Jonas
There had been no festivities tonight. A problem had arisen with one of my other hotels, and I was trying my best to not have to leave this competition. After today’s challenges, I knew Oliver had wanted to send Mackenzie home, but I had overridden it. Did I do it because I thought she was the best chef there? No, I had done it for more salacious and selfish purposes. I knew deep inside that I wouldn’t see her again once the competition was over, so I wanted her to stay in it as long as she could.
If I ended up having to jet off to California, her time here could be finished tomorrow, and she would leave without either of us getting what both of us wanted. She was obviously here for more than a roll in the sheets with me. I knew how much she wanted this contract, but I also knew women and there was no way she could tell me there wasn’t an attraction between us and not be lying. I sure as hell would never admit to not wanting a desirable woman, including a past lover I had almost driven to her death.
The more I reminded myself of that day on the roof, the more I hated Kristopher for releasing that tape. He’d been the one to set up the camera equipment while I had been seducing her on the dance floor during the prom. Something had told me to call it all off, but I was young and stupid, and she’d been my greatest conquest. Since I had gotten into sex, I’d never had any problem in getting it until it came to her. She was a challenge in more ways than one. She also had been a friend, and that was something no other woman I’d bedded had been.
“I don’t trust that you won’t alter the film,”he’d told me.
Against my better judgment, I had told him to set it up. I then went through with it all, and as she had drifted off to sleep in my arms that night after I had destroyed her innocence, I had briefly wanted more with her. I never got to know whether that fleeting thought had been a subconscious desire, or just some post-orgasmic foolishness on my part because Kristopher uploaded the video for all to see. I had never thought he meant to make it public. I had fooled myself into believing it was just him needing to see and verify that it had happened.
I should’ve known better, but I didn’t, and a girl I actually liked nearly jumped to her death. I’d never been more scared of anything that day. When I thought she might actually leap from the building, fear had gripped me so hard. Thankfully, she had not, and I tried alleviating my guilt by reminding myself of that. It’d been a substitute at the time, but now, I didn’t know. She turned out well, and I couldn’t help but think it was in spite of, rather than because of me.
“I hate you,”she’d told me not long ago.
I smirked. She might think that, but her body said something altogether different. My cock hardened as I remembered the way she wantonly rubbed herself against me in the stairwell. Kenzie wanted me, and it was no secret I wanted to bang her like a screen door in a storm. I dropped my head and took a deep breath. It was bad form to mix business with pleasure, and that was essentially what I would be doing with her if I followed through on seducing her.
As much as I knew that, something inside of me was scratching and clawing its way out. I’d always had urges, as far back as I could remember, but I couldn’t really tell when they’d first started and why. I used to go to my uncle’s cabin each summer. Logan used to as well until he’d gotten old enough to stay home and get a job. I loved going to the mountains in New York City, then I didn’t. I still couldn’t really remember why, though. All wasn’t bad because it’d been where I’d met a number of the men who called themselves Titans. These guys were my friends and one of the main reasons I moved back to the city all those years ago. I used to think it was because of Courtland Hospitality Group, but I could’ve relocated it all to California, yet I didn’t.
As much as I loved Manhattan and the life I had created here, having to drop it all for even a week was becoming more than I could take and it’d only been a few days. I only had a few more to go before I’d be back in my current lifestyle. While it should’ve been bearable, my cock was so fucking hard, and my hand was doing little to help with things. I know Anton, Caspian, Mason, and Kristopher liked to tease me about my need for sex, but no one understood the impulsiveness of it. It was almost like a sickness, a drug, or something I couldn’t shake loose. I knew my promiscuity was related to some sort of problem, but it was better to ignore whatever it was versus actually acknowledging it.
Deciding that staying in my room trying to jack myself off to porn wasn’t productive, I changed clothes and headed downstairs to the fitness center. It was vacant, which wasn’t a surprise to me, so I had my choice of machines. I bypassed all of them and looked over at the punching bags. It would sure as hell burn enough energy off that I might even forget I was basically celibate for the first time in my sexual history.
After I put on a pair of gloves, I started off at the speed bags. I gave it a few punches, waiting each time as it would spin before I settled into a routine. Left... Left... Right... Right... Right... Left... I alternated between bags as I landed punch after punch, however, the controlled rhythm didn’t resonate the roiling thoughts inside of me. It was proving to be a good workout, so I focused on it for another fifteen or so minutes before I saw a blonde out of the corner of my eye.
Kenzie. I wasn’t sure if she had even seen me. She didn’t enter the gym, instead walking straight past it and over to one of the saunas. She stopped to read the instructions posted on the door, then slipped into the room beside it. I knew she was in there getting undressed. The sauna required nothing more than a towel and the very thought of her naked body had my cock throbbing. I should leave her alone, and just when I had convinced myself to do exactly that, she emerged with just the white terrycloth wrapped around her curvaceous frame.
I could see the swells of her breasts poking out from the top of the towel, and when my gaze moved lower, I also saw her toned thighs. I’d nearly been between them the night before and the memory of my fingers inside of her tight, wet pussy had me abandoning my earlier thoughts all together. I didn’t know how long she would be inside there, so I disappeared into the same room, and saw her clothing neatly in a pile on the seat of a chair. Her panties drew my attention right away and I couldn’t stop myself from picking them up. They were silk, and I suspected she would feel much like it once I got her onto my sheets. Still unable to exercise any control, I brought them to my nose and inhaled her scent. There was a damp patch on them, and I knew she had been wet and likely came down here to distract herself.
I’d never believed in letting an opportunity go to waste, so I stripped out of my own clothes and grabbed a few towels of my own. I wrapped one around my waist, and took the others with me as I entered the sauna. Kenzie had been leaning back with her eyes closed, but when the door opened, her lashes fluttered open. Her eyes widened and before she could get up, I set down the other towels and took my place on the bench below her. She tried to rise to leave, and I stopped her by placing my hand on the top of her thigh.
“Don’t go,” I told her.
Confusion warred in those cerulean depths, and she sat back down. “Are you following me?”
I chuckled at her question. “Would it bother you if I was?”
I remembered how much she used to hate when I answered questions with a question. She always gave me the same look she was now, one which was equal parts glaring and exasperation. I smirked, especially when she let out a huff.
“It would because that would make you a stalker.”
“Have you ever been stalked before?” I asked, suddenly wanting to make sure she hadn’t been before I made things worse. That seemed to be a habit with me.
“No,” she hedged, then turned a slight shade of red. “I’m just sure that someone like Leeann would appreciate this level of attention more than I would.”
My grin grew wider. She was jealous. I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, all the while trying to resist the temptation to tug on her quivering one with my teeth. “I’m not attracted to her,” I commented, not even sure why I should have.
“Hmmm,” was all she said before she leaned back and closed her eyes.
“What’s that for?” I asked, then noticed the hint of a smile as she stayed quiet.
I shook my head. Women. I’d never understand them as long as I lived and breathe. I knew their desires, but outside of that, they were true mysteries, and ones I had stopped trying to solve many years ago.
We sat there in relative silence, until she cleared her throat. “Do you often pick up women in rooms such as this?”
I glanced up at her, and I could see her looking down at me with fascination. “Not particularly,” I answered honestly, then added, “but there is a first time for everything.”
“Hmmm,” she repeated.
“Are you going to tell me what you’re making that noise for?”
She let out a soft giggle, then shook her head. Again. Women! I went to look away, but when I tried, she moved, and the towel slid farther up her leg. Unable to resist, I reached out and touched her. She practically jumped out of her skin, but settled when I started rubbing my fingers up and down her dewy flesh.
“Your skin is so soft,” I told her, not missing the slight hitch in her breath as I moved a little higher this time. Kenzie didn’t swat my hand away or even voice a verbal protest, so I leaned in and replaced my fingers with my lips.