Chapter Fifteen

Silence.

That’s what Jewell experienced for the next few days after Blake’s strange dinner visit and even stranger exit. After three days passed and she heard not a single word from him, she began to wonder if he’d finally decided that one night of great sex more than a week ago was enough. But he was more likely playing a game with her, trying to drive her insane. He would make her so crazy that she would just collapse in a puddle at his feet and beg to do his bidding.

Jewell woke up every morning with her body tense, but this morning something was really wrong, and she was terrified of opening her eyes. Lately, she’d often been delighted to wake up, to leave behind the disturbing dreams that seemed to fill her mind every night, but this morning she wished she were still asleep, because she knew she wasn’t alone.

“You might as well open your eyes, Jewell. I can tell you’re awake.”

Her body went instantly from tense to as stiff as a board. That voice had been in her dreams, in her thoughts, every minute of every day for months — ever since she’d met him.

She kept her eyes closed and shifted restlessly on the bed, but after a minute she gave up and spoke. “What are you doing here, Blake?”

“I’ve given you enough time to think, Jewell. More than enough. I’m done waiting.”

Jewell finally opened her eyes and found him leaning over her.

“You can’t just walk into somebody’s home, especially their bedroom, while they are sleeping,” she said. She was sure she looked terrible, with her hair a mess and dark circles under her eyes. This wasn’t exactly the time to entertain company.

“But I own this apartment, Jewell.”

“You don’t own me,” she retorted before clapping her hand over her mouth. Of course he did, and he didn’t hesitate to remind her of that unhappy fact.

“You can say that all you want — but I do own you, Jewell,” he whispered. “And you’ve even admitted it on occasion.” Then, as if to prove his ownership, he slipped his hand beneath the covers and cupped her breast on the outside of her nightshirt.

Her traitorous body instantly responded to him, her nipple hardening, her stomach quivering, and her breath hitching. And there was no hiding those reactions. There was no hiding the fact that she wanted him to take over, take the decision away from her. Dammit!

“Yes, you make me respond to you, but it doesn’t keep me from resenting you for my body’s reaction. It doesn’t mean I feel anything other than lust for you.”

Blake’s pupils dilated. “I think that’s exactly what it means, darling Jewell,” he said. “You can either get up and come out with me for the day, or we can just spend it right here — in this nice warm bed.”

While he spoke, he withdrew his hand from her breast, making her want to scream and tell him to put it back where it had been, but then she felt his warm palm slip under her shirt and travel upward until his fingers were on her bare breast.

When he squeezed her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, she whimpered, much to her distress and shame. Yes, he turned her on, and yes, he knew it.

“You love my touch, Jewell. No matter how much you deny it, you can’t fool me,” he told her. He lifted her shirt without removing it and his mouth took the place his hand had just occupied.

She couldn’t help but moan. She’d tried over and over to claim otherwise, but oh how she wanted him. She couldn’t even hate him for it. When they both lapsed into silence, he stopped touching her and rose from the bed, then began to undo his shirt. She knew that if she said nothing, they’d end up making love, and her body was screaming for release.

So she was shocked when she spoke. “Let me shower, Blake. I’ll be ready to leave in thirty minutes.”

He sighed. “Too bad. You got my hopes up. Among other things.”

He stepped closer and lifted her hand, placing it where his hardness was pulsing beneath his trousers. She nearly changed her mind.

But somehow she found the strength to get out of bed and head to the bathroom. As the warm spray caressed her sensitive skin, she wished she had the courage to call him in so he could relieve the ache she was feeling. But she finished her shower alone, got dressed, and found Blake in the kitchen drinking coffee.

“Where are we going?” she asked, pouring herself a cup and taking a sip.

“To the marina.”

“Why? What are we going to do there?”

“You’ll see. I have plans,” Blake told her.

After finishing her coffee, Jewell went with him to the front door. He took her jacket from the coat closet and helped her into it, letting his hands linger on her shoulders and then smooth down along her sides. Another shudder passed through her body, but before that led to anything, he led her from the apartment.

He said nothing as the two of them stepped into the elevator, and then suddenly it was as if a dam had broken, because Jewell found herself pressed against the elevator wall, with Blake’s body covering hers and his head descending to meet hers.

The kiss he gave her left her knees weak. His hands traveled up and down her back, and her body melted underneath his possession. What had she been thinking when she turned down lovemaking in favor of going out?

Just as his fingers were slipping beneath her shirt, the bell on the elevator chimed, and he stepped back and helped her tug her clothes into place. What good did that do, though? The glow in her cheeks would make any onlooker aware that she was a woman who had just been thoroughly kissed and caressed. The two of them got off the elevator in silence, proceeded through the lobby of the apartment complex, and walked out onto the street, where Blake had a car waiting.

“To the marina, sir?” Max asked.

After Blake and Jewell climbed into the backseat, he lifted her hand to his mouth and feathered kisses across her knuckles, making her stomach twist.

Max said nothing; he didn’t so much as look in the rearview mirror as Blake attempted to seduce Jewell right there in the car. Suddenly she was angry. This miserable man came and went as he pleased, left her feeling wanted and then unwanted, made sure she didn’t know where she stood, and he still had the ability to make her pant for him in a matter of seconds.

It wasn’t right and she didn’t want to have anything to do with it. She tugged her fingers firmly away and sat on both hands so he couldn’t gain access to either of them.

“Hmm, playing hard to get?” he whispered in her ear, and then leaned down and warmed her neck with his hot breath.

“Maybe I don’t appreciate having you touch me,” she said — what a ridiculously obvious lie!

“I think you enjoy having me touch you anytime, anywhere,” he countered, his hand now on her thigh and traveling slowly but deliberately upward.

“You did pay for me, so I guess you bought the privilege,” she said nastily, and he paused for a moment before leaning even closer.

“Yes, I did.” Though she’d been the one to point it out, having him confirm it didn’t make her feel any better. “Open your thighs, Jewell.” That wasn’t a request; it was a command. “If you want to be treated like a whore, I’m more than willing to oblige you.”

Tears stung her eyes, but she turned to glare at him before she did as he asked. His expression showed nothing as he moved his hands up her jeans-clad inner thigh, and then ran his finger over her core, sending shivers all through her.

“I can take you whenever I damn well feel like it. Don’t forget that.” He removed his hand and turned away from her. “And damn you for continually reminding me.”

She barely heard his last sentence.

He didn’t touch her again while they traveled down to a part of the bay where only the richest of the rich stored their yachts. The car stopped and Max came around and opened the back door.

“Let’s go,” Blake said gruffly.

Jewell had no idea what he was thinking, but she suspected that she’d put him in a very bad mood. Good. She was hurting, so it was only fair that she’d spoiled his fun, too.

If only she really felt that way. They walked in silence to where the huge boats bobbed on the water. Jewell fought tears as she waited to see what would come next.