Surrounded by Secrets Read online

  And he knew he was out of excuses.

  “It’s more than that,” he said as he placed his empty glass on the table.

  “I know.” Ariel nodded. “You don’t have to say it. But believe me when I tell you, it’s not us you have to convince.”

  She knew he was terrified, and she was telling him that he needed to trust in himself. He didn’t know if he could do that. But if only for her, if only for the pain he almost caused her, he’d try.

  Jack nodded at Ariel, somber in his resolve.

  “Dude, you could so get lucky!” Rob said, breaking the newly found tension.

  “Mmm-hmm. Just think, man, you could get some without making a commitment. No-strings-attached fun.” Josh wagged his brows.

  “Hey! Are you saying you wanted something like that?” Mikaela asked as she twisted in Josh’s arms.

  Oh shit, her emotions had been on a roller coaster. Jack almost felt sorry for Josh having to endure his pregnant wife’s mood swings. But then the anger in her eyes was betrayed by the quiver of her lip.

  “Oh, kitten.” Josh crushed her to him. “You are my everything. Never doubt that,” he mumbled as he kissed the top of her head.

  “I think you should have fun,” Krista said, taking the focus off Mikaela. “But you better make sure you read her right. If she’s not giving you any signals, you better keep it zipped. The last thing I want to deal with is a sexual harassment suit.”

  At that, Mikaela gasped and pulled away from Josh to face Jack. “She’s right, Jack. You better be careful. She’s an employee now.”

  Hell, he knew that. But for all his toughness, he hated seeing a woman cry. Mikaela’s lashes were soaked, so he had no desire to defend himself. He just nodded at her.

  “Gawd, I hate being pregnant! It’s been like a thousand months already.” Mikaela wiped at the wetness on her face. “Where’s Jeffery with the food? I’m starving.”

  Josh chuckled. “It hasn’t been quite that long, kitten.”

  “I’ll go see what’s taking so long,” Thomas said at the same time. He turned toward the kitchen.

  Smart man. Feed the pregnant woman.

  With the first dish that came out, people started toward the table. Mikaela bolted. Since Josh was momentarily free, Jack grabbed his arm. He’d put off this conversation long enough. He needed Josh’s thoughts on the photo of their mother. He couldn’t discuss it here, but he could at least get the ball rolling.

  “Hold up a sec.”

  Josh turned to face him. “Yeah?”

  “Um, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Can we meet up in the morning?”

  Josh frowned. “Does this have anything to do with Lillian? Are you really worried about—”

  “No, no. Nothing like that. I just need to run some things by you. In private.”

  Josh chuckled. “You mean ditch my wife?”

  Jack smiled. “No, man. Just in private. Feed her a lot for breakfast, and we can chat while she’s napping.”

  Josh groaned theatrically. “But her morning nap is my me time. It’s when I get to find my balls and reattach them.” They both laughed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, bro.”

  He and Josh took their seats. Mikaela was stuffing her face, and everybody was chatting. But Jack couldn’t stomach the idea of eating right now. He filled his glass with the scotch on the table. He wasn’t normally a lush. But tonight he needed all the courage he could get.

  Artificial or not.

  * * * *

  Lillian tugged on her dress as she poured another glass of wine. The hottie with the body hadn’t gotten to see her sexy red panties and bra, but she’d traded them out for her black set after her shower. Maybe he’d see the red ones tomorrow. She’d also ditched the jeans in favor of something more provocative. If this dress were cut any lower, she’d get a ticket for indecent exposure.

  She stumbled a little when she turned too quickly. She was only on her second glass of wine. Or was it her third? She couldn’t remember. But she hadn’t eaten much today either and had worked her ass off outside all day. If Jack was hungry, she could heat up the chili she’d made the other night, and they both could eat.

  Because she had no intentions of them leaving her house.

  Nope, that was just an excuse to get Jack over here. She figured he’d be more comfortable with the thought of going out in public, rather than staying in, where it was private. But public wasn’t conducive with getting her groove on.

  She heard a knock at her door, and she smiled. Showtime.

  Lillian walked to the door and opened it gently. But the air still locked in her lungs. Damn, Jack was hot! Tight jeans, loosely fitted shirt. Blue. Matched his sexy eyes.

  His gaze went right to her breast, and she didn’t miss when his tongue peeked out to wet his lips.

  Then his gaze shot to hers, and he cleared his throat.

  “Good evening.” He nodded at her as if this was a formal meeting among colleagues. Poor thing. He was in for a rude awakening.

  “Come on in.” She turned and left him at the door. “I haven’t had a chance to eat. I was just going to heat up some chili.”

  The door shut behind her, so she figured he’d stepped in.

  “We can grab something to eat while we’re out.”

  “No need. This will only take a second.”

  She heard a low oath from his direction and smiled to herself as she pulled out the bowl of chili from the fridge and dumped it into a pot on the stove.

  “I have whiskey, beer, and wine. Make yourself a drink,” she called out as she started stirring.

  “No, thank you.”

  She almost jumped at how close he was. She hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen.

  Lillian turned toward the side as she continued stirring. “How about a game to kick off the evening? Grab the whiskey and a couple of shot glasses out of that cabinet over there.” She pointed to her left.

  “I thought we were leaving,” Jack mumbled as he walked over to where she’d directed him, but it wasn’t really a question, so she wasn’t going to comment. Before long, he’d figure it out on his own.

  She turned the heat to low and walked to the table where he’d taken his seat. “We each take turns saying something truthful about ourselves. If the other disagrees with that statement, he or she takes a shot.”

  He frowned at her, but after a few seconds, he nodded. Jeez, good thing she was making all the moves here. Otherwise, she’d never get to see this man naked. It was like asking a stone statue to scoot over. She hoped all her efforts would be worth it in the end. You better be good in the sack, big guy.

  “I’ll start.” She picked up the bottle, poured two shots, and pushed one toward him. “I have a period.”

  Jack huffed. “You know damn well I don’t have a menstrual cycle. That’s cheating.” He picked up his shot glass and tossed it back.

  Lillian refilled his glass and tsked. “I never said the truth could easily be applied to both parties.”

  “All right then. I was born a man.”

  Lillian chuckled as she picked up her shot glass. “Good one.” The liquid burned on the way down, but she managed not to wince. “I’m wearing a dress.”

  “Fuck,” he groaned and picked up his glass to shoot his liquor. “I’m wearing boots.”

  She rolled her eyes and took her shot before spouting off another truth she knew didn’t apply to him.

  Lillian wasn’t sure how long this little game continued, the chili long ago turned off. And now, she had to shut one eye to pour the next round of shots to keep from spilling alcohol all over her table. If they kept this up, they’d both pass out before she’d reaped the benefits of this little get-together.

  “I’m not horny,” she confessed as she stared into Jack’s bloodshot eyes.

  He stared back, the heat in his eyes from earlier today roaring to life. Lillian felt her heartbeat quicken as she waited for his response. And after what felt like an e
ternity, Jack let go of his shot glass and moved his hand away, showing her with his actions that he was horny, too.

  “My dick has been hard for you all day.”

  She took a drink because she didn’t have a penis and clumsily filled her glass.

  “My panties are soaked through, and my nipples ache for you to suck them.”

  “Jesus,” he breathed, taking the shot quickly before standing.

  Lillian’s legs were having problems working, but she managed to stand before he made his way to her.

  She had no other warning.

  Jack’s mouth slammed down on hers in a fierce kiss that stole her breath. He was biting at her lips when she felt her back hit the wall. Everything was moving in foggy slow motion, but no matter how drunk she was, she knew she’d never been this turned on in her life.

  “Fuck, I want you,” he groaned into her mouth as he thrust his jeans-clad cock against her panties.

  “Then take me, big boy,” she breathed.

  Jack shoved her dress up around her waist with one hand and yanked the top of her dress down with the other. She felt only air on her naked breast briefly before his mouth descended.

  She moaned and held his head to her as he feasted and rubbed herself like a cat in heat against his erection. His rather large erection.

  She heard him growl and then felt his hand wiggle beneath her dress. “Oh yes.” God, she needed him to touch her.

  But he didn’t.

  He ripped her panties, and she gasped. Then she heard a zipper, and her pussy flooded.

  He sucked her nipple harder before letting go with a wet pop, and then kissed his way up her neck to her ear. “Can’t wait. Need you. Now.”

  The head of his dick rubbed her slit, and she moaned when it bumped her clit. He hissed.

  “So fucking wet, Lilly.”

  No one ever called her that. She’d always hated that name, but right now he could call her a toad-frog and she wouldn’t care.

  He found her opening and pushed. One thrust and he was halfway in. And fucking huge! She moaned. It was so good she didn’t know if she could stand it.

  “Take it, Lilly. Take all of me, baby.” He thrust again, and she gasped. She would’ve screamed in ecstasy, but he swallowed it with his kisses. He fucked her hard, and she felt her orgasm building faster than it ever had, even for her vibrator.

  “Shit! I can’t. Not yet.” He pulled out, and she whimpered. “Bedroom?”

  She pointed out of the kitchen, but he didn’t let her speak. His mouth landed back on hers, and he carried her out of the kitchen.

  They made it to the bedroom, but not the bed. As soon as Jack cleared the doorway, her back met the rug in front of her bed.

  “Gotta taste you.”

  He pushed her legs open, grabbed her ass, and lifted her as his head lowered. “Oh my God, Jack, Jack,” she chanted as Jack licked her as though she was his favorite ice-cream cone and he’d never eat another one again. Then he pursed his lips around her clit and sucked while he pushed two fingers inside her and crooked them, rubbing that sweet spot inside.

  She saw stars. Her throat was so hoarse that it took her several seconds to realize it was because she’d been screaming out her orgasm.

  And he didn’t give her a chance to recover. He picked her up and dropped her onto the bed in one minute. In the next, he’d gotten them both undressed.

  “I plan on fucking you all night,” he said as he crawled toward her, his cock leaking along her leg, and he settled atop her. He grabbed both her knees and pushed them up to her chest. He looked down at her shaved pussy. “You’re going to give it all to me, aren’t you, Lilly?”

  God, he sounded so sexy when he talked to her this way. This was what she’d wanted, a man who took charge in the bedroom. “All for you, Jack.”

  He groaned and took her with one hard thrust.

  “Harder,” she moaned.

  “You little vixen. I’ll give you what you want when I want to.” He left her knees anchored around his arms as he leaned over her and pounded into her hard and fast.

  She screamed, loving the feel of him taking her, owning her.

  “That’s right, baby.” He licked her ear as he whispered into it. “Tell me how it feels.”

  “So. Good,” she said with the next two thrusts.

  Jack kissed her so hard that she knew her lips would bruise. And she didn’t care. He was groaning so loudly that he felt as though he was growling while he fucked her. His dick was getting harder, and she felt another orgasm building inside her.

  “Fuck, I want to bite you.” He almost sounded desperate.

  Her pussy flooded. He could bite her, pull her hair, do whatever the hell he wanted as long as he didn’t stop. Not yet. God, not yet.

  “Yes. Do it.”

  Her pussy flexed, and she knew she was about to go over again.

  “Lilly. Oh fuck, oh fuck.”

  His thrusts faltered.

  “Jack, don’t stop. So good. So good.”

  She turned her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck as he kissed it. Lillian was so close she was delirious. She was grinding herself against him, so each time he fucked into her, he got that much deeper.

  “Want it. Want you. Fuck, don’t wanna stop,” he mumbled as he sucked her neck.

  “Take it. Take me. Yes, oh yes, you’re gonna make me come!”

  He roared against her neck and pounded into her two more times. She screamed as her orgasm hit and felt the first jerk of his cock as he bit into her neck.

  She was flying. Never had an orgasm been this intense. All her senses felt heightened while her body drifted to another plane, a mixture of ecstasy and peace enveloping her. When she’d come down, she felt Jack shivering above her, still kissing and licking her now-stinging neck.

  She thought she heard Jack say mine, but she didn’t feel any vibrations against her neck as though he’d spoken. Her drunken mind must’ve been playing tricks on her. The rasp of his tongue against her neck and the faint metallic smell of blood in the air were the only things she now registered.

  She wanted to go another round, but that’d have to wait for another day. Her eyes were too heavy to fight sleep anymore.

  Chapter Three

  Who was trying to pry open Lillian’s skull with a pickax? She groaned as she tried to move her hand up to her head to feel if the offender had been as successful in unearthing her brain as it had felt to her. But her arm was too heavy to lift. She’d just have to lie there and suffer the blows.

  She tried opening her mouth and breathing through the cotton that had apparently grown on her tongue. Ugh, whiskey. What the hell was she thinking getting that drunk last night? She’d be paying for it all day today. She knew better.

  Alcohol was evil.

  Evil.

  God, she needed to pee. She tried shifting in her bed to see if her legs would work or if she’d have to actually crawl to the bathroom, but as soon as Lillian moved, she froze, eyes popping open. Ouch.

  She immediately shut her eyes to block out the offending sun. Too bright. But the body against her side had her reeling, trying to remember the events of last night.

  The yucky taste in her mouth and the pounding in her head confirmed that alcohol was involved. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. The wall of hard muscle and distinct ache between her legs signaled she’d gotten lucky. Had she gotten desperate and called David? She shifted again.

  Nope. David wasn’t that tall. This man felt massive. And his frame wasn’t the only thing that felt huge, unless that was a Louisville Slugger poking her in the buttocks. No wonder her goodies felt lovingly used. This man was packing a weapon between his legs!

  A deep, rumbling groan that could only be one of commiserated existence came from her secret lover. He snuggled closer, his breath fanning her ear.

  “Time?”

  Holy shit! She knew that voice. Images of her first day at work and her plan to get Jack Woods in her bed
flooded her. Apparently she’d succeeded.

  Too bad those memories hadn’t come back yet. She’d like to reminisce about what the hottie with the body had done to her last night.

  She chanced the wicked sun’s rays and lifted a lid to glance at the clock. “It’s about half past nine.”

  “Ugh. I’m fucking late.”

  Crap! Her job. “Um, me, too.”

  He snuggled closer. “I drank way too much. Hell, I don’t even remember how we ended up here.”

  At least she wasn’t the only one. “What’s the last thing you do remember?”

  “Just flashes. I remember playing that drinking game, and then kissing you, and then . . . oh shit! We didn’t use a condom. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

  “I can’t be sure we did it three times, but I’m sure we did it at least once.”

  He snorted behind her and nuzzled her neck.

  It felt so good she moaned. Or so she thought. Some weird noise came out instead, and she cut it off.

  “What the . . .?”

  She felt Jack catapult out of her bed, and she turned to look at him. He looked mortified.

  “Holy fucking shit!” he roared as he backed away from her.

  What the hell was wrong with him, and why did her throat feel funny after that gurgling noise she’d just made?

  “It wasn’t a gurgle.” Jack was white as a ghost.

  “What was it then? And how did you know what I was thinking? I didn’t say that out loud.”

  Jack paced, and she twisted her neck to follow. “Ow.” That hurt! She slapped her hand on her neck where it was sore.

  “I think you gave me a massive hickey, or I fell into a doorknob sometime last night.” Both options were entirely possible at this point.

  “Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” Jack chanted as walked around like a caged animal. A naked caged animal. Was he just now realizing he’d slept with an employee of his family business? That was an obstacle she’d considered she would have to overcome with him, but apparently something worked last night.

  But it seemed as if he were regretting getting to know her on this level, when first thing this morning, he seemed okay with it. Prick.