by Ward, Penny
Come on, think of something to say.
I can’t think of anything.
Instead, I stand in front of him not saying a word.
I can’t say a word.
I am too nervous to speak.
I talk all day, and I could talk all night, but now that I am in front of a beautiful, handsome man – I can’t think of anything to say…
My mind is blank.
“Leave,” I state.
What?
Why did that come out of my mouth?
That is not what I wanted to say! I wanted to say ‘take me!’
But I don’t.
Jackson stares at me in shock. This was not the outcome he expected.
“Leave,” I repeat the word, stronger this time.
“But Rachael…”
“Leave.”
He stares at me.
“I’m sorry Rachael.”
Jackson goes to say something else, but no words come out of his mouth. He drops his head and I let him walk out of the room…
The hotel is now silent.
And the room is as empty as my heart.
Chapter 12
I reach the phone and call Joanne.
“What happened?” she answers the call immediately.
She expected this call.
“I told him to leave.”
“He came to your hotel room?” she questions.
“He was here when I arrived. Then I panicked and I asked him to leave. So he took his bag and left the room.”
“Oh no… Did you give him a chance to explain himself? Did you listen to what he had to say?”
“I did,” I reply softly.
“Well? What did he say?”
“He said he was sorry.”
“That was it? Did he have an excuse why he left this morning? Like he had to be at the house to help his father get ready for the wedding?”
“No excuses.”
“Then why did he leave?”
“He said he was scared.”
“Scared? That was his excuse?”
“He said he has never felt like this before. He said he felt the connection but it sacred him. And it scared him so much that he ran away…”
“And you believe him?”
“I do. But why did he have to run away Joanne? Why couldn’t he have stayed here with me?”
“That’s what men do, Rachael. When they don’t understand what is happening with their emotions, they run away. And he might have run away this morning, but you are the one pushing him away tonight.”
I don’t respond.
She is right.
Jackson ran away because he was scared.
But I told him to leave because I am scared now.
“You’ve done what he did,” Joanne continues, “You’ve gotten frightened about taking a risk, and you’ve run away from your chance at love. He came to you and you threw him out.”
“I asked him to leave because he hurt me.”
“Jackson is not the type of guy that you will bump into on the streets of New York. Your paths may never cross again Rachael. You have to take a risk.”
“But what if he doesn’t feel the same? He said he felt the same, but that might be another one of his tricks. He probably said it to get me into bed again. Men like him can’t be trusted.”
“You said that you had never felt chemistry like that before. Chemistry is not a one-way street. For people to connect, it has to go both ways. He would have felt it too. He would have felt that powerful connection. You can’t deny that.”
“He said he felt it,” I reply softly.
“Then what are you doing!”
“I’m scared,” I reply with tears in my eyes.
“He came to you and opened up. He showed his vulnerability and you threw it in his face.”
I don’t respond.
“Rachael, do you know how hard that would be for a man like him?”
“Very hard,” I whisper.
“That’s right, Rachael. Men like Jackson Steele do not pour their hearts out for anyone. They guard it very closely.”
“Maybe…” I am slowly being convinced.
“Maybe?”
“It’s too big a risk.”
“No, it’s not. Doing nothing is a bigger risk. Doing nothing means that you will go back to New York and find Mr. Just Fine. You deserve better than Mr. Just Fine. You deserve the best, Rachael.”
“Mr. Just Fine would be ok…”
“Mind-blowing connections in life are rare, Rachael. You and I both know that.”
“But what if it’s not real? What if he is just using me?”
“That’s the risk you have to take.”
“I don’t know if I can,” my head struggles against my heart.
“Rachael,” Joanne is firm, “You need to make a choice. Do you risk your heart for love or do you protect it for comfort?”
Chapter 13
I don’t know whether it is the wine or the emotion of the day, but I hang up on Joanne with purpose.
I can’t let my chance slip away.
Life presents very few chances at love, and I can’t let mine fly away in a helicopter.
I have to chase him.
I can’t let my chance in life slip.
I will run all the way back to the ranch if I have too. I shouldn’t have kicked him out. I should have accepted his apology.
He came to me to apologize.
Jackson opened up to me and showed me his heart.
He took the chance. Now I should take mine.
In a rush, I move out the door.
I sprint down the hallway of the hotel.
I have to find him.
I have to take my chance.
Rushing out onto the street, I spot a tall figure under streetlight, sitting on a bag…
“Jackson?” I question as I approach the silhouette.
He looks up.
He stands.
“What are you doing sitting out on the street?” I question.
“I’m thinking,” he responds bluntly.
“About what?”
“Life. Love. Chances.”
“That’s a lot to think about.”
He shrugs his shoulders and questions, “Why are you smiling?”
“It’s not often that you find a New York billionaire sitting on a bag under a streetlight.”
He smiles, “Well, this isn’t New York.”
“No, this is a long way from New York and a long way from the world that you and I are used to.”
“Are you saying that I am confused about how I feel because of this isolated location?”
“I’m saying that you and I have different lives,” I respond.
Why would I say that? That’s not what I mean. This stuff just comes out of my mouth without any thought!
“Maybe our lives shouldn’t be so different?” Jackson states, “Maybe our paths can cross more often?”
“Maybe,” I reply with a cheeky smile.
“No,” Jackson is firm.
“No?” I am confused.
“I won’t take maybe as an answer. You and I will go out for dinner on Friday night.”
Wow.
I love the way he takes control.
“Ok,” I smile.
“Good.”
We stand awkwardly in silence under the streetlight.
“What now?” I ask.
Jackson’s posture and demeanor shifts.
He looks at me the way he looked at me last night.
I know that can only mean one thing.
He comes towards me and shoves me against the outside wall of the hotel.
When his lips land on mine, my body becomes alight with desire…
Jackson grabs me under the shoulders and legs, and carries me back into the hotel. A man has never carried me this way before. Jackson is so strong that it feels like he could carry me all day.
I feel helpless and vulnerable.
I rest comfortably in his to
ugh arms, and I know I have made the right choice.
I am happy to take this risk.
Jackson kicks the hotel room door open with his foot, and flings me onto the bed.
As he looms over me, my heart pounds.
Jackson comes forward onto the bed and we embrace in a long kiss. The kiss sparks electricity through the air.
The room is suddenly alight with passion.
And that makes me wet.
I want him.
I want all of him.
Looking up, I try to look sexual by biting my bottom lip, staring at him while he rests over the top of me. There is an undeniable chemistry between us, an understanding.
The connection between us is so intense that I struggle to understand it.
Despite being lost in his gorgeous eyes, I notice his hand start to slowly creep down my body, until it stops on my bottom.
His hand runs over the flesh of my behind with a smooth and tender touch.
Jackson is ready to take me.
He is a real man.
My perfect man.
He is also a man that loves the curves of a real woman.
I am smitten and my heart is racing. The bulge in his pants is growing larger and I can feel it press against me.
Yes…
His kisses make my head spin. His hand reaches up and tenderly caresses the side of my face.
Wow…
I am lost in his touch.
My body feels weak and vulnerable in the way he holds me.
His touch is so strong and powerful that it rushes emotion through my entire body.
Wow…
The craving pulsates through me.
In this hotel room, in a small country town, I am about to be dominated.
Quickly, the potency of passion overwhelms us.
The passion forces our hands to smother each other’s bodies.
I need him.
I need all of him.
Now.
I rip off his shirt and throw it across the room. He does the same to my dress.
Oh…
He drops his pants and exposes his rock hard body again.
I can’t resist it.
I rub my hands over every part of his tanned figure.
My hands run all over his chest and up his solid back.
Oh yes… it is so strong.
He continues to kiss my body with hunger and my head spins.
Yes…
Quickly, my underwear is tossed to the side of the room and I am naked. I am exposed to this magical billionaire.
I love lying here naked in front of this powerful man.
“Take me Jackson,” I whisper.
He stares at me.
I know he is going to take me.
And it is going to be good…
Soon, his hands find their way up my thigh, onto my tenderness.
I am so wet.
And as we embrace in naked lust, desire overcomes me. I want every part of this man. I want to hold every inch of his tanned, lustful body.
His hard cock touches my wet pussy and I become even wetter.
The hardness of his member sits on the edge of my pussy and I want it.
I need it.
He pushes in strong, sliding into me.
Oh yes…
He is inside me, deep.
And full.
Wow…
My head throws back in orgasmic yearning.
Jackson slowly withdraws… and thrusts into me.
Oh...
He is strong.
My hands push up and run all over his muscles, smoothing over the strength of his chest. I am taken by this chest – it is perfect in every way.
Again he thrusts into me… hard.
Oh yes…
He holds himself deep inside my body and my hands dance all over him. His powerful arms hold him up and my hands smooth over his large muscles.
He slams into me again.
Slowly, he begins to build into a rhythm.
Coming in and out of my wetness.
Oh yes…
The thrusting begins to build harder and harder.
Yes…
It becomes quicker.
Oh yes...
And harder.
Yes!
Jackson pumps me with all his strength, slamming his cock into me.
I can’t control myself.
My body becomes flush with orgasm and I feel every piece of my skin tingle with warmth.
My head is lost.
A loud moan escapes my lips and my head throws back.
Yes!
Jackson continues thrusting, slamming himself into me with a consistent pattern.
My head is sent to another place by the hard rhythm.
I cannot contain the moans any longer.
From deep within my body, a moan escapes. I pant as the strength of Jackson controls me – driving me into a primal rage.
His aggression is more amazing than anything I have ever experienced.
This passion, this lust, this desire.
“Yes! Jackson! Yes!”
Amazing…
He is in complete control.
I can’t stop him.
He owns me.
The lust is uncontrollable.
My heart rate begins to increase and my body begins to burn.
Fuck…
My overwhelming groans progress louder.
Yes…
Take me, Jackson.
Yes!
As he pumps into me, my entire body tingles with passion.
My head is lost and the feelings are overwhelming.
He holds me close and I try to hold onto him – but he is much too powerful.
I am tossed around the bed like a piece of meat.
I love it.
Quickly, his thrusting brings me to a peak and I squeal with delight. My eyes roll to the back of my head and my body shakes.
Wow.
Slam!
He pumps his manhood into me, driving me into the firm bed.
When I thought it couldn’t get any better, he increases his speed and slams faster.
Wow…
I am gone.
I can’t handle it.
The waves of pleasure dance through me.
The heat touches every part of my body.
I am lost.
Oh…
As I climax, Jackson continues to drive into my pussy. It sends me further into orgasm. As I reach the top, he keeps going…
His power is undeniable.
He becomes quicker.
Harder.
Faster.
Deeper!
Jackson intensely pumps into me, and my hands run over the sweat on his back. I grip tightly at his muscles as they flex hard.
He shakes with desire.
Every part of Jackson’s body grips…
Yes!
Jackson pumps one last time into me.
Yes!
I feel his warmth shoot inside me, tingling my pussy.
He puffs hard as he slows, trying to hold onto every last moment.
I grip him firmly.
I don’t want this to end…
Jackson falls to the bed, and I lounge my nakedness all over his muscular, toned body.
Wow…
Chapter 14
When the sun streams through the curtains the next morning, I wake in the afterglow of magical sex. I reach my arm across, expecting to find an empty bed again…
I am emotionally prepared to find an empty bed next to me. I am emotionally prepared to be alone again.
And I almost want to find an empty bed.
It would justify all my feelings about Jackson. It would prove that I was right all along.
An empty bed would also relieve me of having to take the biggest risk of my life. It would be comforting to have the choice taken away from me.
My arm comes across the bed…
But it isn’t empty.
What I find is the solid mu
scles of the handsome man lying next to me. My hand rubs up and down his arm, and then his torso. I have never felt anything as wonderful.
“Come to dinner with me,” he states as I wake up.
“It’s a bit early for dinner.”
He smiles, gazing at my body.
“On Friday, come to dinner with me.”
“Where?” I ask.
“Back in New York. I’ll take you to the finest restaurant in the city. I would love to get to know you better.”
“But you’ve already seen me in the only nice dress I own. I don’t have another dress to wear,” I mumble with my mind going back to planning mode.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m sure you won’t be wearing it long,” he smiles playfully.
I smile back.
Staring at his gorgeous face, I become lost in his gaze.
After staring at him for an eternity, I fall back to the pillow and look at the cracks in the roof of this old, country hotel.
“This morning, we are officially step-brother and sister. We are officially part of the same family. Don’t you think that is a bit weird?”
“No,” he shakes his head, “You and I are of no blood relation. I don’t even see my father, let alone his new wife.”
I ponder the thought for a while.
As wild as I am about this man, we are now stepsiblings.
I don’t know how I feel about that…
It feels strange.
“Take a chance in your life,” he states firmly.
“But I never take a chance, remember? That’s what you said to me.”
“Prove me wrong.”
I smile to him, roll out of bed, get dressed and begin to pack my bag.
“I’m going to start to drive back to New York today,” I mention.
“And?”
“And during that very long drive, I am going to consider how I feel about dating you. I am wild about you. You are the most amazing man I have ever met…”
“But?”
“But I need to consider the fact that we are now family. I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“It’s only dinner,” he grins.
“It wouldn’t be only dinner,” I smile back, “You and I could not have ‘only dinner.’ Whatever time we spend together, it is likely that we will end up back in the bedroom.”
He nods, and he understands.
This situation is weird. Although we are not related by blood, it feels strange that our parents are married.
Jackson writes on a piece of paper and hands it to me.
It reads, ‘Javier’s restaurant. 8 o’clock Friday.’
