Allie jumped and turned to look at him. He stood with his arms crossed, watching her with amusement. She dropped her hands where they had been fussing. Jay held his hand out to her. Allie looked down at his long fingers for a moment and considered not taking his invitation. She knew what it meant. It was time for them to talk about their altered relationship.With a shaking hand Allie placed her palm in his. He wrapped his fingers around hers and tugged her gently out of the washroom, through the bedroom, toward the dining room. He quickly seated her where he placed another cup of coffee in front of her and a bowl of cereal. Allie blinked down at her cereal for a second, then looked up at Jay with a laugh. "Fruit Loops?""I don't cook," he said gruffly, sitting down next to her with his own cup of black coffee and nothing else."I remember," she said fondly, picking up the spoon. She took a few polite bites and then finally dropped the spoon with a laugh and pushed the bowl away.
"Is this supposed to be my life now?" she asked angrily, rolling up onto her knees on the bed. "I don't have choices any more? You just make them for me… and what? I'm just expected to play along and be happy?"Jay looked down at her, unreadable eyes taking in her curves as she raged at him from the bed. "We had this conversation," he said in a quiet but firm voice."I wasn't done talking," she shot back, sliding off the other side of the bed so she wouldn't feel so vulnerable. She shivered under the intense stare he gave her. "I'm not your plaything. You don't just get to decide how to run my life from now on. I'm a grown woman, Jay Le Croix!"Jay cracked his knuckles, an old habit that showed when he was frustrated, then said softly, "I'm sorry that you're upset by the way I've handled this. I've made mistakes over the years and letting you go was one of my biggest regrets. But once you were gone living your own life, away from my shit, it was too late to bring you home again. Now
Jay leaned back in his chair and touched the snifter of brandy to his lips, taking a slow sip. He had work to do, calls to make, even at… he glanced down at his phone… 10:23pm. He'd spent the afternoon in his spacious office conducting long distance meetings. His evening had been spent down at the vineyard offices meeting with the estate manager. The vineyard itself was marginally profitable and run entirely by the manager with Jay handling only minor details. Jay used the vineyard to clean up several sources of income. Sources that would soon become legitimate. Now that Allie was in his life he was less willing to associate with his dirtier business dealings. There would be fewer profits, but he was already an extremely wealthy man several times over. Their future was secure.His thoughts inevitably drifted to the woman slumbering peacefully in one of his guest rooms. After her storm of tears had passed that morning she had exchanged her moccasins for running shoes, thrown open the p
She cried out when he plunged his fingers deep into her pussy pressing them against the front wall. Without thinking, she rocked her hips back, seeking the mindless pleasure he was forcing on her. She whimpered as he rubbed his long fingers against her g-spot, sending sparks of intense pleasure through every nerve ending in her body. "Your body is telling me something else," he whispered silkily from behind her, one hand gripping her waist in a tight hold while she desperately clutched the pillows in front of her."You… you misogynistic asshole! Just because my body is confused doesn't mean my brain doesn't hate you!" she gasped, rocking her hips back one more time before groaning in despair and trying to crawl away from the sweet agony he was forcing on her."I think you've had too many women's classes, love," he growled at her and reached out for her pyjama pants, tearing the legs into strips. He took her arms, forced them behind her back and tied them tightly at the wrists. Al
Allie's heart beat faster in anticipation as she caught her first fleeting glimpse of the city she'd known and loved as a child. There were things about it that weren't good and memories that she hated, but it defined her as much as the man that sat patiently beside her watching every emotion cross her expressive features. As they cleared the mountains and drove closer toward the ocean, she turned excitedly toward Jay and asked if she could open the window."Of course," he said indulgently, leaning his head against the leather seat and watching her with a look that could only be described as satisfaction.Allie turned her back on him, not wanting to understand what that look meant. She opened the window partway and breathed, taking the scent of the ocean deep into her lungs and savouring it. She hadn't been to the coast since her mother moved to Kelowna seven years ago. Though she longed for the ocean, like a tiny missing piece of her soul, it made more sense to visit her mother in t
Allie shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. She wondered desperately where her mother was and what she was doing. A wave of longing assailed her. Just as Allie knew her mom was tucked away somewhere, she knew without a doubt that she was safe. Jay would ensure it. He would never let anything bad happen to Allie or Veronica. Or at least he would do everything in his power to ensure nothing ever happened to either of them. The mother made it easier than the daughter. Though both women tended toward kind-heartedness, Veronica was more willing to go with the flow and accept a situation as it was. As evidenced by her marriage to a wonderful, kind man that was not only approved by Jay, but Allie suspected carefully vetted and selected by him as well. Allie was much more of a trial to Jay's protective tendencies. She tended to question the world around her and rebel against authority.She shivered and stiffened as Jay came up behind her, moving quietly. He didn't touch her. Perhap
Allie loved everything to do with water. She enjoyed swimming, surfing, sailing, diving, fishing. She even loved building sandcastles, as long as she got to search for decorative seashells in the water. She thought it was because she was raised on the coast and the water was in her blood. No matter how poor they were, the ocean was always free. Allie was not materialistic and though she would have loved to reject Jay's things on principal, there was no way she was going to be able to walk away from his pool without swimming in it.After her nap, Allie had woken feeling marginally better and determined to enjoy at least one aspect of her luxurious prison. She hoped the pool was heated, because evening was approaching and the sun was rapidly dropping below the forested skyline. Knowing that Jay would be well prepared for her arrival she quickly found a closet stocked with a wide array of women's clothing, all in her size. She randomly chose a white one-piece bathing suit off the rack an
Allie glanced sideways and saw that lights had turned on inside the pool, lighting up the water, creating a beautiful turquoise glow. Several tall lamp posts along the patio had also turned on with the advent of full darkness. They weren't overly bright, but provided enough lighting that Jay could see enough of his prize. Allie gasped and jumped in his hold as his tongue dipped into her ear. She laughed and pushed her elbow back into his stomach, drawing an exaggerated 'oomph' from him. She used his momentary imbalance to push him backwards into the water and swim away from him.He showed her very quickly that his pool wasn't just for show and that he enjoyed swimming just as much as she did by twisting under the water, catching her by the waist before she could swim two feet and pulling her under with him. He surfaced with her held tightly in his arms and treaded water, keeping them both above the surface. Allie realized then that he was completely naked and far more affected by her
Two years laterVeronica didn't have many things that belonged to her. Life had taught her too many hard lessons about broken toys. As a child, things that belonged to her got taken away. Either when she moved homes, or in the homes she was moved to. She learned not to care about things, because it hurt too much when she lost them. Sometimes she would be allowed to keep the things, but the other kids would break them. Then she didn't want them anymore.Veronica was a pretty child. It didn't take long before she became the toy. And it didn't take long after that before she became a broken toy. She stopped keeping things for herself. Until one day, a thing started growing inside her. A thing that she desperately wanted to protect, but knew she would never be allowed to keep. Unless a knight in shining armour came along and rescued her. So instead of allowing her new toy to be torn from her and broken, like all the other toys, like her, she'd screamed and cried and banged on the walls o
Later that night Robert showed her exactly how much he enjoyed a good chase when Veronica decided to wear her new leather jacket, a pair of black panties and nothing else. When he demanded she relinquish the coat, she refused and took off running. He had a foot of height on her, but Veronica had been running for years, so she wasn't easily caught. She ran through his massive home, laughing hysterically when he hit the bottom of the stairs and tripped over his own feet because he was too busy watching the curve of her ass."You're going to pay for that, woman!" he growled, righting himself."You'll have to catch me first!" she shrieked rounding the kitchen island and facing off with him as he stalked toward her.Her heart beat with adrenaline and anticipation. He looked so incredibly yummy as he strode toward her, sexual heat radiating from every line of his body. His dark brown-grey hair was wildly mussed and wet from the shower they just had. His strong jaw was hair roughened and h
She was with another man.He could see the pair easily through the diner window. They sat in a booth next to the glass, oblivious to the stream of people passing on the sidewalk, oblivious to the pair of dangerous men observing them. The guy was big and mean looking. Every bit as rugged and confident as Rob. He was tall and muscular with a full head of hair and a dark beard. Every visible inch of the guy's skin was tattooed. He looked like a biker. Someone Rob might hang out with if he didn't intend to kill the guy first chance he got. Veronica's small hand was sitting casually on top of the stranger's hand, as though touching was the norm for these two. The guy looked enthralled with whatever she was saying. Not that Rob blamed him, Veronica would be enchanting while reciting a cookbook.Every muscle in Rob's body vibrated with the need to crash into the diner, tear them apart and then make the man bleed. For a long time. Then murder him, slowly and painfully. Jay chuckled and smack
Rob stopped beating Jay the moment he realized the younger man wasn't fighting back. Well… Rob stopped punching him a few seconds after he realized Jay wasn't fighting him, remembering the look on Veronica's face after Jay had asked how much Rob was paying her for sex. The hurt and devastation in her eyes was almost more than he could bear. He knew he screwed up by attacking Jay instead of going to her and helping her through the hurt. But he'd never had to deal with these types of feelings before. Never cared enough to want to help a woman in emotional distress. The only way he knew how to deal was by beating the shit out of the source of the problem.He turned back to Jay, fire leaping into his eyes and a growl on his lips. "What the fuck is your problem, man?"Jay was doing his best not to double over in pain from the blows he'd taken to his jaw and torso. Rob hadn't been messing around. He knew how to floor a guy in seconds. Fortunately, Jay knew how to take a hit. He grew up on
Was it theft if you're screwing the brains out of the owner of the car? Veronica asked herself, as she stomped on the brakes of Robert's car and ground the gears. She glared at the gearshift and decided it definitely wasn't stealing when it was a stupid standard transmission, something she hadn't driven in years. She was in a damn hurry and she had to re-teach herself how to drive stick shift. She sighed and put the Porsche in first gear before attempting to floor it off the line again. Some guy in a sports car next to her was grinning in amusement.Veronica grumbled and made her way angrily down to the dockyard, hoping that Jay would be there. If he was with Allison last night he might be either at his apartment or still out of the province. Still, she had to try. If he wasn't at the dockyard, she'd try his home next. She hadn't bothered calling him. He'd know that daughter would've called mother by now and mama bear would be on the warpath."You better duck and cover, asshole," she
Veronica squinted around Robert's bedroom. No alarm clock. She wasn't too surprised. She guessed most people just used their smart phones these days. She was old-fashioned and still used an alarm clock. She liked having the radio. She glanced at the grey light filtering through the floor to ceiling bedroom windows and guessed it was probably around 7:00am.She smirked at his sprawled form as she crawled carefully off the bed. This time she was ninety-nine percent certain he was actually asleep. He was on his back with his arms flung out to the sides, snoring his head off. He should be exhausted. They'd made love twice more during the night before finally collapsing in a tangled heap and sleeping off the sex hangover. After their first encounter, they'd gone searching for an evening snack. Robert found her a tub of ice cream and then insisted on feeding her in front of a roaring fire. After eating, he'd explored every inch of her body with both tongue and fingers on top of the rug in
It took her a moment to realize that Robert was on his knees next to her, urging her to breath slowly. She looked him in the eyes and followed his instructions, even though she couldn't hear them through the rushing in her ears. She watched his lips form words. Such beautiful lips. She wanted to trace them with her fingers and her tongue. Would he still want her after watching her have a meltdown?He flashed her a grin and said, "Fuck yeah, I'll always want you, sweetheart."She groaned. Had she said that out loud?He carefully gathered her into his arms and pulled her onto his lap. She went without protest, feeling a little weak and shaky from her freak out. She stared up at him and finally indulged herself by reaching up to touch his full lips. She let her fingers drift to his unshaven cheek and chin, touching the rough, masculine face that fascinated her so much.He squeezed her against his chest. "I would never treat you like something that could be bought," he said in a voice
Veronica grinned under the visor of her brand spanking new pink and black helmet. Never in a million years would she ever have imagined herself on the back of a motorbike, clinging tightly to her very own bad boy, sex god. Pulses of need vibrated through her body as the bike moved underneath them, making her wish she had a little more room to squirm on the leather seat. She loved riding on top of Robert's Harley!She'd just about melted when Robert presented her with the helmet earlier and then pulled it gently over her head, adjusting the fit. Though nervous, she'd stood docilely, excited for her very first ride. While he was busy tucking her hair back, she'd stealthily pulled the receipt that had fallen out of the brand-new leather helmet bag toward her. Her jaw fell open. It was dated and timestamped for two hours after he met her in Jay's office at the dockyard. His eyes met hers and she saw a fierce burning possession in their depths. She also saw a hint of worry. He was afraid o
He slept on his back with an arm flung over his eyes as though trying to stop the light from streaming in the window. She always kept her blinds open, feeling more secure when her room was filled with light. She'd noticed that he always kept the curtains firmly closed in the spare room and that he liked sleeping in. Definitely a trait they didn't share. Veronica was unapologetically a morning person. It used to drive Allie nuts when Veronica was in her room at the crack of dawn on the weekends, demanding she wake up and accompany her down to the beach or someplace else. She wondered how Robert, a former soldier of fortune or mercenary or whatever he used to be, slept so deeply. Weren't these guys supposed to sleep with one eye open and a giant serrated knife under their pillows, ready to cut the throat of the bad guy sneaking up on them? Not that she was complaining. The knife she envisioned didn't go with the frilly purple pillow he was resting against. But seriously, how was this g