by N. K. Love
“Hmm. Okay, well considering you’ve already branded my body, I think it’s about time you started exchanging information for pleasure.”
Smart girl. I take two careful steps forward but she retreats with a massive grin on her face, obviously delighted with her impromptu sport.
“Branded?”
Pushing her pouty lips out, she twists her right leg outwards, exposing four finger mark bruises inside her thigh. I’m guessing there’s a thumbprint somewhere too. I know straight away that it was from the shower last night, when her leg was spread up the wall shelving. The very thought of that moment puts me on pussy alert.
“And that’s not all.”
Dragging her hair to the side she shows me the right side of her neck.
“Lovebites.”
I shrug like it’s no big deal but realise that I’ve gone higher than I have before.
“Correction; Fuckbites Jaxson—” The playfulness momentarily slips from her tone when she emphasises the word ‘fuck’ but returns just as quick.“—and there’s more, Count Jaxula.”
Mmm. I could get used to that, provided she says it just like that with her fuck-me-until-I-can’t-think-straight husky voice.
Yanking the neckline of my tee to the side, she slips her shoulder to poke out. When she turns slightly, she reveals another bite mark but this one is literally a bite. I didn’t break the skin but there’s two dark pink, bruised arches facing each other where my teeth have been.
My girl. My teeth marks. I think it looks sexy as fuck.
“In my defence, I was following strict instructions, Angel. You did tell me to mark you.”
My laidback attitude is obviously irritating her.
“Yeah ‘mark’, not brand me like… like cattle.”
I make another attempt to close the gap between us, dying to touch her, knowing she’s naked under that tee. My body’s been reacting to her since she walked outside. But again, she backs off towards the hallway so I stop and hold up my palms. She’s sticking to her guns so far, withholding what I need.
Frustration urges me to react with sarcasm so I place my hand over my heart.
“Bethany, I am terribly sorry that when you asked me to fuck you hard and bite you, it made you feel like an animal. For what it’s worth, seeing that, only makes me want to do it again. It’s a reminder of where I’ve been and of what’s mine.”
Beth squints her eyes and I swear I see her squeeze her thighs together upon hearing my words. Biting the pad of her thumb provocatively, she tilts her head and looks me up and down, weighing up her next move I suspect.
“When you put it like that…. I suppose you were giving me what I asked for, so I accept your apology on the grounds that you blew my fucking mind in that shower. Actually… seeing evidence of that, of how you took me, I think it’s hot too.”
I know she means every word. But I don’t know whether she’s intentionally loading them with sexiness as part of this game of hers, or if it’s just the way my dick is translating the situation... Either way, she’s gaining the upper hand.
“So, now that’s sorted. Let me get your little game straight. Your body is the currency and you’re paying for information presumably about me, on your terms I take it?”
Beth wiggles her eyebrows in agreement and slowly slides the tee up her thighs. I make it half a step when she stops me.
“Stay where you are or else I will run.”
“Angel, if you run again I will chase you this time. I’ve been on the treadmill this morning… I’m good to go, trust me.”
Well, not really but I can manage a decent jog. Her hungry eyes surprisingly light up at the prospect.
“You wouldn’t. Even if you did, you wouldn’t catch me.”
It’s written all over her face that she believes I won’t but I also see a hint of devilishness, daring me to call her bluff.
“Try me, Angel.”
Before I finish speaking she’s out the door and I’m in hot pursuit. Beth’s girly giggles and squeals echo around us, ricocheting off the ceiling beams.
“Keep running, beautiful, it’s helping me build up an appetite.”
After manoeuvring around the perimeter of the room, dodging the furniture, she shouts for a timeout. Taking refuge at the other side of the sofa, she puts us in stalemate whilst she catches her breath. I can’t help but admire the rise and fall of her chest and the rosy tinge to her cheeks.
Standing with my arms folded across my chest, I decide to play fair.
“Okay—to reward your feistiness, I’ll tell you something you’ll find interesting. It’s not juicy, but it’s a start.”
“That’s very sporting of you. I may return the gesture when you eventually catch me and beg me to let you have your wicked way with me. I might be sporting and accept whatever you concede to tell me… Maybe.” She looks me up and down with a sultry look that tells me I could annihilate her right over there, pressed up against the full length windows and she wouldn’t resist me. “Come on, Count Jaxula, I’m all ears.”
“You, Bethany Taylor, are the first girl I’ve ever brought back here, to my home.”
With her brow quickly furrowing, I can see her brain ticking over in disbelief, playing around with the fact in her head.
“What? Ever?” I nod. “Wow. I mean… wow. That is interesting. I would never have guessed it. In the beginning, I imagined this to be the ultimate bachelors pad. So I’m privileged then, huh? I feel it.”
“In fact, you’re the first person to stop here overnight full stop. Shortly followed by Jack, of course.”
“Why?”
“I vowed to keep this place for my own. I don’t see my family and don’t invite friends here, so the only reason I’d have anybody visit is for maintenance, like electricians and so forth.”
“So why the extra bed?”
“It was mine. Do you remember when we were coming back here after collecting your things from Willows and we stopped off at the department store? Well, I was buying new bedding for you because it’s never really been a guest room… Just a spare room.”
The details soak in and I stalk around the sofa, closing in on her.
“So why me? That night, in the taxi, why make an exception?”
“Believe me, I’ve asked myself the same thing. Guess it was always meant to be.”
“Hold on.” She backs off. I see her mentally pocket the information for further analysis later on. “Game on.”
She turns and runs for the stairs but I’m only a few feet behind her. Clambering the steps with her hands and feet, she giggles again. It doesn’t take much effort for me to grab hold of her ankle and flip her over. With her laid out across the steps for me, I climb up and cover her.
The heat of our bodies intermingle. They’re craving each other and I take a minute to let that wordless conversation take place. Her face softens and the laughter quickly fades. I know her heart’s beating faster for a whole different reason now.
Using the steps as support, I hover deliberately close to her but not overpowering her. Our faces are just an inch apart.
“So what makes you so confident that I can’t switch this up on you? That I can’t have you begging for me… again? Less tee—” I bite onto the material of her top, pull it taut and let go. “—more me… What makes you think you can insulate yourself against this electricity between us? Can you really compete with this?”
“Oh, I’m under no illusions that you could easily take control now if you wanted it. I also know that there’s no way to insulate myself against us. Even if there was I wouldn’t want to, ever. I want you inside me at every possible opportunity Jax.” She grazes her teeth gently across my bottom lip and kisses my chin. “But maybe my need to have you inside me completely, mind, body and soul… is greater than the insatiable need between my legs.”
Lifting her thighs around my waist, she locks her feet behind me and lets me take the weight of her lower body. I rock her back and forth gently, whilst reading the tho
ughts behind those inquisitive eyes. There’s no doubt in my mind that she deserves to know anything she wants to about my life and I’ve no idea why.
Part of me is still screaming that it’s none of her fucking business and I’m only asking for trouble. But I already know that one day she will know everything. I guess I’m just drip feeding her selfishly for two reasons. Firstly, I’m drawing it out so that I get to be with her and secondly, I’m hoping that when I tell her my truths, she’ll want to fight just as much as I do to make everything work out between us.
“Are you ready for this next one? It’s nothing sinister… Don’t look so worried.” Deep breath. “I’m wealthy, wealthier than you know.”
“O-okay… So the gym is—”
“—a distraction for me. A hobby.”
“A hobby? How can being the manager of 24/7 be a hobby? You need to elaborate.”
“I don’t need to work there Beth. I choose to because I enjoy it.”
“But you started as a personal trainer.”
I rest my weight on my knees, sighing aloud at the craziness of it all. I absently wonder if it’ll sound as fucked up coming out of my mouth as it does in my own head.
“I’d not long started my new life here and I’d shut myself away for a short while. I wanted to keep a low profile but didn’t realise the constant solitude and lack of stimulation would present such a struggle.” It sounds strange admitting these things to Beth, who still looks confused. “I’m a millionaire, Beth.”
Her legs had been slowly losing their grip around my waist but that bombshell causes them to involuntary fall back down to the steps with a bump.
“What? How? Like, as in winnings, inheritance, self-made… legally—illegally?”
She winces at the last word, as though it’d offend me.
“My family is extremely wealthy but I’m also self-made… legally.” Beth mimes ‘Wow’. “Track Me Fit.”
Her eyes widen even more. Moving to sit upright, I tell her all about how I’d created a digital tool for the mass market to use for tracking their personal health and fitness targets. It launched in 2008 and then by the time smartphones exploded into the market, I’d developed the application to accommodate the needs of successful businesses within the fitness industry.
This was predominantly gyms but also extended to sporting clubs like boxing, dancing academies, swimming syndicates, athletics associations… The possibilities went through the roof. The businesses that signed up for the new facility were able to track and trace members’ progression for whatever purpose suited them. I even landed a huge deal with an international private medical company who implemented it as standard patient care before and after treatments to monitor progression and results.
My adaptable technology not only suited the needs of Miss A, currently on maternity leave, looking to shift her baby weight but unable to commit to time at the gym. But it also suited Miss B, the professional athlete that wants her every move tracked, whether that’s at the gym, running laps or even swimming lengths. She needs reliable, easily accessible data at her fingertips. Of course, it’s gone from strength to strength, capitalising on peoples’ growing desires to be the best version of themselves in a world that knows no limits.
TMF, was my baby. I conceived it and nurtured it into becoming a highly successful household brand in its own right within the health and fitness sector. I paved the way for many competitors to hustle through the ranks but none are as lean and strategic as TMF. Plus I’ve always been ten steps ahead of the game.
Handing over the reins to my brother when I left was a massive decision for me. I could’ve just took the crown with me but then I wouldn’t be fully committing to my new life. I wasn’t mentally in the right place to make sound business decisions either. Initially it was going to be temporary but shit happens.
I’m still completely involved in TMF, along with the rest of Carter Corp. That was the only stipulation made by my family when I decided to walk out of their lives. I wasn’t in a good place. They reluctantly agreed not to interfere provided I remained an active, albeit silent, member of Carter Corp. It all made logical sense of course. It was their way of keeping hold of me in some regard and it was my way of making sure I fought to get my head straight to continue to support my family in the only way I felt possible. I couldn’t leave them completely in the lurch, I was already hurting them enough by going.
Beth and I ended up settling in, sitting on the stairs talking until she said her ass was numb. She asked some questions but held back on the most obvious burning question.
Overall, my most important observation was that she didn’t look at me any differently.
Beth’s hunger for us to grow as a couple outweighed the fact that I’d kept this from her. My money didn’t scare her off or make her cling tighter. I could hear the excitement in her voice when she asked about TMF and the collective business. She is an independent, innovative woman with a small business of her own, so business talk wets her appetite so much more than the idea of my wealth.
Now after all this talking, which is not my forte, I have my very own substantial Beth-shaped appetite that needs feeding.
“You okay Beth? It’s a lot of new stuff, huh?”
I purposely haven’t reached out to her to touch her the whole time we’ve been talking. I didn’t want to overwhelm her and wanted to give her the space to process things. At some point she’d taken hold of my hand and was still subconsciously stroking my fingers, caught up somewhere in a daydream.
“It’s just amazing. I mean, I always knew you were special and intelligent—but what you’ve accomplished is nothing short of remarkable. I’m in awe of you. I can’t wait to hear all about it, eventually, if you’ll let me.”
“Of course. But, I am sorry, Angel.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For the shit circumstances that I’ve put us in. Your life is stable and on track and mine isn’t—wasn’t. I know you’ve always respected my privacy, but I can see some sadness hiding away in your eyes and I know I put it there.”
“You can?” Beth looks down towards the front door and then back to me. “You’re right, I guess, I am sad. But not because you’ve kept this from me. Jax, that’s always been your prerogative. You made it clear that you came with boundaries. I knew that. That’s not why I feel sad. It’s, it’s that—”
Out of the blue, her voice breaks and her big brown eyes well up, glistening like crystals. She fans her face, shaking her head, in a hopeless attempt to banish the tears. I instinctively scoop her up to straddle my lap and wrap my arms around her perfect frame.
Between sobs she slips out words here and there, trying to explain what’s upset her. It’s difficult to translate with her face pressed into my chest, masking her voice. She finally gives up and concentrates on curbing her emotions. I say nothing. I hold the back of her head, stroking her back until she’s ready to talk.
“Sorry. I’m okay now.” Blowing out a breath, she’s composed herself. “Jax, even though you’re still professionally involved, for you to walk away from your family, your friends, your life, something awful must’ve happened. And if something awful happened then I know you’ve been hurt, terribly. I don’t know what your family life was like before, but it crushes me—it makes me feel physically sick to think that something led you to believe that a new life, was your only option. Starting from scratch with nobody… I’m sad for what you must’ve been through.”
I cradle her head with my hand and cover her face with slow, heartfelt kisses. She said she’s in awe of me, which is ironic because the only person awesome here is fucking her. She is awesome. Nobody has ever spoken about me the way she does.
“You’ve got such a big heart. I’ve always been hesitant to follow my feelings with you. I can’t shake the fact that I don’t deserve you. Remember in the beginning you said that we’re polar opposites? But then you changed your mind…” I stroke my fingers down her face and leave my palm pressed against the base
of her neck. “What if you were right? That would mean this relationship is a recipe for disaster? I don’t wanna hurt you, Beth. That’s my only concern.”
“Or maybe we’re the perfect lover’s symbiosis regardless... I love that you want me. I love it when you’re controlling and possessive, and not just in the bedroom.” Beth has a wonderful ability of effortlessly shining light into the darkness. “But, that doesn’t detract from the fact that deep down, I am a strong woman. I know what I want and it’s always been you. I accepted the possibility of getting hurt a long time ago… and I’m still here, smiling. That’s my choice to make, not yours.”
Shifting to plant her knees either side of me, she wraps her arms around my neck and dons that sultry badass expression, telling me this conversation is over with just one look.
