Jade

by Olivia Rigal

  The emphasis is on “private”, but it does not deter Nathanael, who says, “Sure, you should have privacy. Why don’t you two go home, and I’ll stay here, at the pool.”

  I like that he speaks up for me, and I love that it pisses Oliver off. I’m so mad at him that I want him to bleed a little.

  I step out of the pool, and head home, wrapped in my towel with Oliver two steps behind me. I open the door, and it’s freezing cold inside.

  “We need to get out of these wet bathing suits,” I’m thinking aloud.

  He smirks like it’s the best idea I’ve had all day, but he does not say a word. I turn around to lock the door behind me, and face him. He’s crowding me, but I won’t be intimidated.

  “Let me give you a dry towel,” I say, and he follows me through my bedroom, to the bathroom closet. I throw a towel at him, and go in the bathroom to remove my bathing suit. I just have time to put on the extra-large t-shirt that serves as my nightgown, before he’s on me. He has stripped, and he’s pinning me against the bathroom door. His hands are on my shoulders, and his hips are against mine. He’s hard, and it throws me off track. I look up to him, and I want him so much that it hurts. I want his chest against mine, and his mouth on mine. I want him in me now, but it does not seem to be what he wants. It’s like he needs to fight with me, first.

  He’s lost in his own mind. Endless seconds pass, and he keeps staring at me, as if he’s looking at me for the first time. My eyes flutter and close; I’m not good at this type of game. I don’t know how to play. I don’t even know what the purpose of the game is. Actually it’s plain and simple: I don’t want to play.

  The little patience I have left is quickly spent, so I break the silence, and ask, “Did you get a divorce?”

  I see the shadow of a smile on his mouth. He wanted me to start. He looks into my eyes, and nods.

  “My turn,” he says. “Did you wait for me?”

  I bite back with more questions, “Is this a game that we’re playing? Because, if it is, I’d like to know the rules. How many questions do we each have?”

  “No game, just a talk, my sweet Jade, and you did not answer my question,” his tone contradicts the affectionate terms that he chooses.

  I nod, and close my eyes, “Of course, I waited. For endless weeks, I waited.”

  “Look at me, Jade; this is a yes or no question.”

  I open my eyes, and blink several times to chase away the tears that are threatening to come out. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing what he’s doing to me. It’s nothing short of torture. I’m so turned on by his touch that if he so much as breathes on me tenderly, I will crumble.

  With a jagged breath, I ask “What precisely do you want to know?”

  Through clenched teeth, he says, “Did you let that guy touch you?”

  “Didn’t you hear what he told you?”

  “I don’t trust the man; I want to hear from you.”

  “He tried.”

  “What do you mean ‘he tried’?”

  “How much detail do you want?”

  “Every single one.”

  “What in heavens for?”

  “Because my imagination is probably worse than reality.”

  “I’m sure it is. It was nothing, really.”

  “I want to know every single hot and dirty thing he did to you so I can do it better, and erase him from your memory.”

  My heart is soaring; I so love his jealousy. It’s my turn to hide a smile. He’s so hot when he’s mad, like this.

  “That shouldn’t be too hard for you.” I touch my lips with a finger, and say, “He kissed me once, and, while he did it, he had one hand on my hip, and the other on my breast.”

  Oliver stares at my lips, and asks, “That’s it?”

  “No, there’s more,” I taunt him, because he’s tortured me enough, and now it’s my turn.

  “It happened in my bed, and, after I pushed him back, he fell asleep, nestled against my shoulder. The next day, he went back to bang our admin, who he’s been fucking silly since he arrived.”

  His mouth remains open, as if the words he was about to say won’t come out. I push him away, and walk out of the bathroom. He follows me into my bedroom as I lock the door that leads to the living room. I lean against it, and then I march to him, pointing an accusing finger.

  “You say you want to talk, then let’s talk. Tell me, Jade Master, what do you want from me? I want you; I want you so badly that, even though I’m quite literate, I can’t find the words to describe how empty I’ve been feeling without you.”

  I keep on walking until he’s trapped between the foot of my bed, and me. He can’t back up anymore; it’s my turn to crowd him.

  “So, do you want to be with me, or not? Because if you do, I will probably be the happiest woman on Earth, but, if you don’t, then I want you to get your ass right out of here, and never come close to me again.”

  This is exhausting. I’m totally out of breath. I push him away to the side and sit on the corner of my bed. I close my eyes, swallow hard, and wait for his answer.

  There are a few seconds of silence, and then Oliver takes a few steps. He does not go to the door, but instead, comes to me. He rests his hands on my knees, and his forehead on mine. He’s kneeling in front of me, and his erection is the first thing I see when I open my eyes again.

  “I don’t know why you need to ask. I want you. I know that I have been the first man in your heart, your bed, and your life. I’m not content with that, because I want also to be the last. Hell, I want to be the only one you’ll ever want and need. I want to go to bed with you every night, and wake up with you every morning. I’m crazy about you.”

  He kisses me, and I slide to the floor onto his lap. He’s as ready for me as I am for him. His penis is beating like a drum between us. I can feel its heat and pulse through the cotton of my shirt. I cling to his shoulders, because his kiss makes me feel whole, again.

  When he pulls his mouth away from mine, I wrap my arms around him, and ask, “But why the silence?”

  Another kiss, and he says, “I wanted to come back to you totally free, so you wouldn’t have any reason to push me away, again.”

  I raise my hands over my head, look into his eyes, and say, “Look at me. I’m not pushing, am I?”

  “No, you’re not. I can see that, now.”

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  “I’ll start by giving you a choice. Do you want to stay on the floor, let me take you against the wall, or move to the bed?”

  A thousand other possibilities cross my mind, like the kitchen table, the balcony, the shower, or even the Jacuzzi. I also like the bed; it sounds like the most comfortable choice, but I’m so charged that I can’t waste another minute. If I don’t have him in me now, I’ll die of frustration.

  I raise myself and tilt my hips enough to make him slide into me. My answer is clear.

  “Here. Right here, and right now.”

  “Jade,” my name comes out in his breath like a prayer, and it’s my turn to silence him with a kiss.

  He grabs a fistful of my hair as my lips cover his. I love it when he does that. My hearts pulses harder as I straddle him. The tilt of my hips against him is hard and slow.

  He lifts my mouth away from his, and says, “Open your eyes, and come for me, Jade.”

  I open my eyes, and lose myself in his gaze. I never realized how amazing it feels to be wanted so badly. A tidal wave of lust has taken over the two of us. We’re so consumed by it that we’re both sweating profusely in the frigid air.

  He thrusts up into me. My eyes flutter as he takes me higher and higher. I fight to keep them open, even when I reach my final destination, and cry out.

  He pauses for an instant, waiting for the pounding of my heart to slow down, and then he goes again. I thought that I was spent, but an incredible sensation swirls through me, and, as it does, moans escape my mouth. My entire body is trembling with a renewed need.

  Oli
ver’s touch is gentle, at first, like butterfly wings caressing my back, but then his finger digs into my butt, as he tilts us over.

  I’m lying on the bedroom carpet, and his entire weight is on me, pressing me against the floor, as if he wants to melt into me. His arms slide under my knees, and he’s gritting his teeth. He pulls out, and then slams into me with all his strength, again and again, until he growls, and I finally scream. My nails are in the back of his neck as I feel his final throbbing.

  I’m so sore that I can’t move.

  I’m so sated that I will never want to make love, again.

  I’m so happy that I want to freeze this instant.

  I tell him, and he sweetly mocks me, saying that this is the first of many such mornings, and I’m never getting rid of him ever again.

  It’s when he pulls out, and a flow of liquid drenches my legs that I realize we have not used protection. He watches the expression on my face change, and waits for me to freak out. Strangely, I don’t.

  He smirks, shrugs his shoulders, and says, “Worse things could happen.”

  That’s when I know for sure: this was no accident. He did it on purpose, because he’s here to stay.

  ❦

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  IT’S NOON WHEN OLIVER AND I come back to the pool. We had a long talk, and now we have a game plan: we’re moving to New York.

  He’s been hired as a consultant by the CMM, the Chinese Museum of Manhattan, to study and catalogue their extensive jade art collection. He has sold his shares of the mine.

  Chanlina’s coming, too. She’s applied to the best dancing schools in the country, and she’s been accepted to one in New York. She’s going to give it all she has, and, should it not work out, it will be time enough to pick a more traditional college education. I don’t see how she could fail when it’s her passion, though.

  We’ll both be students; I’m going back to school. In four years, when I graduate from med school, Oliver will start traveling and mining again with his own personal physician in attendance.

  That’s what we have planned, but we know that the best laid plans can be tossed aside when life happens.

  Lyv may get another grandchild sooner than I would like. Actually, Lyv could also become a great-grandmother, as well. There has been an instant connection between Nathanael and Chanlina. But I’m wary; he’s so fickle.

  I need to have a talk with Nathanael to let him know that I’ll be watching him like a hawk. I will explain what I’ll do to him if he messes up with Chanlina. It’s better me, than Oliver, since they didn’t really start off on the right foot.

  For some strange reason, I feel that this could work. Not only because she’s just his type—dark, long, and thin—but because they are both damaged in a similar way. There’s a childhood crack in both of them. It would be perfect if they could complete, and fix each other.

  Lyv has lunch all set out. She’s wearing a bathing suit with a cute little skirt over it. She’s her usual lively self as she participates in the conversation. Every so often, she looks in the direction of the pool gate.

  Okay, one guest is missing.

  The barbecue has been heating up forever, and we’re all starving. Lyv pulls out the ears of corn she’s roasted with the leaves on, and she sets the burgers on the grill, asking us all how we want them cooked.

  I stand next to her by the grill, and ask, “When did you figure it out?”

  “About you and my son? The first day I saw you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. He had written to me about you. He does not write often, so I took it seriously when he did email me to say he had finally found the gem he was going to settle down with.”

  “Cute; I’m a gem.”

  “Yes, you are,” she winks at me. “You know, I did not raise him to believe in fate, but he said something about your name. I can’t remember how he phrased it, but what he meant was that destiny had made sure that he would not overlook you.”

  “My name got a lot of smirks from his crew.”

  “Right, and there are not too many Jades around, especially with PhDs in biology, so it had to be you. Thanks to you, there’s another one, now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He did not tell you? When she is one hundred days old, Sirikit’s daughter is getting two names. One will be a traditional Thai name picked by her family according to the old-fashioned customs, and the other will be Jade.”

  I have to blink a few times, because tears are pooling in my eyes, again. Shit, I’m turning into a regular fountain.

  Lyv puts a hand on my shoulder, and says, “I am proud that you made him do what was right for that woman.”

  We don’t say anything for a while, but just flip burgers.

  “What time did you tell your boss to be here?”

  “Am I that obvious?” She smiles, but it’s a sad smile. “I just told him to come on over for a barbecue at the pool. I was not very specific.”

  “So, he could still show, right?”

  “Somehow, I doubt it. It’s been getting a bit ugly.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “Wanna talk about it?”

  Very softly, she tells me, “He was going to lose his business to his sister-in-law. The bitch is out to destroy him, and the club. There’s a shitload of unsolved sibling rivalry crap that I have yet to figure out. Anyway, I bought her out, and now Ian and I are partners.”

  My smile gets bigger as she tells the story. She trusts me enough to curse her heart out. It is funny how she can remain ladylike even when she speaks like that.

  “That’s cool.”

  “That’s what I thought, too, but no. He’s a fucking Irish macho ass. His pride gets in the way. He hates that he was rescued by a woman,” she growls. “You’d think he’d be happy, but no; he’s mad as hell, and not at her, at me!”

  She’s slapping the burgers with the set of cooking tongs. Luckily the beef’s already dead; otherwise, I would feel obligated to call the humane society.

  She’s swearing under clenched teeth, and now I know who Oliver got his temper from.

  Behind us, the pool gate opens, and I recognize the Irish ass.

  “Maybe not as mad as you think,” I say, taking the tongs away from her before she does any more damage to the meat.

  “Oh, yes he is.”

  “Then you’d better get ready for another fight. He just walked in.”

  She does not turn around to check, but simply looks at me, and asks, “Seriously?”

  “Yep.” I turn around to grab a few napkins from the table, and hand them to her. “Now wipe the sweat from your face, and take a deep breath.”

  She does, and then asks “How do I look?”

  “A bit red, but that’s to be expected, since you’re slaving over the grill. Otherwise, good enough to eat.”

  “Okay, wish me luck,” she says. I observe his face as she turns around and greets him. That poor man is done for: he’s swallowed the hook, line, sinker, pole, and then the entire boat.

  Oliver’s oblivious to the lust in the gaze of his mother’s partner, as he’s gotten into a heated conversation with Nathanael. Chanlina is following their exchange intently while pretending to be reading a book. She notices my watching her and winks.

  Maybe sometimes everything does turn out for the best.

  ❦

  About the Author

  Born in Manhattan, Olivia Rigal spent her youth going back and forth between her French mother in France and her American father in the United States.

  She lived and studied in both countries before settling in France to raise her family.

  A writer and singer at night, she practices law in the daytime.

  Olivia has travelled throughout South East Asia and has a special fondness for Laos and Thailand. She loves nothing more than swimming in white waters such as those of the Kuang Si Falls or through the waves of the Atlantic Ocean in MacArthur Beach State Park close to her Florida home.

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