‘You’re amazing.’
I don’t know what feels better, the warm water beating down on my sore and weary muscles, or Brock’s strong hands as he washes me. Nobody has ever washed me before. There’s something so erotic, yet beautiful, about it. I’m not used to this attentiveness, but it’s something I could easily get used to.
‘You have the most incredible skin,’ he says as his mouth trails kisses down my neck and his hands cup my breasts.
‘I’ll never forget the time we’ve spent together.’
‘Neither will I,’ he says with a grin. ‘You say that like it’s so final. I don’t want this to be the end of us, Jade. I want to see you again. Not just here in New York, but once we’re back in Sydney as well.’
Tears sting my eyes at his words. If only. I wish that more than anything, but I know it’s impossible. Fisting my hands in his hair, I bring his mouth down to mine. I want to savour every second we still have. I don’t want to ruin it by telling him I can’t see him anymore.
He backs me up against the tiles and deepens the kiss. As tender as I’m feeling, I need to have that connection with him one more time. Lifting my leg, I slip it around his waist. He growls into my mouth as he lifts my other leg off the ground and hooks it over his hip before sliding inside me.
‘I don’t think I’ll ever get my fill of you,’ he breathes as he withdraws to the tip before pushing all the way back in. I know I’ll never get my fill of him either.
Brock insists on walking me back to my room after breakfast. He had a mini freak-out when he realised we hadn’t used protection in the shower. ‘I’ve never done anything so careless before. I’m so sorry, Jade.’
He calmed down once I assured him I was on birth control. Although all my clients must use protection, M made me have a hormone implant inserted in my arm as a safeguard against pregnancy. Neither Brock nor I have ever had unprotected sex before, so I knew we were both safe in that department as well.
We ate breakfast wrapped only in our towels. He sat me on his lap and fed me. It was the sweetest moment I’d ever experienced. My heart felt heavy when it was time to get dressed and leave. I tried my best to hide that from him.
‘My panties,’ I’d said when I gathered up my clothes that were still sitting in a pile just inside the door.
‘I ruined them when I ripped them off that luscious body of yours, remember?’
‘But where are they?’
‘They may have found their way into my suitcase,’ he told me with a devious smile. ‘I guess they decided they wanted to come home with me.’
His brazenness made me laugh. Then I scooped his black boxers off the floor.
‘I guess these are coming home with me then.’ When he playfully wrestled me to the ground trying to snatch them out of my hand, I laughed until I could hardly breathe. In the end he let me keep them anyway.
‘I’ll be at the office for most of the morning,’ he says when we reach my suite, pulling me into his arms. ‘Can we do lunch when I get back?’
‘When Rupert wakes, I’ll ask him,’ I reply. ‘Thank you for taking me on the most wonderful date. I’ll never forget it.’
‘It’s only the beginning of what lies ahead for us, Jade.’
I close my eyes and fight back the tears when his lips meet mine.
The beginning of the end.
The moment I enter my room, I flop face first onto the bed, and let the tears finally fall. I’m not sure how long I lay there, but I’m eventually pulled back into reality by a knock on my door. Rupert.
Flinging the door open, I fall into his arms. I’m reminded of the last time I’d done this, but this time my heart was breaking for totally different reasons.
Placing his hands on my shoulder, he gently pushes me back. ‘What did he do to you?’ he asks. The rage is clear on his face.
‘Nothing,’ I assure him. ‘It was wonderful—he was wonderful.’
‘Then why all the tears?’
‘Because you know as well as I do that nothing can ever come of this.’
‘Oh, Jade,’ he says, pulling me into his chest. ‘I’m sorry I put you in this position.’
‘Don’t be. Without you, I never would’ve experienced the most magical night of my life. I just hate that this has to be the end of us.’
‘I wish I could get you away from M,’ he whispers as his embrace tightens. I love him for saying that. ‘I hate that she has this control on your life.’
He holds me until the tears stop. ‘Can you call M and tell her I’m sick or something? I need to go home, Rupert. If I stay here any longer, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to walk away with my heart intact.’