Claimed: The Dark Christmases Trilogy

by Z. L. Arkadie

  I had taken my phone off Do Not Disturb mode, and now it was ringing in my purse. I quickly fished it out of my bag and saw that Kylie was calling, and I knew why. It was about the time when someone mentioned in the article would be questioning the veracity of Kylie’s facts. Dennis was probably chewing her ass out at that very moment. Plus, I was sure she was planning on following up her article with a special feature on BCN. She was probably scheduled to appear on The Rochester Report, using the story to tease her own show, which was slated to begin the Monday after next.

  I pressed the button on the side of my phone, sending her to voice message. I would have loved to hash it out with Kylie. However, now wasn’t the appropriate time. Plus, I was still upset about how she’d tried to use me. If I had validated all of my sources, and if what I’d sent her had been true, she would have stolen that story right out from under me.

  I grunted, struck by a thought, and sat up straight. Our friendship was over. She had never wanted to be my friend in the first place. Instead, I had inadvertently brought her an opportunity to stick it to Jasper, and she had taken it. I thought about that with a sharp pain in my heart until Jasper walked into the aircraft.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked, sitting down beside me.

  I didn’t have to force a smile—his beautiful face was enough to make me do it for real. I nestled up against his strong arm. “All’s well now that you’re here.”

  He stretched his arm around me and kissed my forehead. “What was bothering you before I showed up?”

  Of course Jasper would ask me that. It was one of the few ways in which we were similar. So I told him about the call from Kylie and what I planned to do about it.

  “You know you don’t owe her an explanation,” he said.

  I felt my eyebrows collapse into a severe frown. “No, I didn’t know that.”

  “Unless you still want a relationship with her,” he said. It sounded as if he were testing me, assessing my strength of character by the answer I provided.

  I shook my head. “She burned that bridge to the ground.” That was how I felt about Kylie.

  He nodded, giving a tight-lipped smile. I could tell I had answered correctly. I wasn’t trying to please him, even though I was glad I had.

  I smirked. “Fuck her, then.”

  “Yes, fuck her,” he said, smirking too.

  “So…” I sighed, squeezing his powerful thigh. My gaze fell on his engorged cock, reminding me that I owed him a blowjob.

  “So?” he said.

  I shook my head, waking myself out of my lustful stupor. “Um, so what’s the plan once we arrive in Nashville?”

  He was staring at my hand on his thigh. “I don’t know,” he whispered thickly.

  I tested my theory and raised my hand higher. Jasper skipped a breath. He was just as horny as I was.

  “You don’t?” I said in a sensual voice.

  “I really don’t. I know what to do, but…” He lifted his hips so his bulge could reach my hand.

  I caught his drift and grabbed a handful of Jasper Christmas’s solidness. There’s no stopping me now, I thought. Then two flight attendants boarded, and that cooled me down.

  Jasper winked at me.

  “Hello, Mr. Christmas,” one of the ladies said.

  They both examined me as if I were an exotic creature. Next, Joseph, Jasper’s security, boarded the craft. He took a seat in the chair nearest the cockpit.

  I put my mouth to Jasper’s ear. “If we weren’t going to be alone, then why did you encourage me?”

  He grinned naughtily. “I wanted to see how far you were willing to go.”

  I grunted. “Do you think I’ve gotten this far in life by being afraid?”

  Jasper turned his head slightly and studied me. He must have been wondering if he’d underestimated me.

  I unbuckled his pants. Nothing was going to stop me, and he would see it in how determined my hands were. I unzipped.

  “Joe—privacy,” Jasper ordered. I had his cock in my hand. “Now.” He thumbed over his shoulder as my hand went up and down his beautiful dick. “Attendants—in the kitchen.”

  The flight attendants sailed past us, careful to not look at me getting on my knees.

  “Babe…” He rested his head back against the soft leather seat. “What the fuck are you doing?” His protest sounded feeble.

  My mouth couldn’t wait a second longer. “Um…” I moaned once his cock was against my tongue. He had grabbed two handfuls of my hair as my mouth bobbed up and down. His silky saltiness filled my taste buds. I had never enjoyed giving blowjobs, but hearing him suck air as my tongue rounded his fat tip made me hot. “Um…” My mouth worked faster. Teeth restrained, I stuffed him deeper down my throat.

  “Oh shit, baby,” he said breathlessly.

  I sucked his tip, swirling my tongue around his slippery head, and then sank him deep into my throat again.

  “Oh…” He shivered. “Oh!” he cried.

  I felt his warm milk in my mouth. I’d never swallowed before, but every part of me wanted so much more of Jasper in my body. So I drank every drop of him.

  He stuffed his softened dick back into his pants then guided me upward and set me on his lap. His tongue plunged into my mouth, seizing mine. My head spun like a top as we kissed. My pussy longed to have his manhood inside me, but I knew he had given me all he had. It would be a while before Jasper was up and ready again—at least an hour.

  “We’re scheduled for takeoff in five,” the captain announced.

  I chuckled in Jasper’s mouth.

  “Shit, baby. I want to fuck you so bad right now.”

  “You came fast,” I said.

  “I know. I was way too turned on to last longer. I wanted to come as soon as I was in your mouth.”

  I smoldered, looking into his eyes. “Then let’s do it again soon.”

  “You’d better believe it.” He grabbed my hair, tilted my head back, and kissed me deeply.

  We kissed strong but not long. Once his lips abandoned mine, he used the call button to let the captain know we were ready to take to the skies. The flight attendants were back, smiling as though Jasper hadn’t cleared them out of the cabin so that he could get a blowjob from his girlfriend. And not even a small part of me was embarrassed by what we had done. They closed the doors and let us know the breakfast prepared by Chef Bartholomew would be served once we reached cruising altitude. Naturally, I was surprised to be partaking in Chef Bart’s delicious cuisine.

  I looked at Jasper with excitement. “Really?”

  “He’s in the kitchen,” Jasper said and instructed the flight attendant to bring my computer.

  “My computer?” I asked.

  “Yes. We should be back at the compound tonight, but this is a four-hour flight. I wanted you to have it, especially if our plans change yet again.”

  I felt myself beaming as the flight attendant, smiling like a Disney princess, handed me my computer case. Jasper let me know that as soon as we reached cruising altitude, I would have an Internet connection. I took a moment to recall the early days, when I would have done anything not to connect to his Internet service. Boy, have we come a long way.

  Soon the aircraft was darting down the runway. When we reach cruising altitude, I powered up my MacBook Pro. Bart had personally served us strawberry crepes with scrambled eggs and croissants with various kinds of jams. I ate alone. Jasper had joined the security guy in a private room to discuss their business. It had been two days since I’d drunk a good cup of coffee, so the flight attendants kept my cup filled to the brim with a hot, delicious Salvadoran light roast. I had a lot of emails to answer, many from Kylie but, surprisingly, none from Rachel. Kylie might have not been a real friend, but Rachel was. Also, according to Kylie, Rachel wanted to hire me back after that debacle with The Rochester Report. I created a new message with the subject Question and addressed it to Rachel: I was told you wanted to hire me back. Is that correct?

  I didn’t even wr
ite my name at the bottom. Once that was done, I went on to look at some stories that a few editors wondered if I was interested in. To my surprise, there was a message from Dennis, asking if I had investigated the story regarding the Christmases.

  I typed, No, I haven’t. Why do you ask?

  My eyebrows rose when I saw that Rachel had replied to me right away. Interestingly, her answer was almost the same as mine to Dennis, except far more brisk: No. Why are you asking?

  I typed, Just asking. Thanks for confirming. Good luck.

  I intended to keep being gracious. I wasn’t in the practice of burning bridges.

  Her reply came fast: Good luck to you too. I hope we can remain friends.

  Always, I wrote back.

  She sent another quick message: And perhaps sometime colleagues.

  I twisted my lips thoughtfully. At the moment, Rachel wasn’t aware that she was involved with a journalist who was the embodiment of professional cyanide.

  Perhaps, I replied.

  And that was how we left it.

  The more stories I researched, the more I began to understand what kind of conundrum I’d found myself in. I didn’t have the motivation to travel from city to city, chasing down sources. Perhaps, in my case, being in love was professional suicide. I wanted to always be near Jasper. I wanted to see him every day. I wanted morning sex with him and afternoon kisses. I was sure I could still do all of that and be a journalist too—I just had to curb the way I went about performing my job.

  I pondered the idea of working for a magazine. The thought fizzled away just as fast as it had come. There was so much technology in the world and so many television channels that aired informational programs. One of my favorite channels aired multiple-part series on famous presidents, the world’s greatest scandals, early pioneers… the list went on and on. Those shows were the new magazines. I certainly didn’t want my job to become obsolete.

  I decided to start a new document and write down all the secrets I’d been hiding deep inside myself. First, I enjoyed being a journalist, but it wasn’t the writing that I liked—I relished the act of discovery, questioning my sources, and painting the big picture. I loved finding the whole truth. Using the techniques I had learned at the university to write articles had always been a chore. I’d even hired screenwriters—since they were trained to find the action in a story—to help me write my two books. My editor had been on me to produce a third manuscript, but frankly, I didn’t have another book in me.

  Are you sure, Holly? I closed my eyes to ponder deeply the question I had just asked myself. I was more than sure.

  So I opened the email from my publisher, which was flattering, and wrote,

  I don’t have a book in me right now. Sorry. Good luck.

  And that was all.

  Investigator, I typed into the document I’d just created. I followed it up with What do I want to be? I like investigation.

  Perhaps that was the career change I was seeking. I’d never been one to wait and see how things shook out—I felt the urge to make things happen. But how?

  My mind was racing when Jasper walked out of the room he’d been in with the security guy. “Sorry to leave you alone for so long.”

  As he sat, our hands connected and fingers intertwined. My heart went pitter-patter. Then I was hit by a disturbing sense of clarity. At the moment, I wanted nothing at all but Jasper. Quickly, I pulled my hand out of his and looked at the document I’d been typing.

  Before I could close it, Jasper had already seen it. “What’s going on, babe?”

  I couldn’t say the words. He didn’t look away. Instead, in pure Jasper style, he waited for me to say something.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was thinking about doing something else.”

  “Doing something else with what?”

  “My life.”

  “Ah, I see,” he said, sounding relieved. Then he took my hand again. “We haven’t discussed our future together, but there’s no better time than now to do so. Do you agree?”

  I was both elated and terrified by the conversation he was beginning. The little girl in me wanted to run away from the talk and hide in her row house in Philadelphia. The grown woman wanted to brace herself for what was sure to be a life-changing chat. I nodded stiffly.

  “I don’t want to be away from you,” he said.

  My throat and heart tightened. I could barely breathe as I said, “Me too.”

  He sighed with relief. “That’s so good to hear, babe.” He kissed the back of my hand and then my palm.

  “Do we live together for a while?”

  “We live together for as long as we live,” he quickly said.

  I groaned. I’d always thought such a heavy task would be impossible for me. “Do you think we’ll last that long?”

  He kissed the back of my hand again. “Longer.” He grinned smugly. “And by the way, my purchase of BCN is back on. Katherine’s biggest investor couldn’t come up with the funding.”

  “Was that investor Valentine?”

  “Damn it, you’re so fucking smart. It turns me on.”

  I chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “Your boastful grin gave it away, that’s all.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “But you noticed.”

  We smiled at each other. Why does it feel like I’ve been looking at Jasper’s face my entire life? “By the way, I’m still not interested in working in television,” I said.

  “As I said before, and I’ll say again, I didn’t submit my bid to purchase BCN to control you. I was interested in owning the company long before Mrs. Givens hired you. A good friend of mine, Vincent Adams, talked me into purchasing the company.”

  “Oh,” I said, surprised. The Christmases were so dark that I never would have guessed they’d be associated with that caliber of executive. “You mean Vincent Adams of AEE?” I needed clarification.

  Jasper scowled. “Yes. I sense you have an issue with that?”

  I threw my hands up in objection. “No way. I’m happy for you. I just…”

  “You just what?”

  “I mean, you’re the dark Christmases, and Vincent Adams is the light.”

  Jasper studied me. I hoped I hadn’t offended him, but if I had, tough luck. I couldn’t be in a relationship where a simple statement of truth would bruise my man’s ego.

  Finally, he smirked. “Well, that’s the point. Vince intends to shine some light on our darkness.”

  It was definitely a good thing that we were grinning flirtatiously at each other. I wanted to kiss but not more than I wanted to satiate my curiosity.

  “So…” I whispered seductively. “Are you two going to eventually become a conglomerate?”

  He snorted then leaned away from me. “Nice try, beautiful, but I wouldn’t answer that question even you if you were asking as my girlfriend because when it all shakes out, you’re still a journalist.”

  Hearing Jasper say that made something click inside me. Why am I questioning what I am?

  Silence fell between us. A clear thought had been trying to emerge in my mind for a while, and finally, I could voice it, since the agony associated with my professional identity had been eased.

  “By the way,” I said. “I think I know why Kylie included Benjamin Dow in the email she sent me.”

  He winked. “I’m listening.”

  I took a moment to display my smile. I loved it when he was so open to hearing whatever I had to say. Jasper made me feel so validated, as if every word I spoke held significant importance for him.

  “Well…” I cleared my throat to get a handle on my desire for him. All I wanted to do was kiss him, not talk. “Um, I think she threw his name in the mix as a free radical. She must’ve gotten the name from a different source associated with another story and added it to the mix, hoping I would dig deeper and find who this guy is. And I would’ve done exactly that if you hadn’t exposed her to me.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. “Okay, then, what would’ve been your next s
tep?”

  I smirked. “I would have asked you if you could think of anyplace where Randolph would hide his financial records. Guys like him, who keep company with people like Valentine, often keep proof of shady dealings just in case they have to throw someone under the bus to save their own asses.”

  “And I would say to you that I’m way ahead of you. I’ve been working on it.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “And?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll update you as soon as I hear anything.”

  We beamed at each other until he closed my computer and put it back in the case. Jasper unfastened my seat belt and set me on his lap, and we continued stroking each other’s erogenous zones and making out. We only stopped to be served an assortment of éclairs by Chef Bart—eating was akin to the orgasms Jasper had given me the previous day in his office chair. It was an honor when Chef Bart came out of the kitchen to take a bow and thank me for being a fan.

  “You really have a kitchen in your private airplane?” I asked Jasper.

  “Wait until we travel in the luxury liner. I have a bed in that one.” His eyes smoldered. Apparently, we had the same thing on our minds.

  Thank goodness the captain announced that it was time to prepare for landing. Otherwise, Jasper and I would have cleared the cabin and fucked each other’s brains out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nashville was just as freezing cold as Newport and Providence. I was hoping that would not be the case. More than ever, I was positive that I needed to spend a couple of weeks on a tropical island at some point in the near future.

  I was happy that Jasper made the transfer from the aircraft to the big black SUV with tinted windows a quick one. He sat very close to me in the back seat, and that made the ride extra cozy. Joe, the security guy, was driving. Jasper said we were on our way to a motel on the west end of town and off the interstate. He was worried that Bryn and Katie had put themselves in more jeopardy than they realized and dragged Dale, along with Katie’s boyfriend, into danger with them.