Page 31 of Hot Nights in Morocco
“On the contrary, this is pretty fucking perfect,” he says, shifting his weight and demanding more of my body. “Take it,” he adds huskily, tilting my pelvis to accommodate all of him. “I want you so full of me, your eyes are rolling back in their sockets.”
Holy shit.
Without waiting for my reply, he starts to move. I match him thrust for thrust, lifting my hips in time and forcing him to keep up his vicious rhythm.
“Oh God, Jake!”
It’s more a plea than a scream, but the effect is just the same, and we come together in one intoxicating rush.
My eyes are stinging as he slows, moving his hips in measured, circular motions to eek out the last remnants of our pleasure. He’s too good at this. My experience is limited, but I know when I’m in the hands of an expert. He eases out of me, and collapses onto the bed with a groan, his right arm thrown carelessly across his face.
“I still think I deserve a raise,” I gasp out, watching his magnificent chest rise and fall as he works to catch his breath.
Trust me to be flippant at a time like this.
He laughs. It’s a deep pool of a sound, and one I could drown in forever. “After a week? Not a chance. Even Max wouldn’t sanction that. Still, I could always give you a bonus for tonight.”
And there it is. The stinging backhander I’ve been waiting for.
I’m out of bed in a flash, scooping up the discarded white bed sheet from the floor.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he growls, sitting up with a jerk.
How can he be so damn insensitive?
“How dare you! How bloodydareyou! Is that why you think I slept with you? Because I want your money?” I shoot him a murderous look. “I’m not like those other women, Jake. I’m not like my mother!”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it!” I’ve never seen him this mad before. Face drawn. Eyes glinting. The works. “Christ, you can’t even let ten seconds pass before reverting back to type.”
I’m on a roll now and all my insecurities are flooding to the surface. “Don’t you think I’m good enough to make a career for myself? Do you think I have to screw the producer for credibility, too?”
“Don’t be stupid, of course you’re good enough. Andyouwere the one who brought up money, by the way.”
“Go to hell, Dalton. I don’t need your billions, and I sure as hell didn’t sleep with you for a bonus.”
At this, he throws himself out of bed and stands there glaring at me in all his naked glory. “Stop acting like a teenager. You’re nothing like your mother, except possibly for that force of nature personality that drives me up the wall every day. You definitely inheritedthatfrom her.”
Of all the—
Any comparison to my mother is like an atomic bomb going off in my head. I grab the pillow from the floor and hurl it straight at his chest. He swerves easily, pissing me off even more.
“Since we’re talking about messed-up inherited personality traits, what about you?” I scream at him. “Did Dalton senior share the same dictatorial tendencies, or shall I thank your own over-inflated ego for that?”
Jake goes very still, and I regret my words instantly. Whatever fragile intimacy we shared tonight just shattered into a million pieces. I watch in mounting horror as he disappears into his walk-in closet, slamming the door behind him. He reappears, dressed to kill in a pair of jeans and a light blue button-down.
“Get some clothes on.” I watch him roll up his sleeves in rough, jerky movements. “I want you to call the airline. My business in L.A. is done and I need to get back to Morocco as soon as possible. Max hemorrhages money when I’m not there to oversee. No doubt he’s already blown my budget on some stupid special effect.”
“Fine,” I mutter as he stalks out of the room.
But it’s not.Far from it.
Collapsing onto the edge of the bed, I pick up the phone but I can’t bring myself to dial the airline’s number. I’ve pushed him too far this time. I saw it in his eyes. He can insult me and throw my mother in my face with impunity, but if I do the same to him, I get stonewalled.
Staring blindly at the ceiling, I blink back hot, frustrated tears. The worst part is, he’s right. The whole bonus thing was just a throwaway comment. It wasmeantto be funny. So, why did I have to act so crazy and irrational over it?Because my brain malfunctioned and my mouth hit freefall.This evening he came closer than anyone ever has to rattling the perimeter fence around my heart, so I did what any irrational person would do. I hit the floodlights and called security.
Now all I have left is regret.
And a very awkward trip back to Morocco.
