CHAPTER ELEVEN

Cas

Jade is asleep when I stir, not sure what has wakened me.

I’m spooning her smaller frame, her naked curvy body close to mine, lulling me into believing this could be more real for the both of us. She exhales a bit sharply, shifting in her sleep when I kiss her bare shoulder.

My arm is around her waist, possessively holding her captive to the bed. The truth is Jade willingly followed me in, like she has the last few nights. I’m not her captor. I’ll let her walk if she wants to leave me, only once I know she’s safe.

I reach backwards blindly until my hand closes over my phone. Confirming the early morning hour, I note the days of our holy matrimony. Five in total. Five nearly blissful days with my girl.

When did she become yours?

Since she accepted my marriage proposal, I’m ready to respond to that thought. Only it’s not the truth. Jade became my girl long before that. She became mine on Day One, I realize. The epiphany has me pulling my arm off her, sitting up in bed, and staring blankly into the dark.

I love her.

I love Jade.

It’s so obvious now, I shake my head and chuckle softly. I’ve deluded myself to think otherwise, but it has to be love. My palm falls over my chest, massaging the place over my drumming heart. I glance to my side, taking in the beauty of Jade’s curly hair and curvy body. Inhaling the sweet, citrusy jasmine of her shampoo and body wash, I commit it to memory if she chooses to leave me.

I reach for her, itching to stuff my face between her legs, to sink my stiff cock past her warm folds and fill her with my cum. Moreover, I want to do more than that, leave more of myself behind with Jade.

There’s no need to close my eyes to picture her belly swollen with my child. Creating a family with her feels more than opportunistic—it feels right, as though Fate had everything planned for us. It’s just that we were having a harder time of catching up to the obvious: namely that Jade belongs with me.

Letting my hand drop back onto my lap and over my half-chub, I watch her, holding back from doing more.

Jade has me all hot and bothered again, and I’m a bastard for wanting her so soon after waking her once already with my mouth on her pussy. I can’t keep waking her up every time I get hard for her, no matter my incessant fear about there being not enough time for us.

I leave her in the bed, grab my slacks off the floor where I hastily discarded them to get to Jade earlier, and head for the fridge. A bottle of red wine is in there, and I pour some, snagging the ingredients for a sandwich. I enjoy my two a.m. snack, watching for the open bedroom doors with a heavy heart.

I have to tell her.

It’s the only solution I can come up with. Jade won’t be impressed if I ask her to forget annulling our marriage. But perhaps I can woo her. The more I think of the challenge of making Jade aware of my love, the more it takes root.

By the time I’m loading my plate and wine glass into the dishwasher, it’s all I can think about. And I have to try, otherwise I’ll live with it haunting me. It’ll be worse than when I allowed Jade to walk away from me two months ago, both heartbroken and furious with how she stole from me.

I could have handled it better, I understand that now. Which is why I can’t let her leave. At least not until I’ve told her, made a grand gesture of sorts. As I plot how to do it, I don’t imagine anything will disturb my deep thoughts in my armchair.

So the fire alarm catches me by complete surprise.

I leap from my seat, my body rounding to stare at the door. The ringing is muffled but loud and persistent. My first thought is to get to Jade. Though it’s happened before and turned out to be an accident—someone opening a fire exit by mistake—I can’t take chances. I won’t make a mistake where Jade’s safety is concerned.

She’s sitting upright in bed when I join her, my heart thudding, body still tense from the startle of the alarm. She has the covers drawn up to her naked chest, her eyes wild and her mouth parting on my name. “Cas? What’s going on? Is it a fire alarm?”

“Sounds like it,” I say, holding up a hand. “I’ll just step out, check things for a second. Stay in bed.” I toss on a T-shirt and take my phone and suite key with me, leaving Jade with a quick kiss. It’s enough to carry me from her.

Outside, I’m not alone in the hall. There are eight suites on this wing of the hotel. Since each suite is the size of two ordinary rooms, we take up a lot of space. Seven other doors are open, and seven-plus patrons whip their heads my way.

“Mr. Felix,” the closest one says, a hoary-headed septuagenarian. “What’s the meaning of this? Is it a prank or a drill?”

“Or are we really up in flames?” his wife wonders, her hands working furiously to close the ties of her robe. She narrows her eyes, her rosy cheeks and snow-white tumble of waves clashing with the wrinkle of her nose and the disapproving curl of her mouth.

“Let me check-in,” I tell them, already on the phone and waiting for Nolan to pick up. His silence doesn’t bode well, so I try Isaiah. We haven’t spoken since he called Jade a gold-digger. My teeth clench at the memory.

But he does answer, thankfully. My elderly, temporary neighbors look ready to rip the phone from my grasp in their quest for peace and quiet.

“Fire exits were opened all over the building,” Isaiah says, his fatigue straining his voice. “We’re working on it.”

I let him go, not knowing how else to help. That’s when Nolan returned my call, interrupting my explanation to the other guests on my floor. “Hey, think you can spare a couple of your men to watch Jade? I want to be down there, helping you guys out.” I don’t mention how tired Isaiah sounded; Nolan’s happy for the trade.

Extricating myself from my grumbling neighbors, I head back into the suite and find Jade dressed and in the kitchen, nursing a cup of tea. So much for her staying in bed.

She sets down her cup, staring at me, anticipating an explanation for why the alarm is still wailing.

“No fire,” I tell her. “I’m just going to head down to help sort things out. Guests aren’t too happy.”

“And?” she says, knowing what I’m about to add.

“I’m stationing guards outside your door. They’ll do rounds of the floor for precaution’s sake.”

Jade frowns. “Is it Tyler?”

It’s my turn to stare, hating Wagner’s name from her mouth. I wish I could rid her of him, even though it’s an irrational desire—Jade has no feelings for the weaselly man. But I’m also not so sure if she cares about me the way I do. Does she love me?

“No,” I say firmly, clearing the thought of Jade’s love from my mind. I have enough on my plate to fret about hypotheticals…even if they’re starting to feel like life-and-death for me.

“He isn’t going to get too far in the building this time. Everyone knows his face by now.” I’m reassuring Jade. I don’t add if it’s Wagner causing trouble, that he’ll run into more hindrance than before. I’m cracking down on his ban from the hotel and casino.

I change in the bedroom, hating the confines of my suit. Too bad it’s one way of oozing authority without flaunting it. People sit up straighter when I’m dressed for business. Can’t say I still don’t feel like a fucking sausage.

Jade steps into my arms, meeting me at the door, holding me back for a moment. “Be careful,” she says.

“I will.” I brush the promise over her hairline, my lips lingering. I don’t want to leave her. I have to, though. Duty can be such a cock-blocking bitch.

She turns her face up and smiles softly, tiptoeing to connect our lips. I step back, before I can’t resist the urge to take Jade against the front door, lifting up her lacy teddy, and sinking her down onto my cock. “Be good.”

“I…can’t promise that,” she teases, winking. She is so adorably clueless as to how hard she’s making this for me when the purpose of this sham marriage of ours comes to an end.

How can I let you go, Jade?