Page 10

I admit it.

I’m going crazy.

I am one hundred percent going to lose my mind with Jade being around me all the time like this, and the way my body responds to her. It’s becoming nearly impossible to function because I have a permanent fucking hard on and I keep having to leave the room when she walks in.

If I do manage to keep my cock under control and spark up a conversation with her, she gives me the cold shoulder and goes out of her way to pick an argument with me.

I’ve flirted with her, teased her playfully, tried to get on her good side in so many different ways, but nothing seems to be working.

I rub my hands over my face. My hip leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Jade, I didn’t mean it like that,” I sigh in hopeless frustration.

“What? Do you think you’re the boss of me because you tricked me into marrying you?” she hisses, all fired up and full of sass. One hand is resting on her jutted out hip and her brows are raised as she glares at me. Fucking gorgeous.

My cock stirs.

No.

No.

No .

Dammit. Here we go again.

“I can’t do this,” I say loudly, throwing my hands in the air. “Everything I say gets twisted and you take it the wrong way.”

She pulls her mouth up, pouting a little, looking even sexier.

Fuck.

“Jade—“

“Radmir—“ she snaps right back at me, tilting her head to the side. My eyes trace over her gorgeous curves and my cock begins to grow harder.

I have to go, now, before she sees what’s happening.

I turn my back on her and leave her standing in the kitchen, my coffee half made.

I storm out of the kitchen. Angry with myself for being so turned on, all the time , and annoyed with her for constantly pushing me away.

Although at least when she pushes me away it gives me space from her. When she’s tender or lets her guard down, in very rare instances lately, it’s a thousand times worse and I worry that I won’t be able to control myself around her. It teases me enough to know she is still in there, that soft, beautiful heart of hers, but then she’s back to fire and fury and lashing out me.

She’s still pissed about the marriage. She’s made that more than clear enough. But there seems to be something else going on with her, too. I can’t find out because she won’t have a decent, adult conversation with me. She’s too heated the moment I walk into a room.

I sigh and throw my head back as I storm upstairs towards my office.

Slumping down into the office chair I press my face into my hands, resting my elbows on the desk, desperate to feel some kind of relief from any of this.

Beneath the desk my cock is so hard it’s aching. Every time I am around her it gets worse and it takes longer for it to go down again.

I need time away from her.

As a last resort, because really I don’t want her to leave my side, but I have to do this. I pick up the phone and dial my sister, Ruslana.

“Hey, big bro,” she answers with a cheerful lightness in her voice.

“Heya, I have a bit of a favor to ask you. Are you free this afternoon?”

“Well, we have that party tonight—“

“Yes, I know. It’s in connection with the party, actually,” I say, leaning back in the office chair and staring at the white ceiling.

“Alright, what is it?” Ruslana asks. I never ask her for anything, so I think I’ve peaked her interest.

“I want you to take Jade shopping for a new dress for tonight, and shoes and whatever she needs, and help her get ready. I know it’s completely last minute—“

“I’d love to,” she says excitedly.

“Oh, that’s great,” I say with audible relief. “I really appreciate this.”

“Are you kidding? You said shopping, girl time, dressing up—I’m in.” She laughs. “I’ll come fetch her in the next thirty minutes.”

After saying goodbye, I rush downstairs to give Jade a heads up.

She listens to me with a tight mouth.

“Ruslana is going to take me shopping?” she asks. “I can’t afford to go shopping, Radmir. I already explained—“

“I’m giving you my credit card. You can get whatever you want. Seriously. I want you to get out, have some fun, buy something beautiful. Ruslana knows the good places so I asked her to take you. She’s actually pretty excited and said she will be here in the next thirty minutes.”

Jade’s expression seems to relax a little. Her shoulders, coming down a notch from their tense position. She rubs her lips together. “I would like to get out for a while,” she says, more to herself than me. “I’ll go get ready.”

I breathe a heavy sigh of relief. I so desperately need this alone time. And I want her to have fun too. Maybe she will be more relaxed when we meet up again at the party tonight. I can only hope.

Ruslana waves out the window as they turn off the driveway onto the road. I wave back, standing at the door and watching them as they disappear from sight.

My heart is heavy with confusion.

I don’t understand what is going on between Jade and me. She is like this accelerant, poured over me, and all I have to do is light a match to fall madly into her, but there are no matches, and if there were, she would just blow it out the moment I struck it alight.

Stepping back into the house, I sigh and make my way upstairs, I can’t get her out of my mind and by the time I reach my bedroom my cock is hard again.

I strip my clothing off, tossing it around the room as I make my way towards the shower.

I have to deal with this throbbing, persistent issue and seeing as I am the only one in the house, I can find some pleasure in my thoughts of her and I don’t have to hold back on the results.

After the shower I feel better, but I can tell it will only be temporary. Being with her is what I want. This was just a band-aid on a gushing wound. At least my mind is momentarily able to think clearly.

After making a cup of coffee, I head up to the sunroom and stand amongst my orchids, admiring the variety of colors and thinking about her. Always thinking about her.

What is it about her that captivates me so enthusiastically? It’s not just her beauty. She has unparalleled beauty, that much I know, but that isn’t the only thing about her that I am so drawn to.

It’s everything.

An hour before the party starts, I ask Ruslana for an update and a photo of the dress she chose. She tells me to try my luck elsewhere because she isn’t spilling any secrets. From the short back and forth of our banter I think they have been having fun, which is great.

I guess I better get ready and start making my way there soon.

***

The party is thriving, pulsing with energy, loud music and crowds of people—some I don’t know and some I know very well. I push through the crowds towards the bar to get a drink, greeting people along the way.

Ruslana told me they are running a few minutes late.

I keep scanning the sea of faces, searching for Jade. It’s odd to think I’ve missed her company in this short few hours she’s been away.

“Whisky, on the rocks,” I nod at the bar tender.

“Right away, sir,” he says, grabbing the crystal bottle and pouring me a short glass of whisky. Then, using polished silver tongs, he drops three blocks of ice into it.

“Thanks.”

I pick up the drink and sip it as I turn around, leaning my back against the bar to watch the crowd.

But when my eyes land on Jade, I choke on the whisky and practically spit it back into the glass.

Embarrassed, I quickly wipe my hand across my mouth and clear my throat.

What the fuck, holy shit, I can’t believe what I’m seeing…

Jade looks like a goddess. Like the goddess of fire and passion and beauty. Aphrodite could stand next to her and no one would even glance away from Jade.

She’s wearing a long black dress with thin straps and a low dipped neck line. It flows down to the floor and has red handstitched gems around the floating skirt which creep upwards like flames.

It looks like the dress was custom-made for her. It hangs over her voluptuous curves as though it were caressing her body.

My cock stirs and I beg myself to stay in control.

Jade turns, searching through the crowd.

I growl, low and deep when I see the slit running all the way up to her hip. She can’t possibly be wearing underwear with a slit that high. And the back of the dress scoops low it’s showing off a gorgeous little butterfly tattoo on her back that I never knew she had.

Her hair is hanging in big loose curls around her shoulders, the red ends of her dark hair is a mimic of the design of her dress.

I can’t look anywhere but at her and after a moment I realize I haven’t breathed in a while.

I take in a sharp breath.

Fuck me.

She is… Indescribably perfect.

Jade hasn’t noticed me yet, but I quickly see that other men at the party have noticed her. Their eyes drawn to her curvaceous beauty, all of the woman that she is. I can see they want her.

But she’s mine.

I don’t even want them looking at her and a thick, dangerous streak of possessiveness spikes through me.

A man walks over to her and strikes up a conversation.

I’m curious to see how she will respond to his advances, so I hesitate before walking towards her as well.

She looks shy and nervous. Almost uncomfortable.

He reaches out and touches a strand of her hair and my jealously flames higher.

I can’t take it.

I push off the bar and she turns, her eyes locking with mine and for a moment it’s like the entire world slips away. Nothing else matters or exists other than the two of us, looking at each other across the room.

She smiles and it shatters my heart it is so beautiful.

Then she turns back to the man who is pursuing her, and I snarl in anger.

Pushing my way through the crowd again I make my way to her side. I don’t want to share her tonight. Not tonight and not ever.