Consume Me (A Burning Desire Novel) (10 page)

"Okay.
Fly safe."

The
shift in his mood confused me.

"Take
care of yourself Miss Dane."

He hung
up and I stared at the screen, trying to wrap my brain about what I could've
possibly said that made him go from hot to freezing in a nanosecond.

Surely
not...

Of
course not, that would be insane…

But
that was exactly when he'd gone stone cold, when I mentioned Liam.

Clea
Iris Dane! Can you be any more narcissistic?

He was
already upset; it had nothing to do with you hanging out with Liam.

I
reasoned with myself and let go of the debate.

When
I'd finished working around six, I found Calvin waiting for me in front of the
entrance. I drove with Brooke and Liam to a bar between our neighborhoods for a
drink. They'd offered during lunch and I'd declined due to my plans with
Landon.

When
I'd gone back to the office, I ended up agreeing to Brooke' second invitation.
I had two margaritas then called it a night. I was officially in love with the
two of them. They should totally be an item. But they cared for their long
friendship.

Back at
the apartment, Jenna was even more disappointed. We made some club sandwiches
and hogged each side of the sofa working. I'd waited for Landon's call until I
couldn’t hold my eyes open anymore and drifted off to sleep.

I stepped
out of the little room, moving ungracefully, as an effort to calm the fire
between my thighs. I was undoubtedly going to kill Jenna for dragging me into
it.

I'd used my Friday lunch break for some
girl time with my friend. We were at a spa two blocks away from my work and
once we'd showed for our appointment, I discovered that Jenna had booked a
waxing session in addition to the mani-pedis.

I was shifting awkwardly on two left legs,
I had an extremely sensitive skin, my father's stubble used to turn my cheek to
crimson, and despite all the moisturizing applied between my thighs, it'd still
burned like hell.

I always went with neat, and comfortable
for personal hygiene purposes, but never had a Brazilian before that day.

Jenna kept laughing at me while I climbed
on one of the comfy pedicure chairs. I threw well-deserved daggers her way and
turned to choose an adequate nail polish from the hostess. I hesitated a lot, I
was anxious.

"Stop over thinking it. It's going to
be A-mazing."

Jenna was well aware of my state of mind.

I was going to see Landon.

In
fact, I was flying to Chicago to surprise him. I still couldn't believe that I
was going to do it. It was Jenna's idea, and she spent two days nagging about
how perfect it would be if I went over there, and did things on my own terms.
Landon and I had been talking and texting a lot. I was fascinated by his
ability to affect me with typed words. I spent the past thirty-six hours
grinning at my screen like a lunatic, and it encouraged me to take the leap and
surprise him earlier.

Admittedly, I didn't know the man. His
texts were mostly flirtatious and chivalrous, like he was from a different era.
I did spend the night scrambling through the Internet to try to acquire as much
information as possible.

There
was so much information available. The tabloids seemed to care most about who
he did and did not date, and he dated a lot, models and celebrities from around
the globe.

He was very driven, one of the wealthiest
men in the world, man of the year in the Times magazine. He owned many
businesses and appeared on talk shows with some famous political figures. It
was fascinating; he was only twenty-eight. Even though he came from money, he
was a prodigy on his own.

He
graduated both Harvard and Cambridge in a record time, spent a year working at
a prestigious law firm, and became the head of one the following year. There
wasn't much information about his family, other than a paparazzi picture from
his mother's wake. She'd died less than two years ago, around the same time my
dad had passed. I read as much as I could, but didn't manage to capture
everything. I'd spent too much time staring at his pictures, when Jenna had
slipped next to me in the bed; she teased me about being as much of a stalker
as he was. We'd booked our flights and a hotel room, prepared our suitcases and
went to sleep after Landon's last nocturnal call to wish me sweet dreams.

Even
though I'd resented him for leaving Calvin with me, he'd turned out to be quite
helpful. Since we had no way of knowing where Landon would've been when we'd
get to Chicago, he made sure to get me a driver with a badge to get me inside
the building or to drive me wherever Mr. Davis would be. He promised his
discretion about the whole thing and seemed to be encouraging the whole plan. I
tried to brush off all the quirks that obsessed me over the whole situation. I
was worried that he wouldn't like to be surprised, or that I might interrupt
his work. He'd been stuck with endless work, even when we spoke on the phone; I
kept hearing buzzing and heated conversations with some law jargon and numbers.

What
scared me most were various ambiguous information I'd read about his
relationship with his partner at the firm. They grew up together, and dated a
lot. In one particular magazine, they were called 'Chicago Law Sweethearts'.
Therefore, I might be throwing myself in the lion's den without knowing it.

Jenna
kept reassuring me with her own arguments about the way he talked to me and
looked at me. Also the fact that he'd chased me across the continent. It was
her way of fueling me, whenever she'd felt that I was going to back off the
whole plan and just wait for him to come Saturday night.

After
work, I walked outside my office building to find an erratic Jenna yelling in
French next to an amused Calvin. He was sipping a coffee and smoking a
cigarette. Jenna’s choleric state and loud swears seemed to offer him an
amusing entertainment.

I wrinkled my nose and cocked my head
darting at the cigarette.

Calvin just shrugged and sighed.

"Bad habits die hard, I'm trying to
quit, but this city is too stressful."

I nodded.

"I'm only thinking of your health.
Also I hate that stuff."

"I'm sorry."

He sounded a little freaked out.

"No don't, it doesn't bother me. I just
hate its very existence, and I want to help you quit."

I said with a smile. He didn't need to
know why I was repelled by it; it took my father's resolve and life.

I climbed inside the car and jumped with
excitement.

"You didn't think we'd let you go to
Chicagoland with only that demented person as a chaperon, did you?"

I jumped into Jude's lap and smothered him
in a bone-crushing hug.

I hadn't told him about the whole idea and
thought it might've been wiser to call him from there. It was surely Jenna's
doing and I loved her for it.

"I'm so glad you guys are here. This
couldn't get any better."

"Oh trust me, it will, once you see
what Jen and I got you."

Ryan beamed and I hugged him just as
passionately.

I didn't care about any gift. Their presence
alone was more than enough.

Jenna
jumped inside complaining about her tenant in Paris. He organized a party that
ended up with the police showing up and shutting it off. In some Parisian
neighborhoods, Jens’ included, people weren't allowed to host noisy parties
after midnight, and they'd get a warning, and pay a contravention.

"Party of four heading to
Chicagoland!"

Ryan squeaked once Calvin had taken off
the car, heading to the airport.

The
plane was quiet and we'd managed to find four seats behind each other. I slid
next to Jude, while Jenna and Ryan settled next to each other determined to
plan a party for the three of them as soon as they'd land. We expected the
flight to land around nine thirty, and it was more than adequate time for me, to
call Landon and try to get him to tell where he was after a quick shower and
change of clothes.

Calvin was my plan B. He'd promised to
call and check discreetly from Landon's assistant or his fiancé.

Calvin told me a little about her. She was
sort of Landon's personal affairs assistant; she'd take care of his house, his
personal travel, cook for him, and organize parties. Her name was Alison, and
despite her busy schedule, she was putting herself through culinary school with
the money she earned.

Landon
had offered them one of his properties in Chicago’s suburban area as an
engagement present. I was astounded by such a show of generosity. Calvin also
told me some stories about the time he'd been working for Mr. Davis. Actually,
he was not only his driver, but also his personal head of security since he'd
left the army eight years earlier. He was only thirty two years old. I became
very fond of him; he had kind eyes and was very respectful and protective
around my friends and me. Not to mention, the way he'd helped me with my
adventurous leap.

One
hour in flight, I grabbed a book and my very time-appropriate playlist baptized
'Sparks of Sanity' and hit repeat on my favorite tune; ’As I moved on’ by ‘Blue
Foundation’ was a song that I found suitable for my state of mind and somehow;
ever since I met Landon I’ve been struck by the lyrics. I got lost in some
French literature. I thought some of Baudelaire's rhymes were very suitable for
my state of mind. Every time I thought about his reaction when he'd see me, and
how it would go from there, my stomach quivered.

I tensed playing over all the possible
outcomes. I'd never done anything without being prepared for its consequences.

Jude nudged me lightly and pulled at my
earplugs.

"It's going to be fine Boo. Stop
worrying."

He'd whispered gently.

"I don't know. I'm just in panic
mode. I've never felt this way about someone, especially not this fast."

I admitted truthfully.

"I know."

His jaw tightened, and took the rigidity
that told me where his mind had gone at that moment. He was thinking about
Caden.

I squeezed his hand, clasped mine to his,
and leaned on his shoulder.

"Don't!" I admonished,

"I'm not scared of him anymore, and
Landon is nothing like him. I can tell."

I explained as honestly as possible.

After Landon had left my apartment; I’d
been relaxed enough to sleep in my bed without flinching. I hated that he could
still haunt me like that.

"I'm aware of that boo, it's just the
way I am, and I just worry about you. I'm proud of the way you've dealt with the
whole affair, and I'm glad you're progressing and feeling brave enough to take
this leap of faith."

He paused, and kissed my knuckles.

"Call it possessiveness, call it
insanity, but I'm the only one who knows what you have to offer and no human
being will be deserving of it for me. I'm the luckiest man to have you in my
life, which you saved on more than one occasion, and it gives me the right to
just care for you more than anyone, and beyond any reasonable limit."

Jude's words soothed me. He really was the
only person who knew me the most. We'd been through so much with each other. We
became inseparable twins one week after we'd met in boarding school and our
bond had grown stronger by the day. Last spring's event had ironed it.

His attitude had a way to resemble a
smothering mother and a commandeering father in the same time. I'd become
exasperated and yell at him, but I could never go to sleep, leaving him mad at
me, even when I wasn't wrong. Even so, I could be just as bitchy and
asphyxiating as he could.

Our
friends, except for Ryan and Jenna - who were cognizant of the major issues
that had led to such a bond - could never understand our dynamic. They'd
thought it creepy and disturbing, and truthfully, we both agreed that it was.
They'd mocked us and called us a closeted couple on several occasions before
they'd realized that it was nothing more than a unique friendship.

One
year into his relationship with Jude, Ryan had admitted to having some
reservations when he'd seen how close we were. It changed with time, of course.
We didn't spend every breathing moment together, we just were always present
for each other, especially when it comes to things that mattered and we loved
each other very deeply.

"So just calm down and relax. You are
going to surprise him and he's going to be over the moon about it."

He continued with a sinful grin.

"And if he's not... I think I could
put all those criminal minds episodes at use."

I giggled, and then sighed a little
relief.

"You're wrong about something
though."

I looked at him with a deep expression of
both gratitude and love.

"What's that?"

"It is I who is insanely lucky to
have you in my life. I can't imagine it without you, ever."

My words lured him to press a long kiss to
my temple.

"Lucky for you, you'll never have
to."

The
rest of the flight went on a little more cheerfully. We drank and laughed until
we landed.

We were greeted by a charming driver in
front of the airport. He was at least 6' 3' and hovered over all of us. His bright
beam illuminated his chocolate skin. He was less formal than Calvin was and
asked us to call him 'Zee'.

We
drove to the hotel with a cheerful Zee who'd promised the guys to come back to
pick them up later and get them to some of the best clubs in town. He
miraculously managed to convince the hotel manager to allow us to switch from
two double beds to one of their prestigious suites. Ryan was in the mood for
some pampering and decided that he'd make the best of the weekend.

Jenna had chosen the hotel. I wanted to
pick something cheaper and close to the airport, in case I decided to run back
to good old safe Manhattan. But she insisted that it was her first time in
Chicago and she wanted something exceptional.