by Jessica Wood
“It’s Betty,” his voiced cracked into a sob. “We’re at the hospital.”
When I heard the news, it was all too much for me to bear. Everything around me started to spin, making me feel dizzy, and as I saw a figure that looked like Jackson come out of the reception, the world went black.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Spring 2006
Twenty One Years Old
I had a secret.
It was a secret that no one I cared about knew of.
It was a secret that would change the way those I loved would look at me.
It was a secret that would break Jackson’s heart.
So that was why it was the one secret I would take to my grave.
Shortly after I started my freshman year at University of Pennsylvania, because I needed a lot of money, and fast, I was forced to join an elite escort service for men. It wasn’t the typical escort service. In addition to the services a typical escort service would provide, this escort service catered to men who wanted to unleash their wildest fantasies while also maintaining a long term relationship with the girls they hired. These men wanted the long-term all-inclusive fantasy—the fantasy that they had a hot, young girlfriend or mistress who was willing to fulfill all of their needs, whenever and wherever they wanted.
I had a total of five repeat clients through the service I work for. For all new clients—those I’d only had regular sessions with for less than twelve months—we spend our evenings at either their place or hotels. But for my regulars, the clients that treated me like their long-term girlfriends, they also received the added benefit of spending their evenings in the privacy of my condo, which added to the fantasy that I was their girlfriend. Of my five clients, two of them were considered regular clients.
I’d never told Jackson that I was doing this. Since college began, our friendship had changed. I’d felt it, and I think he had too. When we talked on the phone, we’d flirt and talk to each other as if we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I’d never thought of us that way, but lately, the idea of us together, the idea of him loving me in that capacity seemed natural. The more time I would imagine him as my boyfriend, the more I realized I desperately wanted that to be a reality. So this weekend was important for us. During our last few conversations, things felt more intimate than before, and I wanted him to be beside me, to kiss me, to make love to me.
Because Jackson was taking the train down from Boston tomorrow night to visit me for the weekend, I had to tell my clients that I won’t be available this weekend. So my last scheduled date was this afternoon with one of my regular clients.
As I prepared for my client’s arrival, I started taking a few shots of vodka to help loosen me up for the date. When it was fifteen until the client’s arrival, I slipped on a red lacy slip grown with a matching red lacy panties. I knew it was his favorite, and it got him off faster than my other outfit. I dimmed the lights in my bedroom and turned the sex music playlist he’d picked out the night before.
Just then I heard the buzzer to my front door. That was his signal to me to get ready. I quickly put on my blindfold securely around my eyes and positioned myself in the center of my bed. The thick blindfold covering my eyes didn’t let in even a glimmer of light.
“Come on in!” I called out so he could hear my signal from the front door.
I heard him enter the front door.
“Hello?” he called out.
“I’m ready for you in here, baby.”
I heard him enter the room and an audible gasp escaped him.
“Do you like what you see? I’ve been thinking about you all day long that it’s gotten me so horny, I need you right now.”
“You have?” he asked in a ragged voice.
“Oh yeah. After we talked last night, all I could think about is having you inside of me.” I opened my legs wide, revealing myself to him. I could hear his breathing become more heavy and shallow.
“Come here,” I whispered huskily at him.
I felt his hands touch my shoulders and a jolt of electricity shot through me. “Baby, you’re really turning me on today.” I wondered if I had a little too much to drink, because I felt more turned on and wet today than normal.
I felt him kneel down in front of me and I laced my fingers through his hair and pulled him on top of me. His mouth found mine, and I granted his tongue access into my mouth as they crashed together, almost in perfect unison.
I leaned back onto the bed and he followed suit, collapsing on top of me. His lips met with mine again, soft and deep, but with conviction. He reached down to undo his jeans, and I could tell his hands trembled, as my whole body was.
“I’d waited so long for this moment.” He breathed into my ear before planting a kiss on my cheek.
My heart beat faster as I felt him against me. Wow, he’s ready for me and I’d never been this turned on by a client before.
A sudden willingness washed over me, an ability to enjoy whatever he had in store for me. I felt dirty, but suddenly more desirable than ever.
I reached for his hands and pulled them down my inner thigh and guided his index finger in and out of me. I gasped as he groaned as we both felt how wet and excited I’d become for him.
“You like that?”
“Very much,” he groaned.
“So what do you want to do first?”
“Taste you.”
Before I realized what he was about to do, I felt his hands push aside my panties, and immediately, his tongue began to lap me up, causing me to whimper uncontrollably. I’d never felt this much pleasure before with a client, but for some reason, his hunger was unrelenting as his tongue explored me, causing my body to quiver with such intensity that my entire body tingled.
Then he started to slowly move up my body with his tongue. His hand found my hips, taking its sweet time on a short journey down my thigh. I managed a slight shriek when he began to stroke my inner thigh, deliberately letting his fingers wander higher and higher up my leg. I was overcome with a warmth that began in my belly and spread down my legs. He brought his lips to my ear and began biting at my earring as he began to speak to me. This is a new move for him, I thought.
“I always wondered what you’d taste like when you’re wet.” His wandering hand found my panties, stroking the growing wet spot between my legs. I moaned loudly. He pulled my panties aside and found my throbbing center, tickling it lightly at first, then harder as I began to drip. My screams turned to half-moans as he circled around me harder and harder between my dripping lips until the inevitable warmth began to swell in my clit and intensified at an electrifying volume.
I knew he loved the sound of my screams because he quickly began fingering me, using the all-too-effective “come here” motion. My moans became reduced to raspy breaths as I felt my own warmth running out of me.
“I need you now,” I begged. And to my surprise, I meant it.
He began to unzip his pants and I heard him slip on a condom. He removed his hand from between my legs and grabbed my own hand, placing it on his penis.
I gaspped by how hard he was and felt him throb in my hand.
I squirmed and pleaded with him through raspy, desperate breaths.
He tore my panties off my hips, pulled up my slip, and began rubbing the tip of his penis on my swollen center. Waves of pleasure surged down my legs again. Just as I felt as though I could take no more, he began to slowly work himself into me, thrusting deeper and deeper, harder and harder, making hardly a sound but for his ragged heavy breaths.
He began to thrust harder and harder, making hardly a sound but for heavy breaths. I couldn’t hold on any longer as the friction pushed me off the edge.
“This is incredible! Especially that thing you did at the very end. How come you’ve never done that before?”
Suddenly, he stopped moving.
“What’s wrong?”
“Before? What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, I felt all the blood drain my face when I recognized
that voice. It wasn’t my client.
I pulled off my blindfold and my heart stopped at who I saw.
It was Jackson.
“Who did you think I was?” Jackson asked, realizing by my surprise that I didn’t know it was him I was having sex with.
But before I could explain, my client walked through my bedroom door.
“Sorry I’m late, baby. My viagra kicked in half an hour ago and my cock is so hard for you, I’ll need to pay for a double session tonight.”
I watched in horror as their eyes met.
Jackson’s face went white as anger evaded his eyes. “Dad?”
***
Thank you for reading Promise to Marry, book one in the two-book series Promises. The conclusion to Chloe and Jackson’s story, Promise to Keep, will be out on February 9, 2015 and available on pre-order.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you for reading Promise to Marry, book one in the two-book series Promises. The conclusion to Chloe and Jackson’s story, Promise to Keep, will be out on February 9, 2015 and available on pre-order.
Please also consider telling your friends and leaving a review for this book. As an indie author, word of mouth and reviews help other readers to discovery my works. Thank you.
OTHER BOOKS
If you would like to stay informed of new releases, teasers, and news on my upcoming books, please sign up for Jessica Wood’s mailing list and visit me at my website: http://jessicawoodauthor.com.
Below is a list of Jessica Wood’s books:
Emma’s Story Series
A Night to Forget – Book One
The Day to Remember – Book Two
Emma’s Story Box Set – Contains Book One & Book Two
The Heartbreaker Series
This is an Emma’s Story spin-off series featuring Damian Castillo, a supporting character in The Day to Remember. This is a standalone series and does not need to be read with Emma’s Story series.
Damian – Book One
The Heartbreaker – Prequel Novella to DAMIAN – can be read before or after Damian.
Taming Damian – Book Two
The Chase Series
This is a standalone series with cameo appearances from Damian Castillo (The Heartbreaker series).
The Chase, Vol. 1
The Chase, Vol. 2
The Chase, Vol. 3
The Chase, Vol. 4
The Chase: The Complete Series Box Set – Contains All Four Volumes
Oblivion – Synopsis and Excerpt below
This is a standalone full-length book unrelated to other series by Jessica Wood.
Oblivion
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Pre-Orders Currently Available
Promise to Keep – February 9, 2015
***
Oblivion – Synopsis & Excerpt
SYNOPSIS
I wake up to a life and a man that I can’t remember.
He says his name is Connor Brady—the tall, sexy CEO of Brady Global, Inc.
He says my name is Olivia Stuart, and that I was recently in an accident and lost my memory.
Also, he says I’m his fiancé.
Although I don’t remember Connor, or anything about my past, something about him seems familiar. He is kind, protective, and breathtakingly-gorgeous. But there is just one problem—he seems too perfect.
As I begin to rebuild my relationship with Connor and accept the idea that I may never remember my past, I unexpectedly meet Ethan James.
Ethan is the mysterious, rebellious stranger who pushes my boundaries to their limits and makes me feel alive. As our lives collide time and time again, the bits and pieces of my past start to unravel, unearthing the secrets that have been buried deep inside my subconscious. With every new memory I gain about who I once was, I become more torn between the man who is my fiancé and the stranger who is the key to my past. Is my life with Connor really as perfect as he leads me to believe?
CHAPTER ONE
Tears streamed down my face as I ran into my bedroom and slammed the door behind me. I reached for my diary—the familiar pink leather journal that was filled with my deepest thoughts. My shaky fingers pulled the gold fabric ribbon page marker, taking me to my last entry, and I began to frantically scribble down everything I was feeling at that moment—all the pain and fear that raced inside me as the screaming escalated an octave higher between my parents outside of my room.
They’re fighting again. It’s been happening more and more frequently, each time worse than the day before.
I wish they weren’t so unhappy. I wish my parents didn’t hate each other so much. I wish I was anyone else but myself right now. I wish I was anywhere else but here.
As if hearing my thoughts, I heard my father roar, “If you want a fucking divorce, you can have it! But I’m going to warn you just this once: if you walk out of that door, don’t ever think about coming back again!”
“I don’t plan on it!” I heard my mother spit back. “I’m leaving first thing tomorrow, and I’m taking Liv with me!”
“No!” I cried, my mind racing as I thought about everything I was about to lose.
Just then, my room and the pink leather diary in my hand faded away into the background as my consciousness registered a soft, steady beeping in the distance. What is that?
When I turned toward the sound, I found myself running across a familiar street in the middle of the night. I was wearing a jewel-encrusted blush-pink evening gown that weighed down on my body and restricted my movement. The air was bitter cold and cutting, but the adrenaline that coursed inside me seemed to shelter me from the cold like a numbing blanket.
Suddenly, I saw two bright, blinding headlights coming toward me at high speed. The sharp screeching of car tires filled the air, drowning out all other noise. I felt the impact of cold metal against my body as I was lifelessly flung sideways against the solid pavement.
I braced myself for the impact of the pain that would greet my body.
But it didn’t come.
Instead, the steady beeping returned, but this time, it seemed closer, louder.
Then a hushed conversation seeped through my consciousness.
“There’s nothing we can do for her right now, Mr. Brady. As you know she has suffered some head injuries from the accident, so all we can do right now is to wait for her to wake up and see from there.” The female voice seemed miles away, but for some reason, I knew she was talking about me.
“Okay. Thank you.” The man’s voice was strained and low as I heard him walk in my direction.
I felt my head throb in pain, in time with that unnerving beeping that became increasingly louder.
“She’s very lucky to have someone like you to visit and be by her side every day. You must really care about her.”
“Yeah. I do.” The male voice was closer than before.
Then I felt a warm hand on mine, bringing me into the present. My mind registered the bed I was lying on. The smell of stale, chlorine air invaded my senses. The beeping came into focus and I could hear it coming from a machine a foot away from me. Am I in a hospital?
My fingers twitched as I tried to move my body.
“Nurse!” the man’s voice cried out in alarm. “I think I felt her move.”
My eyes fluttered open and closed, struggling against the heaviness of my lids and the blinding lights that stung my eyes.
“I think she’s waking up!” The man squeezed my hand as he inched closer to my face. “Liv?”
“Mr. Brady, let’s give her some room.” The man loosened his grip on me and I heard him move away.
I opened my eyes again, and this time, it was easier. My vision was blurred as I looked around, but I could detect two figures close by.
“Ms. Stuart?” The female voice was gentle as she moved toward me.
“Where am I?” I blinked and after a couple of seconds, her face came into focus. “Who are you?” I looked around the room and found myself in a surprisingly large and luxurious hospital room.<
br />
“Ms. Stuart, you were in an accident and you’re at The Pavilion, a private in-patient hospital unit at the University of Pennsylvania hospital. I’m Nurse Betty and I’ve been taking care of you.”
“An accident.” I repeated her words and tried to think through the dense fog consuming my every thought. Then I winced at the throbbing pain in my head.
“Are you in any pain?” She looked at me with concern.
“Just a horrible headache.” I reached for my head.
“I’ll let the doctor know and we’ll get you something for that.”
“What happened to me?” I looked up at her, searching her face for answers.
She flashed me a kind smile. “There’s actually someone that’s been here waiting for you to wake up for quite some time. I’ll let him tell you what happened while I check your vitals.” She moved aside and my eyes focused on the other figure in the room—the tall, handsome man in a tailored charcoal suit standing anxiously behind her.
“Hi.” I looked at him, unsure of what else to say to this stranger.
“Liv? Thank God you finally woke up.”
I smiled at him. His warm, hazel eyes were filled with concern as he moved in front of the nurse to grab my hand. I studied him, wondering why he seemed so familiar.
He reached for me. Deep creases formed between his brows as he furrowed them in worry. “Liv, how are you feeling?” His voice was smooth and gentle. I couldn’t quite place where, but I knew I’d heard it before.
I placed my hands to my head and groaned. “Besides this killer headache, I’m okay.” I tried to get up but my arms felt weak as I slumped back down against the pillows when I tried to sit up. He reached over and helped me lean up against the headboard of the bed.
“It’s so good to see you awake.” He held my face and kissed me gently on my forehead.
I flinched and frowned up at him. “Who are you? Have we met before?”
