by Sarah Bailey
“Damn it, Jen,” I muttered, capturing her face in my hand so I could stroke her cheek with my thumb.
“I still hate you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
Her resorting to that statement made my chest cave in all over again. If only she knew how much it hurt every time she said it.
“I hate that I’m going to let you kiss me right now.”
I leant towards her. The inevitability of it struck me hard. Who was I kidding? I needed to kiss her. Needed to lay her out on her bed and fuck her senseless. The urge pulsed in my veins, taunting me with its potency.
“I know.”
“It wasn’t a mistake.”
“I know.”
My lips met hers. She sighed into my mouth. The softness only lasted a moment before my hands banded around her back and I pulled her tight against me, devouring her mouth like I was starving for her. Her fingers dug into my scalp, nails scratching my skin. It only made the need worse.
Fuck did I want her.
Fuck did I love her.
I backed her up against the wall, pinning her there with my body as I took my fill of her sweet, delicious mouth. My hands ran over her sides, one coming up to cup her breast. I ground my cock into her stomach. God I wanted to fuck her so badly. Wanted to feel her pussy clenching around me all over again. I hadn’t been with anyone for a long time before that night with her and I certainly hadn’t touched a woman since. It seemed wrong to taint my memory of Jen with another. Truth be told, I didn’t want anyone but her.
“Brent, please,” she whimpered against my lips.
My fingers went to her jeans, unbuttoning them and tugging the zip down. Slipping my hand inside her clothes, my fingers met her wet pussy and I groaned. I slid two fingers inside her. She pulsed around me, bucking as I started to fuck her with them. One of her hands fisted in my t-shirt. The other ran down my front until it met my cock, stroking down the length of it.
“Not enough. I want this.”
I rested my forehead against hers.
“No.”
Having sex with her again would fucking kill me.
“Yes. You want me and I want you.”
Hating she was right. Hating myself for getting in this position again, I pulled my fingers from her and peeled down her jeans, taking her underwear with them. My hands went to my jeans next, tugging them open and pulling out my cock from my boxers. I picked her up, shoving her back against the wall and lined myself up. Her heat scorched the tip of my cock. It didn’t even occur to me to use a condom. Not when I’d already fucked her bare the first time.
Gripping her hip, I slowly impaled her on my cock inch by inch. I grunted, her tight heat encasing me and driving me fucking wild. Fuck I’d missed this so much. Missed the way she felt. Missed every damn thing about Jen.
“Fuck,” she groaned, wrapping her legs around my waist as her fist pounded against the wall. “You feel so good. Why do you feel so fucking good?”
I didn’t even have it in me to wind her up about it. All I could think was how much I wanted to stay buried inside her pussy like this. My cock burnt with the need to slam into her over and over. My hand these past two and a half months hadn’t been enough. Not when I remembered how it felt to be with Jen.
So that’s exactly what I did. Ignoring all the shit in my head whirling around and around about how fucked up I was for sleeping with her yet again, I thrust into her deep and hard, listening to her moan and gasp. I buried my face in her neck, breathing in her Dior perfume. It only made my need for her worse.
“Tell me the truth,” she whispered. “Tell me how this feels.”
“Fucking you?” I ground out.
“Yes.”
“Your pussy is so damn hot and tight. I need to be in you even if you make me so fucking mad, Jen. You really do. I hate how you rile me up, but fuck do I need you like this.”
Those words were damning but I couldn’t care less. Perhaps if we stopped lying to each other she’d stop hating me so much. Isn’t that what I wanted? For Jen not to hate me. For her to just see me for who I was.
There were no more words as I continued to fuck her, keeping her trapped between me and the wall. The only sounds were our pants and our bodies moving against each other. I promised myself I’d never let this happen again. And here I was breaking that because I couldn’t stop myself from wanting Jen. From needing her. From fucking her.
You’re a fucked up bastard.
“Jen,” I practically pleaded as flames licked up my spine and the need to come burnt in my veins.
She was clutching me so hard, her hands fisted in my hair. Her body trembling and shuddering until she hit that peak and she shattered. My name left her lips along with a string of curses. One last pump upwards had me coming apart too. Bliss radiated across my skin, taunting me with pure and unadulterated ecstasy.
How could I ever go back?
How could I ever want anyone else?
The sad and crushing truth was I couldn’t.
When I let her go after we both stopped panting, she didn’t look at me. Instead, she picked up her jeans from the floor and walked out of the room. I heard the bathroom door close a minute later.
What the fuck just happened?
I didn’t exactly have time to process it. Tucking myself back away and zipping up my jeans, I grabbed the beer she’d brought me and practically chugged it. It took the edge off how messed up I felt over the whole thing.
When Jen reappeared, she was dressed and her expression bore no signs of her feelings.
“Should we take stuff down to the car then?”
I could only stare at her. She pushed us into talking about what happened. We fucked each other. Now she was acting like it didn’t just occur.
“Jen…”
“You made it very clear we shouldn’t have done that and I agree with you. Now can we just do what we came here to… please.”
Knowing when she got like this it was utterly futile to push her, I nodded.
By the time we’d packed the car up and I’d driven us home, it was almost ten. Dante met us at the door and helped bring everything in. Jen barely said two words to either of us other than ‘thank you’ before kicking us out so she could go to sleep.
“She didn’t give you hell, did she?” he asked as we stood outside her door.
“No.” Yes. “How’s Liora?”
“She’s sleeping. I don’t know if she’ll be up to doing anything this week. She could barely keep her eyes open long enough to have dinner.”
I felt bad for her. Clearly she needed to take a step back for her own sake, but Liora was nothing if not stubborn.
“She’ll be okay if she rests.”
“I need to be home for her.”
I patted him on the shoulder. Dante was far too over protective of his wife, but I didn’t blame him. He’d fallen hard for Liora or should I say, his heart. I suppose in many ways Liora had become his conscience so his term of endearment was rather apt.
Two streaks of fur ran up from the ground floor and scrambled up the next flight of stairs.
“For fuck’s sake, those damn cats,” he muttered.
“I told you not to let her get them.”
He rolled his eyes and walked towards the stairs where they’d disappeared to.
“No doubt I’ll find them on our bed.”
I smiled and shook my head. When Dante was out of sight, I looked at Jen’s door. Part of me wanted to go in there and demand she let me stay with her tonight. I wanted her there next to me. But that was stupid so I walked away, my heart sinking with each step.
Another royal fuck up.
Another night I’d crossed a line.
Another reason I needed to sort my head out.
This shit between me and Jen needed to end.
It should’ve never even started in the first place.
Chapter Five
Jennifer
<
br /> After last night’s debacle, I really didn’t want to have dinner with Max tonight. I had no choice in the matter. Dante needed me to do this for the good of the company, so I put my big girl panties on, got dressed up to the nines and ventured out.
Did it piss me off that Brent was lurking around when I left?
Fuck yes it did. I saw the way his eyes roamed over me, confusion and desire lacing those golden flecked irises. His gaze burnt into me and left me feeling hot and very, very bothered. I hated him having that kind of effect on me. He didn’t have to touch me to get me wet and that was unacceptable.
Fuck him.
Fuck his stupid handsome face.
And fuck everything that was going on between us.
He didn’t get to know where I was going. In fact, if he thought I was out on a date, all the bloody better. Maybe he’d get jealous.
Why the fuck do you want him to be jealous?
I did not care about Brent.
I did not care if he got jealous.
I did not care about his feelings.
He’d made those very clear. I was Dante’s sister and that made me off limits. If I was so bloody off limits, he shouldn’t have had sex with me in the first place.
I hate him. I hate how he’s confused me. I hate it all.
Needing to get Brent off my brain, I strode into the restaurant. When I told the hostess who I was, she led me to a table by the window. Max was already there. He had that annoying smirk on his face when he stood up and came around to pull my chair out. Wearing a blue shirt which matched his eyes and chinos along with his signature brogues and no socks, he looked like he’d walked off a film set.
“Evening Jennifer,” he said as he kissed my cheek before I sat down, letting him tuck my chair in for me.
I wasn’t going to complain about his manners even though I disliked the prick. I waited until he seated himself before answering, eying him warily.
“Let me get one thing clear before you get any ideas. This is business not a date.”
He put his hands up momentarily, his blue eyes twinkling. It just served to annoy me. Everything about Max was irritating to be quite honest. He might be classically handsome, but he was not my type. I hated perfect guys with their perfect hair and perfect smiles. Also, he had a posh twat accent and that was unforgivable in my book.
No, you just like guys with gold flecked eyes who make you wet with one single heated glance.
Ugh, why? Brain, please shut the hell up!
I did not like Brent, I merely liked the way he fucked. And the way he kissed. And his body. And how I felt safe with him.
And now this is getting out of hand.
“I didn’t expect anything else.”
“Good.”
I picked up the menu when he didn’t say anything further. At least he’d chosen a nice restaurant. I’d heard good things about this place. When the waitress came, I ordered a large gin and tonic to go along with the expensive bottle of wine he ordered. Starters and mains were duly chosen. I sat back, observing the other diners when she left.
“How have you been since school?” he asked.
“Fine.”
If he thought I wanted to make small talk with him, he was mistaken.
“And Fiona, how is she?”
“Fine.”
I looked over at him, raising an eyebrow as if to say ‘are you going to continue to ask me inane questions or are you going to get to the point?’
“You don’t like to make things easy, do you, Jennifer?”
“Whatever gave you that idea, Maximillian?”
He flashed me a grin and shook his head. He could bet his rich prick arse I wasn’t going to make anything easy for him. To be honest, Max had come along at the worst possible time. I’d just about gotten back on track with my sister after the shit with Jensen and now I was dealing with whatever the hell me and Brent were to each other.
“Oh, just a little inkling I have about you.”
I was glad the waitress came back over to deposit our drinks so I had a distraction from his gaze. Something really didn’t feel right about this situation. I mean, Max and I hadn’t exactly gotten along at school and the timing of this seemed strange. Why would he waltz in when Dante was close to going on extended leave?
Max didn’t seem inclined to tell me the real reason he’d invited me to dinner just yet. He tried to further engage me in conversation as we ate starters and mains. I humoured him for the sake of being polite, but I was ready to get the hell out of this place by the time the waitress cleared our plates.
“Would you like dessert?” he asked me as he ran his eyes over the menu.
I didn’t even look at it. I’d already decided it was high time we got this over with.
“No thank you.”
He put the menu down and levelled his gaze on me.
“It has been nice catching up, hasn’t it?”
“Oh yeah, it’s been just peachy.” Not. I’d rather throw myself into a tank of crocodiles than spend another minute here with you.
I think he noticed my sarcasm because he raised an eyebrow and had this stupid twinkle in his eye, like he was about to drop a bomb on me. I steeled myself.
“I’m very eager to go into business with Bensons, but with all things in life there has to be a little of I scratch your back, you scratch mine, if you know what I mean.”
I fought to keep a neutral expression on my face, not liking where he was going with this.
“Get to the point, Max.”
Beating around the bush wouldn’t do him any favours with me. Not in business anyway.
“It’s quite simple really, Jennifer.” He steepled his hands together, watching me with a smirk on his face. “My family is pressurising me to find an appropriate woman. You meet that criteria. Of course, I’m not interested in a real relationship, just one purely for the media circus and to appease them. It’d be good publicity for you and the company.”
I blinked. Was he for real? I wasn’t going to engage in a fake relationship with this prick for anything. I didn’t care if it cost us the contacts and investment he’d bring. If he thought I was going to be a pawn in his master plan, he had another thing coming.
“What on earth makes you think I’d ever agree to that?”
He leant back in his chair, eyes still twinkling.
“I thought you’d ask that. You see, I like to know who I’m working with and your family has rather a lot of skeletons hidden away.”
My fists clenched in my lap. There were a lot of details about what Dad did which never made headlines because there wasn’t a trial. Most of it was sensationalised as was the way with the media and focused on my mother’s murder.
“You wouldn’t want any of it coming to light. Your image has been precarious since your father went to prison.”
If he wanted to get a rise out of me, he was going the right way about it. However, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. I stared at him, wondering what the hell he knew which he shouldn’t.
“I suppose you want to know what I have on you, right?”
The urge to punch his stupid face pounded in my veins. I was right to think there was something off about him. This right here was blackmail.
He leant forward and ran his finger around the rim of his wine glass.
“Let’s just say I know all about how your brother acquired his wife.”
I stiffened. I knew what lengths Dante went to. We all did. How Max knew was a question I’d like answering.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice void of all emotion.
Yeah, I could be a real bitch when I wanted to. I could rant and rave, but shit like this? You had to keep a cool head.
“Come now, Jennifer. We both know that’s a lie. You wouldn’t want it to come to light that your sister in law was payment for a blood debt now, would you?”
No. That would ruin us comple
tely. It’d been hard enough restoring our reputation after Dad went to prison. We had public sympathy on our side then. If it came out that Dante had gone along with Dad’s blood debt shit, there’d be hell to pay.
“So what? It would be your word against ours.”
He tugged out his phone from his pocket, fiddled with it for a moment before sliding it across the table towards me. I looked down at it. The image on screen made me feel sick. It was a document detailing Angus Stewart’s agreement with my father along with both their signatures. Did Dante know this existed?
“How do you have this?”
“A man never reveals his sources.”
I slid his phone back to him. There would be no point deleting the picture. He’d have copies.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I told you, I have need of you. This stays between us. If you tell your family, I will release everything I have. Bensons will go down in flames. It’s your choice, Jennifer. Act like my girlfriend or ruin your family for good. If you agree, I will help you take Bensons to the next level. Consider it a win-win situation.”
This was not bloody win-win at all. He was fucking well blackmailing me. I didn’t trust Max, but I knew he would release everything if I didn’t agree. I couldn’t afford to allow my family to fall into ruination. Especially not with Dante and Liora’s baby on the way.
There wasn’t anything for me to think about. I had to sacrifice myself for the good of my family. I’d never been the self-sacrificing type. That was always Dante and Fi. And yet the thought of my family and the company being destroyed by our secrets coming to light made me feel nauseated.
“So I just have to pretend to be your girlfriend. Nothing else.”
He picked up his phone and tucked it back in his pocket.
“That’s all I ask.”
I didn’t believe him, but for the good of Bensons and my family, I had little choice but to agree. They were the most important people in my life even if they did my head in.
“Fine.”
“So we’re agreed?”