“No,” came Nathan’s answer.
“I rest my case. Now, get going and don’t let anyone bother me for the rest of the night.”
“Good luck, Jack.” Nathan’s voice was distant when Jack kicked open the door and entered the apartment, dropping Eden atop the bed.
He closed the door and started ripping off his tie and then his jacket and vest, throwing them anywhere he happened to be pacing at the moment. “Next time you get the crazy idea to do something just to spite me, I’m going to –”
“I’m sorry,” she interrupted him. “I know it must have been horrible for you. I hated every minute of it myself.”
“You did?” he asked, looking at her in surprise. “Then why’d you do it, Eden? Why couldn’t you just stay here like I asked you to in the first place?”
Eden kicked off her high heels and scooted to the end of the bed. Her dress rode up her thighs in the process. When she looked up, she caught Jack eyeing her legs.
“Turn away,” she commanded. “Or haven’t you the decency to give a girl a little privacy?”
“You can have all the privacy you want, Eden, because I’m leaving.”
Her heart sank. He was opening the door when she stopped him.
“No! Please don’t go. I don’t want you to leave, Jack,” she blurted out.
He stopped but didn’t turn to look at her. “What is it you want?” he asked. “I can’t figure you out.”
“I want you to stay and talk with me. I want to get to know you better.”
He turned his head slightly and eyed her again. He took a deep breath and released it.
“I can’t stay,” he muttered, facing the door again. “If I do, I won’t be able to control myself. I’ve only had one thing on my mind since I saw you in that sexy dress. If you ask me to stay, I’m going to do something we’ll both regret in the morning.”
“Close the door, Jack,” Eden told him in a soft voice. “Regrets are only for those who live in the past. In Peru, we live for the day.”
Eden didn’t think he’d stay. He stood there for a moment, and then opened the door wider. But to her surprise, instead of leaving, he turned and looked at her once more. She saw his hesitation, and also the need in his deep, blue eyes.
“Are you sure about this, Eden? It isn’t something I’m going to be able to stop once we’ve started.”
“I know,” she said in a husky whisper. “I want you, Jack,” she said, her voice quivering as she spoke. “I promise you, I won’t regret it tomorrow and neither should you.”
Jack gave a silent nod, and then stepped back into the room and closed and locked the door. He removed his shirt before walking over to the wall of windows and drawing the drapes. “Did you realize I could see you naked from the apartment over the garage?”
“Really,” she answered, not able to hold back a smile.
“You like to tease a man, do you?” He unbuttoned his pants and moved toward her slowly.
“Just you.” She licked her dry lips and realized she was barely breathing.
The room was quiet except for the sound of his zipper going down. She held her breath as she watched him step out of his pants and briefs and kick them across the room. His manhood was stiff and large and the sight of his aroused form caused a tingling sensation between her thighs. Jack reached over to the wall and dimmed the lights. Her heart beat faster as he made his way to the bed, naked.
Eden couldn’t stop looking at his manly beauty that was lit up by the moonlight from the glass dome overhead. The man’s body was fit and toned. She watched the ripple of his chest muscles as he reached behind her and pulled her native clothes and manta from the bed and placed them on the chair.
“You excite me, Sweetie, in a way I’ve never known. You are so primitive, yet advanced so far past me that it scares me.”
“You excite me as well,” she said in a breathy voice.
He moved closer to her, and she anticipated his warm body pressed up against her. She wanted to be in his embrace again. Eden wanted to taste his lips and feel the security of his arms around her, just like the night she’d been lost in the city.
Jack reached out and caressed her hair in his hands, running his fingers through it and placing it behind her back, exposing her cleavage. Eden no longer wanted to cover up. Instead, she let him see her.
“You look good enough to eat,” he said. “I feel like you’re Little Red Riding Hood in that dress, and I’m the Big Bad Wolf.”
“Red Riding Hood?” she asked, slightly confused.
“Bad analogy, I suppose, since the dress is white,” he answered with a grin. “But the Big Bad Wolf thing still holds true.” He took her face in his hands and gently lowered his head until his lips met hers. His kiss was hot and tantalizing like a brilliant sun melting the winter ice. She liked the way it felt. The room was barely lit by anything but the moonlit sky that shone through the glass-domed ceiling. It was just the two of them, now. The two of them and that vast sky above them, with a million stars shining down, even if they weren’t all visible in the Chicago sky.
“I couldn’t help all night but wonder what it would be like to undress you.” Jack gently took her by the arms and helped her to her feet.
“You’ve been doing it with your eyes all night,” said Eden, resting her head against his wide, sturdy chest.
Jack reached out and his hands glided over her bare shoulders, making her revel in the intimacy of the touch. One hand slid around to her back to undo the zipper. Then he flicked the spaghetti straps from her shoulders, and she felt the dress falling from her.
Eden stood there in her bra, the dress stopping at her waist as it was too tight to fall all the way to the floor.
“I see you bought a bra after all,” said Jack.
Her face flushed. “I would have gotten a different one, but Missy insisted this is what all the girls wore.” Eden could hear the sound of her own heart beating in her ears, and wondered if Jack could hear it, too. She took a deep breath to try to relax, but it only made her chest more pronounced. Jack noticed.
With one gentle finger, he trailed it over the curves of her breast and traced a path between them. Pulling her to him, he kissed her again. His lips were soft, his hands warm. He was a man who knew how to caress a woman. He made no secret of his wanting nor did she want him to. Eden wanted something as well. She wanted Jack. She longed to open her heart to him, and hoped he would do the same for her.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she felt his hands caressing her hips and buttocks as they kissed. Slowly, he pulled the dress down from her hips and let it slide to the floor, pooling around her feet. Excitement rushed through her.
He kissed her neck, the action causing her to relax. Her head fell back and when he ran his warm tongue along her collarbone, then daringly close to her breasts, she let out a soft whimper. His hardened form pressed against her, telling her he was ready. She was ready, too. Then he unclasped her bra, and it fell to the floor with a soft thud.
Jack stepped back and looked at her in the dim light. Her first instinct was to run and hide, but she didn’t. She let him look and, at the same time, she drank in the sight of him.
“You look so sexy without any panties under those hose.”
He looked sexy to her as well, but she couldn’t find the words to tell him. Instead, she let her eyes sweep down his body, lingering for a second when she got below his hips. He released a small groan at the back of his throat making her eyes shoot back up to his face.
“I think it’s time,” he told her, flipping back the covers, gently easing her down upon the leopard-skin sheets. He peeled off her hose inch by inch, as if he were carefully opening up a present. Eden’s body grew hot with anticipation. It never felt so good to be naked. And when Jack’s hot, hard body pressed up against hers, she couldn’t wait to feel him inside her.
He trailed kisses down her cheek and neck and stopped to encircle the tip of her breast. With eyes closed, she arched her back, feeling
each flick of his tongue all the way down to her inner core. Her breathing deepened, and she bit the side of her cheek in order not to cry out when his tongue swirled around her navel.
“It’s been so long,” murmured Jack. “It’s been too long and this feels so damned good.”
“It does,” agreed Eden, lifting his head back up to her chest. She moistened her lips with her tongue and tried to catch her breath.
“Has it been a long time for you, too?” he asked, nibbling on her earlobe.
She didn’t know how to tell him she was still a virgin. To the Quechua people, someone as old as her who wasn’t married was a disgrace. Eden was basically an outcast, though she lived and worked with many in the village because her mother insisted that she had no place else to go. Sadly, she had brought shame to her mother as well as the village. But not one of the native men wanted a woman of mixed blood.
“Longer than you think,” she answered, running her hands up and down his back, loving the feel of his taut muscles as he held himself up over her, leaning on his elbows. He then put his knee between her thighs, and she pulled her legs closer together.
“Open for me, Sweetie. You seem a little shy for someone who’s willing.”
She opened for him but tensed when she felt him trying to enter.
“What’s the matter, Eden?” he asked through heavy breathing. “You’re not changing your mind, are you?”
“No,” she answered quickly. “I meant it when I said I wanted you, Jack.”
As Jack entered her, she tensed again. It was purely from anticipation, not because it hurt. Mountain women had a high tolerance for pain. Life was hard in the Andes, and the women were very physical.
She felt him deep within her as he started to rock his hips back and forth in a thrusting motion.
“This feels so good,” he whispered. “You are so tight that it’s driving me mad.”
Eden was beginning to relax and welcome the vibrancy she had never known. She had hoped it would last longer but, all of a sudden, Jack made a noise in the back of his throat and all but collapsed on top of her. He then rolled to his side and released her.
“Wow, Eden. I haven’t felt anyone so tight in a long time.”
As the tears formed in her eyes, she tried her best to hold them back. She didn’t want to show emotion. It wasn’t the way of her people. Still, she had such pent-up feelings and was so unsure of any of them. She didn’t regret lying with Jack, but she just wanted it to last longer.
He looked at her when she didn’t respond and pushed himself up on his elbow. “Eden, is something wrong?
She didn’t answer, but just looked the other way.
“Oh, shit! Please don’t tell me you were a virgin.”
His words and the tone of them made her flinch. It was apparent that he disapproved of twenty-one-year-old virgins, just like her villagers had. She’d disappointed Jack as well. Maybe she should have told him before they started so he could have changed his mind.
She tried to get up off the bed, but Jack pulled her back to him.
“It’s true, isn’t it? Eden, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to,” she said, biting her lip trying not to cry. “But I was afraid.”
Jack could have kicked himself for what he had just done. He not only kept Eden from her homeland, but now he took her virginity as well. She was crying, though she tried hard not to let him see it. He’d made a mistake again. Had he been thinking with his head and not his zipper, he would have realized she was fragile and not ready for this.
She said she wanted him, but now he knew it was only because she wanted to please him after causing him so much trouble. The damage was done and it was something that could never be reversed. He had been so aroused that he hadn’t even remembered to use protection.
“I’m sorry, Sweetheart.” He pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “Had I known, I wouldn’t have touched you.”
“No, I’m the one who is sorry,” said Eden. “I’ve disappointed you, just like I did my own people.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked in a gentle tone as he smoothed down her hair. “You didn’t disappoint me at all. It was just the opposite.”
“Mountain girls are married at adulthood,” she explained. “It’s unusual and not accepted to be as old as me and still not wed.”
“And are the girls expected to be virgins when they marry?” he asked.
She smiled and relaxed a little as she lay back down and snuggled into his arms. “A child must be conceived before the couple are allowed to marry. The union must be proven fruitful first.”
Jack felt a rush of anxiety sweep through him. Is this why she wanted him? Was she trying to conceive, and did she have marrying on the mind? Jack wasn’t ready for a commitment like this, and no one was going to rush him.
“Eden, I think that after tonight we should slow down a little.”
Her body tensed in his arms. “You don’t want me, Jack?”
“No, no, just the opposite. All I mean is that we should get to know each other better before we do it again.”
“I agree,” said Eden with a sniffle. “I’d like that.”
Jack spent the night with Eden curled up in his arms. It felt good to be near her, but he knew he couldn’t spend another night here. Not without wanting her and taking her again. Tomorrow, he’d go back to the room above the garage and they would start all over. Tomorrow, he’d get to know the real Eden Ramirez.
Chapter 16
When Eden awoke the next morning, Jack was already gone. It wasn’t like her to sleep past dawn, but since she’d been in Chicago nothing was the same. Getting out of bed, she looked for her clothes. The white dress was in a heap on the floor. Seeing it only brought back memories of her intimate time with Jack last night.
Making love wasn’t all a mystery to her. After all, she lived in a one-room house with her mother, her half-siblings, and her stepfather. Many times, her uncle, his wife, and his family would stay there, too, when they were helping in the fields.
There wasn’t much privacy among the Quechuas, but neither did they seem to care. She was different, because she felt shy about such things. Just one more reason for them to consider her an outcast.
Eden grabbed her unco and pulled it over her head. She stepped into her pollera, buttoned the skirt, and wrapped the hand-woven belt around her waist. Pulling her short jacket over her shoulders, she felt so covered with the saco after last night. Then she slipped into her sandals, grabbed her hat, and made her way to the mirror to brush and braid her hair.
As she braided, she strolled over to the window, spotting Jack standing in the yard looking at something on the ground. He glanced up, and she had half a mind to step back in the hope that he hadn’t seen her. She wasn’t at all sure how to feel after last night.
“Come here,” he said and motioned with his hand.
She wondered what he wanted, and grabbed her montera off the dresser, pulling the hat low on her head as she made her way down the stairs.
“Mornin’,” Nathan greeted her from the office.
“Wenos dias,” she returned the greeting in the Quechua language. She felt his eyes on her as she made her way through the kitchen to the back door.
Ruthie stopped her before she could head out. “So, what happened last night?”
Eden’s heart skipped a beat and she wondered just how everyone knew about her and Jack.
“Was it worth it?” Ruthie continued.
Eden’s eyes opened wide. “What?”
“The opening of The Ruby.” Ruthie cocked her head. “You look a bit flushed, Eden. Do you have a fever?”
“I’m fine,” she muttered in relief and hurried out to the back yard.
“Look at this,” Jack called out, waving her over.
He looked good in blue jeans and a t-shirt with rolled-up sleeves. The slight breeze kissed her face, and she reveled in the smell of budding life all around her. It was just about
summer now in the States.
Eden approached and looked down to see what Jack was pointing at. At the edge of the patio grew knee-high plants.
“Do you know what this is?” he asked.
Eden took a closer look. She knew exactly what grew there. They were the same kind of plants they farmed back home.
“Sure I do,” she answered, reaching out to touch the new growth. “It’s lima beans, and grain. Chisiya mama,” she said.
“Whose mama?” asked Jack, and Eden hit him playfully on the arm.
“Chisiya mama,” she repeated. “It means mother grain.” It’s also known to some as quinoa. It was sacred to the Incas, and has so much protein they used it instead of meat.”
“Quinoa,” repeated Jack. “I’ve heard of it. I think they sell it here in the States.”
“I’m sure they do,” said Eden. “But I had no idea it grew here in Chicago.”
“These are your seeds, Eden,” Jack explained. “They are the ones your father gave you. The ones I threw out the window.”
“It’s a good sign.” Eden smiled. “You’re going to prosper, Jack.”
“Hah!” Jack blew out of his mouth. “The only way I’ll prosper is if this beanstalk grows tall enough to reach some giant’s castle in the sky. Then maybe I can climb it and find a goose that lays golden eggs just like the fairy tale.”
Eden wasn’t sure what Jack was talking about. “Fairy tale?” she asked.
“Jack and the Beanstalk,” said Jack. “Oh, never mind. Why I wanted you down here was because I wanted to know if you could plant me a garden?”
“A garden?” Eden was surprised and pleased by the suggestion. “Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t need or want one? Do you mean vegetables or flowers?”
“Both,” answered Jack. “I want to learn how you farm the land back in Peru. I want to watch you do it.”
“But this is different,” she said. “I don’t know if –” The pleading look on his face made her remember his quest to get to know her better. Maybe by doing this, she could get closer to Jack as well. Eden longed to get her hands dirty and to work with the earth again. “All right,” she said. “What do you want me to plant?”
Bistro Bachelor: Working Man Series - Book 2 Page 12
