Under Her Skin

by Michelle Love

  Amelia made coffee and Jess and Theo dutifully sat with her while she chatted excitedly. ‘Loves, I know this is not the time really, but I want to throw you an engagement party. Max agrees it would be a good thing.’

  ‘How is Max?’

  Amelia gave them a half-smile. ‘He’s doing better, I think. He seems…. what’s the word? Fiercer. I don’t know but he’s rallying. About this party – ‘

  ‘Mom,’ She interrupted her with a hand on hers, ‘We just flew halfway around the world. Can we please discuss this tomorrow?’

  After Amelia left, Jess and Theo, really dragging now, shared a decidedly chaste shower then fell gratefully into bed. They didn’t even bother to push the two dogs off the bed where they’d snuggled in with them.

  In the morning, Theo awoke, opening his eyes to see Jess’s lovely face half-buried in the comforter. He brushed her lips with his, feather-light so to not wake her, but a lazy smile spread across her face. She opened those deep, warmth chocolate eyes, soft with sleep.

  ‘Hey handsome.’

  ‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’

  She made a cute noise and stretched, wriggling next to him and reaching for his cock. Theo grinned. Even half asleep, she knew how to turn him on.

  ‘Morning breath?’

  ‘Don’t care.’

  Theo pushed the grumbling dogs off the bed and covered her body with his, already rock-hard for her. He slipped a hand between her legs and stroked, feeling her dampen and swell for him. As he entered her, slowly, tenderly, he kissed her throat, felt her moan against his lips. This was one of their favorite times to make love when they were all soft and dreamy from sleep. Theo moved slowly at first as her legs wrapped around him, her limbs malleable, her eyes liquid silk as she smiled up at him, lifting her lips to his to kiss him.

  After they’d come, Theo kissed her and slipped out of the bed into the shower. The jetlag was starting to hit and a headache was beginning to pound the back of his skull.

  When he came out, rubbing his hair dry, Jess had obviously fallen back into a deep sleep and was sprawled diagonally across the bed. He dressed quickly and went downstairs. He grabbed a bagel from the pantry, a bottle of water from the refrigerator and went outside to the porch. The bright-white morning sun seared his eyes and he winced, sitting on the swing chair they had always had out there. He alternated gulps of water with air and felt a bit better. He thanked god it was Saturday and he could leave business to Monday. For the next two days, he wanted to settle back into a routine, hang out with Jess and whichever family members decided to interrupt their weekend. Theo smiled to himself wryly – he knew his mom would be back. Once she had a project in mind, there was no stopping her. That she and Jess got along so well was something Theo treasured; Amelia had like Kelly a lot and Kelly had been a sweet girl but she didn’t have the wicked sense of humor that his Mom and Jess shared.

  ‘Sir?’

  Theo looked up to see the head of his security team, Mike, smiling at him.

  ‘Welcome back, sir. Good holiday?’

  Theo shook his hand.

  ‘Wonderful, thanks. How have things been here?’

  ‘Non-eventful, thank goodness. No sign of any intruders or snoopers. I’ve put a report on your desk but it’ll be a dull read.’

  Theo smiled gratefully. ‘Good, thanks, Mike.’

  When Mike had gone back to his post, Theo leaned back and closed his eyes. Jeez, this headache. He felt a wet nose pushing into his hand. Monty or Stan? He looked down. His beloved spaniel was pushing her head under his hand, wanting to be fussed. He picked the wriggling dog up and settled her onto his lap. Stan trotted out of the house and flopped down at his feet. The morning was almost silent except for the breeze through the trees, the wash of water from the beach at the end of the garden. Perfect he thought, ignoring the leaden weight in his stomach. Almost perfect. He wondered if telling Jess about Malcolm would ease that weight – then shook himself. Why should she have to bear his guilt as well as everything else? He could handle anything as long as he had Jess. Still, he reminded himself to call Max and Alan later – he had a responsibility to them.

  ‘Theo?’ Jess’s voice from inside the house.

  ‘Out here.’

  Her hair was wet from the shower, and in her simple white shirt and Daisy Dukes, even as tired as she still obviously was, she looked so gorgeous that he forgot anything else. He held out his hand and pulled her onto his lap, burying his face in her neck, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and soap. She smelled of home.

  ‘I just got a text from your mom,’ Jess kissed his forehead. ‘She’s going into town, wants me to go with her, do some wedding shopping.’

  She rolled her eyes as Theo laughed. ‘Good luck with that. Want Mike to drive you?’

  She smiled. ‘Your mom’s picking me up. We’ll be fine. Can you imagine going up against her? She’s like a ninja.’

  Theo chuckled. ‘God, I love you, you absolute nut.’

  She stroked his face. ‘Damn. Why didn’t I tell your mom to give an hour instead a half hour?’

  Jules had been browsing around a flea market on one of the islands when he found it, the small ornate weapon. The blade was old, dirty but salvageable, the handle metal, encrusted with amethyst and rose quartz. He'd nodded to the stall owner, watched him wrap it in growing excitement. Now, at home, he had cleaned, polished and sharpened the long thin blade. Holding it up, he bounced the light from it into his eyes. And smiled. He imagining it tearing through Jess’s skin, slicing through the arteries and veins that held the precious blood inside of her.

  He poured himself a cup of too strong black coffee, gulped it back, savoring the feel of the harsh taste on the back of his throat. He was impatient for all the things he had planned. He wanted them to happen right now. He thought of her, what she might be doing. Maybe fucking that bastard, all trembling honey-skinned limbs, perfect mouth, happy, alive, so far removed from him as was possible. Still belonging to someone else. He smirked: the new friendship he’d made would help with that. Theodore Storm’s mamma. He’d struck up a conversation with her at the Farmer’s Market, helped her with her groceries. Easy, too easy. With his hair bleached so it was almost white, his beard too and colored contacts, he looked nothing like the suave Frenchman everyone was looking for. Fools. He knew she would know him though. His Jessica.

  With a familiar ache in his groin, he went and took a shower, jerking off with long, angry strokes. He forced himself to focus, made a conscious switch in his mind. He could not let anything interfere. The next days were to be his greatest achievement and for himself, well, he would receive the greatest prize for the moment the knife slid into her body, she would be his. As his orgasm shattered through him, he sobbed out his longing and his rage until he was utterly spent.

  Whidbey Island Farmer’s Market was busy, even for a Saturday morning, but Jess didn’t care. The amount of fresh produce and arts and crafts meant that Jess and Amelia didn’t even notice the time flying by. Amelia was impressed with Jess’s knowledge of cookery and produce and in turn, Jess found herself enjoying the older woman’s company. Afterward, they grabbed a bite to eat in a little bar Amelia used.

  ‘So… a party,’ She prompted Amelia then took a huge bite of her club BLT sandwich, moaning with delight as the juices from the tomato mixed with the mayonnaise, dripping from her fingers. Amelia smiled indulgently at her. She had become very fond of her future daughter-in-law, her humor, her intelligence, her love for Theo. And thank god, she actually enjoyed her food. Most of the friends Amelia dined with picked at a plate of asparagus. With Jess, Amelia could indulge once in a while.

  ‘Yes, I thought it would be nice – and seeing as you’re not letting me have my over-the-top society wedding, then I thought we could make the party a little formal, invite some names from the business world.’

  Jess sighed inwardly but smiled her agreement. She knew entering Theo’s society world would involve this kind of glad-handing and she cou
ldn’t complain. Up until now, he’d kept things low key. She couldn’t let Amelia down.

  ‘Of course, that sounds great.’

  Amelia chuckled and Jess thought suddenly how Theo resembled her, the fine cheeks bones, the face that could go from haughtily aloof to crumpled and filled with laughter in an instant.

  ‘Sat that like you mean it, kid. Seriously, though, you don’t have to worry about anything, I’ll arrange it all. All you have to do is turn up and look stunning, which shouldn’t be too hard for you.’

  Jess raised her eyebrows. ‘Well, I don’t know, I mean you can take the girl out of the trailer park…’

  Amelia laughed but made a moue with her mouth. ‘You do that a lot, Jessie, put yourself down. We Storms don’t do that and you are one of us now.’

  Jess flushed and grinned. ‘You are too good to me, Amelia.’

  ‘Mom.’

  ‘Mom,’ Jess said shyly and laughed. ‘I’ll have to get used to that.’

  After lunch, they headed down to Amelia’s favorite whole foods store and wandered leisurely through the aisles, chatting. Neither of them paid any attention to the blond man with the cap following them.

  Jules got as close as he could to them without her noticing. Every time Jessica half turned to speak to Amelia Storm, he would duck back into another aisle but so far, he’d been able to keep up with them. He enjoyed the secrecy, the thrill of discovery. The knife he’d bought at the flea market was in his pocket, newly sharpened. Even knowing it was there was making him hard.

  ‘Hey, buddy.’

  He turned, thankfully out of sight of the women, to face the boy who’d called him. The kid was seventeen at the most, insolently chewing gum. He stank of weed and dried spunk – typical teenager. Jules turned away but the kid grabbed his arm.

  ‘Ain’t I seen you somewhere?’

  Jules smiled coolly. ‘In the fresh produce aisle.’

  The sarcasm didn’t bother the kid who laughed as if Jules had made the funniest joke ever. As high as fuck.

  ‘Nah, man. I mean, on the t.v.’

  Fuck. ‘Nope. Never been on t.v.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Pretty sure, guy.’

  The kid lost interest. ‘Okay, well, sorry to bother you.’

  Jules turned back, away from him – and straight into the eye-line of Amelia Storm. She smiled brightly.

  ‘Clem! How lovely to see you again.’

  ‘You too, Ms. Storm.’ Ugh. Pretending to be subservient to this rich bitch made him want to throw up. His eyes darted quickly from side to side. Where the hell was Jessica? If she saw him now… he fingered the knife in his pocket.

  No. It wasn’t going to be rushed this time. ‘Sorry, I can’t stay and talk today, gotta run.’

  He was flattered that she looked disappointed. ‘Oh, I don’t want to keep you then. I would have liked to introduce to my daughter-in-law, well, soon-to-be anyway but she seems to have wandered off…’

  Jules tipped his cap to her and said goodbye, walking briskly towards the front of the store. As he strode down one of the empty aisles, he saw her. She turned into it, not even glancing up at him.

  God. This was the first time he’d seen her since the night he’d stabbed her when she’d bled for him. He’d forgotten just how fucking beautiful she was, even in a simple sundress with no makeup. Her hair, a dark brown cloud, hung almost to her waist, was soft and messy. She took his breath away. He glanced around. No-one else was around.

  A hand over her mouth, push her back against the wall, put the knife in her…

  He recalled the feel of that first spurt of blood, her hot blood that had covered his hands that night. Her gasp of agony, of shock. He stared at her now. How the hell did you survive?

  She looked up then and he stuck his face low into his collar, slouched down like an old man, and started to walk toward her. Everything in his body was telling him to do it, kill her now but he balled his fists up in his pocket. When he passed her, he slowed, pretending to study something on the other side of the aisle. He turned to make sure she wasn’t looking at him then stepped immediately behind her. He breathed in, the fresh soapy scent of her skin filling his nostrils. Jesus, he was hard, so fucking hard, she smelled so good and…

  ‘Jess?’

  Jules turned and stalked off at the sound of Amelia Storm’s voice. So close, so close… But at least, finally she was back. Jessica was home and now he could see the end of this all.

  She was home.

  Jess felt frozen inside. The guy in the store, harmless as he may have been, had creeped her out and when he’d stepped behind her, she could have sworn he was going to touch her. She heard his inhalation and her fists had balled, ready to fight. But then Amelia had called her and the guy had gone.

  She felt sick. On the way home, Amelia hadn’t noticed a thing but Theo, as soon as he’d seen her face had asked her what was wrong. She just shrugged, told him she had a headache and went upstairs. She sat on the edge of the bath now, nausea roiling around in her stomach. She tried to think why a lone creepy guy could make her feel this scared, this bad.

  She knew, of course, she did. It was that he’d reminded her of Jules, that sneaky, stealthy way of his. Jesus. Was she that paranoid now? A wave of sickness hit her and she threw up into the toilet, retching again and again until she was dry heaving.

  ‘Well, goddamn Miss Wood, you’re beautiful.’ Amelia put on her best Southern-Belle accent as she opened the door to Jess and Theo on the night of their engagement party.

  Jess had gone against all of her natural instincts and had poured herself into a long gold shift dress that clung to every curve. The color radiated against her olive skin, setting it aglow, and her tawny mane rippled down her back. Amelia hugged her proudly, her eyes shining. ‘I knew you’d scrub up well, even if you are trailer trash.’

  ‘Mom!’ Theo was shocked but the two women dissolved into giggles.

  ‘Told you that would get him,’ Jess nudged her future mother-in-law and Theo sighed.

  ‘Oh so this is how the rest of my life is going to be, my mom and my wife ganging up on me.’

  ‘Yep, pretty much.’

  ‘Live with it, son.’ Amelia squeezed Jess’s arm. ‘You do look absolutely stunning, though.’

  Jess's face flushed at Amelia's words. Theo's reaction had been similar, but far more physical and considering that Jess had just got redressed in five minutes flat, she was absurdly pleased with the result.

  ‘Come on, circulate, there is a lot of people for you to meet.’

  Two hours later, Jess was exhausted. All of Amelia’s friends were utterly charming but she could see in their eyes, they were all curious. Not about her, but about what had happened to her. Sex and death sells she thought wryly, searching for Theo. He was nowhere to be seen and, excusing herself, she went to look for him.

  Pushing open the door of the study, she heard Max’s voice. She slipped inside quietly, not wanting to interrupt.

  ‘Theo… you should tell her. You promised each other no more secrets. Jess is tougher than you think she is. God knows, hasn’t she proved that? How many other people would have come back from such a violent past to be the person she is? She can handle this.’

  ‘She shouldn’t have to! Dammit, Max, how do I tell her what I’ve done, I can hardly believe it myself.’

  ‘You did what you had to do, Theo.’

  ‘Did I? I had a choice, Max.’

  Max sighed then as he glanced up, he saw Jess, frozen. He paled and glanced at Theo.

  ‘Theo...’ He nodded towards Jess and Theo stood, his face a mask of distress.

  ‘Sweetheart…’ He came to her immediately but she backed away, his eyes full of pain.

  ‘What did you do, Theo? Tell me.’

  She gazed up at the man she loved and waited for him to break her heart…

  Love With Me Part Nine

  Seconds felt like hours.

  Theo Storm watched Jess’s face as she took in w
hat he had told her. ‘I killed Malcolm. I broke his neck. We covered it up’. Eleven words. Eleven words that could finally, inexorably rip them apart.

  For the first time, he wished Jess’s eyes weren’t such a deep, deep brown. He couldn’t read them. Jess turned to look at Max, who gave a short nod, unsmiling, obviously worried about her reaction. Jess turned back to Theo.

  ‘I would have done the same.’

  Theo had to grab the top of a chair to stop his legs collapsing with relief. Relief and astonishment. He saw Max’s whole body slump. Jess reached out and put her hands on his face.

  ‘I love you and I know you. Malcolm was a monster, as much as Jules is. He gave Jules an alibi for Josh’s murder – that, or he was the one who killed him. I’m glad he’s dead. I’m fucking over-the-moon he’s dead. I wish you had told me sooner, is all, but I get why you didn’t.’

  He couldn’t help himself then and pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Max put his hand on his heart, smile and then slip out. Jess started to giggle as the kiss went on and finally they broke apart.

  ‘Dude, just sometimes, I do need oxygen.’

  He grinned down at her, so lovely in the gold dress which clung to her soft curves, molded to her high, rounded breasts. ‘Damn, Jess, how’d I get so lucky to find you?’

  She answered him by pressing her body into his, cupping his cock through his trousers. At her touch, it responded immediately and then he was lifting her onto the desk, pushing the silk of her dress up to her waist as she unzipped his pants. She pulled his shirt open and teased his nipples with her tongue as he tugged her legs around his waist and plunged into her, lifting her easily into his arms. Jess shook her hair back from her face and grinned at him.

  ‘You wanna fuck against the bookcase, big boy?’

  God, he loved it when she was playful. He felt his cock thicken inside her, her soft vagina clenching around him, urging him on. He pressed her back against the books and thrust harder, finding the rhythm as they kissed, and bit, and sucked at each other. Jess dug her nails into his butt as she came, muffling her cries by burying her face in his neck. Theo came and came, his entire groin jerking hard as his semen pumped into her.