An Escape to Love (3 page)

Jake went back into the house, taking cover behind the wall as he peeped through the wide, high windows. The chopper swayed, circling the perimeter of the house, and Jake finally saw who was inside. He could see three skiers, all decked out in full ski-gear. His breath came out in a rush and he felt lightheaded, all the adrenaline in his bloodstream going to waste.

He stood there for several seconds trying to catch his breath and his gaze fell on the gun in his hand. Where had life landed him? He was prepared to shoot down innocent people as long as they didn’t take him back to the hell of prison. He pushed the gun under the couch and grabbed a blanket as he ran towards the back door.

He found Leona huddled under the buses, her teeth chattering and her nose red from the cold. Jake ran towards her, his heart clenching painfully at the look on her face. She probably had never had anything to fear like this before, what with her family background.

A vision of her chattering on about useless things crossed his mind, and then the current sight of her, huddled under the bushes, terrified. Self-hatred flowed through his bloodstream like acid and he clutched her tightly as he lifted her up.

He clenched his teeth and threw the blanket over her shoulders, pulling her against his chest and into the house. She mumbled something which he couldn’t understand, he just focused on getting her inside the warmth of the house. She sat down in front of the fire and he finally understood what she was saying.

“Get away from me,” she mumbled while her teeth chattered.

“I’m sorry, Leona. I thought it was…I’m sorry,” he said.

She stared at him, holding the blanket snugly around her shaking body “What is wrong with you?” she hissed angrily. “Who did you think was in the helicopter? Aliens? You threw me outside in the snow, for what?”

Jake paused for a while, running his hands through his hair roughly as he tried to come up with a good enough excuse. Leona was too smart to fall for a random story he could feed her. “No one ever comes near the house. It’s all alone, secluded in the mountains. I thought it might be robbers or something.”

“In a helicopter?” she screamed, and Jake couldn’t help but feel entranced by the sparks of anger shooting from her eyes.

“I realize how stupid it was now, but at that moment I was terrified for your safety. If it had been just me in the house it would’ve been fine.”

She narrowed her eyes and he could sense that she didn’t believe his story. “Just…don’t talk to me for a while. Please. I don’t feel like talking to you,” she said angrily.

Jake lowered his eyes to the ground and then turned around to head to the kitchen, to make Leona a cup of steaming coffee. Leona watched his back as he walked around and her mind was alert, almost tingling with the doubt coursing through it. She wanted to believe what Jake had told her but she just couldn’t. It was a lie and she knew it.

She thought maybe her background as a law student was making her feel suspicious, but then shoved the thought out of her mind as Jake returned with a mug in each hand. He placed one in front of her without a word and sat on the sofa farthest away from her, sipping in silence.

Leona’s eyes fell to his strong, masculine hands and a shiver ran through her body. Several of her friends had confided that men with big hands had big cocks, and for some bizarre reason, she recalled that little detail at that very moment.

Jake’s hands were large, his fingers thick and strong, and she wondered if she would ever find out the truth about the link between hands and cocks.

She shook her head to clear it. She was not going to sleep with Jake, no matter what. She was a strong woman and she could control her insane cravings for a man she knew nothing about, besides the freaky fact that he was incredibly jumpy about helicopters hovering over his place.

Jake stole a glance at Leona as she looked into her mug, blowing at the froth over her coffee. Her long hair was tangled and slightly wet from the melted snow. She was beautiful in the perfect kind of way. He was suddenly desperate to press his lips to the soft fullness of hers and taste them.

His cock hardened as he fantasized about sliding his palms over her nipples, back and forth, and he wanted to stop thinking but it was so pleasurable he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He imagined her hair spread over his pillows, a tangled, beautiful mess as he bent over her and ravaged her lips. He was so starved he felt like his cock would explode right there in his pants, without the tiniest of stimulations. Leona’s legs were long and lean and he could just see them wrapped tightly around his hips as he filled her body with his cock.

She glanced up and saw him watching her and her heart skipped a beat at the intense, fiery look in those gray eyes. Jake couldn’t look away, he was heated beyond recall, and he just wanted to take her face between his palms and crush her pink lips with his mouth.

Leona jumped off the couch, spilling a few drops of coffee on her foot and mumbled something about going to the bathroom and disappeared. Jake watched the bedroom door close behind her and his breath was harsh. He closed his eyes and rested his elbows on his knees, covering his face with his palms.

God, I want her
, he hissed in his mind, and rubbed his face fiercely as he tried to bring his hardened body under control. He wished she had never come here because then he wouldn’t have to worry about what to do with her, when to send her back – and how he could possibly get her into bed before that.

He was done with complications in his life and he knew that if he fucked Leona, the complications would just get worse. Leona was not one of those girls who would let him fuck her and leave without a second glance. She was kind and sweet and intelligent, and she deserved more than a quick romp under the sheets with a man who was an escaped convict.

He knew he had to keep distance from her, but for that he had to let her go from his hideout and back to her family. It was only a matter of time, though, before she found out who he really was, and her family of lawyers and Supreme Court justices would just make sure he ended up back in prison. He was not going back, not unless it was to the morgue.

Chapter Seven

An hour passed as he sat there and his coffee grew cold, untouched on the table. He was waiting for a phone call from a man named Ramone, and then he could leave this place on a helicopter to a ski lodge up the mountain. From there he was due to take another chopper which would drop him off on an airstrip where a private jet would be waiting for him.

His escape was an intricate web of complicated plans which had to go right, or else the whole thing would come down like a stack of dominoes. Leona could end up being the piece that brought down his whole plan.

Leona sat on the bed in her room and realized that her arm was aching from when Jake had grabbed it to pull her out of the house. The ambience of the place and the uncertainty of the future were making her feel completely out of it. All she wanted to do was feel Jake’s large hands over her body, caressing her, and even as she thought of it, her breath hitched.

She could feel liquid heat seeping out of her pussy and she squirmed on the bed before collapsing back onto it and closing her eyes in defeat.

She had never had sex, and the only reason was that she had never liked anyone enough to let him have her virginity. She hardly knew Jake, yet her whole body screamed to be touched by him.

She grunted loudly, frustrated by the direction her thoughts were taking. She knew Jake was into her, she wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t the first man to look at her the way he did. Then why was it that she had never wanted to give her virginity to anyone else?

He was probably ten years older than her and had plenty of experience being with women. The thought enticed her more than repulsed her, and she wanted to throw caution to the wind and sleep with him. He was so sexy with those gray, steely eyes and long eyelashes, her limbs shook at the mere thought of them.

“What am I going to do?” she moaned aloud and pulled a pillow over her face, pressing it down. Her arm ached like hell and it was getting worse by the second. She was suddenly fuming as she recalled his insanity earlier, and she had half a mind to go out and punch him in the face.

She got up quickly thinking maybe that’s what she needed: a good, violent outlet for her emotions. She opened the door and walked swiftly towards Jake. He looked at her, his eyes furrowed as she purposefully marched to where he sat.

A small fist connected with his shoulder and he winced as it poked his muscle. “What the fuck?” he said, and chuckled, an incredulous expression on his face.

His completely unaffected response to a pretty hard punch made Leona angrier, and she punched him again and again and again. Jake laughed and grabbed her wrist after the fourth punch, laughing. “What are you trying to do? Dig a hole in my arm?”

Leona glared at him and finally the expression on his face and the stupidity of her childish actions made laughter bubble up inside of her. She burst out laughing and crashed onto the sofa behind her. “Didn’t you feel it at all? I was hitting you with all my might.’

He made a grave expression. “Oh, I might need to go to the emergency room.” Leona laughed harder and he joined in, enjoying the musical sound of her laughter. “Okay, why exactly did you attack me, Leona?”

Leona’s laughter ended at the sound of her name on his lips, and she cleared her throat after a moment. “My arm ached because you grabbed it so hard. I wanted to hit you back.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said instantly and Leona’s heart literally began thudding in her throat.

“Well, I’m fine really. It’s alright.”

“Okay then,” he said after a moment. “Are you up for some Scrabble after breakfast?”

Leona chuckled, “Scrabble? Really?”

“Yeah, why not? We’re bored and I found several board games in the closet.” Leona still looked skeptical with his idea. “Scared I’ll kick your ass?” he added, raising an eyebrow.

“Pfft!” Leona said sexily, distracting Jake, “Bring it on!”

Chapter Eight

They had breakfast at the coffee table and Leona cleared away the dishes while Jake laid out the Scrabble board and tiles. The next two hours were the most enjoyable time Jake had had in a long, long time. Leona was witty and sharp, and gave him a good beating at the game. The second time they played was only because Jake’s wounded ego wanted to win one against her.

Soon enough, Jake started making excuses because he realized he was headed toward another loss. Their continuous laughter sounded through the spacious living-room and Jake watched as Leona laid out the tiles for the word RACK.

“Hey, I didn’t know we were playing dirty-word Scrabble,” he said innocently.

“What?” Leona said, and then understanding dawned and she chuckled. “You have a filthy mind, Jake.”

“Really? You’re the one coming up with dirty words.”

Leona’s eyes widened and so did her smile. “Shut up.”

Jake laughed at her expression, and realized she was blushing so he let it go. He loved the pink tinting her beautiful ebony skin, and watched her discreetly as she studied her tiles for another word. A smile spread across her face and she looked up. “Okay. This is definitely not a dirty word. It’s the only word I can make right now.” She said laughingly, and lay down the tiles for the word SCREW.

Jake laughed freely, his head falling back and gave her a knowing smile. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I believe you.”

“How old are you again?” she asked seriously. “Six?”

Jake laughed in reply and gave up after a few more turns. Leona was too good at Scrabble and he decided to try another game next time.

“I’m starving!” Leona cried out. “I want a pizza. Can we get one delivered?”

“Sure, why not?” Jake replied sarcastically and pulled a large frozen pizza out of the freezer.

“Oh my god! You’re a magician,” she said reverently and Jake smiled at her pretentious, awed expression.

“And you… are magnificent,” he said without thinking, and watched the faint pink blush tint her cheeks again.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
he chided himself in his head, terrified of scaring Leona away. After the episode with the helicopter a few hours ago, he was glad she had gotten over it and given him an excellent, fun afternoon. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away and lose the sight of her full lips.

Leona cleared away the dishes after they had pizza, and left them to soak for a few minutes while she cleaned up the kitchen. As she pulled the toaster away from the wall, she noticed a socket which looked suspiciously like a telephone socket, “What’s that?” she blurted out without a second thought and Jake glanced at her.

Instantly, he knew what she had found and he feigned complete innocence, “What’s what?”

“This telephone socket? You said you don’t have a phone here.”

“Oh those? They haven’t been activated yet. They were inbuilt by the builder so we don’t trip over wires. I think its usual procedure.”

Leona quieted, but suddenly felt really uneasy. It made absolutely no sense for a man to have enough money to build a giant mansion on top of a mountain, not to mention a private road constructed just to get up to it, but not have a telephone connection. It just made no sense whatsoever.