Persuasion Skills (2 page)

Her mind skittered away from the memory
of the breast cancer scare she’d had three months earlier. She touched her
chest, an unconscious gesture to reassure herself she was still okay.

Jaxon had been her rock through the whole
thing. He was the first person she had run to when she noticed something odd in
her left breast, and he was the one who sat with her, gripping her hand in
support, when she was told the cyst was benign.

She could feel a flush work its way up
her throat as she thought of that day. Relief had crashed through at her
results, and she was lucky to have been given a clean bill of health. However,
she still remembered that day with a profound sense of embarrassment.
If only I had avoided that last glass of
wine.

Perhaps if she hadn’t had that last glass
of liquid courage, her relationship with Jax wouldn’t be so awkward right now.

The car ran into another pothole, and she
cursed under her breath. At the jolt, or at the memory of that night? She
nibbled on her lower lip, not wanting to know the answer.

She’d always had a bit of a crush on him,
ever since he had shown up in the middle of a dicey situation she’d gotten into
in college. Over the years, she’d excused her infatuation based on the fact
that Jax was an incredibly handsome man, and a woman would have to be blind,
deaf, dumb, and possibly an extra terrestrial not to appreciate his good looks.
But even the aliens would at least look twice.

The only indication of his Italian roots
could be seen in the smooth olive tint to his skin. With his broad shoulders
and tall frame, he’d always reminded her a bit of a super-hero, right down to
his wavy honey-blond hair that always managed to fall over his intense dark-green
eyes and the damn dimple that constantly seemed to wink at her when he smiled.

She caught herself smiling softly at the
thought of those sexy dimples and scowled.

He completely negated the skinny nerd
stereotype, which just made his sexy quotient tick up even higher. A sexy
meathead Pepper could appreciate then ignore, but a hunky genius?
Not a chance.

Perhaps it had always been inevitable
that she would make a fool of herself with him eventually. And of course, with
her luck, it wasn’t him catching her staring at his butt for the millionth
time, or noticing how her nipples tended to tighten up whenever he entered a
room.

Nope.

Those scenarios would have been
preferable. Instead, she had to make the merlot-inspired decision to strip in
front of him and beg him to make love to her.

Shifting uncomfortably in the leather
seat, Pepper replayed that day, more specifically that night, over in her mind
for what must have been the millionth time.

Jax, as usual, had been an amazing
friend. Just as she had been there for him only a few months prior when his
mother passed away, he’d dropped everything to help her through the doctor’s
visits, biopsy, and ultimate good news that the lump she found was nothing
serious.

After the last appointment, he had taken her
out to dinner to celebrate, and the night should have ended at that.
Unfortunately, Pepper was so relieved she was healthy that she made the drunken
decision to finally act on her long-standing attraction to Jax.

The giddy need to seize life and finally
live out her fantasy had almost ruined their relationship. For one night, she’d
let herself live out what she had only allowed herself to imagine for years.
Even now, the event caused her panties to go damp and her body to prickle with
heat.

“Do you trust me, Pep?”

The huskily asked words whispered through
her mind.

She had always known Jax was an intensely
focused man, but to have all of that raw energy concentrated on her was one of the
most erotic things she’d ever experienced.

The idea of allowing someone else to
control her pleasure had always appealed to her, but she’d never trusted anyone
enough to give them that power. But with Jax … with him, she had relinquished
everything.

“Yes.”

She had whimpered softly into the cabin
of the plush rental car as her body heated, remembering the feel of him rubbing
against her flesh, his hard chest pressing against her nipples as he pulled her
hands above the bed and tied them loosely to the headboard.

She remembered the sense of freedom when
she gripped the edges of his silk tie bond around her wrists.

“That’s it, honey. Let me in.”

A shiver worked its way down her spine as
her body relived the memory of his almost bruising grip holding her hips down
as he kneeled between her legs, circling his cock at her wet entrance.

The sound of his hisses of breath and
grunts of satisfaction. The pressure of his lips against hers. The slow licks
of tongue and soft nips of teeth. The force of his hard length slowly working
its way into her was ingrained in her memory forever.

If only it hadn’t been the worst mistake
of her life.

Sadly, that night had forced her to
recognize that she felt more than just attraction for Jax. Finally sleeping
with him forced her to see that her love for him went way past the confines of
friendship and into something more. Pepper had woken up that morning realizing
she was in love with her best friend and had been for years, and it terrified
her.

She had heard that morning-afters could
be awkward, but nothing had prepared her for the feeling of sheer panic and
terror that had gripped her when she woke to find him looking at her with a
look of regret hovering on his face.

She’d had Jaxon in her arms and bed, but
the cold light of day had shown that he’d only stayed to spare her from
embarrassment.

Sputtered excuses of too much alcohol and
the promise that they should both forget the whole thing had ever happened had quickly
fallen from her lips as she’d ushered him out of her bed and home.

The burn of that shame engulfed her, and
she powered the heater off hoping the return of cold air in the cabin would
help her to escape that humiliating feeling.

There had been a few stilted
conversations and awkward moments after that, but their years of friendship had
persevered. At least, that’s what she’d initially believed.

Just as Pepper had finally thought they
were beginning to feel comfortable with each other again, he’d surprised her by
stating he would be taking a few weeks off, and he had been virtually
incommunicado ever since.

Another jarring dip brought her back to
the present. She focused back on the road and glanced at her navigation display,
thankful she hadn’t missed her turnoff. According to the little screen, she was
less than an hour away from the cabin Jax had rented.

Her pulse quickened, as it always did at
the thought of seeing him, but the excitement was quickly doused by the
simmering anger that had burned in her ever since he left her.

Chapter Two

Jax stood inside his cabin staring out at
the small doe nibbling its way across the lawn. Despite knowing the animal’s speed
and strength, it was hard for him to not appreciate the smooth delicacy of its
body as it moved across the snow. Its tentative steps reminded him so much of
Pepper that his lips twitched, knowing she would find the comparison insulting.

The sun was making its daily trek peaking
above the treetops and signaling the approaching afternoon. He hoped, assuming
he’d played his cards right, he should be getting company soon. He grinned at
the thought of finally seeing Pepper again.

She had always been stubborn. One of the
qualities that made them such great business partners. She possessed the
tenacious business skills while he focused on the research and development
portion of the business. Short of sheer exhaustion, her pure bullheadedness and
threats of bodily harm were the only things capable of pulling him out of the
computer and testing labs long enough to attend the necessary meetings that
kept their company running.

He attributed most of their success over
the last ten years to her. She literally captained the ship and kept it from sinking
on more than one occasion. It wasn’t until recently that Jax had finally
realized Pepper meant more to him than just a brilliant business partner and
amazing friend. Unfortunately, he knew the pigheaded woman well enough to reckon
that convincing her of that fact would take some drastic measures. His body
heated, and his cock jumped at the thought of the plans he had for her.

He’d always preferred his sex just a
little bit rough with a touch of kink, and had never imagined that Pepper would
like the same in bed. He swelled almost painfully as he remembered how she had looked
bound, naked, and open before him, and so hot and wet to the touch.

Although he wasn’t into the full Dom/sub
lifestyle, he’d learned early on in his sexual experience that he preferred to
be dominant with his sexual partners. He loved knowing that a woman trusted him
with both her body and pleasure, and Pepper had submitted so sweetly and
completely. The look of utter trust on her face as he’d slid into her had
almost been his undoing.

Stifling a groan, he adjusted his stance,
hoping to relieve the building pressure.

Aside from their strong friendship, his
sexual preferences were a big reason why he had never let his attraction for
her go anywhere. He had been sure she wouldn’t want to play on that level.

He thought back to when they first met
and shook his head in amusement. If someone told him back then that he and
Pepper would be partners in a company fast approaching the Fortune Five Hundred
list, let alone lovers, he would have laughed in their face.

They’d met while they were both students
at the
University
of
Miami
. He’d shared a
small apartment in
Coral Gables
near the university with a roommate known to be more than a bit of a man-whore.

At the time, Jax didn’t mind. He was in
the process of getting his PhD in computer engineering and spent most of his
time in the computer lab anyway, so his roommate’s Casanova activities never
really bothered him. The few times they did, Jax had just ignored the noises
coming from the adjoining room or gone right back to the lab to get some work
done, or to the gym to blow off some steam.

 
The night he met Pepper was one of the rare
Saturday nights he wasn’t holed up the lab working on a project. He was
exhausted and had no intention of returning to campus. All he could think of
was passing out in his bed and, he hoped, getting enough rest to make it
through the next day.

He remembered pausing on the outside of
his apartment door at the sight of the bright green and orange striped tie
hanging from the door knob. It had been the signal that Javier, his roommate, was
hooking up with yet another woman for the night. He’d rolled his eyes at the
sound of an R. Kelly song drifting from inside the apartment. The man, as usual,
had very little imagination when it came to seduction.

Ignoring the tie on the door, Jax had walked
inside, not bothering to keep his eyes averted from whatever seduction scene
the playboy had set up in the living area.

Whatever he had been expecting to see
when he walked through the door was quickly squashed.

Dishes and utensils had been spread
across the floor along with two upturned glasses of red wine, the remains of
what looked like a romantic dinner scattered across the carpet. The lights had
been dim, and candles flickered around the room.

Cast amongst the sad remnants of an
attempt at romance, on the floor in the center of his living room, had lain Javier,
naked and hog-tied in what looked like bright red bungee cords. He’d had what appeared
to be black and gold paper stuffed in his mouth as a makeshift gag smothering
his grunts as he tried to scoot across the carpeted floor.

Despite the unusualness of Javier’s
situation, what had captured Jax’s attention was the sight of a young woman
standing over Javier wearing nothing but a small pair of pink cotton panties
and a sexy pair of pink high heels, staring down with a look of fury stamped
across her face.

Even during that first look, Jax had thought
she was gorgeous. Her skin was the color of milk chocolate, and it highlighted
every delicious inch of her curvy legs, rounded ass, and, to this day, the most
amazing pair of breasts he had the pleasure of viewing.

He just stood at the door staring at her,
entranced, even as she drew back a shiny pink-leather-encased foot and kicked
his roommate in the balls. Jax could only stare, captivated, at her free and
bouncing breasts.

“How does it feel to be tied up without
your consent, asshole?”

Her yell and his roommate’s responding
moan of pain had snapped him out of his breast-induced trance.

“What the hell is going on here?”

He’d dropped his bag near the front door
and marched towards the center of the room, pausing briefly to switch the
stereo off.

She’d barely spared him a glance as she
pulled back her foot and kicked his roommate again.