He looked away. “I seem to have lost my passion for my work.”
A spear of sympathy shot through her. She couldn’t image what life would be like without that passion that drove her. It must feel very barren. No wonder he was acting strangely. That arrogance that had been there last time she’d been on this boat seemed to have gone. She was grateful for that at least, as well as knowing that wasn’t his true personality. Well, maybe—there had always been a bit of arrogance in him, even back in Oxford. Ambition had driven him out of Russia towards a better life, even back then.
“Now I need to find a new passion,” he said.
“Archaeology?”
He didn’t say anything, just looked at her. Rosalie felt a flush work its way up her body. For a moment she was reminded of the boy she’d known—the serious boy with a heavy accent. He’d appeared in her class wearing torn jeans and a sweater, and she’d noticed him the moment he’d walked in.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Just about the past.”
“You have changed very little.”
Well, she was older, but other than that, maybe she hadn’t changed so very much, except her stomach no longer flipped when blond, gorgeous and exotic nineteen year-olds walked into lecture halls.
She looked over his features. No, he certainly wasn’t a boy anymore, his face was broader, maybe a little more angular. He was by no means unattractive. His shoulders were large under the sweater. There wasn’t an ounce of spare fat on him. All that time in boardrooms hadn’t involved solely sitting still.
What exactly was it that he wanted from her? She wanted to ask, but couldn’t.
The young man’s appearance drew her out of her reverie. “Lunch is ready to be served,” he said.
Alexi rose and held his hand out for her. “Come,” he said. Tentatively, she slipped her hand into his larger, warm hand and rose from her seat.
Chapter 54
Plonking herself down in the seat in the dressing room of the club, Trish let her head flop back. It had been a long night and there had been moments when she’d considered walking out, thereby quitting her job. It seemed every link she had here was systematically being cut. Maybe this was the process of leaving—everything had started feeling heavy and hard.
Then there was Cory and him dropping by and declaring his not exactly dependable love. He was just having a knee jerk reaction to hearing she was leaving. All he wanted was to have her neatly under his control, so he could mess around with her if he wanted. Maybe he did intend what he was saying when he said it, but those declarations fleeted out of his mind the moment a girl in a tight skirt walked past.
With a groan, she ran her hand over her face. Again, Cory made everything harder. From the moment she’d met him, he’d been trouble. For now she was too tired to think about it, wishing Adelaide was here so she could talk it over with her. Maybe she should go and see Adelaide. There wasn’t technically any reason she couldn’t.
Packing up her things, she walked out the side door and made her way out front, wondering whether it was worth splashing out for a taxi home. If she was going to leave though, she was going to need money. If she’d known this ahead of time, she could have saved up a bit.
As she walked down the stairs, she slowed, seeing Cory leaning on the side of his car. The fact that he was here meant he was waiting for her. His arms were crossed, corded muscles straining.
“What do you want, Cory?” she said, feeling her shoulders slump. She wasn’t up for another fight with him, or one of his declarations of love.
“We need to talk.”
“We really don’t.”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
“So you said.”
“You need to give us one more chance.”
“There was never an us, Cory,” she said, feeling her cool fleeting away. Anger was starting to creep in and she was sick of it—feeling angry all the time. It was exhausting.
“There has always been an us,” he said, stepping forward. “And yes, I screwed it up over and over again, but you know why.”
“Because you’re scared of fucking it up. That’s the lamest excuse ever. Who’s going to buy that crap?”
“I’ll change.”
Trish groaned. “This sounds like every bad movie ever. People don’t change. You’re not going to change.”
“I will if I have to.” He stepped closer, crowding her as he placed his hands on her cheeks. “I’ll do what it takes.”
“Cory—” Trish started when Cory leaned down and kissed her. Soft lips urgently sought hers. For a moment, sweetness suffused her mind, but she wrenched herself away. “You’re not doing this to me again.”
She could see the challenge in his eyes. Stepping forward, he crowded her again, leaning down to stroke his lips along her. Unbidden, her insides tightened and wetness pooled. Seducing her had always been his skill. Rock hard nipples grazed along his chest and her breath hitched.
“You can’t deny this thing between us.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s something we should give into. It means nothing.”
“It means everything.”
Grabbing her by the nape of her neck, his lips crashed down on hers. She wanted to struggle, but the delicious sweetness combated her own instincts. His tongue surged into her mouth, demanding more, demanding everything she was. Was she forever going to burn for him? Even when he hurt her again and again?
His fingers worked into her hair and his mouth stroked down the side of her neck, making her exhale deeply as the sensation worked itself deeper into her being.
Cory’s promises he would change was everything she wanted to hear, but she didn’t believe him. Was it even possible for him to change?
Grabbing her thighs, he pushed them up around his hips. She was melting from the inside, her need for him growing frantic. How could she be so weak?
“I’m still leaving,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Not when I’m done with you.”
Cory had never been quite this determined before. Maybe they were just upping the ante in this twisted little game, but somehow she got sucked back in.
Suddenly, she felt the car behind her. His body pressed into hers with more force, making her gasp with the friction. Cory, leaned down and opened the door, urging her in.
And here she was again, heading to Cory’s house for a night of sheer debauchery. Her insides were clenching from unadulterated desire. Crossing her legs, she tried to dissipate some of it, but it only grew worse. Damn him for doing this to her. Then again, maybe she needed to do this, exorcise him out of her mind and body.
Her heavy breathing didn’t calm throughout the silent drive as night-time scenery passed them by. She was going to miss this, Marbella she meant—hopefully she could live without the other.
His hand stroked up her thigh and her skin contracted with the touch and she had to stop herself from parting her legs to give him further access. Blood was pounding through her ears and her lips ached for his skin.
Finally, he pulled into the carpark by his house and they got out. Cory grabbed her and lifted her around him as soon as he reached her. Frantic kissing slowed them getting into the dark house, but right now she didn’t care.
Closing the door, he sank down to his knees before laying her down on the cool tiles. Her back arched with the cold, burning up with heat and tension. No one else did this to her. Only him.
His shirt came off and she finally had free reign over his chest and back. Corded muscles teased her fingers. Sitting back, he ripped at the button of her shorts. She heard the button bouncing off the floor somewhere. An issue for the morning.
Unable to wait any longer, his cock was lined at her entrance, pushing in. Angling herself, she waited for that heavenly feeling as he pushed into her, filling her, her body yielding. It had been too long since she’d had this feeling, the complete surrender she only did for him. This was utter heaven, but maybe it came with its equal meas
ure of destruction.
Completely immersed, he stilled. Already the urge to come was so strong; she pulsed around him inside her. Smoothly and unstoppably her orgasm crept up, making her grab his hips and hold them to her. Gently, he kissed her as the powerful waves surged through her. Her body finally calming, he began to move. The friction was almost painful to begin with, but the tension quickly built.
His arms around her, he ground into her again and again. The unrelenting pressure was so strong she couldn’t breathe, only open herself further for him as he sought to bury himself as deep as he could. Again the shaky tension built, steadily rushing towards the edge of sheer, unadulterated pleasure. The waves broke, making her arch into their powerful assault.
With him lying as dead weight on her, she closed her eyes, feeling the prick of disappointment with herself. Why was it he could do this to her again and again, and she couldn’t say no? She definitely had to leave this time. It was clear, whatever he did, he could draw her back. She couldn’t resist this. Its grip on her was too strong.
He was growing hard again; she could feel it. Or maybe she wouldn’t survive this night the way they were going.
Chapter 55
Slowly she was getting stronger, her face still changing colour every day, but she could start applying makeup now. She hadn’t taken up Felix’s offer of plastic surgery. For her own sake, she probably should, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was because she felt uneasy being subjected to charity. Part of it was denying Felix. He wanted it to appease his sense of guilt. Obviously only a grand gesture was going to do that for him. Granted, she might not be rushing to help him in that regard, even if she felt he wasn’t responsible.
They sat by the pool again. Felix was there, like he tended to be these days. From what she’d heard, he’d spent every spare moment down the bottom of a whiskey bottle for a while, but apparently he had climbed out.
He lay on the sun lounger in white shorts and a light blue polo shirt. He couldn’t have looked more like what he was if he’d tried, a rich boy. Esme was flicking through a magazine. “I love those new Chanel bags,” she said. “I might pick one up next time I’m in Paris.”
“Why don’t you ask what’s-his-face?”
“Marcus,” she filled in without saying anything more. “You are such a moron, Felix. It astounds me how you can be so oblivious sometimes. How have you managed to get so old without even understanding the rules?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Males, they’re absolutely oblivious to anything around them. If I accept a bag like that from Marcus or anyone else,” she said slowly as if talking to a child, “certain expectations come with it. That’s like accepting a ring and then saying you didn’t get that there were certain commitments that came with it. And believe me, gifts from men are more trouble than they are worth.”
“Amen,” Shania said with a smile. Not that she was turning down Felix’s offer of plastic surgery for the reason that she would accept any obligations or claim coming with it. Felix could get fucked sideways for all she cared. But she wasn’t above messing with him.
Esme’s phone pinged and she reached for it, getting absorbed in the little screen—a habit Shania had shaken travelling to the other side of the world. Maybe that was what it took to be free of the little handheld slavedriver. Esme clearly wasn’t. “Ah, Marcus is having lunch at La Belle. Do you want to come?”
“Nope.”
The time for being Esme’s companion was over, too. It had been interesting and fun for a while, but it ultimately only served Esme. Plus, Shania still struggled with energy around midday and early afternoon. Besides, Esme really needed to learn to be on her own and enabling her to depend on the company of others ultimately wasn’t doing her any favours. “You should go though.”
Esme bit her lip and Shania was amazed how she could be so worldly and insecure at the same time. They were both fucked up little snowflakes, weren’t they?
Placing her hat down on her face, Shania closed her eyes and soaked in the sun. For all the paranoia about sun, she still believed it was good for the body, and she was lucky; she didn’t burn so much as tan, and she was working on a nice one. Plus, it distracted from thinking about what the hell she was going to do once she left here. She already knew she wasn’t staying, even if Esme begged her to and Felix felt too guilty to ask her to leave, or even wanted her to—because he was hanging around a lot.
“Alright, I will,” Esme said and rose. She walked back into the house to get ready to go.
“Do you want to do something?” Felix asked.
“Not a thing.”
Turning her head, she saw Felix checking her out. “Felix, are you crushing on me?”
“What? No. I am a guy. Have you seen your body?”
She smiled and replaced the hat. “Watch it, Felix, or you’ll get stuck in my snare.”
She heard him shift on the lounger, but he didn’t say anything. The acrid smell of smoke stung her nostrils. He sighed and shifted again. “Why’d you fuck my father?”
Shania’s eyebrows shot up under the hat. “I thought you’d already decided why I did it.”
“I want to hear you say why.”
Sitting up on her elbows, she crossed her legs and looked out at the sparkling water of the pool. “He needed it, I guess.”
“So you’re some charity now, who goes around and fucks people looking like they could use a booster?”
“I do as I please. I don’t really question it. He was down and scared and I tried to make him feel better. Sue me.”
“And now what?”
“In what respect?”
“With my father?”
“Nothing, it was just a thing.”
“What if he thinks it was more?”
“He doesn’t. Rest assured, Felix, I have no ambition being your stepmom. I’m not really into old dudes.”
“Just drug dealers with interesting friends.”
She had to accept that one. “I never said I had good taste in men.”
“And if Tierry comes waltzing back?”
“You only get to screw me over once,” she said dismissively and she was one hundred percent honest. She had no interest in Tierry after what he’d done to her. “Actually, I might try girls for a while. Dudes suck.”
She thought she heard a bit of a groan from Felix. Seriously, was he crushing on her? He was hanging around all the time. The question wasn’t what her intentions were: what were his? Again, Felix was one fucked up little boy. “Why aren’t you out wining and dining some rich girl? I don’t exactly need a baby sitter.” She turned her head over to look at him, running her foot up her lower leg. His eyes followed. His attention was lost for a while until she snapped her finger. “You and rich girl.”
Leaning back, he crossed him arms. “Those little bitches drive me up the wall.”
“Not sure I have actually met anyone who doesn’t drive you up the wall.”
With a look, he conceded the point.
“Must suck to be you,” she said.
Chapter 56
Trish lay naked on his bed, her pert arse bare as she slept. He had to hold himself back from grabbing her by the hips and pushing inside her again. His urges for her weren’t subsiding. He’d had her any which way he could think of and he still wanted more. She was so beautiful when she came, her mouth forming a perfect O.
So now he wasn’t going to let her leave. He knew exactly how to distract her. Not that her anger didn’t come back after, forcing him to chase it away again.
If he just knew how to appease her, he would. Yes, he got that he’d been a complete dick to her. He’d always known it was all or nothing with her, and apparently they—or more correctly, he—couldn’t cope with nothing, so it was all.
Leaning over, he kissed her on the shoulder. She tasted a tiny bit salty and that realisation apparently turned him on. He was never going to leave the house again if this ke
pt up. He was actually sore; he couldn’t imagine what she was feeling.
She groaned and shuffled, then settled into sleep again.
So this was it, he thought. His girl. From now until always. He was going to have kids with her. Not that he wanted that soon. He only had to convince her now.
Sneaking his hand around her waist, he stroked down until he found her clit, pressing in slow but firm circles. She moaned, tightening her thighs around his hand. He could feel the slickness of her heat and she arched back, welcoming him. Pulling her hips to him, he pushed into her from behind, her warm tightness enveloping him. Seriously, he could die from pleasure. Once buried, he shifted until she was underneath him and smooth, long thrusts, had her mewling, her hands gripping the sheet by her head as he sunk down again and again on top the sweet curves of her backside.
He entwined his fingers in hers as the urge grew and he couldn’t force himself to be slow anymore. Pulling her hips up, he pounded into her until he released deep inside her, feeling her insides clenching around him through her orgasm, her cries growing frantic.
“Since when do you know how to cook pancakes?” she asked as she sat in the corner of the kitchen bench, her bare legs dangling over the side.
“One of the few things I know how to do.” Plus it let him snuggle in between her thighs and kiss her every time they had to wait for batter to cook.
“Aren’t you due at work?”
“I called in sick.”
“Sick, huh?”
“I overexerted myself last night.” That wasn’t strictly the reason. He was too worried she would disappear on him and he wasn’t going to let that happen. There was still that sad, distant look on her face that crept in every now and then. “Let’s go for a ride down the coast today.”
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