Текст книги "Aurora James"

Автор книги: Jessica Ingro

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

The morning sun on my face pulled me from a delicious dream in which Xavier had me pinned against the wall of the shower. I fought to stay in my happy place for several minutes before the day pulled me completely from my slumber.

Frowning, I blinked and allowed my eyes to adjust to the brightness. I was lying on my stomach. My face turned towards the floor-to-ceiling windows that still had their blinds opened. A heavy arm on my back had the events of the night before rushing back to me in full technicolor. Every look. Every touch. Every word.

Warmth swept through my body and a smile spread across my face. It would seem I knew exactly what to do with a man like Xavier O’Brien—hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

Something had unequivocally changed between the two of us last night. And I didn’t just mean the fact that we now knew each other in the biblical sense. Xavier had let a wall down and allowed me to see the real him that he shielded from the outside world. I was humbled by it for I was certain he didn’t let many people in.

After we had sex a second time last night, Xavier left me in bed to throw on jeans and a shirt before heading out to see the state of play with the party. While he was gone, I’d scurried into the bathroom and washed up. Taking in the sight of my just-fucked hair along with my swollen lips and smeared mascara, I’d shrieked. I looked like a hot mess.

Quickly making myself a little more presentable, I finished washing up. On my way back to the bed, he came into the room, stopping short when he saw me standing naked next to the bed. His eyes raked over my body, his pupils darkening on their descent.

He crossed the distance to me, undressing along the way. When he got to me, he pressed his naked body against mine, his erection resting against my stomach.

That third time, I learned just how skilled Xavier’s tongue was. In a race, it would be a close second to his magic hands, which had made their debut during round two.

I turned my head on the pillow and looked at Xavier. He was on his side facing me, his body pressed along the length of mine. It was strange to see him look so soft in repose. The hard lines around his mouth and eyes were smoothed out, and I had to fight the urge to run my finger over every outline of his face.

While I was soaking in every detail of him, his arm tightened around me, pulling me closer into his stomach.

“Hey,” I whispered, looking into his sleepy eyes when they opened.

“Hey,” he echoed.

“Do you want breakfast?”

“If by breakfast, you mean you, then yes.” His hand roamed over my back, pushing the sheet down with it when it abruptly stopped.

“What’s this?” His finger traced my tattoo. Judging by his reaction, he must not have heard a word about my kick-ass tattoo this week at work.

“My tattoo. Do you like it?”

“Very much. It suits you.” His voice was soft as his finger continued to trace it.

“Thank you,” I whispered, completely touched by the fact that he got why I wanted that tattoo.

“Féileacán,” he murmured almost absently.

“Pardon?”

“Féileacán. It’s Gaelic for butterfly.”

“Féileacán,” I repeated the word, but it didn’t sound nearly as good coming off my tongue as it did his. “I like it.”

He hummed in response then went back to teasing me with soft touches.

While I lay there, his hand traveled lower, caressing my ass cheek before dipping between my legs to stroke my inner thigh. Each sweep of his hand drew closer and closer to where I wanted him most, but he never hit the spot much to my dismay.

I rolled to my side, dislodging his hand in the process. Now that I was facing him, my hand was free to roam over his skin as well. Which it did with relish, taking in every bump and groove of his muscular chest and toned abs.

His hand stroked up my outer thigh, then up higher on my hip, to my waist, and then settled on my chest. He cupped my breast and his thumb swept back and forth across my nipple, hardening it into a peak and making me squirm with need. My legs turned restless between the sheets and my breathing became heavier.

“You ready for me?” he asked, his forefinger joining his thumb to tug on my nipple and shoot a bolt of desire straight between my legs.

“Yes,” I moaned.

“Let’s check to be sure.” His hand left my breast to skim down my belly and between my legs where a finger dipped inside my body. “Oh, you’re ready.”

I leaned forward, seeking his mouth, but I was met with air when he rolled to his back, pulling me on top of him.

“Your turn to do the work,” he informed me. His hand gripped my legs and yanked them up so I was straddling him, and I had to admit I kind of liked it when he manhandled me that way.

“You sure you deserve it?” I asked with a coy little tilt of my head.

“Five orgasms last night didn’t earn me that?” His eyes were lit as he quirked his eyebrow playfully, and I had to smother my jubilant expression that I got to witness a playful Xavier. The girls would die if they knew this side of him existed.

“Well, let’s see.” I squinted my left eye and curled my lip in mock thought, but my ass wiggled backward, finding Xavier hard and ready. With no other words, I sank down over him. My head fell back as I was overwhelmed from being so full of him.

Xavier’s hands gripped my waist as I lifted up and then sank back down over him, slowly at first. With his hands guiding me, I began riding him harder. As the pressure in my core started radiating up through my body, my movements became more out of control as I bucked and circled my hips on top of him.

“That’s it,” he whispered, his finger going between us and running along our connection before honing in on my ultra-sensitive clit. Within minutes, my body stilled as I came in a blinding rush. My eyes rolled into my head and I cried out loudly when Xavier’s hands on my hips slammed me down on him, his hips thrusting up brutally.

When I came back to earth, I leaned forward and with one hand on the headboard, my other planted in the bed to hold me up, I took over the movements, wanting to give him something beautiful like he had just given me.

I was rewarded when he slammed me down on him, his hands digging into my hips and holding me in place as he groaned through his climax.

Dropping my upper body down on his chest, my arms at my sides, I snuggled into the light smatter of hair on his chest, enjoying my spot on top of him.

His hands came up and moved idly over my skin, and I practically purred like a kitten from contentment.

“I like your house,” I said conversationally as he lulled me into a near comatose state with his tender touches.

“Good.”

“The house you had rented—”

“Was next door,” he finished with a bit of a bite to his tone. Okay, it would seem he didn’t appreciate the reminder of my turning down his offer. Deciding I didn’t want to ruin my post-coital bliss, I changed the subject.

“What made you decide to run The Den?” Odd subject, I know, but I had been curious since the day I’d stumbled into The Den about what made someone turn pimp. Plus, no one knew anything about Xavier or what made him tick. He was a mystery that I was intent on solving.

Xavier didn’t answer, and I guessed this was his way of telling me he wasn’t going to. Figuring we’d get back to that another time, I decided to go a little lighter.

“When’s your birthday?”

“Why?” he asked warily.

I lifted my head and grinned, saying, “I’m curious.”

“August eighteenth.” Mentally calculating the date, I realized we had just missed his birthday by less than a week.

“I missed your birthday,” I pouted. “I didn’t even get you a present.”

His hand cupped my jaw and his thumb ran over my plumped out lower lip. “I think this was present enough.”

Time stopped with his compliment. I swear my lungs forgot how to work and my heart stopped beating.

Oh. Wow. Okay. Alright. What did I do with that?

With no answer to that question and afraid to ruin the moment, I didn’t respond. Instead I said, “Sucks I have to go to work today.”

Xavier’s body tensed and I raised my head to see a hostile look on his face.

“What?” I asked when he didn’t say anything.

“No more clients, Aurora. No one gets to touch, taste, or fuck what’s mine,” he declared.

“Am I yours?” I asked breathlessly.

“For as long as you’re in my bed, yeah.”

I felt a grimace form on my face and my brows draw together. I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Don’t fall in love with me,” he whispered with a ferocity that startled me. “That look on your face says it all. You’re disappointed by what I said, but it’s the truth. I don’t do relationships. We can fuck and we can enjoy each other. Don’t expect any more.”

I wasn’t a fanciful woman by any stretch of the imagination, but every girl at some point in her life had notions of the white knight riding in to sweep her off her feet. Xavier might not have been a white knight, but he felt an awful lot like a dark knight to me. He made me feel safe and cherished, even if he didn’t realize it. I hadn’t had that in a really long time, if ever. What was so wrong with wanting more of it? Last night and today had been spectacular up until this conversation.

“I see those wheels turning in that pretty little head of yours,” he warned. “Don’t. Do. It.”

“I won’t,” I hastily told him even though I wasn’t sure how someone was supposed to just turn feelings off on a whim. There was no way I was going to walk away from him now. I would just have to worry about it when we crossed that bridge, and I was almost positive we would.

His body relaxed marginally at my consent, so I lowered my head back to his chest while his hands resumed caressing my back.

“I owe Marx an apology,” I mumbled several minutes later.

He stilled his hands and bit out, “You owe him shit.”

I lifted my head again so he could see how serious I was about this. “I do too. I was on a date with him. One that you ruined, by the way.”

“Are you complaining about the outcome?” His eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“No. I guess not,” I mumbled, causing him to chuckle.

“Didn’t think so."

Lying in a companionable silence, I hadn’t even realized how much time had passed until Xavier’s phone started ringing on the other side of the room.

I rolled off him while he got out of bed and padded naked to where it lay under his discarded clothes from the night before.

Before he answered it, he said, “Why don’t you go shower while I take this?” It was worded as a suggestion, but I knew it was anything but. Knowing that the call must be private, I chose not to give him any lip and did what I was told.

With my back to him, I missed the softness on his face and the burning intensity in his eyes. Even if I had seen it, I wouldn’t have understood why it was there. But if I had known that it was because I was the first woman in fifteen years who’d given Xavier exactly what he needed without thought, not just physically but emotionally, I would have bent myself over backwards to find ways to make him feel that way forever.

“What are you doing?”

At Xavier’s words, I lifted my head from my phone and looked him over. He was wearing pinstriped navy blue pants with a periwinkle dress shirt tucked in. His hair was damp from his recent shower, curling around his collar. His attention was focused on his fingers closing the buttons at his cuffs.

I could look at this view every day for the rest of my life and never tire of it. He was quite simply magnificent.

Forcing myself to stop checking him out, I answered, “Changing your name in my phone.”

“Why?”

“So no one will know who I’m talking to.” I bent my head and my fingers flew over the keys on the screen.

We had decided not to give the girls any ammunition against me by putting our non-relationship out there for judgment and prying eyes. Xavier had also hinted that it was important for him to have no ties out on the streets. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what that meant, but I had a vague idea.

“You think we’re going to talk a lot?” Amusement threaded his voice, and when I glanced up at him, his lips were tipped up ever so slightly.

“A bunch,” I announced with flourish. “All the time. I’m going to drive you crazy.”

At that, he threw his head back and roared with laughter. I sat on the bed, my mouth gaping in amazement, and watched the sight. I had heard him chuckle before, but never an uninhibited out-and-out laugh like that. When he sobered, he leaned on the bed with his fists on either side of my hips and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. “You already do.”

I smiled at that. What could I say?

“So what did you name me?” He went on, his head dipping to my phone.

“Leo?”

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Why?”

“For Leo, you know, the Lion? It’s your astrological sign. And you let out a mighty roar like a lion when you come.” I giggled at the incredulous expression on his face.

“What am I going to do with you?” he muttered more to himself than to me.

His hands took mine and pulled me up from the bed. “I can think of a few things.”

Pulling me into his body, his hands ran down my back and gripped my ass, pressing me to him where I could very much feel the evidence that he knew exactly the things I had in mind.

“Nuh-uh.” I tsked and pulled his hands off my body. “I’ve got to go.”

Xavier’s growl followed me as I strutted out the door in my sexy dress and heels with a triumphant smile on my face.

A group of men had just come into The Den as I made my rounds around the room, offering different gentlemen a drink and flirting my ass off to increase my tips.

While Xavier and I hadn’t really gotten into the specifics of our non-relationship, I was going to honor his request and not take on any clients. Considering I had a plan, this change-up made me uneasy and I knew we were going to have to work out the details of our arrangement soon.

No way was I going to let a man derail my attempts at having a better life with my daughter. Even if that man was a walking, talking sex God who made my heart beat wildly and my pussy quiver with just a look.

Opting against my typical lingerie that night, I wore a pair of boy shorts that barely covered my ass cheeks along with a halter-style half shirt that stopped a few inches above my belly button and gave a glimpse of deep cleavage whenever I bent over. While it covered more skin than usual, it was a big hit with the men who enjoyed a woman keeping a little something to the imagination.

Xavier appreciated my change in wardrobe as well if the scorching looks he kept sending my way from where he sat at the bar were anything to go off of. I could feel his eyes on me the entire two hours he had been sitting there.

If anyone questioned why the boss was hanging out for so long, no one asked. Although Cherry did look rather engrossed with eye fucking him. I didn’t even bother to get annoyed with it. She was a stupid bitch if she thought he’d ever be into her.

I had to stop myself from going over to him. What I would do once I got there was a tossup—touching, tasting, talking or fucking, they all held their merits.

“A,” Daisy called out just as my foot hit the bottom step leading up to the platform where I was about to go dance for Xavier.

“What’s up?” I asked her when she joined me.

“The group of guys over there?” She pointed to the men who had just come in and I nodded. “The one with the blue shirt and the baby face is sixteen and get this... a virgin! His brother is paying for a bunch of us girls to initiate him into manhood. You want in?”

At the thought of sleeping with a minor, my lips curled in disgust. Even if I hadn’t promised Xavier, there was no way in hell I would ever stoop so low.

“His brother is like loaded. Any girl who participates gets a five-hundred-dollar bonus,” she went on as if I wasn’t ready to throw up on her six-inch stilettos. “He’s going to watch of course.”

Even better.

“Thanks, but no.” I couldn’t hide the disgust in my voice and she immediately looked taken aback by it.

“What crawled up your ass?”

“Sorry, but I find nothing appealing about taking that young boy’s innocence.” Okay, maybe I poured that on a bit thick, but it was still true.

“He’s practically an adult,” she scoffed. “He’ll be seventeen next week, which in case you were wondering is the legal age of consent. You go enjoy your pole—” she gestured to the stage “—and I’ll go enjoy mine. At least I’ll be making a few extra bucks doing it.”

She stormed away and I felt a little bad considering Daisy and I had formed a tentative friendship. One that I figured was now broken thanks to my disapproving judgment.

I tried dancing after that, but my heart just wasn’t in it. After informing Ghost I was taking a break, I made my way to the lounge area and plopped down on the couch, grateful none of the other girls were in there.

The reminder that most of them were servicing the virgin made my stomach turn.

I wasn’t sure why I was so opposed to it. Maybe it had something to do with all the young kids I saw in foster care who were in too much of a rush to grow up. Or maybe it was the fact that kids deserved to find themselves by fumbling around in a backseat with some girl or boy who’s more their age. Not twenty– and thirty-something women who had more experience than all the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders combined.

The door opened and I cracked my eye open to see who it was, my heart instantly lighter thanks to the sight of the dark-haired man who now knew every inch of my body.

“Hey,” I breathed.

“Hey. Your feet hurt?” He sat on the couch next to me and pulled my feet into his lap.

“No, why?” I moaned when he removed a shoe and began rubbing my foot.

“You stopped dancing abruptly and then disappeared. I was worried.”

God, he was sweet. I was afraid to point that out, though, in case he stopped the delicious pressure he was putting on the arch of my foot.

“I got into an argument with Daisy, so I’m sulking,” I explained.

His hands stilled their motion, so I wriggled my toes to get him to continue. “What kind of argument?”

“She asked me if I wanted to partake in the devirginizing ceremony.”

“And you said…”

“I said no of course. For one, you wouldn’t want me to, which we need to talk about, by the way, and for two, it’s gross. I’m twenty-four years old. I have no right being with a sixteen-year-old.”

His fingers resumed their work and his body relaxed. “Good.”

“Did you miss the part where I said we need to discuss my not taking on clients?”

“No.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because regardless of what we talk about the result is still going to be the same. You aren’t doing it. End of discussion.”

“Not the end of discussion,” I argued. “I still have to make money, Xavier. While I can appreciate that a territorial man such as yourself might have a problem with other men spending time with me, it is still my job and what is expected of me.”

“Easy, then. You’re fired. Now you have no excuse to let other men touch you,” he declared, and I thought my head might explode.

“You can’t fire me!” I pulled my foot from his lap and stood up, a little lopsidedly thanks to my lack of shoe. “You’re insane.”

“Fine. You can dance and that’s it. Take it or leave it.” He casually shrugged and then stood up as well, squaring off against me and making me lose my advantage of looking down on him.

“And how am I supposed to save money for Sophie’s future? Huh?” I drilled my finger in his chest to emphasize just how angry he was making me.

“You’ll still make money. Were your tips not good enough before?” He quirked his eyebrow almost as if in a challenge. To what I wasn’t sure. But I was going to go full steam ahead with my rant whether he liked it or not.

“They were fine, but the jobs are what bring in the bread and butter. It’s what will put a nice roof over my daughter’s head and will get me out of this life faster,” I said, not paying attention to the fact I was giving away the whole truth as to why I wanted money.

“You want out?” he asked darkly, his mood plummeting us both into an inferno.

“What?” My voice cracked as his hard expression made me nervous.

“You want out? Fine. There’s the door.”

“You don’t understand—” I tried.

“Then follow my rules, Aurora. I don’t want men touching you. This isn’t an option. Either you do what you’re told or you can walk. I’m not one of these lovesick fools watching you night after night strutting your sexy little ass up on that stage hoping you’ll give me the time of day.”

I was flattered by his description of my ass and the fact that men fell in love with it. It was, however, overshadowed by his threat.

“Don’t threaten me.” I straightened my spine.

“What option are you taking?” He gritted through clenched teeth. He was still obviously angry and I couldn’t quite figure out exactly why. You would think he’d want me out of the life given the fact that he wouldn’t let men touch me, tried to give me a house on the lake and was now sleeping with me.

“I’m staying, but not because you told me I have to. Or because I need the money. I’m staying because I like it here. I like the girls. I like Ghost. And I sometimes like you.”

I snatched my shoe from the couch and stomped as best I could with only one shoe on towards the door. Xavier’s arms wrapped around my middle and pulled my back flush against his chest. His lips lightly kissed my neck and despite myself I melted into him.

“I’ll think of a way for you to make better money while not driving me out of my mind.” At that promise, all the remaining fight left my body and I sagged in his embrace.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

With one last kiss to my neck, he let me go. His hand swatted my ass and then he said, “Get back to work.”

And even though he deserved to be slapped, I found myself laughing.

Then I went back to work, but I did it with a smile.