Pain shot through her at his words, his voice. “I have to.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re an engaged man, Colin,” she whispered.
The breath he blew out tickled her neck. “She knows I’m here. She knows about you.”
Amara frowned and rocked in her heels until her back rested against the wall. She craned her head to look at him. “Explain that to me.”
“What do you want me to explain?” he asked. He caged her in, placing an arm on either side of her head. His lips found her neck again and she shimmied to get away from him, ducking under his arm to stand in front of the bed.
He exhaled sharply. “It’s a necessary arrangement, Amara. You’re the only one,” he said walking over to her to cup her cheek. “You’ll always be the only one.”
She grabbed his hand and lowered it from her face, his hands cradling hers between them. “Necessary? I saw her kiss you. I saw you hold her hand.”
Colin squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, blinking rapidly again. That memory would replay in her worst nightmares until the day she died. “I just... how could she know about me and not care?” she whispered.
Colin shrugged nonchalantly. He touched her cheek with his free hand, his thumb drawing circles over her cheek as his other fingers massaged the back of her neck, trying to bring her face closer to his. Amara tried hard not to close her eyes, but lost the battle as he continued to seduce her with his fingers.
“She’s keeping her end of the bargain, and I’m keeping mine,” he said as he placed feather kisses along her jaw.
“What bargain?” Her voice was as unsteady as her breathing.
“She marries me;, I get my money; I give her the portion I promised her,” he said in between the kisses he was dropping down her neck.
“That easy, huh?” Amara asked, her eyes closing as her breath began to labor.
“Hmmm,” he responded in agreement as he placed open mouthed kisses on her chest, his tongue dipping into the valley of her breasts.
“It’s still wrong, you know?” Amara gasped. “For you to be with me.”
He lowered her to the bed and looked into her eyes. “Is it wrong?” he asked, hovering over her with a leg between hers as he pulled the tank top over her head.
Amara nodded, opening her mouth to say something as he laid her on her back. Her words became a whimper at the feel of Colin’s hot mouth on her nipple.
“Let me be a sinner, baby,” he moaned as he continued to tease her.
Amara arched her back in response, giving him full access as her hands fisted in his hair. Colin pulled away to watch as he unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them down her shapely legs. He groaned and closed his eyes at the sight of her silk red thong. His hand cupped her and rubbed her lightly.
“You’re trying to kill me,” he said breathlessly as he continued to touch her.
“I think it’s the other way around,” she panted, as her body bowed off of the bed, increasing friction on the sensitive spot he’d found.
“Look at me,” he said, his voice rough. Her eyes found his. They were intense, hooded with a desire that ratcheted Amara’s arousal up to another level . He stripped away her thong and pulled his shirt over his head, unbuttoning and taking off his jeans with one hand as his other continued to tend to her swollen flesh.
“Your eyes look like fire when you’re turned on...” He leaned down and kissed her, sucking her lips into his mouth before kicking away his clothes from under his feet. Amara’s eyes traveled down his naked chest and was surprised to see lines of muscle cut across his stomach; lines that weren’t as deep nor as defined months prior. Her eyes lowered and she licked her lips at the sight of his freed erection. She sat up and grabbed it with one swift motion, smiling when he groaned, a deep low groan that made him sound like a starved animal. His eyes opened and found hers, he was searing her with the intensity of his passion.
“Like fiery pits of hell...” Colin continued, pulling her hand off of him and lowering himself over her on the bed. “And I just want to roast in them.”
His large hands worked their way up the underside of her sculpted thighs in a sensual massage until his thumbs reached her folds. He continued to explore her slowly, all while he watched her arousal build, licking his lips and biting the tip of his tongue with his teeth when he slipped his thumbs into her and found her drenched. He moved his fingers and sat on his knees, sucking his fingers into his mouth as he re-adjusted himself so that the tip of his cock was between her thighs.
Although Courtney had taught her to keep sex and feelings isolated, Amara knew there was no way she was going to have sex with Colin and treat it like it was nothing, because to her, he was everything. Even then.
“Colin—“” she said. It was a pant. A beg. A plead.
He shook his head and squeezed her thighs, making her yelp before he impaled her, dropping his head to take her lips in his. For the first time since they’d seen each other again, his mouth was warm and inviting. His kiss was soft and his tongue was coaxing. Their tongues spiraled around each other’s like windmills, gaining speed as he continued to thrust deeper inside of her. He slowly backed out of her, almost making her protest, before sliding back in and filling her up completely. His mouth stopped moving against hers, and he settled his arms beside her head as he scanned her face. His eyes went from passionately content to dark in just seconds, as his love overwhelmed him.
“Take me to hell, Amara,” he said, his voice a rough pant against her mouth. Colin pushed into her rougher than he ever had, making her take all of him fast and hard.
Amara gasped and arched her back, clenching around him as he ground deep into her.
“Oh God,” she said, pulling his hair.
“Colin, only Colin.”
“Colin,” she breathed.
“Wrap your legs around me as tight as you can.” He pulled her legs further apart and wrapped them around his back. “Squeeze my dick with your pussy.”
Amara’s eyes rolled to the back of her head at the feel of their merged bodies, hers beginning to shake and clench around Colin’s erection as he pounded into her.
“Fuck. Just like that, baby,” he growled, gripping onto her hips as he continued to circle his shaft inside her. “Look at me, Amara. Show me those beautiful eyes. Let me see how much you hate me.”
Amara’s eyes met his in a wide gaze. She felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as his dark chocolate eyes searched hers. She photographed that moment in her memory, the way his muscled arms held her; the look of lust and love, and madness, his eyes held for her—only for her. Unblinking, she held his wondrous stare and placed her hand on his hard chest, right over his heart.
“That’s yours,” Colin whispered gutturally. His eyes were closing to half-mast, as neared his climax. “Remember that.”
Amara felt her entire body coiling. From her head to her toes, she felt a tingling sensation. Her orgasm was mocking her, bringing her close enough to the edge but not tipping her over. The sensation was becoming overwhelming, almost unbearable to hold on to, until he rocked into her roughly and it finally brought it on, rolling through her like a tsunami. She watched as the beads of sweat that had built on his forehead began to roll down his face. He licked his lips as he looked at her and caught his tongue between his teeth as he hissed out her name—his own orgasm ricocheting through him and into Amara. His last thrust was unforgivingly long and hard, as if he wanted to make a point. As if he wanted to mark her. And he did.
They lay panting heavily beside each other, looking into the other’s eyes, until Amara finally broke the spell and closed her eyes.
“I missed that,” Colin said in a low voice as he picked up Amara’s hand and dropped a kiss on her palm.
“You have her,” she whispered, regretting the thought as tears began to build.
“She’s not you,” he said. He didn’t deny that they fucked. Obviously they fucked. Amara hated he
r, hated him.
“Still,” she said, ripping her hand away from him and sitting up on the bed. She’d planned to go to the bathroom, but Colin pulled her arm down to stop her.
“Marry me,” he said.
That time she thought for sure her heart would pop out of her chest. Her head turned to him quickly and she gaped.
“Marry me. Agree to that, and I’ll leave her right now for you.” He was dead serious.
Amara just stared. “I... I can’t.” It hurt so much to say that, but she couldn’t. Her chest heaved as she started to cry. She would have killed to marry Colin, but she knew the consequences. She thought of Philip’s threat to send her mother to jail, in her condition, and took a deep breath.
“What is it about that goddamn job?” Colin growled. His jaw locked, and his fists clenched on the bed. “I’m asking you to be mine, Amara. I’m asking YOU to be my wife. YOU to live with me and have my kids in the future and you won’t fucking budge—for what? A job in Paris? I’ll fucking give you Paris if that’s what you want!”
Amara’s mouth dropped. “You think this is about money? About Paris?”
Colin’s eyes narrowed, and he stood from the bed. He began to dress in a hurry as he glared at her. “I don’t know what this is about! You tell me!” he said, throwing his arms up in the air.
“It’s...” Amara froze. What was she supposed to tell him? About Méchant? About the odd jobs Philip had her doing? About Nolan? Fuck. She couldn’t tell him any of that without him absolutely, positively hating her for it. She felt like a hypocrite for hating him for having sex and being engaged to another woman when part of her job was to screw other men. She took deep breaths. She counted to ten and took more deep breaths.
“You can’t even come up with an excuse, can you?” Colin said. He shook his head and let out a rueful chuckle. “Unbelievable. You know what, Amara? I just... take your time. Figure out what makes you happy. This was obviously a mistake.”
“No,” she whispered, but it was as quiet as a weak breath.
Colin moved to crouch down in front of her, between her naked legs. He placed his hands on either side of face and looked at her, breathing out heavily. Leaning into her, he buried his head in the crook of her neck, where her hair fell over her shoulder in a tangled array. He took a breath and exhaled, causing a shiver of goose bumps to run down her body.
“Jasmine,” he murmured against her.
Her heart faltered. “What?”
Colin rocked back in his heels, kneeling between her legs again to look at her. “You always smell like Jasmine. It’s my favorite smell in the world, the smell of you.”
She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. “I love you,” she said, her voice was breaking, but it felt good to finally say the words to him and have it be meaningful.
He nodded. His Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “But not enough.”
Amara shut her eyes quickly. “I love you so much,” she whispered.
She felt his lips brush against hers before he gave her one last, thorough, heart-stopping kiss. “And I love you... more than the stars,” he whispered against her.
At the sound of the door shutting behind him, Amara opened her eyes. As she got up and walked to the bathroom, semen dribbling down her inner thighs and emptying what was left of Colin. She wished her heart would drain itself as well.
To: Jasmine Oliver
From: Nolan Underwood
Subject: So?
When is your trip?
To: Nolan Underwood
From: Jasmine Oliver
Subject: Re: So?
I already went. I’m back in Paris, thank God.
To: Jasmine Oliver
From: Nolan Underwood
Subject:...
I thought you hated Paris?
COLIN WAS STANDING in his mother’s lavish kitchen—the one she used to entertain guests —when she walked in and hugged him from behind. He exhaled, looking down at the trio of shiny diamond rings adorning her wrinkled fingers.
“You okay, baby boy?” she asked against his back.
He shrugged. “Aren’t I always?”
She dropped her manicured hands from him and rounded the corner of the kitchen island to stand in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Mom.”
Colin tried to find a distraction by looking around the kitchen, at the never-used pots that hung over his head, the glass stove that sat idle in front of him, and the tea kettle his mother had set between them— from the kitchen that was probably the only appliance that ever saw any action.
“Talk to me.”
He finally tore his eyes away from his surroundings and looked at her. She’d been wearing all black since the day his father died, and that day was no different. Her platinum blonde hair was made to look like a bubble in the front and pinned in the back into a neat bun.
“I’m just... I wish there was another way,” he sighed, taking a seat on a barstool.
She exhaled, her light brown eyes looking at him with sympathy. “I’m sorry, but this is the only way. We all have to make sacrifices, Colin. You marrying Molly is one of them. Your father married me for the same reason, and look at how long we lasted.”
“Were you happy?”
Her hand covered his and his eyes met hers again. “Honey, happiness is but a dream. Life has very little to do with the happiness it hands you, and everything to do with the happiness you choose to create.”
Colin exhaled heavily and took his hand away from hers. “Is that your way of telling me you weren’t?”
“Sacrifice is the biggest thing we will do during our time here on earth,” she continued.
“Mom! I’m not asking you to preach to me. I’m asking you a simple question.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “You’re my biggest blessing, Colin. When you were born, you gave me so much to live for. There were times before then that I felt so lonely. Your father’s fiancée died in a car accident before we met. He had to get married —I agreed to do it. It seemed like an easy arrangement. I got money to pay my student loans, and he took over the business when his father retired. Back then, your grandfather was big on marriage —that’s why he had that rule implemented. Your dad was more lenient and hated the marriage clause, but nonetheless kept it. I’m sure he didn’t picture himself dying before you came of age. Anyway, I was married to a man that was in love with a ghost. It was a lonely life before I had you, but I survived, and you will too. Marry that girl and get our rights back, Colin. If you don’t, everything your father worked so hard for, everything we sacrificed our lives for, will be handed over to another man.”
Colin buried his face in his hands, rubbing his head with his palms. “That man is my uncle!” he groaned. “He’s not so bad!”
“He’s a monster,” his mom seethed. “And the men he works with are even worse than he is. I will not allow them to take over that company and shred it!”
“So you do it!” he said sharply.
His mom smiled a wide, conniving smile. “Oh, I will. Just as soon as you marry Molly and sign off for me to help you.”
Colin closed his eyes. Her hate for his father’s side of the family would never subside, he knew that. They’d never accepted her. Not even after she gave birth to Colin. They never welcomed her with open arms. He knew she put up with years of torture from them because her father wouldn’t let her speak up, and this was her way of giving them a big “fuck you.” He just wished he didn’t have to be in the middle of it.
“I know you love her, Colin. I know you can’t stop loving Amara. And you know I love her too. I wish she could be the one you’ll marry. You have to believe that I do. You’re not the one getting the short end of the stick here, baby boy.” His eyes snapped to hers with a frown. “Molly is. She’ll be the one married to the man in love with a ghost. Life is such a little bitch, throwing us into the same circles time and time again. Make no mistake, Colin Oliver, you will marry Molly. Or Sue, or whomeve
r the hell you chose. But you will get married within the next nine months.”
“WHAT IS WRONG with you?” Courtney said, stopping abruptly as she walked with Amara along the riverbank.
“Nothing. Why do you ask?” Amara replied, taking a bite of the apple she was eating.
“You’ve been moping around since you got back! Even Celeste has noticed your mood.”
She finished chewing and faced Courtney. “Well excuse me if I don’t want to be here.”
Courtney rolled her eyes as she tied her hair into a ponytail. “You never want to be here, but at least before you were trying. Now you just look like... I don’t know! You’re a train wreck! Look at you!”
She waved her hand in Amara’s direction referring to Amara’s sloppy bun and loose-fitting clothes.
“You look like a bum. You haven’t worn make-up in days. That’s not like you! You’ve been wearing the most atrocious clothes that God only knows where you got. So spill. What’s wrong?” Courtney asked, narrowing her eyes.
Amara shut hers and breathed deeply before looking at Courtney again. “I saw Colin.”
Courtney’s mouth dropped. Amara lifted an eyebrow and nodded.
“What?” Courtney asked, shocked.
Amara began to walk again and Courtney trotted to catch up.
“In New Orleans. He was there with his fiancée,” Amara said, not looking at Courtney. She heard her gasp loudly.
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry, Mara. Why didn’t you tell me?” Courtney grabbed Amara’s arm and slipped her hand into Amara’s, squeezing it once their fingers were threaded together.
Amara shrugged nonchalantly, even though every time she closed her eyes, the only thing she saw was Colin hovering over her. She could still smell him, taste his tongue on hers, and feel his hands on her.
“Amara?” Courtney said, snapping her out of it.
“Yeah. Sorry. I mean, it is what it is.” She shrugged.
The Devil's Contract Page 18
