He eventually pulls back and looks down at my stunned face. ‘Marry me.’ he demands softly.
‘You can’t ask me that when I’m handcuffed to the bed!’ I splutter. Jesus, what if I say no? Is he going to fuck some sense into me while he’s at it?
Holy shit! He would as well!
‘Does someone need some sense fucking into them?’ he says quietly, and then takes my lips again.
I’m completely stunned. He can’t fuck a yes out of me for this! I inwardly laugh because he absolutely could and he probably would.
He pulls back, drops his eyes and sighs. ‘That was a joke, a very badly timed joke.’ He starts chewing his lip and the cogs start whirling around in that beautiful mind of his. He eventually looks back at me, and I try to rid my face of its fixed stunned expression. It’s hard. He’s cuffed me to the bed, masturbated on me, come in my mouth and then demanded I marry him? This man really is crazy mad. I lay beneath him, absolutely astounded, no obvious replies popping into my head.
‘You completely consume me, Ava. I can’t function without you. I’m totally addicted to you, baby.’ His voice is soft and unsure. My confident, domineering ex-playboy is nervous. ‘You own me. Marry me.’
I stare up in his painfully handsome face, still in complete shock. I didn’t see that coming, not in a million years. I only really decided last night that I would move in, although Jesse, in that crazy mind of his, had me moved in a week ago. He’s frantically chewing his lip and watching me as I try to figure out what is happening. I’m twenty six years old, he’s thirty seven. Why am I thinking about our age difference now? It’s never mattered before. What I should be more concerned about is his challenging ways. I’m not even going to consider that he will change if I agree to marry him. He’s never going to change, but that’s who he is, that is part of the man I love.
‘Okay.’ The whispered word falls out of my mouth without much thought at all. This is the natural progression for us. It may be a bit premature, but whether he asks me now or in a year, the answer will always be the same. ‘You’re my life.’ I add, just to reinforce my love for him. I want to be stuck to him forever, even with all of his challenging ways. I love him. I need him.
The stunned expression that was riddling my face has now made its way onto Jesse’s, and the cogs are spinning so fast I can see them beginning to smoke. ‘Yes?’ he asks quietly.
‘It’s instinctive.’ I shrug and then realise that I’m still handcuffed to the bed. ‘No sense fuck required. Can you let me go now?’
He flies into a panic and jumps up to retrieve the key from the bedside table, making quick work of undoing the cuffs. I grasp my wrists to rub some life back into them, but I’m soon disturbed when I’m dragged up from under him and completely engulfed in his body as he squeezes me to him. Did he think I would say no?
Holy fucking shit! I’ve just agreed to marry this controlling, neurotic ex-playboy and I’ve known him for a matter of weeks. Oh God, my parents are going to burst a blood vessel.
He falls back onto the bed, taking me with him and buries his face in my neck. He has a vice grip on me and I haven’t got the heart or inclination to tell him to ease up. I’m not going anywhere – not ever now.
‘I’m going to make you so happy.’ His voice is broken.
I wriggle a little to free myself, but he keeps his face exactly where it is. I work harder, prizing myself from him until I find his eyes. They’re glazed. ‘You already make me happy.’ I smooth his face and wipe my thumb under his eye, collecting a stray tear. ‘Why are you crying?’ I battle the quiver in my throat that has my own voice unsteady.
He shakes his head mildly and rubs frantic palms over his face. ‘See what you do to me?’ He reaches up to clasp my face and brings it down to his, resting his forehead on mine. ‘I can’t believe you’re in my life, I can’t believe you’re mine. You are so, so precious to me, baby.’ His eyes dart across my face and his hands smooth across my cheeks, as if ensuring I’m real.
‘You’re precious to me too.’ I say quietly. I hope he comprehends how precious. He’s everything…my complete world.
He smiles mildly. ‘Are we friends?’
‘Always.’ I return his smile.
‘Good, my work here is done,’ He rolls us over so he’s cradled between my thighs, and then slowly sinks into me. ‘Now, we have sleepy celebration sex.’ He reaches for the remote control and turns the music off. ‘I only want to hear you when you come for me.’ He drops his mouth and moans as I accept his lips and he grabs my hands, holding them above my head. He rears back and pushes forward.
‘That was a proposal fuck.’ I say around his mouth, and I feel him smile against my lips, but he doesn’t say anything, or reprimand me on my language. He just seeps in and out at the most dreamy pace, plunging deeply, swiveling his hips gently and pulling back.
My earlier blissful state is re-captured as the coils reload and prepare to release, his leisurely drives and grinding hips working their usual magic on my body.
He pulls back from my mouth, carrying on with his luscious thrusts. ‘You’ll be Mrs Ward.’ His minty breath heats my face as he gazes down at me.
‘I will.’ That will be strange.
‘You’ll be mine forever.’
‘I already am.’ That ship has long sailed.
He clenches his eyes shut as I feel the hints of his imminent orgasm thumping inside me, pushing my own climax forward. ‘I’m going to worship you every day for the rest of my life.’ He shoots forward. ‘Jesus!’
‘Oh God.’ I breathe, stiffening beneath him, my quivering core accelerating into fast, continuous pulsations.
He pumps forward again and again, kissing me desperately and growling on his forceful grinds, keeping my hands above my head as he plunges incessantly into me. He snaps on a yell and I wrap my legs around his hips, pulling him in closer, which pushes me into a free-fall of intense trembling as lightning attacks my whole body, leaving me panting and sweating underneath him. His head drops into my neck, his breathing erratic and shallow.
‘I can’t breathe,’ he says, releasing my hands. They immediately wrap around his warm, solid back and I liquefy under him. I feel his head lift, creeping up the side of my face until he finds my lips. ‘I crazy love you, baby. I’m glad we’re friends.’
I smile as he rolls us over and I’m astride his waist. I place my hands on his chest and he covers them with his as I lazily circle my hips on him. ‘I know you do. If I’m going to marry you, you have to answer some questions.’ I use an assertive voice that’s the equivalent to his dare to defy me tone. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s worth a shot.
His eyebrows jump up. ‘I do, do I?’
‘Yes, you do.’ I say haughtily. There are certain things I need to know. I couldn’t give a toss about his past sexual conquests. Knowing exactly how many there are isn’t going to achieve much, apart from raging jealousy on my part.
‘Come on then, spit it out. What do you want to know?’ He sighs heavily, and I scowl at him. ‘Sorry.’ He has the decency to look apologetic. He keeps his hands over mine, resting on his chest.
‘Who was that woman last night?’
‘Coral.’ he says flatly, with no hesitation, like he completely expected the question.
I roll my eyes. ‘I know her name is Coral. Who is she?’
‘She’s the wife of the nasty little fucker who got ejected from The Manor the day you found the communal room.’
Oh? I cast my mind back to that wretched day and remember the snide, spiteful creature hurling harsh words at Jesse. He’ll fuck me off like he did his wife? Leave a trail of shit?
‘You had an affair with her?’ I blurt, as the obviousness of it lands in my brain.
‘No.’ He shakes his head on a frown. ‘They came to me to source someone to participate in a threesome.’
I recoil slightly. He doesn’t have to tell me anymore than that. Jesse sourced himself. ‘You?’ I whisper. He nods, almost ashamedly. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘She asked me to.’
‘She fell in love with you.’
His eyes widen a little at my conclusion. It’s obvious. He shifts uncomfortably beneath me. ‘I guess she did.’
Oh, this has opened a whole new can of further questions. I’m not so surprised that she fell in love with him. It’s her surprise visit to The Manor last night and the amount of time Jesse was in his office with her that I want to know about. ‘What did she want yesterday? You were gone for a long time.’
He takes a deep breath and pins me with determined eyes. ‘She left Mike…for me. I don’t know why. I never gave her any reason to believe I wanted her like that,’ He pauses momentarily to assess my reaction. I’m not sure how I feel. He still hasn’t told me why she was at The Manor. He sighs. ‘He’s thrown her out, took her car and seized her cards. She has nothing.’
‘She came to you for help?’ I ask.
‘Yes.’
‘And what did you say?’ I’m not sure I’m going to like the answer to this question.