"Stop biting that lip," he orders me, his voice now twisted and husky. "I promised to look after you and that includes proving to you that whatever, and however, you are always going to be beautiful to me. Lee, I can't think of anything better than taking you down on the beach or as the sunsets on us, but first, I have to show you that I love you for you."
"How?" My voice doesn't flow so well, I'm breathless and in eager need of a release.
"Like this," he murmurs as he moves himself over me, lowering down my body carefully. He reaches my stomach and pulls at the hem of the top I wore to bed last night. I close my eyes, scared of his reaction to my damaged body. "Open your eyes," he whispers delicately and I listen. He gives me a small smile for reassurance sake and continues to lift my top, rolling it up my body to expose me to the morning light.
I look and see how pained he is by the outcome of events, but he quickly masks it by leaning down to kiss the harshest of bruises. He starts with the one that colors my ribcage a multitude of hues. The one I got from Clive kicking me so hard I felt like my body was nearly broken in half. His lips pepper across my skin, stinging in sweet delight, and I start to feel like the weight of the world is lifting from my shoulders. He moves his body as he travels slowly across my stomach, gently touching every bruised part of me. He finds the grab marks from the attack and kisses them, only to make his way up my arm to reach my neck. He grazes over the hand marks still left on my throat and then goes back to my lips.
“I’ll do this every day until you’re healed if need be,” he tells me lovingly and allows his hand to roam over my body, touching me delicately, handling me with care. “I know you’re not broken, but just think of our first time when you’re not in pain.”
My eyes widen slightly and he chuckles. He knows me so well, always one step in front of me. Kissing my lips, he drops to the mattress, uncovering my body. Lying beside me, he holds me in his arms, my head on his chest. I close my eyes and memorize the steady beating of his heart. It’s one of the main elements I play to. Quite like the way he makes my heart skip that all important beat, the sound is like therapy and inspiration all rolled into one.
The only thing that spoils the moment is my stomach rumbling.
“Let’s go get you some food,” Jace murmurs to me. He gets up, and as I follow, he shakes his head. I stop moving and he leans in, places his hands under my legs and around the back of me and scoops me up into his arms. “I plan to treat you like a queen all day.”
I just giggle and accept. Who am I to complain?
Chapter Nineteen
This is day four of seclusion and already my bruises are dwindling into newer shades. I’m no longer black and blue; I’m more or less purple and yellow with shades of green. I look disgusting and feel it, but Jace has kept his word. He’s kissed every inch of my body, worshipped me with his lips, and made me feel like nothing was ever broken.
And by default, we’ve fallen into this domesticated bliss. It’s cadenced and timeless and it’s inspiring me with each new intake of oxygen. It’s why I’m here, sitting at the piano, allowing everything to flow. I’m trying to get an entire book of finely tuned musical perfection. Unlike a lot of girls, when I realized what I had really sold myself in for, I quickly filled my free time with planning a future. One that didn’t include Jace Mason. Before I even knew such a beautiful man existed, I had my life mapped out. I was going to become something. I was going to make a name for myself.
Little did I know when our paths crossed I’d sell myself again. This time involuntarily out of love, the decision made the moment his eyes met mine. I drowned suddenly in them, swallowed whole by the instant swell of butterflies as they began fluttering manically. They burst to life and filled my entire body with something I hadn’t felt for over a year – a passion for life.
My heart started beating the moment we met, and with it, my zest for music. He made me play creations I never knew existed; ones I never knew I could create.
“Hey, music maker.” Jace sinks onto the seat beside me. He looks from my hands, the ones that are still poised upon the keys in front of me, and then back to me with a small smirk. “I love how you fill my every thought with music.”
I dip my head as I blush, playing coy with him. “I don’t play that often.”
“I didn’t say you needed to,” Jace mused, his own hands coming up to graze over the keys. “Every moment with you fills me with sweet music.” He leans in, bumping his shoulder against mine, before turning his body ever so slightly to lure me in. When he speaks next, his voice is lower and huskier, stolen by seduction. “A bit like when I kiss along your neck and feel your heartbeat pulsating as my hands play away.”
I lift my gaze to meet his, but that’s all I do. I don’t move closer or allow myself the burst of ecstasy I know I can have if our lips meet. “You’re a silly man, Mr. Mason.”
“I don’t care what I am as long as I’m here with you.” His choice of words steal every word known to me. The way he makes me feel with the slightest of touch, or smallest of comments, is one I never want to live without. What existence would I have then? I may complain and fret about my life as a Viper Girl, but it gave me a love I had never known. It had given me an awakening I never thought I needed.
Twisting on the piano bench, I put my arm over his shoulder and toy with the hair at the base of his neck. “It’s a good thing we’re here together,” I murmur ever so softly as I lean in, “Alone.”
When I’m finished, we both close the gap between us. I should be bored of all the kisses he gives me, but no one kiss is ever the same. They change in degree of ferocity and they overwhelm me as if my nerves are becoming alive, sparking and filling with electricity.
“Come with me.” He stands up, pulling me up after him. I follow like an obedient dog, eager to see what my master has for me. Jace is heading for the kitchen and I’m overcome with confusion, but I don’t speak.
When we make it, Jace turns around and picks me up, only fuelling my confused state. He puts me onto the countertop and releases me. I begin to pout, not sure I’m happy about the sudden neglect. He seems to notice and fixes me with an all knowing look. Opening the fridge, I try to look around him to see what he’s up to. My guess is lunch, but I don’t want lunch. I want my man. I know my body is far from being entirely healed, but when has Jace ever been heavy handed with me? He hasn’t unless it’s a mutual agreement. He’s an attentive lover who knows how to work my entire body.
I place my sight back on Jace and watch him bend forward. His boxers go tight around his ass and it screams to be pinched. My stomach begins to knot in anticipation, but I know my needs won’t be answered quite yet, so I just sigh. It’s heavy and disappointed, but what else is a girl to do when the epitome of her dreams is standing half naked, his fine butt in the air?
“I know what you want,” he calls out, his head still firmly stuck into the fridge. He backs up, pulling out a variety of fruit. “But we’re going to go out onto the veranda, eat, and then I’m going to show you a good time under the sun.”
Again I pout, he laughs. It’s a regular occurrence.
“I promise, this foreplay is by far the best we’ve had.” He doesn’t say anything else, just leaves me hanging with that comment. He drops the fruit, berries rolling over the countertop. He just picks the mango up and throws in the air. “I know how turned on you get when I feed you.”
He’s right – as always. I find something extremely sexual in the way he feeds me. I don’t know whether it’s the way he does it or the look in his eyes as he does it. Either way, it starts a fever pitch between us and we always wind up reaping the rewards.
“Here, eat,” he orders and brings a strawberry from the container. Lifting it up to my mouth, he runs the strawberry across my bottom lip before I relent and open up ever so slightly to take a bite of the fruit. The juices hit my taste buds and I take another bite, allowing Jace to have the third. I keep my gaze set on him as I lick my lips. I know how that gets hi
m and I see his eyes tighten as he strives for resistance to my endless behavior. “Ah, fuck it.”
His words are said with such suddenness, I’m caught in the moment when he pulls me from the counter and stands me back on the ground. I’m pinned between the kitchen cabinets and his half naked, alluring body. I’m caught staring at his chest and begin to look up to him. Our eyes meet and that’s the end of his restraint. We’re kissing again, the nice, calm Jace disperses and out comes the greedy, hungry man I know has sat on the sidelines looking after me. His arm snakes around me, clasping me closer to his body. His lips dance upon my strawberry stained lip and press for access, gaining it without a fight.
I hear the sound of my phone vibrating across the kitchen surface behind us, forcing us to jump apart. Lust instantly lost with fright. Without even seeing the caller ID, I feel dread take over my passion. I look to Jace and from the drawn look on his face; he knows that it’s work. I slip out from between his body and the kitchen counter and grab my cell. I look at it and gulp, the devil herself is calling. Giving a quick look to Jace, I see the somber look on his face and I press answer.
We were fools thinking we could ignore the life waiting for us back home.
“Clara,” I breathe as I answer the phone.
“Joely!” she chirps down the phone merrily. “I just wanted to call and check in on how my favorite girl is doing. I know you’ve not even been gone a week, but I want to see if there’s anything you need, if you know when you’re coming back.”
I gulp and steady myself with one hand against the counter. “I’m fine, but I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m nowhere near ready right now. My body is still covered in bruises.”
I’m clutching at straws and I know it. I know the look of my exterior is one to use. She won’t care that I’ve barely slept since the attack or that I’m haunted by nightmares. She won’t care if mentally I can’t bear to go near the club. My mental wellbeing is nothing to her, so I won’t play on that. However, physically I’m still a battered woman.
“Oh,” she manages to speak and I smirk as a fiber of displeasure hits her tone. “Well, how about you let me know when you’re back and how you’re doing? I cannot put you on the floor with the clients looking how you did the other day. If it comes to it, I’ll have to have you on the other side of the bar with Eli.”
I close my eyes to collect myself. It’s an alternate plan I hadn’t thought of. “That I can do.”
“Goodie!” I hear the overuse of excitement in her tone. She never likes girls being out sick, so my beating will be an injustice to her and her earnings for a bit. “How are things though, Joely, dear? You don’t seem like yourself.”
I roll my eyes to her maternal tone, but heed. “I’ve been better. I’m just taking it day to day.”
“Well, that is good to hear!” she chirps at me and I can hear it’s not sincere in the slightest. Her moment as mother hen just disintegrated. She thinks she’s amazing, but for people like Brianna and me, she’s the most obviously fake person walking New York. “I will be arranging a party to welcome you back. So we need you back and in full force pronto!” She laughs as she says that. I’m not sure what’s humorous, but clearly something is. “If you take too long, Joely, I will send a search party. The moment those bruises are gone I expect you in my office for your reintroduction meeting. Now I have business to attend to. Chow for now, my love!”
Once the call is ended I’m confronted with how damp my palms are and how the breaths I keep exhaling are getting harder and shallower. Everything is back on my shoulders. The one shot from my reality has brought it all back. I know this isn’t forever, and as much as I run, I must never forget that my life is with The Viper Rooms. I’m contractually bound – only death gets me out early.
Jace’s strong hands come over my shoulders, immediately massaging away my tensed, boxed stance.
“You’re shaking,” he whispers as he steps in closer, his hands leaving my shoulders to allow his arms to loop around me. “Joely, you’re safe here. You don’t need to concern yourself with New York yet.”
“How do I go back to work?” I ask frightfully. My voice is tormented with my fear. Every part of me is contorted with how I feel over this. I’ve tried to do what I do best and run from the issue I am faced with, but now it’s caught me again. I’m in the clasp of terror and I have no way to escape it. "How do I face them?" My woes are far worse than ever. I have never felt like this and never want to feel like this again, but how do I stop a ball that's already started rolling? I can't and that's the sad truth. I can't stop thinking about how I'll be seen as a result of an unprovoked attack. I'm a victim, I feel a like victim, and I certainly have been acting like a victim.
"Look at me." Jace's voice penetrates my dark thoughts with a piercing brightness, dragging me away from the howling memories. "You are not some damaged girl. You're wounded, but I know you. I know how you deal with things. You will come back and prove to them all what you're made of. You don't falter under pressure and I know you won't cower because of what that bastard did to you. If you do, I'll be sorely disappointed with the girl you've become."
"What if this changed me?" The question beckons and it’s filled with my utmost trepidation.
"You've survived being under Delvine's charge for almost two years and you haven't changed in the time I've known you." He places his hands to my hips, keeping me close to him. “This won’t change you.”
I can’t speak, the answer to him is only damning his comment. Instead, I discard my troubled thoughts and draw him close by wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. I cling onto him and just allow his entire being to envelop me. The way he tightens his arms around my body tells me he knows what I’m searching for now – human contact.
Kissing into my neck, he keeps me calm until he speaks again. “Maybe we need to take you back.”
“No!” I gasp and drag myself out of the sanctity he’s supplied me with. The thought sends icy daggers throughout me instantly and I feel them sting all over, my skin prickling in both response and panic. How can I go back to my room when I almost died there? How do I go back to work without feeling like everyone’s watching me because I got beaten to a pulp by a client?
“Joely,” Jace intervenes, grabbing my arms. I feel him shake me a little and I look to him. “We can cut this short and we’ll speak to Eli. He can take you back to work. You need to go back there sooner rather than later or you’ll never go back.” He whispers a yes when I shake my head to him. “Your bruises are easily covered, and outwardly you’re not an issue to Clara. If you’re kept on bar duty, what’s the harm?” I see how sincere his eyes are and I know how he’s looking out for me, but I’m terrified. There isn’t another word for what I’m feeling. It’s pure, unadulterated terror that’s thriving in my veins right now and I can’t see how this will work.
“I can’t,” I whisper and want nothing more than to get into Jace’s car and tell him to run now.
Firm hands capture my face, a trademark of Jace’s to get me to listen. “Yes, you can. I know you, and I know right now you’re flight or fight response is going into overdrive, but you’ll sorely disappoint yourself if you don’t go back.”
“But I love it here,” I sulk at him, trying to hold onto the ideology of never leaving The Hamptons.
“And we’ll have more of these moments in the future,” he disregards my every attempt to get him to back down. “Just take a deep breath and think of it from my point of view.” He goads me and I close my eyes and pray for a calmer composure. As my breathing regains a more rhythmic, less staccato pant, I open my eyes. “Thinking rationally?” he asks gently and I nod. “Tell me.”
“Going back will help.” The moment the words tip from my lips and fall into my hearing I believe them. Immediately, I see it all happening before my eyes. Like any victim, if I keep myself from my normal routine, I’ll never go back to it. It’s time to show why I’m one of two chosen girls. It’s time to show them what I’m
made of. A man will not get to me and beat me down from a life I have been given.
As much as I have said the words, I’m not in the moment. This job doesn’t come without penalties and this is one I have to bear. I have no idea if I’ll be able to do as he says, but I know he’s right. Thinking about it, the longer I remain, the more I want to stay away. The distance isn’t healing me completely. It’s time to go back and deal with the life I have been handed.
“I’m proud of you, Lee,” he utters delicately and kisses my cheek. “But,” Jace begins to pull away from me. “If I’m sending you back to work, I need to give my finale now.”
“Finale?” I ask, my voice a shriek at the idea. The tension in the air just became nonexistent as Jace changed the subject. “What does that mean?”
“You’ll see.” It’s a stilted comment and it fills me with unease. “Just laze around the pool and you’ll see.”
“Jace.” I try to grab at him, hoping he’ll stop and stay here with me. I want some fun with him, not separation. “Where are you going?”
“You’ll see,” he shouts out to me, only looking over his shoulder once. “Stay there.”
***
I’ve been wandering the house for hours and I know I’m close to crawling the walls. I’ve tried calling Jace, but he hasn’t answered any of my phone calls and hasn’t reappeared. I can’t find him anywhere and I’m starting to get antsy. There is only so many times I can try to distract myself.
Walking into the main room, I’m suddenly confronted with candles and white rose petals everywhere. I see a note with my name scrawled on it sitting upright on the coffee table, leaning against a large, overflowing vase of roses. With my heart in my throat, I approach with caution and look around. The sun is beginning to set, dusk setting in beautifully on the view outside the windows. Picking the card up, I open it and read silently.
Saturdays at the Viper Rooms Page 20
