Taking Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy Book 1)

by Wild, Nikki

  MAISEY

  I gave up. Or, maybe I gave in. Maybe I knew all along I was going to. Maybe the fighting in my head was just so I could say that I tried. That I tried to resist him. That I tried to do the right thing. That I tried to keep my feelings in check, to not let my feelings for him ruin everything.

  And I did try.

  But it was useless. With one look and just a few words, he obliterated every brick I’d laid between us. With one touch of his lips, all my resistance faded away, all my good intentions succumbed to his charm, to my irresistible desire for him.

  His kisses were like a warm, burning light that I couldn’t look away from. He kissed me like he’d done it forever, as if my lips belonged to him, not me. He touched me with such confidence, as if he knew everything my body wanted before I even knew it myself.

  Sure, all the while he was kissing me, while his arms wrapped around me, and I let my body rest on his while we moved together like starving lovers, I wrestled with myself. I wrestled with right and wrong, but I’d already done it so much, the arguments were old, outdated, and totally weak in the face of his sweet, sweet assault.

  They were no match for his confidence, his dominance, his cockiness that I somehow found so attractive, I wanted to drink it in. If only I had that same strength, maybe I could resist him. But I didn’t. I submitted.

  Because there was nothing else for me to do. He knew I was his before I did.

  But once I finally gave in? Once I convinced myself it would be alright, that it was just this one time, and then we could move on? We just had to do it once, get it over with, and then that intense attraction would become something we could deny again, become something manageable.

  But the force I felt in that moment, pulling me towards him, pushing my body against his? There was no denying it, no turning away from it, no running out on it this time.

  He was right… I felt something…

  It was otherworldly.

  Uncontrollable.

  And it hit me with the force of a freight train running right through my body.

  His hands were everywhere. The ropey muscles that covered his body pressed against me. His was hard, firm, a perfect mix of rough and tender that tore me apart.

  What harm would one time do?

  What would just a few moments of untamed lust change?

  What damage could be done that hadn’t already done? It was just one time.

  One more delicious time.

  One time to allow myself to see that it wasn’t so magical. That I’d been remembering him with naive and inexperienced adolescent eyes. This one time would let all those questions go away. I’d finally have the answers I’d been looking for the last ten years.

  These are the things I told myself until there wasn’t any more left to say.

  He pulled off my top and bra and I was only half aware of them leaving my body. But when his hot hands enveloped my bare breasts, it was the only thing I was conscious of.

  “Jesse,” I cried, my lips tearing away from his, my voice thick with lust. I was on fire, my body writhing against his touch. My hands fell over his, pushing his warmth against my heaving breasts. I arched my back towards him, and he leaned forward, pulling himself to sit up as I straddled his waist. We were still on the floor and I pushed my hips forward, grinding into him.

  His hands fell away from my body, finding my wrists and pulling them behind my back. I gasped in surprise, my eyes falling open, landing on his.

  Nothing prepared me for the look I saw there - hunger, pure, animalistic savage hunger that threatened to rip me to my very core. A low growl escaped from his mouth, and he shook his head slowly.

  “Maisey,” he said, his voice a low warning and a demand, all at the same time. “Tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” I said, my voice breathy and low as he pulled my hands behind my back tighter, causing my breasts to push forward into his face.

  “Say you want this too,” he growled.

  “Jesse,” I whispered. “Don’t make me…”

  “You left me, Maisey,” he said, his eyes flashing with such emotion it left me breathless. “I was the dumb jock, and you were the smart girl that was too good for me. You ran away. You walked out on me.”

  “What? That’s not true, that’s not it, that’s not why…” I protested, shaking my head. What was he talking about? I was so confused. I didn’t want to think about the past, I wanted nothing more than to think about right here, right now, this moment, and this moment only. “Stop, please…”

  “I’ve thought about you for years,” he murmured, his eyes searching mine before he captured my mouth in his again. He kissed me hard, deliciously hard, before tearing his mouth away again. “You’re the only woman that ever left me like that, Maise. All these years, I’ve wondered what it was I did to you that was so wrong.”

  “Jesse, it wasn’t you…”

  “I’ve wondered where you were, who you were with, what you were doing,” he shook his head, peering deeply into my eyes. “Why you didn’t want me…” I tried to look away, I didn’t want to see that I may have caused him pain. I didn’t want to see that in his eyes. But I couldn’t look away. “Whether you were thinking about me…”

  He held every ounce of my attention. My body was wound so tightly I was about to explode. My ears were buzzing, my stomach was churning, and I felt like I was going to faint from the blood rushing in my veins. I needed him. Now.

  “Jesse, I’m sorry, I —,” I began, but his lips crashed into mine again, eating my words.

  His kiss was even quicker this time, before breaking away and staring down at me again.

  “I need to hear you say it now, Maisey. Tell me you want me. Tell me you’ve thought about me all these years…” his eyes searched mine frantically. I couldn’t lie. Not now.

  “Yes, Jesse,” I whispered, tears springing to my eyes. “Yes, I want you. I’ve always wanted you.” I would have said anything he wanted at that point. Anything to make him happy. To make him do what I so desperately needed from him right now.

  But my words didn’t make him smile. His face turned even more serious, and his eyes flashed with determination. He grabbed my wrists again and gently pushed me onto my back and hovered over me, putting all his weight on his good knee. I should have protested. I should have insisted that he let me back on top of him so he didn’t hurt himself.

  But I couldn’t protest, and I knew he wouldn’t let me even if I tried.

  He pinned my arms over my head, pressing his entire body into mine, his cock pushing against my center, its hardness throbbing against me. I whimpered, pressing back towards him. His lips found mine again, and his tongue explored my mouth hotly, wantonly, with such intense sensuality, that my body was buzzing from his kiss alone.

  His fingers reached down, untying the drawstring on the waist of my scrubs. He pushed them over my hips, a low moan escaping from his perfect mouth. His eyes flashed back to mine as he pulled my panties over my hips. I lay naked in front of him, sprawled out on his floor like a hungry harlot, and I’d never felt more alive in my life.

  He looked at me like I’d never seen anyone look at me before.

  Raw, lustful, aching desire - that’s what I saw there. All directed towards me. I shuddered as he reached down and pushed his shorts off, his cock springing forward. I gasped at the sheer beauty of it. Long, thick and so hard it was throbbing heavily between his legs, I couldn’t help but reach down and grasp him fully in my palm, holding him in my fingers like a prize.

  “Now,” I said, pulling him towards me.

  But he had other ideas. He grinned crookedly and then shook his head. Slowly, he lowered his body down mine, trailing kisses along my breasts, sucking first one nipple, then the other, into his hot mouth, before planting feathery kisses along my stomach. My hips writhed in anticipation as his hot breath caressed my clit. I opened my thighs, welcoming him, yearning for his touch. His mouth engulfed me, his tongue darting forward, and sliding along my fle
sh deliciously, so incredibly fucking deliciously that I cried out in ecstasy, my body coming to life beneath his touch.

  “Oh, Jesse,” I whimpered, my thighs wrapping around his head, begging for more.

  Gently, his mouth worked against me, expertly pulling every spark of pleasure from the sky and sending it straight through my undulating body until I was squirming blissfully, his name flying from my lips over and over, until I’d lost all sense of reality. There was nothing in the world but his mouth between my legs and the shocks of electric pleasure that pulsed through me. He kept going, never stopping, never breaking contact, despite my frantic wiggling, until he’d pushed me over the edge completely, leaving me screaming and gasping for air, my hands clawing at his soft hair.

  Before I could catch my breath, he raised himself between my legs, and smoothly, slowly, with the grace of a God, he sunk himself into me.

  “Maisey,” he growled, staring down at me, his muscles rippling with every move he made. I stared up at him, completely in awe of the perfection of his body, his beautiful face, his amazing, velvety cock sliding deeply inside of me. “Oh, Maisey!” His lips found mine again and he kissed me softly as our bodies moved together, dancing together as one. My thighs wrapped around his hips, pulling him in tighter, closer, wanting more of him, all of him.

  He growled into my mouth, his cock twitching inside of me, swelling as he fucked into me faster, his thrusts becoming frantic and hard, until he was slamming into me, my body pressing into the floor below us.

  I had a quick moment of worry about his knee, but I looked up at him, and saw nothing but lust and pleasure on his face. I squeezed my thighs harder around his hips, holding on as he fucked into me harder and faster, opening myself up to his sweet, rough assault.

  “Harder,” I begged, his quick thrusts sending me over the edge once more. “Please don’t stop, baby, please Jesse, please…”

  I was begging him. But I didn’t care. I’d beg him a million more times if he would promise to never stop doing this, never stop fucking me, never stop making me feel this amazingly alive.

  He stared down into my eyes, his hips flying into me frantically, as a mixture of pleasure and pain washed over his face. My pussy spasmed around him rhythmically, his cock swelling hotly inside me as he slammed into me over and over until he stilled suddenly, his sweet warmth exploding inside of me, his eyes slamming shut as his entire body shuddered.

  When he opened them again, they were wide with awe and sweet pleasure. A slow smile spread across his face, and he bent down, capturing my lips once more and wrapping his arms around me as he kissed me deeply.

  I melted below him, my body spent and satisfied, buzzing and shaking.

  I’d never felt so amazing, and so right and so wrong, all at the same time.

  Maybe one time with Jesse wasn’t going to be enough after all. But I had to remind myself that’s all it ever could be. Anything more was a risk I just couldn’t take.

  I lay there in his arms, hoping like hell that I hadn’t just made my situation a hundred times worse.

  Because how in the hell was I ever going to resist him again after this?

  JESSE

  I’d never once kissed a girl before she left and wished she hadn’t gone afterwards. But here I was, alone in my apartment once again, and wishing I could live the last few hours over again.

  My knee hurt like a motherfucker, though. I hadn’t felt any pain earlier, but now that she was gone, now that my cock wasn’t standing straight up in the fucking air… I wasn’t concentrating on making Maisey’s beautiful face contort in pleasure, I was very aware of the pain in my knee.

  Shit. I’d probably set my recovery back a whole week, but what was I supposed to do? Lay there like an invalid? Fuck that.

  Maisey’s body required the pleasure than only a real man could provide and that’s what I was going to give her every time, pain or no pain.

  If there was a next time, that is.

  Who knows? Maybe Maisey had her own rules. Maybe she’d never sleep with me again, never let me caress those sweet luscious curves of hers. But I sure as hell hoped not.

  We’d fit together perfectly, our bodies coming together like old friends who hadn’t missed a beat.

  I was still reeling from it all, my body buzzing with the afterglow despite the throbbing pain in my leg.

  She was so fucking beautiful. She’d started out cold and detached, but her sweetness was shining through now that she’d warmed up a little. Her femininity was divine, and I’d loved watching her smile spread across her gorgeous face as she snuggled up against me.

  Suddenly, all I wanted to do was make her happy. In bed and out.

  I wasn’t really sure how to do that out of the bedroom, but I had a few ideas.

  I picked up my phone and began dialing.

  MAISEY

  I caught a cab outside of Jesse’s high rise. My car had died on the side of the road on the way to Maddy’s school this morning, making for a crappy start to my day.

  But now? After that scene up there?

  There wasn’t much of anything that could have put a damper on my day at this point.

  Sure, I shouldn’t have done it.

  Sure, it was a huge mistake. Huge.

  But holy hell, it had felt amazing. There was no way I was going to lie to myself about it. More than anything, I wish I had someone to call up and share the information with. I thought about calling Eddie, but he’d just be so upset that I hadn’t told him about Jesse in the first place.

  No, I couldn’t tell anyone. I’d have to keep this delicious secret to myself.

  Of course, I’d need to do damage control, I knew that too. I’d have to make sure that Jesse didn’t read anything into this. I had to make sure that I had the strength to say no next time.

  I’d done it, though, there was no going back. And it was out of this world. Even better than I’d imagined it might be during the last ten years. Even better than it had been that one time so very long ago.

  At least now, I had even more memories to keep with me for the rest of my life.

  Now that I had a little distance, and I wasn’t lying there in the comfort of his warm embrace, I knew that resisting his temptations the next time was essential.

  I reminded myself that I was strong. I had it in me to say no, no matter how out of this world sexy he was.

  No matter how much I wanted him.

  No matter how good it felt.

  I could do this.

  Now that I’d gotten it out of the way, we could move on.

  Right?

  JESSE

  “I have the information you wanted,” Maria’s voice boomed through the phone. She was a boisterous woman, retired from the police force for five years and making her living as a private investigator now.

  “Excellent, thanks Maria, what did you find out?”

  “Well, I ran a criminal check on her, but there’s nothing there. Ms. Jayne, as you know, has been working at Steadman Hawkins for the last year. Before that, she spent most of her time in school, working on becoming a physical therapist. She lives in a small rental home in Greenwood Village. No partner to speak of. One daughter.”

  “Daughter?” Maisey had never mentioned a daughter.

  “Yes, she has a daughter that goes to Greenwood Elementary.”

  “I see… And no father in the picture?”

  “Not as far as I could tell, no. No boyfriend, nobody at all like that, actually. I watched her for a few days. Her car broke down this morning. She’s been taking cabs everywhere all day. Spends most of her time working, at your penthouse, or home alone with the kid.”

  “Okay, anything else?” I asked. I’d learned basically nothing about Maisey, outside of her having a daughter. That was a pretty big secret to keep from me, though.

  “Nope. Should I keep digging?”

  “No, that’s fine. Thank you. I’ll send you a check in the mail.”

  “Pleasure doing business with you,” she
said, before hanging up.

  So Maisey had a daughter, huh? She’d never mentioned her at all. But why would she? To her, I was probably just a nuisance or someone that she had to endure. Yeah, we’d had sex, and it had been incredible, but that didn’t mean she wanted to let me into her life.

  Into her life.

  Is that what I wanted?

  Of course not, I’d never wanted that.

  I reminded myself of my original intentions, which I’d already achieved. One more time with Maisey. And now it was over.

  But I couldn’t help but wonder why this unfamiliar feeling was sticking around so long. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted to make her smile, make her cry out my name again.

  To say I was torn between my old ways of dealing with women that was so second nature to me and these feelings I was having about Maisey would be an understatement.

  I was overwhelmed by all of this. So much so, that even in my confusion, I was still sitting here on the couch with another huge erection.

  I watched the sun set over the Rockies in the distance, my mind filled with visions of her eyes, her lips, her curves, her touch…and I realized something.

  I’d never felt this way about anyone.

  Suddenly, my no-more-than-two-times rule seemed like the dumbest rule in the world.

  Because I wanted to make love to Maisey a million times more. And then probably a million more.

  I felt sick when I realized what was happening.

  Was this love? Or just nostalgic infatuation? Either way, she was under my skin, and I had no fucking clue what to do now, because this was so far out of my usual method of operating that I felt like a fish out of water.

  A very horny, very confused fish.