Her own actions were no longer the pressing issue. Aneisa’s mind had done a complete U-turn and now she was a bit more curious about what Shane had been doing for all of these hours. A thirty-minute meeting with an undergrad student from the class he was assisting with this semester had morphed into hours and he didn’t seem very eager to tell her the details of that session. Teaching and tutoring were Shane’s passion and Aneisa had never known him not to be excited about sharing his experiences with her. Whatever went on must have been serious enough to throw him out of his normal routine.
On second thought, she had no reason to doubt Shane’s fidelity. He had been nothing but a sweetheart to her since they had decided marriage was the obvious next step for two people who had been dating for so long. Trying to pigeonhole Shane as an adulterer without any real proof was Aneisa’s way of covering up her own guilt. Finding a way to make him into the bad guy would help her to throw off her own shame. The theory struck her like a small electrical charge.
Aneisa pushed herself away from the door. While she stood in the middle of the upstairs hallway of their split-level home, the sound of the water cut out of the background. She heard the door swing open and Shane stepped up behind her. Before he could take hold of her, she turned around, determined to look into his eyes and find an answer in those emerald green lenses of his.
He smiled down at her. His copper colored hair was drenched and dripping over down his earlobes and onto his shoulders. The light trace of freckles on his creamy face made him boyishly adorable. There was no way a face so innocent could be hiding any deceit. Aneisa only wished she could think the same of herself. If the man who loved her enough to place a diamond ring on her finger only knew what wickedness she had been up to, what naughty memories and terrible desires were running through her mind at this very moment, he would never forgive her indiscretion. No matter what the cost, she had to make sure Shane would never discover what she had done with Jayson.
Shane wrinkled his face and lowered his red tinted eyebrows.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” There was sincere concern in his voice when he asked the questions.
He reached out and cupped her chin between his thumb and index finger. Right then, seeing the alarm on his face, Aneisa wanted to burst into tears. She wanted to cry out her confession and beg him to forgive her.
Shane was straight-edged and would never marry a woman who liked her sex with a lot of kink and sweat. That was not the woman he knew and not the woman who he planned on making his wife. Would he still love her the same if he ever experienced the alternate side of her personality? It was a chance Aneisa was not willing to take. Instead of pouring out her burning secret, she placed her cheek on his wet chest and stroked his face in her palm.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” Aneisa stared up into Shane’s green eyes but she was imagining deep blue ones staring back at her. “I guess I just missed you a lot today.” She lied but it was what she wanted to feel so it was as close to the truth as she could manage.
His heavy arms draped over her shoulders and pulled her in tighter. Long fingers massaged her loose hair. After a moment, Shane pulled back and used his finger to lift her chin and bring her lips to his. He kissed her gently at first and then moved in deeper, pushing his tongue between her full lips, and proceeded to devour her moist mouth with his own. It was the most intense and passionate kiss the two had ever shared. The problem with the hunger churning within her was that it wasn’t for the man standing in front of her and holding her dearly. It was for a man who had ignited a long dormant fire within her. A perversely arrogant man who had stomped into her life and rewritten her definition of what and who she desired in life. When they met up again later on tonight, and if he tried to use his cunning and seductive charm to persuade her into committing another lecherous performance with him, Aneisa would have to summon every ounce of her willpower to force herself away from repeating her terrible mistake twice over.
It wouldn’t be until much later in the evening when Aneisa finally noticed that Shane did not return her sentiment. He never replied he had missed her at all.
3
Two hours later and Jayson’s nerves remained dangling from a sharp edge.
While he waited for the happy couple to make an entrance through the doors of the uptown adult lounge, he ordered a draft beer but never took a sip. He wasn’t really a drinker but could never shake the awkward and naked feeling that came from sitting in a drinking establishment with empty hands.
The cute blond had done nothing to alleviate the dull ache he was experiencing inside. Imaging she was Aneisa had only succeeded at doubling the confusing knots he was enveloped in on a nearly constant basis. How had one sweaty session with her completely undone the strangle hold he had placed over his once dormant emotions? He thought back to when he had discovered that she liked to be controlled during sex and Jayson liked having that power over her. His good girl had a dirty, kinky side that only he knew about. Perhaps that was the main reason why his fingers were practically itching to touch her smooth brown skin again. Or, could it be because she had somehow reawakened a spark of life in him?
An insane thirst to see what other devious deeds he could convince her to perform crept into his forethoughts. A roguish smile formed on his pink lips. There was no denying that she was the best piece of ass he had sampled since his last encounter with Summer.
Summer. The name rang a disturbing bell in his mind.
Nope, he was done with all that and done with thoughts of Aneisa. Final verdict.
Jayson could already foreshadow all of the problems that would be tagging along with hunger to satisfy his cravings for Aneisa. Once was plenty. Twice would become trouble in the worst way. He had to ignore the sickeningly sweet feeling churning in the pit of his hard stomach.
“Well, hello, ex-brother-in-law,” the low and enchantingly husky voice of a female floated over from his left.
Jayson didn’t need to glance over to identify the speaker.
He tapped the bottom of his beer bottle on the counter then offered her a small smirk without ever turning in her direction. He had to prepare himself because it might be too painful to look at her.
“Hey, Mia,” he spoke, making sure to keep his voice casual.
Summer’s younger sister was a vixen in the strictest sense of the word. Her hazel eyes didn’t miss any action and her ears were fine tuned to every breath a man took in her presence. If she detected even a hint of weakness rolling off of Jayson she would pounce on him as if she smelled fresh blood and would go for the kill.
Mia James was also a near mirror image of his lost love Summer. It was a fact that Mia had tried to use to her advantage more than once after Summer had deserted him last year. Out of every woman Jayson had encountered since his heartbreak and his inevitable conclusion that a hard fuck was better than ever finding true love, Mia was the one woman whose offer he had always refused. As much as he hated Summer for what she had done to him, the sliver of decency remaining in him wouldn’t allow him to betray her memory in such a way. He wouldn’t sleep with her sister back then and he wasn't going to do so now, despite the fact that Mia’s exotic and sensual appeal was nearly impossible to resist. Without having to take a visual survey, Jayson already knew he didn’t have enough fingers or toes to count the number of men who were sitting back in the dark corners of the night spot and plotting out how to step to her and convince this caramel shaded temptress to become their pampered lady. The dangerous part about Mia was that she was nowhere in the neighborhood of being ashamed to use her stunning features to mold her world the way she saw fit. She was a woman’s worst nightmare and a man’s walking fantasy, and Mia James loved living up to these definitions of herself unabashedly.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Jay. Is that all I get? Just a ‘hey’. No hug for someone who’s missed you so much?”
A small finger casually reached out and slowly traced the curve of his jaw down to his chin.
He grinned,
slightly amused with her obvious flirtation. It was a mistake but it was too late to take it back.
She inched closer to him. Even while he was sitting on the bar stool, she was still several inches shorter than him. To reach his ear, she must have had to stand up on her toes. Her cool minty breath on his ear raised the tiny blond hairs on the back of his neck but Jayson remained unmoving, determined not to give it to her game. He was done with being the pawn in love games and even pretty Mia wouldn’t seduce him in to becoming a chump for a second time.
“I’d love to show you just how much I’ve been thinking about you.”
Mia had never tried to hide the fact that she listed Jayson at the top of her to do list, even while he was dating her sister. Jayson was thankful to count himself among the very low number of men who had a slight immunity to her wicked charm. On several previous occasions, he had successfully dodged becoming one of her many used and discarded casualties.
“I see you haven’t changed at all, Mia.”
When his eyes finally blinked over in her direction, Jayson immediately regretted doing so. He had to keep himself from biting down on his lip in frustration. Mia had indeed blossomed into a perfect copy of Summer. Hypnotic hazel eyes, glistening curly hair that tumbled over her shoulders and spread out across well-shaped caramel dipped breasts, and skin the most amazing shade of lightly toasted almond. If he hadn’t already known who she was, he might have been fooled into mistaking the two for twins. It was only a massive force of will that kept his cock from standing straight up and kept his hands flat on the bar top. He knew this woman wasn’t his former lover but she was the closest he had come to having Summer back in his presence after such a long stretch of time. Seeing Mia only reminded him of how much he yearned to see her sister again, to hold her one more time…to tell her he loved her one more time and hope it would be enough to make her stay with him.
What the fuck? Get a grip. Jayson yelled out in his mind and snapped himself back from a delusional fantasy.
Summer was gone. Aidan had stolen her. Mia was not a replacement and never would be so he needed to regain control on reality before a fit of passion caused him to make a terrible mistake.
“Looks like you might have missed me too,” she purred up at him while her thick lashes fluttered. She had spotted a flash of his weakness and was trying to bait him into her hold.
Jayson grabbed up his beer and took a sip to drag his attention away from her mesmerizing stare. It gave him a few seconds to collect his thoughts before he spoke again.
“The only thing I missed about this city is how cheap the drinks are.” His confidence had returned and he was ready for a battle of wills. “So, what has Ms. Mia been up to lately? Still terrorizing other women and stealing their men?”
She squinted her almond eyes and chuckled low, obviously not amused by his stab. Jayson counted this as a good sign. If she detested him, maybe the little temptress might back off from trying to sprinkle her magic dust on him.
“I don’t steal any one. I can’t help it if a guy wants to offer himself to me,” she said and used a finger to fling a few strands of hair back over her shoulder. “If a woman doesn’t know how to hold on to her man, that’s not my fault, is it?”
“Is it?” Jayson tossed the question back, purposefully trying to get the female heated and annoyed.
The sooner she was gone from his sight, the sooner he could get back to trying to keep his cool and stomp out all the bad memories her dazzling features manifested in his mind.
A nasty scowl formed on Mia’s face – it was a look that would never grace his Summer’s refined features – and it helped to ebb out the tiny pinch of lust that had started to smolder for her. Her eyes were like hot daggers and she was all set to aim a mouth full of razor sharp words at him and then, without warning of the change, it all blinked away and Mia returned to her deceptively charming self.
What had caused the hasty makeover from witch to princess?
Jayson looked over his shoulder and felt his own heart rate double. His attraction to Aneisa rebounded in full force. His balls were already growing heavy at the sight of her approaching. She appeared lovelier and more exquisite now than when he had first treaded through her front door and decided he would take her right there on the living room floor. The soft pink of her halter dress perfectly complimented her shimmering hazelnut brown skin. Mia was a siren – any man with two eyes could easily confirm that fact – but Aneisa was pure beauty, the enthralling and regal kind. He remembered how staring into her enchanting chocolate colored irises, and beholding their alluring sweetness, had reminded him of how satisfying it felt to adore a woman again, if only for a few passing moments. He also remembered the hot skin of her perfectly shaped ass pressed into his palms, and how fiercely intense his desire for this woman had blazed inside of him.
Seeing her now, walking side by side with his old friend, caused his mind to swirl with thoughts of a new and more exciting twist on a standard game of seduction. An appealing scheme occurred to Jayson while he watched Aneisa’s every graceful footstep closer toward him. Why stop at once when he could have her as many times as he pleased? It would be a stupid move with a high chance for destructive consequences for everyone involved. But he had to have another taste of her; her body satisfied a craving in him like no other woman had ever been able to do since Summer. The name boiled his blood and flooded Jayson’s mind into a chaotic mess.
No thinking, no feeling, just act. He had to remind himself of what his ultimate goal was.
The closer the cute couple approached, the more he reasoned with himself. He was keeping the world in balance, giving back what had been dealt out to him. Aidan wanted Summer, so he stole her. Now Jayson wanted Aneisa, and he was going to take her and keep her for as long as she pleased him. All’s fair in lust and love.
He looked over at his flirty counterpart and saw that she, too, had spied out the domesticated pair. Mia James had suddenly become Jayson’s best friend by default. Her shifty eyes were fixated on Shane and her glossed lips slid up in to a mischievous smile. It didn’t take much detective work to figure out the rest. Ms. Mia had her eyes on a new target. Jayson’s lips hung in a sinister smile that rivaled Mia’s. Perhaps he might be able to make use of her unique talents for his own terrible amusement.
When Shane and Aneisa were only a handful of feet away, Jayson slyly offered his proposal to Mia, never once turning his head or breaking the blistering stare he had aimed at his coveted prize.
“Mia, I think we may be able to help each other.”
His voice was low and his intent was clear. Mia was a smart girl and she quickly picked up on his context clue.
“Is that so?” Her plum colored grin widened.
“Yeah…it is. Looks like we have a common goal.”
“What do you suggest we do about this shared interest?”
“What we do best. Take what we want and leave the rest to chance.”
Mia turned to him with a sculpted brow arched high in the air. There was a splash of shock in her keen eyes. Could it be that she was starting to realize Jayson had returned home a changed and devious man, a complete turnaround from the virtuous gentleman she had once known?
“One minor issue,” her eyes returned to Shane, “I’ve already had him…He was…okay…So…what else is in it for me?”
The seductive, hazel-eyed glance she coolly tossed at him helped Jayson to understand the terms she was proposing. Mia was still his ex-girlfriend’s sister. That fact hadn’t changed and neither had his belief in avoiding falling into any sexually ensnaring situations with her. She wasn’t to be trusted and he honestly didn’t find her lurid mind attractive at all. Nonetheless, to get his chance to have another nibble of Aneisa, he would play his part for as long as needed.
“How about we work on a private arrangement later?” He hinted at promising to fulfill his end of the deal, knowing full well he never intended to let Mia cash in her chips on him.
“Accepted,
” she whispered, her agreement oozing with sinister amusement.
While Aneisa and Shane, with hands clasped together, cut their way through the edge of crowded dance floor of the dimly lit nightclub, the diabolical duo watched the approaching pair closely from their place at the bar.
PART II
Love & Lies
4
Aneisa’s heart pumped hard and in sync with the heavy base pounding through the floor.
She should have cancelled when she had the chance. Shane would have believed her if she said she were ill and couldn’t make tonight’s ‘reunion’ dinner. In any case, Jayson was his close friend, not hers, so her absence shouldn’t have made a big difference; however, her conscience told her that not showing up would have drawn suspicion. She had never expressed any ill feelings toward Jayson in the past, so would Shane have wondered why she was quick to duck out on meeting up with him later? Then again, Shane wasn’t himself at all. He had been seriously distracted ever since he walked through the front door earlier that day. He had remained unusually quiet, as though he were trapped in a deep thought he couldn’t or wouldn’t put to the side.
Whatever was bothering him had dragged his usually upbeat mood low and he was yet to recover. The uneasy suspicion that a big heap of trouble was brewing somewhere in the background was crawling at the rear of her thoughts. The only bright spot in this unusual situation was that as long as he was wallowing in his own troubles, he wouldn’t notice Aneisa’s testy nerves either.
Every step closer toward Jayson was another step away from escaping the nagging guilt hanging over her conscience. Even from this distance, her body was reacting to his presence in a most carnal way. Beneath the thin material of her dress, her breasts became slick with a light perspiration. The cause for the rapid rise of her internal temperature could have been due to the body heat radiating from the surging crowd all around her, but it wasn’t. Superhumanly tall with nearly platinum blond cropped hair, Jayson was a muscled playboy who made her pussy lips flood at the mere sight of him looming ahead.
Truth & Consequences: The Novel Page 7
