* * *
She came to visit me at work the day I disappeared. Jack was pissed off that I wasn’t interested in one of the new companies he’d earmarked.
“It’s the perfect time to get into this sector, Jeremy,” he insisted.
I’d already vetoed his idea. My independent research suggested that the sector was already played out.
“We’ve already had this conversation, Moore. I said no. Do you think asking me again every day is going to change my mind?”
He was glaring at me when my assistant Caroline knocked at the door.
“Sylvie Solum for you, Mr. Bradford.”
The surprised grin that split my face made Jack roll his eyes.
“You can go now, Moore. And don’t ask about this again.”
He left and every thought of him vanished when she came in and locked the door behind her.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you all morning,” she said, closing the privacy shades on my office windows.
She had on a demure, knee-length wrap dress in a soft peach that flattered her dewy brown skin. But the look in her eyes was all vixen.
“What are you trying to do to me, sweetheart?” I teased as she approached.
She stopped, just out of my grasp and she shed the tweed jacket she wore over her dress. I smiled and shook my head. Licking my lips and swallowing the extra saliva in my mouth, I watched as she untied her dress. She held it open, revealing the royal blue lace bra and panties she put on that morning. I’d wanted to rip them from her body as soon as she put them on but I’d restrained myself. Rubbing my lips, I drank her in as she let her dress slip from her shoulders. My cock bulged and my restraint wavered.
“Here?” I asked. “Aren’t you sore from this morning?”
Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip and she nodded.
“In the best possible way,” she replied.
When she stepped out of the puddle of her clothing, she was close enough for me to grab her. But when I reached, she took my hand and put my index finger in her mouth. She sucked hard and my cock grew rigid. She eased my hand back to my side.
“Not yet,” she whispered, smiling as she turned away from me.
She unhooked her bra and glanced over her shoulder to meet my eyes. I slid the straps off her shoulders. My fingers lingered on her soft flesh. I leaned forward to suck on the tender skin on her neck, but the shake of her head made me pause.
“Not ‘til I give you permission, Mr. Bradford,” she scolded.
I retracted my hand with a laugh, but I had to grip the edge of my desk to keep my hands from grabbing her. The striptease was gloriously excruciating. My breathing grew strained. My dick swelled painfully in my pants. She stretched her arm out and dropped the bra. I yearned to feel the weight of her tits in my palms.
Looking over the other shoulder now, she hooked her thumbs into her panties and folded forward as she shimmied them down her thighs. The curve of her body made me want to come in my pants as her panties hit the floor. She wiggled again with her round ass high in the air; I could just barely see the folds of her swollen slit.
I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. My hands landed on her hips first. She flipped her body upward and leaned back against me.
“The things you do to me,” I groaned as I took her breasts into my hands and squeezed.
She moaned as I rolled her nipples into hard points. I turned her to face me and flicked my tongue over her sensitive flesh and she whimpered.
“Ask me to suck them, sweetheart. You teased me and now I want to hear you beg.”
She shook her head and I bit down on the side of her breast. She gasped. I covered her mound with my hand and she sighed.
“Beg me,” I whispered into her neck as I sucked at the skin there. “Beg me to suck on those sweet tits of yours and make you come.”
“I don’t beg,” she breathed.
“We’ll see,” I rasped as I turned her roughly.
My hand closed around the back of her neck. My fingers pressed on her throat as I pulled her backward against me.
I pinched her clit and she whimpered. Using my fingers, I separated her folds and traced the line from the bottom of her entrance to her engorged nub. The pressure I applied with my fingertips was enough to make her squirm but not nearly enough to give her the release she was after. Kissing up from her shoulder. I sucked on her skin as I traveled to her ear. I bit down on the lobe hard enough to draw a gasp, and that’s when I dipped two fingers inside her cunt. She jerked forward, trying to ride my hand but I tightened my grip on her neck.
“All you have to do to get what you’re after is ask, sweetheart.”
My fingers left her pussy, dragging her wetness along the centerline of her body, until I could grip her breast.
“I want to wrap my lips around your nipples, Sylvie. Tell me you want that too.”
I rolled and pinched her pebbled points a few times before I turned her to face me. Her eyes fluttered and when I begin to rub my thumb in circles around her clit she broke.
“Please, Jeremy,” she moaned.
Grabbing her breasts with both hands, I licked her nipples.
“Please, what, sweetheart? Let me hear you.”
When my teeth scraped over her tits, she moaned again.
“Please suck my tits, Jeremy.”
I acquiesced. I sucked and nibbled and licked her tits until she was panting. Then, I began to rub her clit with my thumb again. I pressed harder until I felt her pussy lips flutter against my finger tips. When she groaned, I sunk three fingers deep inside her and I pumped my hand into her throbbing sex until she came.
She was weak in my arms when I shoved everything off my desk and laid her out. I was on top of her in seconds. I thought my pants might rip from the force with which I hurriedly unzipped. Shoving inside her was euphoric. Each long, slow stroke made my balls ache. Bringing her mouth to mine, I kissed her, sucking on her lips, circling with my tongue. I roared when I came. I could barely hear her crying out under me as her second orgasm tore through her and she milked my cock.
I rocked into her until she stopped clenching. Then I kissed her again, devouring lips that belonged to me alone.
“Please come visit me at work again, sweetheart,” I breathed into her hair.
She laughed and kissed my chest. I helped her get dressed and ordered lunch for both of us. We had falafel salads and talked about our weekend trip. She smiled at me as she slipped out of my office that day.
We were supposed to see each other again in mere hours, but I never made it home that night. We never took that trip. That was the last time she was mine, the last time I saw her before everything went to hell.
* * *
When I open my eyes again, I watch my cum wash down the drain. My hand is still wrapped around my cock and I can barely catch my breath. I wash off my heartache, but the memories of her linger. I don’t know how to wash away the smell of her, the feel of her in my hands. I don’t know that I would even if I could. Those memories are all I have left.
Stepping out of the shower, I stare at myself in the mirror before I dry off and get dressed. I can’t imagine anything that Silas could say that would keep me from doing everything I can to protect her from him. But before I find out, I have a couple hours with her to get a plan together. I hope that investigating how I ended up in that hospital bed will be enough to bring us back together. But if it isn’t, I’m willing to do whatever else I can to get Sylvie to see that she and Levi and I are a family and that Silas was never who she thought he was.
Chapter Eighteen
Heat warms the back of my neck as his hand pushes my hair up over my head. He sucks on the tender skin at my nape and I shiver. His body nudges me onto my belly. The smell of pine needles and sap and rain provoke my smile and tickle me awake.
“Mmm,” he rumbles as his plush lips kiss up my spine.
Did I fall asleep naked or did he undress
me before I woke up?
He licks his way back down and I gasp when he grabs my ass.
“I missed this sweet ass all day.”
He bites, eliciting a yelp and then a moan when he continues to nibble at my skin. When he lifts up my cheeks and licks my entrance, thick heady arousal jolts me awake.
“Do I have your attention now, sleepyhead?”
“Oh yeah,” I moan as he bites the back of my thigh.
I try to lift my tingling form from the mattress but his hand on my lower back holds me in place.
“I’m enjoying this particular position far too much to let you escape, sweetheart.”
He sucks at my pussy lips and I groan, fisting the sheets and clenching my sex.
“Or should I say that you’re enjoying this position far too much for me to let you escape?”
I’m dripping with heat as he continues his assault on my fleshy bottom. I writhe trying to escape his mouth, or maybe trying to tempt it into continuing its salacious game. I grow desperate for him to touch me, to rub me in all the right ways. But his torture only increases as he laps at the juices dripping from my folds.
“Please,” I whimper as he continues to knead and suck.
His body slides up over my ass, along my spine, until he’s stretched over me sucking on my earlobe. It’s only then, when I feel the slickness between our bodies and the musk of his sweat penetrates my nose, that I realize how much he’s truly exerted himself. The weight of him, the feel of his dewy body over me has me grinding my sex against the sheets.
“I know what you want, sweetheart,” he rasps.
His hips grind against my ass and his rock-hard cock drags between my sopping folds. I clench and sigh, rocking my bottom, angling to offer him access.
“Please fuck me,” I breathe.
“Your wish, my love,” he growls as he shoves into me in one long fuck, “is my command.”
I scream into the sheet, gripping as I try in vain to catch my breath. His feral possession stretches me to the point of pain and the fullness enraptures my every inch. I clench around him but he pulls all the way out. His hand reaches under our bodies to pinch my clit and I gasp just as he shoves in again. His hand moves in gentle circles over my slit. His throbbing cock pumps into me in long languid fucks.
“Being inside you feels too good to go fast, Sylvie,” he whispers against the back of my neck as he slowly twists us tighter, pushing us both to the edge.
“Being inside you feels like home, sweetheart.”
He open mouth kisses down my neck as he strokes my clit and fucks my pussy. I’m straining against him, digging my fingernails into the sheets, but there’s nowhere to go. He’s on top of me. His knees hold my thighs apart as he takes what is his, always his.
“I can’t… ahh,” I groan. “I’m so… ”
I writhe against his hand, desperate for release, but it’s useless. His thrusts drive the rhythm. We move at his pace. He owns my orgasm as I call out his name.
“Jeremy! God, yes! Jeremy!”
* * *
I wake up, sweaty, with my sticky fingers pressed to my pussy. My eyes dart to my husband sleeping beside me. He hasn’t stirred. His mouth hangs open and a faint snore escapes with his breath.
I lie back, guilty, and work to calm my breath.
“Just a dream,” I mutter to myself.
But it wasn’t. It was a memory. A memory I’d worked hard to forget, just like I’d disremembered the way his hands felt on my skin and his lips felt pressed to mine. All of my efforts are undone, wasted now that he’s back. Swallowing the fear-flavored puddle in my mouth, I close my eyes and try to sleep again.
In the blackness of the bedroom I share with Silas, I push away the memories of Jeremy, of our intimacy, and of how much I loved him. With a ruthless purging, I force him out of my mind, yet somehow, the smell of pine needles and sap and rain lingers.
Chapter Nineteen
My bag is like lead. My feet feel heavy, too. I’m dragging so much baggage with me as I walk into the therapeutic center. But everything feels lighter the second I see him. He’s toying with my visitor’s pass wearing his signature smoldering eyes and a sexy hint of a smile. Chastising myself, I push my dream out of my mind.
“Hey,” I say. “You look better every time I see you.”
“I feel good,” he says, wrapping me into a hug, “so good, in fact, that they are going to let me out in a few days.”
“That’s great, Jeremy!”
I pull away and he clips my visitor’s pass onto my jacket lapel.
“How about we talk in the greenhouse? It’s always empty.”
“Sounds great.”
I follow him down the curved hallway to almost the very end.
“Maybe, you could help me look for a place?” he asks as we walk down the hall.
I swallow, remembering my talk with Silas last week.
“You’ve got great taste, Jeremy. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something without too much trouble.”
We walk through a small garden and into the large house of glass.
“Well, I want you to be comfortable, wherever I end up,” he adds, holding the door open. I shiver as I brush past him. “I want Levi to have his own space there and I don’t know what would be best for him.”
Dread tugs a knot in my chest.
“You want… you want joint custody?”
Shaking his head, he wraps his hand around my arm. The intensity etched into his face makes my heart pound.
“I would never take our son away from you, Sylvie. I want to see him as much as I can, but I promise it will always be on your terms.”
Exhaling, I nod. I open my mouth to tell him that I’ll help him find a place, but then close it and smile. I made a promise to Silas and I intend to keep it.
“I trust you, Jeremy. I’m sure wherever you end up will be great for Levi. He’s not a baby anymore. The most you’ll need to do is put away anything sharp or poisonous. And he’s going to love spending time with you wherever you are… because you’re his father. God knows, I would have gone anywhere to spend time with my parents.”
We share a sad smile until the intimacy of our eye contact grows tense and I turn away. Searching for someplace to sit, my bag starts to weight on me again. When Jeremy leads me to a garden table next to a bird bath, I reach into my bag. The manila envelope I hand him is weighted down in one corner. He takes it with a confused scrunch to his face.
“It’s a key,” I tell him. “To a safety deposit box at your bank. It’s in both our names but you’re authorized to change it to just your name whenever you have time.”
Pulling the water bottle out of my bag, I take a large swig before if finish in a whisper.
“It’s your ring.”
The anguish cinching his eyebrows together forces me to look away. Locking the stunning sapphire in the box and walking away had been excruciating, but this is unbearable.
“I’m…”
“Don’t apologize,” he says, reaching for my hand. “You’re just doing what you think is best for all of us. I get that.”
I swallow my guilt and smile.
“Have you remembered anything else?” I ask.
His neck brightens and he glances at my mouth.
“Nothing relevant.”
Every muscle in my body tightens as I try not to flit through my own memories of the day Jeremy left. I don’t want to know what he remembers. I’ve been remembering it all for years. Looking down I see that our fingers are entwined and I pull my hand away.
“I was thinking that we should start with the hospital, the one where you woke up,” I breathe and clear my throat. “I found the list that my investigator gave me, but St. Helena isn’t on it.”
“Maybe we should start with your investigator?” he chuckles.
“I called him but his old number is disconnected. Noah helped me find him four years ago. But I haven’t been able
to get ahold of Noah for a few days, either.”
“I haven’t talked to Noah in about a week,” he says, pulling out his phone.
After a few seconds, he taps the end call button and slips it back into his pocket.
“No answer.”
“He’s probably just gone out of town for a few days and forgotten his charger,” I offer.
Jeremy’s mouth tugs into a hard line and his brow wrinkles.
“What is it? I ask.
“The last time I couldn’t get ahold of him for this long he was binge drinking on Bruce’s yacht.”
“I didn’t know that your parents have a yacht.”
Jeremy’s brows lift.
“They don’t. Anymore. Noah almost killed himself and a few other people when he crashed it into the marina. Bruce and Silas barely kept him out of jail.”
Clamping down on my lip, I push my own concerns aside to assuage Jeremy’s.
“That was years ago. He doesn’t drink like that anymore, but sometimes he does take off for a few days. He always shows up again after a while.”
I start to reach for his hand again but stop myself. Our eyes meet and the way he cringes when I place my hand back in my lap makes me want to give him a hug. I don’t.
“How about you try to get in touch with the investigator your brother found for me as well as the one your parents were using and I’ll go to St. Helena’s and find out what I can get from them.”
“Sounds like a good place to start. Are you sure you should go there on your own? Maybe you could wait a few days and I could go with you?”
“I’ll take a friend,” I say, rising to my feet. “I’ll call as soon as I know anything.”
“Okay,” he says standing with me. “Can you stay for lunch? The cafeteria ladies make a really delicious eggplant parmigiana.”
He flashes that smile at me and I want to say yes.
“I can’t, I have an appointment on the other side of the bridge. Peninsula Midwives.”
His smile drops and my heart beats faster.
“You’re pregnant.”
Everything Stolen Page 10
