Page 36 of Into the Dark
“I promise you didn’t.” I give her a reassuring smile. “Mark and I have never been anything more than friends.” That seems a weird category for Mark to sit in, but I have nothing else. “He’s Dan’s brother, and Dan’s like a brother to me, so we’re…yes, friends, that’s all.” Seriously? Why have I called Mark my friend twice in the past minute? Friends are people you trust. Do I trust Mark? I know I have no choice but to trust him. If Jake is to survive this then I have to.
Great, now I feel sick again.
“Phew, great. Relief!” She giggles happily.
“So Mark is all yours if you want him.”
“Well, technically, I had him.” She giggles again. “Twice.”
“Well…” I laugh. “That pretty much makes him yours then.”
With a promise to keep in touch, I hurry back to Jake, who’s just finishing his mountain of breakfast.
“Sorry, girl chat,” I say, flopping down on the chair.
He nods, looking somewhat scornfully at my plate before frowning at me.
“What? I’m just not massively hungry.” I look down too and begin to pry open my croissant and smother it with marmalade.
He frowns harder. “You said you were starving.”
“And I was. But now I’m not. I’ll eat later.”
“Later you’ll be flat on your back while I fuck you,” he says in a businesslike tone.
Heat explodes across my face and my womb clenches tightly. “So…I’ll eat after that,” I manage.
He leans forward. “After that you’ll have trouble standing, never mind eating.” His face is still serious as he tears off a bite of toast with his teeth.
I swallow. “Okay…then I promise to eat this whole croissant and then another before you start to fuck me,” I whisper.
“Oh, you’d better, doctor.”
“Yes, sir,” I say lightly, but his expression doesn’t change. He stares at me hard while I rip off a piece of croissant and pop it in my mouth. He stares at me until I finish that piece and put the second piece in my mouth too. When I’m finished he lifts his plate and stands, coming around the table to lift mine. He leans down to kiss me slowly, licking the inside of my mouth with his tongue, sucking hard on my bottom lip, before moving his mouth to my ear.
“I can’t wait to have my cock back inside that perfect fucking mouth of yours,” he breathes. He brings his lips back around to lick the outside of my mouth. “You had marmalade on your face,” he says, placing a soft kiss on my cheek.
As he moves off to refill his plate I stare after him, my body breathless and throbbing.
As soon as the door closes behind us Jake has me pinned against it, his hands fumbling for the buttons of my jeans as he kisses me roughly and desperately. With my jeans open, he slides his hand in under the waistband of my panties, and I gasp as I feel his finger dip inside me.
“Fuck this, I need to fuck you now,” he growls against my mouth, and I feel my legs weaken. I have to grip onto his shoulders to hold myself up.
He removes his hand and pulls me toward the bed, urging me down onto it. As he begins to strip off his clothes, again with the sort of ruthless efficiency he had last night, I tilt my hips up off the bed and push my jeans and underwear off. His eyes dip down between my legs as he does the same with his own pants.
I’m pushing my shirt off my shoulders when his cell phone rings. He won’t answer it, I’m certain—the need on his face is too strong. The need on mine is stronger, I’m sure. A shadow flickers over his face as he debates it, though, and the phone continues to ring.
“Leave it,” I pant, reaching for him.
He kisses me again, wrapping his arms around me. He squeezes me tighter for a second and then pulls back. I can see it in his eyes, the indecision, as though what’s on the other end is deeply unpalatable to him and he’d rather avoid it at all costs. I glance to the dresser where the phone’s ringing loudly, a shrill old-style telephone ring. When I bring my eyes back to him, he debates internally for a few seconds more before something pulls him toward the noise. My body sags, deflated. He doesn’t appear to check who it is before lifting the phone to his ear.
“Fred. How you doing, man?” he greets, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Today?” He looks at his watch. “I thought that was dealt with.” He nods. “I can be, yeah. No, I’m not. Out of town right now, Fred. Yeah, I fancied some fresh air—you should try it once in a while.” He gives a small laugh. “Really? No, not guilty.” He frowns. “Of course I would’ve told you. I’ll try calling him, but listen, he’ll turn up. Like a bad penny, man.”
I can’t drag my eyes away from him as he speaks—the little tics of the eye, his ever tightening mouth, the slight bite of his cheek. Lies, aversions, and subterfuge, each with their own distinct tells.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be back home today at some point.” He drops his head, his shoulders sagging. “Will do.” He nods, squeezing the bridge of his nose as he crosses the suite toward the window.
I lie back on the bed, watching his strong, bare shoulders tense and relax and tense again. He looks at his watch once more and nods.