by Vi Keeland
“Can we talk?” A pause as he searched my face for something. “Please?”
I exhaled loudly. “Fine, but I have pack up, so you can wait.”
Michael nodded and went to wait by the bar.
I took my time packing up and had to reassure Travis I was okay three more times before he would leave. There were still a few stragglers in the club, so at least I wouldn’t have to be alone with Michael.
Eventually I walked over to the bar, even though I dreaded looking at Michael, no less having a conversation in my place of work with him.
“Do you want a shot of tequila?” It annoyed me that he knew that I did, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing how well he knew me.
“No.” I stood a few feet from him as he sat on the bar stool.
“Can we sit at a table so that we have privacy? Please?” Michael looked to the bartender standing a few feet away and back to me.
I walked to an empty table a few feet from the bar and sat without saying a word, leaving him to follow me like a puppy.
Michael sat and I stared at him, waiting for the reason he was in New York, the reason he was at my job. He looked uncomfortable as he sat there looking back at me. He reached for my hand as he spoke. “Syd, I don’t know where to start. I’m so sorry and I need you.”
I pulled my hand away from his like his was on fire and I was burned. I was suddenly passed angry and closer to irate. I stood and spoke loudly “Is that why you came here?”
Michael jumped from his seat and reached out to grab my arm. “Syd, talk to me. You know…”
“Get your fucking hands off of her.” I heard Jack’s voce before I even saw him.
Michael turned toward the voice and didn’t see it coming. Jack’s fist collided with Michael’s cheekbone and I heard a loud crack. Michael fell onto the table and struggled to regain his footing.
“What the hell?” Michael mumbled as he stood holding his cheek.
Jack’s arm reached out and pulled behind him and he took a step closer into Michael’s face. “It didn’t look like she wanted you touching her.”
Michael looked to me, confused. “Syd, who is this guy?”
The whole thing happened so fast, I just stood there looking at Michael.
“Babe, are you okay?” Jack’s voice was softer when he spoke to me, but the anger was still there.
“I’m okay, he didn’t hurt me.”
“Babe? Who is this guy Syd?” Michael’s voice was angry. Did the asshole really think he could show up to my job to apologize after what he did to me and then get jealous and angry?
“He’s my boyfriend Michael, as if it was any of your business!”
“Michael?” Jack looked to me for confirmation if it was that Michael. I just shook my head.
I didn’t expect Jack to be happy to have met Michael, but I also didn’t expect him to haul off and punch him again. The second punch landed on Michael’s nose and blood flew everywhere.
Security surrounded us, not that Jack needed any help. “Are you okay, Mr. Heston?”
“I’m fine. Why wasn’t someone here to keep an eye on Syd?”
The security team scrambled for an excuse. “Ummm…she finished playing and the club was almost empty and we were changing shifts…”
Jack didn’t give them time to finish. “Get this asshole out of here and be in my office at 7am. I’m not dealing with this tonight.”
“Yes sir.” The three security guards helped Michael to his feet and for a second I felt bad for him.
Jack grabbed my hand and took a two steps toward the door before realizing I was still standing there. “Syd. Let’s go.” His voice brought me back to reality and I took one last look at Michael before I started to walk hand in hand with Jack to the door.
***
Mateo was waiting outside and I didn’t say a word until we were half way to Jack’s. Then I remembered why I had been confused to see Jack, he was supposed to be out of town until tomorrow. “I thought you were out of town until tomorrow?”
“Is that why you were with him Syd?” Jack turned to face me, his face was masked and unreadable.
“What? No. I didn’t even know he was coming, he just showed up.”
“I came back because I didn’t want to sleep without you next to me.” Jack said it like he was laughing at himself even saying it, no less feeling that way.
I didn’t know what to say. His words were so sweet, but the tone they were spoken in contradicted their meaning. “You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know what to think Syd. I walked in and saw that asshole touching you and I lost it. Then I saw your face, and him reach for you, and I wanted to kill him.”
“I’m sorry Jack.” I reached for his hand and saw his swollen and bruised knuckles for the first time.
Jack turned to me, “What are you sorry for Syd?”
“I’m sorry that he showed up. I’m sorry that it’s my fault that you hurt your hand.” I spoke each word into his eyes and watched as his eyes softened and I knew he believed me.
“It’s not your fault.”
***
Jack stood in his kitchen, his back against the island countertop, legs crossed at the ankle, arms folded across his chest, watching me put together an ice pack. I stood in front of him silently waiting for him to give me his bruised hand. “Hand.” I demanded.
Jack raised his eyebrows at my tone, but I caught a twitch upward at the corner of his mouth that he tried to conceal. He gave me his hand and I saw him try to hide his wince as I held the ice to his bruised knuckles that were already a lovely shade of purple. He looked down into my eyes “What did he want Syd.”
“He tried to apologize and tell me that we belonged together and he wants me back.” My voice was low.
Jack closed his eyes for a minute and I waited anxiously for his response to come. “Do you want to go back to him?”
“What?” I was shocked he would even ask such a thing. “No! I can’t even stand to look at him! It took me a while to realize it, but I never really belonged with him.”
Jack took the ice pack from my hand and tossed it on the counter behind him. He took my hands in his and pulled them behind my back, securing them with his as he pulled me tightly against him. “Who do you belong to Syd?”
My heart melted knowing that such a strong, controlling man needed my reassurance.
“You, Jack.”
“Say it, Syd.” He pulled me tighter so that there was no air between our bodies.
My heart fluttered wildly, I knew it was true, but I hadn’t admitted it out loud. My voice was a whisper as I looked up at him. “I belong to you.”
Jack’s grip on my hands behind my back tightened. His pale green eyes turned almost gray, dark and wild. “Say it again. Louder.”
I raised my voice and matched his gaze. “I belong to you.”
His lips covered mine urgently and our mouths slid harshly as our tongues collided with insatiable need. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt his hardness pressing into me and I unwittingly gasped. My reaction drew him into even more of a frenzy. His hand on my ass pulled me deeper into him as our kiss deepened into an almost violent state. His other hand wrapped in my hair and he forced us apart purposefully. “Say it again.”
I was breathless and panting. “I belong to you, Jack.”
He growled and I felt his hand dive between my legs, sliding his fingers under my underwear, quickly finding my clit with his thumb. He pushed down gently and massaged small rapid circles. I knew he was making sure I was ready to take him. Even in his own frenzied state he put my needs before his own. When he was sure I was wet and ready, he turned us so that my ass rested against the countertop as he opened his pants, freeing his enormous erection.
I felt the wide crest of his cock at my entrance and I tried desperately to free my hands from his strong hold behind my back, desperate to touch it, glide my hands up and down its massive length. But my attempt was f
ruitless under Jack’s strong grip. He circled his hips with just the crest inside of me and I arched my back trying to pull him deeper inside of me, but Jack’s other hand pinned me in place where he wanted me. “Again.” He commanded.
“I belong to you. Only you.” My cry was desperate, I needed him inside of me so badly it was painful. But my response was raw and full of emotion and earned me what I wanted. Jack thrust into me deeply stretching me wide as he filled me to his root. He grinded deeply inside of me, desperate to go further. “Again.” His voice was throaty and deep.
“You, I belong to you, only you.”
Jack held me in place, restraining my movement and pumping deep and hard into me as if his life depended on filling me. His constant, rhythmic pounding over and over, deeper and deeper had me panting wildly and I was on the edge of what I knew would be a wild, soaring orgasm. I shut my eyes and began to let it wash over me as he continued his brutal thrusts.
“Open your eyes.”
My eyes flew open to meet his. “Again.”
My orgasm ripped through me at his command. “I belong.” I moaned, unable to finish the sentence in one breath. His rhythm quickened and I knew he was unable to hold back much longer. “to you.” The last two words came out in a scream as the orgasm completely washed over my body, shaking me to my core. I felt the heat of Jack’s semen run through me as he emptied his body and filled mine. He growled my name and my body collapsed spinelessly into his arms.
I was vaguely aware of Jack carrying me to the bedroom and covering me up, but I was exhausted and emotionally drained and my body needed to escape to rest.
***
The next morning I was surprised to find Jack next to me when I woke. We had established a routine of him getting up while I slept and me going to find him in his office hours later. “You’re still in bed.” I smiled and snuggled closer to him.
He spoke with his lips in my hair as he kissed the top of my head. “I couldn’t leave you this morning.”
I knew what he meant. I needed him next to me that morning after the night we had too. “I’m glad you couldn’t.” I spoke softly.
I rested my head on his naked chest, playing with the smattering of hair, twirling it between my fingers. “My mom is coming down for a visit next weekend.”
His hand had been stroking my hair and stopped in its place. “Do you want me to meet her?”
I thought about the question before asking. “I don’t think I have a choice. I sort of mentioned I met someone and she started an interrogation over the phone. If she doesn’t get to meet you, she won’t sleep for a month.”
Jack laughed lightly and I was relieved that he didn’t seem bothered by my response. “Where is she staying?”
I hadn’t thought about it. My apartment was small, but she could share my bed with me for a night or two and deal with the close space. Although there would be absolutely no escaping her inquisition in such a small area. “My place I guess, we didn’t really talk about it.”
“I’ll book you a suite here, so you can each have your own bedroom. I’ll tell the manager to book you both a day at the spa so you can relax and get pampered together.”
I raised my head to look at him. “That’s very sweet, but I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask, I offered, and I want to do it. Plus, I have my own secret agenda. It keeps you closer to me and butters up your mom for me.”
I laughed. “I can’t image any woman would need any buttering for them to not fall head over heals for you.”
Jack rolled on top of me playfully. “Is that so?”
“You’re a mother’s dream. Tall, dark and handsome, good manners, straight teeth and wealthy.”
“What about her daughter’s dream. How am I doing there?”
“Fulfilling them all.” I lifted my head to kiss him softly.
Chapter 20
The next week flew by and I was surprised that I was actually looking forward to my mom’s visit. Lyle had complained, but gave me Saturday night off, and the thought of staying at the Heston Grand and having all day spa treatments with my mom was exciting. At first, my mother balked at the idea of staying at a hotel, but then I filled her in on Jack and his hotels and she warmed to the idea quickly. She sounded excited to visit and I realized that I had missed her and was excited to see her too.
Jack had insisted on Mateo picking up my mom Saturday morning and had arranged what sounded like an amazing day. Brunch in Café Dumo, the hotel’s five star restaurant, followed by massages, manicures and pedicures, and wash and blow outs at the Luxor Spa. He had booked us into the Presidential Suite, one floor below Jack’s Penthouse, which occupied the entire top floor.
Jack gave me the key to the suite Saturday morning and told me that he had work to do all day and would meet us at our room at seven, before dinner. I took the elevator down one floor and found the entire floor had suites named after presidents. Each single door had a carved sign with a president’s name and a silhouette of the president’s profile. Following the signs for the presidential suite, I passed Ford, Lincoln, Washington and Kennedy. As I passed the Kennedy suite, I remembered that Jack had said that he kept a “sex suite” and wondered if one of them was his secret love shack. Perhaps the Kennedy suite? After all, his name was Jack and he was known as the womanizing president. I hated the thought of Jack’s suite seeping into my brain to darken the day after all that Jack had done to make the day perfect for my mom and I.
I arrived at the double door Presidential Suite and slipped in the key to open it. The smell of fresh flowers hit me immediately as I entered. The suite was beautiful and enormous. Floor to ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, glistening white marble floors and three huge bouquets of all white roses sat in sparkling crystal vases spread across the grand living room. To the right was a working fireplace, with a huge wooden carved mirror hanging above the mantle. To the left was a dining room, a small kitchen and a long hallway, which I assumed lead to the bedrooms.
I had expected the suite to be nice, but it was beyond anything that I could have imagined. It hadn’t dawned on me that the suite was truly a presidential suite and it was likely that it had housed actual presidents in the past. I walked to the dining room table, where a card was perched up on one of the vases that houses at least two dozen roses. I opened the card, recognizing Jack’s handwriting immediately. Syd, Hope you enjoy the suite. The thought of you being so close, yet not in our bed, is going to kill me tonight. Jack.
Holy. Shit. Our bed. Did he even realize that he wrote it? My heart swelled at the thought that Jack thought of his bed as our bed. I was falling deeper and deeper for the incredible man and all of the little thoughtful things that he did for me. He made me feel taken care of on so many levels. He took care of me physically, emotionally and definitely sexually. As I looked around the suite, feeling engulfed by Jack, I realized that what he needed to hear from me was true, I belonged to him.
***
By the end of the day, I felt like a princess. I knew the spa was exclusive and expected good service, but Jack had made sure that my every need was taken care of. I was positive that the staff had to have been advised of who I was because they couldn’t possibly be that attentive to every customer every day in the same way they were to my mom and I. We sipped champagne and wore plush robes that were embroidered with our initials and were truly treated like royalty. The young girl that did my manicure was sweet, but chatty. She told me that the spa had brought in one of the top celebrity stylists for our blowouts and that Mr. Heston selected our masseuses personally. I was impressed, but not surprised, at the length that Jack had went to. I was starting to realize that one of the reasons that he was so successful was that he didn’t do anything half way.
***
I hadn’t even realized that the suite had a doorbell until it rang at promptly 7pm. Of course, I was running late and Jack was right on time. I opened the door and flung my arms around his neck, giving him a big kiss and
hug. Jack smiled down at me, “What was that for?”
“It was for being the best boyfriend ever. We had the best day. Thank you baby.” I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him again gently on the lips.
“Well, I really hope that you are Jack, with the kind of welcome you just got.” I heard my mom speak from behind me and blushed at the thought of what she had just watched me do. I must have looked like a schoolgirl running up to the boy that she had a crush on.
Jack smiled, his insanely perfect smile and full lips, extending his hand with one arm and keeping the other wrapped tightly around my waist. “You must be Mrs. St. Claire, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Good god, I decided right there and then that my children were going to the same boarding school that Jack went to, just so they could come out with his incredibly alluring manners.
Mom, shook Jack’s hand and I could swear she blushed a little bit as she said, “Call me Renee, please.”
“Renee.” Jack nodded and released her hand.
“Go get ready honey, you are always late. I won’t tell Jack too many stories about your childhood if you hurry.” Mom laughed, but I knew she wasn’t kidding.
I gave her a silent “I’ll kill you if you do” face as I walked by and then rushed to finish getting ready. I heard Jack and mom laughing a few times in the other room and, although I was afraid of what horrible childhood stories she was sharing, the sound of them laughing together warmed my heart.
Jack stood as I entered the room. The only time the man didn’t have perfect manners was in the bedroom. In the bedroom, he was domineering and commanding, such a stark contrast in some ways to the please and thank you gentleman that stood before me. Although, if I really thought about it, both bedroom and gentlemanly Jack had one thing in common, they took care of me.
***
Dinner was incredible, even though mom shared too many embarrassing childhood stories. She told Jack about my penchant for streaking when I was four and about the time that I took off all my clothes and rode my bicycle down the entire block naked. Apparently, I had only made it about a dozen houses before the old lady next door called to report that she was upset at my lewd behavior. I knew from Jack’s face during that particular story that I’d be hearing more about my little naked endeavors later.
