Mitigating Circumstance （n.） – Scarlett
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE (N.):
A FACT OR SITUATION THAT DOES NOT EXCUSE OR JUSTIFY A WRONGFUL ACT OR CRIME, BUT LESSENS THE SEVERITY OF THE FAULT, PENALTY, OR DAMAGES.
SCARLETT
“Good evening, Miss.” The valet at the Four Seasons extends a white-gloved hand to me. “Thank you for staying with us this evening.”
I nod and step out, waiting for Jameson to say “Goodbye, Scarlett,” and drive away, but he steps out, too.
Biting my tongue, I walk inside and approach the front desk.
“How may I help you tonight, Miss?” The agent smiles at me.
“I’m checking in,” I say. “Scarlett Winters.”
“Okay, one second.” She taps her keyboard. “Ah. You’ve reserved our penthouse suite for the night. Allow me to grab the keys and your special amenity bag.”
She stoops down and emerges with a gold tote bag and a room key packet.
“These are yours as well, Miss.” The front desk agent picks up a bouquet of bright white roses.
“Thank you.” I take them and carry them to the elevator, with Jameson following my every step.
He joins me in the car before the doors close.
“I’m just making sure you get inside the suite safely,” he says. “That’s all.”
Right… I hit the button for the top floor and keep my gaze straight ahead as we ascend.
It takes everything in me not to look over at him, not to steal one last long glance before we disappear from each other’s lives again.
“Los Angeles doesn’t seem like the right city for you,” he says out of nowhere. “It’s the opposite of everything you’ve ever shown about yourself to me…”
I don’t respond.
“It’s also ridiculously expensive,” he says. “You’re not in any financial trouble, are you?”
Ping!
I step onto the floor and head straight for the suite’s golden double doors.
Taking out the keycard, I sigh and turn around.
“I’m at the suite safely now, Jameson,” I say. “I’m fine.”
“I said ‘inside’ the suite.”
“Because a criminal is going to randomly pop out between now and the next five seconds?”
“Open the goddamn door, Scarlett.”
“I will, the moment you go back to the elevator.”
“Okay, then.” He takes the keycard from my hand and holds it against the pad until it flashes green.
Pushing the door open, he gently nudges me inside, and the lights flicker on.
He moves past me instead of exiting, and I place my flowers and tote bag on a hallway table. I step out of my heels and wait for him to return to the door, but he doesn’t.
Sighing, I walk into the living room and spot him standing by the windows.
“Thank you for making this reservation for me, Jameson,” I say. “As you can see, I’m safely inside, so you can leave now.”
“I will,” he says, nodding. “But before I do that—”
“Just do it now and finish your sentence later.”
“Your words are a lot more cutting than I remember.”
“I guess I learned from the best.”
Silence.
“I need to know a few things about your new boyfriend,” he says.
“Who I’m dating is none of your business, Jameson.”
“It is since I don’t have a new girlfriend.”
“That’s because you’re very hard to put up with.”
“It’s because I’m incapable of thinking about anyone else but you.”
“Liar.”
“You’ll always be my favorite hypocrite when it comes to lying.” He narrows his eyes. “How serious is this relationship?”
I say nothing.
“Are you letting him kiss you?”
“Jameson—”
“Answer me.”
“I don’t have to.”
“So, you’re fucking him?”
He doesn’t give me the chance to answer.
“You could’ve at least asked for my permission before you moved on to someone else.”
“Your permission?” I glare at him. “Is that what you just said?”
“Yes.” He glares right back. “My fucking permission, since you promised that your pussy belongs to me.”
“Good to know I was just ‘sex’ to you.”
“You weren’t and you know that.” His face reddens. “You fucking know that.”
“Right.” I nod. “I was also the woman who wasn’t allowed to ask you too many questions about your personal life, and couldn’t get upset about you representing some of the most terrible people on this planet.”
“You were more than that, too.”
“Doesn’t seem like it…” My breath hitches as he crosses the room, and my heart trips in my chest until he’s standing right in front of me.
“Scarlett…”
Without finishing that sentence, he slides his hand against my neck before threading his fingers through my hair.
“I would really appreciate it if you answered my questions,” he says, finally. “I’ll answer any of yours.”
I swallow as he trails a finger across my lips, as my body begs me to give in to him—to ease the ache between my thighs that’s worsened every night since I left him.
“Please,” he says, his voice low. “Can we talk?”
“No.”
“Okay…” He keeps his eyes on mine, still touching my bottom lip. “Can we fuck?”
“What?” I gasp. “I hate you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I fucking hate you.”
“That’s fine,” he says. “Can we fuck?”
“Just once…” The words leave my mouth before I can think them through, and his mouth crashes against mine.
I shut my eyes as he grips my waist, the familiar feeling of his kiss dominating me with ease.
He slides his hand under my dress and pushes my panties to the side.
Groaning, he yanks them off and lets them fall to the floor.
“Is this still mine?” He presses his thumb against my clit, massaging it in slow, sensuous circles until I’m soaking wet.
My eyes flutter open as he pushes me onto the couch.
I watch him take out a condom and unbutton his pants in the same way he’s done in all my misguided fantasies. With his gaze locked on mine, he gently grabs my right leg and lifts it over his shoulder.
He slides his cock deep inside me, and I can’t help but moan his name.
I hate that I’ve missed this—that I’ve missed him—but as he thrusts in and out of me, my final walls of denial crumble.
“Is this still mine?” he asks.
Yes. “Ahhh…”
“Tell me it’s still mine,” he demands, thrusting into me harder. “Tell me now.”
“Yes.” I pant. “It’s still yours.”
“I fucking thought so...” He abruptly pulls out of me, denying me an orgasm and leaving me too far from the edge.
Before I can tell him to finish, he grabs my hips and turns me around to face the windows.
Then he slides into me, deeper this time while grabbing a fistful of my hair.
His eyes meet mine in the darkened glass, and I moan as he slaps my ass between thrusts.
“You’ll always be mine…” he growls in my ear. “Always.”
My nails dig into the cushion as my pussy throbs against his cock, and I know it’s only a matter of seconds before I can’t hold on anymore.
He kisses my neck before biting my skin, and my body begins to shake.
I cry out as he pushes me to my limit, and I feel his body tense behind me at the same time.
“Jameson…” “Scarlett…” we say in unison.
I fall face forward into the pillows, and he keeps his hands on my waist to keep us entwined.
Panting, I take my time catching my breath and savoring every second of the aftermath.
His lips move against my neck before kissing my collarbone.
When I can finally feel my legs again, he slowly pulls out of me and turns me over.
“Can we talk now?” he asks. “Or would you like to show me how much you didn’t mean ‘once’?”
“The latter,” I say, and he kisses me, sliding into me again.
And again…