of the room, whistling a tune softly under his breath.
Camilla turned to look at her daughter. “How has all this happened? You’ve given me no explanation over the telephone, Jasmine. You seem practically married”.
Jasmine laughed and stood up herself, “Relax, Mom, just be happy for us, like you said you were. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted for me?” she started walking towards the door.
“You should unwind, Mom;, Percy will serve dinner in two hours, and we can talk more then.” Jasmine felt good telling her mother what to do for a change. The pieces seemed to all have fallen together.
***
She closed the door of his study softly behind her and found Marvin sitting on his shaggy, comfortable couch, sipping from a glass of whisky.
Jasmine giggled, “I’m glad you came up with the code, Marvin. You have business to attend to, seems natural enough,” she said and hopped on to his lap, straddling him. Marvin’s hands wound themselves around her waist as he pulled her closer to him. She could immediately feel his penis harden and begin to rise underneath her.
“Well, this is the business I have to attend to. So I wasn’t lying,” he said gruffly as she pulled his glasses off his face and placed them on the side table. She clutched his head between her hands and pressed it against her breasts. He started to nibble the fabric of her blouse and she bit down on her lip.
“Do you want to go outside, to that spot?” she asked him, and he stopped. He didn’t answer but when he picked her up and started walking towards the door, she knew they were going to scandalize her mother.
THE END
Taken by the Alpha Alien
Leela Ash
Copyright ©2016 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Chapter 1
Kylie Parker woke up with a start. The batteries to her alarm clock had died some time during the night, and she had worked a double shift the night before and slept very deeply. That meant that she was late to work. She groaned in frustration and dressed as quickly as she possibly could, imagining the unfriendly face of her boss, who seemed to be looking for any excuse to chew her out. The woman was awful, and Kylie groaned as she grabbed her car keys. It would take a miracle to avoid being reprimanded and she was worried that she was all out of luck.
She finally made it to work and ran to her cubicle. She had a well-paying job, and didn't know what she would do if she were to lose it. Unfortunately, as soon as she arrived, she was summoned into her boss's office. When she sat down in front of Nancy's desk, Nancy scowled at her. She had a feeling that she knew what was coming, but she held her breath and waited to hear for sure.
“This is a crucial time for the company, we are experiencing an opportunity for growth. And as I'm sure you know, you are only as strong as your weakest link. I can't have anybody screwing that up for us right now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go. Your performance has been lackluster, and punctuality is extremely critical. I'm sure you understand. Have your desk cleared out by noon today.”
Kylie opened her mouth to protest, but the words seemed stuck behind a barrier. There was nothing more she could say to this woman, and anything else out of her mouth would just seem vile. It was better to leave with dignity than to throw a fit, so Kylie stood and walked away. Nancy would have a hard time finding anybody else to work double shifts when she needed it, and that wasn't something that Kylie needed to deal with anymore.
Losing her job had many consequences. She thought them all over as she packed her desk up. Her mortgage was coming up, and due quickly, and if she wasn't careful her payments would quickly pile up. She could lose everything. She figured with her savings she should be set for the first couple of months, but after that there was nothing that she could do except sell the summer home that she had inherited to make ends meet. If nothing else, she could live there and give up the mortgage on her house. It would give her a small safety net until she was able to find something better for herself. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing that she worked for anybody else, and angry that Nancy would overlook all of her hard work over some obscure personal grudge against her.
On the way home from work, she decided that she would go visit her boyfriend Carl. They had been seeing each other for a few months, and she thought that maybe one of his quirky jokes and a hug would help her to feel better about the possibility of losing everything that she cared about materially in the world. She impulsively took the exit to his house instead of continuing down the highway and taking her own exit. She had a spare set of house keys for his apartment and let herself in, hoping that he would be happy to see her. She set the keys down on the counter and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. She heard a small noise coming from the bedroom and she walked toward it.
“Carl?" She called, pushing open his bedroom door.
The sight that met her eyes made her immediately feel sick. She closed the door quickly, her face contorting in fury. Carl was in bed with another woman. She couldn't believe the nerve of that man. He shuffled to the door wrapped in a sheet.
“Who is that woman?” the blonde in his bed was calling out. “How did she get in here? I thought you said you stopped fooling around on me!”
Anger filled Kylie's heart.
“How long have you been with her?” she cried.
Carl opened his mouth to reply but she gritted her teeth in defiance.
“That actually doesn't matter – I'm not dealing with this from you.”
Kylie rushed through the apartment and grabbed the few belongings that she had left there, before hopping into her vehicle and speeding away. She had never felt more humiliated in her entire life, and she could hot tears brimmed against her eyes as she drove. She thought she was going back to her own apartment, but she sped past the exit and found herself on the way toward her summer home. She had some thinking to do, and she did not want to do that in her stuffy home, where she knew she would just end up drowning in her own sorrows. She would come collect some clothes later, as she needed them, but until then she was just going to do her best to keep her head above water.
The day had taken many unexpected twists and turns, and she was feeling worse than she could ever remember feeling before. It would do her some good to get away from the rest of the world, and not have to face any of the mundane problems that she was used to dealing with in her everyday life.
Chapter 2
Over the next few weeks, she began to
slowly move her belongings over to the summerhouse. She called her brother and asked if he would be able to help her to lease out her home to somebody else so that she wouldn't lose it entirely. Instead of helping her, he gave her a lecture on being self-sustainable and independent, and hung up leaving her feeling worse than ever. When she called her best friend to ask if she knew of anybody who would want to rent her house or had heard of any new job opportunities, all she could do was say that she would call back and let her know if anything came up. Kylie didn't hear anything else from her after that. She had never felt more alone in her entire life.
The summerhouse was on a lake, and it made her feel at peace to be there. She had gone many times as a child, and after her father had passed away he had left the home to her. She had been very popular there throughout her youth and every vacation she seemed to have a new boyfriend. There was something about her that had men throwing themselves at her, and yet she had settled with a guy like Carl. What was wrong with her?
Kylie studied herself in the mirror, searching for answers to her many questions. There was nothing there but her reflection. She had jet black hair that cascaded down to the middle of her back, and almond shaped and piercing blue eyes. Her figure was voluptuous and toned, and she realized suddenly that maybe Nancy's problem with her was some kind of jealousy over her appearance. Nancy was a rumpled middle-aged woman who didn't seem to have a lot of close connections in the world. Maybe she had her eye on one of the men in the office, but he had his eye on Kylie.
It wasn't particularly fair, but at least it helped Kylie to cope with the fact that she had been unfairly fired. Nancy was a miserable old woman, and if she needed to abuse her power and authority to feel better about her lack of love, Kylie supposed she could deal with that. She tore herself away from the mirror and sat outside at the patio table, suddenly smelling the distinct aroma of impending rain. There was an obnoxious amount of splashing coming from the middle of the lake, where a teenage couple were boisterously playing. Kylie could tell that they had had one too many between the two of them, and soon the wind started blowing ominously and the clouds began to darken.
What the Outlaw Keeps Page 69