Fool Me Once (7 page)

Shaking, Eva dropped on a chair; no longer able to hold her tears back, she let them fall freely. She knew she should have felt relieved he finally left, but she couldn’t. She felt cold and alone. Her anger had left her drained. His absence…well she didn’t want to think about it. She was not going to let herself care for that cold-hearted man again, the man who once broke her heart and who had made it clear he couldn’t stand the sight of her. She heard the door open, and felt James engulf her in his arms.

“There honey, you alright? Because if you aren’t, no matter how cute he is, I will go and give him a piece of my mind. And trust me, it won’t be pretty.”

Smiling weakly, she looked at her best friend, hugged him back and started sobbing on his shoulder.

“Oh James, what would I do without you.”

Stroking her hair, he sighed.

“Well darlin’. As much as it pains me to say so, without me you’d be doing just fine. But I am glad to be here for you. Come on let’s blow this party, we can leave it to the competent personnel we got. We can go grab a coffee somewhere quieter.”

His eyes jokingly seductive, he winked at her.

“Let’s go somewhere more private. Shall we make it your place or mine?”

With fake cheerfulness, she took his hands and played along.

“Let’s make it mine, I got a nice view and I got no nosy neighbor.”

Behind them, the door opened.

“Listen Eva, I’m…”

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw James holding Eva’s hand, when he saw her laughing with him. His lips tightened and the soft look he had in his eyes hardened.

“Ah, I almost fell for your little speech, once again. I knew I shouldn’t have let my guard down.” Looking straight into Eva’s eyes he addressed James.

“Eh man, sorry for kissing her, but I want you to know, I took nothing that wasn’t offered to me. I see you forgave her fast. She’s got a sexy body, I’ll give that to you, but she the most deceitful creature I have ever met. Don’t let yourself be fooled by those innocent eyes. My advice to you is take as much as you can from her, and then run away. As far and as fast as you can.

His gaze never wavered from Eva’s during his little speech. He saw her face drain of all color, her large cerulean eyes brighten with more tears, one threatening to fall unto her cheek, her rounded chin held up and high. He saw it all, and what he saw was like a blow to his mid-section. He couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe once again he was wrong. That maybe appearances were not always what they seemed. Then he saw…stars? He heard muffled voices above as he hit the hard floor.

“James!”

“I’m sorry Eva, but he had no right saying things like that to you. I couldn’t just stand there like an idiot while that jerk insulted you. He asked for it.” Then he grinned.” And since I am a very obliging fellow, I obliged. Don’t worry, he’ll live.”

“Oh James, you’re the best friend a woman could ever ask for.” She impulsively hugged him tight.” I would love to see the shiner he will have in the morning.” She laughed.

Groaning, Jake opened his one good eye, and squinted through the already swelling one. He stood up and glared as best he could at James.

“What the hell?”

“You shut up and leave, unless you’d like me to even things out?”

Trying to clear his thoughts, Jake shook his head. What the hell was this guy’s problem. He had only been trying to warn him off the witch, pretty witch maybe, but witch nonetheless. Fine he was welcome to her, and he hoped Eva would use him and discard him just like he deserved. Idiot didn’t even know to take good advice. Slamming the door behind him, he went. He was going home, away from all this craziness and the stupid impression he was missing the point. He shook his head in a vain attempt to shake that feeling off. He couldn’t wait to be home. He had a nice bottle of scotch waiting for him there. He thought that tonight was a great occasion to open and drain it all. How did he come out as the bad guy again, when all he had wanted to do was warn the poor fellow off her? HAH! Still there was this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that maybe his words had not been for the other man, but for himself. That the words were said because of the unfathomable reason he could not bear to see her with another man. That he knew somehow that what she told him was true, had known it all along, but was hiding behind his truth. Nah! That was crazy, he was just tired. He didn’t care how many men she had, didn’t give a damn, not one iota of it. She proved him right again tonight, as cunning as ever it seemed. Kissing him one minute and making plans to go to her apartment with another man the next. He was glad it happened in a way; it would help him greatly in his endeavor not to care for her.

“I am an idiot.” She said out loud

Despite knowing she was making a mistake, she kept on walking, clenching her car keys in between her fingers, small security, but it made her feel safer. Why did she have to leave her car at the hall and hitched a ride with James, today of all days. Why couldn’t she have waited till morning to make sure he was ok, better yet, why did she even care whether he was ok? Walking in the city at night was not adventurous, it was plain stupid; damn she truly was an imbecile. She buried her nose in the thick turtleneck of her black sweater, trying to hide. Invisible was good. She kept on walking. Soon she reached the address she had gotten from the phone book. The house looked dark and dangerous in the deep of the night. The porch steps creaked as she went up. It took all the nerves and courage she had left to ring the doorbell. . The ringing was louder then she expected and she jumped in surprise. She looked around; afraid she may have woken up the neighbors. No. She sighed deeply, relieved. She waited a minute, and then hesitated before ringing the bell again. She heard a crash, quickly followed by a muffled groan. Quickly, she turned around and was ready to escape when the door opened violently behind her.

“What the hell do you want?”

He slurred, his eyes, well the one she could see anyway, was puffy and red, and he wasn’t too steady on his feet. She suddenly realized he was completely drunk. Oh my! She thought, what had she gotten into.

“Well, well; if it isn’t the men eater. What can I do you for this evening? Couldn’t find a poor sucker to relieve your baser instinct, so you came to me?”

He laughed loudly and kept staring, looking her up and down. He licked his lips in an overacted gesture.

“Wanna come in?”

She hesitated. What was she doing here, what could she tell him. Her little lecture prepared as she was trying to get some sleep escaped her. She tried to tear her gaze away from his naked chest, try to remember something, anything. All she could think of was that he was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans riding low on his hips, his feet were bare, his chest…shaking her head, she closed her eyes and tried to regain her cool.

“I…I…I, well I…”

“You what?” he barked.

“Nothing. Sorry, I made a mistake coming here. I should not be here.” She turned around ready to run away.

“Nah, iss ok. You wanted to nurse me back to good health? Or should I say good looking?” He laughed as if his lame joke was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

She shook her head and prepared to leave, when he grabbed her arm, pulled her over the threshold and slammed the door behind her.

“You came all the way here, might as well try and tell me why.” He stated logically.

Eva pulled away from his grasp, she seemed to be doing an awful lot of that lately, and backed away from him, until she was stopped by the door behind her.

“I…err was a little concerned as to how you…err you were doing, you seemed to have hit your head hard when you…err… hit the floor.” She stuttered

His eye was swollen shut; his jaw was dark with stubble, his lips tight in a cruel line. She wished she had the option to put more distance between his tensed body and hers. She was too aware of him, his size, and his strength.

“Well, maybe you should check me over, see if I am free of any dangerous injuries. Beside my eye and my ego that is. I give you free access to my body for any doctoring you wish to do” he mocked.

She looked at his strong shoulders, stared at his lips, marveling at their perfection, remembering the stirring kiss they shared earlier that evening. She looked up and met his eyes. His were smoldering, she wondered whether he was sharing the same memory she had. Tearing her gaze away, she fumbled with the doorknob, muttering unintelligible words. He put his arms on either side of her, making escape impossible. He too started staring at her full lips for a long minute, and then he bent his head and captured them with his own.

She did not want to respond to the increasing pressure of his mouth, did not want to open to his kiss. She tried to think of trivial things, such as how the empty his living room looked, how bare the walls were, how he smelled of expensive scotch and soap, wondered where his bedroom was. Groaning, finally admitting defeat, she slightly opened her lips to allow his tongue to invade her mouth. His hands came to rest on her hips and he drew her completely against him. Eva’s breast hardened as she felt his blatant erection against her stomach. She went pliant in his arms and finally fully returned his kiss, the smoky accent of the aged liquor going straight to her head, muddling her thoughts.

His hands slipped up beneath her sweater, marveling at her smooth skin. His mind was fuzzy, foggy with the heady mix that was alcohol and desire. He could think of nothing but her body against his, didn’t want anything but to bury himself deep inside her. He cupped her breast with his hand, his thumb drawing neat little circle around her nipple. He heard her breath intake, felt her arch her body against his. Her kiss became more urgent, pleading almost. He gently broke the kiss and saw his own desire being reflected in her eyes, took in the flush cheeks, the heaving chest. He cupped her face and once again lowered his lips to hers.

“Eva?” he asked throatily.

She knew she should say no, knew he was drunk, knew thousands of reasons why she should stop, should not allow him to continue. Her head enumerated reasons and consequences why she should not, her body, however, was not listening. She wanted him. She wanted him to introduce her to love making. She felt eighteen again, when she had hoped he would be her first, when she had told herself he was the only man for her. At twenty-six, she was almost starting to believe it again, as she had never experienced such feelings when other men had kissed her. She nodded. Saying yes, acquiescing to his request to make love to her. Finally!

He took her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. She didn’t see anything, could only feel. Feel his strong arms holding her, his lips nuzzling her neck. He put her down gently on the mattress, and stood there for a moment just looking at her. He kneeled in front of her and slowly removed her sweater. God! She was so beautiful, dark hair against milky skin. He kissed her throat, her moan urging him on. He reached behind and, with deft hands, unhooked her black silky bra. He slid it slowly from her arms, uncovering high rounded breast. It was his turn to take in a sharp breath; he would never be able to last. He took one pink nipple between his lips and felt it tighten. She gasped and buried her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer. He could barely breathe, he could barely think, his mind so clouded by the sight of her. All he felt was the need to possess her, to make her his.

She looked in his beautiful eyes and saw passion, desire and urgency. Her body shook with desire, screamed in need, wanting a fulfillment it never had. She was not stupid; she knew he would notice it was her first time. She wasn’t that innocent. Yet she was unwilling to tell him, fearing he would stop, or worse laugh and not believe her. When his lips moved down to her navel, she moaned and forgot everything. Shivers of pleasure had taken over her body.

“Oh Jake…”she whispered.

Hearing her voice forced him out of his real life fantasy. What was he doing? This was Eva. Why did he want her so badly, why was he hurting so much at the thought of letting her go, of not seeing her face contorted with pleasure, her soft lips swollen by his kisses, of not hearing her soft sighs, her cries of pleasure. Why was he stopping? Damn it!

She felt him hesitate, she knew the moment he decided to stop, his body tensed and his jaw clenched. Her heart beat loudly in her ears, her body shivered as he moved away from her, she didn’t know whether it was in shame, or due to the sudden chill in the room. Shaking, she forced her tears back. This was for the best anyway.