Authors: Violet Walker
Jackson couldn’t say anything, nor did he hear her question thanks to the blood rushing quickly to the area just below his belt. She looked like the sexiest fucking fantasy he’d ever had in silky blue shorts that barely covered her ass and a nearly see through white camisole. He could clearly see the pink dots of her nipples through the shirt and with her hair down in messy waves she looked like she’d just come from bed. “Are you alone?” He growled at her, scanning the carriage house for another person. That he would rip apart with his bare hands.
She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him. “I don’t believe that’s any of your business Mr. Silver.”
Ouch. Yep, he deserved it. In fact he deserved much more and was damned lucky she hadn’t slammed the door in his face. Yet. “Can I come in?”
Galina shook her head knowing it was a terrible idea. She looked over her shoulder at the bed just beyond the living room. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. What do you need?”
“You.” Jackson did what he had been aching to do, he reached out and wrapped those soft golden locks around his fist to angle his mouth over hers. She stiffened before succumbing to the heat between them and kissing him back with wild abandon. She pulled at his hair with one hand and his shirt with the other, a frenzy of passion overtaking her.
God this felt so good, so right. She knew she should stop but she couldn’t bring herself to do it yet. Just a few more seconds in his arms, with his lips and then I swear I’ll stop, she promised to herself.
She didn’t have to stop it because Jackson did, with a fierce expression on his face. “I’m sorry for walking away earlier Galina but I meant what I said. I’m not the right man for you. I’m not looking to settle down and you are exactly what a man in search of a wife is looking for. You’re gorgeous, so damn gorgeous, smart, warm, caring and you are one hell of a cook.” He smiled shyly at her. “But I don’t think I can give that to anyone. Not even you.”
Not even me? What does that mean? She didn’t have time to ponder too long when Jackson picked her up and kissed her until she was breathless. She knew this was her time, her one night of pleasure with Jackson Silver and dammit, she was going to take it. “I never thought you were mine to keep Jackson. But you can be mine for tonight.” Those words hurt like hell to say but apparently it was exactly what he needed to hear because he attacked her mouth while he walked her back to the big bed waiting for them.
He released her so she slid down his body, her feet softly hitting the floor. Galina didn’t have time to be nervous because the moment her feet hit the floor Jackson was removing her clothes. The dark look in his eyes made her a little uneasy because she didn’t know what he was thinking as he took in the sight of her naked body. Her modeling days were long behind her but she thought she looked pretty good and hoped he did too. “Fuck, you are too beautiful for an old bastard like me Galina, but dammit I want you and I’m too selfish to walk away.”
She squared her shoulders, pushing her chest out a bit. “Tonight I don’t want you to walk away.” She closed the gap between them and nipped his bottom lip. Jackson picked her up and tossed her on the bed, crawling up her body until his mouth was level with one of her aching breasts. Galina squirmed from the first touch of his hot mouth on her sensitive nipple. He sucked hard, almost too hard, but before she could protest he soothed it with his tongue and felt the rush of liquid between her legs. “Oh, Jack. Yes!”
The sound that came from him when she called him Jack was low and dark and deep. He moved his attention to her other breast until he received the same reaction. She was so responsive. “I love it,” she whispered again. From the tip of her nipple he kissed up her chest, licking her neck and biting the shell of her ear before taking the journey down again. She tasted like honey and cream and rose petals and he couldn’t get enough. Bites lined underside of her breasts, her ribs, the curve of her waist and the dip of her hips. He licked her thighs so light she could barely feel it, grabbing his hair for something to hold on to and digging her heels deep in to the bed.
“Jack. So, so incredible. Jack!” She screamed in her cute polish accent, when she felt his tongue separate her lips and licked hard against her clit. He licked and licked and licked until she was delirious with desire. “Fuck yeah, Jack. Yeah. Oh yeah.” When he opened her thighs wider she crossed her ankles behind his head and thrust up into his mouth. When his lips wrapped around her clit and sucked, the sensation of his teeth against the sensitive nub sent her cresting that wave. Breathing hard with her eyes closed, still spread wantonly before him, Galina gasped when the full length and width of him invaded her.
“Fuck. Tight.” He couldn’t form complete sentences right now and wouldn’t have been able to even if the fate of SE depended upon it. Once fully seated Jackson unleashed all the passion and need and want that had been building for Galina since he laid eyes on her. “Look at me.” He felt the need to possess her, to stake his claim on her, and mark her with his body. He stared into those hazy blue eyes, noting her response to every movement. She was so fucking responsive and that just made him even harder.
“Harder. Harder, Jack!”
That soft sweet voice giving him permission to do exactly what he longed to do was all he needed to increase the pace, the depth of his sensual journey into her body. He thrust and thrust and pounded until their bodies were slick with sweat. Their breaths coming in more labored and their movements more frantic and jerky. She was close and he could tell by the way she squeezed his cock almost painfully, and because her screams were getting louder and higher in pitch. A goddamn orgasmic symphony. “I want you to look at me when you come, Galina.”
She nodded and shifted the angle of her hips to give him more depth and he growled his appreciation. When she reached between them to touch herself his balls lifted and his frantic pace increased faster and faster until they were shouting out their ecstasy together. Together. A few more thrusts to wring every drop of pleasure from their first time together and Jackson knew, without a doubt that he was in deep shit where this woman was concerned.
T
he next morning Jackson woke up with his big body wrapped around a tiny ball of heat. He inhaled the flower scented hair his face was buried in, mingled with the scent of their sex and sweat. It was a mind numbing combination that had him growing hard already. He rolled his hips against her and smiled when she pushed back. He liked the idea that she responded to him, even in sleep.
What would it be like, he wondered, to wake up every single morning and have her scent, her warmth nestled against him. It was a scary thought but not as scary as he would have thought last week. Shaking off those insane thoughts Jackson wrapped his arms around her to pull her in and pepper her face and neck with kisses. She moaned and began to wake up, pressing her body into his with a smile. “Good morning, Jack.”
He captured her lips for a brief but passionate kiss. “I love it when you call me Jack.” His hands began to move along her body stopping to test the heaviness of her small breasts before traveling down her belly and between her legs. “Mmm, wet for me already Galina?”
She turned in his embrace and snaked her arms around his neck, running her tongue along his neck, his collarbone and his ears. “Always for you.” She stilled for a moment, afraid she revealed too much. Luckily Jackson was too focused on other parts of her body to worry about her heart or her words. She gasped when one finger slid inside her. “Jack,” she whispered. She felt her body heating up and her heart racing as her hips began to push back against his hand. “Oh, Ja--.” Her words were cut off by a loud and persistent knock on her door.
Jackson groaned and released a few expletives before slipping on his jeans. He licked his fingers and told her to stay put. He yanked open the door. “What the hell?” Neither Chase or Ethan seemed all that surprised to see Jackson on the other side of Galina’s door, which for some reason made him even angrier than being interrupted just as he was about to partake of her sweet nectar again. “Well?”
“Come on man, let’s go.” Ethan’s voice was gruff, his face contorted in a frown.
“Yeah I’d love to bro, but I’m kind of busy at the moment.” Ethan could never be considered the easy going brother but the angry stare he directed at him made Jackson take a step back.
“We need to go. Now.” Ethan said no more, just turned and started back toward the main house.
Chase’s eyes held a bit more sympathy, probably because he’d rather be in bed with Brooke. “Seriously Jack, come on.”
Jackson groaned his frustration but he nodded to his brother and went to get dressed. Some news must have broken about the stalker for everyone to be so testy this morning. A quick glance at his cell phone told him he’d missed two calls from Cade but he hadn’t left a message. He looked up at Galina, fresh from the shower and already dressed in dark slacks and a white top. “I have to go.” He looked for any trace of disappointment or anger in her and saw none.
She nodded curtly and told him, “I have to start work soon.”
Jackson just nodded and walked out the door. He wasn’t sure what happened back there but it was unlike any morning after encounter he’d ever had. She hadn’t asked about seeing him again, tried to kiss him or finagle a gift from him. Had he misread her enjoyment? He shook it off since there was time later to deal with Galina. Now he had to see what had his brothers’ panties in such a twist.
Ten minutes later Jackson was showered and walking down the stairs to the library where Chase said they’d be waiting for him. “Alright I’m here. Does somebody want to,” his words were cut off by the sight of the ghost sitting on the brown leather sofa under the bank of windows. He took in the image sitting still and proper before him. She looked the same as his last memory of her only older. The odd blue grey eyes that matched his own were unsure and defiant, the dark hair sprinkled with grey and the full mouth that was a mirror image of Chase’s all lead to one conclusion.
His mother was not dead. She was sitting in the library of Silver House as though it was a perfectly normal occurrence. “Hello son.”
“What the shit is this?” He looked to each of his brothers. Ethan looked pissed as hell and Chase seemed resigned. No one looked happy, least of all Jackson. An hour ago he was in a warm bed with a hot woman and now, now he was staring into the eyes of a ghost. “Why is she here?”
“She’s here,” his mother began her voice strong and clear, “because she wanted to see her boys.”
Jackson clenched and unclenched his fists, willing the anger to escape his body. A quick glance at Chase showed he was in the same boat. “We’ve been here in this same house since you ‘died’ so if you really wanted to see us you could have. So cut the shit and tell us what you want.”
Before she could speak a smaller, quieter voice spoke up. “M-M-Mrs. Santangelo?” She stammered with wide eyes at the woman she never thought she’d see again.
The woman’s silver eyes widened in surprise and a genuine smile crossed her face. “Galina dear, how are you?”
Galina stared at three pairs of identical silver eyes, one happy, one confused and one blazing in anger directed at her. “Are you here for me Mrs. Santangelo?”
Jackson settled cold eyes on her, stepping close to use his height advantage to intimidate her. “You know this woman?”
Galina nodded and explained that she worked for the Santangelo family for one year before leaving and eventually ending up at Silver House. She felt her eyes begin to water at the cold look in his eyes.
“That is one hell of a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“Why is it a coincidence?”
Jackson scoffed in disbelief. “That you ended up here and your previous employer happens to be our dead mother!”
She gasped in surprise. “No!”
“Oh yes sweetie, I’ve figured it out. So whatever you and that woman think you’re going to get from us, you can just think again because it’s not happening.”
Galina bit the inside of her cheek and balled her fists tight. She was shocked at Jackson’s accusations, hurt he thought so little of her but she refused to cry in front of him. Or any of them. She refused to give him the power to hurt her. “I’ve already gotten what I want from you Jackson, what more could I want?”
His laugh was bitter even to his own ears. “Since you’ve gotten what you want you can go pack your bags and get a ride back with her since you won’t get a damned thing else!”
She gasped and looked at the three large men in front of her whose eyes were filled with suspicion and disgust. She gave a professional nod and finished rolling the tray loaded with snacks into the room and quietly walked away. Goodbye Jackson. Goodbye Silver House.
Jackson whirled around to face his mother. “Well Mrs. Santangelo, what is it that you want?”
She stood, her petite frame didn’t even reach his chin. “You may have frightened off poor Galina—poor innocent Galina—but you won’t scare me off. I’d like to speak with you boys but I understand if you don’t want that. I would like to speak with your father too.”
Jackson stared at her for endless moments, thinking of the nights, weeks and months he spent crying over his dead mother. He’d had nightmares thinking about her body mangled in that yacht explosion until finally the image of her face became more and more unclear. After a while he’d simply forgotten what she looked like, at least he thought so until he saw her today. He looked to his brothers, disgusted and confused, and stormed out of the library towards the carriage house.
He needed to find Galina and he didn’t really know why. Maybe it was that hurt look on her face when she nodded and left the room or maybe it was the way she stood so strong in the face of his accusations, trying so hard not to let those tears fall. Or maybe it was because he was an ass. A hot tempered ass who lashed out at her because he was mad at his dead mother. “Shit!” He picked up speed and came to a stop at the open door of the carriage house. She was gone. The small house didn’t look much different than it had last night but everything that made it a home, photos and trinkets and pillows, was gone. He knew she couldn’t have gone far, it had only been a few minutes since she left the room.
No, she couldn’t be far, he thought on his way back to the main house. Jackson stopped at a phone and dialed the security gate, hoping the driver had seen her. He hadn’t. None of the staff had seen Galina either, but Jackson suspected they knew where she had gone, they just weren’t too keen to tell him. She wasn’t in the greenhouse either. She had vanished. He ran into his father in the kitchen. “Dad have you seen Galina?”
Vance narrowed his eyes at his son, more than a little angry at his childish behavior. “Not since she told me it was a pleasure to cook for me and kissed me goodbye.” He shook his head, sure now that Ethan and Jackson would never settle down.
“Shit! Where is she?”
Ethan, Chase and Brooke joined them in the kitchen. “Are you calm now little brother?” Chase glared at him, making Jackson feel two feet tall.
“Hell no, I’m not calm Chase. Where is she?”
Brooke stepped in front of his brothers. “She doesn’t want to speak to you.” The icy glare he shot Brooke did nothing to sway her. As the executive assistant to a CEO, she didn’t scare easily and she was pissed Jackson had been so cruel to Galina.
He settled down when Chase put his hand on Brooke’s shoulder, daring Jackson to yell at his woman. “Brooke just tell me.”
She shook her head. “She’s safe and that’s all you need to know. She doesn’t want to see you so if you go away for a while she’ll be gone by the time you return.”
He smiled at Brooke and darted around her and his brother before climbing the stairs in search of Galina. If she wasn’t gone yet she had to be here, inside the house. At the landing he ran toward the hall where the green and gold rooms were staying. Brooke was staying here so he figured Galina must be here too. He opened every door on the left and right of the long hall in search of her. They were all empty. He stood between the doors of the green and gold rooms knowing she was behind one of them.
He turned the knob to the gold room and his breath caught at her small frame on the large bed. Tears were in her eyes, her face was a painful shade of red as she hung up the phone and looked at him. “I’ve called a cab and I’ll be gone within the hour.”
His heart broke at the sad figure before him. She sat primly on the gold duvet, hands resting in her lap as she stared at the wall in front of her, willing those tears to stay away. “Don’t go Galina. Please.” He stepped into the room, his steps tentative.
“I have to Jackson.”
He came a few steps closer. “I didn’t mean it Galina, not any of it. I reacted badly and took it out on you.”
She looked up and felt the pleading in his voice. “That’s okay Jack, really. Don’t worry about it.” She hated that he looked so sad, so disappointed but she was hurt too and disappointed in him.
He took a few more steps until her scent circled his body and squeezed him like a lover’s embrace. “It’s not okay. There’s no fucking excuse for how I behaved and I am so sorry. That woman you know as Mrs. Santangelo, she’s my mother. The mother who died when I was a kid.”
Her eyes widened before she could school her features. “I’m sorry, that must have been quite a shock for you.” She was sad for him but she was still leaving Silver House. Sleeping with him had been wonderful and showed her she could be a passionate woman, but it had also been a mistake. Him yelling at her and firing her in front of all those people was worse than every man who tried to take liberties with her. It made her feel unworthy. Dirty.
“Dammit Galina stop being so understanding! I’m trying to apologize here.” He raked his hands through his unusually messy hair, frustration written all over his features.
“Apology accepted Jackson.” Always. He looked up at her, his silver eyes shining and grateful.
“So you’ll stay?”
She shook her head in resignation. “No. I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
She stood up to get back some of the distance he was determined to close. “Because it wouldn’t work and you know it too. You don’t want a relationship and you certainly don’t want one with cook and housekeeper. Be honest.”
This time he did close the gap completely. His toes were touching hers, his chest pressed against hers and his breath washed over her with every exhale. “You want me to be honest? Fine. Honestly I think you are the most delicate and beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. I love watching the smile you get when you take a batch of cookies from the oven and the way you close your eyes to sniff the flowers, as if they smell better with your eyes closed. I love that you enjoy the simple things and that my money doesn’t impress you.” He took her face in both of his hands to make sure she was looking at him. Nowhere else, but him. “I love the little gasps you make when my mouth touches your body, the way you tremble when I get too close. I’ve wanted you since the day I saw you and I think we could be really good together. Really good. Don’t you?”
Galina looked up into the stormy blue grey eyes inches from her, struck mute by his words. They were honest and sweet, and probably the nicest words anyone had ever said to her. Did she think they could be good together? Really good? She didn’t know. Jackson was a wealthy man with a powerful job and she was…not. Could he really be happy with someone who spent her days in the kitchen? Could she be happy knowing all those women wanted him and had no problem offering up their bodies for his use? “I don’t know what I think Jackson.”