“No. I said you would do every step in front of me. I want to watch it go away with my own two eyes.” I stood my ground when Jackson cast a steely gaze on me. A crooked grin spread my lips as I pushed down my panties, letting them fall to the floor. With a little flick of my foot, I kicked them up at him. All he did was open and close his palm to catch them, his eyes never leaving me, even as he brought my panties to his mouth and breathed in my scent.
That was it. He was done.
“Get the fuck over here,” he muttered with a laugh, turning on the fireplace on his way to the closet. I followed him, my heart feeling several sizes too large as it pounded my chest, like it could shatter my ribs. I had no idea if this would work. My entire life banked on this one moment – on Jackson’s lust consuming him, being a greater priority than anything else in the world.
“My, my,” I drawled when he moved the shelf to reveal the safe – small, black and much sleeker than any of the ones I saw in movies. My racing pulse had me dizzy now, its hammering beat throttling my ears, but I still managed to flash a playful look as Jackson smirked over his shoulder at me.
“Used it to store your engagement ring,” he said as he pressed his index finger down on the electronic lock.
This was it.
Everything in my vision zoned in on the little, black square and I suddenly heard nothing, not even the beat of my own heart as I watched Jackson wait for a click, wrap his hand around the lever and then pull down till the door was wide open.
Before he reached inside, I grabbed his arm and yanked him toward me.
“I just needed to know that you would do it,” I breathed, wrapping my fingers around his hot cock and immediately stroking. He groaned into my mouth, falling into me, pushing me out of the closet and onto the bed. Sliding myself up the mattress, I reached for the drawer, pulled out a condom and tossed it at him. “Baby steps,” I murmured to his incredulous face. When he only stared at me, huffing and puffing, I snapped my legs shut. That got the condom on fast.
“Now open them back up for me,” Jackson demanded. His gleaming eyes refused to blink as I spread my legs again. His mouth hanging open, his breathing ragged, he slid a finger into me and immediately growled. “Fuck, yes. Fuck, that’s the tight pussy I’ve missed for so long.” He closed his eyes as he withdrew his finger, sucking its tip. “I’m gonna fuck you so good, babe... “ He lowered himself onto me, blowing gusts of wind through his teeth as he rubbed the head of his cock against my pussy. Over my heaving chest, I watched a million little expressions twitch about Jackson’s face as he finally slid himself into me, the tiniest bit at a time. My lips parted more with every inch, until he was all the way inside me.
And from there, he went wild, thrusting with abandon and letting every noise on his tongue spill with fire from his lips. “I love you. I fucking love you,” he grunted on repeat, his stare blazing into my eyes. I didn’t close them. The weight of Jackson’s body on top of me, I didn’t even try to pretend that he was Jake. There was just no way. No point at all. They were nothing alike, felt nothing alike. Filled my body with polar opposite sensations, made me two completely different people – one hollow, cold, the other thrilled for life.
As Jackson rocked into me, I told myself one thing.
That it meant nothing.
It was the meaningless sex I was supposed to have found to save our engagement, my world. But instead, I’d found Jake and uncovered every last lie and deceit that Jackson had pulled in the name of our so-called love. I had realized the man I’d slept beside for years was just a master of disguise. A brazen, manipulative egomaniac who thought nothing of sinking me into a hole so deep and dark I never thought I’d get out.
And yet I had because through Jackson, I’d found Jake. If the years of lies and torment were what I had to pay to find a man so truly matched to my soul, then I’d call it even with the world.
“Say it to me, Lara.”
Jackson’s gravelly words brought me back to his eyes.
“Tell me you love me, Lara, I want to
hear you say it.”
I gazed up at him, fascinated by the man who had once been my entire life. Now, he was nothing more than a stranger whom I was minutes from saying goodbye to.
Or rather, seconds.
Jackson didn’t have to hear me say the words to come. With a sudden jerk, he shivered out a groan, whispering a string of satisfied “fuck”s before collapsing all of his weight onto my body. He kissed my lower lip, my chin, my neck, my breasts. He didn’t take off the condom before rolling onto his back to sleep.
The way he always did after sex.
With the first snore, my heart was pounding again. I tested him, shaking the bed. Once, then twice before slipping away and into his closet.
The safe still open, I reached inside. Shirt. Jump drive.
Phone.
I tossed the first two items in the fire on my way out of the room, shocked that my hand didn’t so much as shake while gripping the piece of flat, cold metal that could very well put Jackson in prison for the rest of his life.
A fucking phone. Still charged. Still working. Still open to his sex tape with Gabby.
Downstairs, I pulled just my trench coat on before leaving the duplex for the very last time.
Epilogue