Possessing Eleanor (7 page)
She turned towards him while fighting the urge to scream. Jackson Royce hadn't ever come across to her as unintelligent, but at this moment, he was quite possibly the dumbest man to walk the planet. The scariest part was, by the look on his face, he truly didn't understand why she was so upset.
“You know what, Jackson? I have always assumed you do spend time with other women, clients, co-workers and
friends
. I'm not threatened by that. Shame on me, but up until this moment, I was completely confident we were in an exclusive relationship. I will certainly rethink my position now, since apparently, you believe if a man and a woman are together in the same space, it's sex or nothing.”
“You are deliberately misinterpreting what I'm trying to say.” He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “If you tell me there's nothing between you and this Ted person, of course, I'll believe you.”
“I shouldn't have to tell you anything.” She silently cursed herself when a single tear rolled down her cheek. “And you know what else? You were absolutely right a minute ago. I definitely need a break from you!”
Ellie walked out of her home on shaky legs, got into her car and made a concerted effort not to peel down the driveway. The sight of Jackson standing on the front porch with a look of utter shock stayed with her the entire drive to the office.
Chapter Six
“So you and the Marquis had your first fight over me?” Ted asked while pointing at himself and raising an eyebrow.
“First of all, don't call him that.” Ellie shot a good-humored scowl across the table to Judy. She wasn't surprised in the least that Judy had filled in both Ted and Dale regarding her relationship with Jackson, but the stupid nickname had to go. “And second of all, Ted, have you not been listening to what I've been babbling on about for like an hour? Our disagreement went much deeper than you.” Ellie couldn't help but smile at Ted's pained, overly dramatic sigh.
“I'm still unclear why you jerked him around in the first place, Ellie.”
“Yeah, me too.” Dale finished his beer before continuing. “If Judy told me she was going to hang out with another guy I knew nothing about while I was out of town, it would piss me off big time.”
“Are you telling me you don't trust your fiancee?”
“Yes, Dale, is that what you're telling us?” Judy put her arm around Dale's neck and pinched him playfully.
“Not at all, sweetheart. It's the unknown guy I wouldn't trust. What's his motive? Is he trying to move in on my territory?”
“Territory?” both women squawked quietly in unison.
“You know what I mean.” Dale fidgeted in his chair. “Most guys are possessive of the woman they care about whether they admit it out loud or not. From what I've heard about Jackson, he's all macho, caveman-guy when it comes to you, Ellie. And you like it ... a lot.” He raised an eyebrow and grinned mischievously, causing Ellie to make a mental note to discuss with Judy the level of private details she used when talking to Dale.
“And that takes us back to my original statement, people.” Ted scanned the table and waited to continue until all eyes were fixed on him. “All you had to do was explain I date Edwards not Eleanors. You deliberately misled him.”
“I did not,” she replied without as much conviction as she would have liked. “Don't you understand? He thought he had the right to dictate who I spend time with. He questioned my loyalty to our relationship. He called me
his woman
!”
“He asked a couple honest questions based on the little bit of information you gave him, then declared, in his own rough around the edges way, just how much you mean to him,” Judy stated matter-of-factly.
“And all he wanted was an assurance he had nothing to worry about from said unknown guy,” Dale added quickly.
“And, up until this little incident, you've been totally getting off on his ‘I want to take care of you in every way’ approach to your relationship. You
are
his woman Ellie, in every sense of the word.” Leave it to Ted to cut right to heart of the matter.
Ellie stared openmouthed at Judy first then Dale and finally Ted. “I can't believe you all are taking his side!”
At that, all eyebrows raised in her direction.
“Honey, we're just trying to get you to see the big picture.” Ted patted the back of Ellie's hand. “Do you understand how lucky you are to have a man who has been honest and open about his feelings for you from the very beginning? He's devoted to you and seems to want nothing more than to cherish you in every way possible. You two are meant to be together. Don't mess up a once-in-a-lifetime relationship by pushing his buttons out of sheer stubbornness.”
Reality slammed into Ellie like a ton of bricks. Thank God, she was sitting down. She was head over heels in love with Jackson. How could it have happened in such a short time and without her realizing it until this moment? The three days he had been gone had been the longest three days of her life. She thought about him constantly and missed his companionship. Why the hell hadn't she called him and explained herself?
“Oh my God,” Ellie whispered as she cradled her head in her hands and leaned on the table. “What if I've ruined everything? We haven't talked since I stormed out of the house. I kept figuring he would call me once he saw the error of his ways. I'm such an idiot! He's not going to call me first after what I said to him. But if I make the first move, it's as if I'm admitting it was wrong to get mad, and I wasn't, because he didn't trust me and he should and—”
“Deep breath, Ellie,” Ted chuckled. “When's the Marquis due back in town?”
“Tonight, actually.” Ellie checked her watch. “He's probably already home.”
“Well then, let's get down to the business at hand.” Ted signaled for another round of cocktails. “This situation calls for serious damage control.”
* * * *
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Jackson grumbled as he pushed the blueprints across his desk and turned to stare out his office window. Four days! It had been four days since he had heard Eleanor's sweet voice and, more importantly, felt her melt in his arms. Each day he'd been gone he'd waited for her to call, to explain what the hell had happened between them that morning. He had every right to be upset. Just the mention of her spending time with another man had gotten his blood boiling, and when she'd refused to elaborate on the situation, he'd feared his head might explode.
Fine, if she wasn't going to call him, then so be it. Her stubbornness was cute at times, but this wasn't one of them. They were going to hash out this little bump in the road and move on. Whatever the hell was going on with this Ted person couldn't possibly be a threat to their relationship. Eleanor wasn't capable of that kind of deception. He would stake his life on it.
She was the woman he'd been waiting for forever. Beautiful, smart as a whip and passionate beyond belief. They were destined to be together. She was his, damn it. She had proven that every time she'd given herself so completely to him. Could he be wrong, though? Maybe she didn't feel as strongly about him? His gut clenched painfully.
“Bullshit.” He slammed his hand down on the desk simultaneously with the knock on his closed door. “What?” he barked loudly at the interruption.
“I was getting ready to leave, Mr. Royce,” Linda, his secretary, poked her head cautiously into his office.
“Sorry, Linda.” He ran a hand through his hair and tried not to scowl. “I didn't mean to snap at you. Go on home. I'll see you Monday.” When she didn't move and stared at him with concern, he managed a feeble smile. “Everything's fine. I'm just in a foul mood.”
“Well, if that's the case, maybe I should go home, too?”
Ellie stepped into view behind Linda. Jackson's pulse rate increased instantly at the sight of her. God, she was breathtaking, dressed to the nines in a silk blouse, a narrow, black, knee-length skirt and peep-toed pumps. He slowly eased back his chair then stood. He nodded to Linda who, after glancing warily at the two of them, silently left.
“Eleanor. What a pleasant surprise.” He held her gaze with his but didn't move as she entered his office and closed the door. She walked slowly across the carpeted floor to stand behind one of the leather chairs positioned in front of his desk. After dropping her purse, she smiled shyly at him.
“I missed you.”
“And I, you.” His cock thickened at the sultry tone of her voice.
“Ted is gay.”
Jackson coughed briefly in surprise before recovering himself. “An interesting way to start a conversation, I must admit.”
He moved slowly around the desk to perch on the front edge. He crossed his legs at the ankle and his arms across his chest, hoping he affected a casual pose despite the relief coursing through him.
“Why didn't you tell me that in the first place, Eleanor? Wouldn't it have saved both of us a great deal of upset?” He fixed her with a serious glare and was immensely pleased when she had the good sense to look mildly uncomfortable.
“Yes, you're absolutely right. I should have been honest with you from the beginning.”
He smiled broadly, satisfied completely with her apology, but he wasn't given more than a second before she continued.
“But you need to understand why I got so upset.”
“We aren't going to just let it go with that?” He raised an eyebrow and tried not to chuckle when her expression intensified.
“No, we are not,” she replied quickly. “It seemed to me you were questioning my loyalty, my trustworthiness, and it hurt me, Jackson. But I was wrong to try to hurt you back instead of explaining what I was feeling. I get now why you reacted the way you did. I'm not mad anymore.”
“And what, pray tell, do you ‘get’ about me now that you didn't a few days ago?”
“I have it on very good authority that your behavior the other day was your somewhat unpolished way of demonstrating how much you care about me.” She grinned at him with amusement dancing in her wide eyes.
“Unpolished?”
“Lacked finesse? Rough around the edges?”
“I know what unpolished means. So who's the authority?”
“Actually, I got a hard comeuppance from Judy, Dale and Ted. They all delighted in taking your side of things and telling me exactly where I'd gone wrong.”
“I, now, completely approve of any time you spend with your friends.”
She rolled her eyes at him, and his deep laughter filled the room.
“Let me see if I can better articulate my feelings, sweetheart. Come here.”
He uncrossed his arms and legs, and warmth spread through his body as she came to him without hesitation. When she stood between his legs with her hands braced on the tops of his thighs, he held onto her hips gently and stared deeply into her eyes.
“The last few days have been agony for me. We aren't ever going to waste hours, let alone days, not speaking to each other again. We belong together.”
The emotion sparkling in her eyes sent his pulse racing, and he struggled to keep his mind on the conversation at hand as she pressed more tightly between his legs.
“I know there are going to be times where things get complicated between us. We're both somewhat set in our ways and headstrong.” He began to slowly run his hands along her thighs, carefully working up the material of her skirt. “But nothing is more important to me than making us work out. I love you, Eleanor. I want us to share the rest of our lives together.”
Joy, relief, adrenaline and shock all slammed into Ellie simultaneously, causing her fingers to tighten, most likely painfully, on Jackson's thighs. She had been rehearsing her apology slash declaration of love speech for hours. With the help of her friends, she'd tried to anticipate every possible scenario, come up with creative explanations, formulate intelligent arguments to insure she kept this incredible man in her life, and to what end? He'd beaten her to the punch. He'd missed her. He loved her. He wanted a future with her. She hadn't ruined everything!
“I love you too, Jackson.” Ellie threw her arms around his neck and started kissing his forehead, moving frantically to his eyelids and his cheekbones before he grabbed her hair tightly and drew her back far enough to regain eye contact. He held her still just long enough for her to almost drown in the emotions reflected in his expression then his lips claimed hers in a kiss that left no doubt about the depth of his feelings. He plundered, dominated and possessed her mouth as he yanked her skirt to bunch on her hips. When his warm palms caressed her naked ass cheeks, they both groaned at the sensation.
He tore his mouth away from hers and peered over her shoulder. “What the hell is this?”
“I figured if I wasn't able to apologize properly with words,” she rubbed her breasts against his chest and stroked the back of his neck, “maybe I could tantalize you into not being mad at me anymore in a nonverbal way.” When she rotated her hips seductively, he squeezed her exposed flesh with enthusiasm.
“You tantalize me simply by being.” Jackson stood and crushed her deliciously against his solid frame. “And right now, you're playing with fire.” He lifted and held her effortlessly. She ground herself shamelessly across his erection and whimpered in anticipation when he swung her around to lean over his desk. He pressed his large hand between her shoulder blades, and she braced herself on her arms. The sound of him ripping down his zipper was music to her ears.
“Door locking?” Ellie breathed out when his skillful finger found her core.
“Unnecessary.”
She wiggled herself backwards in an effort to allow him better access. “I do not want to meet your co-workers in this position, Jackson.” Her pussy spasmed and her hips jerked when he carefully inserted two more fingers. With one purposeful stroke, he took her breath away.
“Nobody will walk into this office without permission.”
His certainty, his complete command of his environment, enflamed her as much as his skillful mastery of her body.
“My pussy,” he declared forcefully as he set a fevered pace, touching, stroking, inflaming her from the inside out. “My woman.” He leaned over her back and rotated his hips in rhythm with his hand. “Mine.”
