Chapter 12
12
ZORA
I ’m sure I fell asleep at some point, and this is all just some weird nightmare. To prove me point, I pinch myself on the arm as hard as I can.
“Ouch.”
That fucking hurt and what’s worse, Jackson is still here. Holding me.
“Let go, Jackson. This isn’t funny. I’m tired and I don’t have the energy to fight right now to indulge your sick joke.”
He tilts his head to the side to look at me from a different angle but he doesn’t release me. “You’re under the impression this is a joke. I do like the occasional chuckle but I wouldn’t kid you about something like this. If you haven’t guessed already I’m quite serious.”
Jackson clutches my hips and grinds his sizable erection against my pelvis and I push him away with all the strength I have left. “Get out! Get out of my house now!”
“There’s that fiery spirit I miss.” The amusement in his tone is enough to make me want to smack the shit out of him.
“Jackson, we’re not teenagers anymore and unlike then I’m not going to put up with your bullshit. We’ve already established that my family is in trouble, but I’d rather crawl naked on all fours on hot coals than to have anything to do with you. You disgust me, Jackson Champion. You were the biggest piece of shit in high school, but you’ve turned out to be an even bigger creep than you were then.”
He clenches his jaw and a vein pops out in his forehead. Maybe I’ve hit a nerve but now that I’ve started, I can’t stop.
“I’m sure you’ll have a good laugh about it tonight with one of the many people who kiss your ass just because of your last name. You surround yourself with yes men because you’re too much of a coward to find out what people really think about you. And frankly I find it pathetic. Maybe you should focus on trying to figure out why you’re such an asshole. It would be a more productive use of your time than to torment me any further. I think?—”
Like a flash he’s in front of me and catches me by the chin. “I don’t give a shit what you think right now. But before you continue spouting your self-righteous drivel let’s face facts here. If you had an easy solution to your problems, you wouldn’t have broken down in front of me like that since you think I’m the worst person in the world. I’m not exactly sure what your father’s health issues are but that’s something I could find out with a phone call. I?—”
“But HIPAA?—”
“Fuck HIPAA!” He roars, effectively shutting me up.
He tightens his hold on my face and his eyes turn a dark shade of blue I’ve never seen before, something stormy and dangerous. I can practically feel the anger radiate from him and he’s so much bigger than me, there’s no telling what he will do in this state. For the first time, actual fear sends a shiver up my spine.
“You seem to have forgotten how much influence the Champion name has in this town. So, I’d advise you to be quiet until I’m finished. I’ve always admired your spirit and determination, but your stubbornness is going to get you fucked up if you’re not careful. It’s time you learned a few home truths.”
I gulp but no words dare to form on my lips. This can’t be happening. I haven’t seen this man in years and yet he’s reduced me to that insecure little girl in high school all over again. I’ve already humiliated myself by crying in front of him like a idiot, I can’t let it happen again.
His lips briefly tighten into a grimace as he gives me a brutal once over. “Fact number one, your father is in the hospital due to some medical condition, I intend to find out about. That means there will be hospital bills. Medicare will only cover so much I’m sure.”
“This house is currently in foreclosure which tells me he doesn’t have the means to cover those expenditures. Your brother is on the run from the law and has racked up a considerable amount of debt. My guess is your father probably took out a second mortgage to help your brother in the past which is why he’s in this current predicament. I’m almost certain hearing about Langston’s latest escapades will be an added stress to your father, something that will probably be a further detriment to his already deteriorating health. So where does that leave you? The good daughter who is supposed to pick up the pieces of the mess your family has made.”
It’s true my brother is a lowlife but I refuse to allow him to talk down on my dad. “Fuck you, Jackson, my father isn’t to blame for any of this.” To my chagrin, tears collect in the wells of my eyes and I fight to hold them back because I don’t want him to know he’s hit the nail on the head more than I care to admit.
How the hell was I going to get out of this disaster that has become my life? Even before Jackson so heartlessly pointed these things, I couldn’t think of a ready solution.
“Your father seems like a good man, Zora,” he says with a softened tone. The anger in his eyes has subsided and he relaxes his shoulders. “My goal here isn’t to disparage him. But you need to face reality. Your family is in a lot of trouble financially and until you have access to an abundance of cash, he’s going to lose this house and then what? You’re going to work yourself to the bone trying to cover his debt? Do therapists really make enough for you to shoulder this load you plan to take on? I’d say the tiny one room apartment in the questionable neighborhood you live in says it doesn’t.”
His relaxed grip on my face allows me to pull out of his hold. My heart speeds up and when the meaning of his words finally hit me. “How do you know all this about me? Have you been stalking me? Is it even a coincidence that you’re here and you’re just using my brother as a pretext to see me?”
He shrugs with a nonchalance that infuriates me. “I leave nothing to chance, Zora. If you haven’t gotten it yet, I’ll make it explicitly clear. I want you. I’ve wanted you for a very long time. And I intend to have you. Have I taken the most scrupulous methods in getting I want? Probably not but the only way this is going to go is with you in my bed, screaming my name over and over again.”
A loud chuckle rumbles my belly because what else can I do but laugh. Clearly this man has lost his mind. Either that or I really am in a hyper realistic dream where my scenes are multiplied by 100. “Jackson, you clearly think I’m a fool if you want me to believe that. You want me? How old are you? Two? Or is your ego so wounded that you can’t take my rejection after all these years? I told you no then and I’m telling you no now.”
He raises a brow and then laughs back. “Stubborn until the very end, I see. Far be it beyond me to ignore a challenge.”
I don’t get a chance to react to his next move before he’s too swift. One second my feet are planted firmly on the ground and the next, he lowers himself and tosses me over his shoulder.
I pummel his back. “Jackson, put me down. I’ll call…” I stop myself realizing how hollow a threat that would be but that didn’t mean I would stop fighting.”
I kick and struggle, but that only earns me a stinging slap on my ass. “Be still or you’re going to hurt yourself,” is his only warning as he takes me down the hall and carries me to my bedroom.
The room is messy because I haven’t had a chance to clean up but he doesn’t seem to take note of it. Instead, he tosses me onto my unmade bed effectively robbing the wind from my lungs.
He immediately pounces on top of me and swallows the scream that leaves my throat.
I struggle and writhe beneath him but he clamps my wrists above my head.
When I opened the door to him I didn’t expect a repeat of that scene from twelve years ago. So much time has passed since graduation night that I could pretend I felt nothing when he’d pinned me against the wall and made me feel things I’d only read in trashy romance books. I could make believe that he hadn’t awakened something within me that I’ve been in denial about since then.
Now those old stirringly were no longer distant memories I’d tried to forget with therapy and being with other men. I’m confronted with the fact that once again, that my body is not my own when he does these things to me.
When his erection grinds against my pussy and the heat between my thighs can only be tempered with the sweet relief of his touch.
Maybe I have lost my mind as he’s accused me of because the more I try to fight against his passionate assault, the hotter the flames become.
His mouth devours mine, tasting me with a force of a starving man. In the back of my mind I tell myself to keep fighting my wayward body is saying something completely different.
Give in.
I lie as still as I possibly can as a form of resistance, trying to ignore the throbbing in my core and the way he casually trails kisses all over my face and down my jawline to my neck. I try desperately to pretend the goosebumps forming along every inch of my skin isn’t from the way his tongue slowly traces the outline of my lips.
I release an involuntarily moan.
No, I can’t possibly give in to him.
I grip his shoulders which is when I realize he’s no longer pinning my arms above my head. But instead of pushing him away, I cling to him.
My shame is now complete.
I don’t know how it happened but the next thing I know, my t-shirt is over my head and on the floor followed by my jeans. Jackson wastes no time unclasping my bra with the expertise of one who could do this with their eyes closed.
He latches on to one of my nipples that seems to awaken in his mouth and again I moan and whimper. It’s been so long since I’ve felt such intense desire. It’s not like I’m some untouched virgin who has never been in the presence of a man.
There was a time in fact where I had what I called my ‘ho’ phase sometime in grad school when I wanted to experiment and explore my sexuality. Some of my partners were good and some were downright awful while others I really enjoyed but if I’m being completely honest with myself nothing sparked that same feeling I had from that night and for so long I carried that self-loathing within me.
But now, that spark was back. Hotter than ever. And I hated that Jackson Champion of all people was the one to ignite it. What is wrong with me? Why him of all people.
I don’t have time to dwell on these thoughts because he grabs a fistful of my panties and tears them away. He doesn’t give me a chance to contemplate the damage to my intimate wear because he eases his hand between my thighs and pinches my clit. He rubs my already swollen bud between his thumb and forefinger and my eyes roll to the back of my head.
“You have no idea how much I’ve thought of this throughout the years. You like this beneath me,” he groans as he takes my unattended breast in his mouth.
While he nibbles and suckles on my steadily hardening nipple, he continues to squeeze my clit, stoking the fire within me until it’s unbearably hot.
I can no longer remain and inactive participant as my body overrides any common objection my brain has about this situation. Perhaps this is the stress relief I need to temporarily forget the stressors in my life. All I want in this moment is to let go and ride the wave of the wonderous sensations flowing through my body.
I thread my fingers through his hair and hold him against my chest. This seems to egg him on. He suckles grow more aggressive and he releases my clit to slip too fingers inside of me.
He lifts his head and groans. “Fuck you’re wet. Is all this for me? Do you want to tell me you don’t want me again.”
I briefly meet his gaze but turn my head away, refusing to acknowledge the triumph in his eyes. But he doesn’t need a verbal response because my traitorous body has given him all the answers he needs.
He chuckles. “That’s right, even now you’re trembling. You like the way my fingers feel inside your cunt. Your walls are so tight around them, I know they would squeeze the fuck out of my dick.”
I keep my eyes averted and clamp down on my bottom lips with my teeth too keep any foolish words from tumbling out. I hate him so much but as I make this affirmation in my mind a way of pure electricity shoots from my pussy and spread along every nerve inside of me.
My thighs tremble and I realize how close I am to exploding allowing him his final victory.
In one last attempt at self-preservation, I attempt to roll from under him but he places his forearm against my chest and holds me down while his fingers slide in and out of me like the well-oiled parts of a moving machine.
I buck my hips to unseat him but he’s stronger and what’s worse, he hits a spot inside of me that sends me spiraling over the edge of a cliff I’d been hanging on for dear life.
This orgasm is so unexpected, and I’m left speechless. I’m taken back to that time twelve years ago and I can just scream in frustration that Jackson is the cause.
Seeming to read my mind, he chuckles again. Mocking me. I want nothing else than to smack the smirk that I know is on his face but I refuse to look him at the eye.
To make matters worse, I doubt I can muster up the strength to attack him because my body feels like it’s in a cocoon and I’m floating within a euphoric state of bliss.
“Tell me again you don’t want me, Zora.” He softly demanded.
My chest rumbles with anger and keep my gaze averted but he clutches my face and turns my head until our eyes lock. “Look at me.”
Just as I suspected, there’s a gleam of amusement in his eyes. “You enjoyed that didn’t you, baby doll?”
I mutinously refuse to answer.
But that doesn’t seem to bother him. I realize his fingers are still inside of me when he shoves them deeper, drawing a gasp from my mouth.
“You’re trembling because you know you’re not as immune to my touch as you think you are. In fact, I bet you’ve dreamed of our time together like I have you. Want it. Your cunt is so wet, you’re making a puddle on your bed.”
He slowly pulls his fingers out of my pussy, never breaking eye contact and brings them to his mouth. My juices coat his fingers and run down his hands. He then brings them to his mouth and licks every bit of moisture from the digits.
My shoulder shimmy as I watch him savor my nectar.
“You’re fucking delicious. I can’t wait to taste and fuck you properly. I want nothing more than to claim this pussy and stamp my name on it so that you won’t think of any other man than me. But I’m not a total bastard.”
He suddenly rolls off me and the bed and stands, taking my torn panties with him.
Again he’s left my body in tatters but unlike the last time, I have nowhere to run. I fling my arm across my eyes because I’m afraid to look at him. I don’t care that I’m naked at this point. He’s already seen me at my most vulnerable. I can only ask the question that’s been plaguing my mind since his arrival.
“Why?” I weakly croak.
“Because you and I have unfinished business Zora. I believe I’ve made it abundantly clear about my desire to have you. And if I have to resort to a bit of coercion then so be it. So here’s the deal. Your family is in a financial bind that none of you can hope you get out unless by some chance you win the lottery within the next couple weeks or so. I’m in a position to make sure all your problems go away.”
I snort unironically. “And let me guess, you’ll help us out if I sleep with you.”
He laughs so maniacally, I uncover my eyes and reluctantly look his way. The unhinged gleam in his eyes, frighten me. I sit up and grab the sheets to cover myself.
He’s laughing as if I’d just told the funniest joke but the just as eerily, he stops, and his face goes completely expressionless.
I was almost too scared to ask but I couldn’t help myself. “Why did you laugh like that.”
“Baby doll, you’re not going to simply sleep with me. You’re going to be mine.”