5 Nights (Sinful Delights Romance - Boxed Set) (30 page)

Lifting her hand to stroke his cheek, she smiled languidly, still enjoying the aftermath of being loved so well.  Still embedded deeply, she realized that being connected with him this way was more than just a physical fulfillment.  Maybe her own inexperience was clouding the truth, but she couldn't imagine two people sharing such an incredible union without the heart being involved as well.

Remembering why she was here, he slid from her flesh, and tried to contain his emotions.  Picking up his discarded clothes, he dressed quickly, not glancing back until the task was completed.  "You pleased me well tonight, Jessie girl."  The words came out harshly as he fought to hide the emotions he longed to share with her.

The reality of his words sank home, and she slid from the table, feeling ashamed at what they'd just done.  Obviously, she was the only one who had felt emotionally connected as they’d made love tonight. Chiding herself mentally for allowing herself to call what they did making love, she amended the term to ‘screwed’.  Which was what she was at the moment: one-hundred percent screwed.  Wanting to be as callous as he had been with his words, she retorted, "Glad I could be of service." 

He watched as she stomped back toward the dressing curtain, completely perplexed by the anger in her words.  He'd given her what she obviously needed, so why did she seem ready to kick him in the nuts instead of pleased by the compliment he’d given her?  When she returned, fully dressed, he was still trying to understand what he'd
done wrong tonight.  There was no way she hadn't enjoyed it: her body’s response had been vivid proof of that.  He certainly wasn't prepared for the words she threw at him next.

"I'm sure this is how you enjoy getting your rocks off, Chase, but I can't do this.  I thought I could, but I'm not this person."  Never in her life had she been this emotional, not even when her ex had confessed he was a closet homosexual.  "You might be great in bed, but if that's all you have to offer, then I'm just not interested.”  After her much needed outburst, she stormed from the room, glad that for once in her life she’d spoken her mind.

His mouth hung open for a few seconds, and he stood rooted to the spot in stunned silence.  What the hell was she talking about?  She was the one who was looking for someone to fulfill her sexual cravings; he wanted more.  The woman obviously had no damn idea what she wanted. He marched after her, finally realizing she was leaving before they had a chance to discuss what happened tonight.

She didn't slow down her pace as she made her way back to the car.  What the hell had she been thinking? She derided herself. She wasn't the type of woman who could have casual sex with a man and be all right with it.  And what they'd done was even more than that.  What kind of sick, twisted mentality made a man want to dom
inate a woman and who was she that she'd actually enjoyed the perverse pleasure he'd shown her tonight? Opening her door angrily, she had one idea in mind: Get the hell out of here and never return again.

He grabbed her arm as she was about to get in the car, without thinking of anything other than not allowing her to leave this way.  "Jessie, we need to talk about what happened here tonight." He kept his voice calm, knowing that if he couldn't control his emotions, no rational conversation would be taking place.

Attempting to pull her arm out of his firm grasp, and failing, she felt her anger intensify.  "No, what I need is to get the hell away from you, Chase."  This wasn't her world, and he wasn't the man she wished he could be. She fought back tears and tugged on her arm again, wanting to put as much space between them as humanly possible.

He wasn't relenting. She was not in any type of emotional state to drive home safely.  If she didn't want to discuss what had happened like a rational adult, he was at least driving her home.  Pulling her away from the door, he closed it and took the keys she was holding in her other hand.  "If you don't want to talk, then get in my car.  I'm taking you home.”

"Screw you, Chase. Give me my damn keys and let me leave."  She was beyond rational thinking at the moment, and just wanted to get away from him so she could think.  Tears trickled down her cheeks and she angrily swiped them away with the back of her hand. 

What the hell was going on here? There was no doubt in his mind that she was not thinking clearly and he sure as hell wasn't giving her keys to a car at the moment.  "If you'll stop acting like a child for a moment and calm down, I'll get you home safely." 

"You are such a domineering prick," she all but screamed, wanting her keys back and wishing she had the nerve to slap his face for being so unfeeling. 

Floored at the anger in his words, he released her arm.  "Obviously I'm missing something here, because I thought we enjoyed each other tonight."  Wasn't that what she'd wanted? He was confused.

Rolling her eyes, she stalked over to his car, shaking her head.  How could any man be so dense? "Just take me home since you've obviously confiscated my car for the night."  She didn't want to talk to him. She wanted to lock herself in her safe little world and forget he ever existed. 

He didn't argue with her as she slid into the passenger seat of his car.  Turning over the ignition, he gripped the steering wheel tightly, forcing himself not to demand she give him some explanation for her strange behavior.  She stared out the window for the entire ride back to her apartment, and he wanted to take her over his knee for being so damn stubborn.   Before he pulled up in front of her complex, he made one last comment. 
"When you've calmed down Jessie, we should talk about why you're so angry." 

Keeping her head turned from him, she waited until he stopped the car to respond, then said, "Go to hell, Chase." Sliding out of the vehicle, she all but ran to her apartment.  Then she realized she didn't even have her keys to let herself in.

Taking a frustrated breath, he walked to her door, and held out the keys to her.  She snatched them from his hands without once glancing his way.  As the door slammed in his face, he turned back around and decided that whatever the hell was going through that mind of hers would have to wait until she was willing to be reasonable again. 

14 A woman's perspective

He made it to work with his mind still on last night.  But he forced himself to push thoughts of Jessie to the back of his mind for the morning. There were a million things to do.  The club had been a vacation compared to running his father’s business.  At lunch, he left a message for Jessie to call him so they could talk, but he had little time to check his service in the afternoon, as dozens of employees bombarded his office, worried about their employment status now that his father was no longer in charge.

By six that evening he was ready for some down time, and his head was pounding with thoughts of issues raised at the staff meeting.  He'd been away from this for a few years, so catching up and proving his leadership skills was going to be a challenge.  When he finally had a minute to himself, he listened to his voice mail, and was disappointed she hadn't returned his call.

He knew letting her cool down before he attempted contact again was the smart thing to do.  Carolyn had invited him for drinks tonight, and he considered cancelling since his stress level was so high, but then decided he couldn't do that after everything she'd done for him lately.

After grabbing his suit jacket from his chair, he made his way over to her house, hoping she'd understand when he begged off early to get some much needed rest.  He certainly hadn't slept last night after the insanity with Jessie.  Even his dreams had been filled with the raven-haired beauty. 

"You look like hell, Chase," Carolyn said, letting him in. 

"Corporate life." He forced a grin as he walked with her to the den, familiar enough with her home to know his own way.

After pouring him a scotch and water on the rocks, she walked over, handed it to him, before moving back to the bar to fix a martini.  "Want to talk about it?"

She joined him on the couch, and he tried to decide if he wanted to bring up the subject.  They'd always been upfront with each other, and the only reason he was concerned now was because he wasn't sure what to say. For a man who prided himself on self-discipline, he was floundering lately.

He took a healthy drink of his scotch, and she raised a questioning brow.  "I know it's still new, Chase, but your father's passing will get easier." 

"Dad lived a good life before that illness found him, Carolyn, and I'm coming to peace with that.  It's Jessie I just don't understand."  He shouldn't be burdening her with his problems, but she was one of the few people in his life he could talk to.

"What happened? I know you were trying to get in touch with her." 

"Honestly, I have no idea what's going on in that woman's mind.  We had some great nights together and then she disappeared for a week, and when she came back, I'd already accepted that she was just looking for a little sexual adventure.  I gave her a great night in the dungeon and after our fun, well; she acted like I'd taken advantage of her."  He still didn't understand why she was so angry, and since she hadn't returned his call, he wasn't sure he ever would.

Sitting back on the couch, her mouth fell open.  "Let me get this straight, you think Jessie just wanted casual sex?"

"That's the impression I got, yes."  Shrugging his shoulders, he took a deep sip of his scotch.

Shaking her head, she laughed disbelievingly.  "That doesn't really fit the impression Amanda gave me about Jessie.  To be honest I thought she was still a virgin.  Something isn't adding up."

Taking another sip of his scotch, he explained their few nights together, knowing Carolyn wasn't the type of person to repeat what they discussed here.  He didn't leave out details. They'd discussed their relationships in the past; there were few secrets between them.

"So let me get this straight.  This woman was a virgin and had all this emotional crap in her past because of a boyfriend who finally admitted his true nature, and you thought it was all about sex for her?"  Shaking her head she gave him a look that spoke volumes.

When she put it that way, it didn't make sense to him either, and he wondered if he'd completely misjudged the feelings Jessie had for him.  "You don't think this was about sex at all, do you?"  He really didn't need for her to admit he'd been a dumb-ass.  When he thought about the night more carefully, he realized only a blind fool would have not understood what had happened.

"I love you as a friend and admire you as a dominant, but Chase, at the moment you need your ass kicked for not being more observant."  Lifting her lip in a sneer, she chided him.  "It doesn't take a genius to figure out a woman doesn't wait all that time to give it up to a man she doesn't at least feel something for." 

He didn't know much about how women felt about their first experiences. Virgins weren't exactly commonplace in his world of sexual pleasures, but what Carolyn was saying made perfect sense.  "So you're telling me I've been a complete ass and should crawl over to her
place on my hands and knees and beg her forgiveness?"  That thought may have bothered him if it had been anyone other than Jessie.

"It's not my place to tell you what you should do, but if nothing else, you should apologize for not taking the time to understand her better.  That's really not like you, Chase. I've seen how compassionate you are with submissive's.  Hell, my slaves would love to have me so concerned with their needs."  She chuckled

"I'll be honest, Carolyn, I haven't thought clearly since the night I first met her.  You know me. I care for the people I play with, but I've never felt anything with anyone like this before.  With Jessie, I find myself unable to concentrate at all."

"It sounds to me like you've fallen in love." Laughing softly, she sipped on her martini and watched his expression.

The moment she said the word love, everything seemed to fall in place.  He was acting like a man in love, he thought, and it shocked him to his very core.  Jealous, possessive, wanting to stake his claim--any creature in nature reacted the same way when it took a mate.  Throwing his head back, he chuckled deeply. 

Carolyn joined in his laughter.  "You know this is what makes females the superior race right?  The ability to understand emotions. You men may never get that one."  She elbowed him, looking superior.

"Understanding emotions and being able to restrain them when needed are two separate things," he joked back, knowing that statement always got her ire up.  "This makes the male more superior because we can temper our emotions when dealing with situations that require a clear head."  He smirked, but was more than impressed at how easily she understood what he was feeling when he himself hadn't been able to come to a resolution.