Promise of Forever (9 page)

CHAPTE
R TWELVE

Chloe

I was still upset when I went to the restroom after our encounter with Amber. I didn’t know why she had that effect on me, and I didn’t like the jealous and angry person that came out of me when she was around.

I stared at myself in the mirror in the restroom and tried to remind myself that she didn’t matter, that I was better than her and needed to rise above the pettiness.

“We are adults now, Chloe,” I said to my reflection. “You have Jax, the guy you want to be with for the rest of your life. She can’t touch that. She has nothing on you now.”

Feeling a lot better, I went into one of the stalls. But just as I locked the stall door behind me, I heard a familiar voice as the bathroom door opened.

“Steph, so I’m at this bar for Jackson’s birthday—yes,
the
Jackson completely-fuckable Pierce!” Amber started to giggle. “Right? So hot!”

It was Amber on a call with Steph. I knew that name well. Steph was one of Amber’s minions in their “mean girl” clique.

I was about to unlock the stall door and break up their conversation, but stopped myself when I heard her say my name.

“Anyway, guess who’s also here? No, guess. Dirty Girl Chloe!” Amber started laughing hysterically. “Can you believe Jackson’s with her, of all people? Gag me now. Ugh. I mean, it’s no wonder though. I mean, now that I’m finally off the market, he’s finally hit rock bottom.”

At that point, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I opened the door and walked out of the stall.

For a brief second, Amber’s eyes grew wide when she saw me through the reflection. But she recovered quickly and a smirk appeared on her face.

“Steph, I’ll call you back,” she said before hanging up the phone.

“You’re such a fucking bitch, Amber.”

She just smiled and looked me up and down. “Wow, Chloe. This is a new low for you.”

I glared at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Well I was having a private conversation just now. But you obviously stayed in that bathroom stall so you can eavesdrop on me.” She pursed her lips and shook her head with disappointment. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?” Then her expression changed, like she’d just remembered something. “Oh yeah, that’s right, you didn’t have any parents to teach you anything.”

My jaw tightened and I clenched my fist into a ball, I felt my nails digging into my palm. Then I unclenched my fist and slowly drew in a deep breath to calm myself. I needed to keep my composure. I knew she was trying to get me upset and I didn’t want her to have the satisfaction. Besides, this was Jackson’s birthday party and all of his friends were here. I didn’t want to cause a scene and have this be their memory of the night.

“Why are you such an unhappy person, Amber? Don’t you have better things to do than to call a friend and tell her about me? Am I that important in your life?” I flashed Amber one of her signature bitch-smiles. “Do I threaten you
that
much?”

“
You
threaten me?” She snorted. “Pst, please.”

“Then why do you do it? Why do you put in so much effort to try to put me down? Have you realized that in all these years, it’s never really worked?”

“That’s simple. I enjoy it. It’s fun. It amuses me.”

“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask, trying to figure out why Amber had it out for me.

“You know, Chloe. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always seemed to like other people’s used goods—hand-me-downs. Like those dirty overalls you used to wear all the time with those cigarette burns on them. It’s like you
like
other people’s trash. So Jackson is perfect for you, seeing as I fucked him before you did. To me, he’s just used goods. You’re basically just getting my leftovers.” She started giggling as she touched up her lipstick in the mirror. “Oh, and you know that thing he does with his hips, right before he comes in you—that twist. Well that number was all me. I taught him that.” She glanced at me through the mirror and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

That was the final straw for me. Before I knew what I was doing, I yanked her hair back and punched her in the face, aiming right at her nose.

She screamed out in pain and fell back. As blood started running down her nose, she ran toward the bathroom door. “You crazing fucking bitch! I think you broke my nose!”

Just then, Jackson rushed into the bathroom. “I heard a scream. Clo, are you okay?” He ran to my side.

“I’m fine,” I huffed as I felt the adrenaline speed through my veins.

“Jackson,” Amber yelled back from the doorway. “Your girlfriend is fucking crazy. You need to control her. She’s like some rabid dog that needs to be put down.”

I saw Jackson’s body tighten and eyes narrow, and I grabbed his hand to calm him down. The last thing I wanted was to get Jackson arrested for assaulting a woman because of me.

Jackson shot a cold glare at Amber and snorted. “Amber, my girlfriend is just the right amount of crazy for me. And let’s be honest, you probably deserved it.”

“You two deserve each other!” she screamed as she ran out of the bathroom. “Crazy fucking people!”

“Are you okay?” Jackson looked at my hand, which was red around the knuckles.

I smiled. “More than okay.” I rubbed my hand. “It hurts now, but that was so worth it.”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. “I guess all those years of me being your punching bag has really paid off.”

I giggled and punched him gently. “I guess I should thank you for that, huh?”

A devious smirk curled his lips. “I believe it’s time you paid your dues.” Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and led me out of the bathroom, down the hallway, and into a dark coat room.

I shrieked with glee, feeling a rush of excitement as we moved deep into the back of the coatroom.

“Baby, you’ve been killing me in that skin-tight dress,” his deep, raspy voice came from behind me. “I can’t wait until we get home anymore. You’ve been driving me crazy all night.” His lips moved gently down the side of my neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Jax,” I gasped, unable to resist his touch.

I rubbed my body up against him and felt his already-rock-hard erection against my back.

“Do you feel how hard I am for you already?” he groaned into my ear and the heat of his breath sent a shiver down my body. 

“Yes,” I moaned as I felt a pool of wetness collect between my legs. “But…” I gasped, trying to focus on my words, “But shouldn’t we go out to your party? All your friends and colleagues are there buying you birthday drinks.” Then I suddenly cried out in pleasure as I felt his hand between my legs.

“Fuck, I love it when you wear dresses. It—,” he groaned as he thrusted his erection against my back, “—makes it so easy for me to touch you.” Without warning, he entered me with two fingers, causing me to gasp as I lost all control of myself. My muscles clenched onto his fingers as waves of pleasure rippled through my body.

“We
could
go back out to the party and drink with my friends,” he said in a deep, husky voice, “but it’s my birthday, and do you want to know what I’d rather be drinking right now?”

“W—what?” I panted, as his fingers moved in and out of me.

“I’d rather be drinking that sweet, wet honey that I just can’t get enough of and it’s right here, and it’s all mine.” He drove his fingers deep inside my wetness, and I felt myself spasm around his hands.

Suddenly, he removed his fingers and turned me around to face him. I inhaled sharply as I felt his fingers, still wet from my juices, slowly brush the spaghetti straps of my dress off my shoulders, causing the silk fabric to fall to the ground, exposing my naked breasts.

“Damn, I’ve been craving these all night,” he groaned as he lowered his mouth onto one of my breasts and began to suck on it.

Then he grabbed my waist and in one swift movement, he laid me down on top of a bed of coats. Within seconds, I felt his teeth and tongue bite and soothe my nipples in alternating intervals, sending jolts of electricity down below where a pool of wetness began to develop.

“Now that I’ve got you all wet and excited, I’m ready for my birthday drink from you, baby.”

Knowing exactly what he had in store for me, the wetness inside me began to drip down my thighs in anticipation.

As if he had a sixth sense of how turned on I was, he went down on his knees and disappeared between my legs.

I gasped as I felt his hot tongue lick up my wetness along my inner thigh. “Can’t let this sweetness go to waste,” he groaned as his mouth slowly moved toward my entrance. “And happy fucking birthday to me,” His voice was ragged and wild as I felt his mouth linger at the entrance.

“Oh God, please, Jax!” I begged as I arched my hips toward his mouth.

“Baby, you know I can’t deny you anything,” he growled. He grabbed my hips with both hands as his mouth engulfed me. I screamed out and threw my head back as a flood of pleasure crashed through me. As his hands tightened their grip against my flesh and he pulled me against his mouth, his tongue moved deeper and deeper inside me. Within seconds, I reached my breaking point and my entire body began to convulse around his mouth.

“Come in my mouth, baby. I want to get drunk off of your wet pussy.”

I cried and gasped uncontrollably as his tongue worked its magic and pushed me over the brink of sanity, and for five long seconds, earth-shattering pleasure thundered through my body.

“Oh my God. That was incredible,” I panted.

“And delicious to the last drop.” He moved up from between my legs and kissed me slowly, allowing me to taste myself all over his mouth.

“And we’re not done, birthday boy,” I purred. I grabbed his shoulders and rolled him to his back and got on top of him.

I kissed him softly up his jaw line and nibbled his ear. “I’m going to ride you until you come deep inside me, baby. Are you ready?”

“Fuck yeah,” he groaned as I felt his pelvic thrust up in response.

I pulled down his pants and boxers and his long, hard erection sprung out to greet me. I grabbed the base of his shaft and took the entire length of his cock into my mouth in one slow and fluid motion.

He let out a primal groan as his hips moved up to thrust deeper inside my mouth. I moved my mouth up and down his erection until I felt his body start to spasm in pleasure. That was when I stopped and pulled out.

“That was just to get you warmed up, Jax,” I moaned. “Now I want to ride you like a cowgirl, and baby, I like my rides rough and fast.”

“God, you’re killing me, baby,” he panted.

“Do you want to punish me for torturing you?”

Before he could answer, I mounted him, easing his cock deep inside me. We cried out together as I began to ride his cock, first slowly as I moved up and down his entire length, my pussy clung tightly around him as I moved. Then, with each thrust inside me, I moved my hips faster and harder up and down his shaft until I felt him lose control of his body.

“Oh, baby. I’m about to fucking come,” he warned.

“Just let go, Jax. Just lose yourself inside me,” I cried as I felt myself spasm around him. “I’m coming, Jax,” I panted. “Baby, I’m coming with you.”

And we did. Moments later, as our bodies moved in perfect harmony,  we both found our release. As I collapsed on top of him, our bodies still connected, I let out a deep sigh of satisfaction.

“Happy birthday, Jax,” I whispered as we laid there on top of a bed of coats.

“Thank you, baby.”

“Have you made your birthday wish today?”

He caressed my face. “No need, Clo. It’s already come true.”

As I felt his lips kiss me tenderly on my forehead, I wrapped my arms around his warm, toned chest and sank a little deeper into him.

This is true bliss
, I thought to myself.
This is the epitome of happiness.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Jackson

“Hey, babe. How’s packing going?”

I heard Chloe moan. “Well if you would just tell me where we’re going, it’d really make life a little easier.”

“Well I did say to pack one set of suitcases for a tropical weather vacation and then pack another set of suitcases for a winter weather vacation. It’s not that hard.”

“You’re basically asking me to just divide up my closet in half and pack it all,” she protested.

I laughed. “Well, no, that’s probably not a good idea. You don’t need to bring that much clothes with you. It’s only for a week.”

“Jaaaax,” she whined. “Come on! Just tell me where we’re going so I’m not packing like a blind person.”

“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise trip then, would it?” I couldn’t stop smiling, thinking about the surprise vacation I had planned for us.

“Pretty please, Jax? You’re picking me up in like four hours for the airport. I’ll find out at the airport when we get our boarding passes, so why don’t you just tell me know. It’s already the date of the trip, so it’ll still be a surprise if you tell me know. Pllllease?”

I shook my head but finally gave in. “Fine. Fine. Fine. You’re right. It’s been a surprise for the last two weeks since I first told you about it. I guess since we’re leaving in a few hours, I should save you the trouble of packing all those tropical clothes.”

“We’re going somewhere cold?” she asked, quickly picking up my clue.

“Yup.”

“Tell me!”

“Okay. I’m taking you to Finland…specifically the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort!”

“Oh my God,” she squealed into the phone. “Are you serious?”

I laughed and heard some rustling on her end. “Are you jumping up and down right now, or am I hearing things?”

The rustling stopped. “I will not confirm nor deny that,” she tried to say flatly, causing me to laugh harder.

“So are we really going to Kakslauttanen? Like really?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yup, I’m taking you to see the Aurora Borealis so you can check that off of your bucket list.”

“Jax, you’re the best.” I could hear the emotion in her voice. “I can’t believe you still remember that from my bucket list. It told you that when we were thirteen.”

“Are you crying already?” I teased.

“I will not confirm nor deny that,” she responded.

“You know? You’re just too cute sometimes.”

“And that’s why you love me,” she replied, her voice filled with excitement.

“That’s one of the many reasons.”

“Oh! Are we going to be staying in the glass igloos like in the photo I have?”

“What do you think?”

“Yes!”

“Well, you think right then.” I grinned from ear to ear as I tried to picture how cute she must look right now. She always looked beautiful when she was deliriously happy.

“Jax, I seriously can’t wait. I’m so lucky to have an incredible boyfriend like you!”

“Flattery is always welcomed here,” I said with a chuckle. My chest felt full, knowing how happy she was at this moment, knowing I was the one that made that happen.

“Do you know what I’m doing now, Jax?”

“What, babe?”

“I’m pinching myself right now to make sure I’m not dreaming this.”

I threw my head back in laughter. “You’re too cute, silly girl. I love you.”

“Aww, Jax. I love you, too. You have no idea how happy you’ve made me.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll find a way to show me.”

“Oh, you know I will,” she promised seductively.

***

Three hours later, it was two o’clock, and I was leaving work early for the trip. I hailed a cab and headed home to pick up Chloe and our luggage. When I got into the cab, I started responding to some afternoon work emails.

Then the office called. It was Nick.

“Hey, Nick. What’s going on?”

“Did you leave yet, Jackson?”

“Yeah, I just left.”

“Shit. We need to get some filings in tonight with the SEC. Do you remember where you put the 2014 Financial Statements for ALD Inc.?”

“I have it somewhere in my email. I can forward that to you when we hang up.”

“Okay, thanks, Jackson. Have a great time in Finland. Should we expect a special announcement when you guys get back?”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Like an engagement? Isn’t that why you’re taking her to this special place on her bucket list?”

“Nick, you’re thinking too much into it. It’s only been nine months since we started dating. We’re taking things slow.”

“Okay, that’s cool, man. Julie asked me to ask.”

I shook my head. “You’re like Julie’s puppet sometimes.”

He laughed. “Are you saying you’re not Chloe’s?”

“Touché. Alright man, I’ll send over the financial statement. Call or email me if the office needs anything from me. I should have some reception in Finland.”

When I hung up with Nick, I saw the driver look at me through his rearview mirror.

I pulled up my email and start searching for the document Nick needed.

“You sound really busy, mister.”

“Yeah,” I responded absentmindedly as I scanned through my emails for the file.
Just my luck to get a talkative cab driver.

“You got a girlfriend?”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the back of his head.
That’s a little nosy.

“You know,” he continued despite my silence, “Today I went to my doctor to get the results of my annual health exam.”

I glanced up quickly at him, wondering why he couldn’t tell I wasn’t interested in talking at the moment. I continued to scan through my emails for the file.

“It’s colon cancer,” the driver continued, but now, I wasn’t ignoring his words anymore. He let out a heavy sigh.

“Suddenly I started to think about whether there were any regrets in my life. I’m worried that I won’t have enough time to say ‘thank you’ to my parents for everything they’ve done for me in my life.” I noticed a black and white photo of a couple taped on the middle console above the air vent.

“I’m worried that I won’t have enough time to say ‘I love you’ one more time to my wife and hold her in my arms.” I noticed another photo above the air vent—a wedding photo of who I assume was the driver and his wife.

“I’m also worried that I won’t have enough time to see my child grow up.” I notice a third picture taped on the middle console. It was a proud father with a wide and infectious grin on his face as he held his new born baby.

The driver let out another heavy sigh. “I had to wait until the countdown of my life to realize that it’s probably too late for many things in my life.”

I felt my body stiffen as I glanced over at the driver’s photo ID badge secured behind the front passenger seat. He looked like he wasn’t any older than I was.

“You know, sometimes we really have to stop and give ourselves more time to do the things we want to do. Because one day when you least expect it, we start wondering if we have any regrets, and by then, we’re worried that it’s already too late to do everything we’d wanted to accomplish in our lives.”

His words struck a chord with me, and instead of going back home, I told the driver that I needed to make a detour before heading home.