Mind Games (Games Thriller Series) (34 page)

Chapter 83

Chris shook all the way to his estate. It took him three tries to type in the password on the keypad that opened the gate. When it finally rolled open, he slammed the gas tearing up the gravel driveway as he went. He stumbled into
the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers until he found the shears he was looking for and began to cut the soaking cast off his arm. The shakes made the task difficult but he finally got most of the way through and dropped the scissors, ripping the fiberglass from his arm.

Stripping the wet, blood soaked clothing off; he headed outside to the pool, diving into the cold water, cooling the heat inside him down to a low simmer.
He swam lap after lap trying to escape his feelings until exhaustion overwhelmed him and he grabbed the edge, putting his forehead on the cool concrete and closing his eyes letting his breath slow to a normal pace.

He climbed out of the frigid water and walked into the cabana house grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his shivering body.

Jessica stood at the far side of the pool and he stopped in his tracks.

“You shouldn’t be here
, Jess,” he said and breezed past her into the house.

She followed him and he vaulted up the stairs and into his bedroom. He turned as she walked in behind him.

“You don’t understand,” he began, tears blurring his vision.

“Enlighten me.” She stepped closer.

“I almost got both of us killed,” he said and the tears spilled over. “I almost got you killed,” he whispered. “I almost got...” He trailed off; she didn’t know she was pregnant yet.

Jessica nodded. “We knew that would happen.”

“Talking about it and seeing it are two very different things,” Chris said and ran his hand through his wet hair.

“You saved me.” She took another step toward him.

He took a step backwards. “You need to go,” he said and the need to take her in his arms became unbearable.

Jessica took another step toward him, pulling the straps of her sundress, untying them and letting it fall to the floor. She smiled.

“Jess,” he whispered staring at her perfect body and a burst of pent up energy escaped. The bedroom door slammed closed, making her jump. He stepped back into his nightstand. “You don’t understand,” he pleaded.

“Enlighten me,” she said again, taking another step closer.

“If...if...” Chris stuttered as she stopped in front of him.

“If what?”
she said, placing her hand on the one that held the towel.

“Jess, if
...” He closed his eyes and she kissed his chest. “Jess, I won’t be able to let you go,” he said with his eyes closed. “Not again.” He opened his eyes and looked down at her. “If we do this...” he trailed off and she pulled the towel away.

“I want you,” she whispered looking up into his eyes.

His resolve melted away.

“Don’t you want me?” She pouted and knelt in front of him, slippin
g his hard cock into her mouth.

He sat back on the nightstand, and gripped the edges with his hands, his breath coming in short bursts. “Jessie,” he whispered as she sucked him gently. “Jessie.” He closed his eyes and ran his hands into her hair, pulling her away from him and up onto her feet. Trembling, he leaned over and kissed her.

He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, searching as the passion threatened to sweep him away. “I would give my life to be with you.” Chris ran his fingers over her lips. “But you need to know, if we do this, I will never let you go.” He paused for his words to sink in. “Tom can’t have you back, even if he wants you, there is no going back after this.” He looked at her intensely. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do understand. Do you?” She ran her hands up his chest.

He smiled a little. “Enlighten me,” he whispered giving in to her completely.

“I’m here. I made my choice. Now make love to me.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

“Say it,” he whispered, pulling away from her lips.

“I love you...Chris.”

His heart soared and he smiled. “About that miracle...” He placed his hand on her lower abdomen. “You are carrying my child,” Chris whispered.

Her hand flew to her mouth and then she flew into his arms, squeezing him in a hug that expressed her outpouring of joy.

He picked her up in his arms and lay her down on the bed, making love to her slowly with his hands and mouth, savoring every inch of her as she whispered his name over and over and over again.

“I love you,” he whispered and finally slid his aching shaft inside her.

Epilogue

Chris pulled up to the studio and glanced at Jessica. She covered her mouth for a second, willing back the nausea. He smiled. “CJ causing trouble today?”

“CJ?”
she said from behind her hand.

“I’d like to name my child after Chris.” He looked down at his hands and then over at her. “I figure if it’s a boy, we can name him Christopher James, if it’s a girl, Christina Jo. Either way we can call the baby CJ. What do you think?”

She smiled. “I like that,” she agreed. She hadn’t said much since he picked her up at the doctor’s office. “I’m carrying twins, Chris. I wish you had been there to see them with me.”

“Oh, babe.” He slowly smiled and put his hand on her stomach. No wonder she popped early. “I thought it was just a routine visit this time?”

She nodded. “It was supposed to be, but when he saw the size of my belly, he decided to do a quick ultrasound to make sure things were ok. The babies aren’t identical twins. Each one is in their own little amniotic sack. It was amazing to see their heartbeats on the monitor.” She smiled again; she knew what they were having.

He lifted his eyebrows. “Are you going to tell me?”

“Boys. We are going to have two boys.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “Did you have another name in mind?”

“What about calling him Ty?”

Chris shook his head. “No. I want that name behind us.”

“Okay, then how about Thomas Patrick?”

Chris tried not to wince visibly but didn’t say anything. “We could always name him John Patrick.” Chris joked knowing she was a big Tom Clancy fan. He got out, grabbing the umbrella and walking over to help her out of the car.

“Very funny.” She smiled as the late August wind blew their jackets around them and they ran into the studio together to get out of the rain. “CJ and Tommy, I like those names,” she said and the door closed behind them.

* * * *

Tom watched from across the street in the rental car. He looked down at the divorce papers and took a deep breath. This was going to be more difficult than he thought; he hadn’t seen her since that evening in New York when he asked her to leave. With a sigh, he put the papers in his jacket and pulled his car into the lot, stepping out into the cool August rain.

Chris froze with the hanger halfway to the rack when Tom entered. Tom felt the blood drain from his face as he looked at her protruding belly, his jaw going slack and the papers in his hand momentarily forgotten.

“What are you doing here, Tom?” Jessica asked, causing both Tom and Chris to snap out of their momentary paralysis.

Chris finished hanging up the jackets and walked behind Jessica.

“Divorce papers,” he said as he held them up. “How?” He nodded toward her and licked his lips. “How far along are you?”

“I’m in my fifteenth week,” she said. “Twins, go figure.” She smiled and shrugged as she felt Chris put his hands gently on her shoulders.

Tom did the math in his head and stared at her. She was pale but radiant at the same time and he still felt that overwhelming pull, wanting her. He looked at the papers and back at her as the timeline clicked. “New York?” he gasped.

“I assume you want me to sign those.” She pointed at the papers, ignoring his question.

Tom looked at the papers again and went to hand them to her and hesitated. “Was it New York?” he asked again as the realization set in. He pulled his hand back. “You mean to tell me, they could be mine?”

“No, they aren’t,” Chris spoke for the first time since Tom had come in.

“Chris,” Jessica turned. “Do you mind? I’d like to talk to Tom alone.” She smiled a little at him. She saw a measure of uncertainty in his eyes as he nodded and walked away.

“Tom,”
she sighed and turned back to him, putting her hand out for the paper.

“Could they be mine?”

“I made my choice, Tom, so this conversation is irrelevant.” She put her hand out for the papers.

He slowly handed
them to her. “If...” he started to say and stopped.

Jessica took the papers out of his hand and walked over to the counter, reaching for a pen. She signed all the entries
on each designated page. She turned, handing him their signed divorce decree. “I understand you’re getting married,” she said bitterly as he took the papers.

Tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath, nodding. It was splashed all over the tabloids and had been since Sharon began blackmailing him. “Are you carrying my child?” he asked again and looked down at her.

“No, they aren’t yours, Tom,” she replied and kept eye contact. She knew one of them wasn’t because Chris had told her what he had done. But the second child, she wasn’t so sure about.

Tom looked at the signed papers and then back at her. “I still love you,” he said quietly and leaned over, kissing her cheek. “Be safe
, Jess,” he said, looking beyond her at Chris who was watching them from the doorway to the office.

Keep her safe
, Chris,
he thought and saw Chris nod in response.

He turned to leave. “Goodbye,” he said over his shoulder as he went.

“Goodbye, Tom,” she said. The sadness in her voice caused him to glance back.

The last view he had of her before the door closed was a tear slowly sliding down her cheek and then she turned away, forever.

The End

ABOUT J.E. TAYLOR

J.E. Taylor is a writer, a publisher, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst, not necessarily in that order. She first sat down to seriously write in February of 2007 after her daughter asked:

“Mom, if you could do anything, what would you do?”

From that moment on, she hasn’t looked back and now her writing résumé includes more than half a dozen published novels along with several short stories on the virtual shelves including a few within eXcessica anthologies.

In addition to being co-owner of
Novel Concept Publishing (
www.novelconceptpublishing.com
)
, Ms. Taylor also moonlights as a Senior Editor of Allegory (
www.allegoryezine.com
), an online venue for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. She has been known to edit a book or two and also offers her services judging writing contests for various RWA chapters.

She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.

Visit her at
www.jetaylor75.com

If you liked
MIND GAMES, you might also enjoy the other titles in the Games Series, also available in a boxed set:

SURVIVAL GAMES (Book 1):

Until he snatches sexy stock jock Jessica Connor, Ty Aris happily followed his stepbrother’s orders, producing some of the most coveted black market porn and snuff films on the street. But the day he grabs her in the parking lot, his life becomes a living nightmare.

Jessica foils his plans, fires his passion, and frustrates the hell out of him. She never gives in to his demands, his pleas, or his desires, and yet a psychic bond claims his soul and melts the iron walls around his heart. His obsession sparks a fierce rift when Frank wants to start filming. Ty stalls with any and every excuse in the book, fueling Frank’s fury, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before he loses this game.

With the clock ticking, he scrambles for escape options.

Options that won’t land him in jail... or worse... a captive in Frank’s sadistic prison.

“I rarely write a review, but this one kept me up nights. Nightmarishly delicious without a hint of shying away from the seductively scrumptious flavor from one page to the next. Horror, torture, hate, fear, and sensuality. This story has a little bit of everything in it with the grim intensity of eliciting these emotions in the reader.”
Amazon 5 Star Review by Anna

“I was a little hesitant getting this trilogy. I read all the time - Grisham, Koontz, Clancy, and many more authors. After reading the reviews, I decided I would give the books a try, partly because of the price for all three books. I was blown away! You definitely have to keep an open mind but loving and hating the villain is something that is impossible for an author to do. You want them caught, prosecuted - no matter what catch them - but the author made me hate him, love him, cry for him even laugh out loud. I couldn't put it down until I was finished with all three. If you don't read these books it's a loss - very much a page turner.”
Amazon 5 Star Review by Hard To Please for the Games Trilogy(Survival Games, Mind Games and End Game).

This book is for sale to Adult Audiences Only. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes, graphic language, and violence that may be considered offensive by some readers.