CHAPTER 28
“Oh God, Antonio. Keep it right there, baby!” Jackie panted as the water from the shower beat down on her, her back against the glass enclosure.
All the reasons she’d held onto for not being with Antonio had flown out the window about five orgasms ago. She was coming… again…
Honestly, five was a low estimate. Antonio was in the business of getting her “come count” back on track.
“You can give me one more, Lucky,” he said, slowing down just long enough for them to catch their breath. “Just one more, baby… Can you do that?”
He gripped her thick thighs as he bounced her up and down on his dick.
Clearly, he was keeping up with his weightlifting regimen if he could handle thick and compact Jackie.
Her nails dug into his shoulders. Antonio’s response was to pump harder and deeper into her, the stinging pain apparently sending jolts of adrenaline straight to his dick.
Antonio was working hard to make their last day in Mexico memorable.
After a brief nap that morning, they’d finally moved from the sofa to the bed.
He’d put her in at least twelve different positions, including one that she’d only seen at the UniverSoul Circus.
The passion was so strong and vigorous that, mid-act, the whole bed began to lean to one side.
Apparently, they had broken the wooden frame with all the movement.
That didn’t stop them, though. Hence, this session in the shower.
Jackie should have known he was going to get her in this shower.
The setup was prime for these kinds of sexual acrobatics.
Alma y Tierra wasn’t slick. Who builds an outdoor shower encased in glass that you can see from inside the house, if not to facilitate sex?
“Ant, baby!” Jackie’s hair was soaked as water pelted her eyelashes. She’d just gotten a relaxer prior to this trip, along with a color treatment. Her long-time stylist, Shaunetta, was going to kill her. But right now? It was so fucking worth it.
Antonio maneuvered her up against the wooden side of the shower. Jackie thought maybe she was getting a reprieve, but she was wrong. With her thighs still wrapped around him, Antonio pressed his hand to Jackie’s throat. She gasped, relishing in the slight pressure.
“You better be coming, Jackie,” Antonio demanded. “Come for me, ma. Come all over my dick, I need to feel that.”
With those words, the floodgates opened, and Jackie came hard, her walls clenching around his dick on command.
Antonio buried his head between Jackie’s breasts, his warm breath mixing with the steam of the shower.
He pushed deeper inside her, and she tightened again.
That was all it took for him to come inside her again.
They stilled for a few minutes until Antonio let her down. He kissed her deeply, sucking her full bottom lip until he stepped away, finally satisfied. “You good, Lucky?”
Jackie nodded. “I don’t have to do Pilates for another month, the way you worked me out.”
Antonio chuckled. “That wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle, baby.” He reached for the body wash, pumping some into a washcloth and slowly lathering Jackie’s back. She leaned into the gentle circles that he was making on her skin. He moved the soapy cloth down her back and ass. It felt amazing.
“Keep this up and we’re going to miss our flight back to Atlanta,” Jackie said.
“We could just stay another day,” Antonio suggested. “I don’t think anyone would miss us.”
“Uhm, I’m pretty sure our clients would. Not to mention, Patrick and the guys at the firm would get suspicious.”
Antonio’s hand stilled. He turned Jackie around to face him. “I don’t fucking care.”
Jackie sighed. “Ant, we talked about this.”
“Actually, we didn’t talk at all,” Antonio said. “You said we’d talk. You promised.”
“That was before you screwed the good sense out of me,” Jackie laughed nervously.
Antonio clearly didn’t find it funny. She cleared her throat, grabbing another washcloth. She turned around and began washing Antonio’s chest. “Fine, let’s talk.”
“You first,” Antonio suggested, closing his eyes as she washed down his chest, then abs.
“Fine. You want the truth? Ant, this situation is messy.”
“This is information I already know. Not what I want to hear—”
“What the hell do you want to hear, Antonio?”
Antonio cupped some of the water from the shower and rubbed it down his face. “Take the messy shit out. The firm. PJ. The past. Don’t you think this thing between us deserves a real shot?”
Jackie looked up at him through the steam. “Ant, a weekend hookup doesn’t constitute a relationship.”
“Oh, so that’s what you think this is?”
“And what do you think this is? Kismet? Soulmates?”
“Is that so unbelievable? I just don’t think we’re in each other’s orbit again for no reason. This is more than coincidence—”
Jackie interrupted Antonio, shaking her head. “You sound like my best friend, Bronwyn. She’d eat this up.”
“Well, she’s a wise woman.” His soapy hands grabbed hers. “Jackie, c’mon now. What are you so afraid of?”
The familiar current of electricity pulsed between them. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Jackie snatched her hands away from his. “I’m not afraid, Ant. It’s just—” She paused, trying to find the right words. “I’m not a relationship kind of person.”
Antonio squinted as he rinsed. “Is this about Katrice?”
“Not totally.” Jackie shook her head. “But Katrice put me in a bad position. I cannot afford to be under any more scrutiny in this industry. Another high-profile relationship could tank me. I am a woman, Antonio. My career will not recover from one more scandal. AMW-Elite doesn’t have that kind of faith in me. ”
Antonio wrung out a washcloth, hung it up, and turned to her. “Jackie, you and I both know you would be just fine without the company. Your clients trust you. They’d follow you to the ends of the earth. So, what is it that’s holding you back? For real?”
Jackie bit her bottom lip. Everything she wanted to say was on the tip of her tongue.
People fall out of love. It never lasts. Look at my parents. One hiccup and my mother was out. Love is a lie. Transactional and inconvenient. This connection between us is too intense to be real. I can’t handle how this feels. True love doesn’t exist for me. It never has.
Did she believe any of that? Ever since Katrice, Jackie had believed love wasn’t in the cards for her. Was it still the truth? It had to be, right?
The shower water was starting to get colder. She shivered. Antonio moved closer. “Jacqueline? Baby, say something.”
Jackie opened her mouth. She stopped. She tried to form the words she was thinking, to say them aloud, but once again, she was mute. No sound came out. Oh fuck…not again. She coughed. Still, nothing. She clutched her throat and pointed to it.
“Jackie,” Antonio sighed, rolling his eyes. “Quit playing.”
But Jackie wasn’t playing. Her voice was gone, again. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Unbelievable! He’s going to think I’m a liar… But I’m not lying about this! Or any of it!
Jackie stared at him, blinking away the water on her lashes.
“My cards are all out there in front of you. I’ve shared my mistakes.
My feelings. You can’t do the same?” Antonio pushed past Jackie, shutting off the shower.
“So much for that trust you keep talking about. It’s real fucking convenient when shit is getting real, when I’m asking you for you to be honest with me, all of a sudden you can’t talk.
What do I gotta do? Keep blowing your back out to get some honesty? ”
Jackie reached for Antonio, but he snatched his arm out of her grasp and opened the shower door. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.
“Plane leaves in four hours,” he said over his shoulder. “I won’t wait for you, Miles.” He walked back into the bedroom, slamming the suite door shut.
I won’t wait for you.
Jackie stood for a moment in the shower, ruminating on Antonio’s words. That wasn’t about the plane, was it?
She didn’t have to wait for an answer—not from the universe, and not from Antonio. The tiny crack she felt in her heart was the answer.