Taking Jana (Paradise South #2) (25 page)

CHAPTER 40

H
e did make
love to her, long sweet love. And he didn’t ever want it to end. His fit with her was so perfect, too perfect. And their ability to read each other, find each other’s every sensory spot, every pleasure point, was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Their lovemaking was a symbiotic joining of two souls. He was factually hooked.

He held her tight as she finally fell asleep. He was on the brink himself, but couldn’t stop watching her and that glow of hers. He moved his hand to the space between her tender breasts to feel her chest rising with each breath. He didn’t want to fall asleep and by mistake actually wake from the dream that he’d fallen into.

But sleep did take over. Not even a
Sahun
master can defeat the body’s natural mechanisms, and when he woke with the sun, she was indeed gone from his side.

*

He stretched and reached for his boxers then left his bedroom to find his dream come true.

It didn’t take him a minute to find her in his tiny apartment. Jana was leaning up against his kitchen counter, a coffee in one hand, his
tri-folded
morning paper in the other. A vision in white, she was wearing the shirt he’d worn the night before, and only that shirt.
Please, God, make this be every
day.

“Hey, you. How’d you sleep? You worked hard. I imagine you slept hard too.”

“Sleep? Hah! Not with you tossing and turning,” he teased. Actually, she hadn’t moved a muscle. Her stunning body had fit perfectly along his, and she’d stayed tucked in his shape for the entire five hours. “Want some breakfast?” he asked, heading to the
barely-filled
fridge.

“No, thanks. I’m okay. Kinda want to get today started so it ends that much faster—the bank, the hospital and my mother, the club, Johnnie.” Her smile wasn’t convincing, but she tried all the same. “Coffee’s here. Then maybe we can go through a donut
drive-thru
.” She laughed. “I totally deserve deep fried sugar craziness after such a workout.”

“You’re so bad, and yes, we should. That is what we’ll do. Deep fried sugar craziness.” He winked in agreement, and then poured himself only half a cup of coffee. “Which bank do you need to stop at?”

“No bank with you in those boxer briefs,” she said, eyeing him, her arm outstretched to pull him to her. “I’m bound to procrastinate our departure to anywhere with you in those. Or out of them.”

Where had this woman come from? This could not be further from his reality, and in case it was a delusion or a waking dream, he moved toward her and kissed her mouth with all he had. He pulled away for air, then kissed her neck, pecking his way up her jaw line, her earlobe, and then drew back again, only his hand holding her hair back from her face. He stared, taking her in. In case it was a dream, he needed to memorize every minute detail. If it were a dream, he’d live it until the dream bubble burst. He placed his lips on hers again and lingered there until she slapped his ass.

“Let’s go shower together,” she said, hopping up excitedly. “The bank doesn’t open until nine anyway.”

*

His recurring shower fantasy had been nothing compared to the real thing.

Seeing her body glistening under the water’s downpour, her curves highlighted, her soaking hair down the length of her back, it was enough to take him over the edge. And learning her body, exploring, discovering what made her writhe with pleasure, was his pleasure, and was pure and unadulterated magic.

Don’t you dare wake up, Antonio.
Because pure magic is what dreams are made of.
And they’re as fleeting as this single
moment.

*

She was so used to taking care of people.

For the first time in her life, someone initiated genuine care of and for her. Antonio and his sweet attention toward her were too strange, too surreal, almost uncomfortable, yet deliciously blissful at the same time.

But she couldn’t hope to fight her nature, and really, she had no desire to, not with Antonio. She wanted to give him pleasure, happiness, and sweet ecstasy too, like he’d given her.

She made her way around his solid body and knelt down on the shower’s hard tile floor, the warm water pouring over her. She took his beautiful, shimmering steel into her mouth and worked to bring him to the ends of the earth. Every dip of her tongue, each deep insertion, and the energy she put into giving him release made her own sex clench and quiver. But her heightening arousal wasn’t nearly as important to her as him coming to his peak.

He came as the hot water ran out; the icy needles pelting down had no effect on the brute force of his orgasm, his cock’s pulsating release rippling against her tongue. She held him in her mouth for the aftershocks, loving the power she’d pulled from him and the pleasure she’d given him.

He lifted her up from kneeling, hoisting her to his chest, cradling her bottom in his arms. Her breasts were flush with his chest’s slick, muscular planes.

He leaned her up against the shower wall, kissed her mouth gently, sweetly, and whispered through his kiss, “God what you do to me.”

“Feeling’s mutual.” Her words couldn’t do justice to what her body and heart felt while in his embrace.

“Now, it’s my turn to get you, but we need to relocate, it’s too damn cold in here.” He laughed as he carried her back to the bed, laying her down dripping wet and shivering. He grabbed the throw from the bottom of the bed and covered her up. He bent her knees, holding her feet up at the edge of his bed, and ducked under the heavy throw.

When his soft lips grazed her clitoris, she bucked her hips up from the sensory overload. He pressed her hips back down with one firm hand while his tongue moved into place at her slit. Back and forth, back and forth, sweeping through her needy lips, hitting her most sensitive points all along the way. He took such delicate care of her, putting all his dedicated attention into every teasing twirl of his tongue. He sent a continual tingling wave up her spine, and she’d arch her back in response only to have him force her body back down so he could continue his onslaught.

Then he hit it, her point of no return. All the deepest and most closely guarded holdings within her were released in a torrent.

Oh God, this man.
He was a cathartic potion that she’d never known before.

CHAPTER 41

A
fter that morning’s
deluge of release, she thought she’d reached her maximum quota for the day. But when she left the dress, the purse, and shoes on the kitchen counter of Johnnie’s apartment, another spark of relief warmed her insides.

But she’d have to see Johnnie tonight and the nights after that. Still, she wouldn’t let anything get in the way of her current high.

She collected her clothes, threw them in her bag, and locked the studio apartment door behind her. It was a huge step away from being at Johnnie Demonte’s mercy.

She buckled her seat belt as Antonio pulled away, heading toward the commercial district, for donuts and the bank before going north to Fort Lee. His hand slid over to her leg, and she took his hand and squeezed. She felt a constant rush of new life each time she thought of last night, of this morning, and of
them
now. She felt lighter than a damn cloud. Screw all else; she was happy.

“You good?”

“Really good. Yeah.” She smiled at him.

“You nervous about seeing your folks? About the bank statements?”

“Nervous probably isn’t the word. My fury from Sunday has just turned into exhaustion. And not the good kind of exhaustion, like this morning from last night. More like a deep and desperate weariness,” she said, her shoulders falling that same instant. It was going to be such a long road. And her parents’ insistence on continuing to support her brother was a losing battle. The whole situation was a
lose-lose
for Jana. But it was her obligation.

At least, Antonio was her glimmer of hope. He made her feel like it would all be okay. Like she’d find and fit all the floating puzzle pieces together over the next couple of months. Somehow. Somehow together, they’d make it work.

“You still sure you want to go in tonight, to the club?”

“I have no choice.”

“You may have a choice.”

“Winning the lottery?”

“That or I could loan you the money.” His words lingered while his eyes stayed glued to the road.

Was he serious? She coughed, trying to clear the sudden knot of
all-too
-familiar warning from her throat. “I could never, would never!”

Like he even had enough. She didn’t think he had a clue what kind of money was at hand here. “And you’ve been saving to go back to Mexico. I couldn’t take that from you.” Even though she didn’t want him set on Mexico. She wanted him to be here, with her, near her work, her city.

Her heart sent a warning to her head in the form of a sudden headache, thick and furious. Morse code under her skull.

“I’m not leaving for Mexico without you, Jana. So if it makes things faster, takes care of your family situation, why not?”

Wait. Me in
Mexico?

Her eyes must have spelled out her thoughts.

“We are too good together to be apart, Jana. Won’t you come home with me? To Puerto Vallarta? You will love it. You won’t believe how amazing it is. No cutthroat, superficial games, and bullshit like life is up here. Just you and me and my family in paradise. Our family…yours and mine,
princessa
. Our very own life, children, future.”

*

A flood of confusion and wonderment swept through her.

A family? A real family? Their own family? With Antonio.
Paradise.

Paradise?
That’s a state of mind, not a real place, right? A place of
make-believe
.

But being with Antonio definitely felt like heaven, like paradise. And it felt real.

Couldn’t they be in paradise together wherever they were and stay here, in or near Manhattan? Because all she’d worked for, God, that was her paradise, too. Puerto Vallarta was a world away. Her lifelong purpose, since she could hold a toy stethoscope, was to be what she’d finally become.

A
nurse?

A nurse, yes, but more. So much more! A member of one of the most skilled trauma teams in the biggest city in the world.

They have hospitals in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Jana. Come
on!

Not the same. Not even close.

He said he wouldn’t leave for Mexico without her. Could he, would he consider waiting? Years? Many years? Would he do that for her? Because even though she was falling for him hard, she didn’t think she could ever opt to leave her position, not after all she’d done and been through to get it.

But that look in his eyes. If she cared about him, how could she ask him to give up his desire to return home? He craved home and detested the City, this entire area, in fact.

Damn it!
All of this was too much to think or talk about right now, too damn much.

“Antonio, let’s talk more about…all this…once I’ve gotten through this week. Okay?”

“Jana, I’m trying to get you through this week…by ending your family’s financial problems, which would also cut your time out at the club altogether and—”

“Whoa. So that’s what this loan is about? The club and Johnnie?”

She’d handled herself before Antonio and could damn well handle herself without him still. And even though his soft look of anticipation, a sweet hope in his face that she’d surrender touched her heart, she just couldn’t fold.

No. He pushed her to the wall. “Listen. I have to continue this gig at the club, Antonio. I know that much. Aside from the money, which I need to
make on my own
, I made a commitment. I’m helping the girls, and I’m fulfilling the contract. I couldn’t and wouldn’t take your
hard-earned
money, anyway. I mean, I’ve known you for all of two weeks. Fourteen days!”

“But you and I both know it feels like a lifetime. Swallow your pride and open your eyes, Jana!”

Open her eyes? Swallow her pride? Thank God she had any pride left!

Yes, she couldn’t deny that they’d had a
mind-blowing
connection that eluded her most of the time, but she wouldn’t acknowledge it now. The bottom line was that she couldn’t give in here. To be with a man that she
needed,
that she
owed,
that just went against her grain. Being indebted to him, under his control, owing him anything, it wouldn’t work. It had to be symbiosis or nothing at all.

And her parents’ burden was not his to take on, no matter how much he cared about her.

She faced the front and decided not to answer him. She’d have put the earbuds in right then, but the mp3 was probably still on his nightstand. It didn’t matter. She had to focus. She couldn’t be off in
la-la
land, escaping her problems like Antonio wanted to help her do. No, she had to figure shit out with her mother, discuss the release of her father with the doctor for tomorrow, arrange the homecare, pay the whopping hospital bill with the forty large she’d soon have in her damn purse, then deal with the club. Her two new dancers were coming in tonight.

But it was a lot, an overwhelming tidal wave.

Antonio had just tried to give her a life raft of a solution for it all.

What was she doing, tossing it back while the waves threatened to swallow her whole?

*

Shit, now she felt awful. She was giving him the silent treatment for Christ’s sake, being defensive, stubborn and prideful. He was just trying to help her, which was more than the family she was born into had ever tried to do.

Why did Antonio even put up with her?

She gritted her teeth, stole a gulp of air, then turned to him. “Antonio, I’m sorry. Just, please, let me think. I need time to process all of this craziness.”

She watched him nod with calm, objective understanding. No guilt, no hurt, even in their newer dynamic, his expression remained stoic, sweet. He continued down the thruway, but this time, he took her hand in his and wouldn’t let go.

God, the strength and comfort and warmth of his touch. She did not deserve Antonio Ruiz. She definitely did not earn such a man.