Inferno Anthology
Page 18
“I don’t think I ever considered not marrying him, it was just the normal progression in our long relationship and everyone expected it would happen. He would have preferred a shorter engagement, but I wasn’t ready yet so I dragged it out as long as I could get away with it. He treated me really well over the years — at least I thought he did. He was every parent’s dream for their daughter. He came from a good home, earned a good living as an attorney, and had nice manners. He seemed like every girl’s dream too. But as the wedding got closer, I grew more nervous. I started to wonder if I had made myself into who he wanted me to be instead of who I really was. I started picturing myself having 2.5 children with a white picket fence and lunches with PTA moms who wore sweater sets.
“In the time we had been together, I had stopped singing with a band and went to school to get a music degree to teach. As my wedding date got closer, I was starting to question myself on why I had done that, when I really loved being in my band. Michael and Sienna didn’t get along, and he didn’t like me traveling at night to different clubs, so I eventually gave it up, even though he never actually asked me to.
“One morning I woke up having a panic attack. I realized that something was missing in our relationship and that something was me. So I sat down one night to talk to Michael about what I was feeling and he completely flipped out. He blamed it all on my last visit to NY to visit Sienna and her filling my head with crazy unrealistic singing dreams. But the truth was, Sienna never said a word to me. She accepted me for whoever I was and didn’t try to change me.
“I told him that I didn’t want to teach and wanted to join a local band again. He told me that his wife was not going to be a stupid band slut traveling around town with a bunch of men. We argued back and forth and then things got really heated when he realized that I had already made up my mind. The next day I felt badly about the way that we had left off, so I went to his office to talk to him and walked in on his secretary on her knees.” I stopped and thought for a moment and Jack tightened his grip around me.
“I left and he tried to apologize again the next day. Eventually, when I wouldn’t accept his apology, he got mad again and spilled that he had been sleeping with his secretary for more than a year anyway. I moved all of his stuff to the front lawn by the time he came home from work that night, and had the locks changed.” I paused and regrouped from telling my sad tale. I forced a happier voice. “Everything happens for a reason. I quit my job teaching and started singing again last month. It’s just a job as a house singer at one of the Heston Hotels, but it’s a start on my trip back to me.”
Jack was quiet and didn’t say anything for a moment. “You work at one of the Heston Hotels?”
I laughed, thinking it was odd that of everything that I had just told him, that was the part of my story that caught his attention. Men. “Is that really a question that you want to use your second chip on?”
“Definitely.”
“Yes, I work at Heston Hotel in New York City. That’s how I was able to afford this fancy schmancy Heston Resort. They give a great employee discount. I moved to New York from Boston last month. I’m starting all over and doing what is right for me for a change. I’m going to start singing with Sienna again once in a while too, now that I am back in the same city again.”
Quiet again. I turned to look at him and his face was unreadable. He looked into my eyes and gently brushed the hair on my face back. Then he kissed me. A different kiss from last night, not a passionate, groping kiss, but a beautiful tender kiss. It took my breath away. I couldn’t remember the last time a kiss stirred so much inside of me. He watched me intently as I recovered from the moment. “Room service or Restaurant?”
I smiled at him. I wanted more than anything to say room service, but I was enjoying making him work for it a little bit. “Restaurant.”
He looked at me seriously. “Whatever you want, babe. But wear a dress and forget the underwear. I want to know that it won’t take me long to bury myself deep inside you after dinner.”
I probably should have been offended by his crudeness, but instead it turned me on. Two could play his game. “I’d like to use my first question.”
He arched one eyebrow in response, intrigued.
I volleyed his serve. “Do you prefer to be on the top or the bottom?”
His response was fast and dead serious. “I prefer whatever makes you yell louder when I fuck you harder than you’ve ever been fucked.”
I gasped at the instant visual that his words inspired in my head. Damn, I needed a cold shower.
He stood and held out his hand to help me up. He didn’t let go when I stood; instead he pulled me hard against his chest and looked down into my eyes. “And I’m going to have you both ways tonight anyway.” He smiled an evil victorious smile and grabbed my hand and started to walk into the resort.
Chapter 4
I drank a glass of wine as I got ready in my room for dinner. I was glad that Jack had said he had to take care of some business before dinner, because I needed time to pull my thoughts together. Sienna had made plans to have dinner with Tyler and we were singing at the top of our lungs as we blasted music from my iPod. I truly missed those moments, where we were both happy and singing and dancing. I didn’t even realize how long it had been since I’d felt so carefree.
I picked out a pale blue strapless dress that hugged my curves in all the right places. It was the dress I knew looked good on me and always brought me compliments. My legs looked long and lean under the short skirt and the pale blue showed off my dark tan. Last time I wore it, Michael had told me that the pale blue color in the dress matched my eyes perfectly. I left my long hair down, framing my tan face. The dress made me feel pretty and gave me confidence. Oddly, I wasn’t feeling as nervous as I had expected for my dinner date, and, more specifically, what was to come after dinner.
I was feeling good, and closed my eyes as I lost myself singing along with one of my favorite songs, when I turned and saw Jack standing in the doorframe. He took up most of the doorway and looked freaking amazing.
His voice was low and husky. “I was enjoying the show.”
“How long were you standing there?”
“Sienna opened the door for me on her way out. You look fucking incredible.”
I shook my head at his compliment and smiled, pretending I found his words harsh. “You have such a way with words.” They may not have been the most eloquent, but I felt them somewhere deep inside of me. His words were raw and honest.
My comment didn’t faze him in the slightest. “If I take one step into this room, I won’t get to enjoy that dress and we definitely won’t be going to a restaurant. So let’s go before I eat you for dinner.”
Even though he said it in jest, I knew he wasn’t really kidding. I grabbed my bag and went quickly to the door. I opened my bag to put my room key in and a dozen condoms that must have been crammed in came popping out.
“I am going to kill Sienna.” I was completely flustered and embarrassed.
“I’m going to thank her.” Jack smiled a full smile and took my hand to lead me to dinner.
I was a little nervous that dinner would be awkward because we both knew what was going to happen afterward. But it was just the opposite. Our conversation flowed so freely it was hard to believe that we had only met the day before. We talked and teased and laughed all the way through dinner and drinks. He ordered us a dessert I had never heard of with two spoons and I noticed that the waiter and most of the staff all seemed to know him by name.
“Do you come here often? Everyone seems to know your name.”
“Question number two. Yes, I come here a few times a year. It’s one of my favorite hotels.”
I pouted. “That isn’t really a personal question. I don’t think I should get charged for that one!”
“Asking a person where they vacation qualifies as a personal question.”
“Fine. But I want it noted that I used that one under protest.”
“Question number three. You are going to cash in all of your chips before the end of the game, if you aren’t careful.”
Both his eyebrows arched in surprise and he smirked, but waited for my answer.
“Yes, I’m on birth control and I just had a physical last month. I’m clean. I thought I might save you a question and throw in the second part for free.” I arched one eyebrow and smirked back at him. “My turn. When—” I started but was quickly interrupted by Jack.
“Save the question, I’ll donate the answer. Physical. Three week ago. Clean as a whistle. Plus, I’ve always used a condom.”
“Always?” I assumed he was exaggerating.
His face was serious. “That one’s gonna cost you. Question number three. Every. Single. Time.”
I was intrigued and starting to get turned on. It wasn’t typical first date conversation, but yet it seemed oddly normal to be talking about it with him. “And you want your first time without one to be with me?”
“Question number four. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.” He ran his fingers through his sexy hair. Jack had the type of hair that looked like he’d just had sex and I was more than a little jealous that it was his fingers delving into his hair and not mine. But I was glad to see that he had a tell, the first sign that our conversation was starting to affect him too. He caught my eye and said, “I want to feel every bit of you. Then I want to pump myself into you so far that you can feel it seep deep into your body.”
Oh. My. God. I had to recross my legs and clamp my thighs tightly together to keep my body from responding to just his words.
“Are you wearing underwear?” His voice was low and raspy. I heard the desire pour from his words.
“Question number four.” I bit my lip and hesitated for a brief second. “No.” I had barely finished my word when Jack lifted me up and out of my seat and grabbed my hand, heading for the door. We flew by the waiter bringing out our dessert.
“Put it on my room, Eduardo,” he yelled to the poor confused waiter without slowing down. I had to practically run behind him just to keep up.
We weaved through the hotel hallways, arrived at the elevator, and neither of us said a word as we got in, finding an older couple already occupying the car. Jack stood close behind me and inserted a room key into the control panel, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist as the car began to travel.
I could feel my heart beating out of my chest and I was certain that the couple next to us could too. The car stopped to let out the couple and the tension grew as the doors closed, leaving us alone in the car. Jack pushed a button on the panel and I felt his mouth on my neck from behind me. His wet full lips kissed and sucked at the tender spot between my neck and shoulder. A small moan escaped my lips and he responded by pressing me against the mirrored car wall. The palms of my hands were spread wide against the cold hard mirror, my face turned to the side, the cold not helping to reduce the heat in my body. He kissed my neck, tracing his tongue up from my collarbone to my ear. I could feel his arousal as he pushed gruffly into my back, pinning me between his hold and the wall.
His hands reached down to the outside of my thighs, burning a trail of heat as they felt their way slowly around to my bare ass. I gasped as he lifted my skirt and pushed his hard body deeper into my bare back. I was desperate to feel him against me, skin against skin. He bit my ear and I stopped breathing, anticipating his traveling hands as they reached around me and slowly moved down from my belly button, finally reaching my swollen clit.
His hand cupped me. “You’re so wet for me,” he growled in my ear. His voice couldn’t hide his lack of control. Two of his large fingers pressed my clit and began massaging in small circles. I almost orgasmed at just his first touch.
“Is everything okay in the car? It looks like you have been stopped between floors.” The voice from the control panel hit me lack a bucket of ice water thrown on my face, bringing me back to reality.
“Fuck,” Jack groaned, and rested his forehead on the mirror above my head. He took a loud deep breath and pushed a button on the panel to respond. “We’re fine.” His answer was sharp and swift. He pulled the hem of my dress down and inserted the key into the panel again. As the car began traveling, he repositioned himself behind me, and we both quietly faced the front of the car.
“I’m sorry, you deserve better than that.” His voice was tense and low.
“Don’t be, I enjoyed it.” My answer was honest and came out between heavy breaths. He turned me and looked into my eyes, searching my face for confirmation. I smiled and arched an eyebrow and was rewarded with a smile and laugh. He lowered his head and kissed me firmly on my lips before taking my hand and leading us out of the elevator.
We arrived at a door and he opened it, leading me inside. The suite was beautiful, and five times the size of my room, but I noticed it wasn’t the penthouse. “I thought you and your friends were all staying together in the penthouse?”
“We were. I moved to this room today so we would have privacy.” He made no attempt to hide his assumption.
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” I teased as I walked to the glass wall leading to a large open balcony.
He opened the door for me to go outside. “I knew what I wanted the minute I saw your face. I’m a man that gets what he wants, one way or another. I’ll give you that personal information for free.”
I laughed at his answer, but somehow I knew his words were true. Jack was a man who knew what he wanted and got it. I looked out at the ocean. The view was breathtaking from the balcony and I could hear the ocean singing in the not too far distance. I took a deep breath and smelled the salt air mixed with flowers. I closed my eyes as I leaned against the railing, enjoying the sounds and the smell of the ocean air. Jack stood behind me. He placed one hand on each side of the railing around me and we stayed that way for long moments in silence.
“Are you close with your family?” I felt his body tense and I immediately regretted asking the question. A long moment of silence passed before he answered my question.
“Question number five. I don’t speak to my father and my mom passed away last year.”
“I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Thank you.” A long pause and then I was surprised when he continued. “When I was eighteen, my dad gave me a portion of my inheritance from my grandfather to see if I could manage money before releasing the balance of my trust fund to me. The trust fund gave my dad the authority to release the funds to me at any time after my eighteenth birthday, if he thought that I was capable of managing the responsibility. If he didn’t think I was responsible enough, I wasn’t to gain access until my twenty-fifth birthday. Two weeks after my birthday I caught him with a prostitute in his office. My mom had just been diagnosed with cancer and the asshole was so selfish that he couldn’t keep it in his pants to take care of his sick wife. He knew I wouldn’t hurt my mom in her condition by telling her, so he took advantage. After that, I caught him with at least three more prostitutes before I stopped speaking to him altogether, except when we were in front of my mother. The bastard made me keep his secrets for seven years while my mother underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and four different surgeries.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond, but I was curious. My big mouth had taken us from bliss to bad memories in a span of fifteen minutes. “Did you have to wait until you were twenty-five for your trust fund?”
He laughed. “Question number six. I partied for the first year and wasted a shitload of money. Then my father, being the upstanding pillar of the community that he thought he was, decided to run for senate. Apparently having 40,000 employees didn’t give him enough power, he needed to conquer the world.” Jack walked to a table between the lounge chair that had a bottle of wine chilling and two glasses.
&
nbsp; “So, I invested the money I had left into a business that I knew would embarrass him and hurt his chances of winning a campaign based on his pretend Christian morals.” He handed me a glass of wine and I watched as he tilted his own glass back and swallowed his wine in one large gulp. “The funny thing is, I didn’t need the trust fund after that. My business investment turned out to be very successful. But the bastard released the balance of the trust fund to me the same day that he withdrew from the senate race. I’m sure he was trying to send me a message that I had ruined his race, but I saw it as the last tear in the cloth that kept us bound together.”
Wow. Jack had shared so much information about who he was and his life in only a few minutes, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. But it stirred something inside of me that this beautiful man was so honest with me about the hurt caused by his father. I turned to face him. His arms never left the railing, blocking me in. He watched intently as I brought my wine glass to my lips and tipped my head back to empty it, mimicking his actions from a few minutes ago.
He took my glass and placed it down. Then he reached down and lifted me up and cradled me in his arms as he walked back inside where he gently laid me on the bed. I watched as he walked to the foot of the bed and slowly removed each of my sandals. His eyes never left mine.
He trailed kisses along the arch of my foot, traveling up the inside of my calf. I was instantly reduced to a quivering mess of anticipation. He worked his tongue with skill over every part of my legs, gently alternating between nipping and sucking as he burned a path up my body. When he reached between my legs, he paused, taking his time to look at my most intimate area that was bared to him. His armed wrapped around my lower back and he raised my pelvis so that I had a clear line of vision to watch him. Every part of my body was on high alert, sensitive to every movement and desperate for more of his touch.