An Escort for Christmas: A Billionaire Novella (8 page)

Chapter Seventeen

We’d barely gotten the bedroom door shut before Jameson and I started tearing at each other’s clothes. It was desperate. Frenzied. Almost two weeks’ worth of pent up sexual frustration coiling inside of us. When we came together, I knew it was going to be an explosion.

I was nervous as hell, but I didn’t show it. I just allowed him take the lead, kissing his way down my neck as he unzipped my dress and let it pool on the floor. His hands came up to cup my lace bra with a grunt, and he kneaded my breasts in his large palms as he kicked off his pants.

“You are so beautiful, Harper,” he rasped. “I can’t wait to be inside of you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Feeling bold, I reached down and rubbed the bulge of his briefs, shocked by the size of him. He was huge. And so hard I could feel him throbbing even through the material.

He walked me backwards towards the bed and unclasped my bra, allowing it to fall from my shoulders before he flung it aside. Laying me down, he covered my body with his, rubbing himself against me as he swirled his tongue around my breast. I clutched at his hair and dragged my fingers down his muscular back, pulling him closer.

I was a panting, needy mess.

Jameson cursed and pulled back, digging around in his wallet before he produced a condom.

“Almost forgot,” he said, looking rather confused by the thought. “That’s what you do to me.”

I moaned and wiggled closer, watching with wide eyes as he pulled down his briefs and rolled on the condom. I wanted to touch him, to feel him. I wanted it all.

Jameson lowered himself back over me and gently nudged against my wet entrance as his mouth found my breast again. He sucked and licked at each nipple, murmuring sweet praises against me. He told me how good I tasted, how much he’d been wanting this, how beautiful I was. And then he pushed inside in one deep thrust.

I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a tiny noise in my throat as he tore through my virginity. Jameson paused and clasped my face in his hands.

“That felt like…” He stumbled over the words. “Harper…”

“I’m a virgin,” I told him.

Jameson couldn’t hide his shock.

“How is that even possible?” he asked, his thumb stroking my face.

“You’re my first client,” I squeaked. “And I haven’t exactly had time for a boyfriend the last few years.”

Something else took over his eyes at my admission. Possession and fire.

He reached down between us to stroke my clit as his lips found mine. His kiss was soft and sweet and exactly what I needed at that moment.

When he started to move again, I clung to him, savoring each thrust of his rigid flesh inside of me. My core tightened and contracted, throbbing with a need I’d never known. And then I exploded around him.

It drove Jameson wild, and his thrusts grew quicker, deeper, harder. He grunted above me as I constricted around him, and with one deep and final thrust, he came with an agonized groan.

“Oh, fuck,” he panted. “That was incredible, Harper.”

His words brought me relief and a sweet sense of satisfaction. I knew this was right. I knew that there was nobody else I would have rather given myself to. In that moment, I belonged to Jameson King. And it scared me just how much that was true.

Chapter Eighteen

When I woke, I was laying across Jameson’s chest, and he was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but when his dark eyes met mine, the fire from the night before had clearly been extinguished.

I could tell something was off when he followed up his nervous smile with a quick kiss on the forehead. I was certain he probably had a lot of questions. But he didn’t ask me any of them. He slid out from beneath me and stretched, giving me a great view of his toned chest and back.

“You alright?” he asked, lingering in place with bated breath.

Somehow I sensed he was worried this was going to change things between us. And now it all made sense. He didn’t want this complication. He didn’t want to have to deal with a clingy virgin after the fact. He had, after all, offered to pay me for sex before. So this was nothing more than a business transaction to him, and he feared I would turn it into something else.

I gave him a fragile smile and nodded, absolving him of any guilt he might be feeling. And with that, he walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

***

Jameson and I had done a magnificent job of avoiding each other and pretending that nothing happened over the last two days. But now it was Christmas Eve, and time for another family dinner. At Katherine’s house. Apparently this was another King tradition. Lily explained that the two families always had dinner together on Christmas Eve.

I wrung my hands together as we waited on the stairs. The house was large and magnificent though I’d expected no less. And when the door swung open, it was a butler who answered.

I wanted to laugh. Sure, why not? A butler. Who actually had butlers these days?

Crankiness was not becoming of me. I plastered a fake expression of contentment on my face as he ushered us inside and to the sitting room where the family was already gathered. Katherine was as pristine as ever in a silver gown, and she could spy the tension between Jameson and I from across the room. It was her in, and she knew it. Already, I could see the wheels turning in her brain, and I had no doubt that before the night was through she’d be coming onto him again.

It shouldn’t bother me. But it did.

Everything about this situation bothered me. I wasn’t really an escort. I couldn’t keep my feelings out of this as much as Jameson wanted me to. I’d given him something that was important to me. A part of myself I could never take back. And now I was yesterday’s garbage.

My eyes burned as the maid called out for dinner, and I spent the next hour pushing food around my plate and participating in conversation when spoken to. Lily was at my side, and I could tell she knew something was up. She kept trying to engage me in small talk, and I did my best to comply.

After dinner, we went back to the sitting room. More fancy drinks. Some Christmas music. Jameson excused himself and disappeared down the hall when he got a phone call. I was both relieved and curious though I didn’t know why.

Katherine got up a moment later and made the excuse of needing to use the powder room, but I knew better. Red hot jealousy boiled in my veins. If she wanted him so badly to begin with why did she go and sleep with his brother?

I tossed back my drink and gratefully accepted another one. And once that one had finished too, and twenty minutes had passed, I couldn’t take it any longer. I made my excuses and wandered off in search of the bathroom. But really, I was looking for Jameson. I found him in the hall with Katherine, and it looked like they were arguing. But her hand was clutching his tie, her body pressed against his, and he wasn’t pushing her away.

When he saw me, his face paled, and I turned and walked back in the direction I’d come from. He caught up to me before I could make it back to the others.

“Harper, I’m sorry.” He sighed in frustration.

Whether it was with me or Katherine, I couldn’t be sure.

“It’s okay.” I lied through my teeth.

“I just went to take a phone call, and she came onto me again. It’s just…”

“Jameson.” I mustered up a fake smile, and a carefully controlled voice though on the inside I was crumbling. “It’s okay. It’s just a business transaction, you and I. Right?”

He flinched, and I twisted the knife a little deeper. I wanted him to know I could be as cold and calculating as he expected. As he wanted.

“It doesn’t mean anything. So do whatever you like with Katherine. It makes no difference to me.”

Hurt flashed through his eyes, but I ignored it as I gathered up my dress and walked back to the sitting room. Lily knew right away something wasn’t right, but I steeled myself and told her it was.

I accepted another drink and gave myself props for making it through the rest of the evening like everything was just fine and dandy. I listened to the conversation flow around me, but inside I was making a plan.

The drive back to the house was slow. Jameson didn’t try to talk to me again, and I was grateful. It was going to make what I had to do so much easier. Once we were upstairs, I waited for him to perform his nightly ritual.

The moment he stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower, I put my plan into action. I tossed everything that I’d brought with me into my suitcases haphazardly and wheeled them to the door. Then I made the bed up with the pillows beneath it so it would hopefully buy me some time.

And lastly, I scrawled out a note for him. Simple and to the point.

Jameson,

I’m sorry. But as it turns out, I’m not as business minded as you.

Please keep the rest of the money and have a great Christmas.

Harper

As I snuck down the hallways and out the front door into the cool evening air, I felt a stab of guilt for not saying goodbye to Julia and Lily. They’d been so wonderful to me, and they didn’t deserve this. But it wasn’t my place, and there was nothing I could say without giving Jameson away.

When the cab pulled up in front of the gates and I climbed inside, I finally allowed my emotions to break free. And I was officially a mess.

Chapter Nineteen

The snow was really coming down outside, and I chewed my lip nervously as the cabbie tried to make pleasant conversation. He was driving entirely too fast for how slick the roads were, but I tried to tamp down my fear and respond to his ongoing dialogue.

“So my sister’s coming from Philly, and we’re going to do up a nice Christmas dinner. The whole shebang… you know, the ham and mashed potatoes. My sister’s a damn good cook.”

“It sounds lovely,” I told him sadly. “It’s nice that you get to spend some time with your family during the holidays.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “So what about you? You have anything special planned?”

I squeezed the bridge of my nose to try to hold back another flood of silent tears. I would most likely be sitting in my Aunt’s apartment and enjoying it while I still could. Before I was evicted next week when Madame Jackie found out what I’d done.

“Nothing too much,” I answered vaguely.

“You know it’s kind of late,” he said. “I don’t know if the trains will still be running tonight. Are you sure that’s where you want to go?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

I had nowhere else to go, and if I had to, I’d sit in the train station until morning.

“Okay,” he agreed. “Whatever you want.”

I leaned back against the seat and rested my eyes for a few moments, hoping for some silence. To my appreciation, the cabbie indulged me.

I was just nodding off when I felt the tires hit a patch of ice. The cabbie started to swerve and overcorrected, sending us fishtailing out of control. My body jerked violently to the left and slammed against the door when we came to a stop with a spectacular crunch. 

I clutched my chest, gasping for air as I glanced out the window and realized we were in a ditch.

“Holy shit,” the cabbie swore. “Are you alright, miss?”

I groaned in answer because I couldn’t articulate any words at the moment. My body was filled with adrenaline, and I didn’t know whether I was hurt or not. I was shaking too badly.

I heard the cabbie talking to someone on the phone, and then the crunch of the car door as he got out.

“It’s okay,” he assured me. “I’ve got an ambulance on the way.”

***

Three hours later, I was shaken, but officially declared okay.

I had some bumps and bruises, but nothing too serious. Nothing that hurt as badly as the ache still inside of my chest.

“Is there someone we can call for you?” the nurse asked.

I stared up at her and shook my head. I could have called Katia, but there was no way I’d make her come all the way to New Jersey just because I was an emotional train wreck. I needed to be by myself. The way I’d been since my aunt died.

“Harper?”

The nurse turned back towards the door, and I stared in disbelief when I saw Jameson standing there with a frantic expression on his face. He looked scared out of his mind as he walked towards me, and I was shocked into silence when he pulled me against his chest.

“Thank God, you’re okay.”

“How did you know I was here?” I asked.

“The cab driver called us and told us you were in an accident,” he said. “Our number was the only thing that he had on record for you.”

“Oh.”

“Are you hurt badly?” he asked, his eyes roaming over me.

The concern in those dark depths nearly undid me. I didn’t expect it, and it was only making things harder.

“I’m fine,” I answered. “You should go. Spend Christmas with your family.”

His lips flattened, and he shook his head in disbelief.

“I’m not going anywhere without you, Harper. You’re coming home with me.”

“Jameson, if it’s about the money, I’m going to fix this with the agency. I’ll explain everything. I’ll tell them it was my fault.”

He pressed his lips against mine to shut me up. It worked. He kissed me long and deep, and I was glad the nurse had disappeared so she didn’t witness me melting in his arms. I couldn’t help it.

“This has nothing to do with money.” He pulled away and threaded his hand through mine. “And everything to do with the fact that I want you with me on Christmas. And it isn’t up for debate.”

I looked up at him and chewed on my lip. I knew I should tell him I couldn’t go through with it. With the charade. For my self-preservation, I should walk out that door and never see him again. But I couldn’t. So instead, I just nodded, letting Jameson have his way.