Page 33 of Laying His Claim
One hand slid down her hips, to the hem of her skirt, inching it up until his fingers encountered the damp crotch of her panties. With a cruel smile he began to rub her there, back and forth, not bothering to start slowly, but assaulting her senses and wrecking her willpower with a knowing touch and quick tempo.
“Justin…”
“Hmm?”
“If you don’t make love to me right now…”
Laughter made Justin’s chest rumble, and Jalissa wanted to growl in frustration. Suddenly he spun her around, so that she faced his desk. His hand still between her legs, still rubbing. She knew she’d be there in seconds. The stiff ridge pressing against her bottom was driving her mad. If he didn’t yank down her panties and slip it inside her right now—
The door opened.
“Justin, Seb’s taking his nap. I was wondering—”
Jalissa and Justin froze, caught in an explicit tableau that would haunt her dreams and Lorena stood there, taking it all in.
Quick thinking on Justin’s part had Jalissa facing the wall opposite the door, giving her time to fix her bra and blouse. She did so with trembling hands before turning back to defiantly look the younger woman in the eye.
Why was Lorena still standing there?Jalissa wondered.Shouldn’t she be apologizing and walking away, to allow her employer time to make himself decent?Instead, Lorena remained motionless, her face flushed purple, glaring daggers at Jalissa, who hurriedly pulled down her skirt and glared back.
Justin was equally perturbed, but at least had the presence of mind to say firmly, “Leave us, Lorena. And take the rest of the day off.”
The door closed, but not before Lorena hurled a look at her that was so toxic it could whither flowers. When the woman was gone, Jalissa felt limp with relief and hot with embarrassment.
“You okay?”
Dragging her eyes from the door, Jalissa found Justin carefully studying her face. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“I’m sorry about that.” The brush of his lips against her ear sent shivers through her body, then he growled, “Mark my words; this isn’t over.”
Chapter 13
The oversized hall rang with the combined shouts and squeals of two hundred children laughing and playing. Jalissa was pretty sure she’d never been to a Fun Zone, so she was spinning like a top, gaping at all the booths, computer games, rids and activities.
Kaiya was appointed “keeper of the tokens” by Lili, who ran from game to game, crazy with excitement, while the adults, with TJ and Seb in their prams, tried to keep up. The babies were a tad too young for most of the games, but they sure enjoyed the carousels and mechanical pony rides.
The women were having an enlightening conversation, with Kaiya recounting amusing tales from their teen years, when the two best friends had gotten up to so much mischief. Like the time they sneaked into the Home Economics kitchen and replaced the granulated sugar with fine salt before the lesson on baking a pound cake. “It’s a wonder I still went on to love cooking after that,” Jalissa mused.
It made her so happy that Kaiya was taking the time to fill her in on these little snippets of her youth, which probably would never come back. It was all a part of her journey toward finding her true self. And after Justin’s devastating revelation about wanting to end her pregnancy, she was glad to discover aspects of her old personality that were fun and likeable.
“You know you’re glowing, right?” Kaiya pointed out.
Jalissa felt her face go hot. “Oh, am I?” she said with intense casualness.
“Oh, am I?”Kaiya mimicked. “It’s all over your face. You and Justin must be getting along really well. Tell me.” She leaned in closer, “have you slept with him yet?”
“No!” Jalissa momentarily scandalized before a grin burst forth. “Not exactly. Not yet, anyway. Although we might have, if it hadn’t been for Evil Nanny.” Quickly, she recounted the awkward, embarrassing encounter with Lorena in Justin’s home office, while Kaiya howled.
“Nooo!”
“Yesss,” she assured regretfully. “I don’t know what it would take for Justin to wake up and realize that that woman wants him for herself. And will stop at nothing to get him.”
Kaiya scoffed. “Oh, that’s a laugh. That man has eyes only for you.”
A wave of pleasure washed over Jalissa. She was ready to confide in her friend how close and tender things had become between them, and how hopeful she was beginning to feel about their future together. As she parted her lips to speak, a masculine voice behind her interrupted.
“Jalissa?”
She spun around to see a tall, good looking man with a neat beard and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, smiling at her. His First People’s heritage was evident in the tilt of his dark eyes, his glowing skin and sharp cheekbones. She immediately thought,What a nice-looking guy.And he was staring at her in a way that made her wonder how well she’d known him.
