by E. L Friel
She picked up her clothes and tiptoed towards what she assumed was an en-suite bathroom. It turned out to be a dressing room, which was bigger than her entire living room. On both sides clothes hung from rails. There were drawers and stacks of shoeboxes and a full-length mirror. She glimpsed herself naked, her hair tousled, breasts heavy, nipples still hard. She looked like the very image of lust. Is that how Jax saw her? She turned quickly away, and stared at the cabinet of weapons facing her; guns, knives, blades all laid out carefully, polished to a high sheen. She had to suppress a smile. Her own weapons were stuffed in an old trunk under her bed and she rarely took the time to wipe the blood and guts from them.
At the far end of the dressing room was the bathroom. Ariel slunk towards it, her limbs feeling suddenly heavy. It had been a long night. She longed for a shower and sleep but she figured she’d start with the shower and then head back to hers to pack. Sleep could wait until she was on a plane. She needed to call a cab to get from Jax’s to her place, but she’d deal with that after a shower.
She froze in the doorway to the bathroom, her eyes widening. It was the biggest, most opulent bathroom she’d ever seen. The taps shone so brightly she had to look away, her eyes tearing up, and the freestanding bath looked clean enough to eat off. Ariel paused, looking around. Sunlight streamed in through huge windows. A vase of lilies stood in the corner giving off a heady scent. Jax had created the perfect haven with this house. She felt a twinge of jealousy, which she quickly banished. One day she’d have the same…maybe not quite so grand, but one day she’d create her own sanctuary.
An image of Jax flew into her head. Could a person be a sanctuary? They could definitely evoke the same feeling she guessed. Shaking her head she limped over to the shower. She was starting to stiffen up. The loose-limbed feeling that had accompanied her orgasms was beginning to fade, and the sweet ache between her legs had become more of a throb now, thanks to all that friction. Jax was definitely bigger than your average man. She grinned as she turned on the shower, but the grin vanished as she realized she would never get to feel him inside her again.
Ariel stepped under the shower, which was big enough to swing several cats in. The jets of water sprayed her from every angle except up, for which she was grateful, given the soreness. She turned it as hot as she could handle and let the steam envelope her. Water flooded over her shoulders and breasts and she tipped back her head and let it wash over her face. Soaping herself she felt the echoes of Jax’s fingers and lips. When she reached between her legs she felt his seed falling out of her and her insides squeezed tightly as though trying to keep it in. For a tiny moment she imagined little Jax Sayer’s running around and her stomach clenched. What a ridiculous idea. She barely knew him. She would have to pray she didn’t get pregnant. Stupid. She should have remembered protection but practical considerations all seemed to fly out the window when she was naked in his arms. He probably assumed she was on the pill and she had been up until a few months ago.
Her clitoris was still throbbing, pulsing agonizingly beneath her hand as she soaped herself. She leaned forwards, resting her forearms against the tiled wall and drew in a deep breath. A shuddering sob built in her chest and she fought it from rising up and bursting free. Why was she sad all of a sudden? It felt like something had come undone inside her, a knot unspooling. Perhaps it was down to the fact she was no longer in debt, thanks to the money she had earned. It was a huge weight off her shoulders. That and the knowledge she was now free to find Rikon, combined with the physical relief Jax had just provided, seemed to have unraveled years of pent up frustration and pain and sadness. She swiped a hand over her face. She couldn’t lose it now. Reaching for the tap to turn it off, a hand suddenly closed over her own.
Ariel jumped and then inhaled as she felt Jax’s arms wrap around her, drawing her backwards against his chest. The sob that had been building rose up her throat and she suppressed it by turning and burying her head in his shoulder.
Jax had watched her for a few moments as she stood with her back to him in the shower, water sluicing over her shoulders, sliding off her beautiful curves and slicking her hair to her back. Finally he could resist no longer and stepped silently into the shower behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him.
The hot water gushed over him, unknotting the tired muscles in his shoulders and back. But the feel of Ariel, soft and pliant in his arms, relieved what was left of the tension in his body. He gathered her hair in his hand, scooped it over her shoulder, and then kissed her neck.
Immediately she pressed back against him, her ass pressing against his cock. His hand trailed up her slick stomach, tracing the line of her ribs until he reached her breasts. He felt her gasp and moan loudly, almost a sob, her lips pressed to his shoulder.
The soft plane of her nipple hardened in his hand and he gently massaged it. She angled her body towards his then and pressed against him. His cock stirred as he felt her warm pussy against his thigh.
He took the soap and poured some into his hand and then started to wash her. She stood there, looking up at him, watching him with a sad, almost haunted expression on her face. He smiled at her and she smiled back, a tired but beautiful smile that broke his heart. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, why she looked so sad, but she took the soap from him and began to soap his shoulders and stomach.
His hand was drawn irresistibly to the sweet spot between her legs and she let out a guttural sound, sucking in a breath. Was she sore? Tenderly he stroked his hand between her folds. Her eyes grew glassy, her smile spread wider. He moved his finger to brush her soaking clit. It pulsed hungrily against his thumb.
Jax swallowed and moved closer, pushing Ariel back against the tiled shower wall. He didn’t want to force himself on her again, not if she was sore, but the sight of her, the feel of her, was making him hungry for yet more release.
Ariel threw her head back, water cascading down her body. Jax pinned her there and she sighed as his fingers started to gently massage and stroke her swollen pussy. He was careful, only sliding one finger inside her. She moaned, turning her head to the side and then lifted her leg and hooked it around his hip. He ran his hand along her thigh and then kissed her.
Ariel clung to him, her nails digging into his back. The water running down her face looked like tears. He eased his fingers back between her sex and dove deeper into her pussy. She cried out and clenched around him. He swirled his finger around her velvet shaft, stroking the spot that he knew was sweetest.
She bit down on his shoulder and he felt a shot of pain that only engorged him even more. Filled with a sudden lust he pulled his finger out of Ariel and twisted her around so her breasts were pressed to the tiles. She gasped as he pressed his knee between her legs, parting them, and cried out when he softly stroked her sex from behind.
Ariel threw back her head, resting it on Jax’s shoulder. She could feel his cock, stubbornly hard, pressing against her lower back. God, how could she be ready for him again so quickly? She had been totally spent not five minutes ago and now here she was aching and throbbing and desperate for him once more.
‘Jax,’ she heard herself murmur as he ran his finger oh so delicately over her clit, which felt so sensitive it was almost painful. As if he knew that she was sore, he pulled out and just stroked her lightly, caressing her until she was ready.
Her breasts were squashed against the wall. She reached a hand behind her and gripped him gently in her palm. Was he hurting too? He didn’t seem to be. If anything he seemed even harder this time.
‘Jax,’ she said again, relishing the feel of his rigid cock in her hand, loving the sensation of his rock hard stomach against her back and the tingling aching buzz building between her legs as he continued to stroke her.
‘Oh God,’ she murmured as he pressed his thumb inside her shaft and massaged the smooth folds of entrance. ‘Please,’ she said, biting her lip. She was begging again. But suddenly she didn’t care. ‘Please Jax,’ she
said. ‘Make love to me.’
He stopped massaging her and took hold of her by the hips instead. He leaned forwards, his breath hot in her ear, his voice barely heard over the thundering of the shower. ‘I don’t need you to beg me any more Ariel,’ he said. ‘You don’t ever need to ask me to make love to you. Because no matter how much you beg for me to make love to you, I can guarantee that I want you to make love to you more.’
Ariel’s stomach fell away at his words. Her heart exploded in her chest, butterflies taking flight.
‘Can you feel how hard I am for you?’ he asked her.
She reached back for him and a groan erupted from them both when she took him once more in her hand.
He slipped his palm between her legs and started to tease her. She gripped his other hand, which was squeezing her breast, and felt tears leaking from her eyes. She scrunched them tightly closed and focused on the sensations she was feeling instead, wave after wave of pleasure rolling over her.
When she was ready, her shaft pulsing and aching to accept him, Jax pushed his knee between her legs, forcing them further apart. He drew her backwards by the hips and she felt him rubbing against his clitoris. She inhaled and cried out at the same time, a cry that sounded anguished. He pushed inside her, gently, slowly, and then, when he met no resistance, he held her hips tighter and pulled her backwards, sliding inside her and making her cry out in blinding ecstasy.
There was a slight pain each time he pushed inside her, but it only intensified the pleasure, making each thrust achingly, agonizingly sweet. But maybe that was also because Ariel knew it was the last time she would know him. He was controlling the speed, holding her hips, plunging into her as though he wanted to fill her completely. She could feel him brushing her womb and she ached for his seed in a way that felt purely primal.
His fingers tweaked her nipples and then fell back to her sex. He started to massage her clitoris as he kept on thrusting, gently but firmly, into her. She opened her mouth and felt his tongue swirl with her own, water showering down over them. She was swept up in the pleasure of him, the heat of him, the pressure of him inside her, building and building to new undiscovered heights, until suddenly she was on the cusp. She heard herself screaming Jax’s name, felt his hands cradling her hips as he drew her back, rubbing his sleek wet cock along her clitoris before forcing it back inside her pussy. She shuddered, trying to thrust backwards to meet him, the pain building along with the pleasure.
Jax stopped rubbing her clit and she growled with frustration as she fell back from the edge, but a moment later she was letting out a gasp as his finger pressed inside her other hole. It was a tight fit, unexpected, and wholly incredible. Her eyes flew open as he burst once more into her pussy, his finger thrusting inside her at the same time.
‘I’m going to come,’ she gasped. ‘Come with me,’ she cried.
Jax grunted, his hand forcing her against the wall, his cock driving into her with reckless desire, his finger plundering her, pressing on nerve endings that drove her to the brink and sent her flying over it.
The scream that tore from her throat was deafening. It drowned out the thunder of the water and the thunder of her heart. She exploded. Her orgasm a wild, earth-shattering experience that shook her to her core, making her feel vulnerable and all powerful at the same time.
Jax let out a yell at the same time, his cock ramming into her one final time. She felt him spurt, his come flooding out of him and her pussy clenched furiously around him, wanting more, wanting every last droplet of him to be spent inside of her.
Jax had tried to be as gentle as he could but her screams had urged him on, her tight shaft drawing him in, her gyrating hips encouraging him to take her with more and more force. Her pussy was so sweet and so heavenly he couldn’t stop himself from wanting her, from wanting more of her.
When he felt her reach the edge, gasp his name and tell him she was about to come he had rubbed his finger over every nerve ending, thrust the end of his cock against her G-spot and crashed over the cliff edge of oblivion with her.
Now panting and shaking, he could still feel his cock jerking inside of her. Ariel gasped at every contraction he made. His seed poured into her as though it would never stop. Jax shifted and she let out another moan. He kissed her shoulder and felt her shiver and the spasm of muscles ride up her thighs and through her core, squeezing him tight. Fuck. He was still hard.
He thrust automatically against her G-spot. Still riding the end of her orgasm, Ariel cried out and bucked against him. Jax thrust again, gently.
She couldn’t believe he was going to bring her to orgasm again. It wasn’t possible. She was aching and spent and raw from all the friction. Her womb felt bruised and her opening tender, but with each new thrust, with each stroke, Jax was stoking the embers of the last orgasm and fanning it back to life.
Ariel sucked in a breath, her legs were going to give out but Jax’s strong arms held her around the waist. She pressed her cheek against the tile and felt him gently push against her G-spot. Thoughts turned to nothing as his still pulsing cock teased and pushed and rubbed. His fingers linked through hers and he kissed her neck as he circled his hips and Ariel let herself be drawn over the edge once more. This time she could barely summon the energy to cry out. A gentle moan fell from her lips. That was all.
And then there was just blackness and softness and total surrender to bliss.
Chapter 18
She woke to darkness and a warm feeling of contentment. She was warm and safe and her limbs felt like they were made of cotton wool. She opened her eyes. The room was dark. She was lying in Jax’s bed, wrapped in his arms. How had they ended up here? She could remember nothing past him taking her in the shower, that last blissful orgasm that had pushed her over into total oblivion. The room was dark. Had they slept all day? That probably accounted for how rested she felt. But she was annoyed with herself. She should have been on a plane by now.
She lay there for a few minutes trying to gather her thoughts. She was naked. Jax’s breath was coming even and warm on the back of her neck. He was still asleep. Even as she breathed him in, and felt the warmth of his broad chest against her back that tugging ache began to start up between her legs, but this time there was a sharp pang accompanying it.
She grimaced to herself. She had been well and truly fucked senseless. She had to hand it to him. With a monumental effort Ariel eased herself out of his arms and then out of the bed. She needed to move fast, get the hell out of there before he woke. If she had to look into his eyes, if he had a chance to pin her against a wall again, if he spoke her name, she would be lost. She would never leave his bed.
Wincing at the throbbing pain between her legs Ariel glanced frantically around the room for her clothes. Where were they? The dressing room! She tiptoed towards it and pulled open the door. There they were. She grabbed for them and as she did she noticed a pile of shopping bags hidden beneath a rail of Jax’s clothes.
Curiosity aroused she peeked inside one of them. The name on the bag was from a very exclusive lingerie shop on Rodeo Drive. Ariel pulled out a few boxes and, darting a glance back to the bedroom to check Jax was still sleeping, she lifted the lid on the first one and pulled out a black lace bra and matching panties.
She held them up between her thumb and forefinger, frowning.
In another box was another matching underwear set in white. In yet another was a dangerously provocative black negligee, which would leave precisely nothing to the imagination.
Ariel shoved all of it back into the bags. What was Jax Sayer doing with women’s underwear in his closet? A thought sprung into her mind that maybe he liked to cross dress, but she shook it instantly away. For a start he clearly wouldn’t fit into panties that small. Which had to mean they were for a woman. She stood up and yanked open the closet on the left and was stunned to see rails of women’s clothing, shoes lined up beneath.
Burning with shame and equal parts anger, thoughts swarming like angry hornets in her
head, Ariel pulled on her clothes. Her hands were shaking. The bastard. Had she been duped this whole time? Another part of her brain reasoned it wasn’t important even if she had been. This thing, whatever it was, that she’d had with Jax was over. And it had meant nothing. So what if he’d said he wanted to make love to her and not just fuck her. He was nothing to her. She was out of there. Give her two minutes and she’d be gone, never to see him again.
She walked out the dressing room and headed towards the door, stopping just before she reached it and stooping to sweep up Jax’s wallet from where it had dropped beside his discarded pants.
Knowing she was likely going to regret her next move, Ariel flipped open the wallet and instantly sucked in a breath, her lungs burning as though she was drowning. There, staring right up at her, was a photograph of Jax with his arms around a woman. Not just any woman either. A woman dressed in white. In a wedding dress to be precise. And he was wearing black tie. The two of them were gazing at each other with a look she’d only ever seen in stupid romance movies.
Ariel felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She stared at the photograph, tears burning like acid behind her eyes. He was married? The bastard.
From behind her she heard Jax murmur in his sleep. She paused, torn between wanting to wake him up, demand an explanation and wanting to escape. She didn’t need to hear his excuses or his explanations. And she didn’t want him to see her this upset. She refused to give him that.
Jax heard the door slam and jerked awake. His first thought was Ariel. The bed was still warm where she had been laying. He threw off the cover and walked naked to the window, pulling aside the drapes. It was dark outside. Had they slept all day? He rubbed a hand over his eyes, feeling his muscles ache in protest. His arm fell to his side when he saw Ariel storming down the driveway, her bag thrown over her shoulder.