Tempting Eden (22 page)

I rolled over so she was on top, my cock still embedded deeply inside. She settled down hard on my shaft and began rocking, rubbing her clit against me in small movements. I leaned up and captured one of her nipples between my teeth, giving it a light nip before swirling my tongue around and drawing it deep.

She threw her head back and put her hands in her hair. As I sucked the hard tip, she increased her speed, grinding against me, squeezing me harder as she went. I wouldn’t last long with this temptress on top of me. God, her sounds, the sweet exertions she gave breath to, were sexier than anything I’d ever heard.

My cock throbbed inside her, though it barely had room. I lay back, wanting to see all of her. She was a fucking goddess, auburn hair and alabaster skin. Breasts the perfect teardrops with plump nipples.

I gripped her hips, digging my fingers in as she rode me. I rocked up to her, giving her clit more friction. She moaned and dropped her hands to my abs where she steadied herself as she rose and fell against me. Her eyes glazed with lust as her movements became wilder. She was going to come.

Her cry echoed around the apartment as her walls began to clench me even tighter. I tried to hold back, to make it last longer. She made it impossible. With one final plunge upward into her, I rammed her hips down onto me as she squirmed with her own orgasm. I shot into her, pulsing blasts as her constricting pussy wrung every last drop from me.

As soon as the haze passed, I eased up on her hips. I feared she might have fingertip bruises the next day. She collapsed onto my chest, her ear right above the thumping chambers of my heart. I wrapped my arms around her, pressing her to me even more, branding her onto my skin.

At that moment, she was everything.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

E
DEN

I
RUSHED AROUND THE
lobby like a madwoman, making sure everything was perfect. Bess followed in my wake, reminding me that she had already done everything, checked everything, triple-checked everything, and that I needed to settle down.

The sun was falling over the water, and the party was set to start in half an hour. A local band tuned up in the corner, ready to play a menu of new, upbeat songs to get buyers happy and in the mood to spend. The sales table was perfect. A six-foot-tall ice sculpture of the building sat in the center for some extra wow factor.

Delicious smells, courtesy of the caterer, wafted through the air as workers created an overladen buffet of delights piled high with Gulf shrimp, fresh sushi, and a myriad of other treats to please any guest’s tastes.

Bess, true to her word, had woven orange and white roses into the hanging topiaries, giving an extra pop of tropical color to the already astounding design display. Jack was out by the pool, helping Bess’ assistant place the last few bunches of flowers into the topiaries and sprinkle petals around the pool. He was congenial but focused, ready to go to work. He wore a pair of black pants and a light blue button-up. I’d neatly rolled up his sleeves to give him a more casual air.

“Put the guests at ease,” I’d said before showing him my outfit.

I’d barely escaped the room unscathed and had to redo my lipstick after he’d seen me. I intended to play the “life of the party” role to get every last unit sold, including the penthouse. I wore a red bathing suit. It was one piece, but the front plunged down to my stomach, giving ample views of my cleavage. The back was equally revealing, and the bottom cut high across my hips. I threw a white cover-up on top of it, gossamer and transparent, and strapped on some top-shelf hooker heels. I’d done my hair in loose, beachy waves and overdone my makeup to vamp levels. Salesmanship was showmanship.

“I can’t let you go out looking like this. This should be just for me.” His voice at my ear, low and silky, had thrilled me. The memory of it still did, and goosebumps broke out along my thighs despite the warm sea air.

The pool was an oasis, with Bess’ stars shining brightly overhead. Jack placed the last of the flowers and sent the assistant hurrying away to hide the wrappers and trimmed bits of greenery.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. It was game time. And I needed to be at the top of my game if I was going to pull this off.

I felt the light touch of a hand on my backside and turned to find Gray admiring my outfit.

“You’ve never looked better.” He was wolfish and already smelled of alcohol.

“Thanks, Gray. Now shoo. I’d hate for you to be watching over my shoulder. Makes me nervous.” I gave him my best coquettish smile, though I would have preferred to slap the lecherous grin off his face.

‘Fine, fine. I just wanted to stop by and see what the hens had gotten up to. I’ll catch you after the party.” He squeezed my ass before leaving. He didn’t wish me luck.

Jack came over, tension in his walk. “Did he touch you?”

“No. Just a pep talk.” The high from earlier was gone. The pit had opened beneath me as I remembered the things I’d let Gray do to me just so I could get this far. Shame burned in my cheeks.

Jack didn’t seem to notice; he relaxed a bit and brushed a stray hair from my face. “Good. If he ever gives you any trouble, just tell me. I can take care of him.”

I couldn’t respond. My secret silenced me, rooted me to the spot. He seemed to notice my chill. His blue eyes searched mine, looking for a reason that I could never give him. Of all the things I was ashamed of, nothing was worse than what I’d done to make vice president at Thornfield, and what I’d done to stay there.

His brows pinched together with concern. “What is it?”

For all the dark past he had, Jack had made his mistakes in his youth. I made mine much later and kept on making them. But there was no turning back now.

I shook my head. “Nothing. I’m just… I’m in sales mode, is all.”

He believed my lie and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t worry. You got this.”

The band began to play, softly at first and out of tune. Bess’ assistant caught Jack’s attention, and he went to assist her with some last-minute issues. I hovered by the pool as the band got their feet beneath them. They played a current top forty hit, the lead vocals ratcheting up as she sang about the cliché of love and loss.

I passed them and returned to the lobby entryway. A server offered me a drink. Not yet. Later? Yes. But not now. Bess stepped up beside me.

“Showtime,” she said and downed the same drink proffered by the waiter.

The scene was set. Headlights flashed through the glass doors, then another set, then another. People began filing in. Brokers and buyers, hard to tell who was who. I affixed a smile to my face and began greeting. After that, the night moved quickly. Introductions, sales pitches hidden in talk of luxurious lives, offers and counter-offers. The room grew louder, and the band competed with the sound of the guests, who numbered well over a hundred. I moved through the crowd, shaking hands with well-dressed new money and casually-dressed old money. I poured wine, I told jokes; I would have stood on my head if it would have gotten the place sold.

Even without any acrobatics on my part, deals were made. Each time I knew I had one sold, I’d motion for Jack. He’d bring a contract and mark the unit from our list.

I took a few of the guests up to the model units and showed them around the amenities. Jack was there in my peripheral vision, keeping up with any deals. I felt calmer, more confident just knowing he was there.

My outfit worked almost too well, with a few brokers and buyers getting handsy on occasion. With the small sea of booze flowing through the building, that was to be expected.

Jack was nearby each time, and each time I saw him clench his jaw and move toward me through the throng. I averted disaster by side stepping the offender and continuing my sales pitch. No hard feelings, though Jack seemed ready to break a few of the men’s wandering fingers, if not more.

The night was moving smoothly, sales coming at a steady pace. I had begun to relax just a bit as I saw the finish line looming up ahead.

“Rochester, baby!”

I turned toward the pool area. Gray stumbled through the crowd, knocking over a waiter as he barreled forward.

“You getting it done?” His words slurred as he openly gaped at my breasts.

I smiled even bigger at the closest guests who were staring at Gray as if he were a particularly vulgar form of insect. I grabbed his arm and led him to the end of the bar.

“What are you doing here? I told you I have it under control. Please go back upstairs.” I hissed.

“Got the penthouse sold?” he asked before tossing back the nearest tumbler of whatever.

Shit. I felt fairly certain I would get the sellout tonight on every other unit. But no one had expressed any interest in the top floor, even after the tour with the three-sixty views and the fabulous amenities. It was probably priced too high. But now I had too much skin in the game to try and negotiate a lower price with Gray. He’d want something in return. Something I no longer felt willing to give him, not now that Jack was in my life.

“I’ll get it sold. Please go upstairs.”

“All right, little Rochester. I’ll go. But if you don’t have results and a full sellout by the end of the evening, your time’s up. Deal’s over.”

I gripped his arm hard. “That’s not the deal. I still have another week after tonight. You gave me two whole months.”

“Deals change, Rochester. Tonight or time’s up. Tick tock.” He snapped his fingers.

“Everything okay?” Jack walked up behind me.

“It’s fine, Jackie boy. Run along and play.” Gray’s voice was sharp, cutting through the surrounding noise as sure as a knife.

“It doesn’t look fine.” Jack kept his tone low, but menace was in the notes.

“What would you know about anything? Where are you from again? I can tell by the way you talk you’re from the gutter somewhere. Probably got all kinds of handouts to get to where you are, right? Did your mom drive a Cadillac maybe, when she went to use her food stamps?” Gray sniggered into his glass. “You know, one time, I hired one of them, Eden. I did. I was trying to be equal opportunity. For my secretary. But she didn’t play ball. I’d always wanted to get with one of them. See if it’s different, you know? But she wouldn’t even give me a little sample. Can you believe that?”

I wanted to shove him off the barstool. My stomach churned. I turned to look up at Jack. His façade was gone. Rage was in his face, but not the sort that burned. The cold kind, the kind steeped in disgust and loathing.

“Please leave.” I said with all the force of my anger in the words.

Gray smirked. “Tick tock.”

He rose and wove to the elevator.

Jack stayed at my back, tension rolling off him like a hard rain sluicing down the turrets of a house.

“Jack, I’m sorry—”

“It’s fine, Eden. Just sell it out, okay? That’ll put that piece of shit in his place more than anything I could ever do. Or
would
ever do.”

I faced him. He was wound tight. I realized nothing I could say would erase Gray’s words. I shoved down the shame—both mine and Gray’s—and reached out to shake the nearest broker’s hand.

Jack picked me up and twirled me around. “You did it!”

The night was over. All the units were sold except the penthouse.

He put me down, his hands still at my waist. “Well, you
almost
did it. But we still have a week, so that penthouse is sure to go right along with the rest. You make a few calls, maybe show up to some brokers’ offices in that little number you’re wearing.” He frowned. “On second thought. No, you should definitely go fully clothed.”

I realized that even in the short time I’d known him, he’d grown somehow. He still kept a lid on his worst emotions, but not the ones like joy and love. The ones he seemed to have right now, he let go free. He had so much potential to become even more. The smile in his bright eyes cheered me, though I didn’t deserve it. I’d failed.

Bess flitted behind us on her way to the elevator. “Congratulations, you two.”

I gave the best smile I could muster. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I’d botched the whole thing. Gray had already laid down the gauntlet in his belligerent, drunken haze. There would be no extra week for me to sell the penthouse.

The hope I’d had to pay off Mason died in my breast the second the last broker left the party. There was simply not a buyer willing to spend that much on the top floor. I wanted to collapse into a heap and curl in on myself until I was small. Too small for Mason to bother with. But even if I did that, there would still be Adele. He would come after her, still thinking there was some money left in the Rochester name.

Now that I hadn’t sold out the building, Mason would forever be there, threatening. And since I’d lost Gray as a client, I wouldn’t be able to pay Mason enough to keep him silent. He would take me to court. Adele would know. Mother would know. Hot tears welled in my eyes before I could stop them.