Hewitt: Jagged Edge Series #1 (5 page)

"This is really hard for me Lilly. I don't even know where to begin," he said, lifting his head and drawing his gaze to me.

There it was again, that look. I could have dived head first into those green eyes. "Just say it, Peter."

"Okay. Here it goes." He began rising to his feet. "You drive me crazy Lilly. These past two years have been hell on me. You are all I think about. Even when I tried being with other women, you were the only person I thought about."

"Wait, you've been with other women?" I don't know why his admission surprised me. It wasn’t like I expected him to wait for me, especially knowing how things between us ended.

“Damn, Lilly. What did you want me to do? You didn't give me any indication that you still wanted to be with me."

"That's because neither did you. You wouldn't tell me anything the day I left for Paris. If you would have asked me to stay and not go, I wouldn't have left."

Peter was pacing back and forth in my small living room. I thought for sure he was going to wear my shaggy rug to mere fibers. When he stopped and turned towards me, my heart sank into my stomach. I wish I knew what he was thinking. He soon let me know. He took me by my hands and forced me to stand so that we were face to face. Lifting his hands to my face, he gently cupped my cheeks. "I want us to try again Lilly. I want things back the way they were before you left for Paris."

The way he looked at me, confused me more than ever. I didn't know if this was something that I wanted. I didn't want to go through the same pain I had two years ago. I knew I was the one who left, but he made it clear that he wanted us to go our separate ways. He was unwilling to make it work. I felt there was something more than me just leaving. He was hiding something.

Before I could say anything, my cell phone began ringing. Stepping away from Peter, I found my bag and pulled out my phone. It was Natalie. "Hey, Natalie," I greeted her, hoping she wouldn’t hear the tension in my voice.

"I couldn't wait to call you. I have good news. The seller accepted your offer. Looks like you have a new home for your gallery," she said excitedly.

"That's wonderful. When am I going to be able to start moving in?" I answered, unable to contain my eagerness.

"Well, since it's a cash deal, we can close in a couple of days. I just need to get the proper documents together. I'll let you know the exact date."

"The sooner, the better, Natalie. Thanks for everything."

Placing my phone on the counter, I turned back to Peter, who was sitting on the couch sipping his beer. Walking towards him, I took his half empty beer bottle and set it on the coffee table. Looking at him confused, I said, “This is all too sudden. I needed a little time to think about things.”

Peter placed his hand on my cheek and pulled me close to him. Our lips met without hesitation. My lips parted, wanting to feel his warmth inside. I could feel his softness as he began intertwining his tongue with mine. The warmth of his breath on me filled my senses with comfort. As the kiss deepened even more, he began moving his hands down my body until they rested on my hips. In one swift movement, he lifted my body onto his so that I was straddling his muscular legs. I didn't know how much I wanted, I just knew I couldn’t stop how he was making me feel. No matter what happened between us in the past, at this moment all I wanted was him.

Taking hold of the bottom of his t-shirt, I pulled it up over his head. His chest came into view, which made me desire him even more. I broke our kiss and lowered my head, placing kiss after kiss down his neck to his chest where I placed my mouth over his hard disc. Swirling my tongue around the hard peak, I began lightly sucking and kissing. I heard a low moan escape his mouth as I moved over to the other side and gave his other nipple the same attention. Before I could finish my assault, Peter had me up in the air and on my back. As his large body leaned over me, I watched his muscles contract as he held himself above me.

"Are you sure this is what you want? Because I won't be able to stop once I start," Peter whispered softly as he nibbled my ear lobe.

"Yes, I want this. I want you." I couldn't and didn't want him to stop. My body was on fire and in need of release. All I could think about was having him buried deep inside me.

Peter slowly removed my shirt and quickly unfastened the front clasp of my lacy bra. All I wanted was his hands on my body. I needed to feel him touch me. When he took hold of my taut nipple, I was more than ready for more. Pulling his body closer to mine, I forked my fingers through his thick hair and pulled his mouth to mine. When our lips met, I was consumed by his scent. All I could think about was how much I needed him. As our tongues lapped together, Peter began working on the zipper of my jeans. It was taking too long for him to get them undone and off me. Lifting my hips, I lowered my hands and helped him pull my pants down over my hips. His hand slowly worked at removing my underwear while I worked at getting the rest of his clothing off.

It took some effort, since we were unwilling to separate, but we were finally naked, bare skin to bare skin. Peter looked down at me with those green eyes and a small smile splayed across his face. Kissing his way down my body, I could feel the heat begin to erupt. My body was on fire and needed to be bathed in pure pleasure. Peter’s soft kisses reached the apex of my mound sending my body soaring. With slow movements, I could feel the sensation his magic tongue was doing on my clit. I was ready to combust. His tongue seeped lower between my slick folds, causing my back to arch off the couch. It was when he plunged, not one, but two fingers, inside me that I came undone. My desire took over and spilled with fury. It was then that I knew there was no way I could be without this man. He may have had my body, but not my heart. My release calmed and Peter pulled his body from mine. Even though he had satisfied my hunger, I still wanted more. I needed to feel him inside me. Tugging his hard body back to me, I could see a smile brighten his face

"Hold on, baby," he said as he proceeded to push from me.

I watched as he lifted his pants from the floor and pulled out a condom from his wallet. It was then that I knew he needed more too. Straddling my hips, I stared down at his impressive erection and watched as he rolled on the condom. He leaned over and gave me a tender kiss. "Are you ready, baby?" he asked softly.

"Yes, I need you inside me."

Taking hold of his cock with one hand, while propping his body over me with the other, he slowly positioned his cock at my entrance and began slowly moving inside me. I wasn't sure if it was his size or the fact that I hadn't been with any man for two years that cause a little pain as he drove inside. "God, baby, you're so tight. Are you okay?" He breathed, taking it slow.

I tried to hold back the pain I was feeling. I didn't want him to stop. "I'm good, don't stop."

The more he moved inside me, the more I could take of him. Every movement inside brought me closer to release. God, he felt so good. I could feel that I was getting close to my release. Peter took hold of my arms and placed them above my head. As he continued to thrust deeper inside, he commanded. "Don't come until I tell you."

I wasn't sure how much longer I could wait. I was so close; it took everything I had to hold back my release. Almost at my breaking point, he finally commanded, "Come, baby, I'm right there."

My body shook with intense pleasure; I thought I was going to pass out. Peter must have felt my body give way, because he emptied inside me with one final thrust. "God, I missed you," he breathed softly.

~****~

It was late by the time Peter left my condo. We ended up sharing some Chinese takeout and watching a movie. We really didn't talk too much about what went on in our lives over the past two years, mostly because I was afraid to hear about all the women he had been with. Even though I didn't expect him to give up a social life, I couldn't bring myself to think about him ever being with someone else.

After we said our goodbyes, he suggested that one of his men kept an eye on my condo, just to be safe. It was either that or letting him spend the night. I thought it was a little over the top, since it was only prank calls and nothing more. I didn't think to mention the incident with Mrs. Jensen's cat. I wasn't one-hundred percent sure that I forgot to lock my door. It only made sense since nothing was disturbed or taken.

For the first time in forever, I was finally able to sleep soundly. Even though I still had dreams about Peter, at least I woke up with an ending to them. I also felt refreshed and energized, which I hadn't felt for a long time. Pushing from by bed, I headed to the bathroom to take a shower and begin my day. I wanted to get in touch with Natalie to see if I could get another look at the building. I wanted to get a better idea of how I wanted the area to be laid out. I knew I wanted to change the lighting and close off an area for an office and a conference room. I also wanted to have the area separated into different sections to showcase each artist's work. With two floors to work with, I had enough room to display different kinds of art, ranging from abstract to still life. I also needed to come up with a name for the gallery. I spent all morning trying to decide on what to name it. I wanted the name to reflect the kind of art that was going to be displayed, and still have a catchy name that would be remembered. After careful consideration, I decided to name the new gallery ‘Séduire,’ which is French for Allure. I thought it would be a perfect name, considering it was my intent to get as many people as possible to step inside the gallery.

Natalie was kind enough to meet me at the new location. Once inside, I pulled out my notepad and began drawing out how I wanted the galley to be laid out. I was like an artist working with a blank canvas. Even though it was only a rough draft, I thought it looked pretty good. Now, it was a matter of getting a contractor to do the work. There was only one contractor that I trusted, so I called him and let him know what I wanted. We decide to meet later in the week to go over the details and lay out a plan to get started. I was glad when he told me that his schedule was open and his next big project wouldn’t be until next month.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lilly

When I got back to my apartment, I was surprised to see an unfamiliar, but good-looking alpha-male type standing outside my door. I could only wonder who he was. I fumbled with my purse to find my keys, making sure that my pepper spray was within reach. Walking up to the guy, I looked at him with curiosity and politely asked, "Can I help you with something?"

He didn't even make eye contact with me when he said, "No, ma'am."

It wasn't the answer I wanted so I questioned him further. "Okay, do you mind telling me why you’re standing by my front door?"

This time he made eye contact. "Just following orders, ma'am."

This conversation was going nowhere. "Look, I don't know who the fuck you are, but if you don't move away from my door, I'm going to call the police.” Instead of reaching for the pepper spray, I pulled out my phone ready to dial 9-1-1.

"No need for that, ma'am. I work for Jagged Edge Security. I have orders to make sure nothing happens to you," he said in a stern voice.

"Did Peter put you up to this?" I could feel the blood begin to boil in my body. How could he possibly think that he could just step in an order protection for me? This was so unbelievable, I couldn't even think straight. It was one thing to have someone watch my building, but to have them stand guard outside my door was another. What would the neighbors think?

"Yes, ma'am. My name is Cop."

The big guy named 'Cop' moved aside and allowed me to enter my apartment. Placing my things on the counter, except for my cell, I brought Peter's number up. By the time I finished with him, he was going to wish he never sent one of his guys to take up residence at my door.

I waited in my kitchen, thumping my fingers against the counter top, until Peter answered his phone. When the call went to voice mail, all I could do was leave a message. "Peter, are you frickin’ crazy. I want this guy standing in front of my door gone! Do you understand? Gone!"

I hung up, and went to the fridge to pull out a bottle of wine. I was steaming and needed something to cool me off. I poured the wine in a glass and took a big drink. By the time I had finished the second glass of wine, I was feeling a lot calmer. Even though I was still pissed, at least my body was no longer boiling over. I walked over to the peephole in the door and saw that ‘Cop’ was still standing outside. I needed to stay away from the door; it only made me angrier the more I thought about it. Taking my glass of wine and the bottle, I went to the bathroom to take a bath. Whenever I got angry or upset, this was the only thing that could calm my anger. Bath and wine, a perfect combination.