The Guardian: A NOVEL

by Pamela Ann

  “Good girl.” His pleased tone merely grated on my nerves.

  “You’re annoying me.”

  “Call me whatever you like. As long as you eat, I honestly don’t care.” He threw me an arresting smile, loving the irritated look on me as I grudgingly chewed another bite of lamb.

  I inwardly sighed. Even when vexed, his gorgeous smiles still made me feel faint. Grieving or not, Jared’s effect hadn’t dissipated. It was strong as ever. “You think you can throw me a gorgeous smile and it would make me less annoyed? You can think again.”

  His maddening grin widened before he guffawed. “Gorgeous you say?” he intoned. It made his Australian accent much more pronounced. “If you think you can flirt your way out of this, you can also think again. You’re cute, but I’d rather have you cute and satisfied.” His face lit up, and for a second, he and I shared a moment, one that said we were grateful to have each other to console with.

  My inner bitch began to dissolve. Pacified by faith, I trusted everything would eventually fall into place. Then the heavy ache in my heart would ultimately vanish, and I’d learn how to be ecstatic again.

  “I forgot to say thank you for everything you’ve done. I hope you don’t deem me ungrateful. There’s been a lot on my mind...It’s been tough.”

  Jared cast a thoughtful gaze. “I don’t need your thanks, Gisele. You’re family. We’re a unit. We’re business partners as well as friends. And at the end of the day, I’m also your husband. It’s my obligation to catch you when you fall. When you’re blinded with pain, it’s my duty to be your pillar of strength. Ours is unconventional, but the last few days led me to believe we’ll do fine. We have a legacy to uphold, a company to protect, and I won’t be able to accomplish that without you. Once you find your footing, I hope you’ll try to come twice a week so I can show you what our purpose is. There’s a mammoth task ahead of us. But so long we’re on the same page, we can conquer whatever difficulties are headed our way.”

  I merely nodded, understanding his plight. Jared would be in my life through thick and thin, through heaven and hell. Come what way, we were going to work together. His positivity somehow made me feel less down and out. He showed me a glimpse of a future, one that entailed I’d actually be a part of my father’s company. Why hadn’t that thought truly entered my mind? Maybe it was due to my father. He never did broach such a subject with me. Well, apparently Jared thought otherwise. The idea of being a part of their world, my father and Jared’s, made me feel as though I could somehow feel my father’s presence. The brightness of hope, of the future, and I craved more of it.

  After dinner, I headed upstairs to shower before bed while Jared went into the library for a quick conference call to our Hong Kong headquarters. The hot shower calmed my nerves. Once finished, I changed into a slip before lighting a candle. The scent of plumeria was heaven to my deprived senses.

  Feeling quite satisfied, I padded across the room and slid under the comforter. I made use of my time responding to messages. A couple of them included Wyatt and Dexter Berg.

  After quickly replying to Wyatt’s inquiry about my present sad state, I hastily read Dexter’s message. His conveyed the same sentiment as Wyatt’s, but it added how glad he was to be back and how he hoped to see me soon. We were childhood friends, but after the rift between our fathers, I only saw him through social gatherings and private parties through friends we had in common.

  I pondered a moment before finally deciding that it was best to respond to him tomorrow. The thought of entertaining old friends so soon after my father’s passing was just too much to comprehend for the time being. Carefully placing the phone back on the side table, I heard Jared enter the bedroom.

  “I hope you’ve dried your hair this time,” I muttered my blatant protest of his wet hair dripping on the back of my neck. The man had a habit of loving to put his wet hair on my skin after he showered in his suite, one that I wasn’t such a huge fan of.

  “Why do you do this to me, woman?” he groaned in the background, making me secretly smile. Though he wasn’t thrilled, I could hear him towel his hair dry in the bathroom. “You’re becoming a nightmare,” he loudly mused upon joining me in bed before gathering me in his arms. An action he’d freely indulged in on a nightly basis. At first, it was rather odd, but as the nights wore on, it became a normal thing between us.

  “What the hell!” A deafening shriek escaped me when he audaciously rubbed his cold damp hair on the back of my neck. I tried to get away from his tightened grasp, but he was way too strong for me. His roaring laughter so close to my ear sent goosebumps all over me. “What is wrong with you? I was so looking forward to sleep, but I’m wide awake now. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep even if I tried.”

  “Apologies…” he murmured before he imparted a soft kiss on my shoulder. “Want to talk about it?” his breath teased the skin where he just planted his lips.

  “Not really.”

  The sudden intimacy between us made me beyond dizzy. Sure, he’d slept with his arms around me, but we never shared this…whatever this was.

  What is he doing? I nervously thought when his lips brushed against the back of my neck. Again. Fuck!!! Alarm bells rang in my ears. If he thought of toying with me, tonight wasn’t the best time. Our emotions were so highly strung. My defenses were down, and baiting him surely was out of the question. Biting the bottom of my lip, I shut my eyes and commanded myself to breathe evenly. It lasted for a few seconds until I felt his hand, which normally didn’t touch my stomach, had actually pressed against it as if drawing me closer to him.

  “You can comfort yourself that he’s ecstatic to be with your mother,” he said mesmerizingly. The notorious hand on my stomach began to mindlessly circle about my abdomen. “Your father was devastated when Edna died. He’s where he wants to be, Gisele. We can’t begrudge him his happiness, even though I blew up when he confessed he abandoned all notions of treatment. For the past years, he quietly began to set a plan in motion. I was with him almost on a daily basis. How’d you think I felt when he told me of his fatal illness? My failure to unravel his secret is a burden I no longer carry. Peter made sure I forgave myself before he died. He’s with your mom where he belongs. And instead of wallowing, we should be grateful for the time we had with him.”

  His words pierced through my fog. He blew up on Peter Weber? My, that must’ve been quite a sight. I could readily see him blowing a gasket while my father remained calm and composed, as if he hadn’t declared he was leaving us soon. Jared’s enlightening revelation made me feel like less of a heel. My conversation with my father wasn’t so impassioned compared to his, but that didn’t mean the same emotions didn’t course through me.

  For a while, I found myself livid when I let my emotions get the best of me. But each time I had seen his deteriorating state, all of those ill feelings had evaporated, only to be replenished with sorrow and profound agony.

  “If your wife died, would you wish the same fate?” I found myself asking, wondering what his thoughts were on the subject.

  “If she was my world like how Edna was to Peter, then, yes, without hesitation.”

  My stomach churned at the idea of him falling madly in love with a woman, so much so that he wouldn’t think twice before following in my father’s footsteps. Someday, I hoped to find someone to love me just as fiercely. Jared wasn’t the man for me, even though my heart and body protested at the very thought of another man. “Your future wife’s one lucky lady,” I stated without malice but with sincerity.

  He chuckled with delight. “You say it as if you aren’t my wife.”

  I rolled my eyes, quite glad I wasn’t facing him so he couldn’t catch my contorted face. “Stop patronizing me, Jared. You know what I mean. The woman you’ll love until you die, not the woman you presently married for business purposes.”

  My statement rendered him silent. Good, he realized his joke was lost on me.

  My phone beeped, and I reached out for it to find Wyatt’s mes
sage.

  When can I take you out for breakfast? I could give you a tour of your campus. I’ll be a perfect guide, I promise. How about it, beautiful?

  Nosy Jared surely read it as well. I didn’t care if he did or didn’t. Replying to his message, I quickly responded that I’d call him tomorrow.

  “He’s quite persistent, isn’t he?”

  Wyatt…damn. If I kept going this way, Blair wouldn’t be amused. I had to make a decision soon because if Blair heard it from another person, she’d be none too pleased. “He makes me laugh. It’s so easy to be with him. He knows me so well I don’t have to hide anything from him, but I don’t know…I haven’t made up my mind yet.” My honesty shocked me. Jared had no designs where I was concerned; maybe it made it easier to state such truthful things to him.

  “I saw the possessive way he looked at you. He won’t stop until you’re his.”

  “That’s nothing new. He’s always had a thing for me.” Much more so now seeing I was actually considering him after years of ignoring his advances towards me.

  “What’s stopping you?”

  You. It was always you. Sadly, this pathetic excuse didn’t satisfy any longer. I had vowed to move on, and I intend to, whether my heart agreed to let go of Jared or not.

  “Nothing’s stopping me, Jared. I don’t see anything wrong with taking my time after Jack. Wyatt knows that.” Well, I hoped Wyatt knew it. I had revealed as much.

  “And Dexter Berg?” There was a strange quality to his voice.

  Was it disapproval? Worry? Disgust? I couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was because Dexter was David Berg’s spawn. It had to be. Even though David Berg remained in the company after a major falling out with my father, David had continuously tried to undermine my father’s decisions. And I supposed, David’s negativity would now be channeled to the new CEO of the company. Jared could handle him. Jared seemed considerate where I was concerned, but everyone knew the man made a terrifying adversary. Jared wasn’t my father, and I doubted he had Peter Weber’s patience, either. David better watch out.

  “Dexter? I don’t think he sees me that way. He’s always been über friendly, but he never really asked me out.”

  “I saw you give your number.”

  He caught everything; it was unnerving. “He asked for it. I saw no reason not to give it.”

  “You were flirting with him…at your father’s funeral at that,” he uttered disapprovingly.

  Flirting? That was beyond absurd. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

  “You like him.”

  “I’ve always thought him cute, but now…I haven’t seen him for two years, and he looks great.” Well before Jared came into the picture, Dexter Berg was my crush. Our fathers used to be really close, so we hung out almost every weekend. “Does he meet your approval?”

  “No. Not by a long shot.”

  “Why not?”

  “His father’s David Berg. The man’s been undermining my authority, much more so now that Peter’s gone. Second, Dexter doesn’t deserve you. You’re too good for the likes of him.”

  “You’re entitled to your opinion, of course. But if it comes to it, if David does show interest, it won’t stop me from seeing him,” I said. I wasn’t to conform to his beliefs. He wasn’t his father. David had done nothing wrong. And I wasn’t going to ignore him because his father was a spiteful idiot.

  “Be careful…That’s all I ask.”

  Jared sure took this “you’re my responsibility” to a new level. He was more protective than my father. Imagine that. If he was like this towards me, I couldn’t fathom how he’d be to his wife and children. “You’re going to be a nightmare to whoever marries you someday…with you being a bona fide stalker and all. I’ll make sure to pray for her.”

  “Oh, yeah?” he playfully pinched my hip. “Says the woman who married me!" He pompously declared before his teeth sank into my neck.

  A sudden burst of wetness seeped out between my thighs, making me whimper with need. “Jared—stop, stop! I don’t want to get aroused. So please stop.”

  In a quick haste, the man shifted my body so he was facing me instead of my back. The soft glow of the candle gently bounced across his chiseled features. It made his eyes a hundred times more magnetizing than they had the right to be. He gazed down on me, noting my face so close to his own. “You already are aroused.”

  I’ll always want you.

  “It’s hard not to be. You’ve been naughty.” I saw no need to lie.

  “You are so responsive…” his heated eyes slid lower, admiring the rapid rise of my chest as I heavily panted against his intense scrutiny. My nipples blatantly protruded over the sheer cotton slip. “Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to taste you…”

  “We’ve been there, done that. I don’t want to fight with you.” The last fight we had was a tumultuous one. He abhorred the idea of wanting me; he declared as much. So why was he giving in to his baser instincts?

  “Jared…this isn’t—” My voice faltered when he took my thumb, brought it to his lips, and erotically licked the pad before gently sucking on it. FUCK. He sure knew how to put my vagina under his spell. “You are so bad!” I moaned, peering at him like he was my nirvana. He was so sexy it was fucking unbearable.

  “You have that look on you…”

  “What look?”

  Cerulean blues held me in their sensual grip. “You’re silently begging me to fuck you.”

  “You’re lying.”

  He smiled, a smile that entailed how much he adored seeing me in such a heady state. A roguish smile that foretold the thrill it gave him to witness his spell working on me. His eyes slowly devoured me, and in those powerful depths, he conveyed I had no chance of escaping him until he was ready to do so. “Your lips part when your nipples start to harden. You blush before your eyes dilate, and you start gazing at me through those long lashes. And when you can’t handle the heat, you start biting your lip as if your holding yourself back.”

  Hearing him describe how wanton I was brought all sorts of horror to me. “That’s not funny.” I was pathetic. It was no wonder he preferred Rose.

  “It’s true…” His forefinger agonizingly caressed the slopes of my cleavage while his eyes held me captive. “I love seeing how much I affect you. It’s fucking hot.”

  Well, good for him, but I was done proving how effective his sexual prowess was. “You. Are. Insane.” I hardened my resolve, knowing this foreplay would go nowhere but towards his already inflated ego. “I’m going to sleep.” When I tried to shift back to my old position, Jared held me in place before he roughly tugged at my nipple through my slip. With the use of this other hand, he slowly slid the strap off my shoulder until one breast was bared to him. “Jesus…Don’t be cruel,” I pleaded before the torturous tugging and teasing began, and I was torn between giving in to him and fighting the carnal passion he lit within me.

  “Jared,” I hopelessly moaned his name while my body unconsciously arched towards him, offering more of me.

  His lips trailed across my jaw. They left soft kisses in their wake before halting quite close to my ear. His tongue lightly darted out and licked my lobe. “Yes, Gisele?” he seductively asked with a voice promising a dark, licentious night ahead. “Clear your mind. Don’t think…just feel. I hate seeing you sad, so let me ease your pain if only for a short while.”

  He wasn’t going to have sex with me. He carefully crafted his words in such a way he hoped I was too aroused to analyze them. But I caught on. He gravely took his responsibility to new heights. His obligation didn’t entail granting me orgasms, too. As much as I wanted him, I simply couldn’t take advantage of him in such a way. I had no desire for his pity. “No, you’ll regret saying this in the morning. It isn’t right. This has to stop.”

  “Are you really saying no to me, hm?” his hand brushed my thighs, trailing it upwards before his middle finger found my bare pussy. His digit dipped into my folds, parting them with purpose. “You’re so wet,” he groaned
against my ear. His manhood swelled over his boxers before thrusting his massive arousal against my thigh. “I fucking want to taste your cunt. Let me pleasure you…” he begged with urgency. “Let my tongue fuck you, Gisele.”

  “I can’t—”

  Jared didn’t pay heed to my words. The man simply took charge by hoisting my body upwards. Everything happened at such a speedy rate I barely grasped that my pussy sat on his mouth. He groaned as he looked up at me. Powerful hands slid my straps off so my breasts were on display. I stopped breathing altogether when the tip of his tongue aggressively glided across my slit. Strong large hands held my hips down, locking me in place to endure his vicious tongue-lashings.

  “God…you’re…” I choked on my saliva when his hands traveled towards my bottom, kneading and cupping it harshly while he furiously made me rock my hips harder into his mouth. “Oh, fuck!” I yelped.

  The moment his tongue pierced the entrance of my channel, I threw my head back and screamed. My cries went on for a long time. He didn’t stop until my body gifted him my essence, which he devoured with gusto.

  I was a panting mess when his palm connected to my ass cheek, spanking it hard.

  A guttural groan came out of his throat before his tongue restlessly circled my sensitive clit while he gazed at me with great satisfaction. “We’ve only just begun…Don’t you dare fall asleep on me.” Another smack landed on my other cheek before he shifted us again. Too out of my mind to argue with him, I found myself on my knees. He situated himself behind me, effectively taking my slip off, baring my fully naked body f0r his perusal and pleasure. “Your body’s fucking insane…” He parted my ass cheeks wide before applying his tongue to run through my clit all the way up to my other hole. My legs quivered at the alien feeling that coursed through my body. His tongue rested on my virgin hole before he poked the tip of his tongue into the entrance then glided it all the way down to my nub again. My body strained, immediately tensing at the thought of him doing anything there. “Jared—”