Page 22 of Cruel Love
I knew nothing about her other thanthatfor the last eight years, she’dlived in the shadows at Peartree House, yet the more I thought about her, the more intrigued I became.
More importantly, why the fuck was I interested? What Willow’s storywas before she arrived at Peartree House was none of my business; my only concern with the girl was getting her pregnant, it was as simple asthat.
“James, right?”a voice purred, distracting me from thoughts of mywife.
My head snapped up to find a woman hovering over me, her titsalmost spilling out of her tight-fitting dress, and long blonde hair trailing down to her waist.
“Yeah,”I said, raking my eyes over her body, my cock twitchingas I took in her curves.
Fuck, she was stunning.
“Your friend said you might want some company?”she replied, givingme a salacious smile.
“Did he now?”I tilted my head to the side, my gaze landing on her fulltits, and the image of my cock sliding between them sprang to life in my mind.
“Uh-huh. He said you were missing your wife and might needcheering up.”She picked up the bottle of tequila, which despite ordering, I hadn’t actually opened.“I happen to be good at cheering people up.”
She opened the bottle and took a mouthful, keeping her blue eyes onme. A wave of anger rushed through me, the woman clearly didn’t give a fuck about ruining a marriage.Butthen, it wasn’t as if my marriage was real. I owed Willow nothing,and maybe all I needed to get the mouse out of my head was fresh pussy.
“I’ve got a room at the hotel across the road,”the woman said, hertongue darting out to lick her plump bottom lip.“Maybe you could walk me back to my room, and we can…talk.”
Dismissing the image of Willow’s sad face, I stood and grabbedthe woman’s hips, pulling her to me and thrusting my hard cock against her stomach.“Do you have a name?”
“Jade,”she said, her warm breath skating over my lips as her eyessparkled with excitement.
“Pretty name. Lead the way, Jade.”
Chapter 9
Willow
Steam filled the ensuite as I stood under the scorching hot shower,letting the water burn my body.
Another day had passed, and James hadn’t returned. My anxiety wasworse than it had been in years, my instincts on high alert knowing it was only a matter of time before he returned.
My period was in full flow, the cramping still uncomfortable, but not aspainful as it had been the day before.I’d hoped that a hot shower would bring me some relief from the dull ache that had settled in my stomach. But when my fingers turned to prunes, and the ache was still there, I switched the shower off and got out, accepting that I’d just have to tolerate it for another few days.
Wrapping a towel around my body, I ran a comb through my wet hair,the debate I’d been having with myself for the past twenty-four hours once again dominating my thoughts.
Was I going to tell James about the conversation I’d overheard? It’dplayed on my mind all day and all night, and I’d gone from keeping my mouth shut, to convincing myself that it was some sort of test James had set to see whether I’d be loyal to him.
If that was the case, I couldn’t afford to fail.
But, the conversation happened in the middle of the night, and Ihadn’t switched my light on when I’d laid down next to the balcony doors. No one would have known I was awake and listening. So maybe it wasn’t a test after all, but that didn’t mean I could keep quiet about it.
Sighing, I headed out of the bathroom, intent on lying on the bed andmaking a decision about what to do when I stopped on the spot, and a small squeak escaped me.
The blood in my veins turned to ice at finding James sitting in thehigh-back chair, his long legs spread wide, and the top three buttons of his shirt undone. In one hand, he held a glass of what I was sure was whiskey.
His eyes narrowed on me, traveling over the length of my towel-cladbody.
“Drop the towel, Mouse,”he said as a way of greeting.
Every nerve in my body prickled with awareness as his dark eyesburned into me. Swallowing, I pulled the towel apart and let it fall to the floor, holding my breath as I waited for his next command with dread pooling in my stomach. But James didn’t tear his gaze away as he took a sip of his drink, histongue coming out to lick his lips. Under the cold air of the air-conditioning, my nipples pebbled, drawing his attention to them.
“Edith tells me you got your period?”he said, his head tilting to oneside as he rubbed his chin in thought.
“Yes, Sir,”I replied quietly, momentarily forgetting that he’d told me tostop saying that.
