Truth & Consequences: The Novel

by Leilani Harvey

  She moved on unsteady feet. Less than five feet away and he had already succeeded in capturing her complete concentration. His long jean covered legs and his wide square shoulders, spread out beneath the pressed button up shirt, made Jayson into a giant among mere men. While leaning back against the bar, his dazzling gaze was already studying her every movement. His deep Mediterranean blue eyes had locked in on her and were silently drawing her into his web of seduction. With every inch that collapsed between them, Aneisa wanted to turn and flee with fast determination. She wanted nothing more than to push back the dizzying hunger that was churning inside in her belly for Jayson. His enchantment over her was so strong that Aneisa had almost forgotten her fingers were intertwined with Shane’s and that she had promised to love only him and no other man for the rest of her days on this earth. Without knowing exactly why, she shook her hand loose from Shane’s grasp as politely as possible, and he didn’t seem to resist the separation.

  The pair walked shoulder to shoulder through the thick throng of evening merriment, neither mouthing one word to the other. It wasn’t until they finally reached their destination when Aneisa finally noticed the female standing near Jayson. After one quick glance at the other woman, from the top of her curly head to the tip of her French-pedicured toes hanging out of tall peep-toe heels, Aneisa was hit with a bad vibe. She hated judging someone based on looks alone but the sickening knot at the bottom of her stomach was her loudest advocate for immediately throwing up her guard. This one was sneaky and Aneisa needed to be ready for whatever the little minx had planned. She already wasn’t fond of the way the girl had her hazel eyes gleaming at her man or how Shane seemed to be feeding into the hypnotic stare.

  “Look who decided to show."

  Jayson’s booming voice cut the tension that was building.

  He spoke as if he was directing his comment to both Aneisa and Shane but his blue eyes were fixed only on her. She dropped her brown eyes and shifted from foot to foot in her high wedged sandals. She wondered if Shane had noticed her discomfort but a fast glance over to him revealed he was more preoccupied with making silent contact with the smaller woman standing on Jayson’s right side.

  For the next few seconds, everyone’s eyes were watching the one person whom they should have been avoiding like a dreary dark shadow. They were all hopelessly caught up in whatever enchantment was filling the air.

  “Shane, I’m so glad you came. I couldn’t wait to see you again.” It was the sneaky one’s turn to talk. Shiny glossed lips curved upward as she spoke with a soft purr in her voice. “Are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”

  There also the slightest distaste coming from her little lips when she spoke the word girlfriend, almost as though she were offended at having to say the word aloud. Who was this woman and why did Aneisa recognize her face? Better question – What did she mean by ‘again’? Aneisa was either friends with or had been personally introduced to every female that Shane associated with. She damn sure would have remembered being introduced to this chick. Those shifty eyes would have been hard to forget, especially when they seemed a little too intensely focused on her boyfriend. All of these oddities buzzed in Aneisa’s mind at a pace so fast she was far from being able to form them into verbal questions.

  “Mia James, this is Aneisa Kane,” Jayson’s voice cut in before Aneisa could manifest one accusing word out of her mouth. He must have seen the put-off look on her face and tried to steer trouble to the side before it had a chance to get started.

  The other female cut her stare away from Shane only long enough to narrow those cat eyes, give Aneisa a disapproving once over, and produce a half smirk. No hello, no head nod, just the tiniest upward tilt of plum colored lips and she was done. Her attention went back to Shane and so did Aneisa’s. He stood frozen in place like a marble statue. From this angle, Aneisa couldn’t decipher why he was purposefully keeping his lips zipped. Nonetheless, it was disturbingly obvious that he had somehow fallen under the spell of this she-devil.

  Her intuitions were screaming for her to leave now before the dark cloud hanging over all of them started to pour down a large serving of turmoil and strife. In spite of the dire warnings going off in her head, she didn’t want to go. Being this close to Jayson again, with no more than a foot and half, at most, separating them was drawing her into his tangled allure.

  For the time being, and unlike earlier that day, he was cordial and acting on his best behavior. It was this disarming calmness that set her internal signal flares flying. Why was he acting as if nothing had conspired between them? Only a few hours ago, his cock had been shoved up her ass and he was growling out his pleasure at having made her cum so hard. Now, it was as if none of that had ever happened. Maybe it hadn’t. Was it possible she and Jayson had a very normal reunion at her home and the rest was the result of an overly vivid and lascivious fantasy?

  Aneisa’s sight made direct contact with Jayson’s, the answer the clear. No. It wasn’t an overactive imagination that had spanked her lightly or convinced her to delve in the dirty pleasures of anal love. Although Jayson’s face was open and friendly, his cobalt blue eyes were ominous. He landed those big blue irises dead center on Aneisa. The bright flash of heat he sent her way forced a shiver down through her core. The conflicting instincts to both run away from Jayson and into his arms started up a new battle inside her soul. He was trouble of the most tempting kind, and Aneisa felt her common sense briefly slip away for those microseconds he held her trapped in his gaze. There was a storm surging in those irises, and all of its energy was aimed directly on her. The more she stared into his eyes, the more she was drawn into its turbulent waves, and the more she wanted to be swept up in his power all over again. The memory of the consuming climax he had given to her washed over Aneisa’s entire body, sending a bolt of thundering heat into her erogenous zone. She needed to leave, to run away fast – now – before it was too late and the world she had built for herself with Shane came crashing down.

  She fixed her lips to announce her departure and Jayson stepped in close.

  “Are you okay, Aneisa?” He placed two sizzling hands on her bare shoulders, cutting off her possibility of escape. “You look cold. If Shane doesn’t have one, I could run back to my truck and get you a jacket.”

  There was a look of sincere concern on his face, but she knew it had to be false. He was using his sensual charm to bind her up tight in his sticky snare. The strength of his rough palms on her skin evoked a desperate need to curl up close to his body and bury her face against his hard chest.

  “I’m fine.” She forced the softly spoken words through her lips while slowly freeing herself from his touch. All the while, she was trying not to appear too awkward as she backed away from Jayson. “I think I caught a quick chill from the air conditioning but I’m okay now.”

  His heated stared didn’t drop away, it only burned brighter. She turned to Shane for help. Didn’t he notice this suspicious exchange between them at all? He hadn’t. His focus had never wavered away from the troublemaker in the three sizes too small purple cocktail dress. Aneisa didn’t like the chemistry that was flying back and forth between her fiancé and this little thing, Mia.

  She opened her mouth to speak her disapproval into existence and was again cut short by a shrewd move on Jayson’s part. This time, he covered her exposed back with his broad hands and gently coaxed her into an intimate hug.

  The tender action caught Aneisa completely by surprise, especially considering how terribly impolite and domineering he had been with her earlier, even from the very first moment when she had arched the door open for him. This embrace was quite the opposite from the harsh hold he had on her ass while she had been spread out on her hands and knees for him. This touch was calm and soothing, and its purpose was to pull her to a peaceful center.

  “I’m happy you decided to come tonight…even after what we did.” He spoke the words directly into her ear, his warm breath causing a tickle to flutter down the
slope of her neck and slide off of her shoulder.

  Before leaning back and stepping away, Jayson stroked the center of her back, between her shoulder blades, and then politely kissed the tip of her ear.

  “Thanks for bringing my buddy, Shane, with you.”

  The last words he said aloud and they were enough to snap her boyfriend out his own drunken haze. Aneisa could almost see the drool hanging at the corner of his mouth.

  “What?” Shane sputtered out of his trance. “Yeah…Jay…I can’t believe I get to see you in the flesh, bro.”

  The two men leaned in for a handshake and pats on the back. All the while, Shane never allowed his focus to drop away from Mia and Jayson refused to cut his visual connection with Aneisa.

  Aneisa was in a compromising position. How could she become indignant for Shane’s insensitive and obvious attraction to another woman – in public, no less – when she, herself, had willingly participated in an adulterous deed of her own? Granted, hers was done in private, but it didn’t excuse the act or empower her to want to call Shane out for groping Mia with his roaming green eyes.

  Should the situation have been different, if Aneisa could have called upon her own fidelity as justification for setting both her man and her sudden rival straight with a few sharp words, she would have gladly done so by now. Her own guilty heart kept her silent, at least for the moment, but that didn’t mean she had to stand here and watch the pair eye-fuck each all night. That was just not going to happen. Even if her private life was in a secret shambles, she wouldn’t allow herself to be made to look like a silly joke in public.

  She blinked and grabbed Shane’s hand.

  “You know what…it’s already so late; we should go and reschedule this for another time.” Her words came out fast and frazzled. She made a quick clean up before anyone could voice an objection or question her reasons for the hasty departure. “We both have to get up early tomorrow. You have a seminar to teach and I have a morning class.”

  Shane nodded. It was a truth he couldn’t argue with. Aneisa didn’t allow another precious second of calm to go to waste. She yanked his hand and pushed them back into the center of the massive crowd.

  She stepped over feet and maneuvered around the pulsing mass of bodies on the dance floor. They were all jerking hard to the rhythmic pop beat hammering out from the speakers embedded overhead and in the walls surrounding them. The tempo was meant to keep your body moving in a constant fit of gleeful and free spirited euphoria. As she rushed toward the exit, the bass from the heavy techno pounding was working its way through Aneisa’s body. It was stirring up carnal urges that were beckoning her not to leave so soon, to stay and indulge in the frenzied atmosphere a while longer.

  Aneisa squeezed Shane’s hand tighter while she forced them further into the throng and tried her best to widen the space between them and the devious influence of the second couple. She could feel the resistance flowing through his hand; he wasn’t following her willingly. She didn’t know what maniacal trap was being thrown around them but its stranglehold was becoming more real to Aneisa with every passing second.

  It was true. Eyes were the windows to the soul and she wanted no part of what she read from Jayson and Mia. Both of them had hearts as black as midnight and were as sly as predators. How unfortunate that she and the man she thought – no – she knew she loved had become the target of their next round of malice.

  5

  “Wait, let’s just hang at the bar for a few more minutes.”

  Shane tugged Aneisa’s hand and stopped her progress in the middle of the heavy crowd.

  “Can’t we have at least one drink before we go home and fall asleep?” He must have seen the hesitation in her brown eyes. He seemed determined to convince her to come back with him. “One drink, then we can go. I promise.”

  He reined Aneisa in and placed a thumb on her cheek.

  “Come on, babe, we never go out anymore. I haven’t seen Jay in over a year, and who knows if he’ll up and disappear overnight again. I just want to catch up with him a little, see how he’s doing. We both know he didn’t take his break-up with Summer very well. Please…for me?”

  The curve of her jaw flexed uncontrollably while she clamped her teeth together. She perceived the impatient frenzy in his eyes and felt the heated need hovering in the pit of her stomach, like frazzled butterflies seeking an escape. This was a bad mistake and they were both willingly marching back to their own demise.

  She dropped his hand and headed back the way from which they had come. She moved with such an agitated urgency that she lost contact with his body. She turned to try to catch a glimpse of him but Shane became lost in the masses writhing to the rhythm behind her. What her eyes did catch sight of was the back of a tight purple dress and a tangle of dark curls moving swiftly in the opposite direction. When she angled her body to head for the same target, a pair of strong hands caught her by the waist and quickly pressed her against a long, hard torso. She lifted her eyes and they landed on Jayson. He was the one who had captured her so effortlessly and who was blocking her path.

  “Dance with me,” his commanding timbre seized control of her thoughts and her body.

  As if on cue, the pulsing beat slowed to a crawl and a sexy R&B track took its place.

  Her desire to be near him urged Aneisa to move in tighter against him. She laid her head on his sculpted chest, and the soft murmur of his thudding heartbeat echoed soothingly in her ears. The smell of fresh oak floated up her nose. It was a familiar and appeasing aroma that would drive any woman wild with inflamed desire.

  Jayson gathered her closer, until their bodies were fused into a tight unit. The intensity of his hold made Aneisa feel as if he never wanted to let her go again.

  “I’ve been thinking about you, Aneisa,” he whispered down to her and placed his chin lightly against her cheek. “I was trying to figure out a way to see you…alone again.”

  She wanted to believe his words, to believe his thoughts went beyond sexual attraction. Perhaps, he had actually missed her? Again, her rationality pushed to the forefront.

  Her hands went up between them, and she pushed away a little. Afraid to look into his eyes, or else risk losing her nerve to separate from him, Aneisa turned back into the crowd. She wasn’t sure if she was searching out Shane or if she were trying to find an excuse – any excuse – to walk away from Jayson.

  “Don’t worry about them,” he spoke sweetly. “Dance with me. Be with me for awhile.” His voice tempted her and she allowed him to draw her back deeper into his arms and his solid embrace. “I haven’t been able to forget about you all day. I wanted you with me, Aneisa.”

  She pulled back and stared up at him. She wanted to see if the emotion in his eyes would match the sincerity of his words. If she was met by the deceit, she may have been crushed. Instead, the dazzling reflection of his blue eyes under the strobe lights enchanted her with ease.

  “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  Her eyes traced out every syllable that crossed his beautiful dark pink colored lips. She was desperately trying to convince herself that he spoke with honesty, but was unsuccessful.

  “No…I don’t.”

  She answered slowly and truthfully, there was no need to lie. Even if all he knew was trickery, she would try to hold on to whatever remaining integrity she had.

  The silky feel of a thick fingers sliding up her back, over her shoulder blades, and up the tender skin on the line of her neck sent another tremor through Aneisa. Jayson cupped her face; the warmth of his hands was intoxicating. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and the rest of the world fell away. There was no music, no other people, nothing to keep them apart any longer. All she felt, all she knew…was Jayson.

  Her fingers walked slowly up his shirt then dipped down in his open collar. Her little digits danced across the top of his chest and teased his exposed skin into tiny prickles. The tip of his dick jerked then started to stab through his jeans and into the center of
bellybutton. Her hands dropped down, then both of her palms found their way under the hem of his shirt and landed flat against his tense back. Aneisa pressed her breasts deeper into his stomach and Jayson’s body responded by pushing his cock further into hers. He shoved his tongue to the back of her throat and pulled her juices into his mouth.

  She groaned and sank her nails into the hard skin of his back causing him to growl out in return. He kissed her deeper and sucked on her tongue. She wasn’t concerned with who was spying on them, not caring if anyone – not even Shane – was watching them.

  Jayson’s hands found Aneisa’s two globed cheeks and squeezed hard, making her jump further into his hold. Their slow dance crawled to a heated slow grind. Aneisa was hungry to feel his hardness filling up her silky walls. His teasing was becoming unbearable.

  He broke the kiss and she shamelessly panted for more.

  “Tell me to stop and I will,” he breathed out over her wet mouth.

  She shook her side slightly. There was no way she could deny him, not when her very sanity was hanging on his every touch to her skin.

  Somehow, she had closed her eyes without realizing it. He used the tip of his nose to coax them open.

  “Tell me I can have you, Aneisa.”

  Her pulse was erratic. She nodded slightly, uncertainly.

  Jayson crooked his finger and lifted her chin so she had no choice but to have direct contact with his scorching blue gaze.

  “Say…the words…or I walk away.”