“No. She was lovely and very kind,” Tasha replied, sensing the thickening atmosphere between them.
She looked down at the desk in front of him where he had taken her a couple of nights before and gulped hard because as mad as she was with him now, she wanted it again. Tasha wanted, no, she needed Mr Control Freak to appear and to take charge and to do whatever he wanted with her. How pathetic was she? Or maybe it just allowed her to be free of choices and decisions when he was there doing it for them both. Her mouth was dry and in an attempt to find some moisture she licked her lips and swallowed hard. Still he just stared at her. She felt cornered like a wild animal, unsure whether to go with fight or flight.
“Do you want a drink?”
She shook her head as he walked past her and headed towards the kitchen leaving her to follow him but she was still unsure of what to do next. She knew she wanted him, but she was confused about Amanda. Why hadn’t he told her? What was their story? He had been so insistent about his need to know all about her, but was that just Mr Control Freak, and the rules weren’t reciprocal?
He didn’t turn to face her as he poured some orange juice, but knew she was there. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
She walked up to him, wrapped her arms around him from behind and hugged him tightly. He gripped her hands and pulled them apart so he could turn to face her. Cupping her face he bent down to kiss her. She could taste the orange juice on his lips, his tongue. She was like a woman possessed now, desperate to take everything he had to give her but it was more. She wanted to give him everything she had. Fervently, she grabbed at his jeans and plunged her hand beneath his waist band to release his already firm erection. She dropped to her knees and consumed him greedily. Her need to somehow express the depth of her feelings for him and at him was overwhelming. She cared about him, deeply. She really liked him as a man, a father and lover. She could think of nobody she wanted in her life more, and yet she was mad as hell at him for not telling her who and what Amanda had been and now she was as confused by her own behaviour as his.
“Tasha.” He hissed her name loudly through clenched teeth.
She was relentless in her pursuit of him; she sheathed her teeth and was at a loss as to how she managed to accommodate all of him, but she did and as she moved her lips up and down his length, slowly at first she knew this was what she wanted, what she needed. She wanted him to feel totally sated by her and whatever Amanda was and any other Amanda, they would be no threat to her once she left, would they? She built up speed and allowed her tongue to make a whipping, circular movement which had been popular with previous partners and Jim was obviously no different. She could feel he was close and as she employed the use of her hand and now unsheathed teeth he reached down and held her head, keeping her still, stopping her. Pulling back, he dropped to join her on the floor and roughly pulled her face to his where he kissed her, devoured her almost until she could barely breathe.
“Take your jeans off,” he ordered, watching her get to her feet to undo the button on her jeans. “And everything else.”
Tasha did exactly as he’d demanded. After kicking off her trainers and clothes, Jim beckoned her back to the floor where he handed her a condom.
“You do it,” he said as he lay back.
“Here?” She gesturing to the floor around them, sounding wary.
“Yes. Here, now.” He smiled, transfixed by her, making her realise just how much she liked his eyes on her.
Slowly, Tasha unrolled the condom and squealed as she was pulled across Jim’s body and lowered onto him. She cried out with the sense of fullness she felt along with the tight, stretching sensation that was verging on painful. It felt as though he was beginning to claim her back and somehow her mood had put some distance between them which it had in some ways. He allowed his hands to move across her face, neck and chest, then they stilled on her breasts, kneading, teasing and pinching, encouraging her to pick up her pace. Moving up and down she could feel they were both close. He began to move his hips and pound against her until he was battering her cervix and although she knew she was losing the control she had started with she didn’t care. She didn’t want power over him, just over any possible threats to them, to what they had, to this, whatever this was. She liked James to be in control of this, of her.
She moaned loudly and breathed faster as she felt the explosion in her ready to ignite.
“Oh, James.” He drove her on, pushed her closer. “Oh, God, I love you.”
His eyes widened and suddenly she was flat on her back on the kitchen floor and he was over her now, pounding away, claiming her fully.
“Say it again,” he growled.
“I love you,” she repeated, almost trembling.
“Again,” he insisted as he quickened, and she knew this was it.
“I love you, James.” He met her hips tilting again. She felt the rush flooding through the whole of her body again and again before she arched her back to meet him once more and he was still, frozen in this moment, with her.
He lay motionless, softening inside her, but propped himself up on his elbows. “I love you too, Tasha,” he whispered.
They lay together, entwined around each other on the cold, stone kitchen floor for what seemed like an eternity, with no words exchanged until Tasha asked, “What time is it?”
“Five thirty,” replied Jim, looking at his watch. “You’ll have dinner before you go out, won’t you?”
She shrugged in his embrace.
“You will. You can’t drink on an empty stomach and I know you’ll be drinking with Philip running things.”
She shrugged again.
“Are you okay?” He sounded concerned.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Petulance and irritation were infiltrating her voice.
“Have I missed something because you’ve been acting weird since we left the vineyard? You are swinging between ignoring me to becoming predatory to telling me you love me and now back to sulky and cryptic. I was rather hoping you were just cranky because you were horny.” He stared at her with definite confusion and possible annoyance.
