“Never enough,” I whispered. I would never have enough of my little Jilly Bean.
My eyes roved over our reflection. Her damp skin was flushed and her beautiful lips were slightly parted. I could take her all over again…
The chime of my mobile interrupted my thoughts and I relaxed my embrace on Jill. I groaned inwardly as I read the message from my sister.
Zara: I could hear you both all the way from the dining room. FYI headphones do only so much. I’m permanently scarred.
I keyed an answer in return: My house. My rules.
“What is my surprise?” Jill asked, and it snapped my focus away from the text message.
She tilted her head to the side with a teasing grin. “Is it a puppy? You know, I’ve been waiting almost ten years for you to fulfill that promise.”
I threw my head back and laughed, and then held my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “That was not my fault. I tried. Your landlord wouldn’t allow it.”
Jill looked genuinely shocked as she rummaged through her side of the walk-in closet. I wasn’t paying attention to her selections. My focus was on that delicious ass.
“Wait a second. You mean to tell me that someone else has been able to tell you ‘no’ and actually gotten away with it?” She turned and blinked her dark eyes at me.
“I let him tell me no.” I smirked.
“Ha. Right…” Jill laughed and resumed rummaging through her closet. She bent over to grab a pair of sandals, and I tilted my gaze to follow. Very nice. She straightened and turned, breaking that scrumptious view. She left the closet with her wardrobe selections.
“Besides, your brother threatened to knock me one if I did.”
“Well, we both know how that turned out-” She suddenly stopped that random blurt and turned to look at me with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything…”
I was no longer in any laughing mood. I was neither irritated nor angry with the reminder that I probably broke Travis’s nose when I found him in bed with my ex, but it was the reminder that I would have to face him again very soon. It had me on edge.
“Do you really want to know your surprise, or would you rather wait to see what it is?” I asked her, attempting to break the silence between us.
“It will be a surprise, no matter what,” She smiled. I watched her cross the room, and wrap her arms around my middle. She pressed her head against my chest, and I felt myself melt at her touch. This woman will never understand the hold she has over me.
My fingers raked through her damp hair. “We’re going to Ohio this weekend to see your family.”
I felt her sudden intake of breath. “Really? For how long? Oh my gosh, this is the best surprise ever!” She bounced on her heels.
She has no idea this is only part of the surprise...
I had other hidden agenda up my sleeve, and I hoped it would turn out as I wished. Still, I smiled at her reaction, then kissed her lips softly.
“Get dressed. We’ll have breakfast and then pack for the trip. After our workout this morning, I am in desperate need for coffee.”
Jillian giggled, giddy with excitement. I was feeling quite the opposite about this trip. I planned this vacation out of pure love for Jillian, and nothing more. The thought of seeing her brother made me uneasy.
Zara was in the dining room, sipping a cappuccino, when we arrived. I kept Jill’s hand firmly within my grasp as I led her into the room, and I felt her tense as my sister’s eyes fell on us. Zara’s eyes were disapproving as she looked Jill up and down, but she said nothing. Good.
Jillian felt uncomfortable around Zara, and for good reason, but I was not going to allow it to continue.
20. Jillian Pryor
I watched the clouds float just outside the window of the plane. I’d never seen such a view before; hell, I’d never flown in an airplane before. A view from the sky was incredibly majestic and I was in awe of everything. While I was growing up, we never had money to go anywhere. Mom was a teacher in the public school system, and Travis could barely afford my tuition. Even day trips were out of the question. So, this was a real treat. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked between the view, and back to Mason.
He looked up from his laptop as I turned to him, and smiled. I could see the smile did not reach his eyes. He was doing all of this for me; but he was not looking forward to our visit to Ohio.
Mason’s flight stewardess was a middle-aged woman, and appeared at his side with a smile plastered to her face. He tilted his laptop screen slightly as she paused beside him.
“Champagne?”
For a two hour flight? I thought it was silly that Mason even had a waitress for such a short flight, but what do I know about these things?
“No, thank you. I’ll have a gin-” He stopped and glanced at me briefly. “Club soda.”
“Do you have iced tea?” I asked the waitress.
“Of course.” She answered with a smile, and then left us to ourselves.
I watched Mason lift his screen again. He was stressed, and I wasn’t certain that his tension could be blamed entirely on the trip.
“What are you working on?” I asked.
“Just some contact files,” he answered stiffly. He leaned over and kissed my lips tenderly, then returned his gaze to the screen.
“I thought your secretary did that,” I gested.
He chuckled. “If I left everything up to Elizabeth, there would be nothing left for me to do.”
I leaned slightly and kissed his shoulder. “I love you. Thank you for this…”
He closed his computer and pulled my face to gaze upon his. “Anything for you, my darling.” He gave me a soft, sensual kiss which could have grown into more if the waitress had not returned.
She handed our drinks to us and then skittered away. I sipped my iced tea and watched the clouds again. Beneath the breaks in the clouds, I could see patches of green, and brown on the ground thousands of feet below us. I was purely mesmerized.
The buzz of Mason’s cell phone broke me from my zone. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his denim and I saw the briefest glimpse of the caller on the screen.
Aislinn. What the hell?
My face flamed in confusion. Mason eyed me for the faintest second before he took the call.
“Yes?” His voice was clipped, precise, yet not at all terse.
I could hear the faint, elegant voice of a woman on the other end, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. He slipped his arm around me and pulled me close to him while he listened to whatever Aislinn was saying.
“Yes, I’m aware…” His side of the conversation was vague.
“No, I’m not going to put her in that place. I am on business for the weekend, and then I will be in Vegas sorting things out… Right.”
He kept his arm wrapped around me as he rested his ankle on the thigh of his pants.
“You needn’t worry. She is in good hands. She is staying with Piper, and you know how Piper is-” I watched him listen to the muffled words coming from the conversation.
“Yes, of course. Thank you for checking on her. My parents were only concerned that the media did not learn about it… You’re all too familiar with that bullshit. Right. Cheers.” He ended the call and then pulled me tightly against his body.
“Don’t worry about Aislinn. She was only calling to ask after Zara.” He explained to me unnecessarily. “They have been friends since they were children.”
“I know,” I snuggled against his body. “I was just surprised to see her name on your phone, but I’d be a heartless bitch if I got jealous over something like that. At least Zara has someone asking about her from England.”
Mason scoffed.
“Is she going to be alright without you in New York?”
“Yes, Piper knows the best doctors in Manhattan, and Zara will be staying with her from now on. Zara is in better hands with Piper than she would be with me. I think this transition will be good for my sister. I wouldn’t have left Ma
nhattan if I thought otherwise.”
I nodded quietly, contemplating everything. Deep down inside, I had to wonder how Mason and I had a future together. His father will never allow us to be together. What would he do if Mason ever told his family about me? He clearly hid nothing from Zara when she showed up. Was I really worth that sort of trouble? Did we actually have any real future?
“You’re thinking too much,” Mason’s stern tone broke my thoughts.
“How do you know?”
His whisper in my ear was seductive and calming. “Your body stiffens and you become abnormally quiet whenever you start dwelling on concerns. Zara will be alright. Don’t worry about my family.” He planted a lush kiss just behind my ear.
“Someday soon, I am going to take you to Venice-”
“California, or Italy?” I asked with a huge smile on my face.
Mason threw his head back and laughed. He pulled me onto his lap and kissed me hungrily. His tongue parted my lips and roved over mine within my mouth. He pulled away slowly, and then nibbled on my ear and he whispered sweet promises.
“Italy. I will fuck you in this plane the whole way over. Then, we’ll sail in the south of France, and I’ll pleasure you on the yacht until you scream, trembling, sore and well-fucked.”
I swallowed hard. The chills that tingled down to my core were delicious. My body shuddered, and he chuckled.
His hand raked through my wild waves, then trailed down the curves of my body and gripped my hips tight. He ground his cock against the thin silk fabric of my panties. He was so hard, bulging and constricted beneath the tent of his denim.
“You’d like that, my Jilly Bean? To feel my cock pound into you, smooth, hard and deep?”
“Mmm.” I closed my eyes, imagining such pleasure.
This man is so tuned in to me, that he knows when and what I’m thinking. He knows how to ease my worries and redirect my thoughts. I am so in love with him.
I was about to ask him to take me right here in this plane, just like this, but the waitress returned and awkwardly announced that we would be landing in Cleveland in about twenty minutes. The thought of seeing mom, Travis, Aunt Mel, Uncle Joe and my cousins sent a thrill of anticipation through me. And Mason would be there with us. It honestly felt like my whole family would be complete, even if it was just for a weekend.
****
Mason ordered a rental car, and chose something less conspicuous than his usual Benz. We didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves or the fact that Mason had money to throw around. My family didn’t have a lot of money, which is the reason why they moved to Ohio with my aunt and uncle in the first place.
Mason’s knuckles were knotted white as he gripped the steering wheel on the highway. He stared straight ahead at the pickup truck that was just in front of us. Rain splattered in large drops over the windshield and wipers squeaked. The knot was in Mason’s jaw as he listened to the repetitive squeaking. He wasn’t accustomed to noisy windshield wipers. That’s not really what had him on edge. The closer we got to Aunt Mel’s and Uncle Joe’s address, the more tense Mason became. I chewed my lower lip. The tension radiating off Mason was so thick. It was suffocating. I couldn’t resist; I had to ask.
“Are you still angry with Travis?” I am not normally timid around this man anymore, but the topic was one we never discussed.
“Jill, you can’t bring up shit like that while I’m driving.” Mason responded curtly.
I said nothing as I looked out my side of the window. He was right. Why did I have to ask that while he was driving on on unfamiliar roads? The GPS directed Mason to merge off the exit ramp, onto a main road and he followed suit. Once the traffic quieted, he spoke as calmly as he could manage.
“I was angry with him for sleeping with Ella. I’m no longer angry about that. I’m simply betrayed at this point. He has neither my trust nor my respect. I’ve been gutted by every fucking person in my life, and he chose to join that club.” He clicked the right blinker and turned onto a long, quiet road.
I was quiet for a few minutes, waiting to hear if he had more to say, but he clammed up. His jaw was set firmly.
“Not everyone has betrayed you.” I murmured quietly. “I never did. My mom would never-”
“I know.” He kept his focus fixed straight ahead. We were about fifteen miles outside of Cleveland.
“I suppose in a way he did me a favor. Ella never would have made me happy, and I have you. Us.” His lips curled into the faintest of smiles, before it faded and his face grew somber again. “I just wish I could have seen what a floozy she was, without Travis stabbing me in the back. He was my brother for over a decade. The only friend I ever really had, Jill.”
Here’s Mason. Pouring his heart out while driving. I suddenly realized this was why I waited to ask him the question in the car. He couldn’t distract me from the topic with sultry suggestions, or with sex.
I remained quiet, waiting to hear if he had more to say, but he was silent again. I opened my mouth to ask one more question as he pulled onto a small gravel drive. I hesitated in my thought, and before I could get the words out, he parked the car and shut off the engine.
“We’re here.” He stepped out and opened my side of the car. The rain had stopped just in time.
My mom nearly tackled me to the ground when she ran from the house.
“Oh honey.” We held each other tight. When we finally relaxed our embrace, I watched as mom gave Mason a big bear hug. For such a small woman, she had a lot of strength in her embrace. He was stiff, but remained polite and returned her hug.
My Aunt Mel and Uncle Joe emerged from the house and descended the wooden porch steps. The house was a decently sized white farm house with a wrap-around porch. The exterior paint was peeling everywhere, and I could tell they purchased the property as a fixer. The property was about an acre in size and I could see a large shed off to the side, where Uncle Joe’s Black Ford pickup was parked next to Aunt Mel’s Stationwagon.
My cousin, Allie, flew down the porch steps and tackled me. “I missed you!” She shouted too loudly, but she was very excited. She’s only fourteen, so she can get away with it.
I hugged Uncle Joe and Aunt Mel, and then watched as they greeted Mason warily, but politely. They knew him from years ago, when he joined our family picnics in White Plains, but I knew what they were thinking: What is he doing with our Jilly Bean? The last time they’ve seen Mason, he was driving a white porsche and had a woman on his arm who was too prissy to bother with any of us.
I looked around, dismayed. “Where is Travis?”
“He had to stay late in the office, honey. They’re working on a big deal. Your brother works night and day on this one.”
Mason shoved his hands in his pockets and the rain decided to pick up in a mad torrent.
“Come in.” Aunt Mel gestured for us to get into the house as a rumble of thunder loomed over our heads. “You must be hungry. I grilled some burgers before the rain started.”
“Your brother will be home soon, I think.” Mom added as we all filed into the house.
I glanced at Mason quickly in the front hall. He had years of practice in masking his emotions, and he was an expert. He only grinned at Uncle Joe and chatted lightly about business in Manhattan.
It was so good to see my family. Allie talked my ears off, about the boys at her high school and a new clique she was trying to schmooze. I did not miss that High School drama.
I offered some food for thought, but I had a difficult time completely relating to this girl. She is so different than I was at fourteen. She is a cheerleader, and loves the color pink. I never would have made it into her social circle in High School. I was Allie’s age when I met Mason for the first time. I smiled softly, and flushed at the same time as I remembered it in vivid detail. It was one of the best days of my life, and also one of the most embarrassing.
9 years ago…
It was five o’clock on a Friday afternoon. Travis usually worked until six at the o
ffice and mom had therapy sessions for her depression. I thought I had the apartment to myself, as I usually did after school on Weekdays. I blasted the stereo in the living room. The walls reverberated as Black Sabbath’s Sabotage blared at maximum volume. I sported my typical punk rock look. I was still wearing the navy and gray plaid uniform skirt, but a navy AC/DC t-shirt, high-top converse and black tights with red skulls printed on them. I borrowed my brother’s red tie, and my dad’s old navy fender. I never learned how to play and Travis didn’t let me touch the guitar because he was afraid I’d break it. Well, too bad. My brother wasn’t home.
Black Sabbath continued to vibrate the walls in the tiny Brooklyn apartment as I jumped on the couch, pretending to jam out. I hated my new school. I was shy and awkward and didn’t have money like the other kids who went to school there. I just didn’t fit in, and I was desperate for a way to let off some steam.
I belted out the lyrics to the song as I jumped up and down in place. My hair was dyed black, and I’d already gotten in trouble for coloring my hair without permission. That afternoon, I’d gone the extra mile and put temporary purple streaks in my hair and borrowed black eye liner from one of the girls in my homeroom.
The song finally ended and I jumped off the couch.
“Thank you!” I raised my hands in the air, holding both middle fingers in the air. “You can all kiss my ass! Fuckers!” I said this boldly, facing the living room window, but I was alone so it was okay. The curtains were drawn, so I wouldn’t have seen the reflection watching me in silence.
A low, steady applause broke me from my imagination. A single pair of hands were clapping. I whirled around, ready to have ten heart attacks. So many thoughts sped through my mind before I made contact with my spectator. I thought I was alone!
I looked like a deer in the headlights as I faced the person who applauded my rebellious behavior. A young man stood by the door. He wore a black leather jacket, which matched the raven hair that was gelled away from his face. My jaw dropped. I’d never, in all of my fourteen years of existence, ever seen a man so good looking. I had to remember to breathe… and then I had to remember that I’d just completely humiliated myself in front of him by acting like a complete idiot. My heart was ready to explode out of my chest.
Queen In Play (The Manhattan Tales Book 2) Page 17