Take Me (6 page)

“Okay,” Anna said now. “Maybe one more lap around?”

“Sure.”

They walked in silence, falling into step next to each other, their feet tapping out a steady rhythm on the pavement. Anna had always been a walker. Back in London she would get up early, slip on her sneakers, and slide outside. She’d watch the city wake up as she moved through the streets, never taking the same path twice, tracing a zigzagging route all around her neighborhood. Walking calmed her.

Anna appreciated that Jaxon was staying silent. She found his presence comforting, but at the same time, she didn’t want to talk about what was going on with Katie. She liked being alone with her thoughts.

When Jaxon’s phone rang, breaking the early morning tranquility, Anna jumped.

“She’s ready,” Jaxon said when he hung up.

They trooped back into the hospital, hurrying up to the labor and delivery floor.

As soon as Anna rounded the corner and walked through the door of Katie’s room, her breath caught in her chest.

There was Katie, holding a tiny little bundle in her arms.

“Oh, my God,” Anna breathed, moving closer. She peeked into the soft folds of the baby blanket. A tiny, wrinkled little face stared back at her. “Oh, Katie,” she whispered. “He’s beautiful.”

“Tyler Harrison Randolph,” Katie said. She traced her finger over her new son’s face.

“He’s perfect,” Adam said. “And Katie did great in the surgery.”

It was only then that Anna realized Jaxon’s hands were on her shoulders. She turned her head, taking in his profile, the look on his face as he laid eyes on his new nephew for the first time.

“He looks like a football player,” Jaxon said. “For sure.”

Anna smiled and shook her head. It was such a guy thing to say. It was such a
Jaxon
thing to say. Jaxon’s eyes met hers, the sides crinkling as they shared another smile.

The moment between Anna and Jaxon in the hospital was short-lived, as a second later, Katie asked Anna to go back to her house and pick up some of Katie’s things.

Katie had forgotten a suitcase on the way out, and because of her c-section, she needed more clothes than she’d originally anticipated.

“Why can’t I do it?” Jaxon asked. “I’m staying there, for God’s sake.”

“Because I don’t trust you,” Katie said simply. She looked at Anna. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Of course Anna didn’t mind. But since Jaxon had driven her to the hospital, he needed to drive her back to Katie’s house.

When they got there, Jaxon put the key in the lock of the front door, and Anna couldn’t help but think about the last time she’d been here -- yesterday, at the shower, when Jaxon had kissed her for the first time. Had that been only yesterday? God, it seemed like forever ago.

“This must be the bag they were talking about,” Anna said, pointing at the hunter green suitcase that was sitting in the front hallway.

“How could they have forgotten it when it was sitting right there?” Jaxon shook his head.

“They had other things on their minds,” Anna said.

Now that Katie and the baby were fine, Anna had nothing to distract her from Jaxon being right here, so close to her in this small hallway. She backed as far away from him as she could, hoping that putting some distance between them would calm her beating heart.

“Really?” Jaxon gave her his patented smile. “That makes sense. I can see how easy it might be to have other things on your mind.” He took a step toward Anna. The glint in his eye let her know exactly what he was referring to when he said “other things.”

Anna took a step back, but the entranceway was small, and there was nowhere to go. She found herself with her back against the wall, literally, and Jaxon in front of her, moving in for the kill.

He pressed up against her body in one smooth movement, his lips landing on her neck, his breath teasing her skin. Pleasure flowed through her, sliding like hot lava from her neck all the way down to her toes.

“Jaxon,” she said. “Please, I don’t think we should – ”

“Don’t think we should what, Princess?” he asked. “Do this?” His lips moved from her neck to her mouth, and she turned her head away from him, the last stand of resistance before what she knew would be certain surrender.

He slid his hands up her body, his fingertips lightly grazing her arms before moving excruciatingly slowly to her face. He took her chin gently, turning her face until she was forced to look at him.

Want and desire burned in his eyes, and Anna averted her gaze, unable to look at him.

“Look at me,” Jaxon demanded. “Anna, look at me.”

She forced herself to look. Lust flamed between them, threatening to take over.

She could see how bad Jaxon wanted her, and it only served to turn her on more.

“Please,” she begged. “Please, I don’t – ”

But she never finished her thought.

The kiss enveloped her, overtaking her whole body. His mouth was on hers for what seemed like hours, strong at first, then gentle, pulling back, speeding up, driving her crazy.

His hands started on her face, cradling her chin gently as he kissed her, then moving down her body as the kiss intensified. He stroked her shoulders, then grabbed her hips, holding her tight against him.

He played with the bottom of her skirt, pulling it up to stroke her bare thighs, then pushing it down again as he moved back up her body, his hands lingering over the sides of her breasts. It was the most exquisite torture she’d ever known. “Jaxon,” she breathed.

“Jaxon, please…”

“Please, what, Princess?”

She could tell he was enjoying this, enjoying teasing her, enjoying driving her out of her mind.

And then, just like that, he decided to stop teasing.

He grabbed both of her hands, pushed them over her head and back against the wall. Sliding his fingertips back down her body, he gripped the bottom of her tank top and pulled it over her head, discarding it on the floor.

The air hit Anna’s bare skin, and she shivered. Jaxon pulled her close, his body warming hers. She ran her hands over his chest, feeling the hardness of his muscles, the strength of his shoulders. He pulled his own shirt off, and it joined hers on the floor.

She took him in, wondering how she could be with a man this beautiful. His body was lean and hard, the kind of body that could have been in a Calvin Klein ad. She felt small and vulnerable when he pulled her close and kissed her again.

“Oh, Anna,” Jaxon said, moving back and taking her in.

She swallowed hard, then moved her arms up to cover herself. But he took her arms and put them down at her sides. For one long, delicious moment, he looked at her, naked from the waist up.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said. There was awe in his voice, and Anna didn’t have a chance to figure out if she believed him before his mouth was back on hers.

His kisses had gone to another level now, as if seeing her body had kicked his desire into another level of intensity.

His hands snaked around her waist, pushing her body against his, crushing her breasts against his chest. Then he let her go, his fingers finding her nipples. He teased the tightened nubs until Anna felt like she might lose her mind.

He pulled her skirt up, forcefully, and Anna gasped. His fingers wasted no time moving the thin slip of material between her legs over to the side, and he brushed against her clit, his fingers moving to the rhythm of their kiss.

“Oh, God,” Anna moaned. “Jaxon, please, don’t stop.”

Bliss pulsed through her body as he continued to rub her, moving faster and faster until Anna knew she was going to orgasm. “Please,” she gasped again. But something in her tone must have let him know she was close, because just like that, he took his hand away.

She bit back the protest that was on her lips, knowing if she begged, he would just prolong the torture even more.

He took her hand and led her into the downstairs guestroom, then pushed her down on the bed roughly. Her legs hung off the side, and he kneeled down and looked up at her.

“I’ll bet you taste delicious,” he said huskily.

Anna bit her lip, not trusting herself to speak. His hands grabbed her panties and slid them down her legs. He parted her thighs, and then his mouth was on her, his tongue tracing slow circles around her clit.

Anna moaned and arched her back, giving herself to him.

He took her right to the brink, and then he was pulling back, standing up. He slid her skirt down, tugging it over her hips, over her knees, then tossing it away, leaving her completely naked on the bed.

He unbuttoned his pants and dropped them to the floor, and his boxers came next.

A line of hair trailed from his belly button down to his hard cock.

Jaxon’s body lay down on top of hers, cocooning her, making Anna feel safe and wanted. He kissed her lips softly, then moved a strand of hair off her forehead. She wanted him inside of her so bad she ached. It was more than physical – it was a need that had been building up inside of her for all these years, an urge that had been much stronger than she’d dared to let herself believe.

“Is this okay?” Jaxon whispered. He breath was accelerated, and she watched him, looked into his eyes and saw the desire that pulsed there. But there was something else there, too – sadness?

“Yes,” Anna breathed. “Yes, it’s okay.”

He entered her slowly, taking his time, prolonging that exquisite moment when the two of them became one. She moaned as he began to move inside her, peppering kisses on her forehead before taking her mouth. The kiss grew deeper, his tongue stroking hers with more intensity as he made love to her.

He moved faster and faster, until finally, Anna couldn’t take it anymore. She came, the orgasm washing over her in a tidal wave of pleasure, causing her to cry out Jaxon’s name. At almost the same time, she felt him tense on top of her, felt him filling her.

Their bodies stayed pressed together for a long moment before he rolled over, pulling her into his arms. Anna put her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart, neither of them saying anything. Her body was completely relaxed, her mind completely content. He stroked her back softly while she lie there, cradled in his arms.

And then, finally, she fell asleep.

***

Jaxon looked down at Anna. Her long blonde hair curled softly on her shoulders, her rosebud lips parted slightly as she slept on his chest. He couldn’t stop looking at her, couldn’t believe that after all this time, she had finally been his. In that moment, he knew he was never going to let her go again. But did she feel the same way?

A vibrating noise came from the floor of the guest room. His phone, left in the pocket of his pants. It was probably Katie, wondering where the hell they were.

He reached for the phone, already formulating excuses about what was taking them so long. Traffic. Trouble finding the things they were looking for. Stopping to grab a bite to eat.

But it wasn’t Katie. It was Donovan Cuban.

Jaxon hesitated, not knowing if he should answer. Then again, he’d blown off both calls from Cuban last night. He slid out of bed and into the hallway, shutting the door softly behind him so that he wouldn’t wake Anna.

“Jaxon Hale,” he said into the phone, hoping he sounded like he was a busy man who didn’t have too much time to talk.

“Jaxon!” Cuban roared. Cuban was always roaring. Jaxon could picture him at his desk, a big heavy oak thing on one of the top floors of a shiny silver building in downtown L.A.

Jaxon had been in there once, when he’d first started out in the business. Back then, Jaxon had been an assistant to one of the big developers in L.A., a man named Gordon Janvers. Gordon had taken a meeting with Cuban, and had brought Jaxon along so he could “see what goes on at one of these things.”

Of course the real reason Jaxon had been invited was because Gordon wanted to seem important, like the kind of man who had to travel with an entourage, albeit an entourage of one.

The meeting had been about a piece of land that had just gone on sale in one of the L.A. suburbs – at the time it had been a broken down row of abandoned businesses.

The strip mall had fallen into disrepair, and the owner, a bullheaded man named Jonas Miller, had finally fallen into foreclosure on the property. It was set to go to auction in the next couple of days, and Jaxon’s boss Gordon wanted it.

But so did Donovan Cuban.

The meeting was supposed to be about who should get the property, but in the end, Gordon had slunk out of there, promising not to bid on it.

Jaxon had been baffled – why had Gordon given up? He had the money to pay for the property, and if the building was torn down and a new row of commercial properties had gone up, it would have been a great investment opportunity. The neighborhood in which it was located was changing, with young professional families moving in.

When Jaxon had asked his boss why he had agreed not to bid on the property, Gordon had clapped him on the shoulder and told him it was better to take a loss once in a while in order to get ahead long-term.

At first Jaxon hadn’t understood. And then he got it. Gordon was afraid. He was afraid that if he pissed Cuban off now, Cuban would come after him harder on the next deal. It was then, in that moment, in the elevator of Donovan Cuban’s building that Jaxon made a vow. He would start his own company, and he would do things his own way. And he would never be afraid of people like Donovan Cuban.

As soon as they’d walked out onto the street, Jaxon had shook Gordon’s hand, thanked him for his mentorship, and then walked away. He’d set up the cheapest website he could, using the money he’d saved from the meager wages he’d made during his time with Gordon, and some savings he’d had from working construction over college vacations.

It had been slow going at first, but Jaxon was a hard worker, his instincts were sharp, and he knew enough about construction and contracting to be able to make smart investments. After six months, he’d made enough on his first flip, a ranch style house in the valley, to afford an office. Things had continued to build from there, until Jaxon had become a multi-millionaire.