That was a nice plan. One that didn’t work. I downed the drink, and I was out of the calming bubbles. Rowan and Ophelia dumped the rest of a half a bottle in my shower. They spent at least an hour, slipping and sliding in there while I sat on the counter and read a book that automatically downloaded on my tablet. Evidently I preordered months before. I was engrossed in this girl’s life and didn’t even realize what they were doing. Black Rain by Jettie Woodruff. I read it in one sitting and instantly preordered the next one. Luckily I only had to wait a few days. Perfect for vacation. It would be on my tablet before our upcoming vacation. An amazing book that had my total attention was the reason I didn’t have bubbles.
The drink was good, and I think it did help settle my nerves a little, but something else was weighing on my mind. I knew I was irrevocably in love with Paxton. Why? I had no clue. Paxton was the most difficult man on earth, and I was fascinated by him. I wasn’t stupid though. I didn’t know if my heart could do Paxton Pierce for a lifetime. This wasn’t working for me. I didn’t know if I could do this.
I didn’t get to go to Paxton’s office that night, or the next, or the next. Paxton worked late every night. He spent a couple hours with the girls in the evenings and ignored me even more. My excitement for our trip became less and less thrilling. I didn’t want to go anymore. Paxton proved to be more of a dick than I ever thought possible. Nine days. That’s how many days he worked late. That’s how many days he ignored me. Even sex. He didn’t touch me. Not even a kiss. When Paxton played the silent treatment card, Paxton meant business. I tried. I tried like hell to get through the thick skin with no avail. I gave up and dreaded the five day trip with him.
Paxton Pierce was an impossible man. One that no woman could please. Not even me.
Chapter Nineteen
Rowan and Ophelia were beside themselves the day we were set to take off on our trip. I packed all our clothes and had them loaded in the car before Paxton ever got home from work the night before. I was over it. Over his childish silent treatment, over the vacation, and over Paxton. I couldn’t do it anymore. Maybe before, but not now. Not anymore.
I’m the one who copped the attitude when we got to the airport. It was just before sunset, around eight o’clock. Paxton did that. He knew we were going to be in the air for a very long time. A night flight was perfect. My problem wasn’t the evening plans Paxton made. It was the airport, the plane, and his holier than thou attitude.
“Oh look, girls. A private plane,” I smartly said while I watched a two seated golf cart arrive to retrieve our things.
Paxton looked at me with a dark glare. “Don’t move.”
“Can we, Daddy? Can we get out?” Rowan and Phi asked, exciting adrenaline, pumping through their veins. I hated when he did that. Usually he was good about not being a dick around them, but sometimes he slipped. Or they overheard, like this time. They didn’t get it, not like I did. Thank God they were too excited to notice the dominance their father had over their mother.
Paxton smiled back at his prides and gave them their wish. “Yes, you can get out.”
I sat there like a good little girl and waited for permission to get out, too. Five minutes. That’s how long Paxton left me waiting. He talked to the pilot while the girls helped load the cart with our things. I played on my phone, fuming from the inside out. We couldn’t afford Disneyland, but we could afford private planes. Made perfect sense to me.
I defiantly held up a finger when Paxton opened the door. My phone was taken right out of my hand and placed in his shorts pocket. Jerk. I declined his hand and sidestepped him, smiling brightly at the girl’s excitement. One finger through my belt-loop stopped me.
“Calm down now, Pumpkin,” I heard in whisper through a smirk. Paxton did this shit on purpose. Not being used to this side of me, Paxton got off on me being disobedient.
A twist of my arm separated his body close to mine. I’ll give you pumpkin. Jerk. Paxton laughed behind me, and I shook my head. Not at him. At myself. I loved this Paxton. The playful one that liked me. I could tell myself a million times that I wouldn’t let myself get wrapped up in him the next time he decided to be normal. I promised myself that I would stay somber. Even when we had sex. I hadn’t had to worry about that. We hadn’t had sex. In nine days! That was the longest I’d gone without sex since I could remember. Inside jokes aside, that was a long time for me.
Paxton turning into this man twisted me into Jell-O. No matter how much I wanted to be stronger than him, show him what I was really made of, I couldn’t do it. I melted to this man. To this side of Paxton.
Paxton slowed his pace and answered his ringing phone, still laughing.
The lighthearted laugh turned to business in an instant, “Pierce Pools and Landscaping.”
I walked ahead, rolling my eyes. I was about to go to Disneyland with Rowan and Phi. I didn’t want to be angry, and Paxton couldn’t take my happy. This was too special. It’s not every day you turn five, let alone get to fly clear across the United States for your birthday.
I continued to enjoy my excitement with my two overzealous girls, paying little attention to the one sided conversation behind me. I wouldn’t have been a bit surprise if he didn’t do that the entire trip. I didn’t care, and I wasn’t letting him ruin this for me.
The plane was actually a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. An open sofa in front of a big screen television on one side, and four white-leather-seats on the other side faced each other.
That’s where we started, buckled up and ready for liftoff. Paxton sat directly in front of me with Ophelia by his side. We shared the excitement, talking back and forth as a family. Mommy and Daddy played games. Paxton kept giving me the eye, undressing me with his eyes. I watched them linger on my breasts, my lips, and my throbbing sex. He hadn’t even touched me and the sexual tension was crazy between us.
The flight started it all. A hole other can of worms. We ate snacks while we watched a movie on the C shaped sofa, talking through it with Disneyland excitement. The thrill of meeting Belle and Cinderella kept Phi and Rowan’s minds from focusing on anything else. I thought it was adorable.
The bear movie couldn’t keep my attention either. Paxton had that. His hand tenderly held mine, and he doted on me like he was madly in love. Surprise kisses and loving hands. I gave up. My hands were internally tossed into the air and I silently screamed in frustration.
Rowan crawled to Paxton’s lap and snuggled into his chest first, yawning with sleepy eyes. Ophelia called her a baby and assured her she wouldn’t be sleeping. No way. Not until she saw Disneyland.
Ten minutes later, I was slipping her shoes off her feet, and pulling her by the ankles to lie down. I may have leaned over in front of Paxton a little longer than needed. I figured I may as well play along. Enjoy it while it lasted.
My breath caught in my chest when I felt his hand slide up the inside of my leg. Score. We have lift off. My lady parts instantly reacted. Between my legs and behind my bra. Nine days was a really long time.
I turned with eyes smoldering in rebellion, forcing his hand off my leg. I held the gaze while I slipped Rowan’s sandals from her feet, too. Paxton slid from beneath her body and laid her down with a kiss to her blonde hair. I moved to sit below her feet, but he stopped me by taking my hand. We stepped to the side and he pulled a blue-velvet-curtain closed.
A wave to the four seats on the other side was my direction to sit. Things felt awkward between us for a little bit. Paxton sat across from me and crossed an ankle over his knee, folding one arm over another.
I crossed my arms, too. Defiantly. My head tilted to the side and I put him in his place. Sort of. “I’m not giving into you being a dick. That was totally uncalled for. You’ve been an ass for nine straight days.”
His head leaned in the same direction as mine with a smile. The silly one. The one I loved. The one that turned me into mush.
“Damn. You sure you don’t want call it truce? I feel like this trip would be
a lot more fun if you told me you learned your lesson and moved forward from here.”
A loud scream echoed in my head, telling my vagina to calm down. No way. I wasn’t backing down. What was he going to do? Throw me out of the plane? My expression matched the nod of my head, assuring Paxton of my submission. Just when he smiled in victory, I kicked his feet from under him.
“Um, no. Fuck you. That was stupid, Paxton. You’ve treated me like I didn’t exist for nine straight days.”
“It was an experiment. I haven’t had to do that in, God, like three years. You’ll be begging for it before you know it. That’s the lesson you need to learn. I let you come. Don’t ever forget that. I’m just wondering if I should add another nine days for the fuck you.”
Nope. This wasn’t the way it was going down. Two could play this game. I scooted from my seat, stood right in front of him, and unfastened my shorts. His jaw dropped a little and his eyes shifted to my fingers. One leg went to each side of him, and the zipper echoed. Paxton’s head tilted up while my lips moved close to his. My hips swirled into him, grinding in a circular motion.
“Go for it, baby boy. Let’s see who caves first,” I said in a low sultry tone. Each word touched his lips and I way overstepped my boundaries. Maybe he would be nice enough to give me a parachute. I didn’t wait for Paxton kiss to me. I did it. I parted his lips with mine and grinded into his hips again, making out like a couple newlyweds. Like we were in love. The make out session lasted for at least twenty minutes. He grew harder, I grew wetter, and desire ignited around us.
My panting breaths mixed with needing moans when his hands found the soft skin below my shirt. Just my back. That’s it. That’s how much power Paxton Pierce had over my body. That was when I would do anything the man told me to do. Tenfold.
“I hate you,” Paxton said with broken words spoken between light kisses to my throat.
I moved my smile to his lips and kissed him. A sigh escaped with the change in my expression. I sat back and moved my eyes to my lap. “No you don’t. You don’t hate me at all, that’s why this is so hard for you. You’re too busy trying to make me someone I don’t remember to enjoy what we have here.”
Paxton moved his eyes to mine and made me look at him. “Passion changes things, huh?”
I smiled back and took a deep breath. “Big time,” I said in agreement. My head nodding to my chest.
Paxton’s head dropped that time. His finger flipped my zipper, up and down while the throb between my legs went crazy. The flip back up barely brushed over my overzealous nub.
“I’m the one who’s supposed to torture you. You’re the one who is supposed to beg me let you come. That’s how it is. Not like this.”
Now would have probably been a good time for a serious conversation. He finally talking, opening up bit by bit, but I didn’t want to talk about feelings. I wanted sex.
“You are torturing me. Let’s go in the bathroom and fuck at thirty-thousand-feet.
Paxton shushed me with his lips when I screamed a little. He stood in half a second, taking me unexpectedly with him.
Had I known the bathroom was big enough for a broom and a dustpan, I might have suggested an alternative. The wing maybe. We tried to do it with my shorts down to my knees, but that didn’t work. I had to step out of the bathroom to get them off. We tried standing up, me straddling his waist. That didn’t work either. There was so much passion searing around us and nothing worked. The hand sanitizer dug into the middle of my back.
“Ouch, stop. Put my feet down,” I said while wiggling away. Paxton asked why, but I didn’t answer I spun toward the sink and bent over as much as I could.
“Damn, baby. You’re so fucking wet,” he rasped while his cock slid up and down my slippery folds. I moaned in pleasure every time his head touched my clit. And then I froze.
“Can I?” he asked with his head at the pucker in my ass.
A surge of adrenalines went through me when I realized what he was asking. “Um … Did we do that before? Did I like it? I don’t feel like I did,” I said while rattling off nervous run-on-sentences.
“No, that was your one and only stipulation, but before you wouldn’t even let me use a finger.”
I snorted and looked over my shoulder. “And you listened?”
“I know, right. It wasn’t much fun. Not before anyway. I love the way your hips wiggle into my finger, inviting me in.”
My cheeks burned and I lied, thinking about the few times that he had used a finger. “That wasn’t an invitation.”
“No?” he questioned while his fingers picked up my arousal slid in. Just the tip. A middle finger I think. I hesitated not about to move, to get busted in a lie. Not a muscle moved, not even a breath. Not until he did the reach around. One pinch to my aching core had me pressing back.
Paxton took the lead by a head when I pushed back. He was the one to stay perfectly still that time. All but the twisting back and forth he did on my clit, that is. I whimpered and backed up more.
“That’s it my little slut, come to your owner.”
I was so messed up in the head. His gravely tone and dominate victory chilled me to the bone. I can’t really call it a premonition because I didn’t really see a vison. It was more like a knowing. I liked it. Paxton was the poison and I liked it. What the hell was wrong with me?
Paxton was a pro. Paxton knew exactly how to set up a plan. Bait the hook for later. I whimpered when he slowly removed his finger and slid into me.
“I might let you have that later. Not in a bathroom. Not now.”
From the time Paxton slid into me, to the time we were both spent, may have been five minutes. I didn’t make it that long. That was a second one for me. That’s how crazy turned on I was.
Once we were finished I stayed behind and cleaned up. Paxton opened the door and I turned to look at him, not expecting him to be looking back. The look in his eyes and the tone in his voice told me I had just chipped away a little more. I would take it.
“You’re driving me crazy.”
I smiled and placed my hand on the door. “You love it.” The door broke our contact and let the back of my head beat off the wall. He did love it, and I loved the crazy I caused. Truth was, he caused the same crazy in me. He knew that, too.
I curled up on Paxton’s arm with a soft white blanket when I returned. His typing fingers stopped for a moment while his ego reacted to me watching him work.
“Is that going to be a waterfall?” I asked with my finger pointing to rock-wall in the making. His lips kissed my head and he replied. I relaxed.
“I’m not sure yet. This is the job that’s kept me late all week. It’s a lot of space. The guy wants four-thousand-square-feet turned into a retreat.”
“Wow, I bet that’s expensive.”
Talking to Paxton like this made me the happiest girl on the planet. “That’s the problem. His budget is a quarter-million-dollars. I need at least three-hundred to pull off what he’s expecting.”
I studied the landscaping design in front of him with constricted eyes. “That’s a huge waterfall. Why so big?”
“He wants a waterslide going down the middle. Thirty feet. That’s a lot of stone. Stones not cheap around these parts. Not to mention I have to break up a hug slab of concrete. Twenty five by eighteen. That’s an expense on its own.”
I moved a little, repositioning myself for a better view. “You could use those. The pieces. They’re free. It would be all profit.”
“Shut-up. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh really? Well I’ll have you know, you can stack them and use a mixture of concrete and three different colors of dioxide for the stone look. Mix it up like porridge shovel it on. Let it gravitate toward the bottom before you shape it into a stones. It’s easier to work with that way. Oh, it’s better because you’re not giving any little creatures a habitat to bread. Nobody wants snakes or lizards hanging out at their pool. Good selling point,” I added not missing a beat.
“Maybe you could even put a couple deeper holes to plant some color.” That’s when I stopped. My eyes went to Paxton’s, looking just as shocked as his. I snorted and smiled. “I have no idea how I know that. I wonder if there’s any truth behind it.”
Paxton didn’t blink an eye. He stared over at me like I had just figured out Newton’s Law. Like building waterfalls was my specialty. He finally grunted when I elbowed him in the ribs.
“What’s wrong with you? Stop looking at me like that.”
“You’re a fucking genius. That could work. That could work and I could make one hell of a profit off this job. I’m going to look into that. I don’t get it. You just rattled that shit off like you did it every day.”
My eyebrows turned toward inward and my nose scrunched with a silly smile. “Right? Where did that come from?”
“Where do you want a waterfall? I have a whole pile behind my shop from an old basement I dug out. I don’t want to go to Disneyland. I want go home and build a waterfall.”
I laughed and snuggled back into his side. This was going to be a good trip. I felt it deep in my soul. Paxton talked about his plans for the property, totally asking my opinion. Again, I gave my opinion and he listened. For the first time since I met him, I felt like he valued me as a person. Not just a piece of meat, a maid, and cook. Like I mattered.
I closed my eyes when he moved the shrubs around for the fifth time. I yawned and felt a kiss to my head. A relaxing calm blanketing me with love and admiration. It might have taken a lot of time and effort, but I was sure we were going to beat this thing. We had to. People didn’t have this much gravitational pull toward one another without it being real. It was real, and I would take the days like this and deal with the other ones for as long as I could handle it.
~~
“We’re you headed, pretty little thing.”
I didn’t have to turn around to know Tommy Boy’s voice. His arm went around my neck and I smelled the sweat from his armpit.
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