Chapter 12
REED
The last two years have been hard on my mother. With Rod still missing in action, she’s just not herself. So I’ve taken the summer to come and stay with them and try to bring some kind of normal back into their lives.
The New Year’s parties and Christmas parties were forgotten the last two years. She claimed to not feel well for all those occasions. Even the traditional Christmas evening immediate family only dinners were canceled.
I had them flown into Los Angeles last year and they joined me at my place.
They didn’t ask about how much money I’ve made when they saw the mansion in Bel-Air. I think they understand why I’m not advertising it to anyone.
It’s the first weekend since I came here at the beginning of the week and I’m going to bar-b-que for them. I sent them off to the car lot to buy new cars.
I swear they make me insane with wanting to hold onto cars past their prime. I told them you get more for the trade if you do it every two years. But Mom claims a love for her car and so does Dad.
But I made them take them down when I told them the money had already been paid. It hasn’t, I’ll go down and negotiate later, but the sales guy wants the commission so he lies to them for me.
The tiny supermarket in Jerome always leaves me yearning for something better in this tiny town. The meat looks like crap and I think I just might make a run to Prescott to get the steaks I wanted to cook tonight.
I turn my basket around to check out with the bag of potatoes and the salad that will be fine but I have to look elsewhere for the meat.
A pair of red heels catches my eyes as I turn and then they move up the long, perfectly formed legs they’re attached to. Those legs end in a tight black skirt which hugs some demanding curves.
A slender waist is accented by a thin red belt and I find a white silk blouse tucked into the top of the skirt. It billows out over a pair of voluptuous tits. A gold chain with of all things, a cross, hangs between those perky puppies and my eyes keep on going up as my dick grows long and hardens.
“Hey, you,” comes the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. “What are you doing in town?”
Silky blonde hair hangs to her shoulders and her green eyes have tiny wrinkles at the outer corners from the smile covering her gorgeous face.
I haven’t seen her since that Christmas…
“Jenna,” I say and the sound comes out all breathy.
“Reed,” she says and my name sounds so damn good when it comes from her sweet red lips.
Two steps she takes toward me and I’m in her arms or she’s in mine. I can’t tell which as we hug and I inhale her.
A nice perfume I smell, some cinnamon and honey. And her.
Jenna.
I don’t want to but I end the hug, then move my hands to her arms and hold her back as I look her over. “My, my, you have grown up.”
Her hand moves over my shoulder and I feel the heat and electricity her touch has always given me. “So have you. How can you have even more muscles, Reed?”
I let her go and kind of kick my foot at the floor and look down as she’s making me feel all odd. “Don’t know. I work out and stuff.” Then I look back at her. “And you look better than I’ve ever seen you look before.”
She palms her hair and smiles. “I’ve learned a bit about style. And thanks to the scholarships you gave me, I’m a proud graduate of Arizona State and will be taking the certification test in September to become a real teacher, Kindergarten through third grade.”
She moves in close and her lips touch my cheek for only a moment then she pulls back. “Thank you for that, Reed. I really do appreciate it.”
“You never sent me a graduation invitation, Jenna,” I say as I trail my hand up her arm.
“I didn’t want you to feel obligated. I know you’re a very busy man.” She takes a step back and my hand falls to my side.
“So, you’re home for how long?” I ask.
“The summer. Then I’m going to go to Tempe and take the test and get the hell out of Arizona. I’ll be looking for somewhere to teach in the meantime. Anywhere other than Arizona.” Her lips stop moving and I become acutely aware of just how much I’m looking at them.
I look back into her green eyes. “I’m also here for the summer. Trying to talk Mom and Dad into moving. This place is so far from everything. And Mom isn’t doing well. She’s felt bad every time anything comes up. You know, not like her at all.”
Her eyes grow a little dark and droop a bit. “Well, that’s to be expected I would guess. When your kid goes missing I don’t think it’s an easy thing to take.”
I immediately feel like an ass for bringing up my family at all. “Jenna, I’m sorry. Let’s not talk about them. Hey, I was going to cook out tonight, but the meat here is terrible. I’m going to head on over to Prescott to find some decent meat. So I’m switching the bar-b-que to tomorrow night. Wanna come with me?”
She looks at me for a moment and I see conflict in her eyes. Her mouth opens and the word I want to hear comes out, “Yes.”
I nearly fall backward with relief. I had no idea I was holding my body so tensely. “Great. Oh! What were you here for? Do you need to grab something?”
She blushes and looks away. “Um, yes I do need to grab something. Want to meet me in front when you’re done? I can leave my car here. If my parents knew I was going anywhere with you, they’d get their lectures written up and I’d get to hear them all summer long.”
I think the same about mine and nod in agreement. “Sure.”
“See you outside then.” She walks away and I turn to watch her go.
My God the girl has grown into the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen!
I watch her pull a phone from her red leather purse and put it to her ear and say, “Mom, I met an old girlfriend in the store and will be spending the evening with her. I have my house key. No need to wait up.”
No need to wait up!
My cock jerks and I hurry to check out. My heart is pounding in my chest. I can barely function as I put the two things I bought on the counter and the young girl rings them up. I hand her my card and she runs it and I leave, carrying the bag of potatoes in one hand and the prepacked bag of salad in the other and realize I didn’t even allow her to bag them.
I’m kind of giddy, I realize as I go to my car and get in then decide to drive up to the front of the store so Jenna can get in without anyone realizing she’s leaving the parking lot with me.
Thank God I got the rental with tinted windows!
Carrying only one small bag and shoving it into her tiny purse as she comes out, I roll the passenger side window down and call out at Jenna, “It’s me!”
She smiles and pulls her sunglasses out of the purse and gets into the car. “Nice,” she says. “A rental company that rents Mercedes, Reed?”
“When asked for, yes.” I drive away as she buckles her seatbelt.
The vibe I feel is weird. Taboo, danger, electricity, and elatedness.
I have Jenna Foster in my front seat!
I’ve mooned over this girl since she grew tits in high school. Watching her from a distance, I thought I was a little too old for her when she came into school as a freshman and I was a junior.
Who knew I was well within her age-range?
Then my asshole brother set his sights on her and somehow convinced the sweet girl to come into his lair of evil. He nearly ruined her.
But as I take a sideways glance at her I can see she was far from ruined by him.
She has overcome what he did to her. I’d have to say she is more woman than I ever envisioned her being. Confidence radiates off her now.
Jenna was always on the shy side and lacked basic confidence. A thing I blame on my older brother.
When he got his hands on the young girl, who’d never been allowed to date until she turned eighteen, he had a naïve girl with no idea about how relationships work.
He controlled every last thing she did. If it wasn’t for me getting her into college, I shudder to think what she’d have become under his tyrannical reign.
The silence between us suddenly hits me as I drive out of town. “So, ready for the future, Jenna?” I ask and feel kind of dumb with that question.
“Um, yeah.” She looks over at me. “I have you to thank for that.”
“You did all the hard work. I merely put the opportunity in front of you, Jenna.” I tap the steering wheel to keep my hand occupied as I keep having the urge to reach over and take her hand in mine.
A hand which is resting on the tanned skin which looks silky soft, just above her knee.
Then my hand moves off the steering wheel all on its own and my fingertip drifts over the ring finger where Rod had put an engagement ring two years ago. “What did you do with the ring?” It just comes out of my mouth and I bite my tongue because of it.
“Your mom didn’t tell you?” she asks.
My finger is still on hers and I leave it there as I say, “No.”
She moves her hand. “I gave it to her before I left to go to Tempe.”
“Oh.” I place my hand back on the wheel. “I shouldn’t have even brought it up.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like you and I can never talk about that part of my life. You were there after all.”
“Not for all of it. Do you care to elaborate on anything that happened between you two?” I look over at her and have to wonder if she will ever tell anyone about what all happened between them.
Everyone knows about the incident where their neighbor called the cops as Rod pushed her down in their front yard and drug her around it. So there’s not a doubt in my mind he did far worse things to her inside the house on other occasions.
“Reed, I’m in your debt for paying my way through college. I appreciate you and your help more than you will ever know. But what happened between me and your brother is a thing I’ve put away. I don’t care to relive any of it. So if you don’t mind I’d love it if you and I could build a friendship based on you and me, alone. Okay?” She pulls her shades down and looks over them at me.
The word friendship kind of stabs at me but I say, “Sure.”
“Great,” she says then puts her glasses back up, covering her beautiful eyes, and looks straight ahead. “So tell me what kinds of things you’ve been up to in California, Reed.”
I grip the steering wheel once again and say, “I’ve been up to doing business deals and making more money. Can I tell you the truth, though?”
She looks at me and takes off her glasses. Her eyes are full of concern and it makes my heart skip a beat that she seems to care at all. “You better tell me the truth, Reed. Are things going bad for you?”
“Life is not all that great when you live it alone. All the money in the world isn’t enough if you have no one to spend your life with.” Admitting it feels both great and embarrassing at the same time.
But the after effects are phenomenal!
Her slender hand with a nice pink manicure runs up to mine which is on the steering wheel. She takes it in hers and pulls it to her chest. Fractions of centimeters from her perfect breasts.
Her words are soft and sweet, “Reed, that breaks my heart. How is it you haven’t found someone?”
Because I love you and always have…
But what I say is, “I have a certain kind of woman in mind and she’s not in California.”
Her thumb moves over my knuckles as she looks at me and keeps my hand right there close to her heart and subsequently, her tits. My mouth begins to water as I can feel her chest rise and fall with every breath she takes.
“Reed, you’re perfect. How can you not have found one of the women in California to be a good candidate as a serious girlfriend?”
“I’m perfect?” I ask as I look at her.
She smiles. “Eyes on the road!”
I turn my head and have to smile.
I think she might like me!
“I think you’re pretty perfect too. So have you met anyone interesting at college? You know a new man?” I glance at her and she puts my hand back on the steering wheel.
“I’ve made friends.” Her arms cross and so do her legs. She looks out the window and her body language tells me a lot.
“Any that ended up in your bed?” I know I shouldn’t ask but I’m dying to know.
She looks back at me and her lips part then they close tight then they open again. “No. I’ve not let anyone even kiss me. I did make friends, and I did become social again. And that’s about all I could manage to do.”
What did my brother do to her?
“Think that’s normal?” I ask.
“No,” comes her very quick answer. “I don’t. But normal has never really been something that happens for me. No normal childhood, no normal first love, no normal sex life. Nope, nothing has come normal for me.”
My stomach tightens as I’ve often wondered about her sex life with my brother. He was heavily into BDSM and though Jenna never seemed the type I had to wonder.
“So, he hurt you in more ways than one, right?” I ask as I keep my eyes on the road.
“He did, and that’s the past and I’ve moved into the now. I live every day, one day at a time.” Her legs uncross and her hands go back down to rest on her thighs as she breathes out.
Without really thinking, I say, “You sound like someone who’s survived a tragedy, Jenna.”
She looks straight ahead and says, “I don’t like to look at it that way, Reed. I like to look at things from a different perspective. What I went through did make me stronger. And being stronger is never a bad thing to be.”
I look ahead and have to wonder if this new Jenna is a good thing or a bad thing. Seems Rod’s departure has made my mother weak and Jenna super strong.
Where that leaves me is a mystery…
Chapter 13
JENNA
I cannot believe I’m going out to dinner with Reed Manning. The man was nearly my brother-in-law for God sakes.
But this is just a friendly dinner. Nothing serious. Just old friends catching up.
I glance at him as he messes with the radio and finds some country music. “You like this kind of music, Jenna?”
“Sure, it’s fine.” I pull at the hem of my short skirt.
I don’t know why I got all dressed up today. I was just going to the store to pick up some feminine products is all.
Somewhere inside me resides this person who wants to be seen as anything but the stupid young woman who left our tiny town two years ago after being dumped by the notorious bad boy. The outfit helped in my mind I guess.
Reed’s head bobs a bit to the music. “You know there’s this pretty nice place in Prescott where we can eat and there’s usually a live band on the weekends. What do you say to a little eating and a little dancing?”
“I say that sounds a hell of a lot like a date.” My fingers start to nervously tap my legs.
He pulls one hand off the wheel and takes my left hand in his. “Not a date, Jenna. Just us hanging out together.”
He’s so calm and cool and awesome!
“I know. It does sound nice and fun. So I’m game.”
And just like that, he has my hand in his. Our clasped hands are resting on his thigh and I’m going all hot and my insides are teaming with butterflies.
Should I move my hand?
No, I’m going to let him hold it. It feels nice, anyway. And I am a single woman. And Reed has done amazing things for me.
It’ll be fine!
“Besides, you look too good to go to waste. You need to be shown off a bit.” Then he gives my hand a squeeze, and I nearly wet myself.
“Thank you,” I say as I look him over. “You do too. The nice slacks and button up have you looking all GQ, Reed. Were you doing some business today?”
“I was. I visited with a salesman at the Autoplex and negotiated the trade-ins of my parents’ cars I got for them a few years back. I always like to look like I know what I’m talking about when doing any business deals.” He places my hand on his thigh but lets it go as he reaches up to change the radio station then he picks it right back up and my heart skips a beat.
“So your mom and dad are getting new cars then?” I ask just to hear him talk more. His voice is deep and silky and I’ve always loved it.
“Yes. I’d like to get them into something new every two years and from now on I will be doing that. It was hard to get them to let go of the ones they had, but I managed, finally.” The sun is setting, and the light isn’t quite so bright so he lets my hand go and takes off his shades.
I move my hand off his thigh and take my sunglasses off too. He looks over at me and puts his hand back on the steering wheel.
Maybe he wanted to keep holding my hand!
He makes a left turn. “This is the place I was talking about. What do you think?”
It’s very nice and very upscale for Arizona. “It looks expensive, Reed. We don’t have to go anywhere expensive. I can eat at a plain old restaurant.”
He parks and shakes his head. “Not when you’re with me you won’t.”
I get out of the car as he does, and he jogs around to the passenger side and takes my hand. “I can hear the music already.”
“You have to promise me at least ten dances,” he says with a wide smile.
His shoulder touches mine as he leans close. I smile back. “Ten! That’s a lot.”
The way his eyebrows raise and dance a bit makes me giggle as he says, “It’s half as many as I wanted to say.”
And I think he’d like to hold me in his arms the majority of this purely platonic dinner. Our eyes hold for a moment before the hostess says something breaking the connection. I look at her. “Two, please. Non-smoking.”
Reed’s breath moves the hair near my ear as he whispers, “I didn’t even notice what she said. Thanks.”
His hand leaves mine and moves to the small of my back as I follow the young woman and he follows behind me. It sends the oddest most pleasant sensation through me as his fingertips barely touch me.
She gestures to a table near the edge of the dance floor. Reed pulls out a chair and I sit down then he sits on the one closest to me.
“Can I bring you something to drink to get you started?” she asks.
Reed says, “Two red wines, please.”
She nods and leaves us alone in the dimly lit area. I look around and see a lot of other couples here. On dates, I would guess.
It seems like a place men would take dates and I look at Reed who is gazing at me. “This place is nice. But it seems kind of datey.”
“Datey?” He laughs a little. “All that college and you come up with that word, Jenna?”
“You know what I mean,” I say as I bat at his chest.
He takes my hand and wraps his fist around it then intertwines his fingers with mine and places them on his leg again. “I do know what you mean. And so what if we call this thing a date?”
My smile is weak as I say, “Because us dating would be frowned upon.”
“You know, Jenna, neither you nor I really live in that tiny town any longer. You and I don’t have to follow the rules of that place anymore. You and I can do whatever the hell you and I want to.” He pulls our hands up and kisses mine.
My body goes limp as it feels like nothing I’ve ever felt before. “Can I ask you something and you be completely honest with me?”
He nods. “Always.”
“When we touch does it do anything odd to you?”
His dark blue eyes narrow as he looks at me. “It always has. But I don’t call it odd, I call it magical.”
“Yeah, I thought so.”
“And you?” he asks.
“Yes, it always has. But I think it’s because of how taboo this is. You know?” I lean back as the waitress places the glass of wine in front of me. “Thank you.”
She smiles. “Can I get you an appetizer?”
Reed answers, “Oysters Rockefeller, please.”
“Okay, would you like the half order or the whole dozen, Sir?”
“The whole order,” he says and looks at me the whole time.
His gaze is intense and I look down as the waitress gives him a nod and walks away. “That’s a lot of oysters for two people.”
“Bet we eat them all,” he says then gets up, pulling me along with him.
I bite my lower lips as he pulls me into his arms. “I see you want to dance.”
Pulling me close, one hand holds mine between us and the other is wrapped around me, holding my body to his. His lips are so close to mine as he whispers, “Dance, yes. I want to dance with you.” Then he leans back a bit and looks into my eyes. “But mostly I wanted to see what it feels like to hold you in my arms. And you know what, Jenna Foster?”
I can barely breathe so I just shake my head a little.
“It feels even better than I imagined it would.”
He tightens his arms around me and I put my head on his broad shoulder. It does feel better than I ever thought being held in a man’s arms could feel.
Our bodies touch in all the right places. We move together like we’ve been dancing together forever. Everything feels more than right.
But this can’t go any further than this. We both know that.
But for now, we’re here and no one knows us in this place. No one knows I almost married this man’s brother. No one knows this would be very bad for our families. No one knows a thing.
And then a chill runs through me. Because if Rod walked through that door for some reason then he would freak.
The song ends but I don’t want Reed to let me go. He only halfway lets me go as he keeps his arm around me and walks me back to the table where I see the gorgeous platter of spinach and some kind of white creamy stuff flowing over what looks like very fresh oysters on the half-shell.
Reed pulls the chair out for me and I take the seat as he sits next to me but moves his chair closer. He takes one of the oysters and looks at me as he moves it toward my mouth.
“All you do is swallow it. Don’t chew,” he directs me as he presses the shell to my lower lip. “Open up and I’ll slide it in.”
My eyes go big and my eyebrows go up. “Reed, that sounds more than a little provocative.”
His other hand slides up my leg and stops as he gets it just under the edge of my skirt. “Because I meant it to. Now open up.”
My mouth opens as I watch him watching me and he slides the stuff off the shell and I swallow it. “Mmmm. That was good.”
“Do me now,” he says as he leans back and parts his lips.
I know this is a really bad idea but I do it anyway and pick up one of the appetizers and place the shell on his lower lip. He opens his mouth and I pour it in.
After he swallows, he smiles at me. Then he picks up my glass of wine and holds it in front of my mouth and I accept the drink then he leans back and gestures for me to give him one.
I do as my body shakes, rattles, and rolls with excitement and desire.
I want to climb onto his lap so damn bad it’s not one bit funny. Then he gives me a smile and stands up again and holds his hand out to me. “Another dance, my lady?”
I take his hand and can’t wait to be back in his arms again. The song is a little faster than the last and the spinning action he does has our groins connecting and mine is on fire for him as I can feel his cock against me.
I lay my head on his shoulder and take in his aroma. He’s using a different cologne than he had on the last time I saw him.
That Christmas night.
Then my heart kind of cramps with the memory. The memory of how he looked when Rod was down on one knee in front of me.
His jaw had been held tight and when I said yes he left the room. Maybe Rod was right when he said Reed was jealous. When he said Reed wanted me.
When the song ends, he holds me tighter than before and we go to the table. I’m a little dizzy with the spinning and the close contact.
He has another oyster in my mouth before I know it and he downs one himself and then he’s holding my glass out to me. I take the drink then ask the question I’ve wanted to for a long time, “Reed, how long have you liked me?”
His eyes dance as he looks at me and takes my hand, lifting it to his lips where he kisses it. “Since you were about fourteen.”
I shake my head and say, “No. No, Reed, that’s not true. You never even looked at me in high school. No, not once.”
“I did. Only I never let you catch me. I knew you were off limits until you turned eighteen. We all knew that.” He holds the glass up and I let him give me another drink.
“You left for college. Were you ever going to make some kind of advances on me?” He holds another oyster up and I take it.
“My plan was to come home for your graduation. I was going to ease into your life very stealthily and make you fall in love with me and get you to go to UCLA with me.” He picks up his own glass of wine and takes a long drink.
“Wow, that was a grand plan!”
“And it was all going to work out too. Until I called home in early May to tell my parents I would be home for the summer. I didn’t let them in on this part as I was going to begin, Operation Make Jenna Foster Mine. And that was when I found out Rod was renting a house and you two were going to be moving into it as soon as he could get you to agree.”
I have to look away as I feel kind of terrible. “So you had never told him or anyone else about your plan?”
“Nope. I kept it all to myself. I was afraid if I told a thing to anyone it would spike an interest in you and I’d have a harder time getting your attention. And the truth is I thought even though Rod was going to come after you with all eight cylinders that you wouldn’t give him the time of day.” He leans up and takes my chin in his hand. “I was wrong, though.”
“Seems so.” He lets my chin go and leans back in his chair.
“Well, who would think the sweet little Sunday school teacher would ever want a thing to do with the devil who was and is my brother? I thought it was a safe bet you’d ignore him. And I’d still have a shot that summer.”
“But that isn’t what happened and now it’s too late for us. I mean, it would never work. You know, there’s just too much history now.” I pick up the glass and finish the wine.
He doesn’t say a word, just holds out his hand and I take it as he moves us out on the dance floor. His hold on me is tight, and the song is fast and it’s amazing how easily my feet follow his.
Our bodies are molded to the others and when the song ends he holds me still and then he turns his face and his lips are on mine.
It’s the best kiss I’ve ever had!
I only thought I had felt my body melt before. I had no idea. My arms go around his neck as his tongue moves past my lips and moves with mine like they’ve always known each other.
My pulse is so rapid and hard I can hear my heart beating. My mind is gone. All I feel is him. All I can think of is him and now and this moment.
This amazing kiss!
Then he ends it with several soft pecks and looks at me. “What were you saying, Jenna?”
I gaze up at him and it seems like a halo is glowing around the top of his head as I’m limp in his arms. “Huh?”
“That’s what I thought.”
And now I don’t know what we’re going to do…
Chapter 14
REED
Our first kiss!
And Jenna Foster’s gorgeous green eyes are hazy with dare I say, desire?
Taking her back to the table. I sit her down and she kind of floats on the way down.
Being the man of action that I have become has me fighting myself not to tell Jenna how things are going to be now.
I’ve waited a long time for her and had to watch a lot of bad shit I never thought I’d have to. And now she knows how I feel and that kiss just cemented it all for me and I know it did for her too.
But I know my brother did a fucking number on her and I’ll have to go as slow as I can without going so slow I lose my chance with her.
We have the summer and that’s about all!
So the plan I had for the summer after her high school graduation can come into play now. Only this time I’m very rich and can show her a very good time.
“Reed?” she asks as she looks at my mouth.
“Yes?” I run my hand over her flushed cheek.
“That was amazing.”
“It was,” I say as I move my hand over her shoulder and down her arm.
Goosebumps sprout over her soft tanned skin. Then I move my chair right next to hers and she leans against my chest as I put my arm around her.
The scent of her hair leaves me all tingly inside as I take in a deep breath of the flowery smell.
This is how I always imagined it would be like with her. Like a dream. Like an easy real life dream.
Her fingertips glide back and forth along my leg as she breathes steadily. I wonder what she’s thinking or if she’s thinking at all. Maybe she’s really letting herself feel for the first time in a long time.
“Is this real, Reed?”
I kiss the top of her head. “It is, Jenna. This is as real as it gets.”
She turns her head up and looks at me. “What are we supposed to do?”
“What any other people do when they know they have something real,” I say and touch her lips gently with mine.
Our bodies migrate towards each other. Her chest goes up against mine and her soft breasts press against my hard chest.
I hold my lips on hers and relish how hers feel barely touching mine.
The sheer amount of times I wanted to do this make me insane with how long this has taken. How long we could’ve had this.
“I’m going to order us a couple of juicy steaks and some more wine.” I raise my hand to let the waitress know I’m ready to order.
She comes over to us and lets out a sigh. “So, is this an anniversary date?”
Jenna pulls her head off my chest and blushes. “Actually, this is our very first date.”
The waitress looks surprised. “Really? You two look like you’ve been together a long time. Like you’re in love already.”
I run my hand over Jenna’s shoulder and cup the back of her neck. “Hmm. What do you think about that, Jenna?”
“I think that’s amazing too,” she says then smiles at me.
“Can we have two of your best steaks, medium rare and some more wine?” I ask as I run my hand up into her silky blonde strands.
“Yes, sir. Coming right up.” She spins around and leaves.
Jenna gets a little frown on her face. “Reed, we’ll have to hide this. You know that.”
“For a while, we can. I don’t want Mom upset and I don’t want you upset that it upsets her. But I’ll start on my parents and you start on yours and then when it all comes out it won’t be so shocking.” I pull her back into my arms and she lays her head back on my chest and I think I could just sit here like this forever.
The fleeting image of Jenna freaking out goes through my head so I make sure to let her know I will not be letting her go. I pull her around to look at me. “Jenna, I’ve waited a very long time for you. I’m not a man who lets opportunities get by me. I want this. I want you. I’m laying my cards on the table. I know this may seem sudden, but it’s anything but that. Now, what do you want?”
Her eyes go a little glassy. “Reed, I thought about you back then and truth be told I’ve thought about you these last two years. There’s always been an attraction to you. One I pushed back when I had to. And I do want you. I do. Like nothing I’ve ever wanted before. But your parents will not be happy about this. And if your brother ever does show up, it won’t be good.”
“I’m not worried about him. Mom is the only person who may have a problem with it. But Mom loves me and she loves you, Jenna. And if Rod shows up I will deal with him. I can handle him. You don’t have to worry.” I take her chin in my hand and can see fear in her eyes.
“Reed, my plan was to get a job far away where I’d never run into him ever again. If you and I are together, I’ll run into him for damn sure. And it’s a thing I’ve had many nightmares about. I can’t see him again.” A shiver runs through her body.
“Jenna what did he do to you?”
“No, I can’t talk about it. And especially not here. Just know I can’t see him again. I’ve come too far to go back.”
I pull her close to me and hug her tight. “I’ll never let anything happen to you again. You’re safe with me. I swear it to you.”
I can feel the tension leave her body as I hold her and her arms wrap around me then she pulls herself up and looks at me. “I trust you, Reed. Let’s do this.”
A smile moves over my face and I kiss her again. Our second real kiss and her lips part and allow me inside her warm mouth. A place I’ve explored only in my dreams.
The sound of the waitress setting our drinks and plates on the table makes me end the kiss otherwise I think it could have gone on forever or morphed into a make-out session on the table top.
Jenna blushes and looks down as the waitress smiles at us. “Sorry,” Jenna says quietly.
“Don’t be. If my husband looked at me like this man looks at you I’d be hard pressed to keep my lips to myself too.” She leaves the bottle of wine on the table too and leaves us alone.
“See how easy it is to see when someone likes you, Jenna?” I ask as I take her steak and cut a piece for her.
“Well, you have to admit that when I did notice that I was not in the position to take you up on it.” She opens her mouth, and I put the bite into it.
“People break up. How hard would it have been to tell him he was an ass, and you were through with him?” I give her a drink and she takes my plate and cuts me a bite then places it into my mouth.
“Very. You see, we had this written deal. And it wasn’t one that could be broken.” She gives me some wine and then she leans in close and kisses me.
My entire body lights up with the fact she kissed me this time. My hands run over her arms as her tongue twirls around mine.
It ends too soon, though, and she sits back. Her breathing is a little on the hard side and I really like that I can do that to her.
“A written deal? But he left, so that means you could’ve too. And that deal was only worth the paper it was written on, anyway. You know you can even walk away from a marriage, Jenna.” I cut her another bite of the delicious steak and feed it to her.
Her hand creeps up my leg as she chews it and it stops once she swallows merely centimeters from my cock. It twitches in an effort to feel her hand on it.
Every part of me wants her!
Brain, heart, and cock!
“What we had was intense and when I look back it was just wrong on so many levels. And I’d like to know how you plan on handling him when he inevitably comes around some family function.” She gives me a drink and cuts another piece of steak for me.
Before she gets it in my mouth, I say, “He’s not so hard to beat, Jenna. And if he was to get physical with anyone in my presence, I can take him down. I have before.” I take the bite as she narrows her eyes.
“The thing which ended his bullying of you, right? What did you do to him?”
“Broke his arm.” I look into her eyes to see how she takes that.
They widen then go narrow again. “How old were you?”
“I was ten, and he was fifteen. He was holding me down and punching me because he said I was playing in his room. Which I hadn’t been. He just looked for shit to be mad about and punish people and things for.”
“I see,” she says and nods like she knows what I’m talking about. “So how did you switch it up on him?”
“I got mad. And turned into the hulk.” I say with a laugh.
“Really, Reed!” She smacks my arm. “How did a ten-year-old little boy turn the tables on a fifteen-year-old bad ass?”
“That little boy had a bit of bad ass in him too. And that kid had had enough of his older brother beating him up. So I went ape-shit on him. And somehow I got on top of him and turned him face down in our driveway and held his right arm behind his back and when he told me, when he got back up I would be dead then I just went for it and yanked his arm back until I heard it pop.”
“Oh my God!” she says and puts her hand over her mouth. “That’s insane!”
“His loud cries had me getting off him and I went to tell Mom he was hurt and that I wasn’t sorry in the least. As they took him to the emergency room I sat in the back seat with Mom to keep us apart as Rod said I was going to hurt him again. He could see it in my eyes, he said.” I take a drink of my wine.
“Were you?” she asks.
“You know I think if he looked like he was going to do anything more then I would’ve. That’s the one and only fight I’ve ever been in. It ended his bullying, and that’s what mattered to me.”
She nods and looks as if she’s thinking about things. “That’s crazy. You know I saw pictures of you guys back in those younger years and he was taller and had some muscles already and you were a normal little ten-year-old kid.”
“And now I do have more muscles than he does so if he was to threaten you or me with anything physical I’d stop him before he could do any harm.” I pull her back into my arms. “You’re safe with me. I’ll always protect you. You will never be hurt by me, Jenna. You will never be hurt again. I swear that to you. I will never hurt you in any way or allow anyone else to.”
Her eyes dart back and forth as if she’s searching for something. The truth, I suppose. Then her hands move over my cheeks and she says, “I feel like I can believe you.”
I run my hands up to hers. “You can, Jenna.”
She inches forward until our mouths meet again and I feel as if what I’ve dreamt of for so long is finally going to come true. The way her touch makes me feel is something out of story books.
It’s as if we were made for one another.
And now that I have her, I will have to protect her if my brother ever does decide to show his face again. He was wickedly possessive of her and I have no doubt he will hate the fact she’s mine now.
Our mouths part and I find her looking into my eyes. “Reed, how is it that you and your brother both found me to your liking?”
With a shake of my head, I say, “You know, my brother has always had sort of a sixth sense about what I want. When we were little I remember wanting a certain train set for Christmas and hoped Santa would bring it to me. I didn’t get it that year, not that I told anyone I wanted it. I thought Santa would just know.”
She smiles and runs her hand over my leg. “How adorable.”
I nod. “Anyway, as Reed’s birthday grew near I overheard him telling Mom and Dad about this train set he really wanted. Guess what, he got the damn train set I secretly wanted.”
“Okay, that’s one time. Have anything more reality-based than that?” She smiles at me and I go all soft inside.
“You know how Reed loves trucks?”
“I do,” she says and picks up her wine.
“I was looking through this magazine he had right before he turned sixteen. It was full of cars and trucks and he had three different trucks circled in it. As I was looking through it, I found this old Camaro and loved it. It was all black and really cool. I didn’t say a thing about it. I was only eleven at the time and far from getting a car.”
She stops me. “I saw that picture of him with his first car. A black Camaro. And you know what else I saw in that photo, you in the background with a frown on your cute little face.”
“You know why I was frowning?” I ask then take a sip of wine.
“You were mad he got the car?”
I shake my head. “I was ecstatic he got the car. I was so happy for him and I asked him if I could please buy it from him when I turned sixteen. He told me no. He told me he’d drive it off a cliff before he ever even let me drive it. Hence the frown.”
“I guess he was still mad about the broken arm,” she says with a little frown.
“No, he was always like that. He had a pair of Superman pajamas and he outgrew them. He kept those things hanging in his closet for three years and when I could fit into them I asked him if he’d let me have them.” Her hand moves very close to my personal pleasure zone and I pause to look down at it.
It drifts back down toward my knee. “And?” she asks.
“Um, you kind of distracted me there. Anyway, he told me no and that night they fell into the fireplace. On an accident, he said. How he happened to be walking around carrying something that didn’t even fit him anymore is still a huge mystery,” I say then take a long drink of the wine. “Anyway, in my opinion, Reed changed from the usual trashy-ass women which were his usual female fodder when he felt a shift in the universe when I set my sights on you. And I guess he had to find you. Probably didn’t even know who he was looking for until he saw you.”
Jenna looks away and her eyes go glassy. “Wish you would’ve found me first.”
I run my hand over her shoulders and give them a squeeze. “Me too.”
But I have her now and I will never let her go!
Chapter 15
JENNA
A week into our secret dating, Reed is taking me back to his place in California for the weekend. He told his parents he had a few things to do, and I told mine I was visiting a college girlfriend.
And we’ve yet to consummate this relationship. No overnighters were possible with us both staying at our parents’ homes so he decided it was time I see how he really lives and we’re flying on a private jet he chartered.
Reed has taken me out somewhere special every night this past week. We talked on the phone once we got back to our respective homes until we fell asleep. He’s the best man I’ve ever met.
Sweet, caring, and completely awesome!
Our hands are clasped and rest on his leg as we fly through the sky. Clouds move past the window at incredible speeds and I’m starting to see that Reed Manning is a bit more well-off than anyone is aware of.
His head lays against the leather headrest and he turns to look at me. “I let a bit of information out to my parents over dinner last night.”
Giving him my full attention, I turn to him. “What did you say?”
“I told them I had seen you in town and you looked fantastic. Better than I had ever seen you look before.”
“And what did they say?” I bite my lip with worry.
He smiles and moves his hand over my cheek. “Dad said you always looked nice and Mom asked me how you were doing.”
“That’s nice.” I stop biting my lip as it sounds like they don’t hate me.
Well, not yet, anyway!
“So, I also said I was thinking about bringing you over for dinner one night next week.”
I tense up. “And?”
“And Mom lit up like a Christmas tree and asked what night I thought I might do that and that she was going to make her lasagna you always loved so much. She started making a list of what all she needed and asked if I thought you still liked her.”
My heart races. “I still love her! Are you serious?”
He nods. “So, step one is in the process and you will be enjoying one of your favorite meals with me at my parents’ house on Tuesday. So write that down on your calendar.”
Dinner at the Manning’s and this time I’m Reed’s guest, crazy!
“So nothing was said about it being weird then?” I ask.
“Not one word about it being weird.” His hand tightens on mine.
“Then I’ll tell my parents the same thing on Monday and see how they take it. You did say we’re coming back on Monday morning, right?”
“I did. Unless you decide to stay with me forever in Bel-Air.” His smile is contagious and I find myself smiling too.
“Isn’t Bel-Air kind of famous for its many mansions, Reed?”
He nods and lays his head back. “Kind of.”
I lay my head back and go back to gazing out the window. The way our hands are positioned feels so natural. It’s so easy being with him. Like we’re two peas from the same pod.
I like what he likes and vice versa. We don’t disagree on a thing so far. And tonight we will be testing the waters of a more physical relationship and see how that goes.
Mind blowing, I bet!
Since we’ve only been together in his car, which is not a place where we can get very physical, or in public, we’ve done little more than kissing and touching each other in an appropriate fashion.
And I am dying to see how he touches me when we can get inappropriate with one another!
I suppose since we’ve known each other so long, the week has seemed like a very long time. Like we’ve been dating for a year or something like that.
We’re very comfortable with each other. A thing I wasn’t with Rod most times.
It’s effortless, the conversation, the way we can sit without saying a word and watch a sunset. It’s all so easy and I find myself very sad I didn’t break up with Rod that New Year’s Eve night when he was all over those women and made me hurt that one.
I shake my head to rid myself of the bad memories and try to think about being grateful this man saw fit to give me a shot after all he’s seen me do and put up with.
The pilot tells us we’re about to land and I tense up. The take-off was easy but I’ve never been on a plane before so the landing has me kind of worried.
That is when most plane crashes happen!
I think so anyway.
He must feel my hand go rigid as he says, “Don’t worry. I’ve flown a lot and there’s nothing to worry about. The Los Angeles traffic is more of a thing to fear than this jet landing.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” I close my eyes as I feel the plane start to go down.
“Hey,” his voice comes from right next to my ear.
I turn my face and his lips catch mine and he kisses me. His kiss always takes me away. My hands move on their own to run around his neck and my mouth opens inviting him inside.
His hand moves up my neck and gathers my hair in a bunch as his tongue runs over mine. And then he moves his mouth off mine and I open my eyes to find him looking at me.
“We’ve landed.”
I turn and look out the window and laugh. “So, we have, Well, you were right. That wasn’t bad at all!”
“Thanks,” he says sarcastically. “I thought that kiss was more than not bad.”
He unbuckles my seatbelt and stands up, pulling me up with him. I run my arms around him. “That kiss was not what I was describing. That kiss and every kiss you give me is utterly indescribable. As are you.”
His blue eyes sparkle. Then he pulls me in for another kiss and my knees go weak as I lean into him.
My body just goes limp when we’re standing and kiss. It’s insane and I’m so ready to find out what my body does when we’re in a bed and lying down and kiss.
Bet it’s going to be something intense!
When he ends the kiss, he turns to leave the jet, holding me tight around my waist. As we go down the stairs I see a black limousine pulling up near us and Reed takes me toward it.
“A limo on the runway?” I ask in surprise.
“This is technically called the tarmac, not the runway. And yes, I called ahead and had a service pick us up. I don’t usually take cabs.”
The driver hurries to the back passenger door. “Hello, Mr. Manning. Good to see you back. It’s been a long couple of weeks since you left us.”
“I’m only home for the weekend then I have to go back to Arizona.” Reed looks at me. “And, Pete, I’d like you to meet, Jenna Foster. I do believe if I have my way, she’ll be a person you see around me often.”
He gives me a nod. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Foster.”
I nod back. “You too, Pete.”
Reed lets me slide into the dark backseat of the gorgeous car then he slides in next to me. I must look like a real hick as I look all around the car. “So ritzy.”
His eyebrows go way up. “Are you impressed?”
I nod and smile as he takes my hand. “Very. A jet, a limo. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
His lips touch my cheek. “Neither can I.”
My insides go hot as I think he means he can’t wait to see what happens when we’re alone at his house. With nothing and no one to stop us from really getting to know each other.
In the back of the dark limo, I find his hand moving over my stomach as he runs it around me and pulls me onto his lap, facing him. I straddle his legs as he pulls me around and put my arms around his neck as he looks at me with the most intense look I’ve seen from him.
Then one side of his mouth goes up in a half smile. “I may not let you out of bed the whole two days.”
A shiver runs through me at the thought. “Really?”
He nods and moves one hand up the side of my face. His thumb runs over my cheek and he stops smiling at me and looks serious. “Jenna, I want you to know something. Before I take you to bed I want you to know I really respect what you’ve done with your life.”
“And I respect what you’ve done with yours, Reed.”
His thumb moves over my cheek again, sending a heat through me. “I also want you to know this week with you has been the best times I’ve ever had. Hands down the best times.”
“For me too. I mean that.”
I watch his Adam’s apple move as he swallows hard then he says, “Jenna, I love you.”
Emotion floods me as I hear the words come from a man’s mouth about me. Never have I heard them before.
I always thought I could go a lifetime without hearing them. Thought I would be fine with that. But now I know what happens when you hear a man tell you that he loves you and you can see that love in his eyes, it’s beyond imagination.
“Reed,” I say but his thumb moves over my lips.
“You don’t have to say it, Jenna.”
I pull his hand off my face and hold it. “So, even if I mean it, you don’t want to hear it?”
“I want to hear it only if you really mean it.” His eyes are dark and a bit stormy.
“I do love you, Reed. I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t. I don’t have sex with men I don’t love.”
“I know that.” He runs his hand over my shoulder. “You are an angel.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I start seeing the giant homes I’ve only ever seen pictures of or on television. My attention is taken as we pass one after another.
“Is this your neighborhood, Reed?”
He stops looking at me and looks out the window. “It is.”
“Wow, nice!”
The limo slows and the driver pulls into a gated drive. Reed moves me off his lap. “You ready to see how I live, Jenna?”
I nod. “Um, a gated community? Very nice, Reed.”
He laughs a little as the driver punches in a code and then the large black iron gates open up and we go through them.
Lush shrubs and gorgeous trees line the road. I look out the window to see what the homes look like in here. We pass a large fountain. “Nice, I suppose you guys pay a pretty penny for living here, huh?”
“It’s not cheap,” he says.
We go slightly left around a bend in the road and out of my window I see a large, what I would call a mansion, up ahead. “Who lives in that? Where are the normal houses? Further back?”
“There are no more houses here. This is it.”
I turn back to look at him. “Shut up, Reed!”
“Okay,” he says with a smile and we pull to a stop in front of the enormous thing.
The door opens, and the driver is there again. “Welcome home, Sir.”
“Good to be back,” Reed says as he gets out and reaches back to take my hand.
I look up at the mansion that has three stories. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever seen as far as homes are concerned. “Reed, our whole town could fit inside these walls.”
“Probably,” he says.
The front door opens and out steps an older woman wearing all white. Like some fancy chef’s outfit. “Mr. Manning, how was the flight?”
He takes me up to the woman with her brown hair in a ponytail. Her brown eyes roam over me as Reed pulls my hand up to his lips and kisses it then says, “This is her, Maddi.”
The woman who has to be in her forties makes a slight bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Foster. I’m Mr. Manning’s personal chef and head of the staff here. If you find yourself needing a thing you just tell me and I will make it happen. Also, if you have any favorite foods you just let me know and I will make sure we keep those on hand for you.”
“Uh, um, thank you. And it’s nice to meet you too.” I kind of stumble as Reed pulls me along with him up the stairs.
He quickly lets my hand go and runs his arm around me. “It’s a little different than Jerome, isn’t it?”
“Reed Manning, you’ve been keeping some very big secrets, haven’t you?” We go inside and the room is beyond anything I’ve seen except in museums. “This is crazy!”
“This is the entry room. You like?” he asks as he moves me along and I can’t really feel my feet. I feel as if I’m gliding along at his side and in a different universe.
“I love!”
The next room is filled with leather furniture and the smell is amazing. Dark leather is offset by light tan walls and the giant chandelier overhead makes things sparkle in the large room.
“This is the main living area of the house.” He keeps going, following the Maddi woman.
Then we go into the kitchen. “Oh my God, Reed!” I look at the three ovens in the wall. My eyes move on to one giant stove top. I could not count how many burners and grill there were.
“Now, this kitchen belongs to Maddi. Her domain if you know what I mean. If you feel like cooking something get with her first because she is a tyrant about this room.” Reed ends with a laugh.
Maddi turns back to look at me. “He’s being a bit dramatic. I don’t allow him in the kitchen as he messes things up. But you are always welcome in my kitchen, Miss Foster.”
“Thank you.” I look around. “But this is so far out of my league I do believe I will leave it in your hands, Maddi. And please call me Jenna.”
Her brows lift some. “Jenna it is.” She looks at Reed. “I like her. You were right about her having a beautiful aura.”
His arm tightens around my waist as he gives me a squeeze. “She is an angel.”
I blush and look away as I place my hand on his chest. “Oh, Reed!”
“Oh, Jenna,” he says then kisses my cheek. “Maddi, I’m going to show her the rest of the place. Well, not all of it as that would take too much time. Did you get what I asked for?”
She nods. “It’s all in the first refrigerator and the wine is in there too. So whenever you get hungry it’s ready for you. I let the rest of the staff know they’re off and they’ve all left and if you don’t need anything else, I’ll be out of your hair now. But call if you want anything.”
“Will do, thank you, Maddi,” Reed says then moves us out of the kitchen and through a monster of a dining room.
“Reed, this may seem rude but I don’t care.” I stop and look at him. “How the hell rich are you?”
“Very,” he says with a smile.
“Reed!”
“Okay, I don’t happen to have the exact number in my bank accounts or investment accounts but I am classified as a billionaire.” His mouth closes and mine hangs open.
“How could you have hidden this from everyone?”
He looks kind of sheepish. “You know my family, Jenna. I felt like I had to. Mom and Dad know since they came here for Christmas last year. But no one else knows anything more than I’m doing alright out here in California.”
“I can’t believe Sue was able to keep her mouth shut about this. And you had all week to tell me. Why didn’t you?”
He takes my hand and pulls me along with him as we go through another large room with several computers and desks. “This is my home office. I have a building downtown where the real work happens. And I didn’t want to tell you about how much money I had because I wanted to see if you liked me or loved me, rather, for me and not my money.”
“Sneaky but I get it.”
He rounds a corner and we go up a flight of stairs. And then he stops at the first door on the right. “Okay, this is the master’s wing.”
The word he uses has my head jerking and my heart pounding.
Master?
Chapter 16
REED
A fearful expression covers Jenna’s face. “Reed, what do you mean by that?”
“Mean by what?”
“The master’s wing?” Her eyes dart around as if she’s looking for something.
“It’s the term people use for the area of a home typically used by the owners. You know the man and wife. Why do you look like that?” I pull her close to me and hold her.
She lets out a sigh. “I’m just a little nervous, I guess. That was really dumb of me. I know that. Sorry.”
“Are you afraid to be with me, Jenna?” I ask as I know it’s been a couple of years for her and the only other times she’s had sex were with my asshole of a brother and I can imagine how those times went.
She looks up at me and her expression goes soft. “Not at all. It’s just that every once in a while certain things trigger bad reactions in me. With time, that will stop. I’m sure it will. Now let me see your bedroom, Reed.”
What did that asshole do to her?
I shove everything back and focus on her and how I have to show her love doesn’t have to mean she loses control of herself.
After pushing the door open, I pick her up and carry her inside. “This is it.”
“Oh my God, Reed! That bed is ginormous! It’s gorgeous.”
I put her down on the bed and she lays back and runs her arms out. I laugh. “It’s soft too.”
Her blonde hair is fanned out over the chocolate-colored bedspread and she looks even better in my bed.
“It is soft. I don’t know how you get out of it.”
I kick off my shoes then pull her black heels off and lay next to her. “I think now I have you in it, getting out of it will prove to be much harder.”
Her eyes sparkle as she looks at me and runs her hand over my cheek. “Reed, this is amazing.”
“You are,” I whisper and rest my hand on her stomach.
How long I have wanted to see this woman looking at me as we laid down together sits in the forefront of my mind. And the scene is better than I even dreamt it would be.
Her tongue runs over her pink lips and the top of her coral colored shirt is gaping open, her pink lace bra peeks out and I move my hand to the top button and open it.
I hold her eyes with mine as I unbutton her shirt and then my eyes move as I watch it fall to the sides, revealing her covered breasts. They rise and fall with each breath she takes.
Then the thought runs through my head that we’ve never talked about birth control. I lean up and rest my head on my hand as I look down at her and run my fingertips over her stomach. “Jenna, do I need to use a condom?”
“That’s up to you, Reed. I’m on the pill and have had several check-ups and even though I know Rod was with other women, thank the lord, I am disease free. But I do understand if you want to use one.”
“I’d rather not if you don’t mind.” I look at her and she nods.
“I don’t mind at all.”
She reaches up and undoes the buttons on my shirt and her eyes light up as she sees my bare chest. “You like?”
She nods and bites her lower lip. “I knew you’d have a fantastic six pack and pecs of steel.” Her hands run over my skin and it fills me with heat.
I have to take my time with her!
Her bra has a clasp in the front and I open it, setting her perfect tits free. “Damn it, Girl.” I look up at her. “I have to taste them.”
She smiles and runs her hands behind my head and gently pushes my head down. I lick my lips just before they touch her breast.
My cock jerks as my lips touch it and I moan as I lick the hard nipple. She moans out my name, and it sends me into a spiral.
I’ve had plenty of sex and this is not sex. This is magical and fascinating and like nothing I’ve ever felt.
One hand moves to caress her other breast as I run my tongue over the one in my mouth then I suck it and feel her body go tense as her hands run through my hair. “Reed!”
She arches her chest up to me and my hand leaves her other breast and moves down to push her skirt up. I have ached to feel her like this and it’s so much more than I thought it would be.
My fingers move up her silky panties and then I feel the elastic at the top and move them down until my fingers touch her folds. Her hot and already wet folds.
She really does want me!
I move one finger into her and flatten my palm out to cover her. I pulse it inside her as her legs pull up to allow me better access.
Her hands move under the back of my shirt and over my back as she moves under my touch. “Reed, my God,” she moans as I continue to please her.
Her moans hit my ears like velvet covered sounds that go all the way through and touch my soul. To hear her like this has been a fantasy for so damn long.
I can feel her walls beginning to tighten as I pump my finger inside her and move my palm over her, making sure to press her clit and then her body starts shaking. “Tell me when, Reed.”
Her words have me confused and I pull my mouth away from her delicious tit. “Tell you when what?”
“When I can cum. Tell me when,” she says.
“Whenever you want, Jenna. It is your body and you know when you want to do that, right?”
She looks kind of dumbstruck then smiles. “K.”
I suppose that jackass made her ask permission for that too!
“Jenna, I love you.”
Her smile grows and her eyes get all glassy. “Reed, I love you too.” Her hands move to my cheeks and she pulls me to kiss her.
Moving my hand from her, I move my body up hers and kiss her long and sweet. Easy, to let her know she’s precious. More than anything in this world, she is the most important thing to me. And she always will be.
I roll over with her and keep her on top of me as we kiss. Her light weight on me is a thing I’ve always wanted to feel. And it’s better than I imagined.
Everything with Jenna is so much better than I ever imagined it would be!
I was a little afraid I had her up on a pedestal and that I might be disappointed if I actually ever did get a chance with her. But I was wrong.
I didn’t set the bar high enough. She’s like Heaven in my arms. My own angel and now I have her home with me where she belongs.
Where she’s always belonged.
Then I realize I haven’t offered her a drink or anything and stop the kiss. “How rude of me. Are you thirsty or hungry, Jenna? I didn’t even offer. I have all kinds of things. Name it and I most likely have it.”
She laughs. “I’d like to keep on doing this, if you don’t mine.”
“I do not mind at all.” I flip over again and move off her. “And I think it’s time to get rid of these pesky clothes we have on.”
“I agree,” she says and tries to sit up.
I push her back to the bed. “I got it.”
She smiles and lays back. “I see.”
While she gets the rest of the way out of her bra, I get her skirt off and the matching pink panties and marvel at her body as she lies on my bed. “Jenna, you are gorgeous.”
“Thank you. Now drop the pants so I can run my eyes over you too.”
I do as she’s said and watch her eyes go big as she sees what I have for her inside them. “Will this do, mam?”
She nods and holds out her arms for me to come into. “Yes, it will, Reed Manning. You are a man who hides a lot. What an impressive gift you have there.”
Moving my body over hers, I look into her eyes. “And it is yours forever if you want.”
Pushing her hair back, I trail kisses over her neck then down her shoulder and keep moving down until I’m at her apex and have her body quivering. My tongue runs over her clit and she arches up. “Reed!”
Her hands fist in my hair as I lick her clit over and over and she wiggles so much I have to grab her ass and hold her still so I can do more. She’s putting out such heat I know she’s going to cum several times.
I put my mouth on her and lick, suck, and nip at her clit and folds. She’s moaning and making little purring noises and it sends me into a frenzy, trying my best to please her.
She lets out a little shriek and her body goes tense. “Reed! My God! Reed!”
I run my tongue inside her and find her pulsing and move my body up hers and ram my throbbing cock into her. It feels so good I nearly scream with the intensity.
“God, Jenna. God damn, you feel so good. So fucking good!” I make a stroke.
Her nails run over my back. “Reed! I can’t stop the orgasm!”
I move and ram my thick and long cock into her again as she holds on tight to me and screams my name again. Over and over I ram into her with a need I’ve never had before. And she screams my name with each thrust.
My body is hot and shaking with need. The need to please her. The need to be pleased by her. The all-encompassing need for her.
Her body is shaking and wiggling underneath mine as she continues to orgasm. Her walls are squeezing my dick and it’s nearly impossible not to let go, but I want her to cum for as long as she can before I let mine go.
The poor thing has been without for a long time after all!
Kissing her neck, I can taste the saltiness of the sweat escaping as her body can’t stop and I won’t let it as I pound into her sweet, wet depths. Something I’ve fantasized about doing for so long.
Her tits are squished under my chest, another thing I wanted to feel for so damn long. Her stomach smashes under mine as I drive my cock into her.
My name on her lips as her body comes undone is a thing I never thought I’d get to hear. Yet her she is with me, screaming my name. And then I can’t stop and I flood her with my cum.
My dick can’t stop jerking into her, sending her even further over the edge as she arches up to me. “Yes! Yes! Finally! Reed!”
“Jenna,” I mumble against the skin of her neck. “My, Jenna.”
Her body is still shaking as her hands glide over my back. “Your, Jenna,” she whispers. “Always, yours, Reed.”
“Forever,” I whisper. “Forever, Jenna.”
“Forever, Reed,” her words fall soft and then she takes my face and pulls it back and she has tears running down her cheeks. “I love you more than I could ever imagine loving someone.”
I run my fingers over her cheeks. “Don’t cry.”
She sniffles. “I have to. I’ve never been a part of something so beautiful before.”
I know she hasn’t. “Neither have I.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “Jenna, I can never let you go now. This is more than I knew possible and I can never let you go.”
“I don’t want you to,” she says. “Because I can never let you go either.”
With a deep sigh, I look into her green eyes and see the light there. A light that has never been there before. I put that there. I helped her become this woman. This beautiful woman.
And I will always strive to keep that light there from now on.
Pulling out of her is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The urge to stay inside her is overwhelming. Like nothing I’ve ever felt before.
And the whole way I feel about her is a little frightening. Like if I lost her I would never be the same again.
I shake my head to get rid of the thought.
I’m not going to lose her. She feels just as strongly as I do. I can feel it and see it in her eyes and the way she holds me to her.
This is no dream, no lie. This is real, and she feels it too. I have to have faith this will last forever.
“Reed?”
“Yes?”
“That wasn’t normal, was it?”
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” I lay back and put my arm around her and pull her to me then kiss the side of her head. “Ever!”
“I only have the one to compare to and that was beyond comparison.”
The fact I know the only other one was my brother makes me kind of grossed out but at least she said I was beyond comparison.
“Good to hear,” I say with a chuckle.
“This is so weird,” she says and I flinch as if she’s punched me.
“Weird? I wouldn’t use that word to describe what this is.”
“I guess weird isn’t accurate. This is just a thing I had a few fantasies about over the years and it happened and it was better than any of them.”
“I had more than a few fantasies about this and you’re right, it was way beyond any I had too.”
“Think it’ll stay this great?” she asks as she runs her hand over my stomach.
I run my hand up her arm. “I do. And I can promise you I will do my best to make sure it stays this way and that you’re always happy. You’re my angel and I will always treat you like one.”
I can feel her smile against my chest. “You’re my prince and I will always treat you like one.”
At least we’re on the same page!
“You want to get up and eat or get something to drink or anything like that?” I ask her.
“I’d really like to stay right here in your arms and fall asleep if you don’t mind. I’ve never felt more relaxed and comfortable in my life.”
My heart fills with what I suppose is joy that this woman finds my arms the most relaxing and comfortable place for her.
“Then here we shall stay for as long as you want, Angel.”
“Good. I want to stay like this for as long as we can. I want this time to be etched into my brain for all of eternity. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Me too!
Chapter 17
JENNA
Each one of Reed’s breaths falls softly against the back of my shoulder as he holds me loosely in his strong arms. I fell into the deepest and best sleep I’ve ever had and it’s all because of him.
With the love we made, I know I have to tell my parents about him and face his parents. The fact is, I’d face anyone and let them know I am with this man.
I feel like he’s a part of me now. And it makes no sense. That was the first time we made love and I’m ready to marry the man. I’m ready to get on to building a life and family with this man.
Everyone we know is going to freak out and tell us we’re moving way too fast. But the fact is we’ve had this thing simmering just beneath our surfaces for many years.
A chill runs through my body as Rod’s face makes a brief appearance in my mind before I send it away. The fact is, he will be mad when he finds out. But the chances of us being in Jerome when he finally makes an appearance there are very slim.
And then there’s the matter of the contract and what that might mean to him. The thought has often plagued me that he would go to great lengths to get me back under his control.
With Reed, though, I do feel safe. For the first time in a long time, I feel safe.
And to find out this man is a billionaire is mind shattering. I have no idea what that really even means. No financial worries to bog down a relationship. No waiting for paychecks to come in before we can buy groceries. No more tiny houses that are falling apart.
But that life went away when Rod did, anyway.
Reed’s body shakes a little then he groans and his lips touch my neck. I run my hand back to run over his head. “Ready to wake up?” I ask him.
“Not if this is a dream, I’m not,” he says with a light laugh.
I turn in his arms and run mine around him. His short blonde hair shines in the light coming through the windows. Sheer tan curtains hang over them but let in just the right amount of sunlight.
His dark blue eyes blink a few times as he looks back at me. “I want to take you somewhere.”
“K,” I say as I run my hand through his hair.
“I want you to find a job teaching here. I know there’s a private school not far from here and I bet you could get a job there. If you want one. If you don’t want to work of course you don’t have to. It’s all up to you.”
“You sure are making plans quickly,” I say with a smile.
“I know. If I go too fast tell me. But I’ve wanted this for so long, I feel a need to get to where we would be if I had made you mine that summer when you turned eighteen.”
I close my eyes with the reality of my eighteenth summer. The introduction to Rod’s needs.
It’s been a long time since I allowed myself to go back there. It’s a place that makes my heart ache for so many reasons.
I open my eyes. “So, where is it you want to take me?”
“If we take a shower and get dressed, I can show you.”
“A shower with you sounds pretty great.”
His hand moves over my arm. “Everything with you sounds pretty great.”
A mere three hours later Reed has me in his red BMW and we’re pulling into the parking garage of some downtown place in Los Angeles. “Let me get your door, Angel.”
Reed gets out and I wait so he can be the gentleman he wants to be. This gentleman stuff is pretty awesome and I’m loving it.
After he helps me out, we walk into the side door of some business and once inside I see we’ve entered a jewelry shop. I hesitate and he looks at me. “Too soon?”
“Reed,” I say and he puts his finger to my lips.
“I want you to wear my ring. We can get married whenever you want, but I want you wearing my ring and everyone knowing you’re taken.”
“I’m not in the kind of demand you may think I am,” I say with a laugh.
“I just want you to wear it. I want you to have a constant reminder of what I want for us. A happy life together. That’s all. So pick out the engagement ring you love and later we’ll buy our wedding rings.” He ends his sentence with a kiss on my cheek.
So I let him lead me to the first glass covered showcase of expensive rings and we begin the process of trying to find the most gorgeous thing I will be looking at on my finger forever.
A gorgeous saleswoman wearing heels and dripping in diamonds comes out of a backroom. “Hello. How can I help you today?”
Reed gives her a smile. “By showing us what you have in her size.”
She reaches out for my left hand so I hold it out and with one glance she says, “A five. It is an engagement ring, right?”
Reed nods. “So what do you have in that size?”
She moves around from case to case and gathers up a nice assortment of engagement rings and comes back to us. “All of these are fives.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of shiny rocks right there.” I look at Reed. “You sure?”
He nods. “More than sure.”
The sales lady asks, “I can slim down the choices if you have a price limit.”
Reed shakes his head. “Anything she wants. And do me a favor don’t tell us any of their prices. If she knows them, she’ll go cheap and I don’t want that.”
He does know me!
The lady gives a nod and steps back to let me look at all the gorgeous rings. After a mere hour I pick out the one. The one ring which will stay on my finger forever. Once Reed slides it on that is.
A nice large solitaire. It’s grand enough for a billionaire’s wife yet subtle enough for a girl like I am.
Reed lets the woman put it in a box and a bag then he takes it and we leave. As he opens the car door for me he stops me before I get in. “Jenna, am I doing this all too fast?”
“I suppose we could slow way down. I could take a job here and get my own place.”
He shakes his head. “You’d never be able to afford a place here. Even a shitty one. And I want you in my bed from now on.”
My heart speeds up. “Oh yeah?”
He nods. “I want to fall asleep with you every night and wake up with you every morning from now on, Angel.”
“Then I think the pace we’re going is fine. We can be engaged for a decent amount of time. Say a year and we can start to make our wedding plans. How does that sound to you? I mean we aren’t roped into anything with being engaged. If things aren’t working out, I’ll simply give you your ring back. No hard feelings.”
His lips quirk up to the left as he frowns. “Don’t even say, if things don’t work out. They will. I’ll make sure of that.”
I get into the car and he closes the door behind me. Maybe it is moving fast. Maybe it will be like a storm that forms too quickly and blows fast and furious only for a short time.
But whatever this is, I want it all for as long as I can have it.
Reed gets in and I just go for broke. “Okay, so we have things to talk about, you and I.”
He looks over at me with a nervous smile. “Shoot.”
“How many kids are we having and how long are we waiting to have them? And how many years are we going to put between each one?”
He laughs. “And for a second there I thought you were going to talking about something hard. That’s easy. Four kids spaced two years apart. Next question.”
He starts the car and pulls away. As I look over at him something inside me tells me this is going to work.
Maybe my first love didn’t work out but my second will. So what if the loves happen to be brothers? There have to be odder things.
I think I saw on some trashy daytime television show once there was a woman who left her young husband who she had children with and married his father and had kids with him too.
Like that made the kids she had with her first husband, the siblings and nieces and nephews of the kids she had with the second husband. At least there are no kids who will be siblings and cousins.
But there will be this very angry brother-in-law for me.
A very, very angry one!
Reed pulls up at some cool looking place and goes to the valet service. He looks over at me. “Ever try sushi?”
I shake my head. “Raw fish, right?” I know I’m making a face because he starts laughing.
“Not all of it.”
Some guys opens both of our doors and we get out. Reed has me scooped up next to him quickly and in we go to my first California culinary experience. “You sure about this, Reed. I’m a small-town girl you know.”
“I’m a small-town boy if you will recall, Angel. And I like it so I bet you will too.”
“Mr. Manning, hello,” a tiny Asian woman greets him. “Who do you have on your arm?”
“Shimota, let me introduce you to my fiancé, Jenna Foster. Soon to be Jenna Manning.”
Her eyes go wide. “Fiancé? Congratulations! You must use us as your caterer for the wedding. You must!” She claps her hands and kind of hops up and down a few times.
“Well, if you can impress the bride to be then we just might do that. We haven’t got that far into our plans yet. But a memorable experience tonight might put your place forefront in her mind,” Reed says, and she gives him a knowing nod.
“You two follow me to our VIP, private dining area. Romantic, secluded, and allow me to get our chef to prepare you something memorable.” The little woman leads us through the crowded restaurant and back to a curtained off area.
When she pulls the black curtain back I can see a small square table and two chairs on one side of it. Soft music drowns out the noise of the other diners and the lights are low.
She lights a candle on the table. When she turns to us, she looks right at me. “May I say to you that Mr. Manning has been our valued customer and friend for years and he even sold my husband and I a home for a very reasonable price. He’s well loved by our family and I have never seen him this happy. He glows. I cannot wait to get to know you, Jenna. We will all be great friends.”
I give her a smile. “Thank you. I’m sure we will. Tell your chef I’m a newbie at this sushi stuff so to take it easy on me.”
Reed pulls out the chair for me. “Don’t tell him that. This woman will love whatever he makes. She’s never had anything like your chef makes yet and she’s timid about it. But she and I love almost everything the same. Let him do as he wants. I want to see what he comes up with for us on this special night.”
She bows and leaves as he sits next to me. I look at him as we’re so close our shoulders are touching. “Kind of an alpha move there.”
His arm moves over my shoulders and he kisses the top of mine. “No reason to be afraid of food. And I am kind of alpha. How do you think I got to be where I am?”
I sit back and have to really think about things. And in an effort to never repeat my mistakes, I think it’s important to be acutely aware of what I’m getting into.
Rod had me unable to trust other men not to take control of me. This is more than just another man. This is another, Manning. His brother. Raised the same.
Though I never saw a thing in their parents’ marriage to think any kind of controlling behavior was bred into them, it is odd to have two alpha-male boys in one family.
So I ask what I honestly want to know, “Reed, do you think because what you’ve seen me do with your brother I’m still that weak young woman who you can push around like he did?”
The hurt in his eyes makes me feel instantly bad. But I stop that quickly. This is my well-being here.
“Jenna, no. I mean, I am who I am, but I’m not mean. I know what I want and when I see someone who has no idea what they want then I do kind of jump in and lead them. Not in a bad way, though.” His hand moves over my cheek. “And if I get too pushy let me know. I am a salesman after all and I can be pushy.”
“The real estate thing. Yeah. I get it. Helping people find what they want even when they aren’t sure what it is they want,” I say with a smile.
He nods and presses his forehead to mine. “But I know you were lead down a dark path and I swear to you I’m not trying to lead you anywhere you don’t want to go. No bad things, Jenna. Only good. Trust me, Angel. I only want to be a good person in your life.”
“I should probably stop being so afraid and untrusting, huh?” My eyes hold his.
“Probably, but I do understand why it will take you some time to see me as the man I truly am. A man who has cared for you for many years. A man who has dreamt of having you in his life as a partner for many years. A man who if he ever hurts you it will be unintentional and I want you to let me know anytime I do hurt you in any way. Do you understand me?”
Rod used to end his sentences with that very question!
I look away as my mind races. Then a waitress comes in with some little teacups and a teapot. “Congratulations you two! So happy to see Mr. Manning has found his soul mate and will be getting married! So happy!”
Reed clears his throat and smiles at the young Asian woman. “Leelee, this is Jenna.”
She bows as I turn to her. “Jenna, so nice to meet you.”
I give a little bow from my chair. “You too, Leelee.”
“I’ll be right back with your appetizer. Here’s a hint, it has lobster!” she says as she claps her hands and goes back out of the curtain.
I have to laugh. “She’s adorable!”
Reed takes me by the chin. “I want to hear you tell me you understand and will tell me if I hurt or upset you in any way, Jenna. I know you kept quiet when Rod did things to you that hurt you and I do not want a repeat of that. I want you to know you can talk to me about anything.”
“I do understand you and I promise I won’t keep anything bottled up when I’m unhappy or hurt by you. And you do the same for me. K?”
He smiles and lifts the steaming cup to my mouth. “K.”
And I hope this is the start of a great relationship!
Chapter 18
REED
Back in Jerome and on the front porch of my parents’ house, I have Jenna’s left hand in mine and look at the ring on her beautiful finger.
We told her parents about us and our plans and to my surprise they were happy about it. They commented on how Jenna has never looked or acted better and they had an idea there was a man involved in the change in their daughter.
I could see in their eyes a little worry over my brother but they didn’t say anything. I think everyone knows there will be some kind of scene when he finds out. But there’s no reason not to have this relationship because of what might happen.
“Ready?” I ask her as she looks nervous.
She nods then shakes her head. “Reed, I know your mom isn’t going to like this.”
I wrap my arms around her and sway back and forth with a gentle rocking motion. “She may be kind of shocked at first but she loves you, Jenna.”
She rests her head on my chest for a moment, gathering courage then lifts it up and smiles at me. “Everything will be alright, I guess. But don’t just blurt it out like I did with my parents. They went all pale, and it took them a few minutes to digest it. Let’s go a little slower with your parents, okay?”
I slip the ring off her finger and put it into my pocket. She looks at her finger with a frown. Taking her chin, I make her look at me. “I’ll be putting it right back on when we tell them.”
She nods as I take her hand and take her into the house she’s only ever visited as my brother’s girlfriend. And I know this has to be odd to her and somewhat hard as well.
“We’re here,” I call out as we walk into the living room.
Mom comes running out of the kitchen and grabs Jenna up in her arms. “Jenna! I’m so glad you came!” She holds her back and looks her over. “My goodness, Sweetheart, I’ve never seen you look so good!”
Jenna blushes and says, “Thank you. You’re looking good too.” She touches Mom’s blonde hair. “You did something different with your hair.”
Mom palms her short, now blonde, curls. “I thought the silver was a bit much. So I dyed it back to the blonde I was before the silver invaded.”
“It looks great. You look years younger,” Jenna says.
Mom blushes and Dad walks into the living room. “Hey there, Jenna.”
“Hi, Jason. How have you been?” Jenna asks as she goes to him with her hand outstretched to shake his hand.
He looks at her hand and takes it but pulls her in for a hug. She seems a little awkward at first then she hugs him back. “I’ve been good, Girl. And you look like you’ve been very good as well.”
Dad lets her go, and she steps back next to me. “I’ve been doing very good. Coming back home for the summer was such a good idea. And it seems Reed had the same idea.”
Mom smiles. “We’re so glad he decided to come for a nice long visit. Did you see the new cars in the driveway he bought for us?”
“I did,” Jenna says as Mom grabs her hand and pulls her off to the kitchen.
Dad looks me up and down. “You look like the cat who ate the canary. Care to tell me what that look is about?”
I shake my head and put my hands in my pockets and play with her ring in the left one. “No reason. Just happy to see that girl back in this house.”
Dad claps me on the back and we start walking toward the kitchen. “She does look great, doesn’t she? Rod leaving was the best thing for her. I hate to say it but just look at her now. She looks so happy.”
“And beautiful,” I add.
Dad nods. “She always was, but she has a glow about her now.”
I did that!
“Yes, she does.”
I see her helping Mom get the salad together and walk over to stand at the island I had put in when I had the kitchen remodeled. Mom’s yakking away about her new kitchen.
“Reed sent some remodeling company to us and we had this done and the master bath. Oh, you have to see it before you go. It has this bathtub that shoots water out of the sides and it’s amazing! Reed thought of it all. He’s a real Sweetheart.”
“I know,” Jenna says and glances sideways at me. “He always has been.”
“He has,” Mom says as she chops up a tomato.
Jenna rips the lettuce leaves and puts them into the bowl and I take the carrot lying on the counter top and go find a vegetable peeler and use it to add shredded carrot to the salad.
I lean in close to Jenna. “Just like old times, huh, Jenna? You, me, Mom all working in the kitchen.”
She holds her lips tight to keep a smile off them. “Just like old times, Reed, yes.”
Mom makes this sigh that tells me she’s thinking about Rod and his missing status. But surely she won’t say a word about him with Jenna here. I cross my fingers she won’t, anyway.
“So, Jenna,” Mom says as she turns to look at her. “What are your plans for the future since you’ve finished with college?”
“I’m going to teach. Kindergarten is where I want to start.” Jenna finishes the salad with a toss of her long slender fingers.
“Where?” Mom asks. “I mean will you be looking to work here?”
Jenna shakes her head sending her silky straight hair moving gently over her shoulders. I can smell the shampoo she used from my position right behind her and it reminds me of the bath we took just before we left to come back here.
The urge to wrap my arms around her overcomes me and I just do it. Then I look at my mother. “Jenna’s going to come to Bel-Air to work.”
Mom’s eyes go really big. “When did you decide this?”
Jenna reaches back and gives my leg a little squeeze and I let her go as she tells my mother, “Reed is who paid for my college. It was a secret.”
“I see.” Mom looks at me. “You didn’t even want to tell me, Reed?”
I shake my head. “I never wanted, you know who, to find that out.”
She nods and looks away. “That would’ve been bad.” Then she looks back at me. “But where will Jenna stay in Bel-Air? That place looks expensive. It’ll cost her too much, Reed. It’s a bad idea. She can work right here. I can help her get a teaching job and she can stay with her family. At least here she can afford to eventually live on her own.”
“I don’t want to stay here, Sue. I want to go.” Jenna takes the salad bowl and takes it to the new dining room table I got them last year. “Nice table, Sue!”
“Another one of Reed’s gifts,” Mom says as the timer buzzes. “Oh! Lasagna’s ready!”
Dad takes his place at the head of the table and I take two bottles of red wine to it. I notice my mother has set the table with Jenna and me on opposite sides. Since the table seats six and there are two chairs on each side, I move the place settings to one side so she and I can sit next to each other.
Mom puts the huge pan of lasagna down on the table where she previously placed a large trivet and takes her seat at the other end of the table opposite my father.
I pull out the chair next to me and Jenna sits down. Mom does a quick glance then her nose wrinkles a little and I think she’s beginning to see things a little more clearly.
“So, where will you be staying in Bel-Air, Jenna?” Mom asks.
Dad clears his throat. “Obviously with Reed.”
Mom looks at us. Her eyes dart back and forth. “He does have a nice place. I suppose that would be okay. Do you feel comfortable with that, Dear?” she asks Jenna.
Jenna takes in a deep breath. “Sue, we have something to tell you.”
I reach into my pocket and take out the ring as Jenna holds her hand up and I slide it back onto her finger. Then I take her hand and kiss the ring and look at my mother then my father. “Jenna and I are going to get married.”
Mom’s hands fly over her mouth as her eyes go to saucer size. Dad reaches over and claps me on the back. “I knew you were out every night with some woman. Didn’t know it was our sweet Jenna here, but damn glad to hear this news. You two look great together. Don’t they, Sue?”
Mom nods then her hands leave her mouth. “You both glow and I can see you have real feelings for one another.” Her eyes go a little shiny as I think she might be about to cry. “And it’s good to see you so happy, Jenna. And my baby boy looks very happy too. How could this not be right?”
“It is right. Nothing has ever felt more right,” I say as I hold Jenna’s hand in mine and wrap my other arm around her shoulders. “I’ve loved this young woman for years. And now we’re finally together and I’m the happiest man in the world.”
Then my mother bursts into tears and stands up, gesturing for us to come to her. Jenna and I get up and go get into a group hug with Mom as she murmurs congratulations.
When she lets us go, I notice a few tears have escaped Jenna and brush them away then kiss her pink cheek.
The rest of the dinner goes well with Mom and Dad asking a little about how this all happened. And I did notice Mom getting a cloudy look about her at times then she’d shake it off.
I suppose she was thinking about Rod and how he will act when he finds out.
Jenna and I clean up so Mom and Dad can go take their nightly dip in the swimming pool and I press my shoulder against hers as we wash the dishes. “That went well, don’t you think?” I ask.
“It did,” she says then looks at me. “Do you really think we can get through this unscathed, Reed?”
Grabbing the dish towel and drying my hands, I wrap my arms around her. “I can handle my brother. I’m not saying there won’t be an uncomfortable scene, but I am saying I can handle it. Just keep on trusting me, Angel.”
Her smile tells me she does trust me and then I lean down to press my lips to hers and the fire ignites. With a little moan, I let her sweet lips go. “Now that everyone knows what we’re doing, I’m renting us a room at the lodge in town.”
She leans against me. “Good. Last night sleeping without you was hell.”
“I felt the same way. I have to have you in my arms to be able to sleep.”
She looks up at me. “I don’t know how we’ve become so dependent on one another in such a short amount of time. It’s incredible.”
“It is. Everything about this is incredible. Our life together will be incredible and that’s exciting. Don’t you think?” I kiss her forehead and rock with her in my arms.
A deep sigh fills the air then she says, “This is too good to be true.”
I hold her back and give her a stern look. “No, it’s not. This is true, and if you didn’t have that bad past then you’d never question what we have. You have to know that’s true.”
“I suppose you’re right. I guess I think there’s a lot of bad in the world and how we are together is so good, it’s just a little scary that something could happen to end it.”
“Nothing can happen to end what we have. Jenna, this is deep. This is years deep and you know that,” I say as I search her eyes.
“I know.” She looks around the kitchen as I hold her. “I remember the first time you touched me in this room. You put an apron over my head and your presence at my back set me on fire.”
“I remember that. I did it on purpose. It set me on fire too.” I kiss her with a long slow kiss. The way I yearned to all those years ago.
Her hand touches my cheek as our lips part. “Reed, I love you so much.”
“I will never get tired of hearing those words come out of your mouth. And I will never get tired of telling you that I love you too. You are my world now. My everything. I never want you to feel anything but happiness, my angel.”
“We should tell your parents goodbye and get that room. I can’t wait to be alone with you. Yesterday without you was torture. I want to feel your body next to mine,” she says as her fingers trail over my chest.
“I want to feel your body beneath mine.” I kiss her again and run my hands down to her ample ass and take handfuls of it.
Pulling her to me, I feel the heat coming from her as her legs wrap around me and my cock pulses against her.
Our kiss goes crazy and I move until I have her back against the wall and grind into her soft center. Her hands move all over my back and up into my hair.
I pump my dick against her jeans as she moans then our mouths part and I kiss her neck. “Reed, my God, Reed.”
She says my name like it’s the only thing she can think of. And that’s exactly what I want. I want her only to think about me and leave the rest behind her.
In the distant past. A past which should never have been. A past that left emotional scars on her.
She had a nightmare on Sunday night while we were at my home in Bel-Air. She woke up screaming my name and when I asked her what happened, she wouldn’t talk. She just wanted to go back to sleep.
I have a feeling in her subconscious she's worrying about what will happen when Rod and I finally clash over this.
It won’t be pretty but I will win in the end. I don’t lose. Not anymore.
And this woman is more precious to me than all the financial deals in the world. There is not a thing on this planet that can take her away from me.
Not as long as she wants me and what we have.
Which I pray is forever!
Chapter 19
JENNA
The last two months have flown by. Reed and I are leaving town the day after tomorrow and our parents are throwing us a combined engagement party and going away party tonight at the Manning’s home.
But getting our asses out of this bed in the room at the lodge he rented us is proving to be harder than expected.
His hot mouth just keeps touching my body and making it impossible to stop what we’ve been doing for hours now. Every nerve in my body is tingling and super sensitive with all his attention.
The way his hand is running up my leg as he licks and sucks my breast has me groaning. “Reed, what you do to me is unreal.”
I can feel his cock coming back to life already even though a mere half hour ago he came like a flood inside me.
What his mere touch does to me is amazing. My body absolutely craves his. My insides heat with every pulse of his growing cock against my leg.
He’s about to fill me up with his massive organ again and already I’m aching for that feeling again.
His hand moves over my stomach as he lifts his head, letting my breast go. His eyes are dark as he looks at me. “Guess I have one more in me. How about you?”
I nod and bite my lip. “My legs are quivering they want you back between them so badly.”
He growls as he moves up my body and I keep my eyes trained on his. “One more time. Then we’ll shower and get ready for the party.”
My breathing goes heavy with feeling his body covering mine. I move my legs up to bend my knees and he loops his arm around the back of the right one and lifts it until my knee is by my head.
He holds my eyes as he makes a hard thrust into me. I huff with the impact and sink my nails into his shoulder. “Reed!”
“Yeah, Angel. Say it again,” he growls at me.
With another hard thrust, I say his name again. Then moan and have to close my eyes as he grinds his thick cock into me.
It’s not of this world how this man makes me feel. I’m not even having an orgasm and yet my body is all melty and solid at the same time. It’s constantly aching and yearning for him. All the while fulfilled at the same time.
It’s a complicated mix of things I never knew could be combined. But they can and Reed makes that happen in me every single time.
I wiggle and moan with his hard thrusts. Then he lets my leg go and moves his hands to take mine in them. He pulls them up over my head and pins them down with one of his.
He moves hard and fast into me as I struggle underneath him. The wave hits me and the first climax goes into full swing. “Reed!” I arch up to meet every hard thrust.
I screech as my body convulses around his hard cock and he keeps stroking in and out as he clenches his teeth. “Yes! Give it all to me. Cum all over me, Jenna. I want you all over my dick.”
My body sends what’s left of my fluids out to him and he can only make a few more deep thrusts into me before it takes him with it and he makes a loud moan as he fills me with more hot semen.
If I wasn’t on the pill, this man would’ve gotten me pregnant for sure. He’s filled me up five times in the last few hours.
As a matter of fact, I’m not sure even the pill can stop this amount of baby juice.
Once we catch our breath, I say, “Okay. We only have an hour to get ready so we have to stop this and get up.”
He lays half on and half off me, pulling his dick out of me. “Okay. Let’s get out of this bed.”
Reed climbs out of the bed and reaches for me. I’m pretty weak and try to sit up, but fall back.
He laughs and scoops me up in his arms. “I got you. Seems I’ve left you unable to walk.”
I hold onto him and lean my head on his chest. His sweaty chest that I love knowing he got that way with me. “You have, you monster.”
He chuckles as he carries me to the shower. “Monster, huh?”
As he places me on the seat on one side of the large shower I smile at him. “Well, the best kind of monster.”
“Oh, like the cookie monster?” He turns on the warm water and it falls over my tired body.
I nod. “Okay, like the cookie monster. Only I’m going to call you my pleasure monster.”
His eyebrows wiggle. “I like that. I’m your pleasure monster. Yeah, I like that.”
He pours some shampoo into my palm and some in his. We shampoo our hair then he picks me up and I lean back as he holds me around the waist and lets the water rinse my hair out. His hand runs through it to help out and then he pulls me up and kisses me.
My head goes light. When our mouths part I have to catch my breath. “Okay, pleasure monster. Let me out of your magic arms so we can get going to our party.”
He lets me go and smiles at me. “It really is magical, isn’t it?”
“It really is.”
And I hope it stays this way!
The guests have already arrived like I knew was going to happen. We’re late to our own party thanks to what happened in the shower too!
I’m not complaining. I am going to have to figure out what we can do to learn how to end the lovemaking in a more timely manner and do life things. Otherwise, we’ll never leave the house.
A tall wall of lavender is built around the edge of the patio that surrounds the swimming pool where some of the guests have congregated. Other guests are in the house.
I came outside to grab us a couple of beers and as I lean over the cooler I find I can hear a couple of male voices on the other side of it and I can smell cigarette smoke.
I don’t pay much attention as I recognize the voices as the cousins, A.J., and Lance. Then Lance says, “What do you think Rod will do when he finds out Reed took his girl?”
I stop breathing. Then A.J. says, “All I know is I’m not going to be the one to tell him. That dude has a wicked temper and has been known to beat the messenger on occasion. He can find out on his own. You know I talked to him a few weeks ago, and he’s going to be home next week.”
My heart stops. Then Lance says, “Oh yeah? Is he coming in with that motorcycle gang he joined?”
A.J. answers, “Hell yeah. He doesn’t go anywhere without them. Shit, he joined the club to protect him from his old boss. The dude caught him selling drugs out of the shop and was about to turn him in if he didn’t give him a cut of the profits. You know Rod wasn’t about to do that so he left. Went and found a gang to join.”
Lance says, “I thought Jenna knew about it. I mean I know she had to put on a good act so no one else would know. But Rod had to have let her in on what he was doing.”
A.J. says, “I don’t know if he did or not. If he did, and he comes back to find her engaged to his brother shit will hit the fan. Now if he left and left her in the dark then I don’t blame the chic for moving on.”
“Yeah, me neither. But we ain’t Rod. He’s got serious possession issues. If he did expect her to wait, and she didn’t. Well, too bad for her and Reed. That’s all I’m saying,” Lance says.
“And now he has this rough gang behind him too,” A.J. says. I can tell he’s taking a drag off the cigarette as he pauses and I can smell the stink from it. A stench I haven’t had to endure in the last couple of years. “I think he could be a real threat to the little love birds with that gang behind him.”
“Hey!” I hear Reed shout as he comes out of the set of French doors that lead out onto the patio. “Need help, Angel?”
I turn back with the beers in my hand as I hear the men on the other side of the fence snicker. Then A.J. says, “All she can get.” And they break out laughing like a couple of hyenas.
A thing Reed notices as they’re loud. I hurry to him as he starts to go back there and I stop him and pull him inside the house with me. “We need to talk, Reed.”
He follows along. “Go to my old bedroom.”
I walk through the living room with him right behind me and we go to his room. As soon as he closes the door I fall into his arms. “They know where Rod is. He’s joined a motorcycle gang.”
“Who knows this?” Reed asks in confusion.
“A.J. and Lance. I heard them talking behind that wall thing. It was them you heard laughing. They were laughing because Rod is about to come back with his motorcycle gang. They were saying that Rod left town because he was selling drugs out of the shop he worked at. His boss found out and wanted him to give him some of the drug money. I guess Rod didn’t want to, and that’s the reason he disappeared.”
Reed looks pissed. Not afraid like I am. Just really mad.
“That selfish son of a bitch. Well, Mom’s no bitch but you know what I mean.” He hugs me tighter. “Don’t worry. We’ll be long gone by the time he gets to town.”
“I know that. But once he finds out about us what if he comes looking for us? He could make one of your parents tell him where you live, you know.” I search his eyes for any sign of fear and there just is none.
But he doesn’t know the Rod I do!
Reed takes me by the shoulders as I’m sure he feels my body shaking. “Jenna, stop. You know the mansion is a fortress. And the neighborhood isn’t a place a gang would be tolerated. They’d no sooner get to the first mansion in their motorcycle brigade then the cops would get called.”
I nod my head. I know he’s right. But I have this horrible feeling.
“You won’t let him get a hold of me will you?”
He pulls me tight to him. “No. Never, Jenna. He will never hurt you again. Not ever. And not right now because we have this party but soon I want to know everything that went on with you two. Because you’re much too afraid of him for nothing more than that one incident that happened when the cops were called to affect you like this.”
I nod but don’t really ever want to talk to him about what I allowed to be done to me. “I can’t believe he was selling drugs behind my back. I can’t believe he didn’t at least explain to me why he had to leave. I would’ve understood and maybe I would’ve been heartbroken but at least I would’ve known why he was leaving. And why couldn’t he have taken me with him?”
Reed moves me back and looks at me with a very hard look on his handsome face. “You don’t realize how lucky you got when he left you, do you?”
“I do, Reed. I really do. But so many questions went unanswered. I would’ve gone with him if he wanted me to. I belonged to him.” I look away quickly as I realize I’m talking too much.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing. You know the typical we belong together thing. It’s stupid. I need to think about other things. This party. You and me and our wedding. There are a lot of people out there. We need to get back to them.” I try to pull out of his arms but he won’t let me go.
“Jenna, you don’t want him back do you? And please be truthful.” I hate the way his eyes are drooping.
I take in a deep breath. “Reed, I love you more than I ever knew was possible. And please believe me when I tell you none of the things going through my head are anything close to wanting him back. I will not ever be going back to life the way Rod has to have it. My life is with you, now and forever. I swear that to you. And Reed, I want you to know that if you were in my life or not, I would not be going back to Rod. That’s not the life I want or will allow ever again. Not ever!”
He looks a little relieved but not completely. “Promise me that you’ll never be alone with him for any reason.”
I look him straight in the eyes as this is the honest truth. “That’s an easy promise to make. I will never be alone with him, Reed. I’m not looking forward to ever seeing him again much less giving him the chance to take his aggression out on me.”
“Good. I don’t trust him.” Reed takes my hand and we leave his bedroom. And as we walk down the dark hallway to the living room a chill runs through me as A.J. and Lance walk into the living room.
Both men look down the hall as we walk out of it and both have the oddest smiles on their bearded faces. Then A.J. gives Reed a little punch in the arm. “So, you really did it. You stole your big brother’s girl. You sure have grown a huge set of balls, Reed.”
Reed narrows his eyes at his older cousin. “A.J. just what were you out there smoking?”
A.J. and Lance laugh as the eight or nine family members who are in the living room stare at us all. Reed is a good two inches taller than A.J. and a foot taller than Lance. He’s built so much better than they are too.
I have no doubts Reed could wipe the floor with both of them. But I don’t want any of that crap at our party so I say, “Come on, guys. Give us a break. And please don’t think anyone stole anyone. I was a very single woman these last couple of years.” Then I tug at Reed’s hand to get him to follow me outside.
He does but looks over his shoulder at his cousins. Or as he always calls them, Rod’s cousins. But their words tell me if that’s how they look at this then Rod will too.
And that’s going to be a problem!
Chapter 20
REED
The moon’s light is the only light we need as Jenna and I hold each other in my parents’ swimming pool at two in the morning. Everyone went home a few hours ago and my parents are dead asleep and I found myself wanting to spend some time in the pool alone with my angel.
After ditching our clothes, we jumped in and now I have her back against the side as we kiss and I hold her in my arms. “So when do you think you might want to officially become Mrs. Reed Manning?”
Her green eyes sparkle in the moonlight and I find them so damn beautiful it physically hurts. “Sooner than later, I think.”
I swish her around in the water then press her back against the side so I can press my cock against her where it loves to be. “Do you remember telling me you hoped one of our kids would have the dimple I have in my chin?”
She nods and a blush covers her cheeks. “The way you talked then, I did feel as if you were talking about a child you and I would have. It sent this odd sensation deep inside me when you said those words. And now look at us. Someday we really will have kids. Who knew?”
I wink at her. “Me. I always knew one day the jackass would fuck up too bad and that would end.”
“Is that why you paid for my college? So you could keep tabs on me?” She gives me a scowling look.
“Yes,” I admit.
The way her face goes all sweet and loving tells me my admission made her heart melt. “Reed, how sweet. How romantic. I had no idea. I really didn’t.”
“I was biding my time. I knew it would come. But it was damn hard not to knock my brother out of my way. But I knew he had to really show you who he was for you to see you didn’t belong with him.” I push a damp piece of hair behind her ear then lean down to nibble the tasty earlobe.
She makes this moaning purr sound that drives me insane and my cock grows. Her legs wrap around me. “Reed, please, I’m going crazy to have you inside me.”
I move her a bit and slide my cock into her sweet spot and my body goes to that place only she takes me to every time I enter her. It’s the most magical shit I’ve ever experienced.
Heat, cold, intense pleasure that sends my mind to a place it’s never gone to until I made love to her. She is the one for me. There is no doubt in my mind.
I make a gentle stroke as she moans my name, “Reed.”
“Jenna,” I moan back as my lips graze her neck. Her soft and sweet neck.
My cock fills her completely. There is absolutely no space left as I move inside her and her legs squeeze me. “Reed, I can’t believe we’re going to be married and live in your mansion. It’s like a fantasy.”
My lips touch her ear. “Our mansion.” I move her back and forth as I put my hands on her waist.
She runs her hand over my cheek and pulls her head off my shoulder to look at me. “You made that money, and it’s yours, Reed.”
“I did make that money.” I rotate my hips and move my cock around to make sure it hits her in just the right way and her eyes roll up as she hangs her head back.
“God, Reed! How do you know how to do these things?”
“I didn’t until I found you. It all comes very naturally with you. And I bought that mansion with only you in mind, Jenna. That is our place. It has been since I got it. Don’t ever think anything other than that. That was bought to be our home and now it will be.” I give her another swirl of my hips and her groan fills me with satisfaction.
Her mouth falls on my shoulder where she bites it as her nails move over my back. I see she wants a little rough action so I push her back to the wall and move as fast and hard as I can into her.
The low moans turn into little pants and then she’s making quiet squeals as I feel her body going into an orgasm. I go hard and fast until I find mine too then I ease the hard thrusts and make slow strokes as our bodies end the intense pleasure we seem to give each other.
“I love you, Reed,” she says. Her lips move against my neck as she keeps her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms around my neck.
“Love is a word that isn’t even strong enough for what we’ve found. But since I don’t have a new one yet, I love you too, Jenna.” I trail soft kisses down her neck and over her shoulder.
We should probably get out and get going back to the room at the lodge but holding her in this warm water feels too good to stop. Then a sound has me listening very hard.
“That sounds like a motorcycle, doesn’t it?” Jenna asks as we both look around to see if we can see any lights.
But the backyard has so many privacy fences around it, we can’t see a thing to tell us where the thing might be. I kiss her cheek to calm her as her body has gone tense.
“It’s only one bike, and he’s not due in until next week, remember.”
She nods and the sound of the motorcycle is gone now and she wraps her arms back around me. “I’m being silly.”
A light comes on in the kitchen then the back door opens. Jenna turns in my arms to see who it is. Neither of us can see any more than a shadow.
“Shit!” Jenna hisses quietly. “Busted!”
I hold on to her from behind and whisper in her ear. “Probably just Dad taking in a breath of fresh air and he’ll go back inside. Just be still and quiet.”
Then a lighter lights up and it lights a cigarette.
Dad does not smoke!
Now it’s me who hisses, “Shit!”
The outside light comes on as he takes a couple of steps out and triggers the motion sensor. And it also makes the interior pool light come on too. It’s a safety thing and now it’s made us vulnerable.
It takes a second for my brother’s eyes to roam over us and when they do I see fire in them. And he pulls his black leather jacket with the words, ‘Brothers of the Scarlet Dragon’ off and tosses it on the ground, followed by his cigarette.
He’s not saying any words at all. But his body is in full gear as he begins to walk with a quick pace toward the pool. Then I feel Jenna slipping out of my arms as she pulls herself up on the edge of the pool and she’s out and running to him.
“No! No, Rod! Stop!”
I hurry out after her, both of us are bare-assed and I manage to grab up my shorts and pull them on in a fraction of a second then I see Rod toss her to the side and she falls on her ass.
He doesn’t even look at what he’s done to her as he’s focused only on me. Then I see her get up and run at him again from behind.
“Jenna, no!” I yell at her. “Get Dad!”
She runs toward the door and grabs a towel off the chair next to it and wraps herself up as she runs inside.
Rod goes right for my throat. “I’m going to kill you!” His words are spoken between clenched teeth.
I avoid his hands and smash my fist into his stomach. He takes a step back with the punch but it didn’t seem to affect him or slow him down at all.
His left arm comes up and I go to block it when his right fist slams into my face. I fall back with the punch but quickly regain my balance and come at him like a linebacker.
Catching him in the middle I run forward and take his feet off the ground as I run with him until I hit something that has his breath pushing out so hard I can feel it.
He grunts with the force and I let him go. He falls to the ground but gets back up and the way he comes at me has me walking backward but not fast enough as his fist hits my mouth and I taste blood right away.
It only pisses me off and I throw a wild punch and it connects and I see his cheek split and blood starts pouring from it.
Then we both grab each other and wrestle, trying to take the other one to the ground. But we both stop and let go of each other as a loud gunshot stops us.
We turn and find our father at the back door holding a shotgun. “The first one to raise a fist gets a taste of this.”
Jenna and Mom are behind him and it seems Mom gave Jenna one of her nightgowns to cover herself up with. I look at Rod and he looks at me then we take a few steps away from each other.
Jenna comes running out. Straight to me until Rod says something that makes her stop dead in her tracks. His voice is low and threatening as he says, “You better rethink that, Baby. You’re mine no matter what Reed thinks. And you damn well know that.”
Her face goes very pale and her body starts to shake. I take a step toward her and she holds up her hand, stopping me. “It’s okay, Reed. I need to face this.” Her voice is shaky and I can tell she’s scared but she swallows hard. “I am not yours, Rod. You left me. And a day doesn’t go by that I don’t thank God you did. I am with Reed now. Not a damn thing you say or do will change that.”
“I still have the paper, Jenna. You are mine and you know that. It might take a bit of retraining to get you back to how I had you but I will have you. And you damn well know that.” He turns his head and spits in my direction.
“I’m not listening to any more of his shit!” I start walking towards Jenna and take her hand when I get to her. “Come on, Angel. We’re leaving.”
She falls in behind me as I pull her along and I hear Rod coming up behind us. But Dad fires off another shot. “Leave her alone, Son.”
“She is my woman!” Reed shouts. “How could you two allow this to happen? You both know who it is she belongs to!”
“Now, Rod,” my mother says in her best mom tone. “You left her. You left her without a word. She had every right to move on.”
“No, she didn’t, and she knew that.” He stays where he is since Dad has the gun and I pull Jenna inside.
I look over my shoulder at my mother. “We’re leaving in the morning instead of the day after.”
She nods. “I understand. Good night.”
I take Jenna out through the front door and put her in the passenger seat and lock her door then I quickly get in the driver’s side and leave my parents’ home as fast as I can and pray they don’t let him leave right behind us. Or we’ll have to bring the cops in on this.
My head is spinning then Jenna just falls apart and cries like I’ve never seen her do before. She’s sobbing uncontrollably.
What did that fucking bastard do to her?
I let her cry it out until we pull into the parking lot. Then I get her out of the car and carry her inside as she cries into my bare chest.
Sitting on the bed with her on my lap, I stroke her damp hair. “Jenna, it’s okay. We’re leaving in the morning. It’ll all be okay. He knows now and he can start to get over it.”
She shakes her head. “It will be a long time before he gets over this. And he will try his best to stop this. I could see it in his eyes. I am his.”
“You are not his! Shit! Jenna, you don’t belong to anyone. Not even me. You are your own person. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.” I kiss her cheek and taste the salt of her many tears.
“I haven’t cried like this in so long. I don’t know how he has the power to make me this way. Weak and afraid.” She takes in a deep breath trying to stop herself but it doesn’t work and she busts out again. “I hate him, Reed!”
The thought crosses my mind that he has done something so bad to her she may need professional help to get over it. And that makes me furious at him.
“You can be weak right now if you need to be. I’m here for you. You fell when he threw you. Let me see if you’re hurt.” I lay her face down on the bed as she continues to cry softly.
When I raise up the nightgown I see her ass is scraped up and go to find something to clean it up with and see if we have any kind of ointment to make it feel better.
In a bag of toiletries, I find some antibiotic ointment with pain reliever and take that along with a wet washcloth back to her. I see in the mirror that my lip is busted and dried blood is caked around it but I’ll see to her first then clean myself up.
When I go back to her I can hear that she’s stopped crying, and she seems to be asleep. I press the cloth to the scrape on her ass and she doesn’t move so I know she’s asleep pretty deeply.
I spread the medicine all over the wound and she turns her head. Her eyes open. “Oh, it’s you. Good.”
“Who else would it be?” I ask.
“Rod used to do that afterwards. It’s just that I was asleep and I guess dreaming and thought it was him.”
“Rod used to do this to you after what, Jenna?” My whole body is tense as I don’t know if I want to hear this or not.
“Never mind, Reed. I’m very sleepy.” Then her eyes close.
I move her around to lie the right way on the bed, she’s still wearing my mother’s flower covered nightgown so I leave it on her as she must be exhausted.
As I go to clean myself up, I can’t help but think about how this will all play out. Rod is not one to come around and play nice.
Not ever!
Chapter 21
JENNA
My body aches as I lie in the bed and see the early morning light streaming through the white curtains of the small room Reed rented for us. I can hear him in the bathroom.
He opens the door and smiles at me as I lie in bed. “Hey there, sleepy head.” He comes and kisses my cheek. “I thought I’d let you rest while I go grab us some breakfast from the café. How about a couple of breakfast tacos?”
“Mmm. Yes, that sounds good. I could use a few more winks before I get going today.” I stretch a little and he gives me one more kiss.
“I’ll be back in about an hour so you can rest. I’ll gas up the car and get ready to go to the airport. Sleep, Angel.” He leaves and I hear the deadbolt lock and close my eyes.
Softly his hand runs over my back as I lie on my stomach. “Back already? That didn’t seem like an hour. I feel like I barely fell back asleep.”
I roll over and nearly have a heart attack. “Rod!” I have on a nightgown but I grab the blanket and pull it up to cover myself even more. “How did you get in here?”
“I know the chic at the front desk and she gave me a key. You and I need to talk,” he stands up and pulls out his wallet.
I watch him and have no idea what I need to be doing to ensure not only my safety but Reed’s too. Rod pulls a folded piece of paper out of his wallet and opens it then hands it to me. “Remember when you signed this?”
I place the contract on the bed without looking at it and look straight into his eyes. “I do. I was a dumb kid then. I’m not anymore. The fact is, you wouldn’t even like me now. So just be glad I’m not wanting you back.”
A grin covers his heavily bearded face. His hair is really short on the sides and kind of long on top. He’s covered in tattoos and his beard is thick and long.
He barely looks like the same man.
“We both know I can get you back to the way I want you.” He sits back down on the side of the bed. “That’s not a problem. Tell me why you left our home.”
I glare at him. “How was I to keep it? And tell me why I would even want to. You left me without a word. Not a note, nothing. So why would I stay? And for over two years at that.”
“Because you belong to me. I knew you went off to college, and I was okay with that. I thought you’d know to come back here and get a job until I came for you. You came back just like I knew you would. My plan was to come for you this summer and take you with me. Only you found my baby brother, didn’t you?” He reaches out to touch my face.
I pull back so he can’t. “No! You do not touch me. I’m not going to allow you to touch me. Not ever again. You hurt me. You have no idea what your leaving like that did to me. I had no idea if you were alive or anything. I had to worry for what felt like forever. Then one day it went away a little and a little more each day until I just didn’t think about you anymore.”
“Why would you do that? I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped dreaming about the day I could come get you and take you with me. On the road with my gang.” He smiles. “You’re going to have a rough time at first. The women are tough as shit. But I know you can gain their respect. You’re tough and fearless.”
I shake my head. “What makes you think I want to be a part of a motorcycle gang? I’m going to be a kindergarten teacher, Rod. I’m not biker chic material.”
“You are my woman and as such you will be what I want you to be. So if I say you need to fit in with my new lifestyle then you will do as I say. I will train you just like I did before.” He reaches for me again and I move away from him.
“You should leave before Reed gets back.”
“You are mine. And I will show him that.” He grabs my wrist and pulls me up to him.
His face is too close to mine. I can smell the cigarettes and some kind of liquor, maybe tequila. “If you think you’re going to force yourself on me you better know I will file rape charges on your ass. I swear it. You’ll have to kill me for that not to happen. Get me?”
He lets me go and stands up with a laugh. “See, you are tough. You just need to come back to me for a little while and you’ll fall right back into place.”
“I’m marrying Reed. I’m not going to hang with you to see if I want that back because I know I don’t. To be honest that was never a life I wanted. I accepted it because I was young and dumb and I loved you for reasons now I can’t really figure out. You were wild and dangerous and a thing no grown woman wants in her life. Not this one anyway.” I shift in the bed and realize I don’t have any underwear on and that makes me feel a bit vulnerable but I try hard not to let my face show that.
Rod looks down at me. “Mom gave me the ring I gave you when I asked you to marry me and you said yes. Want to explain to me why you gave it to her?”
“Because I was done with you. I waited nearly a month at the house for you and two more months at my parents. When I decided to go away to college, I wanted to leave it all behind me. So I gave the ring to your mother. It’s a lot better than tossing the mother fucking thing that in my opinion you gave not one care about.” I pull the blanket up even tighter around me.
He pulls the ring out of his pocket. “I’m here to get that ring off your finger and this one back on it.”
“You’ll play hell doing that, Rod.” I stare right into his eyes. “You see, Reed will be back soon and he will beat your ass if he finds you here. And I will do everything I can to help him do that.” I hold my left hand up next to my face. “So jump if you feel froggy, asshole!”
His steel-blue eyes light up and his eyebrows go up high. “Wow! See, you are tough. And I made you that way. I do deserve a little appreciation don’t you think?”
“You also made me have trust issues. You also made me have nightmares about how you strung me up for hours on end and did things to my body until I was crying and asking you to stop.”
His smile goes only over half his mouth. “That was no nightmare, that did happen. More than a few times. But I recall you agreeing to that. I recall reaching into your pussy and finding it wet and throbbing after those kinds of things. I recall you begging to suck my dick after those things. What is it you recall, Jenna?”
“I recall feeling weak. I recall thinking I had to make you happy because you weren’t. I recall thinking if I could just make you feel loved you would soften up some. And for the last part of our time together you were softer. Not entirely but you weren’t exactly that hard man you were in the beginning. But those things you did to me did scar me deeper than the flesh wounds you gave me with your punishments.”
His eyes narrow and he looks down. “If things were better, and I was more like the man you wanted me to be then why did you move on?”
With a sigh, I say, “Because even the man you had become wasn’t what I wanted. When I was eighteen and started things with you, I had no idea what I wanted. All I knew is that you had wanted me for two years and that was pretty awesome in my young and naïve eyes.”
“So you never wanted me?” He looks at me with sad eyes.
And that look used to get me every time but not this time. “That would be a lie. I did want you. I did want to make you happy and so I did the things you told me you needed. And still you fucked other women. And still you left me without a word. So my heart hardened. I learned how to harden a lot of things thanks to your training, Rod. So now you will reap the rewards of a job well done. You wanted me to be hard and now I am.”
“And turned against me. Your owner. And if you think I’m going to let this go, you're very wrong. I’m going to leave so I don’t have to deal with my little brother. But you and I are not done.” After picking up the contract off the bed, he walks toward the door then stops and turns back. “See you soon, Baby.”
As I watch him walk out the door all the strength in me fades away so quickly it’s unreal. My body begins to shake and I jump up and lock the door back and also close the latch inside so even if he uses the key, he can’t get back in.
I managed to escape that little interaction unscathed, but that was close. I think he could see in my eyes that I wouldn’t go down easy and the tiger in me showed itself, I think.
But I don’t even want to know if I could actually fend him off or not. I’d rather never find that out.
I go and pick up the phone to call the front desk and hear a friendly female answer, “Hello, how can I help you this morning?”
“Are you the bitch who gave Rod Manning a key to this room?” I ask, trying to keep my tone sharp.
“No,” she hangs up and I call the other number on the phone. The one that says if you have any problems please call.
“Good morning, Arizona Lodging Corporation. How can I help you this morning?”
“Hello, my name is Jenna Foster. My fiancé rented a room here at your Jerome location and I’d like to report that the woman who is working at the front desk this morning gave a key to another man and he entered our room. I suppose that’s frowned upon in your business. Is it not?”
“Oh my goodness! Are you okay, Mam?”
“I am. But the man she let in and I have a very bad past. He used to beat me. So I was very scared. I’d hate to see anyone else go through what I just did. I can count on you to take care of this situation without my needing to involve the authorities, can’t I?”
“Of course! I’ll have the manager there soon and that employee will be fired immediately. And your stay with us will be free of charge, of course. Please don’t go to anyone else with this issue. I’d hate it if our lodging in Jerome got bad publicity for one woman’s poor decision.”
“Me too. I will be checking in with the manager before we leave a little later today to be sure this was dealt with. Thank you. Goodbye.”
“Bye,” she says then I hang up feeling a little better about this thing.
Where Rod is concerned I will pull no punches. I will take everything illegal or bad thing he does and flip it around on him.
If he thinks I’m going to go down all easy, he has another think coming.
Reed or no Reed, I will never go down that path with Rod or any man ever again.
Not ever!
The room’s phone rings again. I answer, “Hello.”
“Hello, Miss Foster, this is Lynette Jones, the manager here. I have Trisha Steen here with me and she tells me she did not give anyone a key to your room.”
I frown and then get mad. Really mad. “So you’re taking her word over mine?”
“I don’t know what else I can do, Miss Foster.”
“Tell me how many keys you have to this particular room, Mrs. Jones.”
She seems to be thinking then she says, “We gave you and your fiancé two of them. That leaves one we keep up here in the key box. So three.”
“Look in the key box and see if that one is there, please,” I say and look my fingernails over as I wait.
I can hear her tell the woman to open the box so I add, “I need you to look. Obviously, she will say it’s there.”
“Oh, yes. Hang on then.” The phone clanks a bit as she puts it down. “I need to do that, Trisha.” I hear clicking sounds and then I hear a gasp. “Trisha, no!” Disappointment fills her voice.
Then I hear Trisha. “Aunt Lynn, I didn’t give it to him. I swear it. I don’t know where the key is!”
“Trisha, how could you? Everyone in this town knows about Rod Manning and Jenna Foster. Everyone knows about that time he pushed her all over their yard and the police had to come. How could you put her in jeopardy like that?”
Trisha is stammering and making no sense then I hear her say, “He made me. He told me he’d teach me good if I didn’t give him the key.”
Then my heart aches for her. But it doesn’t mean she should get off scot-free.
When the manager gets back on the phone she’s apologizing like crazy. I stop her. “Look, I know he’s intimidating. I heard her and I do believe her. But something has to be done to show her how she can handle something like that if it ever happens again. So please see to it that some kind of measures can be taken to teach not only her but your other employees how to handle a situation like that. Perhaps something as simple as teaching them to say there are no other keys to the rooms.”
“Yes, Mam. And your stay is on us. There will be no charges at all.”
“We were here two months,” I say as I can’t possibly imagine them comping the whole time.
“I’m aware of that and the entire stay is on us. Thank you for staying with us and when you visit again I hope you will consider staying with us again. I am very sorry and this incident will help us to form a protocol for just this kind of thing. I am so sorry and so is my niece.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry he did that to her.” I hang up and feel even more awful that he would do that to anyone just to get to me.
Does he draw no lines?