Burning Up (17 page)

Crawling back onto the bed, I moved toward him and took his collar in my hands. Undoing each button slowly, I trailed kisses from his jaw all the way down his chest, following my busy hands. My fingertips gripped his waistband, and I slowly slid his pants from his hips and pulled them off of him. Removing his black socks, I smiled at him as I bent down and nibbled playfully on his toe.

Looking down the bed at me, he raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Kissing his anklebone, I slid my tongue up the inside of his leg, over his inner thigh, and up to his throbbing, solid erection. As my lips grazed the tip, he immediately sat upright, held my waist and pulled me on top of him. My thighs straddled his, and in one quick and swift movement, he bucked his hips and thrust inside of me. My head fell back and I gasped as his full length filled me deeply. His eyes closed and his hands moved around my back, holding me close as his face pressed into my chest. His breath was warm on my breasts and as I rocked my hips slowly back and forth, I could feel his need, desperation, and arousal with every staggered breath, gasp, and hiss against my skin. Gripping his shoulders, my fingernails dug into his gorgeous caramel skin. The scent of soap, vanilla, and his delicious cologne was making me dizzy with lust. I grasped his hair between my fingers and tugged, forcing his head to pull away from me. His eyes opened and he gazed up at me. His mouth was a perfect O, and as I stared back at him, I felt powerful. I was a siren; he was my slave.

“Tell me you need me, Jared.”

He didn’t hesitate. “I need you,” he whispered, breathlessly.

“You’re my air, water, and life-force. My survival depends on you. To feel you, touch you, taste, kiss, and fuck you. It’s all I live for, Layla.”

His words sent a surge of electricity through my veins, and I instantly felt my orgasm building as his hips rocked against mine. His mouth caressed my skin and as the tiny beads of sweat dripped down my throat, Jared’s tongue was quick to drink them in.

“You taste so good. I’m going to lick every last inch of your delicious body.”

With his hands on my behind, Jared lifted me from him and threw me down onto the mattress. Frustrated by the deprivation of my orgasm, I groaned as he leaned over me and grinned.

“I know, but I want your pleasure to come from what I do to you and not by you grinding yourself to climax on my cock. Understand?”

I was desperate. Nodding, I bit my lip and closed my eyes as his hands glided up my wet and sweat soaked thighs.

“Stay still,” he whispered in my ear. My eyes flew open and catching me staring at him, he smiled mischievously. There was something about that schoolboy smile of his that always heated my blood and turned my body into a quivery wreck. It usually promised some intense and mind-blowing consequences. The tip of his nose brushed against my skin as he moved southwards all the way to my toes. I hitched a breath as his teeth caught my big toe and he nipped gently. I tried not to move, to obey his command, but as his tongue began to lick, flick, and glide its way up the inside of my leg and my inner thigh, I could hardly contain my excitement. Arousal was clouding my senses. His lips traced and grazed against the opening of my sex, and I arched my back and reached down to grasp his luscious golden hair. His hands immediately caught my own and thrust them down, pinning them to the bed by the wrist. His body weighed on mine and forced my hips to still as the tip of his tongue slid inside my wanting and wet sex.

I moaned deeply, and lifting my head, I cast my eyes down at him. He gazed back at me with hunger in his eyes. A hunger I was feeling intimately as his tongue slid in and out of my sex. The thrashing of it against my swollen and throbbing clit was driving me wild. I writhed and tried desperately to buck my hips, but he was far too strong. Growing deep in his throat, he pulled away from me, and I was horrified at the prospect of being left wanting once again. I threw my head back onto the thick and plump covers of the bed grunted with dissatisfaction. How dare he do this to me? I was supposed to be unleashing a tirade of sexual teasing and punishment on him, and here he was turning the tables on me, once again. I opened my mouth, ready to throw my angry protest at him but moving quickly, he rose from the bed, scooped me into his arms, and began carrying me out of the room!

I looked around in confusion and flung my arms around his neck to keep myself steady. Leaving the bedroom, he made his way through the lounge.

“Jared, what the hell are you doing?”

He glanced down at me and smiled wickedly. “I think we could use some cooling off.”

I was even more confused now. Assuming he was leading me in to the bathroom, I was surprised when he instead headed for the balcony!

“Jared, you can’t be serious. I’m naked. We’re naked. Someone could see us.”

He chuckled as he held me tightly with one arm while the other pulled the large glass double doors open. Walking out onto the balcony, he placed me on my feet again and spun me around to look out over the beautiful view of central Paris. The balcony itself was stunning. With black flooring, tinted glass panels running the full length of it, and some gorgeous potted plants dotted in the corners, it was utterly picturesque.

His hips pressed against my behind, and I could feel his thick length between my thighs. Urging me forward, he took my hands in his, wrapping his arms around mine. My feet shuffled forwards as my heart pounded heavily in my chest. I could see people on the street below, cabs and buses cluttering the roads. If I could see them, surely they could and would see me. His lips to my ear, Jared stroked his right hand up my arm, over my shoulder and placed it gently over my eyes.

“There’s no one but you and me, Layla. Forget the rest of the world.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. What if someone sees us?”

His teeth nipped gently on my earlobe. “I’ll make you forget. I’ll make you forget them, the world, even your own name.”

My breath caught in my lungs as he urged me further forward. The cold and firm feel of glass hitting the front of my thighs made me gasp. My stomach pressed against it and keeping his left hand firmly on mine, he placed it on the rail in front of us.

“Bend over, Layla.”

He had to be kidding. Was he really doing this?”

“I won’t ask again,” he whispered with a hungry purr.

I hesitated for a moment. The sharp sting of Jared’s palm swiping at my behind convinced me to do as I was told.

Bending myself over the balcony, I held my breath. My breasts were pressing into the rail and the cold steel was forcing my nipples to peak, pucker, and become highly sensitive. Jared’s hand left my eyes and moved slowly down my spine. His fingers stroked every last inch of me until he reached my behind. He slammed his palm against it again, and I jolted forward, releasing the breath I had been holding.

“You are truly gorgeous, Layla. Your ass is begging for me to spank it. Your body is calling for me to fuck you into submission, and your eyes,” he held my chin in his hand and turned my head to the side so that I could meet his gaze, “your eyes are willing me to take you, right here, right now.”

I couldn’t protest or argue. He was right. He was always right when it came to reading my body. I was aching for him to fuck me, make love to me, and make me moan with pleasure. The throbbing of my clit between my thighs was intense, and I shifted on my feet trying desperately to create some sort of friction. The sting of another spanking stopped me immediately.

“I told you, you will come. But, you will come when I want you to.”

I pushed back against his hips and swayed my hips slightly. I could feel his solid erection pressing against my behind, and I squirmed.

“Please, Jared. I want you. I need you inside me.”

He smiled against my cheek. “Why? What do you want me to do to you?”

My head was spinning as arousal took control of my mind, body, and mouth.

“I want you to fuck me. I want you to make me yours. I want to feel every inch of you sliding inside of me till I can’t stand it any longer. I want to come over and over again around your hot, throbbing cock.”

His mouth slightly open, he kissed me tenderly on the lips. With one hand still on my chin, deepening our kiss, he swiftly slid the other between my thighs and parted my legs. His skilled fingers teased the opening of my sex.

“Mmm … you’re so wet.”

I nodded weakly, and as he slid his cock inside me, I grasped the rail tightly and bit down on my lip. His hips rocked back and forth in a slow and frustrating rhythm. I wanted him harder, deeper, and with a carnal passion.

I reached my hand around to his thigh and gripped it tightly, urging him deeper. He let out a low growl and quickly returned my hand to the rail.

“Stay, still. I know what you want, and I’ll gladly give it to you.”

Wrapping my hair around his fist, he pulled it roughly and my head yanked backward. I let out a small yelp, but it was more from shock than pain. He thrust harder and forcefully inside me. My orgasm was growing closer and closer. The cool glass pressed against my breasts was teasing my nipples. Every pounding of Jared’s hips on my behind pressed me further to the glass and I was breathing erratically as I tried to control the screams of ecstasy that were fighting to be released.

“You’re my girl, Layla. I want the entire city to know you’re mine. I’m going to tease, tempt, and fuck you till your screaming my name from this balcony.”

His words unraveled me. My nails scraped on the metal rail, my eyes closed tightly, and with an almighty cry, I came hard around him. I called his name over and over. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I couldn’t explain why. The world disappeared around me. I was nothing but sexual sensation. Jared’s lips on the nape of my neck brought me back to reality. I’d been so caught up in my own climax, I hadn’t even realised he had reached his own. Clearly al fresco sex was one of Jared’s many aphrodisiacs.

Panting, I laughed gently as I slumped heavily against the balcony rail.

“I didn’t know voyeurism was your thing.”

He chuckled breathlessly, and pulling out of me, he took me in his arms and carried me back into the apartment.

“
You
are my turn on. The sex outside was just a bonus.”

I smiled, and as he placed me on the bed, I glanced at the closed wardrobe. I was still upset about those girls, but if I was serious about Jared and really making this relationship work, I was going to have to accept his shortcomings.

Lying next to me, he trailed his fingertips up and down my abdomen.

“What are you thinking about?”

His eyebrows were furrowed, and I could see worry on his face. Leaning into him, I buried my face in his broad chest and sighed heavily.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how sweet it was of you to think of me.”

He lifted my chin and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“You mean the sex?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No, well, yes but I mean the clothes.”

He nodded and wrapped his arms around me. Placing a kiss on my forehead, he let out a long breath.

“I am sorry, Layla. I would never intentionally hurt you.”

Gazing into his eyes, I nodded. “I know. You know what I want right now?”

The corner of his mouth curved into a cheeky grin. I giggled and tapped him playfully on the arm. “No, not that. I want pancakes. I’m starving. We get room service here, right?”

Reaching for the phone beside the bed, he dialed a number and pulled me to his chest.

“Hello? Room service? Yes, bring Miss Jennings anything her heart desires.”

Taking the receiver from him, I replaced it and grinned.

“Mr. Garrett, the only thing my heart desires right now is you.”

Europe was proving to be more of a difficult trip than I had anticipated. From shopping at all the stunning and expensive boutiques in Paris, to the sightseeing and elegant restaurants in Rome, I was exhausted. Jared’s promise to spend more time with me in the cities was short lived. I knew it was unavoidable, but I was still pissed at the abandonment. Our stop in Berlin had been the worst. When he wasn’t elbow deep in meetings, he was knee deep in paperwork. If it hadn’t been for Daniel joining us, I would have considered throwing in the towel or possibly hanging myself from it. I was cripplingly lonely, and with every phone call home, I was feeling more and more desperate to be back there.

Amy and Mel were now firmly settled into their new home, and with summer approaching, I could only smile at the idea of days at the beach, evenings at the bar and girly nights in with a bottle of wine. Our current stop on our tour of Europe was Spain. Aside from the heat, I loved this place. The beautiful beaches, glistening water, and delicious food were definitely a welcome substitute for the silence of our apartment suite. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was glamorous and luxuriously comfortable, but with Jared trying desperately to negotiate a deal between the Spanish contractors and the Italian architects, he had very little time to take in any of its beauty.

Sitting at breakfast in my white toweling robe, I sighed heavily as I brooded over my omelet. I glanced over at Jared who was pacing back and forth across the dining room in his tailored, navy blue suit. His cellphone pressed to his ear, he growled down the phone at Raul.

“I don’t care what time it is, if I’m working, you should be, too. Raul, I expect this deal to be done by the end of the week. Millions of dollars and a great deal of my time and that of my staff have been spent on this project. Stop stalling and sign the damn contract. Holding out for more money will get you nowhere but fired. I’ll happily seek my contractors elsewhere.”

He was stressed and I probably should have felt sympathetic, but I was too irritated at the idea of yet another day alone in paradise. Reaching for the soft cheese, I smothered a large helping all over my omelet. Hanging up, Jared slammed the phone on the table and slumped heavily into the chair opposite me. Picking up his coffee, he took a large gulp, and looking over at my plate, raised his eyebrow at me. It was no secret that when I was unhappy, I ate, and Jared was fully aware of this fact.

“You’re doing it again,” he stated, still grasping his coffee.

I shrugged but didn’t reply.

He shook his head and opened the newspaper that was sitting on the table in front of him.

“You are what you eat, Layla.”

Picking up a Danish from the plate in the center of the table, I hurled it at him. He didn’t even flinch as it flew past his head across the room. Standing, I shoved my chair away and snarled at him.

“You are what you eat, huh? Well, do you recall swallowing an overbearing, patronizing asshole recently?”

Turning my back to him, I stormed out of the room to the bedroom. My fists were clenched, my palms were sweating, and I was sure I had just earned myself a whole world of trouble. Slamming the bedroom door behind me, I pulled off my robe and headed for the shower.

The warm water cascaded down my body and the tension I was holding began to slowly unwind. I couldn’t shake the anger, frustration, and irritation, though. I’d been feeling this way for weeks. My whole demeanor was that of a pissed off child. I had wondered if my new contraceptives were to blame. While in Italy, I had been sure to renew my prescription, and the doctor, being sympathetic of my traveling, gave me several months’ supply. But that was a while ago, and I was still so tightly wound.

The sound of the bathroom door opening caught my attention. I didn’t make a sound, but I watched the frosted glass of the screen door carefully. I could see his tall frame on the other side, but he too remained silent. We seemed to spend more time not speaking than speaking these days. Sighing deeply, I ran my hands over my face.

“I’m not going to apologize, Jared. If that’s what you want. You don’t have the right to tell me where to go, what to do or even what I put into my body. It’s my temple, and I allow you to worship at it. I’m not in the mood for some of your inventive punishment tactics. So why don’t you do us both a favor and go to work.”

I waited for a response, but it never came. I watched as his shadow disappeared from the room. My heart sank. He hadn’t even attempted to reconcile. Was this really what we had become? Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around me and walked out into the apartment, searching for him, but he wasn’t there. Exhaling loudly, I returned to the solace of the bedroom and began the task of choosing my outfit for the day and trying to untangle my mass of blonde locks. The heat was doing my hair no favors, and I looked as worn out as I felt. The sooner we returned home, the better.

* * * *

Lying in the sun on a lounger by our private pool, I flicked through my e-reader lazily. I’d read a plethora of books in the past few months and each more irritating than the last. It wasn’t that the books were bad, oh no. It was that they were full of deep, meaningful, and sweet love stories. They were all about gorgeous men who lost their hearts to shy and unassuming girls. It was making me sick when my own romance was officially on a downward spiral to hell. My cell phone was clutched in my other hand as I hoped, prayed, and waited for some sort of contact from Jared. I didn’t even care if it was an apology; I just needed to hear his voice, to feel comforted. Placing both my cell and e-reader on the ground beside me, I shifted on the lounger and closed my eyes, soaking up the warm rays. A shadow cast over me, and I quickly opened my eyes to find an enormous bouquet of white roses hovering over my face.

Raising an eyebrow, I sat up and turned sideways as Jared rounded the lounger to sit beside me. He’d discarded his jacket and was now dressed in his white shirt, navy trousers, and a loosened tie. Handing me the bouquet, he leaned in and kissed me gently on the cheek. I scowled back at him.

“Flowers won’t make me forgive you, Jared. You can’t throw money at our problems this time.”

Staring over at the pool, he nodded weakly. “Then what can I do to make it up to you?”

I dumped the bouquet into his lap and stood abruptly. “If you have to ask what you can do to make it up to me, then already half of the battle is lost. You shouldn’t keep doing shit that I have to forgive you for in the first place. We go around and around in circles, and I’m fucking dizzy!”

Throwing the flowers on the floor, he stood up and met my gaze.

“Why are you so pissed at me? I came back early from work to apologize and say I’m sorry for how I’ve been these past few weeks.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. “And I’m supposed to what? Say it’s okay then rip my clothes off and let you fuck me senseless by the pool?”

A ghost of a smile spread across his lips and I found it infuriating. “Not a chance. Sex isn’t even on your menu, Garrett. I’m tired of all the fighting and fucking. It solves nothing. I thought, maybe after what happened in Paris, you and I had turned a corner or at least learned something. Clearly I was wrong.”

I turned to storm away, but he caught my elbow and halted me. “Hey, I don’t remember you protesting back on that balcony. And I don’t recall you telling me no since then, either. Like last night, I’m fairly sure that was you begging and crying for more. Or did I have some other girl tied to the table?”

I glared at him. “These days … who fucking knows? I mean, you’re fine with having them parading around your apartment in their underwear, so what’s the fucking difference!”

I watched as his eyes burned with anger and I could see the fury in his expression as he pulled me closer to him. His hands were gripping my arms and his eyebrows furrowed as he snapped at me.

“What is this
really
about, Layla? You’ve been walking around with that chip on your shoulder for weeks. Out with it.”

Tearing my arm from his grasp, I growled at him. “I’m surprised you even noticed! You’re so wrapped up in work and contracts that I wonder if you even acknowledge my existence. The first few words you spoke to me today were a snarky comment at breakfast!”

Rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb, he sighed loudly. “I’m sorry. I had business to attend to, and for the record, I wasn’t making a comment on your eating habits. It was more about the way you keep swallowing your damn mood swings instead of just letting it out. You want honesty and actual communication? Then you have to play by those same rules, Layla. I’m tired of having to drag everything out of you with sexual teasing or by making you so pissed off that it finally boils over.”

I shook my head and stared across the still water of the pool. “I’m tired of this. I’m tired of being alone all the time, and I’m tired of all the fighting. Maybe I should just go home.”

Looking back at Jared, I watched as panic and worry flooded his body. His eyes widened, and reaching for me, he pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me tightly. It was as if he were a child who was about to be abandoned by his mother. His face buried in my neck, he apologized over and over again.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, baby. Please don’t leave me again. I couldn’t take it. I swear I’ll make it right.”

I stood rigidly in shock. Jared Garrett, the big shot businessman and dominating control freak was crumbling in my arms. It was a total personality change and I was unsure how to handle it. It was as though the power in our relationship had suddenly shifted to my side of the court. It was unsettling. My heart was hurting for the hot mess of a man in my arms. His fear of me abandoning him again was frightening. Lifting his head, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. I wanted to reassure him that everything was all right, but it wasn’t. Placing my hands on his broad and muscular chest, I could feel his heavy breaths.

“Jared, I’m not leaving you. I’m just …”

Gazing into my eyes, he finished my sentence for me. “Lonely,” he whispered. I nodded and he let out a long and staggered breath.

“I have to work, Layla. This business is all I have left of my parents. My father and mother put everything they had into it, and I owe it to them to keep it thriving. I dropped everything to make it successful.”

“I get it, Jared. But for once in your life would you just forget about being a big shot property developer and try being twenty-three?”

His eyebrows furrowed and he gave me a confused look.

“What do you mean?”

I rolled my eyes, and pulling away from him, I turned and walked inside the villa. Sitting down on the couch, I groaned in frustration. Were we seriously having this conversation? Surely I didn’t need to spell it out for him?

He stood in the doorway, and I had to try not to stare at him. Even when I was pissed and seething, Jared was incredibly sexy, and as the sun shone on him, I found it totally disarming. Looking away, I sighed heavily. “You’re so uptight and serious all the time. You need to lighten up.”

He chuckled and it immediately drew my attention back to him. Walking into the room, he pulled off his tie and began unbuttoning his shirt.
Don’t stare, Layla. Don’t lose your resolve now!

“So, I’m boring? Am I getting this right?”

“Well, I didn’t want to put a label on it, but most of the time, yes.”

Throwing his shirt at me, he grinned playfully. “I see. Well, I’ll have to rectify this immediately.”

I watched as a familiar look spread across his face. The wild and hungry hunter in him was stalking me from across the room. Getting to my feet, I slowly walked toward him, determined not to be intimidated by his prowling grin. I was almost home free and a foot away from the door when he lunged at me. Scooping me up, he threw me over his shoulder and carried me outside. I protested and demanded he put me down, but honestly, I was only semi-serious and he knew it. Swatting my behind, he laughed.

“You called me boring, and you’re absolutely right. I think I do get a little too hot and heavy sometimes. So what else to do, but cool off.”

Gasping, I caught sight of the pool and quickly held my breath as Jared jumped in and pulled us both down into the cool water. Pushing myself to the surface, I coughed and spluttered as I looked around for him. It was like a scene from a shark movie as I found myself suddenly flying through the air. Lifting me by the feet, Jared had vaulted me from the water and hurled me across the pool. Resurfacing, I stared at him as he chuckled and swam toward me. I backed myself up against the side of the pool and raised an eyebrow at him. He was still wearing his pants, and I was sure the perfectly tailored pair was now totally ruined. Reaching me, he pressed his body against mine and smiled with triumph.

“So, how was that for fun and spontaneous?”

Pressing my lips together, I shrugged. “I’ll give you that one.”

Fist bumping the air, he kissed me deeply before pushing away and swimming backward across the pool.

“This doesn’t mean I forgive you,” I yelled after him.

Stopping, he smiled at me. “I know. But I’m hoping it buys me another chance. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”