Page 27 of Jacob

The Jake Simpson she knew, the tragically lost boy who’d disappeared from her life, had turned into Jacob Black, one of the richest, most powerful men in the country. In the world.

And not only that. Somehow, the man he had become held her in his thrall.

If you’d held her feet to the fire, Alex would have confessed that she suspected she was asexual. Her few lovers certainly were not happy with her. She’d read descriptions of being ‘turned on’ and thought they were exaggerated.

They weren’t.

Being near Jacob was like being plugged in to some hot and electric source of power. In the midst of anxiety and danger, she’d come alive, shocked and startled.

He was so imposing. Not just his size, though she was astonished at just how big he was. He’d always been tall, but he’d also been painfully thin as a teenager. Now he was filled out, but not muscle bound. A big man, broad in the shoulders and chest, lean in the waist. But over and above his size, it was the pull of power that overwhelmed her. Not the power of his money but of his person.

She’d been around powerful people before, of course. She’d testified at a congressional committee where Senators were as thick as cockroaches in an abandoned kitchen. She’d spoken with CEOs of important pharmaceutical companies. She’d shaken hands with Nobel Prize winners.

None of them that aura that Jacob did, of immense personal power, of a charisma so great it almost bent gravity.

And that aura included… sex. Oh God. Alex had been taken so much by surprise that she hadn’t actually acknowledged what being so close to Jacob did to her. It just lit her up. Head to toe.

The water beating down on her was hot, but she remembered that inner heat that shimmered through her at his closeness. Intense and uncontrollable and completely new.

This was going to be so hard, over and above the horror of Elias going AWOL with massively damaging knowledge in his head. She was going to have to keep her cool around Jacob and ignore the heat.

But her body remembered. Oh man, did it ever. As the water beat against her back, Alex could feel her breasts as if they were a separate part of her body and not some tissue hanging from her chest. They felt swollen and warm, the nipples super sensitive. Her groin, too, felt warm. That had never happened to her before.

And Jacob wasn’t even handsome. He had harsh, irregular features and a burn scar and a knife scar, both, on the left side of his face.

Didn’t make any difference. He had testosterone coming out of his pores and would instantly make any woman forget even the handsomest man.

It occurred to her that he might have a mistress or two. A man like that? Super masculine, incredibly rich and powerful? Of course he did. He even had quarters for them in his home, so he could have a sex life without it interfering in business.

Who knew how many women had used this shower? It was fully stocked with shampoos and conditioners and citrus-scented soap.

He said he’d never had overnight guests using her quarters. But then his women probably slept in the master bedroom. With him.

Alex turned off the shower coming from the ceiling and dried herself off with one of the stack of huge fluffy towels. When she was done, she folded it up neatly and put it on one of the steel stools, since there wasn’t a heater in sight. But she wasn’t chilly. The room was a perfect temperature.

All her packages had arrived.

She was familiar with the track suits. She had three of them from that company back home. It took her but a moment to dress, put her wet hair up in a scrunchy she had in her purse, and put on socks and sneakers. The sneakers were brand new, of course, but again, it was a brand she knew and they were instantly comfortable. Who knew what they’d find at the other end of the trip, and who knew if she’d have to run.

All the packages had been brought into the bedroom, together with a medium-sized roll-on suitcase.

Alex was used to travelling and she packed quickly. Everything she’d ordered fit into the suitcase. She zipped it up and rolled it over to the door.

Right outside the door, Jacob was waiting. He was dressed all in black and had a black duffel and a roll-on suitcase of his own at his feet.

Her heart gave a little thump at the sight of him. He’d been looking down, frowning, at a watch the size of a dessert plate but straightened at the sight of her. His eyes met hers, black gaze intense, and her heart gave another little thud. She was still mad at him, but apparently her heart wasn’t.

It was going to be a long flight.

ChapterSeven

How Alex could be exhausted and stressed and frightened and still look so beautiful was beyond Jacob’s comprehension. She was still a little pale, looked tired and was dressed in leisure wear, but she’d still turn heads anywhere she went. Those fine features, witchy pale-blue eyes and delicate bone structure, would last her the rest of her life.

She was wearing a pretty track suit the exact color of her eyes, and leather sneakers, exactly the right kind of outfit for the mission they were going on. But then she knew exactly the kind of situation they could be walking into.

She was smart and not just beautiful.

It was going to be hard not to stare at her, and he had to kick himself in the ass on a regular basis to remind himself to look away once in a while. He didn’t want to freak her out. But man, it was hard.

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