Chapter Four
Jilly: Were you crying in your last voice note?
Jack: It was dust.
Jilly: You're watching another zombie movie, aren't you?
Jack: They're always misunderstood.
JILLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT to expect when she came back to her house.
But it was certainly not...
Chaos .
It was a mess everywhere, no matter what angle she looked at it from.
Cat toys scattered in places they'd never been before, Mack's favorite feather wand dangling from the ceiling fan, Mounty's bed had somehow ended up in the kitchen, complete with what looked like crumb trails leading to it, and was that one of Middle's fake plants sitting on the coffee table?
To those who had never lived life with animals, such a scene would have caused concern. But for someone like Jilly, what she saw had her heart feel like it was about to burst since this, oh this...
It was the best kind of mess, since she could readily tell it could only result from Guy de la Rocq and her babies actually having fun.
And to think, she had struggled not to worry about this all night, and especially with the security cameras at home undergoing system maintenance.
Everywhere she looked painted a picture of affectionate bonding between man and animal.
Treats scattered on the floor in a pattern that suggested Guy had been playing a game with Mounty.
Scattered bird perches that suggested recall training.
And oh, were those fresh lettuce leaves left just outside Meanie's favorite chill spot in his enclosure?
For him to do that meant he had actually taken the time to read her care manuals.
Put what he read to use.
And actually have fun with her babies in the process.
Oh, be still, my foolish heart!
Sounds from the second floor had her heading up, just in time to see Guy step out of the powder room next to the aviary...
Shirtless .
Guy's gaze gleamed in amusement at the way Jillian spun on her heels with a little yelp of embarrassment and started fanning herself as if she was being roasted under the hottest Texan sun.
Jilly couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.
Guy de la Rocq was in her second-floor hallway.
Shirtless!
Meaning, his chest was completely bared to her sight, and he...and he...
He was so unfairly perfect .
All smooth golden skin stretched over exquisitely carved panes. A light dusting of hair that disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. And V-shaped muscles that had her mouth completely dry— aaah!
Guy was suddenly standing in front of her again. "I finally get why you asked me to bring an extra shirt."
Jilly momentarily forgot her embarrassment as he held up his shirt, now completely ruined by bird vomit.
"If I understood your manual correctly," Guy murmured, "this would mean your cockatiel has fallen in love with my shirt, correct?"
"I'm so, so sorry," was all Jilly could think of saying. "Please let me have it dry-cleaned—"
"It's fine."
"Or maybe I could buy you the same shirt if you'd let me know—"
"If you'd really like to pay me back—"
Guy suddenly took a step toward her, and Jilly automatically took a step back.
"I could easily think of something."
He took another step forward, and Jilly backed another step.
"Um..." She had a hard time coming up with a reply, with the way he simply kept trying to close the gap between them, which then left her to keep backing away because she wanted—no, needed— the opposite.
Forward, backward, forward, backward.
Why couldn't he simply stop—
Aaaah!
Jilly would have fallen backwards down the steps if not for Guy catching her, pulling her forward, and bam!
She was pressed against him in an instant.
Every inch of her front was now touching every inch of his front, his skin was warm and solid against her trembling form, and oh.
Her breath caught at the way his gaze smoldered with icy blue heat as he gazed down at her.
Oh...my...gosh.
Guy's nostrils flared as the peaks of her breasts started to harden against his chest, and he felt something primal and possessive surge through him when he saw her gaze turn hazy with desire.
His Jillian was a living, breathing picture of innocent need, with her cheeks tinted pink, her lips parted, and her soft curves gradually molding against his.
Everything about her drove him out of his mind, and so...
All Jilly could do was gasp when Guy suddenly pushed her back against the hallway wall, his ruined shirt falling to the floor as he pinned her wrists above her head with one hand.
The contrast between them was striking, with her small hands trapped easily in his grip, and her body caged between his arms and the wall.
Guy sucked his breath in as Jillian looked up at him, her green eyes still clouded with passion behind her glasses. And when she licked her lips in her nervousness—
"Are you trying to seduce me?" Guy demanded in a low growl.
Jilly could only shake her head with a gasp. "N-No!" How could he even think that, when all of this was completely new to her?
"Then why did you do it?"
"D-Do what?"
Her tongue darted out as she spoke.
" That ."
Jilly was confused at first...until she realized he was staring at her mouth like it was something he wanted to punish and devour at the same time, and her stomach cramped in response.
Oh, so that was what he meant—mmph!
Guy's mouth covered hers in a kiss that turned her world upside-down in a flash, and her toes curled so, so hard it felt as if she was about to turn into stone.
Every inch of her flesh burned. Every sense of hers reeled. And every moment that passed, with his mouth ravaging hers—
Oh, Guy.
My Guy.
Please don't stop.
Please.
Guy nearly groaned the moment his lips touched hers, and something inside of him immediately shifted.
He had lost count of the number of women he had kissed, regardless of whether it was for work or pleasure.
But one thing that was clear to him was how none of those kisses made him feel this hungry. ..
This possessive...
And this terrified.
To the point that a part of him wanted to hold her close and never let go...while the other part of him wanted to push her away because of the threat she posed to his orderly existence.
His Jillian tasted sweet and pure, like a flower that had yet to blossom.
And when she made a small sound in the back of her throat as he deepened the kiss, more cracks eroded his self-control, and Guy found himself suckling on her tongue all the fiercer, his only thought at that moment was to brand her and claim her—until she realized that he owned her completely.
Jilly could only whimper as Guy's mouth trailed down until his lips closed over one fabric-covered peak, and her breasts grew heavy and swollen as his chest pressed harder against her body.
She had never experienced anything like this.
Never.
And when Guy reached between their bodies with his free hand and began grinding the heel of his palm against her mound through her pants—
"G-Guy."
She could only stare at him in shock even as her body began to writhe uncontrollably under his demanding touch.
She knew what was happening. But at the same time, it seemed like she didn't know anything at all.
Everything was so new.
So powerful.
And so, so good that...
"G-Guy..."
The way she whispered his name nearly undid him, and her head fell back against the wall as Guy determinedly increased the pressure and rhythm of his touch.
"P-Please..."
"Please what?" Guy growled.
"I...I..."
"Tell me," he ordered.
"I d-don't know..."
"Then do what I tell you."
Eyes that burned with blue heat captured her as he issued the command, and all she could do was whimper.
"I want to see you shatter in my arms, Jillian."
No...oh...no.
"So come for me."
But the moment he said it, she realized that resistance was futile...since her body was already his, and aaaaah.
A dazed cry escaped his Jillian's lips as she started to come, and to witness her sensual undoing, just as he had demanded...
It was the hottest thing he had ever seen in his life.
But somehow also the purest.
As well as the most terrifying, with how the sight of her finding pleasure in his arms was like being hit by a bolt of lightning.
Sex had never meant anything to him beyond the physical.
Never .
Until now.
And while there was still that part of him which despised the way she could so effortlessly affect every fiber of his being—
Jillian.
My Jillian.
Mine.
The longer he had her in his arms, the clearer it was to him.
Guy wanted more.
Of this.
Of her.
And he wanted all of it for him.
Alone .
Jilly lost all sense of time in the aftermath of her release, and her eyes only fluttered open when she felt Guy press a gentle kiss to her forehead before slowly pulling away, releasing her wrists.
Their eyes met, and her heart skipped a beat at the possessiveness of his gaze.
Guy cupped her chin with fingers that were still slightly unsteady, and she nearly stopped breathing.
"Call me again—"
Oh my.
"—if you need a pet sitter."
A choked laugh escaped Jilly at the absurdity of it all, but this soon turned into a whimper when he bent his head and started nibbling on her lips.
And when he lifted his head again—
Jilly's heart ached at how he was staring at her.
It was almost as she was the most precious thing to him, but surely...
Surely that was not so?
"Good night, sweetheart."
Oh, the huskiness of his voice would be the death of her.
Jillian cleared her throat, but when she finally spoke—
"G-Good night."
A mix of shyness and infatuation caused the words to come tumbling out in a squeak, and her cheeks blazed with mortification at the sound of his chuckle.
"Sweet dreams, Jillian."
All she could do was watch as he walked away.
Still shirtless.
Still impossibly confident.
Still absolutely devastating.
And then he was gone, walking down her stairs and out her front door like it was the most natural thing in the world to leave a woman's house half-naked after making her come in her own hallway.
Jilly heard his car start up and drive away, and it was only then that her brain cells started working again.
Did that...
Her knees knocked against each other.
Did that really just happen...
With...HIM?