Chapter Fifteen
By noon the following day, the only productive thing Jade managed to do was call out of work. Around one, she made some soup only to let it grow cold. She couldn’t eat. She couldn’t sleep. She stared at nothing in particular for hours on end. She was utterly numb.
When Trixie occasionally scratched at the door she roused from her comatose state with barely the strength to hold up her head. There was nothing to do. She was pregnant.
Around six o’clock she managed to climb up the steps and crawl into bed. She didn’t remember falling asleep. She didn’t remember dreaming. She awoke around eight the next morning and ran to the bathroom, where she immediately vomited.
The painful, unending bout of heaving turned her hollow stomach inside out. She cried as she hugged the cool porcelain to her clammy cheek. How had this become her life?
Forcing herself to drink some water and eat a few saltines she fumbled from one room to the other, often finding herself somewhere she didn’t recall walking to. The pattern continued, much the same, until Sunday.
It was all a blur, minutes feeling like days, hours fleeing by but leaving no memories in their wake. Eventually, she had to return to work, but at the moment she could barely function on a personal level. How could she possibly take care of others?
All she could do was sleep, the numbing pull of unconsciousness an anesthetic to her soul. And no matter how long she slept during the day, by nightfall she was still exhausted. She gave up. She didn’t want to cry and she didn’t want to try to make sense of an ugly fucked up situation that couldn’t be justified. She just wanted to pain to stop and she wanted to be left the fuck alone.
A soft whimper escaped in her sleep. It had taken him two days, but he finally found her. She hadn’t been going to work. Why? Was she ill? Keeping to the shadows, he studied her face in the pooling moonlight as she slept, curled on her side in yet another bed. Her eyes were swollen and her cheeks bore the dry tracks of tears.
His head tilted as a peculiar emotion twisted in his stomach. It bothered him that she was sad. His fingers itched under his leather gloves to touch her, but not with barriers between them.
What if he ran a hand over her hair? Comforted her? Would she be terrified to see him there in her friend’s house? Better to stay back.
The other man wasn’t here with her, which was a relief. She shifted and he stilled, holding his breath as she rolled to her back. Her flaxen hair tangled across the pillow and, again, he was tempted to move closer, touch her.
His mind replayed their night together. It had been so easy.
After endlessly observing her, she’d become a bad habit he couldn’t quit. Walking her out of the bar that night was a breeze. She was out cold by the time he put her in the car.
He had to touch himself on the drive to her place because the simple task of tightening the seatbelt over her body and feeling around for her keys had left him rock hard. Those full tits and curvaceous thighs. Her pussy tasted like the sweetest nectar. Her skin rivaled the softest silk. And when he shoved his cock deep in her cunt… His eyes rolled back on a silent sigh, his dick twitching hard against his zipper.
He needed to have her again. He wanted to hold her to him as he forced his cock down her throat. Watch her eyes tear as she struggled to take all of him. Maybe she’d beg—for him to stop, for more, it didn’t matter. The word please on her full lips would be enough for him to shoot his load. God, he wanted to cover her in his come.
He peeked into the hall. The beagle was still busy devouring the steak he’d brought as a distraction.
Biting off one glove, he slowly lowered the zipper of his pants, each little tooth coming undone letting a risky moan into the silence. His cock pulsed in his grip as his eyes devoured her. He’d give anything to trace his dick across those lips again. Maybe see her tongue skate out and sample his flavor.
The other night had been beautiful. His hands molded her body as his cock filled her, pumping hard and harder still with not even a peep of objection from her pretty mouth. He’d held her soft hair in his fist, yanking her head back so he could see her. Like a glutton, once inside of her, he couldn’t stop. He’d filled her with come, painted her skin with what seeped out of her cunt, rubbing it into her tits and over her tongue.
He grunted, his hand jerking faster as he stood in the shadows. Almost there.
He locked his jaw, silenced his breathing as he leaned into the wall. His gaze zeroed in on the curve of her breast, as he longed to pinch it hard. It was amazing how an unconscious body could still respond.
His spine twitched and his balls lifted. He reached to the dresser and quietly swiped a tissue. Yes… He swallowed a grunt as he emptied his load into the tissue and quickly shoved the evidence into his pocket.
Letting out a jagged breath, he ran his thumb over the crown of his dick, catching one last drop seeping from the tip. He was a fool, but he couldn’t resist. Hiking up his zipper, he moved closer to the bed. God, she was stunning.
His thumb slowly reached out. “You’re mine,” he whispered, pressing the tip of the digit past her full lips onto the hot tip of her tongue.
Her face turned away and she rolled on her side. Time to go.
He paused as her shoulder caught his eye, the nightshirt slipping down her arm. The branding had been the difficult part. He’d planned to leave the mark on her thigh but decided against that placement just before he stamped the hot metal into her lily-white flesh. He wanted other men to see it, to know he’d been there before them—wanted her to think of him every day she saw it.
As a successful man with multiple degrees, a beautiful home, and plenty of money, all he was missing was a good woman—her. One day she’d be his. He’d make sure of it.
As she evenly breathed, he lingered another minute. Keeping his motions steady and his touch feather light, his fingertip traced her eyebrow, followed the curve of her cheek, and coasted over her lips.
He would have her again. But this time he’d be smart. This time she’d be the one to come to him. It would only take a matter of time before he got everything he wanted. He always got what he wanted.
Shutting his eyes he breathed in her scent one last time, reaffirming the memory. Walking quietly down the steps, he passed the dog. It should be waking within the hour from his special treat. He pulled the door closed behind him.