by Sara Cate
Images of what I saw this morning flash in my head. My sister in his arms. A bad taste is on my tongue and suddenly I want him off me.
“Get off me,” I breathe. “If you think you can play me like a game, fuck me senseless then go flirt with my sister…”
“I don’t fucking give a damn about that little girl.”
“Don’t lie to me, I saw you two this morning.”
He pauses, hovering over me. “So you were watching,” he purrs darkly. “And you were jealous.”
“No…”
“So was that green-eyed jealousy the reason you were so fucking close to my son on your fucking walk this morning?”
Fuck. I knew this was coming but my God, the thrill that races through me at the notes of lust and possessiveness of his voice leaves me stunned.
Slowly and tentatively, I bring up my hands and palm his strong, defined jaw, loving the prickly stubble there. “Nothing happened between Knox and me,” I whisper. I expect that to appease him, or at the very least, ease the tension, but not with James.
“And nothing will.”
“What…”
He grabs both my hands and raises them above my head, pinning them in his grasp, but before I can blink, I feel a soft material binding my wrists together.
“What are you doing?”
“You, Nicole, you’re a good girl,” he whispers, trailing his fingers down my arms all the way down to my hardened nipples. “You’re not a liar, you’re almost perfect really but see, what you fail to grasp is who you belong to.”
Oh God.
“Don’t you fucking move these hands, no matter what, do you hear me, Nicole?”
Mutely, I nod, then I feel his erection prod at my wet, clenching pussy. Then I watch as he lifts something to his nose, then he takes a long, drawn out inhale of my panties. Then he groans. Loudly.
“Did you wear these for him?” he growls so dark, I can almost taste the violence in the air on my tongue. “It wouldn’t be the fucking first time that you prepare yourself for him.”
“What?” I whisper, looking up at him. The room is dark, with only the moonlight filtering in through the window I left open.
James ignores me though, but only with his words. With his touch however, his intention is clear. Slowly, but with a wickedness that feels like a part of him, he starts to massage my clit with the head of his hard cock.
“We were just talking,” I whisper, my chest heaving up and down, my back arching as my hips gyrate to the way he’s moving.
“What did you talk about?” he demands, grabbing my hips to stop any movement from me. When a voluntary whimper escapes my lips, he smirks. “You’ll come when I fucking say so, Nicole, do you understand?”
Jesus Christ. This man is fucking hot usually but right now, all my dark fantasies are awakening, embodied by a man who’s not good for me.
“I won’t ask again.,” he whispers darkly.
“Yes.”
“Yes, who?”
“Yes, Mr. Cross.”
And that’s all he needs to drive into me with a hard thrust, possessing me and taking over all my senses, giving me a full feeling that makes me even more wet.
We both groan at the same time, but James doesn’t let me adjust to his size or anything else for that matter. He begins to move, slowly at first, then he quickens his pace with each thrust. I can’t help but want this, to be fucked by him, taken with a carnality as if he’s chasing his own pleasure with my body. But even then, he doesn’t look away from me. He never once looks away, staring into the pits of my body as he fucks me, building the tornado is me, bringing me closer to the edge of a fucking cliff.
His expert thrusts have me worked up in two minutes flat and now I’m desperate to come but I know better and he knows I know.
“Good girl,” he praises. That’s when I realize what he’s doing. He’s daring me to defy me, to go against him. His cock hits the sensitive spot in me making me gasp and clench down on him. Hard. “That’s it.”
I want him to give me what I want. I want him to make me come and he knows it.
“Please,” I whisper, kissing any inch of him I can.
“Did you miss me?” he demands again, but at my silence, he slows down his thrusts, punishing me for not giving him what he wants. Why does it make me so fucking hot?
“Yes,” I finally admit. “It bothered me that you were gone.”
And it really did. His absence messed with my mind and my heart for reasons that feel so damn hazardous right now. I’m falling for this man and if I’m being honest, I think I fell for him when he showed me that I deserve the stars, the moon and every out of this fucking world experience.
“Good,” he breathes, as his thrusts become faster, harder, ruthless and so damn hot. “I want it to bother you. It’s only fair because you make me fucking bothered.”
I want to hold him, hell, to hold onto anything, but I won’t move my arms.
“Do you want to come?”
“Yes, Mr. Cross.”
“Tell me.”
James screws me until I’m moaning so loud, I’m sure all of Colorado can hear me but I don’t give a damn. I don’t care if Knox and my sister hear me, I just can’t hold it in. Just as I’m reaching my peak, about to fall over, James suddenly stops and pulls out.
“No…”
“On all fours, now.” He punctuates his sexy command with a slap to my ass that makes my blood rush in my veins.
I quickly scramble to rearrange myself. I’m about to ask about my bound hands, but instead, the hand I feel at the curve of my back silences me. With a gentle but rough touch, James stretches me until my ass is perked up in the air, my arms right in front of me and my face on the bed.
“Look at you,” he praises in that deep voice of his. “All sexy and spread out for me and damn if I can’t have you. Now and fucking forever.”
“James,” I moan. I feel him behind me like he’s about to mount me. Oh God.
“Who do you belong to?” He slaps my ass, the clap resonating in the room like the clap of lightning.
“You,” I whisper hotly. “I belong to you.”
“That’s fucking right,” he whispers as he kisses my back, my shoulder blades and the he leans over me and captures my lips with his. I can feel his pelvis grinding into my ass and I... “Now fucking come for me, beautiful girl.”
He drives into me and I… fall apart with a scream.
I don’t have a candle to hold it in, or to stop the next one that comes in like a tidal wave. His body is well defined and large. I feel cherished and protected… and so damn wanted, that I can’t help but moan his name. His thick cock inside me, the way his palm reaches for my breast, squeezing and twisting the hard nipples, it all drives me crazy.
In this position, he’s deep, hitting my sweet spot over and over again. I come again and he groans in my ear, and starts fucking me in earnest, chasing his own release. I feel his cock pulsing deep in me, and then he’s coming, long and hard, with my name on his tongue. It’s do fucking sexy, hearing and feeling him come that I start coming too. Again.
“You belong to me,” he whispers again. “Don’t you ever forget that.
How could I? I was in love with him, after all.
The next morning, I feel deliciously sore and unable to stop myself from staring at James. Right now he’s outside, doing some manly stuff, but I catch glimpses of him from my spot on the couch by the huge living room windows that overlook the mountains.
The view--of a shirtless and sweaty James, the mountains are pretty too--is spectacular. He’s been outside since breakfast, leaving me with my sister and her husband who’s been looking at me as if he’s trying to send me secret coded messages or something.
I pretend not to notice him at all, but at some point, it gets to be a bit too much so I decide to leave… and my sister was waiting for that.
“What was that?”
I look up from the book I’m reading that I found in James’ private
library I discovered on our end of the cabin. A man who looks like him, fucks like him, talks dirty like him and he loves to read? Yes, please! The only fucked up thing is, he’s forbidden.
“Excuse me?”
“Dont act stupid with me, Nicki,” she says with a hand at her hip. “I saw that look.”
“What look?”
“That look I saw between you and my husband.”
Urgh, here we fucking go.
“I don’t know what you saw, Val, but I didn’t give your husband a look.”
“Oh but you did,” she says with a pointed frown. “You think I didn’t see the two of you yesterday morning on that little walk you two took? Knox doesn’t like taking walks!”
“Well, he asked me to go with him.”
“And your desperate self said yes!” she snarls. “I bet you’re the one who forced him into it just so you could draw him into the forest to put your pathetic sweaty moves on him!”
“What?” I snap the book shut and slowly get up from the comfy couch, staring at my sister. Does she think this is a fucking twisted fairytale with enchanted forests and weak ass men that entire village girls fight over? Please, I might’ve lost a lot to my sister but I still have my pride. “Are you out of your mind?”
“I should be asking you!” she shouts. “He’s mine! You lost! Get over it!”
I’m so stunned by everything she just said, my mouth drops open.
“You can’t be serious,” I breathe, shaking my head at the incredulity of this shit. “You think I want your husband?”
“I know you do, Nicki!” she shouts. “You’re pathetic! You’ve always been pathetic! I remember the days you started dating Knox. He gave you a little bit of attention and you clung to him, almost suffocating him!”
“Suffocating him?”
“Yes! He told me how desperate you were, how you always ran around after him like a fucking lost puppy,” she says with a sharp smile on her face. “But he always had eyes for me. He wanted me! He thought you were ugly and I was pretty.”
Pain blooms in my chest as remembered trauma echoes in my head. What she’s saying isn’t new, but back then, I was always polite and waved it off.
“If that’s true, then why are you in my fucking face telling me that I want your man?” I ask, my voice low, controlled and so damn cold. “What do you have to fear, Val?”
Because you’re you!” she seethes. “You’re the kind to do anything just to be felt, but I swear to God if you get anywhere near my man, I will break your nose!”
I throw my head back and laugh which throws her off a bit. I laugh even harder when I see the look on her face, then I fall silent.
“So let me get this fucking straight,” I start, stepping closer to her. “You eloped with my boyfriend and then sent me the picture right before I got the break-up text from Knox. From the hints you’ve been throwing my way these past few days, you were hooking up with my boyfriend way longer than I knew and now, you stand before me, squawking like a fucking dying pig, threatening to break my nose?” I laugh a bit, but I’m studying her. “Is it because you’re threatened by me or is it because… you have a solid reason to believe that karma is a bitch?”
The twitch on her face is her tell. I know I shouldn’t prod further but I hate that she had the audacity to flirt with James, so let the pits of hell burn on Christmas. I don’t care.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snaps.
“Oh, would you look at that! Trouble in paradise, little sis? I’m sure you know the saying, once a cheater, always a cheater.”
I hear her guttural scream before I see her launch for me. But what she doesn’t know is, I’ve been taking Krav Maga classes since she eloped with my boyfriend, so I don’t hesitate to pick her scrawny ass up and then throw her to the couch.
“Stop acting like a fucking child,” I say calmly. “I don’t want to hurt you!”
“I don’t care, you bitch!” she screams. “Stay away from my man!”
She launches for me again, reaching for my hair, but I dodge out of the way just as Knox and James rush into the room and immediately break us apart.
“I hate you!” Val screams. “Everyone hates you! Knox hates you! Even James didn’t want you here!”
“What?” I stop and look at James. To his credit, he doesn’t look away.
“He’s just tolerating your fucking presence here but fuck, everyone hates you! They all pity you and that’s why you don’t have any parents! I curse the day my parents adopted you!”
My entire world halts to a stop. Everything in me freezes as Val’s words echo in my head over and over again like we’re in an endless loop.
“What?” I croak.
“Oh that’s right,” Val mocks. “You didn’t know, huh?” This time, it’s her turn to throw her head back and laugh. “You don’t have a family. Your mother was probably a two-dollar whore who probably couldn’t point out your father in a line-up! You’re no one! You have no roots! You’re just a charity case to everyone.”
Every word is a slice to my soul, my mind and my heart. For a moment, I just stand there, not knowing what to do or what to say.
Tears sting my eyes, my heart hurts and my sister… who’s practically telling me that she has never wanted to be my sister, is looking at me like she wants me dead. I look past her to Knox, and he looks despondent and worried. For his wife or for me? I don’t even want to know.
“Nicole…” James starts but I raise my hand, stopping him. I stare right at my sister, her cutting smile hurting more than anything else.
“Well, then I’m glad your parents took me in and raised me as their own,” I whisper. “Watching you grow was the honor of my life but now, learning that you’ve hated me all these years…”
Is that why she’s always made snide remarks about me to everyone who tried to be friends with me or know me?
My God, is that why she took Knox? But they are in love. I don’t even know what to say anymore. I just shake off James’ hand on my shoulder, and with my broken heart in my throat, I turn and do the only thing sensible at this time.
I run.
Chapter 7
“Nicole!” James calls out from behind me, as I run as fast as I can in the snow.
The cold wind feels like bite marks on my skin, and I kick myself for not bringing a jacket with me out here, but it doesn’t dismay me from getting as far away as I can from the cabin.
“Nicole!” he shouts again, plowing through the snow-covered woods, refusing to stop until he catches up with me.
But as hard as I try to escape him, James catches up with me with ease, swinging my body around and wrapping his arms around me, holding me so tightly that I begin to cry.
“Shh, it’s okay, Nicole,” he whispers lovingly, as I shatter in his embrace.
All those vile ugly words that my sister had no qualms in throwing at my face run in a loop in my head. I have loved her all my life and yet those were her true feelings for me. Not only did she know that I was adopted and never told me, but she resented me for it.
“Look at me, Nicole.”
I tilt my head up to look at him, as he cleans my tears away with his thumbs.
“She doesn’t deserve you. Don’t cry over someone who doesn’t see how wonderful you are.”
“She broke my heart,” I confess.
“I know that, sweetheart,” he whispers pained as if my suffering is also his.
I nestle my head in his chest, and just let my sister’s cruel words wash over me and fall at my feet. James keeps his hold on me as he gives me time to process everything that just happened back at the cabin. And once my tears have dried, he pulls my chin toward him with a featherlight touch until I have no choice but to look him in the eye.
“I need to ask you something,” he starts and I don’t miss how the timber in his voice goes down an octave. “Is there any merit to what your sister said?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I tell him truthfully,
my voice cracking in the end.
He releases his grip on my chin in favor of caressing my cheek with his knuckles. And like a moth to a flame, I lean into his touch, needing the intimacy that he’s providing.
“I asked you before, but this is the last time I ask you.”
“Ask me what?”
“Do you love him? Do you still love my son?” he asks with no malice or judgment to his tone.
With my gaze locked on his, I shake my head. “No.”
The small smile that creeps at the corner of his lush upper lip warms my heart.
“Are you mine, Nicole? To fuck and cherish like I need to?”
I lick my lips as I slowly nod, my heart beat suddenly accelerating.
“Yes, “I let out breathlessly.
The soft smile that springs forth on his lips has me melting in place.
“Show me,” he orders as the flare of fire hits his azure eyes. “Show me that you’re mine and only mine.”
My heart kickstarts with his command, as he wraps his hand around my throat and gently slams my back against a nearby tree. With our locked stare still in place, my body instantly shivers with anticipation with the storm brewing in his eyes My fingers go to the hem of my sweater dress and begin to lift it over my thighs, to my waist and chest, until James has no alternative but to release his grip from my throat so that I can pull it over my head. I let it drop to the cold ground, revealing my rose silk chemise beneath. I watch his breath catch in his throat as he takes a step back just to appreciate me. Never in all my years could any man make me feel so cherished and depraved with just one look.
“Take it off,” he orders. “I want to see what’s mine. All of it.”
This time when I go to pull the lingerie off my body, my fingers are less hesitant since I’m all too willing to do his bidding. I add the garment to the pile of clothes on the snow, standing up straight, completely naked except for my snow boots. I’m not sure if it’s the cold wind or his scorching gaze that has my nipples peaked to hard cut diamonds, but I do know that it’s James who is responsible for how wet I am in between my thighs.