Chapter 21
Maisie
B y the time we leave the spa, I’ve been brushed, plucked, rubbed, and shined until I’m like a new penny. My hair has never been this soft or straight, and whatever makeup magic they worked on my face is worth every cent the moment I see Jack’s face when we join the boys at the bar.
What started as a few mixed drinks and conversation quickly turns into shots and a raunchy version of truth or dare. By round three or four, possibly five, I know I’m not getting out of this night without a hangover while Jack, who volunteered to be our designated driver, is completely sober.
“Why are you always so, so...” My alcohol-addled brain can’t think of the words, and I grunt in frustration.
“Smart?” Jack offers.
“Savvy?” Marcus volunteers.
“Oh, I know! Sexy!” Alexandra crows despite the glare on Marcus’s face.
“Responsible!” I cry triumphantly.
“Because, Princess, I have precious cargo to return to our cabin.” Jack glances at his watch. “Right about now.”
Marcus has already started steering Alexandra out of the bar as I turn my pout on Jack. “I don’t want to go yet.” I sound like a petulant twelve-year-old, but I don’t care. I’m finally having fun on this trip.
“I know, Princess, but we need to get home and get you to bed with about a gallon of water and some Tylenol.”
“You mean paracetamol.”
“Same thing, love. Let’s go—upsy-daisy.” Jack swings me up in his arms when I stumble on the way to the car, depositing me into the seat before reaching over me to buckle my belt. His arm brushes my nipples when he pulls away, and I can’t help the hiss that escapes my mouth. His lips quirk, and then he’s jogging around to climb into the driver’s side.
Not even giving me a chance to navigate the snow, Jack sweeps me into his arms again when we reach the cabin. I take the opportunity to start kissing all the tanned skin I now have access to with my new height.
“Maisie, just let me get you upstairs. Please.”
I renew my efforts to get to more of his warm skin and hear him groaning.
“I swear this is punishment for all the bad shit I’ve done in my life.”
I giggle at his words before nipping his earlobe.
“Princess, you’re playing with fire. If you’re not careful, you’ll get burned.”
I can hear his threatening tone, but to my fuzzy brain, it sounds like the best idea ever. I shriek when he drops me on the bed.
“Okay, Princess. You wanted my attention, and you got it.” Jack yanks me back to the edge of the bed, flicks my buckle open, and has my pants and boots on the floor before I register a location change.
Flipping me onto my stomach, he lands several sharp smacks on my panty-clad ass. I squeal as his hand slides between my legs to lazily stroke me. With a flick of his wrist, he snaps the string on my panties and shoves them into his pocket.
Then, leaning over until he can rub my nose with his, he whispers. “Tell me to stop. Tell me you don’t want this, and I will walk away immediately. Tell me.”
“I want this. I want this so badly, please.”
The grin that graces his lips is borderline feral. He strips my sweater from my body before he pulls the cups on my bra down with his mouth, latching on to a nipple and scraping it with his teeth. My spine arches and my hands grab at the comforter. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol, Jack, or a combination of both. Still, it feels like he is everywhere all at once, and it’s entirely too much.
Yet I want more.
“Jack, please.” I don’t know what I’m begging for, but I’ll pray to the old gods and the new if he can make this ache disappear.
“All you had to do is ask, Princess.” His hot mouth trails down my stomach until he reaches my clit, where he gives it hard, quick lashes with his rough tongue. I don’t realize how wet I am until slickness coats the tops of my thighs. I lift my hips, trying to gain more friction. I need more. I need something.
“Please,” I beg.
Jack slides two fingers into me, slowly pumping them. I’m babbling. I know I am, but I can’t stop myself. Jack slides in a third finger, increasing his speed until it reaches a punishing pace. Without warning, he takes his thumb and twirls firm circles over my clit. I shoot up off the bed, screaming my release. It shakes me to my very core, wringing through my entire body. I gasp, trying to get my breath back as Jack slowly brings me down.
“You okay, Princess?”
I nod, and his grin turns smug.
“You want more?” Jack is standing over what remains of my body, lazily stroking his rock-hard cock. And right now, I want that more than anything. “Then get up there and grab the headboard.”
I scramble to obey, and I can feel his warmth behind me when I get into position.
“How do you want it, love? Do you want me to take you nice and slow, or do you want to be my dirty princess, my little toy?”
My pulse thuds at his deliciously sinful words because I want to be his toy. I want him to use me, break me, and put me back together again. “Use me,” I manage to get out, and the hands that had been caressing my hips clamp down.
“Oh, love. You have no idea what you are in for.” He pulls my hips back until I’m slightly leaning with my ass tilted up. I feel the head of his cock nudging at my entrance before he slams to the hilt in one long thrust. Wrapping one hand in my hair, he uses the other one to punish my nipples with tight pinches and pulls.
I buck back against him, moaning and panting. “Please.”
“That’s it. Beg for me. Show me how much you want this.” Jack continues to thrust hard and fast into me, and the pace rocks the bed.
I have a vague thought of being glad that we’re the only ones in the house before his hand leaves my breasts and moves down to the slickness between my legs, gathering some before swirling small circles over my back hole.
My head drops forward as much as possible with his hand still gripping my hair. “Fuck. Jack. Please.”
“You want me here? Do you want me to fuck this pretty little asshole? My, what a dirty little toy I have.” Jack has worked up to his second knuckle while his cock still punishes my pussy. “I wonder what would happen if I just...”
He releases my hair to pinch my clit, and I scream as I fall apart, my body locking as waves of pleasure decimate my ability to even see.
“Oh. Fuck. Shit,” Jack grunts as he comes with me. He slams me down on him with a hand around my throat. “I didn’t want to come in your pretty pussy, but you pulled it right out of me, didn’t you, love? I was going to come in this delicious ass that has been torturing me for months, but you had other plans.” His breath is hot against my cheek as we pant through the aftershocks.
Collapsing sideways, Jack tugs a blanket over us again, and I’m asleep before he even pulls out.
***
The following two days are spent with Marcus and Alexandra. They even manage to get me on a slope—albeit the training slope—a time or two. I spend my nights in Jack’s bed, where we continue to explore all the different ways we can make each other fall apart.
It’s the day before Christmas Eve when we head to the resort. I’m in the lobby sorting some files and waiting for Jack to let me know if our table is ready, when I feel a rough hand on my elbow yanking me to the coat check.
A chill runs down my spine as I stare up into the eyes of the man I have no desire to see again. Especially now. “F-f-father. What are you doing here?” I look around for Jack but don’t see him.
“What am I doing here? I belong here, unlike you. Do you think your new friends would like you half as much if they knew you were just a penniless college student who had to blackmail her own father to survive?” When my face goes pale, he grins. “I thought not. Are you fucking him to get back at me?”
“Am I fucking who to get back at you? What are you talking about?” I yank my elbow out of his bruising grip.
“Jack. Are you fucking him to get back at me?”
“Why would I fuck him to get back at you?”
My father’s cold eyes turn colder. “Are you fucking him for money, then? Is that what this is? Don’t think I haven’t noticed all the trips to the resort shops and spa treatments. You’re just like your mother, latching on to the first wealthy man you can dig your claws into and then trying to baby trap them.”
“That’s not true! Mum would never have done that!” My voice shakes as I continue to search for Jack in the crowds.
Jack will save me. So where is he?
“Of course she would! I was sixteen! I had my whole life ahead of me! She went and got pregnant and then refused to get rid of it.” His sneer makes my blood run cold. “My family had to pay her off to make her go away, and then she just had to go and get herself killed, and I got saddled with you anyway!”
The venom in his voice has me stepping back.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but you’re not going to get anything from me, so I suggest you leave. I may have no love lost for Jack, but he deserves better than the bastard offspring of a teenage whore.” My father spits the words at me before turning and stalking off.
My hands are trembling and I can feel the tears pooling in my eyes. I want Jack. If I can find Jack, everything will be okay. I just know it.
“Is that what you were doing?”
I hear his voice behind me, and I spin around, grateful until the look on his face draws me up short. His face is cold, colder than the first day I met him. “Jack, I’m so glad you’re here. I just—”
Jack cuts me off. “I know what you just said. You just met with your father. Are you trying to cut him in on this deal to steal it? I’m aware Antony approached McIntyre about a deal, and that it has yet to go anywhere. Did you take the job at my company just so you could spy and report back to him?”
“Jack! No! Why would you think I would even do that?” I reach for him, but he steps back, his hands shoving into his pockets.
“For someone who supposedly hasn’t seen her father in years, you were both in this corner looking pretty cozy.”
“No, you don’t understand—”
Jack cuts me off again, and I can’t help the tears that spill down my cheeks. “No. I think I understand perfectly. I don’t think you understand that I refuse to be used like this. I think it’s best if you leave. I don’t care what it costs, and I don’t care where you go, but I don’t want to set eyes on you after today.” Jack turns and walks away, and I stand here crying, unsure what to do next.
“Ma’am. Are you okay?” An employee walks up and lays a gentle hand on my arm.
“Oh. I’m… I’m not sure. I need to book a flight. Yes. That’s it. I need to book a flight. Do you have a business center? I don’t seem to have my laptop with me.”
The lady offers me a sympathetic smile before showing me to the business center, where I book the next flight to Sydney. She then helps me arrange a ride to the airport. I glance around one last time, searching for Jack, but I don’t see him. I chew my lip while I consider looking for him again, until the expression on his face swims in my mind, and I turn and walk away.
If he can believe something like that about me, he doesn’t know me. And apparently I don’t know him either.