‘You will never, ever, touch her again or I’ll go to the police, I swear to God, I will.’
Jules wiped his mouth, smirking. ‘Get out. Take that whore with you and get out.’
Camilla raised herself up to her full height and stared him down. ‘Your father would be ashamed of you, boy.’
Jess was astonished to see Jules’s armour crack a little at the housekeeper’s words and the little boy beneath show in his eyes. Camilla had been with the family since before Jules had been born and her words carried weight. Jules turned away from them and Camilla half carried Jess out of the room.
Theo re-dialled her number again. ‘Pick up Jess. Pick up, please.’ He half expected the same voicemail message he’d gotten the previous seven times but when it was picked up and a strange voice greeted him, his heart seized. The woman sounded older, kind but tired.
‘Jess’s fine, she’s okay but…hang on..’ There was a rustling then his heart leapt as Jess spoke.
‘Hello my love, I’m fine. Just the…usual crap. I’m getting a cab to yours now.’
He suddenly felt dumb.
‘Theo?’
‘I’m here, honey. Just get here as soon as you – scrub that, I’m coming to get you.’
‘No, no, please, Theo, the cab is already here. Honestly – ‘ and she lowered her voice, ‘I’m really fine. Just tired.’
‘Come home to me.’
‘I am. I’m on my way.’
Jules kicked his way back into his bedroom, picked up the nearest object, a book, and threw it across the room, opened his mouth and screamed his frustration, a primal sound. The rage burned through him. Fucking, fucking bitch. He walked to the bathroom, stripping, leaving his clothes where they dropped and cranked the shower onto the coolest setting. He stood under the water, letting it prick his skin, his eyes wide and staring. It was coming, the end, he could feel it, it was time.
Jules reached down and began to masturbate. He leaned his head against the cold tile as he thought about the day. He’d been so close to killing her. When she’d called his bluff, he’d wanted to drive the knife into her again and again, feel the blessed, blessed relief, the sensation of her warm, viscous blood on his hands, the pain, the horror, the life in her eyes fading away, the feel of her last breath on his face. Jules came, shouting and grunting as he imagined Jessica’s life slipping away.
Jess went into work the next day as if nothing had happened. Lying in Theo’s arms that night – their schedule of S&M put on hold for the night – she’d spent a sleepless night going over everything in her mind. She couldn’t allow Jules to continue to control her life this way. Theo had grilled her and she’d fudged the details, telling him about the ‘inheritance with conditions’ and he’d been suitably outraged.
‘I’ll fund your projects. We’ve been thinking about setting up a foundation just for this – you could run it.’
She’d protested but the offer was so tempting, so full of love she’d promised she would consider it. It was a way out. An easy fix. But something didn’t sit right with her – bailed out by another rich man? It made her uneasy, even if she did trust Theo meant well.
By the time she got to work, the exhaustion had caught up with her and she didn’t see the figure waiting in the corner of her office until it was too late. Jess suddenly looked around and gasped in shock.
Jules said nothing but stalked across the room and ground his mouth onto hers. Jess squirmed away from him but his hand was tight around her throat, squeezing, squeezing hard and she began to gasp for air as Jules started to strangle her. His face was a red mask of hatred and lust.
‘You don’t get to go home to him again. This way, you’re mine forever.’
Theo’s blood ran cold when he saw them and in a blur, he dragged Jules from Jess, throwing the smaller man across the room. He bent to pick up his stricken love, his heart thumping at the terrified expression on her lovely face but then Jules launched himself into them. Jess was thrown from his arms and Theo slammed into the wall. Jules was a feral whirlwind of rage, raining blows down on his. His fist caught Theo a glancing blow across the temple and he reeled, black spots crowding into his sight. He staggered back but then saw Jess behind Jules, coming at him with a heavy box file. She crashed it over Jules’s head but he turned and drove his fist into her stomach, making her double up. Adrenalin coursed through Theo then and he grabbed Jules, throwing him into the other room.
‘You’ll never ever fucking touch her again,’ he growled, following his quarry. Jules, clambering to his feet, sneering.
‘She belongs to me, Storm, she always has, she always will.’
Theo charged at him and grabbed him throwing him across the room just as Jess, staggering and breathless, screamed ‘No!’
Jules’s whole body slammed into and destroyed The Luna Soleil.
Theo opened the door and stood aside to let her in. She moved slowly, almost catatonic, into his apartment. He locked the door behind them, double locked it. After Jules – after they – had destroyed the painting, he and Jess had stood frozen while Jules scrambled up and disappeared. The noise of the fight had brought others who got there in time to see Jules clambering from the wreckage of The Luna Soleil. Theo, in disbelief, had turned to see Jess, shell-shocked, staring at the remains of the priceless artwork. Her knees had given out and he caught her as she collapsed. Everything after that was a blur of police interviews, photographs. Gerry had been there, and the dean and after the police had finished, the dean took Jess into his office and shut the door. Theo and Gerry waited anxiously but when Jess came out, she said nothing, just gathered her things, kissed Gerry’s cheek and walked out, Theo following. In the car she had been silent, just stared out of the window but now she looked at him, and he saw the depth of her pain.
‘I resigned,’ she said softly. ‘There was nothing else to do. The dean accepted it, he would’ve had to fire me anyway. This way, at least, I get to keep my dignity…except not really…’ and she started to sob. Theo took her in her arms, letting her cry herself out. He carried her to the bedroom and lay down beside her, stroking her face, kissing her tears away. As her tears shuddered to a stop, she fell into an uneasy sleep.
Theo pulled the comforter over her and went into the living room. The dean answered the phone on the first ring. Theo apologised for the late hour.
‘I wanted to say, let me have the details of the owner and I’ll pay for the damage.’
The dean was silent for a beat. ‘Mr Storm….the painting was destroyed.’
Theo cleared his throat. ‘I know. I’ll pay for it….but Dean Roberts…he was trying to kill her. Something infinitely more precious than a painting would have been destroyed. What happened was the result of Gachet’s violent behaviour. Please don’t punish Jess – she was the victim here.’
The dean sighed. ‘I do know that, Mr Storm. Look….I can’t say what is going to happen except this will be big news. I don’t know how we can keep your name out of it.’
‘That’s fine, I don’t expect miracles…but tell the truth. Don’t let them crucify Jess.’
He ended the call and rubbed his hands over his face.
‘Thank you.’
He looked up at the sound of her voice. She was standing in the doorway, barefoot, her hair tumbling down her back. Her beautiful face was drawn, her eyes tired but she had the sweetest smile on her face.
He got up and went to her, sliding his arms around her, kissing her softly. ‘You don’t need to thank me for anything.’
‘You saved my life.’
He stroked her face. ‘I love you. I’d never let anything happen to you.’ She leaned into his touch.
He looked into her eyes and saw a lifetime of hurt and abuse and fear.
‘I want to take care of you – as long as you want me to.’ He kissed her again. ‘So I’m going to ask you this and I want you to think about seriously. Move in with me. Let me look after you. In exchange, you can look after me. A partnership, a forever
thing. Live with me, Jessie…’
End of Part Three
Live With Me
By Michelle Love
Desperate to keep her past secret from Theo, Jess becomes distant with him. Theo, misreading her mood, declares his love for her and takes her away to his private island retreat. Once there, Jess tries to shut out everything but the two of them and their lovemaking steps up a level as Theo introduces her to more and more forbidden pleasures she never knew existed. By the time they return to the city, Jess knows she has fallen deeply in love with this incredible man and when Theo tells her that he has moved all of her things into his penthouse apartment, she is initially overjoyed at the thought of being with him twenty-four seven. When Jules finds out, however, he cancels her college funding and Jess realises she has nothing left of her own.
Jess pulled her clothes from her drawers and shoved them into her old and battered suitcase. She looked around her bedroom, with its now bare walls and stripped down queen-sized bed. A palpable sadness had settled in her chest but she knew now she couldn’t stay here. Jules was out of control and Theo had offered her safe harbor. She’d be a fool to turn that down.
Theo poked his head into the bedroom and smiled at her. ‘That ready to go?’ He nodded at her suitcase.
‘I’ll be just a minute.’
Theo came into the room then, took her shoulders and made her look at him. She knew what he was seeing; wounded eyes, black and purple marks on her neck, defeat. She moved to hold him, wanting to reassure him.
She looked at Theo’s anxious face. ‘I’m okay.’ He smiled at her but she could see he wasn’t convinced. She let him go and he watched as she walked over to the suitcase and locking it.
‘Thanks for doing all this,’ she smiled at him. ‘I don’t know where I’d be without you. Probably dead.’ She tried to smile but regretted her words when she saw the pain in his face. ‘Sorry. It’s just everything is…I’m finding it difficult to believe any of this is real. At the same time…’ She touched her bruised throat. and gave a short laugh.
Theo stayed silent. Jess sighed.
‘Come on, baby. Let’s get out of here.’
She moved into the living room, towards the door but, as she passed him, she stumbled a little. Theo saw her legs give way and caught her. She was shaking badly but dry-eyed as he held her.
‘Jesus, Jesus…’ she whispered. Theo buried his face in her hair but she pulled away and looked up at him.
For a moment, she thought about the attack and a brief flash of fear cross her face. Theo saw it.
He bent down and kissed her gently.
‘I won’t let him anywhere near you, don’t worry.’
‘It’s not just me I’m worried about.’
He frowned. Jess smiled at him but her eyes were serious.
‘He hates you, Theo, if he hurt you…’
Theo turned his nose up. ‘He’s a coward, Jess. And a misogynist. He sees women as inferior, weaker, easily manipulated.’
She nodded, her face somber. Theo smoothed her hair back from her face.
‘You okay?’
She nodded but her face was tight and she suddenly pulled away from him, her face flushing a deep scarlet. Angry.
‘I’m mad, Theo. Just mad. Who the hell does that bastard think he is telling me who I can love, deciding whether I live or die? Asshole. Who the fuck gave him the right?’
Her voice was rising with each word and her eyes were wild. She moved away from him, casting around for something, anything that would help her feel better. She gave a short laugh. She picked up a mug; a nondescript red coffee cup shoved into a cardboard box and showed it to Theo.
‘He drank from this.’ She hurled the cup at the wall, her face set in a grim smile as the ceramic smashed. She whirled around and scooped up a plate.
‘Call me a whore, motherfucker?’ And she flung the plate against the wall.
‘This is for every time he hurt me.’ Her hair flew around as she grabbed more and more plates and launched them at the wall.
Theo sat, a smile spreading across his face as he watched her smash her way through an entire cupboard of crockery, yelling, cussing, screaming all her anger, her rage. Theo started to smile. By the time she had finished, out of breath, they were both laughing helplessly.
‘Feel better?’
She grinned at him, tears of laughter in her eyes. ‘So much better.’
He stood and slid his arms around her waist. ‘Good.’ He kissed her and she sighed happily.
‘Okay then. Let’s get out of here and start our new life together.’
He needed to back for a while, stay away from her. Jules Gachet’s cheek muscles hurt from being clenched in anger and he stretched out his mouth to loosen them. He dragged his hand through his hair, long overdue for a cut, and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. Hard-bodied and fit, he’d stood no chance anyway against Theo Storm’s huge strength and now Jess was under Storm’s protection…
No. He had to be careful, plan his next movement, be patient. Jessica would pay for her betrayal of him, would suffer the worst of his fantasies before he killed her. Attacking her at the college had been a mistake: too many witnesses. He’d been expecting a visit from the police since that day but nothing. She hadn’t pressed charges. Maybe she thinks I should be grateful enough for that, he mused, smirking. Not a chance, bitch.
He dressed quickly and strode down the hallway. Camilla was talking to a delivery man at the front door and Jules rolled his eyes as he pushed past her. He’d only been half-serious when he’d told her to get out the other day; anger made him forget just how well she ran the estate, took most of the toil from him so he could continue playing the way he wanted to. He knew she thought he was disgusting; what on earth would she say if she ever found out what he used to do to Jessica when she was a kid? Jules smirked as he jumped into his car. Who cared what that old spinster thought? Jessica was his, had always been his, would always be his.
Even after she was dead.
Her possessions looked pathetic next to the opulence of Theo’s home and she felt somewhat ashamed of what her life added up to. Few clothes, more books, and art supplies. Theo had unpacked her books and had lined up the battered paperbacks and textbooks next to his on his shelves and now she was in his bedroom – their bedroom, she supposed now – procrastinating over unpacking her clothes.
She didn’t hear Theo come into the bedroom behind her and started as he slid his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to her neck.
‘Hey, beautiful…’
She turned in his arms and tilted her head up so he could kiss her mouth. Theo moaned slightly as his lips moved against hers. ‘God, you taste so good.’ His hold on her tightened and Jess felt her pulse quicken. God, would she ever not want this man?
Theo slowly drew the straps of her dress down her shoulders, trailing his lips across her skin. The dress fell to the floor and she sighed as he picked her and laid her down on the bed, stripping off his sweater. Her hands went to the zipper on his pants and soon they were both naked, kissing, caressing. Theo moved down her body, the tip of his tongue circling her nipples, dipping into the deep hollow of her navel. Jess gasped as his teeth grazed her clit, his strong fingers spread the folds of her labia apart so he could taste her. She closed her eyes as he bit the tender flesh of her inner thighs, and his fingers slid inside her, one by one until only his thumb remained to stroke her clitoris with increasing pressure. Theo shifted so that he could kiss her mouth as he penetrated her, his fingers probing and stroking her until she was shivering with pleasure.
‘You like that?’ Theo asked her softly but his eyes were intense on hers and she nodded, unable to speak, her fingernails digging into the smooth hard skin of his back. He chuckled softly, dipping his head to take her nipple into his mouth, flicking the tongue around the sensitive nub before gently biting down on it. Jess gasped out ‘This is too much, too much…’ But she pressed herself into his touch, grinding herself down on
to his hand, still buried deep in her. Theo teased her nipples with his mouth then pressed his lips into the valley between her breasts.
‘Come for me, Jessie….that’s it, give yourself to me…’ The pressure on her clit became almost unbearable and her back arched upwards violently as she climaxed, only Theo’s sheer weight keeping her from bucking herself off the bed. Theo didn’t give her time to recover before plowing his diamond hard cock into her and Jess thought she might die from the explosion of sensations ripping through her body. Theo clamped her hands above her head and began to thrust mercilessly, fucking her hard, ever thrust going deeper and deeper. Her hips screeched with pain and Theo forced them wider to gain access to her. Their eyes locked on the others as they slammed against each other and she was coming again and again as she felt Theo shudder and spasm, his cum shooting hard into her. Jess was on the verge of passing out but she never wanted it to stop.
Theo flipped her over and before she could catch her breath, his cock was pushing deep into her ass, so slowly and deliciously that she gave a long, delirious moan.
‘God, when you make that sound, Jessie…you make a man almost want to…’ Theo didn’t finish his sentence but she felt him bite down hard on her shoulder and she cried out with pleasure. His lips were at her ear then. ‘You like it when I hurt you, don’t you?’
She nodded and shivered through another orgasm as Theo gave a low, almost dangerous chuckle.
‘Jessie…I’m going to take you away somewhere, somewhere private and we’re going to try some things that you’ll like, and I’m going to have complete command over your glorious body.’
He pulled out and turned her to face him. His green eyes were dark with passion and danger and her breath quickened under his gaze. He bent his head to kiss her neck, her breasts before shifting to bury his face in her belly. For a second she just felt his hot breath on her skin then he looked up at her, a wicked grin on his face.
Quartet Complete Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) Page 159