Ransom (Dead Man's Ink Series Book 3) (16 page)

“Something like this?”

“Something huge. Something special. Something important. I didn’t want to love you, Soph. Fuck, I did everything I could to try and prevent that from happening, but this thing between us was out of control before I even saw it coming. I didn’t stand a chance. And neither did you. You can’t fucking deny it.”

I can’t deny it. I’d like to. It would be so convenient to tell him he’s wrong, and while I do love him, I don’t think we’re in that place yet. The trouble is, I know we
are
in that place. I could marry him tomorrow and it would feel so right. The mere thought of him calling me his wife makes my insides feel like they’re on fire, my veins racing with adrenalin. But the way things are right now…I don’t know. It would be dangerous to commit to a promise like this.
 

“Tell me what you’re thinking?” He rests his forehead against mine, his eyes only a few inches away, his lips so close I can almost feel them on me. “I can’t tell you how all of your concerns are pointless and invalid if you won’t tell me what they are.”

“I only have one,” I whisper.
 

“Say it.”

“Getting married is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. I know you probably think that’s stupid, but I couldn’t help it. And in all of my daydreams about falling in love and getting married, my father has always walked me down the aisle. My mother has always done my hair for me. She’s always been there, crying in the pews. And my sister has always been my maid of honor. We fight like cat and dog, and we rarely see eye to eye, but I love her. I’ve always known I’d ask her to be there for me when the time came. And now, my father’s being held hostage and my mom and sister think I’m dead. I can’t get married without them, Jamie, I just can’t.”

He cups my face in his hands. “Okay, then. We won’t get married unless your family can be there. I can agree to that.” He kisses me lightly, his mouth finding mine, his tongue skating between his lips to graze against me, and a deep, penetrating wave of fear rises inside me. I’ve never been a
what-if
person, but there are so many of the cursed things hounding me right now. What if we can’t get Julio to help us? What if Hector kills my father? What if I have to hand myself over to the cartel in order to save him? But worse still, what if we
do
manage to free my father but he wants nothing to do with me anymore? What if he never wants to lay eyes on me again, let alone give me away to the man who technically kidnapped me and refused to set me free?

Jamie brushes his fingers along my jawbone, humming softly at the back of his throat. “I know what you’re thinking, sugar, and there’s no sense in worrying about that at the moment. I
know
it’s going to work out. I
know
I’m going to hear you say ‘I do.’ I know it deep down in my bones. So please…let me put this ring on your finger? Let me hear you say the words. I’m going to lose my fucking mind if you don’t.”

I hold my breath, wishing I was as certain as he is. I trust him, though. The past six months has been a cat and mouse game where I try to pretend I
don’t
trust him and
I
know better, but the truth is I’d happily place my own life in his hands if he said he knew I’d be safe. God, I must be certifiable. I release the breath I’m holding, trying not to shake. “Okay. Okay, Louis James Aubertin the third. I’ll wear your ring. I’ll marry you.”

Jamie smiles, and it’s the kind of smile you don’t see very often. It’s like sunlight breaking through clouds. His eyes are shining brightly as he holds up the ring he’s been hiding while we speak, and I can’t seem to form words. It’s lovely. A princess cut diamond, not too big and not too small. Simply set on a white gold band. It’s not an ostentatious, gaudy thing. It’s pretty and feminine. I love it as soon as I lay eyes on it.
 

“
Jamie
…” I whisper.

“You like it?”

I nod, trying not to get teary, though that seems pretty much impossible as he slides the ring onto my finger. “It’s so beautiful. It’s perfect.”

Jamie smiles down at my hand, sadness creeping into his expression. “It was my mother’s. I knew it would fit you.”

For some reason, the knowledge that he’s giving me his mother’s ring makes my throat feel like it’s swelling shut. It’s a monumental act on his part. He has so little left from his mother. Being given her engagement ring feels like an honor I don’t deserve somehow.
 

“Are you sure? Are you sure you want me to wear this?”

He dips down and kisses the ring on my finger, grinning at me. “Are you kidding me? I never want you to take it off.” He picks me up and carries me to one of the queen beds, raining kisses down onto my face, my neck and my collarbone as he does so. “Close your eyes,” he tells me. “I don’t want this to be the place where we have sex for the first time as an engaged couple.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I laugh, clinging onto him tightly, while he nips at my bottom lip.

“Close your eyes. You’ll see.”

“Fine.” I squeal as he throws me down onto the bed, landing on top of me. The weight of him feels good, heavy but also reassuring in a way. He brackets my head with his arms, supporting himself over me as he brushes his fingertips over my face, skating them over my forehead, my temples, over my cheekbones and down the bridge of my nose. He rubs the pad of one of his fingers against my lips until I part them for him, and then he slides it inside my mouth, wetting it against my tongue, pressing it against my teeth, his breathing growing quicker as he trails it over my lips, wetting them too.
 

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispers into my mouth, his breath hot, sending shivers all over my body. My skin breaks out into goose bumps, so sensitive as he shifts on top of me. I can feel the ache building between my legs already, and I know that soon it will be undeniable—a demanding pressure that will have to be sated otherwise I’ll go mad. Jamie teases my lower lip with his finger again; he licks at it, then licks over my bottom teeth, tracing the ridge of them with the tip of his tongue, applying enough force to make himself groan. “You mouth is so perfect. Are you going to let me fuck it, Sophia? I love feeling your lips wrapping around my hard cock. It’s the most incredible thing...”

“Yes,” I say softly. “You can fuck my mouth.”

“Are you going to tease your tongue around my shaft? Are you going to lick and suck on my balls like a good girl?”

“Fuck. Yes.”

“Good. And when I’m done with your mouth?”

“You can take whatever you want,” I pant. “I’m yours. I’ll do whatever you ask me to.”

“That’s right, sugar. Such a good girl. Now I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“I want you to imagine we’re back at your place in Seattle. I want you to imagine you’re getting ready for bed. You’re alone, you’ve just gotten out of the shower and your body is still soaking wet. Can you do that for me?”

This is new; we’ve never played this game before. I wonder where he’s going with this, I want to ask him, but that would spoil the surprise I suppose. He loves when I follow his lead without question. It turns him on so much, and that, in turn, drives me wild. “Yes. I can do that,” I say breathlessly. I keep my eyes closed, trying to place myself in my old room back in Seattle just as he’s asked me to. I try to imagine the feeling of the beads of water rolling down my skin, between my shoulder blades, over my buttocks, over my breasts. It’s surprising how easy it is to picture it. And it’s surprising how hot it’s making me.
 

Jamie licks at my lips, gently running his thumb over my chin, downward, over the column of my neck into the base of my throat. “You’re drying yourself, slowly, and you rub your towel between your legs. It doesn’t take long for you to realize how good that feels—the warm, soft material causing friction against your pussy. It’s turning you on.”

“
Yes
.” I can imagine it when he says it all too well. My hips press up a little, grinding against his, but Jamie leans back, moving so that our bodies are no longer connected there. I feel the loss painfully.

“Tut, tut,” he growls. “You’re on your own, Sophia. You know what that means, don’t you?”

I shake my head slowly from side to side, sucking my lip into my mouth. “No.”

“Oh, you do. You’ve felt like this when you’ve been on your own plenty of times. And you know exactly what you need to do about it. So do it.”

I haven’t masturbated in front of him before, so the prospect is making me feel a little embarrassed. Still, the idea of unbuttoning my jeans and sliding my hand down my panties is kind of a turn on at the same time. I move slowly, my eyes still closed, knowing Jamie’s watching me intently as I reach for my pants and I undo them. My breath catches in my throat.
 

“That’s it. Good girl.” His voice is thick with lust. I can hear rustling sounds next to me, and I know instinctively that he’s unfastening his own pants. He’s stroked his own cock many times when we’ve been fooling around and he’s been getting ready to fuck me, but this is different somehow. It feels kinky. Knowing that he’s going to jerk off while he watches me finger my pussy has me blushing red all over my body. I can tell by the hot flush that burns at the base of my throat and over my cheeks.

“Take everything off,” he whispers into my ear. “I want to see
everything
. Keep your eyes closed though.”

I do what he asks, keeping my eyes firmly shut as I remove my shirt first and then my bra. My nipples are erect, hard and tight at the prospect of what might happen next. I squeeze them between my fingers briefly before I reach down, pushing my jeans and panties down over my hips and kicking them off as smoothly as I can. I lie back down, my back arching slightly off the bed, trying to picture what Jamie’s expression is like right now as he takes in every inch of my body, greedily studying and devouring my nakedness. I can hear his breath quickening next to me, and even though he’s not touching me my heart begins to pound.
 

Hesitantly, I slide my right hand down my body, over my stomach until my fingertips are resting in between my legs, my index finger and my middle finger working their way through my slick flesh until I find my clitoris. I’m already so fucking wet. I knew I would be, but I’m a little shocked at
how
wet. How turned on I am. Jamie makes a low, frustrated sound next to me, and I can tell he’s enjoying this.
 

“Open yourself up,” he says softly. “Show me.” I use my other hand to do as he asks, spreading my pussy open so he can see every last milimeter of me, and he groans. He moves on the bed, kneeling I think, probably so he can get a better view. “Now touch yourself, Soph. You’re lying on your bed, and your legs are spread wide open. You’re touching yourself with your fingers, gently, cautiously, and you’re enjoying how good it feels to make your body react like this.”

Holy fucking shit. Just listening to him say this to me is driving me insane. It feels a little wrong to be rubbing my clit while he watches me, moving in small circles over and over the swollen bundle of nerve endings, trying not to moan as the pleasure begins to build inside me. My fingers are slick and wet, making my job easier; I slowly slide my fingers down a little, so I can tease myself around my pussy, and Jamie swears under his breath. I want to open my eyes, to see what he’s doing, to see how
he’s
touching himself, but I also don’t want to spoil the game. Instead I push my index finger inside myself, gasping a little at the sensation.

“Does that feel good?” he asks.
 

I’m so swept away in this that I can’t speak. I just nod, pushing my finger deeper, my back bowing off the bed, fireworks going off inside my head. I won’t have to do this for long. I’m going to come so quickly. Something about being watched has me feeling completely outside of myself. Jamie shifts on the bed again. The mattress dips and then I feel his hands hooking under my thighs, dragging me toward the edge of the bed. Still I manage to keep my eyes closed, though I whimper when he roughly pushes my legs further apart and positions himself between them. I can feel his breath on my pussy, so I know he’s not going to fuck me. Not yet, anyway. No, he’s moved both himself and me because he wanted a better vantage point, and now he’s watching me touch myself up close.
 

“Jesus Christ, Sophia. You’re incredible.”

I’m not even thinking anymore. I palm my own breast, rolling my nipple, gasping as I squeeze it tight. It feels so fucking good. My brain has completely shut down, ceasing all coherent thought. All that matters is Jamie’s eyes on me, feasting, enjoying the show I’m putting on for him.
 

“Now imagine that you know you’re not alone, Sophia,” he says. “Imagine that someone’s entered the room, and you know they’re there with you, watching you. How does it make you feel?”

“Wet,” I pant. “So fucking turned on. I can’t help it.”

“You want to look, but you know you’re not allowed. So you keep on touching yourself, knowing you have an audience, getting wetter and wetter. Do you want to feel
him
touching you, Sophia? Do you want
his
hands on your body?”

“Yes. Yes. Fuck, yes!”

“Do you want his tongue on your pussy, sugar?”

I can’t even answer this question. The thought of Jamie going down on me right now is almost too much to bear. I writhe on the bed, increasing the pressure I’m applying to my clit, rubbing in faster, smaller circles as I’m overtaken by my need for him to touch me.
 

“I’m afraid if you want something, you’re going to have to say it,” Jamie says, his voice low.

“Fuck, yes. Yes, I want it. I want his tongue on my pussy. I want
your
tongue.”

Somewhere far away, I can hear him laughing a wicked laugh. His hand is suddenly on mine, ripping it away from my body as he licks and laves between my legs. The sensation is intense and soul shaking, and I can barely keep myself together. When he grazes my clit with his teeth, I can’t do it anymore.