Twenty One (Love by Numbers Book 2) (28 page)

M
y libido quickly wins the war and I soon have her spread out beneath me on the king size bed. No care for the soaking wet sheets or the mess we made in the bathroom.

“I’m yours.”

Sinking in to her tight, wet heat with those words still warm on her lips both soothes and excites me. It takes all my self control not to just fuck her; fuck her hard like my body demands, until I’ve branded her with my cock and marked her as mine.

I ignore the beast raging inside and force her to feel every inch of me, slowly and with purpose, until she begs; until she scratches my back with her nails and tightens her legs around my hips almost to the point of pain.

Electricity skates down my spine, settling in my balls and I can no longer hold back. Her volcanic release that is brought on by my pounding thrusts squeezes me from the inside; I grip her hair around my fist, tearing her head back and exposing her mouth to mine. The growl that leaves my chest as I pour myself into her is nothing short of feral. She reduces me to my basest, animal desires.

She. Owns. Me.

Every fucking inch.

S
ated and breathless, we lie entwined, like vines.

“Come with me to the junket tomorrow?” I feel her stiffen at my words.

“I’ve already cleared it with Tina, no-one will question you, or me for that matter, on our relationship. You can even stay in another room while the interviews are taking place if you feel uncomfortable. I just want you there with me.”

I can feel her thinking over her response before she settles back into me with a soft. “Okay.”

With that sorted I know I have to come clean about Mrs FML Havers.

“I need to talk to you about something else Emmy and before I tell you, I want you to know that I
have
to do what I’m about to do. It’s the only way to put an end to this mess.”

Her body doesn’t just stiffen this time, it freezes and I untangle my limbs from hers so I can force her to look at me before she gets the wrong idea.

“It’s not about us Emmy.”

She avoids eye contact, so I gently grasp her chin and force her to look up at me.

“Please look at me.”

Her eyes are glassy, like she is on the precipice of tears.

“I promise…” I lean over her and place a soft kiss on her lips, “…. that I’m doing this for us, I want us to move forward, together.”

My words get her attention and she relaxes a little yet still remains alert.

“I’ve made Tina and Marcus get in touch with Vanessa Havers…” Her body goes ridged at the mere mention of FML’s name.

“I know you said that you believe me and the fact that you do, without me giving you any proof, only makes me want to do this more.”

I kiss her again, needing her to know everything I speak is the truth.

“I’ve asked her what it will take to admit that she’s lying. I want her to publically admit that I’m not the father of her child, that I didn’t break up her marriage and that we are not and never have been, in a relationship.”

Her voice is hoarse when she speaks and she clears her throat before trying to get the words out. “W.. what does she want?”

I search her face, hoping she understands why I am agreeing to pay this woman off.

“Money. A lot of fucking money.”

She wriggles out from underneath me and sits up with her back to the headboard, pulling the damp sheet over her body, covering herself from my eyes.

I don’t know what she’s thinking and the silence is killing me.

Her face is blank, her eyes fixed on the edge of the sheet and a loose bit of thread.

“Talk to me Emmy please. I didn’t tell you to upset you; I just don’t want any secrets between us.”

She takes in a deep breath, her fists gripping the sheet tightly before turning her eyes that are now filled with rage, directly at me.

“How bloody
dare
she. She is a money grabbing whor…”

I lunge at her, kissing the word off her angry lips, forcing my tongue in her mouth, wanting to steal both her anger and her breath.

She’s not angry at me, she’s angry at FML and I’ve got to say, it’s fucking hot.

So hot that I have to remove the damp sheet from her body, and fuck the anger right out of her.

Fierce, angry sex with Emmy is another new experience for me and has to be one of the most erotic experiences ….ever.

My girl may look like butter wouldn’t melt but she has a fire inside her and God help anyone who stokes that fire by messing with the people she loves.

Like I said,
fucking hot.

R
ealising that you love someone is easy; it’s the moment that you want to protect their heart, more than you want to guard yours.

I
am so bloody angry with that bitch/cowbag/gold-digger/whore; I could go on and on with choice names for her but will politely settle for her given name, Vanessa
‘BitchBagDiggerHo’
Havers.

How
dare
she fabricate all that bullshit and demand
two bloody million,
to admit to her lies.

What kind of person does that?

I hate that Jake is giving in to her demands, not that I have any say over his finances but no-one should profit from such malicious deceit.

If I ever see that woman again…..

M
y thoughts are interrupted by Tina returning to the room.

Jake is currently in the room next door, in hour three of the press junket and he’s almost due for a quick lunch break.

I’ve been sat helping his assistant Nina reply to thousands of fan emails, love letters and marriage requests. Okay, so maybe we don’t reply to those ones but the genuine fan letters all get a response, as per Jake’s request.

“How many hours a day do you spend doing this?” I ask Nina, who is using her tablet to check all of Jake’s social media sites and send tweets or status updates on his behalf.

“Hmm emails? I only get to those about once a week but it can take hours to go through them all. Some of them are pretty freaky and quite explicit but you’re lucky, I quickly vetted the file you have before I let you loose on them.” She smiles over at me, “You’re welcome.”

I can’t help but shake my head and laugh at her, “I can handle a few marriage proposals, I’m pretty sure they won’t scare me off.”

She raises her eyebrows with a smirk, “Oh you sweet girl, it wasn’t the proposals I deleted, it was the naked full frontals.”

My head shoots up so fast I crick my neck and I am unable to keep the shock from my face. “Naked? Women? They really send in pictures of themselves?”

She laughs at me before looking back at her tablet, “Not just women, those I can handle. It’s the full blown cock-shots that turn my stomach. I’m a lady lover remember?”

No way! Women
and
men send Jake pictures of their bits? That’s just wrong on so many levels.

I am stupefied, my mouth is hanging open in shock so I don’t hear Tina when she first begins to speak to me.

“So, Emma. Has Foxy spoken to you about the opportunities coming your way?”

I shake my head to clear away the mental images and look over at Tina. She’s surrounded by a mass of paperwork and is balancing a phone between her ear and her shoulder.

“Sorry I didn’t catch what you just said?”

“Opportunities, Emma. I’ve had tabloids, glossy mags and talk shows all get in touch wanting to do an interview with the elusive Emma Campbell, the girl that stole the bad boy’s heart.”

I’m shocked into silence, why would anyone want to interview me? I’m not famous.

“Oh …. umm …. no, he hasn’t spoken to me about it but probably because he knows it’s not something that would interest me.”

I go back to the emails in front of me, wondering why she would bring it up while Jake’s not around.

“Not interested hey? Not even for enough cash to get rid of the fake baby mamma?”

Her words stun me.

“What did you say?”

She disconnects the call she has on hold and throws her phone down on the table in front of her, knocking some papers to the floor in the process.

Snaring me with a steely gaze, she seems to be assessing me before she begins to speak again.

“These opportunities come with
a lot
of cash. Probably enough to get rid of that skank
and
have plenty left over. You could solve this entire shit storm with one afternoon of interviews and a photo shoot. Cosmo is very eager to get your story, says it will resonate well with their readers. Think about it Emma.”

She gives me a long look and retrieves her phone but before she can press redial I interupt, “Set it up.”

She falters for a second, cocking her head to the side to look at me, judging my words.

“You sure Emma? If I set the wheels in motion there’s no backing out.”

I mimic her stare, not willing to let her see that the very thought of doing this has turned my insides to jelly.

“Set it up but don’t mention a word to Jake. I’ll tell him in my own time.”

Everyone is silent while Tina absorbs my words, her eyes never leaving mine.

Then, just as the door opens to the room and Jake strides in, she gives me a small smile and a nod.

H
e wastes no time in striding over to me, taking the laptop away and discarding it without care, then dragging me up his body and placing a scorching hot kiss on my lips.

I burn up, from both the heat of his lips on me and the brazen display we just put on for everyone.

“What was that for?” I mumble into his chest when he finally tears his mouth from mine, trying to hide the blush that stains my cheeks.

He squeezes me tightly, running a hand up and down my back before speaking into my ear, “I missed you; do I need another reason?”

Tina breaks up our private party.

“Foxy put her down and eat up, the food’s been delivered. You’ve got thirty minutes before you have to be primped, preened and presented for another set of interviews.”

He leans back slightly, drawing my face up to his and placing a light kiss on my lips.

“Come eat with me Emmy, I’m starving.”

H
alf hour passes quickly and after sharing a huge buffet with everyone, Jake heads back into the next room to be pampered by hair and make-up, ready for his next round of press.

As soon as he leaves the room I turn to Tina, who is unsurprisingly expecting me to speak, judging by the way she’s already looking at me with her assessing stare.

“Make the deals; I want enough money to get rid of that awful woman once and for all. I don’t care what deals you chose or who they are with, just arrange it and soon.”

Her eyes flicker over my shoulder and all the air gets sucked out of the room when I feel the ripple of awareness that only Jake’s presence can bring.

“Over my dead fucking body.”

I can’t even turn to meet his gaze as his tone of voice leaves me frozen.

“Tina, do not,
do fucking not,
set anything up. Emma will not be selling anything to anyone.
Do you all fucking hear me?”

Tina opens her mouth to speak but he shuts it for her, “This is not a debate Tina, I’m warning you. It’s not happening.”

Pride, love, determination and even a little bit of anger, all propel me around to face him.

I take one look at him and hesitate at his furious expression that has turned his breathtaking features into pure steel.

“Jake … “

“NO, Emmy. You will not prostitute yourself to the press to pay off my mistake.”

His words cut through me, striking me in the chest with such force that I am immobile. All I am capable of doing is watching him storm from the room, slamming the door behind him.

The room is silent, deathly so. The only noise the ticking of an ornate clock on the wall.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The sound is mocking me; turning my shock and embarrassment at having everyone witness Jake’s rage towards me, into sheer anger.

Spinning around wildly so that I am facing Tina again, I inject as much calm into my voice as possible, “Make the deals Tina.”

She smiles approvingly, treating me to a rare, beaming grin that looks foreign on her usually tough face.