Authors: Charlotte Swanpol
ROMANCE: Paranormal Romance: The Valley (Book One) (Fun, Sexy, Mature Young Adult Vampire Shape Shifter Romance) (61 page)
Jade
By the end of her first day, Jade was exhausted. She felt as though she were both an empty shell, and filled to the breaking point; as though all of her energy was drained of her and replaced with information. Throughout the day, Susan had taught her how to use their complete computer system, their filing systems – both electronic and manual – and the databases for each, as well as various client confidentiality protocols.
After Susan’s shift had ended, Alexa taught Jade how to hack the internet security, which cafeteria cookies were the freshest, oatmeal-raisin, and which celebrities would have ugly children.
It had been an amazingly inspiring day, and her burning passion to help people had been reinforced tenfold, but she was ready to go home, curl up on Lewis’ lap, and fall asleep by eight p.m.
She was perched on a stepladder, alphabetizing patient files, when her shift concluded. Since it was Jade’s first day, Alexa volunteered to stay and finish up the paperwork, and Jade could have kissed the skinny bitch. She gathered her things, purse, coat, and cell phone, and said goodbye. With one stop between her and her bed, Jade marched toward the cafeteria for one last oatmeal-raisin cookie. She tried to stay strong, but she was halfway done the cookie before she left the hospital.
A melodic
ding-ding-ding
signaled a text message, and Jade pulled her phone out of her pocket.
Hey babe, I’m making dinner. Can u stop at the liquor store and pick up wine? Love u
.
♥
Despite the surge of butterflies rumbling through her cookie-laden stomach, she was exhausted. Her response said so, imploring that he stop instead, she was beat. With a second
ding-ding-ding
came his reply.
I can’t leave, babe. Oven’s on and dinner’s already cooking. Please please please? I’ll make it up to u ;)
Jade sighed, grateful that, at the very least, she wouldn’t have to cook that night.
***
As she waited for the elevator door to close, she pondered on her choice of wine. Lewis hadn’t been specific on what he was preparing for dinner. Jade preferred a Sauvignon Blanc, and knew full well that he preferred full-bodied reds. She tried to play the Devil’s Advocate, and danced around in the middle, settling finally on a Pinot Noir.
So help me God, if he complains, I’m going to break this bottle over his head.
As she walked up to the apartment door, her stomach gurgled.
I hope he’s making pasta.
When Jade opened the door, she was startled to find that the lights were out, save for a soft glow from the floor. Looking down, she saw dozens of tea light candles lining the walls, rose petals dotted the path between. She set her knapsack down against the closed apartment door.
“Hello?” she called into the warmth.
“In here!” came the response, and she followed Lewis’ voice by way of candlelight.
When she arrived in the living room, she gasped as she took in the scene. Hundreds of candles, of all shapes and sizes, surrounded her, bouquets of roses were set all about the room; on the makeshift dining room table in the center sat two plates, and two empty wine glasses. And next to the table stood Lewis in his tuxedo t-shirt, grinning from ear to ear above a bouquet of white roses.
“What is this?” Jade beamed, dumbstruck.
“This,” Lewis looked to the table. “This is chicken parmesan.”
Jade giggled, nearly deafened by her heartbeat.
“Oh, you mean
this
,” he cooed, gesturing around him. “This is to show you how much I love you. How proud I am of you, for how hard you’ve been working and how far you’ve come--”
He walked to her, kissing her softly. A quick tear leapt at its chance, and scurried down her cheek.
“I wanted to do something to show you how much you mean to me. Show you how beautiful you should feel all the time. I’d been planning it since I found out you got the job. I knew today would be hard for you, for so many reasons, and I wanted to give you something amazing to come home to. But then it occurred to me,” he paused, reaching behind him.
“It occurred to me that I would do all this for you even if you hadn’t gotten a new job, if it had just been a random Monday. And that got me thinking harder.”
Slowly, Lewis brought his arms from behind his back, and in his hands he held a little navy box.
“It occurred to me that not only would I do this for you on a random Monday, but that I
wanted
to do this for you on any random Monday for the rest of my life.”
Jade’s breath caught in her throat, her hand covered her mouth. As Lewis bent to kneel, he took her left hand in his, and looked up at her. Jade couldn’t have stopped the tears if she’d tried.
“Jade Evans,” he whispered. “I love you with all my heart and soul. Will you make me the happiest man alive, and let me shower you with roses and candles on any and all random Mondays from here on out?” A tear tip-toed down his cheek.
“Jade Evans, will you marry me?”
Jade all but screamed her reply, garnering angry banging from the next-door neighbors. All at once she was laughing and crying, kissing her Lewis. Her fiancé.
With his arms wrapped around her, and hers around him, she lost all concept of time, spiraling into his kiss. His lips moved to her ear lobe, sucking gently before nibbling. He kissed his way down her neck, to her shoulders, her breasts, and brought her hands up to kiss them too, her now-ringed finger. She sunk into her love, her body overwrought with lust. She bristled as she leapt up and wrapped her legs around his waist. With eyes closed, her intuition told her each step brought them closer to the bedroom. She opened them as he lay her down, the roses and candles scattered along the dressers and nightstands, as well.
Hungrily, he peered down at her, licking his lips. He knelt forward to untie her scrub pants, and she colored, briefly, once more. This was nothing for her kittens to witness. He tossed aside her pants as he kissed each of her knees, then the place just inside her knee. He left a warm trail as he licked a path up one thigh and down the other, her body writhing in earnest.
Jade gasped when Lewis began, slowly at first, with his tongue. He worked in circles, bigger and then smaller, concentrated. Jade’s hips began moving to his rhythm, eager to assist in any way she could. She let out a low moan when he slid a finger into her, deep and firm, the moan turning to panting as he added another, and then another. She groaned, and took a handful of his hair to bring his face to hers. Lewis kissed her tenderly before slowly removing her top.
With one look at the black lace bra, Lewis’ eyes grew hazy. If he had been hungry before, he was starving now. He schooled himself to stay tender, patient, but his urgency was growing as quickly as his erection. Jade reached down to feel it beneath his jeans, and deftly worked the button and fly to add them to the growing pile of clothing. She sat up and left him standing, leaning to place a warm, wet kiss at the base of his member. She tried to tease him the way he had teased her, going slowly, sensuously, but when she’d begun her steady pace, Lewis reached around to take her hair in his hands, steering her in another direction.
Before she was prepared, or had even gotten close, her fiancé finished, but he was not discouraged. He tugged off his tuxedo t-shirt and laid her back once more. Gently, he brought her leg up as he entered her, his previous work making it easy.
Both Jade and Lewis inhaled sharply as he thrust deep inside her, his warm kisses finding homes on her goose-bumped skin. She smiled with pleasure; the feeling of Lewis sent her reeling.
Moments passed, and though it still felt great, she wasn’t any nearer. She closed her eyes, and tried to imagine what was going on.
She focused on the speed, the friction, the sweaty body above hers. She imagined tanned skin surrounding dazzling emerald eyes, raven curls spilling onto her cheek; strong hand caressing her breasts, the long fingers playfully teasing her nipples. She felt the same hands rake their nails down her skin, his desire palpable. Jade gritted her teeth and barked an order.
“Spank me,” and he obliged, the ring of skin on skin muted by the covers.
She felt his surprise, and urgency increase, engulfed in passion. She saw him looking down at her, thrusting tirelessly, with that private joke dancing on his eyes and lips. Her mouth went dry from the heat.
Approaching the tipping point, she murmured, “Don’t stop,” but she knew he wouldn’t. He leaned in to kiss her with those gorgeous, plump lips and she couldn’t resist. She sucked the bottom one into her mouth, nibbling lightly, and the pace increased further. Steadily her climax built, closer and closer, until finally ripples of ecstasy convulsed through her body, down to her toes and fingers.
Throat raw from screaming, she lay panting in silence with Lewis on top of her, and could feel him throb within. An extremely satisfied grin spread across her face, and as she stroked his hair, a tear made its escape from her eye into the pool of light brown hair beneath her. Fiancé. She was engaged. She was getting married.
Abruptly, Lewis got up, and grabbed a towel. He sat on the edge of the bed, cleaning himself up in silence.
Hurt and confused, Jade lay on the bed, the sudden absence of Lewis left her shivering less than his icy demeanor. What had happened?
She was about to ask when he stood up and, covering himself, faced her.
“Who
the fuck
is Owen?”
End Of Book One
The New Hire
Book Two
Jade
Jade froze where she lay, the question reverberating through her mind. The air was as thick as sludge, threatening to suffocate her as it oozed through the room. She scoured her memory, Lewis’ impatient stare boring fiery holes through the tension and into her soul.
I haven’t done anything wrong,
she thought.
I met a coworker today, which was to be expected. He knows I started a new job, and that I’d be meeting people. Why is he so mad? He wasn’t even there, today? How does he even know about Dr. Azevedo?
She sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, heart pounding and thoughts racing. The silence was the only thing heavier than the air.
“WHO THE FUCK IS OWEN?!” he bellowed. Lewis loomed down at her, quivering with barely contained rage. Dropping the towel, he stepped forward and took her jaw in his vice-like hand.
“You scream his name in my ear as you come,” he spat, his face inches from hers. “The least I deserve is an explanation. Who is he? How long have you been fucking him?”
Jade tried to pull her face away, but he held on tightly, and she blinked back tears of both pain and frustration. She looked up at her furious fiancé; she’d never seen him like this before.
How did we get here?
she thought.
A few minutes ago everything was perfect.
Softly, she placed a hand on his, and he snatched it away from her jaw as though it had been burned.
“Lewis, I’m not cheating on you.”
“Like I fucking believe that!” he snarled, pacing in front of her. He was a caged bull, ready to charge at the slightest provocation. She needed to tread carefully, here.
“Lewis, please just listen,” she began. “I love you, and only you. In the three years we’ve been together, I have never been so much as tempted to cheat on you. You’ve been the light in my life from the very beginning, so supportive, and funny, and caring. You were there for me during the most difficult time in my life. Why would I do anything to hurt you?”
Lewis paused to look at her, and she stood. He took in her curves, her nudity, and slowed to a stop. She approached him, her eyes searching for a response, any indication that she was getting through to him. She brought her hand to his cheek, pleasure rippled through her when he didn’t pull away from her caress.
“I know how good I have it with you,” she breathed. “Why would I do anything to jeopardize that?”
“Then explain to me what the hell happened just now, because I sure as hell have no idea,” he croaked. “Do you even want to marry me?”
“Of
course
I want to marry you,” she crooned. “I’m sorry about this whole thing; it was an accident. Dr. Avezedo is just one of my new coworkers – albeit, a very handsome coworker – and he just popped into my head. I’m sorry.”
“Was that supposed to make me feel better?” he pouted.
The hurt in his eyes was more than she could bear, and finally she understood. She’d done more than scare the shit out of him, make him think she’d been unfaithful; she’d hurt his pride, and she knew that a man’s pride was more fragile than tissue paper and, once torn, about as easy to repair. His ego was bruised, thinking he wasn’t good enough to get her off. She bit back a smile before lifting up to her tip-toes to place a soft kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss, leaning into it softly, then pulled away once more and sat on the bed.
“That still really sucks, Jade. Like, you had to do this tonight?”
Well, I only met him today
, she thought wryly.
“Come on, Lewis,” she pleaded. “It was an accident! I can’t control where my mind goes every second of the day! And can you honestly tell me that you’ve never thought about
anyone
else during sex, before?”
He considered that for a moment before looking at her sheepishly.
“I guess you’re right,” Lewis admitted.
Ouch
, Jade thought. “But it was always supermodels, or actresses, and the one time Jessica Rabbit. Never anybody real, never anybody I actually knew.”
Though it stung to hear that her fiancé had fantasized about other women during sex, especially women she could never possibly compare to, she was relieved; she could see the light at the end of the tunnel, she was almost off the hook. She took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, Lewis. Please forgive me,” Jade soothed. “It will never happen again. And, if it does, I promise I’ll do a better job of hiding it.”
He looked up at her, sternly, but softened as she beamed down at him, the joke lifting both spirits and tension. Finally, he smiled, and she sat down on his lap.
“I didn’t know you were such a jealous person,” she teased, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
“I didn’t either. I guess I just get crazy when it comes to my fiancée,” he murmured, placing little kisses along her collar bone.
Fiancée
, she thought.
I’m his fiancée.
And then it hit her. She squealed with delight as she kissed him hard, determined to prove to him that this time he was the only one on her mind.
