9. SILK AND SATIN
9
SILK AND SATIN
PENNY
“ O h! Well. Congratulations,” Clarissa said after a shocked pause. She huffed an amused chuckle. “When did this happen?”
Yes, Jack, when the fuck did this happen? Penny gazed at Jack, who was still locking eyes with Clarissa. His muscles were even tighter under the grip of her fingers.
“Within the last few weeks. It happened fast.”
“Well, aren’t you full of surprises? Penelope, we must get to know each other better.”
Something about this situation was feeling increasingly off by the minute, and it was centered on this woman and the man by her side.
Jack calling her his wife? A talk was definitely in order, despite the way it had felt to hear another man say it other than Brendan. Jack had claimed her with those two words, my wife , and fake or not, it had thrown her into a daze. She now clung to him because her legs were weak, as weak as her resolve not to want him anymore.
“How did you —”
Clarissa’s next words were cut off when Simon stepped closer, speaking to Jack.
“I have to tell you, at the risk of sounding like an obsessed fan…. well, I am a huge fan of yours, Mr. Valentine. I’ve followed your career since the days when you fought in…less than ideal circumstances.” Simon’s eyes held a glint. Almost feverish. “To watch you come so far has been fascinating. You have a lot to be proud of.”
Jack’s answering grunt wasn’t encouraging. At least he nodded his head in acknowledgment of the praise.
“We’ve got a great night planned,” Simon said to Penny with a generous smile, placing his hand on her back and leaning down. He straightened when Jack stepped in and moved Penny closer to his own side. “And Jack, I didn’t know if you were aware I’ve recently acquired controlling shares in a fitness brand.”
“I’d heard,” Jack said shortly.
“Good. At some point tonight, I’d love to discuss some of my ideas for the brand with you and get your input. Maybe there’s an opportunity for you to endorse it, if you’d be interested. In the meantime, go get some rest, have a look around. My castle is your castle. Excuse me.”
Dismissing them as quickly as he’d greeted them, Simon turned to welcome the next couple.
Clarissa tossed her head delicately to move her hair out of her face. “Diarmuid,” she said to the nearest male servant. “Please escort Mr. and Mrs. Valentine to their room.” To Jack, she said, “We light our bonfire at sunset to commence the celebration. Please come down in your costumes. After that, dinner, dancing… and so on.”
Her eyes on Penny’s face were icy chips of emerald gems despite her wide, white smile. The look she shot Jack was an arrow seeking a target. As they followed their usher to the right of the hall and up a wide granite staircase, Clarissa was still staring up at them until they reached the next landing, and Penny couldn’t see her anymore.
They walked down a long corridor with a vaulted ceiling past several wood doors, each bearing what was most likely the FitzGerald crest. Diarmuid showed them to a large bedchamber, bowed, and closed the door behind them.
The room was surprisingly cozy for its size. Penny had been expecting cold stone. The walls were papered in a soft gray with a pattern of tiny yellow and pink birds flitting between green vines. There was an enormous painting of several figures in a garden scene. Looking closer, Penny could see the figures were men and women engaged in a variety of sexual acts.
“See? Orgy,” Penny declared, pointing at it.
Jack didn’t speak, looking at it with growing concern written on his face. Penny walked about the room, examining the chests and tables made of rich, polished cherry. The floor was hardwood with a cushiony rug extending from beneath the King-sized four-poster bed with carved wooden posts at its corners. Penny swallowed. Good thing it was huge. A few pillows in between to keep the peace, and they’d be all set.
Jack was looking at the bed, too. Then he turned away with a tic in his jaw and went to the large armoire while she checked out the ensuite bathroom. Surprisingly, the amenities were all modern, with a rain shower head in a glass cubicle and gray tiling. The floors were heated, and the bathtub on the other side of the room looked huge and inviting.
Back in the bedroom, Penny pushed aside the turquoise velvet damask drapes to peer through the tall, sparkling windows.
“Holy smokes. This must be really pretty in summer.”
The windows overlooked the grounds at the back of the castle. It was vast, with manicured lawns showcased by sculptures, packed gravel paths, and cream stone benches. There was a sandy path with unlit torches along either side leading to the pile of wood that must be the bonfire Clarissa mentioned. A Samhain bonfire, as the tradition went.
And beyond that lay a hedge maze and thickets of secret woods. Penny gazed at them, wondering what lay waiting in there. Its wildness called to her, like the depths of the forests back home she’d sometimes wandered alone, free to be wholly herself.
This place wasn’t home. It was different, felt different. Whatever lay in wait in those woods was foreign to her, a whole unknown world. She shivered.
Jack was busy checking out the armoire, in which his clothes had been hung in the short time it had taken them to speak to the hosts. Penny went to a second armoire and sure enough, her things had been installed as well.
“Wish they hadn’t. I don’t like strangers touching my clothes,” he muttered.
“I thought you said you have a lady that does your laundry every week?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“Not the same thing. I know her.”
Jack found his toiletry kit and crossed to the bathroom to stash it. When he returned, she stared at him from the seat she’d taken on a red velvet divan before a lit fireplace. Its warmth was enough to keep the outside chill at bay.
Clasping her hands together on her knees, she tilted her head. “Alright. Break this down for me so I understand what’s really going on. Am I here to make Clarissa FitzGerald jealous? Or are you sleeping with her and brought me here to cover for you, so her husband doesn’t suspect anything?”
Jack sighed, finally pausing to gaze at her. “I needed to bring a date so she’d stop trying to ride me. I met her a year ago at some other banker cunt’s party. Since then, she’s called, she’s dropped by my gym uninvited. Made it clear she expects me to fuck her. It’s probably the only reason I was invited here this year.”
“You sure you haven’t done something to make her think it might happen?” Penny persisted.
Jack quirked an eyebrow at her. “Are you asking if my skirt was too short?” Penny twisted her lips at him, and he sighed. “Nothing’s ever happened. No time spent alone, no physical contact — aside from her grabbing my cock when she was drunk. Clarissa’s the boarding school, skiing in winter, partying on yachts in summer type. I’m just a pet she wants to slum with for a bit until she gets bored and goes after another new shiny thing. I’m a challenge to her. Something to buy, something to win. Not a person.”
“Wow. Okay. I can’t believe you brought me here to her house without telling me about any of this. I’m basically a cockblock in a princess gown.” Penny snorted to cover up the sudden hurt she felt at this revelation. Disappointment with a side helping of anger bloomed in her chest like algae in a pond. “How could you bring me to her house for a party? She is going to put me in that bonfire and light my ass up while they dance around it in a circle. Or she’s gonna put some Shug Avery pee in my soup at the very least.”
Jack grimaced. “I don’t know who that is. Don’t you think you’re blowing this a little out of proportion?”
“No, I don’t. These people own a bank and a castle, and we’re here playing in their faces. I would have appreciated being told the truth so I could decide for myself if I wanted to deal with this.” Penny got up and paced the edge of the rug, then stopped again. “Also, when did I go from a fake girlfriend to a fake wife?”
“When I decided it,” he uttered, and the tenor of his voice, deep and serious, made her belly flare with heat. “She was more likely to keep trying if you were just a girlfriend. And you are not a cockblock. I could have brought any of the other four women I vetted if I didn’t care who came with me. You were the one I wanted to bring here. Just you, Penny.”
The heat was back in his eyes, along with something so tender she was suddenly off-balance, full of need for him to cross that space and kiss her. But he didn’t.
“Whatever. Might as well get this night over with,” she finally said. “But you are going to taste all my drinks and my food first. And you are not to leave me alone with these people for one second. Not a second, Jack.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” he said tightly.
“Great. I’m going to get dressed.”
“Grand,” was his terse response.
Still ticked off, Penny decided to shower, even though she didn’t need one. It soothed her enough to take some of the edge off that fight or whatever she’d just had with Jack. Afterward, in a better frame of mind, she toweled off with a thick, high thread count towel and rubbed her skin with glitter body lotion. Next was a careful application of makeup, her face fully beat, unlike her everyday slapped-on eyeliner and lipstick.
Next was the hair, freshly washed and dried that morning. She pinned a metallic sprig of rose gold set with faux diamonds and pink sapphires in it. No tiaras for this princess.
Finally, it was time to put on the dress, which was a dark blush color. The sleeves were puffy, and the bodice with the squared neckline pushed up her breasts. The belled skirt fell in a soft curtain around her ankles. With her hair and the gems, the entire ensemble came to vivid life. She snapped a picture of herself in the mirror and sent it to Jade, who responded, “ Dope!!! ”
Penny felt gorgeous, like the princess she’d wanted to be as a little girl. Suddenly she wanted to see Jack’s eyes light up when he saw her, despite still being pissed with him for the omission of the century. She flounced into the bedroom, pretending she didn’t care what he thought of her appearance.
It was a foregone conclusion he’d be hot in whatever he wore. But this was unexpected. Jack was standing near the window, staring outside in deep thought, but at her gasp, he turned. The dark gray silk brocade vest with the black, high-collared silk shirt underneath showed off his sculpted shoulders and strong arms to perfection. He should have been banned from wearing the dark olive pants that molded to his thighs and his ass, leaving her desperately thirsty.
The raw sexual energy he exuded made her entire body come alive in a way that pissed her off even more. She’d just told him earlier that day they weren’t getting physical again. All the reasons why were about to cross over to the window and jump the hell out.
From the dark, hungry expression on Jack’s face when he ran his gaze from her hair to her feet, she got the impression she wasn’t the only one feeling that rude desire. So, she played it off like neither of them wanted anything from the other. She gathered her flowing pink tulle skirt in her hands and curtsied.
“Can you please help out with the buttons?”
The row of faux pearl buttons down the back of the dress was unreachable on her own. Penny had asked for a zipper, but the dressmaker had argued it would ruin the vintage effect. Jack had said he’d help. But now, he had the look of someone who’d just been asked to handle a lit stick of dynamite.
Still, he obliged her, circling to stand behind her. His heat radiated and caressed her from head to heels, crackling hotter than the fire in the fireplace. Each whisper of his fingers against the sensitive skin of her back was a torment. Penny fervently wished she’d stood her ground about the damned zipper.
Finally, thankfully, he was finished, and she could breathe somewhat normally again. But he halted her before she could turn around.
“Wait right here.”
“Okay?”
Jack went to his side of the bed ( his side of the bed, was she really spending the night in a bed with this man and keeping her hands off him? ) and returned with a small black velvet pouch. He took her hand. Then he shook the bag, and a pair of earrings fell out onto her palm. Pearl studs that matched the buttons.
“These are gorgeous. Thank you,” she said grudgingly. He stood looking at her while she put them in her ears. It was hard to tell what mood he was in. “As far as surprises go, I like this costume jewelry a lot better.”
That drew a scowl from him. Familiar ground, at least.
“They’re not fakes. What do you take me for?”
He tipped the pouch again, and this time, a necklace spilled into his hand. The pearls shone lustrous in the firelight, and Penny’s lips parted.
“Wow. These are loaners, I’m assuming. I’ll give them back after —”
“Not loaners. They’re yours. They don’t take back used jewelry, fake or not,” he said.
Her eyes flew to his face while his gaze ran over hers, as if gauging her response. “This is too much. The dress, the shoes, now this… you’re supposed to be getting money here, not spending it.”
“I can spend my money however I want. Mind your business. Now, hold still.”
He circled her again to put the choker on her neck. She was grateful he did so he wouldn’t see her shock and gratitude and anger that his thoughtfulness and generosity might make her cave. How was she supposed to stay mad when he was being so fucking sweet? And God, how could she stay angry when his thick, hot fingers traced the bared line of her shoulders in that gentle caress?
“Thank you. Now for the shoes, and we can get going.” She hardly spared him a glance before going to get her new shoes from their box.
“Let me,” Jack said thickly, staring down at the half-globes of her breasts rising above the neckline of the gown. He reached for her shoes.
It would serve him right if she ignored him but the tone in his voice and the throbbing tension in the room arrested her. Sitting on the divan, Penny handed him the shoes without a word and waited. Jack lowered himself to one knee and cradled her foot in his large hands while slowly slipping on the sky-blue heel. He did the same to the other, his head bent so she couldn’t see his face, only the workings of his muscles under the black silk shirt.
When he was done with the second shoe, he slid his hand up her leg, grazing her ankle with his hot fingers and wrapping them around her calf. They burned against her flesh even through her stockings. His hand inched higher to her knee, then paused. It was as though he was struggling, deciding if he should risk going further.
“I’m Briar Rose, Jack, not Cinderella,” Penny reminded him. She’d meant to sound smart-mouthed, but her voice failed her, sounding shaken instead.
His was like gravel. “And I’m not Prince Charming. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize you, with or without a mask. No matter how you change, wherever you go in this world, I would know you. And I’d follow.” Then he took his hand away, depriving her of his touch, which she suddenly, desperately, wanted on her body again. He reached into the pocket of his dark gray vest and pulled out two rings, a large, plain platinum band, and a smaller circle of platinum and diamonds. Penny was no expert on jewelry, but since Jack seemed insulted when she’d suggested the pearls weren’t real, these rings had to be real, too. “To complete the Mr. and Mrs. Valentine costumes.”
Jack handed her the plain platinum band, not looking at her but at his own hand expectantly. Taking a deep breath, commanding herself to play along and pretend, willing herself to remember none of this was real, she pushed it onto his ring finger. When it was his turn to put the band on her finger, Jack did so carefully, holding her hand like it was made of something delicate. Then he looked up suddenly into her eyes and she was stunned by the gleam in his. There was victory in those hazel eyes. Like he’d won the hardest-fought battle of his life.
He reached up and kissed her, tender at first, then rough, his tongue thrusting into her mouth. She wasn’t supposed to let this happen, but there she was, kissing him back, her hands in his hair combed neatly for the party. She was going to fucking ruin that neat hair, and he didn’t seem to care. He ran his hands back up her leg, this time not stopping at the knee, but skimming her thighs, pushing the skirt of the dress up to her waist.
“Maybe we —” she started to say, but her voice was snatched away when Jack bent down and pressed a hot kiss on her clit through her black satin panties.
Jack inhaled the scent of her arousal and closed his eyes with a murmur. Then he went back in to kiss that spot again, then put his mouth on it, creating a wicked little wet spot. Penny tried to hold in her moans as the sound of the other revelers passing down the hallway came through the heavy door. But it was impossible not to gasp when Jack lifted her legs with the thigh-high tights and put them over his shoulders. Thank goodness for garter belts because he was free and clear to hook the center of her panties with a finger and pull them aside to take a long, hard lick from her entrance to her clit.
“Oh …oh my God. Jack ,” Penny moaned.
Her head fell back from the shocking pleasure of his tongue swirling around her clit. Bracing herself on her elbows, she looked down again at Jack’s head, the firelight picking up the glints of gold in his hair. The blackness of his shirt stood in contrast to the sensuous red velvet of the divan underneath them. From what she could see of his face, he was lust drunk. He added a finger to the delicious torture, sliding it in and out while he kept the pace with that deadly tongue on her bud.
“Right there…. right there …”
The sounds her pussy made gripping his finger were wet and loud. He removed it long enough to lap up her juices greedily, then slid it back in, humming with appreciation.
“You taste even better than I’d imagined,” he rasped. “You’re my wife now, Penny. Mine .”
His hoarse declaration snapped her back to her senses. This wasn’t acting anymore. Jack had meant it. And all at once, this felt wrong. All wrong.
Penny pushed his head away, forcing him to stop the movements of his tongue. His long, thick finger was still working her as he looked up to see what the problem was.
“Was I going too hard?” he asked, panting. “I’ll be more gentle.”
Before he could lower his face again, she said, “No. I don’t want you to do this. Please stop.”
And he did, immediately. Jack withdrew his finger, his face the picture of confusion.
“What’s wrong?” He sat back on his heels, wiping his chin with his hand.
What was wrong? Everything. She shouldn’t have let him get that far. She couldn’t give herself to this man, even though she wanted nothing more than to do exactly that.
“I already told you. I came here for the party. That’s it.” She willed herself to speak through the rush of conflicting emotions that filled her throat, her voice shaking like her entire body. “Now, before you ruin this beautiful dress that you paid for, let’s go join the other guests and get this night over with.”
Jack’s features were flushed and strained. But he did as she asked and withdrew, rising to his feet abruptly. When he looked down at her from his full height, his face blazed. His cock jutted from the front of his pants, and he squeezed it, as if commanding it and her to obey him.
“You can keep fighting this all you want, Penny. You’re going to lose.”
With an insolent curl to his lips, Jack snapped her panties back in place. He pulled her up by the hand, and while she stood staring at him in a daze, he fluffed her dress around her legs. As if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t just attempted to destroy her will to resist him, he gallantly held up his arm and cocked his head toward the door, indicating it was time to depart.
“Let’s go, Mrs. Valentine,” he said mockingly.
Penny lifted her chin and took his arm, cool as iced lemonade, refusing to acknowledge what had just happened had blown her fucking mind or the fact that her clit was still pulsing from the feel of his mouth. Together they walked out of the room and followed the train of costumed guests, decked out in tulle and chiffon, silks and satins, to their hosts waiting for them below.