Chasing Rainbows - Part Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One

                “Coren! You got my message! Sometimes you are the hardest man to locate!” There was no sign in his demeanour of voice that he had an incline of the chaos his message had caused.
Jacob sighed, “you have no idea what you’ve done French, you really don’t!”

His friend was quiet for a moment, “what the hell has happened now?”

Jacob sighed and explained how one phone call had dramatically changed his future. At least Andy had the decency to sound a little awkward, but his reluctance to accept that he was serious about Emma, that he wanted to be married to her was still a bone of contention and they hung up on frosty terms. It left Jacob to his own thoughts and memories, not a great place.

Emma had managed to avoid her best friend for three days with avoidance and elaborate excuses, but as she opened a bottle of wine, ignoring the fact that she’d needed one every night since she’d come home from San Francisco, on the third evening, the door bell rang, and she was a rabbit caught in the car headlights!

Isobel was leaning against the door frame holding another bottle of wine, a wry smile on her face, “so if Mohammed won’t come to the mountain...”

Sighing Emma wafted an arm into the hallway, inviting her friend in.

Isobel lifted her nose and walked into her home in a fake haughty manner, stopping in lounge when she spotted the open bottle of wine on the coffee table. Turning back to her friend she held out her hand and counted on her fingers, “One - drinking wine alone, two - not seeing BF since returning from a twenty four hour trial with your husband, three - looking like shit! So are you going to tell me just what the hell happened girlfriend? And I won’t accept the ‘fine’ comments you’ve been giving me by phone!”

Emma visibly crumpled into a chair, and suddenly all of Isobel’s fears came true and she rushed to help her friend into a seat.

                “I couldn't see you, because I couldn’t think about it, I didn’t want to have to say...”

Isobel held her friend as she saw tears course down her cheeks, “you can tell me anything, and if you’re not up to it just tell me that! All I want you to know is I’m here for you darling. You know that?”

Emma nodded, “I know that, and it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just too painful!”

Isobel sighed, “Some things in life aren’t easy Ems, you know that. How about I pour us some vino and tell you all about Nathan’s mother’s plans for the wedding reception...you think YOU want to cry!!”

An hour later and Emma had really caught up with the current state of the wedding plans, and for that time she’d forgotten her own torment.

                “He was amazing!” She offered as Isobel was reaching for the second bottle of wine. Her friend froze as Emma kept talking, “we travelled from the airport by cruiser, across the harbour, Golden Gate, Alcatraz, the works. Then we went out for the greatest dinner! It was amazing. And he tried so hard...I was a bitch to start with!”

Isobel finally turned to look at her friend and smiled, “you? I can’t believe that!” She gave a wink. “So what went wrong?”

                “We were in a bar, his local place when I called you, and he was being SO perfect. We cuddled in the taxi, but I still pushed him away...” She sipped at the drink, “then back at his, I succumbed, I couldn’t resist...and he was amazing, it was amazing...”

Isobel placed her hand over her friend’s sensing everything was about to go wrong.

                “He went out to get breakfast, and someone called him, left a message, basically this guy said there was a way for a quick divorce, and it was a way for him to keep his money away from me. Called me a gold digger!” She sighed, “when he came back I told him I was leaving, then we argued...there’s no future in this, we live on different continents, and he is no more able to look after me than I am myself! I mean he doesn’t have a car...he uses a bike!” She shook her head, “that does sound like I’m only interested in material things!”

Isobel nodded, “you’ve never been bothered with money or possessions, what made you snap at a bike?”

                “The fact he was calling me a gold digger! It really hurt me, as though I’ve contrived this ridiculous situation. I don’t want this...but then he was SO nice to me.” She rolled her eyes, “then he had a gossip mag he’d picked up at the shop...and there was a photo of me with Theo on the front...”

                “Touché!” Isobel gasped trying to follow the rapidly changing conversation. “Bet he loved seeing that in the shop.”

It was the comment that Emma needed to tip her over the edge into laughter, slightly neurotic and slightly hysterical. Isobel hugged her until those laughs turned inevitably to tears.

                “What am I going to do?”

There wasn’t a lot of time to think for Emma as there were only four weeks until the wedding, and ten days after that, she had to fly to LA and start filming. Her big break. Isobel had told her to phone Jacob, try and sort things out, but she wouldn’t. The fact that he was silent was a good thing, though he’d been fairly unrelenting in the past. So she wasn’t counting her chickens just yet.

Isobel had dispatched her with a list of instructions to complete over the next two weeks, as Isobel was finishing up her term at school, and Emma was sans job!

Tuesday was ‘bridesmaid dress’ fitting day. So Emma had a day in the City with Eve and Angelina - a daunting task! When she came out of the tube station nearest the bridal boutique she could already see the two elegant frames of the two models ahead. They literally stopped traffic, construction workers whistled, heads turned. They were stunning. Emma trotted towards them and wondered whether come September when ‘Dieter’s Luck’ hit the screens. Would people recognise her? It could be the making of her. The thought both exhilarated and terrified her.

She was dragged from her day dream by the screech of her fellow bridesmaids.

“Darling!” Eve swooped to hug her, “how was LA? I told Iz that I could put you on to plenty of contacts for some company and fun. But she said you wowed Mr Samuel!”

Emma laughed, “he’s a very nice guy!”

Angelina winked elaborately, “once we’ve got this out of the way,” she gestured randomly to the boutique behind them, “then we want to hear ALL about it!”

They stood in their dresses, powder blue, strapless, full length, elegant and feminine.

                “Hmmm. Thorn between two roses!” Emma muttered looking from her central position to the two six footers who flanked her.

Eve met her eyes in the mirror, “we will look freakishly tall on the day, we’re taller than Nathan FFS! To be honest Em, you will steal the show.”

Angelina nodded, “we’d both give anything for your boobs! All those years of barely eating,” she ran her hands down her slender frame, “well it hardly makes us curvy, does it!”

Emma laughed, “swap?”

An hour later she was filling them in on her time with Theo Samuel in great detail. And as they gushed over just how interested in Emma he was, she remained silent; neither knew she’d married her Las Vegas playmate!

After lunch they hit town searching for a bridesmaid’s gift for the blushing bride. In one shop Angelina suggested crotchless knickers, and it was at that point that they dissolved into giggles and made for the pub.

That night Emma collapsed onto her sofa and appreciated the fact that she’d had a day free of worry...and she had enough of that in her life!

               

                “Are you coming to the cinema this afternoon?” Isobel called Saturday morning, she’d planned a cinema trip to try and amuse her bored sister. Eve was in the area until the wedding, and she didn’t do stasis well. She was bored and like a child needed to be entertained.

                “I was, but I’ve just been summonsed home, my mother...not that she ever demands a visit. But she was very insistent.”

Isobel pondered that for a moment, “that sounds...strange!”

Laughing Emma slumped back in the chair looking at the ceiling, “I have a feeling that one of my cousins and their beautiful babies might be visiting. I’m to be tortured for a few hours in a ‘look what you could have’ kind of way!”

                “Ouch!” Isobel was nothing if not sympathetic.

                “Indeed. Can I meet you guys for dinner later? I should be back by eight.”

The trip to her parents’ was a chore, Saturday afternoon in late June. The world and his wife were heading to the coast and she got stuck in the longest tailbacks in history. It was gone three pm when she pulled her battered much maligned car into the driveway of their home, only to find a large black four wheel drive sat blocking her route. Instead she was forced to park across the street outside a neighbour’s house. She was trying to think which cousin could afford such a car, maybe Stephen; he’d got a new job, and a new baby! Groaning, and trying not to roll her eyes, he had been a pain in the arse since they’d been kids; an afternoon of him showing off was more than she could bear! She got out of the vehicle and took a deep breath, this was going to be SO much worse than she imagined.

Walking up the drive she was amazed not to be greeted by her mother opening the door, normally she’d appear, wiping her hands on her apron, desperate for a hug. But there was no sign, so Emma walked up to the front door and tried the handle. It was open, and stepping into the hallway she ignored the fact that she didn’t actually have a key anymore. Kicking off her shoes near the front door, she could hear voices coming from the conservatory - her mother’s equivalent of a parlour, Wow! Stephen really was being given the royal treatment.

                “So what’s caused you to drag me all the way down here?” She burst in to the room and stopped dead in her tracks. Her father was sat on a chair, a beer in his hand and a beaming smile on his face, her mother sat on the sofa, equally as happy, her finest china tea service in front of her, and between them, sat a man, a man in a suit, looking relaxed, happy laughing at something her father had said, but as he lifted his eyes, his lips curled into a smile as he watched her appreciatively.

                “There she is...Mrs Coren! My wife!”

Emma’s eyes moved from her mother, to her father and then back to Jacob, sat between them, and suddenly she felt sick, weak, her legs wobbled. Her eyes were closed before she started to fall to the floor, and she never knew that with lightening reflexes Jacob had caught her before that happened.

Chasing Rainbows - Part Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Jacob was stroking her hair, she could feel every single one of his fingers, her head rested on his shoulder, his scent in her nostrils, and it was like a sensory overload. When she moaned, Emma heard Jacob chuckle, the sound rumbling in his chest. She wanted to say something, in reality she wanted to run away, but Jacob must have sensed her becoming unsettled because a finger found her lips and silenced her.

                “Don’t speak, not yet!” He breathed, and his hands continued to stroke her gently, holding her close to him. He was right, why spoil the moment with arguing and recrimination? And his hands felt SO good!

Jacob knew she was flighty, that she was over thinking everything; he on the other hand was still coming back down to earth from that amazing event. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so...he couldn’t put it into words; needless to say he was now convinced that there was no way they’d consummated their marriage in Vegas. He’d have remembered the earth moving like this no matter how drunk he was. And he wasn’t disappointed, he didn’t feel trapped into this marriage, in fact for the first time in a long time he felt he had purpose, direction. He couldn’t wait to see Andy’s face when he knew that! Smiling to himself, he pushed thoughts of his best friend away, and wrapped his arms around Emma pulling her tight to him; her breasts squashed against his chest, her thigh lifted over his and his whole body took in all of hers. Perfect!

Emma was in a quandary, she needed to get away, but Jacob was holding her, she could feel his body start to respond to her being there, hardening against her thigh, and the thought of a repeat made her feel dizzy. For the moment nothing mattered but this man who she couldn’t get enough of. He’d told her not to speak, a wise move as she was full of conflict, and she couldn’t stop her mind racing.

He must have been wise to how she was feeling, as he started to kiss her, cheek first, the raising her jaw so he could find her lips. And boom! Once again they were losing control. Like striking a match, within seconds they were on fire, unable to get enough of each other. Emma could only gasp as he over powered her; she’d never known anything like it.

                “I need a shower.” Jacob mumbled at her ear, his hand still lazily stroking her thigh, their bodies still entwined. His comment didn’t raise even a flicker, her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn’t asleep. “Join me?”

Her eyes popped open and she stared at him for a moment, shocked. Laughing he jumped out of bed, and pulled her across the bedroom and out to the bathroom. Not giving her a second to process anything, he pushed her under the vigorous hot jets of water. When she gasped, he laughed diving under the spray with her, his hands covered every inch of her, soaping her clean,

Emma would eventually rate the shower as the most erotic and exciting experience of her life, but first she’d had to get over her insecurities and awkwardness. But Jacob was so keen to please, so happy to worship her, that pleasure replaced all other emotions by the time he dried her lovingly with a fluffy towel. Back in the bed, she finally fell asleep protected in his arms, his lips attached to her forehead in the ultimate gesture of affection.

Jacob looked down at her, so idyllic in sleep, that he didn’t want to move, but then he needed to get breakfast, and his favourite patisserie was only a few minutes away. So he slipped out of the bed without waking her, and dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, then snuck out to get her some special breakfast treats. He knew JUST what he was going to get her.

Emma stretched, her arms moving over the cool sheets, the bed was empty, and it surprised her that she hadn’t felt Jacob stir, she was usually such a light sleeper. But you don’t have an exhausting night like you’ve just had very often, a voice in her head offered. She listened out for the bathroom, expecting to hear the flush or maybe the shower. But the house was silent. Rolling on to her tummy she looked around the room, there was no sign of Jacob, his wallet had moved from the side table, so she wondered if he’d gone out.

From her position she took in the room, the definitively male room, dark bed, dark bedding and minimalist furniture, she sighed, could she imagine living here? At some point during the night, he’d assured her that their marriage could work. She could stay with him whilst she worked out of LA, living in California she’d have far better luck in finding another part than if she was back in London, after all London hadn’t yielded much in the way of success to date.  It all sounded so easy, so simple, but Emma didn’t think anything could be so straight forward.

Sitting up, she reached for her clothes, sliding the pyjamas back on before finding her bag in the spare room and dressed ready for her journey home.

Downstairs there was a note from Jacob,

                “Gone to get breakfast...need food after last night! BRB, Jacob.”

In the fridge Emma found some orange juice and filled a glass, then she tried to work the rather complicated coffee machine.

As she was filling the jug with water, convinced she’d loaded the grounds correctly, the phone started to ring. Would she ever be answering a call here? Would this ever be a place she classed as home?

As she contemplated that, Jacob’s voice echoed around the room.

                “Hi this is Jacob, can’t take your call, leave a message.”

His voice, husky and strong caused goose bumps to erupt all over her, it elicited more than a few very good memories. She knew at that moment that Jacob Coren was getting under her skin.

                “Coren, it’s Andy, you’ve had me working ALL weekend, but I think I might have a bit of good news. Been on to my contact in Nevada...think he can wangle you an annulment without the usual stipulations. Could be legal within a couple of weeks, as long as you don’t do anything stupid - like consummate! Anyway, it all means your half a million is safe from gold digging hands, and you can concentrate on other things! Call me! And don’t do anything stupid. OK?”

Emma was frozen in her position, glass half way to her mouth. There was SO much in that message that made her want to explode...cry. There was an easy way out of this marriage? She hadn’t needed to come here, to be wooed by him; last night...she gulped at the memories, it had all been unnecessary. And they HAD consummated their marriage, what did that mean? She wanted rid of him as much as he obviously wanted rid of her. Despite how amazing the previous night had been. She had no idea who Andy was, but it seemed that Jacob had employed him to protect his assets! And he’d just referred to her as a gold digger! She wanted to explode at the mere suggestion. All that sweet talking and romance? What the hell was he trying to do? Was he just keeping her sweet until he could work out a way to escape unscathed?

Her bag was virtually packed, but by the time she heard the back door open, by the time Jacob appeared in front of her, she was ready for him...and ready to leave.

                “You sleep well?”

Jacob had missed her for every moment that he’d been out in his hunter-gatherer role. All he wanted after one of her amazing kisses, was to see her smile as he produced an amazing breakfast. Suddenly providing for this woman had become his life’s goal! That was until he’d seen the trash mag at the checkout, ‘Who is Theo Samuel’s mystery woman?’ It was accompanied by an admittedly blurry photo of the actor entering a romantic and very desirable woman on his arm, a woman who was so obviously his wife. The two dined together before taking a romantic stroll on the beach. Diners at the restaurant reported that Samuel was smitten. So who is the exotic stranger that seems to have tamed the untameable?

The words and the images cut into him like a knife, but he already trusted her. He knew Samuel was a big opportunity to catapult to the big time. That’s all this was.  But it hadn’t stopped him buying the magazine; it was currently hidden under their breakfast.

Now he saw her face, the soft lines hardened by a scowl, and that anger and hatred all back and aimed at him.

                “What’s wrong?”

Her responding laugh was the harshest ugliest sound he’d ever heard. “Nothing. I want to go to the airport. Can you drive me?”

Jacob struggled to understand where all this went wrong. He’d left her content, happy, hell in the night she’s agreed to move in with him. Now she was here all anger and aggression...he shook his head for a moment ruing fickle women, fighting the pain that gripped his chest as he watched his perfect dream crumple around him.

               

“I don’t have a car Emma, so I can’t drive you.”

She shook her head, “you said the nearest shop was a few miles away, you expect me to believe you walked?”

He shook his head then opened the back door to show her his mode of transport.

                “A bike! You only use a bike!” Any chance of escape was diminishing, and she didn’t want this slimy man getting his claws into her again, cajoling into doing things his way. “That’s what you offer me? A kid’s bike?” She shook her head. All this about money, about gold-digging and he brought NOTHING to the table. “Do you own this house?”

He shook his head, “it was my grandmother’s...”

She stared at him for second, “so everything you told me, everything is overinflated lies! I’d rather walk to the airport than spend another moment here!”

                “What and this isn’t a lie? YOU aren’t a lie?”

He was hurt, and it was that that made him retaliate so childishly. He tossed the magazine down on the counter in front of her and watched her visibly pale. Her eyes flicked from the photo, to him, back to the photo, then she reached for her bags.

Jacob watched her storm out the door, still stunned by the turn of events. And she’d slated his bike! His vintage well loved BMX was worth more than a lot of cars, and the fact that he had documentation proving that it originally belonged to Mat Hoffman probably trebled that value. It was his baby, and far more practical than a car in this city.

Shaking his head he reached for the phone, he’d phone her a cab, it was the least he could do. It was then he noticed the blinking light on the answer machine, and as Andy’s voice boomed out of the speaker, he suddenly realised exactly WHAT had gone wrong.

Chasing Rainbows - Part Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen 

That last comment had changed everything. Until then Emma had felt in control. But now Jacob had voiced all that had been silently passing between them. It angered her that he thought she’d not be able to sleep, that she WANTED the very thing she was fighting against. Her marriage. She groaned and headed into the kitchen, needing to do something. As she poured herself a drink she could hear Jacob bumping around upstairs and the reality of the whole situation seemed to hit her between the eyes.

Bracing her arms on the work surface, she hung her head and fought the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.  Suddenly she missed her dingy flat in London and her crappy temp job, she missed her friends horrendously, Isobel would know what to say, what to do. She even missed her eternally disappointed parents. This whole trip from Hollywood to this very house was fake, she felt like an imposter, as though she was viewing everything that happened from a distance as a critic, and was almost laughing at all her mistakes...and there were plenty of them.

                “God Emma!” She chastised herself. “Wake up and grow up!”

She almost physically shook herself, then finished her drink, praying she wouldn’t have a hangover the next morning; she had to get her things and get to the airport asap. With a sigh she washed the glass and dried it, placing it in the cupboard she’d found it in, then made for the stairs. Stripping out of her dress she was never more glad to pull on her pyjamas, and never more glad that she’d packed the unsexy cotton version and not the lacy ones Isobel had tried to make her purchase before she left.

The bathroom was across the hall and it took Emma several steadying breaths to build up the confidence to make the journey. Empty bladdered and with clean teeth and make up free skin she felt MUCH better, more alive. But she still had the final trip back along the hallway.  She rued every creaking floorboard as she crept in fear of Jacob’s door back to her room. Jacob’s door was slightly ajar, only a few inches, and it made her pause, she couldn’t help herself. There was a lamp on partly lighting the room, and she could see his bed, dark wood, pale linen, and then him. He was lying on his side, his back to her, smooth skin illuminated by the soft glow.

Emma gulped, was sure he heard her then skittled into her room like a naughty child!

Lying on the bed, her heart pounding, she was unable to decipher whether it was the glimpse of him, so secretive, SO naked, or the fact that he almost caught her peeping that scared her. Either way, she could barely regain her breath.

Twenty minutes later, or was it forty? She was still lying there, looking at the ceiling...then the wall. Then the ceiling again. His last comment was echoing around her, and she knew that he’d done it on purpose. Deliberately wrong footed her, knowing that it would cause her brain to over think, to be overactive.

Eventually she could take no more. She had to tell him that his plan wouldn’t work. That was the ONLY way she was going to get sleep, get over this and move on.

There were no creaks or sounds ironically as she tiptoed back out of the bedroom and to that open door. And like a magnet it sucked her towards him almost faster than she was happy with. As the door opened further she gasped. Jacob was flat on his back, a sheet low across his waist, all naked chest, and body. Her eyes were absorbed with studying him, he had an arm across his eyes, his lips parted as he breathed deeply, his muscular chest rising and falling with each breath. She had no memory of the last time she saw him like this, the night they’d spent together, and he was more beautiful than she could ever imagine. He had just the right amount of dark hair, smattered across his firm chest and swirling around his flat, dark nipples that were perfect. Her eyes followed the trail of hair down across his flat stomach to the ridge of white sheet that covered but barely concealed his lower half.

She bit her lip, suddenly all her anger had gone, instead she was fighting her attraction to this bloody specimen, and she had to escape before she did something she regretted.

Turning away was hard, but she managed it with a deep breath, but as she reached for the door, a voice caused her to freeze.

                “Oh, don’t run away! I was quite enjoying feeling like the Mona Lisa, being studied and dare I say appreciated!”

Emma felt sick, the last thing she wanted was him to know that she’d been in such awe of him, and now he did. She didn’t turn back, couldn’t cope with seeing the gloating look on his face, but as she pulled the door open, she could hear him move.

“Don’t go. I’m sorry!” When she slowly turned he was sat up in bed, fortunately the sheet still covering him. “I shouldn’t keep goading you like that.”

She nodded, “you’re right! You shouldn’t!” Her voice was shaky and she was stuck, unable to move from her place at the doorway. It was Jacob’s turn to study her, and his eyes leisurely looked her up and down with a smile.

Eventually his eyes met hers again and he sighed, “come here.” His voice was a whisper, and was met with a head shake from Emma, her teeth had snagged her bottom lip and she suddenly looked terrified.

Jacob sighed “I’m not going to hurt you...far from it!”

                “I can’t do this,” she finally managed at a rasp, and it was greeted by a soft chuckle from him.

Jacob swung his legs around and made to stand, all of a sudden she grasped that he might soon be stood in front of her naked. More than she could tolerate.

                “Don’t!” She protested, and Jacob sighed reaching out with a hand.

                “Emma, just come here.”

He watched the torment in her eyes, the tension in her body as she fought her conscience and her desire. Jacob knew he wanted her, their kisses earlier had been electric; there was a connection so great between them. He knew if she stepped towards him that their future would change, that if their relationship developed here, tonight, then he’d get what he wanted, Emma, a wife.

When her eyes finally lifted to look at him, the torment almost caused pain within him, “Emma, this is special, you and me...You know that.”

Even as she started shaking her head she was moving slowly towards him. A painstakingly slow step in his direction. And for Jacob it was the most erotic, arousing thing he’d ever encompassed, his body surged with desire and anticipation, completing the job that she’d started when he’d woken to feel her eyes on him.

As she stepped ever closer, Jacob stood, tossing the sheet back over the bed and halved the distance between them.

Emma gasped, despite everything, to see Jacob moving towards her, naked, proud, and definitely excited was terrifying. Her breath caught in her throat and the boom of her heart filled her ears.

                “Jacob...” she whispered.

                “I know...” he whispered back, lifting a hand to cup her cheek, finger tips sliding into her hair. “It’s ok Emma, really.” With that his lips dropped to hers.

Emma wanted to fight this, she needed to, but his lips were an instant drug, dragging hers into a duel. Her hands were clenched in fists at her side, in defiance to his actions, but with every passing moment her defences were crumbling, and he was getting ever closer to her.  As his tongue teased at her lips, she felt his erection press against her stomach and gasped. That moment, that lapse, gave him the opportunity he was looking for, access to her mouth, and his tongue invading shyly at first.

Emma was drowning, his hands, one at her jaw, the other at her hip securing her close to him were causing flutters of excitement to shudder through her, and suddenly she had an overwhelming desperation to feel his skin under her hands, she’d fed crazily on the sight of him, now she needed to touch him, but it was hard to give in, hard to concede.

With a moan of self loathing, her hands finally reached out to sit either side of his waist, her thumbs edging towards his abs, her fingers wrapped around towards his back. He flinched, actually jumped, and that both pleased her and gave her confidence. Sliding her thumbs up his torso, trailing her finger tips behind them she started to return his kisses, actually kiss him back, dominate his mouth. All the while her hands climbed up until they were settled over his chest, ran through the light hair she’d seen when she’d scrutinised him earlier. He was firm, hard, masculine, without being obscenely muscled, and it was exquisite to touch him so greedily, without restraint.

Jacob felt as though he’d been holding his breath since he’d sensed her in his room. He’d fought desperately against the arousal that threatened to reveal that he wasn’t fast asleep. Now that he was stood so close to her, the smell of her perfume confusing his senses, her hands that gently stroked over his chest were driving him wild. He was all but ready to explode there and then.

Tugging at her bottom lip he ensnared it between his teeth and was rewarded with a moan, those gentle fingers tensing, and Emma swaying slightly. Releasing his teeth, he nuzzled his lips over her jaw and towards her ear lobe, smiling into her skin as she shivered. Lashing out with his tongue, he circled her ear before nibbling on the lobe, and she leaned heavily into him. His arms were now wrapped around her and he knew she needed that support. Sliding his hands under the edge of the t-shirt that was demure, yet painfully erotic, he stroked the smooth silk like skin over her spine.

When he saw her stood in his room, nervous and shy in just a sleeveless t-shirt and ridiculous short shorts he’d realised for the first time that exotic lingerie wasn’t the only way to present a body. She was the hottest thing he’d ever seen, and despite the fact that the pyjamas covered her, he could sense everything about her, from the curve of her hip to the generous swell of her breasts, and the hint of the nipples that were hard against the cotton.

Emma threw her head back; his arms held her and his lips were causing devastation in their assault on her neck. She’d never felt so much anxiety, anticipation and desire in one hit, and she’d never realised that it was possible to be so weak with desire. Her fingers were spread over his pecs, splayed in a defensive gesture, but she felt anything but defensive. Sliding them back down his body, she caressed his skin before reaching around to his spine. For a moment she forgot he was naked, but as her hands lowered to cup his buttocks, he groaned against her neck.

Lifting his head, Jacob looked down at her for a moment and she stared back, his face still bore the imprint of his pillow, but the tiredness was now replaced by something far more basic. His eyes glittered, his lips were parted, and it was a lethal combination.

Giving her a smile, he started to raise her shirt as his hands slid up her spine, pulling her closer with every inch that he climbed. He pecked kisses at her lips as his fingers slid over her skin, his thumbs brushing the sides of her breasts as he encouraged her arms above her head.

A voice screamed to stop him, to back away now, but it was barely audible over the pounding of her heart. And with a sigh her final defences came tumbling down at the same time he tossed her pyjama top across the room.

Jacob was about to implode, he could feel Emma’s body against his, skin to skin, her soft breasts tight against his own chest, her nipples hard bullets pressing into him. From his position kissing her, something he was rapidly becoming addicted to, he couldn’t see the body he’d just revealed, and the suspense was killing her, since the moment he’d set eyes on her in that shopping arcade in Vegas he’d been dreaming about her breasts, she had fantastic legs, and her ass looked amazing in whatever she wore, but it was her breasts that had been driving him wild all this time. He wished he’d remembered more about their time in Vegas, but he couldn’t, so this was his first chance to truly see her, and the suspense was killing him.

Taking each of her hands in his, he held them at her sides, then slowly lifted his head away from hers.  As his eyes started to lower slowly, he spotted the panic in her eyes, then the telltale thickening at her throat as she swallowed nervously. But he couldn’t process that now, he was driven, he had to see her.

And he was anything but disappointed, she was perfect, her breasts were round, her dark nipples hard with excitement and begging for his mouth, the natural taper of her waist, and the curve of her hips, he took it all in, wishing he had a photographic memory.

Emma swayed again, she was desperate for him to say or do something, anything. Standing under his scrutiny was hell. But her body didn’t seem to comply with her anguish, as his eyes again swept over her, she could feel her breasts swell, the impossibility that her nipples could grow harder.

Then suddenly his eyes were back on her, “perfect!” He breathed.

As he lowered his head to capture a hard, excited peak in his lips, her knees swayed and with a chuckle, he turned and lowered her to the bed. Once she was there, he lavished more attention to her breasts, fingers and lips alternating in their torment. Emma crossed her legs, squeezing her thighs together, trying to assuage the torment that seemed to have centralised in her pelvis.

Jacob spotted her torment and steadied her with hand on her thigh, when she froze; he started to kiss his way down her body separating her thighs, to kneel between them. Taking in every inch of her displayed like a beautiful gift across his bed, he gave her what he hoped was a dazzling smile before his hands and lips lowered once again to her body.

Emma closed her eyes, it made it easier to absorb the sensations he was creating in her body, but then every time he changed the tempo or the way that he touched her, she had to lift her head and crane to watch him, the sight of his dark blonde head moving so purposefully over her body was the final straw to catapult her off the planet.

It was a minute before he could untangle his limbs from her limp exhausted body, and to see her replete, exhausted with that look of pleasure across her face was the greatest reward for Jacob. Then she reached out and took him in her hand, and he knew that he couldn’t last much longer. Reaching to the bedside cabinet, he pulled a condom from the drawer, never more glad that he’d bought some a few days earlier, then turned back to her.

She took it from him and slid it on, torture in its own right, and then he pulled her onto him, slid into her, and it was everything he’d dreamed it would be.

Chasing Rainbows - Part Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Emma could feel Jacob’s eyes on her, but she remained as she was, talking to Walt. Every time she spoke to Jacob she seemed to anger him, say the wrong thing, and she hated that, but it was beyond her control! Walt was charming, in a way that bartenders usually were, and his flattery and little stories about Jacob were enticing. When Walt was finally called away to serve someone, she had no choice but to look up, move away from her secure position.

Jacob was sat at a table with three other men, a pack of cards had emerged and from somewhere and some poker chips. Emma watched as a game started, and Jacob laughed with the other men, tossing in chips and raising the stakes. His face lit up when he laughed, his deep blue eyes glittered, and his long elegant nose wrinkled, and a face that had seemed to symbolise everything that was oppressing her life became something else. Something she didn’t want to consider. She knew he was her type, she’d fancied him the moment she’d broken his vase in that Vegas mall, but that had taken a back seat when he’d started trying to dominate and control her life. When had all this changed? And how was she going to keep her head for the remainder of the twenty four hours.

He must have sensed her watching him, because he looked up and gave a secretive wink. It made her heart flutter in her chest and with a sigh she looked away, but everyone who wasn’t playing the game was watching it, there was no other source of conversation.

Emma realised she hadn’t thought about Hollywood and her upcoming role since she’d arrived in San Francisco, and as she looked desperately around the room, she spotted a commercial on the TV in the corner of the room for a movie about to open at theatres, staring Mr Theo Samuel himself. His strong angled face staring out from the screen, and it almost felt as though he was staring at her, disproving, angry. Her heart lurched for the second time in a few seconds, but she was unable to decipher why. If Theo didn’t approve of things then why should that bother her? Why should he care?

Bathroom! Emma stood a little unsteadily and made her way across the room, aware of the sensation of Jacob’s eyes watching her. In the privacy of the bathroom - not the greatest restroom she’d ever visited, she closed the lid on the toilet and sat on it, locking the door.  Taking several deep breaths she tried to control her racing heart, the nausea rising in her stomach.

Pulling out her phone she checked the time, it was almost midnight, eight am back in London.

Isobel answered on the third ring, “Ems? What? Why?”

Emma laughed ruing the drinks she’d consumed that made her head fuzzy, “I want to come home Iz!”

Isobel laughed, “what’s happened chick? You having a good time? Is he looking after you?”

Emma closed her eyes, dropping her head back, and sighed, “yes...we had a boat trip around the Bay, dinner at the best restaurant, a horse and carriage ride...”

                “Sounds wonderful, and romantic!”

Eyes still closed she groaned again, “it was VERY romantic. But it’s not real, none of this is real. Twenty four hours isn’t real life!”

Silence greeted her for a moment, until Isobel spoke, “that’s true Ems, but to be honest, he’s given you a peek at what it could be! He’s tried, hard. Is that wrong? Enjoy your time, come back, regroup then make your decision on what you want. Yeah?”

                “How are you always so sensible? You always know what to say!”

Isobel chuckled, “now I’m on the verge of marriage I seem to be able to see relationship things so much clearer! Wish I had this vision in the formative years of my relationship with Nathan.”

Emma laughed, “we’d have been at your wedding five years ago!”

Opening the door back to the bar, she was instantly aware of eyes on her, and the warmth that caused. As she looked across the bar and met Jacob’s eyes, everyone at the table groaned, throwing their cards down in frustration at him winning, before starting all over again.

As the next hand was dealt, Jacob looked up and smiled at Emma again, then gestured with his head, pulling a seat up beside him. Emma reached for her drink then crossed the room to sit next to him, and he sighed, resting a hand on her thigh,

                “Guys, you are truly screwed now! Emma’s my good luck charm!”

Emma swatted at him playfully, “no I’m not! Men just imagine I’m not here!”

Jacob chuckled as he threw a few chips down raising the game, and it was met with a groan from the other players. Whilst he won most of the next three hands, his hand remained on her thigh, a possessive yet fortifying gesture. She knew he was drawing strength from her being there beside him. It wasn’t long before two of the four were all chipped out. Jacob had won the majority of the haul, and as some of the other regulars in the bar cheered, Marcus, the dealer stood and chalked another victory to him on a scoreboard on one of the walls.

                “We play for six months; the one who wins the most games gets the prize!”

Emma shuddered at the feel of his breath against her ear, at some point he’d stopped being a nuisance, “and the prize is?”

He smiled, “there are twenty players and we all put in two hundred dollars. So the prize is four grand!”

                “Nice,” she murmured, “you’re quite the gambler!”

Jacob laughed, “not really, poker is all about odds and maths. It’s a calculated risk at best. Gambling? Now that’s what it feels I am doing with you!”

It took Emma a moment to contemplate that. Was she the prize or the opponent? She dreaded to think.

Jacob saw her pondering and grinned, “I don’t know where I am with you and I have no idea how this will work out. But I’m compelled to throw everything I have into this. Do you see?”

She bit her bottom lip as she nodded slowly, and to Jacob it was his undoing. He found her attractive, more than that. His body had betrayed him on so many occasions, and now that she was leaning into him, her warmth, her comfort, the familiarity he’d searched for all his life, all meant that this woman was rapidly becoming everything he was looking for in a woman.

Reaching out, he placed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, stroking the plump mark that her teeth had scored. “You confuse me Emma. Yet you compel me. I can’t get enough of you!”

Her breath caught as a hitch in her throat, and she had to swallow purposefully. Her dry mouth was unable to formulate words, and her eyes couldn’t move from their position - trapped by his.

He gave a husky chuckle, “even the way you breathe is exciting. I don’t know how you do it!”

The rasp of his voice was causing her body to shudder, her heart pound, and her breasts throb. She had a sudden urge to lean against him, rub her body against him. But she couldn’t do that, the small sliver of her psyche that wasn’t hypnotised by this generous man screamed at her, and she had to listen. Pulling back slightly she let out the breath that she’d seemed to hold for forever, and then dropped her eyes.

Jacob was wise to her, he’d been watching the throbbing pulse at the side of her throat, the flickering of her eyes, and he’d noticed the exact moment that the spell was broken. He’d enjoyed that flash, that slice of time when it seemed only the two of them existed. But as soon as her eyes dropped from his, he knew she was fighting him again. But this was her as close to giving in as he’d seen her.

His hand was still raised, though he’d lost contact with her mouth a few seconds earlier. But it was close enough to reach out and slide under her jaw, cup the side of her head, and force her face back to his, bringing her eyes to meet his again. There was a split second where her eyes widened, where she realised what he was about to do, but she didn’t have the time to react, before his lips found hers.

And suddenly the world as she knew it was over. Emma only had a brief recollection of her first ‘date’ with Jacob, and one of her last memories was them sharing a kiss. But her drink befuddled memory did not serve this event justice. She thought her heart had stopped, but then it had been racing like a train until the instant his lips touched hers. Now she wasn’t sure what was happening. His lips were like silk, smooth, soft yet SO insistent, teasing hers, and she knew she was following his every lead like a pliant obedient pet. 

With a moan, half pleasure, half self chastisement, she tried to pull back. But Jacob had other ideas, he was taking her moan, her lips parting as acquiescence, and his tongue thrust into her mouth, seeking hers.

Emma felt as though she’d been pinned helplessly against a wall, completely at his command, and she was the least placid and submissive person of anyone that she knew. Suddenly the room appeared into her peripheral vision, the attention seeking and humorous coughs, that quickly became “the novelty of newlyweds will soon wear off” catcalls.

Placing her hand on Jacob’s chest she pushed firmly, trying to pull her mouth away from his, but he wasn’t keen to let her go. But she was as stubborn and persistent as him, and it felt as though she was emerging from far too long under water without oxygen. In fact as the lips separated, she felt herself gasp in air desperately.

He merely kept her in his arms, a smug smile on his face. From anyone else she’d want to treat the look with a slap, but there was something endearing about Jacob, and to see that much emotion, pleasure and pride in his eyes was like an aphrodisiac, she almost wanted to bask in his gaze.   More catcalls brought them truly back to Earth with a bump, and Jacob was the first to speak.

                “One for the road?”  When she nodded he turned to Walt and ordered them both a drink, his arm still wrapped around her, his voice satisfyingly hoarse with emotion.

It was a cool evening, but they were both glad of the breeze to calm them both down.

                “I’m never going to live this down with the men in there!” He offered, linking his fingers through hers and leading her away from the waterfront.

Emma took a second to reply, the sensation of his hand over hers was recreating some of the wild feelings from earlier, and she wasn’t totally in control of everything. “Thank you for taking me there, I can see it’s an important place for you.”

He nodded, “I’m not that close to my family, and that bar, those old guys, they’re like brothers and uncles all rolled into one. They’re great.” He swung their entwined hands as he walked, before adding, “it was right that you met them!”

Emma pondered that thought as they strolled further away from the safe and comfortable bar, this was exactly as Isobel had predicted, Jacob was opening up his life to show her all that he was. They’d not discussed the practicalities of being married, where they’d live, how they’d make their two so different worlds collide.

                “Don’t over think things Em!”

How did he know what she was thinking? She was still wondering that as he hailed a cab and bundled them both into the back. Every time she tried to question things, the future, him, her...he changed the subject, pointing out various sights, places that were important to him. All the time they were getting physically closer and closer, thighs touching, arms touching. When he reached across her to point out a small shop that had been his first employer, it was the final straw. His cheek brushed hers, and Emma knew if she turned even a fraction towards him their lips would align. Who knew where that would go? She was determined not to muddy the water any further by sleeping with him and chaste kisses in the seclusion of the taxi was definitely a stepping stone to that.

It was Jacob tilting her head to him that overruled her defence. And within a split second she was absorbed in a kiss that was as fiery as the first one, but the almost privacy loaded it with tension, anticipation and excitement. They were almost consuming each other when the cab driver coughed discreetly, indicating that they’d reached their destination.

Jacob, cursing the bad timing under his breath, leaned forward to pay him, then led the suddenly very distant Emma into his home.  In the lounge she marched across the room to stand behind a sofa, distance, protection and avoidance.

                “I love kissing you!” He knew he was pushing his luck as he stalked towards her, but there was no way he was getting to sleep knowing she was in his home. And his backup reasoning was, that if he could prove to her how good they were together, then there was more of a chance that she wouldn’t run away tomorrow and never want to see him again. He wanted to laugh when she raised her nose haughtily in the air in an attempt to avoid acknowledging that comment.  “You can’t ignore me Emma.”

Emma paced further away, arms crossed, eventually she looked up and eyeballed him, “I didn’t come here to make things worse Jacob. I’m not about to roll on my back and get deeper into this. Do you hear me?”

Jacob’s eyes lit up as he smiled, “I hear you loud and clear...but I don’t believe you!” His eyes twinkled, “we work Em, you can only try and fight it! You know where your room is?” When she nodded, he moved to the door and smiled. “When you’re lying there alone, all frustrated, mine is the door to your left.”

He ducked out the door before the pillow hit the exact place his head had been.